Bringing lots of rain. Hopefully that will translate into lots of tasty greens in a few weeks but it is putting a damper on my digging out the worm bin project.

So many projects lined up. Tonight I spent some time readying a chest of drawers for my daughter’s room. Secondhand and the staples and a few knobs were loose, so I got out the wood glue, a screwdriver, and a hammer to tighten it all back up. I have drawers sprawled across my living room drying tonight; hopefully tomorrow they’ll be ready because I’d really like to get the dresser moved into one of my daughter’s closets to give her more floor space and further the organization of her room. She wants a big girl room and I told her that the only way she’s going to get it is if we can get the clutter under control on an ongoing basis. Her room is the victim of generosity from family and friends. We just don’t have enough storage space for everything she’s been given.

I was hoping to carve out time tonight to do some cutting and sewing. I have some old sheets that I’d like to turn into circle skirts and shorts for her before summer. I also have to cut and sew new insoles for my favorite pair of scuffs. The soles and uppers are still good, but the insoles are a tattered mess. I’ve been looking at fabrics trying to figure out what would be cushiony on my feet yet durable. I’m thinking that I might layer some fabrics to get the effect I want. I have some thick, soft felted wool scraps and an end of upholstery fabric. The upholstery fabric would probably adhere nicely to the interior of the shoe with a layer of strong glue and the wool would be comfortable on my feet. I really love my scuffs, I don’t want to replace them if I can repair them.

I also need to get my canning jars out and prewashed since the farmers’ markets are opening again and I can get cheap produce to can. I didn’t can hardly anything last year because of my eye surgery and such. Definitely can’t let that happen again this year. I need to at least put up several quarts of bean soup for convenience eating all year long.

Not every domestic art thrills me, believe it or not. I have always loathed doing the dishes. No idea why, I can just think of 20 other things I’d rather do first. So I’m not sure why it took me 35 years to figure out that paring down to just the dishes that we need and use most often could provide ambition and save me time overall. I know how I think, if there are only four bowls in the house, then I am motivated to wash said bowl immediately after use rather than setting it aside, confident of the ready availability of other bowls, and eventually ending up with a sink full of dishes that I really, really don’t want to do and the more dishes there are, the less I want to do them.

So I’ve been packing up the unnecessary dishes for the next trip to Value Village and it’s been very satisfying to watch them go. Even more satisfying is seeing my dish cupboard looking less cluttered in a small kitchen where every inch of space is precious.

I think I may need to approach every room in the house this way. I’ve taken many loads of things to Value Village over the past year, but I still feel like there are plenty of places I could make cuts that would most likely make my life easier and my house less cluttered. It’s a winnowing process that seemingly takes several passes.

Last year I found a big bag of laundered and folded linens sitting next to a dumpster, so I brought them home and they turned out to be clean and in nice condition; however they’re a lot of mismatched pieces that I’m most likely going to repurpose. Currently I’m turning a pink pillowcase into a dress for my daughter. Tonight I cut the top opening and armholes, now I’m hemming them by hand because I don’t have machine thread in a color that matches well enough. I’m going to use red bias tape to make ribbon ties at the shoulders and I might attach more bias tape at the sides to make a back tie. I have a scrap of red cotton with tan polka dot. I might use it to make appliques in the shape of hearts or strawberries. I haven’t decided yet. I could also embroider a simple floral motif along the hem, though that would take a bit more time.

Hand sewing can be tiring but it has a soothing rhythm to it and I find it easy to make small adjustments as I go if I notice that the fabric is shifting as I work. I do need to pick up some more machine thread in some basic colors. I currently only have black and white, but I could use some blue, pink, red, and purple to match the fabrics I have on hand. I need to get another storage bin big enough to hold my odds and ends, too, so I can clear off my workspace for cutting and piecing.

My daughter is on a camping trip and working on her dress is helping with how much I’m missing her while she’s gone. Every stitch another little bit of love for her. I hope I can finish it before she gets home and surprise her with it. I’ll post pictures once it’s done.

It was absolutely beautiful here today.  Sunny and warm but not too hot.  I spent the morning and a bit of the afternoon in the garden.  I prepped a half-barrel planter that is going to become my tomato and basil garden later this summer, breaking up the dirt with my shovel, working in some aged compost from the worm bin and half of a brick of coconut fiber to loosen the soil.  I think I still have the other half of that old vinyl table cloth to use as groundcover when I put the plants in.  I also put in strawberry slips to replace the ones that were killed by a heavy mid-spring hailstorm a few weeks ago.  I planted marigold seeds in a pot, mostly for color since I love marigolds, but we can use the petals in salads and skin salves, too.  The last thing I did was plant chive seeds in the half-barrel that holds my sage, thyme, and rosemary.  One of my hoity-toity gourmet loves is chive blossom vinegar.  It’s gorgeously pink and full of vibrant flavor, great for splashing on summer salads.  To make chive blossom vinegar, you gather a big handful of chive blossoms, wash them, and put them in a clean jar, then you heat white wine vinegar to just under a boil; pour it over the blossoms and let it steep a few days in the refrigerator until the vinegar takes on vivid color and the pleasantly mild onion taste of chives.

