Did You Write? 03-15-10

Did You Write? 03-15-10

That is the question. it applies to any time in the past week. If you write at least once a week, you will have production over a year. It also develops something that could become a good habit. It is sad to go for months without writing. It is better to fit in even fifteen minutes of adding words to a page, every week, than to let your writing fade away.
We are not picky as to what writing is, or how much writing one might do. We let you set the definition on both. As long as you believe you wrote, that is good enough for us.
I don't have time to list of suggestions of what is writing, this week. You can look back at others of these subjects to see the list.

Why shouldn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)

I did write, in two sessions. I added a page and 867 words. I really need to skip some scenes and write the exciting stuff, then go back and fill in. I think I can get more written that way.
My writing time is not going to be really great the next two weeks. I have a club meeting at the end of the month, an I have a lot of projects I need to work on to get ready. That will kill writing time. I cannot do both at the same time.

I am up to date on my story ideas, but I have a club meeting this week which will set me behind. Luckily I do have some time next week to fit in an extra story idea.
I did a three story idea set this month. I had a concept I wanted to present. The problem was I could not set it up in one story idea, so I wrote three of them to show the whole concept. that was interesting way to do something.
My compost pile count is at 41 ideas including what I am posting tonight. I have gotten a few good ones as of late. that is always fun.

As mentioned above, I am getting ready for the art show I have on the 28th. I spent the weekend getting several projects ready to be finished. I have yet to sit down and look at the stuff I had on display, and I have not sat down and looked at the other pieces I have that might go on display.
I already examined my large carvings, and have to go over my small carvings next. the hard part has always been on deciding what stays home. I never have enough room for everything I want to show. I intend to create a mock-up of the table a few times and see what display will look best. I learned last year that it is better to decide before you go to a show, rather than when you are there. Last year, I got the day wrong, was going to it on Saturday, rather than Sunday. I used the time to practice my set-up, to make a number of decisions that made the setup better.
Between now and the show, I will be working on some incomplete projects that don't have to be done. If something gets done enough for display, so much the better, especially if it turns out to be better than something else I planned on showing off.

As to the question of the day, I can say

YES, I DID WRITE

Did You Write?

Week 531 Wood Working.

year 10, Week 9, Day One (week 531) (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.) 03-13-10 Saturday

I almost had my ark built when the rain stopped yesterday. We got about two inches of rain in some places from the front that passed over us this week. There were even tornado warnings at a few times during the day yesterday.
69 degrees early morning, 74 degrees as the high. Fast moving low grey clouds with high pebbles early morning, blue sky with a few wispy puffs in the afternoon, Sunlight from late morning to evening. A steady breeze blew hard all day. this weather report was brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

We went to two rummage sales and two yard sales this morning. One is a higher class kind of sale we have been to many times called Auntie's Attic. Other than getting three servings of popcorn, and a little postal scale, I got out of there cheap.
The other rummage sale was in our neighborhood and I saw two things I gave a lot of thought about, but left without them. One I know was a dollar and the other might have been about that price too.
We went to two yard sales. I picked up a metal protractor with a long blade sticking out for the pointer, and at the other yard sale, I picked up a torque wrench.
My lathe has a nut beneath the head that is part of the locking system. It is best if it is set to a specific torque. I have not had access to a torque wrench so I have had to guess on the setting. If it is set tight, the head cannot be locked down, resists the tightening wrench. If too loose, it slides. I now have a wrench to set the torque. I now have to dig out my sockets and find one that fits and put it to use.

scale and torque wrench. The wrench has two different sockets built into it.

I got outside at a good time. Beggar was acting exactly like a cat. There were a few times where he would snap his head around to tell me to stop. I held my hand in place, he would look away and let me do what I was doing. An example was that when he gets onto his side, he never allowed us to pet his side. I started stroking him, from his cheek, down his neck and to his side. He gave my hand a sharp look, then let me do that for quite a while. He was hungry for attention today. I still have to watch him carefully, but he is becoming a cat.

I started out by cleaning the baby dragon carving, removing as much paint as would come off. I then spray painted it white. I am going to repaint it one more time. I will likely go with a simpler paint scheme so I can make it look good.

