Sunday, April 28, 2024

I did all the things

I put together some exciting little packages for blogistas, to mail out on Monday.  No pictures. Classified.

Then, since I'm going to the post office anyway with them, I finished off the second glove for the Sock and Glove Ministry, to send at the same time.


Two pairs of gloves, one of socks. I think my next socks will be spiral ones for a change.

Then Gary came over with a request, which we'd talked about a few days ago.


This is a Japanese silk window sail I made for him, he tells me ten years ago, which hangs in his loft skylight window and moves gently when there's a breeze.  It's held in place by tension rods. He'd seen this one I made for my own similar window, 


and admired it until I took the hint and made one for him. 

His is wearing out a bit at the rod, so I'm going to do a repair on it. It's a lovely piece of fabric. My own is just an upcycled pillow case. 

So that will happen. And, speaking of critter deterrents,  I'm trying yet another approach to fighting the ants on the kitchen counters. None at the baseboards, so they must be in the wall. Everyone has them. These are so small they can get into screw cap jars, just climbing in the threads.

The latest WMD is equal parts borax, baking soda and confectioners sugar, in a shallow container, some artfully spilled, to attract them. I notice a lot fewer ants on the counter this morning, so I'm hopeful.  I'm certainly tired of sharing my own food with them.

On a cheerier subject, in response to various messages I've had about the construction of the slot and tab fabric book, I deconstructed mine to show you 

Here's the constructed book with the pages temporarily numbered with masking tape and marker, showing you the usual page sequence.


Then I took the book apart, and now you see how the numbers work before you construct it.

One side 


Other side 



Done this way you can slide the pages together into the right sequence. It's a kind of Chinese puzzle of a project. This is why I referred you to Ann Wood's website, where she gives you number diagrams and a step by step of the construction sequence. 

You need them if there's a sequence to your stitched pages, such as seasons, or some such progression. Mine didn't have that kind of logical progression, aside from deciding which pages I wanted for front and back covers.

And yes, I did get it reassembled after the pictures!  Some people try this out with blank fabric pages before getting into all the stitching it entails. 

My current stitched book might become a tab and slot, or maybe an accordion. We'll see.

When Elizabeth of York gets a bit heavy -- oh, Weir doesn't accept the Josephine Tey version of Richard III's innocence of the Princes in the Tower disappearance. As laid out in Daughter of Time, which is worth reading if you haven't yet.

Tey discounts Thomas More  as using third hand gossip to accuse Richard. Weir clearly accepts More, and has staked her credibility on Richard's guilt. A lot of writers and academics have. They have a lot to lose by backing down. And Weir gets very defensive on the subject, aha!

Where was I? Oh yes, when it gets heavy going, I've started on this, another Dinner Ladies adventure.



Happy day, everyone, no need to do all the things. Some is fine. None is okay too.







31 comments:

  1. The window sail looks kinda kewl.

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    1. It's a good answer to a slanted window on the east side of the roof, glaring early morning sun.

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  2. You are so kind. I think there's a Phillipa Gregory book that suggests that Richard was innocent of murder too. I remember reading it an being convinced and don't think it was a Tey book.

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    1. I think there were several. Weir refers to Tey though, which made me think she was a bit rattled. There are several reasons to distrust More, one being he was in the side of the faction that destroyed Richard. Also that he couched his comments in weasel words such as "people say" and "it is known". Like a Daily Mail writer. And that he lived long after Richard's death, so his implications of being a contemporary witness don't hold up to scrutiny. To be fair, he could also have been misquoted by later writers with an agenda. It's endless.

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  3. That little fabric book is a great idea. Thanks for the disassembly.

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    1. I thought it was interesting to show a deconstruction. A simpler version might be fun to make for a small child, a book and a puzzle together.

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  4. Good morning, dear lady! I love how you and Gary are each other's "fixers" for various things in your own bailiwicks.

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    1. It works pretty well. From each according to their abilities, etc.

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  5. Replies
    1. Mainly loose ends. Nice to have done them.

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  6. lovely silk fabric for Gary's window sail. but isn't the purpose of a skylite to let in light?

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    1. The purpose of a beautiful translucent fabric is to filter the light.

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  7. As usual, I'm amazed at your ability to stay busy on so many tasks! Love the fabric book.

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    1. There were suddenly a bunch of loose ends all at once. Timing.

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  8. Ants! I still have some, but the invasion is down to a dribble. I have never seen ants in such volume, all through the house. I believe it was fated that you and Gary be neighbors!

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    1. Since I posted he visited for gardening reasons and while he was here I mixed him a helping of the ant fixer. His counter is also beset.

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  9. That window sail is fabulous! I'm interested in Weir's book. I loved "Daughter of Time." And her premise made sense but then so long ago, you can look at it a lot of ways. I'd like to hear the alternate. I like the title of your Dinner Lady adventure!

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    1. So many competing agendas then and now. I think Tey omitted some facts that weren't as flattering to his character. But all sides of this have done that. People tend to simplify in service to their theory.

      The sail is so simple, but it cuts the eastern sun glare nicely.

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  10. Boud! You are so creative and fun! Happy Mailings.

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  11. You have been very busy. It all looks great. How do you plan on repairing the sail?
    I’m sure you’ll do a wonderful job and it will look even better than it did.

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    1. I have a couple of ideas, involving a bit of folding to reinforce the end. We'll see.

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  12. I really like the fabric for Gary's window sail.

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  13. I am waiting on things to arrive like my pin loom and the yarn for the shadow knitting so I might have to finish some things off. Like the jumper I started for Himself over two years ago!

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  14. I read you often and find your posts uplifting, commenting only rarely. I had a yearly battle with the ants coming in and tried all sorts of remedies, including borax. What has finally kept them out (fingers crossed) was sprinkling diatomaceous earth along the outside of the kitchen wall. Even though we had a very wet winter this year in northern CA, I haven't had the invasion yet (fingers crossed). Give it a try. Love all your stitching projects. x0x0 N2

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  15. Ah yes, it was Ann Wood's video that was both inspiring and made me think it too difficult to wrap my head around. It wasn't Ann's fault. It was, in the end, just me being lazy. Thanks for taking the book apart for the photos, and explaining the process of putting it together. That skylight sail is a great idea - I never did like our skylights in our old house. Our solution was to remove them, and close the box that remained when we got a new roof after a damaging hailstorm. Was never happier for hail. If I ever own a home with skylights again, I will remember you. And this.

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  16. Oh, and I wanted to mention... when we've had ants, Terro traps made quick work of ridding us of them.

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  17. That window sail is inspired! I've often thought skylights weren't all that practical from the sun/too much heat standpoint, so a sail is the perfect solution and pretty too.

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  18. I pinched the idea from a posh design mag and adapted it to my needs. The designer wasn't using a pillow case. But it was just the right size.

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