pay attention

in which our plucky heroine had visual proof that she has not lost her marbles...

Actually a family tradition - my mother keeps a bowl of marbles on a table in their entryway, for just such confirmation, and here at Acorn Cottage, my marbles live in a wooden box at the back of one of the nightstands. (as young M once said: "there is silly, and then there is seriously silly")

Why is this relevant? Well, today was my first visit to occupational therapy, to help lefthand become stronger and more functional. I was sent home with a tub of alarmingly pink putty to use for strengthening exercises, and with several new modes of focused massage to be used on my lower palm, to soften and continue to flatten the scar. The most unusual involves a good sized handful of marbles, and a towel. By putting the marbles on a towel, they stay on the table, and the scarred area can be rolled about on top of them, varying the pressure as needed. It feels weird, but good.

~ ~ ~≈:::≈~ ~ ~

While out and about in the world, I pay attention to my surroundings, partially as a matter of safe travel*, and partially since the world is full of beauty, if only you look for it. Mostly I look around, and have often made a specific point of looking up, since even in the most dismal surroundings the sky is always there, and often lovely.

But I also look down, and at the world of the small, and the very small.
As a child, I loved creating miniature worlds, dioramas, and dollhouses. Some of that fascination with the small still remains, after all these years - my enamel and metalworking is, well, very small indeed, making good use of my short and clever fingers. And surely I am not the only one who looks at the tiny landscapes of moss and imagines what it would be like to walk there...

. .
a multiplicity of texture and color, greenlife finds a home along the edges
there are the pathways that we travel on, and the ones we never see...
~ ~ ~≈:::≈~ ~ ~


/^-.-^\___}}
dog is resting now

* Situational awareness, sometimes described as the "Cooper Color Codes" is something that I've been practicing, in a rudimentary form, for many many years. It has seemed to me indispensable to pay attention to my surroundings as I travel about in the world. There is no way to know what dire consequences have been avoided by this attitude, for I've lived in, visited, and travelled through various less-than-savory neighborhoods in different cities for most of my adult life. While I never discount The Luck, alert attention is surely her most boon companion.

Today, while on the way to OT, the bus had just turned the corner into one of the transit centers when someone stepped out in front, off the walkway and into the lane, obviously listening to something other than the approaching bus, and watching a handheld screen instead of where they were going. I commended the driver on making a very short stop safely. Some of the other passengers actually applauded. The distracted pedestrian never noticed that they had narrowly escaped being flattened.

Do not be that pedestrian. The world is full of danger, and it is also full of beauty. Walk through it oblivious and you miss the beauty and increase your vulnerability. There are great benefits to remaining aware...

whingeful Wednesday - scanner blues

in which our plucky heroine whinges on hoops of various sorts...

The computer here at Acorn Cottage has stopped recognising my flatbed image-scanner, though it is probably still a functional machine. Not surprising, since the scanner is at least ten years old, and the HP website doesn't even list drivers for it anymore. 'Tis very annoying indeed, being a useful piece of equipment for transforming sketches into data to share. I did try grabbing some drivers off the HP site that seemed like they might work, but ended up causing all kinds of hijinks that took me hours to track down and remove...

Sooo, the question is, should I attempt to acquire a new scanner, or perhaps instead take some time to kludge together a clever way to use my camera to capture images instead. The thing is, scanners nowadays have all kinds of elaborate programs designed to do all kinds of things that I do not need. I just want to grab an image so that I can then process it myself, no need for self-correcting, or email functions, etc etc... In fact, there is a clever Instructable about how to build some kind of "copy-stand" to hold a digital camera steady and photograph pictures, or even small flat objects like enamels... (that is what I used the clever copy stands in the photo lab at TESC, back in the day, though that was long before digital cameras were around)

Still, it irks me most mightily to simply toss such an elaborate hunk of equipment, with all the embodied resources, simply because "these electrons do not want to talk to these other electrons". Makes me a bit loath to invest again in another hunk of plastic and electronica, might not be the best use of my limited resources. Clever monkey says, forage for a solution, don't shop for a solution. Don't need to jump through the planned obsolescence hoop!

