Current Fixation

All Black, Closed Toe, Closed Heel Running Shoes

2011-06-25T01:11:00.000-04:00

I enjoy retail. No, really, I do. I'm good at selling stuff I like, like Kobos and Blackberry Playbooks and books. I'm good at keeping a positive attitude for 7.5 hours plus a half hour unpaid lunch. I'm not so good at dealing with kids having a meltdown when it's time to leave Thomas, but that rarely happens (she says with a smile...).

The problem with retail is the deadly trifecta of thin burgundy carpet over concrete, constant walking, and "Dress Code" shoes. Yes, the bane of my retail work life is the All Black, Closed Toe, Closed Heel Shoe. There are many other dress code annoyances, but shoes affect your quality of life moreso than the colour of your collared shirt (seriously, teal is fine, but Indigo isn't?)

Thankfully, my current workplace Dress Code allows running shoes... (it specifically says "(including running shoes)")

Enter the Vibram FiveFinger Shoe:

These All Black, Closed Toe, Closed Heel Running Shoes are just the ticket for tired feet, sore knees and aching backs. They were originally designed for watersports, but some geniuses discovered that they were also amazing for running, and that's when these funky toe-shoes really took off. I've had my FiveFinger Classics from MEC for a few years now, but aside from being a bit mussed up from constant use, they're not All Black, so I upgraded to the Keep Stuff Out version which was the only All Black women's FiveFinger available at my local Trailhead (I think the Performa Janes are AMAZING, but I can't find them locally *hint hint*).

So, I've had my KSOs for over a year now, and love them to pieces. No, really, they're falling apart. I was rather unfortunate to purchase a pair with faulty seaming (Vibram has since corrected the issue), but a little needle and thread fixes them right up. The downside to FiveFinger shoes in the workplace is the funk that starts to develop after you've worn them sans socks for 6-8 hours. Tossing them in the washing machine with your jeans is fine for the average runner, but not so much for the average sales associate. Mine are currently soaking in a mini hot tub of oxyclean for a few hours. If that doesn't work, I'll try my pet odour and stain remover on them... I simply can't afford $18 for a pair of injinji socks :(

The other problem that develops is what I like to call "Managerial Inflammation". You see, FiveFingers are... unusual. Those toe pockets might be amazing for muscle tone, skeletal formation, balance, and posture, but they can wreak havoc on your Boss' nerves.

Now, some bosses are cool. They look at the Dress Code, and realize that your All Black, Closed Toe, Closed Heel Vibram FiveFinger Running Shoes follow said code to the letter. Some may even dash out to the nearest MEC/Trailhead/LocalAwesomeAthleticStore and buy a pair for themselves.

Other bosses, not so much... something about the "spirit" of the dress code not allowing for shoes outside accepted societal norms.... *sigh*

I say happy, healthy employees trump societal norms.

Besides, when wearing my All Black Dress Pants, I've had a grand total of 8 customers notice my "cool toe-shoes" (for some reason, that number increases substantially when wearing Khakis >.> ), but that just gives me a great opportunity to plug "Born To Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, And The Greatest Race The World Has Never Seen" by Christopher McDougall.

2009-08-24T13:17:00.001-04:00

Native Ground Cover for North America

2009-06-25T22:25:00.005-04:00

I enjoy receiving the Lee Valley newsletters -- I always learn something new -- but I was disappointed with the recent article "Alternatives to Grass Lawns". With the many hardy, drought-resistant, and beautiful native lawn alternatives, I was surprised that not one North American species was listed. In fact, all 5 plants discussed are considered invasive non-natives. These aliens have escaped cultivation, disturbed our ecosystem and crowded out the native species our wildlife depend on.

It used to be difficult to find native plants, however nursery-propagated stock is now widely available across North America (avoid plants collected from the wild). From zone 1 to 10, east to west, north to south, dense shade to full sun, clay to sand, dry to wet, there's a native plant for every application. Top picks include Kinnikinnick (Bearberry), Running Strawberry Bush (Running Euonymus), Partridgeberry (Squawvine), Wild Ginger (Canada Snakeroot), and False Lily of the Valley (Canada Mayflower). The Common Blue Violet and Wild Strawberry are pretty in spring and both withstand frequent trampling and mowing.
I hope Lee Valley will consider highlighting some of these great native plants in the future.

Here's a short list of common native ground covers (I live in the Northeast, so it's a little biased):

Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pedatum) Zone 4-8
Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum) Zone 4-10
Canada Anemone (Anemone canadensis) Zone 2-9
Pussytoes (Antennaria dioica) Zone 1-7
Kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) Zone 2-10
Canada Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense) Zone 3-8
Buffalo Grass (Buchloe dactyloides) Zone 4-9
Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia) Zone 3-9
Gold-star (Chrysogonum virginianum) Zone 4-8
Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) Zone 2-6
Trailing Arbutus (Epigaea repens) Zone 3-9
Running Strawberry Bush (Euonymus obovata) Zone 4-9
Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) Zone 3-7
Teaberry (Gaultheria procumbens) Zone 3-5
Twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla) Zone 4-9
False Lily of the Valley (Maianthemum canadense) Zone 3-6
Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens) Zone 3-8
Allegheny spurge (Pachysandra procumbens) Zone 4-7
Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) Zone 3-9
Creeping Phlox (Phlox stolonifera) Zone 3-8
Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) Zone 3-9
Silverweed (Potentilla anserina) Zone 3-7
Three-toothed Cinquefoil (Potentilla tridentata) Zone 2-9
Eastern Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) Zone 4-9
Mountain Cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) Zone 2-6
Common Blue Violet (Viola sororia) Zone 3-7
Barren Strawberry (Waldsteinia fragarioides) Zone 4-7

Remember, it's always best to use plants native to your region. Many east coast natives have become invasive weeds on the west coast, and vice versa.

I have also found these books to be incredibly helpful:

Native Ferns, Moss & Grasses by William Cullina
Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants by C. Colston Burrell
Armitage's Native Plants for North American Gardens by Allan M. Armitage
Native Plants of the Northeast by Donald J. Leopold

Dogs

2009-03-19T03:48:00.005-04:00

So... now that we're buying a house, and getting a yard, I'm really interested in finally getting a dog. Nathan's none to pleased about this current fixation, but I'm hoping I can ease him into dog ownership by fostering rescue dogs for a while.

As with all my interests, Google has become my best friend... I probably spend far too much time researching different breeds, breeders, rescue groups, genetic disorders, behavioural issues and the like. I've narrowed down the breeds I'm interested in, but as I browse PetFinder for rescue dogs, my heart strings are pulled by more and more breeds...

- Non-Drooling: I know some people can overlook this, but I have a deep aversion to drool

- Shedding/Non-Shedding: This is no longer a concern for me -- it was before I had cats, but now... The only annoying thing would be dealing with allergic guests.

- Terriers & Hounds: I'm just not a fan of small terriers and scent hounds. Terriers are usually non-shedding which is a pretty solid redeeming quility, but hounds tend to smell, well, like a hound. Overall, The only terrier I have much experience with is the Schnauzer (my cousins' had the cutest personality), the rest I could live without.

- Unusual: I don't want a golden retreiver/chocolate lab/german shepherd... I'd rather be asked a dozen times on a walk "What type of dog is that?" than have a breed that's too popular for it's own good. I was leaning towards Portugese Water Dogs (aside from the health issues), but then I found out Obama's getting one for his girls... greeeaaat.

- Size: I like *some* small dogs, but really, I prefer the large /x-large breeds. They're more expensive to feed/vet, but.. they're real dogs.

- Athletic: I want a dog to run with me... maybe do some agility or flyball.

- Low prey drive: I absolutely love the look of Salukis, but sighthounds and cats just seem like a *very* bad recipe -- Butters moves too quickly, and suddenly she's lunch. A pointer would be preferable *lol*

- Rough & Tumble: A beefy dog to wrestle with. I love my Mum's poodles, but you can't roll them on their back...

- Child-proof: Not entirely breed specific, but some breeds are just better with children (ie. pain tolerant, protective, etc). The more research I do into (American) Staffordshire Bull Terriers (aka "pit bulls"), the more annoyed I am with Dalton McGinty & Ontario for enacting Breed Specific Legislation.

Great Dane: Absolutely gorgeous, big sucks, but bloat really scares me.

Irish Wolfhound/Scottish Deerhound: Stately, but more independant than Great Danes, bloat

Black Russian Terrier/Standard Poodles: My Parents poodles have really grown on me. I guess it helps that my Mum is an expert groomer and makes her dogs look abolutely splendid (modified puppy cut, not a show cut). Too bad Nathan *really* hates them...

Bernese Mountain Dog/Leonberger: huge wooly creatures to satisfy my facination with carting

German Pointers/Catahoulas: Not big dogs, but having lived with both these breeds, they've definitely grown on me.

Saluki/Borzoi/Ibizan: Gorgeous, but not rough & tumble, problems with off-leash, bloat

Shiba Inu/Chow Chow/Husky: Very pretty. but can have issues with aggression/dominance

Eurasier/Norrbottenspets: Fluffy and fun

Rottweilers/AmStaff/Bull Terrier: Huge sucks, good with children, unfortunately American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier & anything else that even *looks* like a "pit bull-type dog"= muzzle in Ontario

On the smaller side, there are a couple breeds I wouldn't mind looking into. TBH, I see them as a starter breed to ease Nathan into the idea of dog ownership. They don't require as much exercise, they don't cost as much to feed/vet, and they can curl up on your lap more easily. On the down side, because they're so small, their training is more easily overlooked (Small Dog Syndrome), and... they're small >.>

Whippet/Miniature Pinscher: tiny but elegant, cute personalities

(Toy/Miniature) Poodle/(Miniature) Schnauzer: Probably biased, having grown up with these breeds

Lhasa Apso/Lowchen/Shih Tzu: My Gramma had the sweetest Lhasa, and I just love the overall look and temperment of these little dogs. Being related to an expert groomer is probably influencing my opinions of these dogs... I know how good they can look with a great haircut!

I have to say -- I'm leaning towards the "pit bull" type. There are a couple 4 year olds available through rescue groups/humane societies. I would love to have a well socialized, happy "pit bull" as a spokesman against BSL. Having to muzzle the dog would be annoying, and I worry about how negative reations would affect her socialization skills. Not being able to play with other dogs in an off-leash park -- would she learn proper play techniques? I'd have to invite dogs over to my fenced backyard for unmuzzled doggy playdates.

Hmmm...

We bought a house in Kingston!

2009-03-19T02:46:00.004-04:00

And it's huge! Ok, well, when you've been living in 2 bedroom apartments for 4.5 years, *most* houses are rather large by comparison, but still... >.>

It's a raised 1950's 3-bed, 2 bath bungalow with an half-finished basement, and room for a decent workshop (yay). Now I just need tools >.>

It also has a pretty darned big yard (the lot is 70'x180', so the backyard is probably 70'x100'), which I'm hoping to fill with flowers, vegetable gardens, fruit trees, a playstructure and a green house.
I'll also need space for the dog(s) I'm hoping to get by next year. Aside from reinforcing/replacing the current fence, the only major obstacle to that goal is my Dear Husband. If you know him at all, you'll undertand why that's a pretty big problem... *sigh*

Who ever heard of a man who prefers cats to dogs? I mean seriously... he *really* dislikes dogs. According to him, they're ugly, slobbering, stinking, loud, & expensive, and you have to do responsible things like walk & feed them several times a day, take them to the vet, and board them when you go away for the weekend. Cats, on the other hand, are adorable, don't slobber/smell, they're quiet (well, more so than dogs), much less expensive (no obedience/agility classes), they don't want to be walked (trust me, I tried), and a large bowl of good food will last a week. You change their water and litter every day (ok, every couple days), and (let's be honest) who really takes their indoor cats to the vet for regular checkups/shots? Ok, maybe if you fed your cats Iams/Eukanuba or some other crap you'd have more reason to go to the vet, but's a lot easier to just feed your pet better food in the first place...

((yes, I am a pet snob -- purebred, genetically tested, sound animals from responsible, kennel club breeders (or rescue mutts) fed healthy diets and given proper training, motivation, care & excercise. There is no reason to purchase an animal from a pet store/mill nor backyard breeder. If you don't know what genetic defects your dog/bitch is carrying, DO NOT breed them -- neuter/spay them ASAP))

Anyway, I digress.... we move in May 1st! We bought a decent fridge, a a fairly new secondhand stove, and pine buffet/hutch. We're on the lookout for a nice sofa set, dining table & chairs, microwave, toaster oven, washer/dryer. printer, and possibly a second queen bed for the guest room. We'll have to wait on painting until we have a better idea of the whole colour scheme we're going for. We still don't know what style we want (Nathan says we *have* a style -- I keep telling him "cheap" is not a style >.>), so finding furniture is a bit of a pain. We found the perfect brown leather sectional at Sears (not shown -- it's a rounded corner wedge with a loveseat on either side), but we just couldn't justify spending $$4100 for the equivalent of a sofa and loveseat... plus, we can't spend that kind of money when we don't know how badly our cats could scratch the leather (not necessarily on purpose, but just jumping up, and running around they tend to dig in their claws).

The absolute best part about buying a house is having a dishwasher again :)

So we're looking for a house in Kingston...

2009-02-19T16:37:00.003-05:00

... and this is our search area. It extends down to Lake Ontario's Shore. While it would be cool to live on Wolfe or Howe Island, I don't think Nathan would enjoy taking the Ferry to work every day >.>

View Larger Map

It would be larger, but those long lakes are a real pain to drive around. I guess it would be easier if we stayed within Kingston, but I have this dream of raising alpacas and spinning their fibre on a beautiful spinning wheel I designed and carved myself. Somehow, I don't think I can do that within city limits, aye?

On the other hand, being close to everything Kingston has to offer (I'm still trying to figure out exactly what that is) would be handy. Buses are handy (although I got my G1 last week, after letting it expire nearly 2 years ago, so I can do my G2 test as soon as I practice parking >.>), and I think it would be easier to resell if the house weren't in the middle of nowhere.

I still want to build my Timber-Frame Strawbale house, but I think that might have to wait until I can get Nathan to warm up to the idea.

So we're living in Kingston...

2009-02-19T14:48:00.003-05:00

... and I'm getting home sick. If you know me, download skype and call/msg me. Seriously -- it's free, and it's cool.

Short Story: Nathan got a job in Kingston. When he first mentioned the job opportunity, I was like "Ummm... No. I'm not moving to Kingston." Then, through the many trials leading up to the job offer, I could see God's Hand leading us to this place. I began praying that Nathan *would* get the job. Then he did, and we spent a week in a motel trying to find a short term-lease (which we found), we moved that weekend, and I left for Florida the next day. After visiting my new Snowbird Mum for nearly 3 weeks, I came back to our new home. A week later, it's starting to settle in that we're not moving back to Ottawa any time soon.

It's cold outside, and I don't know anyone. How do people make friends in new cities? I mean, seriously. In grade school, you'd walk up to someone and ask them if they wanted to play tag, or build a snowman. Bang! Instant friend. I might not have been a social butterfly, but I didn't have to drive 2 hours to play Settlers, or "talk about feelings." This whole finding new social circles sucks.

I need to find a church... I did some research last month and found half a dozen in Kingston that didn't scare me (okay, I guess the rest weren't that bad -- just theologically stunted -- but I'm sure they have a heart for God). Nathan went to the closest one a few weeks ago (while I went to a Southern Baptist church in FL -- but that's a whole different story), and he seemed to like it. So maybe we'll go back this Lord's Day.

It would be a lot easier if there was an RP church in Kingston... Sovereign God? check. Biblical theology? check. Covenental relationship? check. Singing the Word of God? check. Yeah.. I love my Psalms. Give me 119x over "Here I am to Worship" anyday of the week. A few years of singing lessons and I might post some youtube videos... Until then, you can listen here. I've had a Psalter on my wishlist for a few years now... I think it's time to order one myself. But I digress...

I should take some classes... Bellydance, woodworking, art, acting. Something. I should also probably look into getting a job. Sigh... Is there anything in Kingston aside from prisons and universities?

Staying indoors makes it easier to pretend I'm not completely alone in a new city, miles from anyone I know... well, aside from Nathan, but he's at work >.>

I think I'll go outside now.

Debbie Bliss "Essential Baby" Vest Problem

2008-07-26T20:09:00.008-04:00

Ok, so I accidentally got back into knitting. I was at Chapters after work (did I mention I got a full-time position at a place related to both my love of woodworking AND gardening? Yeah -- totally cool!), and I found this absolutely adorable book by Debbie Bliss "Essential Baby". It has some really classic patterns with adorable pictures and clear directions. The only problem is the first project I'm trying to do has some mistakes which aren't posted on the Debbie Bliss Pattern Revision page... REALLY annoying.

The normal pattern is K8, P1, rep. After the armholes are shaped, the back is split into two parts so an opening can be created for the baby's head to fit through the neck. It's secured with a button at the collar which is a K2, P1 pattern.

My problem is that it's telling me to begin K2, P1 immediately after splitting the back. However, the picture clearly shows the original pattern continuing up at least 18 rows.

Ugh... I need a Ben & Jerry break :(

________________

Vermonty Python must've cleared my mind -- It wasn't as bad as I originally thought. I sort forgot that "purl to end" IS the pattern on the wrong side... oops >.< style="font-weight: bold;">Debbie Bliss "Essential Baby" Vest Knitting Pattern Errata
Corrections in bold

(I've combined the official Debbie Bliss revisions with my own purl/pattern correction. There may be more, but I'm not finished yet, and I'm only doing the small size at the moment.)

Back neck opening
1st row: [right side] Patt 22 [24:25:27] sts, turn and work on these sts only for first side of neck shaping, leaving rem sts on a spare needle.
2nd row: Cast on 2 sts, then K2, p to end. 24 [26:27:29] sts.
Next row; Patt to last 2 sts, K2.
Next row: K2, p to end
Repeat the last 2 rows until back measures 7-1/2 [8-3/4: 9-1/2: 10-1/4]in from cast-on edge, ending with a wrong-side row.

Shape neck
Next row: Work 15 [16: 17: 18] sts in PATTERN, turn, leaving rem 9 [10: 10: 11] sts on a safety pin
Next row: P1, p2tog, p to end.
Next row: Patt to last 3 sts, k2tog, K1.
Rep the last 2 rows once more. 11 [12: 13: 14] sts.
Work 3 rows in patt.
Bind off for shoulder.
With right side facing, rejoin yarn to sts on spare needle, K2, patt to end.
Next row: P to last 2 sts, K2.
Next row: K2, patt to end.
Rep the last 2 rows until back measures 7-1/2 [8-3/4: 9-1/2: 10-1/4]in from cast-on edge, ending with a right-side row.

Shape neck
Next row: P12 [13: 14: 15] sts, p2tog, P1, turn, leaving rem 8 [9: 8: 9] sts on a safety pin.
Next row: K1, skpo, patt to end.
Next row: P to last 3 sts, p2tog tbl, P1
Next row: K1, skpo, patt to end. 11 [12: 13: 14] sts.
Work 3 rows in patt.
Bind off for shoulder.

Front
Work as given for Back to **.
Cont in patt until front measures 6 [7: 8: 8-3/4]in from cast-on edge, ending with a wrong-side row.

Shape neck
Next row: work 18 [20: 20: 22] sts in PATTERN, turn and work on these sts only for first side of front neck, leaving rem sts on a spare needle.
Next row: Bind off 2 sts, P to end.
Patt 1 row.
Repeat the last 2 rows once more. 14 [16: 16: 18] sts.
Next row: P1, p2tog, P to end.
Patt 1 row.
Rep the last 2 rows 2 [3: 2: 3] times more. 11 [12: 13: 14] sts.
Work even until front measures same as Back to shoulder, ending with a p row.
Bind off for shoulder.
With right side facing, slip center 9 [9: 10: 10] sts onto a holder, rejoin yarn to rem sts on spare needle, patt to end.
Next row: P.
Next row: Bind off 2 sts, patt to end.
Rep the last 2 rows once mopre. 14 [16: 16: 18] sts.
Next row: P to last 3 sts, p2tog tbl, P1.
Patt 1 row.
Rep the last 2 rows 2 [3: 2: 3] times more. 11 [12: 13: 14] sts.
Work even until front measures same as Back to shoulder, ending with a P row.
Bind off for shoulder.

Neckband
Sew shoulder seams.
With right side facing and 3mm circular needle, slip 8 [9: 8: 9] sts from left back onto needle, pick up and knit 8 [8: 9: 9] sts up left back neck, 21 sts down left side of front neck, k across 9 [9: 10: 10] sts from front neck holder, pick up and K21 sts up right side of front neck, 8 sts down right back neck, then work K7 [8: 8: 9], P2 from back neck holder. 84 [86: 87: 89] sts.

I'll update this if there are any further errata.

Morning Smoothie 2

2008-04-28T20:45:00.003-04:00

I've made a few changes to my morning smoothie. A gentleman at the Natural Food Pantry in Kanata suggested that I try Shelled Hemp Seed (aka hemp hearts, hemp nuts, etc), and Salvia (aka Chia seeds, Salba, etc), to go along with the Flax (which is still important for women). I also thought I'd give Goat's Milk Yogurt a try, since I don't get along very well with cows.

So here's my attempt at a super omega packed smoothie...

1/2 cup Goat's Milk Natural Yogurt
5 Tablespoons Hemp Nuts
2 Tablespoons Salvia
2 Tablespoons Ground Flax Seed
1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Seed Oil
1/2 cup Juice (whatever tickles your fancy)
~1 cup Frozen Fruit (enough to thicken the smoothie)

The end result was very... healthy... tasting, and quite grainy. Without raspberries to add some pizazz, it was a bit like yogurt with a heap of porridge. Not very appetizing. Next time, I'll make sure to add a 1/4 cup of frozen raspberries to pick up the colour, and maybe a touch of honey to sweeten it up. Perhaps Stevia, or Cocoa, or a Banana would help improve the taste.

I'm wondering if it would be easier to just choke down the stuff with a bit of yogurt -- forget trying to make it a smoothie. Spooned over a ripe banana, fresh berries or a baked apple might be a better idea. My gag reflex can't quite adjust to the texture as a "smoothie", but it might be able to overlook it as a "granola-type fruit topping".

"Diet has nothing to do with IBS"

2008-04-09T23:32:00.004-04:00

I should seriously write a book called "'Diet has Nothing to do with IBS'... and other lies Doctors tell you..."

I saw a GI specialist on Tuesday, who tried telling me that IBS is a muscle disorder, and cannot be regulated by what you eat. He did, however, admit that some people find success in avoiding coffee and chocolate, and that Metamucil *might* be beneficial. He said he could prescribe me some medications, but there is limited success with drugs. In essence, IBS is a "Nuisance Disorder" caused by stress, and it's something I'll just have to live with. He added that most people find the symptoms subside as they age, whether that was from reduced symptoms or an increased discomfort tolerance, he couldn't say.

I have a theory... it goes something like these:

Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a symptom of improper diet (food allergies/intolerances, bacterial growth, too much insoluble fiber, too little soluble fiber, etc), and is compounded by stress. As people get older, they learn (either consciously or subconsciously) which foods trigger GI problems. By avoiding these foods, their symptoms are reduced. For me, these foods would be beef(!), ice cream (*sigh*), granola, dried fruit, etc.. If IBS is not triggered by diet, why is it that I can predict how my body will react to these foods? Why is it that by eliminating these problem foods, my GI problems are likewise eliminated?

Obviously, it has nothing to do with diet... /rollseyes

Honestly, if alternative healers are the only ones who've made the connection between the food you eat and the way your GI tract functions... I seriously have to question what's being taught in medical schools.

WoW is Eating my Husband -- UPDATE

2008-04-04T14:54:00.003-04:00

Read the backstory first

I installed a blog logger that shows me all the searches which have lead people to click on this blog. One of the most popular searches was "Husband addicted to WoW". This really doesn't surprise me, since I know first hand how enticing the game is. It really is fun, but it's one enormous time-sink; it's designed to compel you to keep playing. I thought I should post an update to our WoW situation

Last Christmas, after not playing for several months, I was drawn back into WoW when the xpansion came out. Unfortunately, this also encouraged my Husband to begin playing as well. We were doing great... I was studying cabinetmaking at Algonquin, and he was actively looking for better jobs. I thought "I can handle it... I'll just play a couple hours each night instead of browse the internet."

Yeah... right.

Our household is not comprised of casual players. We wanted to experience the end-game, and that meant at least 4 hours every night either raiding or farming for the mats required to upgrade gear, or pay for repairs. We were quickly sucked back into the WoW pit.

I didn't emerge until the following year, when Christmas dinners kept me SO busy I wasn't able to raid. Immediately following Christmas, I had our Guatemala trip to prepare for -- instead of farming online, I was gleaning the internet for all the information I could find on traveling below the equator. I hopped online a total of 3 times to help my Husband and flatmate's raid when they were short healer, but I found myself muting Vent on trash pulls and listening to my Spanish cds. I really didn't care about the success of the raid -- I had bigger things to do.

While we were in Guatemala, I didn't think of WoW once. I could honestly say I had broken the addiction cycle. It was no longer foremost in my mind; I wasn't thinking about the gear I still needed to upgrade my bear tanking gear, or what instances I had to farm for gems to upgrade my Spirit, or the Vent conversation I overheard between Whisperblade and Optics... I was done.

Returning home, I tried convincing my Husband that he, too, was done with WoW. Unfortunately, he hadn't come to the same conclusion, and continued playing for a while. Thankfully, several events worked together to make consistent raiding more difficult, and he finally decided he was bored with WoW. He canceled his subscription, and now only hops on from time to time in order to sort through his mail, sell off his bank, and help our flatmate if the raid is really struggling. His account ends soon (next week, I think), and he's finding more time to play Settlers of Catan with me (fun but non-addicting), apply for jobs, and cook decent meals.

The best advice I can give to those struggling with WoW addiction is to pray -- ask God to help you, your spouse, your child, your parent, your friend -- God really does answer prayers -- and keep busy.

Update Nov/09: It's been over a year since we both quit WoW. Our old flatmate still plays (I had to keep reminding him to not talk to me about WoW), but it's been so much easier since we moved out. DH found a good career, and we moved 2 hours away and bought a house (yay!). I think about WoW every so often -- new XPack times are hard... our old flatmate showed me the new feral skins... *sigh* -- but I remind myself that playing sucks the life right out of me; I'm not a casual player, and I can't try to convince myself otherwise. It's definitely been easier since our contact with our old flatmate has been greatly reduced.Writing this update has required more thoughts about WoW than I've had in the last year combined.

DH still plays other video games -- Warcraft (DotA) & FPSs -- but he has no interest in returning to WoW. I am so thankful for that. As for me... I don't play RPGs anymore -- I can't. Once you know your nature... *shrug* The only online game I play is AsoBrain's Xplorers (Settlers of Catan knockoff), and I usually play against bots (or DH). I knit. I'm working with a career counselor to find a cabinetmaking company willing to take on an apprentice. I'm attending regular bible studies. Most importantly, I'm praying and singing to God more. We've found a good church and we're regularly attending (as regular as possible with DH's schedule). God has been forgiving, kind, generous and patient toward us.

Green Home Building Ideas

2008-04-04T14:42:00.003-04:00

I'm back to looking into the cost of building a eco-friendly, low impact, sustainable house. Last year, I was inspired by the book "Building Green: A Complete How-To Guide to Alternative Building Methods Earth Plaster * Straw Bale * Cordwood * Cob , by Clarke Snell

It's a FANTASTIC book with detailed instructions and tonnes of pictures for all 4 building systems. Not only does it include insightful tips based on the author's hands-on experience, but also, it deals with siting, foundation, water run-off, post & beam construction, passive solar heating/cooling, AND living/green roofs.

The biggest problem I have with all the "Natural" home building books out there is that they seem to be designed for California. There's lots of talk about hurricane tie-downs and earthquake safety protocols, but very little about snow. California might be the king-pin of the environmental movement... all those hemp clad, granola crunching, vegan PETA activists... but what about us northern eco-freaks? Igloos might be low-impact and sustainable, but they're really not practical in the summer. Would it really be that difficult to include some information on how to protect plaster walls from snow, or the feasibility of a low-sloping green roof with near-record breaking snowfall *cough*417cm*cough*?

