OK, it wasn't that cold, but we still do have piles of snow.
Gratitude #83 - Sweet Biddies!
11 years ago
Saturday, February 7, 2009
walking
I have never liked “exercise.”
OK I rode my bicycle a long time and I use to run a few miles a day, but maybe that was an aberration.
But in the last ten years my blood pressure has inched up, not dangerously so, but higher than the doctor likes, and she has put me on two meds now, and they don’t seem to be working too well.
My pulse at rest is perilously close to what it should be when I exercise. That does not seem good at all.
So this week I began walking again. Miriam and Leo go during the day when the weather is good. Walking with miriam is fun, but she is 9” shorter than I am and walks about that much slower. At that speed my heart rate does not go where I want it.
So this week I began walking. It was cold, but I have proper clothes, and rather than walk in the middle of the day, I went at dusk. In fact it was fairly dark by the time I got back. I walked about 2 miles at a good clip and it was good.
But one thing was different than the old days: I had my trusty iPod. Music would be alright, but I had Mark Twain along. Twain was as much a philosopher as story teller and I can surf along on his story as I walk.
My weight is alright, my BMI is acceptable, but that pesky BP and pulse. Maybe I can be motivated. Spring will be here soon and with it the garden. During that season I get a lot of good exercise. Ever spade up a 160 square foot bed with a digging fork?
But what amazed me most of all, was the sheer joy of walking in the cold right at dark.
OK I rode my bicycle a long time and I use to run a few miles a day, but maybe that was an aberration.
But in the last ten years my blood pressure has inched up, not dangerously so, but higher than the doctor likes, and she has put me on two meds now, and they don’t seem to be working too well.
My pulse at rest is perilously close to what it should be when I exercise. That does not seem good at all.
So this week I began walking again. Miriam and Leo go during the day when the weather is good. Walking with miriam is fun, but she is 9” shorter than I am and walks about that much slower. At that speed my heart rate does not go where I want it.
So this week I began walking. It was cold, but I have proper clothes, and rather than walk in the middle of the day, I went at dusk. In fact it was fairly dark by the time I got back. I walked about 2 miles at a good clip and it was good.
But one thing was different than the old days: I had my trusty iPod. Music would be alright, but I had Mark Twain along. Twain was as much a philosopher as story teller and I can surf along on his story as I walk.
My weight is alright, my BMI is acceptable, but that pesky BP and pulse. Maybe I can be motivated. Spring will be here soon and with it the garden. During that season I get a lot of good exercise. Ever spade up a 160 square foot bed with a digging fork?
But what amazed me most of all, was the sheer joy of walking in the cold right at dark.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Nymph by Maillol
This is one of the fist sculptures done of Dina, when she was just 17.
Remember this is meant to not be an exact replica of reality, but a bit romantic with very a classical viewpoint.
While I enjoy modern sculpture with it's emphasis on abstraction to one level or another, these classical pieces give me inspiration.
muse
I saw another obit the other day that brought back memories: Dina Vierny.
Of course I never met her, but when I was in graduate school I studied, and did a short paper on Aristide Maillol, and there I met Dina.
Maillol was a French painter/sculptor, born in 1861. He his early 70’s when he met Dina. His career had flatted out, his creativity seemed to have escaped. Then an artist friend sent the 15 year old Dina to model for Maillol. She became his muse, his assistant and his model.
Their relationship was totally platonic, without a hint of any thing beyond, but she immediately inspired him and his creativity took wings in a flurry of new works that continued until he died in a car wreck at the age of 83.
When he died his family was not very interested in preserving his work, so Dina carefully collected all she could, she set up a museum in Paris, mostly stocked with his work and spent the rest of her life looking after his reputation as an artist. She was his inspiration.
The thing that always interested me was that something happened to light Mailllol’s creative fire at a time when it seemed to be going out. It may not have been her directly as much as the change it made in his thinking. He spent the last ten years of his life producing a flurry of important pieces of sculpture.
When I was a photographer another photographer said that sometimes a simple thing can kick start our creativity. A new lens that offered a different way of seeing, a different process, or a new model, but the suggestion was to be aware that such a thing could transform a career and be ready to experiment.
Right now I am about the age that Maillol was when me met Dina. My art career surely has flattened (at best). That something that lights the fires could be a simple thing like a new welder (which I acquired recently and have not used yet) or any one of a dozen other inspirations.
Hmm.