Baby dragon painted white. this is similar to a candle I have.
I have not been able to get the colors right.

I took a sea urchin shell that was dirty and painted it white. I then took two finials and made them fit the shell and glued them in place. To make it stronger, one finial goes right through the shell into a hole in the lower one. the upper one is just a little above the shell with the eye hook.
I had one shell where I added the foam to fill it, and the foam broke the shell. I took some filler and worked that into the bottom, shaping it to be fairly even, roughed up the surface with a tooth brush, and then spray painted that white. this one will also need a final that goes all the way through. I will work with that one tomorrow, I think.

sea urchin ornament
Painted white to hide a mess I made.

I worked with my flower vase. I decided there is no way I can finish the vase the way I want it in the time I have left, so I went with plan "B" where I will accept it as it is, and finish it up after the art show. It is pretty good. When I made the vase in the base, I had left in a little line before the vase flared out. I used some 80 grit sand paper to remove it so there is no sign that was ever there.

I worked on the light house platter. I filled in some holes where I made a mistake, and then corrected the top of the light house so it looks right. I fixed up the support structure a little. It is not right, but will be passable. I then lettered the message on the plate, using a really tiny engraving bit in the dremmel. My lettering could be a whole lot better, but that will do. I will use a fine tip stabillo to darken the lines of the letters and call that part done. I will touch the light house with color to make it stand out, and also do some background color while I am at it. I think the platter will be nice when done. I could have simply painted the platter but wanted to carve it to make it something else. it is not what I had hoped it to be, but it will impress people anyway. I might write who it is from on the bottom. will think about that.

light house platter with lettering.
Needs paint to fine tune detail and might get more lettering.

I filtered through my bags of stuff that I carry with me everywhere, and sorted out the stuff that I will never work with until after the art show.
I now have the projects that will take the most of my attention until the art show. There is a limited amount of items so I can make sure I get them done.

I took out my wise owls and finished them up. I used the dremmel to make the eyes, which are big circles, and then used a stabillo to add the dark details like filling in the groove around the eye, adding the pupal of the eye, and made the miter black. I still have to sign them, and varnish them to make them complete.
I still have several swan blanks that I need to carve. I do not know if I will get them done, but kept them out just in case.

Wise owl ornaments.

I have not decided whether I will take my finished stuff with me tomorrow. If I do, I will set them all out in the sunshine and examine them carefully as to what condition they are in. I might add tags as to what needs to be done.
Another project is to photograph all the pieces, then make a sheet with pictures of all the pieces, and their prices. that can, of course, be done during the week.
Another project I really should do tomorrow, is to pull out all my big carvings and examine them to see what needs to be done to them to get them ready for display.
If I bring my work, I can set up a table, three foot by eight foot, and see what room I have to fit on the table. Even if I don't have my small stuff, It will be a good view of what I am working with.

Thursday is my turning club meeting so I want the flower vase and the platter done, and might have the fruit plate done also. I plan to sand on the fruit tomorrow.

I have loads of plans as to what I want to do tomorrow. I will have to see what I actually do tomorrow.


year 10, Week 9, Day Two (week 531) (January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.) 03-14-10 Sunday

60s early morning, 78 degrees as a high, well spaced puffs of clouds separated by a light haze. It was mostly sunny, though I did see the sun dim a few times during the day. A good brisk breeze kept the trees waving and the clouds moving. During this week, we will have temps in the 70s as the highs, but low 50s or high 40s over night. This weather report was brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

Beggar is still acting like a cat. he was no interested in heavy attention today, like he was yesterday. He would get enough and then leave to sleep.

It took a bit to get everything laid out. Since I had the torque wrench I got from yesterday, I dug out my sockets to set the nut holding the head of the lathe. I also had to dig out the instructions to the lathe to find out what the setting was. I set the book down, then picked it up again and everything was in Spanish. it took me a long moment to realize that they printed the booklet in two languages, and the other is turned around, starting from the back of the other.
I had to go out to the truck and get my sockets. Of course they were buried. I pulled most of the stuff out, got the tool boxes out, and decided to pack things differently. the tool boxes are next to the door now, and my drill and dremmel are on top of them. The box of turning books and all the other stuff are packed back out of the way.
I see a number of things I can pull out of there and never notice they were gone. I tend to gather things I had a use for, once, in decades of owning a vehicle, even if I never need them ever again. I struggle to get them out of there because of the "just in case" situation.
I took the tool box with the sockets to the back. I am not sure if the torque wrench is good or not. I tightened the nut and it seams to lock the way it is supposed to, though it might actually be tighter than it should be. Of course, since the nut was beneath the motor, I turned it the wrong way at first.

