Wednesday, October 5, 2022

Cleaning, Organizing and Processing

I successfully completed the items on last week's list AND reorganized my fabric closet.

Mug Rugs - DONE

Life's road has had some annoying bumps and they seem to have caught up with me... issues with health insurance and medical records, an 80% increase in homeowner's insurance, problems with the 4-wheel drive on our truck (and the shop having it for 5 days, yet they still had not even looked at) and trying to communicate with a representative about our phone/internet speed and our and issues with it dropping... My mom needs assistance with a phone call to get a refund on an item that had been returned and her email wasn't working on her tablet... again.  Ugh!

This mug rug helped me to remember that all of these things are temporary, and I reflected on the message of "do not worry" as I cleaned and sorted my fabric closet.  You see, when I get frustrated and upset, I clean.


I can't explain my reasoning behind it, but I do know it makes me feel better.  Perhaps it is because when I clean, I burn off some energy and it is something I have control of and can see the progress and control the outcome.  Nonetheless, it makes me feel better!


You will see in the video compiled of snapshots of the progress, I had a HUGE mess on the shelves... colors were intermingled, and fabric was falling off of the shelves as well as through the wires.

When everything had been sorted and placed back in place, I felt like I had a small piece of life back in order and am ready to continue tackling the tasks above as well as any creative endeavors that I might find this week.

You see... I don't have any pressing matters or projects in the midst.  

My daughter gave me a gluten-free sourdough starter and I decided that with the cooler temps of autumn coming now was a good time to activate it.  Getting it started is a little like having one of those "Giga-pet" gadgets from the 1990s.  LOL!  You have to feed it, stir it and let it sit for 4 hours.  You then repeat that step several times, and eventually leave it alone for 12-24 hours.  

And finding something to do with the "discarded" starter until it is fully activated is an issue all by itself!  I had no idea it would be so difficult.  I've had to make my own gf flour blend and I'm still not certain the starter is coming alive.  I don't see any sign of activity, bubbling or fermentation.  Hmmm... Maybe this starter falls into the same category of growing plants for me... A total fail.  

I won't let it get me down... I will continue to chip away at my tasks of life as I seek solace in the studio in between cleaning and baking (using discarded starter) I think some quick breads, muffins or pancakes may be needed... as well as some cookies!  

Do you have any sourdough tips?  

Leave a comment... I think I could use all of the tips you have!

Keep Piecing,

Melva

Linking with:

To Do Tuesday at Texas Quilt Gal
Mid-week Makers at Quilt Fabrication
Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter
Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
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8 comments:

  1. I'm sorry about your recent stresses, but your closet looks neat! I do the same when I am stressed. Petting the fabric seems to soothe me - lol! I purchased a sourdough starter off Amazon. It is an excellent starter, but it is not GF. I found a great recipe for sourdough bread, but honestly it is TOO tangy for me. And finding uses for the discard is a full time job, so I'm not sure how much longer I will keep it going. Hope you find something you like!

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  2. I will watch for others' comments as I'm considering a sourdough starter myself. Your closet looks lovely! I've been doing a little bit of cleaning every week as I'm out of room for projects!

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  3. I kept my gluten free sour dough starter alive with buckwheat flour. The discards usually became pancakes. I even froze the starter for months and it came right back. It was very difficult to get it started, trying to catch yeasts in the air from grapes, but my son managed

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  4. I absolutely love that mug rug. That exact quote was written in a book when I had the author sign it for me. He looked at me, thought a second and then wrote the reference down. I looked it up when I got home and it was the message I'd needed. We were about to make a huge decision (to buy my parent's house portion of land--all of it has been in the family for 120+ years) and I was worried about affording it (hubs was just starting the corporate climb). That was the assurance I needed and now looking back...why did I ever worry. He had us. On the fabric organizing, I think making order of what we can helps us when other things are beyond our control. And the sourdough? I absolutely love it and have kept my starter going for many years now, most of the time on hold in the fridge. It's not GF though so I'm not sure I have any tips? Have a great week!

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  5. Thank you for linking up with To Do Tuesday!

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  6. We all have those moments when we feel sad and overwhelmed. What we do in response defines us. You took it head on, cleaned up your studio and focused on the happy. That's what I love about you! Thanks for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss.

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  7. I don't bother with discarding any sourdough because I keep it in the fridge, take it out and feed it three times throughout the day before baking, feed it again early morning of baking day, and then mix into dough early afternoon and bake in evening. I feed it again before storing in fridge for the week. I do this weekly and it's been working well. Now and then I'll take some out for pancake making.

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  8. No sourdough tips, I've haven't tried making that yet. But I can totally understand your "cleaning impulse". It's the idea of being able to control and order your universe. When you can't control external things you can at least bring the things you can control in line. That's one of the frustrating things about the modern world -- too often, too much is out of your control. I think that's why I like quilting: complex but controllable!

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