Of course I never met her, but when I was in graduate school I studied, and did a short paper on Aristide Maillol, and there I met Dina.
Maillol was a French painter/sculptor, born in 1861. He his early 70’s when he met Dina. His career had flatted out, his creativity seemed to have escaped. Then an artist friend sent the 15 year old Dina to model for Maillol. She became his muse, his assistant and his model.
Their relationship was totally platonic, without a hint of any thing beyond, but she immediately inspired him and his creativity took wings in a flurry of new works that continued until he died in a car wreck at the age of 83.
When he died his family was not very interested in preserving his work, so Dina carefully collected all she could, she set up a museum in Paris, mostly stocked with his work and spent the rest of her life looking after his reputation as an artist. She was his inspiration.
The thing that always interested me was that something happened to light Mailllol’s creative fire at a time when it seemed to be going out. It may not have been her directly as much as the change it made in his thinking. He spent the last ten years of his life producing a flurry of important pieces of sculpture.
When I was a photographer another photographer said that sometimes a simple thing can kick start our creativity. A new lens that offered a different way of seeing, a different process, or a new model, but the suggestion was to be aware that such a thing could transform a career and be ready to experiment.
Right now I am about the age that Maillol was when me met Dina. My art career surely has flattened (at best). That something that lights the fires could be a simple thing like a new welder (which I acquired recently and have not used yet) or any one of a dozen other inspirations.
Hmm.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
m and d
Stefanie made us hats for christmas This is this is us clowning with the hats
Really, I am not trying to hurt Miriam.
drains
When we built our house I decided it had to have two bathrooms.
That was very unusual for a thousand feet house (OK 1080 feet). We had 3 daughters still at home and I was not willing to share baths with them every day, selfish me.
The house was all built on the tightest budget iminagable. I barterd with electiricians, heating guys, general contractors to get materials and skills to build the house.
Often it would have been better if we had had a bit more to put in it, but we did not want to borrow money to build, and so we just did it. This decade I have been going back room by room to refurbish: paint, carpet, and wide molding and work to what might have been an arts and crafts look. Mostly.
I got to the down stairs bathroom was a few years ago. The owner of the company I was working for at the time, gave me a jetta tub and the faux marble panels for the shower as a bonus. (The year before he gave me a very nice motor boat as a bonus). The tub worked out well, the faux marble even covered the ceiling. While I was at it I made new cabinets, put ceramic tile on the floor and painted fresh new colors.
But the drain has not worked well almost from the beginning. A while back I washed out a paint bucket in the tub and when it did not drain I was sure that I had clogged the trap, which is not easy but it can be done.
So today I got David’s Jackhammer out, cut out a bit of the wall plate and made a new header, then started hammering out the concrete. It was a hard old slab. It so noisy I brought some hearing protectors over and gave one to Miriam as well, and she wore it.
But as I dug deeper I discovered that the wash machine drained into that line before the trap. If the trap was clogged, the washer would be over flowing, but it was not.
I could not figure how to disassemble the drain from the inside of the tub. So I called David, who is 500 miles away at his sick mother in law’s house. He had me buy a “drain wrench” for eight bucks. But when I got that part off (David was right, of course) What I saw made me know that the problem had not been the trap at all.
The drain was full of hair and stuff and stuff. I spent some time taking it apart then cleaning it all up, (Miriam helped with the cleaning). And then put it back together.
I called David. He laughed and said: “I hate it when the solution is something simple” especially after spending a lot of time and energy with a complex solution."
But now that tub drains big time.
Ahh. Life is good.
That was very unusual for a thousand feet house (OK 1080 feet). We had 3 daughters still at home and I was not willing to share baths with them every day, selfish me.
The house was all built on the tightest budget iminagable. I barterd with electiricians, heating guys, general contractors to get materials and skills to build the house.
Often it would have been better if we had had a bit more to put in it, but we did not want to borrow money to build, and so we just did it. This decade I have been going back room by room to refurbish: paint, carpet, and wide molding and work to what might have been an arts and crafts look. Mostly.
I got to the down stairs bathroom was a few years ago. The owner of the company I was working for at the time, gave me a jetta tub and the faux marble panels for the shower as a bonus. (The year before he gave me a very nice motor boat as a bonus). The tub worked out well, the faux marble even covered the ceiling. While I was at it I made new cabinets, put ceramic tile on the floor and painted fresh new colors.
But the drain has not worked well almost from the beginning. A while back I washed out a paint bucket in the tub and when it did not drain I was sure that I had clogged the trap, which is not easy but it can be done.
