All of a sudden there’s a second blanket on the bed. Well, half of it anyway. One of us is not ready to commit. But I’m told that person did manage to scoot herself far over to the extra-blanketed side in the night. I won’t shut the windows though. Not now, not ever. Pile on more blankets as the deep cold of winter arrives, just keep the fresh air flowing.
I’ve been sewing a bunch lately, which is unusual for this time of year because I’m normally in knitting mode at this point. One of the projects is to be used in knitting though, so I guess it works. The first newly sewn item is a project pouch made from vintage feedsack, the second is a foraging bag, something I’ve been itching to make and finally got to. The foraging bag allows me to remain hands free, is easier to access than a pack basket for those meandering never-know-what-you’re-going-to-find type of walks, and contains various pockets to separate and organize goods. To be sure, if you stumble upon a windfall of feral apples, you're going to want your pack basket, but this bag has its rightful place. There are just a couple of things I’d change about it, but the design feels about 90% there. I set out over the weekend on a couple mile walk and had no trouble filling it with rose petals, wild mint, goldenrod, blackberries, chokecherries, and rose hips. An unexpected bonus: The pockets are large enough to place a quart jar or quart yogurt container into, for delicate items such as berries (wish I’d brought an extra for the rose petals). I’m going to work out the couple of design upgrades, then make a bunch, the project pouches too, which will also include coordinating notion pouches. Several will make it into my gifts-to-give-basket, and I hope to reserve some for a November handmade shop update, here through the blog. It’s been years since I’ve done that! Empty nests makes for busy hands. (Knitting project and notion pouches will feature vintage fabrics as long as my stash allows.)
Yesterday I mentioned my husband’s knack for bringing home “useful” roadside finds, and how mostly I razz him about it, but then whenever I ask if he’ll construct some odd thing for my very important ideas, he’s usually able to fashion something pretty decent out of the junk we have on hand. Actually, now that I think about it, he probably collects roadside debris because he has a wife with a penchant for thinking up random projects to be built.
Last night over dinner we were catching up on our days, when Adam shared that he found a chainsaw in the road on his way to work. Not just any chainsaw, but a professional grade Husqvarna that he guesstimated set its owner back about $1200-$1500. Think he would have cried for the guy right there on the spot if it weren’t for the need to act quickly while dozens of cars on the busy road whizzed around the darn thing. He couldn’t believe it sat right there in the middle of Rt 6, noticed by every passerby, and no one stopping. Maybe we really do live in a throwaway world if no one can find the gumption to stop for a chainsaw nicer than most of us will ever touch let alone own. (For what it’s worth, this particular saw was also far more powerful than most people should touch, or own.) But, it was the morning commute, people had places to be, and perhaps folks don't really get excited about chainsaws anymore? Well, there was this one suited up attorney on his way to a day full of real estate closings and court appearances that sure does. He pulled over, noticing there was also a helmet and gas can in the road. Dodging in and out of traffic, he grabbed the saw, helmet, and gas can, moving them to the side of the road. Then he thought for a moment about how to handle this, how to get this saw back into its owners hands without leaving it there for someone else to come along claiming finders keepers. So he loaded the machine in the back of his truck, then wrote a note that read, “Hey, I have your saw, didn’t want to leave it here. Call me and we can meet up.” Added his phone number, and placed it inside the helmet. He figured if most people weren’t going to stop for a $1,500 chainsaw in the middle of the road, they’re not going to stop for an old gas can and tattered helmet off to the side. Except hopefully, the guy who probably by now realized he lost his gear. He’d be the one backtracking to try and find it. And sure enough, he did exactly what Adam had hoped, found his helmet and the note inside. He called Adam and couldn’t believe his saw was safe. The guy just had one of those busy mornings setting out to work where he got distracted, forgot to shut the tailgate of his truck, and his tools fell out. Turns out he earns his living with that saw, which Adam suspected from of its size, so he was especially grateful for its return. And I was grateful for the decent man across the dinner table, mostly because I wasn’t surprised by the way he handled it.