What did you do today? - 2020 version

Status
Not open for further replies.
I fixed up an electric boat trolling motor that someone gave me that didn't work. After unscrewing the power head lid, I saw the crossed/burnt wiring that had caused a short. It was also missing the two battery connector clamps.

I found an old set of jumper cables hanging in the garage (not used for years), that already had good clamps attached. I cut off the clamps from one end, stripped the wires, and mounted new electrical connectors to them, re-routed the wires so they weren't touching, and re-assembled the motor head...works well !
 
I made soap yesterday which was a lot of fun. I'm already plotting my next batch.

Today I'm going to a friend's house to wrap her Christmas presents, because she hates it and I love it. I used to do it every year for her but she moved about 30 miles away 5 years ago. This is the first time we've done it since then. Retirement is awesome!
 
ugeauxgirl said:
I made soap yesterday which was a lot of fun. I'm already plotting my next batch.
Click to expand...

Excellent! Hot process or cold process? What was your recipe? Any scent? Do you have a special mold?
 
Reading through the posts are always fun. So much to do and in reality so little time to get them done.

Congrat >> Calico

RobbieB >>> looks good and projects like that are so much fun. Keep us posted, please.

Went to ranch and worked on some fencing (buck&rail) and redid a shelve at the cabin. I fired up the wood stove and had a very solitude day. I made lunch there and just enjoyed life.
 
Last edited:
Gumby said:
Excellent! Hot process or cold process? What was your recipe? Any scent? Do you have a special mold?
Click to expand...
Hot process. I was afraid to use a mold because it would come out too thick, but those came out pretty good! Lemongrass. I made it with coconut oil, olive oil, lard and shortening. It came out a little soft. I'm going to try to make a harder bar next time. Also the guys want one, so less moisturizing stuff in that one.

IMG_20201215_161133897.jpegIMG_20201216_081815307.jpeg
 
ugeauxgirl said:
Hot process. I was afraid to use a mold because it would come out too thick, but those came out pretty good! Lemongrass. I made it with coconut oil, olive oil, lard and shortening. It came out a little soft. I'm going to try to make a harder bar next time. Also the guys want one, so less moisturizing stuff in that one.

View attachment 37015View attachment 37016
Click to expand...

That's some good looking soap!

I have made all of our bar soap for several years. I've settled on a recipe of 50% olive oil, 25% palm oil and 25% coconut oil. I find that it strikes a good balance between conditioning, cleansing and hardness/durability. I use essential oils for scent - I prefer rosemary, but the young wife prefers bergamot, so we alternate. The lye crystals, palm oil and essential oils are from Amazon, and the olive oil and coconut oil from the grocery. I make a 5 lb batch every five months and leave it to dry in the garage, while we use the prior batch that I have fetched in from the garage. If you've not yet found it on your own, I recommend the calculator at SoapCalc. I dial down the water % from the default 38% to 36%. I use old wooden cigar boxes lined with plastic wrap for a mold and then just cut it into bars with a kitchen knife.
 
Last edited:
I put the camera on a tripod and set the interval timer to take a photo of the snowfall every two minutes out the living room window, I'll see how that turns out in a movie. And DW has a large pot of chili simmering on the stove. In more good news, the dentist's office called and rescheduled her crown installation from tomorrow to Friday so we don't have to go out in the worst of the aftermath.
 
^ WOW! I would like to see that movie of it snowing.
 
I've been experimenting lately with jerky recipes and today's little batch was the best yet. I'm about 95% of the way to perfect IMHO and looking forward to getting it nailed and being able to make larger batches.
 
Cooking club. First try at spinach and artichoke pastry tree. Leftover filling so filled the pastry scraps. 20201216_131842_HDR.jpeg
 
Patched a few dings and primed the new half bath in the basement. No fixtures are installed so it only took an hour or so. Will paint it later.
 
I have spent the day recording my tenor parts for the church's Christmas Concert - ten carols and an anthem. The choir director will collect everyone's parts and blend them together. I listen to the piano accompaniment on my desktop using headphones, while I record myself singing on my phone. I find it difficult to sing alone, and much prefer being able to hear the other voice parts as I sing.

The worst part of the day was trying to get the .wav files out of my phone and to the choir director. In the past, I have been able to email them, but for some odd reason, that no longer works. So I spent an inordinate amount of time unsuccessfully trying to figure out some way to network my desktop and phone so I could transfer the files and email from my desktop. In the end, I found that I could text the files directly to him. Given that I have never actually texted anyone, that was news to me. Arrgh.

Maybe I'll get over my current crankiness in time to actually watch the concert next week.
 
Gumby said:
I have spent the day recording my tenor parts for the church's Christmas Concert - ten carols and an anthem. The choir director will collect everyone's parts and blend them together. I listen to the piano accompaniment on my desktop using headphones, while I record myself singing on my phone. I find it difficult to sing alone, and much prefer being able to hear the other voice parts as I sing.
Click to expand...

