Ever had one of those days when it was all you could do just to cope with daily life, much less do any of the things you should have been doing or wanted to do? Well, I've been having one of those days every day since my last post.
No, there's been no tornado, cancer, screaming meemies, or crisis of any kind. Just, you know: life.
I have been spending a lot of time with Favorite Child, now that she's graduated kindergarten. Today's activity was making a worm hotel. If you would like to make one of these with your own favortive child, here's the recipe:
YOU WILL NEED:
Clear cylindrical-shaped plastic container with a large mouth. One gallon is a good size.
Fresh soil from your garden, dry or slightly moist but not wet or muddy.
Sand.
A couple handfuls of grass and 3-4 fresh leaves of any type.
Up to 10 earthworms.
MAKING THE HOTEL:
Put a 1" layer of sand in the bottom of the container.
Put a 2" layer of soil over this.
Alternate layers of sand and soil until the container is nearly full, ending with a layer of soil.
Put the leaves and grass on top.
Spray LIGHTLY with water to just moisten the top layer of soil.
Add worms.
Cover with a layer of plastic film and secure this with a rubber band. PUNCTURE HOLES so your guests can breathe.
Find something that will surround the hotel and keep it dark while still leaving the top open to the air. You can open up the top and bottom of a cardboard box and slip it down over the jar like a sleeve. Or you can build a surround with black poster board.
Place the hotel in the basement or other cool, dark place. (Ours is in an unused dog kennel in the basement within its surround).
Within a day or two you should be able to look along the sides of your hotel and see the guests making tunnels and doing other wormy things.
Refresh the salad for the worms each evening and spritz with water at the same time. Try to limit the amount of time you expose the guests to the light. They don't like it! And is that any way to treat a guest?
HINT FOR FINDING WORMS: Early in the day, before it gets hot, run your garden hose on one spot in the lawn next to a sidewalk until the ground is saturated. At a certain point, the worms will come to the surface to get away from the water. Get a good grip on 'em ... they are wily, slippery little guys.
KNITTING? OH, YEAH. THAT.
I suppose I've been knitting a few things, though I haven't acheived finish-age on many since the silent auction extravaganza. I have put the striped Simply Shetland wrap aside for the moment, as we have no A/C and it's been warmish this week.
I started the Harebell Lace Fichu from Victorian Lace Today, and found it extremely challenging. (When they say "Experienced" they mean it). That is on hold until the mood takes me again, or until I turn brilliant overnight. My friend Karen finished hers in a few weeks and was wearing it already, Ms. Smarty-Pants.
I mostly finished a sort-of pair of Mermaid Socks (or at least my take on them) from Cool Socks Warm Feet by Lucy Neatby. See the picture above when it's posted. In so doing, I re-injured my sock-knitting overuse injury, which results in a very sore and bunched-up trapezius muscle. So I have been taking it pretty easy for a few weeks trying to let that calm down.
However, I did start a KPS neck-down cardigan. I'm going to put a hood and pockets on it, and put a zipper in. I'm doing it in cranberry Fantasy Naturale. Sort of a classic Red Hooded Sweatshirt deal.
AND ... I actually have a day off at Borealis that coincides with a class that's being taught by Arnhild Hillesland. I'll be learning about Norwegian Mittens. I've done these before, but because I'm self-taught, I look forward to doing them the "real" way.
Happy Summer Solstice!
