A day of many parts

Yesterday was the first day of great weather for walking in the evening, light enough, warm enough and insect free enough. A stroll to the pond happened.

There's  a scruffy old squirrel's nest up there.  The nest, I don't know if the squirrel is scruffy.

Today started before dawn, when I woke ready to start the day. I was out watering plants outside because the forecast was for this 

and it's been dry for days. Then I watered all the indoor plants, same reason, the house will be warm and they'll appreciate the help.

And a session with April and Aiko, for lower back issues. My sciatic ouch has diminished significantly since I got back into these particular exercises. Also since the cold finally went away, taking the jaw pain and leg pain with it. I suppose a virus attacks the weakest links. 

Then for some plain repairs, starting with Gary's hoodie, which is not a good design. 

A nice screen printed image on woven gauze, bonded onto a knitted hoodie. Recipe for failure, and it happened. He put it on, the hoodie stretched, the screen print tore away. I put in a few stitches, allowing for stretch and we'll see.

Then there are my favorite jeans which either have stretched or I've shrunk. So I did my favorite simple alteration.

Inserted elastic inside the back of the waistband to draw it in a bit. That should save endless hitching up.

At noon there was an AARP online Tai chi session with a very good instructor.

After half an hour of moves, Tai chi not my strength, I get my arms mixed up, he had us sit to do more, this being designed for older people. 

So I took his picture at that point and next thing I knew after breathing and relaxing, I was waking up to his thanks for a lovely session.

This was a nice afternoon for sitting in the shade listening to birds and dozing and generally enjoying the day.  There was the last of the daffodils, the distant trees starting to leaf out, the spicebush at peak and the honesty getting into bloom.

Braiding is continuing with the shoelaces moving along. I have ideas for aglets in fact I dreamed of one idea

The notebook I made the other day has been received happily by a knitting friend, and there will be a couple more 

This is another couple of images from the same art catalog.

Happy day everyone, online this evening with friends. Such a rich day.

Running repairs and viruses

Happy spring equinox. It came on me with a streaming sneezing coughing cold. First illness in years, probably picked up on one of my recent social events, oh well.  Good thing I cooked yesterday, so there's easy food.

And I did get the food prepped yesterday and put away, so that's good. 

Online jigsawing  seems to have reentered my life, thanks, Mitch. I wasn't up to much last night and ended a series of vegetable and fruit puzzles with two friendly pigs. 12 pieces..

Gary came dashing over to ask for help with a sweater a cat had worked on. New sweater with snags here and there. 

Here it is all good again after some work with a crochet hook. He tried his hand, but needs better glasses. I also showed him the spool knitting which was new to him, and he tried that, too. He's always up for learning new stuff. He's starting with jigsaw puzzles, too. 

I'll miss him!

Today's probably about resting. Fluids, etc. 

Happy day everyone, mask up. I should have. Oh well.

Stitching plain and fancy, voting

 I finally got around to repairing Gary's window sail. It's silk and a bit fragile, probably because it's been in the sun,  so it was tricky. 

I restitched one end to cover the tear along the fold, then reinforced it with lace and turned the end over so it's  only about half an inch shorter, won't affect the drape. 

That should work fine.

Warmer today but I was tired, doesn't often happen, but I lay like a sack of sand in the lounge chair on the patio, may have slept, read some of the migration book, and finally got around this evening to some stitching.

The tree is under way, a lot more to happen around the roots, and there will be foliage. I can add to the length of the roots with direct stitching, likewise change the branches. Quite a lot more to do now that it's starting to get going. 

The fluffy mossy stuff is a soft thread, unplied and sort of shredded, then couched down. I discovered it by accident when I unplied the yarn at another point, and the single ply disintegrated, so that was an idea to use here. No idea goes unused. 

I'm working with a piece of glass slid under the page so I don't accidentally stitch it to the next one.  And I notice I'm stitching with either hand, depending on which is best, a bit tricky navigating this piece with two pages done and needing protection, and a length of unworked pages getting in the way.  Mixed dominance is very useful when you're doing things like this, or drawing and painting, switch hands as needed.

Also the other important thing I did was, drumroll, vote! 

Here's the newly designed ballot that the lawsuit was about, candidates in alpha order, no special favored positioning, the abolished County Line now gone. Ding, dong, the line is dead.

The municipal dropbox is close to the Tuesday Knitting Group location, so I'll vote on the way there.

Happy day everyone, I did good things today, as you did too, I expect.

Mending as art, and another birthday

First, vital, today is the birthday of -- New Jersey!! 

We're known as the Garden State. Should be the Sagittarian State. Sags rule. And NJ Sags rule even more.

Onward, now that that's established, to humble local artworking. 

This is the tea tray you've seen many times bearing various afternoon teas. 

I originally found it in the street in western Princeton. It had been left by the recycling truck, sheet iron not being what they collected. 

At that time it was decorated with a stuffy faux colonial painting, not my taste. So I enameled it white, touch it up now and then, and it's the best tray ever. 

Big enough to set everything out, sturdy enough not to bend when it's loaded. The main area is 20"×9+. This is much better designed than your average teatray.

And I've never bothered to make cloths for it, just folding up a handy napkin, which never fits right. So, in anticipation of a long winter when I'll be seeing a lot of it, I'm thinking about sewing a few cloths, maybe patchwork, maybe leftover fabric bits. 

I remembered this idea which I have vaguely thought about for ages, when today's issue of Tatters came, featuring this artist. 

She makes repairs into art -- you'd like her, Mary -- and loves slow process stitching of all kinds, quilting, too. It's not about just producing things so much as putting together old and new fabric and their associations as art.

Like this

I have quite a few donated linen sample squares, and silk samples, cotton, all kinds of scraps which might live well together and be a pleasure to see every day. Just when you're needing a cup of tea is a good time to see this kind of thing.

First I have to finish the underwear I got diverted from with health things, couldn't settle to stitch. But now I can. Today should do it. It's not every lady who has matching tea napkins, those yellow ones, and underwear. You just never know!