Wednesday whinge and whatnots

in which our plucky heroine spends way too much time waiting on line

With one of the two regalia orders completed, I decided to put that one in the post today... after all, how bad could it be? Well, the answer to that was pretty bad, the line at the post office was out the door.

Earlier, I had gone to the local copy store, that handles USPS, UPS, and FedEx, and was not busy at all. But... it turns out that they don't accept the fixed rate mailer boxes, which are "proprietary" and can only be mailed from a real post office. Dang. That meant another bike ride about as far past Acorn Cottage but in the opposite direction. And then a Very Long wait with far too many people much too close to me.

I knew better, but I also needed to get the package mailed out in a timely way. Sigh. In the future, I will do better.

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~ Advent Swap day 20 ~

today's gift was a box of pins, the good ones with glass heads. These will be a useful addition to my sewing notions...

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I was getting ready to build the setting for the Pelican enamel, when on closer examination, I saw both some flaws in the white enamel, and that I had somehow forgotten to add color to the pelican's eyes! It took only a bit of work to use one of the diamond grit tools to grind away the dark dots in the wing feathers, and a bit more time to wash some black enamel and add it to the eye sockets.

Once the kiln came up to temperature, another go round in the heat and now the enamel is ready to have a setting built. That will be a task for tomorrow, as it is much too late in the evening for me to want to play with sharp objects and fire.

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Ursel suggested we get together tomorrow, as she has the day off from work. I suggested Lan Su Chinese Garden, since it is a combination of outdoors but sheltered walkways, and beautiful in whatever season you visit. We may also walk across part of downtown to the area where there are some Japanese shops with beautiful things for sale, probably only to window shop a bit. There may also be a stop at one of the remaining food cart pods, (if we are rambling long enough to get hungry we can get outdoor food and find a safe place to eat outside away from people)

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December SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	7 jars quince	kitchen plumbing	old plumbing
2	dried pears	heat pump installed	old furnace
3	dried persimmons	return vent vanes	high pitched whine
4	linen gauze privacy curtains	bedroom register	-
5	tiny peach charm	bike flat tire	-
6	1-wire Laurel setting	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. Today another Amazon surprise present arrived on my doorstep, from my friend Leslie. This one had a gift tag, so I know who it was from, and I will open it tomorrow on my happy birthday!!
2. Pelican enamel re-fired... now has proper eyes not Little Orphan Annie blank sockets. I am glad I noticed it before building the setting!
3. Tomorrow I have plans to spend time with my pal Ursel, doing some outdoor stuff downtown. It will be a bit of an adventure, but hopefully a benign one. 

Time of Isolation - Day 1266