Time For A Dog Post

Corky is an amazing dog. He really has no idea that he IS a dog.

My First Ring!

 I finally got the nerve to cut a strip of my precious 18 gauge silver sheet and try to make a ring. It was a big deal for me, because a) I rarely wear rings so one made for me would sit in my jewellery box forever, b) I have hands like a stevedore, so a ring made for me would have to be a size 11, using a LOT of silver, and c) making it for someone else would be silly since I didn't know if it would turn out and I really didn't know anyone who would wear it any more than I would.
So, yes, it was a big deal.

 It's a spinner ring. No way was my first attempt going to be a plain band.

Considering the fact that I didn't do a lot of measuring and I really didn't know what I was doing, it turned out okay. I might wear it.

Addison's Disease In Dogs

It has been a while since I posted about my dogs. The following subject is very important to me because Corky, my heart dog, has Addison's Disease.
He was a year old when I got him from the breeder. This breeder is very popular and her pups sell

quickly, so it was very unusual for her to have an older dog. I have a suspicion that he was always "just not quite right" and that's why he wasn't sold or adopted.  He seemed fine to me other than the fact that he just couldn't put any weight on. I worried about it to the vet one day, saying that he had no reserves if he got sick. She wasn't concerned, saying that it was better for a dog to be too thin than the opposite.
Our Addison's journey started, like so many other dogs, with a misdiagnosis on both our parts. My dogs each get a bone once a week for their teeth but I had been in the bulk barn and for some reason, decided to get them rawhide bones. (Don't! Ever!) They loved them and before I knew it, had stripped and swallowed half of them. The next day, Corky was very "off" and wouldn't eat. The day after that, he wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink, and I took him to the vet, thinking he had an impaction from the rawhide. She took X-Rays, palpated his stomach, but couldn't find anything except a stomach full of air, gave him something for his stomach and sent him home.  I can't remember the exact timelline because it was a stressful blur, but 3 emergency trips later, she diagnosed him with kidney disease and finally, after 5 days of no food or water, put him on intravenous fluids. The only thing that saved his life is that the vet thought he was in such bad shape, she didn't want to leave him alone in the clinic overnight, and suggested that I take him to the Atlantic Vet College. Within an hour of admittance, he was diagnosed with Addison's Disease but by this time he had been without proper treatment for days and it was touch-and-go if he'd survive the crisis. Luckily for him and especially me, he made it through, but he was so weak and still not eating that he had to stay at the college for 4 days. The only way I got him eating again was to stop on my way to visit him and get a roasted chicken burger, throw out the bun and hand feed him the chicken.
This is a long post, but Corky's story is so similar to so many other dogs that it is important. Some vets have never seen a case of Addison's Disease. Because it was rare, it wouldn't be something they would look for. It's still fairly rare, but becoming common enough that every practice would probably have at least one Addison's dog. If they were diagnosed before their death. The genetic pool of dogs has become very small and diseases that require two recessive genes, like Addison's, are becoming more common. Poodles are highly represented but getting a Doodle won't decrease your chances because we're seeing more incidences in Labradoodles and Golden Doodles.
Knowing the symptoms could save thousands of dollars and your dog's life.
Addison's Disease occurs when the adrenal glands, located on the kidneys, fail to produce enough hormones to sustain life. The sodium levels drop dangerously low and the potassium rises dangerously high. One of the hormones produced is cortisol which regulates stress in the body and this is why so many dogs are diagnosed after a stressful occasion. They have been boarded for a week, they've had a trip to the groomer, they flew, had their teeth cleaned...anything they might have been stressed over requires the cortisol they are not producing and their body starts to shut down.
Some dogs just gradually fail, over such a period of time that you don't realize how sick they are until they are really sick. Corky probably fell in this group with his lack of appetite. I did agility with him and he loved it at first but had got a little reluctant and I had blamed that on my training. He had been sleeping more but I attributed that to the fact that he wasn't a puppy any more.  Little, imperceptible things that you'd never add up.
The main symptoms of Addison's:
Lethargy
Lack of appetite
Weight loss
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Dehydration
Collapse
Exercise intolerance
Frequent drinking or urination
Tremors or shaking
Low heart rate
Coat Changes
Hind end weakness
If your dog is experiencing any of these symptoms, when you are having them checked, ask your vet about Addison's. The only definitive test for Addison's is the ACTH test. It isn't cheap but if your dog could have Addison's, it could save its life. Not to mention spending a few hundred to save thousands. Many Addison's dogs are initially diagnosed with kidney disease because the symptoms can be similar and a dog with Addison's will have abnormal kidney values. Ask. It is truly worth it to ask.
Any breed or mix of dog can be affected by Addison's Disease but some breeds are highly represented, like Standard Poodles, Portuguese Water Dogs, West Highland White Terriers, Great Danes, Labrador Retrievers, German Shorthaired Pointers, Bearded Collies, Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers, and recently Labradoodles and Golden Doodles. Jack Russell or Parson Russell Terriers seem to be showing up more and more on the Addison's sites. But the disease doesn't discriminate.
If your dog is diagnosed with Addison's Disease, if properly treated, they can live a normal life and have a normal life span. They will be on lifetime medication and optimizing that medication is key. As I said, many vets have never seen or diagnosed a case of Addison's Disease and their treatment plans are guided by the drug companies and often much more than needed.
I was incredibly lucky when I started my Addison's journey with Corky to find two Facebook pages: Addison's Disease In Dogs, and Canine Addison's Resources and Education (CARE). Unlike most FB pages, these two have years of research and education behind them. The file section of CARE has research papers done by reputable scientists and surveys done on hundreds of dogs. Their membership is in the thousands, which tells you that the disease is not as rare as is thought.  The administrators of both groups are extremely knowledgeable and the membership includes many vets.
Corky is now a happy, healthy dog, with (almost too much!) padding on his ribs and a regained love of

