A Grave Affair...

in which our plucky heroine completes the October challenge...

My entry in the SCA Miniaturists "A Grave Affair - October challenge" is a Viking Age burial scene... I had a lot of fun doing research to find information and sizes of various objects and artifacts that were found as grave goods, and figuring out how to re-create them as well as possible in 1:12 scale.

My tiny rag doll, specially made for this scene, is dressed in Viking Age women's clothing (undergown, apron dress, and shawl, and lying on a piece of sheepskin. She has a bronze needle case attached to one of her brooches. a belt knife and sheath, and a braided multicolor belt. The grave also contains a wooden bucket, a coiled hemp basket containing tablet weaving cards and a linen smoother, a smoothing board, a bone comb, a soapstone cooking pot, and a birchbark box holding "apples".

As I looked up possible artifacts to make for this challenge, I kept notes of dimensions, and sketches, to aid me, and I found my 1/12 ruler invaluable. Smoothing board is made from a bookbinding paper folding bone (probably cow bone) in lieu of whalebone. Smoothing stone is made from a piece of toothbrush handle, dyed with sharpie pen to resemble glass. Tablet weaving cards made from thin dense cardboard. Coiled basket made from hemp twine and thread. Needle case made from brass tubing and bronze wire. Comb made from a shard of old piano key. Knife sheath made from cardboard and metallic watercolor paint, knife made from a carved and painted toothpick. Birchbark box made from real birchbark laminated to cardboard, "apples" are unripe nandina berries. Wooden bucket is coffee stir sticks glued to a base constructed of egg carton cardboard. Doll made from linen fabric and wool yarn, stuffed with wool fleece, and dressed in cotton, silk, and a wool shawl.

I have had So Much Fun with this project! (I made everything except the soapstone pipkin, which was a gift from Kareina Talventytär that she carved from real Scandinavian soapstone) The photo scene was staged in one of the planters on my porch, garnished with moss. The grave box is woodgrain cardboard, 4" x 5½". There are a number of other items on my list of possible grave goods I would like to make as well, when future time allows, particularly the ceramic jug and the bronze bowl...

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October SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	smoothing board	replaced glue cap	some planter soil
2	wee needle case	re-container black gesso	crawling fuschias
3	mini birchbark	indigotiger popover	yard waste bin
4	fig lemon preserves	re-seal preserve jars	windfall apples
5	miniature comb	grapevine pruning	recycle bin
6	13 painted discs	corbie #1 beak	picked grapes
7	ann wood crow #1	pruning dead branches	recycle bin
8	dark denim hat	replace smoke alarm	yard waste bin
9	faux corpse doll	replace other smoke alarm	x
10	tiny knife and sheath	x	x
11	miniature basket	x	x
12	tiny tabletweaving cards	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. an art store within walking distance
2. my mom still knows who I am when I phone her
3. a gap in the rain long enough to take a walk

Time of Isolation - Day 973

what's in a name?

in which our plucky heroine wonders...

How did "long johns" get their name? A question that came up in the Sewing Nomads meeting, since I have followed Ruthie's lead and call mine "long janes" instead. That question proved difficult, as there are a number of theories, but not a definitive answer. The nether garment was a later development than the earlier "union suit", and most of what I have read online attributes the name to either referring to a John L Sullivan, a 19th c boxer who wore a similar garment in the ring, or as a variation on longues jambes, which is French for “long legs”...

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~ creativity challenge ~

Irregardless, my long janes will have decorated lower edges, as I prefer, adding a narrow glimpse of additional embellishment under the edge of my everyday dresses and/or pinafore. It is getting colder every week now, so adding a few pair to my collection is in order. Particularly since the very first pair, made as a wearable muslin from an old jersey bedsheet years ago, have begun to wear out. I decided that simple large dots-in-a-row, in medium pale blue, were easy to applique while chatting on Zoom, so one pair will be decorated with those. I also want to print the dancing rats and ravens border for another, probably a darker knit with the block printing in white (I have been re-reading the Penric and Desdemona novellas). If I made three pairs, this will neatly fill the space allotted to them in my dresser, and bring the total up to eight, which is my desired minimum. They are really easy to sew, having just two seams and an elastic waistband, so I amuse myself with the hemline decorations

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~ tinyworld  tidbits~

a few more grave goods artifacts today, a miniature belt knife sheath and an matching knife, the sheath made from painted cardboard, and the knife from a carved and painted toothpick. That was successful, so then a belt was needed; I did round four strand braid in three colors of floss, in lieu of miniature tablet weaving. That led me to think "tiny tablet weaving cards"... 3mm squares of cardboard, with holes poked in each corner with a pushpin. Finally, I'm attempting a coiled basket made from hemp cord and button/carpet thread. Tomorrow will be photo day, when I will put together all the various artifacts along with the doll some are calling my "ghost girl", and I somehow create a grave scene. Stay tuned!

