Faerie Chick With A 2X4

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:26:53 GMT

So we've had pretty intense cold (especially for the region; 30+ year records have been broken all over the place) this past week. This morning I had to go break open the ice on the sheep's water trough with a pick mattock; as of 1 pm, the ice had still not even begun to melt, and I took this picture of some of the chunks.

My feet are a 'dainty' size 10. As you can see, the ice had frozen almost all the way through. I will say this much, it's been great exercise. ;P

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:03:22 GMT

And a joyous turkey day was had by all.

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:47:46 GMT

So I lied. My list did not get even remotely done today as today was given over to rigging a new poultry shelter (the one the beast built being snubbed by geese and ducks, one and all). Without boring folks unduly, I'll say it involved a trip to a hardware store's garden center and a trip to the farm store, a tarp, tent pegs, rope, and a few 'shepherds crook' lantern hangers. Oh, and an awful lot of standing out in the rain in below 50F temperatures.

Those darn birds had better appreciate it. ;P

I am now making beef and spinach tikka masala and warming up in my pajamas. Tomorrow is, after all, another day.

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:39:47 GMT

Monday:
Check on poultry shelter; make sure birds are using it, do what's needed to get them in
Read up more on rootstocks, grafting; get in touch with cty ext agent and see what can be discovered there
Call Peggy about Toulouse
Dishes, sweep/vacuum
Rearrange freezers ahead of sheep
Clean the bathrooms
Laundry, bedding!
Litterboxes

Tuesday:
pick up sheep
whatever didn't get completed Monday
get thank you card, fill out cards, mail them
file paperwork building up, find legal paperwork, fill out, send

If I feel up to it:

Costco run (toilet paper, maybe more smoked salmon?)
Wed night: sale/party at Ace
work on Minty Goddess, start making notes for e. civil war story?
bake cookies!
make mutton stew for freezing, maybe potato-leek soup

Now, I sleep!

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:57:59 GMT

This post is just to say that my life is amazing and awesome and I have no real major complaints anymore. I was going back and reading my earliest posts and realizing just how much being heavily in debt and so on was making me a depressed cranky monster and in turn relying on peripherals to distract myself from how much things sucked.

I consider myself truly blessed to have gotten to HERE from THERE.

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:09:07 GMT

In-laws have gone, and the house is finally empty of guests again after weeks and weeks. I'm adapting, somehow.

The cats have come out of hiding. The sheep are in their own enclosure, now, which makes the geese very happy indeed. It has been alternating sun and clouds today, and I've opened the windows a smidgen to air the place out.

I'm tired, but I'm happy to have my house to myself! Now to figure out what to give the beast for dinner.

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:34 GMT

We now have barn cats and kittens, Muscovy ducks, Soay sheep, and Toulouse geese. The geese are still shy and settling in (we only got them this past Sunday) and as a result, I have no good pictures of them. We'll be getting two more tomorrow (hopefully female) in an effort to even out the male-female ratio, as our starter flock of Toulouse geese consists of three males and one female.

The party was a success, I think; we had around fourteen people in all, and I spent the day before it cooking for nine hours straight. There was pineapple chicken salad, spiced mixed nuts (coriander salted walnuts and brown sugar and cinnamon pecans), spinach salad with dried cranberries, blue cheese, pecans and tomatoes, asparagus salad with red bell peppers and artichoke hearts, two kinds of Aioulle spread, rolls, kitchen sink vegetable lasagna, lamb with lentils and peas and apricot, cinnamon clove sugar cookies, and a cinnamon-filled bundt cake.

If there were more, I forget. :P

And, without further ado, the pictures:

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 04:26:56 GMT

The farm's been keeping us busy, especially with the soon-to-be arriving parents of the beast. Our latest expansion pack has been a flock of chocolate and blue Muscovy ducks, 22 strong in all (6 adult hens, 1 adult drake, 5 adolescents and 10 ducklings). I've been woken up a couple of mornings to find that the chocolate hen has used their shelter's roof to boost herself over the electric fence and into the pond; the beast has solved this by extending the fencing to enclose the pond. No more blearily dressing and rushing out to chase a recalcitrant duck hen back into the enclosure for me.

The kittens continue to grow apace; Nibs managed to smack me in the face with a claw today when I bent down to tie a shoelace, but as he was aiming for my hair, which I had let down, I can forgive it. Still, a surprising amount of blood from such an invisible scratch.

