Slow Sunday

A satisfying Sunday of slow stitching, slow soup making, and slow soaking. A square of running stitch with linen thread on reclaimed denim. About 1/3 through I found my rhythm. The only needle with a large enough eye for the thick tread had a blunt tip. The bluntness of the needle slowed an already slow process. It was lovely. The soup came together over several days and made a warm meal on a raw night. Despite the man at the cleaners telling me the only way to remove mildew from fabric is with chlorine bleach and the only fabric safe to bleach is cotton (and then saying it would be $20 to clean my coat but it wouldn't remove the mildew), the soaking rescued my wool coat, not needed for the past 9 years, from extensive mildew bloom. One hour soak in the tub with enough water to cover and 2 cups white vinegar followed by a gentle wash and additional one hour soak with a little detergent, 2 more cups vinegar, and about a dozen drops of tea tree oil for good measure. Then a clear water rinse, a second rinse/one hour soak with vinegar, and a third rinse with clear water. Perhaps a bit overkill, but I don't have somewhere to hang it in the sun to dry and naturally bleach. Drip dried inside and no longer any signs of mildew. Bring on the snow.