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the other smoke alarm has been replaced, and they should be good for another ten years, possibly with some battery replacement in the interim.

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October SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	smoothing board	replaced glue cap	some planter soil
2	wee needle case	re-container black gesso	crawling fuschias
3	mini birchbark	indigotiger popover	yard waste bin
4	fig lemon preserves	re-seal preserve jars	windfall apples
5	miniature comb	grapevine pruning	recycle bin
6	13 painted discs	corbie #1 beak	picked grapes
7	ann wood crow #1	pruning dead branches	recycle bin
8	dark denim hat	replace smoke alarm	yard waste bin
9	faux corpse doll	replace other smoke alarm	x
10	tiny knife and sheath	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
1. friends, always!
2. an assortment of Finetec Coliro metallic watercolor paint
3. my 1:12 scale ruler

Time of Isolation - Day 972

fragmented Friday

in which our plucky heroine dithers...

Well, it certainly makes a difference if I start out my day with a planned list of projects, or not. Comparing yesterday to today makes that really apparent. I knew I was going to get a lift to Costco today to pick up my medications. Of course, it was quite pleasant to have a bit of masked social time with B as we drove over to the giant land of shopping. I had not been there right when they opened before, and it was significantly less crowded than I had feared. However, I neglected to plan for what else to focus on today, and before I knew it, it was midafternoon, and the only thing I'd done with my day was to spend time stitching away completing the faux corpse doll for my diorama!

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time in the tinyworld:
.

It didn't seem right to ask one of my current tinyfolk to stand in as a faux corpse, so I had to make someone new, to be the body being buried in my Grave Affair diorama, complete with various Viking Age miniature artifacts and clothing. Afterwards, they acquire new embroidered facial features (with open eyes and so on..) They may decide to live here with my assorted Tansu Terrace denizens, or end up moving north to live with Kestrel's tinyfolk friends.

This tiny rag doll is made from linen, with wool hair and stuffed with wool fleece. I merely sketched in the eyelids and mouth with thread the same color as the skin, thinking that a corpse wouldn't have the bright eyes and ruddy color of life. The tool in the center is a small "stuffing fork", made from a large eyed needle stuck point first in a wooden handle, with the eye then broken half off, leaving two prongs. This tool works really well to manipulate small amounts of stuffing into the narrow confines of the tiny rag doll arms and legs.

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Used the stepladder to replace the smoke alarm in the central hallway this afternoon. Next up task is to check the other smoke alarm in the workroom, if I can reach it, and if it is the same style. (That room is at least four inches taller than the rest of the house, which makes some tasks infinitely more difficult.) Edit to add, it is the same, is just within reach, and so my next chance to ride to the hardware store (not in the rain) I will replace that one as well.

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October SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	smoothing board	replaced glue cap	some planter soil
2	wee needle case	re-container black gesso	crawling fuschias
3	mini birchbark	indigotiger popover	yard waste bin
4	fig lemon preserves	re seal preserve jars	windfall apples
5	miniature comb	grapevine pruning	recycle bin
6	13 painted discs	corbie #1 beak	picked grapes
7	ann wood crow #1	pruning dead branches	recycle bin
8	dark denim hat	replace smoke alarm	yard waste bin
9	faux corpse doll	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 gratitudes -
1. the kindness of B, who offered me a lift to Costco today, and was delightful company on the trip
2. no-boil noodles, because I just made a second batch of lasagna
3. I have a good stepladder.

Time of Isolation - Day 970

midweek miscellany

in which our plucky heroine made some lists...

I've started writing down various tasks, some for that day, some for that week, and some for that season. I was pleased that today I managed to accomplish quite a bit, and also have over 10K steps on my pedometer. The forecast for the day was cool and sunny, the only day in the next week without precipitation, so getting the outside the house tasks completed was a good idea

KnitPicks customer service opens at 6am, so as soon as I woke up I called to sort out why my order from the beginning of the month has not yet arrived; they have no idea, but will send me the order a second time?!? I got up and retaped my toe, which may or may not be broken, but became very painful when I left it untaped yesterday, so taped it will remain til the middle of December. After breakfast I rode my bike to the hardware store, hoping to acquire a replacement smoke alarm. It took a bit of doing, but the manager decided to open up the most likely suspect, and it did in fact match up with the old one, so I can replace the alarm but leave the old bracket in place. This will make the process a lot simpler!