Thankfully, I've found Serious Straw Bale: A Construction Guide for All Climates, by Paul Lacinski. I had to laugh at some of the reviews I've read -- people are complaining that there's too much information about building for wet or snowy weather, and not enough about dry, hot climates... .... Seriously. EVERY OTHER straw bale book is geared towards the southwest. Can't we have ONE book tailored to OUR needs? Anyway, I just ordered this from Chapters, and it should be here in a couple days along with Strawbale Home Plans, by Wayne J. Bingham. My excuse for buying 2 straw bale design books is I needed to go over $39 for free shipping >.>

So here's the plan so far (prior to reading Serious Straw Bale)

Drainage
- no info yet

Frost Protected Shallow Foundation
- minimal impact
- lower cost than traditional cement footings due to reduced labour and materials
- lower imbued energy due to reduced Portland Cement
- lower heating costs due to insulated foundation

Post & Beam Framing
- I *think* I can cut all the joints myself... we'll see
- fast raising
- might require a crane, or significant help

Straw Bale Insulation
- lower cost than common insulations
- sustainable product (making use of agricultural "waste")
- locally harvested materials
- high insulation factor
- non toxic, biodegradable
- utmost care must be taken to keep bales dry, dry, dry.
- bottom row would have to be sealed in home wrap

Lime Plaster
- sticks to straw bale better than cement stucco (chicken wire not required)
- retards mould growth
- vapour permeable
- lower imbued energy than Portland cement

Roof
- Green would be cool, but snow loads are a major concern (more info needed)
- I wonder if thatch would work...
- metal would probably work best in our climate

Electricity
- solar power would be great, but I don't think we get enough solar hours to make it worth the high cost
- wind power?
- electricity lines are already running to the lot
- signing up for Bullfrog Power, and using energy efficient appliances seems to be the best solution

Water
- I'm pretty sure a well is our only option... really hope the water tastes and smells good

Septic
- looking into grey water system (how they work in winter, green house applications)
- looking into sawdust toilets (just received The Humanure Handbook, by Joseph Jenkins)

Furnace / Hot Water Heater
- geothermal heat pump
- renewable energy
- non-polluting
- most efficient heating/cooling system available
- can be combined with well to reduce excavation costs

Heating
- radiant floor heating (Warmboard subfloor with 1/2" PEX Aluminum PEX tubing)
- very efficient heating method with great distribution (no cold areas)
- runs at lower temperature than other systems
- less tubing required due to higher heat transfer efficiency (1 ft tubing / sq. ft.)
- higher initial cost than other radiant floor methods, but lower operating costs due to lower temperature
- $8 / sq. ft for Warmboard alone

Cooling
- large overhanding eaves, good ventilation
- hoping to not need air-conditioning
- save on ducts

Windows/Doors
- haven't looked too far into this
- Triple-glazed with High-Solar-Gain Low-E, Argon/Krypton Gas, Insulated Vinyl or Fiberglass, (double glazed on south facing wall with large overhang)
- large bank of south facing windows, restricted windows on north face

Flooring
- Cork: nice, but I've heard it's not durable
- Bamboo: durable, renewable, but the joints make it very busy
- Tile: high cost & labour
- hardwood: look for FSC certified, expensive, but 'softer' than tile
- Wide plank hardwood: beautiful but expensive, old-growth trees or recycled old floors, need care when installed over radiant floor heating
- Linoleum: durable, renewable, available in a multitude of colours... cheap looking?

Green house
- attached to house on south facing wall
- create grey water filtering soil beds
- black lined thermal pond can assist heating in winter

Floor Plan
- still working on this
- large south face
- preferably easily expandable so we can add-on as we get money

Main floor
- master bedroom on main floor
- master bathroom with shower, connecting to entry powder room with sawdust toilet
- walk-in closet or large bank of wardrobes

- kitchen with island bar overlooking large, long harvest table (ie. the Mains')
- induction cooktop
- wall oven
- appliance garage for mixmaster, blender, juicer, etc
- compost bin

- large family room along the south bank of windows

- an "away" room for children to play or adults to escape to, down a hall
- a water play station and train tracks

2nd floor or walk out basement
- extra bedrooms
- full bath

Loft
- dormer or clerestory windows

Still working through ideas...

The Standing Hair Cut

2008-02-06T17:55:00.001-05:00

I felt a wee bit foolish standing in the middle of the salon while the stylist trimmed away a year's growth. When your hair falls past the barber chair's back, however, there's few other options. It didn't help that stylist was rather diminutive herself...

I had forgotten something very important in the year since my last. Since most stylists don't deal with hair past Bra Strap Length (usually just shoulder length), they have to be taught that hair past 12" needs to be combed in sections from the bottom up. I should have detangled it myself, but I didn't want to be rude. Besides, it was done before I thought to say something.

I mentioned I was still growing out my hair, but I wanted to get rid of the damaged ends. She took off a bit less than I had expected, but I had still hoped more could be salvaged. Let this be a lesson to all of you trying to grow out colour damaged hair... if it looks slightly damaged at shoulder length, you can be sure it'll be dry, frazzled, split and unmanageable at waist length.

Cut it off before you try to grow it out!

I'm pleased with the overall shape, and hope that's the last of the damaged hair. If I ever consider colouring my hair again, please remind me that my hair only grows about 6" per year. At the moment, it'll take over 4 years to grow out crown damage.

I guess I'm back to where I started last winter... At least I'll know how long I can expect it to be by this time next year ;)

1 Year No Trim Challenge -- Success!

2008-02-06T15:14:00.000-05:00

Last March, in an attempt to figure out how to care for my growing hair, I found the Long Hair Community forums. In addition to extremely helpful advice, anecdotes and all-round lovely people, users posted "challenges" for others to participate in. I signed up for a number, including the "No picking" challenge (which I failed miserably), the "WO for a Month" challenge (which I stuck with for 3 months, and then found out that spraying polyurethane is rather detrimental without the aid of cleansers), and the "No Trim for a Year" challenge.

My last trim was at a small hair salon in Bayshore on Jan 29/07. I documented my hair length on April 25/07, and went a full year without a cut.

As you can see, my hair is now officially past waist length, however, I've discovered that I still have some damage left over from the last time I dyed my hair (semi-permanent drugstore varieties). The ends have developed hundreds of splits over the past year, prompting many search and destroy missions.

I've been itching to chop the dried bits off -- I'm heading back to the salon. The sad part is I'll probably have to lose the 6 inches I've gained over the past year :(

I guess we'll see in a few hours...

Jumping on the Facebook Bandwagon

2008-01-17T04:58:00.000-05:00

Yeah, so after being told by a dozen different people that I should really get on facebook, I finally did.

So now I'm faced with the daunting task of finding and contacting friends and relatives, and doing the whole "Will you be my friend?" thing. It feels like grade school again... honestly. Anyway, it's been a decade (wow, it really has been a decade) since I last used ICQ, and I didn't "grow up" using Facebook, or MySpace, or anything like that. So I have to figure out the protocol, the code of conduct, the unwritten rules of this ginormous society on the interweb.

Who do you add as friends? Do you poke them? Do you send a message first? Do you wait for word to get around that you finally joined the 21st century, and have them contact you? Or do you just brazenly ask them to be your friend? How well do you have to know someone? Is it weird to message someone out of the blue after a decade? I found people from elementary and high school, university and college... how far back should I go?

Am I getting too freaked out about this? Should I be more laid back, and just assume everyone wants to get in touch with old acquaintances?

New Discovery: Mark Driscoll & Mars Hill Church

2008-01-11T04:13:00.000-05:00

Jared sent me a youtube link to snippets of Mark Driscoll's sermons/rants. I had never heard of the guy, nor Mars Hill Church before, but I was so impressed that I watched every youtube video I could find on the guy.

He seemed to preach Biblically, and with care for his audience. He is charismatic, comedic, and maintains a wonderful connection with his listeners. He is oftentimes offensive, and sometimes crude; oftentimes self-deprecating, and sometimes prideful; but no one can deny that he speaks with genuine concern for the souls of the lost, and the sanctification of the saved.

He preaches on hard topics, and is unapologetic about the Truths of the Bible. He knows Christ is the only way to eternal life, abortion is murder, and that men and women were created equal but have different roles. He preaches in jeans and a t-shirt on a black stage and his points are regularly interrupted with laughter and applause.

So far, the only thing I disagree with him on are some of the worship practices he places in his 'open hand' (non-doctrinal things which are open to change). I believe the songs we sing and the instruments we use *are* outlined in the Bible. However, I would hazard a guess that God is pleased with Mark's work, even if they don't sing the Psalms a cappella, you know? There's just so much substance and meat in the Psalms, I can't imagine worshiping using contemporary praise songs alone... they're just so... repetitive... and the really repeat themselves... a lot. If I'm going to study and memorize songs, I would rather they be God's Words.

Ah well... Nathan seemed to really enjoy the Q&A we watched with Jared, so I'll see if we can watch some of his videos together as a devotional type thingy. It would be really great if we could study God's Word in way that was both edifying and amusing :)

On a side note: I'm really awful at Settlers of Catan... I'm constantly cut off right at the beginning (usually by Nathan). If I believed in luck, I'd think I had a streak of the bad kind, but since I don't, I can only assume that the Lord is trying to teach me something about being a good loser... or something...

Camera Equipment -- lenses

2008-01-10T04:03:00.000-05:00

Trying to get a handle on my Camera equipment... mostly beloved borrowed handmedowns from my family -- my Mum's Asahi Pentax camera, and my Aunt's lenses (her Pentax body was stolen years ago).

Lenses

8103015 Asahi Opt. Co., Japan
SMC Takumar 1:2/55
Aperture: 2-16
Meters: 0.45 - 10+

332858 Fuji Photo Film Co.
Len-Japan
EBC Fujinon-SW
1:3.5
f=28mm
Aperture: 3.5 - 16
Meters: 0.4 - 5+

Tosner MC Auto 2x Pentax
Toshiba Photo Prod. Co. Japan

Tamron Auto Zoom
1:3.8
F=80~250MM
No.350122
72mm
Aperture: 3.8 - 22 EE
Meters: 2 - 20+

Tamron Adaptall 2 to attach Zoom lense to Pentax body

Filters

Toshiba 49mm SL-1A
Black's UV 49mm
Black's CU+1 49mm
Black's CU+2 49mm
Black's CU+3 49mm
Kenko Close-Up No. 1 55 mm
Kenko Close-Up No. 2 55 mm
Kenko Close-Up No. 3 55 mm
Soligor 55mm K-2
Vivitar 55mm Polarizing
Vivitar 72mm US-Haze

Shade thingies

Fujica
f=28mm
rectalinear

Tamron
58FH
Circular

Light Meter

Zeiss Ikon
Ikophot T
Made in Germany
(missing top metal plate)

PC Financial is Hassling Newly Married Women - Part 3

2008-01-08T16:37:00.001-05:00

Read Part 1 & Part 2

Richard from PC Financial Customer Care just returned my call, and we had a very pleasant conversation. I would first like to congratulate CIBC (owner of PC Financial) for hiring a Customer Care representative with such an incredibly soothing voice. He really is perfect for the job.

Anyway, the actual conversation...

Richard explained to me that since PC Financial is a "Virtual Bank", they don't actually have "Branches". The men and women who help you set up your account at Loblaws are "Customer Service Representatives" and their little nook is simply a "sales centre". There are apparently some regulations which create a distinction between a "Banker" and a "CSR". CSRs, according to anti-terror and anti-money laundering laws, cannot simply change your account info using just a Marriage Certificate.

He spent some time going over the list of acceptable documents, trying to figure out a workaround for me. The biggest problem was A) Ontario doesn't allow Health cards as ID, and B) Ontario doesn't offer a Provincial Identification Card. All other provinces either allow Health cards as ID or offer a Provincial ID card. This means that in Ontario, you must A) Drive, or B) spend $90+ every 5 years renewing your Passport (a VERY long process with long wait times). Thankfully, there is a new Simplified Passport Renewal for adults with a valid passport, so you no longer have to bring supporting documents. You still have to pay the $90 and bring 2 certified photos... >.< Richard really wanted to help me, and sympathized with the lack of options in Ontario for Photo ID. When his Wife updated her Passport years ago, she was able to add her married name to the back page, without paying for a new Passport. I explained that that was no longer possible After exhausting the options, he offered to credit my account with the $87 I would need to update my passport. He reasoned that I'm young, newly married, and probably applying for a mortgage in the near future, so the bank will likely see a return on that money. It was in the bank's best interest to keep me happy. Although I was grateful for the offer, I asked 'what about the other newly married women?' They're going to have to go through the same hassle. He said that the Customer Care centre deals with complaints on a case-by-case basis, so he couldn't give an answer. The core problem is the fact that the CSRs at PC Financial Kiosks are not legally allowed to accept a Marriage Certificate as proof of name change without supporting ID. 'Now', I reasoned, 'I understand that PC Financial is just owned by CIBC, and we're not able to use their Bankers for banking help (deposits, transfers, etc), but would it not be possible to allow newly married women, such as myself, the ability to go to a CIBC branch, show the Bankers our Marriage Certificate, and have them change the information for PC Financial? I mean, as you just said, we're newly married, probably getting a mortgage soon, do you really want to piss us off?' Although Richard said he could not personally change the policy, he said that he would make that recommendation to the powers that be. He said things move very slowly, so don't expect an immediate response, but he did agree to follow up with me. He scheduled himself to call me on June 2nd. I asked Richard if I was the only woman he'd spoken to about this problem, and he said no, it's a very common complaint. At this point I brought up my secondary problem with PC Financial -- the fact that they have to mail off the originals to their central office. Richard immediately corrected me -- that is not company policy. Photocopies of your Marriage Certificate, and 2 supporting IDs are mailed off NOT the originals. He was astounded that someone would give me that information, especially with identity theft being such a large problem. He said as soon as he got off the phone with me, he'd be calling the manager of the Kiosk I had gone to, and correcting their information.

That was a rather large relief -- I'll have to edit my previous posts to make sure people don't get the wrong information....

All in all, I was satisfied with how Richard handled my concern, and pray he'll be able to convince his superiors to allow Name Changes at CIBC branches, or find some other convenient way of allowing women to update their name without requiring an updated Photo ID (particularly in Ontario).

PC Financial is Hassling Newly Married Women - Part 2

2008-01-08T15:17:00.002-05:00

Read Part 1 first

Richard from PC Financial's Customer Care called this morning while I was out. I am currently waiting for him to return my call...

After speaking with FCAC, and learning that their requirements only apply to opening a bank account, not changing an existing account, I'm considering alternative possibilities...

My biggest problem with PC Financial requiring an updated photo ID is that it will cost me ~$100 to update my Passport (which is valid for 5 more years), or write my G1 again (yeah, I never did my G2 test, and my G1 has since expired... the bus is my friend). I am not eligible for any other type of Photo ID. Once again, I feel the need to express my annoyance that Ontario does not have a Provincial Identification Card for those who do not drive. I'm also not a fan of mailing off said ID to some office in the middle of whoknowswhere. [Update: PC Financial's Customer Care Representative, Richard, corrected me -- that is not company policy. Photocopies of your Marriage Certificate, and 2 supporting IDs are mailed off NOT the originals.]

PC Financial needs to change their policy.

For those women who are in the same boat as I am, there seems to be only one solution. Lodge a formal complaint to their Customer Care section, and then cancel your account. Maybe PC Financial will get the hit if droves of newly married women take away their money.

The other option (after lodging a formal complaint, of course), is to create a new account. Since, by law, you are not required to show photo ID to open an account, you can use updated ID which is free and easy to change.

SIN Card -- requires your marriage certificate and your birth certificate (both original). If you apply in person at your local Canada Service Centre, you will receive your new card in the mail 5-10 business days later.

Credit Card -- requires a faxed copy of your marriage certificate and a letter outlining your desire to change your name. It could take up to 6 weeks for your request to be processed and a new card mailed to you, so if your want your PC Financial Banking information updated as soon as possible, I would recommend opening a bank account with no monthly charges, such as Laurentian, which you could then use as identification for your application to PC Financial.

Bank Card -- requires your marriage certificate, and 2 pieces of ID from this list, such as your SIN card and a bank/debit card or birth certificate.

So if if my conversation with Richard this afternoon doesn't go well, I'll have to head over to the Service Canada Centre at Lincoln Heights Galleria down the street, and then bus over to 1021 Cyrville Road to open a bank account with Laurentian. From there, I can use my new SIN card (in 5-10 business days) combined with my Laurentian bank account (opened in my Married name) to open a new PC Financial bank account.

This seems like a rather long work-around for something that is so incredibly easy to do at ANY OTHER BANK.

Continued: PC Financial is Hassling Newly Married Women Part 3

Changing my Maiden Name and PC Financial Bank

2008-01-07T22:41:00.002-05:00

Three and a half years ago, I was supposed to change my Maiden name to my Married name. I was psyched to do this -- all part of the ritual of marriage, right? I got all the information I needed in order to do so -- which documents I would need for each service. I hit a small snafu, however, in that I was under the impression that the Ontario Government would mail me a copy of my Marriage Certificate. After about 6 months of waiting, I sort of forgot about it until I discovered I had to renew my passport for our trip to Guatemala, and I figured I might as well change my surname as well.

I checked online, and sure enough, I had to pay $15 to get my Marriage Certificate mailed to me (4-6 weeks). Unfortunately, it arrived a few days after I spent $90 renewing my passport (in my Maiden name, due to lack of supporting evidence). We don't have time before our trip to chance trying to get it re-renewed in my Married name, so it'll have to wait.

Anyway, now that I finally have the Marriage Certificate, I can update allt he rest of my cards. The following isn't a complete list of acceptable ID, it's simply the ID I'm choosing to use...

Ohip:
Marriage Certificate
Birth Certificate
School Transcript
Credit Card

Driver's Licence:
Marriage Certificate
Passport
OHIP card

Passport:
Marriage Certificate
Birth Certificate
OHIP card
2 pictures

Credit Card:
Marriage Certificate (copy)
Letter explaining that you would like your name changed

Bank:
Marriage Certificate
Birth Certificate
SIN card

Now, I would like to point out some similarities between all these Cards... they all require your Marriage Certificate and valid government issued identification. Yeah, I know -- obvious. Apparently, every government agency and financial institution believes that if you have valid identification with your maiden name and it matches the name on the Marriage Certificate you've provided, you are indeed a) who you say you are, and b) married. That is, of course unless you're my bank...

President's Choice Financial, requires a Marriage Certificate as well as 2 pieces of identification (at least one government issued photo ID) with the updated name, which they then mail off to some office in the middle of whoknowswhere... [Update: PC Financial's Customer Care Representative, Richard, corrected me -- that is not company policy. Photocopies of your Marriage Certificate, and 2 supporting IDs are mailed off NOT the originals.]

Why do they require your ID to be updated? Isn't the bank questioning the validity of a legal document (Marriage Certificate) by demanding supporting documentation? If a Marriage Certificate and ID with my Maiden is good enough for ALL other banks, AND government agencies, shouldn't it be good enough for PC Financial?

This concern is not isolated to me alone. When I told the the Customer Service Representative at my local PC Financial branch that I wanted to update my name, he asked if this was my "first or second visit?" Apparently, most women arrive at the branch with their Maiden ID and their Marriage Certificate, believing it to be enough, and are turned away. The agent sympathized with me, expressing annoyance with the situation himself, saying "I feel sorry for you guys..."

Let me point out that Ontario does NOT have a Provincial Identification Card. It took me an hour on Google and various government websites before I discovered that tidbit of information. Also, if you're over 35, LCBO won't issue you an Age of Majority card... not that the bank would take that anyway...

To confirm other institution's policies regarding this, I personally contacted ATB Financial, Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Citizens Bank of Canada, HSBC Bank Canada, ING Direct, Laurentian Bank of Canada, National Bank of Canada, RBC Financial Group, Scotiabank, and TD Canada Trust, as well as Passport Canada, OHIP, Ministry of Transportation, and the Social Insurance Registration Office. Although I had to speak with a Supervisor at CIBC to clarify their policy, every bank I called stated the only document required to update a last name was a Marriage Certificate. They all said that identification could be in a woman's maiden name as long as she had a Marriage Certificate. The ONLY mention of using updated ID was if you did not have your Marriage Certificate. The assumption is that the person who updated your ID must've seen a valid Marriage Certificate...

PC Financial's call-centre had a 25 minute wait, so I decided to contact their parent company to see what was up with their policy. Thankfully, CIBC's call-centre's wait was only a few minutes. When I asked what their policy was, the CIBC CSR read from her "Agent Support Tools" a passage on required ID for name change. It stated something to the effect of 'you need a marriage certificate and 2 supporting pieces of ID such as blah blah". She was under the impression that the supporting ID needed to be updated to your married name. I wanted clarification so I asked to speak with her Supervisor. After going over the company's policies, he agreed that the "supporting documents" could be in a woman's Maiden name, as long as she had a valid Marriage Certificate. I asked Supervisor Shaun (Shawn? Sean?) to put forward a motion or memo or something to his superiors indicating the need for CSRs to be better educated on company policy.

Thinking that the daughter company would have the same policies as the parent, I confidently called up PC Financial (the wait was down to 4 minutes) and spoke with a CSR. Reading from her manual, she stated that in order to change my name I would require a "Marriage Certificate, and 2 pieces of ID supporting name change -- standard ID in the new name." That last little bit left no room for clarification -- they did in fact require updated ID in addition to a Marriage Certificate.

Her Supervisor explained that their small branches "are not trained to determine the validity of a Marriage Certificate", and only one office handles legal name changes. Apparently, their "Risk and Legal" department determined that extra step was necessary. Frankly, this is an unnecessary and cumbersome failsafe and should be removed in order to facilitate the smooth transition of a woman into married life.

For a bank which advertises their "ultimate convenience, 24/7", they are making it extremely difficult for women to assume their Husband's last name. This is especially troubling since no other bank, nor government agency, requires more than a Marriage Certificate as proof of a surname change!

I asked how I could contact their Risk and Legal department, and was curtly told that "they do not deal with the public". So I politely asked "Ok, how would my lawyer get in touch with your Risk and Legal department?" At this point he quickly asked if I would like to "escalate" my complaint to the Customer Care department, which would contact me in a few days. I gladly agreed -- this guy was just towing the company line, after all.

Speaking of lawyers, according to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, which acts as a watchdog over Canadian banks (among other things), there is a rather broad list of identification which can be used to open a bank account. Banks cannot ask for further identification unless they reasonably suspect that the ID provided is fraudulent.

Choice #1 – Show two pieces of I.D. from this box:
• Canadian driver’s license
• Current Canadian passport
• Canadian birth certificate
• Social Insurance Number (SIN) card
• Old Age Security card
• Certificate of Indian Status
• provincial health insurance card (this cannot be used in Ontario, PEI or Manitoba)
• Certificate of Canadian Citizenship or Certification of Naturalization
• Permanent Resident card or a Citizenship and Immigration Canada form IMM 1000 or IMM 1442

Choice #2 – Show one piece of I.D. from Box A and one piece of I.D. from this box:
• employee I.D. card
• debit card or bank card with your name and signature on it
• Canadian credit card with your name and signature on it
• current foreign passport

Choice #3 – Show one piece of I.D. from Box A and have someone the bank knows confirm that you are who you say you are.

As long as you have your Birth Certificate or SIN card, and a bank or credit card with your signature, you do not even have to show photo ID -- I found that particularly interesting. According to the FCAC, however, once you HAVE a bank account, these rules no longer apply -- the bank can request photo ID in order to make changes to your account (such as updating your name).

Therefore, according to these regulations, I should be able to apply for a bank account with my Birth Certificate (which obviously has my Maiden name, since I am assuming my Husband's name, rather than legally changing it), and my SIN card, or a credit card which have been updated -- which name would they put the account under? Would they require further identification?

Just to reinforce the ludicrousness of PC Financial requiring updated ID as well as your Marriage Certificate, here's my call list and responses from all the major banks I could contact:

ATB Financial (www.atb.com) 1-800-332-8383
marriage certificate
ID does not have to be updated to married name

Bank of Montreal (www.bmo.com) 1-800-225-5266
marriage certificate
ID doesn't have to be updated to married name

CIBC (www.cibc.com) 1-800-465-2422
marriage certificate
ID does not have to be updated to married name
Spoke with supervisor Shaun/Shawn/Sean, 9:40 EST Jan 07 to confirm this policy

Citizens Bank of Canada (www.citizensbank.ca) 1-888-708-7800
marriage certificate
ID does not have to be updated to married name

HSBC Bank Canada (www.hsbc.ca) 1-888-310-4722
marriage certificate
ID does not have to be updated to married name

ING Direct (www.ingdirect.ca) 1-800-464-3473
marriage certificate
ID does not have to be updated to married name

Laurentian Bank of Canada (www.lbcdirect.laurentianbank.ca) 1-877-522-3863
marriage certificate
ID does not have to be updated to married name

National Bank of Canada (www.nbc.ca) 1-888-483-5628
marriage certificate
ID does not have to be updated to married name

President’s Choice Financial (www.pcfinancial.ca) 1-888-723-8881
Supporting document, including marriage certificate, and 2 pieces of ID supporting name change -- standard ID in the new name

RBC Financial Group (www.royalbank.com) 1-800-769-2511
marriage certificate
ID doesn't have to be updated to married name

Scotiabank (www.scotiabank.com) 1-800-472-6842
marriage certificate
ID doesn't have to be updated to married name

TD Canada Trust (www.tdcanadatrust.com) 1-866-222-3456
marriage certificate
ID doesn't have to be updated to married name

Continued: PC Financial is Hassling Newly Married Women Part 2 & Part 3

Butter Chicken #1

2008-01-05T16:05:00.000-05:00

My first attempt at Homemade Butter Chicken. I tried following Vijar Bhaardwaj's Makhani Chicken recipe on Allrecipes.com, but I had to make a couple substitutions. Overall, it was good but I wouldn't call it "Butter Chicken". It was more like... curried chicken. Perhaps less tomato, and use cream like the recipe calls for (I substituted coconut milk).

Update: Nathan really liked this! Justin said it wasn't "Butter chicken" but it was definitely a "Chicken Curry". I was just happy it was edible and tasted remotely Indian-esque. It was even better the next day -- I dipped wholewheat bread in the leftover sauce -- didn't taste tomatoey (like it did when it was cooking), and had a pleasant kick to it (made my nose run, but didn't require gulping down ice-water).

1 3/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 cup yogurt (natural, no sugar added)
2 tablespoons garlic paste
1/2 tablespoon garam masala
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 tablespoons ginger paste
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 tablespoons garam masala
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
3 chopped red chile peppers (about 1 T)
1 can tomato paste (5.5 oz, 100% pure, no salt added)
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 cup water
3 tablespoon honey
1 can premium coconut milk (398 mL)

To Marinate: Place chicken in a nonporous glass dish or bowl with lemon juice, 1 tablespoon chili powder and salt. Toss to coat; cover dish and refrigerate to marinate for 1 hour.

Drain yogurt in a cloth for 15 to 20 minutes. Place in a medium bowl; mix in salt, garlic paste, garam masala, butter, chili powder, ginger paste, lemon juice and oil. Pour yogurt mixture over chicken, replace cover and refrigerate to marinate for another 3 to 4 hours, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Place chicken on skewers. Place skewers in a 9x13 inch baking dish and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until almost cooked through. Can also bake without the skewers. Set aside remaining marinade for the sauce.

To Make Sauce: Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in garam masala. When masala begins to crackle, mix in ginger paste, chopped garlic and chile peppers. Saute until tender, then stir in tomato paste, chili powder, salt, garam masala and water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring in honey.

Place chicken and remaining marinade in sauce mixture. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink inside. Stir in coconut milk.

Garam Masala Recipe

2008-01-05T15:42:00.000-05:00

In order to make the perfect amount of Garam Masala for the first Butter Chicken recipe, use an 1/8 teaspoon (wiped with a paper towel in between each spice).

Cardamom - 6 parts
Cinnamon - 4 parts
Cloves - 2 parts
Coriander - 6 parts
Cumin - 6 parts
Nutmeg - 2 parts
Pepper (Black) - 6 parts
Saffron - 1 part <-- yes, real saffron threads finely ground.

