![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Still Kicking
Nov. 30th, 2005 11:14 amHi all,
I'm alive. I finally got some time off work (I have 10 weeks of comp time coming) starting last week. In no particular order, here are some updates:
I'm planning to go to Philcon.
I'm going to build a canoe. A friend is letting me use her barn (which was outfitted by her ex-husband as a wood shop) and I have three books and a set of plans for making the mold. I am in the process of making the strongback (the backbone of the mold) but one of the 1 by 4s I bought is bent, and it's very important that the strongback be *straight*. I'll probably get a new 1 by 4 today.
I've taken up knitting socks.
I got in a lot of canoeing after Mom died; she loved canoeing, and the wilderness, and it seemed like a good way to honor her memory. It doesn't hurt that I love canoeing too. The best time to go is in the fall when the air is cooling down but the water is still warm (potential hypothermia issues if you fall in cold water) and most of the bugs are dead.
A new acquaintance kindly loaned me a solo canoe, which is a darn sight easier to get on and off the car by myself. It turns out one of my neighbors is really into kayaking, so we went on a lot of short trips together. I even went canoe camping (by myself) one night on an island in Cherokee Lake. It was marvelous, though I couldn't sleep worth a darn, not being used to the water lapping peacefully on the shore and such.
For Thanksgiving, I made my first pumpkin pies (just followed the directions on the back of the can and used a store-bought shortbread crust). They came out pretty good, if I do say so myself. I don't like turkey much, and it was just the two of us, so I made rock cornish hens stuffed with orange (actually a tangerine--an orange works for a chicken but is too big for cornish hens), and rice pilaf and veggies.
I ended up with Mom's recipe box, since Dad and Jake didn't cook much. Dad asked last week if I could find Mom's recipe for lemon cookies, because he's learning to cook and her cookies were very popular. It turns out they're called "Moppen"--at least, that's what she wrote at the top of the card. I made some and they came out great. Kip and I have been eating them by the handful, which can't be good for us, as they're mostly butter and sugar, with lemon zest for flavor and a little flour to help them stay together in the oven. But they're *so* good. I was walking around the house singing "All of my life I've made dangerous cookies (*munch*); All of my life I've made dangerous cookies..."
Well, that's it for now--the washer has stopped, and I need to go hang up the laundry.
I'm alive. I finally got some time off work (I have 10 weeks of comp time coming) starting last week. In no particular order, here are some updates:
I'm planning to go to Philcon.
I'm going to build a canoe. A friend is letting me use her barn (which was outfitted by her ex-husband as a wood shop) and I have three books and a set of plans for making the mold. I am in the process of making the strongback (the backbone of the mold) but one of the 1 by 4s I bought is bent, and it's very important that the strongback be *straight*. I'll probably get a new 1 by 4 today.
I've taken up knitting socks.
I got in a lot of canoeing after Mom died; she loved canoeing, and the wilderness, and it seemed like a good way to honor her memory. It doesn't hurt that I love canoeing too. The best time to go is in the fall when the air is cooling down but the water is still warm (potential hypothermia issues if you fall in cold water) and most of the bugs are dead.
A new acquaintance kindly loaned me a solo canoe, which is a darn sight easier to get on and off the car by myself. It turns out one of my neighbors is really into kayaking, so we went on a lot of short trips together. I even went canoe camping (by myself) one night on an island in Cherokee Lake. It was marvelous, though I couldn't sleep worth a darn, not being used to the water lapping peacefully on the shore and such.
For Thanksgiving, I made my first pumpkin pies (just followed the directions on the back of the can and used a store-bought shortbread crust). They came out pretty good, if I do say so myself. I don't like turkey much, and it was just the two of us, so I made rock cornish hens stuffed with orange (actually a tangerine--an orange works for a chicken but is too big for cornish hens), and rice pilaf and veggies.
I ended up with Mom's recipe box, since Dad and Jake didn't cook much. Dad asked last week if I could find Mom's recipe for lemon cookies, because he's learning to cook and her cookies were very popular. It turns out they're called "Moppen"--at least, that's what she wrote at the top of the card. I made some and they came out great. Kip and I have been eating them by the handful, which can't be good for us, as they're mostly butter and sugar, with lemon zest for flavor and a little flour to help them stay together in the oven. But they're *so* good. I was walking around the house singing "All of my life I've made dangerous cookies (*munch*); All of my life I've made dangerous cookies..."
Well, that's it for now--the washer has stopped, and I need to go hang up the laundry.
