life with a little pizzazz
Jennifer Bartlett‘s Rhapsody inspires these small art panels crafted at home by dad and daughter. The kids at school will be crafting pieces for a large installation as part of art literacy. We get to play and work on the projects as a trial run for the classrooms.
You might remember our Chinese Dragon Puppets from a previous art literacy program.
I like to combine my daughter’s spelling words into instant stories as I quiz her. It is made more fun, since the words must be used in the order listed in her book. Does this help with her spelling? I’m not sure but it makes listing words more fun. Here are the words for this week.
The League of Heroes is led by Sergeant Egglatch from the team’s HQ yacht. Egglatch has doubt that the fatigue and debt weighing the team down is due to the ongoing Blood Wars. He also has vague recollections of an anxious foreign agent’s bargain advice that may have led the League’s troubles.
He would like to condemn the recent intrigue on Soxoff, the villain spotted last week eating cantaloupe during a sewage flood at a Paris train depot. Soxoff may appear to be a cordial individual, especially while wearing a subtle disguise, but don’t be fooled. This villain, according to the Heroes News Bureau, is reminiscent of every bad adjective. He is known for his long-winded and hot-tempered monologue. He seems just the type to have set the environment for Egglatch’s angst.
Walked past newly spread mulch twice in one day with two different people. Both noted the widespread aroma but differed on the cause before being made aware of the fresh mulch. One noted the stink and equated it with manure; the second enjoyed the delicious scent of brown sugar. “Brown sugar” led to talk of gardens and the sweet, textured fragrance of a rich garden soil.
While I have nothing against manure and actually enjoy its scent in reasonable exposures, I much prefer the brown sugar reference and am now looking forward to getting my hands into our garden.
A fun evening crafting Chinese dragon puppets. All the students at the school will be making them soon, so we played to build samples and figure out ideas for materials needed.
Three souls expressed in our creative clan of dragons.
There is nothing like homemade chicken soup for a cold fall day and it is even better with carrots from the garden and baby bok choy from the farmer’s market.
This is my long-term memory for another household chore. Most of my other household fixes are held in memory for me on my YouTube.com channel.
Our studio has a large A/C and Heater unit that was no longer heating. The A/C seemed to be working fine and the fan worked when on heat but the heating element would not heat up. I had opened it up and pulled out the control box a few days ago but only today got back to figuring out the problem. Of course the neighbor came over to help out and offer his expertise.
Everything seemed fine but we discovered that the heating element was not getting any power. Backing up from the element we checked for current across the temperature control — none. We then bypassed the temperature control and the element started warming up.
Next step was to remove the temperature control and investigate. My neighbor had left and so I tried to figure it out on my own. Not knowing for sure what the problem was, I started looking into the temperature control itself leaving the thermostat out of the picture for now.
In the temperature control I noticed the connection was completed when a lever was raised as the thermostat did its thing and completed the circuit on the connection side of the temperature control. I turned the temperature control dial to watch how this lever was adjusted as I turned the dial to “warm.” Seeing which way it moved, I turned the thermostat adjustment screw to move the lever in the direction I’d seen the temperature control dial move it. After making incremental changes I reconnected the thermostat and tested. Now the heating element had power and our frigid studio had heat again.
Of course I don’t think I’ve taken care of everything. I expect that now I won’t get any A/C due to the adjustment I made. I haven’t checked this yet since the studio needed some heat for a while. At worst I figure I’ll have to adjust it again when we get warm weather. I can get a replacement for this Ranco C21 which, it seems, is officially called a C21 Single Stage Control.
If you have any advise for me or I need to correct any of my description, please leave a comment.
Refreshing to see a site that accepts the reality that few, if any, users will ever read the lengthy terms of service. TeamSnap makes this clear if you read the small text below the Create New Team button.
Even though I probably won’t read them, by clicking this button I agree to the TeamSnap Terms of Service anyway.
They maintain this realistic viewpoint and casual tone in the TeamSnap privacy policy when referring to their promise not to share information with anyone.
The only exception to this might be if we’re required to share your information with law enforcement. Or maybe if there was some cataclysmic global event like an asteroid strike and we thought it might help. But short of that, your information is 100% confidential. In fact, we’d be inclined to lay down our lives to protect your information (or at least just lay down, like for a nap).
It is easy to be casual and fun when you have a product that serves its purpose well. In managing a soccer team, TeamSnap has proven to be simple to use and effective. Apparently there are many types of groups using the TeamSnap service beyond sports teams. Alas, no rock-paper-scissors teams yet.
Some shots of fall color in the garden. The blueberry leaves are always amazing and on this day of rain and sunshine everything was spectacular.
I have been my introverted, modest self and for a year or so not announced my YouTube.com videos here when I’ve posted them. The videos are largely weekend chores around the house that I need to remember how to do the next time around. So YouTube.com is my long-term memory and, it turns out, the videos are helpful to others.
Over the past year or so I’ve posted seven weekend chore videos that have been viewed over 30,000 times. I know it isn’t impressive compared to many videos, but my expectations were low. I didn’t really expect a video showing how to clean a bathtub drain with a lift-and-turn stopper would get over 14,000 views. Apparently I’m not the only one that has had trouble removing that stopper.
Perhaps some of my shyness related to the quality of the videos. Usually I’m on my own so the chore is performed and filmed just by me with the camera on a tripod or in one hand while I work with the other. No fancy lighting, just the camera’s microphone and I try to get it done in one take. (I did have to retake one portion of the Fisher & Paykel Diverter Valve Repair.)
Now of course I kick myself if I perform a chore and don’t tape it. Initially my family thought I was a bit silly posting the videos but the many positive comments received are proof that many of us need help with these small household chores and could all benefit from a shared and expanded memory.
Enjoyed a nice evening paddle in Scappoose Bay. Wonderful views, a quiet evening, a short soft shower, Great Blue Herons, the splashing of beavers and leaping little fish.
After night fell we followed each others glow-light taillights as we maneuvered our kayaks through fallen trees in a narrow channel.
I did get a few photos before we lost the light of day.
Thanks to Steve and Bonnie at Scappoose Bay Kayaking and to PCC Community Education for a memorable evening.