Monday miscellany

in which our plucky heroine is amused...

Woke up this morning with a jumpscare mistaking the frayed slightly tickle-y bandaid on my forearm for an insect. Then had to laugh at myself, which all in all was not a bad way to start the day...

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~ finally finished ~

The batik dress, subject of many revisions on the way to becoming a pleasing wardrobe additions, is completed, and turned out quite different in various ways from my other, simpler, popover summer dresses. The original fabric is particularly lovely, and each of the changes have only improved the garment. The neckline is just right in width, and the embroidered canal boat roses are a fun decoration. Using many of my rayon scraps for a patchwork stripe down the center front is a thrifty accent.

I'll have to try and get a photo of the dress as worn, since the additional new batik fabric around the hem edge is a subtle focal point. There won't be many more summertime days this year, but popover dresses are also good layering garments. In my continuing effort to try or learn new things, since there wasn't enough extra fabric to edgebind the hem, it was time to try out the "blind hem" stitch on my trusty venerable Bernette. Considering that I bought the machine new back in the 80's, it is surprising that I'd not had reason to use that built-in stitch anytime in the last 40 years! It was, in fact, the perfect choice for the yards and yards of straight hemming...

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This may have been the last of the really warm summer days, not sure, and so it was a good choice to spray paint the front screen door frame. Another "give a mouse a cookie" project, since painting the frame made the surrounding molding and house paint look even more shabby, but I do prefer the screen door frame being dark bronze to scratched up white. Also makes me think that the house trim really needs to be dark almost-black, at least somewhat darker than the screen door. It will be curious to see what it will look like with the inner door painted turquoise, instead of the current dark purple.

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The last of the plums are in the freezer. Guessing at least 30 pounds, which will be part of many many happy breakfast bowls of museli. The next big harvest season project will be applesauce, using most of the Acantha apples, and what remains on my backyard tree. Yum!

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This week I'll get to play with the laser cutter at the library again. Not sure if the PNG file for a criss cross proportional algebra magnet will work, but worth trying. Since last week I realised that magnets can be attached next to the digital dashboard on the stove. If there is some red plexiglass, that would be perfect. Also made a PNG file of a trinket shelf, again not sure it would be too detailed to be cut, given the very small size of the compartments, but I did figure out how to create a crisp black and white geometric image in Photoshop. Use what you have, before diving into an entirely different program.

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September SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	8 sm jars plum sauce	plums in freezer	greenwaste bin
2	3D print Dala horse	extension cords coiled	recycle bin
3	3D print plant stands	wind chime suspension	recycle bin
4	3 pr dolly boots	more plums frozen	greenwaste bin
5	12+ jars elderberry syrup	new handheld shower	-
6	16 jars Awesome sauce	screen door painted	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- the hand carved tasting spoons, made by Seb
- enough box fans to push the paint smell back out of the house
- spray paint is fast, but the masking and taping to prep is not easy
- organised categories and channels in my Discord server

Time of Isolation - Day 2257

Saturday snippets

in which our plucky heroine has been keeping busy...

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~ not yet flatpack time ~

The most amusing project of the week so far is part of preparing for the miniature RÅSKOG cart, bit by bit. I've carefully downloaded all the pages of instructions from the Ikea website, then resized them down to scale, and printed them out. While the actual 3D printed parts are waiting on more time at the library, there has been this small zippered bag keychain over on Tansu Terrace... 

I've no memory of it arriving here ages ago, or who may have given it to me; it was much too large for 1:12 scale (almost as big as Nandina herself), but it was excellent raw material: a seam ripper and scissors and some rather awkward time wrestling it under the presser foot of the sewing machine turned it into a tinyworld version of the iconic blue bag. (One more trip to the actual Ikea store will have to happen, so I can photograph the labels on the full size RÅSKOG box, to label a cardboard box to contain the wee flat pack pieces.)

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Turned all the tomatoes in the freezer into a double batch of Awesome Sauce, which came out a bit darker and thinner than last year. In the future will make two single batches instead, as the consistency is better. Still, having 16 jars to put on the shelf feels reassuring. Some for me and some to share...

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It took several attempts over the last few days, but eventually was able to properly seal all the connecting joints in the new handheld shower pieces, and the only place the water exits is through the shower disc as appropriate.  Very spa-like compared to the former unit, and a satisfying DIY job, even if it is also a "give a mouse a cookie" sort of project. There are other tasks in the bathroom that need done, like (nonexistent) decorative molding around the sink. 

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My left foot (outside metatarsal) has been sore on and off for months. No idea why. rather worried. Last night it was really bad.

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Almost finished with the batik popover dress, using the machine hemming stitch to complete the folded hemline (usually I edgebind everything, but not this one). Have had that little Bernette since I was in college, and don't think I've ever used that stitch before. 

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September SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	8 sm jars plum sauce	plums in freezer	greenwaste bin
2	3D print Dala horse	extension cords coiled	recycle bin
3	3D print plant stands	wind chime suspension	recycle bin
4	3 pr dolly boots	more plums frozen	greenwaste bin
5	12+ jars elderberry syrup	new handheld shower	-
6	16 jars Awesome sauce	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -  
- that small sound that jars make when they seal
- new handheld shower
- stove grid overlay, very useful for canning, I can slide full kettles rather than try and lift them.
- the two mid/large cookpots from Acantha this year

Time of Isolation - Day 2255

elderberry efforts

in which our plucky heroine agrees with William Morris...

