I’m writing this on April 15, 2019, the third Monday of this month. There are five Mondays this year in April which I find curious but think maybe I just haven’t noticed in years gone by but I haven’t taken the time to look back at old calendars which I do still have more old calendars than I should admit to anyone; after all my mantra has been “Don’t Throw That Away!”
I realized this morning that much of what I’ve been doing the last couple years and especially the last few months is propelling me along a path that will lead me to a lifestyle that I think of as being my untethered life, or should I call it my free range life? I’m still on sabbatical from Facebook and enjoying it more than ever. As I mentioned in my post last month, I think about reactivating my facebook page as a task I “should” do and it’s on my “to do” list along with several other undesirable tasks that keep getting passed over for more enjoyable tasks such as walking with my dogs, bathing my dogs, grooming my dogs, also pressure washing the decks and sling blading the yard, sewing, laundry, or sorting and clearing out packed boxes that have been waiting patiently for my attention for many years, so long in fact that a thick layer of dust has collected on them in the storage area of garage. I think I got kick-started down this path to an untethered life when my tv quit working a couple years ago and I chose not to replace it. That “no tv” thing is another story that I won’t go into in this post because it actually deserves a post all on its own, and it’s still unfolding. My mention of doing laundry as a task more desirable than reactivating my facebook page made me think about what happened to my washing machine last month. It’s on my instagram page but I thought I’d add a little clip of it in this blog too.
I thought the support rod which is suspension rod may have broke but thankfully I was able to put rod back into the gizmo thingy that holds it securely. I’m happy to say I fixed it. I used a candle to prop open top, and cans to prop up basket to take weight of basket off the rod so I could put rod back in that gizmo thingy. It took longer to disconnect hoses, gather tools, unscrew back coverplates then put back together than to actually fix rod.
This post is about what I been doing since my last post, the goings on around my homestead. As I mentioned in last post, although I’m not on Facebook, I’m still using my other social media sites such as Goodreads, Instagram, Ravelry, Tumblr, and Twitter. I enjoy Goodread, Instagram, and Ravelry the most and I’ve really stepped up my use of my Goodreads account this month. I been updating my bookshelves and adding books I have had for years but never listed on my Goodreads bookshelves. I have been on Goodreads since November 2013 and only now starting to use the awesome resources available through the website. I joined a group on Goodreads this month, it’s called Crime, Mysteries & Thrillers. I hope it’s a good fit for my genre likes, time will tell if I stay and participate or drop out. I like a good mystery but I only care for specific types of mystery; I love Agatha Christie stories and especially her Miss Marple series. I loved Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys Mysteries. I do enjoy a good Forensic Crime Drama Mystery. When I had TV my favorite shows were NCIS, and the CSI shows, and so I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that I was really happy when I found the Alexandra Cooper Book Series by Linda Fairstein. Linda Fairstein is a Goodreads author if you care to look her up. Here is bit about her from the Goodreads author’s page, she “is one of America’s foremost legal experts on crimes of violence against women and children. She served as head of the sex crimes unit of the Manhattan District Attorney’s office from 1976 until 2002 and is the author of a series of novels featuring Manhattan prosecutor Alexandra Cooper.” Linda Fairstein just published the 20th book of this series. I checked out books available from my local library and so I’m reading out of sequence and although some people who have a need to read a series in the order that the author wrote it say that I will regret reading out of sequence, I doubt it. I think each novel stands on it’s own merit. I know that when I finally get my hands on the earlier books in the series my knowledge of the more recent books will probably act as “spoilers” but I don’t care about that. I look at it this way, when I start listening to a podcast that I like, I begin with the most current one and then work on listening to all the ones from years gone by from the podcaster. I do the same with shows that are a series on video. It doesn’t spoil it for me when I know that a budding romance in an earlier episode doesn’t work out or that someone will be killed off. I haven’t spent all of my time reading though, I have been working on sewing and knitting projects, also much more in yard and around the homestead is underway. The Dollar General going up next door is also making headway with the demolition of everything on that property; I think everyday that could have been my place if I had accepted their offer last year. I have some short videos of goings on around here on my Instagram page if you want to check it out.