For best results, you're supposed to have all whole spices, roast them briefly, grind them, then use them immediately. I only had whole cardamom, peppercorns, nutmeg and saffron, so I didn't bother roasting them. Also, the first time I made this, I had a couple unlabeled spices and ended up using turmeric instead of cumin and extra cardamom (I think) instead of coriander. It all tasted Indian-esque to me, so I didn't worry too much. Bay leaves and ginger are also popular additions. Keep in mind that there is no "true" Garam Masala recipe -- you combine the spices your Mum taught you to...

Settlers of Catan -- best board game ever!

2007-12-20T16:02:00.000-05:00

Ottawa is currently experiencing a surge of interest in an unassuming board game -- Settlers of Catan. It seems that Mrs. Tiggy Winkle's is the only retailer which regularly stocks this German game (at a reasonable price, anyway), and they were sold out across Ottawa yesterday evening (as well as last week when I checked, and should've put my name on their next shipment). Settlers is literally being sold as soon as it's unpacked from Toronto! Sale clerks were perplexed as to the cause of the game's sudden popularity...

Settlers of Catan has a boring name, the box's design is outdated, and the description doesn't make it sound any better. In short, unless someone else has forced you to try the game, and you survived the learning process, there is no way you'd begin playing on your own. Settlers simply isn't the type of game you pick up thinking "Oh, this looks fantastic -- I'll get it for Suzy!"

Settlers requires an introduction by an experienced player. It's like... a virus.

I've gone the the States a couple times in the past month for Christmas shopping, and have looked everywhere for Settlers to no avail (I've gotten a number of strange looks). I was hoping for a cheaper American price, but it appears that the only US retailers which carry Settlers are the online variety -- they haven't even heard of the game in Waterstown or Messena.

Will Nathan receive Settlers for Christmas? Or an IOU? Stay tuned for the final outcome this Tuesday!

Tiramisu #4

2007-12-19T18:43:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year again -- Tiramisu time!

I'm heading over to the Polizogopoulos' for dinner on Saturday, and offered to make dessert. Christmas/New Years' just wouldn't be the same if I didn't attempt to make a wonderfully delicious light, smooth and creamy Tiramisu.

I looked over my past recipes, and decided to try a new approach -- beaten egg whites. There's a risk of salmonella, but I'm counting on the alcohol to kill any bacteria... what doesn't kill us, eh?

So I found a recipe for Zabaglione on Allrecipes.com that had slightly different proportions than what I'd done previously, so I thought I'd try that out. Here's what I did...

5 Eggs, separated
1/2 c Sweet (Cremova) Marsala Wine
1/4 c White Sugar
475g Mascarpone (Trestelle)
1/3 c Espresso Forte (Second Cup)
1/3 c Kahlua
2 dozen Ladyfingers (sugar-coated)
Cocoa for dusting

1. Beat egg yolks, Marsala and Sugar until smooth.

2. In a double boiler, continue to whisk Marsala mixture over high heat until it thickens (10-15 minutes). Cover and cool in refrigerator.

3. Beat egg whites in a glass bowl until soft peaks appear. Set aside.

4. Beat Mascarpone cheese until smooth.

5. Add cooled Marsala mixture to Mascarpone cheese. Beat until smooth.

6. Gently fold Mascarpone mixture into beaten egg whites.

7. Mix Kahlua and coffee.

8. Dip half of the Ladyfingers into coffee mixture and arrange across bottom of an 8" springform pan.

9. Gently spoon half of the Mascarpone mixture over Ladyfingers.

10. Lightly dust with Cocoa.

11. Repeat with remaining ladyfingers and Mascarpone mixture.

12. Lightly dust with Cocoa.

13. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.

14. Serve well chilled, with chocolate dipped Ladyfingers and strong coffee.

Update: I tried a scoop this afternoon, and was pleased with the overall taste. It's hard to tell from the sides, but I think I should've soaked the ladyfingers a bit longer than I did (they were pretty dry/stale to begin with), and I probably could've done without the egg whites. Maybe I'm just not used to my Tiramisu being light and whipped -- I prefer denser, custardy layers. I just don't think it's worth the risk of eating uncooked egg whites =/

Stately Commode is DONE!

2007-08-23T15:19:00.001-04:00

After hours of ripping, crosscutting, jointing, assembling, sanding, gluing, sanding, pore-filling, sanding, staining, sanding, and restaining, this is what I was left with...

The carcase on the left hasn't been stained yet, so you can see the white dust left from the plaster I used as a pore filler (worked amazingly well)

So... this is my final project, after pore filling with Plaster, using a gel stain and 2 sprays of lacquer.

Ain't she a beauty?

As you can see from the light filtering through the clearances, I didn't have time to rip a back >.<
Look at that silky smooth top!

A detail of the moldings and dovetailed drawers. Apparently the stripe of stain down the joint is "traditional". I prefer showcasing the dovetails, personally, but meh...

The feet and base molding (a wee bit dusty)

The top drawer, with side detail... look at the shine off the gables!

Current Project: Stately Commode

2007-08-05T13:54:00.001-04:00

I thought I'd share my current project. It's a love-hate relationship, really, and it's taking *forever* to put together.

For our 2nd semester, students are usually put into groups of 2 or 3 for a major machined project. Some work from previous years is on display at the front entrance to our building. We oohed and awed over them at the beginning of our course, and in the middle of February(?) we actually got to start working on them.

I was done my Pine Single Commode (might get a pic up later) 3rd. The 1st and 2nd students were put together, as were the 4th and 5th, so I was given the option of going it alone. I figured alright -- no problem! Five months later, I realize I bit off *far* more than I could reasonably chew >.<

Lapped, rebated dovetails -- oooh.. ahhhh

The base -- John C. used a particle board base to hold the three pieces together

The feet on the lathe -- rather messy work ;)

A foot in progress

So what exactly do you do?

2007-08-05T13:32:00.000-04:00

So... there's 3 weeks left in my programme, and some of my friends & family still don't really know what on earth I'm learning to do... "Cabinetmaking and Furniture Technician" sounds like someone who makes kitchen cabinets (a la Ikea), and works on a furniture assembly line. It really is an awful course title :P

Here's our 1st semester final project. It's a pine tool chest made entirely with hand tools (well, aside from the wood milling and the curved side opening), and I *loved* the outcome.

Inside, notice the "girly" knobs :) When the projects are marked, they're all lined up with no names. Dave knew this was mine as soon as he opened it up *lol*

Notice the lapped dovetail drawer sides -- all hand done with a dovetail saw and chisel.

Dog Agility

2007-08-05T12:04:00.001-04:00

I think my Mum should make her own version of "Agility and What Can Go Wrong" :)

Alpaca Shearing

2007-08-05T11:51:00.001-04:00

I think this is the next step for my Mum after she masters dog-grooming :)

I Blame the Heat Wave!

2007-08-04T12:10:00.000-04:00

My gorgeous $5 Fuschia is dead :(

I accept ZERO responsibility -- it was this dreadful heat! The fact that I hadn't watered it in 3 days while it was baking on our balcony had NOTHING to do with it >.>

*sigh*

/me runs off to Parkdale Market to find another Fuschia before DH notices...

Hogan Kitchen Design

2007-08-02T19:12:00.001-04:00

Update: I've noticed a number of Google hits on this blog for "Hogan Kitchen Design." While it would stroke my ego to think hundreds of people are fascinated by my college project, I have a feeling they are actually looking for Hogan Kitchens. I am (unfortunately) not affiliated with them in any way. Beautiful kitchens and website though -- makes me proud to be an Hogan. I'm thinking of sending them a resume ;)

-------------------------------

So I'm doing my parent's kitchen, as a giant Thank You for paying for my Cabinetmaking degree at Algonquin College. I did it up on 20/20 Design (version 5.8, or something) at school (VERY good program, but a couple years out of date).

My Mum was*thrilled* when I showed her the plan and the 3d view. Here are some pics of it, taken from the program. Some known issues: I couldn't figure out how to insert the bulkheads, so some cabinets are lower than others for no apparent reason (trust me, it'll be fine), I removed the kickplate, the appliance garages should have wood sides, the walls won't be a dreadful shade of grey or bright green, the spot-lighting isn't in it's final location, and the overhead lightbox is a very ugly shade of green.

SawStop 10" Cabinet Table Saw

2007-07-09T17:51:00.000-04:00

I’m currently a Cabinetmaking and Furniture Technician student at Algonquin College. Personally, the table saw is the machine I am most apprehensive of. There’s something unsettling about a 10″ blade with sharp jagged teeth spinning angrily towards you while you slide your hand towards it

I heard about SawStop at the beginning of the year, and was impressed by the hotdog demo and testimonials. The safety feature is well-designed, and I have yet to hear of a confirmed failure (you can bet the unlucky customer’s maimed digits would be all over the news).

The riving knife is a great feature, which greatly minimizes kickback. I’ve ripped casehardened mahogany which would have kicked back something fierce — thankfully, it gripped the knife instead of the blade. The stock was warped so badly, I ended up with matching canes…

The false positives have been reduced thanks to the newer feature which allows the operator to test the moisture content of the wood. If the lights indicate that the wood is too green, you can leave the brake off while the cuts are made. Also, Sawstop will replace accidentally tripped brake cartridges for free (the spent cartridge contains data regarding the incident which they can use for further improvements). Of course, you’ll still have to replace your blade.

Every review I’ve read of the SawStop has given it top marks for quality of construction and ease of use. Even without the remarkable braking mechanism, the SawStop is a well-designed tablesaw, worthy of the higher price tag. WITH the brake, the SawStop is a bargain.

My college’s Perth Heritage campus has 3 of these fine table saws, and the main Woodroofe campus just ordered their first one earlier this week. There is some concern that students will be less vigilant about safety when using the SawStop, however I’m sure the same argument was raised when Air Bags were first introduced. I certainly don’t drive more carelessly as a result. Safety features like the SawStop and Air Bags provide peace of mind should an accident occur — the main goal is still the *prevention* of accidents.

In the end, my fingers are worth more to me, my family and my future than the $2200 CAD price difference between a fully loaded SawStop and a Delta Unisaw w/ Biesemeyer fence (which we currently use in the shop). I only wish the SawStop was a decade older so I could find a used one on kijiji.

- 10″ 3 HP cabinet SawStop, sliding fence, extension table, regular and dado brakes, delivery (Laval to Ottawa) & 14% tax = $5141 CAD

Morning Smoothie

2007-04-27T11:11:00.000-04:00

The flaxseed and oils are optional, but they add a nice healthy/nutty taste, and are a great way to get your daily dose of omegas and whatnot ;)

Tools

Ice-crushing Blender (with gradations on side)
1T Measuring Spoon
Large glass (about 2.5c)

Ingredients

1/2c Fruit Juice (ie. Ceres, or Bolthouse Farms Strawberry Banana)
1/2c Plain Yogurt (Milk & Bacteria only)
2T Flaxseed (Cold-Milled)
1T Pumpkin Seed Oil
1T Hemp Seed Oil
1T Honey (Unpasteurized - optional, if it's a little too healthy for you :))
1/4c Frozen Raspberries (optional -- for added zing)
Couple handfuls of Frozen Fruit (2.7 kg of No Name = $10)

Directions

Add everything except the frozen fruit, and pulse a few times.

Add in small handfuls of the frozen fruit (pulsing with the ice-crush feature), until the smoothie is nice and thick

Enjoy :)

Naturally Protective Hand Cream

2007-04-26T18:18:00.001-04:00

Two Lord's Days ago, Mrs McC invited me and my Mil over to her home to teach her eldest daughter R how to etch glass. I ended up going home with more materials than I had brought -- Mrs McC taught me how to make hand cream, and gave me bottles of everything I'd need to make it at home :D

Naturally Protective Hand Cream

Working in the shop wreaks havoc on your skin. The air is dry and wood just sucks all the moisture out of your hands. Wearing gloves is a safety hazard when working with machines, but moisturizers will transfer waxes or oils to the wood, interfering with the finish, so they're out too. The only solution is to toughen up and use a protective hand cream after working:!:

You can mix around the oil or water-based ingredients to your liking, as long as the ratio of oil to water stays 1:1. For a lighter lotion, increase the water ratio slightly. I used brackets to indicate which ingredients were combined to make the listed amount.

Tools

Blender
2c clear measuring cup
1/3c measuring cup
1t measuring spoon
small double boiler or pot
small spatula

Cream = 1 1/3c WATERS[1c water + 1/3c[Honey + Aloe + (opt. Glycerine)]] + 1 1/3c OILS[2/3c Liquid Oil + 1/3c Solid Oil + 1/3c[1t Lanolin + Beeswax] + (opt. 1t Vitamin E)] + Opt. Essential Oils

Waters (total 1 1/3c)

1c Water (preferably distilled)
1/3c [Honey (unpasteurized), Aloe Vera (food grade) and Glycerin (optional) combined]

Add Honey and Aloe to Water in the clear measuring cup, leave on counter to warm up to room temperature. Rinse out small measuring cup.

Oils (total 1 1/3c)

1c Oils
- 2/3c liquid oil (Sweet Almond, Grapeseed, Jojoba, or Apricot Oil)
- 1/3c solid oil (Coconut Oil, Cocoa, or Shea Butter)
1/3c [1 tsp Lanolin, topped up with melted Beeswax]

Optional

1t Vitamin E oil
Essential Oils

Directions

If you use beeswax regularly, it would be a good idea to set a pot aside as its permanent home. A small kettle works very well -- easy to pour the wax. I was concerned about overheating the wax, so I used a double-boiler, but it turned out to be not quite hot enough (started to turn solid as soon as it hit my blender).

Melt all oils on the stove top, then pour mixture in blender and pulse a few times to blend completely.

Put blender cup in the fridge until cloudy (very important -- too warm, and it won't blend easily with the water mix).

Turn blender on and slowly drizzle water mixture into the center. You can add a teaspoon of Vitamin E oil at this point, if you like.

Use the spatula to scrape all the way down the sides of the cup (in between pulses) until well-mixed. Make sure to get all the oil off the sides, and that there's no sign of water around the top.

Blend in a few drops of essential oil if you like (Unscented is best for babies), then pour into small jars. Let sit until firm -- it might feel oily until it sets.

A Tip from my friend:

Add water and a touch of gentle soap to the blender cup and pulse a few times to clean. If you didn't scent the cream in the blender then use the wash water to make your own baby wipes:!:

Check out this site for great baby wipe directions ;)

Hair Today

2007-04-25T22:42:00.000-04:00

So... my hair is starting to get pretty darned long. So long, in fact, I need advice on caring for it, and styling options. The last time I had hair this long, I was 7, and my Mum did everything for me :)

I found a great site -- the Long Hair Community. It has pages and pages.. and pages of really helpful info on just about every beauty topic (and more! Oh, and hair care, of course). The women (and some men) are an enormous wealth of information. I've already joined a half dozen challenges (No-Trimming, No-Picking, Hair Oiling, Condition Only, Oil Cleansing Method, and Oil Pulling (not entirely sold on that one)), and I'm sure I'll find more bandwagons to jump on ;)

I've decided to keep track of my hair's growth, to see how fast it grows. This is a picture I took this evening (25 Apr 07). I've been using using my Jojoba herbal mix every night, doing WO in the morning, and CO every 3-4 days. Lots and lots of BBBing, trying to spread all the good stuff down my length.

I thought I was BSL, but as you can see, I'm very nearly waist length at the longest point. I'm pleased with the overall shape from my last haircut (Jan 29/07), so I'm looking forward to the no-trimming challenge. I'm fairly confident I won't reach terminal length for a few years at least. As long as I take good care of my hair, I should reach a solid classic length by 2010, without the ends looking ratty... I hope, anyway >.>

My facial blemishes are starting to disappear since I started cleansing and moisturizing with a 60-40 mix of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Castor Oil. I smell a little bit like a pizzaria, but I think it fades away after half an hour... I hope, anyway >.>

I've stopped trying to manually "fix" my skin, too -- no more popping, poking or picking. It's a bit frustrating... I find my fingers roaming over my chin looking for bumps, but I think in a couple weeks I'll stop touching my face altogether... I hope, anyway >.>

For comparison purposes, I dug up this old picture from our Honeymoon (27 Aug 04). It was the only one I could find from the back, with my hair down. It's B&W and fuzzy because I think DH was playing with our camera's features, but it shows my length well ;)

New Fixation: Woodworking

2006-09-19T23:39:00.000-04:00

Last Christmas, I was in the van with my Mum -- I think she was driving me from my place to hers, or we were going to Bayshore... it was dark and it was snowing -- and we were discussing careers she thought would be interesting. She mentioned a traditional masonry programme in Perth. Of course, when I got home, I Googled the course, and found Algonquin's Heritage Institute. They've completely redone their website since I last visited; it looks spiffy now, but I can't find the handsome video they made showcasing the students' fine work. That video made me sigh... Why did it have to be offered in Perth?

Although I think the Masonry projects were beautiful, I just don't have the arms/back/knees for that kind of work. Come to think of it, I probably don't have the strength for the Carpentry programme either. Regardless, the Heritage Institute website reminded me of how much I enjoyed the woodworking section of my Ottawa U Sculpture class (ugh, how I hate modern art). It's a pity I couldn't find a home for that 3 panelled Maple privacy screen... it was simple but beautiful (aside from the insert).

I started looking into *local* woodworking programmes, and found a 48 week Furniture Technician degree at Algonquin's Woodroffe. The description sounded rather dry and uninteresting; I was worried the degree simply prepared you for working in a factory... "Furniture Technician" doesn't sound very ... erm... craftsman-ish. However, the course descriptions sounded more lively, as did the "Employment Opportunities". I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to do with a Furniture Technician degree, but I knew I needed a break from University lectures... I wanted to work with my hands -- and get paid for it!

I spoke with DH about my desire to switch degrees... he wanted me to finish my BA Theatre before contemplating switching -- there was a very high chance wouldn't go back for the handful of courses I need to finish my degree (to him, that means I've wasted 4 years and $20k) He also was concerned that this was just another one of my fads (aka fixations); it would be a heck of a lot of money spent on something I'd drop in a couple months. He simply didn't see where I'd be working with my Furniture Technician degree since "Everyone gets their furniture at Ikea, now". Finally, DH objected to the equipment cost -- handtools, power tools, machines, etc.

I'll be the first to admit that DH had some very reasonable points.

1. It *would* be a good idea to finish the few courses I have left in my BA degree before switching to something else. There *is* a high probablity that I won't be returning to University. However, I wouldn't consider that time nor money wasted if I didn't complete my degree. Look at it this way... I started my BA Theatre with the idea that I would become an actress. I never wanted to work behind the scenes, or in a theatre-related desk job, or as a Stage Manager... I wanted to be on-stage. A degree might have looked nice on my resume, but my actual audition, appearance & availability would have been far more important. I've taken all the acting/voice courses available at Ottawa U -- it's the Modern Theatre History course I can't get though >.<>Graduates may find employment in furniture making and cabinetmaking, furniture repair refinishing and restoration, kitchen and commercial cabinetry as well as boatbuilding and refitting. Other career options include job estimating, sales of furniture, tools, hardware and machinery. Graduates are also well equipped for future self-employment. Did you say Boatbuilding? Man, that sounds cool. I also have it on good authority that quality kitchen cabinets are freaking expensive, and still in high demand... not everyone wants a factory-made Ikea kitchen. The website just needs to provide a little more info on the skills acquired, and potential careers provided. More information on this whole apprenticeship/journeyman thing would have been appreciated, too. DH thought that I was kidding when I talked about becoming an apprentice and then a journeyman...

4. Tools. Oh, how I love fine equipment. I used to spend hours ogling the pages of the latest Lee Valley catalogue. I didn't know what most of the tools were used for, but I loved the craftsmanship put into them (not to mention the magazine itself). I'm sure one day I'll own all the Veritas planes (even though the handles are too upright), Japanese Dovetail Chisels, Hirsch Firmer Chisels and an 18 tpi Dozuki, but until I'm actually making some decent money, I'll survive with what I can get my hands on (perhaps my Dad's planes *wink*, a set of 4 Narex Bevel-Edge Chisels, and a Japanese-style Dovetail Saw).

I understand DH is worried about me having to spend a fortune on tools, and find a workshop, but he doesn't seem to understand the work-environment most apprentices will be working in... I'd be working in the company workshop -- not my own... it's not like graduates are required to immediate finance their own workshop (unless they want to set up their own shop).

That's not to say I won't be rewriting my wishlist to include the aforementioned tools :)

To make a very long story short... I kept talking about the programme with my Mum, and she offered to finance the 48 week course at Algonquin. In exchange, she'll be my very first commission -- she wants me to redo her kitchen cabinets. I was too late to sign up for the theatre history course I needed at Ottawa U, so I signed up for the Cabinetmaking & Furniture Technician programme instead. DH doesn't have to worry about me wasting more of his money, my Mum gets quality, custom designed kitchen cabinets (and a new kitchen table *shhh*), and I get to try my hand at something completely new and exciting.

On the up side, DH seems to have warmed up to the idea of having a future Cabinetmaker for a wife. He keeps asking when I'll be able to build us a spice rack ;)

More Cottage pics

2006-08-17T15:53:00.000-04:00

Faye playing Badminton

Kitchen table, without the extension

The cottage is under construction here, so it looks rougher than it is now -- you also don't see the new porch and screened porch. The water level is much higher than this, so there is *very* little shoreline this year.

Cottage Pics for Bertos

2006-08-17T14:13:00.000-04:00

The 3rd Annual Cottage Weekend Extravaganza is starting tomorrow, and Faye's new Husband, Albertos is planning the continuation of the Polizogopolympics. The only problem is he's never been to the cottage before, and has no clue what the general layout is, so I though I'd post some pics of our previous years to give him an idea of the space we'll be competing in.

I'm having some issues uploading the correct pics... they should be up before 3pm.

Scorry Breck Alpacas

2006-01-24T16:32:00.000-05:00

Jo, Katie & I went to visit Rainer Goetze of Scorry Breck Alpaca in Woodlawn, about 35 minutes out of Ottawa. Mrs. Goetze wasn't able to join us, but her husband was a wonderful host, giving us a delightful and informative tour of their farm. It was simply beautiful, with a picturesque view of the river and mountains... My, oh my... And seeing the alpacas in person for the first time - just wonderful. They were about a foot taller than I had expected, but oh so beautiful. Very curious, but cautious. Mr. Goetze singled out a few of the 7 month old crias to show us what to look for in their fibre and conformation. He demonstrated how to check for density by grabbing a handful of fibre at their sides (I was really surprised by just how much was in a handful) , and how to separate the fleece to see the crimp, colour and bundling. The crias were so soft that I literally could have brushed off the hay and spun the fibre straight off their backs.

After interacting with the animals, we went inside, where Katie, Jo and the kids watched Ice Age, and Mr. Goetze spoke with me about the business side of raising Alpacas. He was a bit disturbed that I hadn't written down questions to ask him, although he seemed to appreciate that I had "done my homework". I knew what 'double registered' meant; that females are basically pregnant their entire lives; that males have their fighting teeth removed... I was even able to identify the males' fencing as ElectroBraid ;)

To be honest, I didn't have to write down my questions because I really didn't have many. I had spent so long reading about Alpacas on the internet that I felt fairly confident in my head-knowledge. The questions I had were South-Eastern Ontario-specific and more subjective, experience-based than textbook; I figured they would all be answered as Mr. Goetze talked us though our tour - What kind of shelter he used (small barn for females & crias, 3-sided shelter for males); what he fed them in the winter (hay & a cup of specially formulated pellets); how he administered vaccines (he took a course & watched his vet the first year); how much time his small herd required per day (2 hours); how much his animals costs in upkeep per year ($200), etc.. I guess those are the questions I should have written down, but they seemed so obvious that I didn't feel I needed to. Like if you took a tour of a local bakery, most people would probably ask the same questions - How long have you been in the business, what do you bake, how do you make those braided breads, etc. You don't write them down, because the tour itself either gives you the information as you go, or the experience prompts you to ask the questions at the appropriate time. A good tour-guide knows exactly what information the visitors want to know, and so tells them. An excellent tour-guide knows exactly what information the visitors should want to know, and so tells them... Mr. Goetze was an excellent 'tour-guide'.

So, I had most of my answers; what I was lacking was hands-on experience - seeing how the animals reacted to strangers, how they are coaxed into the barn, how to handle scared crias... I really needed to watch the animals in their environment, being handled by their owner. That's why visiting the farm was so wonderful - it gave an experience with the animals themselves. However, I don't think I could be truly confident with them until I actually had a pair of my own.

If I might philosophize for a moment, it's like going swimming on the beach in March. You know you want to swim, and you know it'll be fantastic once you're in. The problem is physically getting into the water. You can estimate the temperature with your fingers or toes, but you can never truly experience the water until you're floating on your back with your hair swirling around your head. Getting from the shore to under the water is the most agonizing part of swimming. You really only have 2 options - to slowly wade in or take the plunge.

Slowly wading into the water is absolutely the most awful way to adjust to the temperature. Sure, it's gradual, and won't send you into vagal shock, but you feel every millimiter of coldness creeping up your body. Each wave finds new skin to torture. You're shivering so intensely that you could be mistaken for an epileptic. Then, once you're finally up to your neck, the chill clings to you. Your body is so tense from shaking that you can't loosen up and enjoy the water.

Plunging in, on the other hand, is an immediate, intense shock; the cold engulfs you so suddenly that your lungs freeze up and your knees become permanantly attached to your chin. If you've done it right, however, you've landed deep enough that you are forced to move your arms or legs in order to stay afloat. The movements heat your muscles and, in less than a minute, the cold fades away. You're able to enjoy your swim, without all that tension from shivering for 10 minutes as you inched into the water.

I think that's how it is with raising Alpacas.

Goin' to see Alpacas!

2006-01-24T11:16:00.000-05:00

Jo called me this morning to ask when we should leave for Scorry Breck Alpaca farm. I had completely forgotten! We had to leave in an hour if we were going to make it there on time.

On a completely different note, our beautiful kitten, Butters (now almost 6 months), has been jumping into the bathtub lately, and just laying in there. I wasn't sure if she wanted a bath, or what, so I filled the tub with a couple inches of warm water. As I was typing, I heard a rather large splash... and then a rather annoyed meow as she scrambled out. She's peering over the ledge of the tub right now from the safety of the bathroom floor. I guess she didn't want a bath, but now she'll look before she leaps ;)

La Beccharie's Original Tiramisu

2006-01-24T04:47:00.000-05:00

If you haven't noticed by now, I currently have a thing for Tiramisu...

The next recipe I will test on my road to the most delicious, fresh and simple Tiramisu is what Anna Maria Volpi claims to be the original recipe from La Beccherie.

It has the simplicity of ingredients I am looking for (no gelatine, condensed milk, etc); it is only *slightly* more complicated than my current recipe, through the addition of whipped cream. I might have a problem with finding 1.5c of espresso, though - I don't have an espresso maker, and I've never ordered it before. I have a feeling that even if I use the Mascarpone Cream of this recipe, I'll go back to my current method of 1 part strong coffee, 1 part kahlua. So that begs the question - what's different in this cream? Less Zabaglione, more Cheese/Cream. We shall see...

Le Beccherie's Tiramisu

Mascarpone Cream
4 egg yolks - whip
1/2 cup (100 gr) sugar - whisk in
1/2 cup (120 cc) Marsala wine (if not available substitute with other sweet wine like port or Madeira) - whisk in, then heat over double boiler
1 lb (450 gr) mascarpone cheese, at room temperature - cream, then whisk in Zabaglione
1 cup (230 cc) heavy whipping cream - whip, then fold in

Base
10 oz (285 gr) savoiardi (ladyfinger cookies) (approximately 40)

Coffee dip
1 -1/2 cups (360 cc) espresso coffee
2 teaspoons sugar

Coating
2 tablespoons bitter cocoa powder

My cooking philosphy

2006-01-24T03:19:00.000-05:00

I'm not a fan of adding too much to a good thing. I believe that the best things a recipe could have going for it are fresh & natural ingrediants, simplicity and ease of construction. I don't want to use powders, packaged mixes, gelatine, margarine, processed cheese, etc..

Pam Anderson's Mushroom-Stuffed Chicken Breasts in a Balsamic Pan Sauce has a good example of what I don't want. It uses both dried and fresh mushrooms. Now, I'm sure there is a taste differential when using both mushrooms, instead of just one, and I'm not against using dried foodstuff (sometimes there is no other way when you require a certain result - dried cranberries & stuffing). However, you really have to balance that difference with the extra time and complication required when you use both. I made this recipe using only fresh mushrooms, and it turned out beautifully. It was also incredibly simple to make. Even if the dish tasted 15% better with dried mushrooms (doubtful, since I'm not that big a fan of mushrooms), I wouldn't add them because they require 20% more effort, and a couple more steps for me to mess up. If, on the other had, I were to make a dessert which required a chocolate sauce, I would go the extra mile to create a simple home-made version, rather than use a preservative-loaded, over-sugared store-bought brand.

