Sunny Day

Possibly the only day in the last two months it hasn't rained. Lilly and I enjoyed a little porch time.

Almond Cookies

Shortbread cookies smeared with melted chocolate icing, topped with almonds and sprinkles.

Cherry tree

Acrylic on canvas. My very first painting on canvas as a matter of fact. This is a three part picture of a sakura tree I painted for my bathroom.

Orchid Update

I see small leaves emerging toward the top in a non regular growth pattern.

Inari Age

Spinach Kale Salad and Butter Chicken

Spinach, kale, beet green salad with sliced almonds, dried cranberries, and balsamic vinaigrette. Butter chicken with quinoa and kale blend.

Mojitos

10 fresh mint leaves from the garden
1/2 lime, cut into 4 wedges
2 tablespoons white sugar, or to taste
1 cup ice cubes
1 1/2 fluid ounces white rum
1/2 cup club soda

Place mint leaves and 1 lime wedge into a sturdy glass. Use a muddler to crush the mint and lime to release the mint oils and lime juice. Add 2 more lime wedges and the sugar, and muddle again to release the lime juice. Do not strain the mixture. Fill the glass almost to the top with ice. Pour the rum over the ice, and fill the glass with carbonated water. Stir, taste, and add more sugar if desired. Garnish with the remaining lime wedge.

Bermuda

The Bermuda Triangle is actually located over quite a large area of the Atlantic Ocean. The points of the uneven triangle are the tiny island of Bermuda, San Juan, Puerto Rico and Miami, Florida.  Though the Bermuda Triangle was only named just over 60 years ago, there have been reports of missing ships and then planes since long before then. In fact, over the last 500 years, over 1000 ships and planes have gone missing in the Bermuda Triangle.
Why do ships dissappear?
One of the prevailing theories of skeptics to explain a lot of the disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle is simple human error. They claim that it is a huge area with a wide expanse of blue skies and blue ocean and similar looking tiny islands and it is easy to lose your way. Surely this could explain a small number of the missing craft, but it's hard to imagine that that many experienced pilots and navigators could lose their way so easily, even before GPS.  Another theory for at least some of the disappearances of ships can be attributed to piracy which has been a problem for the area for hundreds of years. And it's a perfect cover story for the pirates. Missing ship? It wasn't us, it was the Triangle!  One of the prevailing theories of what could be causing all of the disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle is pockets of methane gas that are trapped beneath the surface of the ocean floor under the Bermuda Triangle. They are then released due to seismic events or landslides, rising to the surface of the water, causing any ship in the path of the methane bubble to lose buoyancy and sink. There even theories that the methane could keep traveling into the air and stall an airplane's engines or even spark a fire.  A more likely explanation for some of the disappearances is bad weather, which the Bermuda Triangle is famous for. Hurricanes travel right through the area every year. The Atlantic's Gulf Stream also cuts right through the Triangle, causing strong currents that can be hard to handle.  The Sargasso Sea is home to seaweed of the genus Sargassum, which floats en masse on the surface there. The sargassum is not a threat to shipping, and historic incidents of sailing ships being trapped there are due to the often calm winds of the horse latitudes. Horse latitudes or subtropical highs are subtropical latitudes between 30 and 38 degrees both north and south. This region, under a ridge of high pressure called the subtropical high, is an area which receives little precipitation and has variable winds mixed with calm.  It partially overlaps the Bermuda Triangle. There are stories of ships getting caught in the middle of the sea and being stranded, motionless.

Chain Maile

Today I did the best thing! I took a class on chain maile. It included a baggie of links and the pliers needed to manipulate them. I had a lot of fun.

Painting

Origins is giving away one assembled and primed miniature that you can paint and I chose this delightful turtle.  D chose a shrine that looks like it's for Chick Filet.  They are for a game called Dungeon Explore.

Origins 2015

Origins Game Fair is an annual gaming convention that was first held in 1975. Since 1996, it has been held in Columbus, Ohio at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
Origins is run by The Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA). Origins was chartered to serve gaming in general, including war games and miniatures gaming, which at the time tended to be less well represented at Gen Con and Dragon*Con. Board games, trading card games, LARPs and role-playing games are also popular at Origins.

Brownie Pound Cake

Brownie:
5 Oz dark chocolate (broken into pieces)
1/4 C. unsalted butter
1/4 C. brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 C. all-purpose flour

Butter cake:
1/4 C. unsalted butter
1/4 C. sugar (I reduced by 1 Tbsp)
2 eggs
1 C. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
3 ½ Tbsp. milk

Grease and line a 4×8" loaf pan with aluminum foil. Preheat oven to 180C/350F. To make brownie, melt chocolate and butter over low heat. Remove and leave to cool slightly. Stir in brown sugar until blended. Add in egg, mix well. Fold in flour, mix until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove. To make butter cake, beat butter with sugar until creamy. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in sifted flour and baking powder, alternately add in fresh milk, mix to form batter. Spread the butter cake batter over brownie, bake in oven at 160C/320F for 25-30 minutes or until cooked. Insert a cake tester in the middle to check doneness.