The black elderberry planted in the parking strip is both beautiful and useful. The white flowers and dark foliage look wonderful in the springtime, and the cooked juice of the berries are known to be a good and tasty support for human immune systems.

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~ homegrown immune tonic ~

The five tubs of black elderberry cooked yesterday, then drained their juices into a pot overnight. Today they were cooked again with added sugar and lemon juice in a waterbath safe recipe. Since I want to make syrup, I left out the pectin which is only there to turn the juice into jelly and has no effect on the safety issues...

and oops, I just now at midnight Wednesday finished putting up a dozen + small jars of elderberry syrup, all sealed for shelf storage, and only then realised I had miscalculated the amount of lemon juice added by almost half. Bah! I now need to open all the jars, dump the contents back into an open pan, add the additional lemon juice, and re-process all of them with fresh lids. Annoying to deal with, but food safety is not negotiable. As exhaustion has set in, my plan is to tackle this first thing in the morning, since two different extension service websites say that re-canning (with fresh lids) within 24 hours is okay.

11am on Thursday, and the re-canning is in process.  Lesson learned: do not do projects that require calculation after 10pm. (not sewing, not cutting out fabric, and now, apparently, not preserving) 

 
(elderflowers in the springtime)
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The additional rayon batik fabric to complete the summer popover dress has arrived and looks great. I am very impressed that the shop snipped and tore the yardage instead of just whacking away with shears, so I get the full amount I paid for and don't lose inches in straightening the grain! It will be a fairly quick task to make strips of the new fabric and extend the length of the dress to a better length, and if all goes well I will be able to have it finished in time for our Sewing Nomads meeting on Saturday morning...

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Rode my bike to the launderette early this morning to preshrink the rayon fabric in the electric dryer, and since I was halfway to the big grocery, continued on there to pick up some more of the small size canning jar lids. The kindly cashier gave me the "3 for the price of 2" discount even though I don't have a loyalty card for that shop!

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September SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	8 sm jars plum sauce	plums in freezer	greenwaste bin
2	3D print Dala hrse	extension cords coiled	recycle bin
3	3D print plant stands	wind chime suspension	recycle bin
4	3 pr dolly boots	more plums frozen	greenwaste bin
5	12+ jars elderberry syrup	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -  
- Past Me thoughtfully planted black elder
- fabric to finish batik dress arrived early, and looks suitable.
- was able to buy a few more boxes of small canning lids
- a dozen small jars of elderberry immune support syrup

Time of Isolation - Day 2253 

proportions for elderberry syrup:

650 grams elderberry juice (about 3 cups)
130 grams bottled lemon juice
1,100 grams sugar

¼" headspace, process 10 minutes

Monday miscellany

in which our plucky heroine is full of plans ...

One fun weekend activity was figuring out Perlenwunderwesen's small beaded dragon pattern... It isn't on their YouTube, or in their Etsy shop. I saw their quick video tutorial on the book of Face, and also found their diagram of the beading structure. It is a great deal more complicated than the tiny frogs, but makes a quite lovely little 3D creature. In 8/0 beads it makes a dragon about 1¼" tall and just over 2" long. As soon as the first one was done, the remainder of the frog beads were turned into a second dragon, friend to the first, and they are now both on the way north to live with Kestrel. I'm quite tempted to try making one from 11/0 beads (a more common, if smaller, size that I've in a plentiful assortment of colors...)

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Ordered a mailbox delivered from Home Despot, that looked quite nice in the online photos, and had overwhemlingly good reviews. It arrived on Sunday and with great hopes of easily replacing the old rusty crusty mailbox, I opened the box. Alas it was not to be. The new mailbox was suffering a fatal lack of Quality Control from the factory. The lids were barely attached at all, one hinge pin entirely missing, and the other partially detached, missing any kind of lock washer to hold it in place and the inner and outer lids were rattling long enough in transit to scratch up the edges of the mailbox.  They don't carry that one in any of the local stores, so no chance of exchanging it, or seeing if a different one is in better shape. Instead, there was a long bus trip to Jantzen Beach to return it directly. Sigh. Searching online for a mailbox built rather more structurally sound as well as aesthetically inoffensive is going about as well as my search for a new kitchen faucet. Picky plucky heroine is picky...

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~ a working sketch ~

Just a very rough sketch of my current thoughts for the black "twill corduroy" pinafore; wanted to catch the idea before it vanished. After washing and a trip to the launderette for their extra hot dryers the fabric washed up nicely with almost no shrinkage. Since this like all corduroy has a nap, it cannot be cut as usual... Information from a sewing book read as a girl still clear in my mind, a with-nap layout means all the pieces need to be laid out with their "heads" all in the same direction.  

