Over the Crescent Moon

Making A Steampunk Scrapbook: Part 3, The Cover

2012-01-26T21:17:00.000-05:00

This chipboard, precut to the size I needed for my scrapbook, was one of the things I found at Hobby Lobby last weekend.

I decorated the covers with scrapbook paper and metal embellishments. I couldn't find any eyelets in a coordinating color, so I spray-painted some the color I wanted before using them to re-inforce the holes.

Inside the front cover (the only steampunk photograph of DH, so far):

Making a Steampunk Scrapbook: Part 2

2012-01-23T19:17:00.016-05:00

While we were in Jacksonville, Friday, I went scrapbook supply shopping at Hobby Lobby. I have found many items at the Michael's store here in Gainesville, but we don't have a Hobby Lobby and they really do have a larger selection.

My collection of supplies now includes stickers, chipboard, and metal embellishments.

Designer, Tim Holtz makes a line of scrapbooking supplies that lend themselves very well to steampunk. Both of the craft stores and many on-line stores carry his products.

Sunday, I was back to work on the scrapbook ( it was the perfect sedentary occupation, since my feet still hurt from a full day of wearing pointy-toed Victorian boots all day Saturday).

A sheet of 12' X 12' paper, when cut down to notebook paper size, left a strip of left over paper exactly the right size to make this pocket to hold a bundle of pictures.

Even though I chose to make an eight and a half by eleven-inch scrapbook, I still want to fit in quite a few pictures, so I've been finding ways to layer them. The bundle in the pocket is one way, this is another:

Yet another:

This is the introductory page I did for Blaze's 10th birthday party pictures. There is only one photo on this page, but I hope to fit more onto the next.

Daylina Miller of Tampa Steampunk sent me this amazing link to steampunk scrapbook pages, many of which list the sources of the materials used in creating them:

http://www.scrapbook.com/gallery/?type=searchwords&s=steampunk

Scenes from the Jacksonville Zoo

2012-01-23T06:58:00.005-05:00

We've been to the Jacksonville Zoo before, but not for along time, so when DH was invited to speak to the park service about the Kingsley cemetery on Friday, Blaze and I rode along. The zoo is not far from the Kingsley Plantation on Fort George Island. It takes about 3-3 1/2 hours to walk through the whole zoo, so it worked out perfectly with dropping DH off at The Ribault Club, where he was speaking, and picking him up when the program was over.

We really enjoyed visited with this guy. His name is Duke and he's not at all shy about coming up to people to be fed by hand.

The animals are not the only attraction at the zoo. It's right on the Saint Johns River, so there's a dock. There are also some very pretty garden areas.

If you go there with children, make sure you plan for a long stop at the playground.

In the summer, the playground also includes a splash pad.

Back to the animals:

St. Augustine Steampunk Shopping Trip

2012-01-22T09:04:00.022-05:00

Yesterday, we met up with people from the Central Florida Steampunk Association for a full day of shopping in St. Augustine, the nation's oldest city.

We started at the Visitors' Center at noon and made our way through the City Gates.

St. Augustine is one of those places that is so full of costumed re-enactors all year long, that people in historic-based costumes don't seem that out of place as they wander from shop to shop.

There were lots of fun shops to look in, a hat shop, a pirate store, handmade soaps, tea and spices, and vintage clothing were just a few we visited.

One of the things I really love about St. Augustine is the street venders and musicians, who make the shopping district so much more vibrant and colorful.

This man made some very clever, wrapped wire jewelry using computer circuit boards.

This very friendly one-man-band tried to get his dog, Maggie May, to sing for us.

Maggie May is the most patient, and lazy, dog you can imagine.

This group said that yesterday was the first time they had preformed together, but they were very entertaining.

After we listened to one song, we were about to walk away, but we had to stay when they told us their next song was called "Trains and Dinosaurs".

We finished off our evening with a walking tour with Ancient City Ghost Tours.

Our tour guide, Shannon, was entertaining. Blaze is not actually the bravest person when it comes to scary stories, but Shannon's mixture of history, ghost stories, puns, and silly punch lines, had the audience groaning over the bad jokes, more than the gruesomeness (although there was some of that, too). It kept Blaze interested without scaring him too badly, until our last stop, where he insists something brushed against his leg.

Our final stop of the ghost tour was the old military hospital.

As we were leaving the ghost tour and walking across the park, we were stopped by a group of photographers and asked if we would all pose for pictures. There were many group photos taken, as we were used to help photographers learn how to take better photographs using artificial lighting. I have the card of one of the photographers and hope to see some of those pictures soon.

Making a Steampunk Scrapbook: Part 1

2012-01-15T16:36:00.025-05:00

I have worked on scrapbooks for two of my children and purchased photos and supplies for the third child to work on her own scrapbook, but I have never had one that is just for me, until now. About a week ago, I decided it would be nice to have a scrapbook that just recorded the steampunk related costumes and projects I have made, and the steampunk events we have attended. This idea was hatched after realizing how many steampunk themed scrapbook supplies were currently available and seeing some examples of journals and scrapbooks that did not confine themselves to flat pages that could fit into plastic sleeves, but instead incorporated 3-dimentional elements into their pages.

