Working Wednesday, June 17, 2020

~ Jenny

Bob and I logged another HWSWA post and I’m still trying to figure out how to make the old blog usable. I’m slicing and dicing the Liz outlines, thinking about Lily, and keeping Nita on the back burner until I can figure out what it all means. Also filling multiple garbage bags because I need the Living room as an office and the kitchen as a kitchen.

What are you up to?

52 thoughts on “Working Wednesday, June 17, 2020”

  1. I’m contemplating my mess of a living room (and current telework location) and vowing yet again that I will clean it. But at the end of my workday I will head outside for a walk or to the garden, and by the time I get back and have dinner, I will put it off for another day. Maybe I can pretend to be a smoker and take smoke breaks that involve cleaning for a few minutes every hour. (I am a great one for coming up with strategies…)

    On the creative front, the vegetable plants in the garden are coming along nicely, mostly. And yesterday evening a guy from the apartment building across the street came over to the garden and asked if by chance I had any thyme or rosemary. He was trying a new dish and realized he didn’t have the right herbs. Herbs are the one thing that I seem to be able to grow easily, so I was able to help him out.

  2. I worked on finishing my challenge quilt. It needed to use all of a particular strip of fabric and be at least 36″ square. A month ago I thought I was finished, but it measured at 35″, so I added additional fabric to the border. This past week, I layered, pinned and quilted it, finishing up the binding last night. Technically, it would have been displayed at the guild meeting Thursday evening, so I can say I finished it on time. 🙂 The challenge fabric is the black dotted stuff between the orange and blue lines. I did run out of the stuff, so used solid black as the background around the edges. And it measures 37″ now.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CBhFKKcBPxc/

    I also completed a mystery quilt top. The instructions for each part came out twice a week, and you used fabric from your stash to complete it. Sadly, my stash looks no different now since nearly everything I used was leftover from a previous quilt. I’ll put the link in the next comment.

    Still didn’t pick up a crochet hook. It’s time for me to clean up my mess on the dining room table and figure out what my next project should be. Something new? or finishing up something old.

  3. Gardened and house keeping, invented a delish bay scallops dish last night, on top of rice with miso. I suppose my most concrete creative work has been sending out a song (or some piece of music) to my church choir, and then to other friends. I vary it a lot, it’s mostly vocal. If you need some surprise music, you can find it at my website (morganmccurdy.com/songs-of-the-day-for-corona-virus-times/) I’ve been featuring songs of protest and hope for the last month, and I recommend in particular Tuesday, June 16, an amazing tap dance/song/protest performance. It’s really something.

  4. I gave myself a manicure and pedicure on Sunday. Yesterday, I put on real clothes (and my mask) and went to Macy’s for a little retail therapy. Hardly a soul in there, and I didn’t linger. Bought without trying anything on. It felt sooooo good to be out.
    On Monday, my mother’s home in Australia sold after only five days on the market. And above price. Amazing, but also sad. Every morning I’d go to the real estate website and check the photos. I’d do a wander through the rooms. Sixty years she’d lived there. I miss her.
    Today, I’m not planning on doing much of anything. Maybe a walk in the park.

    1. A pedicure for me nowadays is looking down and seeing which toenail is in need of a trim and clipping that nail. It reminds me of a short video I saw a couple of weeks ago with a toddler holding an ice-cream cone in one hand and grasping his/her foot, wiping his toes across the ice-cream and shoving the ice-cream covered foot in his mouth. So funny.

    2. Hugs. Letting go of family history is hard. When my grandmother’s house sold (which I’d literally grown up in, and lived 8 blocks from during my formative years), it broke my heart. It was a good thing, but still.

    3. Same with my grandparents’ home, which they’d bought as an empty nest place in 1943 when my father, their youngest, was just graduating university and about to go into the Navy. It was our legal next-of-kin-who-will-always-know-where-you-are address until Dad left the Navy and became a civilian, and when my grandparents went to assisted living, they sold it to my aunt and uncle, so it was the family center for the rest of *their* lives. When we bought a place and were organizing keyrings for a new set of locks, my brother asked to see mine, and then he modified the pushbutton lock on the front door of the new house to use the key to our grandparents’ place, so it’s still on my keyring, 77 years after they bought the place in 1943.

