enclosure - day 18 (year 2)

in which our plucky heroine gets some yard work done...

I really need to get back to my plan for creating some leather work gloves for myself. I made the pattern, I have several types of suitable leather. My poor paws are both scratched and bleeding from tree twigs, and rough and dry from repeated handwashings. Hindsight is 20/20.

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kitchen art wall... The DIY wooden brackets for the vintage Couroc that also allow it to be easily removed, have finally been installed. I found the tray at a yard sale years ago, and love the iconic San Francisco motifs (Fisherman's Wharf, Coit Tower, cable car, etc...) Now I can enjoy seeing it every day. Was quite a design challenge to figure out how to attach it to the wall.

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this sort of protection is a necessity for any tender food plants or seedlings. I found a parsley plant growing amongst a big patch of chickweed, when starting to refurbish the salad table, and decided to repot it into a bigger and deeper planter... in the 24 hours between my doing that and this afternoon, a good chunk of the new potting soil was on the porch floor. So, my yardwork task of the day was to wrassle with some of the wire mesh to create a temporary squirrel-proof cloche.

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There was an attempt made at stuffed baked pork chops. While techincally edible, it was not a success. I suspect that the difference between tender succulence and dry-as-dust is only a few degrees of heat or minutes of time. I don't usually cook pork chops. While the flavor of the dried fruit/port wine/pecan stuffing was a great compliment to the meat, the meat itself was sadly overcooked, fibrous, and bland. I'd have done better to simply slice the chops into thin stir fry bits and made a sauce with the filling.

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The other thing that got done this afternoon was about an hour and a half of pruning/cleaning up the Japanese maple tree next to the front porch. I was about a week late to the task, as it has begun to show signs of spring growth - buds and even a few unfurling leaves. It helps my aesthetic sense to clear away all the twigs and branches that died over the winter, and some minimal pruning, to remove any branches that are starting to cross over one another and rub, or some that are drooping so low as to interfere with mowing...

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March SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Kestrel kuspuk	darned Totoro gloves	recycle bin
2	6 jars orange marmalade	power bar kitchen	random books
3	5 jars applesauce	power bar workshop	recycle bin
4	horseradish	long power bar computer	extra apples
5	charter #1	rain capelet binding	yard waste bin
6	Black Ice cardigan	new mask elastics	-
7	charter #2	new mask nosewires	-
8	6 jars sumo marmalade	alter An Tir knit top	-
9	rainbow baby cardigan	wall mount Couroc tray	x
10	rainbow baby hat	refurbish apron straps	x
11	rainbow baby booties	prune Japanese maple	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitude -
I know when to stop (sometimes)... both pruning, and dealing with wire mesh, and yard work in general, tend to break me. I think I stopped soon enough today that I am only tired. Also, this pocket saw is really a champ, folds safely, not to heavy or large for my pockets, and does exactly what it is described as in the catalog... would recommend 10/10