Tonight I need to scald a seed-starting tray to start my cucumbers, zucchini, and summer squash.  Now that I’m eating more of a whole foods diet, I may finally have enough recipes to keep up with my summer squashes.

Last month I won a bag of muesli from Bob’s Red Mill and when it arrived in the mail, it came with a catalogue.  Now, Bob’s Red Mill is local to me and I love their products, but having a catalogue gives me a handy database for making a shopping list.  I need to order some food-grade plastic buckets because if I can get whole grains in quantity for cooking and baking, that’s the way for me to go.  I still need a grain mill for grinding my own flours, but I’m doing more and more cooking with whole grains in general and it’s much cheaper to buy it in quantity from the source than to pay through the nose for it in the gourmet section of the grocery store.  Now I just need to find someone local who wants to make a grain pilgrimage with me.

I recently won a copy of American Rust by Phillip Meyer from Monsters & Critics, then a Fashionista Ribbon Belt for my daughter from Jaydn B, and a photo bead craft kit from Craft Bits. So last month I left my average of two wins a month in the dust.

We received our package of organic children’s Noodle & Boo bath products in the mail on Monday. They smell fantastic! And they’re so gentle on my daughter’s sensitive skin. They came in a beautiful white wicker basket that we’ll definitely use for bathroom storage once the bath products are gone. But each product came in its own pretty cardboard box that was impregnated with the yummy, sweet scent of the bath products, so rather that recycle them just yet, I cut each box in half and used them as drawer sachets for my daughter’s clothes. Once they lose their scent I’ll recycle them properly, but I’m always happy to find a second use for something and now that I have the idea, I think I’ll save the boxes and wrappers when I treat myself to handmade soaps in the future for sachets for my own drawers.

I’ve almost completed my daughter’s hooded poncho. I followed the specifications of the pattern and gauge, but it still came out huge on my daughter, so I had to do some clever decreasing around the neckline to make it fit but it’s still a bit big on her and now I have to give some serious thought to how to attach the hood. I started working on a fancy evening wrap for myself. It’s very gothic looking and all made from second-hand or gifted yarn so it’s practically free. I’ve also been stitching felt Christmas ornaments from a kit I bought for a dollar at a thrift store a few months ago. It’s been so much fun embroidering them and sewing on the beads and sequins. They’re so cute! I may dig into my felt stash and try to design my own because they’re quite simple and so adorable, perhaps even something I could sell.

That tickly throat and stuffiness developed into a full-blown bout of ick complete with nausea and body aches. I spent Tuesday in bed taking minute sips of ginger tea until late afternoon when I tested my stomach on a few bland crackers and, later on that evening, a bowl of rice cooked soft but not quite to porridge consistency. So far so good and I was able to go back to work today. I didn’t feel great but I got there and back and did work in between, so I guess some days that’s good enough. I’ll probably feel fine by tomorrow if I turn in early tonight.

The plan tonight is to put on some calming music and finish the second half of my daughter’s poncho, then I need to hack some other pattern for a hood design that I like. Sew, trim, and voila! She should have a new piece of clothing by Sunday at the latest. I’m considering taking a no-new-yarn vow until I make a much larger dent in my current yarn stash, but I know that’s the time I’ll walk into a thrift store and see a garbage back full of great yarn for under $5 so I can’t bring myself to make that vow yet. However, I have decided not to buy brand new yarn unless I have a very specific project in mind for it (especially if it’s a gift) and plan to use it up. I have a goal to make a lot more small projects, too, to use up my odds and ends, of which there are currently an abundance.

After the poncho is complete, the sewing machine must finally be tackled. There are so many useful things I could be making with it: clothes, bedding, aprons, toys, curtains, etc. I really just need to get to it.

I honestly wasn’t expecting to spend much money, my plan was to stop at the store for produce and some items for next week’s lunches but when I picked up the ad circular, I noticed that they were having their pre-holiday baking sale, so sugar, flour, cornstarch, yeast, evaporated milk, butter, and other pantry staples were all to be had at less than half their normal cost.  I had to stock up and, happily, I had coupons that supplemented the sales, so I was able to get $200.00 worth of groceries for $120.00.  Not bad, especially given the current inflation.