  5. Yesterday I had to take our Jasmine dog to the vet. She had a tooth pulled and a lump on her ear removed. We don’t think the lump is scary, just fast growing and Fred, the young dog, wouldn’t leave it alone. She’s feeling better now.

    My MRI for Friday was moved so I rearranged the other appointments I had for that day.

    We had lunch with friends on Saturday and bought 160 half bricks for a whopping $42.00, tax included. Now I just have to get them in the ground!

  6. I’ve started work on crocheting a small throw blanket. Or wrap-around shawl. Not sure yet.

  7. I am become a furious postcard writer. I sent cards to all my elected officials; in DC, in the state capital, and at Town Hall. Today I send cards to friends. I have a commission, and I am not working on it yet. I think it still needs to marinate.

    1. Congratulations! You are improving your friends’ lives and putting your representatives on notice in a more lasting way than by email. You are my new role model.

  8. Today I got to Conan Doyle and Raffles in my short story proofs, which was a lot more fun. I’m thinking of actually having an outing, to a garden centre: am writing my shopping list. And I’m continuing to write the story I started in the last week of my writing course – because I want to know what happens. I’m a bit taken aback that I kept coming up with magical elements in my stories: I’m not especially into fantasy. But am happy to play with it for now.

    1. I think the idea of a magical solution appeals to all of us these days. When my nieces were young I used to go to the dance supply outlet and buy them silver sequined magic wands. I’m beginning to wish I had saved one for myself.

      1. So far, it’s just surreal elements appearing in the ordinary world. I guess odd ideas in material form? Not at all sure it’ll work, but fun to play with.

  9. Slowly working on Hope Sze #8, set in Egypt, as I take a break from the ER.

    COVID cancelled my Fringe shows this year, but I’m doing a deep dive into acting/comedy lessons online through a Montreal Studio called MSOPA and auditing dance and singing through Made in Manitoba’s Masterclass.

    I’m also watching a great class on livestreaming right now and just downloaded OBS and made a Twitch account (myininja). I tell you, technology is a huge boon for rural people like me who used to drive 3 h to learn anything in person!

  10. I finally finished the annual sweater wash. I still have more of them than I have storage space, but since I got them up on the designated shelf last summer, I should be able to do it again this year. Unfortunately, the shelf slopes more than it did last year, so I don’t think I will be able to pile as many sweaters there as I have in the past.
    With that in mind I went up to my favorite furniture store to check out their floor sample sale and see my friend, Nancy. It was great seeing Nancy, but the dresser I thought would solve all my storage problems really is too big for my bedroom. I think the idea of buying new furniture that actually goes together is a fantasy that I need to discard. At 63 years old, I think it is time to stop wanting outward trappings that prove I am an adult. If anyone is still in doubt about that, I’m sure that my gray hair will convince them.

    1. Far better to embrace your eclecticism than to trap yourself in an aesthetic you may not want forever. At only 63, you’ve got a good while to live with your decor choices yet

    2. My husband’s family throws nothing away. So for the first 15 years of married life I lived with antique furniture that lived in house holds where it has survived many children that we were given or lent (exception: my SIL lent us a marble topped Georgian washstand that lives in our dining room and I use it to serve food from. It is gorgeous. But it is only lent. I have had it for 25 years now). Almost nothing would have been my choice if I was paying my own money for it. So 30 years ago I dug my feet in and insisted we get a brand new bedroom set. It is teak with ebony trim and really nice and everything matches and it looks kind of phony to me. Like it’s for a photo shoot but no one uses the room kind of look. Then since I am short of closet space, we also bought this huge Queen Anne armoire and added that to the bedroom. It made all the difference in the world. But I did stop lusting after furniture that was a matched set.

    3. My fantasy is infinite built-ins — sort of a super-Craftsman vision. A place to put EVERYTHING so it’s out of the way.

  11. Well, I lost sleep the other night trying to come up with some one-sentence ideas after reading the HWSWA post on the weekend. Which led to a “note-to-self” not to read interesting blog posts before bed;)

    I also got out another audio book this week. The prequel to my mystery series which takes place pre PI days. So that was fun.