So... cut strips from selvedge to selvedge that are the height of the skirt gores, then cut away between each one to create flare, which will look more graceful than a dirndl style gathered skirt. Since there is rather a lot of this fabric (our plucky heroine having placed the order forgetting it was 56" wide not 45"), it will be possible to cut all the bodice and pocket pieces from the remaining fabric and have enough plenty leftover to cut edge binding from. There may even be enough to put aside more bias strips for other future projects.

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A care package full of special kindness from my Mud Bay pals was on my porch today. There are 4 big skeins of taupe Fishermans Wool, so I can start on swatching fancy cables for a future Aran-style sweater. There is a small bag full of walking onion bulbs, so I can find a new spot or two to restart allium self-sufficiency. And there is a glorious miniature print of the tiniest watercolor artwork of a hawk perched on a sewing machine (intended as a gift for tinyfolk Kenya Ogidni) that will eventually grace the wall in a Tansu Terrace sewing and crafting space. The artist Jaimee Lee Gentile will be at Art In The Pearl in September, a chance to see her work in person...

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adapted from "Du Iz Tak"  by Carson Ellis

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this is silly, but it is also me: The Sugarcoated Sisters - Aphantasia

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One unexpected benefit to not being good about pulling out the weeds, is that when they go to seed, goldfinches are delighted with the buffet! There were many of them right outside the bedroom window this morning, more than I have seen so close before... 

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	Brambly Hedge slip	-	greenwaste bin
4	5 more bead frogs	-	overgrown lovage
5	"Cats Invade" books	-	greenwaste bin
6	all the bead frogs	x	recycle bin
7	two beaded dragons	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- goldfinches outside the bedroom window this morning
- tiny beaded dragons are delightful
- yarn, and walking onion starts, and a glorious miniature artwork gift were in my care package from Mud Bay

Time of Isolation - Day 2204

blast from the past

in which our plucky heroine answers Teresa's question...

Quite a few years ago, back in 2016, I made a creative interpretation of a cross-body bag, inspired by an archaeological find, some of the wooden handles found in Hedeby harbor. A number of artifacts have been found that are thought to be bag handles, and creating possible bags to use in that configuration became popular among parts of the reenactment community.

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this is the current iteration of my "Viking style" bag... It is made from handwoven striped wool, with a linen lining, and decorated with an embroidered wool patch and an interwoven brass wire "Birka-style" horse inset with mica. The bag handles are carved beechwood and the cross body shoulder strap is bark-tanned leather.

A top-down view looking into the bag when open... it shows how the wooden handles, which slide together along the braided leather portion of the shoulder strap when the bag is worn, can be separated to get access to the contents of the bag

Just a closer view of the metal and mica "Birka-style" horse. The archeological pieces are much smaller and made of gold wire; I used brass, for economy sake, and created a design similar to the Birka deer from grave 832. The pieces of mica set behind the openings in the design act like sequins, and sparkle in a delightful way when seen by firelight.

Ten years ago when I first made this cross-body bag, I miscalculated the strap length, and it was just a few inches too long for ideal use . The best length has the bottom of the bag at fingertip height. This year I decided to shorten the strap, which was a quite a challenge. Undoing the braiding, and/or the fancy stopper knots was not an option; and the flat portion of the strap had been securely glued, punched, and stitched like saddlery.

With great care, and mindful of "measure twice, cut once", the strap was cut in twain, the stitching undone, and the layers of leather carefully separated. The skills honed in my younger days when I swapped leather repair for riding lessons remain in my mind and my hands. The multiple strap ends had their stitching holes aligned with the outer layers overlapping, and the inner strap layers further cut down to reduce the strap thickness to three rather than four layers. It was tricksy to get right. I skived away some of the outer straps to further ease the transitions, then glued it back together and stitched it with waxed linen

The final strap repair, not invisible, but tidy and strong, and will last as long as it is needed, certainly will see me out...

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	Brambly Hedge slip	-	greenwaste bin
4	5 more bead frogs	-	overgrown lovage
5	"Cats Invade" books	-	-
6	all the bead frogs	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes-
- a head full of knowledges and hands full of skills all gathered over many decades. 
- Past Me planted fruit trees
- all the frogs are done

Time of Isolation - Day 2199

Thursday thoughts and throwbacks

in which our plucky heroine enjoys a cooler grey day...

Best thing today was noticing that for the first time ever, the black fig tree in the front yard has ripe figs. I picked a half dozen this morning, and there are at least that many or more still on the tree that will need my fruit picker to reach. I ate one as a snack, yum!

Cut away all the overgrown lovage this afternoon, removed an armload of false dandelion, finished deadheading the culinary sage, went ahead and trimmed the hardy fuschia back from the walkway, and cut the top off the nandina where it was growing into the porch roof. Incremental progress is still progress

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~ incremental ~

after a gentle bit of steam blocking, just enough to smooth out the knitting, it is easier to see the subtle pattern of grey and dark brown. The Tabby Cat cowl will be a good addition for the grey/black/brown "accessories wardrobe" this winter. I'm also thinking about a black corduroy pinafore to take the place of the worn-out vertical pique.

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Apparently I didn't dream it was raining, it actually did rain in the middle of the night. And the thunder that sort of woke me from the dreamlands was likely real as well. It is pleasantly grey this morning, though that is due to burn off and we shall have hot and sunny for the next however long....

