Fresh Produce

We've been busy lately. The garden and fruit trees are bearing fruit and we're in the throws of canning. I just love this time of year, even though it gets quite hectic. Wilma and I were both raised in households that had gardens and canning was the norm. Just like home. None of my co-workers get it. Not many of the younger generation do. It's a shame. I like seeing the new interest that some of the younger ones have. A renewed interest in eating better and reducing dependence on the convenient pre-fab foods is good. That's part of my interest, too. Studies have linked a correlation between cancers and the emergence of the "Western Diet" that we all grew up with. I love eating the products of our land, too. It just seems like the right thing to do.

Wilma and I have been doing this long enough that we don't speak much when we have the canning wheels in motion. We each know what the steps are. Depending on what the product is, one will be in charge and the other is the sous chef. It's not a perfect process, though. We're still not mind readers and sometimes we miss. It all works out in the end, though.

Critter Time

Recently I found two pictures that I wanted to sketch from. I hesitate because more than one instructor has said to never sketch from a photo. However, it's my sketchbook and my process, and I really want to sketch them.

The first was a walking porcupine, from a wildlife-related Facebook group. Hard to say what distance he actually walked, but for one shutter speed shot he was walking. I loved the humble face he has and, of course, I couldn't capture all of it true to life. He seems huggable! Then I received a mailing from a bird watching organization and their calendar had this chick on it. Again, I just HAD to try to sketch it. His legs were even longer than my sketch captured them.

Then there's the Japanese Beetle. He was a life study, rather a death study. We've been invaded this year! This critter is a new one to me. References state that they do no long term harm to plants, but eat the fruit and skeletize the leafs. They swarm over our peaches, pears and blackberries and eat the fruit to its stem! They gorge themselves so much that they are not fast to escape when I approach. I can shake the fruit they are on and they fall into a bucket I have with soapy water and a lid. The picture is a pile of their dead bodies, collected over only a few days, on just two trees! They are a beautifully colored beetle and I can't bring myself to hate them. They don't cling to me as the swarm around me, and their sluggish take-off is comical. They also eat only one fruit at a time, leaving the others alone for me to pick.

Long Weekend in St. Paul

A while back I had a technical conference in St.Paul. The conference was Tuesday/Wednesday. We like the area, so we pulled off Monday as vacation and made a short 3-day weekend vacation. We've been here once before, so we had some places to re-visit and some new ones to explore. Sketching during a vacation can be a tough assignment. Time is short. However, I did find some time at a neat casual restaurant right on the Mississippi River edge that I could sketch. Then I simply listed the places we went, as a memory jogger.

While we were chilling out, a new tug came upriver and lingered around some barges next to the restaurant. The tug never exactly halted, but was slow enough for me to put together a rough sketch. These new tugs amaze me! This one had two engines and was not noisy and yet could probably push the Empire State Building down the river. Such understated power.

Ditch Burning Time

It's Springtime! We like to burn the tall dead grass in our steep ditch to clean it up and prepare it for new growth. This always is a spontaneous decision. We need a time when we have the time, and the wind is low, and the grass hasn't grown much yet, and it's not too dry and not too wet. It's like an ah-ha moment and we scramble to get it done.

In Shawnee County we are required to have a Burn Permit and we need to "call in" the burn before we start it. This year the Fire Station was empty (out on a call) when I went there, and the "ah ha" moment was upon us. The conditions were perfect so we went ahead and did the burn. No close calls.

There is just something about burning grasses. The smoke, the flame, the sounds, the physical activity needed to follow it with tools and water to keep it tamed. I've always liked it, even though at times the outcome isn't good. I HATE talking to firemen as they put out our uncontrolled fire. Not an issue this year.

With this post I also celebrate 10 YEARS OF BLOGGING HERE! Can't believe it. Maybe I haven't been consistent but I've posted each of those years. The climate has changed in the blogging world. Few if any visitors. Few if any comments. The social media options for keeping a web presence has eclipsed this old style blog, but I still prefer this format. I miss the old days when I had back-and-forth dialog with viewers. I may decide to pull the plug at some time on this blog but, for now, I'll still post. It's a process that feeds a need.

KATY Trail - Almost

It's early in the year but it's starting to be bicycle weather. Rita and I were talking about how much we love bicycle trails and concocted a plan to get together, with Wilma and Jana, and hit a trail somewhere. I recommended the KATY trail in Missouri. Wilma and I have been on parts of it over the years and I wanted them, as newbies to this sport, to experience a top-notch rail-to-trail. We made plans for a place to stay and figured we'd bike in the day and base ourselves at a place to stay, and pulled a couple days vacation to create a long weekend. Rocheport fits the bill.


