Life Down South

Or, "What I Actually Do On A Daily Basis".

 

It occurred to me recently that I have said very little about what life is like in Arkansas (beyond horses, of course, because everyone know they're more important XD). There may be an effort to compartmentalize things....and then again, there may not. So please bear with me and the scattered offerings of my brain.

Something I'm doing everyday (more or less): I now have a workout partner! For the past two weeks I've been getting up at 5:45 AM, driving to the local library, and joining a lady from church in walking and doing basic exercises. There is a short walking track (maybe 1/4-1/3 of a mile in a full circuit) behind the library with a little pavilion and several benches. For stamina-building it's not ideal, but for walking and bodyweight workouts it's perfect. When it rains (and it's been raining a LOT here) we go to her house and pop in a workout DVD.

If you'll pardon me, I'm going to rant a little bit here re: women's workout DVDs. After doing some more intense weightlifting last year sprinkled with self-driven Crossfit (which I rather miss), nearly every women's workout DVD I've used is PATHETIC. It's all about 'toning' and 'sculpting' and using dinky hand weights, and has little to nothing to do with function. Where in life is picking up a 3-lb weight going to matter? Even a jug of milk weighs more than that.

But I digress.

In connection with feeling that women are getting the short end of the stick with such 'customized' workouts, I just finished a book called Convict Conditioning. The emphasis is on strict bodyweight exercises and starting off SUPER easy while working slowly up to such seemingly impossible moves as, say, a one-armed handstand pushup, while making sure that each move is correct and functional. There is additional emphasis on training the ligaments, tendons, and structural parts of the body rather than concentrating totally on muscles. The idea is that just because someone is ripped, doesn't mean that they're functionally strong.

Anyway. I'm hoping to start incorporating The Big Six (pushups, pullups, squats, leg raises, bridges, and handstand pushups) during the morning walks/workouts. If nothing else it'll give me something to concentrate on workout-wise. I mean, Crossfit is great, but it always seems to have something of a shotgun approach (IMHO).

Another thing I've been doing: getting up earlier. I started a few months ago setting my alarm back a minute a day. Sometimes I skip a few days, sometimes I set it back religiously, but I started at 6:30 AM, with my current wake-up time being 5:40 AM. I consistently wake up 2-3 minutes before the alarm these days. Now I just need to actually get UP and do something productive, like write or draw or read my Bible, instead of nestling in the warm blankets to scroll through Pinterest.

An Average Week: My days look pretty much the same from week to week with slight variations here and there. But a routine is good, right? Right?

*crickets*

Anyway.

Sunday: Go to church, starting at 8:30 for worship practice. (They've got me playing strings on the keyboard. The original idea was to get me on the piano, but I do not feel up to playing a major instrument. So for now I lurk in the background.) Church gets out at noon, and I spend the afternoon (a) riding horses, (b) napping (this doesn't happen very often), (c) making lunches/breakfasts for the week, or (d) working on various projects. Worship practice for evening church services is at 5 PM, with church starting at 6 and finishing a little after 7.

(It's been rare for me to go to a church that has a morning and evening service, and I'm still figuring out whetherI like attending two services.)

Monday-Friday: Up by 6, work by 7:45. Morning workouts thrown in the mix have made showering before work a necessity, and it puts breakfast on a rush. On Thursday mornings I go to the local Kiwanis meetings in an attempt to keep abreast of local events and stuff that may be important for work.

In the evenings, if I'm not riding (or working on my quilt), I go to the animal shelter and take pictures for them to post online. That has averaged out to going at least once every 7-10 days, and it gives me an opportunity to intentionally use my camera.

Plus the animals are just so

dang

cute.

Good grief.

Thursday nights once a month I get together with a quilting group from church. Lest that sound boring beyond comprehension, believe me when I say that it's actually a LOT of fun. (I'm the youngest one there. Next youngest is 36, and then it's a leap to the 60s. It's great.)

