Tuesday tidbits

in which our plucky heroine notices the few random sunbreaks...

... and an amazing sunset tonight, called to everyone's attention by Helpful Gretchen, leader of the library maker space crew. The combination of latitude, the time of year, and the clock shift means that sunset is starting at around 5PM. What can't be cured must be endured.

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~ a small helper ~
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This sanding block is just 1½" square. While the initial attempt with PET-G didn't work (stronger plastic, but made a coarser print and threads didn't match up well enough function), the PLA filament printed out perfectly. (note to self, remember to allow prints to cool completely before removing from plate. Fixed bent edge caused by my enthusiasm by using boiling water because remembered was PLA was a thermoplastic (set slightly bent part in a bowl of boiling water from teakettle for a few minutes, then use fingers to press firmly into together with the other matching part) et voila!

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This "easy Chinese thread book" might be fun to make

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Looking at the Advent calendar shadowbox, I decided that this year's improvement would be to add a second row of tiny drawers to the bottom, to have drawers all the way to 31 instead of stopping at 24. This will necessitate making a box with 7 dividers, and 7 tiny drawers. 

I have been messing around with the laser cutter at the library, and with learning Tinkercad - and managed to create a file for tiny drawers perzactly the dimensions of the drawers in the shadowbox! Unfortunately, the box of 7 compartments had one of the dimensions just a bit too small (my error), so must needs a do-over. Past Me should have cleverly noted what program I used for the various files. Past Me is not always clever. I did save the link to the "clean up your SVG" website but didn't for the box generating website, and there are a lot of those (I spent hours last night getting the box dimensions just right on one site only to find out at that point that it wanted a spendy membership in order to download the file. Ummm nope, start over somewhere else)

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November SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	mini sanding blocks	-	-
2	7 tiny drawers	-	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- both the 75 and the 6 were perfectly aligned with my trip to the library, and the trip home the longest wait was about six minutes! 
- my file for the tiny drawers makes pieces to create a perfect match for the existing drawers. I am chuffed, and it impressed Gretchen
- many more Advent swap boxes of goodies are arriving this week, still not 30+ participants, but far more than a few. 
- found out that black pipe insulation can be substituted for white, which means I can fill in the peculiar gaps in the furnace room air handler pipe coverings

Time of Isolation - Day 2299

Friday fragments

in which our plucky heroine voted ...

... not early, but not at the last minute either. Actually my ballot had been filled out for a while, but riding my bike in the rain wasn't a great option. Managed to get out during a sunbreak for some errands (and voting). 

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~ a bit more than half... ~

Here are 30+ pounds of quinces, more than half this years harvest - all of the windfalls and all those ripe enough to be picked. There are still quite a few left on the tree, but these will take some time to deal with. Nonetheless, the house smells amazing!!

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The hardware store did not have the right sort of conical rubber feet similar to the one that went missing from the air filter, so instead, am trying out using four rubber corks, as suggested by the store clerk. Fingers crossed that they stay glued to the masonite; using epoxy (rather than RTV) was suggested, as a better option. We shall see...

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This week I was able to print out the Tinkercad files I made for the MCM Kimball "bullet planter" pots. The "sparkle black" filament has a similar look to the textured fiberglass of the originals. Have been mulling over how to solder together the metal (wire) support tripod.

Handmade Houseplants is definitely full of ideas and suggetions for creating decorative botanical denizens for your home. Of course, the book has you make more life-size paper plants, but the suggestions for shaping and coloring the materials will hopefully be applicable to the tinyworld as well. At the grocery store earlier this week, I took photos of houseplants to help with understanding plant structure.

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Finished knitting the bike helmet earmuffs, as hours on the bus today was conducive to making progress. Once home again, they fit in place perfectly, and while it was too rainy to actually go out on the bike today, the double layers over my ears should do well, and the ribbed band joining them together atop of the head should reduce drafts. Just still need to take a photo for my Ravelry page...

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October SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	tiny Wishbone chair	wheels for 2nd RÅSKOG	greenwaste bin
2	laser cut trinket shelves	tidy living room	recycle bin
3	vortex bottles	files for tiny plant pot	recycle bin
4	2 wee Dala horses	new feet on air filter	greenwaste bin
5	miniature spider plant	-	recycle bin
6	tiny picture frames	x	x
7	mini rocking chair	x	x
8	bike helmet earmuffs	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- the library has easy safe accessible ballot deposit
- figured out a slightly better transit route to Clackamas
- the bike helmet earmuffs are cozy and cute!

Time of Isolation - Day 2295

Monday miscellany

in which our plucky heroine has a good day...

including a long phone chat with my beloved SIL Barb. Got to hear about their anniversary trip to Spain, and she is sending me photos.

Today remained rainy and cool, and I'm definitely switched to cold weather layering. Wool cardigan + canvas chore jacket + rain capelet (+ handknit fingerless gloves) was just right for riding to the library.

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~ fresh green color... ~

Very pleased with the effects. Sanding down the edges of the wooden pieces, and the textured weave of the fabric really make the piece look "of its times". The needlepoint pillow is a bit large, but since I embroidered it about 50 years ago, I just couldn't resist including it. 

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Cleared over a third of the clutter from the bedroom, and put aside almost a grocery bag full of random fabric scraps to discard (too small to send out for reuse), a good start on the 3 bags full challenge. 

Two racks of dishes washed today, which means that by the end of tomorrow all the dishes will be washed and put away, ready for me to create more kitchen havoc. There are Acantha's apples to be turned into applesauce, and quinces to be baked and become various treats.

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Finally got back to the next step on the herringbone pinafore, and bound the neckline edge with the textured silk. It is thin enough to make a nice narrow binding. Am hoping there is still some leftover herringbone somewhere to add another inch or two to the bottom bodice edge. Incremental progress is still progress...

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October SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	tiny Wishbone chair	wheels for 2nd RÅSKOG	greenwaste bin
2	laser cut trinket shelves	tidy living room	recycle bin
3	vortex bottles	files for tiny plant pot	recycle bin
4	2 wee Dala horses	-	greenwaste bin
5	miniature spider plant	-	recycle bin
6	tiny picture frames	x	x
7	mini rocking chair	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- managed to get out on my bike for a few errands when it was only damp and drizzly, not dumping rain.
- library had the book I put on hold waiting for me, full of tutorials for making faux houseplants from paper. While intended to make life size plants, I'm figuring that the designs and suggestions will be applicable to miniatures as well.
- a beautiful dichroic glass pendant with a triskele motif, as a thank you gift from Cynthia for coordinating the Advent Swap.

Time of Isolation - Day 2291