agility. He has typical Addison's and must receive a shot of Percorten once a month and a small dose of prednisone daily.  He happily takes his 1/2 mg prednisone rolled up in a piece of chicken and doesn't even move when I give him his subQ Percorten shot. I keep a record of all blood test results and his injections. My vet has been wonderful, reading all of the information I printed out for her and jumping on board with low dose protocols developed by Dr Julia Bates. We work together to optimize his health care and it's great to understand what is going on. I read both Facebook pages daily and every day I learn more from them about understanding the disease and how to read and interpret blood tests. CARE has produced a wonderful brochure about recognizing Addison's Disease and they will send copies free of charge to anyone wishing to read or display them.

Natural Prehnite

Another step in the Learning To Walk journey. This one incorporated a few more steps but it didn't turn out quite like my vision.  I got a little excited putting veins in the leaf and now it looks more like a feather. The water droplets on the top of the design look suspiciously like scratches. But I'm getting there....slowly.

Bezel Set Cabachon

I have spent the last (couple? I lose track) year having fun experimenting and pushing myself, trying to learn new techniques with jewellery making. Jewelry, for you Yanks. Through this blog, I've shared all of my attempts, strange ideas and disasters.
My latest series of flops involved gallery bezel wire. Delicate and lacy, it looks so pretty when it's wrapped around a stone. It doesn't look so pretty when it's melted into a blob, which is what I've managed to do every time I tried to make a bezel with it.
In an uncharacteristic fit of adult thinking, I realized that I had been trying to run before I even learned to walk. I had never wrapped a stone with a plain bezel, let alone a fancy filigree bezel. So a baby step was needed, but pragmatic me was still battling with adventurous me, so the baby step became a walk
to the park and I used scalloped bezel wire.

I didn't melt it! The first piece in a long time that I was half-assed proud of. It couldn't be perfect, of course, so the heart cut into the back plate is a little wonky and it cut my stamped anchor in half.  Next time!

Ode To Rosaline

Oh, the ocean
The huge, lonely ocean
Taking us away from all that we love
Our home, our family, our friends
Ripping us apart
Because our souls are left behind.

What is this world?
Where people kill, maim and destroy
Some in the name of a god
Some just because they can.
It makes them feel powerful
They have no idea
They are just sick and sad and evil.

They don't know beauty and joy.

When will it stop?
It seems that when men are not at war
They make war in their own land
You there! We don't wear those hats here!
God is mine, not yours!
What flaw do we carry?
What is this human imperfection?
Is it not enough
That nature itself
Can kill us?

So the ocean carries me,
Empty, hurting, frightened
My soul in pieces
Alive
As so many have come before us
And so many must still come
To our refuge
Not yet our home.

This place, this country
Can diminish us in our need
As people diminish us with their word
With a shattered heart
Can we regain our pride?
Will we always be less?
I will give thanks
But I cannot yet give my heart
Or my soul
That never crossed the ocean.

I am powerful
I am strong
I will not use that for evil
I use it to survive
To hope that some day I can return
But know that home is forever gone.
Monsters tore apart that world.
I will use my mind
And search for beauty and joy.
Here, across the ocean
I will find beauty and joy.

