Tuesday, 25 September 2018

I have been exploring online again... after a day of house things and making some fudge.  :-)  It was the easiest thing to get done, so I made it first.  I am freezing most of it... trying not to eat it all!

And caramels are on the list, too!  :-)  My diet is going to be hopeless!  haha, not really.  I will WIN this calorie battle!  I am getting better and better at it.  :-)

Tomorrow I need to try a bread recipe.  I am out of all those things that are bread options... no bread, no tortillas, no crackers... only pasta... and that gets old.  :-)  I have access to a regular oven, but I am trying to figure out what I can make in my small toaster oven.  I have some black olives and a little grated parmesan cheese left, so some kind of pizza is on my mind.  I think I have a recipe that might work for my small amount needs.  Pizza dough can be frozen, but I haven't gotten to that point yet... maybe tomorrow.

Today I tried to make mashed cauliflower with my frozen bits, but it didn't cook the way I expected it to... next time I will try to make it like you make regular mashed potatoes.  I added some couscous to absorb the extra milk I had in it, and I had added diced onions when I was cooking the processed bits.  It was good, but not what I expected.  I need to learn more about spices, and the flavors I have never tried.

One video at YouTube really inspired me.  It was a bento lunches video with great healthy and simple recipes... I want to try them!!!  I will try to make a link... but if I can't, the name of the channel was Mind Over Munch.  She is still on Facebook, but her Patreon link was kind of destitute.  She has some cookbooks mentioned in the video I watched.  I have to explore her efforts more.

To see her Patreon page I had to sign up myself.  :-)   I have been thinking of trying a Patreon funding option for some time, but I am not sure it is the right option for me.  I think crowdfunding is a better fit for me, IF I can find the Christian community.  I may do Patreon for my personal writing and crafting activities, and crowdfunding for Working Together.  I printed some of the intro pages and will be exploring them.

I guess I have created my own online crisis... I signed up for a bunch of new videos at the places I have been checking out.  I am also checking on CHRISTMAS craft ideas, some I have wanted to do for years.  As I explore I am looking at the way other people do these things... videos, podcasts, photos, audio, etc.  It helps me to think of what I might be able to do in my situation... what supplies I need, how much money I need, equipment and workspaces, and lots of praying for GOD's help.

I have two wreath forms that I have been wanting to make live wreaths with for a few years... each year I haven't found the right trees to cull. And I need to learn more about attaching the branches to the metal form.  I have been watching a lady that does a lot of wreath things recently... learning bows... and trying to decide how to get my wreaths done.  I may send one as a gift... so I need to get that figured out SOON!  :-)  Plastic may have to be my main design feature...  I am not sure.  I have more to learn, especially about how long live branches can last.

I was doing some clearing off of my crafting table-to-be today... My supplies are ready to use for some projects... I just have to find the space to get them done.  So, I am working on that.  I am hoping to create something I would like to wear/use... things I would give as gifts... things good enough to sell... and to be able to ship them.

I discovered tonight that I can create snow globe decorations out of polymer clays... I hadn't realized that was possible, so I need to get busy with that goal.  I love snow globes.  I had one that had a beautiful nativity scene in it... but it went away.  I hope to find one nativity scene for my Christmas decorations... I just haven't found one that is a forever one for me.  Snow globes are not just about Christmas, so I can try to make scenes for other memories.  I am really happy that I can create some unique pieces.  I need to find the best size jars with great lids for snow globes... and then try to make some prototypes.  :-)   Who knows, they may become one of my regular products!

Well, that is where my focus is right now.  Yardwork has not been done since last week... my goodness!  It's not going anywhere...

Until next time,
In Christ,

Deborah Martin

work2gather.us
Working Together Inc
Building for the End Times

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May our lives become what we want them to be, if our goals are good, and honest, and full of love and caring for others.
May our country find a way to be what the ideals it represents to the world have always reflected.
May the Body of Christ become a reality.
May our world find a way to exist with all its different belief systems.
May we see others as equals, as neighbors, as people who might make our lives better... before we see them as enemies, with fear, or less then ourselves.

May GOD provide for those who love Him, myself included.
Amen.

