robinmaderich

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I’d Like My Crayons Back Episode 5 – Mead Making with Brandon and Lehel

Episode 5 in my podcast about creativity in all its forms is a very entertaining interview with two friends who have a shared interest in making mead. They talk about how they got started, the process, the supplies used, the fabulous flavors they have and plan yet to achieve. I laughed quite a bit, because these guys are funny, too!

F is for Fantasy

Yes, I currently am writing a dark fantasy series (the Shadow Journey series, writing it as Jo Allen Ash), but that’s not what this post is about. It’s about, well, SPRING and a fulfillment of the next letter in my challenge. The challenge I stood up and declared I would meet. I thought I’d have it finished in March. Fat chance, apparently. I’m only on the letter “F” for crying out loud.

E is for Excellent

Yes, I’m cheating a bit. But I’m also pulling my hair out between writing, marketing, writing, yardwork, writing… Well, you get the picture.

At any rate, I came across this article about the uses for silica packs (you know, the little packets filled with silica pellets that come nearly in everything?) to keep them from your trash and in use. The great thing is, once they are filled with moisture, you can dry them out in the oven to reactivate them. This, I did not know!

So, Enjoy this Excellent article Explaining the Efficient use of silica packs! (PS: I tried to Embed it, but for some reason it didn’t work. However, the article is worth the read!)

Reusing Silica Packs

D is for Delight

I had another D word in mind when I initially sat down to write this blog. Demented, however, would have been a rather brief but virulent topic. Instead of venting, I settled on something more, well, delightful. Something simple to maybe lift the spirit.

First, we’ll start with daffodils, those lovely harbingers of Spring. Mine are as yet mere buds, perhaps delayed by the all the snow we had recently. However, I dug up this photo of mine from a prior Spring.

I’d Like My Crayons Back Episode 2 – Josh Lounsberry

Before two upcoming (and the latest) episodes in my podcast, I figured I’d post episode 2 and 3 (2 here, 3 in a separate post). This is my interview of Josh Lounsberry, a young man with a heart hearkening back to bygone eras. His passion, among others, is for dyeing and spinning wool into yarn on antique spinning wheels. Not to sell it, but to instruct and inform others in demonstrations about the ways things were done in times past. History buff, me, I admire him for that, for sure.

Enjoy!

C is for Constant

Like the ringing in my ears? No. Well, yeah, sure, if it helps the point.

When we are very young, the constants in our lives seem so very certain. Or maybe just my life. As a child, I had been privileged to live a life where I didn’t experience a ton of fear and insecurity. I know that was not the same for many in this country and around the world. I never expected to find myself without a roof over my head or in the middle of chaotic violence or any number of things people faced and still do on a daily basis. That would have been, in my young mind, absurd. We were fed. We played in the sun. Summers were long. Friends were everywhere. Families meant everything.

B is for Brave

We all know brave when we see it. The firefighter rushing into a burning building. The bystander pulling the injured from a battered car before it ignites. A soldier facing the uncertainties of battle. Voices speaking up for what is right. The list goes on. There are many deserved accolades for the brave heroes in our world. However, most of us, perhaps all of us, experience our own brand of bravery in everyday life.

A is for Archeology

Okay, people, this is the first in my alphabetically triggered blogs, in response to the gauntlet cast down at my feet. (For more, see the “Challenge Accepted” blog recently posted.) So, after some consideration, I decided to write about Archeology.

Whoa. Archeology? Why? Certain readers, those who know me after a fashion, may be thinking, “that came out of left field.” But others, those who know me best, are well acquainted with my love of history, historical places, watching documentaries about delving into the past, the careful hunting for artefacts (another “A” word) at places of historical significance, staring open-mouthed at the plethora of YouTube videos on the subject, and yada, yada…