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Throwback Thursday: in 2009 I was at the Oregon Country Fair

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I've been gradually cutting out kitchen storage shelf parts, using what is on hand. Started with the actual shelves, from what was intended as workroom trim board years ago, salvaged from the Rebuilding Center. Now that those two are cut to size, to hold five Talenti tubs each, it occurred to me that though there is no suitable molding to keep them secure on the shelf, I could use one of my stash of wooden yardsticks. Those are the right dimensions, only needing to be cut to a Useful Length, and are sturdy enough for the task.  Since they, along with the shelves will be painted I could use the less attractive skinny yardsticks. The upper shelf can readily be attached to the wall once it is fabricated, but the lower shelf needs access to the narrow space between the chest freezer and the wall to anchor the brackets. My cunning plan is to install the second shelf when defrosting freezer later this summer, while it is pulled away from the wall.

In other kitchen related news, I did get over to A-Boy and asked about the faucet I liked several years ago. Though their inventory says they still have three in stock, the kindly manager was unable to find them. He suggested I return next week when the person who is in charge of that area is back from vacation. It is time to replace the kitchen faucet. Which first requires acquisition of a new one...

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	Brambly Hedge slip	-	greenwaste bin
4	5 more bead frogs	-	overgrown lovage
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes- 
- the mosaic knit motifs in my current Tabby Cat bandana cowl is really easy to memorise and to "see" where you are in the pattern
- white peaches (or white nectarines) so yummy, and not difficult to peel for safety sake.
- There are ripe black figs on the tree in my front yard, for the first time ever!!

Time of Isolation - Day 2194

Saturday snippets...

in which our plucky heroine is a bit scattered...

There are a number of projects currently making it into the bright world from the world of ideas. The only one finished so far is the conversion of the grey stripey dress into a Brambly Hedge style slip. Karen suggested using some lightweight linen for the bodice as an alternative to my struggles to modify the dress bodice, and that was an excellent idea. It also let me double check the alternative pinafore pattern last used for the black vertical pique back in 2012. The bodice of the pattern still fits, so it'd be good to think about sewing up a replacement pinafore, as after 14 years, it is sadly worn to a raveling. I wish there was some way to get more of that beautiful and durable fabric!

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~ a bit overgrown ~

The hardy fuschia is really enthusiastic this year, taking over part of the front door walkway! As it is full of various bees, and sometimes hummingbirds, I'm loath to prune it back...

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If I still lived in New England, I would surely make the trip to the Society of Illustrators museum in NYC just to see this exhibition "All Around Us: The Art of Carson Ellis" that opens August 15th. It is a bit far to travel from here. I shall attempt to acquire a show catalogue once they are available

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As gradual decluttering of the kitchen countertops happens, I've been thinking about better ways to organise supplies that are used often. Some shallow shelves for talenti tubs holding small quantities of bulk dry goods would be both handy and tidy. A scrap of wood once intended as workroom baseboard is just the right width to become such shelves. 

Making another pot lid rack for the kitchen door would be good, there is another vintage yardstick (and some small scraps) that can all be cut to size, glued together, and mounted on the door above the one already there... also finding a good spot to store new cookpots is needed, maybe move rarely used appliances off sideboard into the pantry or a storage closet? The dehydrator is only used in autumn for persimmons and pears, and the rest of the year is taking up a sizeable chunk of kitchen real estate. Eventually inside the cabinets will be decluttered as well, freeing yet more space.

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Rummaging in the chest freezer, a large ziploc full of last years homegrown plums will be a good addition to morning museli. There are still a few ripening blueberries on the bush outside the living room window. Given the increase in cases of parasitic cyclospora infection of unknown source(s?) it seems wise to be cautious of any raw produce not grown in my own yard. So, more cooked veggies this summer, and any grocery store fruit will become compote or sauce. 

Washing produce does not remove the parasite enough to make it "safe", not plain water, not vinegar, or chlorine, or other produce wash additives. It is not killed by freezing. Heat over 158 F will kill it... Washing hands both before and after handling raw produce is highly advised.

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	Brambly Hedge slip	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes- 
- tasty eggs from Drusa's hens (saving the green eggshells for some miniature mosaic)
- found a big ziploc full of last years frozen plums... safe homegrown fruit to eat without cooking it first!
- today was not beastly hot, managed to get by without AC
- Alice Starmore's "Aran Knitting" (ordered from Alibris on Tuesday) arrived today.

Time of Isolation - Day 2189

Thursday thoughts

in which our plucky heroine is confused...

No idea why there was no recent message about today's cancelled medical appointment, but after getting out the door a little after 6 and arriving at just before what I thought was my 8 AM clinic visit, it was a surprise and not a treat to find out that the doctor wasn't there. Since I'd skipped breakfast to get there on time, the ground floor cafe was an option for a bowl of take-out real oatmeal, then ate outdoors on the not really sekrit second floor patio. In all the years of various medical visits I've never seen anyone else in that space, though there is occasional evidence by way of food wrappers in the trash can

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~ well worth seeing ~

It was surprisingly difficult to successfully photograph the Carson Ellis mural at the St Johns Library children's room, really seeing it in person is the best option, but this fragment gives a hint at the delight.