I said in last post, I should spend more time on this blog, my handcraftermaggie blog, but here it is nearly a month since I last posted. I think once a month for regular posts is enough time spent blogging about what I been doing or am planning to do. I do work on other pages on my blog such as adding recipes and patterns. I also add links to the reference pages such as is on the Animal Rescue and Pet Care Page so check out my pages listed on the menu if you are so inclined.
I mentioned in last post that I was working on the prototypes for some products for my Fibercrafty Shop and I finished one of them, the WIP Minder. I actually have it in my shop and I’m about 75% done with the matching project bag. I’m enjoying using my prototypes and as I mentioned in last post I started my first pair of socks that I’ve ever knitted. The picture below shows the project bag and WIP Minder as well as the yarn bowl that I crocheted. If you don’t know what a WIP is, it’s a Work In Progress.
These are the prototype WIP Minder and Project bag. These don’t have interface and are very limp but I’m enjoying them for my personal use. I used interface in the ones I made for my Fibercrafty shop.
Here are some pictures of my sewing project for the ones I made/am making for my Fibercrafty Shop. Check out the WIP in my https://handcraftermaggie.fibercrafty.com/5853-wip-work-in-progress-minder-for-dpn-and-circular.html
Transport your WIP (Work in Progress) safely in a project bag and know that the stitches will be held on the needles in this WIP cozy. The size is approximately 9″ x 2″ and will accommodate up to about 8-1/2″ DPNs, also circulars. The 3rd snap will keep the shorter needles from escaping the case and could keep a crochet hook secure too. I added interface to the fabric to add structure to the cozy case. The snaps are invisible from the outside, they are hand sewn. I personally like hand sewn snaps hidden inside not showing on outside. This cozy is ready to ship and is the only one I have made in this fabric that feels like a linen-cotton blend. I prewashed the fabric before making the WIP cozy. I purchased the fabric as a remnant. Waverly Inspirations Screen Print is written on the Selvage.
The project bag is coming along nicely and I should finish it this month and get it into my FiberCrafty Shop. I like the structure the interface gives the project bag. It is a heavy iron on type of interface with a lot of stiffness to it. I still have to install the top closure section with zipper and the lining.
And last but not least, my yard work that I’ve been doing is progressing. I am making headway on my plans of relocating some fencing and gates so that my dogs will have a safe place to play outside while I deconstruct the rest of the fencing, some of the decks, and building.
This view is from garage looking toward the porch, see Zoie checking out the part I still need to sling blade.That section around the huge old Sand Live Oak tree is overgrown with Yaupon Holly, thorny vines, volunteer Junipers, and many other plants that I want to dig up and pot while clearing the undesirable overgrowth of thorny vines. I topped and spaded around some of the junipers and other saplings last year in preparation for potting them up for a new life as large bonsai – the kind that are about 3′ to 5′ tall. I will be able to move them and have them at my new home-base. Zoie’s hair is growing out nicely from the shave I gave her last months for hotspots. You can see more about that on my Instagram page.
This view is from about midway of yard between porch and garage. I’m showing the fence posts I relocated to this area. I’m going to tack some netting to the posts from an old roll I have been saving. You can see Terra’s hair is growing out nicely from the shave I gave her last months for hotspots. You can see more about that on my Instagram page.
This view is from porch looking out toward the garage. If you look on Instagram you will find older pictures that show how overgrown the yard was a couple months ago. You can see I appropriated a gate – see it besideTerra? I will install it soon, it came from area out front that I’m deconstructing. Zoie and Terra;s hair is growing out nicely from the shave I gave her last months for hotspots. You can see more about that on my Instagram page.
This area was so overgrown you could hardly see the wood deck but I’ve almost finished clearing it with sling blade and rake.
The lush looking green section in the top left of picture is Virginia Creeper vines that have completely covered that area. I got them up from the rest of the yard last month and this month but that section is all I have left to do and now that the leaves have some out it seems more intimidating but I’m determined to remove it from this section of my property. I have about 2-1/2 acres and so it can continue to grow in the back section behind garage out in the woods for now because I’m not concerned with that area at this time.
That’s all I have for this month to share with you. I hope you all have a wonderful April 2019 and if you celebrate Easter or one of the other Spring Holidays – ENJOY!