Saturday: It depends. I usually spend the mornings cleaning, baking bread (sourdough!), or going to the recycle center. Sometimes all three at the same time. The recycle center here in town is more like a really cheap thrift store--there is the obvious recycle and trash part, yes, but anything that's in decent shape is up for grabs. I bought a Spanish wine bottle for 50 cents (that I converted into an oil lamp), and found a GIANT frame (like 4'x3') for $1.50. One finds the thing they want, brings it into the office, and asks, "How much?" The price usually ranges from cheap to dirt cheap.

In the afternoons I'm usually riding horses, unless there's something else planned. For example: last weekend I went to a quilt show. This weekend I helped my aunt move. Next weekend I'm helping out with a mini derby. The week after....well, you get the idea. Suffice to say, my schedule is pretty tight.

Something I'm reading: Well, I just finished Les Mis for the 7th or 8th time last week. And read Convict Conditioning yesterday, and A Walk Across America last week, and have two books on beekeeping on my plate, plus Horatio Hornblower.

What can I say? I find interest in a wide variety of topics.

Something I'm struggling with: The constant balance between 'busy' activity with 'quality' activity. If someone knows the secret to that, I'd be thrilled to know it.

If you made it through that mess, I congratulate you.

I remain, gentlemen,

The Obsessionist

Creative Ventures of 2014

Or, "assorted drawings from the past year". They are very few and far in between, to my great disappointment.

 

Let's kick things off with Tom Hiddleston as Henry V!

 

 

I rather like this drawing. A lot.

 

The Tom Hiddleston kick continued with a portrait of the self-same man:

 

 

This is also one of my favorite drawings. I had never drawn quite such a large grin before, or so many teeth. Hence it was an experience. This was finished in Colorado.

 

 

For Christmas I did this for my uncle. He had a cat who was 17 years old named Leo (and this drawing was just in time, because the same cat ended up getting sick and had to be put to sleep a couple of months later. O.o)

 

Along similar lines, but not the same as the drawings, is the big projects of 2015: hand-piecing a quilt. Apparently I can never do anything by halves, because instead of doing something relatively easy I decided to start with a hummingbird pattern.

 

 

This is an antique quilt that my mom has had in her possession for over a decade. In all of my searchings on the internet I haven't found another one like it (unless one was to paper-piece it, and that version just doesn't look as interesting). Apparently every other pattern that looked interesting wasn't fiddly enough.

 

 

This is part of my take on it....at first I was going to attached each row as it was made, but I was having trouble getting my points to line up in a satisfactory manner. Now I'm piecing the rows with the idea of ironing them and then piecing the rows all at once. I think the points will turn out okay once the whole thing is done and quilted...but we'll see.

 

My grandma hand-pieces hexagon quilts, the English flower garden pattern, and has made several over her lifetime. My mom hand-quilts, and usually has one project or another in a frame. I've machine-pieced several projects, but have never quilted or hand-pieced anything before. Considering the familial tendency towards quilts, this gravitation towards an old-fashioned project has seemed very natural.

 

Otherwise, I have either (a) not had time or (b) not made time as far as my art is concerned for the past several months. It's not that I don't want to, or I don't care....but I have a difficult time staying focused on projects. I have two large drawings sitting in a sketchpad waiting to be finished, and tons of ideas...but it's hard to get it all down when one gets home from work and wants to go riding instead, or bathrooms need cleaned, or floors haven't been swept in two weeks, or there's a sinkful of dishes, or lunch hasn't been prepared for the next day, ad infinitum.

 

I think the moral here is that I need to learn to manage my time better. And to start drawing for me again instead of for other people.



Twenty-Fourteen: A Recap (Part 3)

October 2014

As mentioned before: my Aunt Amy and I had been talking back and forth about plans post-ranch, and she suggested (especially since her boss had offered the job) that I could apply to work at her office. My life motto at the time was 'well, why not?' (one good thing about the summer is that it seemed to make me a little more daring), so I sent in the application, had an interview over the phone, and was looking for a place to live. Amy or I would find a place online, and she would go check it out for me. By the time I was ready to leave the ranch on October 5^th, we still hadn't found a place. So I decided to drive to her place, stay for 2-3 days, finish up the application process, and try to find a place to live. That didn't give us much time, but it was at least something.

