Shut Down

There are times I forget where I am because I float around so much (work and unemployment find me everywhere but home in Houston lately), and this was one of them.  The majority of states have some sort of cottage food law, but the one I'm in isn't one of them, although it's working its way through a committee of sorts.

Anyway, someone asked me the other day at a show if I was incorporated; I said no.  Well, that got me thinking that I needed to investigate this state's rule as I thought I was in a cottage food law state (Texas is, where I'd normally be selling when I'm home).  Sorry, but the state I'm hanging out in isn't one, so while here, I decided it was best to shut down the whole thing until I'm back in Texas, or in another cottage food law friendly state.  I also shut down my Etsy and Facebook operations as well.  It's a bit of a blow, but I understand - and I can wait.

The thing that bothers me is the person who asked me this question was the person who recruited me for the show, and then her successor also gave the green light.  Although I diligently asked all the right questions, somehow neither found it important to ask if I was incorporated because this state isn't friendly to cottage food laws.  It seems table selling space was more important than the law; the woman who asked is licensed, so she should've known better and should've rejected my show application that fully disclosed what I make.  

Although it's bothersome, it only serves to make me all that more determined to "boogie back to Texas", or build the new home along the NC/TN border as fast as I can - all states with cottage food laws.

On the plus side, I have plenty of jams and jellies to give away to family, friends, and business associates for Christmas.

C'est la vie.... "If my God is for me, who can be against me?"   :)

Rearranging the House

Sometimes the best way to avoid a mistake is to put everything down on paper and then spend the next few days looking at it.  In my case, I noticed I have two major mistakes in the layout of my house after having talked out a few things last night over dinner with Fred.

The main mistake is that the pantry and laundry rooms should be swapped with each other because I want to keep the plumbing as close to each other to limit the number of connections and reduce the price from long pipe runs.  This way, the kitchen, shared bath, water heater, and the laundry are in immediate proximity of each other.

My second major mistake was omitting where I was going to put the solar battery bank IF I don't build a basement, which I haven't decided if I want to OR if the land I purchase will be able to handle it (water table too high or earthquake prone, for instance).  You always need a "plan B"! 

The sealed gel filled battery cells can be kept inside, but the ones that need to be topped off with water give off gases, which require different a different storage solution.  So what I really need to do is to make an enclosed telecom style cabinet right next to front door (where the laundry room is in the old drawing), and install a small exhaust fan.  I plan on using the gel batteries for safety, but let's just assume I can't get them, they don't sell that kind by the time I need them, or funds run out and I have to buy the gas emitting battery.  Whatever the case - sealed gel or water top off batteries, I'd feel better having the closet exhausted outside.

What are my battery roadblocks?

• The batteries perform best when they're stored between 50-80 degrees F, so an outside box is generally a "no".
• A special outdoor locked cabinet outside wouldn't necessarily deter a thief, and to have a battery bank stolen would really tick me off, not to mention cost me a ton to replace it.
• Batteries stored outside are subject to more maintenance like the cleaning of terminals.  At least, that's my suspicion because they're not in a controlled environment.  Batteries stored inside tend to be in better shape since it's a constant and predictable environment. 

So as time goes by, I'll keep tweaking my future house plans and learn everything I can about how to make this dream a reality.  

The Two-Toned Spotted Brown Cow

I decided I needed to get the last project finished today since I head back to work on Monday.  Instead of trying to sweep it under the rug and "pretend" it wasn't there, I sucked it up and rolled up my sleeves to complete what I'd started.

The "before" picture can be found here, and here's the piece today, sanded and unstained.  To me, it has promise for a junky piece of furniture - especially when it's down to bare wood.

And here it is stained....

I'm SO NOT digging the two-tone brown blotchy cow look to this, considering the amount of work put into it.  Fred thinks it'll look better once the polyurethane's on, but I'm not convinced.  It's the most uneven stain application I've ever seen.  I'm about ready to hang a cow bell on it and expecting the thing to start mooing at me as the application looks like spotted cow hide.

Challenge #5: Fortune Cookies

I've been struggling trying to figure out what my next cooking challenge would be, and I still had no real thought about it until tonight.  We're lucky to have a good Chinese restaurant locally, and at the end of the meal, everyone looks forward to the fortune cookie.

They're really not that tasty, and truth be told, it's rather like eating crunchy cardboard with a slightly sweet overtone.  Other than tradition, a bit of curiosity about our "fortune", and a little bit of punishment, we eat the less than tasty cookie.

Many times I've thought about how simple and tasty this remake could be, and if Fred and I didn't have dinner out tonight, I'd still be struggling to come up with one.

The next week's going to be loaded with things to do, so we'll see when I can get this one done; it might have to wait until next weekend. 

How Poor are You?

Sometimes, we're much poorer than we realize, but I'm hoping for the kind of wealth mentioned in this story in the next few years.

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from the trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”

“It was great, Dad”.

“Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked.

“Oh yes”, said the son.

“So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.

The son answered:
“I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.”

“Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.”

The boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added:
“Thanks, Dad for showing me how poor we are.”

I have several designs dancing around in my head for my future house, and this is one that finally made it out onto paper.  It definitely needs to be tweaked so the deck is facing south.  My other thought is to put the deck off the bedrooms, but then it's not as inviting for general use.  I can't claim the original design is mine, but the modification is.  You can find the plans for this house here. 

If you're into cool building styles from unconventional materials and are inexpensive to build, then you might also want to check this site for more information and tutorials as to how to build a straw bale house for yourself.

"Big Bertha" is being retired

"Big Bertha" is my large 21 quart granite enamel water bath canner I purchased last year, and she's seen A LOT of work over the two summer and fall periods I've had her in service.  She's done her bid for "king and country", and has easily canned around one thousand jars worth of delicious food.


She's only 10 1/2 "dog years" old, but the ole girl is starting to look rough.  I've decided I really want to invest in a stainless steel pot that will last much longer, so I'm going to let "Bertha" live out the rest of her useful life as a planter for my hot pepper plants to make it through the winter indoors.

In the meantime, I'll look for her better quality replacement, "Bessie", and her more versatile cousin, "Ethel", the pressure canner.  The best price I've seen for this pressure cooker was on ebay, but Amazon has free shipping on orders over $25.00, so I might be purchasing from there as the shipping can run around $35-$45 on this beast.

Fall Apple Basket Cake

A few years ago I saw this great cake design that doubled as a centerpiece.

It was similar in design to this one in that it had two baskets with apples, leaves, acorns, and I think even a smiling green worm popping out from one of the apples.  In this particular case, the apples look more like red bell peppers that are old and melting, but you get the idea.

I wanted to make it a few years ago, but while I was planning the cake out in my head, my work sent me to Boston for the next seven months, hence I didn't get the chance to make it back then.  Last year just after Thanksgiving work sent me to Baltimore for three months.

I'm starting to think about this cake again, but its size makes it hard to make considering there's only about 10 people who show up for dinner in the family, and this kind of cake has at least 20 servings.  OK, so people could take home slices of cake, but let's face it - it's not Thanksgiving without loads of pies!

Sadly, this may be the cake that never gets made as I don't have a reason, but would love to!