I do, however, have a few packaged crutches I rely on, mostly because I haven't taken the time to figure out how to prepare them from scratch:

1. Uncle Ben's Fast & Fancy rice is simply wonderful. I tend to put most of my cooking effort into the meat or vegetables, and I forget about the traditionally mandatory starch (I'm slightly allergic to both rice and potatoes, so they're not terribly important to me) These little packs are the perfect size (4 servings), and they require very little attention (although I really should set a timer, the next time I make one).

2. I have a thing for the old Duncan Hine's brownie mix, however they recently changed the packaging and the formula; they have lost their wonderfully dense texture. We're currently settling for Quaker's brownie mix, but we haven't made brownies in quite some time, which is a pretty good indication of our disappointment. I think I might just have to start looking for a homemade brownie recipe...

3. Jello chocolate pudding mix: I have no clue how to make pudding, and these packages are terribly easy and fast enough to satisfy my chocolate cravings.

4. President's Choice sauces, primarily Memories of Kobe, but more recently their other varieties. I love how fast and flavourful they are - I just dump them over meat, roast, then make gravy with watered down whole wheat flour. The taste is too amazing and too easy to pass up. I might have a change of heart if I looked into homemade sauces. Once I found one, I'd have to buy portion-sized canning jars so I could make a batch ahead of time. Then I could just pop open a bottle and dump it over the meat. Hmmm.. that sounds like a great idea. After I perfect the Tiramisu recipe (or my DH bans me from buying more Mascarpone cheese), I'll have to look into sauces and marinades which can be canned. Hmmm... I like that idea - if we ever have company over, and they like the meat, then I can send them home with a bottle of sauce :)

PM Stephen Harper

2006-01-24T00:58:00.000-05:00

I don't really know much about the man - I just wanted to see how the title looks next to his name :)

Josh, Aiden, Cory & I watched the votes coming in this evening at Jared's. I was quite amused to hear Jared list off adjectives for each Liberal candidate. His description of Belinda was rather... harsh. I'm not well-versed on political issues, so Jared spent the evening trying to explain to me how fantastic it was that some Quebec ridings were overwhelmingly Conservative, and how a number of the so-called Liberals were actually ProLife-Sanctity of Marriage-social conservatives... I'm just glad to finally have a Tory government, even if it is a minority. Praise God!

Tiramisu's Precursor?

2006-01-23T17:15:00.000-05:00

Yes, I have a thing about Tiramisus now...

I was looking through a classic recipe book my Gramma passed down to me, "Encyclopedia of Canadian Cuisine" (Canadian Home Magazine, 2nd printing, 1963). This gem by Madame Benoit was rated by the Vancouver Public Library as 19th out of 133 "books of the century". Anyway, I was trying to find a recipe for Ladyfingers (p.548) or Zabaglione (p. 738-9), and I stumbled across a picture of a familiar looking recipe...

Coffee Charlotte Russe (p.751)

1 envelope gelatine
1/2c sugar
1/8t slt
2T instant coffee
1 1/4c milk
2 eggs, separated
1/2t vanilla
1c whipping cream
8-12 ladyfingers

1. Mix together 1/4c sugar, gelatine, salt and instant coffee in top of double boiler. Beat the milk with the egg yolks; add to the gelatine mixture. Cook in double boiler over boiling water, stirring constatly, for approximately 5 minutes or until the gelatine is dissolved. Remove from heat, add the vanilla. Refrigerate until the mixture is half set.

2. Beat the egg whites, add the 1/4c remaining sugar, beat until peaks form.

3. Fold the half-set coffee mixture in the stiff egg whites. Whip the cream and add.

4. Set the ladyfingers all around individual molds, or a crystal bowl. Pour the cream and refrigerate from 4-12 hours.

In the photograph, which caught my eye, the ladyfingers look as though the tips have been dipped in chocolate, and there is a light dusting of dark powder (cocoa?) on the top of the cream, There's also whipped cream decorating the bottom edge.

Spinning Alpaca

2006-01-22T22:09:00.000-05:00

I still have an urge to cook or bake... perhaps cookies?

Perhaps I can keep my mind of cooking by knitting - haven't knit in a while. My "Scarf of First Spuns" is waiting for the next installment, the South African Top, as well as the little bit of Alpaca I spun today. Man, there is such a difference between wool and Alpaca. I don't think I can truly explain how slippery Alpaca is compared to wool. It just floats right out of your fingers... I had to lower the tension to almost nothing just so the wheel wouldn't pull the fibre out of my hands before I could set the twist on the part I just draughted. Once I got the hang of it though, it was like magic. I'm a bit worried about how overspun it is though...

We'll see.

Tiramisu #3

2006-01-22T21:31:00.000-05:00

So... DH & I finished off Tiramisu #2, which means I had to make another for tomorrow's election soirée at Jared's. I figured I would just double everything, and do it exactly the same as #2.

I popped 6 egg yolks (now I have a dozen egg whites...) into the double boiler with 3/4c white sugar, stirred until it thickened, then added 1/2c Marsala . I was adding the Mascarpone when I realized that I only had 1 tub of cheese...

So what do I do? halve the Zabaglione? or just toss in half the Masacrpone I should have?

I decided to just use what I had. I figured it would turn out more custardy and less cheesy... might as well try it out... I'll just use the same size springform pan, instead of a large one.

Presentation of this one was important (I wasn't going to be the only one eating it), so I wrapped the bottom and sides in baking parchment. That was an adventure in and of itself, but it got done, and looked like it would hold in the dessert until it set.

Everything else was the same - 1/3c strong coffee with 1/3c Kahlua. I dipped the Ladyfingers a bit quicker, and made sure to place them sugar side up (I just felt like it). Then I poured over the custardy layer. This is where I ran into a new problem... the Ladyfingers decided to float.

Ummm... yeah. I tried pushing them back down and holding them there, but they just floated right back up. After contemplating this dilemma, I decided to just keep on on going. The Tiramisu would taste the same, right? The layers would just be a little wonky... I put the rest of the layers on, covered it in plastic wrap, and put it in the fridge to set.

Now, can someone tell me why the biscuits decided to float?

So... here's what I did differently:

1. Wrapped the pan in baking parchment
- This shouldn't have affected the top layer

2. Didn't let the coffee mixture cool
- It was about lukewarm when I dipped the Ladyfingers

3. Dipped the Ladyfingers faster
- I flipped them over once instead of twice. Less liquid absorbed = more air inside

4. Half the amount of Mascarpone cheese in the custard
- The custard had a different density.

5. Didn't let the Mascarpone mixture chill
- It was lukewarm by the time I poured it into the pan, but it was almost as thick as Tiramisu #2

Oh well... I'll dust it heavily with cocoa powder, and no one will be the wiser ;)

Update: I brought the Tiramisu to Jared's for the Election Watch, and it was a resounding success :) The baking parchment was useless in the end, I forgot the extra lady fingers and it was a a bit too liquidy to stand up on it's own. Of course, I only discovered that after removing the springform pan... I ended up flipping the cake back into the pan, which, incidently, fixed the problem of the floating Ladyfingers :) I sponged the drips off the side, scraped the leaked custard off the baking parchment, and back into the pan, heavily dusted it all with cocoa powder, and Voila! I had a perfect looking Tiramisu. It had to be scooped out of the pan with a serving spoon, but hey! It tasted darned good! Aiden said he didn't know what Tiramisu was supposed to taste or look like, but that I could bring this to every function :D

In short, I was happy with the taste, it just needed to be more firm ;) Now, how do I make it more firm without drastically changing the taste? Do I add more cheese, more eggs, less Marsala or try whipped cream? Do I cook the eggs longer? If all else fails, I can toss in some unflavooured gelatine... but I'd rather keep it on the more natural side of things :P

Mushroom & Chèvre Stuffed Chicken

2006-01-22T18:26:00.000-05:00

When DH & I went shopping a couple days ago, he wouldn't let me pick up the pork tenderloin I wanted for Johannah's Roasted Garlic & Chèvre Pork Tenderloin because he wanted me to use up the fresh chicken thighs sitting in our fridge. I had a craving to do something stuffed with goat cheese, so I checked out AllRecipes.com and searched for recipes containing Chicken and Goat cheese, but not tomatoes. I found Mushroom-Stuffed Chicken Breasts in a Balsamic Pan Sauce by USA Weekend columnist Pam Anderson. I thought it looked pretty decent, but it didn't have any reviews - I love reading the reviews for suggestions - and I didn't have half of the ingredients...

DH has this thing about not wanting me to buy stuff unless I have an immediate use for it. Now, that's a good practice... if you own a car. We can't just make a quick trip out to the grocery store to pick up that ingredient we need for dinner... We have to plan in advance - borrow our parents' car, or lug heavy groceries around in our backpacks on the bus...

I have this crazy idea that if something can be kept indefinitely, we have the storage space, it's not crazy expensive, doesn't seem like the kind of thing that goes on sale, and I can see myself using it in the next 6 months, regardless of whether or not I have a specific date and recipe for it, then we should pick it up. That way, it's on hand for when I need it. I'm not in the habit yet of planning meals ahead of time, which means that if I don't have what I need to make something, it doesn't get made.

You'll note that the recipe says "Balsamic Pan Suace". A while ago, DH & I went grocery shopping. I picked out a bottle of Balsamic vinegar, and put it in the cart. DH asked me what I needed that for, and said if I didn't need it right away, then I should put it back, "Honestly, do you see yourself ever using that?"

Now here's what annoys me the most - I couldn't remember if I had put it back. This happens rather frequently; sometimes I agree with him, and others times...

Apparently, I had conceded, because we didn't have an ounce of Balsamic vinegar in the house. -all we had was Sherry vinegar. I have no clue what the difference between vinegars is, so, of course, I Googled it (see a recurring pattern forming here?). I couldn't find what I was looking for as fast as I wanted to, so I decided to go for it anyway. I had to tweak the recipe a bit anyway because we didn't have dried mushrooms, I don't have a kitchen scale (well, we do, but DH thought I'd never use it, so it's in storage), we were using chicken thighs instead of breasts, and I prefer using whole wheat flour instead of corn starch for making gravy. Oh, and DH commented previously that goat cheese tasted "too goaty", and he doesn't like strong mushrooms...

Here's what I ended up with:

Mushroom & Chèvre Stuffed Chicken
Serves 4-5

2 'glugs' Olive Oil
8 large cloves of Garlic (it really mellows, so don't worry)
1 package of large White Mushrooms
1.5t Ground Thyme
2 'logs' of Soft Unripened Goat Cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste

1/4c Honey
1/4c Balsamic Vinegar (ideally, but I used Sherry Vinegar, and it turned out nicely)

8 Skin-on Chicken thighs OR 4 Skin-on, Boneless Chicken Breasts, trimmed of excess fat

1/2c Water
1/4c Whole Wheat Flour

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 425F.
1. Trim mushrooms stems and chop mushrooms finely. Combine with crush garlic, thyme, salt & pepper.
2. Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushroom mixture; saute until nearly all moisture has evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Turn off heat, stir in cheese. Set aside.
3. Debone chicken, leaving skin intact. Push fingers under skin to make a pocket; stuff with mushroom mixture. Arrange in a casserole dish.
4. Combine honey & vinegar in a small bowl (microwave to melt honey if neccessary). Brush mixture over stuffed chicken.

Here's where I had trouble. Well before the chicken was ready, the chicken skins burnt where they had been stuffed . I think I should have covered the chicken for the first half hour, and then uncovered for the last 5-10 minutes?

5. Roast until golden brown, adding water if necessary to keep pan drippings from burning, until a meat thermometer registers 160 degrees in the thickest portion of the largest piece, 30 to 45 minutes. Transfer chicken to a platter.
6. In a small saucepan, whisk water with flour. Scrape pan juices into saucepan. Whisking constantly, bring to a simmer; continue to simmer until it thickens a bit.
7. Arange stuffed chicken on plates and drizzle with sauce.

Serve with wild rice and green vegetables.

DH said that not only was the goat cheese not too "goaty", but also that the mushrooms weren't too strong either. I think the extra garlic and thyme worked well.

Tiramisu #2 Well, I think it's perfect

2006-01-21T23:28:00.000-05:00

Last night, I decided I was going to make the best Tiramisu on earth. My only problem was that I had the wrong Marsala...

When I asked the guy at the LCBO for Marsala wine, I should have specified that I wanted sweet Marsala for making Zabaglione. Instead, I got "Dessert Dry Wine". I didn't know there was such a thing as a dry dessert wine - I thought the definition of a dessert wine was that it was sweet... *sigh*... Well, I didn't want to open the bottle only to find out that it was horribly bitter, so I Googled Marsala wines, and tried to figure out if Zabaglione could indeed be made with dry Marsala. I found a few sites that seemed to indicate that it was possible (the Sperone wine I bought only had Italian information, so it wasn't much help), I just needed to add more sugar. But I didn't want to add too much sugar, so I decided to wait until the wine was in before adding the extra sugar.

I put on a pot of double-stength coffee for the Ladyfingers, then when about making the Zabaglione. I took 6 eggs, divided them (and remembered to save the egg whites for something else), and popped the yolks in the double boiler with 6T white sugar. I whisked over the steam until the eggs thickened, then took them off the heat and slowly stirred in 1/2c Marsala. The recipe called for a full cup, but I didn't want to overdo the liquor and waste another batch. I decided to split the Zabaglione in half and make a smaller batch with half the Marsala, and then decide afterwords what to do for the second.

I creamed a 275g tub of Mascarpone cheese, then added it to my divided Zabaglione. After it was nicely mixed in, I tasted it see how much more sugar I should put in. I figured it needed twice the sugar, and it also needed more liquid to make up for the 1/2c of Marsala I left out. Since the Zabaglione was divided, I boiled some water and dissolved 3T of sugar in 1/4c of water. The Marsala was still noticeable (I decided I didn't really like the taste), but fairly pleasant altogether. I was worried that it would be too watery (it had the consistency of sweetened whipped cream before you whip it), but figured it would stiffen up in the fridge over night.

The Italian Ladyfingers (which looked suspiciously like French Ladyfingers - hard, with sugar on top) were next. The coffee had cooled by this point, and was ready for dipping. I made a last minute decision to use some Kahlua, so I took 1/3c strong coffee (really bitter straight up) and 1/3c Kahlua. I quickly dipped the biscuits in the mixture, rolling them over to make sure they were nicely coated (maybe 1 second on each side), and placed them in a 7 inch springform pan. I then scooped over a little less than half of the custard, did another layer of dipped Ladyfingers, then finished off with the remaining Mascarpone mixture.

At this point, I was really worried about how liquidy the custard layer was. I also noticed that it was seeping through the spring form pan, so I covered the bottom with plastic wrap, and gently placed my concoction in the fridge, praying that it would turn out.

While I was making dinner this evening (mushroom, garlic, thyme & goat cheese stuffed chicken thighs with wild rice and corn niblets), I decided to test my Tiramisu to see how goopy and tasty it was. I took a small spoonful from the side, figuring I could cover the hole with a Ladyfinger...

It was fantastic! I don't really remember what a classic Tiramisu tastes like, so I couldn't really compare, but what I was tasting at that moment was beautiful. The Mascarpone layer had stiffened up nicely, and the Ladyfingers were damp, but not soggy with the coffee/Kahlua (another day and I think they'll be more evenly saturated). I rushed off with another spoonful to let DH try my wonderful comcoction. Unfortunately, he's coming down with a cold, so he couldn't taste it... at least he couldn't tell me it tasted bad ;)

The small whole in my Tiramisu was slowly growing. I couldn't wait until Monday at Jared's. I had to take a full piece. I told myself that I can always make another one...

The custardy layer on its own was more cheesy than I would have liked (I'm not a huge fan of Mascarpone cheese), and the Ladyfinger layer on its own was really sweet and the coffee was overpowering, but together - together they were marvelous.

After dinner, I realized that I had forgotten to sprinkle cocao on top, so I just had to try another piece... the whole has grown to about 1/4 of the pan... I think I'll be making another Tiramisu tonight, and I think I'll add the extra 1/4c Marsala, and see if it's too much.

Final recipe for Tiramisu, 7 1/4" springform pan, serves 8

3 egg yolks
6T white sugar
1/4c Sperone dry Marsala wine (if using sweet wine, then use 3T sugar instead of 6)
1/4c water
275g tub Tre Stelle Mascarpone cheese

1/3c doubly strong coffee
1/3c Kahlua
2 packages of Ladyfingers (hard, sugar coated)

Unsweetened Cocoa to dust

At least 24 hours before serving:

1. Put on a small pot of doubly strong coffee.

2. In a double boiler, whisk egg yolks and sugar until mixture thickens.

3. Take off heat, whisk in Marsala and water to make Zabaglione.

4. In a medium bowl, beat Mascarpone cheese until soft. Slowly stir in Zabaglione, whisk until smooth.

5. In a shallow bowl, combine strong coffee and Kahlua.

6. Quickly dip Ladyfingers in coffee mixture, making sure to coat both sides. Place in a single layer on a small (7 1/4") springform/cheesecake pan. Cover the bottom of the pan with plastic wrap to prevent spillage.

7. Spoon half of Mascarpone/Zabaglione mixture over the dipped Ladyfingers.

8. Dip more Ladyfingers into the coffee mixture, and place over the Mascarpone layer.

9. Spoon the rest of the Mascarpone mixture over the dipped Ladyfingers.

10. Cover the top with plastic wrap, make sure the bottom layer of wrap is secure, and place in the fridge. The Tiramisu must set for at least 24 hours, however the flavours are most satisfying after 2-3 days in the fridge.

Just before serving:

11. Gently open the spring form pan, using a knife to separate the sides from the cake.

12. Cut leftover Ladyfingers in half and apply them vertically to the sides of the Tiramisu, cut side down.

13. Liberally dust the top with Unsweetened Cocoa powder. If desired, use strips of baking parchment to make stripes.

Serve with coffee and sliced strawberries.

Knit-Knackers.com

2006-01-20T01:29:00.000-05:00

I went out today to satisfy my itch to spin. Yarn Forward was out of Fleece Artist roving (FYI - 20% all regular priced yarns!), but they pointed me in the direction of Knit-Knackers on 40 James St. It was a lovely home with bins of wool and fibre in one room, and what looked like shelves of yarn in another. I'm not too sure, because I couldn't get past the first room ;)

I told the lady at the desk (I'm so bad with names) that I was a fairly new spinner, and I was looking for the next step up from what I had been using (apparently it was Corriedale wool). She asked if I was using a drop spindle, and for some reason the word "spinning wheel" flew out of my head (it happens often enough to be worrisome), so I just pointed to the Louet S15 in the corner, and said I was using that... She offered to find the owner whom knew more about differences in fibre texture.

The owner was a lovely woman, very friendly. I said I was a new spinner looking for advice, and she asked if I was using a drop spindle (is it unusual to start on an actual spinning wheel? I never could get the hang of the homemade drop spindles...). She then took me through a primer on various wool textures. She said that if she got me started on a certain Merino wool (again, can't recall the name), that I'd be spoiled for life. She said South African Top would be a great wool to advance to after the Corriedale. I could then mix in some Alpaca with it for a bit more slip. Alpaca? I've been thinking about raising them, I said... she laughed and said that she raises Angora rabbits. She's about due for a new litter this week - if I wanted to try my hand at raising fibre animals, I should probably start there.

Well, what could I say? I dream big ;)

I ended up purchasing around 100g of both South African Top and Alpaca ($4 each for a bunch of roving the size of my head - and I have an unusually large head thanks to my Father's side of the family) - creamy white, perfect for dyeing, if I so choose. I couldn't stop feeling the Alpaca... even at the Bible study - I had to show everyone what alpaca fur felt like. I think they might have a better idea of why I want to raise Alpacas...

Speaking of which - I just remembered my High School graduation! We had to write down a little blurb for the teacher to read while we received our diplomas. Mine said something to the effect of "plans to raise Llamas and Alpacas for their wool"... I also wore white pants and no socks or shoes under the gown, but that's neither here nor there... The point is - I've been talking about raising Alpacas since 2001!

Oh! Totally changing the subject (but I get to do that, since I'm the only one here... man it's lonely writing a blog) Please pray for two of my friends (they're getting married in a few months). They are both studying in the same field, and have a crazy problem at school. One of the assignments they handed in was insanely similar, and they are being charged with academic fraud. From what I understand, they used the same notes from a previous class to fill in the sheet, and ended up with nearly identical answers. They didn't work together, nor discuss their answers afterwards, but it looks as though they copied each other's work. Please pray that God would be their Rock and Stronghold through the inquiry, and that the board would understand their defense. I mean, seriously - if they did copy each other's notes, don't you think they'd make it a little less conspicuous? They are in a class of 15, for goodness sake! They don't know when the meeting will take place, but it will be at least a week, since their teachers are off... that's at least a full week of restless nights worrying about false accusations. Please pray that they will rest the situation in God's hands, knowing that they have done all that they can do until the meeting (they made a 40 page brief detailing which phrases were taken directly from the notes, along with a whole bunch of other legal stuff - anyway, please pray for them; I believe God answers prayers).

I've spun about half of the South African Top, and think it's time for bed. The Tiramisu was a bomb, by the way, even Jared didn't wantto take it home.... Please, if you ever want to make Tiramisu with Brandy instead of Marsala, use 1 part Brandy, 1 part sugar, 2 parts water. I really hope my next one turns out, or I'm going to give the whole Tiramisu business up.

Spinning Itch

2006-01-18T22:33:00.000-05:00

I had an urge to spin this evening, so I hopped on the bus and headed into Kanata's Yarn Forward looking to buy some Fleece Artist roving. Three buses and 45 minutes later, I arrive at the yarn shop - which has been closed for 2 hours. Perhaps I should have double-checked the hours of operation...

All was not lost, however - Yarn Forward is close to Dollarama, a decent Shawarma place, Farm Boy, LCBO, Bulk Barn and Pet Valu.

I stopped in at Dollarama hoping to find some unspun wool or cotton or anything to get me my spinning fix. Nada - but I did find a couple packages of Ladyfingers. Hmmm... might as well pick them up and try my Tiramisu again...

I stopped in at the Shawarma place for a chicken sandwich - the place smelt and looked like a rather large fire had just been put out. An entire side of beef was charred black, so I had a pretty good idea of what had happened not too long before I entered.

I finished my sandwich and wandered into Farm Boy for some Mascarpone cheese. They had the exact same brand I bought at Loblaws, but a buck fifty cheaper - Gar! I was really hoping they'd have a more "Italian" brand to try, but beggars can't be choosers - Mascarpone isn't exactly easy to get a hold of at 8pm.

Next stop was the LCBO for some Marsala. My breath still reeked of Shawarma so I didn't want to ask anyone where I could find the sweet wine. After searching the store twice and coming up empty-handed, I finally asked an emplyee where I could find Marsala. I tried to stay as far away as possible - I think my breath could have knocked over a small child four feet away...

I wandered around the store a bit longer, trying to find the smallest bottles of some of the more common liquors for baking. I picked up some Kahlua, Rum and Irish Cream to add to my Brandy. I figured that would give me a decent selection.

If I really wanted to stock a liquor cabinet, I'd still need some Whiskey (Rye, Bourbon, or Scotch?), Tequila, Vodka, & Gin (does anyone still drink that?), then perhaps some Port, Sherry, Sweet & Dry Vermouth. If I felt really adventurous, there's always triple sec (Cointreau, Grand Marnier, Orange Curacao, etc), Creme de Cacao, Pernod, Maraschino, & herb-flavoured Cordials (Benedictine, Campari, Chartreuse, etc), and to round things off, Grenadine and Orgeat syrups.... But I think I'm good for now..

After realizing alcohol is mighty expensive, I wandered into Bulk Barn and grabbed some Cinnamon Hearts. I figured they might mask the supreme garlic odour emanating from my stomach... After that, I wandered by Pet Valu and just barely remembered that Butters was out of Nutro Natural Choice Kitten Formula. We've been out for over a week, and Butters has been giving me some rather rude looks for daring to feed her the Wellness Super5 and Chicken Soup For the Soul brands (when I first adopted Butters, I went out and bought the best formulas I could find, and let her decide which she liked the best. Nutro was the hands down winner - you wouldn't believe how hard it is to get her to eat the rest). Thankfully, it's fairly common (unlike her wet cat food - Felidae Chicken, Turkey, Lamb & Fish Formula for All Life Stages), and they stocked a lovely 10 lb bag for $25. That should keep her happy for quite some time.

So now I have Mascarpone, Marsala and Ladyfingers. Should I put some coffee on to brew now, or wait until Friday to make it? If I wait until Friday, then I can bring it to Jared's for the election watch. Or I can make it today, and eat it myself on Saturday....

If I can't sleep tonight, I know what I'll be doing ;)

Tiramisu #1

2006-01-17T20:31:00.000-05:00

I called my Mum last night and asked to go grocery shopping. Thankfully, she hadn't gone on the weekend, so we checked out the fliers and hit all the sales - went to 4 different stores. I was out of a lot of basics, so I think I spent around $200. I'm not sure if we saved any money if you factored in the gas & time, but it sure does feel good to walk out of a store with a cart-full of sale items ;)

I had a craving to make Tiramisu, but I only knew that I'd need Mascarpone cheese and Ladyfingers. The cheese was really expensive - $5.99/275g, but I picked up 2 anyway. Milano's Giant Ladyfingers were $0.69/12 at Loblaws, instead of $0.99 elsewhere, so I picked up 4 packs.

After unloading the groceries and cleaning the kitchen (which is a whole other story), it was around midnight. I tried going to bed, but I was in a get up and do something mood (from spending 2 hours cleaning), so I decided to make my Tiramisu...

I didn't have the whipped cream, heavy cream, or cream cheese that most recipes on allrecipes.com called for, so I went with a basic, traditional(-ish) type from ChefMom.com, made with Marsala (sweet wine) and without additional cream. The only problem was I didn't have Marsala, so I substituted Brandy - the only liquor in our house (I bought it for making truffles). Now, some of you might be thinking - Brandy? That's over twice the alcohol of wine and it's completely different! and yes, you would be quite correct in assuming that I have little to no experience in the area of baking and alcohol substitutions...

Thankfully, just before adding a full cup of brandy to my Zabaglione, I realized the problem with the extra alcohol, so I halved the amount called for. However, I forgot to increase the amount of liquid added, and I forgot to add some extra sugar... Meh, I figured it would turn out anyway...

I don't have an espresso machine, and I didn't feel like dusting off our regular coffe machine for 3/4c of coffee, so I dunked 2 spoonfuls of coffe into a mug and let it sit for a while, before pouring through a coffee filter into another mug. I realize now it would have been much faster to just use the machine... meh..

Everything else worked out fine, except the springform pan I used was about twice the size I should have used, so the Mascarpone/Brandy-Zabaglione layer was too thin - it just barely covered the Ladyfingers. It was 3 in the morning at this point, so I didn't really care. I dusted over a light layer of cocao, covered the pan in plastic wrap and set it in the fridge.

Oh, I should mention that most recipe reviewers complain about Tiramisu being too runny. I admit I was thinking about that as I was dipping the Giant Ladyfingers into the coffee, so I made a point of being as quick as possible. Most reviewers also mention that Tiramisu tastes better after a couple days in the fridge, so I thought it might be a good idea to bring the dessert to the Bible Study on Thursday.

Roughly 12 hours later, I'm waiting for my pork roast to cook (2.5 hours), and I start thinking that perhaps an alcoholic dessert isn't the best thing to bring to a Bible study (I have no qualms with drinking, just drunkeness, but others see it as a stumbling block, best to avoid)... and what if the alcohol is really strong...

So... I decide the best thing to do is taste it, just to see.

I cut into the dessert half expecting to see a puddle of coffee in the bottom of the pan. Thankfully, the Ladyfingers had absorbed all of the liquid, and the creamy layer was rather thick (of course it was missing 1/2c of liquid, so I didn't expect it to be slopping around). So far, so good.

