biphasic sleep

in which our plucky heroine is slightly less tired...

Does it count as a full nights sleep if it is in two widely separated chunks? In the historical past,"two sleeps" was not uncommon. Recently my sleep/wake pattern has been dogged by insomnia, and yesterday exhaustion came over me around 5:30; to the point where going to bed was the only option. I fell asleep almost immediately, woke about five hours later with enough energy to deal with the kitchen and laundry chores left undone earlier, then returned to the Land of Nod. Woke up this morning a bit later than usual, after a memorable pleasant adventure dream about an SCA camping event, and felt more like getting out of bed than had in quite some time...

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~ all tools need a home ~

Somewhere online, I'd seen a cross body clothes pin bag, with the front having two large pocket openings like "teacher" pinafore pockets. My attempt to create something similar to the remembered concept turned out somewhat awkwardly constructed, though entirely functional, and using up assorted remnants is always satisfying. Then, after my first sleep of the evening last night, it occurred to me to look through my saved Instagram images, and there found my original inspiration: the cross body peg bag from Blue Cat Sewing! Her method of construction, kindly shared in a YouTube video, is eversomuch simpler than my kludgy efforts, and had my first attempt not turned out a useable creation, I would start completely over.

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Spent a bit of time yesterday planning the cream/teal/brown plaid flannel shirt, which will be a cozy addition to the wintertime wardrobe. There is plenty of fabric to lay the pieces out, so I will go ahead and use my favorite bias front pattern, which will have the plaid lines forming a vee in the front rather than horizontal bands. Rummaged about in the box of "pretty fabric" remnants and found a large-enough piece of what feels like Liberty Tana lawn printed with birds and flowers in similar colors, that will work well for the accent pieces (yoke lining, cuff linings, undercollar, and neckline bias). Sadly I've no memory where that remnant came from, perhaps a gift?

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I wish I had a way to get the current postman not to leave packages on the one part of the front porch that is always soaking wet when it rains. In the past, the postman would either leave the packages directly under the mailbox next to the house wall (away from the edge of the porch) OR even better, tuck them between the storm door and the front door, which kept them well protected. I tried leaving a note, but it didn't seem to make a difference.

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The faux stone floors of the tinyworld conservatory, and the stone facing on the fireplace in my advent calendar shadowbox are both made from flat sections of cardboard egg cartons, which are a useful craft material. When I saw these little owl ornaments, they seemed perfect for next year's Advent Swap, as well as a charming Halloween decoration for my tinyworld folks. 

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Now that the number at the bottom of my blog posts evoke the middle of the 20th century, it has been interesting to notice what memories are attached. Somewhere, there is a little girl sitting on the side of a hill behind her house. The sun is shining, and there is a piece of paper in her hands with the number 1961 written on it. Someone had explained to her that the numerals of that future year look the same rightside up as they do upside down and that aspect would not come again for centuries. It is mysterious.

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November SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	clothespin bag	-	-
2	-	-	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- Bartlett pears, so succulent and delicious
- demonology soup (avgolemono courtesy of autocarrot)   
- three more Advent Swap packages arrived today, and one contained three extra sets of 31 treats, so we can add even more people to the "bonus" list. It makes my heart happy how folks are being so generous!

Time of Isolation - Day 1959