Sauce Week is Over — Janet Szabo

I ended up with a grand total of 42 jars of tomato sauce—plenty for this year. I still have some bags of tomatoes in another freezer, so when things ease up a bit, I may make salsa.

I have gotten in the habit of checking on my pet spider when I come downstairs in the morning. Yesterday, I looked up at the web above the sink and it was empty. Oh, no! Where is my spider? I walked around the kitchen and found it above the cabinet where it had been originally. When the husband came down for breakfast, I was going to show him, but when I pointed to that spot, the spider wasn’t there. Oh, no! Where is my spider? I found it again on the other side of the kitchen door, above the hall tree. It had made a web there. That’s a good spot for it. I think it’s already snacked on some flies.

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Ashlee ordered a book and asked me to evaluate carrying it in the store:

I haven’t done a deep dive yet, but on the surface, this looks like it’s right up my alley. This is a drafting-style manual so everything is based on math—think slopers and beyond. The author is no lightweight, either. She’s is a professional clothing designer and has done Craftsy classes.

Would this appeal to other customers in the store? I’m not sure. My sense, from my own students, is that they would prefer not to have to draft from scratch. I do have one potential quibble and it’s admittedly a very subjective one: I am always suspicious of thin clothing designers who don’t appear to have any fitting issues. It’s one thing to write patternmaking guides for “perfect” bodies; it’s another thing to write patternmaking guides for women in the real world. But I need to look more deeply into the information presented here—and test the instructions on myself—before I make that judgment.

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No sewing got done this week. Honestly, I am not sure how much sewing will get done this month. This is not unusual for October. Between canning and traveling and getting things buttoned up before the snow flies, sewing sometimes takes a back seat. I am teaching three classes in the next 10 days, too. I’ll do what I can and let the rest go until November.

We got a letter last month that the company that underwrites the husband’s liability insurance is not going to continue in that market, so our agent has been searching for another carrier. I’m beginning to wonder how any construction is going to happen in the next couple of years because it is getting so difficult to find coverage. We’re down to two potential carriers and waiting to hear if one or the other will cover us—and how much it’s going to cost us.

I’ve been watching quite a few YouTube videos on the Washington Policy Center’s website about what’s going on in that state. I have two kids living there, after all. Washington state is not only killing the golden goose, its legislature is slaughtering it in dramatic fashion. It’s a cautionary tale about allowing people with zero economic literacy to make financial decisions. Washington’s business and occupation tax is based on gross receipts, not net revenue. Imagine a business pulling in 1.5 million a year with $500,000 in net revenue. (I’m spitballing numbers here.) They would be taxed on the 1.5 million, not $500,000. Is it any wonder that small businesses are fleeing the state in droves?

And according to the WPC, the state legislature took the pandemic stimulus money and baked it into the budget going forward rather than treating it as one-time, non-budgeted income. That’s just irresponsible management.

The minimum wage in Seattle is set to go up. Beginning on January 1, 2026, all employers in Seattle must pay a minimum wage of $21.30, regardless of business size, and cannot count tips or medical benefit payments toward minimum compensation. How many people do you know who are willing to spend $95 on a simple lunch for two people? (That number is not made up—I eat out in Seattle every time I’m there and am always prepared for a bit of sticker shock.)

If we ran our construction company the way some of these states run themselves, we’d be out of business in short order. I just shake my head.