Monday, 19 March 2018

I heard that tomorrow is the first day of Spring.  I hope that means more sun, but I keep remembering the little song we grew up with ::  April showers bring May flowers... I think that means more rain.  :-)

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I tried to watch a movie called "God's Not Dead" today, but it wasn't on Netflix anymore.  I will have to wait, see if it is on another viewing option.  It was on the UP channel on my son's cable, but I wasn't able to see it.  I couldn't figure out a search option for the guide they have on their TV, but I will keep looking.  It was a 2014 movie.  Instead, I watched one called God's Club (or something close to that), which reminded me of the ridiculous oppression we face as Christians in our new "normal." 

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There are construction workers still at the house I live in.  I tend to go upstairs to watch TV when they are here.  It helps keep the dogs a little bit more settled... not completely, but a bit less prone to bark at every noise.  :-)   This was one reason I was at the TV.

Then it becomes a long-term time investment.  Not good. 

We are getting better at this stuff, but still learning.  :-)

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I tried some of my paper mache projects the other day... and they dried.  Not quite what I hoped they will be.  I watched a YouTube project awhile back and they said you needed three layers, at least, so.... I will fix my "paste" formula and try another layer or two and see if it helps.  I'm exploring these craft options, trying to decide if I want to make something out of them as an ongoing craft to sell.

I also am working on a screen to use for painting like a screen print, but it hasn't been very successful that way.  I'm still trying to decide what it can be used for, and still trying to get to the art store for some real screen printing fabric.  :-)  I have other paint options to try, too... like freezer paper stencils.

I am exploring something called Diamond Glaze, which is shiny like resin, but water clean up.  It has some interesting effects so far.  I can make it thin or thick...  It isn't resin, but it has possibilities.

I have a long list of things to try, from exploring YouTube videos and other sources.  I think I must be a "mixed-media artist" as I don't like to do just one thing.

Time will have to show us the way to my artistic future, if I live that long!!!  haha

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I am happy to report that I ate all my caramels, except the ones I plan to mail.... SOON!   :-)  I hope I don't eat those, too!

I'm going to try to get the digital candy thermometer by next month... then I will try making caramels again, but a little bit more firm.  I like soft caramel, but this batch was too soft.

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That's about it for now... I am fighting a growing headache right now.  Will try to write again tomorrow sometime.

Until next time,
In Christ,

Deborah Martin
work2gather.us

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May GOD help us to overcome the evil that Satan uses to turn our hearts against GOD.
May we find our joy in what is good.
May we love to the best of our ability.
May we share with others the best we can.
May we always be thankful for the blessings we have, and not always focus on the terrible parts of our lives... even when they hurt more than we can stand.
Amen.

26 September 2017

Another day is over, and I need to journal my thoughts about it. 

I actually am missing this process over the weekends... it's like a diary for the world to see my simple life and goals and efforts and challenges and faith in Something Bigger than me for all the things I cannot control (or fix). 

Trusting GOD for these things can really be a big challenge at times... we want everything bad to go away in a minute and everything good to stay forever... if God doesn't see these things happen, well... we think it's His problem, not ours.  It isn't something you learn once and then you have it conquered.  Every new problem brings a new path through this process... a new thing to learn about God and how we fit into His plans instead of Him fitting into ours.

I keep praying about the same things, it seems... wondering when the answer will get to me... wondering how other Christians fight their enemies... spiritual and human.  I try to find people in the Bible that have struggled in similar ways to help me find out how God deals with these issues, what I may need to do, etc.  I seem to think about things I haven't heard sermons about.  I don't know when an answer will come when I am searching for it, I just keep searching.

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My new business cards arrived today.  :-)
I posted photos at Facebook groups, Twitter,  and ??? can't remember where else.
Now I have to get my website updated... new links ready for December... prices and payments figured out, and benefit structures.  It's getting "real" now, my December effort on social media and wherever else I think of by then.  I hope God blesses this effort.

