It's fun to do bad things

[clevermanka]

I made myself stay up until 10pm yesterday. So, I was awake for about twenty-one hours. Whew. This morning I woke up at 2:30, but managed to fall back asleep until 5:30. So, seven-ish hours of sleep last night. Not great, but not bad.

I certainly do get a lot done when I have insomnia.

The drum case looks fantastic, but I think I probably won't ever make another one, despite my mentioning making one for Brayden, Egotista's lead drummer and organizer. Maybe someday, when I've forgotten the painful tedium of it. Pics next week when I can download and edit them.

Today: meeting with saffronhare to discuss the selling of some bloomers and knitting needle cases and to hand off my yogurt maker and yo-cheese maker. Yay for getting unused items out of the house and making a spot of cash!

Man, I miss dairy, though. A lot. The memory of a big spoonful of home-made yogurt, first thing in the morning? Mmmm.

I need to find a way to get more fermented foods in my body, because I wonder if my Mercola probiotics just aren't cutting it anymore. The only option available to me is sauerkraut, though, and my past two attempts at sauerkraut have failed. I used this method of making kraut both times (figuring maybe I just did it wrong the first time), but both batches came out tasting like mildly salted and slightly wilted raw cabbage. Absolutely no fermentation either time. I threw them both out, because ew. I like store-bought kraut, but most (all?) of the good gut bugs have been killed off in those. Anybody got suggestions on what else to try for my kraut-making attempts?

A bit of digging on Paleo Hacks would be good, but for some reason that website just makes my eyes cross. I feel the same way about most web answer sites. Too much humanity in one place, maybe.

On today's agenda: Meet with saffronhare. Tidy the sewing room (how can I make such a mess during every single sewing project?). Get started on the coveralls so I'll be ready to work on on the Chevelle when parts start arriving. Watch final episode of BBC's Sherlock with my Holmes and Moriarty (squee!).

Damn, I'm liking this series. I think I could probably get into this fandom. Well, as much as I get into any fandom. My "getting into a fandom" basically entails following a few Tumblrs and reading lots of slashfic. Although I think perhaps the costume stuff automatically enters me into some higher level of fandom.

I must remember to document my progress on this costume. Pics, notes, thought processes, etc. I'll do those as separate LJ entries, though, so I don't bore the non-costume, non-sewing types and so the info will be easier to find later. I also need to work out with Moriarty how much she wants me to work on her costume and how much she wants to do herself. Ask that today.

A million thanks to gamera_spinning for being the absolute sweetest for sending me the Sherlock DVDs. I owed him big time for another favor involving DVDs (the man is a champ at supplying such things) and I think the Sherlock introduction bumped the thank-you card I was planning to something a little more special. Oooh. This vacation week would be a good time to work on that. It'd be good to have a project that doesn't involve sewing for a change, and something that I can wrap up in a day. Maybe I'll do that today instead of the coveralls. Yes.

I think I might quit smoking cigarettes for a while. I smoked way too much yesterday because I was trying to stay awake. They sure helped (I think I wouldn't have made it as well as I did otherwise), but damn my chest is full today. Or maybe that's just allergies. I noticed my eyes were crazy red yesterday afternoon. That could've been the sleeplessness, though. Anyway. Considering it. One of my and mckitterick's friends, who is a long-time, hardcore smoker was on his fourteenth day of not-smoking yesterday. I'm proud of him, and I like him a lot, so it'd be nice to tell him next time I see him, "Solidarity, bro!" Of course, there's another one of our friends who hasn't quit and he looks so damn sexy when he lights up. I dunno, I dunno. Why are my bad habits so fun?



Okay, this entry is way longer than I expected it to be. Off to tidy the sewing room.

ETA: Before I put away the tape measure (see, I really am tidying the sewing room), I decided to measure my hips in addition to my waist. My hips are up four inches from October. o_O I am starting to wonder if this is more than just swelling issues. Maybe I really am gaining weight--real weight--again. Fuck. FUCK. I don't want to go through another three years of thyroid level testing. And depression. And hair loss. And everything else. *iz depressed nao*

Comments

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Have you ever had kombucha? I had some a few weeks ago, and it wasn't bad.

http://coffeetea.about.com/od/coldtearecipes/ss/How-To-Make-Kombucha.htm

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Alas, it's not an option for me. I try my best to avoid added sugar, and I can't have tea, even decaf, because of the fluoride content. =(

I appreciate the thought, though!

[siro-gravity.livejournal.com]

fluoride in tea?

I just learned that fermentation is a more complicated topic than I thought. Wow. What about wine? what about tempeh? I'm sure you've thought of these things.

I would LOVE to see your costumes!!

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Yep. Tea has a naturally high fluoride content. And since fluoride is an endocrine disrupter, it's something I avoid. I don't even drink regular tap water anymore.

I don't eat soy, so tempeh is out. But wine is always on the menu. Sadly, it doesn't have the probiotic qualities as things like yogurt or sauerkraut.

Can't wait to see the costumes, myself! You can be sure I'll be posting pictures.

[radiantmephit.livejournal.com]

You don't like/can't have kim chee?

That's probably way too obvious, huh? We eat a good bit around here. It brightens almost any savory dish as a side.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I think packaged kimchee probably has the same problems as packaged kraut. I could try making it, though. Maybe I'd have better luck with it? Thanks for the idea! I'll do some research on making home-made kimchee...

[carmy-w.livejournal.com]

How long did you leave the cabbage to set?
I may be able to talk to my mom about it; she (and I, but I was VERY small) grew up making kraut from scratch.

Grandma & grandpa would get 50 lb. bags of green cabbage heads. We would slice them in half, core them, and shred the cabbage on a big wooden slicer that I think my grandpa may have made by hand. The cabbage would drop down into a washtub; when it got full, it would be dumped into a 25 gallon crock, and one of my older cousins would salt it and pack it down. This was a big enough batch that if you didn't wear rubber gloves, your hands would get scratched up & the salt would STING.
I've never known how long they let it set, but I think it was longer than just a week. I'll check with Mom and find out what she says.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Cool, thanks! I'd appreciate her expert advice.

I only left it for a week. Sounds like maybe that's not long enough.

[carmy-w.livejournal.com]

I checked with my mom on the time frame for that; she said since they made such a huge batch at a time, they would pack it in August, and more or less let it sit and sour till around mid-November, so it was ready for Thanksgiving! Then they'd can all of it.

She suggested anywhere from two to three weeks should work for a small batch. And they never used any sugar, just salt.

And my "helpful" husband cracks "Just let it sit till it smells up the house!" Haha!

Hope this helps!

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Faboo! Thanks for the advice. I'll let you know how I fare with my next batch. Another friend suggested using some brine from purchased kraut as a starter, too.

[royal-spice.livejournal.com]

Email adammaker about fermenting...he made kraut a couple of times when we lived in our last house in KS. Until I made him stop because the fermenting in our kitchen smelled awful at least to me.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Oh good heavens, don't mention weird smells around mckitterick. I'll never get a chance to make this stuff.

And actually, I did email Adam, about a week ago, but haven't heard back. =(