Potpourri

Lately, my husband has been simmering things like pine needles, sliced ginger and apples on the stove, for the wonderful aromas...simple and inexpensive.

Take two

I've been trying to submit a claim with the health insurance company.  This is how it has been going:

Online claim submission? No.

Printable claim form on their website? No.

Claim address on their website? No.

Search box on their website? No.

Certificate of Coverage online? Yes, but only because they have to. Download enormous PDF, because for some reason PDFs from their site (and only their site) won't open in the browser.

From CoC, about 70 pages in, obtain claim address.

Mail in claim information.

Wait five weeks.

Check claim status online; only available as PDF. Claim does not appear.

Re-read CoC. That address was the notice of claim address. Claims should go to the customer service address, given early in the CoC.

Wrestle with printer that doesn't feed paper well to print claim documents again.


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In projects, I've been working on the rest of my rummage sale clothes. A sweater and a sweatshirt now fit me, no alterations needed. The last item was an enormous wool sweater, size XL and intentionally made oversize. I was going to cut it down to my size and re-sew it, but my husband suggested shrinking it. Since it was so large, I just washed it in hot water. (There are more cautious ways of shrinking wool, involving sprinkling.) Then I dried it on Hot. It came out of those about one size smaller. So I did another hot wash and dry, and it shrunk one more size. After a third time through, it is now my size, and dense and warm...the perfect sweater to wear to shovel snow. It fits well, except rather large where the arms join the body, which I am not planning to change in the near future.

Found my way back

I've been doing a lot of reading.

Also, I've completed a couple of projects. One was a corduroy jacket that I found at the thrift store ($4). When I got home, I noticed there was a stain on the back. I should have checked before I bought it, but I would have bought this one anyway. Stain removal is not one of my talents, but it came out with some soaking in Oxiclean, After that, I shortened the sleeves, and now I like the jacket a lot.

I then took the corduroy jacket that I've had forever, which is baggy and shapeless and not the greatest color for me, and tried bleaching it. I was hoping the color would fade a bit, but instead it brightened as the bleach took out some of the darker tones. I am thinking of reworking it into something that fits better.

Finally, I took one of my rummage sale sweaters from last spring and shortened the sleeves. I may alter it some in the body later; for now it is only a little too big.

Just about right

I squeezed out enough time to put a quick third and more toned-down coat of paint on the coffee table base, and it is much, much, much better. Now it looks like it belongs.

Toned

I've been sick, and only recently finished painting the base of the new used coffee table. For paint, I mixed some old paint samples together, guessing that the color would come out lavender. It did, but it was too bright for the mudhole colors in the living room. I experimented with wiping some black acrylic over it, but it was too difficult to apply evenly. So I mixed a little of the black paint in with the lavender for a second coat. and that came out much better, although still slightly too bright. It relates to the colors in the rug and the quilt now. I have about enough paint left for an even more toned-down third coat, when I get to it.

I also made progress on the skirt that I am handsewing; I finished the side seams. I am using crochet thread in a backstitch, which goes more quickly than one might expect.

Next month's big project will be raking leaves. I have been getting an early start because I'll be doing most of it, while carrying a baby. I can rake one-handed for short periods, and then lift the leaves into the bin with my trusty scoop shovel (grain scoop). I'm glad I started lifting weights a little again.

Seed money

I made it to the thrift store, knowing that I don't really need anything at the moment except for more books. I spend a lot of time reading in the newborn weeks, and am well on the way to having read ten thousand pages this time around.

I found three paperbacks: one spiritual, one practical, and one classic literature. With a 40 percent off sale, it was 93 cents for the three, and the practical book is likely to save me many, many times that amount.

With cash flow being tight recently, I decided not to renew our only magazine subscription (Backwoods Home). But there, too, over the course of a year's subscription I am likely to find information and ideas that are worth far more than the subscription price to me. (If only learning about things enough to know that I don't want to try them.) So I am reconsidering it.

The spiritual book was also worth far more than its price--it has gotten me thinking about goals and dreams and vocation again. At one time, we had a fairly definite plan that we were working through, but circumstances changed and God led us in a different direction.  

A few things

I fixed a honeycomb shade that wouldn't raise. The hardest part was in figuring out how to take it down off its bracket, but I eventually found the installation instructions, which told me the magic secret direction to pull. After that, I just had to get a string wound back onto its spool, instead of around the shaft. As a bonus, I also learned how to clean them.

I fixed the toilet chain (inside the tank). The broken chain links were there, but there was not a lot of space to work, and I have large hands, so I used a paper clip.

The fridge has not been working well lately. We have identified several reasons:  1. Children not closing the freezer door all the way (it pulls forward like a drawer). 2. The gasket for the freezer door was falling off, on the bottom edge where it is hard to see. 3. Insufficient air flow. from dust in the coils and the air outlet, and because the fridge is crammed into an enclosed space without the recommended clearances. One night I finally managed to wrestle it forward enough to vacuum the air outlet on the back, and I didn't push it all the way back, but left it sticking out a few inches to help it shed heat. I vacuumed the coils again, but there is a lot of caked-on dust far back in that the vacuum can't budge. The fridge is still freezing some things in the refrigerator compartment. I am bracing myself for a high electric bill.

For another late-night project, we caulked the bathtub.

I've been slowly working on sewing a skirt, from rummage sale fabric. I have the pieces cut out and edge stitched, and I am sewing the seams now by hand, with crochet cotton, doubled. It is easy to pick up and put down, as I have the time.

At the state fair, I bought a leather barrette: a strip of leather with two holes in it, and a stick that passes through the holes. Not hard to make one yourself, but it had a nice design, and I am not that good at tooling leather yet. I did modify the stick by cutting it shorter and whittling a blunter point on it, so I don't poke the baby when I turn my head.