1000 Pieces

 

Ravensburger jigsaw with interesting artwork

 

Back in late November our area experienced a significant wind storm that knocked down many trees in a wide area. Our power was out for three days. Then a day into the outages, cellular towers also lost power. Without electricity, heat, and internet service, we pulled out some of our old jigsaw puzzles to work on by lantern.

It was a great way to spend the evenings bundled in extra layers and making hot cocoa on a camping stove set up on the back porch. We found it so relaxing that we’ve continued working on puzzles. Rather than buying new jigsaw puzzles, I looked for local places to trade but found none in our area. We checked Goodwill and hit the jackpot with hundreds of puzzles at very affordable prices.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Jigsawpuzzles/comments/1chnnnn/pieces_names/

We found that 500 piece puzzles were too easy with both my husband and I working on them and have settled on 1000 pieces as the standard we purchase. Many of the puzzles had strange shapes like lightning bolts. I wondered whether the different pieces had names other than something like “two outies, two innies” as I called them.

It turns out there aren’t any universally agreed upon names, but there is

An Amy Stewart puzzle

some commonly used terminology like tabs/knobs/outies and blanks/sockets/innies. While researching names for pieces I learned that the world’s leading puzzle maker is Ravensburger, and we happened to find one at Goodwill.

 

The artwork in the Ravensburger puzzle was intricate and entertaining (see top of page). However, my favorite puzzles were the colorful ones. I also learned that January is national puzzle month. For us, the entertainment will likely last until the weather is nice enough for regular outdoor activities.

Amy Stewart artwork

 

The Heart of Personal Shopping

 

 

I loved my volunteer shifts in the food bank’s cafe every Tuesday and Friday. But when the food bank’s website featured a brief video on the cafe, there was a rush of volunteers and I was crowded out of my regular shifts. 😞

Bags and boxes filled by the personal shopping volunteers

So, I switched back to an earlier role I had as a personal shopper for the home-bound. This job starts with a list of foods that each individual fills out with dietary restrictions and food preferences. The volunteer shopper then takes a grocery bag or two and fills it with the specified food choices. It’s not easy because of the limited supply of food we have to choose from. We do the best we can to fill a bag at least half full.

Sentiment in some of the cards

I enjoy doing my best for each client. This past Wednesday I brought in handmade Valentine’s cards to slip into the grocery bags for women. , ,Since these clients are home-bound, I wanted to let them know I care about the food I'm selecting for them.  The cards included sentiments like the one at the top of the page and at left.

Once we’ve done our best to shop for an individual’s food, the bags go onto four-tier racks while they await pickup by volunteer drivers who deliver the groceries to clients. Not only do volunteers drive cars and trucks, but we also have bicycle delivery teams. The bicyclists are provided with carts they pull behind them, and given how hilly Seattle is, this can’t be an effortless task!

 

On Wednesdays, the food bank is only open for the personal shopping volunteers and we have no interaction with clients. However, like the work we do in the cafe, I'm still able to provide individualized and personal service to those facing food insecurity. 

 

Uncovering the Past

 

I did it!

While this post isn't entirely about an archaeological project, it does involve uncovering a project I’d abandoned a year ago. I adore felted ornaments with hand-sewn decorations and I purchased a Bucilla kit containing twelve of them last year. I immediately encountered two problems.

 

First, I find it very difficult to sit still for any length of time. Second, the instructions, while intended to be simple and basic, couldn’t have been more difficult for me to understand than trying to decrypt Viking runes. Fortunately, YouTube had instructional videos that helped me decipher the "simple" steps and sewing stitches needed.

 

So how did I finally resume this project? Archaeological videos, especially Digging for Britain. Most people probably listen to music or movies while crafting, but I love the ancient past and it is what kept me seated long enough to finish all these ornaments in just a few weeks.