So today I got David’s Jackhammer out, cut out a bit of the wall plate and made a new header, then started hammering out the concrete. It was a hard old slab. It so noisy I brought some hearing protectors over and gave one to Miriam as well, and she wore it.
But as I dug deeper I discovered that the wash machine drained into that line before the trap. If the trap was clogged, the washer would be over flowing, but it was not.
I could not figure how to disassemble the drain from the inside of the tub. So I called David, who is 500 miles away at his sick mother in law’s house. He had me buy a “drain wrench” for eight bucks. But when I got that part off (David was right, of course) What I saw made me know that the problem had not been the trap at all.
The drain was full of hair and stuff and stuff. I spent some time taking it apart then cleaning it all up, (Miriam helped with the cleaning). And then put it back together.
I called David. He laughed and said: “I hate it when the solution is something simple” especially after spending a lot of time and energy with a complex solution."
But now that tub drains big time.
Ahh. Life is good.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
crackers
As I do each morning, I was reading the NY Times this morning (on line of course).
Down the home page among the headlines was a piece about making crackers at home. Hmm I had not thought of that, though the article suggested that it is not all that complex.
Any way here is the site: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/dining/04mini-web.html
I will definitely do some research and some baking.
I can skip the preservatives and “conditioners” and be very happy.
And, i maybe crackers, but that is another subject.
Down the home page among the headlines was a piece about making crackers at home. Hmm I had not thought of that, though the article suggested that it is not all that complex.
Any way here is the site: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/dining/04mini-web.html
I will definitely do some research and some baking.
I can skip the preservatives and “conditioners” and be very happy.
And, i maybe crackers, but that is another subject.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
hot bread
A bakery that makes good hand crafted bread will make bread as good as this. But, it is not in my budget for sure. I haven't figured it out really close, I will, but I am pretty sure I can make a loaf for less than fifty cents.
bread
Remember the line about asking a guy for the time and he answered with a lecture on how to make a watch! This is my entry in that genre.
Tomorrow I'll show a formula (bakeries I worked in did not have "recipes") for a very simple bread with just 4 easy to find ingredients.
“Arline’s Whole Wheat Bread”: makes 3 1 ½ pound loaves
Put in mixing bowl:
3 cups warm to hot water (I make it 3 ½ and I use it as hot as it comes out of the tap)
½ C raw oats (either Old Fashioned or Quick)
2 T of Honey (I use good old black strap molasses and close to half a cup)
2 T yeast (I buy it in pound blocks at the grocery store, by the package it is spendy)
Since the bowl is cold along with all the ingredients that hot water does not stay hot.
Let it set while you do the next step.
Combine in largw bowl (use it later for proofing)
½ C VitalWheat flour (available in health food stores, though I buy it at my huge market bulk food section. It is a very high gluten flour. If I did not have it I’d use that much more of AP flour)
1 C All Purpose or better yet Unbleached Bread flour (Ok we are wimps, but 100% whole wheat bread makes better bricks than bread)
1 ½ C whole wheat flour
1 T salt
Mix all of those together dry. The point is that the VitalWheat will make horrible clumps if a bunch of it gets wet, so mix them all together while they are dry.
Put that dry mix in with the wet (use a paddle mixer, save the dough hook for a bit). The mix will be fairly soupy. Add:
2 T cooking oil (applesauce will work too). Mix for 3 or 4 minutes at medium speed.
I often add ½ C of raw, unsalted Sunflower seeds at this point.
Change to the dough hook and add whole wheat flour. At first you can put in a fair amount at a time, but once it gets doughy be more careful, it is not too hard to get too much flour. The dough should make a ball and should clean the sides of the bowl as it mixes. Mix 3 or 4 minutes.
Dump it out on a table top that is lightly floured. Kneed the dough a minute or so. You can slap it around pretty good and pound it, good for frustrations. The dough should smooth and soft to the touch. Put in a large greased bowl.
I turn the oven on 170 for one minute only and leave the oven light on. Proof for 30 minutes.
Arline puts it in the pans at this point, but I punch the bread down and let it rest another 10 minutes.
I have a small spring scale, so I weigh the dough to make sure I have the same size loaves, but you can guess pretty well. Mould into loaves and put in greased pans (I have used spray oil, but lately have gone back to using margarine and a brush. I grab a hunk of dough and slap it on the work surface pretty hard. That lengtens the dough. I fold the two ends in and carefully roll into loaf shape. Big bubbles in the final bread means that it was not rolled tightly.
