text:
Walk the Wine

My children's piano teacher is also a friend of the family. She lives two blocks away and we are her only students. She has a "real" job during the day.

So when she arrived for the lesson last night, we learned she had a really long day and offered her some wine. But alas, like a sloshed Mrs. Hubbard, our wine cupboard was bare, except for half a bottle of some really nice port. (Note to self: buy wine.)

"No thanks. That'll put me to sleep."

I have another friend who has a similar response to red wine. Darn it, but nightcaps don't work like that for me.

When I was little, my mother would give me a cup of warm milk at night to help me sleep. Now the thought of warm milk is accompanied by an involuntary gag reflex. Until I realized that the latte that I like so much is more hot milk than hot espresso. So rather than take a bottle of red wine with me to bed, I'll slowly decrease the amount of espresso until I can drink the warmed milk like I could when I was a child. Nothing like warm milk (or good sex, but that's a blog for another day) to help you sleep.

  1. hmmmmm, odd that! I typed a comment and filled out the little password thingie it gave me and then flashed in red "required field must not be blank". So here goes again, but not verbatim.

    I remember warm milk and honey as a kid. It would make me go joyjoy and fast asleep. Who has time these days for that stuff? Just pop two Tylenol PMs and become dependent. Non-addictive my ass!

  2. Welcome to my world! I wish I had the time to read up on your world...I'm workin' a Christmas gift for someone very special.

    I'll be back!

  3. Hmmm.. well now. Forget the warm milk... go for the sex. :o)

  4. And a couple of shots of Tequila!!


Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: text/html

WARC-Type: response

text:
Friday, August 12, 2011

Vintage Charms

Vintage Charms is a beautiful Zazzle store, full of elegant and enticing designs. This artist is exceptionally talented at creating top-notch products. I particluarly love the vintage script designs and the French florals. Pay a visit to Vintage Charms, and experience wonderful art!

Browse other personalized gifts from Zazzle.

No comments:

Post a Comment

warcinfo:
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-166-65-126.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2017-26
operator: Common Crawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for June 2017
publisher: Common Crawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf


text:
Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Kat Kadoodle

Kat Parrella's shop is one of those that I admire greatly; from the moment you enter, you are surrounded by fantastically stylish designs, in an extraordinarily well organized site! It's easy to navigate through her delicious designs, and you'll find gifts to celebrate everything from births to graduations, weddings, and birthdays! I love her mix of modern and retro, and how everything comes together so seamlessly. Don't ask for my favorites here, as there are too many to list! This divine store is a must see, so take some time to enjoy all that you'll find...it's fantastic!

View more gifts at Zazzle.

No comments:

Post a Comment


text:
Standard Sputtered Coatings

Conductive Coatings

  • Conductive coatings are usually multiple layers applied to ceramics such as Alumina, Aluminum Nitride (AlN), Beryllium Oxide (BeO), and Diamond, as well as Glass, Polymers, PZT, Silicon and other substrates.Conductive layers for circuitry are typically Copper, Gold, Palladium, Platinum or Silver.
  • The conductive layers are usually undercoated with an adhesion layer and sometimes a barrier layer to minimize diffusion at higher temperatures.
  • Standard adhesion metals are Cr, NiCr, Ti, and TiW.
  • Barrier metals include, but are not limited to, Mo, Ni, NiV, Pt, and TiN.
  • Thin Films Inc. currently maintains 10 MRC sputtering systems some of which are permanently installed with the following materials to offer 1-3 day delivery as required:
  • TiW/Au, TiW/Ni/Au, Cr/Au, Cr/Ni/Au, NiCr/Au, NiCr/Ni/Au, NiCr/Cu, Ti/Au, TiW/NiV/Au, Ti/Pt/Au, Ti/Pd/Au and TiW/Ni/Ag

Resistor Coatings

  • Resistor coatings from 10 ohms/square to 200 ohms/square are routinely deposited with either TaN or NiCr. Furnace stabilization from these materials from 350°C to 450°C is utilized to prevent drift at standard operating temperatures. For applications up to 1000 ohms/square SiCr and SiCrOx can be sputtered. Films up to 1 mega-ohm can be deposited utilizing doped poly-Si.

Dielectric Coatings

  • Dielectric coatings can be deposited by the following methods; RF sputtering, RF reactive sputtering and DC reactive sputtering utilizing a pulsed DC power supply. Methods utilized depend on the application, stress requirements, thickness, density, and index. The most frequent materials deposited are Aluminum Oxide, Silicon Nitride and SiO2. Other dielectric films that can be sputtered include MoO2, PtO2, Ta2O5, TiO2, WO2, Y2O3, and ZrO2.

Transparent Conductive Coatings

  • Low resistance/high transmission films of ITO are deposited by a proprietary method on Glass, Silicon and Polymer Substrates. Additional transparent conductive coatings include SnO2, Al doped ZnO2, and thin Ag and Au films protected with a dielectric film.


WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: application/xhtml+xml

text:
I so enjoy hearing from you...so leave me a comment; it'll make my day!

Photo: Bee and thistle: Taken high in the Cascade Mountains where there is a bee buzzing on every thistle. by Debora Rorvig

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Sending Healing into Our Family's Future

     Isaiah 58: 12 says "And they that be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, the repairer of the breach; the restorer of paths to dwell in.

     This is a precious passage to me. I've made a pencil-drawing of my family tree which I keep carefully folded inside my Bible. Every now and then I take it out and place my hands over each name and pray for God's blessings upon them...from the oldest to the youngest. And I ask that God will strengthen my family tree and bloodlines with his grace and goodness...and that he will banish evil from it. I want those old waste places and breaches restored or in modern day language-the dysfunction healed.
     So this evening, as I continued my reading of "Storycatching",  by Christina Baldwin, chapter 7 really spoke to me. Chapter 7, entitled Writing and Talking in the Seven Generations describes a Basque tradition from the people of Spain which says...
Angeles Arrien, a transcultural anthropologist raised in the Basque traditions of the original mountain people of Spain, teaches that our ancestors hover over the cradle of each new baby born into their lineage and ask...'Will this be the child to heal the line? Will this be the one to change our story?'
     As a grandmother, I feel responsible to write as a legacy for my family; to say things that will connect past to  present; and give those headed into the future the foundation of knowing who they are by telling them where they have come from.
     But an idea proposed in 'Storycatchers'  really startled me...the idea that one might actually be able to heal the family line with her stories by recording not only the admirable things we know about our family; but to expose the pitfalls, those dark shadowy clouds that seem to hang over consecutive generations...cursed things like alcoholism,  teen pregnacy, depression, poverty...and the like.
     I wonder... Could you and I really banish the monsters that have hidden in our closets for generations by exposing them? And if so, how can we tactfully yet courageously open those doors that so many family members would prefer that we keep shut?
     The final question in the chapter asked...
"What decisions made in the last three generations are you grateful for? What decisions are you making now that you hope your grandchildren will be grateful for?"
Something to think about, isn't it?

No comments:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...


text:
Sunday, April 05, 2015

Omer 5775. Day 1

So here we go... counting from Pesach to Shavuot.

We depart, abandoning Egypt, leaving civilization behind, forging our way into the wilderness, towards the unknown with God at our helm.

We embark with the taste of Matza in our mouths. But for our thought for the inaugural day of the Omer let us consider Matza from the perspective of the 49 days of the Omer. Rav Yoel-bin-Nun writes:

Leaven, hametz … represent the final goal to which the farmer aspires, from the start of his work. … Bread which is hametz … express[es] the end of the successful process, the longed-for end-result… the realization of that which he had visualized at the start, and which he pursued until he achieved it.

Matza, in contrast, represents a station in mid-process, before the end-result is achieved. It represents a deficiency that is waiting for completion.

In fact, Matza represents the beginning of the flat dough, before it has risen to be what it was designed to be - Hametz, leaven; fluffy bread! Matza is a process at its inception. We start walking with Matza. From the day of our Exodus, we begin to count.

Pesach is a celebration of freedom. But we may not imagine that merely because we are free we have realised our national destiny. We eat matza to understand that our independence is merely the start of a long journey. we still need to receive our Torah, to populate and build our land, to build our nation and much more. Matza is a celebration but also a warning:

... Redemption is a prolonged, difficult process requiring patience and a great capacity for discomfort… The essence of the festival of matzot then, is a severe warning against the illusion of a complete redemption that happens in a single moment.

No comments:


text:
Crossing Borders: New Perspectives on the Roma Population in Denmark

This event is part of a series of debate meetings (Crossing Borders) regarding sensitive issues in today’s society. The first in the series concerns the issues surrounding the Roma population in Denmark. As one of the largest minority groups in Europe, the Roma and their status is a hotly-debated topic in the EU, and one that is often accompanied by negative connotations. By providing an impartial and discernible arena from which to debate these issues, we hope to move away from the limitations of isolated events reporting favored by the media and more towards an inclusive understanding of the bigger picture.

Time: April 27th at 18.30
Place: Studenterhuset, Købmagergade, Copenhagen

The Speakers:
– Ioana Bunescu, Postdoctoral researcher in migration and inter-ethnic relations
– Jonas Pors, anthropologist and Roma rights specialist
– Benedicte Eichen, sociologist/criminologist and human rights activist

18:30- 18:45 Introduction – What is Think Rights?
18:45-19:00 Ioana Bunescu on Roma Identities
19:00-19:15 Break
19:15- 19:30 Jonas Pors on EU legislation on the Roma
19:30-19:45 Benedicte Eichen on the stigmatization and prejudice and the Roma
19:45-20:00 Q&A session

We also invite you to join us for some beers after the event.

Sign up via facebook

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


text:
10 June 2006

She smells of musty cloth. If a paradox was a living thing, then a paradox would smell like damp cloth that's dry. Her hair a wisty silver not often caught in sun, her eyes as bleak as a summer afternoon covered with heavy clouds of rain. She looks again in the mirror, watching as the lines of her face showed no signs of smoothing over.