I took a spoonful - I could taste the Brandy before it hit my mouth :(

I'm not a heavy drinker - in fact, most people wouldn't even call me a light drinker, so I might be a little sensitive to the alcohol. It might have been OK if I had remembered to add a little more sugar, but as it was, it was far too "adult" for my tastes...

Things to do next time...

1. Buy Marsala.
2. Check Italian specialty shops for Mascarpone cheese (apparently it's softer than North American styles)
3. Don't be so quick when dipping the Ladyfingers (They were good, but perhaps not moist enough)

Other than that, I think it turned out fairly good for a first try - edible, not too watery and definitely not too sweet - Just not my style.

The only problem with experimenting on Tiramisu is the cost of the Mascarpone, eggs and alcohol. I've heard some people complain about the Ladyfingers being expensive - I guess I'm using *really* cheap ones...

Scarabaeidae in Ontario?

2006-01-13T04:31:00.000-05:00

After many fruitless hours, I recently sent off this email to a local entomologist, specializing in Scarabaeidae:

Greetings Mr. Génier,

I understand that you are the Ottawa area expert in Dung Beetles. I wouldn't normally approach a complete stranger and ask him about excrement management, however, I saw a picture of you standing next to a rather peculiar piece of artwork at the London Zoo. I figured a man who could pose with a sculpture of frighteningly large beetles rolling a gargantuan ball of dung that could only have been produced by King Kong, or some hitherto undiscovered monolithic mammal, would have a sense of humour. He might, therefore, indulge my naïveté in regards to Scarabaeidae and offer me a few words of advice.

To be blunt, I'm looking for shit-disturbers in Ontario. While I know of some politicians who might qualify, I believe I am looking for those of the Scarabaeinae variety. Research of local dung beetles has proven rather difficult, however, as most searches net results on the African varieties studied by 3rd graders world-wide (no doubt giggling collectively at each mention of the word "dung"). Therefore, I would greatly appreciate any assistance you could give me in this area.

I am desperately seeking information on Ottawa area varieties of dung beetles, including habitat, lifecycle, and (if possible) how to make a sheep pasture more habitable, or their 'cuisine' more palatable, in the hopes of attracting a larger number of beetles (translating into better manure dispersal).

My primary interest is in alternative methods of parasitic infestation reduction in pasture-based small ruminants within South-Eastern Ontario. Rather than routinely treating chronically infected animals with chemical dewormers (increasing the likelihood of creating resistant strains of parasites), my goal is to disperse the source -- the manure -- as quickly, efficiently, and beneficially as possible, thereby significantly reducing the animal's exposure in the first place. Theoretically, through the combined use of rotational stocking (letting each paddock rest a month between grazing, disrupting the parasite's lifecycle) and manure management by dung beetles, parasitic infestation can be drastically reduced. Occasional problems could then be dealt with on a case by case basis with herbal remedies, such as garlic extract.

The information you provide could have profound effects on the livestock industry as a whole, creating cleaner, safer and more holistically sound pastures world-wide. Your response could start a revolution!

Or, it could just make me very happy.

Eagerly awaiting your response,

Elaine Prince

I sincerely hope he has a sense of humour ;)

Oh! I might have actually found a variety of Dung Beetle from Canada. I found it through an insect framing company (you know- the kind that packages butterflies into nice displays?) - Onthophagus nuchicornis.

Typing in the above variety lead me to an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada website with a couple dozen links to various dung beetle varieties in Canada, including Aphodius prodromus, which apparently prefers horse, sheep and human dung to cattle. Aphodius vittatus apparently is a "generalist", having no preference. As an added bonus, it's found over all of southern Canada.

Rotational Stocking Calculations

2006-01-11T18:38:00.000-05:00

In line with my interest in fencing costs, I've been looking for pasture layout plans and information on Rotational Stocking (also referred to as Rotational Grazing). I found a fabulous website run by Agronomy at Perdu University. It actually gives a formula using a grazing stick for determining how many animals a given pasture can support based on the forage per acre inch, grazing efficiency, animal weight, and intake. Once you get the hang of the following formula, you can check your skills using Perdu's Pasture & Forage Fun page ;)

(Total Forage/Acre) x (Acres) x (% Grazing Efficiency) _____________________________________________ = Days
(Animal Weight) x (Intake Rate in % of Body Wgt) x (# of Animals)

It's really quite simple, once you get used to the terminology.

Total forage per acre inch:
Each type of forage has a different dry-matter output, measured in pounds per acre inch. Basically, if you were to mow an inch off an acre of forage, the cutting would weigh within a certain range, depending on the type of forage. Bluegrass would have a higher weight range than Switchgrass. Now, this weight is also dependant upon the percentage of ground covered by the forage. Obviously, a nice dense field of Switchgrass would have a higher yield than a sparce field of Bluegrass. Cover percentage is mostly determined by sight and placed within three categories: under 75%, 75-90%, and above 90% cover. Use the Grazing Stick table from Perdu as reference. Once you find the proper range for the type and cover of your forage, multiply it by it's height (minus 4 inches to sustain). Switchgrass at 75-90% cover yields on average 250 lbs/acre inch. If it is 10" when you start grazing, and you must leave 4", that gives you 6" of feed. 250 Forage/Acre Inch x 6" = 1500 Total Forage/Acres. Got it?

Acres
Pretty self-explanatory...

Grazing Efficiency
From what I understand, the more paddocks within your pasture, the greater the grazing efficiency will be. Continuous Grazing has 40% efficiency, while seperating into 24+ Paddocks has 75% efficiency. High efficiency is good. Again, refer to the Grazing Stick chart.

Animal Weight
The average expected weight of your animals. I would treat all young as if they were adult size - they probably eat just as much since they are growing. If the weight difference between males and females is substantial, multiply the average weight of a gender by the percentage of that gender in your flock. If your 10 males weigh 140 lb on average, and your 40 females weigh only 110 lbs, then

(140 * 0.20) + (110 * 0.80) = 116 total average weight

Intake rate in percentage of total body weight
This is the amount of food your livestock will eat in relation to its own weight. Generally somewhere between 2-4%.

Number of Animals
This is the number of animals you wish to sustain on the given pasture/forage.

Breakdown
If you know how many pounds of forage you have available, combined with the efficiency of your paddock rotation, then you can figure out how long you can sustain a given number of animals based on their food intake. It really does make perfect sense ;)

Say we have 24 acres of Orchardgrass/Legume Mix with a decent but not prime cover, 12 inches tall, divided into 8 paddocks, and we're dealing with some lovely Shetland sheep of the smaller variety - mostly ewes and lambs with about 15% rams, averaging out to a generous estimate of 110 pounds each. Taking a look at the chart, or speaking with experienced farmers, we will find that they eat 3.5-4% of their body weight while grazing. I prefer caution, so let's take 4%. I think up here, the total number of days available for pasturing is 180. I could be too cautious, but that seems like a fair estimate.

(Total Forage/Acre) x (Acres) x (% Grazing Efficiency) _____________________________________________ = Days
(Animal Weight) x (Intake Rate in % of Body Wgt) x (# of Animals)

Pasture Height: 12" - 4" = 8"
Forage Type: Orchardgrass/Legume Mix
Percent Coverage: 75-90%
- Pounds of Forage/Acre Inch = 275
- - Total Pounds of Forage/Acre = 2200
Pasture Size: 24 acres
# Paddocks: 8
- Grazing Efficiency (based on # paddocks): 60%
Livestock Type: Sheep
Average Weight: 110 lbs
% Intake/Body Weight: 4%
Number of Days: 180
Number of Animals: ?

(2200 Total Forage/Acre) * (24 Acres) * (0.60 Grazing Efficiency) __________________________________________________ = # Animals
(110 lbs Animal Weight) * (0.04 Intake Rate/Body Wgt) * (180 Days)

2200 * 24 * 0.6
__________
110 * 0.04 * 180

31680
_____ = 40 sheep
792

That doesn't seem like a a great amount of sheep for 24x3 acre paddocks. Now, if you split the pasture into even more paddocks, thereby increasing your Grazing Efficiency, you should be able to fit more animals in the same area. A 24 acre pasture with 24 paddocks, each 1 acre, will have a grazing efficiency of 75%. If you redo the calculations using this figure, you get

2200 * 24 * 0.75
__________
110 * 0.04 * 180

39600
____ = 50 sheep
792

That seems like a better number to me, but still not that hot. Lets improve the yield of our forage to above 90% and see what that gives us

2600 * 24 * 0.75
__________
110 * 0.04 * 180

46800
____ = 59 sheep
792

Great! By increasing the number of paddocks and improving the forage cover, we've increased our flock by almost 50%. Wait - There's more!

The optimum grazing period for sheep is 3-5 days. Our sheep are currently taking 7.5 days to cut through 1 full acre of forage (180days/24 paddocks = 7.5). If we cut the paddocks in half, doubling their number to 48, our flock will have 3.75 days in each paddock, thereby hitting the "optimum grazing period".

So, now we have 48 paddocks, each 1/2 acre large. Thirty days after the flock has finished grazing the 1st pasture, they are onto the 10th paddock, but the forage in the first paddock has grown back to 12" and is prime for eating. We have 2 options - thresh it, or set another flock of 59 on it, and every 33.75 days thereafter. Since there are 48 paddocks, but a flock can only eat through 9, we'll need 5 more flocks of 59 to deal with the forage.

Total number of 110 lb sheep eating 4% of their body weight daily on 24 acres separated into 48 paddocks, using 12" Orchardgrass/Legume Mix at 90% coverage, with 5 cycles of 59 sheep = 295.

This of course depends highly upon the rate of regrowth of our forage. Slow-growing varieties might not be able to keep up every month, plus a drought could seriously affect our 90% cover, not to mention our sheep could be significantly larger due to the abundance of lovely fresh forage, and therefore start eating more... Or, perhaps you want to thresh the fields for winter sustenance - three cycles of 59 sheep, threshing in between each cycle. I haven't looked into winter feed costs yet, so I'm not too sure what the cost of feeding 295 sheep over the winter is.

I think I'd be more comfortable using the 75-90% cover calculations of 50 sheep/flock, for a total of 250 for 24 acres, or about 10 sheep/acre (which, incidently, is exactly what Maple Ridge Sheep Farm suggests for their Shetlands

Now you know how to calculate livestock/acre ;)

Just a thought - fencing

2006-01-11T03:07:00.000-05:00

Hmm... ok, so if I were to completely surround my family's homestead in electric fence, how much would that cost?
__________________________________
Edit: Oops - forgot that you have to tighten, clamp and terminate at in-line brace posts every 2400'. I think you use copper lead out wires and copper split bolt clamps to continue the connection... The length of the homestead is 156' more than recommended, and I don't know how forgiving that number is, but its probably not good to exceed it in areas of heavy winter conditions. So, I had to tack on 8 more end post systems and a bit more copper wire
__________________________________

150 square acres
12.25 acres x 12.25 acres
2556' x 2556'
10224 perimeter = $16562.88 ($16767)
81792' (82800') wire
$542.29 Basic costs
inc 11 Ground Wires (3+1 every 1300')
Panther 3600 Energizer = approx $1600
3 Corner Posts = $582.87
10 End Posts = $5085.60 (2 + (2x4) end posts)
1 Gate$398.75
Probably a couple dozen Hill and Valley Posts, but I'll just ignore that for now

Subtotal = 22433.71 + Valley and Hill Posts
+20% shipping and tax/duties = $26920.45, possible bulk discount?

Hmm... that's really not that bad - to completely and securely fence in 150 acres for under 30k? Anyway, this is just theoretical for me - I'd never need to fence in the entire property. I just like figure stuff like that out... Yeah... I'm a wee bit off my rocker...

Fencing costs - itemized

2006-01-10T23:49:00.001-05:00

I know this mustn't be very interesting, but I like to record all my research somewhere...

5' fence
8 strands of wire (4", 4", 4", 6", 8", 10", 10", 12")

$ CDN excluding shipping & tax/duties 17-27%
Guaranteed Costs
less than an acre = $522.79, greater than an acre = $564.79+
ElectroBraid = $1.62/foot
Corner Posts = $194.29
End Posts = $254.28
Line Posts = $11.12/30'
Valley Post = $32.29
Hill Post = $18.00
12' Gate = $398.75 (+ 2 end posts $508.56 = $907.31)

Tensioning Kit
1 acre = 24.50, >1 acre = $49.00
Ground Rods 3 x $17.50 = $52.50
+1 every 1300'
Digital Volt Meter $62.50
Copper Lead Out Wire 250' = $46.50
Copper Split Bolt Connectors 8 x $2 = $16
Cut Off Switch $11.50
Surge Protector $9.75
Lightening Arrestor $8.50 US
$9.92 CDN
Tap Sleeves 25/$6.00 US
25/$7.00 CDN
Tool Mule $41.50 US
$48.42 CDN
Energizer
3 miles = $145, 5 miles = $189, 8 miles = $288
Fence Minder Kit $79.95
Webbing Black 50' = $9.25
required for corner and end posts

ElectroBraid = $1.62/foot

2 Copper Split Bolt Connectors 2 x $2.00 = $4.00
($239 + $4)/1200' x 8 strands

Line Posts = $11.12/30'
$0.37/foot

Line Post $6.10 US
$7.12 CDN
QuickClip 8 x $0.44 = $3.52 US
8 x $0.50 = $4.00 CDN
= $11.12/30'

Valley Post = $32.29

Dip Post $24.25 US
$28.29 CDN
QuickClip 8 x $0.44 = $3.52 US
8 x $0.50 = $4.00 CDN

Hill Post = $18.00

Ridge Post $12.00 US
$14.00 CDN
QuickClip 8 x $0.44 = $3.52 US
8 x $0.50 = $4.00 CDN

Corner Posts = $194.29

Corner Mule $136.00 US
$158.67 CDN
Roller Insulators 8 x $0.66 = $5.28
Horizontal Brace 2 x $13.00 US
$30.34 CDN
Webbing Black 8 strands

End Posts = $254.28

End Mule $101.oo US
$117.83 CND
Roller Insulators 8 x $0.66 = $5.28
Horizontal Brace $13.00 US
$15.17 CDN
Copper Split Bolt Connections 8 x $2 = $16
Webbing 8 strands

12' Gate = $398.75 (+ 2 end posts $508.56 = $907.31)

Gate $220.00 US
$256.70 CDN
Gate Bracket $17.75 US
$20.71 CDN
Gate Latch $19.00 US
$22.17 CDN
Gate Brace 2 x $42.50 US
$99.17 CDN
(End Posts 2 x $254.28 = $508.56)

So...

For a 1 acre square pasture, 210' x 210', 840' perimeter
Guaranteed Costs less than 1 acre
$522.79
ElectroBraid = $1.62/foot
$1360.80/6720' ($1458/7200')
Corner Posts = $194.29 x 3
$582.87
End Posts = $254.28 x 2
$508.56
Line Posts = $11.12/30'
$266.88
Valley Post = $32.29
$0
Hill Post = $18.00
$0
12' Gate = $398.75 (+ 2 end posts $508.56 = $907.31)
$398.75

Subtotal = $3640.65 ($3737.85, 480' leftover)
Approx Total with Shipping & Tax/Duties = $4368.78 ($4485.42, 480' leftover)

For a 4 acre square pasture, 420' x 420', 1680' perimeter
Guaranteed Costs greater than an acre
$564.79+
ElectroBraid = $1.62/foot x 1680'
$2721.60/13440' ($2916/14400')
Corner Posts = $194.29 x 3
$582.87
End Posts = $254.28 x 2
$508.56
Line Posts = $11.12/30' x 52
$578.24
Valley Post = $32.29
$0
Hill Post = $18.00
$0
12' Gate = $398.75 (+ 2 end posts $508.56 = $907.31)
$398.75

Subtotal = $5354.81 ($5549.21, 960' leftover)
Approx Total with Shipping & Tax/Duties = 6425.77 ($6659.05, 960' leftover)

I really love working with perimeters - twice the length for 400% area increase. But I really love working with this fencing system - 400% area increase for only 50% cost increase :) However, this isn't taking into account the valley and hill posts you'll undoubtedly need when deeling with the larger areas. Undulating lands could easily increase your costs by 10%.

So... what have we learned today? If you're going to spend the cash to get a 1 acre electric fence, and you think you might one day use 4 acres... you might as well cover the 4 acres ;)

Fencing

2006-01-10T13:14:00.000-05:00

Ok, I'm starting to get into the gritty details of operating a farm - mainly, keeping my livestock where I want them, and keeping the predators out. With wolves, coyotes and bears, I'm going to need a pretty serious fence.

I was reading about 6 foot no-climb fences with 1 foot buried, and thought there's no way I'd be able to afford fencing even an acre, let alone a decent sized pasture. I was starting to get discouraged, when I read an article by Maple Ridge Sheep Farm on Keeping the Sheep In and the Varmints Out. The Doanes use an 8-strand electric fence for controlling their Shetlands, and the coyotes. The process they described sounded like it would definitely do its job, but the aluminum wire they used was thin enough to break in case an animal got tangled in it. While this was a nice idea, it also meant a number of repair jobs, adding to the expense. Unfortunately, the Doanes calculated that their electric fence cost about the same as a woven fence once all the repairs and manhours were factored in.

I was loosing hope in ever finding an affordable, effective fence, but I thought I might as well Google 'Electric Livestock Fence'. The first site to pop up was this:

Electrobraid Electric Horse Fence, Safe Livestock Fencing
ElectroBraid is a safe and secure electric horse fence invented out of love for horses. Fence in domestic animals - fence out predators.

Well, that sounded pretty darn close to what I was looking for, but what about the price and how long will it last without needing repars?

On the front page it stated "It is strong and durable and a fraction of the cost of other electric fencing systems"

Well, I liked the sound of that! I ended up reading the entire site and ordered a free video ;) But it took a while before I built up the courage to actually calculate the cost of fencing an acre of land. Thankfully, their site not only had a detailed price list, but also had a detailed instructions explaining exactly what you'll need to order. Oh, did I mention it's a Canadian company from Nova Scotia? (yay!) all prices are in Canadian dollars, however an American price list is also available on the site.

Here's what I came up with for:

about a square acre of land, 210'x210' = 840' perimeter
5' fence
8 strands of wire (4", 4", 4", 6", 8", 10", 10", 12")
one gate
2 end posts
four corner posts
28 line posts (every 30' due to heavy snowfall; areas without severe winter weather can go every 50')
______________________________
Edit: I'm looking into the Geotek fiberglass posts. They are more expensive than wood posts would be, however, I will not need all the insulators, and screws. I'll add onto the following post with a detailed breakdown of the cost using Geotek's posts.

Edit: Ok, I took a look at Geotek's website. The pricing was a little tricky - a document with older prices was still on the site, so wasn't impressed when I found their Jan 2005 price list. Thankfully, while the price of accessories had gone up, the rods I was interested in were lower. The difference for my little acre paddock was only $26.20. The total in was $3020.60 US, 3518.75 CDN (plus shipping & duties/taxes) including absolutely everything I could think of. I changed my mind and decided to go for a 5 ft 8-strand fence (4, 4, 4, 6, 8, 10, 10, 12). I basically took the 6 foot fence with small animal control and lopped off the top foot. The smaller integers at the foot of the fence will not only keep rabbits and raccoons out, but also keep lambs, chickens, crias and piglets in.
______________________________

ElectroBraid™ Reels:

1. Multiply the length of your fence __840__ by the number of strands you wish to use __8__ and divide by the length of reel you will be purchasing __1200__ = __5.6__. This is the number of reels you will need.

ELECTROBRAID™ 1200 ft Reel - (White) 6 x $239 = $1434 CDN

ElectroBraid™ Roller Insulators for End, Corner and Vertical Changes in Direction:

2. Add the number of Corner posts __4__ and the number of End posts __2__ and multiply by the number of strands __8__ = __48__.

3. Count the number of Line posts with vertical changes in direction (hills, gullies, etc) and multiply by the number of strands = __0?__.

4. Add these two numbers together __48__ + __0?__=__48?__. This is the number of ElectroBraid™ Roller Insulators you will require.

Webbing (Black) 50 Feet $9.25 CDN (not necessary with Geotek Fiberglass posts)
For corners, ends and trees

ElectroBraid™ Roller Insulators - Black 48?/12 x $7.85 = $31.40 CDN

ElectroBraid™ Line Post Insulators for End and Corner Brace Posts:
I'm not too sure why this is here if you're supposed to use Rollers...

5. Multiply the number of End posts ____ by the number of strands ____ =____.

6. Multiply the number of Corner posts ____ by the number of strands ____ and multiply by two =____.

7. Add these two numbers together ____+____=____. This is the of ElectroBraid™ Line Post Insulators you will require for End and Corner Brace Posts.

ElectroBraid™ Heavy Duty Line Post Insulators - Black /25 x $9.65 = $0 CDN
For heavy winter conditions
Not necessary with Geotek Fiberglass Posts

Line Post Insulators:
Not necessary with Geotek Fiberglass Posts

8. Your choice of Line Post - wood, T-Bar, Fiberglass or steel - dictates your choice of Line Post Insulator. Count the number of Line posts __24__ and multiply by the number of strands __8__ =__192__. This is the number of Line Post Insulators you will need for Line Posts.

Depending on the type of Line Posts you plan to use, these may be the same or a
different insulator from the Line Post Insulator you plan to order for your Brace Posts
(see above).

ElectroBraid™ Heavy Duty Line Post Insulators - Black 192/25 x $9.65 = $77.2 CDN
For heavy winter conditions
Not necessary with Geotek Fiberglass Posts

Copper Lead-Out Wire:

9. Add the widths of all your gates together __8__ and multiply by the number of strands __8__ =__64__+ (6' x number of strands)=__112__.

10. Measure the distance from your Energizer to the nearest point on the fence=__25__.

11. Measure the distance from your Energizer to where your ground rods will be located = __25__.

12. Add these numbers together = __162__ + 20' for the distance between ground rods = __182__. This is the length of Lead-Out wire you will need.

Copper Lead-Out Wire 182/250 x $46.50 = $46.50 CDN

Copper Split-Bolt Connectors:

Copper Split-Bolts are used to terminate a strand of Braid™, to splice two strands together and for electrical connections.

13. Count the number of End posts __2__ and multiply by the number of strands __8__ = __16__.

14. Count the number of fence lines that exceed the reel size you purchased, multiply by the number of strands and multiply by two = __12__. (I figure I have 6 reels that will need to be connected)

15. Add one Split-Bolt for each electrical connection = __8__. (This is for connecting the energizer (4) and the ground wires (4) to their respective strand, as well as for the ground wires every 1300' running along the fence to the cold wire (0))

16. Add these three numbers together = __36__. This is the number of Split-Bolts you need.

Copper Split Bolt Connectors with Cable Ties 36/10 x $19.95 = $79.80 CDN

Energizer:

Select the proper Energizer from the chart = ElectroBraid 2.5 Joule (for up to 3 miles) $145.00 CDN

Ground Rods:

You will require 3 ground rods plus 1 every 1300' (more for large fields or poor soil conditions) = __3__.

Copper Clad Ground Rod, Clamp, 2 Ferrules, 1 Cable Tie 3 x $17.50 = $52.50 CDN

Tensioning Kit:

You will need at least one ElectroBraid™ Tensioning Kit to tighten the Braid™ (two for paddocks greater than 1 acre) = __1__.

ElectroBraid Tension Kit 1 x $24.50 = $24.50 CDN

Digital Volt Meter - PW 1 x $64.50 = $64.50 CDN
Required to test your fence voltage

Stainless Steel Screws for attaching Rollers & Insulators
240 Insulators x 2 each = 480/50 x $10.00 = $100.00 CDN (non-fiberglass posts)

Webbing (Black) 50' 2 x $9.25 = $18.50 CDN (fiberglass posts)
for corners, ends and trees

ElectroBraid™ Spring Handle Gate Kit 1 x $16.95 = $16.95 CDN
Includes 1 Roller Insulator, Webbing, 2 copper Split Bolts, 1 Gate andle, 1 Activator Plate and SS Screws

Cut Off Switch - On/Off Switch 1 x $11.50 = $11.50 CDN

Surge Protector 1 x $9.75 = $9.75 CDN
To protect energizer from 110V power surges

ElectroBraid™ Fence Warning Sign 12? x $1.00 = $12.00 CDN
Check local laws

ElectroBraid™ Fence Minder kit 1 x $79.95 = $79.95 CDN
with Test Probe, Wire and Siren

Lightening Arrestor

Polytube
for under gates

End, Corner and Line Posts
Wood = 38 posts + gate
OR
Fiberglass = 4 mule corners, 2 mule ends, 2 gate supports, 24 line posts, 192 QuickClips, gate, gate bracket, gate latch

5' Heavy Mule Corner 4 x $167 = $668.00 US
5' Heavy Mule End 2 x $106 = $212.00 US
5' Gate Brace 2 x $42.50 = $85.00 US
5' - 7/8" Line Posts 24 x $6.30 = $151.20 US
7/8" Quickclips 192/20 x $7.75 = $77.50 US
Gate 1 x $220.oo US
Gate Bracket 1 x $20.50 US
Gate Latch 1 x $19.00 US

Geotek Fiberglass Subtotal $1453.20 US = $1656.36 CDN + shipping and duties/tax

Subtotal Wood = 2185.55 CDN + posts
Shipping Wood (10% subtotal) = 218.56
GST Wood (7% on top of shipping?) = 168.29
Total Wood = 2572.40 CDN + Wood posts

Subtotal Fiberglass = $2028.35 CDN + posts
Shipping Fiberglass (10% subtotal) = 202.69 CDN
GST Fiberglass (7% on top of shipping?) = $156.07 CDN
Total Fiberglass= $2387.11 CDN + approx $1949.54 for Geotek Fiberglass posts

Approximate total $4336.65 CND for a 1 acre pasture.

To cover 4 square acres would require doubling the ElectroBraid, Line Posts, QuickClips, Warning Signs, another Tension Kit, adding Ground Wires and as many Copper Split-Bolt connectors as ElectroBraid reels. You'd probably also need to add a couple Roller Insulators and Dip/Ridge Posts for vertical changes in direction, since the chances of having perfectly flat pasture are decreased.

ElectroBraid can also be used for paddock divisions (within a secured pasture - used for rotational grazing). One wire at 3' will do, but for dry or frozen ground, a grounded wire is recommended 12" below the top wire. Geotech offers pretty cheap ($1.65 US) pre-clipped, step-in posts for this purpose.

I've checked out other brands, but they didn't seem to have the durability, ease of installation or cost effectiveness of the ElectroBraid system. Plus, they're Canadian, eh?

I'll post a little later with exact cost per line, end and corner post, for ease of calculation.

And on his farm he had some....

2006-01-08T01:10:00.000-05:00

I really doubt Old MacDonald would have ever had alpacas...

I've been looking into heritage/heirloom breeds of various livestock, planning my own little perfect working farm. I'd love to go the completely organic/free-range/humane route, cutting back on productivity in order to emphasize quality and good genetics. Here's what I have so far

Alpacas

I simply can't get these fuzzy little fibre-producers out of my head. If I ever get a farm going, Alpacas will definitely be featured. I might have to start off with something a little more orthodox, just to get my feet wet. People look at me like I'm crazy when I say I want to start an Alpaca farm... I may be a little off my rocker, but I don't need other people knowing that ;)

I think I'd like to start off with some brown Huacayas.

Sheep

I'm not overly interested in raising sheep, but I find people are much more understanding if you say you want to raise sheep for their wool, rahter than Alpacas for their fibre. If I end up breeding sheep, I definitely won't be picking the usual Dorset, or Suffolk. No... I'd need a breed that stood out, a rare breed like Black Welsh Mountain, Jacob, Saoy Karukul. Maybe even Navajo Churro, Kerry Hill, Llanwenog, Teeswater, or Lincoln Longwool if I could get my hands on a breeding pair. Shetlands would be nice as well, although only rare in North America.

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of raising Shetlands. I was just reading about "rooing" which I think would be preferable to shearing, especially for handspinning.

Cows

Again, not big on the whole meat thing, but a breeding pair of Highlands or Galloways would be nice for my DH (I can't eat beef, so a calf would be a nice treat for him).

Pigs

I could possibly raise some small pigs, not really interested at the moment.

