Midweek Miscellany and My Podcast List

Much of yesterday was spent cleaning up after the hacking attempts. This idiot left enough fingerprints that even if nothing comes of it, I am still going to file the paperwork with the police department and see if they can make him uncomfortable. Nothing was compromised. I’ve just had a lot of extra paperwork as a result. Our local bank has been fabulous.

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Nicole, host of the Living Free in Tennessee podcast, is asking her listeners to help her get to 200,000 downloads. I thought it would be a great time to give you a recap of my favorite podcasts, so here we go:

Living Free in Tennessee: The husband recommended this podcast to me a number of years ago. I used to listen to the Survival Podcast with Jack Spirko, but honestly—there is a bit too much testosterone and chest-thumping on that podcast for me. Nicole’s podcast has equally good information but she comes at it from a woman’s point of view. I find that much more appealing. She does 2-3 podcasts a week. They range from a homesteading topic (lots of great canning and preserving information), an interview, or a “Thought of the Walk,” in which she talks about ideas relating to current topics. She is currently working on a cookbook entitled Cook With What You Have. It sounds like it’s right up my alley because she doesn’t use recipes when she cooks, either. There is also a great LFTN Coffee Break group on Facebook and also an LFTN group on MeWe.

[MeWe is an alternative social media network. I’ve been on a sewing group there for a number of years, but Nicole is trying to get the LFTN group more active there as well. MeWe doesn’t allow obnoxious ads, nor does it have ridiculous censorship policies like Facebook does. It’s so good that I would be happy to pay to use it if it ever came to that.]

Sewing Out Loud: This is a podcast put out once a week (Fridays) by Zede and Mallory Donahue, a mother-and-daughter duo that used to own a fabric store in Missouri but who have now transitioned to creating online media. They also have a Facebook group called The Self-Sewn Wardrobe and if you support them as a member, you get access to a private FB group with even more resources. Each podcast focuses on some aspect of garment sewing—they will tell you up front that they don’t quilt—and is delivered with grace and good humor.

The Love to Sew Podcast: This is hosted by two women in Vancouver, BC. I like this podcast because it’s a longer format (sometimes more than an hour) and Helen and Caroline, the hosts, do a fabulous job of finding interesting people to interview. They do a lot of homework before each show and ask questions that help listeners really get to know the guests. The shows where they talk about sewing techniques aren’t always as good; they did one on sergers a few weeks ago and it was obvious after a few minutes that they didn’t have a lot of real-world experience with sergers and were parroting things they had heard or read. That’s okay, to a point, but compared to Zede and Mallory’s podcasts on sergers (they have lots of serging experience), the Love to Sew information was a bit thin. Despite that, this podcast is one of my favorites, especially for long drives.

Peak Prosperity/Featured Voices: This is most definitely a contrarian—and some would even say a doomer-focused—podcast. It’s also one that I’ve been listening to for a number of years. Chris Martenson and Adam Taggart focus on “energy, the economy, and the environment” and have guests who are experts in each of those areas. This podcast is how I found David Collum, Danielle DiMartino, and other interesting people to follow on Twitter. (Google their names if they are unfamiliar to you.) I wish the podcasts came out more frequently, but they are worth waiting for.

The KunstlerCast with James Howard Kunstler: Kunstler is not for everyone. He travels in the same circles as the Peak Prosperity guys and has a similar focus but he’s not quite as refined. I love his post-apocalyptic novel series The World Made by Hand. Sometimes I think he sounds like a preacher with only one sermon, but he does get some very interesting guests.

Busy Hands, Quiet Hearts: This is a relatively new podcast (only a dozen episodes so far) by one of the members of the LFTN Facebook group. Pia Sonne offers urban homesteading advice from her apartment in Denmark. After spending a week living in flats in London, I am amazed at how much she gets done in such a tiny space. She has a lovely, melodious voice and her English is impeccable. Her website also has a wealth of information.

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One of Nicole’s recent podcasts was Episode 179: If You’re Not Trying Something New, You’re Doing It Wrong. I’ve decided to take that advice to heart. My friend Marcie posted information about an online class being offered by Cori Dantini. Cori lives near Spokane and she and Marcie are friends. (Cori came to visit Montana a few years ago and Marcie wanted to bring her over to see my sewing machines, but I was on the east coast at the time.) Cori is one of my favorite fabric designers. I was a bit hesitant to take the class because it involves drawing, and for all my creative abilities, I cannot draw my way out of a paper bag. Marcie talked me into taking it with her, though, so I signed up for the class. I am excited to learn something new!

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Tomorrow, June 13, is National Sewing Machine Day. Mark your calendars!

I am still plugging away at the 66. Every time I walk by it, I scrape off a bit more of the paint. I need to give it a good wipedown with some alcohol or mineral spirits and see how much of the paint is left. This morning, though, I am going to head out to the garden before it gets hot.

I have no current pictures to share with you, but I’ll leave you with this one of a tree that blew down in our front yard a few weeks ago.

Some of those pine trees don’t blow over in windstorms; they shear off about 15 feet up. It makes cleaning them up more of a hassle. We have plenty of firewood, though.