She runs her finger over the creased edge in the mirror, the broken edge and watches while her finger pricks the sharp edge and gives way to soma. It starts like a lone pebble at the edge of a gigantic cliff, and threatens to stoop over and fall insignificantly into a deep widening gore in between a mountain.

She runs one creased finger vertically along the sharp edge, and as it reaches the joints of her palm, the end of the road, she presses harder on the lone sharp edge. By now, it's not sharp any more, somewhere it's lost its finer tip.. somewhere within her bleeding finger it lies dormant enjoying the movement of swelling blood.

She can feel the edge bluntly bouncing back against the bone of her finger, and presses it harder into her bone. She watches her face watching her finger bending backwards slowly resisting.

It is calm, it does not care. Pain doesn't feel anymore than hurt does. In a world where feelings are agreed meanings construed upon apparently common emotions, she does not think she's felt pain. What is it? She moans, within.

So old, lived so long, felt nothing called pain. Jealousy, carefully gaurded can inhabit 'pain'.
Fear when nurtured can become 'pain'. But what is 'pain' when pain itself has no comparision. What is the opposite of pain? Pain comes and then when it goes, what does it leave behind?
What if pain is a permanent existence for some of us, then would that mean that the rare ocassion of pain-less- ness that one can feel can be interpreted as pain itself?

She heaves a heavy sigh, desperate to know. She swiflty hastily and almost desperately brings her other hand forward. With speed that belies her age, cracks the first bone, her distal phalanges. People crack their fingers towards their palms, she cracked her fingers away.

It snapped and held loose, swaying loosely almost like a heavy coca palm in light afternoon breeze. She smiles. She cracks the second connection. The finger now stunted resembles an awkward lingam, a tiny willy, a midget finger.

As winds change, and as time flies, the finger is left to stand alone, to bleed in a solitary struggle to live and to mend and to cure. Futile day after day, after week, when it's rich creamy liquid running from the finger instead of red blood, she still feels no pain.

As she feels faint and feels tired and tempted to lie down and watch the cracks on the floorboards for a change, she feels no pain.

As the light draws on, paints the sky with vibrant orange and pink, her eyes close, having never felt pain.

1 comment:

loren said...

ur so dep lol


text:
Friday, December 15, 2006

3.2 MillionWiimotes called back

There have been a great deal of reports on the internet about over-enthusiastic players swinging controllers areound madly. This then causes them to let og of the controller and it flys out of their hands breaking many items including a large, flat screen HD TV! A number of customers are blaiming it on the weak wrist strap. As a result Nintendo are calling back 3.2 billion controllers to fit a new, stronger cord.

To find out examples of what damages the controller has caused there is a blog donnated to it. Wii have a problem

Also, searching youtube for Wii have a problem or a term simmilar to that, will no doubt result in some interesting and comical videos.

No comments:

Post a Comment

"All your base are belong to us"


text:
Friday, May 27, 2011

5th Grade Tiki Mugs

I think this will be the last official post of the school year!  Today is the last day of the year!  I feel like I've done a pretty good job of posting examples of almost every single project that my students have worked on this year.  This last project was fun, if not a little rushed.  My 5th grade students created mugs in a Tiki style. Some kids decided to add handles, but many just decided to carve their tiki faces into the clay.  This was a fun project and my 5th graders absolutely love the fact that they can actually use their mugs to drink out of.

I hope everyone has a great summer.  I'm planning a few upgrades to the blog over the summer that I think will be pretty successful.  I'm going to try to actually post my lesson plans for each project along with images.  Hopefully that is helpful to those of you out there who get ideas from this blog.

What a cool handle!

4th Grade Flip Books

I have found that doing flip books at the end of the year with 4th grade is absolutely perfect.  The kids really love the project and it is something that can be lengthened or shortened based on the crazy schedule at the end of the year.  It is a good introduction to animation and I have found it helps my 5th graders better understand animation concepts when they film their claymation.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Thomas Elementary Art Show

The art show!  The event we have been working hard the entire year for!  The art show this year was incredibly successful.  Each student had at least one piece of artwork in the show, but most had 2 or even 3.  The art show is the official unveiling of the new bottle cap mural as well as the premier of the 5th grade claymation film.  I am lucky to have such supportive parents and staff at Thomas.  The show was very well attended and everyone had a great time.  Thanks to PTO parents and volunteers for helping out and providing cookies and punch.  I also want to thank my wife, Heather, for taking a vacation day from work to spend the day helping me out!

1st Grade Clay Turtles

1st graders recently finished making clay turtles.  This is the first clay project most of them have worked on, so it is relatively simple.  I have kids make them in two days, although it would potentially be possible to finish them in one.  The first day, students make a simple pinch pot.  On day two, they add legs, a head, and a tail.  Once they are fired, the turtles are painted with watercolor.  A few legs and heads tend to fall off, but it isn't something a little hot glue can't fix!

4th Grade Bottle Cap Mural

This project seems to be a favorite among students, parents, and blog readers.  This is the third year in a row the 4th grade has created a bottle cap mural for permanent display in the school.  The previous two have gone in separate stairwells, but this mural will be placed in four side-by-side windows in the library.  This year, students decided to make Dr. Seuss characters and spell out the word 'READ' on the mural.

In the past, I've gotten a many questions about how this process is done, so I'll describe it in more detail this year.  Of course, if anyone has questions, please feel free to post a question in the comments area or email me directly.  The work is all inspired by Michelle Stitzlein, a local artist who works with school groups and has quite an impressive collection of her own fine art work.  She focuses on the use of recycled materials in her art.
First, the boards are primed with a latex primer.  The design is then drawn out with sharpie and the whole mural is painted with either latex or acrylic paints.  This gives the mural a base color and allows for some spaces to stand alone without caps if need be.  Sharpie is again used to clean up edges and define colors.  The next part can be done a couple of different ways.  I know some people like to do all the caps at one time and bring in parent volunteers with cordless drills to help out.  I like working on it gradually.  I just have the kids carefully hot glue the caps on the boards then I put screws into the caps later on.  I use these screws.  To give an idea of how many to buy, I used right around 2000 screws for the mural this year.

4th Grade Chinese Dragons

 This project was a new one for this school year.  We studied dragons and their significance in China.  Students learned that, in China, dragons are not feared.  Chinese people believe that dragons represent wisdom, power, and luck.  Chinese dragons are typically long and thin and do not have wings.  Each student drew their own dragon and painted it with watercolors.  These were then carefully cut out and mounted on a piece of construction paper.  These were then cut out again, leaving a border of the color their dragon was just glued on.  The dragons were then mounted onto another color of construction paper.  The project was finished by students writing descriptions of their dragons in actual Chinese characters.

5th Grade Claymation

This is the giant, culminating project for 5th graders.  Claymation!  It takes about one third of the year to complete, but the students absolutely love making it.  This year, we chose to animate many of the art room rules.  Feel free to use the video in your classrooms if you'd like.

My students write the scripts (can you tell?), create the characters, build the sets, and voice the characters.  All students chose one job and then work with their specific group for many art classes in order to get the claymation ready to film.  Once filming is ready, I have one table film each day while the other classes work on a separate project.  Each table gets to film one day.  Once all of the filming is done, I edit it all together in iMovie and have the students do voices for the characters.  I always post the final video on YouTube so the students can watch it at home whenever they want.  Note: If YouTube is blocked at your school, the video will not work.

1st Grade Dancing Giraffes

 This is one of my favorite first grade projects.  It is based on the book "Giraffes Can't Dance" by Giles Andreae.  After reading the book, each student draws a dancing giraffe.  I had some kids come up with some pretty smooth dance moves this year.  The giraffes are colored with colored pencil.  On another paper, kids paint either a blue or purple night sky with a nice glowing moon (using white for the moon while the sky is still wet).  The grass is first painted entirely yellow.  Once the yellow drys, I have the kids paint green over the yellow.  When I'm demonstrating this step, I get a lot of puzzled looks from the kids.  I then immediately flip the brush over and use the handle to scrape away some of the wet green paint to reveal the "grass."  Finally the giraffe is cut out and glued onto the background.  This is a project that is nearly 100% successful.

For the lesson plan for this project, click here!

5th Grade Self Portraits

During the filming process of claymation, I need another project going on at the same time in order to give the groups who are not filming something to work on.  For this project, we studied the work of Chuck Close.  We discuss Close's portrait work and talk about how his work has changed throughout the course of his career.  I take close-up digital photographs of each student that I then put a grid on in Photoshop and print out in black and white.  Each student creates a grid on a larger piece of paper and, like Close, works box by box in order to draw their face.  Many students are surprised at how realistic their work can be. This year, I gave students the option of shading with a pencil, using colored pencil, or using oil pastel to finish their work.

2nd Grade Inventions

I have had my third graders do a simple machine brain project for the last several years.  I spoke to a second grade teacher early this school year to find out if I could create some projects that would align with their classroom curriculum.  The first thing she thought of was information about inventions that they never have quite enough time to fully complete at the end of the year.  I immediately thought that creating an invention project would be a great project to get 2nd graders ready for the 3rd grade machine brain project.

After talking about Ohio inventors and their inventions, we discussed how inventors come up with ideas.  Each student created several sketches of potential inventions.  The best sketch was chosen and drawn on a huge 18"x18" paper.  They were traced with sharpie and painted with watercolors.  This was a fun end of the year project for 2nd grade.

3rd Grade Recycled Magazine Bowls

This is the second time I have done this project.  It is one that I have seen on other blogs around the internet and I really like it.  I get it started by cutting a bunch of 3/4" strips of chip board.  The kids wrap single pages of recycled magazine pages very tightly around the chip board.  I tried 1/2" strips last year, but it ended up being a little too difficult for some students.  After many strips are rolled, the pages are then connected end to end to make a large disk.  At the end of the project, we pushed out the bottom of the disk to make a bowl and painted over it with Mod Podge.  This is a great way to talk about recycling in the art room and use up some old donated magazines!

3rd Grade Ceramic Animals and Habitat

Wow.  It has been a while since I have updated the blog.  As many of you who have your art shows in the spring know, it is a busy time of the year.  I'm going to post a massive barrage of projects that have been neglected in the past month.

