Going Offline For a Bit

Heads up—I am going to be off most social media next week, except for checking in occasionally to the homesteading groups I belong to. There won’t be any blog posts. I’m doing that for my mental health.

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For my Kalispell peeps—if you or anyone you know is interested in pastured pork, let me know. (Janet at BigSkyKnitting.com is a good e-mail or text my cell number if you have it.) Because of government regulations, we can only sell whole or half hogs. We cannot sell individual cuts. I still have two whole or four halves available. We take our animals to Beeman’s up in Eureka, near the Canadian border, and have been very happy with them. They call each customer and ask how they want the meat cut and packaged. I expect the meat to be available toward the end of November. Smoked items take a bit longer. We pick up from Beeman’s and will deliver. I’ve also got an ad in the Mountain Trader for the next couple of weeks.

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When my mother was here for the wedding, she helped me mark some jeans for hemming. Kohls finally got Gloria Vanderbilt high-rise jeans back in stock in 12 Longs, so I ordered four pair. I wish they would lose the spandex content, but I can live with it. I need the Longs not so much for the length in the legs but for the length in the crotch. These are perfect in that regard. I needed to take off an inch or so at the bottom, however, and yesterday afternoon, I got all of them hemmed.

I watched a documentary on Soap Lake, Washington, while I sewed. Soap Lake is an interesting place. It’s about 20 miles north of I-90, above the towns of Moses Lake and Ephrata, Washington. In the early part of the 20th century, it was a mecca for people with all sorts of illnesses who came to “take the waters.” When modern medicines were developed, people no longer needed the mineral waters of the lake to help their medical problems. (Apparently, the water is great for people with eczema, psoriasis, and other skin ailments.)

I stayed in Soap Lake last October when I went to Charisma Horton’s embroidery retreat. It’s a sad little town, now—almost a ghost town—but still a beautiful place. I spent three nights at an Airbnb whose front windows looked east over the lake. The sunrises were stunning.

I’m still plugging along on the SqSq block. I said to the husband last night that I am rather blown away by the people who’ve already finished the first six blocks. I am still on block #1. Slow stitching, indeed.

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Anna Graham at Noodlehead released another bag pattern yesterday—yay! This one is called the Pepin Tote. I’ve already purchased and printed the pattern.

I’m not sure where in the queue it will land, but at least now I have the pattern.