Wimsey has been yowling a lot and demanding on being involved in anything and everything I am doing until I sit down so he can snuggle up. The rest of the time he is yowling and demanding to be allowed out; his petulant demands go mostly unanswered, although he did get some chicken livers from the roast chicken I made the other night. The chicken scraps and bones went into the pot for stock, some of which helped me have dinner tonight; potstickers and chopped leek in chicken stock, mm. I do need to get soy sauce, though.

And without further ado, the real reason you all read this: pictures.

Updates

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:35:37 GMT

The kittens are doing well; things are otherwise still a bit chaotic. Most of the work on the house has been done, but there remains certain items (mainly stair-related); and, of course, a metric buttload (as opposed to imperial buttload) of unpacking to be done. Many items still are in the storage unit in Seattle, waiting to be ferried to the house - the beast is ferrying some today (too many; 28 boxes, going to be interesting figuring out where to put them).

The brackets arrived at Ace today and I took them home only to find out they're the wrong size. I suspect the larger size will turn out not to work either, locking us in to buying the overpriced Rubbermaid ones; hopefully I'll be proven wrong, but tomorrow I'll have to go back and return them and try the larger size. Sigh.

I made pickles last night; a version of half-sours, but not sure about the pickling spice I used, may end up having to toss them, which would suck. I am going to be making bread and butter pickles, pear jelly and preserved plums very soon; also salsa. Probably later this week.

The kittens are getting so big! My babies are growing up. Sniffle. The fencing arrived too, so we're looking into building a coop and getting chickens soon.

Too tired to write very much today, but here are some pictures behind the cut. fussylogic, if you got my invite I haven't seen a reply; let me know if your spam filter ate it!

More house pics when there's better light to shoot by. Also edited to add, for those three of you pestering me about my wishlist for housewarming presents, I /think/ this should be correct: http://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/3MMBPI4HDV99T/ref=cm_wl_act_vv?_encoding=UTF8&visitor-view=1&reveal=

There's non-house-related stuff on it as it's a general list. :)

Kittens, Kittens, Kittens

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:40:57 GMT

I'm not even going to pretend this post is about much other than the kittens, because, well, even if it were, I've mostly only got pictures of kittens for you. Such is the way of things. There is some other random updating, so that you will have to read to get to the kitten pictures.

This weekend the beast and I went back to Seattle to pack stuff some more. And pack, and pack, and pack. Jeff helped with putting things into the storage unit and with loading the truck with some bookcases and boxes, etc. Sunday he had football, so the beast and I picked up from there; which may be why today I am an under the weather, out of energy, frail-feeling shadowfey. On the plus side, all the bookcases are now out of the apartment.

This leaves us with A handful of boxes' worth of random crap to be packed, a desk to be gotten rid of, the china cabinet, the desk we're keeping, some packed boxes, a shoe rack table, and the old mattress; also some of the beast's projects, and the various gardening containers. Compared to before, nothing too major, and Jeff should be available to help with the heavy stuff this coming weekend. We're still debating my going up there and cleaning like mad then, or just saying screw it and hiring a cleaning service to go in and do a moveout special. I guess it depends how much the service would charge; I don't have a real good idea on that.

In the interim, I've been trying to dig up info on what it would take for us to have servicepeople for holidays and the like. It seems a shame not to share our good fortune with others, especially those who are far from their families at holiday times. I made a contact online via a silly little iPhone game with a Marine staff sergeant who put me in contact with a woman who runs a support group for the families of Army cavalry folks; waiting to hear back from her next week.

Apart from that, one of the kittens (not the same one) had been sickly again; they're all still fighting off their sniffles. I've been using baby wipes to 'groom' them every day as of yesterday, which has also included prying encrustations off their poor little noses. The sickly one I finally managed to coax into eating with the help of an eyedropper and some cream-enriched milk, and then I ended up pretty well pinned under all four kittens plus Peter. Peter is a very, very, very tolerant cat; even when one of the kittens attacked his tail, he only turned around to hiss and try swatting after a full minute or two of said rear assault.

Kittens understand chiarascuro intuitively

Look, ma! Matching outfits!

It's a triskelon of tails!

Peter is VERY tolerant...

Happy cat, happy kittens

Mommy is comfortable!

Attacking the camera

Peter's my friend

Peter's tail MOVES!

Last one on the mommy's a two-toed canary!

As you can see, it's been very difficult to write. The kittens have me pinned...

Furniture, Appliances, and KITTENS

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:07:36 GMT

The new fridge and stove arrived today. I am reasonably ecstatic, even though the appliance delivery guys really so did not go above and beyond. It's not so bad as going under and within, but I think it's safe to say that he aimed for about elbow height and hit it. Solidly. On the humerus.

