84. Learning by doing and learning by observing - plus a pattern to download

Lifelong learning is a great way to spend all that extra time you get from being healthy.

My focus this week was the life area of learning.

The main thing I was trying to learn about was Notion. I have resisted looking at Notion for more than a year. I kept seeing offers of Notion templates which sounded really good. But did I need another productivity tool?

Well, I guess I did!

I have learnt the basics. I can make a dashboard page with links to other pages. I can start a new data base and add data. I can also make a data base as a gallery for images.

I have started picking up some of the formatting techniques. There seem to be quite a few different menus in play for the different parts of Notion. I also worked out that I can’t do some things on my ipad. I need to do all the fancy setting out on my computer.

I have added some lists to help me sort out some big picture thinking. I am happy knowing that the work is easy to access as I add to it and I can add almost infinite pages and links to set out all my thinking in one place.

It is all a bit daunting to start with so unless there is something you want to record and sort out and add to later you can’t just fiddle with Notion. But if you want to use it there are lots of tutorials out there. There are also lots of templates but I think it is best to start from scratch and make something that is just for you. By all means look at other people’s templates and take what looks good but I have yet to find a template that is exactly right for me.

I wanted to include the last of my pinafore versions for the time being with this newsletter. I have some ideas for underwear and a peasant look that I am working on for the end of the month. I’m off to visit mum again soon so I will see what comes together first and include the pattern in the newsletter for the 29th.

This week’s pinafore variation for paid subscribers has both the front and back gathered onto a yoke. While I have been using the snaps on all my pinafore variations I have observed that they look really good and are very sturdy on about 3 layers no matter what the fabric is. Interfacing the yoke on this one gives me the three layers. These are observations that I will remember for new designs that could use snaps.

A lot of the time the things we learn are just observations that we can recall when needed. I have a big store of observations about my beach that I love to recall and add to as I watch nature nearly every day. I already knew that the little crabs on my beach made lovely petal patterns from the little balls of sand they ejected from their holes. I have now observed that the bigger crabs throw out rough sand, and only on one side of their hole usually making an angle of about 160 to 180 degrees of the circle around their hole. This is something that I have probably seen before but I didn’t actually observe and learn.

I am happy to say that I can easily accept that learning about Notion is just as important as learning about the crabs on my beach. Life is just an amazing experience.

I think this latest version of the pinny looks pretty cute and it is really easy to make. I have found it very easy to use the plastic snaps for the straps in the front but velcro and buttons sewn on looks good if you haven’t got plastic snaps in your collection. I bought mine on Amazon years ago and I still have lots left. I wasn’t sure about getting them at first because I thought they might tear out easily but they are very sturdy as long as you have a couple of layers of fabric. I just did a search for plastic snaps on Amazon Australia and came up with this item. They are 12mm snaps like mine for about $27 AUD. You need the applicator.

It was low tide this morning before I published this newsletter and saw the little crab holes all along the shore. I love how the morning shadows create this lovely image.

The three little crabs below must come from different gene pools! I wish I knew more about them. I haven’t seen any studies on how crabs kick out the sand. Maybe it’s only me who is interested. I have also just looked up some more information about the solder crabs and now know that they feed on the detritus on the sand grains then discard the sand in little balls. So they are not just digging holes. They are feeding in the sand. Soldier crabs.

Paid subscribers can find the link to the pinafore pattern below.

Cheers,

Val