I have been wanting to make a deer holiday statue for many, many years. I have sketches and half-done plans on bits of paper here and there, but during the holidays time is eaten by the busy monster. So this year I broke down and bought one. My husband set it up in the meadow and we plugged it into the outlet he conveniently put on the outside wall of the coop. I love seeing it standing there against the backdrop of the woods!

We unplugged it for our rain storm, but I worried that I might miss a midnight sprinkle, so when I plugged it back in, I rigged an old plastic food container to offer some protection from the rain. I cut slits in two sides of the base, then snipped out holes at the ends of the slits. Once the cords are in place, putting the lid back on keeps everything together.

Maybe someday he’ll have a homemade buddy, but until then, I’m glad he’s standing guard.

Sometimes I can streamline processes and ease my path. Sometimes I make things harder than they need to be. My youngest loves getting her Raddish Kids crate each month, and each month it comes with a really nice patch for her apron. I started sewing these on (my youngest did try, but the sewing was hard to see), then life happened and we had a pile built up, waiting to be attached. It was then that I noticed the nice thick plastic back on the patches. Nice thick plastic that felt remarkably like meltable glue. Cue forehead slap. Yes, they are iron-on patches. It took about ten minutes to iron all the queued up patches on her apron. They don’t lay as flat as the patches that are sewn on, but at least they are now on the apron and not in a drawer.

So I feel the “boot”, which is placed on humans to help healing for foot issues, is akin to the Elizabethan collar or “cone of shame” for dogs. Something done for our own good, but which is dreadfully embarrassing to wear. Yes, I have to wear a boot. I injured my Achilles tendon, but continued to walk on it for two months, so really it is just desserts. Doesn’t mean I have to like it. And there are things that still must be done. Like going out to tend chickens. For that, I wrapped the boot in a garbage bag to avoid getting muck on it. The hens were not impressed and are quite wary of my giant black limb.

I also just started back into lathe work. A boot full of wood shavings is a terrible thing; the flakes stick to the neoprene fabric like Velcro and once inside are terribly itchy. So I sewed a large fabric bag out of an old drop cloth and added a pull string closure. Before making saw dust, I pull this over my boot to protect it. Running the sewing machine with my left foot was an interesting experience, by the way (I do take the boot off to drive, doc said it was OK, so that is something).

The worst bit is no walks. Which means I can’t spin yarn and walk. For a month. <twitch> Doc says I can bicycle or use an elliptical machine. OK. Now to figure out how to spin and do that. Hm.