I cut a piece of orange tree wood and then sliced it up. orange, like most fruit trees, are very hard and strong. I cut pieces of the orange to become stems for my wooden apples and pears. With a couple the previous stems broke. I used my knife to carve the wood to a stem shape.
I sanded some on the fruit, but have to do more to make them finished.

fruit plate before I added stems


I sanded quite a bit on the light house platter. I used a detail sander to remove some tool marks. It could use a whole lot more, but time is a problem.
I used a fine tip pen to darken the lines of the lettering. the end of the pen came out and that ended that project. My replacement pen was almost dry and had a shorter nib. I will work on that during the week. The darkening of the lines can hide some little errors in carving the letters into the wood where the bit wandered a bi.

I dug out all my large carvings. I examined them for damage or work they needed. I have one where I need to remove some paint that smeared when I painted the eyes I will do that next week. I had to repair a wing of the very first fairy carving. It broke in a few places. I glued them back in place, then painted over the glue repairs. It would have been better to replace the wing, but that was beyond the effort it would take.

all my large carvings.

I messed around with other projects during the day but that was the key points I accomplished. Not too bad.

During this week, I want to lay out my turning pieces, which I have at home, and see what I have and what would make the best display. I need to start finishing the pieces I have worked on the past few weeks. the flowers of the flower vase needs a coat of super glue so they will be lighter than the rest of the vase. I will finish the vase by soaking it in oil, then varnishing it. The vase does need some other work but that can happen after the art show.
I also need to drag out my small carvings, which I also have at home, and see what I want of them in the art show and what I can leave home.
I have a turning club meeting Thursday
One project for next weekend, is to set up a three foot by eight foot table, build it up with boards and stuff since I don't have that sized table and see what I can do for a good display. I will bring more than I need and whittle down what I need. I can also work on a few projects that have been started, but not likely to be in the show. It depends on what pieces need serious work.

I will see what I actually do next week.

My Own March Madness

For most people, March Madness means college basketball playoffs. I'm not a big basketball fan (baseball is my game) so instead of being glued to the TV or radio, I am in the cellar planting things, or out buying things to plant. At this time of year, that is mostly seeds, though a few other packaged plant parts have found their way home with me.

Backing up though, let's look at the plant starting area in the cellar just about 3 weeks ago, which was toward the end of February. Below are the plants I repotted, trimmed and wintered over under lights last fall. Not looking too bad, we've had some losses, but overall in pretty decent shape. I have some cuttings to pot up too.

BTW, the bottom plants are standing on stacks of nursery lugs, those plastic mesh trays that you bring plants home in. About half of those were either tossed in the old open dump we used to have in our area (my dad always referred to those dumps as 'country stores') or were donated to me by friends. I use a lot of them in the cold frame because they drain well, and indoors because they help to stiffen up the bottoms of the cheaper solid trays, which tend to crack over time. I don't toss anything out that might prove useful. Here they are getting the shorter plants closer to the lights so that I don't have to keep adjusting the chains. I am a make-do person by nature. *s*

These plants below were my early tomatoes along with a flat of onions in a photo taken on the same day. As you can see, the tomato seedlings don't have their true leaves yet. There are more tomato plants up than I will need, so I will take the best one of each variety and share the rest. If you haven't noticed, I use a lot of recycled containers to start my seeds in. The tomatoes are growing in pudding cups and the onions are in the cut down bottom of a fabric softener bottle. All have holes drilled into them for drainage, which is an absolute necessity if you want healthy roots. I use a lot of the plastic from the flat sides of those opaque bottles cut up as plant labels - a laundry marker or Sharpie writes very well on them. The pudding cups are labeled with masking tape, which can be peeled off later, so they can be reused. They last several seasons that way. The larger plants will be shifted to yogurt cups, which hold more soil. Been recycling containers like that for years, long before the 'green' revolution. Not only is it more environmentally friendly, but economical too as it saves me a fortune in pots! And if I give plants away and don't get them back - well there are more waiting to be used. They do break down over a few years in the sun and weather, and crumble up to nothing, and then they can go in the garbage. Yeah, I always was ahead of my time... LOL