Horses

I'll definitely need some draught horses to help out on the farm. I saw some promising Norsk Fjord Horses. They are simply beautiful. However, I've always wanted a giant Clydesdale, and I've heard they are becoming quite rare. This may be due in part to their expensive feed costs... Ohh - Irish Draughts are quite nice.

Ducks

A couple Indian Runners to cut down on the bugs. I really don't think I could raise ducks for meat..

Chickens

What farm doesn't have chickens? Of course I'd need free-range heritage chickens.. just haven't looked into it yet.

Hmmm - Scots Dumpy, Dorking, and Old English Pheasant Fowl look like good candidates

Goats?

Hmmm... not too interested in goats.

Bees

Yes - I'll need a beehive... still ahven't looked into it yet.

Rabbits

Some nice Angoras would top off my list of fibre producing animals :)

Llamas

I'm not too sure I'd raise Llamas for their fibre, but I'll definitely need a large male as a guard for the alpacas and sheep.

Dogs

A large Pyranees or Komondor to help the Llama protect the herds.

I think that's it for now... I haven't gotten much further than sheep, so I'll probably update this list in a few days :)

So... Alpacas, eh?

2006-01-06T23:53:00.000-05:00

Anyone wondering how my brain makes connections should find this train of thought
interesting...

New Year's Eve, I spent at the Mainses' beautiful home (truly gorgeous), and in between sucking at Dance Dance Revolution, and gorging myself, I asked Jen to teach me how to spin wool. I had heard ages ago from my FIL that she knew how, and figured I could sucker her into teaching me instead of whooping our arses at the dancing game (she was really quite good).

Thankfully, Jen did have her own wheel (I wasn't even sure if she did), the friend she had lent it to recently returned it after 6 months, and she had a bunch of roving the size of my head which she generously sacrificed to my learning discovery :) Jen's an awesome teacher, so in short order, I was spinning fairly evenly. A couple hours later, I had gone through the roving, and decided to ply it.

Having only one bobbin, I wasn't able to do the regular 2-ply thing, so I did what any novice spinster would - I used a technique which I vaguely recalled reading about it on the internet, but had never seen in person - Navajo plying. Yeah...

I attached the yarn to the leader, tied a slip knot, and reached through the hole to make continuous "loose crochet chains", all the while spinning the new 3-ply and winding it onto the bobbin.

Yes, I am crazy - but it worked :)

I flipped out when Jen offered to let me borrow her wheel. I honestly couldn't contain my excitement - I fell in love with spinning that quickly. The next day, I found the green and orange roving leftover from my thrummed mittens and quickly spun and plyed it in the same manner as the first. Then came the horrifying realization that I was out of roving! What next? I knitted my "rustic" 3-ply into a rather thick 1x1 rib scarf. I think its far toobulky to actually use, even on size 15US needles, but I was able to see the finished results. I was amazed. I was stunned. I was thrilled to find myself holding a (short) scarf which I could have easily bought in a store. I considering frogging the entire thing and casting on half the stitches in order to double the length and make a great "First Spin" garment.

Yes, I'm oh-so-modest :)

So, here I am with no roving left (well, I have White Buffalo pucks, which I tried spinning, but it's just too scratchy - not at all like the silky wool from Jen, or the dyed roving from Fleece Artist), and I've promised DH that I wouldn't buy any more wool. What's a girl to do? Make her own spinning wheel of course! (It made more sense in my head than it does at the moment)

A book on the subject had finally come available at the local library, so I ran down to the Main branch and picked up Spinning Wheel Building and Restoration by Bud Kronenberg. I found a picture of modern upright wheel which appealed to me, (no plans of course) tweaked the design a bit, and then using graph paper cutouts, figured out how much wood I'd need.

I called up my Mum and asked if she wouldn't mind taking me to Home Depot to pick up the wood (I didn't think the bus driver would let me on with an 8 foot plank or two). She reluctantly agreed since she had some shopping to do at Ikea (Mmmm... Ikea).

An hour later, we're wandering though the Swedish store, when my eye spies the Lazy Susan on the wall. Having engrossed myself in spinning wheels for the last 48 hours, all I can see is the perfect ballbearing based hub mechanism thingy for the easier of the 2 wheels I have in my mind. All I have to do is carve a track around the edge of the top plate, unscrew the bottom bolt and attach it instead to the back support of the upright spinning wheel. Voila - instant wheel.

After we get yet more furniture for my brother who is hopefully moving out of my parent's house this month, we make our way to Home Depot on Baseline. They really need more staff floating around - it took longer than it should have to find the (very small) hardwood section at the back of the store. My Mum helped me pick out two straight and nicely coloured 1x8x8 planks of Poplar (an unpopular choice for classic spinning wheels, according to Bud, but half the price of Maple and Oak), and she even agreed to pay for it, so DH wouldn't see the cost of yet another one of my projects...

After we loaded the wood into the van, I took my Mum out for dinner at Red Lobster (I sort of forgot her birthday last month), where I pulled out Bud's book at tried to explain to her which changes I was planning on making to the one pictured. She was a wee bit concerned that I had bitten off more than I could chew - "That's something your Grandfather would have done", she said, "At least you can't say that you don't dream big."

My Grandfather, her Dad, was a highly skilled woodsmith. He was good friends with the owner of Lee Valley Tools. I believe to date, he and my brother are only people to have ever been featured on the cover of the Lee Valley catalogue. I was 4 or 5 at the time - I remember the men with bright lights in Grampa's workshop. My nose was a little bent out of shape that my brother got to be in the picture, and not me :(

Anyway, while we were eating our Garlic Shrimp, my Mum mentioned that if she were to go back to school, she'd take the Heritage Masonry program offered from Perth College. Back in the day, college was frowned upon, as if you weren't good enough for University. Now, graduates of the program are highly sought after, especially in the States, for restoration projects.

So... my Mum drops me off at home, and I immediately Google "perth heritage mason" or something to that effect, and up pops Algonquin's Perth campus. Imagine my delight when I discovered that not only did Perth offer a fantastic Masonry program, but also that they have a Heritage Carpentry program as well.

Forgive my immodesty, but I have always excelled in school projects which require woodworking. In grade 7, we had to use a scroll saw to make a simple name plate. I ended up making an elaborate thing that spun around on this wavy stand - it said "Peace" on one end and "Love" on the other - and I burned little flowers and vines into it, just to emphazise the point. In my University sculpture class, most students nailed together a few blocks of wood and called it modern art. I created a tri-sectioned privacy screen with a maple frame, held together by tension and raffia - no nails, screws or glues.

So, this carpentry program sounded like it was perfect for me. The problem is that I've already gone 4 years though Univerisity... I always knew that I would be going to University some day. When that day finally arived, I didn't even look at the programs offered by colleges. Now... *sigh*... I'm one semester shy of completing a degree I will never use, wishing I could start all over again. I wasn't made to write essays, I was made to work with my hands; to apply my knowledge physically, not just write about it abstractly.

Oh, the other problem is that it's in another city. Ummm... yeah. DH is the type of person who will never leave Ottawa, or at least, the big city. Perth does not appeal to him at all. I'd be moving out there alone.

So... I brought this up with DH, and he immediately dismissed it as one of my "fickle" ideas (He thinks I'm only interested in woodworking in order to make a spinning wheel, and that I'll drop it right after). So now I have to prove to him that I'm serious about woodworking. The only way I could think of doing that was by taking a course which wouldn't require moving 45 minutes away for. Algonquin's Furniture Technician program (Woodroffe campus) sounded interesting enough, and it was only 3 terms over 48 weeks, instead of 4 over 2 years.

While I was filling out the college application form, I figured I should double check if there were any other programs at other colleges I had overlooked. That's when I found the agriculture program at Guelph University, Kemptville Campus. Of course, that sparked my interest again in raising sheep, well, actually alpacas, but raising sheep is much easier to explain to someone that raising alpacas. It sounds too exotic and far fetched. I mean - who raises alpacas? But I've been interested in raising alpacas for a couple years now - even my DH will admit that I've been talking about it since the last time I was knitting (4 years ago). But now I know how to spin, so it makes even more sense to raise alpacas!

So now I'm looking at Alpacas farms with an eye for buying my own little herd, and then I realize I'll need land on which to raise my "sheep". One of the alpaca farms I was looking at was actually selling their farm to upgrade in another city. The price seemed really reasonable, not that I know anything about land prices, but it was still out of our price range (a half-acre vacant lot is out of our price range). When I started looking around for farms in Quebec, I suddenly remembered that my Dad grew up on a farm somewhere in La Belle Province! He still talks about it, and Gramma still owns the property.

I immediately called my parents to ask about the old farm. My Dad wasn't home, but my Mum told me that it was at least a hundred acres, and it was located somewhere near Shawville, but she wasn't exactly sure. I told her I was interested in using the land for alpaca farming - she said my "brain is going a mile a minute" - not too sure if that's a good thing, or a bad thing...

I called back an hour later and reached my Dad. He spent an hour on Google Maps trying to describe to where the farm was located. After a couple of false starts, he was finally able to point me in the right direction. The farm is rather brown in comparison to the neighbouring strips of green. Apparently, it's being rented out for cattle at the moment...

Anyway - that's about 100 acres cleared and 50 acres with forests. Imagine what I could do with even a small parcel of that land...

A large problem would be the native wildlife. The farm backs onto some pretty wild mountains - my Grandfather killed a bear, and there must be a fair number of wolves in the area. I'd have to fence off all the enclosures with 6" non-climb fencing - probably bury a good foot to prevent digging. I'd also need at least one Livestock Guard Dog, and a Guard Llama would be nice too. I wonder if I would have to learn how to use a gun? Maybe it's not as wild as I imagine it being...

The old barns and farmhouse have disintegrated, so I'd need to build some sort of shelter and feeding area for the animals, as well as find a usable well. A small cabin and outhouse would be fine, although a septic bed would be a wise investment ;)

Of course, if we're going to live on a farm, then we might as well make the most of it, and raise a few cows for milk, chickens for eggs and, heck, a team of horses while we're at it... I think bees would be good too - honey and wax for the candles we're going to have to use since I doubt electric wires have been lead out to the property. I wonder if solar panels are cheap enough now... Could I make enough money off of alpaca fleece, or would I have to be involved in breeding and selling? Hmmm... most likely, in which case I'll need a truck and trailer for transporting the alpacas to shows. I'd have to plant a vegetable garden for my family, and hay for the livestock. Could I bring myself to raise cattle, hogs or chickens for meat? Ummm... maybe, maybe not.

Anyway... this is how my mind works. It all started with an innocent offer to lend me a spinning wheel...

Making dinner for my Parents

2005-12-23T23:33:00.000-05:00

Wow.. considering my parents and sister came an hour early, dinner went surprisingly well :)

I overbaked the meringues I had spent all morning on, but it didn't matter much because everyone was too stuffed from dinner :D I had to double check the tenderloin recipe with Jo, I had the cooking time wrong - 325 for 45 mins, then 400 for 30 minutes to brown the outside and make it look purdy. My sister even asked for the recipe - Jo should be proud :D My Mum suggested splitting the tenderloin down the middle and then hammering it, to make it even thinner so it rolls better.

My parents also brought over my Christmas gifts (I forgot to run out to the Big & Tall store to get a GC for my DH from my parents, so he only got to open the candy my Mum and I picked out last week). I finally get to wear my brown boots and coat :D Mum bought me a cream pashmina - very nice, and oh so soft. She was worried I wouldn't like cream (it was the only thing she picked out by herself).

DH doesn't get my family's tradition of shopping with the giver beforehand. He thinks the gifts should be a complete surprise. Surprises are nice, but surprise clothes rarely fit or are the right style/colour. For the last decade, the bulk of my siblings gifts have been clothes, so surprises just don't work for us. My parents are much more happy to give us what we would really like, rather than something they might have to return because the fit is off. Besides, Mum usually shops so early that we forget what we've picked out. This year, I knew I had found some sweaters with her, but I had completely forgotten which ones, so it was a surprise afterall :)

I'm just so glad I can finally wear my stylish, yet comfortably flat winter boots :)

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup; Johannah's Roasted Garlic & Chèvre Pork Tenderloin; Green Beans & Pine Nuts Sautéed with Butter & Thyme

2005-12-23T01:48:00.000-05:00

My parents are coming over for dinner tomorrow (technically, today). I'm making Creamy Butternut Squash Soup, Pork Tenderloin with Goat Cheese, Rosemary and Roasted Garlic, Green Beans with Thyme and Pine nuts, Wild Rice, and Meringue Nests with Strawberries and Vanilla Ice Cream for desert.

Groceries I still need

Butternut Squash
Marjoram
1 pack cream cheese
poultry string
green beans
Vanilla Ice Cream
make sure I have Chicken bouillon

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

1. In large soup pot, sauté 6T onions in 4T butter until tender.
2. Add 6c peeled and cubed butternut squash, 3c water, 5 cubes chicken bouillon, 1/2t marjoram, 1/4t pepper, 1/8t cayenne pepper and 2 cloves of garlic.
3. Bring to boil and cook for 20 minutes, or until the squash is tender.
4. Pureé squash mixture with stick blender and add 1 package of cream cheese in batches.
5. Serve warm with heavy/table cream to garnish.

Johannah's Roasted Garlic & Chèvre Pork Tenderloin

2 Pork Tenderloins
3 Bulbs of Garlic
2 pachages of Soft Unripened Goat Cheese
1/3c Olive Oil
2t Ground Rosemary
Sea Salt & Pepper
2T Cold Water
2T Whole Wheat Flour
(Side dish option: handful of new potatoes)

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F.
2. Heat the olive oil in a small pot over medium.
3. Peel the garlic cloves and toss into the olive oil. While the garlic is cooking, prepare the pork tenderloins.
4.. Place the pork tenderloins between two sheets of baking parchment. Use the flat side of a meat mallet (or rolling pin) to beat the pork out thinly and evenly. For very thick cuts, slice the meat lengthwise (but not all the way through), then beat flat. It should be very flexible - at least 1/4 inch thick.
5. Baste the flattened tenderloins with the olive oil, then sprinkle gently with ground pepper and sea salt.
6. In a small bowl, combine the rosemary with the goat cheese. Apply to the tenderloins in a thick layer (save time - just use your fingers).
7. Line the roasted garlic cloves down the tenderloins.
8. Carefully roll the pork lengthwise and secure with cooking string. Tuck the ends in to make sure the stuffing stays put.
9. Place the rolled tenderloins in an overnproof, stovetop safe casserole dish, then baste with the leftover olive oil. (Side dish option: toss in a few new potatoes and dust with rosemary)
10. Bake covered for 45 minutes, basting every 15 minutes.
11. Uncover, increase to 400 F, and bake for an aditional 30 minutes, or until baked thoroughly. Continue basting every 15 minutes.
12. Remove the tenderloins, cut off the strings, then slice into medallions.
13. Place the casserole dish on the stove and heat the drippings on medium.
14. In a small bowl, whisk the flour into the water, then whisk the mixture into the drippings. Continue whisking until the the gravy thickens.
15. Serve with gravy

Keep your eye out for rosemary-herbed goat cheese - it goes on sale more often than plain does.

Green Beans & Pine Nuts Sautéed with Butter & Thyme

(Decide beforehand how many green beans and pine nuts you want per serving, then multiply by the number of servings. That way you don't have enormous amounts of left overs, or skimpy portions)

Green Beans
Water
Butter (enough to coat green beans)
Thyme (crushed is more decorative than ground, but can be 'woody')
Pine Nuts (optional)

Optional - 1. Bake pine nuts until golden (about 2.5 minutes in a toaster oven. Be very careful not to let them go brown)
2. Rinse and trim green beans
3. Using an appropriate sized saucepan, add an inch of water and green beans, and set over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil.
4. Let boil for 3 minutes, then strain.
5. If your meal won't be ready in the next 5 minutes, rinse beans under cold water to stop cooking process.
6. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add thyme and green beans. Sautè Beans until heated though and just barely wilting. They should still be fairly crisp.
Optional - 7. Toss in toasted pine nuts to coat with butter & thyme
8. Serve immediately.

Wild Rice

Follow directions on Wild Rice container... cook for 45 minutes or something like that...

Meringue Nests

2 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup white sugar

In a large bowl, beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt until soft peaks form. Add vanilla, and slowly beat in sugar until very stiff and glossy. Spread mixture into a 9 inch pie plate to form a shell.

Bake at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 50 minutes. Turn oven off, and leave meringue in oven for 1 hour. Cool.

I was going to make eggnog with the egg yolks, but I accidently curdled all 12 yolks... Maybe next year...

I'm not feeling so hot. I *really* hope this queasiness is just from the grossness of dealing with a dozen curdled eggs in milk... Time to get some sleep :P

I'm lovin' Bamboo

2005-12-22T13:16:00.000-05:00

Wow... I'm really enjoying working with the bamboo - it's super soft and slinky, and drapes so well - too well, in fact... the scarf I made for a guy has absolutely no substance... it's more of a fashion scarf, exept the garter stitch is too bulky, and I doubled it over and joined the 2 sides, so it's not long enough, and ARGH! Anyway... I guess I'll be carefully pulling out the seam and possibly keeping the 6"x52" thing for a baby blanket border... but who puts babies in black? unless I did a bumble bee theme, but bamboo? Does it wash well? *sigh*... I really should have thought this through... the bamboo is too lightweight and cool for use as a winter scarf...

On a less annoyed note, I found my old (very old) receipts for Yarn Forward. Back in the day, you could hand in your receipts and get a discout depending on how much you spent. $100 = 7%, $200 = 10%, $300 = 15%. Now, they automatically add the amount of your bill to your card (bright orange, hard to miss). However, they still take the old-style receipts and add them to your total (it's been a few years since I last shopped there). I totalled them up and came to $345.31 before taxes ($391.52 after taxes - I can't remember which total they use). Add that to the $200 I have on the account, and that's 2 15% discounts, so I can space out $300 between 2 purchases :)

On a side note, the discount program doesn't apply to their online store.

I have to run to pick up my Debit and Credit cards from my Mum. I'll pop into their Kanata location after and see if anything tickles my fancy for Christmas projects (yes I know, I'm cutting it *really* close).

Christmas projects

2005-12-21T14:42:00.000-05:00

I wandered into Yarn Forward yesterday with a list of projects I'd like to complete for Christmas. Thankfully, all my ideas are small and easy (scarves). I found a beautiful magenta cotton for a small scarf and couldn't wait to cast on. I've learned my lesson - I must bring my Denises everywhere :)

I cast on 31 sts on size 10 US, knit 1x1 ribbing for about 8 inches, then decreased 1 every row until I had 23 sts, continued for 8 more inches then put half the sts on a stitch holder and worked the other half for 3 inches. I broke the yarn and continued knitting from the stitch holder. I rejoined the two sides after 3 inches and started increasing 1st every row until there were 31 sts. Then I continued knitting for 8 inches and cast off knitwise. It only took one 50g ball, and I think it's the perfect size for a young child :) If I make another, I'll test the lengths on an actual child, instead of guessing. I'll update the pattern after I see how it looks on my favourite little girl in the world.

I started another scarf with the black bamboo I bought as well. I cast on 250 sts on size 8US, and am working all knit, slipping the first stitch of every row so the ends are purdy :) I think it will take 4 balls (instead of just the 2 I bought)to get the desired width, but at least it's guaranteed to be the right length :) I am in love with the bamboo. It is incredibly soft, like a mix between silk and alpaca, and it has a soft shine as well.

Next up on the needles is a small teddy bear made out of simple cotton, and then a couple dishcloths.

Peaceful Palms Update #5

2005-12-19T23:45:00.000-05:00

I'm done! I finished my second mitt! It looks really good and it looks very similar to my first one :)

The Merino & Fur was such a quick knit - even with the rovings every 3 stitches and 4 rows. I think it took me less than 20 hours total, and that's including the time spent figuring out how to adjust the pattern to the thicker yarn ;)

Thank you Nona for your KAL - I don't think I would have ever finished my mitts without it :D

Finding Spinning Wheel plans

2005-12-19T22:58:00.000-05:00

I went shopping with my MIL today, and picked up a couple books on spinnning and knitting from the Alta Vista branch. The Self Sufficient Living book gives detailed information on creating your own spinning wheel out of a bike. I think I might actually understand how a double treadle works with a flyer... I think I'll have to see it in action to really understand the whole "slipping" thing.

I think the Mainses own a spinning wheel. The next time we visit her, I might ask Nicki or Jennifer to show me how to spin :)

Oooh - spinning wheels

2005-12-17T22:15:00.000-05:00

DH had the day off from work, and it was Super Saturday at Sears (store opened at 7 AM), so his Mum picked us up at 6:45 and off we went to Carlingwood. I wandered around a bit, but didn't see anything I couldn't live without. You know you're a fibre addict when you look at sweaters and think you could make it better :P I ended up getting a free makeup from the Clinique counter. Note to self: never get makeup done by a winter - especially one with really dark eyeshadow on. She did a great job, aside from the fact that the silver lid base stood out far too much. She gave me blue eyeshadow to match my shirt... why do they do that? Neutrals would have been a much better choice, but makeup ladies keep trying to match my makeup to my clothes. Like the time a girl gave me deep red lipstick to match my shirt... I don't want my face to colour coordinate exactly with my outfit - I want it to blend...

When I met up with my Hubby, he asked "What happened to your face?"... not a good sign. Anyway, he asked me to go to the 3rd floor and check out some curtains and stay there until he came to get me. He had seen some things he wanted to get for me, but didn't want to chance me finding him with an armful of goodies. He's such a cutie :) He's really big on the whole Surprise aspect of Christmas. I'm more of the Requested & Handcrafted sort. Which reminds me - his sister asked for a pair of mitts - I'll have to run out to YF again - such a chore ;)

After Sears, we dropped off his Mum and ran off with the van to the Carelton Place Used Book Store (half an hour away). We stumbled across a Community Living Used Book Depot with extremely cheap books (donated). I found an early print of Colour Me Beautiful (I still can't figure out what season I am :P ), DH found over a dozen Tom Clancy and sci fi novels. We dropped off some books at the CP book store, then ran off to find a yarn shop I had heard about somewhere in Carleton Place. After a few wrong turns, we arrived at the Mississipi Mills Black Sheep yarn store - the only store around that carries spinning wheels.

The lady who owned the shop was absolutely charming. If you live in the Ottawa area and love fibres, you simply must visit this store. She took the time to explain to my overwhelmed DH why one would ever want to take the time to spin yarn instead of just buying it from the store. She said that spinning roving was at least half the price of store bought yarn, and if you buy a fleece and clean/card it yourself, it's even cheaper. She made a great case for my desire to buy a spinning wheel. However, the $500CDN price tag on the Louet S17 was way out of our price range. Maybe if I had've expressed interest well ahead of Christmas (before our trip to Sears), I might have been able to convince DH to give me only the spinning wheel. Unfortunately, my inability to stick with one project for more than a couple months would hamper any argument for such an expensive piece of equipment...

We got back into Ottawa just in time for DH to drop me off at the Millar's with CheeseWedge's 3rd birthday. I was finally able to give her the deep purple and floral dress that's been hanging in our closet for a year - DH was very happy about that :)

When I got home, I spent the evening looking for spinning wheel patterns. The Louet might be out of my price range, but I was certain I could make a decent wheel for less than $100. After 4 hours of searching for a plan and trying to figure out exactly how a flyer works, I've decided to go to the library on Monday and pick up a book on designing a spinning wheel from an old bike. I don't have an old bike on hand, but I figure it will be me the dimensions for the flyer. I still don't get how it works in combination with a double treadle...

Peaceful Palms #4

2005-12-16T17:23:00.000-05:00

I've started and finished a mitten!

I decided to go with a thrummed mitten from Yarn Forward found here, although my guage was way off, and I was doing it on 2 circs instead of 2 regular.

I used the "Merino & Fur" I got on sale a couple weeks ago, along with hank of roving from Fleece Artist in matching shades, and a small trim of dark green sock mohair. I'll get a picture up soon, I promise.

I started yesterday at Jo's while waiting for our ganache to cool so we could shape it into truffles. I had to play around with the number of stitches, before finally settling on 30. The cuff is a little wide, but body is nice and snug with all the thums. If I have extra yarn, I'll probably add onto the cuff to make it longer and tighter. I'm not crazy about the feeling of the mohair against my skin. I think I've decided to never use mohair again. it's just too scratchy (unless someone can recommend a softer variety).

I continued knitting well into the early morning, woke up around 11am (exams are finished), and kept on knitting. I had knit the mitten too long because I forgot how many rows the finishing process would require. I frogged about 12 rows then started the decreases. I think I may have gone too far back, as my finger tips touch the end. Hopefully I'll be able to stretch out the mitt a touch when I block it.

For a first go at both mitts and thumming, I'm quite pleased. They're pretty fuzzy though - it that normal? or did I not twist the thrums enough? Once I wash them, the yarn will bloom as well, so they'll be fuzzaliscious ;)

I'm looking forward to casting on the final mitt. At this rate, I might even be able to get a hat doen in time for Christmas. This set will look great with the brown peacoat and boots I picked out with my Mum :)

1 Corinthians 11 & Strong's Concordance

2005-12-09T12:54:00.002-05:00

I started wearing a headcovering to worship service a year after becoming a Christian. My Mother-In-Law and her Mother both wore hats (as did a number of women at the time), which made the practice 'normal' to me. However, my decision to begin wearing a covering was determined by the research I did into 1 Corinthians 11. Major influences for me included a sermon by Pastor Rich as he worked through Corinthians (before I joined the church, no longer online) as well as several essays I found online (linked at the bottom).

There are several arguments used against a straight interpretation of 1Cor 11. First, that it was cultural command which we can ignore, second, that the covering is simply hair, and third, that the passage actually refers to having hair 'pinned up' not 'covered'. I will go through each of the arguments.

The first argument given is that the whole head-covering instruction was cultural (something about the prostitutes having shaved heads), and it no longer applies to us. The problem with this argument is that Paul's reasoning was timeless -- he discusses Headship, Glory, Creation, Angels, Nature, and then rounds it off by saying "But if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God." (1Cor 11:16) This issue wasn't cultural, it was eternal, and modern men and women must have a clear understanding of what this passage is commanding us.

The simplest argument against cloth headcoverings reasons that verse 15 ("...For her hair is given to her for a covering.") indicates that the covering discussed in the preceding verses is a woman's hair. The problem lies in verses 5 & 6

But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved. For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head. 1Cor 11:5-6

You see, if the covering is really just long hair, then being "uncovered" would mean having short hair. Yet, how can she cut off her hair if it's already short? These verses simply cannot be reconciled with the interpretation that a woman's hair is her only covering. Aslo, the whole passage seems far too complicated if all Paul meant was women should have long hair, and men should have short hair. The passage is either saying what it means to say (that women should wear a cloth head covering and men should not), or it is mistranslated.

One argument I read stated that the first word Paul used for "cover" was properly translated as "long hair pinned up", and that the actual word properly translated as "cover" isn't used until v15. The same argument contends that the word often translated "as" or "for" in that same verse is properly translated as "instead of", so that the actual verse reads "For her hair is given to her instead of a (cloth) covering".

This sounded like the most convincing argument I had heard against head coverings, if in fact the translations were incorrect. Therefore, I decided to delve into Strong's Concordance, Thayer's Lexicon, and the Septuagint to get at the root of the words. Now, more than ever, I am convinced that the way a woman is to cover her head during prayer and prophesy is with a cloth veil which hides her hair. Following is the process I took to reach my conclusion. Keep in mind that although I have no expertise in languages (I can't even learn French), if you treat words like code, you can get a pretty decent understanding of their appropriate use.

Following is the passage with Strong's word numbers next to each word. The words pertinent to this discussion are in bold. I would encourage you to take out your favourite translation (no paraphrases, please), and write down Strong's word number next to the bold selections. This might help you connect the definitions to the appropriate words.