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Started converting the stripey dress into a Brambly Hedge slip. It was time consuming attaching the eyelet to the hemline edge, the only "difficulty" being the length of the hem. The dress sleeves were cut off to salvage fabric for bias strips to finish the enlarged neck and armsceye edges, which is the next step. This will be a rare slip indeed with the large pockets of an everyday dress, but somehow seems quite suitable for the aesthetic. Lastly, the large machine sewn patch (that never quite disguised the ink spot) will be removed, the stain cut away and repaired with a smaller and less obtrusive patch.

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A while back was online chatting with Acantha about my idea of adapting the WonderBag concept to use the mylar bubblepack leftovers from grocery orders to create an insulated cozy for off-stove cookery. She found a somewhat larger than needed (5 qt) but excellent cookpot and sent it up here to PDX via Gersvinda, and it recently arrived on the front porch. A good scrubbing tonight and it will be ready for use, will allow me to retire my other large pot for textile dyeing instead, and shall inspire experimentation to create insulated "containers" from various salvaged materials...

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes- 
- cooking pot from Acantha, transported by Gersvinda
- sleeping when tired
- had a delightful conversation with Mischa yesterday about the small god of lost things, or more accurately the god of things lost and found, and what sort of shrine offerings would be most suitable. While this pertains to the game we are working on restarting, it also seems pertinent to Actual Life. There are art projects in mind...

Time of Isolation - Day 2188

Tuesday thoughts

in which our plucky heroine struggles...

It has been a difficult day, full of brain weasels. I do my best to share and document the good here, rather than the opposite. But some days for no obvious reason that purposeful focus just isn't enough. Spent way too much time today entangled in the thought that what my life is missing, that what I wanted/want and cannot/do not have in my life is my own fault. That I must not have really wanted it enough. That rather than being a matter of un-luck it is really a matter of lifelong somehow sabotaging myself. I remind myself of all that is good and fortunate in my current life, but solitude still remains painful.

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~ made to be used ~

Years ago there was a trip to Italy, Yugoslavia, and Greece, with many memorable moments, and a modicum of confusions brought about by my dependence on a Serbo-Croatian travel phrase book for the central third of our journey. My attempt to buy a metre of pretty eyelet trim from a shop ended with my unintentionally purchasing the entire 18 metre bolt instead, and it has been an amusing tale and souvenir ever since... Rather than save it unused for some future estate sale, a portion of those metres will trim the hemline of what once was a grey and white striped everyday dress, now in the process of conversion to a Brambly Hedge slip. The dress is no longer a favorite, though mostly in good condition; by removing the sleeves and cutting away much of the armscye and neckline areas and then making edgebinding from the sleeve fabric, it will become a useful under-layer for both winter cold weather and for "costume" fun. 

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Every time that I can go outside and pick fresh blueberries in my yard is a bit of daily dopamine. The plant was a gift, and I managed to not kill it for the last 20+ years. More blueberries this year than in times past, maybe my pruning last year was correctly done?

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When heading for the grocery earlier today seeking some goat or sheep feta, I saw a postie in their van eating lunch. I asked if I could just hand them my stamped envelopes rather than bike all the way down the hill to the post office, and was grateful and appreciative when they said "sure!", saving me several miles of riding. 

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes- 
- finally finding the right project to use souvenir eyelet edging
- forgot to mention that the rolled hem on the black scarf is done
- agreeable postie saved me a hilly bike ride in the heat of the day
- homegrown blueberries in my breakfast museli

Time of Isolation - Day 2186

Ninety at noon

in which our plucky heroine considers crepuscularity...

It has been hot, not as HOT as my friends on the other side of the big water are dealing with, but still quite unpleasantly so. There has been napping in the middle of the day, and getting up Quite Early in the morning. Monday night, in the vain hope of cooler temperatures I chose to put of grocery shopping until 10:30PM, just before the shop closes at 11. At that point it was still over 81°F (27°C). Tuesday at noon it was just over 90°F on my shady front porch.

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~ inspired by canal roses ~

While the 3rd attempt on the batik summertime popover dress has moved down a notch on my wardrobe priority list, the tiny (3½"x2½") embroidered patch to decorate the neckline edge of the center front is a perfect size for working during online craft-n-chat visits. The embroidery floss colors are chosen as friends with scraps of printed rayon collected over many years, all the bits to become narrow pieced stripe down the center front. I suspect that this dress will likely be finished before the magic pants (I am still looking for some suitable fabric for a fitting toile, which is the very first step in that process) as the dress can be stitched back together in very incremental bits of found time...

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While my allergy medication takes a few weeks to become effective, (I started it this past weekend, in the hope of being able to eventually tackle the dreadful state of the back yard) smaller shorter yard tasks each day can only help to make a modicum of difference. The sage at the end of the front walkway is a beautiful pollinator magnet when in flower, and provides culinary additions the year round but when the blossoms fall, the seedheads are quite sharp, prickly and unpleasant to brush against. So early this morning I got about halfway through dead-heading them before the hot yellow day-star rose high enough over the roofline to chase me indoors. That sage plant has been my boon companion for almost 30 years, it lived in a pot until Acorn Cottage, and planting it in the ground was one of the first things I did when moving here.

