Excited yet intimidated

So, I joined The Sketchbook Project, which is unlike anything I've ever done before. I joined at the last minute, midday on the last day of signup, before I could chicken out.

Of course the doubts started piling up the minute I looked at some of the other participants' blogs…like Cody Schibi's "Drawing a Blank".

Besides that, this is especially tricky for me, since I joined so very, very late. I have less than two months to fill a sketchbook. True, it's only a Moleskine Cahiers, so it's smallish compared to my usual Moleskine large plain journal. But still…that's a lot of book!

Since the pages are thinner in a Cahier book, I think I'm going to be gluing together some of the pages for strength, as well as experimenting with gesso as a background. As it happens, I have a spare Cahier at home, so I can try it out on it first. I could rebind it with heavier paper (and not quite as many pages), but I know that will only slow me down! It would probably be a few days before I had time, and between my church Christmas program, my dance troupe's upcoming show, and the general busyness of this time of year, I really don't have the extra time to spare. I'm such a perfectionist that it would take me forever!

So I'm heading straight to journaling. Hopefully I can get started tonight!

A Plethora of Apples

My husband and I spent last weekend in the mountains, near Clayton, Georgia. I love the Southern Appalachians, especially in the fall; it was one of the places my family always went when I was growing up. Now, we go with his siblings and his families.

We drove home with a full bushel of gala apples, purchased from Osage Farms, at their roadside "stand." I also had over ten pounds of mixed apples; I bought a few of every type of apple I had not tried before!

Now, this wasn't an impulse purchase. True, we had not planned to buy them when we went to the mountains. However, we were planning to buy a bushel at the State Farmer's Market anyway, so we saved ourselves a trip!

First on my list is slow cooker apple butter. Last year I made a double batch on Halloween weekend. Everyone loved it, and I ran out during the summer, necessitating another batch, so I'm going to be doing either a triple or quadruple batch this year.

But I'll also be indulging in a few wants I didn't get satisfied last year: apple pie filling and cinnamon apples.

I've made up my mind on the pie filling. I'm basing mine on the spiced apple recipe in Well-Preserved: Recipes and Techniques for Putting Up Small Batches of Seasonal Food, by Eugenia Bone, though I think I'll double the recipe. (Seriously, I don't think I can make it through a year with only four pints if I want to increase my dependence on local foods and home cooking!)

For the cinnamon apples, I would love something similar to Cracker Barrel's, but I don't know if it would work. I may try applesauce, or one of the apple jams from Food in Jars.

Anyway, I'm very excited about all the canning possibilities!

Full Speed Ahead

Actually, I'm not sure I know any other speed when it comes to this sort of thing. One of my best friends, Roswenth, and I are vending (in the Artist's Alley, I think) at MomoCon this weekend, raising money for our Relay for Life team (Gwinnett County, Georgia).

Since we haven't done this before, we have no idea how many of these crazy things we should make! I've made sixteen since Friday. Yes, sixteen. That's with a weekly gaming group, a full-time job with a commute, dance class, and cooking. Oh, and a wonderful husband who likes to actually spend time with me.

It's kind of fun. I have a history of crafting while gaming; in fact, I'm sort of famous (infamous?) for it. So three weeks ago I started winding and cutting yarn into the appropriate lengths, at the table, while playing Shadowrun. (That's a cyberpunk-style, pen-and-paper, dice-rolling role-playing game. You know, like the infamous Dungeons and Dragons, except futuristic.)

My gaming group is really great about it, I have to admit. I get teased a bit, but we all do for something or another. (It helps that the game master actually runs Shadowrun at MomoCon, and one of the other party members is actively involved with the con, too.)

But wow; it's been a LOT of work. Picking out the yarns, put them all on the base, a few strands at a time. Wrangling massive quantities of yarn…think about it.

Each pair of falls is made of two sets of two base strips. I did a bit of math, and I bet I've used over two thousand strands of yarn so far. Each strand has been handled multiple times, because I have to keep packing stuff up and taking it back out, and they keep getting tangled.

And I probably have another five hundred strands cut and bundled by yarn. No wonder I'm getting worn out!

Home-Canned Goodness

So…I'm on a bit of a food kick. Not just food, but good food. Yummy stuff, made with good ingredients. Even whole grains, fresh local produce, that sort of thing.