Once home again, I ate an early lunch and headed out on transit to go over to the bank, which is much too far to ride my bike. There was a new clerk there, who was very enthusiastic and was able to answer some other questions I had. It really had been a day of errands, so when I got home again, it was time to do some chores. The kitchen was trashed after my grape squishing experiment, so I used my online chat time with K to make a good amount of Mt Dishmore into clean dishes and pieces of equipment. I was also pleased to find out that the grape juice from earlier in the week, that I cooked down from 6 cups to 2 cups, has barely any tartar crystals in it, unlike my previous efforts several years ago. There are probably about another 5# of grapes still out in the back yard.

somewhere in there, partially last night, and partially this morning, I finished sewing the hatband on my new denim hat. It looks rather dashing. Still no photos, though...

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time in the tinyworld:

Made a good start on the new tiny rag doll "temporary corpse" for "A Grave Affair". Still need to attach the arms, sew on the hair, and embroider the features... I can use some of the Viking Age SCA clothing that I made for Almandine or Nandina

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~ creativity challenge ~

Several views of the completed Ann Wood Crow Pattern Sew-Along project

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Since tomorrow early morning is bin day, it seemed a good idea to both fill up the recycle bin, but also put some detritus into the green waste bin. I managed to take advantage of the dry weather and cut back as much as I could reach of the broken branches of the ornamental plum in the front yard. I still need to find someone to take the broken part down that I cannot reach, but at least I did something in the yard.

In addition, I am going to put "build chicken habitat" back on the list of winter season projects. My friends Eulalia and Amber have some extra hens, so I could get some well raised young hens and get back to homegrown eggs and chicken lawn destruction in the back yard. But first I need to make them a place to live. I am not a woodworker, at all, but hopefully my plans will turn into a modular chicken house. I know I saw the drawings I made sometime in the last month, so fingers crossed I can find them again, and get back to that long delayed construction.

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October SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	smoothing board	replaced glue cap	some planter soil
2	wee needle case	re-container black gesso	crawling fuschias
3	mini birchbark	indigotiger popover	yard waste bin
4	fig lemon preserves	re seal preserve jars	windfall apples
5	miniature comb	grapevine pruning	recycle bin
6	13 painted discs	corbie #1 beak	picked grapes
7	ann wood crow #1	pruning dead branches	x
8	dark denim hat	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 gratitudes -
1. PT is being effective, and therefore I get new and harder exercises
2. stamina - though tired, I made it through the day without a nap.
3. the possibility of hens again

Time of Isolation - Day 969

assorted small productivities

in which our plucky heroine has another half day...

Not sure why I am sleeping so much, but it must be necessary. At least today when I was awake, I didn't feel flat, indeed I began on an assortment of tasks and projects. First came the attack on Mt Dishmore and Mt Washmore, including a preliminary wash of the new food press preparatory to trying it out. When there was a break in the rain, filling up the large steel bowl with grapes to experiment with. I'm almost done getting all the laundry washed and folded and put away.

A text let me know my prescriptions were ready, so I began to arrange for someone to give me a ride out to Costco, which is much too far away from any Tri-Met transit lines. (I sure wish I could get that one prescription somewhere more easily accessible) My usual suspect, pal Wanda, turned out to be in England! so I am hoping to get a ride with a different friend later in the week.

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Tried out the fruit/tomato press this evening, with 4+ pounds of grapes from the backyard. Success was mixed. It definitely did a great job of separating the seeds and skins from the juice, and I ended up with about 6 cups of grape juice (which is now on the stove cooking down into syrup.)

I wasn't expecting there to be quite as much juice also dripping down from where the feed bowl joined the actual mechanism. About 2/3 of the way through pushing the grapes through the squeezer, it became increasingly difficult to turn the handle, and then completely impossible, so I had to stop. Then I was unable to remove the screen from the press to clean the parts, and I was afraid I had ruined the new gizmo on first use. It did finally come fully apart after much gnashing of teeth and careful effort with the lid gripper.

Not sure how to best deal with these two issues, but overall I would call it a 7/10 for the first attempt. Looking forward to a second attempt with the grapes, as there are at least another 5+ pounds still on the vine, and as much again already in the freezer. Also curious to find out how well the press will work with tomatoes, it's intended quarry...

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I found "Cast of Wonders" in my lists of bookmarks, about which I had completely forgotten. It is a "YA speculative fiction podcast" with at this point well over 500 short stories one can either read or listen to, and is delightfully diverse along many axes and cultures. I shall have hours and hours of interesting things to listen to, which will make chores and tidying up much less onerous.

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My ballot is here, as well as the voters guide pamphlet, and I am going to take some time this week to both fill out the parts of the ballot I am already sure of, and take the time to research about the parts I am not yet clear how I will vote. There are always a number of issues on these local ballots that are more important than first meets the eye. I do hope that everyone does what they can to vote, particularly here in Oregon where it is so very easy. I can sit down at the dining table with my assorted papers and the laptop, make my decisions, mark my ballot, and then carry it over to the ballot drop box, or put it in the post. I will get a message letting me know when it arrives safely, and that is it till the next election.