Wonder of wonders: the day after I drove there we found a little quadplex about 5 minutes from the office (I finally got pictures of it around Christmas).

Looking in the front door...

Kitchen area!

Living room....

There's a fireplace too!

Upstairs...

There are windows to open so that all the warm air will heat up the upstairs

Mine bed

The "craft room" (currently it's littered with fabric and the makings of a quilt)

The next two weeks were very fast paced: I drove home on the 9^th, spent the next week and a half packing, and my parents helped me move on the 20^th. (Happy birthday to me…) Mom and Dad stayed for the remainder of that week helping me move in and such, and on the 27^th I started working for State Farm.

The learning curve for State Farm has been a fairly sharp one. The first week was completely overwhelming, of course, but as of December 17^th I was officially licensed in Property and Casualty and am becoming more confident in what I can do at the office.

I will say that initially, when my aunt mentioned possibly working for State Farm, my reaction was 'ugh'. The idea of sitting for 8-9 hours a day staring at a computer screen didn't sound like my idea of fun, especially after spending most of my working life in moderately to extremely active jobs. So I thought that I would give it a year, and if I didn't like it at the end of the year then I could do something else.

But now I'm not so sure that I could uproot myself so quickly after doing so once. And the job is a lot more interesting than I initially gave it credit. There's a lot to know, and a lot to do, and each day brings something different to the table. I'm discovering that I really like the area—it reminds me a bit of home, though for some reason the first question I get when people learn that I've just moved is 'have you adjusted to the culture shock yet?' (If 'culture shock' is measured in 'lack of good dentistry', then no, I haven't quite gotten over that yet.)

The job is sedentary, yes, but I've been making up for that in walking 4-5 times a week. Usually I can get in at least two miles over my lunch break, and if the sun is still up at 5 I can go to a little state park nearby to squeeze in another mile or two. I've found a place to ride horses, and the owners are incredibly nice and welcoming people--basically they say 'come over and ride whenever you want whatever you want!' and it's great. There is also a little mare on one of my walking routes, and I would desperately like to find the owner (partially to see if they would mind my playing with her, and partially to find out why she still has one foot shod while the rest are barefoot. Anyway.).

It's a little strange living alone, to be sure, though after the initial shock of quietness it's really not too bad. It's nice to be able to come home, cook a little dinner, work on some projects, and shut everything down by 9 PM. The only issue is the possibility of turning into a hermit…but I'm so peopled-out by the end of the day that it's nice to not have to interact with anyone (unless I go ride) On Thursdays I've been invited to attend a women's Bible study, and most weekends I spend cleaning the house or cooking for the rest of the week (I try to cook ahead so I don't have to worry about lunch prep) or going for a hike or plugging away at whatever project I happen to be working on.

Speaking of projects, I've begun what I'm informally referring to as 'the year-long project': a quilt that is completely hand-pieced. It's in a hummingbird pattern, and based off of an antique quilt top that my mom is currently finishing. I didn't have the actual pattern, so I drew one looking at pictures and working off of the measurements Mom gave me. All the fabrics are somewhat old-fashioned: small floral prints, larger floral prints, polka dots, muted solids, etc. I've mostly been cutting out the pieces for now…but it's going to be something of an undertaking. The biggest thing to remember is to not get in a hurry, and to realize that it's probably going to take the better part of the year just to piece it. I've thought about making it queen-size…or maybe just a lap throw to start. We'll see. XD

And that just about brings us up to date…I'll try to blog when I think of it. I haven't been taking any pictures lately…to be honest, when it's just me and I don't have a subject (usually it was the dog, or a horse, or people at the ranch) every picture I take seems kind of dull. It doesn't help that 90% of the time for the past month it's been gloomy, rainy, cloudy, and cold out. I'm not complaining, mind—but just letting y'all know why there are no pictures.

