I did manage to get over to the art store this morning before it began raining, but the dark sky towards the west made further errands less than appealing. Instead, it was a day for assorted housey chores. Mt Dishmore has almost been conquored and tomorrow will likely see the summit, just in time for a new round of preserving! There are still some apples, and the mounds of quinces will not wait forever. I did want to get the kitchen back to square zero first. Besides, nothing is quite as nice as filling the house with the sweet spicy scent of autumnal cooking.
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~ leafy times two ~
I wish I was more adept at plant identification. Back when the internet was a library, there were more useful online tools, but now that it is a store, doing such research is a greater challenge. And I do know that the oak family is a fairly large one. Still, isn't this a pretty leaf? ~ leafy times two ~
There are other leaves that are a tinyworld work-in-progress,; the "large monstera houseplant" components are gradually coming together. Last month I was able to use the Cricut machin at the PCC makerspace to cut many leaf blanks from a piece of green Canson MiTiens paper, probably enough to make at least two plants... This week I painted the leaves, and am now adding wire stems covered with floral tape. "Handmade Houseplants"* suggests using foam as a core for the central vine the leaves sprout from.
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This recipe mostly uses things I have on hand, and sounds like it would be delicious. I picked up a lime while out shopping, so as to be able to try it out this weekend...
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The weather yesterday was a lovely autumnal day, hence the colorful oak leaf photo, and since it was clear skies it was a good time to head to the post office and pick up a good quantity of small flat rate shipping boxes, so as to be prepared to mail out the Advent of A Better Year Swap packages two weeks from now...
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Spent some time today cutting away the extraneous duct tape to make room to fill in the foam pipe insulation where the original had shrunk away leaving gaps. Glad there are a few random lengths in the emporium, and am pretty sure there is some matching white duct tape leftover from the Corsi-Rosenthal box project (I plan on saving the trimmed bits of new foam as it will be variously useful in the tinyworld makerie...
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November SMART goals (x=extra)
| # | THINGS MADE | THINGS FIXED | THINGS GONE |
| 1 | mini sanding blocks | pruning persimmon | greenwaste bin |
| 2 | 7 tiny drawers | pipe insulation | recycle bin |
| 3 | - | - | - |
| 4 | - | - | - |
| 5 | - | - | - |
| 6 | x | x | x |
| 7 | x | x | x |
| 8 | x | x | x |
| 9 | x | x | x |
today's gratitudes -
- I rarely eat pizza, because citric acid (used in tomato sauce) and I are not friends. Yesterday, the local New Seasons had one of the most unusual offering I've ever seen there: white cheese pizza with chanterelle mushrooms and caramelised shallots. It was amazing!
- more progress on Mt Dishmore, enough that the small folding table can now be used for air drying the many Talenti tubs that have been patiently waiting their turn.
- scraps from fitting the pipe insulation are just right to become a core for my miniature monstera plant vine. I had been wondering where to get small pieces of foam, and the answer was right there!
Time of Isolation - Day 2302
*I've been using this book as additional inspiration, just scaling down their suggestions from life size to miniature. There are also several video tutorials on making tiny plants, though many require either polymer clay or UV resin, some still suggest things like tape, cardboard, and paint.
