Drunken Pumpkins?

Good Morning All!
Hope this post finds you all well!
Hope you all have had a productive week. :)

I think we shall start with a....
BC&P Update:
It appears that 10 of the 12 pumpkins that were planted have managed to hang on. It would have been nice if all twelve had survived but I guess I will have to be happy with ten. I am hoping that the two that didn't make it were two different ones and not two of the same type. I planted 4 "sorcerer" - standard pumpkin, 2 "cotton candy" - small white pumpkins, 2 "cinderella" - squat red pumpkins, 2 "jaharadale" - a blue variety, and 2 "silver moons" - mid sized sliver/white pumpkin. My planter tray got turned around while I was putting them in the ground.....so I'm hoping that they were 'spread out'. *fingers crossed*  They are doing well though. There are four (the sorcerer, I think) that are doing very well and have gotten big. Only time will tell. :)
My broom corn is doing well. It's growing like a weed. And at this point it still looks like one too! LOL! I've got many plans for this stuff, so here's hoping for a plentiful bounty.
I want to thank everyone for the positive comments and well wishes for my pumpkins! Hopefully all the positive reinforcement will help them grow big and strong. :P

pumpkins - week 3

broom corn - week 3 (minus the pine cones)

I have gotten the hands on my Scare-Me-Crow changed out and they look great! However, these new hands have a little more weight then the last pair. So I think I'm going to have to add a little more wire to the arms for support. I used wire so that they could be posed. But they just don't want to stay up now. I think if I wrap another 'braided' wire from the shoulder to the wrist it should give it enough support to be able to move them around. The size looks great! And he seems to be happy with them. I am as well! LOL

before - they seem so small now

after - the perfect size

And now for something quite amusing......

Adventures In Mead Making.

Last Sunday I finally got the fresh fruit for my mead. So I embarked on a year long journey. I prepared everything. Got things lined up, separated and ready to begin. I then cleaned all the utensils that would be used with a bleach solution. Cleaned and prepped the fruit. Warmed the honey to make it easier to pour. Heated the water, prepared the yeast.....Then I began following the directions (from Storm the Castle).

The water was heated and the honey added. The fruit, blackberries and blueberries, were added to the gallon jug and then the water and honey were added. Let me tell you, shaking a full gallon jug for an entire ten minutes was a chore! Ten minutes is an eternity! LOL! Then the yeast was added, then a gentle swirl of the jug to mix it up. And then the 'bubbling apperatus' was added. YAY! Completed. Whew - everything went smoothly and I didn't even have a big mess to clean up. I then wrote everything down and taped it to the jug....it's important to keep track of everything. It needs a cool, dry, dark place. So it was placed in a box and covered with a small kitchen towel. About thirty minutes later it started bubbling. I was very pleased with the experience.....up till that point. I went to bed after checking on it one last time - still bubbling (like it's supposed to). At 3 am my dogs (my daughter's dog to be exact) decided I should be up to let them out. So I stumbled to the kitchen and let them out - no lights as they weren't needed, so I thought. When they came in they all went over to my baker's rake and stood there. So I reluctantly turned lights on - WOW! That was a mistake. Some where between 11:30 and 3 my mead exploded. Now even with the mess it made I was still impressed. I have 18 foot ceilings....guess what was on the ceiling? Yep, blueberries and blackberries. As well as the baker's rake and everything around it. Apparently, a blueberry was sucked up into the hole in the rubber stopper and the pressure continued to build until it popped the lid. So I cleaned up and then took the jug to the sink to clean it up and clear the airlock. Guess what happens when you release the stopper from a bottle that is fermenting? Yes, the second 'boom' of the night. All over the sink, counter, wall, curtains, the no longer clean dishes in the drainer. So again, I cleaned everything up. Got everything unplugged and removed some of the liquid and closed it all back up. Back to the baker's rake. Tucked in and bubbling away. The rest of the week has gone along without any other issues - thank goodness! Next weekend it will be time to rack the mead for the first time. That's simply siphoning the liquid into another jug and letting it continue to ferment. In my haste to complete the mead I forgot to take a reading to measure the alcohol content......I have no idea how potent this batch will eventually turn out to be. This will be an ongoing post....a live and learn experience. :)  Wish me luck and patience! LOL!!

equipment / ingredients gathered

ready to begin the fermenting (notice how high

the liquid/foam is? this is pre-explosion)

wrapped in a plastic bag for 'darkness'

boxed - just to make sure it stays dark

Yesterday my grand daughter came to visit (translation - spend the night). While I was mowing the grass I had her water all of my plants. It was so cute. She took it so seriously. I gave her my watering can and put her to work. Nanna had to help since the watering can holds two gallons of water. Then Nanna figured out if she only put a little water in it Shaylor could do it herself. I have a lot of plants (my mother would be so proud) and it kept her busy for well over an hour. :)

Shaylor and the little red watering can :)

**RANT** Consider yourself warned! LOL

Sometimes people just irritate me to no end. They are rude and just don't think. And when artist do this it just really pisses me off.

Last weekend my wife, daughter in law and a close friend went to the 'baby expo' here in Georgia. They had a good time and got a lot of crap. Apparently they have vendors there that run the 'artistic' venue. My wife stopped to look at the jewelry that this woman (couple?) had to offer. My wife spoke with her at some length and told her how I was an artist and on and on. Now, when I go to shows (galleries, exhibitions, craft shows, etc.) I like to get business cards from artist's that I like. I also give my card out. My wife knows this and collects cards for me when I'm not there. She also passes mine out, which I really appreciate. Usually when you hand someone your business card, especially another artist, they give you theirs. Well, not this woman. My wife had to ask her for one. Even after the semi-lengthy conversation they just had this woman looked at my wife and said "I'll give you one only if you don't copy my work". I looked at my wife and said 'what'? At first I thought she was being funny...but my wife assured me she was being serious. My wife was shocked and didn't know how to respond to the comment. She simply left and put it out of her head. So I told my wife that if she ever found herself in that situation again she should simply retrieve my business card and walk away. Now I understand the 'I don't want to share cause it's mine' attitude. I had it for many years. However, being an artist I finally realized that by sharing with other artists we all learn something and make our own work that much better. I would never steal some one's ideas but to have someone say such a thing just really grinds me. It's really a shame too....I've looked at this woman's jewelry and she has some really nice pieces. Too bad she has a crappy attitude to go along with them. I am not posting her name or website simply because I refuse to promote people who think that this is acceptable. I am seriously considering whether I want to contact this woman and tell her how disappointed I am with what she said.

Ok, I'm done ranting now. Am I the only one that feels this way? Or have any of you had a similar experience? I'd really like to know. Let me know what you think.

Just wanted to share this......My buppies waiting for me to finish cleaning up the mess my mead made. :)

That's all for now. Next time I'll update the Wee Stuffies, The Moxie kit and everything else I'm working on that I didn't get to in this post.

Have a great week!

Be Good, Be Safe, Be Happy!!

TTFN

we're at 115 posts...seem to be stuck at 33 members though.

oh yeah, THERE'S ONLY 136 DAYS TIL HALLOWEEN! ;)