So, after they left I found myself removing the plastic wrap, opening the fridge and finding all the shelves still taped together and upside down, etc. And having to remove the flattened cardboard box he'd 'thoughtfully' put under the fridge so as to protect my floor. Because isn't it every girl's dream to live in a house where the fridge sits on a flattened piece of cardboard? Then I was busy putting down the little lockstands, since otherwise the fridge would go rolling away across the floor every time one pulls it open, and in general that kept me busy until the La-Z Boy delivery guys arrived.

They were a lot faster and a lot more competent. They brought the components in, put them together, made sure I already knew how they went together, and made sure that the coffee table (it folds open and locks into place, ideal for use with a laptop) still worked as it was supposed to, put things where I wanted 'em and were gone maybe ten minutes later. And it looks great! Wimsey in particular agrees.

After that, I checked in on Peter and the kittens; the kittens in particular wish to remind you all that they will dominate the world, and after their first human slave has bowed her head, you all are next. BOW before their utter will-crushing cuteness!

Also? This butt's for you.

Then it was off to Costco and procuring a metric ton (I should say buttload, but after that last picture, I think the beast would hurt me) of food. Juice and Coke, peas and edamame, Bergendorf cheese and fresh mozarella, tilapia fillets, ground beef and pot roasts, tri tip steaks and leg of lamb, boneless country pork ribs, Bartlett pears, sweet onions, apple pears, fresh prune plums, whole fryer chickens, fresh corn on the cob and Roma tomatoes, heavy whipping cream, and muffins. Also some Ziploc freezer bags and food trays for breaking things into smaller portions, and a rotisserie chicken for tonight's dinner. Oh, and some pre-cooked bacon for making into the meatloaves and so on. My new fridge isn't full, but it's far from empty. Yay!

After all the unloading, I sat down for a few minutes on the new sofa. Wimsey totally approved of this measure. If I'd let him, he would have taken a nap.

In fact, he almost did!

And now it's off to wash up the kittens' various dirty dishes, put away the clean dishes, and begin making all that meatloaf. And, of course, take the kittens their dinner, as their loyal and obedient slave. Those who wish to submit to their iron-heeled demands may apply courtesy of this LJ post.

On Houses and Kittens, part the IV

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 03:26:42 GMT

Okay, so I lied. But having checked on the kittens, tell me I shouldn't have posted these...

On Houses and Kittens, part the III

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 03:05:53 GMT

Much of our work is somewhat invisible at the moment; pulling up electric fencing, getting rid of half-buried posts where trying to mow the grass and weeds could prove detrimental to one's health, etc. The beast has been keeping very busy with this work of late, and we're yet nowhere near done. However, one of the things we've done has been to acquire some barn cats for the workshop. Or more specifically, one barn cat. Four barn kittens.

The first new member of our happy band is Peter, named for Peter Pan as we're hoping he'll help foster the kittens. He is a very affectionate, mellow ex-tom cat of six or seven years old. All our cats are shelter rescues, and they are all adorable.

Peter loves affection, as can readily be apparent. He was abandoned by his former owners and seems very happy to make his new home with us; we got him on Friday and as you can see, he wasted no time in making himself at home. Today we brought home the kittens, and began introducing them to Peter without wasting any time of our own.

The kittens promptly began to explore, with Peter being a little nervous he might be less loved. He received reassurance while the kittens proceeded to explore. And play. And play. And PLAY. And EXPLORE.

Two of them - one of the orange little boys and the little grey girl - appear to have colds. If they don't improve I'll be taking them to the vet in the morning, but for now they're just a little less energetic than the other two boys. Peter has been accepting of them, and they've been a little more snoozy than their hyperactive brothers.

They are, however, all absolutely adorable. I'll be checking on them one last time before bed in a few, but here's a couple more images to hold people over until the next time and the next post!

Oh, and the kittens' names? What else? Tootles, Slightly, Nibs and Tink.

On Houses and Kittens, part the II

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 02:44:37 GMT

Thusly we move on from the previous post. Wherein before we had the downstairs, sans kitchen, now we enjoy the view of the French doors and backyard, and the view out the kitchen window. It is actually a very pretty sight to behold, and will become moreso, as we get our belongings here and unpack them. A guest appearance by Le Creuset may be sighted for the knowledgeable.

The guest bedroom was occupied by my mother, who's returned home to Florida. I miss her already! But hopefully the next time she's out here, the furniture store will have sent their people to finish the job by putting the bed together (with the hardware they left out the first time).

