Followers

Sunday, January 27, 2019

Play Ball II

Spacey
Underwater
Mayhem
Together

Big Bird 
Pair
Sneaky Snakey
 That's all for today!







Saturday, January 26, 2019

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Glass Art and THANKS Brother!

I have wished for a crystal ball ever since the early 1960's. I thought maybe I could see visions of some sort by looking in the ball in a quiet place of solitude. Then I forgot about one until just lately when I see that photographers are using and experimenting them in their artistic works. Again I wished for one and even bookmarked a page to buy myself one but could never justify the expense. I wanted a high quality and large one! I mentioned it to my brother a couple of weeks ago because I knew both he and my nephew had made some in the past. I remember my nephew tried to take a picture outdoors on a sunny day and, as he was holding his reflective sphere, he experienced a burned thumb when trying to take a photo. My brother had designed a machine to make glass spheres in his "glassman" business. He told me he sold a lot of them.
Nephew's thumb burning
Several years ago, both of them visited an artist who lives about 30 miles from us. They came back excited and he had given them each some pieces of his glass to work with. Today a large ball, made by my brother of Christopher Ries's glass was given to me. It measures about 3.15" (approx. 80mm) and weighs 650g (about 22.93 oz.) Brother created it from one of the square blocks of optical glass. I was overwhelmed! I set it on a hard plastic dip cup and took 3 pictures. Now I need to make a velvet pouch for it's keep!
 I am thinking about finding a round clear rubber ring to help place it on things to shoot my pictures. Something soft so as not to scratch it. To learn more about Christopher Reis, click on the links below. He was just featured on our local tv station about a week ago.

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

The Project

My fellow blogger, Anni understands the enormity of my old photo album project and says she hopes I'll take "before" and "after" photos. Darn! I didn't think of that but here are a few to give you the idea.


I just want to keep it as “vintage” as possible, not create an up-to-date style. I’ll be OK. Just takes time and motivation. Most of the photos are trimmed with pinking shears - haha! Crooked and all.


So far I have trimmed 30 pages and have scored and bent over one end 1” and punched about 10 pages with two holes each 3” away from ends and 1/2” in from ends. The really messy part will be trying to unglue the photos as in those old days I used Mucilage. Remember that stuff? Red rubber tip with a slit to let the glue out when you press down. I will soon start to do one page at a time. Remove and remount.
Some of the photos have both corners AND glue!



Monday, January 21, 2019

Cold Here...Project Started


After all, it is winter! I took these pictures at 7:34am from outdoors. The temps have not gone above 0° all day. Not even once, so...we stay in and find things to do.
I'm working on a 66 year old photo album that my daughter sent me for repairs. Well, actually a total tear down and build up again. The pages holding the pictures have disintegrated. It's a very messy project. The photos start in 1953 when I started dating her dad and end when she is 7 mos. old, before her siblings arrived in the family.  All I have completed so far is repair of the front and back covers, and cut paper to fit this 11.5" x 15" album. I need 30 new pages. Wouldn't you know that the paper I have from past projects is too large so I have to cut it down from its 12" x 18" measurements and leave enough to fold over a one inch side in which I'll punch 2 holes for strength before assembly. I do have corners for the photos which will have to be removed, cleaned and replaced on the new pages. I do have a set of post extenders to hold it all together. I have been procrastinating about this project for about three years and it is time to do it. I had forgotten that I gave it to her soon after she married. Her dad died 2016. 

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Snow Event

Well all I can say is that it was a nuisance in our neck of the woods. Heavy wet stuff - I almost feel that we got home-free this time. Winds and dropped temperatures are still forecast but as I WRITE - THE SUN IS almost OUT!

Snowblower machines and old muscle men do not like heavy wet snow.
End of story...

Thursday, January 17, 2019

I Done Died - Chris Rodrigues & Abby the Spoon Lady (WDVX Blue Plate)


I have been listening to every single one of the videos and even found a very interesting history of this woman. Her talent and the story behind it is unbelievable!
Also her solo is nice.   Solo

I STRONGLY suggest you set aside an hour to read the entire background from this link. I was impressed with her background but you have to read this entire article to really understand and know her. I'm hooked.

Click on LINK

Thursday, January 10, 2019

First Tooth Out

My great nephew just lost his first tooth. His mom took the picture and I sent help in the best way I could as they live quite far away.
             please click on image to view larger              

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Burger Trial on New Frier

Last night we used the air frier to cook burgers. We really like having these frozen ones on hand and they are very flavorful. Usually the Mister grills them on the outdoor propane grill. He likes a slice of cheese on his at the end of grilling; me none. We each eat only one. 
Internet images

Since the instruction manual gave no times nor temperature for frozen burgers, I called and the customer service lady checked a chart and told me 15 minutes at 350° flipping them over in the middle of timing. When I asked how done they would be she couldn't answer. We like our burgers medium rare. 

They came out perfect! I put his slice of cheese on his burger when placing it on the roll. However, there was a bit of cleanup that we don't have when using the outdoor grill and there was no 'smoky' taste but they were done very much to our liking.

I let the basket and pan cool over night. The basket with the perforated parchment paper had a little hardened fat and the bottom pan had a bit more. I took a paper towel to remove most of it before washing out with detergent and hot water. It cleaned up nicely. (The instruction booklet suggested lining the pan with foil.) That would have helped with the cleanup. Guess I missed that suggestion!

I plan to try baking a couple of Russet potatoes next... stay tuned. 

Homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert!
please click on image to view larger

Saturday, January 5, 2019

Winter Woes

This is NOT our typical winter! Ugh!!!!
January 5, 2019  34° at 8:30am.
 
 

Friday, January 4, 2019

Quick Report on Frier

It works. We had Perdue chicken nuggets last night and they were well done. I must remember to buy some more honey and also blue cheese dip.

I don't think it is a necessary appliance yet but that is probably because I have to move things to get it near an electric socket. It is a bit heavy.

Next experiment will be hamburgers. Hope that the package of 100 liners arrives soon. We don't much like intensive cleanups.

These perforated parchment nonstick 9 inch air fryer liners are on their way and only cost $8.10 (no shipping and I used promo code on back of instruction booklet.) We'll see.
Internet image
Click on link below to learn more about them:
GoWise Frier Liners

Thursday, January 3, 2019

Trial...

So far not an error! I tried out my new air frier that my granddaughters sent to me as a Christmas gift. The first challenge was to find a place where it could be connected to electricity and be as level as possible. The old sink drainboard that sits under the fluorescent light fixture was the best place suitable. There is a socket on the side of the fixture and I use it often. It only means moving the dish drainer and unplugging the ceramic tree.  Oh! The challenges of using electrical appliances in this cabin!
I thought I'd start with something simple, and the fries by Nathan was my choice. I set the timer for 15 minutes and the heat at 400° as the instructions indicated for fries. Maybe next time I'll use the automatic function. I just wanted to learn all of the options.
internet graphic
OK! They were not greasy and were brown and hot. They were good.  Success. Wiped out the basket and the pan with paper towel. Before I had this frier I would put them on a cookie sheet that was covered with Release foil and pop them into the oven for about 25 minutes at 400°. Easy cleanup - throw away the foil!
The next use will be the Perdue chicken breast nuggets. Again, I usually do these in the regular oven on a Release-covered cookie sheet.
internet graphic
I plan to step up very soon with hamburgers. The basket is about 9" in diameter so two should fit nicely. We'll see. When the weather is cold, I like to do these on my George Forman Grill, but it is an older one (1996) where the grids are not removable. I found that by soaking a paper towel in water and inserting it between the grids after cooking and cool down, the residue is easily removed.
internet graphic
When the fellow who does our yard work visited recently, he saw the air frier and said it's just like his and his family of 7 all love the results and the recipes in the accompanying book are good. That is encouraging and I plan to start out simple. My usual method of challenging projects is always trial and error. Newfangled things can be intimidating for old people.
Don't forget to click on images to view larger...

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Clean Out - Update!

A few days ago I hung out my "wind ribbons," just because I like to see things moving and I also wanted to finish off the bits and pieces of old ribbons from my craft container.  

James finally got his last photo of 2018 on December 31. Then it rained and it rained..... did I say it rained?
When I looked out the window this morning, even it was only 22° the ice on the lake has completely disappeared. I looked back at last year's photos and saw that many ice fishermen were out there on January 11 and we had our first significant snow on January 18. Wow is this a different year!
please click on image to view larger

Today the paper shredder is going full blast. It is very old and has jammed several times. We hope to get through this annual paperwork project. I keep all medical paperwork for two years and each year destroy the oldest ones. We have to do the updates and upkeep on address lists, and bank statements so there won't be such an accumulation that it becomes overwhelming. Does anyone else do this? You often hear "Out with the old, in with the new."   That is all it really is. 

I guess the next project will be to to remove holiday decorations and try out my new air frier. Let the fun begin!