For my very first blacksmith-shop-in-the-backyard job, I made a coathook of twisted steel. Ain't it just absolutely gorgeous? "Wanna learn how to forge a coathook?" asked The Resident Carpenter, "I thought you might like to try blacksmithing...?" "Sure!" I said eagerly, and we headed for the shop. When making a silver squirrel pendant, it's generally a good [...]
OK, well, not NAKED, exactly, but the next best thing. This is gonna take some explaining, so bare (heh-heh) with me. I started my professional life as a tech reporter, covering all kinds of events in different parts of the US. It was a great job I probably would have done for free: All the gadgets I wanted at no [...]
Current iteration, as of this writing--subtler ridges, whisker-like set of front nose indentation, and better ear integration. In THIS episode of Making a Silicone Mask: The Rules of Moldmaking #1: The simpler, the better. The fewer stages and components required to create your mold, the fewer opportunities for disaster. #2: The effort required to correct a casting [...]
Black walnut ice cream, chunky-full of nuts and smelling like heaven Most people wouldn't put black walnut and "delicious" together. Black walnuts may LOOK like English walnuts, but the very first bite mugs your mouth with a musky, who-died-on-my-tongue putrescence. Ugh... Eating ICE CREAM with those things? "Spit me out, NOW." Hush a minute. Ignore your yammering brain, close [...]
Tonight's version of Hungarian Mushroom soup included crimini, oyster, and shiitake mushrooms. Plus a LOT of sour cream. I hadn't lived in Portland long before my friends Joel and Jim flew in for a visit. They announced--two minutes after arrival--that "We're taking you for Hungarian Mushroom Soup." That was my introduction to an incredible soup at a place [...]
I was GONNA take a picture of the hominy casserole, fresh out of the oven in all its glory...but it didn't last that long. You couldn't say my ex-mother-in-law and I got along, exactly, but I'd be the last to criticize her cooking. She could make cardboard stew delicious...mostly because her three favorite ingredients were sour cream, butter, [...]
When they tell that old silicone might not set, they mean it. In this episode: There's many a slip twixt the yup and the ick. Here today, goo tomorrow. A moldmaker and her money are soon parted. Models are easy. Molds are hard. Masks, I was discovering, are even harder. I had a model for Kat's mask. Now [...]
Final maquette for Kaitlyn's mask After two decades--and a LOT of wasted silicone--I've gotten pretty good at building durable, well-engineered silicone molds for glass casting. I should be able to make a custom silicone mask, right? We'll see. My friend Kaitlyn (Kat) is making a Halloween costume depicting the probable offspring of Batman and Catwoman (who apparently met [...]
"I'm thinking the chanterelles are probably up, now that we've had our first good rains," said The Resident Carpenter, tentatively, "Would you be too disappointed if we went mushroom hunting in the mountains instead of Oktoberfest?" We'd planned to spend Saturday at the Mt. Angel Oktoberfest (though it might be more accurate to call it Septemberfest). Nathan's European [...]
This is the face of a killer. Ain't she sweet? Thanks to a genetic anomaly, Nikki is a permanently small cat who rather resembles a fuzzy-furred kitten. Lola, strikingly larger, looks like a feline contract killer yet her hunting skills are no match for her sister's. Nikki is one of the deadliest, most efficient hunters I've met; her [...]
