elderberry efforts

in which our plucky heroine agrees with William Morris...

The black elderberry planted in the parking strip is both beautiful and useful. The white flowers and dark foliage look wonderful in the springtime, and the cooked juice of the berries are known to be a good and tasty support for human immune systems.

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~ homegrown immune tonic ~

The five tubs of black elderberry cooked yesterday, then drained their juices into a pot overnight. Today they were cooked again with added sugar and lemon juice in a waterbath safe recipe. Since I want to make syrup, I left out the pectin which is only there to turn the juice into jelly and has no effect on the safety issues...

and oops, I just now at midnight Wednesday finished putting up a dozen + small jars of elderberry syrup, all sealed for shelf storage, and only then realised I had miscalculated the amount of lemon juice added by almost half. Bah! I now need to open all the jars, dump the contents back into an open pan, add the additional lemon juice, and re-process all of them with fresh lids. Annoying to deal with, but food safety is not negotiable. As exhaustion has set in, my plan is to tackle this first thing in the morning, since two different extension service websites say that re-canning (with fresh lids) within 24 hours is okay.

11am on Thursday, and the re-canning is in process.  Lesson learned: do not do projects that require calculation after 10pm. (not sewing, not cutting out fabric, and now, apparently, not preserving) 

 
(elderflowers in the springtime)
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The additional rayon batik fabric to complete the summer popover dress has arrived and looks great. I am very impressed that the shop snipped and tore the yardage instead of just whacking away with shears, so I get the full amount I paid for and don't lose inches in straightening the grain! It will be a fairly quick task to make strips of the new fabric and extend the length of the dress to a better length, and if all goes well I will be able to have it finished in time for our Sewing Nomads meeting on Saturday morning...

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Rode my bike to the launderette early this morning to preshrink the rayon fabric in the electric dryer, and since I was halfway to the big grocery, continued on there to pick up some more of the small size canning jar lids. The kindly cashier gave me the "3 for the price of 2" discount even though I don't have a loyalty card for that shop!

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September SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	8 sm jars plum sauce	plums in freezer	greenwaste bin
2	3D print Dala hrse	extension cords coiled	recycle bin
3	3D print plant stands	wind chime suspension	recycle bin
4	3 pr dolly boots	more plums frozen	greenwaste bin
5	12+ jars elderberry syrup	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -  
- Past Me thoughtfully planted black elder
- fabric to finish batik dress arrived early, and looks suitable.
- was able to buy a few more boxes of small canning lids
- a dozen small jars of elderberry immune support syrup

Time of Isolation - Day 2253 

proportions for elderberry syrup:

650 grams elderberry juice (about 3 cups)
130 grams bottled lemon juice
1,100 grams sugar

¼" headspace, process 10 minutes

Tuesday tidbits

in which our plucky heroine is feeling marginally better...

being finally past the various side effects of my shingles vaccine, and thereby also with less sleep debt... Also this morning while looking in the mirror realised that although there are lines on my face, they are pretty much all lines of smiling. Much better than the alternative.

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~ makerspace miscellany ~

On Monday there was an introduction to the Glowforge (laser cutter) workshop at the library. The "beginner" project suggested was to make a keychain, but instead this aide-mémoire for the 3M abrasive bristle wheels was my choice. With this next to the workbench, it will be easy to pick the correct color, and not require tracking down some random scrap of paper which was my former strategy. Not entirely sure what all else I might want to laser cut (other than it would be a great way to make a set of tablet weaving cards, if there is ¹⁄₁₆ plywood) but it is worth further thought.

This afternoon, remembering the earlier suggestion that there are sometimes no-show spaces, and since my usual Tuesday afternoon social time was cancelled, I headed over to the library again, in the hope of getting more time on the Bambu 3D printer. In luck, was able to start learning to print out the miniature RÅSKOG cart. It is a challenge in part since all the interfaces are Apple rather than Android, but perseverence is a given. My overarching goal is to learn enough to remember how to do the steps necessary to print. 