With that said, keep a weather eye out, and I'll try to come back before another 8 months lapse again!

Maple Syrup

 Finally, after an experimental batch, we have maple syrup! 

Well...first we had maple sugar. This was because the first batch was put on too high of a temperature all night long, and it crystallized before we could bring it into the house to finish it off. I had read about how to finish the syrup, and completely forgot about that part in my excitement to get a result.

Thankfully the trees have been flowing a LOT, and I was able to get a second batch up and running within the same day.

To finish the syrup, we strained the sap (which had turned an amber color and while thick wasn't quite at that gooey stage yet), poured it into a pot, strapped a candy thermometer to the side, and let it come to a boil.

It actually started boiling at around 208 F, and hovered there for about half an hour. In that time the color darkened slightly and, when allowed to dribble off a spoon, the free dribble turned into a sticky drip.

Once the temperature started rising above 210, no matter how low I turned the stove, I immediately poured the stuff into a jar to let it cool.

And boom. Maple syrup. Easy peasy.

I don't think it will ever darken, but the consistency and flavor are AMAZING so I don't care. I also may or may not have put some on my bacon later....<.< >.>

Now it's time for 'Crazy Things People Say When They Find Out You're Making Maple Syrup'!

The #1 question I've gotten so far when talking about the evaporation process is: "You don't have to add anything to it?"

Answer: No. The sap is mostly water, with a small percentage of sugar. Boiling (or cooking) the sap evaporates most of the water and leaves the sugar behind. The smaller the ratio of water to sugar, the thicker the result (hence the term 'syrup').

Oh, and here is a conversation I had with a guy at the gym (we'll call him D).

D (after hearing that I had collected 4 gallons of sap in one day): Wow, I bet you're going to make a killing with that.
Me: Well...no, not really. *proceeds to explain the evaporation process and sap to syrup ratio*
D: Heck, if it's that much work I'd just go to the store and buy some corn syrup.
Me: *outwardly* But that's not the point!
*internally* DO YOU KNOW HOW TERRIBLE CORN SYRUP IS?! AND HAVE YOU NO APPRECIATION FOR DOING THINGS YOURSELF??

Sigh. I think that doing anything 'the old-fashioned way', just for the sake of doing it and enjoying the process (and the results), are lost on a lot of people that I interact with on a daily basis.

Tapping Maple Trees, Part 2

(I haven't been this excited about a project in ages!)

After the initial 1 1/2 liters of sap, the flow slowed down considerably and we got 3 quarts over 3 days. Considering that our neighbors were getting 2 1/2 gallons a day from one tree, this was a little disappointing. 

But then! Two days ago there was a crazy cold snap where it blew, rained, snowed, and went all March on us. The cold temps resulted in barely a dribble of sap, and what did dribble froze at the bottom of the bottles.

Today I noticed that a couple bottles were about half-full of slush, so I went out and collected the lot before going to work. But when I came home from work, almost all of the bottles were half or completely full! Observe:

This is off the tree on the patio--it has 3 taps and is the largest maple in the yard.

 

This picture and the one below are of two taps on the same tree, and this bottle was OVERFLOWING. I was so happy. :D

There's a bit of a story being this tree too: it's a medium-sized maple, with a big scar going from the base of the tree to about 4 feet up the trunk. I had expressed concern that it wouldn't produce very much, so initially we only put one tap in. Then we noticed that it was producing quite a bit, and put another tap in. And so far it's been producing the most out of all the trees....go figure.

 

That makes something around 5 gallons total--I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! *flails*

The idea of using a roasting pan to boil the sap off was suggested from the lady at church, so we poured 4 gallons into a roasting pan, turned that sucker on, and are letting it go all night in the garage.

