Tea for Mrs. Rachel

On Facebook there was a meme going around where I promised to make handmade gifts for five people if each of the five people also promise to make something for five people...sort of the pay-it-forward of crafting. Below is the result of the first one I have completed.

Behold, a wool crocheted tea set with embroidered forget-me-nots created for Rachel Gorham, a LibriVox friend who lives in California:





Photo Credit: Rachel Gorham, April 2, 2009.

Puzzling Philosophy

Usually when I work puzzles I go for the picture/pixel-style puzzles and avoid the sudoku/math-style puzzles*, but this week the review/feature puzzle at Conceptis Puzzles is a CalcuDoku... so I gave it a try and was surprised that I did indeed enjoy it. I must also add that I found it enjoyable mainly because the option exists for the online/interactive version to display all of the possible equation combinations, and I probably would not have even attempted it without this option. This shortcut made it a game of process of elimination for me, and that is the type of logic I enjoy...and it appeals to my laziness. Unlike the picture puzzles, I was able to complete this puzzle in a matter of an hour or two (with a few extra hints), and that was satisfying for a change.

* Why is that? I was going to say that I like having the outcome of a picture at the end, but in reality I rarely finish the pixel puzzles and do not often experience this outcome. So why then? Perhaps it is just the incentive of knowing that I will have something (i.e. a picture instead of just a grid filled with numbers) when/if I finish...the allure of a mystery.

Whatever the reason I work and enjoy these puzzles, here is a Flash tutorial for you to learn how to work them as well:

Noiseless, Patient Spider

Just ran across this "review" of a poem I recorded (it was one of my very first LibriVox recordings):

Maggie writes:

Noiseless, patient spider is one of my favorite poems describing so aptly the essence of the existential experience (imo) — ah, the gossamer thread of it all — and as a lit-tra-tjur major, I do bristle if “sacred ground” is mocked. HOWEVER there is an exception: the Betsie Bush rendition found at http://librivox.org/a-noiseless-patient-spider-by-walt-whitman/ (item #2) is read from the point of view of a spring-cleaning housewife. priceless. Oh! My soul!!

Source: http://www.waywordradio.org/discussion/episodes/of-gossamer-and-geese-minicast/

Adventures of Maya the Bee

I completed recording The Adventures of Maya the Bee. I really enjoyed the story and all of the various insect characters. Very entertaining =)

The Adventures of Maya the Bee is an exciting tale for children of all ages. Themes of growth and development of courage and wisdom are found, as well as the extreme joy and satisfaction that Maya experiences in the beauty of creation and all creatures. Her ultimate and innate loyalty to her Nation of Bees is acted out in the final heroic scenes. This story gives us the delightful sense of having seen a small segment of the world through a Bee’s eyes. (Summary by Brenda Price)

Where ever you go, there you are.

I know my friends are expecting some sort of in-depth post about my move and new job... but there really isn't much to say. I've been at my new job at the Aurora Public Library for 2-1/2 weeks so far... the job is perfect... excellent people and the kind of work I enjoy. It's not spectacular... it's just real life.

Ginger Peach Upside-Down Cake

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book (1989) recipe for Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, which uses the ever popular "Easy" Busy-Day Cake recipe for the cake part. Also inspired by the Peach Graham Upside Down Torte posted at AllRecipes.com ... a cake which I have made but brought me to the discovery that I do not have the patience for beating all of those egg whites properly.

Ginger Peach Upside-Down Cake
Preheat oven to 350° F

Topping:
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 14-oz. can sliced peaches (drained)... or use fresh peaches
1 tablespoon water (or use some juice from the can)

Cake:
1/4 cup butter, softened (or melted because you left it in the microwave too long... it doesn't matter one way or the other)
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg (Note: Try adding 2 eggs)
1 teaspoon vanilla (I don't measure vanilla... I just pour it in *grins*)
2/3 cup buttermilk (I used 2/3 cup half & half plus 2-1/2 tablespoons powdered buttermilk)
1 teaspoon ginger (Note: Try adding more!)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup unbleached flour
1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs

Place 2 tablespoons butter in a 9-inch round cake pan and place pan in preheating oven to melt butter. Once melted, stir in brown sugar, cinnamon, and water (or juice). Enlist the help of your significant other to place the peach slices on top of the butter/sugar mixture. Kick them out of the kitchen and rearrange the peach slices so that they actually look nice. Set the pan aside and make the cake batter.