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Recently the soft light just before sunrise has been full of the lively sounds of noisy corbies. My guess is that they are young and hungry, though I've not yet managed to get our of bed and my curtains open early enough to see them, though it sometimes seems that they must be right outside the bedroom window.. 

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June SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Babs brooch	thinned apples	greenwaste bin
2	5th god lino block	add under elastic	recycle bin
3	5th god corner block	white scarf hem	recycle bin
4	enamels for John	add more elastics	greenwaste bin
5	tie-dye pillowcases	Viking bag strap	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- blinky rear bike light, a gift from Ariadne years ago
- deadheading the sage, half done 
- clever Past Me has put lots of soup cubes in the freezer, and yesterday's leftover chicken + a cube of Roman lentil/barley/leek soup made an easy dinner that didn't need time on the stove. 

Time of Isolation - Day 2175

weekend wanderings and wonderings

in which our plucky heroine makes it to the library...

... and picks up 2 relevant to one of my current rabbit hole reference books to greatly enjoy. The more I read, the more possible it seems to design my own variation on an Aran style cardigan. Alice Starmore's "Aran Knitting" and Norah Gaughn's "Knitted Cable Sourcebook. By also combining the information in these with the "Twisted Stitch Sourcebook" (also Norah Gaughn's). I forsee much pleasurable time spent sketching ideas, and studying my "favorites" list from Ravelry.

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~ Brambly Hedge? ~

Vestia sent me a whole box full of pieces of fabric, assorted blue plush upholstery scraps, a length of very fancy trim, smaller bits of gingham and stripes, and a six yard piece of cotton, in an allover print of leafy foliage in blue on a white background. Not sure what the various bits will become, other than the generous length of blue and white botanical printed cotton is asking to become a Brambly Hedge dress. That has long been a fantasy of mine (dress, petticoat, apron, and flower trimmed hat); perhaps it shall now have a chance to become real. 

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A while back the Magic Pants pattern came across my radar, and the idea of nether garments that don't bite the waist or tummy is really appealing (that discomfort being why there is such an significant gap in my wardrobe. Given the current yardwork challenge of dealing with the back yard, this project is heading to the top of my priority list. Obviously there will need to be a toile made to check the fit, but somewhere in their wide size range ought to be something suitable. Once I unearth some muslin fabric, it will be full steam ahead. There are YouTube tutorials from the designer, and also multiple positive reviews such as this one online...

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Freezer with no fridge is better than fridge with no freezer... This afternoons' discussion during the Sewing the Way Forward meeting, about someone who unplugged their their fridge to turn it into an icebox, by freezing containers of water, and transferring them to the fridge, which had been adapted with insulated containers or some kind of liner flaps to help keep the cold air from falling out when the door was opened. Also talked about regional variations in what foods are stored "cold" at the grocery store. Very interesting topic.

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Saturday headed out for assorted errands and discovered my Hop card (transit pass) was empty. It was unexpectedly difficult, though ulimately possible, to refill it at the grocery store. Once back on the pleasantly air conditioned bus I wanted to check out the White Lotus Market set up in the parking lot behind Fubonn. Was not as much of a treat as I had hoped: a few rows of albeit interesting food booths and some crafts booths that mostly offered plastic trinkets. 

Takoyaki is not something I'm likely to make at home, so a tray with a few of those was my lunch, and I headed over to the far end of the parking lot where there were trees, hence shade, and no people to unmask and enjoy. I'd never had it topped with shaved bonito before, which added another layer of flavor and texture. 

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June SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Babs brooch	thinned apples	greenwaste bin
2	5th god lino block	add under elastic	recycle bin
3	5th god corner block	white scarf hem	recycle bin
4	enamels for John	add more elastics	greenwaste bin
5	tie-dye pillowcases	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- blue leafy calico from Vestia
- takoyaki, a rare treat
- my Moody Blues summer coverlet

Time of Isolation - Day 2172

egg-centricity

in which our plucky heroine considers the importance of proportion...

I wanted to try making some of the cottage cheese/almond meal/egg "protein bread/rolls" that seem to be currently popular on social media, but made the mistake of using the first recipe that showed up. The photos looked very appetizing, but I suspect that there was either a significant typo, or the whole thing was AI. Instead of a dough that could be formed into a disc, the mixture was more like cake batter, and baked up more like a large piece of flatbread than "biscuits". Still tasty, and suitable for pseudo-sandwiches, but it would have worked better with only one egg instead of two. Further research showed a wide variety/proportion of egg to dry ingredients, but none that were as egg-centric as the initial online recipe.

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~ hot pink ~

Summer is here. This morning before it got too hot, bicycle errands were on the agenda. First up was a trip to the library, to drop off former books and pick up the new T Kingfisher novel "Snake-Eater" which had been on my holds list for weeks. Checked the drug store and the mundane grocery looking for binder clips (no joy), but my heart lifted at the vivid color of this potted plant. Geranium??

