Just Call Me Lady Lemon Marmalade

Ugh, the major drawback of having wordpress autopost my articles (and having a bunch of things publish at once) is that I have to go back and batch edit all the tags and categories.  At least this time most of them had similar tags.

I’ve been busy still, writing and cooking.  Lots of cooking.  I’ve made sour dough bread, two kinds of marmalade with a third jelly to come and I will be making cheese in a day ot two, as well.  The sour dough bread is my first successful attempt, but only halfway, as it did not rise appropriately.  I think it just wasn’t warm enough in the room.  Correction – it rose the first time, but the second rise never happened.  Or, if it did, it never reached double bulk.  Gah, I wann live on a farm with a huge, warm kitchen and baby goats and sheep andandand…things.

Finally think I’m over the flu, so maybe I can get these things finished.

I also did something which I think is a positive solution to the negative swap problem.  By accident I found that someone was totally flaked on by the person who made sent that owl.  She was also flaked on by a person who is due to send me something, but has written to say she’ll be late.  So I volunteered to angel for her.  I’ve started on it and I am excited to see if it turns out the way I think it will.  It was a Michelle Obama swap and I had this idea that requires lots of ATCs to finish, but I think the end product will be worth it.  Hope she likes it.  Speaking of which, I should probably get to work on it.

Halo I haven’t forgotten our swap.  I should set it up before I start work on the other one, yes, I should.  I will, in fact.  May or June, you said?  Well, it’s not like we need to be hardcore about the deadline since it’s private, and I’m sure I can edit afterward, anyway…And yes, I should probably send you a private note or something, but I am multi-tasking, and anyway, I am helping you get readers…er, maybe…that only works, if I have readers, huh? lol

so busy…what did i do?

Wrote a lot today, but still not enough.  Couldn’t really get my head in the right place, except for the green article I wrote, which hasn’t been published on Got2BeGreen quite yet.  I did find this through an article from there, though. Pretty cool, no?

I had an great idea today for a product, trying to decide whether to make & market or just post a tutorial somewhere.

Learned that for the suet cakes, I can also use onion bags instead of wire feeders – not only easier, but easier for some birds to perch on.

Baked 3 kinds of bread today and fed the sour dough starter I started last night.  Bread was GOOOOOD, though the sweet one still needs…something.  More icing, maybe. 

Took my little baby herbs out into the sun for some photosynthetic tanning and they seemed to enjoy that immensely.  I wish the remainder would go ahead and sprout already!  It’s been a week and about 55-60 of the 72 little peat pellets have tiny plant shoots.  In some cases, I am sure it must be the plant because none have sprouted yet.  In other cases, we’ve got a 3 out of 5 situation and things like that.

My goodness, I am tired.  Lots to do tomorrow.  2  articles due and I need to try and get another one in early.  At least one is nearly done and another somewhat started.

[EDIT: Wrote this yesterday! and apparently hit draft instead of publish – DER! But I have an excuse – it’s how I have to do it for the green blog!]

An Indoor Gardening Supplies Guide

Like anything, indoor gardening requires the right tools to be done well. A lot depends on what type of gardening and how big an investment of time and money you intend. The following list contains both essentials & options for the indoor gardener.

See more at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1465791/an_indoor_gardening_supplies_guide.html

Hydroponics: What it is and Why You Might Want to Try It

Hydroponics is the term used to describe a type of gardening utilizing nutrient-rich water instead of soil for the growing of plants. The term comes from combining the Greek words for water and labor and first came into use in the 1930’s.

See more at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1460635/hydroponics_what_it_is_and_why_you.html

Hello, Fellow Swappers!

I joined a swap to gain blog exposure, so I should get a few new visitors today.  Hi!

Got some cool news today.  Turns out that “video from hell” that I ranted about a few posts back?  Well it got featured on the AC Lifestyle Page!  W00t!  Go, me!  It’s the one that says “Easy DIY Valentine’s Day Craft…” 

Unfortunately, I haven’t caught any new calls going up today, but I really need to start writing my own ideas again.  Hopefully, I earned the extra money from December for successfully publishing 15 articles and that will be paid out very soon.  I think I may have published more than that in January!  Too bad the offer didn’t extend 😉  I wish the partner calls would start coming in.  I do so much better with nonfiction when it’s an “assignment”.  Dunno why.