Our bedroom is a joy now that we have furniture in it. A six piece cherrywood bedroom set, with the king-sized bed high enough that even I have to hop up a little to get up; the cats scale the sides to get up, and Shelley (pictured to the right) sometimes doesn't want to make the effort, lying down next to the bed and gazing up at the beast with pitiful little mews demanding to be picked up and placed.

The room still must be repainted, and I haven't taken pictures today of the nursery, due to it also needing to be repainted and the light fading. The wallpaper borders, especially that of the cherubs, will definitely have to go.

We have a wonderful view of the pond and the northern chunk of our property from the bedroom...

On Houses and Kittens

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 02:35:02 GMT

Work has proceeded apace on the house, and as such I owe it to the people whom I have so shamefully neglected with my lack of posts. Herein there shall be some posts, and information, and pictures.

Here we have our porch, with one of the extraordinarily comfortable moon chairs we picked up from Cabela's, and moreover, a truly ginormous spider on its web. The spider's easier to make out than the web; the sun was bright and I was using my phone.

I did have older pictures, showing the house while the downstairs was still being painted and while the carpets were still in need of replacing. But since I can't find them, here are the pictures of the interior as it is now, along with a picture of the view out our living room window, complete with a cat looking regal and a fountain behind it.

We are lords of all we survey! Literally; we can't generally see past the borders of our property. It's a bit too twilight to go wandering all over the borders, but here's a general shot or two from the porch.

The future library has purple walls and cherrywood floors. It's largeish but difficult to get a good angle on for taking a picture without doing it from outside the house. At the moment it is a repository for inflatable air mattresses and for cat supplies.

More pictures and more details in the next post.

House

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:49:26 GMT

We have moved the cats into the new house. My mother is visiting and we're shuttling back and forth between the house and the apartment in Seattle, packing things up and bringing crates of stuff back each trip. Things are getting done more slowly than I'd have liked, but they are getting done, and (whoever willing), will continue to get done on time even if not according to my ideal timetable.

The downstairs is now entirely painted, except for the stairs/steps. The cats are very happy here and have even put aside their differences in order to share the bed on a regular basis; this despite being all confined to the upstairs for now.

Mom and I hit the labor day sales and in one day managed to line up a six-piece cherrywood bedroom set with king mattress and boxsprings for our bedroom and a queen steel carriage-gate frame and mattress and boxsprings for the guest bedroom, plus a La-Z Boy loveseat, couch, fold-out coffee table and corner table for the living room, and a new Maytag refrigerator and ceramic cooktop stove with double oven. It was frightening to spend that much money all in one day but we really did get amazing deals.

The floors should begin to be installed on Wednesday. Tomorrow we'll be doing more shuttling and when we get back, I'll be scraping off the wallpaper borders in the two upstairs bedrooms.

The housewarming is going to be on Halloween and loads of people have been invited. Hopefully anyone who didn't get an invite who wants one will drop a comment; the more the merrier, I'm not inclined to leave people out! It is very exciting, although a little nervewracking at the moment.

We have gotten to watch almost daily visitations by local blacktailed deer; we'll be making some arrangements to minimize those incursions when it comes time for crops and the like.

Basic Tomato Sauce

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:37:44 GMT

As I began to write for a LJ friend info on tomato sauce, it became very long and I realized that my tomato-fu has over the years become curiously intricate and entwined. While a certain amount of paring back is possible, I also want to provide context for the information, while making it plain where the limitations are - and aren't. Hopefully this is a joyful result, as tomato sauce should, in its heart, be at least somewhat joyful.

Okay, tomato sauce, in a rambling sort of way!

Tomato sauce can be literally just that: sauce made from tomatoes, only. Most people don't consider this to be an acceptable sauce, though, and store-bought sauces can contain an astounding array of ingredients and fillers, sweeteners and thickeners, etc. I don't know what type your tastes run to to, but I find personally that sugar's rarely if ever -needed- for a decent homemade tomato sauce.

All tomatoes are not created equal, too; the reason Roma tomatoes are typically used for sauce is that they are a fairly dense, 'dry' tomato; they should not be watery. The downside is that Romas are often, as tomatoes go, and with modern plant-breeding, rather bland despite having a medium-high acidity. I think I remember you saying you had lots of Roma tomatoes for your sauce, but I'll give you a basic recipe that you can use with almost any tomato type - I'm also assuming you're going to want to make a large batch and freeze it later. Keep in mind that in my experience, ANY tomato sauce recipe just about can have its flavour punched up later through some tips I'll go into later, so it's okay to start with a bland recipe and experiment or improvise from there. (I know someone who swore by adding Pernod to tomato sauce, for instance.)