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When it isn't pouring rain, I will take some photos of my completed first corbie. I learned a lot making the first one, which will serve me well on future corbie projects. For example, the gesso I used to paint the legs black is vulnerable to cracking and even falling off in spots. I intend to give just plain acrylic paint a try, with the thought it may be a bit more flexible.

While I am not done with my dark denim everyday hat, I did manage to get the hatband pieces cut out and stitched into shape, so all that is still needed is to hand stitch the hatband in place. As I recall this is a rather tricky and awkward handstitching task, but the result will be so very worthwhile! Incremental progress is still progress. It would be lovely to have several things to share on Saturday at our Sewing Nomads online meeting...

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October SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	smoothing board	replaced glue cap	some planter soil
2	wee needle case	re-container black gesso	crawling fuschias
3	mini birchbark	indigotiger popover	yard waste bin
4	fig lemon preserves	re seal preserve jars	windfall apples
5	miniature comb	grapevine pruning	recycle bin
6	13 painted discs	corbie #1 beak	picked grapes
7	ann wood crow #1	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 gratitudes -
1. back continues to slowly improve
2. we are still a democracy, of sorts, however tenuous
3. a functioning electric dryer, so I can still do laundry when it rains

Time of Isolation - Day 967

half a day is better than none

in which our plucky heroine had odd insomnia...

Woke up in the middle of the night with an optical migraine. Or rather when I woke up in the middle of the night I noticed it, in the center of my field of vision looking rather like flashes of purple lightning hidden repeatedly behind a dark nebula. Was a very very long time before I managed to get back to sleep, and then didn't wake up again until well into today, sometime after noon... back to square zero to getting my sleep wake cycle back to normal and useful.

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time in the tinyworld:

This week I am going to make another tiny rag doll, this one intended for the A Grave Affair diorama. It would  be wrong for the deceased be in their grave with open eyes, as all my tinyfolk have. My thought is to start out with closed eyes, and after the diorama, a bit of embroidery will change the features. Not sure if this one will be a new addition to my tinyworld, or will be travelling north to live with Kestrel.

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~ creativity challenge ~

The Sunday Crafternoon consensus was that original corbie had much too small a beak. That led me to decide that could be the upper beak, and creating a new lower beak from some rolled and glued felt, and then stitching that in place. I am very pleased with the result, which has a better overall proportion, plus the open beak effect really adds to the liveliness of the sculpture. Will remember for the future ones to make the beak more substantial.

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Still feeling very disconnected from the world at large. Really missing my parents, missing being able to talk with them, as they were the ones who actually wanted to hear from me. Missing creating a life that makes sense, watching other people and friends currently going out and being social with one another as if the pandemic wasn't still killing and damaging people, and feeling very much like I must be the crazy one for trying to maintain my health. Not sure what it matters if my body is comparatively undamaged but I have none of the connection and interaction with other people that makes living in a body worth the effort. I'm tired of feeling like this, it isn't "depression" but accurate observation of current reality.

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October SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	smoothing board	replaced glue cap	some planter soil
2	wee needle case	re-container black gesso	crawling fuschias
3	mini birchbark	indigotiger popover	yard waste bin
4	fig lemon preserves	re seal preserve jars	windfall apples
5	miniature comb	grapevine pruning	recycle bin
6	13 painted discs	corbie #1 beak	x
7	ann wood crow #1	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 gratitudes -
1. optical migraine are not painful, just scary!
2. my toe is probably not broken, just badly bruised
3. made lasagna and spinach rice bake for future meals

Time of Isolation - Day 968

thermal whiplash

in which our plucky heroine has lost her fizz...

A week ago it was so warm that I was wearing a light summer dress while out walking the dog after dark. Today is is chilly enough that I am wearing a flannel shirt under a corduroy pinafore, and a cardigan, while sitting at my computer indoors, and debating if I need another layer.

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progress and plans reporting:

Almost done working on my new dark denim hat, it just needs the hatband completed. Basically done working on my first crow of the sew-along, though I want to improve the shape of the beak, which turned out a bit narrow. Need to spend some time on my Grave Affair diorama, which has been sadly ignored for the last week. It would be great if I finally put some attention this week on decluttering and tidying, since the house is desperate for a really good sort-out...

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~ creativity challenge ~

I've been gradually making progress on my three corbies project. This is corbie #1, who has a lovely quizzical expression, even if they don't have their tail or wings attached. I started the weekend a bit more than halfway done., needing to finish cutting out the feathers, finish sewing up the leg/body attachment area, then attach the tail and wings. The weight of the pennies (that help balance the bird upright) give a lovely solid feeling of "heft" and allow for a charming bit of initial wobble when set down upright on the table. By Sunday evening, I was putting in the last few final stitches...

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And, once again, I have managed to misplace four of my five thimbles, in less than four days this time. I guess that one task for the coming week will be to sew up a few new ones, sigh. Plucky heroine is so very absent minded!