(This'll save me from poking at a fire for hours and ruining Mom's chafing pans...heh.)

Now...we wait. And I'll try to get pictures of the in-between stages too--right now the stuff is just steaming on the workbench and it's too dark out there to take pictures. 

In other news, Mom and Dad brought pizza home and I, being absolutely famished after coming home from work, kind of ate 5 pieces. Now I feel awful. BUT IT WAS SO GOOD.

Ahem. Anyway. I'll keep taking pictures and posting as events warrant. Good night!

Tapping Maple Trees

It's been a while since I've posted a project...and seeing as how spring is coming (or it's SUPPOSED to be coming, at least) the latest project involves a brave attempt to make maple syrup.

Needless to say, I've never tried to make maple syrup. But a couple of weeks ago I mentioned to Mom, "Hey, what if we tapped our trees for maple syrup?" She kinda shot the idea down, and I forgot about it for a bit. Then, a lady from church posted a picture of HER maple trees that she had tapped and how much sap they were getting.

So guess who decided to jump in with both feet? :P I read articles for a few hours, perused a book we have in the Forgotten Arts series on the subject, and thusly armed went to the store. We didn't have any spiles (taps), so I had to make do with copper tubing and flexible rubber hose. Then I sent an all-points-bulletin out to Facebook asking people for their empty soda bottles. The result of this rather cobbled-sounding combination of tools can be seen below:

Yes, that is baling twine. Don't laugh.

It didn't end up TOO ghetto, I don't think. Dad drilled the holes and put the spiles in, and I was in charge of tying twine, cutting tubing, etc. We did discover that putting tape around the middle of the copper tubes would prevent sap from leaking around it--initially we were losing about half the sap we would have collected just from leakage.

Today we tapped 4 trees, and tonight while I was collecting the sap I noticed that two trees weren't producing anything. So we ran outside (this was at sunset) and quickly tapped a larger tree in the front yard and added another spile to the tree that was producing the most. Even with only 2 trees producing we got 1 1/2 liters of sap:

The depressing part is that it takes 10 gallons of sap to make 1 quart (yes, I said QUART) of syrup. And it all has to be boiled down outside unless you want the inside of your house to feel like syrup sneezed all over everything. But in the meantime I'm excited to give it a shot, and we'll see how much sap we can collect!

I've also read that sap can be used for brewing tea, coffee, or beer. While beer isn't up my alley, kefir water most definitely is, and I think it would be an awesome taste sensation. So here's to experimentation!

I'm Making a Comeback....

...with Etsy!

I've had an Etsy shop since 2010, and sold a few things here and there. It was never enough to really make a lot of money, but it kept some of my hobbies afloat and was a fun way to dabble in feeling like I had my own business. Sometime in 2012, though, I lost momentum and allowed my shop to lie empty.

Fast-forward to last year, and I discovered an interest in bookbinding. My first project was kinda mediocre (I mean, it was pretty, and I still use it, but I had no idea what the heck I was doing):

And last summer I made a couple of journals for girls at the ranch. These were softcover, leather, filled with cardstock (something of an annoyance, in retrospect, but nice paper can't be found everywhere), and awoke a desire to actually make something NICE.

So since coming home from the ranch I've made 10 journals and 8 scrappy scarves--which may not sound like much, but they're both somewhat time-consuming projects tucked around working in the day--and am going to start putting them slowly on Etsy. 

I'm kind of excited to be re-opening Etsy, but I'm also depending a lot on Facebook, word of mouth, and the ranch this summer for selling. But if you want to go see my shop, please do!  The shop is a little sparse at the time of this post, but I'll have more stuff up over the weekend and upcoming week.

I also have a page on Facebook where I post upcoming projects, made-to-order projects, and other little personal tid-bits one won't encounter on Etsy. I actually prefer my Facebook page because I can get a little more personal.

