The Mountain of "Useful" Things

So, I just moved. Firstly, I now have my very own sewing room. It's got windows on two walls (lots of light) and a wood floor (giant cutting/layout surface). I'm very excited to use it, but first I have to put all the stuff away...ack.

The process of moving out and then moving in is sort of amazing. Having to box things up, haul them across town, and find a new place for it to occupy gave me a real perspective on how much Stuff I have. I have this compulsion to keep things that "might be useful"...or not. I love thinking about what things could be, but it seems I rarely realize that potential. I have bags and bags of stuff that I acquired to turn into something else either because I liked the fabric or because I already owned it but don't wear it or because it was free.

Here's the deal. I'm joining Wardrobe Refashion again, but this time for 6 months. I'm going to tackle this pile of clothing and ugly fabric (the good fabric is 'stash', which at the moment is allowed). Anything that I haven't turned into something useful by the end of 6 months is going to Goodwill.
I'm also going to use this as an opportunity to develop some sewing skills I keep meaning to work on. Some of the things you might expect to hear about in the coming months:
- fitting clothes
- drafting patterns for a basic shirt and basic pants
- learning to machine quilt
- cutting, sewing, and tieing a quilt made from old jeans

Canning

August is almost over, but I do have an August post. Well, actually, it may really be a July post. It's hard to keep it all straight.



My boyfriend and I have started canning. We started with the asparagus pickle recipe from the New York Times back in May when asparagus were everywhere. And when zucchini started coming in, zucchini refrigerator pickles seemed to be the natural thing (via Tea and Cookies)*. Given our initial success, we then tackled quick dill pickles, bread and butter pickles, an dilly beans from Joy of Cooking.



After all the pickling, we took a class at Stratford Ecological Center** on canning tomatoes. It's the same process as pickles (a hot water bath), but now we know to start timing from a rolling boil, not when the pickles go in. The zucchini pickles could also probably be properly preserved. They're very similar to bread and butter pickles made with cucumbers, so we could do it as long as we use the same amount of zucchini (non-acid) as we would cucumbers (also non-acid). The trick is to maintain the proper acidity so all the scary stuff (botulism) dies.

And here are our canned goods safely ensconced in their new home in the basement of the house we just moved to:



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*As a side note, this is the first use of zucchini I've found that I like that doesn't involve shredding it until it's unrecognizable.

**Stratford is a really cool place. It's a working farm that has an extensive education program. We also took a class called Beginning Goat Raising where we learned about the care and keeping of dairy goats including some hands-on experience with milking and hoof trimming. They also have education programs for school groups.