This summer I have embarked on a project to improve the view from the kitchen window. This window is the only view from the kitchen and is situated at one end of the kitchen table where we take all of our meals and engage in a variety of other family activities.

Previously, it had only a view of a nicely paved patio and the stark white wall of Dad's workshop. As the area received plentiful direct sunshine for about 6 hours a day and was located in a place where we might actually remember to water any plants that needed such attention, this unused space was clearly an opportunity knocking.

I've talked about bits and pieces of this project in other posts. Here, I will recap the entire project to date.
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My first new plant is what we call here Jimson Weed. Called Loco Weed in the old cowboy movies. Called Datura scientifically. And the root is an important part of some Native American rituals such as vision quests. I have one plant that I hope will do well here. Some grow wild in this area, so I have reason to be hopeful.

My second new plant I'm starting form seed. I don't have a history of success with seeds but I am trying this as I could not find a live plant. Here, it's called Devil's Claw because of the seed pods. Turns out that some people believe the root is useful in treating some illnesses. (hmmm I won't go into the number of studies that have shown that holistic medicine is totally ineffective.) Anyway, this medicinal use made finding a live plant difficult as they are, for some reason, considered rare. When I was growing up, they were just there. Mom remembers the same. So, my hope is to grow a few and dry a few seed pods.

A few more plants are on the way. I'll let you know when I get them planted.

In the meanwhile, sitting at the kitchen table and looking out the window is much more pleasant than it once was. And I consider this project a success.

For old techies, the fun is in recognizing references to the 8080 chip and programming in ALC while seeing a phone on the wall with a curly cord to the hand set. For the guys, the fun might be in seeing Kirstie Alley play the femme fatale. Of course, for the gals, there's Tom Selleck.

Otherwise, it's a typical Michael Crichton (RIP) story line about the dangers of science and technology. I enjoyed but probably won't watch again.

Because this was an experiment, I used mostly things I already had on hand. Some acrylic paints. A small canvas. Chop sticks. Paper cups. My only investments were pouring medium, flow improver, and silicon. Some of the acrylic paint was a bit old. In particular, the yellow had lots of solid bits in it. At first, I tried to take them out. Then, I decided I rather liked the little speckled effect I got from leaving them in. Although you can't really tell from this image, one of the paints I used was a silver glitter paint. The original canvas has a definite glitter quality but no obvious silver color anywhere. 

Overall, I consider this experiment a success.
I didn't get what I wanted, but I did get something I like.
​I enjoyed it enough to do more, so, wait and see.

If you are interested in my RedBubble products featuring this design
RedBubble.com/people/TheGreenPoodle/shop

Having said all that...

I've been binge watching HBO's True Blood on Hulu. The binge part means that I've missed some things because I watch at night and I fall asleep. BUT, I still get the gist of things. Tonight I realized that one of the big appeals of this series above other vampire, werewolf, supernatural being types of stories is the way it deals with

I am not either a psychologist or sociologist. But I have been exposed to scholars on these topics and I do read and I can think. So, here's what I think.

From an evolutionary perspective...
We are a social species and on an evolutionary scale, survival often depended on being with others like us. The more like us, the better. Different was avoided and, when it threatened, attacked.
Unfortunately, long after we had evolved and advanced technologically to the point where it became advantageous to welcome diversity, we continued to obey that early evolutionary imperative to fear/hate the different.

I guess my point is...
We once feared the different as a matter of survival. Now that deeply ingrained instinct is hindering us when we need to welcome the different and integrate rather than differentiate the species. That fear reaction is largely responsible for racism in its many forms. The sense of community people get from being with people of like minds is responsible for hate groups because the racist, even more than most of us, wants to be surrounded with others of its kind. It is a matter of what was once a survival trait becoming a handicap. 

Back to the TV series...
True Blood is the name of the series. The obvious connection is the name of the synthetic blood product vampires drink rather than drinking human blood. The more subtle (?) connection is the racist attitude of some humans who want to exterminate vampires. Of course, vampires are actually humans who have been transformed and given near immortality. But who has "true blood?"

Having said all that...
​I'm not sure what we do with this thought. But I do think hating the hater is not the answer.

Listening to the television the other day. Overheard paraphrase of George Bernard Shaw:
If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you'd best take it out and teach it to dance.

Couldn't resist playing with a couple of design concepts, now available, at least for now, on TeePublic.

As a side note:
When Mom and Dad were renovating the house 20 years ago, she found a handful of small plastic skeletons at a yard sale. Each was placed in a closet and there they remain to this day.

A while back, I began thinking about making my own ice packs to get just what I need. I read what others are doing and the two major points are:

1. using sponges inside a sealed plastic bag to hold the water and give the ice pack a smoother surface (no lumpy ice cubes)
2. using vodka or other alcohol to lower the freezing temperature thus making the ice pack more of a slush pack, again, no lumpy ice

So, last week, this project finally made it to the top of my priority list. Here's how it went.

• Because I wanted a "permanent" ice pack, I didn't want to use ordinary freezer bags -- they are just too fragile and they all leak, eventually. The Sous Vide trend and the increased emphasis on reusable containers in the kitchen led me to these silicon storage bags which do seal tight. (No leaks, so far.)
• Sponges, ordinary kitchen sponges, 2 side by side in each bag.
• Vodka.
• First, I tried straight vodka, soaked up in the sponges and sealed tight in the bags. Very nice and cold and comfortable, no lumps or hard spots. Unfortunately, as high school science should have told me, these didn't stay cold as long as I would have liked. A solid takes longer to return to room temperature than a liquid...
• Then, I added some water to the vodka. This resulted in a slushier slush. The straight vodka was pretty much liquid. The water/vodka mix had some ice crystals in it. This resulted in ice packs that stayed cold longer but were still comfortable.
• Sponges -- I did one pack without sponges and given the fullness of the bag and the slushiness of the vodka/water mix, it turns out to be very comfortable.

My conclusions: Silicon bags, vodka, water, freezer. Experiment with the vodka/water ratio that suits you.

Some will say that this is a waste of perfectly good vodka. For me, my headaches and heat-induced insomnia are bad enough that this seems like a great use of the vodka. Anyway, it wasn't "perfectly good vodka;" I bought the cheapest bottle in the liquor store.
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