Juneteenth, bands and upcycling

Happy Juneteenth! It's been a federal holiday since President Biden declared it, a few years ago. High time.

It took a while for the news to get to Galveston, no doubt slaveholders weren't hurrying it along any.

Meanwhile back at the loom, I'm nearly at the end of the warp threads. In case any expert is reading and needs to know: this is 8/4 cotton. 8 relates to the weight, 4 to the ply, 4-ply.

Soon I'll be taking the finished band off, and seeing how it works. I'm really glad I got this loom, easier than backstrap, much as I like the simplicity of backstrap.

And, in case there's any danger of my running out of things to make 'n do, here's a linen top I made a while back.

It fits but just doesn't suit me. There's not enough me to fill it curvily. 

It's nicely hand stitched, with a pleat detail on the sleeves

And a bit of fancy stitching there 

So I needed to decide: upcycle? Freecycle? Both?  

Then I did my usual procedure on a top that isn't working, cut it up the front to make a jacket.

I'll stitch the raw edges probably blanket stitch, up and back again. Probably in white.

After that I'll see if embroidery or stamping or dyeing might happen.  Also I wonder about adding patch pockets. Maybe in a fancy print, hm, I need to check what I have. 

If none of it ends up suiting me, I expect some keen Freecycler will appreciate a handmade linen jacket with pockets. There's plenty of summer still to go, to wear it.

Which all reminded me I need to iron my linen jackets. They're clean but a bit limp and crumpled, aren't we all. 

I did iron one jacket,  which involved filling the water reservoir in the iron, which involved finding and filling something to use to pour the water into the tiny awkward opening.  After all that I decided one was enough. It's a Federal Holiday after all. Or some such excuse.

Happy day everyone, enjoy your day even if it's not a holiday where you are.

Juneteenth, Walking and Misfits

It took a long time for the news of the January 1, 1863 Emancipation Proclamation to get around.  Slave owners were not in a big rush to lose their source of wealth, the enforced labor of Black people. 

This date in June commemorates the arrival of the news, finally, in Texas, in 1865. Two and a half years to get there. 

Celebrate while we can before someone decides to abolish the holiday. Nobody can abolish the day and its significance. 

I've taken to early morning walking before it gets too hot, amazing for someone who has never been a morning person. I'm out with the dog walkers nowadays. 

Looking back towards my house, down there on the left past the little red aralia. 

And home again after about half an hour, and the empties are now out for Misfits pickup 

I bless them for retrieving the ice blocks and insulated bags, saves my trying to find homes for them, too bad for such good items to be single use. The ice blocks go to Gary once his summer sports with grandchildren start, for his cooler. He'll let me know when.

The Envy apples ran out, sad, but everything else showed up. I remembered yogurt and eggs and cheese as you see. The pumpkin filling is for a bread with the dried cranberries. Cilantro because I add it in all over, and chocolate covered nuts and raisins,nutritious.

Yesterday the tofu katsu plan didn't happen because I found one more container of the spicy black beans and rice in the freezer.

I added in chunks of fresh apricot, which worked well enough to make a note to do it again. The combination of spicy rice-and-beans heat, and fresh fruit was very good.  And I'm reheating on the stove, up to now working fine.

Maybe the tofu sticks will happen today.

 Narrator: they did.

This time I skipped the batter, but dipped the sticks into aqua faba then the panko, and they worked just as well. More to come, too. 

The dipping sauce you see is just enough for this number of sticks. Tablespoon of ketchup -- organic, not that brand name metallic-tasting kind-- a bit less of soy sauce, splash of apple cider vinegar.

The salad was spinach with a few bits of scallion I'm growing from a previous one, and a dash of lime juice.

Also summer seems to be here, so I broke out the hand-stitched linen top from last year, cool, loose fitting. Not seen here, there's an inverted pleat detail on the sleeves. 

 And another sign of the season, the lavender is out, bringing bees, well, one bee

And the first little bouquet of the season 

Lavender, poppy dropping her petals, philodendron, coleus.

Happy day everyone, when apples don't arrive, you're obliged to eat chocolate.

Sez Ted. And Ursy agrees mrmph.

Juneteenth, Neighborhood natter, and Textiles and Tea

First, today's a federal holiday

It's all still very much a work in progress, but meanwhile, we can do our bit -- buy black writers' books, seek out black owned businesses where we can, tip servers and delivery workers fairly, not the grudging minimum.  And enjoy the day.

 Yesterday's Textiles and Tea was a great tapestry artist, definitely worth checking out. Tapestry makers are such happy people, from Archie Brennan, to Sarah Swett, to 

I've requested the library buy her book, newly published. She specializes in a technique called pulled warp, which results in a three dimensional effect, as you see. She dyes her own threads, too.  

This is the kind of work that makes you want to try it, even when you're just making little squares on your pinloom. Her design sense is spectacular.  Those green pieces above the book have glass globes resting in the fold, like raindrops. Another idea to try..rabbit hole ahead!

An interesting little bit of follow-up about hearing aids and curtains and trees leaving. Email from concerned local friend, with serious health issues,  a hit or miss blog reader, worried about what aids I'm needing, was my health getting frail, was the implication. I clarified it's only hearing aids, not a squadron of home carers!