THE PAPER:

I found these paper "stacks" at Jo-Ann Fabrics and Michael's. They are listed as $19.99 a pack at both places, but I have yet to pay full price for any scrapbook supplies. Both stores frequently offer coupons for 40% to 50% off a single item. That's when to buy these pricey packs of paper.

The Regent Street paper pack from Recollections (sold at Michael's) contains some sewing themed pages, houndstooth fabric print, button print, old newspaper print, and these top hat designs:

The Tattered Time paper has several gear designs, two type writer designs, vintage tickets, rulers, machines, dominos, and more.

Individual pages that have wood print, bricks, metallics, or solid colors will also work well for a steampunk album.

THE PAGES:

Since I will not be covering the pages with plastic sleeves, I plan to add many interactive, moving, 3-D elements to the pages. I've only been working on this for a few days, but this is what I have so far:

The outside of the Tesla Ranger page:

The saloon doors open to revel the pictures:

For the Tesla Ranger pages I used some of the artwork from the website of the originator of the Tesla Ranger concept, Cheyenne Wright.

The outside of the first page of this year's Christmas pictures:

It opens like a card to revel a pop-up picture of the tinsel tree from Blaze's room along with other Christmas decorations:

Page 2 of Christmas has the magnetic advent calendar, first a picture of the whole calendar, and then the individual boxes that I like best.

A New Installment in the Somewhat Infrequent Story of Blaze

2012-01-12T21:25:00.003-05:00

I was very excited when I checked my e-mail tonight. Ula has written a new installment in our on-going story about Capt. Neriena Wordsmith and Blaze aboard their airship, the Aeolus. My middle child, Nika, has been added to the crew, as Catfish, a nickname given to her by a high school friend.

Blaze in the old west....

The moment they had unloaded their cargo in San Francisco, Neriena insisted that they head into the Chinese part of town. This was not the first time and so no one on the crew expressed any surprise. It was general knowledge in the crew that Neriena had spent some time living in China and that she would like to go back to visit some time. She seemed to view the Chinese part of San Francisco as a substitute until she could visit the real thing again someday. She even changed into a kimono, which she knew got stares, but she did not mind. A couple of men standing outside of a building that offered rooms to Chinese immigrants made a couple of rude comments about her and were shocked to find she was able to respond with equally rude comments in the same language.

