My cousin, Sachiko

 

Hello, I would like to introduce my cousin from Okinawa. Her name is Sachiko. Believe it or not, she is 73 years old. I first met her when I was 24 years old. I haven't seen or spoken with her in almost 40 years! One day I was looking at some old photos of the first time I visited Japan and I found her picture. My other cousin, Megumi, had her contact information and I invited Sachiko to come and visit. She was thrilled!! She stayed at our home for four wonderful days. Erika showed her the sights in Beppu and Yufuin. She experienced lots of home cooked meals and enjoyed the natural surroundings. It was an emotional reunion and goodbye and I'm looking forward to seeing her again.

Just Passing Time

I decided to give stained glass a brief rest and try my hand at intarsia. I used to do intarsia about twenty years ago. Here's a napkin holder that was inspired by our new rescue, Sky. Nothing too complicated...just something to get those creative juices flowing again.

 

M81 Starburst Galaxy

 According to esahubble.org, M82 is a starburst galaxy. Literally the stars are bursting from this turbulent and very active galaxy. The red plumes of hydrogen appear to be blasting out from the central core. New stars are being formed 10 times faster than our own galaxy. I find this galaxy to be quite unusual in appearance and I have always wanted to photograph it since I was a kid.

Finished Sunflower Stained Glass Mural

It's funny how life works. When I started this project I wanted to lighten the darkest area of our home with a colorful stained glass. Soon after I cut holes in wall I learned that Lucky (my dog) had a tumor that would end his life. The glass took on a whole new purpose. I desperately wanted to express my feelings I had towards all of the dogs I have shared my life with...Jeff, Sunny, Windy, Kiley, Lucky and all the rescues I have known or yet to know. Each flower displays its own personality which I tried to express in the pattern and color choices. I think each dog's character has been respectfully represented with each flower. 

The project started in August of 2021 and was completed in February of 2023. I tried to use every color of the rainbow. I ended up using 32 various colors of glass from five different manufacturers. The entire mural is six feet wide by four feet wide (190cm x 130cm). Several guests have commented that the mural made them feel happy. One person said it was breathtaking and uplifting. I think I accomplished lightening the darkest area of our home, but most important, I managed to lighten my spirit at a time when I felt the darkest. As a footnote, the day I completed and installed the last panel of the mural, I received the news that two dog rescues were available for adoption. One of the rescue workers commented that it felt as if my previous dogs were giving me permission to open my heart for those rescued pups. I could not have asked for better news.

Big News!!

 Well, first the big news. Yesterday our new rescue doggies arrived. The girls name is Holly and she is 8 and the boys name is Sky and he is 6. They were rescued from horrible conditions. Holly was only 4 kg with severe digestion problems. Sky is missing two toes from his rear foot along with some psychological problems. Both doggies are in need of training. Dog walking is an entirely new concept for them. The only home they knew were cages for their entire life.

We will give them freedom, home, care and love they deserve for the rest of their lives...I promise. Right now, we are busy house training them. It's easy to see that they are eager to learn. I think that Sky is a mix and Holly might be a Jack Russell. No one knows about their past as they were taken from someone who had over 50 animals in different stages of deteriorating health. Our home must feel like Disneyland to them. We plan on keeping it that way.

The curious thing about all of this is that we heard about these pups the day I finished the sunflower stained glass mural. We all feel that it was Lucky and Kileys blessing that we have these doggies. Speaking of glass, I'll be posting some pictures in the next post. Please stay tuned.

Cabinet makeover

 While finishing up the installation of the sunflower stained glass mural I also finished up a project that involved turning a 25 year old bed back frame cabinet thingy into something more useful and updated. The main problem with that the old cabinet is was made of oak. Unprotected oak in a humid environment equals mildew. No thank you. I applied several coats of gloss urethane, but the mildew would form on the urethane. I also didn't like the dated look of the cabinet. So... rather than tossing the cabinet out the door I decided to convert it into something more useful, add updated hardware, and protect the whole thing with mildew resistant paint that matches the rest of our home.

The first thing was to cut the cabinets in half. Next was to add a new top and trim. 

All inner and outer surfaces were painted. New hardware was installed.

Up next is the finished installation of the stained glass along with a huge surprise. Please stay tuned...

Biscotti

 We've also been making biscotti. Here's how we make them:

First make the biscotti dough. I think I posted that recipe a while ago. Pretty basic...3 cups flour, 3 eggs, salt. sugar. almonds, anise, vanilla and almond extract. Shape the batter on some parchment paper. We use Yoshi's reusable baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes at 180C. Now here's the trick...remove the dough and thinly slice the biscotti. It's soft enough to slice yet firm enough not to crumble. Stick the biscotti back in the oven (Pieces standing up) and continue baking for another 15 minutes. Lay the slices down and bake for another 10 minutes at 150C. Turn the slices over and repeat. Place on a cooling rack and you're done.

We couldn't figure out how to cut the biscotti thin without breaking them. After doing some experiments we found that this works every time. Cheers!

Scones

 Erika's has been busy in the kitchen, well we both have been. She makes the most wonderful scones. Moist and slightly sweet on the inside and a light crunch on the outside. The scones go really well with Earl Grey tea. I can't stop eating them...

Candle Holder #2

 Here's Erika's second "clunky" candle holder. She is thrilled that she sold the first one. 

A smarter and better way to live (Part 3)

 This is the final post about our conversion over to solar power. First we had solar panels installed. Then we purchased an electric car (Nissan Leaf). To tie the two together we finally received the EV Power Station. It was a good deal since the government covered almost half the costs. The power station purpose is to use the battery from the car to power the house in the event of an outage. Depending on usage that could be up to four days. The power station can also provide power when sunlight is not available via the car battery. In Japan, energy is hard to come by and it's expensive. During peak periods in the summer, power can be shut down due to shortages. I only see the problem getting worse in the future. So, rather than wait for an emergency, we decided to be proactive and take advantage of these government rebates. The offers have all been used up and that's why we are finally getting our power station after many months of waiting. The pictures show the main overhead power lines being replaced with underground lines (yeah!!). The meter was moved to the garage. All of the wiring was moved to the garage. Very clean installation with no wires bothering the house. The unit took a full day to install with a crew of four. Certainly not a DIY project. The whole thing can be operated from a smart phone As far as the solar panels, we are averaging about $100 a month applied to our bill. Some months more, some less. No problems so far. The car had some irritating squeaks that Nissan finally fixed after several trips to the shop. The car is quite a step up from our previous car that we owned. I never get tired of passing those gasoline pumps.

NGC1491

Here's another pretty picture. The image was done in the Hubble Palette. NGC1491 is an emission nebula located in the constellation Perseus. Image acquisition was back in February of 2021. Just getting around to processing. Speaking of processing...Pixinsight and Russel Croman has developed some really cool tools to make processing fun. I'm not sure if it speeds things up, but the use of AI almost feels like I'm cheating. On the other hand, progress is progress so just enjoy the picture.

Sunflower Stained Glass Mural Panel 4

Panel 4 of 4 is ready for solder. The entire project should be complete within a month. I'll post more pics and have some closing comments about this project along with a huge surprise. Please stay tuned...