Things I've Been Getting Done

Spring has brought us tons of rain and a little fog, even. The fog does something to the forest, it's quieter, more private. Also, SO COLD.

Thankfully, I've got lots of warm clothing and a wood-burning stove that won't quit. I just loaded the stove with wood, and I love the way the cast-iron chirps and clicks as the fire devours its meal.

I made a no-knead bread that came out AMAZING, despite me. Bread and I have had a tempestuous relationship, but this recipe was so easy, even I could do it. Fresh bread is one of my favorite foods, so it was pretty exciting to get it right, finally. I ate the whole loaf almost entirely by myself in two days.

I was given a spice rack for christmas and it's the best gift I've gotten in a while. I made an amazing tomato sauce a few days ago, and I think I owe my overwhelming success entirely to basil, oregano, and thyme. Oh, and I used a little maple syrup to sweeten, it was simply GLORIOUS.

AND, I made a simple veggie stir-fry with rice yesterday, added a bit of peanut butter to the pan and it gave it a fantastic nutty undercurrent. Next time, I'll use a little more and go for a thai experience.

My sewing machine is being a jerk, the current theory is that the bobbin case needs to be replaced, but I can't know that for sure until we replace it and we just don't have the money for expensive repairs so I'm hoping against hope that will be the key to getting it up and running again. In the mean time, I've been improving my hand-sewing skills hugely. I whipped up a few little fabric animals for an impregnated cousin of mine, an infinity scarf for my mom, a few bracelets made of wooden beads for some of the men in my life, and have experimented semi-successfully with turning a beloved, yet dying, pair of pajama pants into a skirt. I'm not sure about that last one. It may not end well.

AND, I dyed a stained ivory shirt, a dress that makes me look like an easter egg and a pastel crocheted hat to varying shades of brown which did wonders for all three pieces.

I've been feeling really creative lately, motivated to make things around me more productive and attractive and I feel a huge push to keep learning new things, whether it be clothing alteration techniques, new recipes and new ingredients, or actual schooling, which is rapidly approaching.

I had a wicked two-day migraine that reminded me of how much better I am up here. It's disturbingly easy to forget how awful my life was back in the city. Every day was torture, no wonder I felt so depressed so often. Up here, things are easier, but I still get hit pretty often by the nausea, dizziness, disorientation, irritability, and of course, the head pain. Bending and reaching are still trouble, as are talking, laughing and exertion, but to lesser degrees. The exciting news is, I can once again listen to music! I mean, at a moderate volume and I have to skip songs with certain sounds in them and I can only listen when I'm alone because any competing noises are still just horrible, and that may seem like a lot of qualifiers for just a little pandora, but the first time I listened to Adele's Rolling in the Deep all the way through, I couldn't help but cry. I've missed music, SO MUCH.

Oh, and yesterday, I sorted through my sewing stash, organized items by fiber or type and put it all back in a semi-neat manner, labeled in plastic garbage bags. It was a long-overdue project and I'm so glad it's done.

In the house, we're putting down pergo and it's changing the look of the place entirely. The old kitchen floor is an ancient linoleum, so scratched and embedded with dirt that I couldn't get it to ever look clean. It's surreal having a new floor in the there, and I can't wait to tackle the front room next.

Alrighty, I'm going to go make breakfast now. Eggs and toast sound good.