Many recipes will tell you to peel the tomatoes before use. I will give you instructions on how to do this relatively easily if you don't know, but I will also note that I don't find it necessary. I -do- cut off the stem scar (the dry, ridged bit on top where the tomato had been attached to the stem) for reasons of taste and also health concern(a), but the rest of the tomato goes into the pot with me.

ingredients
5lb tomatoes, loosely chopped
1 to 2 cups water (1)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 to 1 cup finely minced onion, garlic, parsley (2)
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper (3)
1 tablespoon olive oil
dollop of oil
other to taste (b)

utensils
enameled stockpot, at least 6qt capacity (4)
wooden spoon
measuring spoons & cup
knife
cutting board
small pan

As always, wash your vegetables first. Chop your tomatoes into reasonable chunks (length should not be longer than from your fingertip to your middle knuckle of your index finger and width shouldn't be much bigger than your finger-width; smaller is acceptable, but this is not something where precision matters). Pour the pieces into your pot; add your water, salt, pepper. Turn onto low heat.

Prepare your onion, parsley and garlic. Garlic and onion should be peeled and minced fine to medium-fine (again, precision isn't very relevant here, but it should be in lots of pieces). Heat dollop of oil in pan over low to medium and add onion and garlic. Sautee until soft, what cookbooks often call translucent. Try to keep from browning; if it looks like it will brown, lower the heat. Add to pot. Parsley should be minced quite fine and added at this time along with remaining olive oil.

Raise heat to medium and stir thoroughly, focusing on the bottom, every so often (5) to keep the bottom from scorching. If it seems likely to scorch, again, lower the heat. Allow it to reduce (it WILL reduce) over the next couple of hours and thicken. If it seems to show no sign of thickening on its own and you're running out of time, you can resort to a few different options; cornstarch, a cooked potato, mashed up, flour, etc. A favourite is often instant mashed potato flakes, but I've known people to use anything, including oatmeal.

Tomato sauce thus prepared will keep in the fridge for up to 4 or 5 days, and can be frozen and used indefinitely (probably not more than a couple of months for best results).

(a) - recent FDA studies have suggested, not proven conclusively, that the hepatitis virus sometimes transmitted through vegetables is, in tomatoes, stored in the stem scar and that the rest of the tomato seems proof against it. As it's far from conclusive, I wouldn't bet my lunch or my life on it - but cutting the stem scar out, it's the bit at the top of the 'core' from the skin down to where the seeds begin - that whitish 'plug' - is easy and fast, and a small enough chunk of tomato that I don't consider it wasteful.

(b) - there is seemingly no real limit to what can be added to tomato sauce. Carrots, celery, chicken, beef, flour, corn... it's between you and your tastebuds, ultimately. I can give guidelines on these, or you can just experiment, or ask questions if you have 'em, but as this is for a 'base' recipe which can in and of itself be modified, I have eschewed them in here. If you are sold on oregano and basil, though, this is where you add them - I'd say about a teaspoon each, or one tablespoon of Italian seasoning as sold by the stores.

(1) - water is NOT the only liquid you can use in this. Just about any 'edible' liquid can, though I recommend non-basic liquids; no milk or cream (though those can be used in such recipes sometimes too). Recommendations: water, wine (red, white, or any really, although advisedly grape wines and not other fruit wines), stock or broth; harder liquors should be used more sparingly and as flavouring agents primarily. You usually will not use more than 1 cup of stock or broth because of the fats in it, unless it's vegetable broth.

(2) - Proportion is a matter of taste - as is amount. This is a basic recipe to start with, though, and it would probably be at 1 cup, about 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons of onion, 1/4 cup parsley, and the rest garlic. But if you're not a big fan of onion and you love garlic, you might cut the onion down and up the parsley; or you might hate parsley and do away with it altogether; etc. It's one of those areas where 'it depends'. If you hate any of this trio, let me know and I'll work out a substitution with you. For onion type, I usually use sweet onions or yellow onions; if you use white onion you may want to cut back a little on the amount as they are stronger.

(3) - pepper type is also up to you. I have used cayenne, black, green, white; I've substituted paprika at times; etc. Usually I tend to use a lot of pepper, but this amount's a good baseline for most people's tastes.

