Sept. 7, 2024

31 August - 6 September

Finally made it back HOME on Monday afternoon. I finished the third ball of wool on the Rikke jumper on the plane. I want to start making jumper tags for the back of the neck to write down the pattern and wool used written on it, potentially add it to older jumpers. I'm obsessed with how this jumper is progressing...

Blogwise, I broke through a bug I was facing for over a week trying to deploy it to the server. I was actually about to give up on solving the bug entirely, and start a new app from scratch, but then suddenly i finally figured out what it was! Such a simple mistake I won’t bore you with the details, but that meant I was unblocked and could keep making progress.

By the end of the week, I am in pretty good shape to start doing final tweaks. Have connected Google Analytics and Google Storage, and switched to a proper database rather than a testing one. The next blocker (more of a delay), is transfering my domain name for Wordpress (thecraftofliving.com), which I have just realised can’t do until end of September. Apparently, since I bought it recently they put a time lock on it. In the meantime though, it gives me time to test and perfect the new website. 

When I got back from holiday, I obviously had loads of harvesting to do in my garden. I harvested a huge pile of tomatoes, which was awesome. I immediately went to buy some preserving jars from Hobbycraft and got to work on make passata to store over winter. I’ve never canned before or made passata, but I got it done in one day and pretty happy with the results. The amount of water that comes out of the tomato is surprisingly high. You need to basically cook down the tomatoes with some flavouring (e.g. garlic, onions), and then strain the tomato water out before you add it to the glass jars. Most recipes throw away the tomato water, but I kept it to use as a base for soup in the week. 

I'll have another batch of saucing to do next week as another round of tomatoes matures. On the other hand, my peppers are completely non existant. And the tomatillos didn't quite form either. I put it down to a cold summer. Will try again next year.

Bread making had another go this week, probably my best try yet. I'm still struggling with the dough not splaying outward as it rises, even though i'm trying to put tension in the dough. However this time, i kept folding the dough over to not let it get too wide. Then i baked it for slightly less time than the recipe suggested as i kept getting it slightly overcooked. Instead of 15 mins + 15 mins, i did 10 mins + 10 mins. It's looking great now!

Progress has been made on the woodworking front... I bought a wood working bench! Found it on Ebay for £100 and hired a zip van to get it. Not sure if it’s branded or someone made it, but it looks similar to the Axminster one I liked new for about £400. I then ordered a bunch of wood working tools, which have already arrived. Things like a set of chisels, saws, planers, squares etc. The basic stuff to get started. Very exciting!!! I’ve been making an initial list of things I want to make, starting with objects directly related to wood working:

• Bench jig - with mitre features
• Pegboard with door for tools
• Floating Drawers under bench for storage
• Storage unit with plant pot on top

I’m going to order the wood pre cut soon, potentially for multiple projects in one go and then we’re away! Will need to do some exact cut list calculations to prepare for the order.

On Friday I finished the octagonal pot with a natural stain. I put steel wool in vinegar for 3 days and let it dissolve, then just painted the liquid onto the wood. Very effective stuff. Then I just rubbed linseed oil on top to finish it off. That’s one project ticked off to completion! In my new blog I’m going to have a section on project deep dives, talking a bit more in detail of the process on each proejct, so this pot will be up there when my blog goes live. 

Finally, I’m honing in on some kids costumes I’m going to start making. My niece and nephew want to be a ghost and a unicorn for halloween so I’ve got some Pinterest inspo for that. Next step will be go check out a local fabric shop I’ve never been to to see if they have anything. Otherwise I may just have to order online.

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