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What a delight to read about humans putting effort into doing good for the planet.... McKenzie River Watershed restoration

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Almost finished with the hand-rolled hem* on the unbleached cotton voile headscarf. It will get overdyed to a light/medium brown as that color is sorely lacking in my headwear collection. The other color option is a very light blue overdye, and then block print the design motifs in a dark/medium brown... Either way, the next home handwork project will be a hand-rolled hem on the black voile, which will get block printed with the 5th god motifs in opaque white.  

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Found the folded up shade cloth in the SCA closet, and refolded it to a suitable size and hung it over the west facing window. Four layers. It makes a difference, and will do moreso this weekend. Maybe even adding a few more reflectix pieces to fit into the corner panes of the living room window wall, where sunlight beams in (even through the double layered curtains) in the middle of the day.

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June SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Babs brooch	thinned apples	greenwaste bin
2	5th god lino block	replace elastic	recycle bin
3	5th god corner block	-	-
4	enamels for John	-	-
5	tie-dye pillowcases	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- reflectix mylar bubblepack
- blogland is still full of interesting things
- solar attic vent fan

Time of Isolation - Day 2164

* sigh and alas, it turns out I cannot work on the rolled hem while riding transit, since a vital part of the process is licking my finger before rolling the fabric. Can't do that without removing my P100, which would be foolish while out in close quarters public world. However, embroidery has no such necessity, so my next transit project will be the tiny floral embroidery panel for my batik dress.

throwback Thursday and Friday fragments

in which our plucky heroine remembers the past...

It is an ongoing challenge to remain in some sort of balance, but can do no less than make the attempt. Ten years ago had recently returned from Egils, where I'd both taught a simple leatherwork project and enjoyed the opportunity to take a workshop from Jarl Sir Styrkarr on a beautiful esoteric metalworking skill (Damasquinado de Oro - applying precious metal foil to steel, to create decorative motifs), and basically spend the long weekend camping with friends as had been happening for almost 20 years. The last time I camped was in June 2019, in July 2019 instead of more camping, there was a trip to the ER the day before and an unexpected appendectomy.

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~ incremental progress ~

Now that carving the lino block for the border of the dancing rats and crows is complete, I am starting on the design of the square corner block with the sigil of the 5th god. I found another scrap of the thin plywood that works so well to back the linoleum, and have glued it down and left to dry overnight under weights. I will cut away the extra backing and can start on the carving once the glue is dry . Eventually the plan is for a border around the edges of a new square cotton lawn headscarf; it will also take time to hand stitch tiny rolled hems on the fabric prior to printing.

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Thursday was warmer than yesterday, but not so hot that being outdoors was unbearable. I managed to get a good chunk of the backyard apple tree thinned, as well as a small amount of the water sprouts cut back, and a tiny amount of the beyond shaggy grass hacked off (enough to get to the apple tree) This time I remembered to wear my P100, so am not going to spend the rest of the day sneezing compulsively! Maybe it could be possible to find someone to mow "the back 40" for me, since my neglect has made it almost beyond the capability of my string trimmer.

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The leafy batik popover dress project remains problematic, it looks dowdy and hangs crookedly despite my effort yesterday recutting and re-sewing the bodice. Feels a bit like a sunk cost at this point, as I lack any suitable fabric to do more alterations... Very sad as that "Lake-Gardenista" batik colorway is lovely but out of stock. I shall put the whole thing aside for now awaiting further inspiration... 

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Always another missing item... now the box full of tiny origami boxes for future Advent Swap treats is missing, along with "The 31 Owls"... Doesn't that sound like the title to a YA mystery novel! My long range goal is to have the house tidy enough that things don't get misplaced. Of course, that has been my goal for years now. With luck and effort, might be possible to get there in this lifetime, or at least to find the box of owls before the end of this year!!

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June SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Babs brooch	thinned apples	greenwaste bin
2	5th god lino block	-	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- getting most of the apples thinned before wheelie bin day
- Muji pill container
- cooler weather

Time of Isolation - Day 2156

Sunday snippets

in which our plucky heroine cogitates...

"don't die before you have to..." This concept showed up inside my head this morning. Have been thinking rather a lot lately about how small my life and my world have become in the last six years, and how my response to that has been a greater and greater "not doing-ness", a curling up and shutting down. I don't deny the effect of the ongoing micro and macro external dumpster fire in exacerbating the situation.

It also seems true that with the passing of time most folks are faced with a lessening of stamina. Thankfully my mental capacity seems to be fairly stable, and am quite grateful that riding my bike and walks around the neighborhood are still within my capacity. It has however become more and more difficult to push myself to be social, when any option now for in-person connection is so very limited and fraught...

Back in the Before Times I had managed, with effort, to create for myself enough of a social circle to almost balance my isolation. My mantra then was "my friends all have busy and complicated lives, they aren't ignoring me on purpose" and I saw folks at SCA events, was able to attend social gatherings, or invited them to visit Acorn Cottage for monthly Crafternoon time or occasional parties or shared meals.  I miss my SCA camping activities, and wonder if those days of being outdoors are now only to be memories. I miss all the various ways of connecting with people and the natural world, and have not figured out any feasible substitution.