 

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1963-1208-126

Hand sewing has a long tradition, a wonderful connection to the past. Imagine the labor that went into creating thread in antiquity—shear the sheep, card the wool, then use a hand whorl to get the final product. Many of these spindle whorls (photo at right) have been found in ancient burials.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_Brooch

 While struggling to do the different stitches, I found it amazing to see the fine metalwork from these late 8th or early 9th century brooches. As difficult as spinning thread would have been, imagine doing something just as delicate with metal! Let’s not forget the metals had to be extracted from rocks, refined, cast, and finally hand-worked by an experienced craftsman.

 

Watching the archaeology videos made the work so enjoyable that I plan to do another embroidery kit later this year. First, there are other crafts to learn and make.

 

 

 

 

Dishing Up Christmas

 

Bowl Cozies

This year I dusted off sewing skills that had been dormant for decades by taking a couple sewing classes. One of the classes featured bowl cozies, which I've found so useful that I thought these would make great Christmas gifts.

‘Sew’, after a trip to a nearby fabric store for supplies, I set up the sewing machine and got to work. Selecting fabrics that reflected interests of the recipients (family members) allowed me to make the bowl cozies personalized.

After sewing was finished, I turned my projects into gift bags with the addition of a bowl, instant oatmeal, hot soups, and crackers. With some raffia to fill in spaces and some Christmas-themed gift bags, these made nice little gifts that were made with love and didn’t cost a fortune (except for mailing, sigh).
 

 

Following several YouTube videos, I discovered another super easy and cute pattern for pocket tissue holders. Using leftover fabric, I made a tissue packet holder to match each bowl cozy. After all, this is cold and flu season, so I added some vitamin C drink packets, tea, and cocoa mix.

 

Once Santa’s helpers at USPS had whisked away these gifts, I hunted around for more Christmas sewing projects and found these cute little mouse ornaments on Etsy from PinCutSewStudio. The ears looked daunting but the hardest part ended up being sewing around the curves. The pleated ears were a cinch.

I’m following a couple sewing crafters on YouTube for easy project ideas not only for Christmas but birthday gifts also. Browsing beautiful fabrics for projects is almost as much fun as finding stunning papers for card making.

Apple a Day Cafe

 

Original art work by UDFB staff

Apple a Day cafe is the free meal program provided by the University District Food Bank in Seattle near the University of Washington. Two mornings a week I volunteer helping to prepare, and sometimes serve, freshly made meals to anyone who wants one.

Our cozy kitchen

A typical day finds five volunteers at work in a small, galley-style kitchen. I have learned a lot through my volunteer work here. Our cafe manager is well-educated in the culinary arts and has years of experience that allows her to create daily menus and help us prepare in just two hours. 

With the manager's guidance, we pay close attention to food allergies including not only the usual wheat and dairy, but also soy, tree nuts, and fish. The menu is posted on a large white board daily and each menu item notes allergens specific to that dish.

While preparing food, we also take great care to use separate cutting boards and utensils for vegetarian meals and to the noted food allergies. For instance, a cutting board used to slice bread cannot then be used to prepare items that are to be gluten-free. 

Veggies ready for today's salad

I love seeing how a menu comes together depending on what donations we’ve received that week or just that morning. Every meal comes with a freshly made salad, usually made by me on the days I volunteer. Preparing these salads has introduced me to new ways of using vegetables. My usual salad dressing at home is a balsamic vinaigrette, but at the cafe I’ve watched our manager prepare fresh dressings from scratch, such as a recent cherry-berry vinaigrette.

Some days I get to prepare large pans of fresh fruit crisps. This day's started with the blueberries pictured and included fresh apples. While we have the small oven as seen in this photo (far back), for soups and rice we use several pressure cookers like the one next to the oven and in the foreground.

 

 Eleven-thirty comes and we are ready to serve meals out to those standing in our cafe line. Every meal comes with a hot food item, freshly prepared salad, soup, and a dessert.

I'm grateful for the food we can provide to our hungry neighbors and enjoy working along side other highly dedicated volunteers. My latest book, Generous Hearts, is informed greatly by my experience here and all proceeds will go to the food bank.