PNewL PNewS
Volume 29 Issue 1 “All the pnews that phits.” okay April 2021—bring it on
In the Time of the ’Rona & Other Observations Part V:
A tisket a tasket I’m making lots of baskets...
I have taken two basketmaking classes and have made around ten baskets (including two in the classes). It is fun to start a new hobby at this stage. It is even more fun to get to the part in the learning process when I have a better understanding of how to fix my mistakes and hopefully make fewer.
The difference between this craft and some of my other favorites is that finishing a project is in the single-digit number of hours—even if they are stretched over several weeks or months. It is appealing to be able to finish something in a day if I want to (the adult onset ADD is a problem and sometimes I can’t focus on one thing for that long except in a class). It beats the weeks or more often months of a sweater or a quilt—well, maybe it doesn’t beat it, but it provides an alternative, and it’s practically instant gratification in completing something. Not bad for last minute gifts either.
Another thing that is kind of nice is if basket recipients don’t need-care-want the basket, they could put it in the compost and it would be absorbed soon. The travel necessary for the reed, much of which comes from Indonesia I believe, to get to me is troubling but maybe I will get to the point of making baskets out of some of these local vines that are choking my yard. It’s an aspiration.
Over the last few days, I have done the finishing work of several. The top edge is something I am not good at—they take practice and I have middling results. I put on an audiobook (Anxious People by Frederick Backman) and got to work.
Last fall, I bought all of the supplies from a woman who was giving up basketmaking. (Am I repeating myself? It happens.) I don’t blame her—it takes up a boatload of room, but since no one comes in the house any more the huge boxes of supplies are everywhere (including the guest bathtub) and I am pretty much okay with that (though I am pondering how I could make this more manageable). For now, it’s great because I tend to have everything I need. Just go to one of the boxes…
As I was lashing on the top bits (still working on the terminology), I was noting when the reed was not wet enough or I’d used a heavier reed which probably wasn’t meant to be doing the job I’d used it for. Make a mental note. The small baskets will be mini Easter baskets and I will explain they were for practice and by next time, they will be tidier.
The twill market basket makes me laugh each time I look at it. As I wove it, I kept getting screwed up on the twill design when it came to the handle, under two over two but the handle…how many is that? so I would come off the handle and it’s very messy but by the corner I had it back on course—so only a quarter of it is a mess! It’s a pleasure sometimes not being a perfectionist. As I started preparing the top edge I thought, I never have to make a basket that is this mistake-filled again. And no basketmaker/author should suggest this is a beginners project…but it is a fine container for something and it will make me chuckle when I see it, sadly rim-free because why bother, with it’s wonky twill weave.
Miscellaneous Observations
- I got an email from an organization I support, encouraging me to be involved with their work. Um, no but I wrote “I like what y’all do and until I hear differently will trust you to continue to do good work. My attention span for following groups I support is limited but know that I am comforted that you are doing the work.” I think I will use that again.
- Biannual and biweekly mean two different things, other than the weekly/annual part. The longer I speak English the more grateful I am that I didn’t have to learn it as a second language. [Oops, got it wrong. I thought I had looked it up and double-checked but there you go. They do mean the same thing, bi-wise. I am still grateful that I didn't have to learn English as a second language!!]
- (Biannual is how often I vacuum. I just did my biannual vacuum and my fitness gadget says NUTHIN. I got NUTHIN for all that moving furniture and hard work. I rest my case. The only benefit of vacuuming is cleaning the floor. Does not make me want to do it again in six months.) I was going to discuss cleaning vs putting things away but I am going to save that for next time. I think I have, once again, figured out my problem and I am working on solving it this time.
- On a recent Take out Friday, I picked up the food at a local Thai restaurant. When I looked at the receipt, the person to pick it up was “Pecky.” New one for me.