1Cr 11:3 But [1161] I would have [2309] (5719) you [5209] know [1492] (5760), that [3754] the head [2776] of every [3956] man [435] is [2076] (5748) Christ [5547]; and [1161] the head [2776] of the woman [1135] [is] the man [435]; and [1161] the head [2776] of Christ [5547] [is] God [2316].
1Cr 11:4 Every [3956] man [435] praying [4336] (5740) or [2228] prophesying [4395] (5723), having [2192] (5723) [his] head [2776] covered [2596], dishonoureth [2617] (5719) his [846] head [2776].
1Cr 11:5 But [1161] every [3956] woman [1135] that prayeth [4336] (5740) or [2228] prophesieth [4395] (5723) with [her] head [2776] uncovered [177] dishonoureth [2617] (5719) her [1438] head [2776]: for [1063] that is [2076] (5748) even [2532] all one [1520] as if [846] she were shaven [3587] (5772).
1Cr 11:6 For [1063] if [1487] the woman [1135] be [2619] [0] not [3756] covered [2619] (5743), let her [2751] [0] also [2532] be shorn [2751] (5669): but [1161] if [1487] it be a shame [149] for a woman [1135] to be shorn [2751] (5670) or [2228] shaven [3587] (5745), let her be covered [2619] (5744).
1Cr 11:7 For [1063] a man [435] indeed [3303] ought [3784] (5719) not [3756] to cover [2619] (5745) [his] head [2776], forasmuch as he is [5225] (5723) the image [1504] and [2532] glory [1391] of God [2316]: but [1161] the woman [1135] is [2076] (5748) the glory [1391] of the man [435].
1Cr 11:8 For [1063] the man [435] is [2076] (5748) not [3756] of [1537] the woman [1135]; but [235] the woman [1135] of [1537] the man [435].
1Cr 11:9 [1063] [2532] Neither [3756] was [2936] [0] the man [435] created [2936] (5681) for [1223] the woman [1135]; but [235] the woman [1135] for [1223] the man [435].
1Cr 11:10 For this [5124] cause [1223] ought [3784] (5719) the woman [1135] to have [2192] (5721) power [1849] on [1909] [her] head [2776] because [1223] of the angels [32].
1Cr 11:11 Nevertheless [4133] neither [3777] is the man [435] without [5565] the woman [1135], neither [3777] the woman [1135] without [5565] the man [435], in [1722] the Lord [2962].
1Cr 11:12 For [1063] as [5618] the woman [1135] [is] of [1537] the man [435], even so [3779] [is] the man [435] also [2532] by [1223] the woman [1135]; but [1161] all things [3956] of [1537] God [2316].
1Cr 11:13 Judge [2919] (5657) in [1722] yourselves [5213] [846]: is it [2076] (5748) comely [4241] (5723) that a woman [1135] pray [4336] (5738) unto God [2316] uncovered [177]?
1Cr 11:14 Doth [2228] not even [3761] nature [5449] itself [846] teach [1321] (5719) you [5209], that [3754], if [1437] [3303] a man [435] have long hair [2863] (5725), it is [2076] (5748) a shame [819] unto him [846]?
1Cr 11:15 But [1161] if [1437] a woman [1135] have long hair [2863] (5725), it is [2076] (5748) a glory [1391] to her [846]: for [3754] [her] hair [2864] is given [1325] (5769) her [846] for [473] a covering [4018].
1Cr 11:16 But [1161] if any man [1536] seem [1380] (5719) to be [1511] (5750) contentious [5380], we [2249] have [2192] (5719) no [3756] such [5108] custom [4914], neither [3761] the churches [1577] of God [2316].

First, let's take a look at when this directive is in place.

Praying [4336] proseuchomai pros-yoo'-khom-ahee from 4314 and 2172; to pray to God, i.e. supplicate, worship:--pray (X earnestly, for), make prayer.

Prophesying [4395] propheteuo prof-ate-yoo'-o from 4396; to foretell events, divine, speak under inspiration, exercise the prophetic office:--prophesy.

Chapter 11 is often prefaced with the title "Directions for Public Worship", however, the instructions for the covering/uncovering of one's head do not specify whether the praying or prohesying are on the Lord's Day, in public worship. In the preceeding chapter, Paul discusses the Lord's Supper, and then broadens the topic to the eating of sacrificed meat (outside of public worship). Paul then thanks the church for holding fast to the traditions as he delivered them, and goes on to address head coverings, before veering back to the Lord's Supper. At the very least, one may conclude that head coverings apply to Lord's Day assembly (the "traditions"), however, an argument could easily be made that the instructions apply to all praying and prophesying, regardless of time or location.

Second, let's see who we are dealing with.

Man [435] aner an'-ayr a primary word (compare 444); a man (properly as an individual male):--fellow, husband, man, sir.

Woman [1135] gune goo-nay' probably from the base of 1096; a woman; specially, a wife:--wife, woman.

"Gune [1135]", according to Thayer's Lexicon, can mean "1. a woman of any age, whether a virgin, or married, or a widow", or specifically, "2. a wife, or a betrothed woman". Therefore, at the very least, Paul is referring to married or betrothed women. This interpretation makes sense in light of Paul's argument concerning headship. Not every man is the head of every woman, but rather a Husband is the head of his own Wife.

Third, let's look at the various words used for "cover" and "uncover". The first word "kata [2596]" is only used by itself in v4 in relation to men. Afterwards, it is used in combination with "kalupto [2572] to form "katakalupto [2619]" and "akatakaluptos [177]". Notice that when hair is referred to as a "covering", a completely different word (peribolaion[4018]) is used. I believe this means that although hair is given as a type of covering, it is not the covering required while praying or prohesying. For reference, I have included the definitions for "shaved" and "shorn", as well as "hair" and "long hair".

[2596] kata kat-ah' a primary particle; (prepositionally) down (in place or time), in varied relations (according to the case (genitive, dative or accusative) with which it is joined):--about, according as (to), after, against, (when they were) X alone, among, and, X apart, (even, like) as (concerning, pertaining to touching), X aside, at, before, beyond, by, to the charge of, (charita-)bly, concerning, + covered, (dai-)ly, down, every, (+ far more) exceeding, X more excellent, for, from ... to, godly, in(-asmuch, divers, every, -to, respect of), ... by, after the manner of, + by any means, beyond (out of) measure, X mightily, more, X natural, of (up-)on (X part), out (of every), over against, (+ your) X own, + particularly, so, through(-oughout, -oughout every), thus, (un-)to(-gether, -ward), X uttermost, where(-by), with. In composition it retains many of these applications, and frequently denotes opposition, distribution, or intensity.
1) down from, through out
2) according to, toward, along

[2572] kalupto kal-oop'-to akin to 2813 and 2928; to cover up (literally or figuratively):--cover, hide.
1) to hide, veil
a) to hinder the knowledge of a thing

[2619] (5743) katakalupto kat-ak-al-oop'-to from 2596 and 2572; to cover wholly, i.e. veil:--cover, hide.
1) to cover up
2) to veil or cover one's self

[177] akatakaluptos ak-at-ak-al'-oop-tos from 1 (as a negative particle) and a derivative of a compound of 2596 and 2572; unveiled:--uncovered.
1) not covered, unveiled

[4018] peribolaion per-ib-ol'-ah-yon neuter of a presumed derivative of 4016; something thrown around one, i.e. a mantle, veil:--covering, vesture.
1) a covering thrown around, a wrapper
a) a mantle
b) a veil

[3587] xurao xoo-rah'-o from a derivative of the same as 3586 (meaning a razor); to shave or "shear" the hair:--shave.
1) to shear, shave
2) to get one's self shaved

[2751] keiro ki'-ro a primary verb; to shear:--shear(-er).
1) to sheer: a sheep
2) to get or let be shorn
3) of shearing or cutting short the hair of the head

[2863] komao kom-ah'-o from 2864; to wear tresses of hair:--have long hair.
1) to let the hair grow, have long hair

[2864] kome kom'-ay apparently from the same as 2865; the hair of the head (locks, as ornamental, and thus differing from 2359; which properly denotes merely the scalp):--hair.
1) hair, head of hair

The following definitions are taken from Numbers 5:18. The Septuagint uses "apokalupto [601]" (a derivitive of "kalupto [2572]") to translate "para [06544]". Some arguments against head coverings use this verse to prove that "katakalupto [2619]" means "long hair pinned up", and therefore "akatakalupto [177]" means "long hair let down", or something to that effect. However, by examining the use of the Hebrew "para [06544]" one understands that is not the case. Although "para [06544]" does mean "to let loose", it appears to have the connotations of uncovering and nakedness, rather than of disheveled hair.

[601] apokalupto ap-ok-al-oop'-to from 575 and 2572; to take off the cover, i.e. disclose:--reveal.

[06544] para paw-rah' a primitive root; to loosen; by implication, to expose, dismiss; figuratively, absolve, begin:--avenge, avoid, bare, go back, let, (make) naked, set at nought, perish, refuse, uncover.

1) to lead, act as leader
2) to let go, let loose, ignore, let alone
a) (Qal)
1) to let go, let loose
2) to let alone, avoid, neglect
3) to loosen
b) (Niphal) to be let loose, be loosened of restraint
c) (Hiphil)
1) to cause to refrain
2) to show lack of restraint
3) to let loose restraints

Fourth, let's look at the definition of "anti [473]" in v16.

[473] anti an-tee' a primary particle; opposite, i.e. instead or because of (rarely in addition to):--for, in the room of. Often used in composition to denote contrast, requital, substitution, correspondence, etc.
1) over against, opposite to, before
2) for, instead of, in place of (something)
a) instead of
b) for
c) for that, because
d) wherefore, for this cause

Although "anti [471]" can be translated as "instead of", most translations use "for" or "as".

Finally, let's examine the implications of saying the covering is "long hair pinned up". If you are using this intepretation of the text to avoid wearing a cloth head covering, do you wear your hair long and pinned up? If not, then the text says you should shave your head, for doing so is disgraceful. However, since it is a disgrace to have a shaved head, you should wear a cloth veil to cover your shame.

If you are preaching this interpretation, then you must also be teaching women to a) wear their hair long; and b) pin their hair up; otherwise, c) they must cover their short or long, unpinned hair with a cloth veil.

It is interesting to note that of all the depictions of female believers throughout the ages, not one is shown with "long hair pinned up", but rather they are shown wearing a cloth head covering. It appears that even Paul's first audience took his words as instructions to wear a cloth veil.

To recap, at the very least, you should be covering your hair with a cloth veil or scarf if you are a believing married woman praying/prophesying in public worship on the Lord's Day. I would encourage believing married women to keep the cover on during the entire service (otherwise it becomes an unnecessary distraction). I believe it would be highly beneficial to wear the same head covering during group bible studies and prayer meetings, as well as private study and prayer. I believe Paul's argument for wearing a head covering applies to prayer and prophesy every day, not just on Sunday. Also, there is nothing wrong or sinful with wearing a head covering at all times. I believe this practice blesses sporadic, spontaneous prayer. It could also be beneficial to women struggling in areas of Godly submission towards their Husbands and God.

As I mentioned earlier, there are several eteranl reasons Pauls gives for headcoverings: Headship, Glory, Creation, Angels, Nature, and then rounds it off by saying "But if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God." (1Cor 11:16). I believe the simplest reason he gives has to do with Glory, so let's work through that chain: The glory of God is man (v7), the glory of man is woman (v7), and the glory of woman is her hair (v15). When we're worshiping God, who's glory are we exalting? God's or our own? Since we are exalting God, we should be uncovering the glory of God and covering the glory of man and woman. Since God's glory is man, he should be uncovered. Since man's glory is woman, she should be covered. Since woman's glory is her hair, it should be covered. Therefore, we have two reason here to cover our heads and our hair -- to cover man's glory as well as our own. You may disagree with the idea that nature teaches that long hair on men and short hair on women is shameful, and you might not comprehend what angels have to do with signs of authority, but the notion of uncovering God's glory and covering man's should be easily understood. Afterall, isn't that what worship is all about?

As important as the headcovering may be, please keep in mind that souls are far more important than any garment a person may or may not be wearing. Before taking a woman to task for not wearing a proper covering, or a man for wearing an improper covering, it is essential that you determine that they are indeed a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. God sees beyond the external, into the heart. A woman can wear a headcovering at all times, but if her sins were not paid for on the Cross, then she is little more than a white-washed tomb. This principle should be applied to all areas of life. There is no sense in dealing with anyone's sins unless they are in a saving relationship with Jesus.

Additional Resources
Headcovering in Public Worship (Pastor Brian Schwertley, sermon)
Headcoverings II (Pastor Brian Schwertley, sermon)
Sermons on Headcoverings (all sides)

Head covering

2005-12-07T22:58:00.001-05:00

So I've been doing more research on the whole headcovering issue. I've concluded the following things.

1. Head coverings are definitely fabric veils which conceal hair. Although hair is given to the woman as a covering, it is not her only covering. Paul's argument to shave uncovered hair would make no sense if hair was a woman's only covering.

2. Head coverings are definitely worn in Sabbath Worship during Prayer and Prophecy. However, since women are not to speak/teach during Public Worship, it is likely that head coverings should be worn during all prayer, prophecy and teaching, otherwise, Paul would not have mentioned Prophesy. Although it is slightly controversial, I would highly recommend wearing head coverings during all prayer and teaching. What harm is there in honouring a Sabbath practice throughout the week?

3. Head coverings are definitely to be worn by married women. However, there is great good in young girls and unmarried women wearing a head covering as well, since one of the chief purposes of the covering is to hide her glory.

4. Although Head coverings are highly recommended as regular attire, they are not necessary at all times, just as it is not necessary for men to keep their heads uncovered at all times. 1Tim2:9 & 1Pet3:3 both discuss improper attire, including braided hair, rather than uncovered hair. Therefore, a covering would be considered more modest, however, it is completely voluntary when not praying, or prophesying/teaching.

5. Head coverings serve as a symbol of a submissive heart before our Lord Jesus Christ. They are a great tool for teaching a willful heart, and can help remind ourselves of the proper attitude towards God, and our Husbands or Fathers. However, there is little benefit in forcing an unbelieving woman to wear a veil. It is far more important to deal with the inner, spiritual matter of the heart first, before attempting to address the outer, physical symbol.

My Husband and I have been married for just over a year now. In that short time, it has become apparent that I do not possess a willing, submissive heart towards my Husband and, therefore, God. I think that wearing a head covering during the day will help me keep my mind focused on my duty towards God and my Husband (which is probably why God hasn't let me brush aside the issue of head coverings this past week). It is something I am choosing to do for a time (as yet undetermined), in order to ascertain if it is of benefit to my soul. If wearing a veil improves my attitude, then I will determine to constantly wear it. There is no harm in practicing a level of modesty not commonly found in modern society.

I made a covering today based on this design, using a lightweight cotton fabric and cording I bought on Monday. I've been wearing it since early afternoon, and have found it difficult to ignore my household chores like I usually do. I even did laundry... I know - it might not sound like much, but I've been putting it off for quite some time. I'd rather not say just how long :P

When my DH came home, he didn't say a word about the veil. I'm pretty sure he had seen some of my earlier interest in head coverings, and took it as a natural extension of my research. Immediately following dinner, we retreated to the bedroom where he suggested we read scripture. He prayed for God to give us wisdom for our future, and I continued reading in John where we had left off some time ago. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I think seeing me wear a symbol of Godly submission encouraged DH to practice Godly leadership.

Please pray for my Husband and me as I explore modesty in dress and actions.

Getting Convicted

2005-12-03T03:54:00.000-05:00

For some reason I chose to stay up late and research long hair and head coverings.

When I first met my Husband, I had shorter hair than he did (and his hair was short). He said he was attracted to me partly because I had short, spunky hair. However, as our relationship progressed, he indicated his desire for me to grow out my hair. I was tired of my uber short hair, so I agreed. I remember my annoyance at the "in-between" stages =/ But I also remember how excited he was as my hair finally reached viable ponytail length :) Every so often I'd threaten to chop it all off again, just to see if my DH desired my short hair again. The threats usually come after prodding him to roll over, off my hair *sigh*... I haven't had hair this long since I was 7. My Mum made me chop it off because I couldn't take care of it. To be fair, it was so long I could sit on it, and I was seven. Now, it's getting caught under my arm, and becoming a real nuisance when I sleep. But each time the thought of lobbing it all off enters my mind, it is immediately chased out by my own desire to have long hair. I keep coming back to the passage that equates short hair with shame. I want to have long long hair because God says it is my glory, which He gave to me.

I've worn a head covering to church since I started taking the Lord's Supper (usually a large, square scarf folded diagonally). At that time, a number of our Pastor's sermons were online, and so I downloaded one discussing 1Cor 11, where Paul discusses why women should cover their hair when praying and prophesying. I agreed with Rich's assessment of the passage, and began covering my head as a sign of God's authority, my submission to Him (I wasn't yet married), and to veil my glory (my hair) so that everyone around me could concentrate on Him (as if my shaggy mass of hair could have distracted anyone).

The last few months, however, I've felt drawn towards Muslim's head coverings. This evening, I spent 4 hours researching 1Cor11, as well as other verses dealing with the covering of women's heads, as well as modesty. I'm feeling convicted that I should be covering my hair all the time, not just in public Worship. I mean, Paul didn't say cover your head when you are praying in Church. He said to cover your head when you pray and prophesy. Period. That means every time you pray. If you're in constant dialogue with God, talking with Him about your day, your hopes, your plans, His plans for you, then you should constantly be covering your head.

So now I have an urge to buy a sqare of some lightweight cotton fabric, a length of cord, and make an everyday headcovering for myself. I'll have to include hidden loops for a hair comb to secure it (the scarves I wear to church are so slippery they don't last long without clips), and figure out if I want a snood to capture all my hair, or a longer veil-type thing to cover it all.

Shoot. Which all this modesty related convicting going on, I'm going to have to start wearing more skirts now too (Deut. says women shouldn't wear the accoutrements of men). That means I'm going to have to find a pair of winter boots that look nice with skirts. I don't think I have any stockings either...

Well, that was an interesting night.

Merino & Fur

2005-12-02T20:41:00.000-05:00

Naturally's "Merino & Fur" is officially my new favourite yarn. My new scarf is knitting up really quickly. Unfortunately, it's going to eat up 3 skeins, which only leaves me 2 skeins to make a hat and mittens. I have a feeling I'll only be able to do one or the other :(

If anyone knows where I can get a super amazing deal on more Merino and Fur, give me a shout. I simply can't afford the regular price...

Wool 'N Things

2005-12-01T23:36:00.000-05:00

As I was browsing the archives over at Knitty.com, I came across this article reviewing a lovely creation called the Denise Interchangeable Knitting Needles. I had seen the Boye Needlemaster set at Michael's for an outrageous price (well, it *was* Michael's), but I was rather intrigued by these needles. Made by the creators of the Boye set and building upon user recommendations, the Denise needles are a boon to lovers of circular needles on I-cord budgets (shoestring, I-cord, get it? Bah, nevermind...).

I checked out their site and discovered that only two local stores carried this marvelous contraption. The first was in the west-end with limited bus access, and the second was in the distant, but more accessible east-end. Thankfully, the east-end store - Wool 'N Things - was also the more affordable of the two ($54 CDN) :)

I called my Mum and asked her if she would like to buy me the set for Christmas (she had long ago given up surprising us). She agreed, as long as I picked up the set myself (it's a rather long drive for her). So today, I embarked on a Grand Expedition to find my needles. Well, it wasn't overly grand - OC Transpo's Travel Planner made it rather simple :)

The store was small, but jam packed with beautiful yarns. What I loved most was the different varieties from my LYS, Yarn Forward. They shared a few yarns, but for the most part Wool 'N Things had new and exciting brands just waiting to be examined (re: petted). Debbi Bliss, Noro, a wall of Rowan... What caught my eye was Naturally's Merino & Fur in hand-painted variegated colours. Actually, it was the sign above them that caught my eye - Half Price.

If you've ever felt "Merino & Fur" in the skein, you'd know that it isn't particularly soft. I might liken it to Alafoss Lopi Lite, or Noro's Silk Garden. It's actually a bit rough. Considering the regular price, one would expect a softer hand. I might have been able to pass by the small basket (the colours weren't really my type), had the sly owner not included a sample of each of the 3 colours knit up and -- here's the kicker -- washed. The yarn positively blooms when washed. It has the look of a slightly felted garment, or kid mohair, but the halo of softness hasn't the slightest hint of wiry harshness, or pilling. It is the very definition of soft.

So I bought out the least offensive colour - muted shades of orange and green. I figured even if the colours didn't look good on me, at least I'd feel nice :) I should have asked if there were any more in the back - I took all 5 skeins of the orange/green.

I had planned on starting a loosely ribbed scarf during the Bible Study that evening (mindless repetitive busywork like knitting helps me stay focused on the conversation - yeah, my mind works in weird ways), but when I arrived at Jo's, sat down and pulled out a skein, a recent event flashed in front of my eyes. I vaguely recalled a woman at Yarn Forward discussing a customer who had come in with a skein of Fleece-Artist's handpainted wool tangled up in a mass of knots. She hadn't been told to re-wind the yarn into a proper ball... Needless to say, I spent the Bible Study (Hebrews 11, an in depth look into what faith is, and what we accept on faith, including creation, as well as what many OT believers accepted on faith) preparing my yarn, rather than creating my masterpiece. Thankfully, I had learned how to create Butterfly wrappy things off the internet :)

I finished just after the closing prayers, and as the women drifted into the kitchen to chat, as per usual, I finally cast onto my brand new Denise needles, size 15 US (recommended = 6-8 US). I started off knitting in the round with 60 sts, but realized I would quickly use up all 5 skeins (I'm hoping to get a scarf, hat and mitten set out of them - wishful thinking, I know), so I switched to 30 sts in the round, before settling on 31 sts in a 1x1 rib, regular knitting. I prefer knitting in the round, and dislike switching from knit to purl, so this is rather annoying, but it's producing the desired effect, so I'm dealing with it.

I love my new Denise Interchangeable Needles. Every knitter (casual as well as serious) should own at least one set (more depending on how many WIPs you normally have).

Thank you Knitty :)

Peaceful Palms #3 - Making it up

2005-11-30T17:17:00.000-05:00

I decided I wanted to make the decreases in my gloves a bit more decorative than what the pattern called for. Of course, this required frogging the 3 inches I had already worked. Now, 3 inches might not sound like a whole lot, but keep in mind I'm working on 2.5mm needles with sock yarn, and I'm not a fast knitter by any means. Those 3 inches hurt.

So... Here's my new plan

CO 73 sts (24 sts on each needle +1 on the last)
Being careful not to twist the sts, join the ends by passing the last st to the first needle and knitting the first and last st together. Knit until end of rnd (72 sts)

Pattern I
Rnd 1: K3, * Sl1 Knitwise, K5. Repeat from * until end of rnd
Rnd 2: * K1, YO, K1, Sl2 Knitwise, K1, YO * repeat from * until end of rnd
Repeat these two rnds until piece measures 1 inch, ending with Rnd 2.

Pattern II
Here is where I'm not too sure what to do. I don't want too much openwork, but I still want an interesting pattern at least on the back of the hand. I also need to decrease 1 st every 2nd round so...
Rnd 1: K3, * Sl1 Purlwise WYB, K5. Repeat from * until of rnd
Rnd 2: K24, place marker, * K1, YO, Sl2 Knitwise, K1, YO * repeat twice, Knit until end of rnd.
Rnd 3: K3, * Sl1 Purlwise WYB, K5. Repeat from * until of rnd.
Rnd 4: K3, Sl1 Knitwise, K1, PSSO, follow pat until marker, * K1, YO, Sl2 Knitwise, K1, YO * repeat twice, follow pat until until last 4 sts, K2Tog, K2.
Rnd 5: K3, * Sl1 Purlwise WYB, K5. Repeat from * until end of rnd.
Rnd 6: Knit until marker, * K1, YO, Sl2 Knitwise, K1, YO * repeat twice, Knit until end of rnd.
Repeat Rnd 3-6 until 46 sts remain on needles.
Repeat Rnd 5-6 until piece measures 11 inches from Pattern I

Pattern III
Rnd 1: K3, * Sl1 Purlwise WYB, K5. Repeat from * until of rnd.
Rnd 2: K4, Bl Inc 1 st, follow pat until marker, * K1, YO, Sl2 Knitwise, K1, YO * repeat twice, follow pat until until last 4 sts, Bl Inc 1 st, K3.
Repeat Rnd 1-2 twice, follow pat for 1 inch. (50 sts)
Repeat Rnd 1-2 twice, follow pat for 1 inch. (54 sts)
Repeat Rnd 1-2 twice, follow pat for 1 inch. (58 sts)

Here is where it gets tricky. I'm not too sure where the thumb will go, if the repeat is on the back of the hand. I *think* it would be the following:

K7, K10 (in a contrasting yarn, then slip the 10 sts back onto left needle and knit over with original yarn), cont in pat.

But I might have to play around with that...

Hmmm.. nope. Another 3 inches in, and I don't like the openwork carried up the hand. However, the slipped 6th stitch looks quite nice, especially with the openwork trim. It's subtle and feminine. Maybe I'll work in a cable, or something... Gar!

At least I'm getting real good at frogging :)

Peaceful Palms #2 & Miss Vicks

2005-11-29T23:33:00.000-05:00

A couple years ago, I started a sock in the very yarn I am using for my new gloves. I liked the gauge, but couldn't quite remember which size needles I used. I couldn't find the set, and being too impatient, I guessed, picked up another set, and cast on. I found them a couple hours later. Of course, I had guessed wrong. So after a dozen rounds on my 2mm dpns, I had to frog all the way back to the start and cast onto my 2.5mm. Oh, did I mention the pattern calls for a heavier yarn, so I'll be altering the pattern considerably? Yeah, I'm off to a great start :P

On the up side, I had a chance to hang out with my fave cous, Vicki. I haven't seen her in months - she's been "studying" at "Trent University". Uh huh... sure.

We went shopping at Bayshore (relax, I only bought food... note to self: Never buy coffee or chocolate flavoured drinks from Booster Juice. Yech :P), and met up with my DH for dinner at East Side Mario's. They were offering a 2-for-1 movie pass if you bought a $25 gift certificate. Being the penny-pinching geniuses we are, we decided to take advantage of their offer. Knowing we were going to be spending $25 anyway, I bought the GC. DH and I will be enjoying a half-price movie sometime between Jan 2nd and March 31st :)

Ooh - I forgot to take my Ultra-Mega Gold vitamins today. Tsk. Tsk.

Peaceful Palms Update #1

2005-11-28T17:53:00.000-05:00

Yay! Nona added me to the Peacful Palms Knit-Along! I've decided to do the simple opera gloves in my Jawoll Superwash variegated grey. They'll be super simple, but this is my first pair of gloves, and the deadline is Jan 31st...

Excuse me while I go cast on :)

No clue...

2005-11-28T11:23:00.000-05:00

I really have no clue how to publish pics to my sidebar... bear with me as I figure this out....

Ooh - I did it! I figured out how to make a workable button, based on the HTML for the button in this post. My new "Christian Knitters" webring is located in the "Blogs o'Friends" section of the right sidebar :) I had to save an image to my desktop, publish it to my blog using Hello, then edit the HTML of the post to figure out what the link was, and figure out which link to change to the intended target, instead of the .jpg target.

Hmmm... it appears I cannot enter the code I used without getting the actual picture to show up instead of the code :P

Well... after actually taking the time to read Blogger's Help, I discovered the wonder that is the "Add Image" button - - oh look - you can even make it into a proper link by highlighting the image like text (not selecting like an image) and hitting the button :P So... since it is so easy to add pics using this button, why on earth did I download Hello? Is there a limit to how many pics I can upload using this button?

*Sigh*...

I really have to learn to read instructions first, before trying to figure it out on my own...

As soon as DH finds the digital camera's cable, I'll upload all the pics I've been taking of my projects. Speaking of which - I finished 3 squares for my newest afghan. Only 39 more to go ;) Unfortunately, I've finally figured out what all the fuss is about regarding short rows. I was perusing Knitty.com's archives, and came across this wonderful article. Now I have an overwhelming urge to create this sweet tank top. Argh! Must. Finish. UFOs...

Working through the stash

2005-11-27T18:33:00.000-05:00

One project down, a couple dozen to go...

Next up on the needles, a beige and brown afghan done up in Paton's Divine. I'll say it's for my Mum, unless my Mum reads this, in which case it's for someone else :P

I'm usually a bit of a yarn snob -- I stay away from anything that has acrylic in it -- but I really love the feel of this yarn. Plus, it was an amazingly good price at Michael's. The look of the yarn is nice too, but the feel of it is far more important to me - I refuse to knit with uncomfortable wool. I had some "Boa" picked out of my stash and cast on a couple rows for a quick scarf, but I just couldn't stand having the harsh core rub against my fingers for the next 400 rows. I stay away from metallics for the same reason. Blech! Anyway, I'm really looking forward to finishing this by Christmas - preferably of this year ;)

Ooh - I just got accepted to the Christian Knitters webring - take a look through their sites (sidebar).