Gluten Free Christmas Cake For One

Having to go gluten free hasn't helped my waistline at all, because most gluten free products are full of either sugar or fat to help them taste better. So recently, I stocked up on coconut and almond flour and leaned more towards the Paleo diet. So far, 23 pounds and counting! I'm trying to do it more as a lifestyle change than a diet, so I can stick to it forever, have the occasional treat and not be constantly craving.
And speaking of craving...I was picking up some nuts at the Bulk Barn yesterday and chatted for a few minutes with a lady buying candied fruit for baking Christmas cakes. I never like Christmas cakes much before I couldn't have them, but watching her scoop her fruit, that's all I could think of! So, of course, I bought a small container of mixed candied fruit, having no idea what I could do with them. And with no intention of making a whole cake of any kind, because I have no willpower and would eat the whole thing in two days.
Yay Google! I found a recipe for a vanilla mug cake on wholesomeyum.com. Luckily, I had everything needed, including stevia for sweetener. My mother would have been proud of me, because usually I substitute something, if not several somethings, when I make a recipe. So I mixed it all together, let it rest for a minute until it thickened a little and then mixed in a scoop of candied fruit. It took all of 1 minute in the microwave. Oh, dear Heaven, it was good! Originally 352 calories, I don't know how many I added with candied fruit, but it was worth every decadent bite.
Here's the ingredients but you should visit https://www.wholesomeyum.com/recipes/vanilla-mug-cake-paleo-low-carb-gluten-free/ for complete instructions. And by the way, I used vanilla.

1 tbsp Coconut oil (measured solid, then melted)

3 tbsp Unsweetened almond milk (or any milk of choice)

1 medium Vanilla bean (seeds scraped) - or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, see notes*

3 tbsp Almond flour

1 tbsp Coconut flour

1 1/2 tbsp Erythritol (or any sweetener of choice)

1/2 tsp Gluten-free baking powder

1 pinch Sea salt

1 large Egg

It Was A Good Idea But...

Three days it took me to finish this thing and the best I can say is that I learned a lot. I tried engraving with ferric nitrate, after finally getting some from Lacy Tools in Vancouver.

Two engraving lessons for me: 1) use a better resist than a permanent marker and 2) leave it in overnight to get a good definition.
I thought copper would be the best background for a gorgeous piece of tiger eye that's been sitting around for a year. Note to self: use silver. I invested in some copper solder but it melts with a silver finish. Put some rusty bolts in the pickle and that gave it a beautiful gold finish which came off when I sanded. Silver is so much easier to work with and even hard silver solder is easier to melt where you want it than the copper paste solder.

And finally: Quit being in such a hurry and measure better!

Working on Metalsmithing

I've had a little slice of quartz druzy for over a year (probably over two years!) that I'd haul out and stare at, trying to figure out the best way to mount and showcase it. In my mind, a bezel setting would detract from the lovely flower-like aspect but I didn't know if I had the skill to do anything else.
It was out being stared at again this week, sitting on a piece of paper on my workbench, and I started to draw settings around it. And thus was born the idea for my most challenging soldering experiment yet.
The diamond-shaped part of the frame and the inner circle are 16 gauge round wire and were fused together.

I'm using argentium and like soldering, if you have a good join, you see a flash and the metal fuses easily. You just have to be careful not to move the torch flame back on the wires because you'll move molten metal the wrong direction and leave you with a lump where you don't want it. The crosspieces had to be sanded down in a notch where they met so there wouldn't be one teetering wire sitting on top of another. It was kind of like doing logs for a cabin, with a notch on the top of one wire and a notch on the  bottom of the one crossing.  I used hard solder to attach them to the frame and then hard again to set the circle on top

of them. In the process, I lost my fear of hard solder. I didn't think my torch was hot enough to melt the solder before it melt the wires. There again, using argentium made a difference and fine silver would have the same properties. You don't need to heat the whole piece to cherry. I just gently heated the whole piece and then concentrated the flame on the join.
The trickiest part was adding the wires for the prongs. I filed one end into points to fit into the four angles but I'd get three sitting properly and when I'd try to place the fourth, they'd all fall out. Many, many times. I was quite amazed when they all soldered (with easy!) in the correct position. Then I cut them, filed the ends, and filed a little notch near the top of each wire. When they were bent enough that the druzy snapped firmly into place, I gently pushed the prongs over the druzy.

Because it's argentium, it didn't get firescale during the soldering and only needed two quick baths in my pickle. I had polished it to a beautiful shine and because I can't leave well enough alone, I decided to try out my new liver of sulphur gel to make the druzy really stand out on the pendant. It worked beautifully and I got amazing blues, greens and rusts that were perfect. And then I put a thin coat of Renaissance Wax over it to seal in the colour. Unfortunately, the wax removed all of the good colours and left the pendant looking like it had been left out in the rain for years.  Unfortunately, I had set the druzy before I applied the wax, so now I just have to figure out how to take it back to my original shiny silver, hopefully without having to remove that delicate druzy.