- I sometimes look at all the tabs I have open in my browser and am amused by the things that interest me. I am often grateful when the browser crashes and I can release all the articles I want to read but may not get to. This day, I had Doodle (planning a site visit), yahoo and gmail, Webs (to buy yarn), Spicewalla (pondering spices or looking at recipes), Brennan Center (protecting our democracy), Making Space for Restorative Justice (Yes Magazine), YouTube (Yoga with Adriene—a 30 Day Journey), searching for local lumber store, Uncomfortable Conversations (website of the author of Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man, recommended by Betsy), and a listing of documentaries at the Big Sky Film Festival.
- The older I get the more I am becoming my mother (not a bad thing—just a daily reminder): I now have foods I like that don’t like me.
- I have gotten a couple invitations from people I know and like a lot to join online workshops about dying. I hope I remember to do one in September. It's spring. I can't face dying—I know too many others who are closer. I think my paperwork is mostly in order so I could be safe til September but then I look at the “this is where you can find stuff” document and it is out of date which it usually is shortly after updating it.
- How easily I have adapted to noises and vibrations in my pocket (the phone). There are still dings and buzzes in the house that do not compute but I usually figure it out eventually.
- Every year since 2008, at least, I have printed out a one page calendar of the year so that I can see what events or trips or save the dates I have for the year. In the before times, I printed the next year out around September as I started to have things to keep in mind as I made other plans. I look at 2020. Everything was just ignored. I didn’t even bother to cross most of it out. This year, I printed 2021 on March 5th. I have started to have hope that I might go somewhere. The one trip I did have scheduled has been pushed back to 2022. Knitting and Hiking in the Shetland Islands. The guide sent an email asking if I was happy with this decision. Perhaps it’s a cultural thing. I wrote back and said I wasn’t all that happy about it but I certainly understand. Perhaps this will be a domestic travel year. Everyone seems to have bought a travel vehicle so the roads will be clogged. An organization near our family place in Canada is trying to convince the folks who make decisions about the border to let their American friends (us) in. We shall see. Bon Voyage, y’all.
- Too much of a good thing: The last remaining wall clock that works in my house is the Christmas clock that plays Christmas carols on the hour. In November and December, I love it. In March? Kinda over it. (I could take the battery out of the carols part but I am afraid that clock will still be there in September…this way I will stay motivated to replace it.) [Update: Bought a $4 clock at the ReStore which goes very nicely with the decor and does not play music—or bird calls which I liked but that clock stopped last year. It does, however, tick so loudly I can hear it in the bedroom. I think I know why it was at the ReStore.]
- I am on episode #148 of Criminal Minds. I still marvel anyone can have “Wheels up in 20.”
- I have taken part in a number of “Field Trips” put on by Creative Mornings on Zoom. I’ve learned to make tortillas, a Japanese dessert street food souffle-like treat, and gnocchi. (Right now I am spicing some salmon for gravlax for a breakfast “Field Trip.”) I’ve taken a bunch of sound baths, a few dance-y exercise classes and painted with watercolors. Today I attended The Untapped Power of the Nap - Learn How to Nap Like a Pro. It confirmed my experience—a nap is good for me. The presenter was very knowledgable and entertaining. She is creating an arm of her business (marketing?) to promote napping at work. She will give the presentation I saw to people at work to encourage businesses to see the benefits of an afternoon nap. I admit the guided meditation made me squirrel-y, but soon I was asleep and then she woke us up which might be the missing link in my naps—sometimes it goes on a little bit too long…not always in a bad way but definitely in a way that makes going to bed “at a good hour” unlikely.
- I got my first shot, of the vaccine, that is. Because many of my people are older than I am, I had seen and heard about what a good feeling it is. I get it now. I really want the second one badly—or rather I want to be over the second one.
- The PNewL PNewS has turned 29. Yay for us and for it and for both. Not April fooling…
Haiku for Spring
Spring and light are here
The weeds are growing, bugs too
Thank god for the dog
All stories are long stories if you tell them from the start. Anxious People, Fredrik Backman