Another neighbor came across last evening, concerned that then house seemed dark but the front door was open, was I okay? I realized that the curtain I put up in the passthrough works both ways -- from her house across the street it blocks my living room lights. So yes,  good of her to check! 

Later it  occurred to me she's also wondering about the tree leaving, which she was home for and probably observed, and was hoping to learn more. At my age when you do noticeable changes, the usual assumption among friends and neighbors unless they know otherwise,  is that you've had a big medical diagnosis!  If the other friend and I were still writing our imaginary H-- Happenings newsletter, this would have made it in. Maybe we'd have even headed it Breaking News, Such As It Is.

Happy day, everyone, wishing you innocent merriment!

Standby, long game, Vicky, and friends

Today's the anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession,  and I wonder if Canadians still celebrate her birthday, always wondered why, since nobody in England ever did that I know of. Anyway here's a bit of Vicky slang which sounds pretty modern to me

And speaking of the long game, nature definitely plays it with this sansevieria plant. It has an ugly common name which I don't use and will block if it appears in comments, this being a misogyny free area.

Anyway

Here's the ancient one I grew from a leaf I took from a plant that I summered on the patio for a friend. It was her rental for the season, one leaf to start my own plant.

These things take literally years to root,but as you see, it's doing fine.

Next to it is a pot of cuttings from it, which have been looking like this for about two years. A couple shriveled up and I took them out. 

Yesterday I thought maybe I'd test whether they were worth waiting for, pulled one up and ohemgee, roots! So I put her back and we'll continue to wait more or less patiently.

This is such an antidote to the rush of spring and seedlings outside and birds flying the nest. and she has her own rules.

This plant observes direction. When you plant cuttings from a leaf, they will only root if they're the same way up as on the parent plant. So, when you cut, you have to lay them down the right way ready to plant,  or they won't do anything.  I like knowing this secret handshake.

And lastly before we run away and set Juneteenth aside till next year, just a note

Tomorrow the Great Fridge Delivery takes place. Between 9 and 12. I suppose the long window allows for issues with earlier deliveries. Handsome Son will still be home, his shift not till afternoon, so I'll have company, and I hope all goes well. 

The very good part of this is that this year's homestead rebate, an annual  state attempt to offset the skyhigh property tax, number one in the nation, yay us, was very good this year and my rebate  will cover this cost. 

When it arrived I set it aside assuming it would go on an appliance either here or at the condo. And so it came to pass.

Happy day, everyone, may your long term plans come to pass. Short ones too are good.

Here's a short term one, a puzzle

Juneteenth, potato baby, jigsaw puzzle and coping

 Today's Juneteenth

And my local library ran family craft workshops to create commemorative Juneteenth signs, with extras to take home.

It's a tradition of this library dating back to a much earlier director, Ginny Baeckler, to stay open on national holidays of this kind, then only Martin Luther King day.  Because, she used to explain,  the library is a center of community learning and it's appropriate to stay open to celebrate that. I'm glad to see it continue. And I wish the person who wrote the quotation had checked the spelling of Corpus Christi.

That same director didn't believe in celebrating minorites with events only during Black history month. She preferred to hire and promote minority employees, walking the walk long before other white people noticed the paleness and maleness of library employees.

I was there changing my puzzle for this one

Meanwhile, I did dig up the rogue potato, according to the judgment of blogista gardeners,  which was indeed a slice of potato I'd planted and forgotten. Moved it to a space in another container, dislodging a baby potato in the process

She's now been welcomed by the herd in the kitchen, reminds me of elephants.

And the saga of the neck pain continues, despite exercise designed to help,  walking, heating pad, icing, Advil generic, pain patch,  trying to read at eye level not head bent. 

I have a complete range of motion, no arm involvement etc. I think judging from the resistance to pain meds, it's a nerve irritation. And violent vomiting last week did nothing to soothe it.

Here's the latest attempt to keep reading devices at eye level

Steve's latest post up, for breakfast company.

I'm nervous about Wednesday's fridge delivery, though I expect they've done it before, but it will be good when it's done.

Happy day everyone, celebrate Juneteenth however you do, if you're in the US. Otherwise, let's do our part anyway. 

Few of us live in places where original and minority residents haven't had a bad time.  Those of us who were born in another country and moved at will are really the human equivalent of an introduced species.

We owe a lot to the original caretakers of the land, in my case the Lenni Lenape tribe,  whose artifacts still turn up right where I live. I thank them by caring for the land, recycling, living happily frugally, sparing water, in the past teaching workshops about their crafts and skills.

And I need to honor and thank the people brought here by force, to build and cultivate the land in misery, torn from their own lands. Black people literally built Washington, including the White House. 

It's the least I can do, as an educated white woman, offered in the US opportunity denied me by class and religion in the place I was born. I was unaware for so long of the cost of my  American opportunity to people who never had my options. So now I try to be aware, be an ally, not an exploiter.  And I'm so thankful. My part is so tiny, but it's what I can do. 

Thanks for listening!

Photo AC