    Plus, I re-organized some of my clothes and bedding, swapping out blankets and such because it’s gone from cool nights to hot. Of course, then it also went back to cool before turning hot again, but I think it might stick this time:)

  12. Today my goal is to make an appointment for labs so my dr will be happy at Monday FaceTime appointment and will also refill one of my prescriptions. I’ve put this off since late February; in my defense, I didn’t know I wouldn’t be able to get them for a few months. It’s “working” because I haven’t been out in a few months and getting myself out the door is hard work. And since I’ll be out, I’ll be able to do a couple of other necessary things that I’ve been putting off because they’ve required me to go outside.

    Other than that, I need to clear my room. Because I’m in a roommate situation and thus my stuff is in storage, I’ve had to order some stuff. Now all the boxes are taking up space in my room. So clearing room is the order for the next few days.

  13. Work? Work is just work. Meh.

    I shopped, mostly online. (The dotter and I went to Wally World last Sunday for groceries.) Amazoned (is it okay to verbify Amazon, like people did to Google?) a couple of computers, one of them refurbished and cheap, so we’ll see how that turns out.

    I am going to take down and discard my Christmas tree. Since I like to believe I have the spirit of Christmas in my heart the year ’round – though I Bah! and Humbug! all things Valentines or St Patrick or Fodder Day – I remain mum about Mothra’s Day – there is no need to maintain the outward signs. Besides, half the lights have died and the dust is unbearable. I still have three USB trees, and will likely add another.

    That will be my work this week.

  14. I started a new manuscript (first chapters to include with a proposal for a 4th garlic farm mystery) and cut down trees. Saplings really, growing where they didn’t belong and left for too long. Tricky part is keeping them from falling on me.

  15. Many many moons ago I was forced to create a wordpress profile to access some blogs. To comment on HWSWA I have to sign in.

    I couldn’t be bovvered. Work is anxiety inducing. But I’m cooking and playing with the dog. Pics of food on Instagram, as usual. 🌻

    1. You have to sign in?

      Sorry, I’m slow this week. You can’t go straight to the blog?

      1. Only to comment. Because it recognises my email address from the old profile.

        Ne’er mind. This one’s on me to solve.

      2. Yeah, I had to login using my WordPress identity, rather than my normal one (like I use here), so my identifying logo isn’t my cute little stone heart (no, of course it’s not metaphoric!), it’s my purple sun.

  16. It’s still early(ish) here so not all done but planned
    clean bathrooms, there’s a guest coming,
    make marshmallows as my promised bathroom cleaning reward, It was suppose to be a cleaning the house reward but it’s been weeks so maybe I need a smaller step
    urgent part time gig is promised to at least be started today
    crochet some samples as don’t currently have a project for the end of the day collapse in front of video. It’s soothing to do both but only watching is not, esp as I’m not that interested in the shows we’re following right now.
    minimal self care of walking, during which I must acquire groceries for tonight even though I shopped this morning, only online has this lack of immediate gratification
    Except. Online groceries happened at about 4am due to insomnia so if I do half this list never mind all the side tracks(like commenting on a blog!) I’ll be pleased. This is the most motivated I’ve felt in weeks so I have hope.

    oh. It’s Thursday. Sigh. Wednesday… dinner was pretty good, and there was laundry, some, washed but not hung on the line as there was rain between starting the load and taking it out of the machine. Today will be better, yes?

      1. This recipe is pretty typical. Sugar + corn syrup cooked, added to gelatin, then beaten within an inch of its life until it whips to foam, flavored (colored if wished) and then either allowed to set in a flat pan or, as I used to do for the annual Sierra Club Easter egg hunt, funneled into hollowed-out clean eggshells. You need a serious mixer to make more than one batch or its motor will overheat; probably a KitchenAid or a Kenwood high-end is good enough. The kitchen will be covered in cornstarch . . . .

        https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/homemade-marshmallows-recipe-1953933

      2. Really? My friends would be lucky.
        Actually first time I succeeded I gave half to a small sick boy, shaped as dinosaurs. That was even better than eating them

        much easier than I would have thought except that recipe calls for 10 min of whipping with a stand mixer, which I don’t need. Turns out a hand mixer will do but still 10 minutes.

        basic is pour hot sugar syrup into bloomed gelatine and whip, adding flavors at the end.

        there are many, many versions out there. An easy version https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/marshmallows/5cc73b6c-2346-4ba9-a903-78514379400f
        skipping coconut and colors, and caster is just fine sugar.