The 3rd graders worked on creating clay animals.  They learn about animal adaptations in their classroom curriculum, so it is a great starting point for a project.  We study many kinds of adaptations in animals and look more specifically at camouflage.  Each student studies one animal and creates that animal out of clay.  While the clay is drying and being fired, we spend two classes making habitats for the clay animals.  This is a great time to use up some construction paper scraps and cardboard boxes.


text:
Sunday, 14 October 2012

A Fabulous Hoooked Zpagetti Rug Pattern

This is a fabulous rug to make with the gorgeous Zpagetti yarn from Hoooked.  It crochets up amazingly quickly - I made mine in a lunch break - and can be placed at the side of a bed or cot or used as a bath mat.

It measures approximately 21 inches or 54 cm across, and can be made bigger although you will find that you will then need more than one roll of yarn.

Go to for the yarn or try here on Etsy

Because the yarn is made from recycled t-shirts you will find that sometimes you can only purchase one ball of a certain colour.

1 Big Roll of 850g, 120m of Hoooked Zpagetti Yarn
1 Size 10 crochet hook
A bit of strength needed, this is big crocheting ;)

UK Terms used Treble (tr) is the same as a USA Double Crochet (dc)
UK Double Crochet (dc) is the same as a USA Single Crochet (sc)

Start: Chain (ch) 6 and join with a slip stitch (sl st)

Round 1: ch2 (this will count as your first treble – some people like to chain 3 for a first treble – not to worry, do what you feel comfortable with ☺ ), then 10 more (tr) – making 11 tr in total including the first one made from ch2. Join with a sl st.

It will scrunch up at the start but don’t panic, all will be well.

Round 2: ch4 (this will count as a tr with a 2 chain) then *1tr, 2ch* all the way around and join to the 2nd ch of the ch4 that you started with. You should be left with 11 holes or spaces.

Round 3: 2 ch and 2 tr into the gap, *2ch, 3tr into the next gap* continue around and close with a sl st to the 2nd of the 2ch at the start.

Round 4: Same as round 3.

Round 5: 2ch, 2 tr in the same stitch, 1 tr, *2ch, 1tr, 2tr in the same stitch, 1tr* continue around and finish with a sl st into the 2nd ch.

Note: I like to do my increases in the middle of a group, but if you prefer you can do yours into the last stitch of each group to make life simpler ☺

Round 6. 2ch, 2tr in the same stitch, 2tr *2ch, 1tr, 2tr in the same stitch, 2tr*, continue around and finish with a sl st in the 2nd chain.

Round 7: 2ch, 1tr, 2tr in the same stitch, 2tr, *2ch, 2tr, 2 tr in the same stitch, 2tr, continue around and finish with a sl st into the 2nd chain.

Round 8: 2 ch, 1 tr, 2tr in the same stitch, 3 tr, *2ch, 2tr, 2tr in the same stitch, 3tr* continue around and finish with a sl st into the 2nd chain.

This finishes the increasing in order to make the rug with 1 roll of Zpagetti. You may continue with more rounds (increasing by 1tr in each section of trebles) if you want to make a bigger rug and have
more Zpagetti yarn.

Round 9: ch7, sc (single crochet) into the 7th tr of the previous round, 2sc into the 2 ch gap, *1sc into the first tr, ch7, sc into the 7th tr, 2 sc into the 2ch gap* continue around finishing with the 2sc.

Round 10: 10tr into the 7 chain loop below, then 2sc into the middle 2 of the 4 sc below. Continue around finishing on 2sc, cut the yarn by a generous amount and weave and tie the end to the back of your rug.

NOTE: If you have made more rows then in Row 9, instead of ch7, make your chain as long as the amount of trebles you have in each section, and then in Row 10 make as many trebles as is needed to give a nice and compact look.

CARE INSTRUCTIONS:  Wash and leave to dry without using the tumble dryer, as I am not at all sure if the rug would take too kindly to the heat.

Thursday, 30 August 2012

Oh my giddy heart

At the end of June I am sorry to say I suffered a heart attack, and then two weeks later a second one!
I spent weeks in hospital wired up and watching my blood pressure on a screen beeping away. I had an angiogram after the first one and was asked whether I wanted the good news or the good news, a slight furring of a tube due to high cholesterol, a huge amount of medication given to take for a year and sent merrily home.
Two weeks later I had the second one, once again I had another angiogram, which is a strange experience, half a brazilian done and wheeled down to the theatre. There you lay on a metal bed beside a bank of tv's, a little scratch in the groin area and then they feed in the wire to make its journey up to your heart. Once it's there you can feel it moving around, it feels similar to a piece of thread being pulled, they pump in the dye and you can watch the procedure on the tv screens, when they have finished they flush out the dye which makes your heart feel quite warm and you also get a warm feeling as if you have peed yourself.
It is no way near as bad as going to the dentist which I so hate with a vengeance :)
The result of the second one showed that I had a valve that was spasming so then I had to go to another hospital for my third angiogram and for two stents to be fitted side by side in the same valve.
I am now fully recovered and have been back at work for the last two weeks. Initially I suffered a little from the fear of it all happening again, but that has now faded and I feel much more confident that all is well.
As for the heart attacks both times I felt clammy, could not settle, then my left arm felt heavy, my jaw and neck ached and I did feel a slight tightness around the chest, all this in a matter of minutes, so at least I know what to look out for. But once the ambulance guys had been and sprayed something under my tongue, and gave me gas and air, within minutes I felt that I could have got out of the ambulance and gone back in the house :)
The outcome is that I take lots of meds for just one year, after which I will only need to keep up with the aspirin.
Just a timely reminder of how precious my life, my husband, my daughter, my family and friends are.

Tuesday, 31 July 2012

My New T-Shirt Designs

Here are two T-Shirts which I made today, a literary quote from the wonderfully dark Wuthering Heights and a patriotic one. One was made by hand-writing straight onto the t-shirt and the other as a transfer.

I quite enjoyed trying something new and am quite pleased with the results :)

Monday, 23 July 2012

Sunday, 22 July 2012

My Zpaggeti Rug

After my last post I eventually realised I had forgotten to post an image of my lovely bathroom rug created using the fabulous Zpagetti yarn.

It is a pleasure to use and has a wonderfully solid but soft texture. Done in a gorgeous mustard colour.

Saturday, 21 July 2012

My lovely Zpagetti t-shirt yarn rugs

I recently discovered the fabulous t-shirt yarn called zpagetti from hoooked which I purchased from etsy.  It is a fabulously chunky recycled yarn where I get to use my ginormously big crochet hook. One batch of this was just enough to make a small rug.

Welcome to Dandelion Days

A new start and a new beginning. I love to be inspired and have many projects on the go. I can be inspired by the many beautiful things that people make and just have to try it out for myself. Nothing is nicer than parcelling up a gift for someone you love when you know that you have carefully made it yourself with love and consideration for the person it is intended for.


text:
Monday, November 3, 2008

She's sick of the election too!

We all know how she feels! After hours of fighting it, she's finally passed out, face mushed against her tray, drool pooling.

I will go vote tomorrow. We are going as a family up to the little community center where I'm hoping is the right spot. If it's not, the discovery early in the morning will give us time to figure it out. I'm a little excited about it. I kind of feel like it's the night before a big snow storm and the news is predicting 4 feet and no school. I don' t know why. I don't think it's any big hope for change, we all know that's not going to happen. And I'm not rooting for the guy I'm voting for like I would my base ball team. What I like is debating the issues like I know what's best for the country. I like observing the action and witnessing the history in the making. I imagine what historians will write about this event 50 years from now.

I feel like making a speech to America like I would give to my 4th graders. "I expect you to do your duty. I expect you to act like the good ladies and gentlemen that you are. You are representing your country and you know how I expect you to act. You will live up to my expectations... or else."

I predict that it will be close. If it turns out for Obama, I hope that McCain doesn't whine and he backs out graciously. I am not hopeful for an Obama loss, because the media has been hyping the polls more than Lucas hyped the 1st episode of Star Wars (movie 4). And we know how that turned out. People have been drinking the cool-aid a bit too much, and they will be devastated if he loses. There will be a bunch of finger pointing and stolen elections accusations.

But maybe not. Tomorrow evening you will find me entrenched on my couch with a cup of hot cocoa (okay, more like a bottle of beer or two), hoarding the remote control and throwing dirty looks at my husband for each snide cynical remark he makes. Because we are in the bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, 3 balls and two strikes, and something's gonna happen! Here's to "hope" and "change" and "less taxes" and "more drilling" and Mavericks and Socialists! GO USA!

1 comment:

carrie said...

so i baked these cupcakes tonight 1/2 with blue frosting and animal cracker donkeys and 1/2 with red frosting and animal cracker elephants... so i'm covered either way.


text:
Spring Cleaning: Fridge Edition

I’m not a neat freak but when I start cleaning an area of my apartment I tend to get carried away. One area that doesn’t get cleaned out frequently enough is the fridge.

Lately I have been trying to grocery shop and cook more at home in an attempt to save money for travel and be healthy and know exactly where my food comes from.

Grocery shopping more has got me thinking about ways to organize my food and prevent waste by using my fridge more effectively!

5 tips for using your fridge more effectively:

1. Use bins or labels to create sections: A more organized fridge will make you want to cook and snack at home instead of buying overpriced food when you’re out.

2. Buy glass containers/ jars to store food: Having your own containers will help to keep your fridge organized and looking sharp!

3. Create an “eat first” section: I absolutely hate wasting food. A lot of the time after grocery shopping I forget about things in my fridge. An eat first section contains the things that are going bad first. It will help to reduce food and money waste!

4. Pre-cut Veggies: Believe it or not, the way you use your refridgerator can actually help you be healthier and lose weight. Cutting tons of fruits and veggies at once and storing them in containers in the fridge will make you more likely to snack on them or cook with them when you’re in a rush, because they’re already prepared!

