Monday miscellany

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

The sneezy congestion of the last few days seems to be dissipating. Perhaps a reaction to something that today's rain is washing away? The dire Covid virus (or even a cold) would last longer than two days. Going to attempt some better sleep hygiene going forward, and a return to even a small amount of outdoor light first thing, even if it is raining. 

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~ a helpful message ~

sometimes the universe speaks clearly...

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Finished adding in the foam insulation to the heat pump air handler pipes. It does seem odd that the original pipe insulation separated enough to leave some obvious gaps. Fortunately it was easy to cut down some standard black insulation to fit, and once taped in place it looks the same, and allowed me to avoid scheduling a service visit.

The other housey task tackled today was clearing off the large worktable. There are quite a few Advent Swap packages filling up the chairs in the living room, that need to be moved to the other room in preparation for the grand sorting and reconfiguring. 

Realised once the table was cleared off that it was also the perfect opportunity to mark out, cut, and stitch some of the silver tarp to use as a gap filler between the walkway roof and the porch roof. Have been meaning to do that for many years now. It will use up most of my large grommets, so will have to call Oregon Leather and find out if they still carry replacement sets.

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Sadly, the little house spider that has been in residence behind the bathroom night light seems to have disappeared. Every now and then one decides to make a home in the sink environs. A few years previously there was one living inside the overflow opening in the sink itself. From time to time I would see them peering out into the world of the giant humans. As long as they do not show up inside the shower or on the shower curtain they can stay, my tolerance does have a limit! In the tub, on the curtains, or on the ceiling results in a quick trip to the outside world, and they can take their chances...

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November SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	mini sanding blocks	pruning persimmon	greenwaste bin
2	7 tiny drawers	pipe insulation	recycle bin
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- the wind chime on the front porch continues to delight me
- medical tests from a week ago came back NED. Whew!
- Gersvinda stopped by today after her trip to Corvallis with a box of Squashmas goodies, and Acantha's treats for the Advent Swap.
- bike tire repair yesterday was a "while you wait" and it only needed a new tube. (The piece of glass removed was about the size of my pinky fingernail, so the cause of the flat tire was obvious)

Time of Isolation - Day 2305

rather a lot of walking

in which our plucky heroine is very tired...

Started out the day intending to go to NW PDX on an excursion to Williams Sonoma, that being the only local store where the OXO food mill could be acquired. I'd hoped for one of the local hardware stores  Why a food mill, one may wonder? Well there are these 30+ pounds of quinces that need dealt with, and some of the recipes require turning cooked quince into puree. Rather than waiting for the bus transfer, since the bus shelter was full of some rather intimidating and smoke-infested rowdy men, I decided to simply walk the seven blocks uphill. And then with food mill in hand walked back down the hill towards where transit homeward could be found. This being a reasonable if intensive amount of steps for the day. I expected to spend the rest of the day running errands on my bike, and doing various housey chores...

However, this was not to be the case. After a stop at the hardware store for duct tape to finish the pipe insulation project, and a quick stop at Groc-Out, I ended up at New Seasons wanting some organic raisins... Mysteriously, the bike tire that had served me well up until then had gone completely flat in the interim. So there were two extra miles of walking (for a total of almost 13K steps and almost five miles.) That much walking in my dreadful garden clogs was not at all good for my Very Cranky left foot. Fortunately it wasn't raining until much later tonight. Unfortunately the bike tire cannot be reinflated with my air pump; so will have to take it to a shop.

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Have completed all two dozen miniature monstera leaves. It will be interesting to make additional pieces needed to turn them into (probably two) miniature large scale house plants. Am really wanting a room box for Kenya, as her various furnishings and accessories are taking over the computer zone and the dining table. Though, I could might need to box up everything currently in Caer Cardboard and turn that into her house instead of the art gallery. Hmmmm

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November SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	mini sanding blocks	pruning persimmon	greenwaste bin
2	7 tiny drawers	pipe insulation	recycle bin
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- kasha (buckwheat groats) are a good and gluten-free substitute for bulgar wheat, the texture is excellent
- binder clips for closing food storage bags
- OXO very nicely used paper pulp (think egg carton) rather than styrofoam inside their packaging to support the various pieces of their food mill. Color me impressed.
- walked almost 13K steps today

Time of Isolation - Day 2303

Friday fragments

in which our plucky heroine mostly stays home ...

I did manage to get over to the art store this morning before it began raining, but the dark sky towards the west made further errands less than appealing. Instead, it was a day for assorted housey chores. Mt Dishmore has almost been conquored and tomorrow will likely see the summit, just in time for a new round of preserving! There are still some apples, and the mounds of quinces will not wait forever. I did want to get the kitchen back to square zero first. Besides, nothing is quite as nice as filling the house with the sweet spicy scent of autumnal cooking.

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~ leafy times two ~

I wish I was more adept at plant identification. Back when the internet was a library, there were more useful online tools, but now that it is a store, doing such research is a greater challenge. And I do know that the oak family is a fairly large one. Still, isn't this a pretty leaf? 

There are other leaves that are a tinyworld work-in-progress,; the "large monstera houseplant" components are gradually coming together. Last month I was able to use the Cricut machin at the PCC makerspace to cut many leaf blanks from a piece of green Canson MiTiens paper, probably enough to make at least two plants... This week I painted the leaves, and am now adding wire stems covered with floral tape. "Handmade Houseplants"* suggests using foam as a core for the central vine the leaves sprout from.

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This recipe mostly uses things I have on hand, and sounds like it would be delicious. I picked up a lime while out shopping, so as to be able to try it out this weekend...

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The weather yesterday was a lovely autumnal day, hence the colorful oak leaf photo, and since it was clear skies it was a good time to head to the post office and pick up a good quantity of small flat rate shipping boxes, so as to be prepared to mail out the Advent of A Better Year Swap packages two weeks from now...

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Spent some time today cutting away the extraneous duct tape to make room to fill in the foam pipe insulation where the original had shrunk away leaving gaps. Glad there are a few random lengths in the emporium, and am pretty sure there is some matching white duct tape leftover from the Corsi-Rosenthal box project (I plan on saving the trimmed bits of new foam as it will be variously useful in the tinyworld makerie...

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November SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	mini sanding blocks	pruning persimmon	greenwaste bin
2	7 tiny drawers	pipe insulation	recycle bin
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- I rarely eat pizza, because citric acid (used in tomato sauce) and I are not friends. Yesterday, the local New Seasons had one of the most unusual offering I've ever seen there: white cheese pizza with chanterelle mushrooms and caramelised shallots. It was amazing!
- more progress on Mt Dishmore, enough that the small folding table can now be used for air drying the many Talenti tubs that have been patiently waiting their turn.
- scraps from fitting the pipe insulation are just right to become a core for my miniature monstera plant vine. I had been wondering where to get small pieces of foam, and the answer was right there!

Time of Isolation - Day 2302

*I've been using this book as additional inspiration, just scaling down their suggestions from life size to miniature. There are also several video tutorials on making tiny plants, though many require either polymer clay or UV resin, some still suggest things like tape, cardboard, and paint.