Getting Started w/Booch
To make it I use cold brewed organic tea (made with zero filtered water), half black and half green, up to 1/2 cup starter from the SCOBY Hotel, and SUGAR (about 1/4 cup sugar to 1 cup of tea), plus 1 cup of water. I make it in a glass jar with a stainless steel spigot.
Wild Poppies in Keene, California
In addition to lovely weather, a great reason to take a trip in the springtime has to be the flowers one finds along the roadside. Here are some wild California Poppies we saw growing in a field:
Converted Marigold
Ieput the plant, dirt and all in a bowl of room temperature filtered water and let it soak for a few hours. Then I shook it gently, and lifted the roots right out of the soil and placed the whole plant in another bowl of water where I shook it again to get most of the soil out of the root. Again, I cut a grow sponge in half and then in half again, and used the pieces to cushion the roots, encased it in a basket, cut a slit halfway through the label and again, applied it with sticky-tacky and popped the already blossoming marigold into the seventh hole.
My view of Mt. Diablo
This is the view from my drawing table. Our gated community is home to around 9,000 people, but the layout makes it possible to still feel the wide open spaces.
There is a lot of green in Northern California. When we come here from our Arizona home every spring it is always rather shocking at first. What is even more shocking is the realization that a hundred thousand other people live in this area and look at "my" mountain. The view from my window makes it seem so remote and uninhabited.
Colored Pencil Apple
I drew this apple to test my first set of PrismaColor colored pencils around the turn of the century. Before that I had only used the cheepo ones from the 99 cent stores. There is a difference. The blender is the secret though and using the right base colors
More Girls
For the past few months we have been inundated with male cucumber flowers but girl flowers were few and far between. However, the new year brought excitement to our hydroponic garden because suddenly, we have a whole bunch of these:
Gratin Potatoes Eggplant
A nice friend and neighbor brought me a couple of beautiful eggplants. I sliced them thin over the top of my scalloped potatoes, sprinkled chili oil over that, and layered on some cheese. Next I nuked them in an air fryer until the top was crunchy and brown.
Eggplant is related to the potato, so maybe that wasn't awfully different, but it was the first time I made it that way. Usually I slice the eggplant thick, dip the slices in beaten eggs and then in romano cheese and fry them up in butter until soft.
PayPerPost
Participating in the PayPerPost experience has been fun and educational, and by now has also paid for a room with an ocean view and meals at this hotel:
