...that I will probably be making two bead curtains: one will use the earth color beads, the other will use the blue ones. The blue will not work with my future bedroom color scheme, which will be mostly yellows and greens.
I will also be making a trellis on wheels for my passionflower vine, to be purchased later.
There will be a gauze canopy or curtain for the bed that will be embellished. I think that's best paired with a heavier fabric in dark moss. At the head of the bed, maybe some kind of decoration on the wall. And something above the window.
I find I just don't like coming here to post anymore because I've always been more comfy with Blogger's layout. Am humoring a move back to Blogger, since most people I know are blogging either on Blogger or LJ. But right now the physical move takes precedence over the virtual one.
This is not really any kind of update, more of a personal memo. I've just been browsing the kinds of plants I like and I realized that if I ever have enough room to grow non-food things, I'd like to grow Salix koriyanagi 'Rubykins" and S. exigua for basketry. I wonder if mushrooms would tolerate a straw medium held in willow baskets? Also, blue lotus, madake bamboo, and if I'm feeling especially ambitious, Boswellia sacra. If I ever have room for a greenhouse, my ambitions become more disturbing still... keffir lime, long pepper, mimosa, cacao, pitcher plants...
ETA: oh yeah, and papyrus, natch.
ETAA: I'm going to enter a beading contest this year. *sigh* always something else...
I'm supposed to be practicing for the audition, or cleaning. Bleh. Here's a sneak peek at something I hope to be working on early next year.
Zombiesplode! My guest comic for Hijinks Ensue is now live. I thought I'd post a bit about what went into making this, warts and all:
I had a flash of inspiration immediately after Joel asked me to do a
guest comic, one that involved a three-page story about the whole HE gang (Denise included, to make a team of four) fighting off a
horde of L4D zombies to a full-length zombified parody of "The Night Before
Christmas" and almost escaping by helicopter as dawn breaks... then
Joel wakes up and realizes it was all a dream... except that Josh has
respawned in the closet and no one lets him out. I'm kind of glad that
idea got rejected, because I'm pretty sure I would have gone insane
trying to draw it. (Overenthusiastic fangirl, much?)
As something of an apology to some of the people who have had to put up with my deadline crazies this month, I've been making sesame candy. And to make amends to you few dear readers for having fallen off the blogging horse again, I'll also tell you how to make it. If you have a candy thermometer (and if you do not, why in Christendom not?!*), this is a cinch to make, attractive, and delicious. Happy Holidays!
Ingredients
1 c black sesame seed
1 c white sesame seed (I replaced this partly with some pumpkin seed I had)
1 tbs anise seed (optional)
1/2 c honey
1/2 c brown sugar
3 drops vanilla flavoring
butter for pan
Equipment
large skillet
small saucepan
9x9" baking pan
cutting board
candy thermometer
Directions
Grease the baking pan with butter, and set aside. In the skillet, roast all seeds on medium for 5 minutes, or just until aromatic. Set aside.
In saucepan, combine honey, sugar, and vanilla. Either keep the candy thermometer in a cup of warm water, or put it in your saucepan now. While stirring, slowly bring to a boil. Check temperature with candy thermometer. When syrup hits 275 degrees, remove pan from heat and add the sesame seeds, stirring constantly. Turn mixture into the pan. Spread evenly. Let it cool 5 min, then flatten the surface with a spatula.
Let cool an additional 10 min, or until the mix is warm but firm, then use spatula to pop it out of the pan onto the cutting board. With a greased knife, cut into squares (or rectangles, or whatever). Let cool to room temperature.
Place into wax paper or candy cups to serve.
PROTIP: if you misjudge the cooling time for the candy and it gets too hard for you to cut (as I did D:), heat up some water in the skillet and place the baking pan in it to soften the sugar again.
*Earl Grey ftw.
Right before the rainy season started, I cut down some bamboo culms in my backyard with the intent to make flutes and ocarinas once they've had some time to cure. These are not the traditional Madake variety or anything fancy like that; they're very leafy and crooked. Weeds in the garden, really (they snuck under my neighbor's fence two years ago; since then my neighbor has cut down his side of the bunch). But I figure, why the heck not? If I am in any way successful making a few ghetto-ass flutes from scratch I might give it a go with the real deal.
The root ball was a nightmare; I managed to get some roots--the prize of hardcore shakuhachi makers--on only one culm, after half an hour of careful digging. I fired up the barbecue and placed the stems over the glowing coals to sweat some of the sap out, and wiped it off (somewhat unevenly; it was dark outside when I toasted them and I was having trouble seeing the sap). They turn a very pale green in the heat, and develop a bit of mottling. Now they all hang from my rafters slowly turning a pale golden yellow. We'll see if any of them make it through without cracking.
...tastes like nothing. Therefore I am doctoring it with spices to give it something resembling flavor. Lots of cumin, some coriander, fenugreek, garlic cloves, mustard, dried habanero, rosemary and lemon peel. We'll see.
If you were wondering what all that crazy effort was going into, here is the final product:
