Work has been so busy these past few months (well, if we are honest it’s like closing in on a year now) that often times since this fall I am too tired and mentally overwhelmed to be in any way productive around the house after work or on the weekends.

Work has not gotten better, but spring has somewhat brought on a renewal, and looking at those old lists that Mr. Ink and I made at the beginning of last summer really helped focus me a bit. On the list was the desire to clean both fridges. We’ve got the normal kitchen one, and then another in the garage. Now, I don’t know about you, but I think cleaning a fridge is a miserable job, and while I knew it needed to be done and put it on the list, I ignored the job and just kept wiping a tray out once in awhile as a stop gap measure.

This weekend? Both of them were thoroughly cleaned. And that feels like a measure of focus.

It’s also 30 days of biking, day one was yesterday. We were to get rain starting around 11, so when Mr. Ink mentioned he’d like to go to the grand opening of a local garden center under new management, I suggested we do so early by bike. So, day one of biking was also complete. And that rain never did show up. The bonus was to have that off my plate nice and early so I could work on other projects.

Of course, this morning it is raining. But, Miss Butterfly is also doing 30 days of biking so I will wait for her to get back from her dad’s so we can bike together.

Rather than spinning which I just wasn’t inspired about, I made batts in my spare time. Batt making is really one of my favorite things right now. I am not that good at making plans, but when I make batts, I do plan them out nicely. It’s fun to see how they go together and it’s really nice to imagine how they are going to spin up. I also like that feeling of adding to my fiber stash out of my fiber stash. Meaning, I’ve got all this hand dyed fiber floating around in my craft room but I don’t document it. It’s like art supplies, they don’t actually count. They are the tools for creating a project. Once the batts are made, that’s when they get stash status.

These were yesterday’s batts. There’s a lot going on in them as usual. I started with a base of superwash wool of an indeterminate type. I added a bit of alpaca, some sparkle, a ton of silk including, of course, throwster’s waste. There’s some merino and a little flax mixed in as well. And I ended the project with over 11 oz. of fairly similar batts that are nice and full of fun add ins, just as I like them.

I think I am going to keep working on the batt project. It feels good to be making progress on cleaning up the dyed wools, and turning them into something I will use. This in turn cleans up my craft room. I may never have a craft room that’s completely free of the tools to turn wool into batts, but the overwhelming amount I have now that I dyed last year could easily be paired down significantly.

The one other thing I managed to do yesterday was make some almond meal buns. A very simple recipe turned into a very edible item for a couple who have given up carbs. I was looking for something that I could use to carry soft cheeses as a snack. I did manage that, even though the texture is more like cornbread. Mr. Ink, as he is eating one for lunch says he was just happy to have a platform for some butter.

All in all, it was a pretty decent day. Relaxing despite the return of a bit of focus. I am hoping the upcoming weekends find more of the same.