monday music and miscellany

in which our plucky heroine continues catching up, bit by bit...

Each day I've been trying to get at least some housey tasks done, trying to get progress on some of the long delayed commission work, and trying to make a modicum of progress on some of the creative projects that will bring pleasure to my friends and family. It feels like all I do is whinge, to no particular result.

We are all in this situation together. Some of my friends have begun behaving as though the plague is over, returning to former social behaviours. I wonder how many people during the real plague did so. Of course, though this is a pandemic, it isn't quite the same. A different disease, and we do have vaccines.

I just don't feel okay with going to indoor gatherings, with being physically adjacent to people even if everyone is masked. My friends in Seattle are going to send me a new kind of respirator mask, with replaceable filters, that promises a better fit than the duckbill N95s, which should make things like going to stores and riding transit much less fraught.

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~ creativity challenge ~

I really like this English style of half-timbering, and am gradually collecting exemplar photos, as my plan is to begin assembling the dollhouse after New Years, and rather than follow the suggested instructions slavishly for the cottage, I will instead follow my own tune and make some stylistic changes to customise it to my own tastes...

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I realised today that I needed to renew my drivers license, which expires later this month. Since I no longer have a car, I only think about it when I need to show that sort of ID, and I somehow forgot to put that on my to do list for the month... Fortunately, it is apparently possible to simply do the whole process online, without having to set foot in a DMV office, and if all goes according to plan, a new card will "magically" appear here at Acorn Cottage.

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All the assorted winter holidays are galloping towards us at a rapid pace... and while there won't be a lot of festivities here at Acorn Cottage it probably isn't too soon to start enjoying some traditional music:

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Some of what I've done lately: made liquid cooked starch from kitchen cornstarch (1 part cornstarch, 2 parts cold water, and 4 parts hot water, cook till clear), and used it to starch silk, made the now stable (and cardboard-y) silk into bias binding, used the bias to edge-bind the silk top for Debs project. She has two more garments for me to make for her project, a plain wool pique top (self bound) and a naturally dyed jersey pair of pants.

I also cut out and polished the bronze Minoan horns for Tamras project.  So far a good start to the week. Next up is the very last bits for the pockets project, and graphics for Dad's birthday. After that, I really want to make up a toile for the raincoat project, though I've no idea what to use for trial fabric. I'll just have to pick something not too flimsy, that I don't mind if it doesn't turn out a "wearable muslin"

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December SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	carpenter pockets	pruned Japanese maple	yard waste bin
2	3 jars spiced pears	pruned persimmon tree	recycle bin
3	some candied peel	reset back door latch	-
4	more mini papel picado	AC removed for winter	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	-
7	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 - Tamra brought me Saint Lucia saffron buns today!