Sunday satisfaction

in which our plucky heroine has a day of chores, online visiting and a tiny adventure...

Aside from making a start on the ever replenished Mt Dishmore and Mt Washmore, choosing to spend time indulging in creativity, and my always grateful for Sunday video visiting, there was a early morning transit trip to a new location: "Travel Portland" as they were one of the few locations mentioned online as having actual paper map pamphlets available for the Follow The Crows art installaion. Don't know if I will collect the whole set, as it were, but it will be fun to see all the various artist painted iterations...

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~ day 5 of 7in7 earring challenge ~

Dried painted poppy pods, stacked atop a small turquoise donut bead and a vintage whiteheart. (Oops, looking closely at the photo there are spots that need a bit more paint) They are really lightweight for their size. My inspiration was this 2022 photo by Johanna from Finland of poppy pods made into 1:12  scale "pottery"...

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None of us live forever... goodbye to John Crowley, writer par excellence... (may the four winds blow you safely home...)

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I've been trying and trying to find some interesting way to use the small bright red dyed coral cube beads that came to me as part of the previous advent swap, but keep finding their angular "cubeness" difficult. Tonight, Vesta's comment during craft-n-chat about lobster claw clasps immediately caused me to jump to using these beads to make decorative stitch markers for my textile art friends. 

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August SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	2 Talenti shelves	Talenti shelf up	greenwaste bin
2	acorncap earrings	2nd pot lid rack	recycle bin
3	teaspoon earrings	-	-
4	glass button earrings	-	-
5	poppy pod earrings	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- venturing downtown to get a hardcopy pamphlet/map for Follow the Crows
- air clean enough to dry laundry outside on the line
- the clothespins Acantha gave me are so good
- walked almost three miles today
- listening to Eva read "The Cat That Walked By Himself" 

Time of Isolation - Day 2217

Saturday snippets

in which our plucky heroine enjoys blue sky...

This morning the AQI numbers were good, and it was possible to see all the way across the river to the west hills. An early morning bike ride before breakfast was an unmasked treat. It is still very hot here, but better less smoke-filled air is a huge improvement!

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~ so kawaii ~

Tiny (1¼" x 2") foxes woven from beads and wire.  One is for my pal Mindy, and I think the other needs to live with Almandine...

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Any time Past Me cooks enough for several meals, Future Me wins. There are corn pancakes in the freezer, and several different soups. Dinner is easy. Later tonight I am going to poach the chicken thighs from the fridge, and make some of Hutch's Amazing Peanut Sauce to go with, and try using the frozen cilantro as a test. Cold chicken salad is another excellent summertime meal

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~ day 4 of 7in7 earring challenge ~

Some vintage glass buttons from my button basket seemed to need to be combined with the tiny pressed glass acorn bead drops. Simple, but effective and very wearable... So much fun rummaging through assorted bins, boxes and baskets full of many years accumulation of trinkets and treasures to find inspiration for more earrings.

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While at the Fred Meyers store to refill my transit pass, I checked out their paint/housey repair section... Not only did they have Rustoleum spray paint, but perzactly one left in stock of the dark bronze color wanted. And it was on sale at 35% off! My lucky day!!

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August SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	2 Talenti shelves	Talenti shelf up	greenwaste bin
2	acorncap earrings	2nd pot lid rack	recycle bin
3	teaspoon earrings	-	-
4	glass button earrings	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- acquired Rustoleum for mailbox renewal
- AQI is vastly less dreadful, currently at 31 (Fair) as opposed to almost 200 (Unhealthy, verging on Very Unhealthy)
- enjoying playtime created by 7in7 earring challenge

Time of Isolation - Day 2216

Friday fragments

in which our plucky heroine finds a new temporary obsession...

Yesterday was the second day of the 7in7 earring challenge, (which I just discovered late Wednesday night...) Lately I've been playing with found materials and recombinant parts of some of my older pieces anyway, so am using this challenge as a springboard to additional random creativity. When I saw these unusual acorn caps while out walking I had an idea for woodland themed earrings, added some cast and enamel mushroom charms Bill and I collaborated on decades ago and these will be just right for autumn.

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Today is day 3 of the 7in7 earring challenge... This single small silver-plate teaspoon has been languishing in my tableware drawer for over three decades, and now has a new destiny as a pair of earrings. The bas-relief of oranges has always charmed me.. The spoon was thicker than I realised, so a bit difficult to saw through, but once cut into pieces each earring blank weighed only about 3 grams, so not too heavy for comfort.Some small silvery baroque freshwater pearls turned out to be good accents to add additional movement and catch the light.

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~ found beauty ~

Blue lacecap hydrangea, seen halfway down the back parking lot stairs at Providence hospital. On my way back to the bus stop early yesterday morning, after my annual skin checkup, these blue flowers were very eyecatching. Awake at 5am in order to coordinate transit,  tired but spirit now good since my exam was all clear and the odd spot on my hand is a solar lentigo and not something dire...

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The diseased leaves on my pear trees are caused by "rust" fungus which is alternately hosted on junipers, of which there are many around the neighborhood including the far side of my own driveway (mostly in the corner neighbor's front yard). Dang! My bigger Bosc tree has some damage, the baby Seckel pear is badly hit, and the baby Shipova seems untouched. There don't seem to be any good non-chemical way to control it, and I doubt that neighbors would be keen on my removing a chunk of their landscaping...

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August SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	2 Talenti shelves	Talenti shelf up	greenwaste bin
2	acorncap earrings	2nd pot lid rack	recycle bin
3	teaspoon earrings	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- spot on hand is solar lentigo and not melanoma. Whew!
- neighbors moved their car, managed to harvest more elderberries
- chopped up cilantro stems and a bit of yellow onion diced make a decent substitute for green onions in Sister Gigi's Corn Pancakes.
- in the kale/bulgar/feta salad kasha makes a great substitute for bulgar in terms of texture (and of course adds tasty kasha flavor)

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Sister Gigi's Sweet Corn Cakes

4 ears sweet corn (or 2 c frozen) ½ c cornmeal or masa ½ c flour 1 t salt 1 t sugar ½ t baking powder ¼ t cayenne 1 large egg ¾ c buttermilk 3 T butter, melted and cooled 2 green onions, chopped small

If using fresh corn, cut the kernels from cobs, (you should have about 2 c) Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl, combine all wet ingredients in a bowl, mix together and add the corn and the green onions. Let rest in the refrigerator for at least a half hour or more (cornmeal will hydrate, texture will be nicer; if you use masa, might need more liquid than called for) Fry like pancakes 'till both sides are golden. serve with green salsa and sour cream

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Time of Isolation - Day 2215