In Pursuit of the Perfect Pandemic Project

Searching for resilience...

What a time it's been. Friday March 13 (2020) was originally supposed to be the start of a week long winter break in Mazatlan, Mexico. By mid-February, however, I knew it wasn't going to happen.

The Defining Event of Our Lifetime

The best and worst case scenarios playing out in my mind even then weren't good. As we approached mid-March, it became crystal clear that to have gone off would have been foolish and stupid. And yet, how many people have been foolish and stupid, as we hear news story upon news story of people being stuck abroad (or worse yet, on cruise ships) with no way of getting back home?

As my PM says, we can't be judgmental in a dire situation like this, but man, even the "kind and polite" me has little sympathy for those who decided to travel in the face of a looming health crisis. Is a trip — even that proverbial "trip of a lifetime" — worth dying for?

In the meantime, as we collectively stare into the abyss of a potentially long duration of a so-called "new" normal" that will eventually segue into a "different" normal, I want to look back years from now and reflect on what I did during this period that was constructive, that was a positive addition to my life.

But what might that be?

Join me for a secondary personal journey as I entertain possible things to occupy my time. Please feel free to drop any suggestions in the comments.

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Macrame

I still have a macrame owl wall hanging in one of my boxes of possessions from my youth. In recent years, I've been meaning to get back into the relaxing art of knot tying, but never did. (Apart from making several paracord bracelets.) I even picked up this little kit from Dollarama a while back.

Jewelry macrame kit...

If I manage to make the jewelry from this, I'll show you how it went.

When I searched through my bookmarked crafty links, I found this macrame project and decided to give it a go. It's a tutorial from Laura of Trash to Couture fame, and with it, I transformed an old t-shirt into a project bag.

T-shirt turned macrame bag...

This is now hanging underneath my sewing table alongside my Best Nest Organizer Basket.

The only technique required is the basic square knot, and I can report that it was a calming activity to do while sitting at my kitchen counter, watching/listening to reruns of 1970s sitcoms.

You know what's also great about this project? It doesn't require you to go out and get supplies, thereby costing you nothing and keeping you at home, where you're supposed to be.

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Modern Calligraphy

When word processing software first went into wide usage, I remember thinking how exciting it was to produce documents that didn't look like they rolled out of a traditional typewriter.

Little did I know I would end up being quite fascinated by fonts and type styles.

Recently, I've been captured by the look of so-called "bouncy" fonts, aka modern calligraphy. Here is a mini poster I designed using (mainly) the sunkisa font by Gilar Studio.

COVID-19 poem by Ken Dryden...

The poem is an apt description of COVID-19, written by my childhood hero and virtual friend, Ken Dryden (former hockey great, best-selling author, Member of Parliament, and so much more that I don't have room for here).

Having watched a Bluprint class on bounce lettering during their current free access period, I fully intend to try it out myself. There might be more to come on this. Maybe I'll letter this entire poem to put up on my wall... maybe.

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Virtual Travel

When we visited the Vatican Museums, we were herded though the Sistine Chapel like cattle. There were guards everywhere, warning you against snapping pictures, even though no one was using flash. It was so dimly lit that you really couldn't see much anyway.

When I got home, I looked up a virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel online and was amazed by the level of detail it afforded; it was a much more relaxing and enlightening experience than my personal visit.

Later on that same trip, workers at Pompeii were on strike for a portion of the morning when we were in Naples, thereby making the lineup to get inside an arduous feat of endurance. Our tour operator took us to the nearby ruins in Herculaneum instead. Again, when I got back, I started a virtual tour of Pompeii from the air-conditioned comfort of my home.

Large theatre in Pompeii...

I never did get through all of it, so perhaps a pandemic lockdown is the perfect time to "go back".

With travel halted for the foreseeable future, we should feel fortunate to be able to check out touristy sights without the crowds and the cost. (And if one is not particularly fond of ruins and museums, there's always just the simple "walk the streets" functionality of Google Street View.)

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Book Folding

Speaking of costing you nothing, here is another fascinating craft that will keep you occupied for hours, can be picked up and put down easily, and needs no special tools.

During Bluprint's recent free access period, I sped through a class called Paper Arts by Alton DuLaney. He had a lesson on simple book folding that immediately sent me over to my book shelf to see what I could sacrifice for the sake of art.

For those of you who don't know, my background is in IT. This book was gifted to me near the beginning of my career (many, many years ago) by one of my colleagues.

An IT "bible" of sorts...

I had never intended to venture deep into systems analysis and truthfully, found the tome hard to digest. When I decided to sacrifice a hard cover book for my first book folding project, I knew this volume would be the one.

It's a surprisingly soothing exercise to fold pages of a book...

I alternated folding the pages with a peak near the top and then near the bottom.

About half done...

There are probably all sorts of patterns that you find online to do some really advanced folding, but I have to say that this simple activity — that extended over more than two weeks for me — was a relaxing diversion as I sat at the kitchen counter. One can easily fold a few pages and stop, or fold for a half hour while listening to music.

Done!

An intriguing result, don't you think?