Playing With Copper & Acrylics

I really have to stop experimenting with stuff and get down to what I really want to do, which is enamelling, metal clay and making bezels. Of course, that is all experimental too, since I have no idea what I'm doing.  Oh well, I'm retired and allowed to play.
Not sure what lead me to try this, and I'm not even sure what to call it. Maybe it was the box of acrylics I just got for a community school painting class. The lighthouse is a no-brainer; it's 10 minutes down the road and one of my favourite places and favourite inspirations. Maybe it was a photo of an amazing piece someone else did with a two-dimensional look, bears over a landscape or something. It might have been wolves or that might have been another one. And maybe it's because I have a nice piece of balsa wood that I've been eyeing for months and trying to decide what to do with it.

Anyway, it started with a quick sunset seascape with acrylics on the balsa. And it was VERY quick - I didn't prep the wood and I forgot to use water with the acrylics. Then I traced the outline of the little painting onto a piece of 20 gauge copper. Drew the lighthouse and cut it out with my saw. * It looked okay so I tried to put liver of sulphur on the copper and managed to just turn it into dirty looking copper. Then I had to figure out how to put it together and how to string it. I don't know why I didn't just use the wood as the backing but I decided to use a piece

of 26 gauge copper, making it a three-layer sandwich.
Can you tell I don't do a lot of planning? Or measuring, for that matter.
Actually, the 26 gauge copper folded very nicely over the painting, although it took a fair bit of trimming so the fold wouldn't show in front.
Riveting was the only option for putting the sandwich together, since trying to solder it would turn the painting into a little piece of charcoal. The way I solder, anyway. I have two hole cutters, one a handheld one which does about an 18 gauge hole and one a workhorse, which does big, bigger and biggest. The workhorse was too big and the handheld was too small to fit my rivets. I felt like Goldilocks.  So I set everything aside for a few days. A few days later, I was in the hardware store for something and being a hardware junkie, I was cruising the shelves and saw the cutest little drills ever. I had no idea if they would fit a Dremel. Which they didn't, by the way, the Dremel chuck is too big for the weensy drill shanks. One of the little drills was exactly the size I needed for my rivets so I wrapped the shank with painters tape and that worked perfectly in the Dremel.  Of course I didn't measure.

I hate doing anything the same twice, but if I do, here is what I would change:
I would have a plan.
I would measure.
I would make the border of the front copper piece thicker, so less chance of rivets touching top and bottom.
I would prep the board before painting and use water with my acrylics.
All the pieces would be cut out at the same time and ready for painting/assembly. And they would actually be rectangular.
The holes would be cut in advance and then the dimples/eruptions could

be hammered out.
Liver of sulphur expires. Even the powdered stuff. I found this out. I would use fresh stuff.
It's fun having the time to play around and maybe some day I'll actually make something so totally unique and beautiful, people will be begging me for a tutorial. Or maybe I'll just have a room full of things that I don't ever want to repeat.  I don't care, I'm having fun!

* The jewellers' saw - just a funny anecdote. I use a #2 saw blade on everything and have been using the same blade for a couple of years now, with a fair bit of cutting. I was getting a little vain about my cutting skills. I used it so long that it was losing its edge and the blade was getting dull. So I changed it. And then changed the pieces of the new one. And again. Apparently I'm going to have to hire someone to take the edge off my blades before i use them. The jewellery gods make sure I will never have a swelled head.

I don't Know What To Call This One

It's getting cooler at night and my old house stays pretty cool in the heat of the day so I've been inspired to do some making that requires heat.
The number of times I've ordered round copper blanks lately is annoying because they haven't been in stock at several different companies. My disc cutter doesn't cut them big enough for what I need at the moment and I keep putting off my enamelling lessons because I was too lazy to saw some.  The alternative yesterday was housework so sawing it would be.  I  want to enamel and don't know why I put it off, because I love sawing metal and I'm not bad at it.
As I was sawing happily and mindlessly, putting a couple of cut blanks in my enamelling drawer I noticed some copper washer rings and my brain shifted out of neutral. I decided to saw out the bust of a Pegasus and, after some deliberation, decided to put it on one of the washer rings. Used my copper solder for the first time. Pickled and burnished. It was pretty but blah. No contrast. So I used some African Gold wax on the ring. That made the head look blah. Have a tiny bottle of silver glitter stuff that's supposed to be mixed with adhesive, resin or polymer clay, so I mixed it with some Diamond Glaze and painted it on. For some reason the Diamond Glaze took all the glitter out of the silver and it ended up looking an ugly matte grey. So I waited for it to partially set and then scraped and sanded it off. Decided to try Liver Of Sulphur. Got out my old bottle and tried to mix some of it with hot water. One lesson of many today - L.O.S. doesn't last 10 or more years, even in a plastic bottle and double freezer-bagged. It's powder! It's supposed to last forever! Anyway, after repeated dunkings it turned the copper a little bronze but not much.

