Life, Uhhh, Finds A Way

So, you know how one day can create a massive shift in your routine and you spend three weeks+ trying to get it all back to how it was? Yeah. That. That is what I have been dealing with since the end of August. Between the funeral, family being around a lot, taking the foster dog in to go to her new home and getting two in place of her, and all the usual reasons (lazy, procrastinating, etc) I have been wrestling with my weekly routine.

So far, I am not winning!

Today's post was supposed to be about me wrestling with jam making, not my own disorganisation!

Still, it hasn't all been me flapping about in circles these last few weeks. Sure, that has been a large portion of it, but do you expect any less? I've been applying for jobs, jobs, and more jobs, playing all the board games, and just generally adoring our new foster dogs. They are cuddle monsters and they like me best! I have even been attempting to use my new sewing machine.

Although, that has largely been a lot of swearing and screaming, "Whhhyyyyy?!" at the machine. I may have exaggerated when I said I could use one.

My latest project has been converting an old dress into an apron. Whenever I bake, I usually end up wearing half the mix so it would be nice to be able to just remove a layer and not be covered in flour for the rest of the day. (Sure, I could change but that generates unnecessary washing.) This seemingly simple transformation has not gone well. I have taken the back panels off and it should just be a matter of hemming the front, merging the straps into a neck loop, and attaching a string.

I have done the last two and even added a pocket. But the hemming? It is not happening. Either the bobbin bunches or the thread snaps or a combination of them both! I have adjusted the tension, swapped stitching style, abandoned the cheeky back stitch - but it always results in a massive mess and snapped thread. To the point where I tried to unpick it and just cut the whole thing out. I am going to ignore it for a while and pray that I miraculously figure out how to sew between then and now.

In the mean time, I do have another little mini project! One of my favourite board games is Patchwork. In short, it's competitive quilting. And it comes with a lot of pieces which are just loose in the box. Naturally, this means I need to make a patchwork bag to keep them in! I have cut my bag squares and pinned on some patches. It is going to be super rustic but that is entirely on purpose. Yes. On purpose.

Am I convincing those in the back? Cool.

One other decision I have made in these last few weeks, is that I will not be bringing the podcast back. Certainly not for a while. It was supposed to be a two week break, which turned into a month, which turned into "I'll bring it back in September", which just straight up did not happen. I did enjoy making it but it was very time consuming. I also think it needs revamping, which requires ruminating and an epiphany. That or I will start a board game one to curb the desire to start a third blog about games! (Oh yeah, I started a fiction blog recently because I clearly don't have enough on my plate at the moment. Check it out, Ivy Is Lost.) If anyone has any podcast ideas or wants to help out, just let me know! Contact info is here.

Last thing, a very generous friend has given me an absolute load of bay leaves! So chuck your cooking tips which are all things bay at me. I chuck them in the slow cooker, in with anything boiling in water, but I have enough to experiment with!

For now, I guess this is me saying, I will try to get my life in order. You would have thought at staring down 30 that would be easy, right?

Listening to: Release Radar