CaptainOrange

Artists rendering of our Christmas tree Christmas(ish) Letter I make the season difficult. In some ways it is made that way for me and in others, I bear total responsibility: Moving Dad twice in November was more than either of us bargained for. We moved him once from his apartment into my Uncle David's house. Then we abruptly moved him from there to a great place on the riverbank--with a brief couple of days staying at my place in between. I was glad to help out in his time of discord and need. Also, he took me out for veggie burgers basically all the time :) Three (onion) Rings for the Elven Kings... In a similar vein, Merlin came to stay with us for a couple of weeks at the end of November. Some things about the visit were difficult, but on the whole, I was glad to get to know him a lot better and I managed to use him as an excuse to play a bunch of games and buy myself some new clothes. Win/Win! Merlin is a bit older looking than last time I saw him Once we had the house to our...

Anwyn and I are back from getting this year's Christmas tree. It was hard to find the time to travel 2 hrs to St. Brieux and then back, given how trying the last month has been, but I'm glad I did. The Road about 2/3 of our trip was on a pretty good one lane highway. The remainder was a hodgepodge of gravel of varying widths. With the recent snow and ice, some of those parts were treacherous (icy, bumpy, narrow). The Rescue On one of the gravel bits, at a 'T' intersection, we found a pickup truck who missed the 'T' all the way off the road in the ditch at about a 30 degree inclination. I can't believe I neglected to take a picture. The occupant was fine and I was going to take him to a nearby farm and see if we could get some help. We decided to first try the tiny ratchet straps that he had in his glove box. Miraculously, they survived just long enough to drag him up and out of the ditch. One of them snapped just as he got back onto the road. Wildlife - Down...

Fair Warning. This blog post, while it is about life's most delicious beverage, will be handwritten and published as JPEGs. Also, I'm still (and increasingly) angry with Google and Blogger, but I'm still here... for the time being. This Post represents about 3 months of coffee testing--from November 13th, 2018 to February 15th, 2019. The project is only partially completed, but I wanted to be able to share it with you right now. Perhaps you will benefit from our tasting experience.

I've got a lot to cover here. Let's get right to it. One thing has dominated how our family has operated for the past 2 months. Leora's show. When last we talked spoke (for more than an instant) Leora had begun rehearsals for The Sound of Music.  We knew it was going to be a stretch for her and the family. Boy, were we right. On paper, we went into the commitment with our eyes fully open. Persephone was upfront and correct about the time required. It still didn't prepare us for how draining it would be on the family. The last couple of weeks of rehearsals were 12 hour days with a break in the middle. I would drop her off at the Ramai Arts Bldg., pick her up during a supper break, take her back to the theatre and pick her up at the end of the day. Factoring in waiting around etc... it worked out to about 90 min/day of driving/waiting. Leo missed several days of school. Then the performances actually began. She did 8 shows per week from Tuesday to Sunday....

Our Modest Christmas Eve Snack It has been an unusual holiday season for our family. We have just finished having Jodi and Brad stay with us for a few days, but beyond that we had no house guests over Christmas. Normally, we expect at least two weeks of company. When added to the mild weather and absence of snow, it almost doesn't feel like we had Christmas at all. That said, I had a great holiday. I've been continuing to study flow ( as discussed last post ) and how it integrates with the Quest. As a result, I anticipate this being the most successful winter of my adult life. Whoa... talk about raising expectations. I know that February is coming, but I think (foolishly or not) that I will avoid my usual slump. Something feels different. Tender, buttery Brioche Anyhow, we had a terrific time planning out all of the goodies that we would bake this year. The girls have trouble keeping to just 5 kinds of cookies and I chafe at the thought of only making 4 types of f...

I watched " I am Legend (imdb)" again last night, so the above quote comes from Bob Marley, through Will Smith, me, and onto you... With Christmas guests all but a memory and my famous post-birthday-blues (2006 post) setting in, I've embarked on a number of projects to keep myself busy. Todays tidbit is on my grow-table. In the fall of 2008 a theatre friend gave us a grow-table that her father had made for her 30 or more years ago. It had been sitting unused for more than a decade and she was trying to find a good home for it. Mission accomplished. We used it to start our garden seedlings last spring, but I thought I would try a few things earlier this year. I grabbed some soil, perlite, and plant food and got busy. In November, garlic was really cheap. It made sense at the time to buy one of those big bags with a dozen bulbs of garlic in it. By making a lot of pizza I managed to get through most of it, but some of the bulbs began sprouting towards Christmas. ...

Perhaps there is a school you can attend that will teach you how to find perfect gifts for your friends. I haven't been there, but I know someone who should be lecturing. From the hands of the man who brought me lock-picks, Swiss army knives and countless... Liquid Metal ... dangerous (previous blog entry) Prince Rupert's Drops ... adventures !(another old post) I give you Shape Lock , which is a brand name for something more generally known as "friendly plastics" or polycaprolactone (wikipedia). We had loads of fun with it the first day, but had to keep it on a shelf for a few days to allow me to speak directly to other humans. Even then concentration was difficult. My mind raced constantly thinking of cool uses for this stuff. Eventually, when the Christmas hubbub was dying down, I settled on a project that I've wanted to attempt for a long time -- making a custom attachment for my Gorilla Pod . Before we go any further, if at any time you find yo...