Thought it might do so I took the pendant back to my desk and tried to sand the high points. It just made it streaky looking so I sanded it all off the horse, left it on the ring. Next thought was to just put some crystalline wax on the whole thing and leave it. Put too thick a coat on, went to visit a friend for an hour and when i came back, the whole pendant was streaked with an ugly sticky finish. Cleaned all of that off and put a fine film over the whole thing, strung it and put it away.
And then I wonder why I can only get one piece done in a day.

Banged Bangle

Almost perfected!  I made myself a bangle today. Kind of silly because I rarely wear jewelry and I'll wear it today and probably forget about wearing it most other days. I felt guilty because I should have been out mowing the lawn so I had to do something productive in order to justify being inside instead of doing my chores.  Now that it's finished, I can have a guilt-free nap.

This bangle was pretty simple to make and started with an 8" piece of copper tubing. I have man-sized wrists and hands, thus the length; anybody else would probably only need 6"

All you have to do is hammer all your frustrations onto the piece of tubing so that you've got a piece of flat, doubled copper. I was too lazy to sand by hand, so I used the sanding attachment on my Dremel and it made it nice and shiny. Mark the holes for your rivets and Voila! It should have been annealed before bending into a bracelet shape but again, too lazy to do the cleaning up afterwards. Besides, what's the use of having man hands if you aren't strong?

The change I would make in the next one is to put any decorative rivets closer to the middle because they leave a bit of a shoulder where they are, 1/2" out from the central decoration. A quarter inch would have probably been perfect.

I Like Craftsy

Prince Edward Island is where I've called home for the past 13 years and I love it here. Beautiful beaches around every corner, hot summers, normal Canadian winters and complete strangers who actually smile at you in the supermarket.

These pictures aren't the beaches, they're from my favourite place to take visitors, Sea Cow Head.

A lighthouse, gorgeous view of the Confederation Bridge and red cliffs, water...who could ask for more. Just make sure you have mosquito spray!

The only things missing in my world are classes to help me advance my jewellery-making education. Enamelling, metalsmithing, metal clay work...all things that I want to learn and I would like to learn them without spending a fortune on metals that will end up being discarded.  Since I haven't been able to access real live teachers, online is my only option and I have found Craftsy to be about as close to a real teacher as you can get. The only thing missing is the camaraderie of fellow students. Their prices are terrific, especially if you take advantage of their frequent sales and the teachers are wonderful. Over the past few years, I've bought quite a few of the jewellery making classes and love to be able to watch them over and over.

The latest Craftsy class I bought was Settings For Every Shape, by Robert Dancik. It reminded me of several methods I had forgotten about and showed me the proper way of doing them. And it addicted me to making metal boxes.

I get a lot of sea glass and get bored with just wire wrapping it, so I try a lot of different settings, some good, some not-so-good. I'll leave it to you to decide.

This is derived from the Tab Setting lesson. Argentium silver, it has a cut-out in the back to let the light shine through the sea glass, and my inspiration was seaweed cradling the glass.

These were two of my boxes and like them or not, they're a lot of fun to make. Sea glass, shells, pearls, anything goes. I had originally filled the boxes with concrete and preferred the rustic look but I wasn't using the proper concrete and it all flaked out. So plan B was to try resin. I was too lazy to mix up a batch of 2 part resin so I just used Diamond Glaze.

Learn from my mistakes

A lesson In What Not To Do With Enamel

Maybe I'm too impatient to ever become any good at enamelling. Or maybe I need a more dedicated space to work at it, so I don't rush to be finished so I can put my kiln away and clean the table for supper. Or maybe I'm just looking for an excuse.

Bear in mind that I didn't properly sand these pieces because they aren't going anywhere so you will see some of the cloisonné wires that would normally be sanded out.

These are my favourite pieces and I'm mad at myself for messing them up. They are simple cloisonne and meant to represent the red cliffs of Prince Edward Island at the edge of the sea.
My use of colours was pretty good and I paid attention to Ricky Frank's instructions about using a salt-and-pepper method to blend colours. I paid attention to his hint to slightly dome the piece so there wouldn't be as much stress. What I forgot was to put a layer of counter enamel on the backs. Between the lack of counter enamel to relieve stress and probably an overly thick layer of transparent on top because I got impatient,  the glass cracked in the last firing.

