Weekend

Town clothing swap was Saturday. We did the clothing pickup for Thursday and Friday, helped with setup Friday night -- longer than I should have as there was something there to which I was allergic. Yes, I'd taken my allergy meds. Saturday morning, made a modified Waldorf salad (no nuts), then helped at the swap for 1-1/2 hours, which was almost too long, even though I'd taken extra precautions. Some perfume or something, who knows. Picked up a few things, which are airing out on the line, including a fake fur coat that might come in handy for a future costume. And yes, gave away some things as well. More to come in that area...

Family reunion was pretty good. This was for the Gray side, which hasn't happened since 1973. The one that happens more often is for the Coyne family (Marian's side).

Still had daylight so L mowed next door, and I repotted the last of the herbal six-pack, watered a bunch of plants, and sundry other things. The two baby Sage plants turned out to be five, which are now currently in one large round pot, forming a solar cross.

After much thought, we seem to have finally chosen where the grove will go.

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Sunday morning did not go well for a number of reasons, and I regret my part in it. It's complicated and not going to go into it more than that.

We got some hinges and door latches for the barn. Lyle took down the two dutch doors on the west side of the barn and re-worked them to get one better-working dutch door, although I know he wants to do more on it.

I worked on clearing some of the work areas of stinging nettles and greater celandine, as well as removing all the garlic mustard and a few dandelions that were trying to take over a couple of the blueberry bushes. The blueberries are coming along nicely! Garlic mustard is invasive here, and can change the chemical makeup of the soil such that enough of it can damage and/or kill hardwood trees. Not sure if it can do the same to blueberries or not, but they don't really like to be over-crowded with damp-gathering leaves around the base, so there you go.

Re-worked how the spare windows and some other things were arranged in the carriage house so that I could get a 4x8 piece of plywood free for use. I can't carry it of course, but I could lift one end and pull it along. L used it to make a door in place of the second dutch door. Some point down the line we'll no doubt replace it with something better, but the primary goal this year is closing up the barn and carriage house however we can afford to do, and it works.

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Right ear has been bothering me for a few days; went to see the PRN this morning. Might be topical allergic reaction to something I came in contact with, or possibly early stage of a yeast infection (inner ear thing). Trying 1% hydrocortisone first, then if need be, antibiotics.

L has an MRI appt. tomorrow morning for his neck and right shoulder.

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Some sewing happened too. Only thing completed was two bags for the local area's bag share program, which I handed off to one of the women who has the tags for them. Some stores have bags for shoppers to use to take their goods home, if they don't have a bag of their own and want to use a re-usable bag. Then when they can, they're supposed to turn the bag in to one of the participating stores. For the most part it works, but bags can get lost or worn out, so some of us go through fabric scraps or old clothes and make bags. These two used to be the bottom half of some hanging sleeves on an old Burgundian dress I had, so it was nice to finally get them out of the house and put to good use.

Put the corset and skirt for the snow queen outfit onto the dress mannequin and took the waist measurement for the next layer.

Monday

Went to the doctor's office this morning for the ear. It seems to be responding a bit to 1% hydrocortisone and am continuing to take antihistamines, etc. Hopefully all I'm dealing with is dermatitis from coming into contact with something I'm allergic to, and not more. If more than that, I have a prescription ready for pickup.

Almost zero ability to focus this afternoon. Took me several minutes and a few trips up and down the stairs before I could remember why I needed to go up the stairs (art paper). A nap might be nice, but we have a special town meeting at 7 p.m. Hope to get some sleep tonight.

Still, did a test painting project for the upcoming camp, as well as paperwork, cleaning, etc.

Need to figure out how to organize the smaller building materials and the tools, to try to make working on the barn and carriage house easier, and hopefully cheaper. Going to have to clear enough space in the barn and set up a surface or three for sorting, I think.

Time to get back to cleaning the trailer; at least one bookcase in the barn is waiting to go in, which would help with creating that sorting space. I should be able to get it out to the trailer myself, but might need help from L getting it up into the trailer. It's only laminated particle board, so it's mostly a matter of being large and awkward. As we get further in working on things we should be able to develop a list of further materials needed, so I can put out an email to freecycle. It doesn't always come through, but every bit helps.

This week should also see digging more plants out from in front of the barn, cutting some of the stinging nettles down, stone wall building, and assisting with work on the barn and/or carriage house.

Well, I should go set up some small project work to bring to the meeting tonight, to keep me awake and focused. Not that it isn't an important meeting, but when you're already tired, any speakers on the monotone side doesn't help.