I'm impressed! My understanding is that it takes dozens of hours just to combine the audio for one song, so that's a lot of work for your director. I tried rehearsing for one virtual choir and, like you, found singing alone very unsatisfying. So I haven't actually done a recording.

Today was not what I planned. Our little doggie hasn't been himself the last few days and then he yelped in pain a couple of times last night and again this morning, so I took him to the vet. He has a bulging disc causing back pain - apparently quite common in little dogs who like to jump up and (especially down) on things. He also had a cyst between two toenails. So he got shots of antibiotics, steroids, and painkillers, and I got three bottles of pills to give him over the next two weeks. He's also not allowed to go for walks (business only) or run to the door when the UPS guy comes for two weeks, so that pretty much means he's going to be either in a lap or in a crate. And no more jumping on and off the tall guest bed or the back porch - ever. Fortunately he's definitely feeling a lot better already.
 
I completed all of my remote gifting (all packages and gifts mailed or ordered) and we completed all of our indoor decorations yesterday. So today is a (with the exception of a 4 mile walk this morning to justify the later physical inactivity) do nothing but snack, read, play with tech, and doze off in the man cave while watching films containing lots of combat and explosions :).

Walt34 said:
I put the camera on a tripod and set the interval timer to take a photo of the snowfall every two minutes out the living room window, I'll see how that turns out in a movie.
Click to expand...

I wish I had seen this earlier - this is interesting, I might try something similar with my new camcorder.
 
Shoveled a lot of snow. Not the Snowmageddon the weather channel warned about, but enough to make me sore. I'd guess about 7" in the flat parts, more in the drifts on the lee side of the house.
 
Walt34 said:
I put the camera on a tripod and set the interval timer to take a photo of the snowfall every two minutes out the living room window, I'll see how that turns out in a movie.
Click to expand...

This was a dismal failure because I didn't bother to do the math. And the embarrassing part is, it's grade-school arithmetic.:facepalm:

Lessee, decisions to be made before setting up the camera:

1. How long do you want this movie to be? Five minutes. (In hindsight that's way too long but bear with me.)

2. How long of a period do you want to condense into five minutes? Five hours, 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. (The daylight begins a rapid falloff then.)

3. How many frames should represent one minute of movie time? Ah, this one's a toughie, because I have no idea what one number looks like over another because I've never done a time-condensed movie before.

I made another major boo boo, in shooting full size frames in RAW as is my habit instead of smaller frames in jpg. This made the total size of the images an absurd number instead of something reasonable.

Obviously I have some reading to do.

Out of all those stills, only a few of them were of any interest. Oh well, lesson learned.
 

Attachments

  • snowblowing2020.jpg
    snowblowing2020.jpg
    93.9 KB · Views: 53
Played golf, went to lunch with my friends.....:cool:........talked with my nephew in Connecticut right after he SHOVELED SNOW!! LOL!!!
 
Walt34 said:
This was a dismal failure because I didn't bother to do the math. And the embarrassing part is, it's grade-school arithmetic.:facepalm:

Lessee, decisions to be made before setting up the camera:

1. How long do you want this movie to be? Five minutes. (In hindsight that's way too long but bear with me.)

2. How long of a period do you want to condense into five minutes? Five hours, 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. (The daylight begins a rapid falloff then.)

3. How many frames should represent one minute of movie time? Ah, this one's a toughie, because I have no idea what one number looks like over another because I've never done a time-condensed movie before.

I made another major boo boo, in shooting full size frames in RAW as is my habit instead of smaller frames in jpg. This made the total size of the images an absurd number instead of something reasonable.

Obviously I have some reading to do.

Out of all those stills, only a few of them were of any interest. Oh well, lesson learned.
Click to expand...

I used photopills to calculate some time lapses. They have an iPhone app or this online calculator also calculates it. https://www.photopills.com/calculators/timelapse
 
I planed my deck supports flat. Re-used old 4x6 pressure treated from the old deck and they sorta "twisted in the interim.

Tomorrow the deck boards go down.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

D
Planning my last 20 years, how much to spend. (Part 2)
2
Replies
35
Views
3K
llolly
L
Janet H
  • Sticky
Forums 101 - posting, accounts, basics (revised for 2024)
Replies
22
Views
105
Janet H
Janet H
Gumby
Latest Inflation Numbers and Discussion
17 18 19
Replies
451
Views
28K
Chuckanut
Chuckanut
walkinwood
15 Years!
Replies
21
Views
3K
F.I.R.E User
F
A
Laguna Woods Village, CA or Leisure World (Seal Beach) Anyone?
Replies
4
Views
517
Jimonlimon
J

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom