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rebeccmeisterI don't know that I have a coherent weekend report, but I did take some photos. Saturday's rowing practice was...special...so I did a bit of extra lounging around in the afternoon. The cats helped. I mean, it WAS Caturday, after all.
After updating my finances on Saturday, I concluded that I should hold off on continued shopping for Shiny New Things for Shiny New Projects for a bit, which meant I should instead focus on making progress on the projects I already have the tools and supplies for. There's no shortage of things I *could* be working on, after all. And so, back to the basement, to sand more oars!
These ones are going to require quite a bit of repair work before they'll be ready for repainting. So many chips and gouges. Which is fine, because there are 2 sets of oars on the painting sawhorses currently, so there's time for getting these queued up. I also learned that the "storing the paintbrush in the freezer between uses" trick DOES have a limited shelf life, sigh. I managed to get most of the old, dried paint off of the brush, but will have to keep working on my paintbrush management methods. I just hate to use a ton of solvent for brush cleaning.
I also got back into the cooking and baking routine. No photos of the cooking, but for the baking, I tried out some "tiny bugs" cookie cutters my sister-in-law gave me. My initial verdict is that it's really hard to get tiny bug feet to come out correctly.
But tiny bug cookies are adorable, it must be said. Bug bites. These cookies are a modified version of my favorite Pink-Frosted Cookie recipe. I had a touch of Royal Icing left over, so I used it to decorate a number of the cookies.
I'm really pleased with how this cookie recipe came out, although I might continue to tinker with increasing the cocoa powder content because I do love chocolate. Also, I don't know about you, but I'm definitely noticing a spike in chocolate bar prices. That's not a huge surprise, since we don't exactly grow much chocolate here in what's left of the US of A, and, ahem, tariffs. Interestingly, my grocery co-op prices have generally stayed pretty stable otherwise. For now. It was also interesting to note grocery prices at the co-op in Seattle and at a couple of stores in Portland. Prices at the Trader Joe's in Portland still seemed mostly reasonable, but prices at the other grocery I visited definitely gave me pause, and seemed substantially higher than what I observed in Seattle.
I would not be at all surprised to learn of cases of regional grocery price-gouging here in 'Muricuh, as has been found in Austria.
Anyway.
Last but not least, my mending adventures continue. I tackled two small holes in this CRAP jersey, building up to armpit repairs as with the Nebraska Sandhills jersey. At least for this one I now have the correct darning yarn color!
In the realm of repairs: Last summer, I loaned my fold-n-snip thread scissors to someone unreliable, and never got them back. I have missed them ever since. I looked for replacements in Berkeley, online at Seattle Fabrics (they list them but don't offer them for sale), in person at Pacific Fabrics in Seattle, and also at Stitches. I bought some tiny travel scissors in Berkeley, and a different style of folding scissor at Stitches, but after giving them both a try I really don't like either pair. So I ultimately resorted to eBay for a genuine replacement and found one, thank goodness.
This actually relates to somethingconuly was just complaining about: because I'm left-handed, there are a lot of scissors that are just obnoxious to use because they're right handed. The two other sets of thread scissors I tried won't work for snipping thread if I use them with my left hand, which is really irritating in the middle of a mending project. The fold-n-snips are snug enough that they work great!
I am never, ever going to loan out the fold-n-snips ever again.
After updating my finances on Saturday, I concluded that I should hold off on continued shopping for Shiny New Things for Shiny New Projects for a bit, which meant I should instead focus on making progress on the projects I already have the tools and supplies for. There's no shortage of things I *could* be working on, after all. And so, back to the basement, to sand more oars!
These ones are going to require quite a bit of repair work before they'll be ready for repainting. So many chips and gouges. Which is fine, because there are 2 sets of oars on the painting sawhorses currently, so there's time for getting these queued up. I also learned that the "storing the paintbrush in the freezer between uses" trick DOES have a limited shelf life, sigh. I managed to get most of the old, dried paint off of the brush, but will have to keep working on my paintbrush management methods. I just hate to use a ton of solvent for brush cleaning.
I also got back into the cooking and baking routine. No photos of the cooking, but for the baking, I tried out some "tiny bugs" cookie cutters my sister-in-law gave me. My initial verdict is that it's really hard to get tiny bug feet to come out correctly.
But tiny bug cookies are adorable, it must be said. Bug bites. These cookies are a modified version of my favorite Pink-Frosted Cookie recipe. I had a touch of Royal Icing left over, so I used it to decorate a number of the cookies.
I'm really pleased with how this cookie recipe came out, although I might continue to tinker with increasing the cocoa powder content because I do love chocolate. Also, I don't know about you, but I'm definitely noticing a spike in chocolate bar prices. That's not a huge surprise, since we don't exactly grow much chocolate here in what's left of the US of A, and, ahem, tariffs. Interestingly, my grocery co-op prices have generally stayed pretty stable otherwise. For now. It was also interesting to note grocery prices at the co-op in Seattle and at a couple of stores in Portland. Prices at the Trader Joe's in Portland still seemed mostly reasonable, but prices at the other grocery I visited definitely gave me pause, and seemed substantially higher than what I observed in Seattle.
I would not be at all surprised to learn of cases of regional grocery price-gouging here in 'Muricuh, as has been found in Austria.
Anyway.
Last but not least, my mending adventures continue. I tackled two small holes in this CRAP jersey, building up to armpit repairs as with the Nebraska Sandhills jersey. At least for this one I now have the correct darning yarn color!
In the realm of repairs: Last summer, I loaned my fold-n-snip thread scissors to someone unreliable, and never got them back. I have missed them ever since. I looked for replacements in Berkeley, online at Seattle Fabrics (they list them but don't offer them for sale), in person at Pacific Fabrics in Seattle, and also at Stitches. I bought some tiny travel scissors in Berkeley, and a different style of folding scissor at Stitches, but after giving them both a try I really don't like either pair. So I ultimately resorted to eBay for a genuine replacement and found one, thank goodness.
This actually relates to something
conuly was just complaining about: because I'm left-handed, there are a lot of scissors that are just obnoxious to use because they're right handed. The two other sets of thread scissors I tried won't work for snipping thread if I use them with my left hand, which is really irritating in the middle of a mending project. The fold-n-snips are snug enough that they work great!I am never, ever going to loan out the fold-n-snips ever again.
no subject
Date: 2026-01-12 03:19 pm (UTC)Those cookies look delicious. I also like really chocolately cookies. Not sure if you ever order from King Arthur but their cocoa powders are excellent and come in a giant bag. I am reminded of the cookie cutters also that my eldercare lady has, she really wanted to use the moose one and the antlers looked great but the skinny legs did not translate well to cookie. Footless moose, LOL.
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Date: 2026-01-12 05:50 pm (UTC)I haven't ordered from King Arthur, but that's good to keep in mind! My grocery co-op has cocoa powder in bulk, but there can be a lot of variation in cocoa powder quality/consistency...
Footless moose, ahhh!!! I have a bicycle cookie cutter that is really poorly designed, with a weak point in the center of the cookie. These things just make me think, c'mon, designers, please be practical! I had to clean out the bug cutters with a toothpick. I suspect they aren't actually made for the purpose of cutting out cookies...
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