If you were my mother (or raised in the 50s and cannot imagine NOT following the recipe exactly), you'd dirty a couple of bowls to make the cake batter because someone at BH&G seems to think no recipe can be made without dirtying at least 16 bowls... "Easy", my eye. Me, being the devoted lazy Gen-Xer that I am, says to heck with the damn instructions... besides my mom isn't here to wash the dishes for me! ... but I digress...

Cream sugar and butter together. Add egg, vanilla, and buttermilk (if using milk and powdered buttermilk, just mix it all in with everything else... good heavens, don't dirty another container to premix the buttermilk!). Blend thoroughly (you know... emulsion, as in cake batter). Stir in ginger and baking powder. Then add flour and cracker crumbs, and stir it all till combined. If you want to go to the trouble of getting out the hand mixer, be my guest... but I think you know where I stand on that issue. Pour batter over peach/butter/sugar in pan. To attempt to avoid a big slope-y lump in the middle of the cake, push the batter more the edges... as it bakes the batter will slump toward the middle anyway (same is true with pizza cheese... but that's a story for another time). Place pan in oven and bake for as long as it takes ... BH&G suggests 25-30 minutes and you know my mom would just set the timer, but I just keep checking on it and when it looks brownish on the top, I start sticking a toothpick in it every so often. When the toothpick comes out clean, take it out of the oven... Loosen the edges of the cake from the pan with a knife, place a dinner place over the cake, and flip.... pray to whomever you pray to that the cake doesn't stick to the pan. If it falls apart, serve it in bowls with a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream.... no one will even notice the wreak of a cake you made.

Addendum: Now that the cake is actually baked and mostly eaten... while very tasty, I would definitely add more ginger to the batter. The cake was nice and moist at the top where the peaches and butter/sugar seeped into it, but the bottom seemed kind of dry. I suspect this was due to the graham cracker crumbs... so... either strike the graham cracker crumbs and put the 1/3 cup of flour back in, or try adding another egg.. or just add more butter to the topping so that it seeps further in... maybe someday I will try this again.

Catching up

... seems I'm behind in blogging... so here's a quick catch up....

1) Just before Thanksgiving, had a severe gallbladder attack... ouch. No health insurance, but went to the ER anyway... ouch. Not going to have it taken out, just going to try changing my eating patterns... i.e. no more sticks of butter as a late night snack.

2) Did some wool dying... selling the results here: http://spinsterswhimsy.etsy.com

3) Recorded "Cat and Mouse" by Ralph Williams for the SFFaudio's Third Annual Audiobook Challenge... Available through my SassPod podcast or LibriVox Science Fiction Collection Vol. 7.

Nature Videos ...heh.

Because life is not complete without videos of red squirrels mating.




(Videos from June 2006 on the road to Harlow Lake just north of Marquette, Michigan.)

Honeybee Update

A couple of weekends ago, I stirred things up in my first top bar hive (again)... plenty of brood was a good sign that the queen is doing well. I moved 4 bars of brood comb over to a second hive just to see what would happen (with the real hope of having two hives).

I checked this weekend and most of the brood had emerged from their cells... and I realized that most of it was drone comb... oops (basically that means many useless mouths to feed, though the drones will come in handy for mating with the new queens... keep reading) ... With such a small number of worker bees there has not been much new comb building activity in hive #2.

The drone comb is the larger comb on the left (and capped honey at the top):


However, in hive #1, I discovered several queen cells ... This could mean a couple of different things... 1) I killed the queen with my mucking about a few weeks ago and they are raising a new queen or 2) They are doing sooo well that they are planning a prison break and will take half of the colony to a new home with one of the new queens. Whatever the reason, it means that I was able to move one of the combs with queen cells over to hive #2. I also left one in hive #1 just in case I did kill the original queen. I am not going to interfere with the queen selection and just let the girls figure out which one should be in charge. Eventually, there will only be one queen per hive again and, hopefully, hive #2 will get their act together quick enough to get some comb built and honey stored for the winter. We are already starting to get cool nights, but there are plenty of late summer flowers still in bloom (and if all else fails, I can feed them into the fall). So, I will check again by the end of this week to see if any of the queen cells have hatched and then will be on the look out for new brood again.