Unfortunately for me, the week prior to the trip I over-exert my right knee and it's barely functional. I can walk - but no biking. Plan B: I drive the other three to and from the trail and I use the down time, while they are on the trail, to SKETCH. This is a great compromise and it works out fine. I still miss riding, but the other three get in some great riding time and we have plenty of time over meals to catch up on things and the evenings are all spent doing things together.

We spend time in Columbia. Being a college town it has plenty of things to do. We wanted to catch Pokey Lafarge the first night at The Blue Note, but he cancelled due to illness. We caught other live music though.

Then there's the FOOD! Restaurants at both Rocheport and Columbia fit the bill. Missouri University at Columbia is their state's land grant college, so it has Vet Med and agriculture. That means a retail room that sells ice cream! Buck's Ice Cream, with Tiger Stripe ice cream as one offering. We hit all the retail stores in Rocheport, numbering almost a dozen. Many artist studios.

Great long weekend. Hope to do trips like this again. Hopefully do trips where I can ride, too, but these sketches would not have happened if I were in the saddle. Too many ways to have a good time.

Dover, Kansas

Dover has the closest dealer for my Zipper mower, so I get out there once in a while for mower repair and maintenance. If the cafe is open, I drop by and get a coffee to-go for my drive home. I knew I wanted to sketch the cafe some day.

The game plan today was to an Urban Sketchers Kansas City sketch crawl in downtown KC. However, with forecasted temps in the mid 20's they pushed it back a week. I wanted to sketch, and I've been meaning to get out to Dover, a small town 25 miles west of us, to sketch their cafe. Today's the day! I need to buy some supplies to breath life into my old zero turn Legacy so I figured I'd stop by Schwant Tractor for those supplies and then we'd stop by the Sommerset Hall Cafe for lunch. That place had near 30 customers! Glad to see it doing so well.


I attend several of the Urban Sketchers Kansas City outings because they are only 60 miles away. Topeka has no activity, and Lawrence is only 15 miles away but Urban Sketchers Lawrence has limited outings. I prefer less-urban sketching, though. I grew up outside of town, and live today like that. I am more attached to the smaller towns, and feel no bond with a metropolis.

Then Jessica Wesolek started the blog http://smalltownsketchers.com. I learned my watercolor pencil journaling technique from her a decade ago, so I just had to submit something for her to consider posting to show her I'm still in the game. Supposedly including #smalltownsketchers in this blog will announce my intentions. I know nothing of hashtags so I'll take her word for it.

USk KC March Sketch Crawl

Time for Urban Sketchers Kansas City sketch crawl. This time it's The Plaza. Wilma and I always like going to The Plaza to stroll around and see the interesting high-end retail shops. The architecture is unique. If I had taken architecture classes I could explain it better. The trip info claims it "reflects a distinctive Seville Spain theme". I'll go with that. We are encouraged to make and wear name tags with the USk KC designation. That sure makes it easier to identify who we are in a crowd and makes it easier to strike up a conversation.

I found the top of a parking garage with a 360 degree view with an edge wall the right height to hold my gear. It was sunny and jacket weather, so it was a nice outing. Met a sketching mom with pre-teen daughter who came up after I was settled in. Both were sketching.

Ground zero for this outing was The Unity Temple. I don't know it's background or affiliation, but this was a great place to meet. After we sketched, we met up again to show and talk. They put is in a small theatre-type room, which worked great. Then many of us stayed to eat at Eden Alley, who specialize in vegetarian and vegan cuisine. A bit expensive, but great food. I had a Chickpea Rancheros, which was spices and a bit of heat. Plenty of flavor and texture.

This group is the best-run USk group I've sketched with. The pull off the sketch crawl, I think four volunteers were involved, and they are always researching future places to sketch. Those who attend I find to be very approachable, even if their large number is a bit intimidating. I'll be attending more sketch crawls.

Another Batch

Many years ago my daughter-in-law made me a batch of aftershave for part of a Christmas present. I found that I really liked it. It doesn't have the strong heavily-perfumed presence of commercially made aftershaves. Many months later I needed a refill and she said it was easy to make and gave me the recipe. It was a recipe of rough proportions and left room for interpretation, but it worked!  Now it's what I use most of the time. 

I found that recipes vary a great deal in the liquids used, and the ratio of essence oils to the main liquids ranges all over the place. I kept with the pine needles and eucalyptus essence oils. So many to choose from. Maybe the next batch will have a change.