More onions below, most of them just breaking the soil in little green hoops. The black things on top of some of the seedlings that have straightened up is the seed coat. The onion seedlings will stay in these containers until they get planted out. They are not at all hard to separate once they get some size to the stems, the roots can be gently pulled apart. That white container in the back is a salvaged meat tray from bulk hamburger I bought at a warehouse club. It's been used for about 3 seasons now. See the labels? Cut from a detergent bottle.

Yeah even more onions below. I planted three different kinds of regular onions, white and yellow Spanish and a red onion that is supposed to be a good keeper. I also planted some perennial scallions, the kind that come up every year and spread in clumps. We love onions and use a lot of them. Some of these will get put into beds of their own, some tucked amongst other plants or around the edge of beds. The scallions will likely get tucked into garden corners where the tiller doesn't reach and flower beds because they do have nice bluish green foliage and white flowers the bees love.

Those green and tan trays and clear domes you see are Perma-Nest brand and I highly recommend them. They are sold to the nursery trade and are not inexpensive, but they are very rugged and durable, and don't rot or shatter easily, and they can be washed and sterilized. They have a couple channels in the base that help take excess water away from the bottoms of the pots. I have been buying a few each year, replacing my worn out, cheapo flimsy, black plastic trays. These I can lift full of plants and not have them collapse. The humidity domes let light in and keep the moisture from evaporating, so that the seeds and seedlings don't dry out - which can happen fast when you have your plants on a soil heating cable not too far from a woodstove that runs 8-12 hours a day. You just have to check them periodically for trapped moisture, which can cause mold and other problems, and open them up to let some fresh air in.

Oh, and the 'soil' surface you see is fine milled vermiculite, which you can buy in garden centers. The real soil is underneath that layer. I place the seeds on the soil and sift vermiculite over the top of it all, and wet it down. Unlike soil, vermiculite doesn't crust, but it holds moisture well. It also keeps the seedling contact with the actual soil minimal to help control fungal diseases like 'damping off' which causes stems to rot at the soil line so that the seedling collapses and dies. I mix my own custom seed starting soil too. I have this thing down to a science. *s* Any planted container of soil that doesn't grow has its soil added to the potting mix I use for older plants. You have a few every year, and you'd be surprised how that adds up.

So that was the late February garden report. LOL

Anyway, while gardening is foremost on my mind at the end of winter, I still get to do other things. It is birthday season, and we've had three of them so far. Lee was the last of the three and he and I went out for the day. We saw a gallery show of old pulp magazine cover art at a local college (UCONN - Go Huskies!). We got some really good exercise in the sunny but fresh and chilly 48°F air walking cross campus to and from the museum and the parking garage, as well as all around the museum, which has stairs. On the way back, we stopped at a local grocery chain and found Lee a lovely sugar free chocolate cream pie to celebrate with, and a sinful chocolate filled chocolate bundt cake for the others here, who don't have blood sugar issues. Put those safely away in the car, and drove on to have an early dinner together at a local restaurant. After eating, we hit the thrift shop across the street, and got a bit more walking in. Not great pickings on a Friday, but here are the things that came home with me...

The sign says it all! I will make something with the curtain rings, they are very much like the cabone rings we use for crochet. The book looks interesting, I love anything about the fairy world.

Another day, another very different outing. Mostly a top-of-the-month shopping trip for stock-up grocery items. But of course we had to stop somewhere fun to shop too! At this time of year, I can't stay out of the garden department. Got lucky at Wally World and found seed potatoes for one of our favorites at a reasonable price. Yes I know they are cheaper at the supermarket, but just because they say Yukon Gold doesn't mean they aren't some other generic gold variety with inferior taste and texture. I can tell the difference. I have noticed a trend on the Yukon Gold potatoes on sale, that there will often be a certain percentage of plain white potatoes in the bag, which are from cheaper stock and explains the bargain price. And then by planting potatoes I bought to eat, I could be introducing a disease from another grower's patch. Nope, I'll get the real thing, and hope to get 40-50 lbs from them, depending on whether we dig new potatoes or not. I don't eat many potatoes now but will make an exception for those I grew myself. You cannot imagine the difference in flavor.