The image below shows the queen cells (the nobbley bumps near the middle)... however, this photo is also incredibly embarrassing because they have built the comb all kittywampus across several bars, which is really my fault for not fixing it sooner... oh well, can't do anything about it now with the queen cells there:


Here is a close-up of a queen cell:


And some gratuitous fearless beekeeper shots while inspecting hive #2... because most of the bees in this hive are drones (which are harmless) and because they do not yet have any honey, brood, or queen to protect, the hive was extremely calm and easy going:


i.e. no need for me to wear protection... I do like to tuck my sleeves though, because having errant bees up my sleeves really sucks...remind me to tell you about the time one went down the front of my shirt... ouch!:

Emulsion...as in Cake Batter

I have recently been delving into what creativity and art mean to me.... I have decided that I am naturally creative and it comes easily; however, being artistic is more challenging for me, but it is artistic I wish to be. I often create from patterns and other people's ideas, but being artistic is about having something of one's own to say... and I have had a difficult time convincing myself that I have anything to say... or perhaps it is that I am afraid that there is no one listening. Over the past few weeks, I have set those concerns aside and allowed myself to be artistic again... with the following result:

Emulsion... as in Cake Batter (8.5 x 8.5 inches, cotton fabric and aluminum foil)

Form of Catnip... Shape of Tuna!

Geocaching Find

Attended the Old Towne Negaunee Geocache & Walk Michigan Event today... I think this is the best Geocaching find we've made so far:



This sleepy baby skunk was just taking a nap along side the road in a newly mowed area, hopefully he wasn't injured, but we didn't get close enough to find out.

Photo Mosaic Meme

Discovered on Rachel's blog =)

How it's done:

* Answer each of the questions below.
* Surf over to Flickr (set up an account if you don’t have one — it's quick and easy) and type your answers (one at a time) into the search bar.
* From the choice of pictures shown only on the front page, click on the one that moves you.
* Once the page with your picture opens, copy the URL.
* Surf over to the Mosaic Maker, set up your mosaic, and paste your URLs.
* Click "Create!"
* Post on your own blog, etc. (and I dare you to try and figure out what all of my answers were ;)

Here are the questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you attend?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. What is your favorite drink?
7. Where would you go on your dream vacation?
8. What is your favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. Choose one word to describe you.
12. Your Flickr name?


Photo Credits:
1. Winter Storm at Point Betsie, 2. Kappa Maki, 3. @ michigan central station, 4. blue and white...2008, 5. babinski reflex! (Jan 20th), 6. vintage tea set with cupcake, 7. rainy, 8. Because you can't have nightmares on an empty stomach..., 9. Ducks in the Mail: At the Post Office, 10. Andalusia Landscapes 2, 11. The Inquisitive Bunting, 12. Heading For The Circus

Correction.... bad beekeeper =(

So... I finally figured out that it is not that the bees are an especially aggressive batch, it is that they don't have a queen... duh!

New Carniolan (i.e. gentle, winter hardy) queen ordered and on her way to set things straight.

Bad bees :(

It's not their fault... they are just following their genetic code.

I just came in from inspecting the hive and am disappointed by this batch. Sure, they already have comb started on 5 bars, but they are so aggressive that I could barely close things back up again. Sure, not as aggressive as Africanized honeybees but definitely a lot more aggressive than my last batch. Last year, I came through the season with 4 or 5 stings (and all were from my own stupidity)... but today I got 4 or 5 stings just in this one episode (and I really wasn't doing anything very stupid today...okay, maybe the dark colored gloves with fabric backs was stupid, heh). When they would get especially riled up, I would walk away from the hive and, as usual, several guards followed and buzzed me... but they stuck around for at least five minutes... that doesn't seem "normal" to me. Or maybe I just have selective memory and don't remember the bad parts of last year's experience.

Now, the question is whether to wait and see how this queen's daughters turn out (as the ones that came with her are not necessarily her children), or just order a new queen. I am leaning toward new queen... Carniolan or Russian, I think.

