Good Things Friday (140) and Link Love
October 29, 2021
1. Sewing machine adventures: Last weekend I wound two bobbins and was very pleased with myself but I think I need to wind about 20 more to be sure I remember how to do it each time without having to relearn every time. I spent this interim period buying too much fabric on clearance at $3/yard. I got carried away, I can admit mistakes were made. However. One part of the order was a huge length of very cute anti pill fleece. I washed it, did a bit of Googling to confirm, and whacked away at it with my scissors for a while to produce a no sew blanket for JB to tie up. By the end of the day, they’d made a blanket for Smol!
2. I definitely overdid it physically on chores that have been piling up for ages: ran a load of laundry, washed our counter, cleared away all the mailers and papers that could be recycled from the kitchen, dining room, entry, and office. We took a very long walk together, I prepped a project for JB, and put up another stack of clean laundry in the donation box. Parca is coming by next week for a pick up and I’m trying to clear out as much reusable stuff as I can before they do. It’s not the same as rest that refreshes (something I haven’t gotten in over a decade) but a long session with the Hypervolt got me on the right path.
3. I defrosted and marinated another round of beef stew meat for a second batch of beef stew to put up and share with friends. I wanted to make a double batch but we didn’t have time or energy to go buy more ingredients so I’m doing what I can with what I have.
Direct aid: Tami’s chronicle of her money challenge reminds me of so many years I spent working my butt off to make ends meet. I’d posted her ABLE account before but I heard that it wasn’t a viable option for some so I’m sharing her Venmo and PayPal.
Challenges this week: I’ve been frustrated by my neverending fatigue. This isn’t just about being a new mom again with a small baby, it’s the same fatigue I felt even before my first pregnancy. Many years ago, a friend described their pregnancy fatigue as the most tired they’d ever been in their life and beyond anything they could have imagined. That’s the level of tired I feel every day and have felt for more than ten years. I always push through but I’m so tired of being tired.
A White Woman Told Me She Doesn’t ‘Think Of’ Me As Black. Here’s How I Reacted.
Martha Wells’ Introduction to the Subterranean edition of The Murderbot Diaries (I adore Murderbot so much.)
Mystery of exotic infectious disease traced to aromatherapy room spray
I’m on an ameliorating burnout kick, because no one thing helps enough, these days so I appreciated the Fioneers’ post on mitigating burnout.
Do you want to revive Con or Bust?
This is a two year old article but I’d never seen it before (and now I’m horrified at yet another way we are destroying our planet): Why the world is running out of sand
Tanja and Mark’s harrowing experience after a bike ride gone wrong and their risk analysis afterwards. I go through this risk analysis almost daily these days. Our raw numbers don’t add up yet, we need more accumulation years, unfortunately, but I am so hyperaware of how we are not promised good healthy years and how much I don’t want to waste what little we have left on working all the time.