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October SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	smoothing board	replaced glue cap	some planter soil
2	wee needle case	re-container black gesso	crawling fuschias
3	mini birchbark	indigotiger popover	yard waste bin
4	fig lemon preserves	re seal preserve jars	windfall apples
5	miniature comb	grapevine pruning	recycle bin
6	13 painted discs	x	x
7	ann wood crow #1	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 gratitudes -
1. one more thimble despite four lost ones
2. my Crafternoon pals
3. being braver about contributing to online discussions

Time of Isolation - Day 967

a change in the air

in which our plucky heroine limps along...

But there was one change, and a very welcome one: overnight the bad air and heat and crispy dryness turned into a much more appropriate late October, the AQI dropped to small double numbers, and the sky turned grey and it began to rain! If I was a dog, I would be wagging my tail. I love autumn, which is supposed to be grey and damp and pleasant. Now I really need to think about making that raincoat!

Even so, I decided to head out and get the lab tests done that had been put off due to bad weather, which meant both a long bus ride and time waiting indoors at the lab (ugh, grateful for my P100, and wishing that there was a safer place to get the testing done, but nope). Fingers crossed that there will be no more medical activity for a while other than my PT, and that my time indoors had no dangerous consequence.

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time in the tinyworld:

While I was out getting my flu shot earlier this week, I also rode my bike just a little further, over to Harbor Freight and bought some multiple compartment storage boxes. This should allow for a bit of tidying up  and organising of tiny things, and make them easier to find when wanted later on.

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Thursday was another day of bad air, and the worst one yet this season; Portland was in the top 5 cities with the worst air on the planet. It was obvious when I stepped outside to walk Wellington that I hadn't quite adjusted my mask correctly, the strong and acrid smoke odor was behaving as I imagine the stink used to test "official" masks (once I readjusted the mask to be better seated, the odor disappeared). It is still really creepy having it be so smoky that even looking straight up there is haze obscuring the airplane flying overhead. I remember as a child, the bad air could be seen looking sideways, but straight up the sky was still blue.

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~ creativity challenge ~

Made further progress on my denim hat - basted upper layer to brim interfacing, stitched brim lining layer underneath and attached seam allowances together to hold in place until I sew and attach the crown lining. Still need to edge bind brim, and create external decorative hat band and inner hat "sweatband".

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Central left toe is definitely damaged, and now taped to it's neighbor toe. I am walking slowly, carefully, and with a bit of a limp. Changed to wearing my very solid Keen workshoes instead of my usual minimal sole shoes for the duration.

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October SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	smoothing board	replaced glue cap	some planter soil
2	wee needle case	re-container black gesso	crawling fuschias
3	mini birchbark	indigotiger popover	yard waste bin
4	fig lemon preserves	re seal preserve jars	windfall apples
5	miniature comb	grapevine pruning	recycle bin
6	13 painted discs	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 gratitudes -
1. rain, soft and pleasant and hopefully helpful to firefighters
2. Vitamin D, enough to get my numbers into the normal zone
3. A good phlebotomist who can do a blood draw on the first jab, without pain.

Time of Isolation - Day 965

woeful Wednesday

in which our plucky heroine is sore and sad...

Last night my computer browser did a "refresh?" that broke it, somehow. My bookmarks disappeared. My interface changed. I am not happy. I can't find anything. I tried for hours to locate things without success. My antivirus says all is well. This morning I was able to locate a bookmarks backup file, but cannot figure out a way to get them to where they are easily useable. I have lost all my links and passwords to media accounts

Then, this morning I rode my bike over to Express Care to get my flu shot. They don't have any of the high dose senior vaccines, even though I called yesterday specifically to check that before making an appointment. It took me over an hour yesterday to connect with a live person. The office today finally found out that the next nearest express care which is about 4 miles away in the opposite direction from Acorn Cottage had some in stock. I don't want to keep riding around in the very bad air, but I do want to get my jab. So, more riding and finally I am vaccinated.

On the way home, I fell off my bike. I don't think I broke anything vital, (though I'm not sure about one of my toes that got twisted under the gears, it is really sore. But there is nothing that can be done about a broken toe just wait for it to stop hurting in a month or two) I scraped my knee, and my palm, and my poor sore back that was just starting to loosen up and heal after three weeks of PT is now as sore as it was when I fell a few weeks ago! The handlebars of the bike are askew, which made riding the rest of the way home a bit challenging, and I lost some of the bolts that hold the baskets in place. I must be cursed in some way...Home and water and Ibuprofen and a sandwich and a shower, and I still want to cry.

