random thoughts – Day 2,055 (Saturday) – scavenging

This morning, while having coffee with Mom, she mentioned the microwavable neck and should wrap that StepDad uses. It reminded me that I also have one, stuffed in the guest bathroom linen closet. For the first couple months here, I didn’t have a microwave oven so it wasn’t a helpful accessory.

Since getting the microwave and also the neck and arm pain, I’ve been sitting quietly with a heating pad balanced on my shoulder or against my back, feeling trapped on the couch, tethered to the wall by the electric cord. Never once, until this morning, did I remember the neck cozy stuffed with buckwheat (which retains and gives off moist heat) and lavender (to relax). After two minutes in the microwave, it can go across the shoulders and around the neck while allowing full mobility. Once remembered, I wore that thing much of the day today.

This afternoon, I was determined to add a chain to a new costume collar piece that I plan to wear for the show tomorrow. The chain would ensure the collar piece doesn’t slip off my scrawny pencil neck in the middle of a dance. The task was simple, requiring a couple inches of chain and a clasp. It became a full-on treasure hunt.

Scavenging through the supplies.

I know exactly where the various beads and findings lived for nine years in The BungaLowell. During the packing, boxes were consolidated, and not under the usual strict standards of similar items together. It became one big category of “jewelry related” and I’ve been dreading dealing with it since August. 

To find the clasps and some chain or links to make a chain required rummaging through boxes. These were hauled into the living room so I could sit on the couch while working at it. Not cigar boxes, either. Were talking storage tubs filled with various bags and smaller boxes. I used to make a ton of jewelry, which was available for sale in the art co-op I was a member of in Tennessee and various fairs and festivals. To make a ton of jewelry, I bought approximately two tons of materials at various bead shops, online suppliers, and gem and bead shows. There are boxes of completed jewelry and others full of supplies including beads and gemstones, beading wire, wrapping wire, and all the very many other parts that go into jewelry design and construction.

Finding some chain and a clasp turned into an hours-long adventure, which is partially why there is so much stuff. It was often easier to go out and buy a couple needed pieces than to look through the inventory of parts. This philosophy just compounded the problem.

Collar with safety chain.

No suitable chain was located, so one was made using small rings and pliers. A package of metal craft store lobster clasps was located and one broke immediately. The second one tried also broke and the rest of the package was thrown into the trash. I finally found a sterling silver clasp and got the necklace set for Sunday. 

The trade-off to working on this project and the required scavenging was missing a Finnish social event with coffee and pastries where one of my friends was dancing with the Finnish folk dancing group. It had been on my calendar for over a week. But the collar will be one less thing to worry about while dancing for an audience tomorrow.

The next quest will be devising a better storage system for the jewelry materials. Or finding a way to sell the entire bunch of stuff and be done with it. We’ll see.