The use of rum intrigues me. It's in the shaving soap I just bought, too. It must be part of the heritage of men's toiletries. I don't really go for rum drinks. Rum and coke tasted good when I was in college but not so much now. So I don't have any emotional ties to the rum smell, but I do like it in shaving products. I may research that more.

Urban Sketchers KC February Sketch Crawl

Well, I actually missed this month's crawl due to the bookbinding class I was in. I'm not complaining, but I did want to go to the Roasterie Factory coffee shop and roasting factory. I've wanted to see their facility for years. So, when my class was over Saturday, before I drove the 60 miles home, I went there by myself and did my own sketch crawl. I love the plane on the roof but didn't feel like going outside in the cold to sketch it. A hot coffee and PB cookie sounded much better while I sketched.

I love the coffeehouse environment. Mid-afternoon Saturday they had quite a crowd. Retail shop with gift-type items. Factory that gives tours. Cafe.  I just wish they had a place to set and see the plane. The Roasterie sells coffee nationwide now. I've watched them grow over the years. Several restaurants in Topeka now use them. They do good work.

New Frontier

While in KC for the bookbinding class I decide to check out a new donut shop; Donutology. I ran into them on-line because they now sell coffee from The Roasterie, where the sketch crawl was this month. I had my donut and coffee before class and didn't have time to sketch. After class I just had to go back and sketch. Since I was there, I decided to finish the sketch inside while having coffee and another donut. That extra donut is a secret, though.Mum's the word.

In addition to the traditional pastry offerings they let you choose the donut/frosting/topping/sprinkle combination and have a creation that stuffs a donut cone with ice cream (I think I have that all right). They have individual glass-bottle milk, in flavors that include cotton candy. Very creative.

I had the good fortune to meet and talk with the man who put one of their donuts in space! I was familiar with the story from reading their website. They have a looped video that shows the story. A customer close to the display told me the man who did it was right there beside us, and introduced me. We had a nice chat. They thought the weather balloon would go up and come down within 10 miles of the launch site and they'd be done within an hour. Wrong! The weather balloon with the donuts and camera and GPS transceiver went to 97000 feet. The flight lasted three hours 47 minutes, and landed 273 miles away in another State. The jet stream had fun with it. The GPS froze up and didn't thaw out until it landed. Quite a story. I'll be back.

Another bookbinding class

I love bookbinding! I'm in the learning process, and every class I take has something to be learned. No two teachers do things the same way, and they each have their own take on the subject. So, when I recently found out Kansas City was holding a two-session weekend class, I signed up in a hurry. It was this weekend and well worth it!

The host organization is the Print League of KC, which is a recently-born community printing organization.They recently got their start with the help of crowd funding and have a nice facility with a few presses (don't ask me what, because I haven't learned printing yet).  They also offer classes to pass along the skills. The instructor for this class was Thayer Bray, a local artist who is an accomplished book binder.

We learned three book structures over the course of two 3-hour sessions. There's just something soothing about working with your hands and a few tools and some paper. We learned how to use a vintage paper cutting machine. Cuts such a clean edge. Intimidating, but once you understand how it works, it's an enjoyable tool to use. I love the atmosphere in their shop, too. Creative energy everywhere, and the aroma of printing ink and machines. Industrial meets art. Today we had a snowstorm hit while we were in class. Nice to watch, slick to drive in.



Here's a picture of the class projects, being inspected by our household's local feline, Cosmo.

Too Good To Be True

Cleaning the shower has proven to be the toughest task. It takes strong chemicals to get it partially clean. That's been my approach for years. I have heard of the white vinegar/Dawn blend for the do-it-yourself approach. It sounds too simple. It can't work well. I kept up with the harsh chemicals until one day when we ran out. Then I remembered the white vinegar/Dawn. A quick Google search yielded a recipe. I mixed some up last weekend and tried it.

The smell is a bit weird. Not harsh like chemical but not like perfume. It squirts out thick and it takes some work. I left it for 30 minutes. Then, with a little elbow grease, the softened scum cleans right off! I wouldn't have believed it. The glass doors clean up great, and a water-resistant residue is left behind to keep it clean longer. Note: I had to touch it up with a Windex-type cleaner to clean a little soap residue off.

I read about heating the vinegar after I used the first batch. Maybe the second batch I'll try it. The two ingredients seem to react and pressurize the squirt bottle. It leaks out some. Maybe this stuff is best mixed as you need it and not kept around. I'll know in time. This stuff will be my go-to for the tough scum.