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today's three gratitudes -
1. I was able to eventually get my flu shot
2. I was able to shove the bike handlebars back into alignment
3. Most unexpectedly, I was gifted from a kind blog reader with a second one of the long unavailable Target/Liberty of London collaboration shirts in the same classic blue print that I have the one of. This will make my future re-use of the fabric considerably more feasible. Thank you so much Dorothy!!

Time of Isolation - Day 963

smoke gets in your eyes

in which our plucky heroine navigates the haze...

Our AQI continues to rise. This is not the timeline I signed up for... Today I had a physical therapy appointment in the middle of the day. After had I stepped outside earlier this morning and smelled the strong odor of smoke (halfway between a barbeque and a garbage fire) I knew it wasn't just fog in the air, and immediately deployed my P100. Not enjoying the multiple daily dogsit walkies as much as I normally do, as I have to mask whenever I leave the house, even if I am not being around humans, and need to reduce my outdoor time as much as possible, (and walking as slowly as possible). I know it is worse in other places, and even worse for those directly affected by the wildfires.

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Today I noticed that there are autumnal leaves showing here and there. Always fragments of beauty to be seen. I also found the most gorgeous dahlia growing over a concrete wall while I was on my way to PT this morning.

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Super scary incident at the bus stop on the way home from PT. There were three people already waiting there, and old man in a wheelchair, a middle aged man seemingly his caretaker, and a younger person who was obviously in a different reality. The younger person was wearing wooly socks with no shoes, trousers, and a hooded jacket. They were flailing their arms around as they moved about the bus island, making unintelligible angry sounds, pulling their hood on and off, and gesticulating and lunging toward the other men, periodically opening their mouth really wide and snapping their teeth, and spitting. It was the closest I have seen to someone live acting like a zombie. I carefully kept the bus shelter between me and these people, and hoped that when the bus arrived the troubled person would not get on the bus. No such luck. Even though I could see that the driver was phoning for assistance, I chose discretion over valor and began walking away to the next stop in the opposite direction, in the hope that by the time I was able to get transit home, I could avoid them and anything else awful. I have only ever twice before had to alter my transit journey to avoid crazy. Situational awareness is important. I suspect the stress is part of why I was exhausted and slept the afternoon away, well that and the over 10K steps today.

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October SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	smoothing board	replaced glue cap	some planter soil
2	wee needle case	re-container black gesso	crawling fuschias
3	mini birchbark	indigotiger popover	yard waste bin
4	fig lemon preserves	re seal preserve jars	windfall apples
5	miniature comb	grapevine pruning	recycle bin
6	13 painted discs	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 gratitudes -
1. today in PT it was obvious that the efforts I have been putting in all week are making a difference, even though it isn't apparent in day to day life. Even though I was exhausted by the time I returned home, I was walking more easily between the hospital and the bus stop
2. I stopped at Trader Joes on the way back, and customer service said they will probably get the UHT whipping cream back in at the end of the month. I like keeping some on my earthquake shelf, as it seems to last better than box milk, and it's been out of stock for ages.
3. I was able to walk away from weirdness, and return home again safely.

Time of Isolation - Day 962

Monday miscellany

in which our plucky heroine longs for cleaner air...

It is being hard to get a somatic sense that it is actually past the middle of October. While the leaves begin to crisp and fall from the trees, the weather remains dry and hot during the daytime, though thankfully cooling down in the wee small hours of the night.  Our air quality remains at an unhealthy level, and the haze is visible but "moderate". I have started coughing, but since I am not ill, I can only blame the particulates, and my very not airtight house. The bad smell from a few days ago is gone, thankfully. During my final pre-bedtime walks around the neighborhood with Wellington, it remains warm enough at 10:30pm that I was comfortable wearing my summer popover dress without even a light cardigan. I could feel the heat radiating from the pavement, it felt more like summer, and the spooky season decorations that some folks decorate their yards with seemed misplaced in time.

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I've ordered some colored threads for tablet weaving, with the idea of making decorative trim for daypack straps. I have also figured out that if I clear away the things on the shelf behind the computer zone, I should be able to set up a vertical warp weighted tablet weaving loom there, neatly out of the way, but accessible, and a craft project that can be done as pickup work in small chunks of time. Clearing that one shelf will be a goal for the coming week, truly nothing that is stored in that very prime spot needs to be there, and turning it into a weaving zone would be a happy thing...

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Put over 5# of grapes in the freezer, after dealing with them yesterday, and intend to pick and process more of them this week, as there are still more than that left on Feral Grapevine. A test of a single grape proves that the skin slips easily off the frozen grape, which will make my future grape jam (and other grape product experiments a bit easier.