      3. and you can add cocoa to the gelatin, not to mention dipping into melted chocolate.
        If I dust them, rather than my usual serving straight out of the pan, I use cocoa even on vanilla ones. Tastes better than cornstarch and it’s too humid here to use powdered sugar.

  17. Actually managed to accomplish a few things today. Hallelujah. Finished setting up an outside (socially distancing) seating area, including the portable fire pit I bought two years ago and never got around to using. This involved picking up four heavy paving stones at Lowe’s yesterday, which I stubbornly insisted on carrying myself. In other news, I’m an idiot. But they are now under the fire pit and look great. Hopefully this means I will be able to have my small coven over this weekend for the summer solstice (we haven’t gotten together in months), and some other friends in the weeks to come. https://www.instagram.com/p/CBi24X9nKrw/

    Finished writing an article for a witchy magazine, and started on the revisions for my first cozy. Luckily, my editor loved it (whew–I wasn’t totally convinced I could even write a mystery) and many of her revision notes consist of her saying, “HA!” or “Loved this!” Still plenty of work to do, and I’ve had to put the second cozy on hold, but at least I’ve made a start.

    1. I love the moon and stars on the fire pit. And I’m looking forward to the publication of your cozy mystery.

      2. I read it before she gave it to the publisher in the guise of “editing.” Sure, I offered up some edits. The book is great and I wanted more immediately after. I can’t wait until there is a Buy link on Amazon so I can pre-order it.

    2. Beautiful fire pit! I totally understand — I would have bought it just for the sun and stars, too.

  18. All we working remotely with the Board of Elections adjudicating write-in ballots.

    Congratulations, you have elected yourself to the Republican committee. No, Jesus does not concern himself in county politics. Neither do Moe, Larry, Curly, Mickey Mouse, Jerry Garcia, Big Bird, Ricochet Rabit, etc. etc. Also ‘blanks’.

    But it is done!

    Next up: heart catherization.

  19. Ghostwriting again. This is a fun one, thank goodness!

    One of my closest friends was just diagnosed with breast cancer. They caught it early, thank goodness, and the prognosis is good. But it still sent me into a tailspin.

    Tomorrow I’m putting in 42 native flowering plants for my bees. And the other pollinators too, obvi. I hope they live!

    1. I’m a breast cancer survivor. Recommended reading: Dr. SUSAN LOVE’S BREAST BOOK, whatever the most recent edition is. Read it yourself and get your friend a copy; it’s amazing how much being well-informed helps! I had surgery in 2006 but they removed so little that my bra size didn’t change. My friend was diagnosed in 2016 and they gave her A PILL — no surgery at all. They will keep her busy for a while with scans and tests, and if she has radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy, that keeps you busy, too.

      https://www.amazon.com/Susan-Loves-Breast-Merloyd-Lawrence/dp/0738218219/

  20. Composing a logic puzzle, a quarterly effort. Not feeling especially inspired for a subject, sigh.

  21. Regular work, plus continuing the cityscape art project for our son. Oh, and I made a bday card showing the celebrant and her dog as the folks in American Gothic. 🙂

  22. I’m mostly working, playing Plants vs. Zombies 2 (which I’m trying to do less of), and trying to fix my knee that doesn’t want to be bothered with exercise so it screams in pain anytime I try.

    I did spend time this past weekend sewing on a new quilt. It will be a wedding ring quilt and I’ve started on some of the bands. You can see the photos on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/p/CBl15vIJ7Lv/

    I need to take a week off so I can catch up on fun things, like argh, quilting, and novels. The books I’m reading are for class, but at least I’m learning something, maybe?

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