5. Keep a running shopping list: Whenever you run out of something, put it on the list! My list is in the side of my fridge so it is easily accessible. Using this list while shopping (and planning your meals with the list) will help you not to overshop and impulse buy!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


text:
Friday, September 19, 2008

Dave Lowe

Did you see my post on the Para Abnormal web comic site? If not go check it out, some hysterical comics on there and there's a new one several times a week.
But I digress.
The artist behind the site is Dave Lowe. An illustrator, set designer and prop maker, among other things.
The important part, of course, is his love of Halloween. He has some great tips, showcases and general bits for your haunting pleasure.

No comments:


WARC-Truncated: length

text:
Episode 151: E3 2014 Recap

For the third E3 we've covered as a podcast, we didn't have as high hopes as in year's past.  The new consoles are out, so there wouldn't be anything new to report on that front.  As far as games go, many of the games coming out later this year have already been announced and we know quite a bit about them already.  We've also been snake bitten before, as some games in the past have been announced WAY too early and probably won't be released for awhile still (ehem, The Division.)  Then there's Nintendo, who consistently goes about their business as if in a vacuum.  Despite all this, there is always the chance that something will both surprise and delight us, and that's why we watch.

No show notes this week, as the entirety of the episode is about E3, with feedback happening at the very end of the episode.


text:
Sunday, September 11, 2011

ABC Network Feed
8.31 am to 9.12 am
September 11, 2001

The live ABC Network Feed for the time period between 8.31 am and 9.12 am on September 11, 2001.

Bookmark and Share


text:
November 7, 2007

Happy Hour? Of course!

Last night, we had an impromptu happy hour session. Attendance? (In alphabetical order) Grace, Korbs, Nack, Sunaro, Thyda. We went to Imo's... and agreed that the food is alright, but great deals for the cost of it. You know that I was definitely happy during those two hours! Heck... I even have left overs for lunch today... yay me! Anyway... it was cool to sit down and discuss KC away from our monitors. Haha... somewhat pathetic, but it was hilarious! I forgot what some of the things said were, but I knew that they sounded almost as desperate as Many tryin' to get into the Russian girl's pants! :p

1 comment:


text:
Monday, February 22, 2010

Weekend follies

Hi Everyone!

It was a lovely weekend here! I guess everyone was out enjoying the lovely weather too! We had made plans a long time ago to go and see the Terracotta Warriors. You can find out more about them here We had a really good time but couldn't take pictures inside the exhibit, so here are a few of the guys in places where we could take pictures.

Someone sent me this link about a funny song. If you want a giggle...take a peek! Make sure to turn the speakers up! LOL

Forgive me for the "potty humor" but as we were walking from the metro to the museum I passed by this window. We had a moment of hysteria and for some weird reason I thought my Mom might enjoy this picture. Ben mentioned that if it had Bill Clinton's picture on it we could buy some for her. (My Mom is NOT a fan of Bill Clinton) So, Mom, this one's for you! LOL

I had a lovely surprise in the mail today. A few weeks ago I sent for the Rose Quaker and the Christmas Quaker Bellpull. I was beginning to give up hope when they arrived in the mail today. I'm so excited, and maybe one day I'll be able to get them started. For now they'll sit in my stash pile until a sale when I can get the fabric and fiber. They are are pretty! You can check out their picture here.,shop.product_details/flypage,flypage.tpl/product_id,3439/category_id,151/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,1/vmcchk,1/ and here.,shop.product_details/flypage,flypage.tpl/product_id,3464/category_id,151/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,1/

Not much else going on...I did work on a few UFO's I've had sitting around. I decided I'm going to refrain from starting anything else until I finish some stuff sitting around in mid-stitch so to speak. I realized earlier today that I missed the anniversary of my blog. So, I decided I'm going to think a little bit about this, and have a give-away as soon as I get my act together. It may be a week or more before I decide what to do. I'll send a message through the yahoo groups I belong to when I'm ready. this space!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

I had to share this little story about Thomas. Last night I was chased out of the family room by the guys wanting to watch something boring on TV. So I took my stitching upstairs to my bedroom and was watching something I wanted to see on TV when I heard all this commotion in the basement. It sounded like someone had thrown a bowling ball in the dryer and turned it on! Then I heard some shouting, then pathetic meowing. I then heard pounding on the stairs as DH came running breathless into my room. It seems they had to rescue poor Thomas.

Thomas is always getting into small spaces, weaving in and out of boxes and trying to get behind appliances. Apparently he squeezed behind the washing machine, then tried to "hop" over something behind the machine and got hung up on the cord to the washer. It had wrapped around his body just behind his front legs and his back legs were dangling. He had no way of getting himself out of the fix he was in. I hope he's thankful his owners were home!! I guess he was panicked by the time the guys reached him and was kicking and clawing by the time they tried to rescue him. They finally released him from his predicament only to find him trembling and his heart pounding. Good thing it was be kind to your pet day yesterday, or DH probably would have left him hanging! LOL

My guys are ALWAYS a source of entertainment! (By the way, Thomas has been particularly sweet to DH ever since! LOL)

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Be Kind To Your Pet Day

Today is Be Kind To Your Pet Day...and it's driving Thomas and DH crazy. Why you ask? Because DH is trying desperately to be kind to his on weird way. DH has been petting Thomas all day, not always the softest petting if you know what I mean. Poor Thomas will start cleaning any part that DH touches as soon as he thinks DH has finished touching him. His tongue is going to be raw by the end of the day...LOL

I try to keep the two of them apart, but I'm only one woman and can't watch them ALL day...and as soon as I start taking Thomas' side, DH then tells me it's Pet your own kind day. (That was probably TMI for most of I'll stop there...) Let's just say Thomas and I are both going to find someplace to hide for the rest of the day! Too bad I won't fit in this box too, Thomas...from the looks of things, it's barely big enough for you! LOL

Those UFO days that the Friendly Stitchers group hosts on Thurdays is working wonders! I finished something today that I started November 11, 2009. Granted I have other projects that have been circling my chair for much longer...and I'll get to one of them soon...but I was anxious to finish this one for some odd reason...and I think it came out nicely. I think it's because I wanted another finish right away to make it seem like I am finally accomplishing something after all those weeks I spent on Camelot Sampler.

Looks like we're off to see a movie "The Tooth Fairy". The last movie we saw was "The Blindside" and it was really a good movie. If you haven't seen it, put it on your list to see it soon. It was one of those movies where you laughed, you cried, and you came away feeling good about humanity.

Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

A Stitch A Week...

Hi everyone!

I'm thankful for this morning off! I worked another 10 hour day Monday and I didn't realize it when the schedule was written, that it would be a holiday and I would be there totally alone all day! As always happens, my lunch was interrupted with a 2 1/2 hour "rush" of folks. I never left the design table except to move artwork to the back room and make room for more! I was afraid I would be sitting there staring at walls all day but I was pleasantly surprised. I have to say though, that I'm bushed today!

Between yesterday (Sunday) and today I was able to finish the rest of the little squares in the ASAW SAL. I still have the center square to finish (so I guess you CAN "encourage" me a little, Gillie) as I haven't quite decided what to do with the middle yet. While I'm thinking about it I'll probably move on to something else for just a little bit. Stay tuned though, I know through Gillie's "encouragement" that I'll be back at it to finish it very soon! So here are pictures of the fairy ring, the squirrel, the reindeer, the Christmas tree, the partridge and the whole thing.

I have a co-worker who I rarely see, she comes in at night to work on the books. I showed her the finished Camelot Sampler because it's at work right now waiting for framing and she told me that she has a HUGE stash of cross stitch supplies that she probably will never use and asked me if I would like it. LOL WOULD I LIKE IT? IS SHE CRAZY? So I made her this offer, if there is a pattern that she would like to have made for her, I would gladly make any of her choice in return for whatever she wishes to gift to me. I have no idea what I'm in for here, but I thought it was a fair exchange. What do you guys think? I hope I don't have to eat my words! LOL

Ok, I have to go in to work this afternoon. *Sigh* I don't get a day off until Thursday, that will make 7 days in a row. And I thought the boss was going to cut back my hours!?!?!?! I'll have to have a little discussion with him I think...LOL

Off to the daily grind. Hope all is well in your little corner of the world! *Hugs*

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'll be working today, but I hope you enjoy your day with your special someone!

I feel especially spoiled because I received something very special at work yesterday. My Valentine sent me 18 roses!! I couldn't believe my eyes as I haven't received flowers on Valentine's day in a very long time. This year was especially sweet though, as my DH sent MY mother flowers as well. She called in tears when she received them, and was especially grateful as this was her first Valentine's Day without my Dad. How can you NOT love a man who is so thoughtful and caring as that. Just typing this I have tears in my eyes for his sweet compassion.

I've been busy at work (it was a 10 hour day yesterday) and I've been trying to play "catch up" after all those days off because of the snow. We had a lot of "last minute" Valentine's Day surprises to frame and thankfully for our boss, he had a financially productive day as well. There are days I wonder how he stays in business with the economy the way that it is, but thankfully there are still people out there who can still afford framing.

Even with all that going on, I had time to watch the opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics (GO USA!) (I had to DVR it LOL) and stitch the next square in the ASAW. Here's a little picture of my Hedge Hog.

Ok, time to get ready for work. Hope your special someone spoils you rotten today.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Blue skies and happy dancing!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood *humming* It REALLY is! Today was a great day! I finished the Camelot Sampler, I got to stitch on a UFO (UnFinished Object) and I got out of the house for a little walk and dinner out. Can it get any better than that? I don't think so!

So, where shall I start? First, let me show you my accomplishments...

I finished the Camelot Sampler. I can finally breathe a sigh of relief *sigh* Now all I have to do is get it framed! Here are pictures of the finished product, a close up of the corner where you can see the specialty stitches and beading, and a close up of the center "sword block" with the beading done too. I'm sure you're as sick of hearing about this as I am stitching it! So, this is my final word on the subject! LOL

Today is UFO stitching day at Friendly Stitchers Yahoo group. I've been given a reprieve from the "wet noodle" that is brandished if we don't stitch on UFOs on Thursdays until I finished the Camelot Sampler. I decided since I finished it earlier today that I would pick up on the ASAW SAL. I only have 6 more blocks to finish along with the center block, so that is my next project to finish. Gillie said she would be "encouraging" me to finish it next, so to save her fingers and voice from commenting, I'm going to work extra hard on that. Here's a picture of what I accomplished on that today.