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Spent the morning adulting, i.e. on the phone, sorting out getting a flu shot, and various medical appointments scheduled, and some expired prescriptions refilled. Since this entailed spending at least an hour or more listening to hold music waiting to talk to a live person, I managed to be productive and almost finished the pick stitching along the hat crown seam on my new dark denim hat... Tiny details of difference between this hat and the previous one that only I will probably notice, but that nonetheless please me very much. I hope to have this hat done before the next Sewing Nomads meeting at the end of the month, and maybe another garment too (floral blouse? plaid shirt? long janes?).

pickstitching along the edge between the side and top hat crown
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October SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	smoothing board	replaced glue cap	some planter soil
2	wee needle case	re-container black gesso	crawling fuschias
3	mini birchbark	indigotiger popover	yard waste bin
4	fig lemon preserves	re seal preserve jars	windfall apples
5	miniature comb	grapevine pruning	recycle bin
6	13 painted discs	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 gratitudes -
1. I found a forgotten spool of navy button and carpet thread, which is perfect for decorative hand stitching on my new/future dark denim hat
2. received notice that both pieces of the tomato/grape press equipment are now on their way here to Acorn Cottage
3. The forecast is for the temperature to drop noticeably over the course of the week, and is is supposed to rain all next weekend. Fingers crossed.

Time of Isolation - Day 961

outside the box

in which our plucky heroine may have solved a dilemma...

The universe gave me grapes this year instead of plums. Plums are so easy to process - gather, cut in half and remove the pit, put on trays in freezer, tumble into ziplocs and store until needed. (and they become an everyday addition to my breakfast museli) The fragrant if very seedy grapes from Feral Grapevine however, have resisted my efforts to turn them into anything edible, due to the seeds, and also the abundance of tartaric crystals that form.

Last night before bed I had what may be a way to get around the seed difficulty. If I acquire the tomato press, and the concomitant "grape spiral" (needed because grapes have huge seeds), then I will have a way to de-seed the grapes without going to cuckoo land. Not to mention that the tomato press will also be useful for processing... tomatoes! Several of my friends recommended it previously, so I decided to go ahead and order one to add to the Acorn Cottage infrastructure. Should arrive in a little over a week. In the meantime, I will be making space in the freezer to store the grapes, since they will not hold on the vine for that long.

I wonder if the skins will slip off frozen grapes as easily as they slip off frozen tomatoes? Ifso, then grape jam might be a possibility. My former attempts at grape syrup, or at grape jelly, were marred by an overabundance of the tartaric acid crystals, despite my leaving the juice for 24 hours in the fridge to let them settle out. Would jam not have the same problem? Another option might be  simply freezing the now de-seeded grape pulp in ice cube trays or in Talenti tubs to add to breakfasts or for use as a sweetener, or an ingredient in quick bread. Inquiring mind wants to know, and will share experimental results once the equipment arrives...

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I have been watching various doom-scenarios since I was a schoolgirl, with fewer and fewer options for personal survival as the years pass. The currently elaborating pandemic, combined with the various other ways our species seems hellbent on destroying itself and massively altering the biosphere, do not bring me hope. I wish that there was less of my mental processing power given to compartmentalising all that away in order to go about my daily life in as personal and planetary a functional and helpful way, but that is what I attempt anyway. Every day doing a tiny bit to make the world kinder, more beautiful, and more creative. It is antinomy in action.

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~ creativity challenge ~
.

13 little circles of parchment, painted for Elanor, representing most of her SCA awards. They are just over ¾" diameter, painted with gouache paint on real parchment. She will be using them, once they are placed in bezel settings, as a decoration on a Renaissance era hat band, in combination with freshwater pearls and other gems. Boy howdy is painting a lot faster than enameling, but even so this took me the better part of a day and a half.

. .
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October SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	smoothing board	replaced glue cap	some planter soil
2	wee needle case	re-container black gesso	crawling fuschias
3	mini birchbark	indigotiger popover	yard waste bin
4	fig lemon preserves	re seal preserve jars	windfall apples
5	miniature comb	grapevine pruning	recycle bin
6	13 painted discs	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 gratitudes -
1. The aunties stopped by to visit on their way to the wedding tonight, and brought me fresh organic masa from the co-op... now I can make tortillas!
2. today was the 1 year anniversary of the Sewing Nomads group meeting on Zoom once a fortnight, Huzzah for connection across time and space!
3. the better sewing pins I bought a while back, so very sharp and thin and easy to use, with pretty real glass heads. Having good tools for the activities I do makes a huge difference.

Time of Isolation - Day 961

a little bit further

in which our plucky heroine starts off strongly...

Yesterday I had enough stamina to vacuum and mop the kitchen, which sorely needed it. I am hopeful that my back will continue to improve. Today I started the day by pruning back foliage on Feral Grapevine, filling ¾ of the wheelie bin, and exposing the substantial amount of ripe grape bunches. Then it was time for breakfast, after which I returned to the back yard and raked up all the windfall apples to discard. The greenwaste bin is now quite full and ready for pickup tomorrow. I am quite tired but not exhausted, this is an improvement.

