Aug. 17, 2024

10-16 August

This week I’ve been thinking about redesigning this blog. Initially I had some ideas of adding pages to it, for example a project planning page, which would be a table view of the projects I’m planning, projects I have done etc. Filterable would be great. Then another page on project debriefs / deep dives. For example, I’m mentioning in my weekly updates certain projects, but I don’t have a dedicated page for a specific project from start to end. I’m trying with WordPress to make it do exactly what I want it to, but I really dislike fumbling around all the editing options and finding half of them restricted or Pro subscription only. If you want to customise beyond the standard templates they give you, it starts to get really difficult.

I didn’t want to code my own blog… but I think I’ve reached that point. For the benefit of flexibility and customisation, I’m going to have to do it myself. Hopefully this won’t take too long to set up, but will be a bit of time investment. So that’s what I’ve been working on a lot this week. I’ve gone back to some tutorials I’ve watched in the past on website coding. I’m hoping to have it done in a few weeks and then switch over to the new site. I’m not sure exactly how I’m going to bring my domain name over (thecraftofliving.com), but let’s see at the end. In any case I do actually enjoy code websites, but it will take time away from other things. 

Additional features

• Instagram reel – post pictures of most recent blog
• Project Planning page – table or list of projects
• Project Debrief posts – dedicated post to go in detail in a project
• How To section

I looked into trying to embed other software into WordPress e.g. Gsheets or notion. Not possible.

Travel-wise, I started the week back in London. My main priority was to get some propagations done. I needed elder, hazel, raspberry, hydrangea. I actually went back to a website I had made in the past, which was a tree map of the street trees of London, and was able to identify a hazel and willow tree not far from me. It was surprising that my website was still running perfectly after not having been on it for a year (https://tree-map-394919.ew.r.appspot.com/)! I think it’s hosted in GCloud and made with Django framework. 

I was successful in collecting pretty much all I needed. I put all the sticks into willow water for a few days, then transferred them into soil. Am hoping it all goes well, keeping them in pots in my garden. 

On Thursday I travelled in Belgium and staying here until next Tuesday. Main reasons for going are visiting family and collecting wool. We have a few sheep here, which get shorn every year and I keep some of their fleeces for spinning and knitting. This year I had two fleeces set aside for me to wash and bring back. I think they are some kind of woodland sheep, with relatively long hair. They’re not particularly suited to spinning and knitting, but it’s what we have so I bring some back. It’s quite a process to wash them. You have to do about three rounds of hot water and soap washes to get most of the dirt and lanolin out. They start out really greasy. 

This year, one of the two that were set aside was too matted to do anything with, so have just kept one in the end. I wasn’t there for the shearing so couldn’t pick them out myself. One fleece is enough though. I don’t have any particular plans yet, it’s quite scratchy for clothing, potentially outer layer clothes. Sometimes I use it for stuffing, or I make animal figures with it. There is a lot of could do. So that’s main of the main goals of this Belgium trip. My family also has a bunch more raspberry and hydrangea plants so I’ll be doing some more propagating here as well.

Those are the updates for the week. I’ve put the knitted cardigan on pause, I just have that one sleeve to redo. I had done it last week, but it’s much too small, so need to figure out the right needles. I go to Sweden next week, so I may bring it with me then. Once September comes around and I’m back in London,  I’ll reengage into my woodworking. That’s all for now. 

A couple of snaps in Belgium

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