This was another cloisonne piece and I used glass threads on top of the design. I really like it and it would have been a nice piece once sanded and with another few coats of transparent, except for one really really dumb mistake.
I cut the piece at the top to make a bail. Bend it and roll it over and it would make a lovely, enamelled bail. Yup. Try bending glass.

This piece WAS really pretty before I fired it the second time. Another one with glass stringers and I should have given up on it before it ever went in the kiln. I'd put the stringers on in the design I wanted, and lift the firing screen to put it in the kiln and my hand would shake and the whole thing would fall apart. About five times. Of course, by the time I finally got it in the kiln, I had my fingers all over it and by that time I was getting a turkey ready for the oven so this lesson is that greasy fingers and enamelling don't mix.


And one last lesson that should be obvious. Because I'm using copper until I figure out what I'm doing, I get a lot of firescale on the back of the pieces. Especially when you forget the counter enamel. When you are doing cloisonne, you have to put multiple layers of thin transparent over the piece to build it up to the top of the wires. I was using powdered transparent and as I shook it on, I was shaking little pieces of firescale onto the paper below, and then I'd pour it back into the container, thinking the screen would filter it out. It doesn't. You can really see the little flakes on the first picture. Guess I'm going to have to break down and order more transparent. And be a little less thrifty.

When you don't have access to classes, except online, learning things like enameling and metalsmithing is definitely a lesson in humility. I suppose the advantage to doing it without an instructor is that, unless you post it on a blog, nobody else has to see your blunders. Anybody who is interested in trying cloisonne, Ricky Frank of Rio Grande has some terrific You Tube videos. For straight enameling, try Craftsy; they have torch fired enameling, which is fun. You didn't get the pictures of that.

Sea Glass Fun

There's nothing more exciting than finding a nice piece of sea glass on a beach walk. And it's particularly nice if you can make a piece of jewellery with sea glass that has a provenance.
This piece of pale blue is from Old Chelton Beach in PEI. I was practicing different types of bezels from a Craftsy class and this one decided to be a little organic, reminding me of seaweed cradling the glass. It is made with .999 silver and my original plan was to antique it but it looked too nice with the bare silver. In my opinion lol.

Game Of Thrones - Bah!

I just binge read all 5 books of George Martin's Game Of Thrones and now I'm sorry I did. I've never watched the TV show of the same name and if I had, would probably not have started the books. Couldn't put them down, mind you, and had a couple of 4 and 5 in the morning sessions.
Each book gets progressively darker and weirder, with a cast of way too many sadistic and monstrous characters. The only ones with redeeming qualities seem to get killed off or ignored in the story line. Book I sucks you in by making you want to know the story of the Stark children which is why I read and read and read, only to finish book 5 still not knowing where they will end up.
I should know better, after reading Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time series, which went on for something like 13 books and kept me waiting year after year for the next one to come out. And then Jordan died before the last book was published. I figured it was either him or me. That series was much better, with a smaller cast of characters in which you could invest your liking and interest. Game Of Thrones has too many bloody (literally)  plot lines that you have to read to see if the people you're interested in happen to make an appearance. The books are so long they read like a gory Charles Dickens, like Martin is being paid by the word. I guess with the TV series, he is.
Now I should really do some housework.

Gluten Free Deep Fried Fish

There are so many people diagnosed with celiac disease that feeding them has become a profitable market and it's much easier now to get half-decent tasting food. I don't feel deprived, although, occasionally I miss a really good craft beer and pub style chicken wings or fish and chips. The fish and chips craving seems to come on those miserable, cold winter days when your body says, "feed me carbs! Now!"
My Christmas present to myself was a little T-Fal deep fryer and its purpose was to fulfill the carb craving by deep frying little spring rolls made of rice paper, shredded meat, carrots and cabbage. I figured the healthy inside made up for the fried outside. It's amazing what you can talk yourself into believing.
In a fit of trying to make myself eat more healthy food, I bought a package of frozen cod fillets. So, naturally, I looked for the most fattening way I could cook them. When I stumbled across this recipe on reclaimyourhealth.com.au, I thought I'd try it but didn't hold out much hope that it would taste like fish and chip shop fish. BUT IT DOES!!! It's probably even better than some shops sell and the unfortunate part is that, now that I've tried it, I'll want it often. So much for dreams of boiled cod and veggies.
This will make enough batter for 6 large fish fillets. I quartered the recipe to cook one and still had enough left over that I could have cooked 3 more.

