Friday fragments

in which our plucky heroine mulls over many things...

... mostly having to do with the passage of time, and how it varies. So slowly in our springtime years, and like a whirlwind in late autumn shading into winter. I've read that the early slowness is connected to the experience of novelty, when everything is new and uncategorised, and as we age, and develop patterns to connect and file what we sense, that it takes less of our attention, so seems to take less time.

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~ Day 20 ~

a colorful magnet... one of those things one can almost never have too many of, at least if, like me, you have vintage steel kitchen cabinents, and steel house doors... whole vast swathes of bulletin boards

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~ a singular experiment ~
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I saw a tutorial online (edited to add: and then found a better one here, days later) of making a beautiful woven star from willow withies. Not having any willow handy, it seemed possible, at least, to scale it down and weave the same pattern using pine needles instead, to create miniature decorative stars for the denizens of the tinyworld... it was harder than it looked, which I lay directly at the feet of the materials. Pine needles, even when soaked overnight, are just not as limber as willow.

That said, the results were fairly pleasing. I clamped the parts together while weaving, using tiny clothespins, and let the stars fully dry before lashing, gluing, and trimming the points. Some fancy colored twine added a festive accent. I'll probably not make many more of these, at least not with pine needles, as it was not a good match between material and technique, they kept trying to break instead of bend. There may be some other more amenable very small foraged stuff to try?

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Still trying to find suitable key cap parts to repair the wireless keyboard. The first place I tried, laptopkey.com, after three days of back and forth communication and multiple photos, and despite having "over 200,000 modals in stock" finally told me they couldn't help me. Then, today, further searching sent me to Ebay, where apparently there are folks that have what appear to be "parts" keyboards, and will happily sell you bits and bobs. I will continue the hunt...

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December SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	rainbow cowl tassels	more clothesline	recycle bin
2	85 origami squares	cardboard down	random book parts
3	heraldic potholders	set up paperwhites	recycle bin
4	pine needle stars	grey linen pinafore	yard waste bin
5	-	bandanna hem	yard waste bin
6	x	x	recycle bin
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. I successfully halved Spinach Rice Bake, into a better size. I love it as a breakfast or lunch, but six portions is too many. I have been making it full size for decades; the original Sunset Magazine recipe probably dates from the late 60's.
2. Ebay may end up being a place to source a replacement key cap for the damaged Caps Lock
3. This salad dressing is so good, on greens, or even as a topping on rice...

Tahini Goddess Salad Dressing

⅓ c oil 2¾ T tahini 2½ T cider vinegar 2 t tamari 2¼ t lemon juice ¾ t salt 1 T minced parsley 1 T minced chives 1 minced clove garlic (or ¼ t garlic granules)

Mix together the tahini and the oil first, to allow the tahini to be smoothly incorporated. Then mix in all the other ingredients. You can add some water at the end, if the dressing is thicker than you prefer.

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Time of Isolation - Day 1619