I wasn't expecting much from today. Obviously I was depressed yesterday. I stayed up reading until 2:00 a.m.; I simply was not falling asleep. Then I woke up at 7. I thought about trying to go back to sleep, but I know my sleep patterns. If I had, I would have overslept and then been muzzy and groggy. Best to get up.
So - depressed, 5 hours of sleep, and going to be another really hot day (heat index hit 104).
I was not expecting to feel energetic. I got outside early, because the chickens had managed to tip over their waterer last night and I had to get that mess cleaned up (it was too dark and I was too depressed to deal with it last night). I got the coop cleaned out, and then did some other things that have just sort of been hanging around, like washing some buckets that I had set out by the hose, finally putting away the ladder that has been leaning up against the chicken yard for a couple of months, taking down the "vote for city commissioner" sign (elections are over; my guy won). After I came in, I got a pot of chickpeas on to simmer (side note - both a blog that I follow and a post by a friend praised the chickpeas raised in a certain area of Washington state, so I had ordered a bag and put some in to soak last night. Who knew that chickpeas can have terroir?). After breakfast I got the week's laundry done, made a couple of smoothies to have in the fridge for breakfasts, and made a big tray of granola.
I worked on my dress. I have friends in the SCA who have invited me to come play with them if I like, so I need a dress. I've been taking far too long with it. I could have just gotten a costume pattern for "medieval lady" and used a bed sheet for fabric. But instead I drafted my own pattern (medieval clothing is made differently from modern clothing), I'm using linen, and doing a lot more handstitching than necessary. I don't want the inside seams to fray. No one will see them - I could have just done a machine zig zag stitch and been done in 20 minutes. Instead, I'm neatly folding them in and hand stitching them down, adding several hours to the project. But I'll know it's there. I've been having problems getting the sleeves right and drafting several versions of that (sleeves are tricky - if you think about it, you'll realize that your shoulder is higher than your armpit, so the top of the sleeve has to be longer than the bottom). I think I finally have it. It's going to lace up the front, so I'll have to make about 40 hand stitched eyelets. All of this for a very plain dress that I might not even wear much. But I like figuring it out.
I read a chapter of Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time." I read it when it first came out in the late 80's - I remember bogging down in the second have. Ebaida wanted to read it (she had the same problem with her first reading) so we're co-reading. We'll have to remember that it's now a period piece; a lot more physics has been discovered since then. But it's good brain exercise. Although I'm not sure that Dr. Hawking would approve of our approach, which so far is religious and philosophical. But at the heart of it, isn't science, religion, and philosophy all about the same basic question of "what the hell is going on, and why?"
Chickpeas having cooked in the meantime, I made hummus with some and froze the rest for a future curry. And those specialty chickpeas? Best I've ever tasted. Good thing I liked them - they came in a 5-pound bag.
So I've been clipping a long, whistling while I work. I keep expecting to fall on my face - it's almost 11 p.m. and I've been busy since 7 a.m. on those 5 hours of sleep. And I have to get up early for work tomorrow, so I'm going to shut down the laptop, grab my book, and hopefully crash.
It's been a good day.
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