Are you sick of snow pictures? Sorry, I have a few more to show you! LOL I got out of the house today and took a little walk around the neighborhood. The sky was so beautiful today, such a pretty shade of blue, that I couldn't resist showing you. Here are a few snowbanks, and cars buried. Even street signs are hard to see, and if you look closely, you'll see the top of a stop sign. It truly is unbelievable the amount of snow we have.

I wonder how long these cars will stay buried? It may be next spring before we see these out and about on the streets. This little blue sports car probably wouldn't do too well on the streets anyway, as the ruts in the roads are so deep, it would probably take out the undercarriage after the first hit! LOL You'll have to look close to see the car in the second picture...can you see it? It's like that "Where's Waldo" game LOL

DH listened to his ipod today while shoveling. To keep warm, guess what kind of music he was listening to?!?!?!?!?! Hawaiian! LOL Having lived in Hawaii for 4 years right after we were married, it brought back warm memories and it planted a smile on his face. This little "stash" he had in the snowbank was his snack stash. Nothing like ice cold water on a frigid day to warm the cockles of your heart! LOL I would refresh his stash as the day went along so he wouldn't track snow into the house every 5 minutes!! Hey, shoveling is HARD WORK!! LOL

The wind was pretty brisk today and the blue skies in the pictures don't really show how COLD it really was! But I guess that Hawaiian music warmed his soul, because he was out there most of the day.

We shoveled our neighbor out again today, then invited her and her two girls out for dinner. She's from Texas and was a little afraid to drive in the nasty roads out of our subdivision. She hasn't left her house in over a week, so I'm sure she needed a break. I think she appreciated the short trip to a nearby Italian restaurant and we had a nice evening out.

I have a confession to make...LOL Today was a scheduled day off for me. I know the person who was supposed to work was probably not going to make it in, but I decided I WASN'T going to call in and ask if they needed me. I know I'm awful, but I just didn't want to go in to work. No one is scheduled for tomorrow...but I'll probably call in and ask if they want someone. Part of me doesn't want to as I want to watch the opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics and I won't get home from work until after they are over if I do go in. Decisions decisions...whatever shall I do? There's an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other...LOL Maybe I'll flip a coin. LOL

Looks like the weekend is going to be clear of snow. *Whew* I must say, I'm tired of the stuff. But Monday is another story. I see more stitching in my future...I'll keep you posted! *Hugs*

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Broken record!

For fear of sounding like a broken record...We had another record breaking storm today!!!

This storm lasted 29 hours, with blizzard force winds that produced some whiteout conditions. If I can get outside tomorrow I'll take some pictures, but since it lasted 29 hours, I didn't have the heart to go out after dark and try to see what the damage was like. I have to admit, I'm getting sick of snow. And there is ANOTHER storm predicted for early next week.

The totals for this area today were 19 1/2 inches of snow bringing the seasonal totals to 79.9 inches. Since this season started we've had almost 80 inches of snow. That broke the record of 62.5 inches. I would love to give Al Gore and his global warming theory a piece of my mind!!! LOL

I know there are other areas of the country that have been having their share of winter weather and are calling us here in the Mid-Atlantic states wimps...but let me just say this...we are not used to having this type of weather. We are not equipped to handle this amount of snow. The fleet of plows they have here in Maryland doesn't compare to the fleets in other areas that get a lot of snow, not to mention that many of them have been vandalized recently. On top of that, we are getting storm after storm after storm within days of one another and there is no place to put the snow. They have begun dumping it into the Chesapeake Bay and especially in Baltimore, they are dumping it into the Inner Harbor. I grew up in Northern NY and have lived through a few blizzards. I remember winters when the snow was higher than the eaves of our houses. But the roads were always taken care of, they were able to "dig out" almost as soon as the snow ended. They cannot do that here and it is a nightmare. There have been a few deaths attributed to these storms. One person died in her home due to a fire that firemen couldn't reach her home in time.

On a more "personal" note...I'm a little worried about the store I work in. I went to work yesterday for 7 hours, it took me 45 minutes to drive 4 miles. When I got there I learned that the Safeway grocery store 3 doors down was closed due to a partially collapsed roof. Keep in mind that their roof and the frame shops' roof are connected!!! I could hear them shoveling off the roof as I was working away and also hear odd noises, it was nerve wracking...and all I could think of all day was that I had to drive home!! This most recent storm started an hour before I left work (5:00PM) and lasted until 8:00 PM tonight. Schools have been canceled for the rest of the week, and even DH has been home all week and will be home again tomorrow. I'm the only one that got out for a days' work! LOL

One good thing that has been happening though...we've gotten to know our neighbors! Seems that whenever we go out to shovel (keeping cars, decks and heating vents clear) our neighbors head out too. We've been gathering in the shoveled areas, talking about the storm and reminiscing about green grass and sunshine LOL. The kids have been sliding in the snowbanks, and having snowball fights, it's like a giant block party! One of our neighbors' husband is in England so we've been trying to keep her shoveled out while he's gone. He "accidentally" put their shovel in storage before he left the country! LOL They are originally from Texas and have no idea how to handle this amount of snow so we've been helping them out. Last night they graciously brought us brownies! (I'll be working those brownies off as I shovel off more cars and sidewalks tomorrow! LOL)

And my last comment for today...I think they should have moved the Winter Olympics to Baltimore Maryland! Either that or we should ship some of this snow to Vancouver, Canada! Something is wrong with the weather patterns...I can't believe it's warmer in Canada than it is here!?!?! Eh?

Monday, February 8, 2010

The aftermath

Well, here we are! We survived this storm. Did you know we are about to get MORE? There is a forecast for more snow tomorrow from 3 to 6 inches. And then...there is more on the forecast for the weekend! YIKES!

I didn't make it in to work today. Don't let these pictures fool you! Our street was clear to the pavement, but the roads out of our subdivision and beyond were snow covered mush! When I got to the corner the snowbanks were so high I couldn't see if there was any traffic coming and when I turned (slowly) onto the connecting road, I slid quite a bit. My van is NOT made for snow, and I was truly afraid to drive to work, so as soon as I got to a good place to turn around, I did and came back home. Isn't it strange how you can stay in your home for days on end if you WANT to, but when you CAN'T get out, you are dying to! I keep thinking of all the work to do at my job and how much I really did want to get there. I was just too afraid of the drive to work. Oh well, there's always tomorrow...but WAIT, there is supposed to be another storm coming Tues afternoon. *sigh* School was canceled today and has been canceled for tomorrow too. DS is in seventh heaven! (Until he loses his mid winter break that is!)

The neighborhood kids were out in force today, so DS made his appearance and had a little snowball fight of his own....of course...he wore shorts! LOL

Can you see how tall the snowbanks are? Just for perspective, DH is 6 feet tall!

The neighbor's husband is in England (of all places!) and is missing all the snow. We spent a good hour and a half outside today shoveling her car out just in case she needed to go somewhere. They are originally from Texas and really don't know how to handle this amount of snow. Not to mention, her DH left their snow shovel in storage before he went away. They are good neighbors who are trying to transfer back to Texas, and part of me knows they miss their family and would like to go back, but the other selfish part of me wants them to stay here. It's strange how people don't know how to be neighborly any more.

The good news in all this is that I've been able to get quite a bit accomplished on my Camelot Sampler. At this rate I'll be finished in a few days and I'll be able to work on something different. When Gillie was here she made some suggestions about the wedding date (which I took, thanks Gillie!) but wanted to find a place for their name. After discussing it with DH I finally decided to put their name across the sword. What do you think? Is it legible?

Guess that's all the news that's fit to print. I hope you are safe and warm wherever you are! *Hugs*

Saturday, February 6, 2010

There's Snow Place Like Home

Where do I begin?

The storm is finally over and according to the National Weather Service, we received 26.8 inches. It wasn't a record for this area, but it was only off by 2 inches! We have broken a record in the amount of annual snowfall for this area and there are two more storms on the way. So far this year we've received over 60 inches of snow!! They've given this storm two names so far...Snowmageddon and Snowpocolypse. I have a name too, but it's not fit to print! LOL No matter what happens...there's snow place like home!

We woke up to snow piled up against our doors and windows. I couldn't believe the scene outside the windows! I'm sure we got more snow than the 26.8 they officially recorded, don't you?

The men in my life have been a constant source of entertainment today. Between the two of them and the snow, I think they'll have to admit me to the nearest loony bin if the situation continues. I'm not sure when we'll be able to leave our subdivision as it's a wild mess out there and we don't have chains or all weather tires...Who would think you would need them in this area? Certainly not I! I used to think that DS was a chip off the old block, but today they proved their individuality. DS dressed in shorts and a t-shirt with sneakers and no socks to wander out and make a snow angel. DH dressed in layers, with thermal underwear, two pair of socks, plastic bags on his feet with snow boots, ski pants, a denim jacket and a ski hood/mask that covered most of his face too. Talk about Yin and Yang! LOL

Even Thomas (our cat) attempted to stick his nose outside, but thought better when he was hit in the face with falling snow. Me? I had the good sense to stay inside and keep warm! LOL

Let's see....the first thing that began my journey into insanity was my little darling DS trying to prove he is an angel. I hate to break it to you sonny, but this is NOT the way to heaven...unless you are planning an early departure due to hypothermia and your heart is in the right place!

With all the snow, we were afraid of the weight on our deck in the back yard. So...DH bravely went where no man has gone before (and left the footprints to prove it) to shovel off the deck. You can see the the snow was well above his knees. It took two hours to shovel a good portion off and there is still a lot of snow left.

Half way through his chore, he took a little break. Doesn't he look like a poor homeless waif. We should have propped a sign up that said..."Will work for food"!