These are nice solid looking babies too. They should make plenty of healthy eyes. At planting time you look the potatoes over and decide where the best eye clusters are, and then divide the potato up with a knife. You want at least one bigger clump or two small eyes each, and a good hunk of the flesh of the potato, which feeds them until they root out. If the potatoes haven't sprouted by the time I am ready to plant, I expose them to a little light or sun and that usually gets them going. I like to cut them earlier in the day and lay them out in the plastic lugs so that the cut part dries a bit. Makes for a healthier start.

OK I bought seeds. Not all from the same place, but over the course of the day at a couple of different places. I am having a thing for sunflowers and morning glories these last few years. Zinnias seem to be on my mind this year too, been thinking about how butterflies love those blossoms. Couldn't resist the name of that cauliflower, I eat a lot of it as a low carb substitute for mashed potatoes, rice, noodles or pasta. The Sun Gold cherry tomato is my absolute favorite, it tastes like a fine fruity wine. You will never see it commercially available because the fruit splits so easily, but it is worth growing for that school bus color and juicy lip smacking taste in a salad or just by the handful. The pepper looked interesting, I loved the darker color. Just started my sweet peppers today in fact - 20 varieties of bells, fryers, and small conical sweet things. The orange cosmos and plant food packet came in the mail with a special offer to join a club. Didn't want the club, but will take the goodies anyway, thank you very much...

The inexpensive packages of seed from the racks are generally older varieties that can be gotten relatively cheap from small seed farms. Still worth planting some of them as they often are tried and true survivors. And if you have never seen a vine full of translucent and dewy Heavenly Blue morning glories, or a bowing head of mammoth sunflowers being picked over by goldfinches and chickadees, you don't know what you're missing. Lots of Zen moments like that in gardening, and well worth the expense of a few packets of seed and the labor of turning the earth to watch them grow.

Something about this peony, maybe the name or the color, caught my eye. It was on a rack with a whole bunch of other pink plants for Susan G. Komen breast cancer foundation. I guess 30¢ donation doesn't seem like much, but add that up by the potential sales. It did remind me that my mother and I are due for mammograms again this spring, and hopefully if the two roots in there take, it will continue to do that for years to come. Peonies, once established, last for many, many years. Hopefully we will too. I like the idea that this company tied in gardening with breast cancer survival and research. It is very fitting, and a true message of hope.

See those sprouts? Those are healthy roots!

OK, so it's not a plant or seed, and it's not particularly attractive or cheap for that matter. But I need a good heavy dustpan to help clean up around my plant table, and I can never find the other ones. This one is big and shiny, so hopefully it will be hard to lose.

A second trip out the next day in a different area with an outdoor access only mall, where you go from store to store on the outside. It is actually a bunch of separate buildings, each with several smaller stores or one big one. I needed something at the pet store, but just had to go into the home improvement store and browse the garden department, which is just gearing up for the year. Saw these before I got very far inside, and was delighted to have them. I love shallots and these are huge, and have been wanting Lily of the Valley for a while. Yeah, I know, they can be invasive, but they are so darn cute! Like little fairy bells, you can almost hear them tinkle.

Once again, both look pretty healthy. It pays to shop early I guess.

Um, did I mention that I got seeds there? Actually these came from two places, one of the department stores also has seeds. As you can see, the sunflower fetish continues. I bet I have 2 dozen different kinds now. Always wanted to try corn salad, it sounds interesting and I love interesting salads. The nasties are for planting around the cucumbers, where they chase the cuke beetles away and keep the toes of the vines cool (I grow cukes on a trellis). I like the way the flowers peep at me from within the round foliage, being coy like that. I thought that was a kewl mix of colors. The leaves and flowers of nasturtiums can be eaten in salads, and I hear the immature seed pods can be pickled like capers. And I've been thinking that I would love to have an herb garden, and am looking at a spot on the bank behind the house that is nothing but weeds in full sun. It would take some doing, but I just might be up to that this year, having lost 74 lbs already and being much more able to get around and do things.