The first attempt to print out RÅSKOG failed, through no fault of mine... the parts at 1:12 scale are so small that they were not sticking to the base plate and ended up in various spots around the interior of the printer. Fortunately I noticed that most of the pieces were not there after only about 15 minutes, so we could stop the job and start over with some changes to help the bits stay attached. There was not enough time to print the entire set though, so that will have to wait until a different future workshop.※※※

Experimental cookery - shrimp rice paper waffle bites... had read somewhere online about this idea, but rather than spend much effort looking it up, decided to wing it. chopped up half a dozen frozen shrimp with a bit of seasoning (powdered ginger, garlic granules, sesame oil, and tamari) Heated up the tiny waffle iron. Moistened a rice paper disc, added half the shrimp, and enfolded it into a small rectangle. Added a second layer of rice paper and popped into the waffle maker. Took a bit, but it gradually cooked and partially crisped. Did it again and had a very yummy snack! and well worth repeating in the future

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Well dang, trade issues mean it is no longer feasible for me to re-order my longtime of many years favorite planning calendar pages from the Etsy seller (who happens to be located in Germany). Not their fault that the shipping+tariff cost has skyrocketed to over 60 USD since my previous purchase. Guess I shall have to DIY my own option, since there is nothing at all similar domestically available. Sigh and Grrrr... I hate this timeline.

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Last night Mischa helped figure out the difficulty I'd been having with the layout of my new Discord server... Turns out it is possible to edit "categories", which was the largest missing piece in my conundrum. Now need to decide how to arrange the space, what to call the various sections, and where to put the sub-groups I already know will be helpful.

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September SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	8 sm jars plum sauce	plums in freezer	greenwaste bin
2	3D print Dala hrse	extension cords coiled	recycle bin
3	3D print plant stands	wind chime suspension	recycle bin
4	3 pr dolly boots	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- Mischa helped answer my Discord server setup questions
- there was space in the 3D printer workshop today
- complimentary words from the person who received the medallion I made earlier this month
- managed to get the 5 Talenti tubs of elderberries out of freezer, simmered on the stove for a suitable length of time, and they are now hanging up above the sink in a cheesecloth bag dripping into a large bowl overnight. All part of the plan to turn freezer contents into shelf stable stuff, so as to make room for more plums

Time of Isolation - Day 2251

Friday fragments

in which our plucky heroine is sore and sleepy...

Am still feeling wiped out after my first round shingles vaccine yesterday morning, slept poorly and still achy today... did all my usual pre- and post-vaccine actions (plenty of water, gentle movement, range of motion on vaccinated arm) but instead of my usual barely noticing it, my arm became more and more painful as yesterday progressed. The actual injection was also much more painful than usual too. Still tis better than having shingles, and worth it for also lowering chances of dementia... 

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~ boots in boxes ~

The finished three pairs of felt dolly boots are now packed into boot boxes made from grocery sack paper and folded with my standard masu box origami. It is quite fortuitous that the size happens to be just right for this project. I'll be making additional pairs of boots for my four tinyfolk, have already made a brown pair and have cut out a blue pair...

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All the bits ordered online for refurbishing the shower here have already arrived from the Showerhead Shop in two days! Impressed with both the speed of shipping and with the apparent quality of the pieces. Each piece is packed in drawstring or bubblewrap bags, and comes with plumbers tape and instructions for installation. Once back to my usual functionality will attempt taking existant shower setup apart and installing the new improved fixtures.

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Have made much progress on the batik summer dress. All the pieces have been attached together, the neckline bound, and the sleeves hemmed. Only glitch was that when the hemline was leveled, the whole dress is dang short, being just at knee height rather than my preferred calf length. There is no more suitable batik fabric here, so had to go hunting online to find something to add length.

The batik shop rayon is all out of both the original color and motif, and the alternate one I added later (after it was obvious the garment had gone awry). This dress is very much an example of getting caught up in sunk cost, all because of being so terribly fond of the first choice batik rayon colorway and motifs.  

Ordered some different rayon batik at a different online shop that should work for a 3" hemline extension band.  It is lighter and a bit more green than the teal/turquoise/taupe of my original fabric, but I figured that using rayon (to maintain the drape) rather than quilting cotton (to maintain the colorway) was a better option going forward. 

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I've attempted to set up a Discord server, so I can use that for Advent Swap and other creative connecting with folks. I still haven't figured out how to set up the various internal divisions, and will have to ask for help on that, once I feel better. Today is rather a bit of a nothing happening other than time to rest and not do anything that requires mental or physical exertion. Easy stuff like washing dishes or folding laundry is okay though...

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September SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	8 small jars plum sauce	plums in freezer	greenwaste bin
2	printed 3D plant stands	heavy extension cords properly coiled	recycle bin
3	printed tiny Dala horse	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- shower fixtures from Hammerhead appear excellent
- plums, plums, and more plums
- online shopping

Time of Isolation - Day 2247