WoW is eating my Husband

2005-11-27T00:10:00.001-05:00

My DH is addicted to World of Warcraft. It's a sad story, really. I begged him to buy me the game for Christmas last year, then while I was away for a weekend, he started playing my character. I came home to a hooked Hubby. We shared a character until we hit the level cap, then I asked him if we could get a second account. He agreed, as long as *I* started over again on the new account. A few short weeks after I finally hit the level cap, my classes started again. DH decided I was far too addicted to be able to handle University and Wow. He was absolutely right - this Blog is called Current Fixation for a reason - I become easily fixated on things to the point of obsession, blocking everything else out. "Moderation" is not a part of my lexicon...

He asked me to quit - we were both going to give it up. He lasted a solid week, then got hit with an awful cold. While he was home sick, he started playing again...

So, here I was, a recovering addict going cold turkey (well, I tried to console myself with another computer game, but it was just as bad, so that got deleted), and my DH was freely partaking in the object of my obsession. We talked, discussed, argued and fought about it. For me, the problem was it was torture to watch him play, and hear him talk with our flatmate about things I so desperately wanted to be a part of. For him, the problem was it wasn't his problem; he wasn't the one who had to concentrate on schoolwork. WoW was his relaxation after a long day at work and 3 hours total on the transit.

For the first week or so, DH would only play when I wasn't around. As soon as I came home he would shut it off. Gradually, the process of logging off when I came home slowed down, and finally ground to a halt. Now, he usually plays from the time he gets home until 1AM. To be fair, it's not 6 hours a night, every night; when he's not playing, he's usually cleaning our apartment (I'm not a good housekeeper), but a good chunk of his time is spent online.

We weren't very social to begin with, but this is just emphasizing that particular peculiarity. I've been trying to regain my life since becoming addicted. What I truly fear, hate, despise, loathe, and have utter contempt for is being asked "So, where's your Husband?" I want to curl up into a little ball and disappear. It's not the friendly "How's your Hubby doing?" which you would expect in light chit-chat which you can casually brush off with "He's doing well, and yours?" Rather, it's demanding and unpleasant. I don't want to answer that. It's the sort of question which emphasizes a situation's awkwardness.

One group I've been spending time with is comprised almost entirely of married couples, with the odd single man scattered about. At least one person asks every week. But it's not like my DH ever went to that particular gathering, either - it's simply expected that married couples go to those types of events together.

At this point I don't know what to do. I haven't been online, or even checked the forums since I agreed to give it up, but I'm rather weak - I still feel the pull. I'm drowning myself in knitting (my current fixation) just to keep from thinking about Warcraft, but it's rather difficult when the computer is in the main area, and Teamspeak is constantly blaring over the speakers.

We were reading through the Book of John, but we haven't opened the Bible together in over a month. We talk about it once and a while, we say we'll get back to it, but by the time we go to bed at night, our eyes are bloodshot and strained. We need God's help.

I know I'm a wee bit strange with my addictive nature, I just wish there was a way to make him understand. High-functioning autism sucks - people just think you're weird.

Read the Update

My First FO for 2005!

2005-11-26T23:13:00.000-05:00

It might be four years late, but it's my first Finished Object this year! That's right - the afghan I started knitting for my Gramma in 2001 is now complete. I even added the fringe! It's a wee bit smaller than the instructions called for, but my Gramma is just a wee bit smaller than average :)

On a not so fantastic note, I have a cold and we're out of Kleenex and soft bathroom tissue :( I bought 4 gigantic bags of Cottonelle, but they're all sitting at my Mum's due to storage issues in our apartment. Desperate times call for desperate measures... I'm using a cloth as a handkerchief :P

But the afghan is done!

Irish Citizenship

2005-11-25T22:15:00.001-05:00

A couple years ago, my family was on an ancestry blitz, gathering all sorts of facts about our great-great-great grandparents and such. My Aunt figured out that she could obtain Irish citizenship through her grandparents (my great-grandparents). Something to do with the Potato Famine and the Irish leaving for more prosperous lands... All she needed was to obtain the proper documents (birth certificates and such), fill out some forms, pay a fee, and presto - she'd have dual citizenship.

I was intrigued when I first heard this - Ireland has always piqued my curiosity. I'm somewhat of an Anglo-Saxon mutt, being the descendant of the Irish, Scottish and English. However, it wasn't until after I was married that I decided to actually look into obtaining my Irish citizenship. Changing my very Irish last name had a bit of an impact on me, I suppose. I love my new name, and the solidarity I feel it gives me with my Husband, but at the same time... you lose a piece of your history.

Apparently my Aunt has done the whole citizenship process, and my Mum has all the paperwork, but she balked at having to pay a fee to register as a Foreign Birth. Her Mum (my Gramma) must still be alive when she registers. So it's all very complicated. According to the Irish Foreign Affairs website, however, there is no way I can obtain citizenship if my Great-Grandparent was born in Ireland but none of the following generations obtained citizenship before I was born. Booo!

Getting a little further on my afghan for Gramma - looking good :) Oh, and I took a pregnancy test - negative (mixed emotions on that one, but I'm not surprised). I've started taking my Ultra-Mega Gold vitamins from GNC. Jo says Folic Acid (required for Spina Bifida prevention) has to store up in your body for at least 2 months in order to be effective, and it only really matters for the first trimester. In other words, I really should be taking it regularly, on the off-chance that my husband and I conceive ;)

Harry Potter, Bible Study & Smells

2005-11-24T22:33:00.000-05:00

I almost forgot my date with Jo to see the newest Harry Potter movie. It was quite good, although I should have refreshed my memory on the previous movies. I didn't have a clear idea of who some previous characters were, but that didn't affect my comprehension too much. One thing that bothered me a touch was the obvious age differential. They really should have filmed all the movies within a year of each other. It was more than a bit obvious that all the actors had hit puberty over the "summer"...

I got a bit further on my fan & feather-type afghan for my Gramma this evening during the Bible study. I'm getting a bit tired of *K1, YO, K1, S1, K1, PSSO, K2Tog, K1, Yo* rep from * to * ending with K1. P (WS). Repeat Rows 1&2 forever... The next afghan I do will definitely be a sampler square-type thingy with more variety. The Bible study was wonderful though - Hebrews 9&10. We discussed how the new covenant is like a will and whether or not the New Covenant took effect before the crucifixion. I really enjoyed the reading - it was so clear cut, straight forward. I'm not exactly a touchy-feely new-age Christian, but I had a really pleasant feeling during the study. I wasn't just happy - I felt physically nice. Maybe it was the PC chocolate and Sour Patch Kids we had during the movie, or the (very) spicy Mango Curry Chicken that Jo had for dinner :P Jo thinks I'm pregnant. A couple times this week I commented on overpowering smells. Tuesday, it was the Christmas-y craft scent in Walmart. Today, it was a woman rubbing Body Shop's Satsuma lotion on her hands, and then a man who had just finished a smoke sat down across from me. I almost puked. Note to all you smokers - you stink for at least half an hour after a cigarette. It's not the almost ok smell of a fresh cigarette, either - it's... gross. You don't just need a mint, you need to brush your teeth, shower and change clothes. Anyway, this sensitivity to smell is apparently one of the primary signs that you're pregnant, so now I'm doing the calender calculation thing in my head, though I highly doubt it... *sigh*... I wish there were more obvious changes, like instead of the pee stick tester thing turning blue, your bellybutton does :) Not only would it be instant, it would be free. I really dislike paying 8 bucks each time I think I might be pregnant.

Lang's Fatto a Mano 145 corrections

2005-11-23T14:30:00.000-05:00

A couple days ago I was at the Miller's showing Jo some patterns from Lang's Fatto a Mano 145. She was enamoured with #15. Top with Bolero. I was intrigued by the cable-type pattern which the trim and bolero were done in. Now, I'm not exactly an expert, but I'm pretty good at figuring out what a pattern will look like based on the written instructions. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was going on with "Pattern I"...

Ajour cables, number of sts divisible by 5+3+2 edge sts:
Row 1 (WS): 1 edge st, k1, p1 crossed, k1, * p2, k1, p1 crossed, k1 *. Cont rep from * to *, end with 1 edge st.
Row 2: (RS): 1 edge st, * p1, k1 crossed, p1 k1, 1 yo, k1 *. Cont rep from * to *, end with p1, k1 crossed, p1, 1 edge st.
Row 3: (WS): 1 edge st, k1, p1 crossed, k1 *. Cont rep from * to *, end with 1 edge st.
Row 4: (RS): 1 edge st, k1 crossed, p1, k3, pass 1st of 3 k sts over other 2 k sts *. Cont rep from * to *, end with p1, k1 crossed, p1, 1 edge st. Cont rep rows 1-4

As you can see, rows 3 and 4 are both missing the first "*" of the "* to *". I tried to figure out where the start of the rep was supposed to be and knit a swatch. Lets just say it looked like a knitted mass of knots. At this point I'm rather annoyed - I paid a sick amount for this European Haute Couture magazine, and the editors can't even translate the instructions properly!

I considered calling DH at work and asking him to translate the French instructions, but I quickly realized that not only would he have no clue what knitting shorthand meant, but also he would have absolutely no idea what French knitting shorthand meant. Not that it mattered - after a cursory glance at the French instructions, I noticed they were missing the same "*" as the English ones. Argh!

I finally decided to put my Grade 8 intro to German to good use... well, not really - I just treated it like a code and figured out that re=knit, li=purl, verschr=crossed, U=yo, rdm=edge st, *zu*=*to*, and "die 1. der 3 re-M uber die beiden anderen re-M ziehen"="pass 1st of 3 k sts over other 2 k sts".

This is what the German translates into:

Ajour cables, number of sts divisible by 5+3+2 edge sts:
Row 1 (WS): 1 edge st, k1, p1 crossed, k1, * p2, k1, p1 crossed, k1 *. Cont rep from * to *, end with 1 edge st.
Row 2: (RS): 1 edge st, * p1, k1 crossed, p1 k1, 1 yo, k1 *. Cont rep from * to *, end with p1, k1 crossed, p1, 1 edge st.
Row 3: (WS): 1 edge st, k1, p1 crossed, k1 * p3, k1, p1 crossed, k1 *. Cont rep from * to *, end with 1 edge st.
Row 4: (RS): 1 edge st, * p1, k1 crossed, p1, k3, pass 1st of 3 k sts over other 2 k sts *. Cont rep from * to *, end with p1, k1 crossed, p1, 1 edge st. Cont rep rows 1-4.

Ummm... yeah. They missed the entire * to * in Row 1, and left out a purl in row 4's repeat. Honestly guys - that's just insane. Now I'm going to have to go through all the other patterns in all my other Lang magazines and figure out what they left out in those... I'll bet they're laughing at us Anglophones right now "Heh heh, zee stupid anglishen - zey sink zey arrr soo smarrrt... Ve vill show zem how stupid zey rrreally arrr - zey vill all be vearrring zee bolerrro viz zee crrraptastic stiches! Heh heh! Zis vay ve ensure zat zee patterrrn stays in zee Fazerland" (yeah, that's my crappy german accent in writing).

*sigh*...

If you know of any corrections for Lang's Fatto a Mano magazines, or, if you are having problems with the patterns, give me a shout and I'll post it here. I've sent off an email to their Swiss, American and Canadian offices.

Taking Inventory

2005-11-22T15:58:00.000-05:00

I have way too much yarn. I've decided to record how many skeins of each colour/brand I have, and use that knowledge to figure out what on earth I'm going to do with it all. Perhaps if I can get a list going (I love lists), I might be able to get to work on the actual knitting, instead of browsing the internet and pattern books for new and fabulous ideas.

I have the following:

Super Bulky
Red Heart's Light & Lofty (100% acrylic)
10mm, 8 sts x 12 rows, 170g
- 1 blue variegated
- 1 rose variegated
Project: Afghan/Baby Blanket?

White Buffalo (100% unspun wool)
9mm, 9 sts, 227g=123m
- 3 slate greyish
- 2 aubergine
- 2 muted yellow
Project: Rug for the kitchen + ?

Bulky
Bernat's Mirage (98% acrylic, 2% polyester)
Sold as Illusions in smaller quantities
6.5 mm, 12 sts x 17 rows, 280g
- 1 cream
- 1 navy
Project: Pillows, afghan, baby blanket?

Paton's Divine (76.5% Acrylic, 10.5% wool, 10.5% mohair, 2.5% polyester)
6.0mm, 12 sts x 16 rows, 100g=129m
- 6 Soft Earth (beige)
- 4 Deep Earth (brown)
Project: Afghan for my parents, unknown pattern, probably squares peieced together with a cable border

SandnesGarn's Alfa (85% wool, 15% mohair)
7mm, 13 sts x 10 rows, 50g =60m
- 4 variegated grey
Project: unknown

Lanas Stop's Stop Mohair (72% mohair, 18% acrylic, 10% wool)
6mm, 14 sts x 18 rows, 50g=90m
- 3 dark purple
- 1 purpley-pink
Project: Skirt or Poncho, WIP

Bernat's Boa Eyelash (100% polyester)
5.5mm, 14 sts x 17 rows, 50g=65m
- 5 burnt orange variegated
- 1 blue variegated
Project: orange=scarf + hat set

Aran
Mission Falls' 1824 Cotton (100% cotton)
4.5mm, 18 sts x 24 rows, 50g=77m
- 3 denim blue
Project: Unknown

Knitting Worsted
Paton's Classic Merino Wool (100% wool)
4.5mm, 20 sts, 100g=204m
- 5 Aran
- 5 Winter White
Project: Afghan for Gramma, WIP

Lang's Lino Premium (100% linen)
4-5mm, 20 sts x 32 rows, 50g=150m
- 15 violet
- 8 white
Project: Unknown

Lily's Sugar 'n Cream (100% cotton)
4.5mm. 20 sts x 26 rows, 70.9g
- 11 natural
Project: dishcloths

Bernat's Handicrafter Cotton (100% cotton)
4.5mm, 42.5g
- 12 pastel variegated
Project: dishcloths or change table pad thing

Double Knitting
Naturally's Cotton Connection DK #3 (87% cotton, 13% linen)
4mm, 22 sts, 50g-111m
- 4 natural
Project: Unknown

Sports
None

Fingering
None

Sock
Lang's Jawoll Color Superwash (75% wool, 18% nylon, 7% acrylic)
2-3mm, 30 sts x 41 rows, 45g=190m
- 3 variegated grey
Project: pair of socks and gloves

If you have an ideas for the Unknowns, please give me a shout. I really shouldn't spend any more time looking at patterns - it only gives me ideas for yarns I don't have... yet.

At last!

2005-11-21T00:47:00.000-05:00

I finally found the half-finished afghan I promised my Gramma 4 Christmases ago - that's right - FOUR... It was in a Rubbermaid bin along with a couple dozen skeins of Lino linen (Yarn Forward sale 4 years ago) and all my Addi Turbo circulars. I picked up where I left off on "Cozy Openwork" from Paton's Canadiana Colours "Decorator Throws to Knit. It's a really easy pattern on enormous needles (especially since I've been on 1US needles for the past week), which I've done up in cream and off-white.

Perhaps I'll be able to actually give my Gramma her Christmas gift this year :D

If you'd like to see my Work In-Progress, post a comment and I'll see if I can figure out how to upload a pic from my digital camera ;)

Beyond Psalm 23

2005-11-20T15:06:00.000-05:00

The first time I walked into my future Husband's (and now my) church was 5 years ago today. I remember the date specifically because it was the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. My future Husband warned me that the service was going to be a bit unusual because of this. It was an evening service, and a Seminary student was speaking, leading us through prayer for the Church abroad. It probably wasn't the best introduction a former-atheist-turned-wiccan could have had to the Reformed Presbyterian Church, but I asked to return the following week, so I guess it wasn't so bad ;) God opened my eyes to my sin 2 weeks later, during another evening service, sparking an intense period of research into the Bible, culminating in my profession of faith in Christ Jesus by the New Year.

The first thing I noticed as I walked into the simple, unornamented sanctuary was the lack of organ, or piano, or any type of musical instrument. I didn't have a religious background, but from the few times I had attended church as a child, or seen it on TV, I knew there should have been some sort of instrumental accompaniment. I remember thinking that this must be a rather poor church, to not be able to afford any instruments; I figured they must use tape recordings.

Before the service, a man stood next to the pulpit, in front of a microphone, and asked for "Psalm favourites" (silent "p", rhymes with "palm", unless you're from the Almonte congregation, in which case its pronounced "Sam" *wink*). A Psalm was requested, and the man announced the selection. As the parishioners opened their Psalters (Pronounced "Salt- er," as I later learned they were called) to the correct song, the man produced a small round pitch pipe, and blew a note. He hummed the starting note, raised his hand and as he lowered it into the rhythm of the piece, the entire church filled with beautiful song, completely a cappella. I was stunned. I was confused. I was in love.

The melodies chosen for the Psalms are well recognizable classics, written into simple, yet beautiful harmonies. Most people from the Western/European world recognize the song "The Lord's my Shepherd". Like the famous 23rd Psalm, the words are taken straight from the Biblical Book of Psalms and translated to fit various meters. The Psalms are not completely rearranged (they aren't simply "inspired by" the Psalm); they follow a literal verse by verse progression. The longer Psalms are broken into various selections, each containing around 8-12 verses (Psalm 119 has 24 selections, A-X). Singing psalms is an excellent way to memorize entire chapters of God's Word.

The Psalter we use (The Book of Psalms for Singing) has 4 parts: Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass. Most selections have fairly simple tunes with beautiful harmonies (such as Psalm 3, to Amazing Grace), making the slightly more complex melodies stand out (such a Psalm 119, the 'X' selection, or Psalm 98A).

Here is a small collection of some of our Church's favourites. The entire melody is given for each sample, it is simply repeated for each additional verse. To add interest to the melody (and make your group sound more advanced), I recommend staying in unison for the first verse, and then branching into harmony for the remainder.

Psalm 102 (simple, beautiful harmony)
Psalm 29 (slightly complex phrases)
Psalm 98 (harmony with overlapping rounds)
Psalm 126 (rather complex)

Try it yourself! Take this translation of Psalm 3 (from The Book of Psalms for Singing) and sing it to the tune of Amazing Grace.

O Lord, how are my foes increased, against me many rise.
How many say "In vain for help, he on his God relies!"

You are my Shield and Glory Lord, You lifted up my head.
I cried out "Lord!" and from His hill to me His answer sped.

I lay down slept and woke again. The Lord is keeping me.
I will not fear ten thousand men entrenched, surrounding me.

Arise, O Lord, save me my God! You punish all my foes.
You smite the face of wicked men, their teeth break with your blows.

Deliverance is from the Lord, Salvation His alone.
O Let your blessing evermore be on Your people shown.

This was the first Psalm I decided to memorize, partly because it was just about the only tune I recognized, and also because I could relate with the Psalmist crying out to God for help. Don't be shy about singing for God to smash the teeth of your enemies. It took me a while to get over that image, but this is the inspired Word of God - He wants you to ask Him to help you. I think a lot of contemporary Praise songs have forgotten the protective force of God in the face of danger. The 150 Psalms cover a broad range of emotions and situations, and each song is Divinely Inspired. Don't get me wrong - I love contemprary Christian music, but I know they are the words of Man. When I want to truly worship God, I sing His Words back to Him.

If you'd like to know more about why we only sing Psalms in public worship, here is an informative article from the Reformed Witness website. If you're curious why we sing a cappella, here is another article written by the same author, Pastor Brian Schwertley.

Knitting Polygamy

2005-11-19T23:39:00.000-05:00

I've rediscovered my love of knitting, but I can't seem to settle down on one project. I'm afraid my ability to practice monogamy is limited to my Husband. How can I when there are so many gorgeous patterns and sumptuous yarns? I want them all! So, I've decided to join a knitalong to help focus my energies. Perhaps NonaKnit's Peaceful Palms Knit Along will help me stay faithful long enough to actually finish a project :)

Perhaps I'll do a fingerless version of these simple opera length gloves, or something more interesting, like these lace wedding gloves.

Decisions, decisions...

Newest Fixation

2005-11-19T23:21:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess I've found a new fixation - Blogging. Hopefully I'll be able to use this to keep track of my other fixations...

Wow>Wife

2005-11-01T17:26:00.002-05:00

WoW > Wife

How about this senario...

Dec 2004: Wife begs Husband for WoW
Feb 2005: Husband starts playing Wife's account while she is visiting a friend for the weekend
Mar 2005: Wife and Husband share character until it hits 60.
Apr 2005: Wife asks for second account. Husband agrees as long as Wife levels new character for him. Husband decides that their first character is his WoW "identity", and doesn't want to build a new reputation on the server. Wife plays second account.
Aug 2005: Wife is declared addicted to WoW. Husband wants both to seriously cut back.
Sep 2005: Husband asks Wife to quit WoW for valid reasons. Husband continues to play infrequently, since WoW is not an 'addiction' for himself.
Oct 2005: Wife goes through SERIOUS WoW withdrawls. Wife continually asks Husband to quit, so that she can stop thinking about WoW. Husband declines.
Dec 2005: Wife has gotten over WoW withdrawls and has found new, productive hobbies. Husband's playing time increases and is soon playing until 3am regularly. Sexy Wife can't even lure Husband to bed with 'kisses' (wink, wink).
Jan 31 2006: Wife learns about new "Parental Control" feature for WoW. Account is still under Wife's email address. Wife sets up "Spousal Control".
Feb 1 2006: Husband kicked off BWL raid at precisely 1am.
Feb 2 2006: Husband divorces Wife.

My Wish List

2005-11-01T12:00:00.000-05:00

My love of lists knows no bounds. I've decided to keep track of all the little things I'd spend money on (if I had some lying around).

Stuff I could probably make myself, if I got off my arse
-Carpetted cat tree/house for Butters (aka Bartholomew)
- Spinning Wheel (I returned Jen's wheel a while ago. I miss spinning)

Practical stuff
- A lamp set (we returned my parents' shop light a while ago >.>)
- Another cable for our digital camera (we're always losing ours).
- New couches. I could even do beanbag chairs at this point. My DH tells me our current 5th hand furniture is fine... as he lounges in the only new piece of furniture we own - an Ikea chair he stole from his Dad =/
- A collection of Psalters -- even one would be nice.
- Country Living Grain Mill & Exercise Bike - Yeah, I know it's expensive, and there is a pretty big chance I'll never actually get around to actually using it, but...
- A healthy kitchen... no processed foods <--- not going to happen.

Woodworking
- Sawstop - because I like all my fingers.
- Biscuit Joiner <-- a definite "must have" for building kitchens
- 8" Jointer
- 16" Thickness Planer
- one of those really lightweight black & white Makita portable drills Algonquin just got
- Dovetail jig
- Blum Minipress Pro >.>

Knitting/Sewing
- Four inch Double Pointed Needles in all the small sizes (I can't seem to find them in stores)
- "Knitting Without Tears" by Elizabeth Zimmerman (I found "Knitter's Almanac" at the Book Market)
- Sewing Desk - and someone to make it nice and ready for me.
- Any books by Elizabeth Zimmerman, Meg Swansen, or Debbie Bliss.
- The entire Harmony Guide Series. Yes, I'm greedy.
- Well, just about any knitting book, as long as it has great photographs and a distict lack of any item which might look like it has the possibility of being crafted in the 80s or 90s.
- More "Merino & Fur" by Naturally, or any other soft, soft luxury yarn- just about any colour ;)
- Cloud/Roving to spin (I guess I need a wheel first, though)

Wishful Thinking
- A farm. Nothing too fancy - just a couple acres for alpacas, and heritage sheep, and some ducks, maybe a few horses and a guard llama... might as well have some Angora rabbits too :)

Done & Done

- Big fat flat boar bristle brush. I bought myself a smaller sized brush. I just couldn't wait - my hair was getting too long :P
- Comfy, cozy housecoat. SOFT and LONG. Blue or Chocolate Brown would be nice, but I'm not too picky DH gave me a beautiful light pink fuzzy housecoat :)
- Comfy, cozy slippers, preferably Shearling. My parents bought me sheepskin slippers from Costco a while ago. I think my sister stole them :P Now, Costco only carries the slip on, backless version, not the full slipper type :( My In-Laws gave me a beautiful pair of shearling slippers, and DH gave me a pink pair to match my bathrobe - I think I'll drop one pair off at Jo's so my feet don't freeze there :)
- Set of HUGE mugs, like the King/Queen mugs Mrs Tiggywinkle's carried. DH gave me 2 large pink mugs - they hold the perfect amount of milk, while allowing room to stir in Hot Chocolate mix :)

My Liquor Cabinet

2005-11-01T04:27:00.000-05:00

Being a Christian, I don't believe one should ever drink to get drunk, however I am not of the opinion that all alcohol is evil. God created the fruit of the vine, presumably for man's enjoyment; wine is the sign and symbol of the new Covenant in Christ. If alcoholism is a problem for present company, I will abstain to protect their conscience. Since it is not a stumbling block for me personally, I see no reason to abstain when surrounded by like-minded individuals.

My DH and I don't drink regularly - he doesn't like the taste of alcohol, and I can't stand the bitterness of beer, nor the harshness of hard liquor. I do, however, enjoy a smooth Merlot or sweet Zinfandel with social dinners. I also love the distinct flavour liquers give to desserts (ie. Tiramisu), which can't be achieved any other way.

I've been drooling over those recipes for quite some time. I hadn't thought of actually going out and purchasing my own liqueur for baking. My alcohol purchases were limited to some rum (high school; mixed with fresh-picked, mashed strawberries) and an occasional Merlot for my parents. I guess I was stuck in a pre-legal, living-with-parents mindset. Stocking a liquor cabinet was my Dad's domain; if I needed 2T of Brandy for my chocolate truffles, I'd just ask him. Unfortunately, living 12k away isn't conducive to borrowing ingredients... I had to bite the bullet and go to the LCBO; I had to start my own liquor cabinet.

DH, not being a drinker, isn't too impressed that I'm interested in baking things with an alcohol content. He likes my Tiramisu, but says he would prefer it without the bite of alcohol. The cost is another thing he could do without (my DH is a very practical man ;P ). I have to admit that paying $15 for less than a litre of certain liqueurs was rather difficult. I reasoned that I only needed a small amount for each recipe, so although the initial cost was quite high, replacement costs would be spread out.

I Googled "stock your bar" or something similar, and found a few well laid out sites detailing the good options for starting your liquor cabinet - The Webtender & Drink Boy. I was mainly concerned with baking supplies, so I didn't need most of the harder stuff like Gin, Tequila or Whisky. I did, however, have a number of recipes that required Brandy, Rum, Orange Liqueur, etc.. So off I went to the Rideau LCBO (one of the largest ones in the area), where I spent over half an hour perusing the aisle, trying to figure out which liqueur, which brand and which size. I tried to limit my selcetion to the smallest available bottle for now, so DH doesn't think I've gone off the deep end ;) Unfortunately, that means I'm paying a bit more per mL, but until I know what I use most often, I think that's the best idea. In hindsight, the bottle of Kahlua I picked up was far too small, so I'll have to get the next size up, at least.

I've decided to keep track of my modest liquor cabinet, so I can quickly reference it while browsing for recipe ideas, and keep track of what I want to buy, or have run out of.

(Category, <--- Notes, Currently Have, Want to Buy)

Brandy <--- Truffles
St. Remy Napoleon

Port

Sherry

Madeira

Marsala (sweet) <--- Tiramisu
Sperone Cremovo Fine

Marsala (dry) <--- Tiramisu (old)
Sperone Fine I.P. Fine

Rum (gold)
Appleton Estate <--- Not fond of it

Run (dark)

Coffee Liqueur <--- Tiramisu
Kahlua - running low
- buy at least 750 mL, $26

Orange Liqueur
Cointeau
Grand Marnier
Curaçao
Triple Sec

Almond Liqueur
Disaronno Amaretto

Crème de Cacao
Godiva

Crème de Menthe

Irish Cream
Bailey's

Other Liqueurs
Peach
Cherry, Maraschino Cherry
Plum
Melon
Raspberry
Blackcurrant
Wild Elderberry
Anise
Honey
Maple
Lychee
Watermelon
Vanilla
Coconut
Lemon
Blueberry
Banana