On our way back from the mall, Lee and I took the highway route because one exit dumps out not far from one of our favorite thrift shops. A little bit better day on a Wednesday, and I found the following items...

That mug is so heavy, I just love it. I have a recipe for roasted tomato soup that I want to try soon, and so it may get its virgin use here with that. I love those books BTW. The tin was a no brainer, you know how I am with them. I bought the little candle for the tin, but will burn it, it has a light, sweet scent.

The soil test kit is old, but the chemicals look OK to me. It was worth the 99¢ to take a gamble. That is a grab bag of needlepoint or crewel yarn, I don't think it is wool though. The craft outlet price on it was $3.99, but the thrift store only wanted 99¢. Works for me!

OK, I was not in the market for more silverware or utensils, but since three other people had picked through them, I figured I should at least take a look. As I have said in the past, I no longer try to match anything, I just want stuff that holds up to wear and tear. These are all rugged. I got the two serving pieces half off too, because they had pink tags. What's not to love about that? Yeah, I am such a junk picker, but I love it. *w*

Thought you might like to see how some of my fall gleanings wintered over. Sorry about the cellar clutter in these shots.

This butternut squash below has been fabulous. I've been cutting, peeling, and nuking it in cubes until soft and then running the hand blender through it. Lots of creamy butter (the real stuff), some shakes of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice, and a couple glugs of real maple syrup, and ooooohhh that is heavenly. Most kids seem to love creamy and sweet, so this is a veggie they will taste and then eat. Hey, I made a poem! LOL Seriously, I cooked two more of these the other day and they were fabulous.

I have got to do something with these sugar pumpkins, they were volunteers that grew out of the compost pile all the way around the shed down to the dogs' yards. They have kept better than anything else. I should save some seed, roast them, and make pumpkin soup. Yeah, sounds good!

The last surviving Jack Be Littles. They could be eaten too, but they are just too darn cute!

What a difference three weeks can make! I did have to do some rearranging of things on that shelf, getting rid of dead plants (lost a few) and consolidated others to make room for seedlings under the shelf lights. I had to move most of the onions out there because I needed room in the growhut for a new crop. Looks kinda junglely, doesn't it?

Here is a small shot of the growhut with its content as of last Wednesday. That was before I started all the paste tomatoes and sweet peppers and filled the thing up.

Look at those tomato plants, can you believe it has only been three weeks? I have got to get them separated and growing in their own pots. Yes I have fed them twice with diluted liquid plant food. The seedling soil mix is a bit lean. Yeah that is a mouse trap, we have mice in the cellar, and at this time of year they like to chew on green growing stuff. I don't want to lose anything.

The curled over plants next to the tomatoes are the bulk of my broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts (brassica genus) plants for the year as well as a few eggplants, which need an early start. The brassica plants don't like the excess warmth down there so they do tend to get a bit spindly. I will just pot them up deeper than they are now, once their stems get stronger. I still get good crops off them, so have just learned to deal with not having an ideal climate for everything.

The scratch and dent stuff that is slow coming up, along with some new plantings in the next tray. That square container is from the deli and it is holding celeriac seedlings, which you might not be able to see, since they are tiny. In case you didn't know, celeriac is a celery family plant that is grown for its swollen stem, that I hear tastes like celery with the crunchiness and cooking potential of a potato. It is knobby and has to be peeled. Just something I saw and wanted to try. The seeds looked like and smelled like the celery seeds you buy as spice BTW.

And that is it for this post. Just wanted to give you an update on what I am doing. In addition to all this other stuff, I still cook, clean, and run my household, albeit with lots of help from the family. Been writing another Lazlo story and tons of emails, been shopping and helping celebrate birthdays. Had a tummy virus a week or so ago, found out I have a cataract ready to be operated on, and am fighting a mild but annoying cold right now. So yep, I be busy!

C'mon spring, the snow is gone, and the frost is out of the ground. I can feel you in every sunny and pleasant 55° day, and I heard you in the calls of two robins up back. I know you are just around the corner, and I will soon have to move some plants outside, at least during the days. I desperately need the room to grow, in more ways than one. *s*