Words + Projects + Stuff I Like
1. It’s been years since I’ve thrown a real party. I don’t know when I’ll do it again but this list of 21 facts about throwing good parties was a nice read. (“Parties are like babies, if you’re stressed while holding them they’ll get stressed too.:)
2. It’s been a weird, hard week. But we’re still keeping on.
3. At least there’s the gym.
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This is a tender one: “I think about them, in their hollows, in forest and field, millions / Of tiny hearts racing and parents trying to cover their nestlings.”
You Too
by John Jeremiah Sullivan
I saw a YouTube video of an owl inside its nest during a storm.
The scientists had installed a hidden camera in its little hollow.
The clip surprised me, in that the owl appeared very frightened.
I hadn’t pictured birds as being scared of thunder and lightning.
They’re at one with nature, I figured. It could never shock them.
But this one staggered backward until its back ran into the wall.
It moved just the way someone will when an earthquake begins,
Or after walking into a hallway only to find a wild animal there.
Ever since seeing that clip, I do not experience storms the same.
Now when the lightning flashes white, and I wait for the boom,
I think about them, in their hollows, in forest and field, millions
Of tiny hearts racing and parents trying to cover their nestlings.
The landscape is full of that feeling. An owl in a video looks up.
Its eyes are big and round, not certain what any of this portends,
And follow the sound of the wind-driven rain outside the room.
It was a normal Tuesday night when our friends pinged us that you could see the Northern Lights in Utah?! I wasn’t expecting much, because when this has happened before we weren’t able to see anything, but LOOK AT THIS in our front yard:
I’ve always wanted to see them before I died, and here they were coming to me. Sometimes the universe just gives you a gift and doesn’t even make it a secret.
I think I’ve mentioned that the general contractor on the basement project is a woman. I love her: She wears heels and swishy coats and Chanel earrings and is organized and formidable. Meanwhile her husband, who works with her (she is clearly the boss, though), is an outdoor guy–he drives a tan Toyota with a lot of gear strapped to it and was eyeing all the camping stuff on our basement shelves.
So guess which fabric is going to be a tech pouch for each person as a thank-you gift when this project wraps up around Christmas? 
Once again, I had everything in the stash except for black trim. Eagle-eyed readers may remember that tweed from the coat I made in 2021–this is why you always save the scraps from the good stuff!
I”m going to use the LearnMYOG Tech Pouch pattern again. In the outdoor fabric, it’ll look like a cool way to organize chargers and pencils and things. In the tweed, it might look more like a Chanel clutch but will still hold her double phones and notebook. (And if they don’t like them, their kids can use them for art supplies and Legos.)
Something to fill the time! Hooray!
We’re just…going on with our lives while we get used to living without our boy, I guess. I’m trying not to rush out and adopt a dog and to actually let myself grieve but it’s hard; the house is awfully empty.
The googly eyes on the sign in Millcreek made me actually laugh, though. And everyone has been so kind–people delivered dinner, sent flowers, wrote sweet notes, cried with us. It’s nice to know everyone loved Toby like we did.
We had to say goodbye to Toby yesterday. He’d been slowing down and having more accidents, but he’d gotten through so much–getting his thyroid under control, diabetes, the remission scare–that I thought he’d just keep going.
But Wednesday he started having balance issues and was lethargic; blood work at the vet showed something was wrong and he’d lost a lot of weight. We wanted him to be at home, so he got some heavy-duty pain meds and had a good night. Then the mobile vet came Thursday morning and he left us in his cozy bed hearing us tell him what a good boy he was.
I had nearly 18 years with my boy–he was my orange shadow, my fabric inspector, our midnight singer, my constant companion, the other half of my heart. He had such a big personality. Seeing these photos of earlier years, I realized how much of that personality was fading the last couple weeks. So I know this was the right decision. I’m glad we could give him the gift of a peaceful exit at home. We just had to break our own hearts to do it.
omg finally you guys!!! What a difference from a year ago.![Screenshot of a post that says,"so great to experience an election night where i don't wanna [REDACTED] myself!"](https://karenkaminski.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Screenshot-2025-11-05-at-7.06.17-AM-1024x452.png)
No I’m not a New Yorker but LET ME HAVE THIS.
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And not only did New York City elect a 34-year-old Muslim socialist mayor, pretty much every major race went blue. Americans had a message, and it was this:
I’d been meaning to make cases for our traction spikes as part of the car organizing spree in September but I ran out of sewing steam a little. But after I knocked out Doc’s shirt, I sat down for a couple hours and got the spike cases done:
The case is just a big zipped rectangle with a slip pocket inside to hold thin foam to pad them against the spikes. For that inside slip pocket, I decided to use microfiber towels to absorb water, because we’re putting these away after snowy hikes and they’re wet.
I cut up an old stripey dusting towel for the inside of mine:
And Doc got an old car wash towel inside his:
I used the free tutorial from Stitchback DIY Trail Gear. I had to make Doc’s case a little taller (the pattern comes in one size) but that was just a matter of adding an inch to either end. Stitchback’s instructions for the zipper were fantastic–I’ve never gotten such nice corners before!
I had everything on hand (foam, Cordura fabric, grosgrain, old towels) except for a long enough zipper for Doc’s case, but a quick trip to Salt Lake Sewciety fixed that. (I miss Joann but they sure didn’t have zipper by the yard.)
It was the semi-annual orchid show at the arboretum yesterday and the afternoon light was doing the most: 
(Hand for scale on that last one–I’ve never seen an orchid that shape and I wish I’d thought to take a picture of the tag.)
The light continued its heroics out in the gardens, where there were still roses blooming in November.
1. Toby seems to be just fine again, so our stress levels have decreased by at least 70%. Here he is being very cozy and relaxed last night: 
2. The water line got fixed and the insulation got finished and inspected yesterday midday, so the drywall delivery got moved up to late afternoon yesterday. Then, because we’d passed inspection, the guys wanted to start hanging so I said, “Sure, but don’t work past six.” 
3. Guess what happened at 5:40? 
I think they’d already put the window back (they had to take it out to get the drywall in) and someone just misjudged a turn, but it’s unclear. The damage was to the inside pane of the double-paned window, so at least there isn’t a hole in the house?
4. And since we’re looking on the bright side–it’s the weekend! Enjoy it, friends. (Did I play this last night? Maybe.)