(4) - you want your stockpot to be enameled, and not unenameled aluminum or the like, because of the acidity in tomatos and tomato sauce. Cooking tomatoes in an unenameled aluminum pot will often result in an aluminum taste creeping into your sauce. Enameled pots are proof against this. You also don't want to cook them in unenameled cast iron for the same reason (and because it can screw up the cast iron pot!). You also want a wooden spoon and not a metal one, not for this reason so much (for whatever reason, metal spoons are more often nonreactive, I don't know why) but because the clanging of a metal spoon on a metal pot will drive you nuts - especially if you have a headache.

(5) - the first few times you make this, try to stir it every 10-15 minutes until you get familiar with your stove and pot to figure out what temperature is perfect to allow it to cook without scorching. As you get used to it, you'll get better at knowing how long you can safely walk away for before you need to attend to it again. When I make it, I check on it every half hour or so and otherwise do other things.

House Updates

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:24:49 GMT

Inspection was yesterday. Summarizing, the house passed with if not flying colours, then certainly gliding colours. Some fairly minor things to be done and a list of seasonal and annual things they recommend in general be done to prolong the lifespan of the home, which I thought was a very nice (and helpful) tip.

The inspector was a nice guy, very humane - he noticed the duck pond was low on water and the fish in it might be unhappy, so we located a hose and ran it out to the pond to let it fill while he was doing the inspection until it was time to go. The fish looked a lot happier for it.

The beast and I have been doing a lot of work in figuring out what needs to be done (by us) and how we want to do it. Flooring is one of the big things, as usually people do that via financing and on credit, etc. I am wondering as to how the best way to handle it would be. (We want the existing carpet ripped out when we take possession and put in some form of hard flooring throughout. Bamboo has been the primary option under discussion, but we're open to other ideas too. If anyone has any thoughts on the matter, speak up! The only thing I'd rule out entirely is tile, as it's just much more expensive in terms of base cost of materials, labor, and time intensiveness.)

Also? We should totally keep bees. The property is much loved by them.

OMG

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:53:32 GMT

Made an offer on a house.

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 07:07:54 GMT

Rent
Bills
Mail
Grocery shopping :
Laundry supplies
Cat litter
Lunch?
Flour
Laundry :
Bedding
Clothes
Folding
Sweeping
DVD research
~~Bread-making~~
Pasta-making
Clean out fridge
~~Dishes~~
Planting remaining

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 00:41:43 GMT

As some folks know, I've recently taken up archery and have been trying to shoot at least a few times a week. I am noticing improvements already - both in my upper body strength and in my shooting. Today someone suggested I take pictures, so what the heck? Enjoy.

	Round 1 4 March 2009 - post warmup round, first round of shooting
	Round 2 4 March 2009 - second round of shooting
	Round 3 4 March 2009 - round 3 of shooting.
	Round 4 4 March 2009 - round 4 of shooting.
	Round 5 4 March 2009 - round 5 of shooting. This round determined a tweaking error caused by looseness of shooting glove due to stretching; after 2-3 shots I corrected for it, with immediate improvement.
	Bow My current bow. 25 lb pull - it's a very sexy little bow, even if light pull. Working my way up.

For the tea lovers...

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:11:16 GMT

I know a lot of the folks who read my LJ are keen on tea in all forms (or, well, most forms) and so I'm going to mention a tea seller online who I can wholeheartedly and without reservation recommend. It's pretty much artisanal teas of very high quality : bluchai.com

I happen to have the fortune of knowing the fellow behind this endeavor. He's highly knowledgeable about teas, his family's been in the trade for a very, very long time. (He's Persian, for those of you who'd make the connection.) This is him taking up the family trade.

I may be getting a discount code; if so, I'll update this post later. If you are interested I can also pass it along to see if it generates more codes.

Scones!

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 03:05:36 GMT

scones
zante currant scones with butter and grapefruit marmalade. Only the butter was not homemade.

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:36:23 GMT

Another approximately 1600 words done on paper. Will undoubtedly swell when I type it up; it always does. Too tired to right now, though.

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 12:50:26 GMT

Being a nonconformist, I never do NaNoWriMo. However, even my nonconformity refuses to conform; I got bitten by a radioactive plot tonight and have rough sketches of 2 novels out of a 5 novel series. Not counting sketches of these two books, I have written 1,632 words of the first book of it; all of chapter one, and a handful of paragraphs for chapter two (maybe the first page).

Now to sleep before the dawn. I hope. ;P

(Also, fantomeq - we will be in Oregon the 13th! Sorry for the delay but only got confirmation as to when. Let me know how this works for you.)