Here are a few pictures of our neighborhood, you can see that the street, though SLIGHTLY plowed, only has one lane carved out. I'm sure it will be a few days before we are able to leave the subdivision! The snow was up to the swings at the playground, almost covered the fire hydrant (the little yellow cap you see is the tippy-top of the hydrant), completely covered people's decks and the only indication that there are cars parked on the street is the windshield wipers that people prop up when it's supposed to snow so they don't freeze to the windshields! LOL A newscaster today said the trees looked like they were dressed in their bridal gowns, and isn't it true?

Just to give you a little indication of the snow we received, take a look at this.

In the midst of the storm I decided to call my Mom in Northern NY to let her know we are still alive and kicking. All I heard her say was the sun was shining but it was a bitter cold. Hm...I guess I'll have to let her slide since the temperatures are much colder there. If she had told me it was a balmy 40 degrees I would have had to find a way to travel there and give her a piece of what little mind I have left! LOL

The only good thing to come from this storm, is that I'm accomplishing a lot on my Camelot Sampler (in between Wii games and cleaning up snow after the guys tramp in and out). I'll be posting pictures when there's sunlight out there so I can get a better picture. Hopefully I'll have a good portion of it done before I am able to venture out of our little nest here in the frozen tundra.

Hope you are all safe and warm wherever you are. *hugs*


text:
My People

My People
My People - Cosette, Austin, Oliver, Cody, me & Ryan. Just think, had I not lived, these people wouldn't be on the planet. They are my whole heart!

Monday, June 24, 2013

Our Exciting Monday (not really)

Things that have happened around here over the past twenty four hours:

Austin brought home a sub sandwich from Ingles that was so good that I stole half of it. He really volunteered it. It was a toasted roast beef with chipotle gouda. My kid has such an evolved palate!

For breakfast this morning I had black grapes (my favorites) and pound cake. Ok. Not balanced but yum.

For lunch today I had tabbouleh and chocolate ice cream.

Later Austin made chicken rice in the rice cooker and I ate that too.

Yes, I have a carb/sugar problem. Sugar is bad for people with pain, however, at least I haven't resorted to booze or hard drugs.

My brother came over to try to fix the lawnmower last night. My niece Jamie visited me in the Whine Cellar and helped me unpack some boxes of books. She asked if we could put up a Christmas tree (my purple one) and I said, "sure, why not?" because... really, why not? There's a ton of space in the basement and ... anyways... but her dad reminded her that it wasn't a good idea to be where cats had been (she's so badly allergic) and we had to abandon the decorating in progress. Now there is an undecorated tree in my basement because, again, why not?

I woke up at some point and saw the super moon but wasn't impressed enough to walk upstairs to get my camera.

This living on three different levels is tricky. I am constantly dragging my chapstick and cup of ice water with me.

This new fridge has the ice maker in the door thing that makes crushed ice. Other than my time with Darby, we've never had that sort of new fangled luxury. I like it very much and drink either ice water or orange juice over crushed ice constantly.

Austin is explaining the difference to me between his "working in the yard flipflops" and his "dress flipflops". While wearing a striped polo shirt with patterned pajama pants. He looks like a homeless man.

It's really bizarre how well his room works. Even with him and Logan up  playing games all night, I never heard them, even though I was on the same level. These walls are thick.

UPS came today. It's the first time they've been here so that was interesting. He parked at the top of the driveway and walked down. It's not that far but it's fairly steep. He walked to the back door which we have barricaded so the cats can't get out of the screened porch. The front porch is fenced off so the dogs can go potty without running off. Where was I going with this? Oh yeah. UPS came today.

The dishwasher became unhinged this morning while I was emptying it. Just for the record, it's not a good idea for me to hold a dishwasher up. Seems like everyday there is some new insult or injury to my back. Yesterday it was unpacking books with Jamie, today the dishwasher. You would think that not working would spare me but just in the course of daily life stuff happens.

A few pictures to illustrate our lazy little Monday:

 This cat sleeps anywhere and everywhere... curled up on a kitchen chair...
 My mom's shoes. She wears them out to garden or fish and takes them off at the door before she comes in. There is a collection of shoes at every door. Austin, as previously mentioned, just has the "dress flipflops" and the "work flipflops". Myself... I'm pretty much an indoor girl. I have my mary jane sketchers that I wear to town and my old navy flip flops that I wear... to town... and that's about it. I do have a pair of black keds in the trunk of the car for what reason I don't know. I have more shoes than that, of course, but those are the only ones in circulation up here at the mountain house.
When my mom goes out to fish she usually goes down to the Whine Cellar and out the door there. Lady is scared of the steps so she waits at the top of the stairs for Mawmaw to come back up. So pitiful.
 Mom rearranged the living room because the couch was blocking the air vent and it got right stuffy in here every afternoon. It's not very feng sui, it sort of makes the room feel choppy but it's cooler and in the Summer in the South, that's what matters.
 Aerial view of new living room arrangement.
 The newest participant in the Feline Relocation Project, Eddie the Ginger Cat is settling into his new home. He also will not attempt the stairs so out of six animals - three cats and three dogs - only two will use the stairs, Oscar the dachshund and Little Trouble Kitty. The other four animals are confined to the main level and the screen porch. And the Poop Pen out front.
 My mom caught a fish and realized that her pliers weren't at the dock so she brought it up for Austin to get off the hook. Oscar thinks that every fish belongs to him so he bounced up and down the whole way up from the dock trying to get his fish. I couldn't get a picture of it... he was too fast.
 Austin holding the fish... mom and Logan trying to get Oscar... Lily taking her chance to escape. Never a dull moment here!

Happy Monday, y'all!


text:
Rich Countries Often Fail to Bolster Well-Being, Boston Consulting Says

Sub-Saharan Africa and Emerging Asia lead the pack over an 8-year term in improving its citizens lives, while Western Europe remains at the top of the current index

With economic growth trending downward globally, many of the world’s largest economies are not converting what growth they have left into an increase in well-being for their citizens, according to a report by the Boston Consulting Group.

The SEDA, or Sustainable Economic Development Assessment ranks more than 160 countries across 10 areas including economic stability, health, governance and environment. It uses two measures, the first a current score taking into the most recent data and a rolling score that assesses how countries can convert economic growth into well-being over an eight year period from 2006 to 2014.

Ethiopia is at the top of list of countries that managed to convert growth to well-being since 2006 with Norway at the top of the list for the most recent data, according to Boston Consulting. The stark contrast between these two countries sets the trend for the two lists in some respects. Norway is ranked sixth globally in terms of gross domestic product per capita and Ethiopia is ranked 169th out of 187, according to the most recent IMF outlook.

At the top of the current score list, the similarities among the various countries are obvious and include many of the world’s wealthiest nations — Switzerland, Sweden, Luxembourg and Singapore. There is an almost opposite result in the recent progress score, where many emerging markets in Asia and Africa have risen to the top and the nations considered to be the wealthiest in terms of GDP are closer to the bottom.

The Boston Consulting Group also calculates what it calls the wealth-to-well-being and growth-to-well-being coefficients.

Two ratios are looked at. There is one between the current SEDA score and the score that would be expected given the country’s GDP per capita (wealth-to-well-being) and the one between the recent progress SEDA score and the score that would be expected given the country’s GDP growth (growth-to-well-being). That way it’s easy to tell what countries are above and below par, globally.

The United States’ ability to convert both wealth and growth into well-being is below par globally, while Germany manages to perform above par on both fronts. In Western Europe, countries with high current SEDA scores (Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands) are making far better progress than those with low current SEDA scores (Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain). This is especially reflected in the labor market, where above-average unemployment rates put pressure on the economy.

Read More …

You may also like...


text:
ntp linux

Click here for: ntp linux
- Shows correlation between decimal and regular time
URL: http://serg.us/dime/

Description: The New Calendar Reform
- Lars Romare suggests a perpetual Gregorian calendar for international and universal use. Includes an extract from Encarta on previous attempts to reform the calendar
URL: http://home.comcast.net/~new_calendar/

Description: Time Cube
- Statements from an aggressive adherent of "nature's harmonic simultaneous 4-day time cube.
URL: http://www.timecube.com/

Description: Calendar Reform
- Proposes to bring the world a new and perpetual 13-month global calendar. Includes an overview of the history of the calandar, an explanation of the proposals and an opportunity to vote
URL: http://www.calendarreform.org/

>>Directory>>ntp>>ntp linux

Contact Page | Home Page | International Time Zones | Time Zone Converter | Us Time Zones

Copyright © Time Zones. All Rights Reserved. All trademarks acknowledged.


text:
Skip to Content

The Liberty Chronicles

The Liberty Chronicles site

Making a Tobacco Pipe with Hand Tools: A Preliminary Tutorial

Be First!
by January 25, 2017 SPORT

Pipe Making Process Pics Gothic CW 5-2013 - - 13
When I made my first tobacco pipe a year ago, I searched the Internet for information on making pipes primarily with hand tools.  Alas, all I could find were sites on making pipes on metal lathes and high-speed grinding/sanding equipment, which I do not own.  Apparently the Hand Tool Renaissance has yet to reach the pipe-making world.

Having now made about a dozen pipes, I am still only a novice pipe maker.  I still have much to learn about pipes, so I hesitate to give any instructions on how to make a pipe.  But I have developed a method of shaping a pipe that relies on a few simple hand tools, and the following build-along is the kind of information I wish I had had when I made my first pipe.

Start with a kit.

If you’re going to make your first pipe, begin with a kit, which comes with a pre-drilled block of briar and a stem that fits.  If you enjoy making pipes, you’ll eventually want to drill your own blocks (on a drill press or lathe) and even make your own stems, but I’m going to start with a block that’s already drilled and a stem that’s already fit.

Draw your design.

TPipe Making Process Pics Gothic CW 5-2013 - - 01he first step, then, is to draw out your design on one side of the block.  There should be two intersecting lines showing where the airway and the tobacco chamber are drilled, so base your design on those lines.

For a first pipe, I highly recommend a fairly traditional shape. (This one isn’t, I’m afraid.)  Look at a lot of pipes before you start, and pick a shape that looks relatively simple and straightforward.  It won’t be, but that doesn’t matter right now.