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An old friend that is on Facebook had a post about needing to get back into the gym for exercise.  I don't go to gyms but I have been trying to get back to a schedule on my son's eliptical machine.  I was trying to do five minutes at a time, starting with one session and building up to my 30-minute goal.  Winter is indoor season... even more now that I live so far from the bus and am getting older, with health issues.  I have been planning for a long future through being homebound, but aware that I may not make it to tomorrow.  I am still not ready to die, but I am getting the details figured out.  Exercise is part of my long-term effort.  Losing weight, getting back to my normal range, is part of my long-term effort.  Soon I am going to have to get on a scale and see where I am at.  I hate the thought of finding out I barely lost a pound...  :-( 

One of my food control efforts is to learn menu planning for my calories.  It isn't an exact science for me, but I am getting better at it.  I found a grocery shopping form at Every Dollar (daveramsey.com) and wound up using it for a meal planner.  Now I have created a better one for myself on my restarted old computer, not attached to the internet... or wi-fi.  I am working on more fruit and veggies, less fattening foods, and (right now!) I am struggling to stop eating the caramels I made!!! 

I wasn't able to coat them in chocolate and bag them up yet, because I need more chocolate I think.  I wound up eating 2 or 3 more... they are thick so they are lots of calories... and SO GOOD!  I can see this is going to be a problem that needs a solution.  I am thinking :: a separate kitchen for all my products, health department approved, where packaging and shipping are taken care of... far away from my personal space!  That will work for me.  Now, how to get to that solution...............   :-)

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I think it was Dr. Lustig, or Dr. Amen, that said "salad is the meal."  I discovered balsamic and olive oil as a dressing that I like, and they are my current dressing choice.  I know it was Lustig that says "a calorie is a calorie..." so you have to make sure the calories you eat are good for you.  Salad is good, caramel is not so good.  They are part of my inspiration for increasing my veggies.  I guess fruits are full of calories as well as health, but veggies are low in calories and big on health... so I am working at increasing my veggies.

It is hard to get away from the meal concept... big meals three times a day, plus snacks.  I am working on smaller meals as a calorie measure.  When you start to see the calories in what you eat, it is amazing how little you can fit into 400 calorie meals.  The 21-Day-Fix teaches this small meal perspective... and has lots of ideas... lots of veggies, too.  Their materials state that 1200 calories are the absolute minimum for ongoing health needs, and I agree.  I have a book by Rocco DiSpirito that says you can go down to 850, I think, and still be OK if you eat the right foods.  I think that seems low, too low.  Even at 1200 calories you have to spread the meals around.  I think I can reach my goal of two meals and a snack at the 1200 calories... that would let me have 500/500/200 as breakfast/dinner/ mid-day snack.  I think that might work.  I'm looking for food ideas to fit into the calories I want to limit myself to.  Pinterest has some great links for that, so does YouTube, I think.  It's all in the search terms.  I can flex if I want to, like my Friday Free Night.  It is getting to be a good thing, but I still have to be careful one exception doesn't turn into a continuous treat.

This caramel binge is really messing up my food challenge!  That's why food is so big on my mind right now.

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If you have seen my Facebook posts, you know I finished my big easel chalkboard painting project and posted photos.  My second item is almost done.  My sanding task has a wait on it so I can figure out how to sand it withing ruining it.  I may find a buffer and see what that does.  It is such a mess... tons of bubble holes.  My effort to make a chalkboard gift from recycled materials is also still in progress.  After I get the little easel done tomorrow, I will be able to get on to the FIMO molds I want to do.  I want to get my molded projects listed first... they will be more achievable for orders.

It is all beginning to take shape.  I have so many directions to move in that it takes the whole process longer to move forward.  I have often said I have "conflicting goals" or that I can't decide where to focus first... because it all connects to each other.

I have to pray through every day... and then leave it to GOD.

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Well, that is enough for today. I like the new book I am reading so I will try to take notes on the best things to share from it. I tend to get carried away with the moment, the happenings of the day, and then forget to share the deeper thoughts I process about spiritual issues.  I have lived by faith alone for so many years that I consider everything part of my process... trusting God... getting from here to there.  It is probably boring for you, so I hope to find other things to write about.  :-)

In Christ,
Deborah Martin

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May GOD help me to overcome the spiritual battles I pray about often.
May GOD show His Power in these battles and glorify His Name through the things He does.
May GOD be the One I cling to, the One I remember, the One that matters more in my decisions.
May GOD protect the innocent, have mercy on those who need it, and judge the ones who cannot change.
May GOD bless my efforts, provide what I need, and help me to walk toward His work in my life.
Amen.