Best Gluten Free Fish Batter
2 cups rice flour (I used a blend without Xanthan gum from Bulk Barn)
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper (optional)
350 ml sparkling water or soda water
1 egg beaten (quartering this was impossible, so I used a whole egg and a little less water
1/2 cup rice flour for coating
Oil for deep fryer - coconut oil would be a healthier choice

Mix together the rice flour, baking powder and salt in one bowl and the water and beaten egg in another. Pour the water mixture into the flour  and mix until smooth. It shouldn't be a thick mixture, more like a pancake mixture.  Dredge the fish in the flour, shake off excess and dip in the batter until coated, shaking off excess. Deep fry in preheated oil 4 - 6 minutes until crispy.
Make sure your oil is good and hot before putting your fish in and this will prevent too much oil soaking in. Rest the fish on a paper towel when removed to blot up excess oil.

Maybe I'll lose weight when it's warm again.

I'm back!

Have you ever noticed that as you get older, time seems to compress? I can't believe that it's been two years since I posted.
Started doing agility trials with my dogs, practice a lot, sold my store this fall, bought the SC2 kiln I've always wanted, am making a lot of mistakes teaching myself enamelling and that's basically my life the past few years. Now that I've got my head around the fact that I'm free, it's time to start creating. Hopefully.
I've always wanted to make the little clothes out of metal, maybe because growing up I wanted to be a fashion designer. Didn't happen but I made really good cutouts for myself as a kid, haha. So...looking through my idea book, I saw a sketch of a dress. It's bloody cold, so I decided to make shorts and a top on a hanger. Wishful thinking. Can't visualize well from a sketch so I decided to do a prototype. I used 26 gauge brass, thin enough to cut with scissors. Sketched the shorts and top at the bottom of the piece of metal, folded it and cut around the first pattern. Remember, this was a prototype so I could have done it much neater. Once it was cut out, it needed some serious filing, since the metal was so sharp. Then I took some 18 gauge hardware store copper and designed the hangar, just by bending and making a loop. Next time, I'll put a small straight stretch under the loop and a couple of rings of binding wire around it to look more like a hangar. That's why I need a physical prototype.
Once I got all of that done, I realized that done properly, all of this could look really good and definitely wearable without enamel and without a kiln. And without soldering, which is how I was going to join the back and front.
Cut out the back and front of your design,  fold in half. It doesn't matter what gauge metal you use, but the heavier the gauge, the more careful you will have to be folding.
Bend your wire for the hangar.
Place the hangar to hang the outfit. I used the blade of a pocket knife to open the design enough to slide it in. Then use E6000 or Krazy glue to glue the front to the back, under the hangar. Put something heavy over it until glue dries.
Paint with nail polish or permanent markers. It wouldn't hurt to put a coat of clear resin over it to keep your colours safe.
Hang!
If you want one for winter, how about a pair of red long-john combinations?
How easy is that?

Sage 50 Review

This post is totally off topic but it's my blog and I need to vent.
When I bought my convenience store 10 years ago, I researched accounting systems and bought Simply Accounting.  It was a pretty complicated system to start from scratch but the price included a free hour of help from a local S.A. specialist.  That specialist was an accountant with H & R Block in Alberton and I paid her for an extra two hours and she completely customized the software for my use.  Sounds great, right?

Yes, it was good enough that a few years later, I bought the Pro edition so that I could do my books in the store as well as my home office.  That worked well until the store computer died.  The Pro edition is for more than one computer but when you try to put it on a new computer, it cost extra.  Nice.

Since then, I've just worked on one computer, annoying, but not a deal breaker.  In early 2014, I sent my memory stick with the Simply Accounting backup to my accountant as usual and she could not open it. Seemed that she had upgraded and I had not and her new Sage system locked out anything done on the old system.

The company was no long AccPac Simply Accounting.  They had been taken over by Sage.  If I wanted my accountant to access my 2013 books, I would have to upgrade, whether I wanted to or not.  Did I want the basic version or the payroll version?  The difference in price was immense and I got my deduction information off the government website anyway, so I ponied up the necessary $500 (including tax) and got the electronic licence to download the upgrade without the payroll information.  It was horrible - slower than molasses to load, my home page was changed and had all sorts of stuff I didn't need but at least I could get my taxes done.

Now I'm finalizing my books for 2014 and went to do the T4s for my employees, happy to have them done early this year.  But Lo and Behold, Sage had taken the ability to print T4s and ROEs with my $500!  If I wanted to get that back, it would only cost me an extra $600 a year.  A YEAR!  To get back what had before!

So for being forced to spend $500, this wonderful company gave me less than I had before.  But look at all the extra features you have, says the sales department.  Nothing I need or can use, of course.  Can I have my old system back?  No.