This pipe is going to be somewhat unconventional in shape, but it is modeled on the clay pipes of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Begin with a saw.

Pipe Making Process Pics Gothic CW 5-2013 - - 02Pipe Making Process Pics Gothic CW 5-2013 - - 03

My first step is to remove as much wood as I possibly can with a small saw.  I use a carcase saw (a backsaw sharpened for crosscutting), which works extremely well.  Saw well outside your original layout lines.  I’ve known people to use a bandsaw here, but these kinds of cuts at compound angles are much more easily handled with a small handsaw.

Secure the stock.

Up until now, the shaping work has been done with the briar block in a regular bench vise.  From here on out, though, we have to resort to some creative work holding.  When I made my first pipe, I struggled to find a way to hold the stock securely so that I could reach it from different angles.  This is eventually what I came up with:

Pipe Making Process Pics Gothic CW 5-2013 - - 05Notice several things in the picture above.  First, that’s a big handscrew (14″) with leather-lined jaws.  The leather, salvaged from an old briefcase, is super-glued onto each face.  It helps the jaws grip the stock securely.  Also, notice the position of the handscrew in the vise.  As the vise clamps the handscrew jaw on the right, it racks slightly, allowing the jaw on the left to move without having to adjust the bench vise.  The handscrew handles are both accessible in this position.  Finally, notice my son staring at the toolbox under the workbench.  This bodes well for him.

Essential (and inessential) tools.

Before we start shaping the stock any further, let’s look at some basic shaping tools–rasps and files.

Pipe Making Process Pics Gothic CW 5-2013 - - 04These are the tools that do the bulk of the shaping work.  From top to bottom, they are:

  • A coarse, 12″ machine-cut half-round rasp, which does some of the initial stock removal.  It’s very aggressive and leaves a very rough surface.
  • An equally coarse 10″ machine-cut half-round rasp, which I use for more severe contours.   It’s handy but not necessary.  I didn’t use it on this pipe at all.
  • A 12″ hand-stiched half-round rasp.  This rasp from Lee Valley does most of the shaping work.  It cuts quickly and leaves a very smooth surface for a rasp.  If I had to have only one rasp, it would be this one.
  • An aluminum file.  These aren’t common in woodworkers’ tool kits, but they should be.  Aluminum files are used primarily by metal workers for shaping aluminum, but they also work extremely well on wood.  Their teeth are big, so they work quickly, but they leave a surprisingly smooth surface behind.  A true gem of a file.
  • Two double-cut half-round files, roughly the same profile as the large and small rasps.  These files follow the rasp work.  If you can find a rasp and a file with identical profiles, your work will go easier.
  • A round chainsaw file.  It’s by far the cheapest tool on the bench, but it’s essential for one task (see below).

If you need to buy a rasp, get a good, hand-stiched one, or find someone who will sell you some new-old stock.  I’ve done both.  Avoid the rasp-shaped objects at your local home center at all costs.

Shaping with rasps and files.

With the stock clamped in the handscrew, begin by shaping the shank (or stummel).  It’s easier to hold the stock while it’s still somewhat square.

Pipe Making Process Pics Gothic CW 5-2013 - - 06Once the shank is roughly the right shape and size, turn to the bowl and begin rasping.  Your layout lines will have long disappeared, so y0u’ll need to either remember what you drew or (better yet) have a picture or other duplicate nearby.   On both the shank and the bowl, your initial goal is to create several flat facets with your rasp.  Focus on keeping everything as symmetrical as possible.  The bowl should look like a nice octagon from the top.

While rasping, it is best to rasp toward one of the jaws, rather than across the handscrew.  The stock may well pop out of the jaws and go flying across the workshop.  (Briar is hard, but it is also brittle, so try not to drop it, or the shank may break off.)  Use a light touch with the rasp, and take your time.

Pipe Making Process Pics Gothic CW 5-2013 - - 07Regularly take the stock out of the handscrew and turn it in your hands to examine your progress.  This stage is where the pipe takes its basic shape, and you want to get it right.  If possible, shape the pipe with the stem installed so you can see how the two will look together.  The stem should flow into the pipe with no bumps, dips, or irregular lines.

Take especial care to get the side profile exactly as you want it.  This is the view that most people will see first, and if it looks good, your whole pipe will look attractive despite the flaws.  But if the profile looks clumsy or bulky, the whole pipe will seem so.  This pipe still needs a lot of work at the shank-bowl transition.

Pipe Making Process Pics Gothic CW 5-2013 - - 08Now about that chainsaw file.  It’s the first file you will use after your have finished with the rasps.  Use it to define the junction between the shank and the bowl.  A crisp, even transition is one of the first marks of a competently-made pipe.

Once the junction is shaped (especially at the top of the junction), you will use your other files to remove the rasp marks.  A bastard-cut file works best at this stage.

At this point, you should also re-insert your stem if it hasn’t been installed all along.  Because of the way the stem fits into this particular pipe, I left the stem off until the end, but that’s not usually a good idea.  Your stem and shank should flow seamlessly together, so you need to have the stem in place so that you can file the shank right down to the stem.

Many beginning pipe makers do not remove enough wood at this stage, perhaps for fear of making the walls of the bowl too thin.  The result is a heavy, bulky pipe.  With briar, thin walls in the tobacco chamber are not a problem.  Use your fingers to pinch the walls occasionally.  You will get a perfect feel for your the thickness of the bowl walls.  1/8″ is not too thin.

Once all the rasp marks are gone and the shape is to my satisfaction, I begin the smoothing process.  Be aware that all smoothing is also stock-removal, and it is possible to alter a delicate shape by sanding too much or too hard in particular areas.  But there will be far less stock removal going on at the sanding stage, so don’t leave little lumps or dips thinking “I’ll just sand those down at the next stage.”   Do your shaping work with your rasps and files.  Aim to sand off the same amount of material from every spot on the pipe.

Release the secret weapon: card scrapers.

Pipe Making Process Pics Gothic CW 5-2013 - - 09At this point, I have taken the stock out of the handscrew and am holding it in my hand for the duration.  You can put it back in the handscrew to scrape and sand it if you prefer.

The files have left a fairly deep tool marks on the wood.  If I had to sand them out, this would take me all day.

Instead, I turn to a small card scraper I got from Dominic at TGIAG Toolworks.  You can use any standard card scraper, but a thin, flexible one works best.  Mine are both flexible and small, so they handle contour work extremely well, and I can use them with one hand while I hold the stock with the other.

Ten minutes with a card scraper will save an hour of sanding.

But you still have to sand.

After scraping, I begin sanding with 220-grit and work up through 400-grit, finishing with 600-grit.  Work carefully to remove all the scratches from each previous step.  Briar is a dense wood and it takes a high polish.  And since pipes are held in the hand close to the eyes, errant file marks and sanding scratches will be easily detectable by the user.  Regularly flood the surface with mineral spirits to remove sanding dust and reveal any scratches you still need to sand out.

I have tried using very fine steel wool to finish polishing the briar, but the law of diminishing returns kicks in here, so I typically stop at 600-grit sandpaper, with which I wet-sand the wood using mineral spirits as a lubricant.  I find that a foam emery board (wrapped in sandpaper once the emery wears out) helps me sand the contours of the pipe, and especially the shank.

The stem will need sanding, too.  Don’t be afraid to modify it with a file.  The button (the bit you hold in your mouth) will probably need thinning and refining, and your files will have left tool marks on the stem.  I find that wet-sanding the stem, especially in the finer grits, helps prevent the sandpaper from loading too fast. The stem will also benefit from a good rub-down with very fine steel wool to polish it.  If you have the equipment, you should then buff the stem on a buffing wheel charged with Tripoli wax–a honing compound.  (You can buff the whole pipe, not just the stem, if you like.)  You can follow with white honing compound for an extra-shiny polish.

Bend the stem.

If you’re going to bend the stem, you need three things: a pot of boiling water, a pipe cleaner, and something curved/round of the right radius.  Once the water is at a rolling boil, stick a pipe cleaner through the stem, turn off the heat, and drop the stem into the water.  Let it sit until it’s soft and pliable, usually 2-10 minutes.  A vulcanite stem will soften quickly.  A lucite stem will need more time.  For bending forms, I’ve used everything from trash cans to mixing bowls to sections of iron pipe.  Use your imagination.Pipe Making Process Pics Gothic CW 5-2013 - - 12

Once the stem is pliable, turn on the cold water in your sink.  Take the stem out of the water and bend it against the form.  Hold the stem in that position and run it under the cold water to set the bend.  Remove the pipe cleaner, dry the stem, and try it out on your pipe.

This stem still needs a bit of sanding.  I bent it on my biggest mixing bowl.

Finish it.

If you want to alter the color of the wood, try an aniline dye.  Water-based leather dye works particularly well.  The stains available at the home center tend not to look good on briar.  The general procedure is to apply the dye between grits of sandpaper and then sand back the surface a little bit to produce contrasting colors in the grain.  Experiment on a couple of the briar scraps you sawed off the briar block.

For the finish, you can go all-out with carnauba wax, but I find that a paste wax does fine.  Just about any oil or wax finish will work on briar, but avoid film finishes like shellac, lacquer, or polyurethane.  They will not improve with age.

On the stem, I use a home-brew mix of one part each safflower oil, mineral spirits, and polyurethane varnish.  It gives the stem a dull shine that sets off the briar nicely.

Pipe Making Process Pics Gothic CW 5-2013 - - 13

It’s not a perfect pipe, and I could point out three or four small flaws, but it will smoke well, and it will bring pleasure to whoever ends up with it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


text:
MARCH 18, 2010

Taken on the street in front of our house tonight. The kids are inevitably drawn to play in the water. Clearing snow and ice to get the water flowing. Then the jumping and splashing starts.

Once the water starts flowing, I am inevitably drawn to the patterns and light as it trickles down the street.

With the amount of snow we have piled on the streets, opportunities for these types of shots could last well into April.

Road hockey season may be delayed.

