Thekla McDaniels

Thanks, Samantha!

Salt, soda, and borax for the tanning compound

We will all have to experiment with these different ideas.  

I am torn between making my bath mat by rolling up a stack of carded wool in a large sheet of plastic … or buying an appropriate size and shape of stock tank  and make the felt in the bottom of the tank… treading it like wine.

But for now, I’m involved in all the spring tasks and chores, and haven’t prepared any wool, so it’s a moot point.

I probably won’t go further with the project until it is cold out again.

My bathroom is always cold.  Tile floor throughout, leaky window on the wind ward side.  It couldn’t be further from the woodstove, and though the furnace keeps the house above freezing, I like it warm when I get out of the shower.  

The large wool mat would prevent the cold tile from stealing my body heat through radiant cooling.

The good thing about felting is that it seems the quickest.  Pick, fluff and tease the wool, skip spinning and knitting or warping and weaving….

Thanks Steph!  I like it

I feed the wild birds.  I spread bird seed on the deck railing.  I began by using bird seed as anti slip on the ice that forms at my doors.  ( bad design of roof and doors and (insufficient eaves)

The birdies found it and considered it food.  They only come when the countryside is covered in snow.  I don’t know if my contribution to changing habitat is “good” or “bad”. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Could be it’s good to maintain innovative behaviors.  Could be it keeps the dumber individuals alive to raise young.

On a cold grey day, it’s cheering to see their tracks in the snow, and their busy little selves hopping around.  If I don’t put the seed out at the usual (sun) time, sometimes they’re waiting for me.

Great thinking, Jay.  The bigger and thicker, the heavier, it will be, and with all that mass, the more difficult to dislodge.  And warmer in winter.  I will just need to be able to lift it, and have a place to drape it to dry and air as needed.

And thinking back to that beautiful staircase I had built and trained the bannister habit, I remember I was able to purchase non slip “tape” at the local building supply place.  It came in a roll, different widths, had a sandy feel to the surface.  I would recommend that over silicone caulking.

This aging thing is like an obstacle course, one puzzle- challenge after another.
definitely not for sissies!

Ok then!  Thanks for the input.  First I will make one and then try it out, giving special attention to slippage risk, and whether it pulls the water off my feet as cotton does…. My first mat shrank a lot.  My cat uses it for his special fire side bed.  It’s wonderful to stand on because of its springiness.

Carla, that sounds scary. Do you have a solid grab bar?  When I became aware of falls risks on my stairway, I started using the hand rail every time.  Now I don’t even think about it.  It’s always handle before step, hand before foot.

I know they make rubber mesh to put under rugs and dishes… but I have never tried it.

I was thinking of wet felting a thick wool mat to use as a bath mat.  Say a minimum of half an inch thick.

Has anyone done this?  Or woven or knitted a wool mat?

It seems like it would be nice to step on.

But would it dry adequately, and how would moisture affect the fiber, or have I just not thought through?

Is this one more thing that would probably be fine in an arid climate that would not work in a humid climate?

Good information, Clara.  Thanks

Would the tipping of the gnomon make the hour markings accurate year round? Or just create uniformity in the rate of movement of the shadow?

All this thinking has made me wonder about my assumptions!

Hi Jack,
Good to have you on the team!

OK, I don’t already have a physical sun dial, but think I would like one.

These instructions seem overly complicated to me.  And maybe not so accurate.

I live in Colorado, about 38 plus a fraction degrees latitude.

In the winter the sun shines from the south.  In the summer mornings and evenings, the sun shines on the north end of the house, shines from the north into north facing windows. Is that heretical?  I have been observing this for many years.  If I had a sundial, wouldn’t it be working during all daylight hours, unless it was shaded?

Couldn’t I put a pin of some kind in the earth, pointing north, or plumb & vertical.

Then observe the shadow and mark it about mid day every day?  When the shadow cast is the smallest, wouldn’t that be noon, local solar time.  And there I could make a permanent physical mark.

Now here’s something I find interesting, according to a random internet article, the Romans had “daylight savings time”.  The sundial had permanent marks, dividing the day into a specific number of hours, probably 12.  The article stated that in the summer, the hours passed more slowly than in the winter.  But I don’t know about that either.  From my home, I gaze on distant horizons both east and west. I can easily observe that the sun doesn’t rise or set in the same place every day.  Probably the number of degrees change between solstice and solstice is related to my latitude.  But how could the location of the shadow on the sundial remain constant at sunrise and sunset each day… so until further explanations are presented, for me that shoots the theory of Roman DST .

I will need to make myself a sundial, make observations and adjustments until I understand these variables and how they interact before I can answer my own questions.

I just have this funny picture in my head of modern individuals following instructions on their computers to construct a stone age tool. 🤣🤣🤣

I assume we moderns are as capable as primitives.  Same planet and star in same relation to each other…  We differ only in our motivations to measure and mark the passage of time.

And upon reflection, I realize I DO have a sundial here.  Some former owners installed a basketball hoop and backboard on a pole out in the driveway.  Very likely it’s plumb.  I can check it with my level.  All I need to do is begin marking until I can discover when the sun is “directly overhead“.  Then, I will know how far off sun time our local clocks are.  But I don’t think the local powers that be will make any adjustments based on my sundial, and I am about 5 miles west of town, so town would not be on the same time as me anyway.🤣

I’m am not a fan of daylight savings time.  “Hate it with a passion hotter than the sun.”  I am SO GLAD I don’t have to coerce my circadian rhythms into the clock changes.

Much empathy to those who do!