CCD is a Myth

Review: EcoChef: Bee troubles changing industry

Article on beekeeping explaining why industrial beekeeping is having so many problems. Top bar hives and natural cell-size comb (foundationless) allows the bees to take care of themselves instead of depending on excessive human intervention which causes stress to the colony and leads to illness.

This sentence sums up the entire problem (which is commonly called colony collapse disorder--the real disorder is in the greed and arrogance of humanity): "Larger combs equal more honey and more money, but [this beekeeper] believes this can stress the bees and make them susceptible to disease."

An error in the article that I wish to correct: There are no native North American honeybee species. Blueberries were thriving in North America long before Europeans brought honeybees here, therefore blueberries cannot possibly be solely dependent on honeybees for pollination. However, there are native bees, but they do not store honey as honeybees do. I love this emphasis on encouraging native insects to do the job for which they were naturally designed.

A bunch of stuff..

1. The new honeybees are now in the hive. I have not yet figured out how to determine honeybee happiness levels, but they are still there so I'll take that as a good sign. I wasn't as graceful about pouring them into the hive box as last year ... I was much more OCD about the details last year... but the girls sorted it out. They instantly went to work sanitizing the box (which I had scrubbed and bleached already), and foraging (though, I did put a bag of sugar water and a protein dough patty into the box, just in case). I haven't looked at the photos yet, so perhaps I'll post some photos later.

2. While I was watching the bees, I noticed how tall the garlic mustard patch had grown since I had poured the left over bleach water on them... and then went into a garlic mustard weed pulling frenzy....and then got all depressed over how overwhelming the task is. There are just soooo many of them. Trying to clean up our little strip of woods is one thing, but across the dirt path they are out of control! After about half an hour, I had to go take a nap and sleep off the depression.

3. Today is my last day as a paid Librarian for now. I'll always BE a Librarian... but my dream job is now officially over. We are parting amicably, and I will continue to be available if they need some training sessions or have a batch of original cataloging to do.

4. Tomorrow I have training for a new medical transcription job that seems very promising. I expect to start working 4pm to Midnight on Wednesday.... with lots of hammock therapy during the days.

Geocaching & Photographs

I haven't posted a good photo-laden post in awhile... so, here are some nature photos from our recent Geocaching trips.

Here we are on the trail to a cache on the back side of Teal Lake in Negaunee/Ishpeming.... it was a two mile round-trip hike (up and down hills, which wouldn't have been a big deal if we were in better shape...oh well), and the cache itself was on the side of a cliff... seriously.... a cliff... by the time we got there we were too exhausted to take scenery photos, so this is all you get, a photo of us before we are too tired to care:


Oh, but I did get a good chuckle out of this sign that we saw on our way out...um... duh...:



We went to visit my parents at their place on Langford Lake in Watersmeet during Memorial Day week... on the road in to their house, we saw this bald eagle watching for fish at the dam (not the greatest photo, but good enough):



And these three are the Kakabika Falls near Watersmeet and some interesting roots along the shore of the falls:







And at Moon Lake (also in Watersmeet), we found these critters hiding under a log (red backed salamanders):

Puzzle Addiction enabled!

I'm so in love with the Conceptis Puzzles new website! So easy to navigate! I love being able to work the weekly review puzzle online instead of having to print it out on paper (that I usually lose by the time I get home).

Review: With a wide range of logic puzzle styles, including math and picture puzzles, conceptispuzzles.com provides puzzle addicts and casual puzzlers alike with weekly puzzles to challenge and relax their brains. The content is ever-changing, fresh, and appeals to a wide range of skill levels. With many puzzle options online and in print, there is no better option available for high-quality logic puzzles than conceptispuzzles.com.

Sign me up...

More hotels should have a librarian on staff... or at least LibriVox recordings on-demand!

3. The Hyatt Andaz London hotel is number one choice for book lovers as it offers one of the most unique services for its guests – “bibliotherapy”. The hotel has a “reader-in-residence”, whose duties include diagnosing hotel guests’ literary needs and prescribing particular texts, which he reads aloud to them. Moreover, there is a special book menu to choose from. Enjoy a peaceful evening with a man reading aloud for you.

(Source: Top 7 Hotels With The Most Bizarre Stuff)