This is going to go back on my bookshelf eventually. Right now I have it displayed between a couple of house plants.

Another view...

I will definitely attempt another project with a paperback.

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Puzzles

Having not done a jigsaw puzzle since I was a kiddie, about eight years ago I completed one and discovered that I can be obsessive about them. (Such as staying up late trying to get in "one more piece".) Because of that, I have largely avoided them, but when the pandemic hit, it was one of the first activities that popped into my head.

At the tail end of March, I picked up this puzzle at Dollarama during my last trip to the "big mall". (It only cost $4 and it's made by Ravensburger, which — in the spirit of learning something new — is one of the premier puzzle makers in the world.)

Love the theme!

In hindsight, I should have bought the other two variations also (hoarding puzzles?) but it never occurred to me that a couple of weeks later, news stories would be popping up all over that stores were selling out of puzzles!

I purchased a foam board to allow me to move my work in progress and three weeks later, the final piece was dropped.

I did not rush through this!

Five days after, I tore it up and put it back in the box. I've since re-started it. It'll be interesting to see if I encounter the same obstacles.

[UPDATE: Apart from making myself fill in the lower right corner first this time, the teapot, clock and Eiffel Tower were completed early on, as was the case originally. I continued to be stymied by pieces that have writing on them. The last piece that dropped contained part of the white macaron and fork from the "C'est la vie" plate... that won't happen again as I now know what exactly that is!]

What about 3D puzzles?

3D puzzles are another level of puzzle altogether...

I've had this for several years, and it's stored in the box in its "solved" form. I still haven't taken it all apart to attempt it again, but the longer this goes on, the more likely that will happen.

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Adopt a New Attitude

I'm not going to preach at you, but suffice to say that we can all be better people in our day to day lives. Nothing like having a pandemic overturning our routines and pretty much changing things forever to convince us to alter our everyday selves.

Perhaps start with this if you've been grumpy and negative about where the world is right now.

There is always the opportunity to do something of value, even if it's just for yourself. I really think that Chris Hadfield hits the nail on the head with the statement about not wasting this time. Yes, it's forced upon us, but wouldn't it be great to look back on this period and know that it changed us for the better?

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Add Important Skills to Your Arsenal

Do you know the significance of the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" with respect to doing CPR? Do you have any clue how to perform CPR? If you answered no to either of these questions, maybe it's time to take a quick half hour and reacquaint yourself with the life saving technique.

I first learned basic first aid and CPR at the age of twelve. I haven't ignored it in all the intervening decades, but I certainly don't review everything as much as I should. With the internet at my disposal, it takes virtually no effort at all to sit down and watch a demonstration.

image courtesy of St. John's Ambulance...

While you're at it, maybe learn how to use an AED (automatic external defibrillator) too. It's surprisingly easy, and having the knowledge under your belt may make the difference between someone's life and death.

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Make a Heart to Hang in Your Window

I believe the call to hang a heart in your window — to spread warmth and good spirit during this difficult time — first came out in March. It was late April by the time I got around to making mine. I'd been thinking about how to make one without resorting to construction paper (which I didn't have), but I also didn't want to have to sew it.

Heart made out of ribbons...

Luckily I came across my collection of Canada-themed ribbon and had an idea pop into my head from previous ribbon projects.

I cut a large heart shape out of some Decor Bond interfacing and then laid down strips of 2.5" and 3" wide ribbon over it in a diagonal fashion. Once pinned, I fused it in place and cut off the excess ribbon. A couple of squares of double-sided tape later and it's been hanging in one of our front windows ever since.

Heart shadow on the wall...

The above shows an unexpected surprise that I came across one night when I ventured into my sewing room. The heart in the window casts a cool shadow on the wall during sunset.

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Baking

Over the past few years, I've gradually gotten more into baking. Right before everything changed, I made this mozzarella garlic bread for the first time and really liked it.

Garlic Mozzarella Bread...

Having used up the last of the instant yeast with that effort, I put it on my shopping list. Well, suffice to say that it turned out to be several weeks before I found any yeast packets at the grocery store. I had no inkling of the baking frenzy that was going on until I saw it covered in the news as a "pandemic pastime".

Until I resolved the yeast problem, I fell back to cake making. My "go to" cake is a coconut orange bundt cake.

My orange coconut bundt cake...

The garlic mozza bread recipe can be easily found on YouTube. If you want the recipe for my orange coconut bundt cake, drop me a line.

As far as pandemic projects go, baking is comforting in many ways. Not only do you get to experience that independence of making do on your own, there's no better aroma than that of something baking in the oven.

Just don't overdo it! ;-)

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Year Two Projects

With 2021 winding down, I thought to update this page, seeing as how the pandemic is — at least in most parts of the world — determined to wreak yet more havoc to our daily lives. Read on for further details as to what has occupied my time this year beyond sewing.

 

Reading

During year two, I read a lot. Reading has always been one of my favourite pastimes. There's nothing more relaxing than a sunny summer afternoon spent in the backyard, lounged out on a comfy chair under the shade of an umbrella with a good book.

My most recent read was The Dead Zone by Stephen King, which I totally enjoyed. (I've read several of his books and don't say that about most of them.) If you have any interest in the current sludge of American politics, you'll be amazed at his prophetic take on things from 1979.

Speaking of things from 1979, here's what I took off my bookshelf that I didn't get around to reading.

 

A failed reading project...

Commonly referred to as GEB, this massive tome was suggested to me in my mid-twenties by someone who thought I was brilliant. (I was just embarking on an unlikely career in IT, therefore part of the subject matter was appropriate as well.) When I finally got around to purchasing a copy of it a couple of decades later, it became a literary albatross. I thought that the pandemic would be the perfect time to tackle it, but apparently not. Perhaps I'm not as brilliant as this person thought, but every time I attempt to read the book, it's like taking a horse tranquilizer. (Not that I've ever taken a horse tranquilizer.) It would be the ideal cure for my sleepless nights if not for its enormous heft.

 

A sample page...

I have a philosophy that I live by regarding most things: if I were on my death bed, would I wish I had done more of "this"? If the answer is a definite no, I don't fret about it. Hence, GEB has returned to my bookshelf, unread. I respect the endurance of those who have conquered it to the point of giving it raving five star reviews, but I also give props to those who didn't think it was worth all the hype, or at least not seven hundred and seventy-seven pages worth. Things that achieve cult status are often polarizing that way.

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Crosswords

In the spirit of doing something that I don't normally do, I was determined to tackle a big crossword puzzle during the pandemic. (I actually achieved this goal in "year one"; i.e., 2020.) Here it is, in celebration of Mother's Day.

 

This was a bit of an arduous task...

One might think that with my enjoyment of reading and writing that I'd be more into crosswords, but that's just not the case. But I can't argue that it does pass the time and you learn a lot along the way.

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Picture Etch Art

A few more jigsaw puzzles landed at my feet in 2021. I completed one and am about three quarters of the way through a second. However, I haven't touched a puzzle piece since August. It was during that time that I found these books at a Dollarama.

 

"Picture Etch" books from Hinkler...

This "do anywhere" activity involves scratching off the black surface with a wooden stick to reveal drawings and/or create patterns. I was enthralled by the simplicity of it — talk about a diversion that requires minimal supplies!

 

It's a mesmerizing activity...

Having only purchased one to try out, I went back the next day to pick up two more. A couple of weeks later — with the supply gone — I regretted not buying them all, even though there were only these two versions. These have occupied my spare time for much of the past few months.

Down to my last book — which might actually be worth something based on sheer scarcity — I ordered a couple of similar kits online. While they are also published by Hinkler (an Australian company), they're not quite the same.

 

Similar, but not quite the same...

These kits consist of sheets that reveal only a spectrum or glitter background when scratched. Apart from the general outlines provided, there are no hidden pictures or patterns other than what you create yourself.

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More Baking

Another thing that I continued to do all the way through 2021 was bake. (And fear not — when I finally managed to get a physical with my doctor in October, my weight was the same as it was the last time I saw her, pre-pandemic.) In May, I found a "bakery style" double chocolate muffin recipe that was an instant hit with everyone.

 

Bakery style double chocolate muffins...

I halved the recipe and made some adjustments for sugar and fat content and still deemed it decadent. (My changes included yogurt for sour cream, fewer chocolate chips, less sugar and slightly less oil.) To prevent us from indulging too much at a time, I cut each muffin into quarters before putting them out for consumption. (Want the recipe? Go to sallysbakingaddiction.com and search for double chocolate muffins.)

I learned an important technique with this recipe for getting a better muffin top: start the cooking at 425 degrees for five minutes to maximize height and crunch!

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Indoor Gardening

Many, many people returned to traditional gardening during the pandemic. It's something that I've never had a passion for, but I do have somewhat of a green thumb when it comes to the indoor variety of gardening. We have houseplants that are over thirty years old. 

This hibiscus is one of them.

A thirty-some year old hibiscus plant...

As you can see, the blooms are a deep shade of yellow. About twenty years ago, I successfully rooted some cuttings from it. The "daughter" plant flowers regularly like its mother, but a few years back, it produced this amazing bi-coloured bloom.

 

A one of a kind bi-coloured hibiscus bloom...

It hasn't occurred in this dramatic fashion since, but on one occasion this past year, I observed a faintly two-toned bloom that was yellow and coral.

But what I actually wanted to share was a tomato experiment that I attempted this past year. It was a plant left to us by a special couple who had moved away several years ago. Grown in a container with soil, it was continually leggy. I would repeatedly cut it down, let the cuttings root again and then replant them.

 

Tomato plant cuttings thriving — and producing fruit — in water!

The last time, however, I looked up growing tomatoes with just water and found out that it's feasible to do so. Over the course of about nine months, it produced six grape tomatoes for us. In late September, it had become a bit overgrown with leggy stems, so I cut it down once again and restarted the process. It's winter as I write this and it doesn't get the heat and sunlight that it needs to flourish, but it's still growing and I'm pretty confident that come the spring, it'll take off. (Update: it did! By June we harvested a one-time record of twelve tomatoes from it and restarted the process again.)

Now if only COVID would "take off"...