My dad's mom used to make pickles; she also had a wonderful garden, so she froze home-grown veggies, too. I remember how wonderful her butter beans were; I never associated them with the overly-mealy, mostly nasty things called lima beans! It was years before I learned that butter beans are lima beans!

Her sister and mother used to make mayhaw jelly. Once a staple of special occasion meals, the mayhaw is so rare now that it's very hard to find the jelly…and very expensive when you do find it. (But so worth it: I bought two jars at a small store near Unicoi back in September. One is for my mom; I'm opening my jar for Christmas, when the family comes over!)

Anyway, Dorkelf and I have been wanting to try canning for the last two summers, but with two moves in just over a year–including buying a house–it just never happened.

I decided I had to can something. I joined the forums at I Dig My Garden, which is hosted by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. Motivated by their suggestions and a post I found for crock pot apple butter, I bought a box of Ball canning jars (half pint, with the new platinum lids) and two three-pound bags of apples.

It went great, and smelled awesome. Three pounds of Granny Smith, cored, peeled, and sliced, one cup of water, half a cup of starthistle honey, half a cup of Splenda, and three cups of sugar. I added a spice bundle, which contained two sticks of cinnamon, 3/4 tsp whole allspice, and 1 1/4 tsp whole cloves.

Otherwise, I followed her directions. My stockpot only held seven half-pint jars, so I ended up with an extra half pint, plus a bit extra. The leftover went directly into the fridge; the extra half pint I filled like all the rest, then inverted on a kitchen towel on the counter while it was still hot. (This is called the inversion method, and it is not safe, so don't use it.) Once it was cool, I checked the seal (yay! It sealed!), but then I put it in the fridge. Bacteria can still grow in it, so I'll use it up as soon as I'm through with the leftovers. Really, I don't want botulism…

I also made a quart jar plus a half pint of pickled okra and a quart jar of sliced cucumber pickles. Both types were made as quick refrigerator pickles, so I have about three weeks to use them up. (Vinegar, a bit of sugar, pickling spice, dill seed, a dried pepper, and garlic. I made it up as I went along.)

All in all, I'm very happy with my experiment.

Why do I make things?

Before I start this post, I have to admit I'm way behind on my podcast listening. I only just got around to listening to CraftyPod #94, "Why Do You Make Things?"

At the very beginning, Sister Diane asks, "Why do you make things?"

*blink*

*blink*

What do you mean, why do I make things? Of course I make things! Is making things optional? I mean, maybe there really isn't a law of the universe that says I MUST MAKE THINGS. But it feels like it!

I literally cannot imagine what it would be like not making things. I keep trying, but then my mind does this disconnect and runs away from the thought. It is simply too foreign.

But why make things?

Well, for one thing, I love it. I love the feeling of satisfaction I get from a well-conceived, well-executed project. I love the process of making stuff…well, most of the time! I love the shiny or pointy or sparkly or pretty things I use to do it.

I love looking at a stash of supplies and seeing what it could be, how it could be transformed. I can take the most mundane items and make something awesome. A stick, sandpaper, and some beeswax turn into an awesome magic wand for the Half Blood Prince midnight release. My basket of fluffy fiber becomes a beautiful scarf to keep my mom warm as she sits on her back deck, surrounded by her cats and dogs. Some simple cotton yarn becomes a hat to keep a newborn in Haiti warm and improve her chance of survival.

There's also the small detail that my tastes far outstrip my bank account. I can't afford to buy all the beautiful scarves I see in stores and catalogs, but with some good yarn and an investment of time, I can make enough to keep me warm all winter. I can take cheap, beat-up furniture from Goodwill and turn it into something that's presentable enough to use in our home until we have saved up a bit of money. I can create a beautiful home for far less than they charge in stores.

A lot of what I do I have learned from an array of wonderful women, starting with my mom and grandmothers and continuing through Sunday school, Girl Scouts, and school. Some of it I have learned from men, such as my favorite instructor from Georgia State, Kyle Dillehay, who helped me figure out chip carving when I wanted to use it for a self-portrait project. I'm thankful for all these people, and like to feel my devotion to "making things" makes their investment of time and talent worth something.

There has never been a time in my life that I haven't "made things." I hope that never changes!