Had to make another suet cake for the birdies today.  Made 3 the other day and as of 3 days ago one had not been touched, then yesterday BOOM! they were all down to crumbs and today they are all gone.  Haven’t set out the cake yet, ’cause it hasn’t hardened.

Finished the last book in the Last Apprentice Series by Joseph Delaney.  Hope he’ll write more soon!  Coz it was a bit more of a cliffhanger than the others. 

Still feeling the desire to do magic of some kind.  Heh.  I’m continuing on the Dragon series by Patricia Wrede.  Love them, too, they just aren’t very long!  The Nicholas Flamel series (Michael Scott) is ok, but there is SO MUCH info packed in such a short space, they are not “easy” reads.  They make my brain work too hard!  Have to rest in between 😉

If my sister’s male cat was the first cat I’d ever had contact with, I would hate cats.  Thankfully, my sister’s other cat is sweet and loveable and even as a kitten was not on a mission to destroy, which her boy cat seems intent on.  Sigh.

Got some new photos put up on Flickr and got my flickr page posted to links.  Can’t remember if I added the feed or not, better check that. 

Happy Monday!

Slacking?

I nearly screwed up and missed the deadline for a call. Since a>I was highly negative about people blowing them off earlier in the week and b>it’s the only one I’ve managed to get in a few days, I really needed to get it done. Throbbing teeth and painkiller loopiness or not.  Thankfully, I caught it just in time and got it done. Ironically, I’d probably have spent less time on it if I had not been rushing to finish on time, but that is probably true of most things. What’s most interesting to me about nearly missing it is that, after the pain pills kicked in and stopped the horrible throbbing in my face, I was in super creative mode and made a BUNCH of stuff, like this ATC:

My first Owl ATC

 

of which I am fairly proud, I must say.  I finally joined Swap-bot tonight, partially because I was so in gear as far as making things, and given that the things I was making coincided with the type of things generally swapped.  I still want to do at least one more ATC I have in mind.  I think it will turn out quite well.

WARNING: POTENTIALLY BORING RANT ABOUT BIRDS AHEAD!

I made my first “suet cake” for a bird feeder.  It even attracted some new birds!  I wouldn’t consider myself a bird-watcher, really, but since my sis has put the feeders outside her window, I find my eyes drawn back there more often than not, hence, the suet cake making.  If you are at all into birds, I recommend the suet cakes.  From what I’ve seen, most birds will ignore regular seed totally if one of those cakes is present – and they will vie for access to the cake.  The main exception I have seen to this were the robins, but that may have been because there were SO. MANY. of them. 

Introduction to Eloah: Part 1

This is hardly my first blog, but it’s the first one that I’ve intended for mass consumption.  My goal is to be making a living as a writer within the next month and I am almost at that goal, but far enough away from it that I’m nervous, too.

I’ve been writing as long as I can remember.  It really became clear to me, though, that I was “a writer” when I was 12 or 13.  I saw something on the side of the road and was inspired to write a poem about it.  Soon thereafter I encountered my first and only really inspiring teacher, a creative writing guru named Sally Walker.  That was 20 years ago, but that desire to have my work seen, published, read…that has only gotten stronger.

In addition to writing, I have a multitude of hobbies, such as knitting, crochet, spinning, sewing, cooking and various other handmade crafts.  If I could, I would live on a self-sufficient farm with cable internet, electricity and running water, but probably no tv.  My sister and I would raise goats and sheep and bees and chickens and perhaps a cow or two, not to mention vegetables and fruits and grains and herbs.  We could make food and clothes from their output – without harming any of them (except the eggs, but let’s not go there just now).  I could do chores in the morning and write in the afternoons and cook in the evenings.  It’s a wonderful dream…