It’s a good thing I’ve been working all of those extra hours trying to keep caught up on the paperwork for the office, that extra money covered the groceries plus a trip to the drug store for personal care items and miscellaneous supplies.  It feels good to not be counting pennies trying to get everything we need for once.  Even better to have extra staples in the pantry and the boxes of overage in the attic.  I store my dry staples in large plastic containers with locking lids in my attic and upstairs closets.  Flour, sugar, salt – anything that isn’t easy to store in either the kitchen or the pantry.

The only downside of this morning’s grocery trip was that the store-branded reusable shopping bags I purchased when they first came out are pretty much all falling apart.  Some I can mend, but some look beyond repair, so I’m going to cut them up for sewing scrap.  I guess it’s time to dig out some wool or twine and crochet some shopping bags that will last.  Some string bags for produce and maybe some stiff-sided bags for cans and other goods.   I could line the bottom third of the stiff-sided bags with leather or felt for reinforcement.

Looking at my yarn stash, I think I have enough Lion Brand Homespun in Prairie to make mittens to match the shawl and beret I made for myself earlier this year.  I still need to finish the sweater for my daughter.  I’ve been bringing home so much work at night lately that I haven’t had a chance to crochet in weeks.  I think that’s what I’ll do today because I need a day of rest.  I’m very tired and getting the memo from my body that I need to take care of myself.

I got a request from the offspring for a household favorite – breakfast for dinner.  So a bit ago I pulled out a bag of homemade waffle mix and stirred it together, sliced some fruit, and there was dinner just like that.  Whenever I make waffles, I cook up all of the batter even though my daughter and I can eat 3 waffles combined at the most.  Waffles are very useful food items.  I cool them completely, then toss them in a freezer bag for homemade toaster waffles for busy mornings or I use them as the base for sundaes or I use them as the bread for making scrambled egg or peanut butter sandwiches.  The important part is to let them get cool and dry before you stick them in the fridge or freezer so that they don’t get too soggy.

A productive day overall, I fixed the vacuum cleaner and got the filters on it replaced just in time to vacuum my daughter’s floor after our big organization project.  We’ve spent the last two days getting her room organized, getting rid of old toys, and making room for new big girl stuff like a reading chair and lamp (still to be acquired).

Got started on a baby blanket today.  My boss and his wife are expecting in the fall, so I’m starting the blanket now so I don’t end up getting behind on making holiday gifts for my family.  I also have a bunch of baby booties to make for charity.  I really want to get my sewing machine out and set up but none of my tables are a good working height for me, I may just need to sit on a phone book or something so that I can comfortably put together a few simple things.  I found some high-threadcount cotton sheets folded and laundered in a bag while dumpster diving and they’re the wrong size for my bed, but I could make some really cute pajamas for my daughter with fabric left over, so I have the itch to stitch if you know what I mean.

Other than that just cleaning and cooking, all those chores that pile up the minute your back turns.  I made my lunch for the next couple of days, a melange of brown rice, corn, red chard, onions, garlic, and homemade curry paste – it’s delicious.  I still need to take out the recycling but I may do that in the morning because right now a hot shower and a few hours curled up with the classical station and my crochet gear sounds just wonderful.

Pasta is much like chocolate or bread, it’s something that you need to get a feel for as you work with it. My first few passes through the roller were slightly less than disastrous but not great. The pasta broke and the edges were shaggy. It took me a few attempts before I found a folding and rolling technique that worked for me, from there it wasn’t too bad. I made one batch of hand-cut, but rolled them too tightly before cutting and ended up struggling to unroll them. The second ball of dough got put through the fettucine cutter and they came out looking pretty good. We did two batches of spaghetti (don’t ask) and my daughter used cookie cutters on her sheet of dough. One of the batches of spaghetti got hopelessly stuck together, so I covered my rolling pin with semolina flour and set to work seeing if I could recover it. Ken rolled it back into a ball and I rolled it out fairly thick and got it supple and smooth again, then ran it through the medium setting of the machine and folded it lightly to make another batch of hand-cut pasta, which is what you see below.

I started two rugs this weekend but have only finished one so far, a scrap yarn oval rug in blues, purples, blacks, greens, creams, and grey. The other is for my daughter’s room. It was supposed to be a flower in bloom made out of polar fleece rag strips, but I didn’t have quite enough yardage to make the petals, so it’s going to be uneven concentric circles in mauve and pale yellow instead. Next time I’ll buy at least three yards of the petal color instead of two. I like how the polar fleece is working up, though, it feels like very soft, smooth rope. I want to give it to the Miss to test to see if the fleece sheds horribly, pills, or otherwise degrades before I make any to sell.

I really like the rug making and I’ve got some good designs for children’s rugs in mind. I’m going to use my cross-stitch graphing skills to try to design a truck or train rug for my nephew. Now that I’ve learned how to carry colors under my stitches, it’s opened up a world of possibilities.