One of the reasons I hadn't posted to my Etsy for such a long time was because of my online stalker--he knew of my Etsy, and I knew that he was probably watching it. Obviously that was weirding me out and unacceptable. But I've gotten to the point now where I'm not going to let the possibility of a creeper situation arising freak me out, because I know that if he REALLY wants to find me, he can. 

Last summer was an especially scary example, where he actually called the office at the ranch and asked for me. In the ensuing brouhaha I was issued a radio, told not to go anywhere by myself EVER, and given contact people for dealing out beatdowns should the guy try to come to the ranch. It was terrifying and epic at the same time.

But back to Etsy: I'm not particularly concerned about him seeing my items. And before anyone gets worried: yes, I take precautions and don't post personal stuff where un-okay people can see them. That's been my policy for years, and it's not going to change. If he decides to creep on a public shop, that's his problem. All I can do is maintain a professional shop and try to make some money.

But back to the page/shop...go check 'em out! I love visitors!

Learning Video Stuffs...

Over the summer I was incredibly inspired by our photographer/videographer Josiah, a very talented young man when it comes to making videos and explaining his process in which he makes them. (Go follow his Instagram under the name josiahfilm. And his Vimeo. You won't be sorry.)

In light of that inspiration, I decided last week that I need to learn how to make good-quality videos, and understand a little more about film. I have Adobe Premiere for film editing, so over the last couple of days I've shot the film in the yard and strung together a couple of videos. They aren't anything outstanding, to be honest, but it's helping me to get a feel for the program. (And DANG, is it complicated. Thank goodness for the tutorials on the Adobe website.) 

I am working somewhat under pressure as well, because I just sent my re-application for Wind River in and something possessed me to apply for the photographer/videographer position after my default of wrangler. So we'll see what happens. In the meantime, I'm furiously learning this crazy program.

The second video I took of the rainy day and such, and put some neo-classical music to it. The effect...well, I'm not sure what I was going for, but the effect was hilariously dramatic. I can't even watch the thing without cracking up. In a facetious sort of way I posted it to Facebook, with the following caption:

"For the past few days I've been playing around with Adobe Premiere. I go out, take some video footage of random things in the yard, and toss together a little video to get a feel for the program and find out what recording size works the best. Most of the videos have been fall-themed, (a) because it's fall and (b) because I don't have any people to stalk.

Methinks I should get away from it for a while, though...this is the latest result and it's SO DRAMATIC. *may or may not be crying from laughing so hard*"

I thought the description was rather tongue-in-cheek, really, but I got several admiring comments for my talent. *sigh* That wasn't what I was going for, but oh well, that's how the worm turns, I guess.

If you're curious, here's the video in question. Feel free to laugh at the swelling music and artsy shots. XD

One's True Place (and projects)

"How, then, does one find one's true place?
It does not need finding. One's place is wherever one happens naturally to be. And only gnawing resentment can make it dishonorable." 

-- C.W. Gusewelle

 Charles Gusewelle, succinct as always. There's a reason that he's one of my favorite writers.

I've been somewhat down in the dumps lately for a variety of reasons. There's some other minor stuff, but it boils down to feeling like I'm stuck, waiting for something to happen, and not knowing how to get out of it. Or I have so many ideas and options creating- and business-wise that I freeze up and do none of them.

This, my friends, is a distinct problem. It's worse than procrastinating, because with procrastination there's a guilty pleasure in letting things slide with the intent of 'getting to it later'. With freezing up there is no pleasure; just a vague sensation of doom and wasted time.

Add feeling stuck to a sensation of doom, and what you have is a downward spiral of non-productive angsting about the future. That's why I was rather inspired after coming across the above quote this morning.

Last night, I wasn't inspired at all and spent most of my time flaking around on the internet, but not before forcing myself to start a project that I've been meaning to do for ages: make a Kindle cover.

While in Colorado I started making a leather one, but what with all the flooding and evacuation nonsense I kinda had to set it aside. My Kindle has been cover-less since I got it in July, and I'm always worried that it'll get hurt somehow. This, then, is the finished product (made using this tutorial):

  

It's not as solid as leather would be, but it serves its purpose well. I also couldn't figure out how to make it stand up for a good 10 minutes.

