It is very cold, and brilliantly sunny this morning. The deck, the house, the trees, are snapping and cracking in the cold, -34C. There is a chill in the house, a good day to sit near the heater. My hands are stiff as I type, from the cold air. Luckily the physical objects are not as cool as the air, thermal mass heating has its advantages.
Attila is out there, braving the weather.
We are both very busy with the wood heating system on these frigid days and nights. Terra wrote to say it is very cold where they are, and that their wood stoves are keeping them busy as well.
Back here at the house I keep on my feet and moving!
Aprons are handy when cooking from scratch. Aprons with pockets are even better.
I have many aprons, and I dislike all of them. Some of them have a single neck strap, which pulls on the back of my neck and gives me headaches. Some of them tie around the waste, and do not cover my chest, which is prime splatter territory.
There is only one apron that completely delights me. I saw a picture of it online. In the 1920s, in a test kitchen, the women wore pinafore type aprons, with a high, gathered yoke, no frilly bits, and pockets. After seeing it I searched high and low for something similar to purchase. Nothing on the market came close.
But, finally I did find a pattern for a simple panel apron, with a pocket and two shoulder straps, that would suit me well. It was a Simplicity pattern. I have been sewing Simplicity patterns for 50 years. I ordered the pattern online, and Attila brought it home with the daily mail yesterday.
Now I need to find a suitable fabric. Fabrics are something to be saved for timely use. The thing is, where is the tote that contains the fabrics. That is a project unto itself, finding the fabric tote! It might be here at the country house, then again, it might be sitting at the little house in the city.
I have moved almost entirely away from Facebook. What triggered this was the deletion of a comment that I made, because the original poster was monitoring all comments to align with his chosen political agenda. While not particularly upset by this, it reminded me what a false form of interaction Facebook, Twitter, and such online forums really provide. It is place where the unseen hand can delete the thoughts and contributions of another in the blink of an eye. The problem being that this occurs invisibly, no one is the wiser, other than the silenced individual, and the dictator of voice who silences another. I value freedom of speech, and since online venues can deny this right, I am loath to spend any time attempting to interact in an environment where dissent is silently silenced.
This morning songza is playing on the laptop. A new discovery: holding the laptop with both hands brings the vibrations of the music through my hands and up my arms. Another dimension of sound to enjoy.
Worldly Distractions
Weather
Clear
-34C (that is -29.2F)
Date: 6:00 AM EST Friday 3 January 2014
Condition: Clear
Pressure: 102.7 kPa
Visibility: 16 km
Temperature: -31.6°C
Dewpoint: -34.7°C
Humidity: 75%
Wind: NW .2 km/h
Wind Chill: -36 (that is -32F)
Quote
“Science may set limits to knowledge, but should not set limits to imagination.”
Bertrand Russell
1872 – 1970
I don’t wear an apron and never have. I should but I just don’t. The last apron I had/wore was one I made in junior high school – I don’t have that anymore, I don’t think, or maybe I do somewhere, but it was the first thing I ever made from scratch. I can just picture those ruffly aprons from the 50’s… Paul would get a good laugh if I showed up in the kitchen in one of those!
Bex, the 50s were full of such fripperies, weren’t they! I am not a ruffle or frill kinda gal.
I like an apron to wipe my hands on, dry my hands on, catch splashes, use the handy pockets, and as a first line of defence when I lean over a wet counter and sop up spilled milk or liquids. Since I wear a down vest to keep warm during the day, which is expensive to clean, I need to cover it up while cooking. If I like this apron that I will sew, I will wear it most of the time, most days; and maybe even make more than one apron. You never know, if I really, really like it, I just might wear it when I go out to the grocery store and around and about. If the young can wander around with pyjama bottoms, or pants hanging so low that uninteresting parts of their anatomy are hanging out, then why can’t an old woman wear an apron!
If you’re an “old woman” Maggie, then I am positively prehistoric! I agree… much worse attire litters the world now.
Interesting about you getting a headache when your bangs touch your eyebrows… I have a very similar feeling, not a headache happens, per se, but when they get too long, yes, even touching the brow areas, I get very cranky and need to cut them, which I did just today after my shower. Ahhh… things feel much better now.
What a coincidence Bex, we both had our bangs cut today, for similar reasons!
I’ll miss you out in FB-land. I’ve mostly had good interactions there, but certainly there is the other, humans being ‘human’. If I were the one that did the cooking and dish-washing, that apron would appeal to me, too!
I have had some excellent interaction on Facebook Joan, and I already miss quite a few of my friends, such as yourself, but not all of them! I still login every once in a while to see what people are up to. I have the settings configured to email me if anyone tries to contact me via Facebook, so that I can login immediately and respond.
I wish Facebook were more configurable, and more easily so, so that I could stream out certain people’s postings. I may eventually go back and tinker with the settings again, when I am feeling a bit more like wading through the Facebook maze of settings. So far I haven’t deleted my account, I have just stopped logging in.
I am not very keen on listening to people who dismiss, rather than disagree with, the views of those around them. They do not deserve that kind of courtesy.
Well Joan, you have been an inspiration re Facebook. I took another whirl through the configuration and setup the Close Friends list with my interactive and open minded friends. Because I did this, I got to see your picture of Julia, which is such a beautiful picture! I plan on only reviewing the close friends list, so I will see how that goes for now. Thanks for the feedback!