A Cold One

The middle of the continent has been cold today, and for another couple days to come. Nothing like what the east coast has had lately, but cold, nonetheless. I haven't managed to keep the woodpile restocked. So, it was time tonight to restock. That takes the wheelbarrow and a lot of cloths.

Last winter I was finally tired of getting cold while shoveling the driveway, so I bought my first pair of insulated bib overalls. I've always wanted a pair, but I'd look and the high price and just keep walking. After the past few cold snow shoveling workouts I had my justification.

 Tonight was the first time to use them, and they performed marvelously! The outside temperature was 5 degrees F and with a 17 mph wind the wind chill was -14 degrees. With my biking balaclava and a hood pullover, heavy expedition-style gloves and heavy coat, I was comfy. I always like the challenge of getting the layers right for the temperature at hand. No need for a base layer since I'd be working and could just go inside if I get cold.

I love the cold, as long as you can dress for it. I took a 4 mile hike on the Landon Trail this past weekend, right after the snow hit. Trudged through 4" of snow to get to the Wakarusa River bridge. 20 degrees F. It was a nice time to be hiking.

Electrical Work

I don't like ALL handy-work but I do like electrical work. I like the tools, and the process, and the finished result. Part of the appeal is that it makes me more that a typical office worker. More than a pencil pusher. I can actually DO something useful. Over the years the list of electrical projects has grown and with each one I learn a little more. If speed was needed we should just hire an electrician but if time is available I'll take them on.

In Wilma's sewing room she needed another outlet and to have a cable TV outlet extended. I thought about how to do it for a while. For way too long. The TV cable was easy, but the 115V outlet took some time to figure out. I thought I could install one in the middle of an existing run but it proved impractical. Then I noticed an outlet close that I could tap into. Once I had a plan, it went fine. The back of the wall is open studs so I didn't have to fish it in. I HATE to fish in through studs. With that in mind, I guess I should say that I like electrical projects as long as they aren't too difficult.

So, this project is done. When I saw the tools all laying around, I knew I had to sketch them. It's late at night now, and I was sketching. When Wilma figured what I was losing sleep to do, she gave me 'that look'. That's OK.  I got the itch . . . I need to scratch it!

January Sketch Crawl

Time to try a sketch crawl with Urban Sketchers Kansas City. I've heard of them but with Lawrence being closer and having their own chapter, I've been going on their outings. They've been quiet since November, though, and I'm getting the itch to get out and sketch.

The outing was centered at The Link, which is the elevated walkway joining Union Station with Crown Center and a couple motels. It's a fun area, so we drove to KC for the crawl. Wilma hit the shops as I sketched. Seems like a fine group. Their membership is over 220 now and they were organized, with maybe 20 in attendance.

Outside temperature was a windy 20F. The walkway was warmer than freezing but still cold. It was a nice sketch time. Plenty of young families because the main traveling display at Union Station is Legos, so the kids love it. We walked through the Union Station lobby to absorb the sunlight coming in. It's a spacious lobby that still has the old feel. The active restaurant and the coffee shop and Science Center and traveling display keep it active.

I used my Lamy Joy with the new Fine nib upgrade. Liz Steel likes this combination and I can see why. The extra 'give' make for a very pleasant sketching experience. Great ink flow. I like the variable width of line. Not extreme like a flex nib, but still it's better than a stiff nib or a fiber point pen. I'll probably rotate between my Pilot Nikoma Falcon and this Lamy.

Holidays 2017

I've had a quiet spell as far as sketching goes. I finally took the time to sketch a black walnut shell that I've been keeping since Thanksgiving. This will represent the holidays for me. I was the favorite uncle for this holiday visit and took my great niece and nephew to the park a few times to play and walk around. We collected some black walnuts we found and I showed them how to take the husk off and break them open and pick out the nut meat. They had now idea you could eat something you found on the ground. We spend time coloring, too. We don't get to see them more that once a year, so at their young age every meeting is a big new experience. That broken nut shell represents a lot of family time.

This sketch also represents the holiday because of our families traditions of having walnuts around with the nut cracker and picks. Wilma and I both had this in our youth and still have it around in our home during the Winter. I was raised with home-grown black walnuts that mom and dad would spend HOURS processing so that mom could add them to banana bread, cookies and cakes.

From an artistic standpoint that nut shell jumped out at me. There isn't one straight line in the whole structure. The shading expands quite a range of values and textures. It just had to be sketched. I've been keeping it around and finally took some time on New Year's Day to finally memorialize it. This was my first sketch with the upgraded fine nib in my Lamy Joy. Much better feel!