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~ it's a big one... ~

not my spectacular allium, but isn't it lovely!

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Saturday my Mammoth flannel order arrived. The colorway "sepia" was darker than I expected, appearing almost like grey squares on a black background, but really is like a subtle gingham of black, off-black (sepia?), and grey. I can't wait to see how it looks once washed and dried, but that will have to wait until after the weekend when the local launderette is open so I can use their dryer. The household tumble drier died back in December 2024; as it is really needed only very occasionally just`for pre-shrinking fabric I've not bothered to replace it for the sake of convenience. (It would take quite a few trips to the launderette dryer at 75¢ to amortise the cost of a new appliance)

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Worm bin refurbishment... I keep "pet worms" in a small indoor habitat to turn my produce scraps into compost. When from time to time the tote bin they live in becomes mostly worm castings it's necessary to remove. out of that and start over with fresh damp shredded paper bedding, usually a few times a year.  This requires removing the entire contents of the worm home, including the worms!

I cover a folding table with a plastic tablecloth and make several mounds with the dark damp crumbly stuff. The worms dislike light, and the drier outdoor air, so they move towards the inner portions of the mounds. As I gradually and carefully remove the now wormless outer portions of the castings (aka worm manure) the worms keep migrating inwards. Eventually there are much smaller mounds consisting mostly of worms. They are now back in a freshly cleaned habitat, full of shredded damp newspaper and ready to transform my produce scraps and peels into castings to make the garden happy. Odorless and quiet way to keep at least part of the household circle turning.

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May SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Rosa sketch	Bad Smell gone	greenwaste bin
2	boro thread basket	dishrack tray	recycle bin
3	boro basket 2	paring knife	recycle bin
4	boro basket 3	cut back mint	greenwaste bin
5	boro baskets 4 & 5	mended pillow	greenwaste bin
6	sharpening box	scrubbed stove grates	x
7	8 jars pickled beets	worm habitat	x
8	7 jars strawberry rhubarb	x	x
9	ikat pinafore	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- Got most of the way through my morning walk before I noticed my left foot starting to think about being cranky. This is improvement.
- worms have been doing well in their bin, and I've well over a gallon of castings
- video chat with friends

Time of Isolation - Day 2151

I think I can I think I can...

in which our plucky heroine gets things done...

Over this last week I finally gathered courage, located boot straps, and have made significant progress on the Babs brooch project. My intention is to have finished it by the end of the weekend. The remaining steps are to solder the brooch findings in place, drill the various needed spots for riveting the layers, prepare the pearl pins, then assemble the pieces, polish the setting, set the enamel, attach the pearls and the brooch pin, and take a deep breath and call it done.

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~ aurora cardigan? ~

Earlier this week got caught up in playing with a photo of the Winter Night knitting pattern thinking it might be a good use for my collection of Lopi and Lettlopi yarn. Mostly I don't wear pullover sweaters, so a rough cut/paste helped me imagine it as a cardigan, possibly using the cuff band also at the hemline, and adding star dots to the body. There is just about enough yarn in my "Icelandic/Lopi" storage box to complete this with a striped varied dark color background, only needing to acquire a few light colored skeins for the aurora motifs, what decorative borders used, and the stars...

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wardrobe refurbishment update:
Found some scraps of medium blue interestingly textured silk from a thrifted camp shirt, a good if slightly darker color to edgebind the blue striped herringbone pinafore; with much piecing of binding strips, should be enough for all the edges. 

Foolish me didn't think to contact Bolt absolutely as soon as the post about deadstock velour showed up this past weekend. I headed over there Wednesday afternoon only to find that alas both the black and the teal had already sold out. My choice was between lime green and dusty rose, and the idea of lime green undies did not appeal... but since good velour is so very hard to find, a few yards of dusty rose and thread to match are now in storage here, likely enough to see me out, along with the venerable (gradually diminishing) black velour

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5th God printing block is almost complete, so of course I have finally unearthed the missing original block. Since it is not in as good condition as remembered, I'm not at all sorry to have worked on a new copy of that design. 

Having the lino cutting tools temporarily stored in the boro baskets is helpful, since the baskets keep the tools handy and their sharp ends protected. A taller narrower basket triad would be even better... shall look for have found a skinny jar (that formerly held capers) to use as a suitable mold for just such a possible future project.

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May SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Rosa sketch	Bad Smell gone	greenwaste bin
2	boro thread basket	dishrack tray	recycle bin
3	boro basket 2	paring knife	recycle bin
4	boro basket 3	cut back mint	greenwaste bin
5	boro baskets 4 & 5	mended pillow	greenwaste bin
6	sharpening box	scrubbed stove grates	x
7	8 jars pickled beets	x	x
8	7 jars strawberry rhubarb	x	x
9	ikat pinafore	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- leftovers 5 flavor eggplant and shrimp bok choi stir fry
- a pumice stone works really well to clean off the iron stove grates; not "like new", but no longer greasy/sticky despite regular washing
- determination finally kicked in

Time of Isolation - Day 2150