~ ~ ~≈:::≈~ ~ ~

Autumn is here, the leaves are turning colors. Baskets with yarn have been unearthed, and my hand, while still weak, is well enough to knit for a while. There is a pile of yarn earmarked for homeless hats, a project started and then set aside as knitting became too painful. The partial hat left on the needles now has another three inches added. This makes me very happy indeed.

~ ~ ~≈:::≈~ ~ ~

In the early part of my life, it was possible for ordinary folks to simply go to the doctor's office, and the cost, while not trivial, was bearable. I remember a few times, back in my young adulthood, when though I'd no insurance of my own, I needed to see a doctor and simply called and made an appointment. Got things dealt with, and paid the bill. Not a bill that took a whole week or two of income, or more, just for an office visit. "Wheel never stops turning ... That only matters to the people on the rim."

Finally after weeks of waiting, a new medical referral has been approved, and a new appointment made to see a different doctor. The worrisome symptoms first showed up 2½ months ago have only increased in the intervening time. Once there is an actual diagnosis, who knows what additional hoops will be needed to have whatever the issue is actually dealt with. Hopefully not too many, I am getting mightily tired of being a circus pony. But, in the meantime, there will be time for walkabout in the changeable autumn light, and beauty to find where the eye looks and the heart sees.

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dog is wary but curious

Monday musings: transitions + plumsauce

In which our plucky heroine notices that the longer time spent away, the longer it seems to take to re-adjust...

I went north to spend time with G, and ended up staying for a week. Since we live not only in very different spaces, but many miles apart, there is always transition, the time necessary to adjust; not sure what to call it (though I am sure there is a long and complicated word in German for just such a specific sensation). The sounds are different, the scent of the air, and the great difference of being together or apart. I noticed it more on my return than ever before. The crowded streets and transit, the way my personal shields spring up so very fast, the vast difference between city and woods. Always attentive to what is around me, there is a huge difference between walking down a city street in the twilight, and walking down a leafstrewn path to the river, a huge difference between one set of eyes and two...

. .

It was good also to visit with some of my other northern friends, while G was at work. I had time to spend at the Menagerie, being fortunate indeed to stop by on a day when the pizza oven was fired up. Happy hands that are healing, helped prep the toppings. And there was a little bit more torch-time, J showed me how to make "twisties" (twisted glass stringers) and I was able to make one, and a few beads as well. The first time after my surgery, and all went well.

The next day ended up a long visit with B/K & C. I'd not been back to their house in years, and in the intervening six years time, they have done an incredible job of turning their front yard into a beautiful food garden, with curving pathways, raised beds edged in urbanite, and a mixture of fruit, flowers, and vegetables. I particularly liked the raspberry border along the sidewalk, apparently underplanted with spring flowering bulbs. Their fig tree, which was small when I lived there, is now huge, and starting to crack the driveway. But since their driveway has turned into part of the garden zone, being used to store amendments, nurture plant starts, and serve as a construction zone for garden trellises and suchlike, a few cracks are not troublesome.

Later today, after spending some time taming Mt Dishmore, my current plan is to use the feral plums to make...

Chinese Plum Sauce:

2lbs. fresh plums - pitted and quartered 2½C sugar ½C vinegar 3T soy sauce 1T ground ginger 2 minced garlic cloves 1/8tsp cayenne

Combine all, and bring to a boil, then simmer til the fruit is very tender. Puree, then cook till very thick It will take some time to cook down... Keep watch so it does not catch and burn When suitably thickened, jar and process ≈4 8oz jars - ¼" headspace - process 10 minutes

recipe can be multiplied


̿ ̿ ̿ ̿̿'̿̿\̵͇̿̿\=[^_^]=/̵͇̿̿/̿̿̿̿'̿ ̿ ̿̿̿ ̿ ̿
dog is vigilant and slightly puzzled
head tilted, with ears up