Saturday snippets

in which our plucky heroines air has gone from bad to worse...

Fire continues to ravage the PNW, with over a million acres burned, local AQI 376, ramping up to 466 so far today... what can I say? The very air outside appears jaundiced, the sky a dark yellow grey at midday, and I am grateful I had not yet given in to my dream of having hens again. 

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~ 100 day creativity challenge - day 52 ~

Nandina will have to model her winter coat indoors, standing under one of the few garden plants (tree collards) I brought inside before closing the doors to the outside; initially to protect them from squirrels, and now very glad I did, as the new transplants would surely have died from neglect without hand watering. Someday, it will not be September, someday Oregon will not be on fire, someday I can open the doors to the front porch and the back yard again... but for now, as it remains too dangerous for human lungs to even set foot outside, creating new miniature delights is a good distraction.

I already had the little hat, made from an Ann Wood free pattern, and thought a coordinating coat would be good. I used some finely woven felted wool for the body of the coat, some scraps of blockprinted rayon seam binding for the cuffs, and overcast all the edges with embroidery floss. Decided to not line the coat, as the fabric was not prone to fraying, and it would hang better (be less stiff) without a lining. Originally was going to add more embroidery, but I liked how it looked with just the edging, and instead, decided to add pockets. Tiny functioning pockets, should Nandina want to put something in them...

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before the smoke rolled in, I managed to pick about 28# of plums, which now need to have something done with before they all become overripe and moldy. Mostly they get cut in half, frozen on trays, then stored in freezer bags to be used over the rest of the year. This year I am trying a new experiment: cutting some into eighths and running them through the food dehydrator, in the hope of ending up with faux raisins. Last year I tried drying halves, and it was not a success, but perhaps smaller pieces will take less time to dry. We shall see...

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September SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Gwen sunhat	removed oven door	old underwindow
2	dozen EQUITY prints	clean one bedroom screen	dead cold-packs
3	tiny deer hat	clean studio screens	yard waste bin
4	Gwen knit cardigan	10# plums processed	recycle bin
5	Nandina coat	felt cover for exhaust fan	favorite saucepan
6	x	x	oven door glass
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitude - Counting my blessings that I have internet, and have a way to connect to it, to my friends, and to the wider world outside the confines of Acorn Cottage... One example: earlier this month I had posted on FB about the tripling in price of canning supplies, in the few places they were even available, and how much I regretted not stocking up on lids back in March, when I did the massive shopping before going into isolation. In Friday's mailbox, a package arrived with a box of a dozen lids, courtesy of my northern pal Countess E, from her farmstead to my little urban cottage!! Cheered me up no end, it did.