March 18, 2010


text:
Mobile Application Development

Finding it tough to understand Mobile Applications? Well, not a problem. TSS provides a solution to even this. We offer a multi-layered application which consists of user experience, business and data layers. The whole procedure starts with the definition of mobile applications, understanding the key components, learning patterns, technology and scenarios and presenting you in more simplified manner.

We implement solutions across various platforms like iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android and feature phones which help organizations to communicate through mobile applications. The solutions assure that you can easily operate these applications and provide easy data processing.

Our experts also provide consultation about mobile platforms that can help your company in taking the right decision. After all, we are always there to provide you technological prowess and let your firm reach the top most ladder of success.


text:
Just a thought....
Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

Saturday, 18 April 2009

Saturday thoughts

pelargonium buds

Well... sort of. I found tortillas in our supermarket the other day. Today I got a recipe for making tortillas that actually looks doable. Now the question is what to do with them, other than toasting them and making mock Dorito things. What is your favourite way to enjoy tortillas?

On a side note, I found a few things this week that really got me riled:
  • an English 'teacher' colleague comes up to me and says, "I should talk to you. I need to practice my English." Argh! Good to know I'm valued for something... y'know... my magnetic personality and all that
  • same English teacher teaches one of my students in regular school and proceeds to complain about him (note that she didn't remember his name) and speaks of his dyslexia as though that makes him a retard or something. I wanted to read her the riot act. I may still do that. Way to go... earning the respect of your peers. My student can't stand her. I wonder why. This student has far better English than the teacher in question. Go figure
  • director of the school disrupts my class to tell me that she noticed that my delinquent class is behind schedule. Yay... go me. My students sit looking at us with saucer eyes. When she leaves, they proceed to blame each other on who disrupts the class the most. Got to love them. They're great kids really, just badly mismatched
  • the student who brought that on is a) Never in class and b) Never says a word and doesn't participate in any way. She was worried that she hadn't done enough of the book to be able to pass the upcoming tests. Well, no duh... if you don't do anything in class, you're not going to be ready. She is in an upper intermediate course and doesn't know how to say, "I don't understand"
  • men who feel that beating a woman is a manly thing to do - 'nuff said
  • someone who thinks that typing a business e-mail in caps lock is professional
  • I'm a sap. I go to confront someone on a serious work related issue and end up feeling sorry for them an the issue never gets dealt with

All that aside, it is a glorious day here... warm and sunny, but fresh. I rather wish all of summer was like this. I have a long weekend ahead of me. Tuesday is a public holiday, so the schools are closed on the Monday. Banks and supermarkets are open, though, so I'll be able to get some errands in. I might even fit some more sewing in this weekend. That would be good.

I hope you're all having a lovely weekend!

Technorati Tags: ,,,

  1. I love Tortillas...especially during BBQ season. Here's what I do; first I grill a couple of chicken breasts with your favourite BBQ sauce. Grill up some vegies, (peppers, mushrooms; stuff like that). When all of that is finished, slice everything into nice sized strips. Take one tortilla and cover the bottom with Salsa Sauce (I like Spicy). Then spread around the chicken and vegies so everything is nice and even. Then sprinkle a good handful of cheddar cheese all over. Take another tortilla and place it on top. Now, the delicate part. If you don't have a Pizza Paddle then you should have a couple of BBQ Flippers. Put your BBQ on medium low. Gently slide your tortilla assembly onto the hot grill. After about a minute, slide lifter under to see grill marks. You will know if it to your liking. Rotate about 45 degrees. When that side is done slide it off the BBQ and onto a plate. Put another plate on top and flip it over. Repeat the above process until you done. Slide assembly onto a cutting board, cut into wedges and enjoy. If you don,t have a BBQ you can always using a cookie sheet in the oven....no grill marks but tastes just as good. Sorry this is so long but.......you asked.

  2. That sounds delicious, Bogey. I'm going to try it :) Thanks! And lengthy comments are as welcome as short ones.

Thank you for stopping by! Do leave a note, so I know you were here and can visit you too :)


text:
Sunday, January 15, 2006

Global Warming's dirty little secret

A new study finds that 10% to 30% of the methane produced annually is from living plants and methane is considered one of the more problematic green house gases. The study posses the question of how such a potentially large source of methane could have been overlooked all this time by the global warming community. DUH! Because it would suggest that green house gases have been around for millions of years. It would support the argument that warming (and cooling) are cyclic and that natural sources of green house gases (living and decaying plants, volcanoes, etc.) dwarf those produced by man.

No comments:


text:
Ohio State vs. Virginia Tech: Betting odds, point spread and tv info

Last season the Virginia Tech Hokies pulled off an upset of the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Buckeyes would end up running the table and claiming the National Championship.

Now both teams enter this season looking for their first wins. The No. 1 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes will travel to Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, VA looking to avenge the only blemish from a year ago.

ESPN will have coverage of the game beginning at 8:00 pm ET.

Ohio State is a 14 point favorite against Virginia Tech. The over/under for this game is 53 total points.

Urban Meyer has played coy about who would start for the Buckeyes but its reasonable to believe that both Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett will see playing time. Not playing will be wide receivers Corey Smith, running backs Jalin Marshall and Donte Wilson who were suspended for violating team policies. Joey Bosa, a defensive end, has also been suspended for the game.

Will Ohio State win this one or does history repeat itself?

Sign Up For Our E-mail List

  • Stories Delivered Straight To Your Inbox
  • Easy Access To Our Site
  • Always Stay On Top of Trending News

Get e-mails from Tireball Sports now!


text:
Is HCG weight loss effective?

In order to answer this posed question, we must first what it is and how it works. Well what is it? The HCG diet works by incorporating the action of HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) and a low calorie diet as a premise to losing weight. The idea here is to loss weight by calorie restriction yet eliminating food craving. This is on possible due to the anabolic nature of the HCG hormone, which facilitates fat breakdown to energy while preventing muscle loss. Furthermore, HCG acts on the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and inhibits the feeling of hunger.

The low calorie diet gives this weight loss method its reputation (strictest weight loss method). The average number of calories need by a normal man per day is always above 1200 calories (minimum), anything below this level will obviously result in weight loss. Then what aspect of this weight loss program makes it considered by many people worldwide?

First of all taking calories that are below your basal metabolic rate is simply starving yourself, this is an accepted fact. What makes this program special is the ability to address starvation. Normally starvation is accompanied by loss of both fat and muscle resulting in weakness. So how do you match losing weight by a very low calorie deficient diet and still keep your body healthy during the process? We go back to HCG which can be taken as injections, drops or even pellets.

So, is it effective?

A simple yes would be enough. However, this is a strict hcg weight losing method. It has a very challenging diet which must be followed down to the smallest detail of time of meal, type of food and quantity to be able to work. Why emphasis on this? Well, some individuals have claimed that this weight loss program is not effective or does not work entirely. Such cases are characterized by a lack of dedication to follow the strict guidelines by using best hcg drops from the market. There are many success stories out there, accounts of people losing an incredible amount of weight in a relatively short amount of time (standard is usually 1-2 pounds per day). And what is the most common trait of such individuals? They all followed all the guidelines step by step until they were able to achieve their goals. It must be established that some failure stories are due to using poor products such as weak HCG.  Therefore, making sure you buy from legit companies will also help.


text:
Wednesday, December 10, 2008

A Low Impact Woodland Home

A Low Impact Woodland Home
You are looking at pictures of a house I built for our family in Wales. It was built by myself and my father in law with help from passers by and visiting friends. 4 months after starting we were moved in and cosy. I estimate 1000-1500 man hours and £3000 put in to this point. Not really so much in house buying terms (roughly £60/sq m excluding labour). The house was built with maximum regard for the environment and by reciprocation gives us a unique opportunity to live close to nature. Being your own (have a go) architect is a lot of fun and allows you to create and enjoy something which is part of yourself and the land rather than, at worst, a mass produced box designed for maximum profit and convenience of the construction industry. Building from natural materials does away with producers profits and the cocktail of carcinogenic poisons that fill most modern buildings.

Some key points of the design and construction:
• Dug into hillside for low visual impact and shelter
• Stone and mud from diggings used for retaining walls, foundations etc.
• Frame of oak thinnings (spare wood) from surrounding woodland
• Reciprocal roof rafters are structurally and aesthaetically fantastic and very easy to do

• Straw bales in floor, walls and roof for super-insulation and easy building
• Plastic sheet and mud/turf roof for low impact and ease

• Lime plaster on walls is breathable and low energy to manufacture (compared to cement)
• Reclaimed (scrap) wood for floors and fittings
• Anything you could possibly want is in a rubbish pile som
(windows, burner, plumbing, wiring...)
• Woodburner for heating - renewable and locally plentiful

• Flue goes through big stone/plaster lump to retain and slowly release heat
• Fridge is cooled by air coming underground through foundations
• Skylight in roof lets in natural feeling light
• Solar panels for lighting, music and computing
• Water by gravity from nearby spring

• Compost toilet
• Roof water collects in pond for garden etc.

Main tools used: chainsaw, hammer and 1 inch chisel, little else really. Oh and by the way I am not a builder or carpenter, my experience is only having a go at one similar house 2yrs before and a bit of mucking around inbetween. This kind of building is accessible to anyone. My main relevant skills were being able bodied, having self belief and perseverence and a mate or two to give a lift now and again.
This building is one part of a low-impact or permaculture approach to life. This sort of life is about living in harmony with both the natural world and ourselves, doing things simply and using appropriate levels of technology. These sort of low cost, natural buildings have a place not only in their own sustainability, but also in their potential to provide affordable housing which allows people access to land and the opportunity to lead more simple, sustainable lives. For example this house was made to house our family whilst we worked in the woodl
and surrounding the house doing ecological woodland management and setting up a forest garden, things that would have been impossible had we had to pay a regular rent or mortgage. To read more about why we did it and why this is an important option to meet the challenges of climate change and peak oil, click here.
Would you like to learn more about this sort of building and gain practical experience? Why not join us on another exciting building project. There will be opportunities for everyone of all abilities and areas of interest. Click here for more details.