Sunday snippets

in which our plucky heroine tries to stay cool


My current obsession with carving blocks for fabric printing continues unabated. In between enameling on Friday, the pie block was completed. (the SCA badge for Blue Cedar House, whose motto is "Si moriturus es, morere plenus tortae" (if you are going to die, die full of pie)

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Just before the heat hit with a vengeance, I spent most of Friday finishing up the current enamel commission. Still need to create the setting for it, but unlike enameling, that does not require standing in front of a 1500F kiln all day.

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Thora from Blue Cedar House came down this weekend, and since it is much too hot, and the lawn is dead until the rains come again, we chose some different activities for her to help with, instead of lawn and yard work... on Saturday, we spent a good chunk of the day running various errands, including seeking fabric for trimming the next set of SCA clothing...Thora and I went fabric shopping yesterday. Started by heading over to Fabric Depot first, as we had a list of potential things needed....

Alas, I had not heard of the difficulties the store was having, and the current changes they are in the middle of! It was like we had shifted to a different reality. The store was had none of the items on our list, was missing most of what I formerly went there to purchase, and the amount of fabric in the store was so much less than in previous visits that it felt hollow. Every department had been moved around, some were only a few bolts on one shelf, some were missing entirely. Granted, I didn't go there that often because two hours on the bus each way, but now... I am sad to say that I probably won't go back at all, since that is a long way to go and not find anything needful, or fascinating enough to purchase unexpectedly. YMMV. I will still be shopping at my other local, if smaller, fabric shops, such as Bolt...

Thora and I did an impressive amount of declutter and tidying today, both in the workroom and with the fabric stash. We found the missing nylon tweezers, still looking for the missing fiberglass brush(es)... Both the large worktable and the standing workbench are cleared off and all from there put away orderly. All the fabric shelves now have neat stacks of fabric. The folding worktable that was the bane of the bedroom has been cleared off, folded, and put away, and all its former contents are away where they belong. And, five bags of stuff left for Goodwill, not including the recycling that also went away.

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starting to make a base for Blue Cedar House's camp kitchen, to raise it off the ground when in use, so it will be easier to open the doors.. We noticed at ATWW that something that served this function would really improve the eventing kitchen. I am not a carpenter, and certainly not a cabinetmaker, but I aim for at least a little bit above being a woodbutcher... Actually this project was more about the engineer mindset, in that rather than being overbuilt, it hopefully used just enough materials to do the task, thereby saving both transport weight, and my own hand tool effort, since I cut all the pieces from salvaged lumber using a japanese pull saw and a miter box.

The completed camp kitchen base... yes, I realise that I basically created a customised small pallet! The base is sized with the center just about a quarter inch larger in length and width than the camp kitchen, so that the actual camp kitchen will easily fit into the central space. The "screen molding" edges are just tall enough to locate the camp kitchen and prevent it from sliding off the base when in use, but not tall enough to interfere with opening the doors. Thora was pleased, and I am eager to hear how it works on their next camping trip!

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	wool apron dress	planted tarragon	yard waste bin
2	large border block	LED light shield	venetian blind
3	Thora mousie block	harvested garlic	bag to Goodwill
4	interstitial block	garlic braided	paper recycling
5	pie block	soapdish	bag to Goodwill
6	mini pallet	x	bag to Goodwill
7	3M enamel	x	bag to Goodwill
8	x	x	bag to Goodwill
9	x	x	bag to Goodwill
10	x	x	canning jars
11	x	x	old magazines
12	x	x	-
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x