I did eventually figure it out though. XD

 

The original pattern didn't call for any kind of padding, so I cut some quilt batting for a little extra protection against the chipboard. Some of the measurements seemed to be off, too, because the chipboard was WAY too big and the section under the kindle seems a little narrow, but it still worked.

I'm also continuing my kefir soda experiments. Last week I ordered some glass soda bottles after an attempt to make ginger ale in mason jars turned syrupy and nasty. The bottles have a rubber sealed cap attached with a wire clamp, so I'm hoping that the lack of air will help it to stay fizzy and not change consistency again.

I've already done the above with a cream soda (a teaspoon or so of vanilla extract in kefir water) and it turned out pretty delicious. I've gotten a taste for kefir like I didn't have earlier this year, and I can't get enough of the stuff. :3 (Everyone else, on the other hand, thinks that it's nasty. More for me!)

Horse-wise....well, I'm not going to take up blog-space by blubbering or complaining about the current stage of horse-less-ness. Our farrier (and my best friend's dad) has offered to let me ride one of their mares whenever I'd like. She's a paint, about 10-12 years old, and blind. Her real name is Nina (or Grace, depending on who you ask) but I've always just referred to her as 'the blind mare'.

If you look closely you can see the film over her pupil--the eye on the other side is atrophied.

She's a real sweetheart, and SO incredibly trusting--if I point her in a direction and tell her to go, she'll go in that direction until I tell her to stop (or she trips on something ^^;). She knows that when I check her, that means to go slow and feel out the terrain because something has changed. I would never take her on a trail ride or any other place where the terrain changes constantly, but she can walk along roads or across a bean field with no trouble and as long as I keep an eye out she does superbly. Several times I've come across a ditch or dip and, after a check, she'll take little careful steps until we're past it. It's pretty amazing.

I've ridden her twice in the last week, and have come to the realization that I really don't miss the riding as much as I do just taking care of a horse. It's strange to me to get her out, ride, and put her back without fussing or feeding. She also has some stall quirks such as pawing the ground and turning in circles, so she has to be hobbled in her stall. She doesn't mind the hobbles, and it keeps her from being destructive, but....meh.

Anyway. Life is slow and I usually wildly oscillate between being depressed and/or uninspired to bucking up and making myself quit having pity parties. XD

The Latest Project

What do you think it is?

Hmmm?

Okay, maybe this one gives it away...I've taken up bookbinding!

(Quick backstory here: my brother had a friend from college who made a sketchbook for my brother's fiance, and to be quite honest it wasn't that good. Each section of pages (or signature) was like 20 pages messily folded in half, nothing was glued, etc. I'm not saying mine is fantastic or anything, but seeing that made me think 'well, I could do better than that' so this is my shot at it. *takes a breath* No offense if that friend reads this blog. I know he doesn't, though, so I should be good.)

This is just printer paper, folded in half, torn, and folded in half again to form a quarter-page-sized booklet. Each signature is 4 pages, and I think there's 8 signatures. The thread is normal polyester, two pieces folded in half so there's 4 threads total. I just used Elmer's glue for the binding because I don't have any other glue on hand. 

See the glue on the edge there? That turned out to be a mistake--it dried into a hard edge, and now the spine is wonky. But I think I know how to avoid that next time.

The cover is some scrap fabric over cardboard (the back of an old sketchbook, actually), all glued again with Elmer's. It seeped rather badly through the fabric, so I'll have to figure out a less messy way for the next time. 

I have a TON of old sheet music for craft use lying about, so one sheet became the endpapers.

And the inside is just printer paper. I think next time I'd like to use watercolor paper, or something of a similar heavier stock. 