It has been years since I've been this angry.  Do not under any circumstances buy Sage 50 or any of the Sage products unless you have lots of money and are prepared to be held to ransom.  The Sage logo on the software is an increasing step graph; a very effective indicator of the rising annual costs of using their product.

Lessons in Humility

I've always thought of myself as a pretty good animal trainer.  I broke and trained racehorses and did it firmly and kindly, so that the colts and fillies knew what was expected of them and were always glad to see me.  I groomed and trained some real problem horses and had great success in changing their attitudes.
 Dogs have been a part of my life since childhood and my last three were Jack Russells, not easy dogs to train with their attention deficit, obsessive compulsive disorder and sheer stubbornness.  Their training wasn't anything fancy, just the basics like sit and come and walk politely on a leash.  They were all adults when I got

them and had little quirks that had to be either dealt with or ignored.  Dewey, my latest, is the original dog in the manger and has to have whatever the other dogs have.  If I give them each a bone, he goes through a gamut of actions, including running and barking at the door, to get the others to leave their bones so he can get theirs.  If his yapping at them gives me a headache, sometimes I'll just switch the bones all around, which works until he decides that Corky has a better one and starts all over again.  He's also a chronic runaway and if he gets out of the fenced yard somehow, he's on a mission.  I don't think he has any idea of where he is going but going he is.  When he is on his way somewhere, he becomes completely deaf and doesn't hear me calling, ever.  The only way I can catch him is to run back in the house and grab a wiener, jump in the car and get ahead of him and yell, "Dewey, hot dog!"  His greed is the only thing that seems to be more important than his mission and his little 14-year-old legs make a bee-line to me.  He also has a phobia about cameras, so most pictures of the other dogs will show Dewey leaving in the background.  The picture on the right must have been taken with a cellphone and he didn't realize what was going on, but he's catching on to cellphones and tablets now, too, and gives me a dirty look and leaves.  I've always suspected that he is reincarnated from a famous person and hates the paparazzi.
The point of all this is that my dogs and I get along just fine.  They usually do what they're told and other than Dewey and his rare escapes, they don't do anything horrible or that makes me think I should do an attitude adjustment.
Until now.
I have met my match.
Corky was a year old when I got him and the moment he walked in the door he was my devoted dog.  He lives to please me.  He is relaxed inside the house and ready to play and have fun when he's outside, as long as I'm within sight.  He walks by my side without a leash and comes when he's called.  His only fault is that he is very shy and reserved and when we do agility, he will stop if we have to go towards people.  I have become hooked on agility and Corky's natural grace and quickness to learn made me think that a poodle who wasn't shy could be a lot of fun doing agility work.  Corky's sister just happened to have a litter ready to go and the breeder chose what she called "a very self-confident pup" for me.  And self-confident he is.  He loves people, loves other dogs and loves playing.  Constantly.

My living room is a shambles.  I straighten the area rug and put the cushions back on the couches and within 30 seconds, the rug is sideways and the cushions are on the floor.  I thought I had "baby proofed" the house but didn't count on having a pup the size of a pony who could reach just about anything that I could.

Anybody who says dogs don't have a sense of humour hasn't dealt with a standard poodle pup.  He can't be left alone in another room for five seconds or he comes galloping in to show me what he found, practically says "Woo Hoo!!!" and runs around the house waving his prize.  The game is on!  I used to keep unpaid bills on the kitchen table until I was ready to sit down and deal with them.  Not any more.  House plants, papers, books, shoes, ceramic figurines...if he can reach it, it's gone.  And if everything is put away out of reach, he runs upstairs and raids my closet.  "Weeeee!!!!" Mom's socks!  Mom's bras!  Toilet paper!  Wash cloths!  Woo Hoo!!!!
I was eating my supper tonight when someone came to the door with my CSA order.  Usually he's right there with bells on because he loves people coming to the door but he got half my supper before I realized he wasn't underfoot.

Look at the size of the little stinker!  Not even six months old and he's bigger than Corky.  (Dewey leaving in the background.)  He will not come when he's called outside, although he is getting better coming in the house.  Unless, of course, he has something he shouldn't.  He loves treats but will ignore chicken, turkey and wieners if it means he has to do something he doesn't want to.  His motto is, "Don't wanna, don't hafta, not gonna."
The latest trend in dog training is to reward a dog for doing the right thing and ignore them if they don't.  And if they're into something they shouldn't be, distract them with something they can have.  Good luck with that one with Drummond!
This puppy is definitely a challenge and he has shown me that I have a lot to learn when it comes to dog training.  And if you know a sixty-something who decides to get a puppy, whack them upside the head until they come to their senses!