Going to spend the afternoon painting the parchment discs for Elanor to pick up on Saturday, and doing a bit of cleanup before Wellington arrives tomorrow. Another week of dogsitting is in the schedule, as well as folks passing through town this weekend for the wedding of M and L. I will wear my tiara here at home on Saturday in their honor. Wish there was no pandammit, I miss being able to celebrate joyous occasions with my friends. And I wish I wasn't almost the only one of my friends still attempting to avoid catching COVID; I feel like an outsider/oddity to still avoid public gatherings and still be wearing a mask.

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Round, round robin run round,
got to get back to where you belong,
Little bit harder, just a little bit more,
A little bit further than you gone before...

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~ creativity challenge ~

Trying to decide if I should de-seed enough grapes to make some raisins. Apparently grapes do need to be cut in half before drying, which would allow for removing seeds. Don't know how annoying a task that could be, but OTOH, it would be pleasing thing to have some homegrown raisins for winter cookery.

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October SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	smoothing board	replaced glue cap	some planter soil
2	wee needle case	re-container black gesso	crawling fuschias
3	mini birchbark	indigotiger popover	yard waste bin
4	fig lemon preserves	re seal preserve jars	windfall apples
5	miniature comb	grapevine pruning	-
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 gratitudes -
1. Dreamwidth fixed the bug I reported, no more stuck in HTML mode!
2. Felco pruning shears, thanks to Past Me, make yard tasks easier.
3. I saw the Grateful Dead live more times than I can count, back in the day...

Time of Isolation - Day 959

wistful Wednesday

in which our plucky heroine pushes at preconceptions...

So the days remain hot and sunny, but it is definitely cooling down at night. Last night my cold feet made it necessary to get up sometime in the wee small hours and get a blanket to put atop the thin "summer quilt". Still warm and dry enough that hanging laundry out is happening, but I can read the signs...

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time in the tinyworld:

1:12 scale Viking Age style comb, about ⅜" long. The teeth are sawn, but the rivets on the handle are dots of ink, since there is no way I could create such tiny fasteners from iron. Made from a tiny salvaged shard of old piano key, saved from the landfill decades ago... This will be another item for my "A Grave Affair" vignette. I still want to make a wee belt knife, and maybe a few more items.

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Today I was really missing my Dad. I just wanted to speak to him one more time. This was inevitable, and I will probably always be sad. Speaking with my parents was a thing I did several times a week. I miss that kind of caring, that went both ways. I make an effort to talk to my Mom at least one or two times a week, but the Dreadful Dementia makes a very different experience. I hope that it is a pleasant thing for her to get my calls. Every day I am grateful to the varied life experiences my parents gave all of us, the travel, the education, and the love. I am glad that I made a specific point of telling both of them that on a number of occasions, while they could hear it. But I still and always miss them.

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~ creativity challenge(s) ~

marked out all the 1" circles on the parchment scraps, and sketched in all the motifs for the Elanor project. Looking forward to painting them tomorrow... with hope this will end up jump starting my scribal endeavors.

Haven't done anything further on the crow sew-along in the last few days, and the partially stuffed body and bouquet of bird legs are looking rather reproachful. I will need to begin the wings and tail sections in the next day or two, although making the legs is probably scheduled for the following week, and I have already jumped ahead and done that.

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Got a bit further along on sweeping up the front porch before it got too hot. And washed another load of laundry as well as folded and put away everything prior. I am now officially caught up on the Chore Mountains.

...sigh and alas, the red wall phone I had on my long term wishlist is now sold out. I think I need to come up with a different plan for the eventual replacement of the kitchen phone. Maybe a cupboard on the wall to hold an ordinary phone?

This all got stirred up by the notification that the old phone lines will be replaced with fiber, some unknown time in the future. Which will necessitate all kinds of changes in the phones and the internet, as well as the bill for service. Until I find out what is actually happening (since the person on the phone was unable to answer questions as she had been given no specific information) I'm going to remain as calm as I can manage. I am beginning to suspect that the new fiber lines will defeat my purpose in having a land line, as that doesn't lose function when the power goes out. I have many questions...

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October SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	smoothing board	replaced glue cap	some planter soil
2	wee needle case	re-container black gesso	crawling fuschias
3	mini birchbark	indigotiger popover	-
4	fig lemon preserves	re seal preserve jars	-
5	miniature comb	-	-
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 gratitudes -
1. I do love the zucchini green sauce adaptation I created, which makes really easy dinner possible. Thaw a cube, cook some rice pasta, mix and grate some parmesan and voila! Need to make up some more of that stuff soon...
2. It might be funky, but the side yard clothesline really does a good job.
3. M spent two hours on the phone this afternoon with me, helping me with my effortful desire to shift from negative view to positive. Much patience, wow.

Time of Isolation - Day 958