Reminder to self.

jgibson0322: By the way, potato cakes according to my mom:

Leftover, cold mashed potatoes. They must be cold & stiff. Anywhere from 1-2 cups of them. Just used however much you have leftover. If it is 1-2 cups, add one egg. If a lot more, you might want 2 eggs. Add lots of onion powder (not onion salt). Add enough flour to make it not runny, but not stiff like dough. Consistency like thick mashed potatoes. Drop by tablespoon fulls in about 1/4 inch hot cooking oil, not olive oil. Brown on both sides. That's it.

Clasps.

Total time- 5 hours. That included a couple of false starts, me accidentally breaking a lightbulb with a hammer and having to clean up (don't ask), and lots of running up-and-down-stairs for soldering.

One weekend later!

Grandparents rented and SUV and drove it out here, bringing the rest of my stuff from Indiana. T'was a hell of a drive, and they got in at midnight, with Elrin needing to get up for work on Monday morning. ... Bright side, I now have a carload of stuff to find homes for.
Also bright side, the base for the table-lamp, along with the clamp and a magnetic tool-strip arrived with the load. And a much-needed bookcase.

Something I don't get is why relatives feel obligated to comment on ones' reproductive choices. We can't -afford- kids right now, what with school loans, car payments, and me not having a job. And there's no relatives nearby to split labor with. :\

Though, truth be told, I kinda want a kid. Someday. Preferably a boy, as we've been getting girls for the past two generations. It's a semi-suicide wish, though, because 've got a 14 month old half-sister right now, and have seen what sort of hell my mom goes through with her. (And Zhyenka's one sweet-tempered kid, too).

Still got a cold, same one that both El and I picked up right after returning from Delaware. Also got two finished chains that need clasps.

Chain 1.

One chain finished. That'd be the 24 gauge, 1/4th in one. Length: 17.5 in.

Need to come up with a clasp.

Making progress.

1.5in, sterling silver pendant.
Two lengths of roman chain, double weave, standard. Fine silver, 24 gauge.

Wouldn't mind turning the lengths into actual necklaces, with, perhaps, an optional floral pendant to each.

The leaflet pendant's going to be a birthday gift for an old family friend.. a much overdue one, might I add.

What's up in the mountain-country otherwise? Well.. Elrin the Fiance and I went walking yesterday, through a rather historic section of town. Lots of old houses, lots of inns. Maple trees the size of 'you wouldn't believe'. Boxwood bushes that could swallow garage sheds. And so forth. It was a rather nice walk, one that beats our usual couple miles up and down a local trail. (Not that the trail isn't gorgeous in its own right, but more about it in one of the following posts.)

Also, I'm sick right now. Some kind of a head-cold, as likely as not. Doesn't feel very pleasant, especially to the person who doesn't get sick often, period. Hopefully 'll finish the slimmer of the chains either today or tomorrow. Not like there's much else to do.

Chain making

1/4th of an inch in diameter, 24 gauge fine silver wire. Holding a handful of these is like getting a hug from a friend. It's like holding a handful of small, silvery fishies that do not quite know yet what they will become. Maybe salmon. Maybe fish-bait.

Granted, the fusing last night did not go as well as expected. (Had to wait till after sunset and use the torch outside, as, being in a townhouse, we're one garage short of a workspace). Either the propane torch isn't getting hot as fast as 'm used to, or I'm just way out of practice. Loss was something like 15 rings per an entire firebrick's worth, which would've been unacceptable if I didn't have anything else to do with the warped parts.

Oh well.

Coming to Virginia.

To travel the mountains is to acquire a peculiar gliding sensation in your toes. It is an incessant, unforgiving routine up and down slopes, through hills which have been cut through, ones in which you can still see the vertical shafts down which they've stuffed the explosives.

It is a lesson in patience, as my Honda isn't what it used to be, and takes the slopes only with much straining and low-key grumbling. It is a car of many trips, an all-terrain vehicle that's taken the gravelly 45-degree slope back in Indiana without as much as an awkward pause. I suppose I am attached to it, in that absent-minded way that relies on the best qualities of an object without going over the top with bumper stickers and customized steering wheel covers.

Never did understand those steering wheel covers, by the way. They remind me too much of fluffy toilet-seat covers.

It's been a while since I've written anything of note. For a jack of most trades and master of none whatsoever, this is not unusual. For a person who's just gotten two degrees and now is not altogether sure what she's supposed to be striving towards now.. Well.

Elrin says that one should not live in the past and dread the future, that one should live in the present. He also says that college these days is but an extended childhood, a sentiment with which I agree. As for the former trail of his thoughts, it's hard to wrap a mind around simply existing.

What does one do? Where does one go?

--

Last night, while watching the last Futurama movie, I've gotten a text message. It was a long, drawn-out admission of love from a number that was unfamiliar. After a couple of messages back and forth, it turned out that the person's gotten a wrong number. Still, it was very exciting, just for a little while. Sort of.. mysterious.

The picture above is one of the currently-blooming NOID african violets. Kind of funny. While I was spending a month in Indiana and the plant was outside, it didn't as much as squeak.. yet as soon as it was brought indoors, it burst into bloom as though it had nothing better to do.

Maybe it didn't.

Maybe I'll call it "Reggie".