Me-Made-Miniature-May - day 52 (year 2)

in which our plucky heroine returns to the world of the very small...

This weekend was the Technical Symposium for the Digital SCA, and I'd rearranged my schedule so as to take advantage of the some of the many various classes that seem relevant to my own interests. In between and amongst watching and listening and taking notes, it was pretty easy to also start working on my projects for the Mix and Match wardrobe challenge over at Tiny Rag Doll Nation.

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beauty in the time of isolation:

mysterious strange botanical
...is it a fruit, is it a flower??
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Continuing the effort to better health: writing down what I eat, in an informal way in my journal after each meal has been working well (the last time I tried this, using an online program, it quickly became impossibly tedious) and I've been posting the daily list to a friends group for accountability. Added daily steps and mood columns to my journal tracking, to see if that yields any useful data at the end of the month. Had an idea  after yesterday's meal fail, maybe swap breakfast with dinner... Museli is a default super easy meal I've been making for decades. Sometimes I get too tired or too busy to actually cook a "proper" dinner. If, instead, dinner was planned to be something super easy, this would be a good experiment to try, since there is no one but me to be perturbed by salad, or stew, for breakfast...

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~ creativity challenge ~

I made two garments for Nandina on Saturday, a teal knit tee shirt and a lined silk skirt. The top is made using the Placket Tee pattern, and the skirt is made from two rectangular scraps from old silk scarves, (one printed in red, turquoise and black on a greyish-lavender background, and one burgundy) layered together, gathered into a bit of Hug Snug for a waistband.

I’m using the printed scarf fragment as my colorway inspiration. I didn’t have any wee tiny snaps, so ordered some from Etsy... foolish me, should have asked my shindig pals, several of whom have some in their notion stashes, and no one other than me has any use for the tiniest of snaps.

4 garments (2 reversible) = 9 outfits
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May SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	teal knit tee for Nandina	-	-
2	teal knit skirt for Nandina	-	-
3	red/grey top for Nandina	-	-
4	red/print skirt for Nandina	-	-
5	red Laurel medallion for Nicolin	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitude - there was a ripe fresh organic peach in the bin at the Zeeb today. Now it is in me, after being sliced atop a small bowl of Greek yogurt.

Friday fragments - day 49 (year 2)

in which our plucky heroine couldn't sleep last night, again...

but mostly becasue the book I chose for my bedtime reading was too good! On of my friends posted a comment about the book "Lab Girl" (by Hope Jahren), and I can't remember how long it has been since I couldn't stop reading a book. Intending to just read the first chapter as I wound down towards sleeping, instead stayed up way too late, until there were no more pages to read, (and am about to dive right back in and re-read it) She has such a way with words and phrases, and her writing gave me an entirely new way of thinking both about plant life, and about the life of scientists...

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A bit more than an hour of effort (with online company) and the soldering workbench top is entirely cleared, wiped down, and reorganised with only the things that are supposed to live there. In the process, I found a tiny disc anvil tucked inside a cupboard) that I've been looking for for several years! I've about a large handful of random bits to find homes for. Rather than despair about how long it will take to actually declutter and reorganise Acorn Cottage, I'm reminding self to be pleased at every additional bit of square footage that becomes a place of clarity and function.

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beauty in the time of isolation:

pink dogwood on a sunny spring day
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I've been filling in some of the random chunks of time with painting away on the group of Adiantum charters that Michael dropped off here. The charter artwork was quite challenging to paint, for several reasons, partially because the actual xerox quality was not great, and partially because the line art did not actually lend itself to being painted. We are doing our best to help our neighbors. I wish that more folks knew that there are actually parameters that help make charter art paintable. Photos tomorrow...

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~ creativity challenge ~

Me-Made-Miniature-May: instead of the full size challenge, make garments, accessories and artifacts for Nandina's world. There's a Mix and Match May wardrobe challenge going on over at Tiny Rag Doll Nation, which inspired me to return to the world of the small... I'm going to start by knitting a tiny placket tee, using this pattern. Tested my ability to knit so small by making a sample tee to share with Gwen, the doll that lives next door to us, and the knit top for Nandina will begin tomorrow. It  might be good to acquire some Lykke size 0 double pointed needles, the smallest I have are some Clover Takumi size 1...

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April SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	wire planter cage	cover smaller sleeve board	yard waste bin
2	prototype mesh wash bag	cover larger sleeve board	recycle bin
3	5 jars blood orange marmalade	baby plants repotted	bag of fabric
4	3 jars Awesome sauce	skirret cage adapted	bag of fabric
5	4 jars strawberry rhubarb sauce	temporary biffy	bag of fabric
6	two large blue planters	remove thumbhole cuffs	bag of fabric
7	two bone Viking threadwinders	planted herbs	bag of old fur
8	original Luttrell-inspired scroll	pruned forsythia	yard waste bin
9	two Adiantum charters	pruned persimmon	recycle bin
10	red Laurel enamel	x	yard waste bin
11	tiny placket tee for Gwen	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitude - words with friends long out of touch. The pandemic has played hob with contact, and not everyone is on social media. There are people I never had their phone numbers because I saw them almost every day in my past time daily routines. I can't do much to fix the broken world, but I can persist in doing what I can to keep connections alive.

back in the saddle - day 48 (year 2)

in which our plucky heroine catches up on some long delayed work...

It has been a long while since I fired up the enameling kiln. A commission, initially started prior to pandemic, is finally getting finished, and I am enjoying getting back to it.  It would be better, if as in the past, if there was a second piece to work on at the same time, since there is a fair amount of sit and wait for the enamel to dry before it goes into the 1500F box for a few minutes at a time, over and over again...

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beauty in the time of isolation:

the color contrast between the euphorbia and the burgundy foliage really caught my eye today....

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I'm thinking I need to cut bread from my weekly meals, at least in the form of "sandwich" or "toast"...I will do this as an experiment for the duration of this challenge at least. I don't eat most wheat foods, but there is one type of sourdough that I found I can eat without digestive issues, and I started adding it to my groceries this year of isolation, because comfort*. Just like I have given up "milk as a beverage" (my lifelong habit), switching to plain water had about a fifteen pound difference on the scale. I am wondering if moving bread to "occasional rare occasion cooking ingredient" from it's current multiple times a week food might have a similarly useful result for me...

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~ creativity challenge ~

unset completed Laurel medallion enamel... the setting is finished but unpolished. Tomorrow I will put it all in place, polish it, and mail it off to the recipient. Actual size 1¼" diameter.

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On Saturday, started an attempt experimental batch of lactofermented garlic... salt brine and whey, in a jar with two heads of peeled garlic cloves. (sterilised all the glass etc with boiling water)

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April SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	wire planter cage	cover smaller sleeve board	yard waste bin
2	prototype mesh wash bag	cover larger sleeve board	recycle bin
3	5 jars blood orange marmalade	baby plants repotted	bag of fabric
4	3 jars Awesome sauce	skirret cage adapted	bag of fabric
5	4 jars strawberry rhubarb sauce	temporary biffy	bag of fabric
6	two large blue planters	remove thumbhole cuffs	bag of fabric
7	two bone Viking threadwinders	planted herbs	bag of old fur
8	original Luttrell-inspired scroll	pruned forsythia	yard waste bin
9	two Adiantum charters	pruned persimmon	recycle bin
10	red Laurel enamel	x	yard waste bin
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitude - there was enough propane to finish soldering the enamel setting... like a number of other staple supplies, it has not been replenished for the whole of the pandemic, and is on the list of things to deal with once it is possible.

*sure wish I could figure out a comfort for me that didn't involve food, or human contact...