The Back Story, or Other Stuff We've Done While Not Writing

We completed our dive training, and we're now certified divers! 

This is the first open water dive at Lake Sequassen.

It was freezing, but we had hot chocolate. =)

And our second open water dive, out of Bridgeport. We swam around "The Mystery Wreck of Penfield Reef". 

 Our intrepid leader, Lori. =)

My friend Sally and I rode bikes together. Here she is, not showing her face. *shakes fist*

I fell off of Vince.   =(    Twice.

                                                                  

A local church had it's annual fair. This is "Congregational Soup" . Many people make their favorite soups, and they all get added to the cauldron... It's fantastic! I have some there for lunch, and buy 2 large containers for home. It never lasts past the next day. =)

                   

Erin and her friend getting ready for cosplay at another friends house.

Characters from Homestuck.

We went to Lake Compounce for a haunted Halloween walk. It was awesome! 

I love that he let her drive. =)

I want this detail on my own fence someday!

That's about all for now. What have you been up to? =)

Cheeseburger in Paradise

I found this recipe posted on Facebook:

Cheeseburger in Paradise by Jimmy Buffett

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground beef
1 large onion (chopped)
1/2 teaspoon of seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
a dash of worcestershire sauce
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
(I used 3/4 cheddar and 1/4 mozzarella)
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of Original Bisquick mix
2 eggs

Directions:

Heat oven to 400°F.
Spray a 9 inch pie plate with non-stick cooking spray Cook beef and
chopped onion in a skillet over medium about 10 minutes or until beef
is brown. Drain excess fat. Stir in salt, garlic powder and worcester
sauce and then spread in pie plate. Next, sprinkle the shredded cheese
on top of the beef. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs and
Bisquick. Make sure you try to get as many lumps out as you can. Pour
over meat mixture. Bake in oven for 25 minutes or until a knife comes
out clean. Cheeseburger pie.
Serves 4-5 people

So I decided to make it for my friends that we go Trick-or-Treating with. =)

It was a hit!
Thank you random person on Facebook!

Fiber Arts!

I know, I haven't posted in awhile. I'll catch you up on what I've been doing in another post. =)
Right now, I'm going to write about *right now*. =D

I started taking a weaving class, here's the studio:

And this is the loom I worked with for the first two weeks:
Me weaving!

And, this is the one I worked on last week, and will work on next week:

I took these shots before we did anything, more to come when we get done with class!

But wait! There's more!
I've been working on my knitting, and learned the basketweave stitch, thanks to YouTube! Of course, I immediately altered the pattern to 8 stiches each, by 10 rows high, and, if you can see it, I also bound off my flap in a step pattern. I'm going to add beads and a liner later.

And, while I was poking around on YouTube, I learned some crochet, too! =D

Above, a little sack purse with a drawstring, and below, a little hat for my daughter.
Because she tried to wear my purse on her head. -_-

Here's what's new...

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. (I notice that I say that far too often! I'll work on that.)
Here's what I've been doing instead...

My daughter and I have joined the Boy Scouts of America. Yep, we're girl Boy Scouts! It's called "Venture Crew" and it's a co-ed, high adventure themed troop. It's run by the kids themselves, adding just a *little* bit of extra chaos to my life. Actually, the kids aren't bad at all, it's the leader of the troop, who is chaotic-good. (Geek alert! Dungeons & Dragons reference. =D)

Right now, they're planning a scuba-diving trip for next summer. So, we've been taking scuba lessons! It's kept us pretty busy in classes after school, and diving in the pool all day last Thursday.

They're planning several fund-raisers for the trip, including baby-sitting nights between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so parents can go shopping without distraction. In the spirit of things, my daughter has signed up for the Red Cross Babysitting course. Wish her luck!

The only thing we have left to do is the outdoor dives. We have to do 4 dives, under 20 feet, for at least 20 minutes. It looks like we'll get some of that done this weekend. I think the plan is 2 dives on Saturday, but Sunday is still up in the air. (Ha-ha!)

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures, but I was in the water too! I'll try to get some on Saturday. =)

I've also signed myself up for weaving classes, and my girlfriend Sally had offered me a free floor loom! Sweet! Again, pictures to come!

Escape!

So, here's my cricket:

I picked up this cricket cage at a tag sale for $5 just because it was neat. Nice to have a use for it. =)

She seems to be OK with the cage,

Except when she's not. =D She does go back in when she's hungry, but right now, she's between the floor and the fireplace. =(

I've been giving her fresh spinach and fruit daily. Today she has a bit of my first ripe fig!

I noticed that the fig was starting to split, so I picked it. =)

Shared it with Erin, and cricket. It was so very sweet! 

I've decided that I like figs after all. Fresh and ripe figs are nothing like grocery store figs! =D

The Mark Twain Library had it's annual book fair this weekend, I bought lots of books at great prices. Erin and I have joined Venture Crew, it's a co-ed Boy Scout troop whose focus is "high adventure". We're working on a scuba trip for next year, and Monday (the last day of the sale) was our first fundraiser. We start dive certification tomorrow!

Today, I made a new batch of liquid laundry soap.

You know the drill, shred the soap, mix the stuff, boil for a bit.

Clean up the mess.

Fill up my containers. Not bad, these four containers lasted three months. That means I bought enough Fells-Naptha to last me two years! I wonder if there's enough Borax and Washing Soda to last as long. It's looking pretty good, so far.

Elephants Trunk

Party at a friends house last night, love the makeup!

We went to the Elephants Trunk for the first time today. The Elephants Trunk is a giant tag sale. =) It was great fun to explore all the stuff for sale.

I bought a garden cultivator. When I get a better picture, I'll post it for you.

Of course, it started to rain. And rain, and rain...

 

You can see how deep the water got, and my cultivator wheel next to her foot. We were all holding down the tent, to keep it from blowing away.

Erin saved a life!

Now we have a new pet. =)

Comic Conn Saturday

Gamzee Makara:

 Scary things outside at ComicConn, are you sure we have to go in?

I got a kiss from a Storm Trooper! 

*swoon*

Slowly we picked up other Homestuck fans.

Adding a few here and there.

 Almost all together now.

 Just make yourselves right at home...

As the entertainment walks right through the door!

A couple more girls. By now, I've started taking pictures of all the people taking pictures of Erin Gamzee and friends. 

The temporary horns finally came off. Still cute, Gamzee!

Eventually, Dr. Who and friend stopped by to chat.

Some aliens from "V".

 Two Thors and a Mr. T.

He held that pose for a really long time, I was very impressed!

Wolverine.

There were others, but he was the best.

Ironman.

Squeee! R2D2!

No, there was nobody inside, it was just a display, but so cool.

And friend.

Anybody know the mane of this character?

And a good time was had by all!