Monday was the earliest day on which Labor Day can fall, first of the month, white rabbits, and Handsome Son for once got to celebrate Labor by doing none.
He came over to drink tea on the deck, finish the last of the August plum torte and chat briefly with Gary who stopped in on some pretext, I mean important errand, or other.
Then mosquitoes drove us indoors and we chatted. I mentioned Gary had asked me to finish his white potato bread in his anti-gluten sweep. Whereupon HS looked side eye and said l remembered when I was a kid you only used white bread for us to make clay for miniature animals and beads.
I also used Kool aid only to dye yarn and roving.
I was thinking about the responses yesterday, thank you for them, to my musing about a fall project.
Some things I've done in the past: one fall embarked on a study of Arabic, one summer learned English paper piecing and made several intricate sofa pillows.
Another summer I hand-stitched four skirts, all different, using no patterns. Another summer was about embroidering in goldwork.
One summer was paper making from plant and flower material from the patio. There was the summer of shibori dyeing. And the fall of stamp carving. I think spinning was a winter project. Knitting for the Knitting Ministry was a combined winter and pandemic activity which has never stopped.
It's an activity you hurry home to get into. It's all about new learning and making, so I'll let ideas come to me. Maybe I'll read that Dostoevsky collection I put on my Kindle.
Anyway I expect I'll think of something, or maybe revisit an activity.
Since it's September I embarked on a yes2next September daily challenge, starting with this one
Happy day everyone, this week I will be challenged to remember what day it is because of the holiday mixing me up. I did remember to put in my Misfits order.
Try to keep the days straight. It only matters for appointments, usually doctor visits. And ordering food. And remembering your pet friends sez Fluffappalooza
One friend once described me as curiously curious about things, and self described himself as curiously uncurious about things, which is no strictly true. I think you fall into my category, even though I am not a arty or crafty person.
ReplyDeleteEndlessly interested, yes.
DeleteYou are so busy with all sorts of things I wonder you find time to read. Do you set it all up in two hour blocks perhaps?
ReplyDeleteI have such easy days these days, compared to the non-stop of earlier life. I'm a rapid reader, so I don't set up any time, really. It's just at hand on the Kindle whenever I sit down.
DeleteDo you ever let the things learned in one of those skills learning plans spill over into what you create in the next technique or style you learn? Or are you more of a purist about the different cultural origins of each?
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in the origins of art and craft forms, and they inevitably influence each other. Each gives ideas about others, without any particular effort. The skills particularly apply across all kinds of activities. Interesting question, thank you.
DeleteMy days are often all over the place, with no rhyme or reason.
ReplyDeleteThat would be the high road to misery for me, not having the chance to design my own daily life. I've had friends like this, usually at the mercy of adult children's decisions!
DeleteYour varied interests and action on those interests always leave me in awe. But it also reminds me that I haven’t been as bad as I tell myself. I had a business trip to Portugal 20 years ago. I spent two months studying Portuguese. Visited my sister in Germany 50 years ago. Spent a semester studying German. Many others things I did because I was interested at the time or thought they’d be useful. Macrame lasted me several months. Don’t ask me to say anything in Portuguese or German now or to make a hanging planter, but the knowledge served me well at the time. I even practiced writing with my left hand, but I worried I was going to short-circuit my brain.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds very functional, knowledge available when needed. I doubt if SG will demand you create plant hanging things now. Or chat in a foreign language while doing it.
DeleteYour Labour Day sounds lovely. Family, friend, reminiscing and the outdoors until the mosquitoes drive you inside. It was the wasps here but we did the same.
ReplyDeleteIt was a good day. Always nice to see handsome son and hear his doings. He's always making and creating in his time after work.
DeleteFor me, the year (school year) always began now. That was my only and repeated project.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was working an 80 hour week in a nonprofit org, I still had projects to look forward to. My mental health demanded it!
DeleteYour activities always sound so interesting...especially the creative projects! I admire so many crafts, and all the time and energy (as well as inspiration) that go into their production.
ReplyDeleteI'm always open to learning new skills and information, just a matter of selecting what's next!
DeleteAh, the remembering of what day of the week it is. I know it well (and not just holiday weeks either). I used to chuckle at my dad who got the daily newspaper and often checked with it to see what day it was. Now I find myself checking the computer more often than I care to admit.
ReplyDeleteHope you find a new project to explore or even a new twist on an old one.
It's like checking the corner of your book for the time! I expect everything to have the time displayed. Now, add in the days of the week. I wonder if that's why some people have the same meals in rotation? They know what day it is and conversely what to cook.
DeleteI want to learn how to make a sewing pattern. I have a linen dress that was poorly made, so I'm taking it apart and will use it to make a pattern, fingers crossed. I also want to do this with a pair of pants that I have (without taking them apart). I also have a quilt that I need to finish up. I spend too much time outside in the summer to sew but the garden will be put to bed in the next month or two.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea, making a pattern from the pieces of a dress that fits. The only use I can think of for the NYT.
DeleteWell, as usual you have me thinking. I guess my latest "new" project has been making the soft cotton cloths from cheesecloth. Not either very exciting or artistic or demanding. Oh! I am still toiling away at pottery but making no real headway.
ReplyDeleteI think you've been enjoying your cloth hemming, though.
DeleteYou remind me of the various arts and crafts I have been interested to learn over the years. Some I have never returned to, but some have returned time and time again--like watercolors, handmade paper, drawing. My one consistent activity I have kept going my whole life (well, since I was about nine) is writing...journaling and letters with the occasional non-fiction story or poem thrown in. Life is so interesting. Even when I haven't been well enough physically to actually do very much, I now love YouTube where I can watch and learn, regardless. Have a wonderful short week--lol! ;)
ReplyDeleteYou're very active despite your health issues, learning eagerly. I bless YouTube for what I've learned there, all kinds of skills.
DeleteYour Labour Day sounds 👌 good. I am not artistically talented, but I am very good at cleaning and organizing, and I love to do both. This summer, with all the heat, humidity and bad air quality due to wildfires 🔥 threw me into a depression 🫥 I am doing my best to get back on track. I love ❤️ to take long walks in nature but because of the extreme heat 🥵 I had to stay indoors for my safety and health.
ReplyDeleteI hope the fall sees cleaner air for you. It's been a rugged summer.
DeleteI'm just not as organized as you are (and a lot lazier, I think)! But the weeks fly by anyway. Thanks for reminding me that I should sign on for my Thursday Zumba class. It's a popular class and we usually get over 80 people dancing in the gym at my park district Athletic Center. My pill box helps me keep track of the days of the week. ;)
ReplyDeleteYou sound a lot more athletic than I!
ReplyDeleteWell your day sounds lovely, except the mosquitoes. We tend to just stay home and enjoy each other.
ReplyDeleteIt was lovely. Sounds like your style
DeleteOur holiday weekend was similar to yours in that we did not venture far aside from a visit to a friend’s home on Sunday and we shared dinner by contributing to it. I have been thinking about new projects and those that bear returning to such as genealogy and transcriptions for the Smithsonian, both of which can be done online.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I know of it, you'd be terrific at the Smithsonian project.
DeleteI love the idea of a fall (or seasonal) project. Can't wait to see what you come up with. Kool aid? Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteRead on! I seem to be stick weaving.
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