Put back in the oven and proof for 20 minutes. The loaves should double in size. It is also possible to over proof. The bread will “kick” a bit more when the oven heats, especially the way I work it.
I don’t take it out while the oven is heating. When the dough is proofed to size, I turn the oven on to 350, and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, depending on how much I want the crust to be crusty.
Take out of the pans, and cool on a cookie rack or a wood cutting board. It is legal to slice off the end and put a bit of real butter on it for a quick taste! When it is cool slice with a bread knife and put in a bag. I prefer not to put bread in the refrigerator. I think it turns it to concrete. A loaf will last about 5 or 6 days (in our climate) before it starts to spoil. If it takes longer than that to eat a loaf, freeze half of a loaf for later. Frozen bread thaws very nicely.
If you want to make bread by hand (no mixer) I’ll give a few tips if anyone wishes. BTW, that kneading is good for the shoulders and pects!
Tomorrow I'll show a formula (bakeries I worked in did not have "recipes") for a very simple bread with just 4 easy to find ingredients.
“Arline’s Whole Wheat Bread”: makes 3 1 ½ pound loaves
Put in mixing bowl:
3 cups warm to hot water (I make it 3 ½ and I use it as hot as it comes out of the tap)
½ C raw oats (either Old Fashioned or Quick)
2 T of Honey (I use good old black strap molasses and close to half a cup)
2 T yeast (I buy it in pound blocks at the grocery store, by the package it is spendy)
Since the bowl is cold along with all the ingredients that hot water does not stay hot.
Let it set while you do the next step.
Combine in largw bowl (use it later for proofing)
½ C VitalWheat flour (available in health food stores, though I buy it at my huge market bulk food section. It is a very high gluten flour. If I did not have it I’d use that much more of AP flour)
1 C All Purpose or better yet Unbleached Bread flour (Ok we are wimps, but 100% whole wheat bread makes better bricks than bread)
1 ½ C whole wheat flour
1 T salt
Mix all of those together dry. The point is that the VitalWheat will make horrible clumps if a bunch of it gets wet, so mix them all together while they are dry.
Put that dry mix in with the wet (use a paddle mixer, save the dough hook for a bit). The mix will be fairly soupy. Add:
2 T cooking oil (applesauce will work too). Mix for 3 or 4 minutes at medium speed.
I often add ½ C of raw, unsalted Sunflower seeds at this point.
Change to the dough hook and add whole wheat flour. At first you can put in a fair amount at a time, but once it gets doughy be more careful, it is not too hard to get too much flour. The dough should make a ball and should clean the sides of the bowl as it mixes. Mix 3 or 4 minutes.
Dump it out on a table top that is lightly floured. Kneed the dough a minute or so. You can slap it around pretty good and pound it, good for frustrations. The dough should smooth and soft to the touch. Put in a large greased bowl.
I turn the oven on 170 for one minute only and leave the oven light on. Proof for 30 minutes.
Arline puts it in the pans at this point, but I punch the bread down and let it rest another 10 minutes.
I have a small spring scale, so I weigh the dough to make sure I have the same size loaves, but you can guess pretty well. Mould into loaves and put in greased pans (I have used spray oil, but lately have gone back to using margarine and a brush. I grab a hunk of dough and slap it on the work surface pretty hard. That lengtens the dough. I fold the two ends in and carefully roll into loaf shape. Big bubbles in the final bread means that it was not rolled tightly.
Put back in the oven and proof for 20 minutes. The loaves should double in size. It is also possible to over proof. The bread will “kick” a bit more when the oven heats, especially the way I work it.
I don’t take it out while the oven is heating. When the dough is proofed to size, I turn the oven on to 350, and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, depending on how much I want the crust to be crusty.
Take out of the pans, and cool on a cookie rack or a wood cutting board. It is legal to slice off the end and put a bit of real butter on it for a quick taste! When it is cool slice with a bread knife and put in a bag. I prefer not to put bread in the refrigerator. I think it turns it to concrete. A loaf will last about 5 or 6 days (in our climate) before it starts to spoil. If it takes longer than that to eat a loaf, freeze half of a loaf for later. Frozen bread thaws very nicely.
If you want to make bread by hand (no mixer) I’ll give a few tips if anyone wishes. BTW, that kneading is good for the shoulders and pects!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