On a side note, this entire project (including tearing and folding the paper) probably took me around an hour. The use of a hair dryer to speed up the glue drying helped immensely, but it wasn't NEARLY as hard as I thought it would be. I watched the original Planet of the Apes while assembling the pages (and tried very hard not to be shocked by the '70s--they had a fascination with butts back then. I saw more of Charleton Heston's backside within an hour and a half than I ever desired to see in my entire lifetime. *shudders*), and the cover took maybe half an hour to put together. 

You know what this means, right?

MOAR BOOKBINDING (and less Planet of the Apes)

On a random note, church was canceled yesterday due to an ice storm. Hence, no notes from the study. But fear not, we will be up and running by next Sunday, provided there are no more ice storms. 

On another random note, I'm still waiting to hear back from this one dude ranch in Colorado. *bites nails* All the people they called have told me that it's almost a certainty that I'll get the job...BUT THE SUSPENSE. *flails*

Root Beer: Round 2

I attempted to make some 'root beer' a couple of weeks ago using my kefir water (long story there, but I'll try to explain along the way). It sorta worked, and sorta didn't...hopefully this time will be more successful.

For those who are unaware, kefir water is made from kefir granules. Basically, one puts water, sugar, and kefir granules in a jar, lets it sit on the counter for 48 hours, and voila, you have fizzy sugar water. (The link explains it much better than I just did)

Actually, kefir is a lacto-fermented drink. The granules are bacteria and yeast (the good kind) that 'eat' sugar and infuse the water with probiotics and fizzies. I've had this particular jar for about 2 weeks, and the kefir grains are VERY happy.

Every time I walk past I poke the jar to watch them do their happy dance (bubbles rise from the grains and a few rise and fall in the water. It's pretty entertaining). They really like well water (it's filtered, of course) because of the minerals in said water. That said, these are getting a little out of hand. They've tripled in quantity since I got them, and it was time to divide them up.

Last week (or the week before? I lose track of time) I looked up a recipe for making kefir root beer, found that I only had three ingredients and ordered the rest, got impatient and made a modified version...you get the idea. The first batch only had sassafras bark, a cinnamon stick, and a few cloves in it; those were simmered in two quarts of water to make a tea, strained, had some sugar added, and divided into jars. I took one jar, filled it with some of the kefir water and the tea, and set it on the counter. The second jar was the same, but with a couple spoonfuls of kefir grains. The jar with the grains did much better as far as getting a carbonated taste to it; thus, that's what I'm doing this time.

The rest of my ingredients came on Saturday, and I did not take my time getting another batch going this morning. My only mistake was following the recipe where the ginger root was concerned, and it really, REALLY tastes like ginger. My brother didn't like it, but I think it's pretty good. 

I had to modify the recipe a bit, with taking out the juniper berries and hops flowers, but I figured they wouldn't be missed that much.

Yum, boiled bark.

The tea had to sit until it came to room temperature because the grains will die (or something) if they're exposed to heat. So it sat on the counter until we got home from church, and I put them in their jars to ferment for 4-6 days.

Another mistake was using a metal spoon to scoop the grains out. Apparently they don't like metal either, and it's not been fizzing at all. *wrings hands* Hopefully they'll snap out of it though...

I will be back with an update on my attempt in a few days! In other news, my new macro lens came on Saturday too. I haven't had much time to play with it, but it's so cool. Observe:

 

Eyes in focus...

 

 

...nose in focus!

I may or may not be having way too much fun with this. Ahem.

In other other news, tomorrow is the beginning of the 90-day Cross-fit Challenge. *whimpers* I'm going to be so dead...but on the other hand, I took 'before' pictures today and I feel like a tub of lard. Man. I have no definition, no stamina, AND no strength! Great way to start! XD In 90 days I expect to be ripped. If not, I'm lodging an official complaint with...somebody. I don't know who yet. 

I'll probably not be putting my workouts on here, but I'm keeping track at the gym in a notebook. Yes, we've been going back to the gym...but I've worked out  more consistently these past two weeks than I have in almost a year. Time to be back in shape, yo.