A man who had been walking in front of them turned quickly at the sound of Neriena's voice and stared at her, eyes wide. It was a different look than the other men had given Neriena, it was a look of recognition. This was a new experience for the crew, none of the Chinese men in San Francisco had ever recognized Neriena before, the type of people that she had known in China were not the sort that came to America. Neriena was looking at the man with equal surprise and recognition however.
“Neriena?” asked the man in English that only had a slight accent, and that was British.
“So that is you Su Jing,” said Neriena, sounding confused and happy at the same time.
“I had heard that you had died in this country,” said Su Jing. “I thought at first that you might be a ghost, or a look alike, but ghosts do not use such words that I have ever heard.”
“Speaking of this country, what are you doing here?” asked Neriena. “There should have been nothing to tempt you away from your job as a customs official, your chances of promotion were high. I thought it was only those with nothing in China who came here, or those who were kidnapped of course.”
“These are not things to talk about on the street. If you will come with me to my rooms, though they are not fit to entertain you, we will be able to speak in more detail.”
“I will not strain your hospitality with my entire crew,” said Neriena. “Officers, come with me, the rest of you are free to do what you want for the remainder of the day. We will meet tonight at the hotel.”
The three officers of the crew stepped forward. Blaze as the gunner and weapons expert, as well as the nominal first mate, though that position was not a formal one. Frank, as the navigator, was also accepted to be an officer, no one would argue with him on the point certainly, they depended on him to keep them alive. Then there was Catfish, as she was known to the crew, or Dan to the outside world, their head mechanic and as strange a figure as Neriena. While Neriena was content to dress as a proper lady when they were in public, Dan chose the opposite path and in public went convincingly as a young man. She had once explained to Neriena that while it was easy for a young boy to get a job in a factory, it was more difficult for a young girl, and that now she was so accustomed to dressing like a boy that she could no longer grow accustomed to dresses and skirts. Small hands that had once reached into the depths of factory machinery to fix it when larger hands could not get to it, had now been put to work in the engine room of their ship to great effect.
Catfish had joined their crew without being invited, they had found her in their engine room after raiding a ship back in their pirate days. Somehow the girl had managed to slip on board during all of the confusion. After threatening to throw her off over a misunderstanding, they thought she was trying to sabotage their ship when they walked in and found her tinkering with the engine, they adopted her. For the first several months Catfish had successfully managed to never have to answer for anything she did or have anything to do with the crew, by convincing them that she only spoke Russian, and language that none of the rest of the crew spoke. It was a great shock to everyone when one day, having apparently decided that they were friends after all, she suddenly started speaking in perfect, American accented English, and she now only spoke Russian when she was being difficult and did not want to have to deal with something. She had once told Neriena that she had chosen Russian because she thought it was a language of exceptional beauty. Neriena, who made it a point not to pry into her crew's pasts, suspected that Catfish had had a difficult life, but could not be sure about the details. What she did know was that it was difficult to remove Catfish from the engine room of their dirigible, and it had only been the temptation of the Chinese section of San Francisco that had lured her out of the ship this time.
The four followed Su Jing down streets that none of them would have ventured down otherwise, not for fear, bur rather because there was no reason to needlessly get into a fight, which was the likely outcome of entering this neighborhood, especially since none of them were Chinese. They were no longer on the main streets, instead they were in the area where people really lived, and it was not pretty. The people who came from China to America were those who had nothing to lose in China and hoped to earn money in a new country. From the looks of it, that had not happened. The entire air was filled with bitterness. Su Jing led them to a building that looked much like the others in the neighborhood and up some stairs to an attic room. It had been kept clean and neat, and it was nicely furnished, but it could not hide how unpleasant the building was.
“Please, have a seat,” said Su Jing. “I will go get some tea and things to eat.” Once the four were seated at the low table in the middle of the room, it was only natural that the officers start questioning their captain about Su Jing.
“He speaks good English,” commented Blaze.
“Of course he does,” said Neriena. “Like I said, he was a customs officer, he worked on the docks where American and English ships came. China might not like it, but they do have use for people who can speak both Chinese and English well, Su Jing took advantage of that. With such a post, there is no reason for him to be here.”
“So are you just going to wait for him to spit out why he brought us here, or are you going to ask so we can get back to the hotel?” asked Catfish.
“I think I'd rather let him get to it on his own,” said Neriena. “If you want to go back to the hotel you can.”
“I wouldn't be able to find my way back,” said Catfish. She leaned back without another word, though the others continued to gossip. They admired the furniture, talked about what Su Jing might want, and finally started bragging about the various things they had done over the years, which was a sort of default entertainment. Everyone lied a little but it was considered poor manners to point it out. Finally Su Jing came back with a pot of tea, cups, and a steamer that proved to be full of dumplings.
“So what are you doing here?” asked Neriena. She had poured tea for everyone, even though Su Jing had protested that as the host he should. “You haven't said yet why you left China. And living in a house like this seems a painful reversal of fortune for you.”
“I could afford a better place to live, except there is none,” said Su Jing bitterly. “I do not mean to live here long, so I was not willing to buy a house, but none of the better boarding houses would take me because I am Chinese. I was told to stay where I belonged. People are not kind.”
“So you mean to go back to China soon then?” asked Neriena.
“Yes, I am only in this country on business,” explained Su Jing.
“Business? I wouldn't think your business would take you far from the docks in Hong Kong,” said Neriena, sounding surprised.
“Ah, my official business, no. This business is personal. I am looking for my older brother, Su Jiang. I have heard that he has come to this country. He was always adventurous and had no patience for books, and so he and my father did not agree and he left home when I was young. Now my father is dead however, and I would like to bring my brother home to live with me and share the family estate.”
“It might be hard to find him if you don't know where he came in this country. Are you sure he came to this country at all?” added Neriena. “If rumors have it that I am dead, then can you count on rumors that say that your brother came to America?”
“I know he is here,” said Su Jing. “He was taken by a man after he got drunk in a bar, and made a sailor. The ship that took him was an American one.”
“A crimp,” said Neriena, giving the person who had grabbed Su Jiang their proper name and with a old sailor's scorn for the men who preyed on the drunk. She herself had once woken up on a ship headed to South America, with no memory of coming on board.
“I have found people here who have met him,” said Su Jing. “The problem is that it seems that he is no longer in the city. They said that he went into the gold fields, looking to make his fortune and come back to rub it in the faces of our family. A stupid idea.”
“So are you going to go out into the gold fields next then? Be careful, there are less laws there, you might have trouble,” Blaze advised. Gold seemed to have attracted half of the nation to California and it had made people greedy enough to do horrible things to one another. Blaze did not think that Su Jing looked like the sort of person who could take care of himself in such a situation.
“Actually,” said Su Jing, looking uncomfortable, “I was wondering if I could hire you and your crew to find him for me Neriena. They always said that if you were looking for a man you would find him.”
“They said that about me being a debt collector,” Neriena reminded him.
“I will pay you, and your crew, for your time,” said Su Jing, he was clearly pleading.
“Let's do it,” said Catfish, startling everyone. Su Jing had not heard her speak before even once and was surprised at how much attention the others paid to her very quiet voice. The crew found her willingness to do the job surprising since normally she would never agree to take a job that would involve leaving the ship frequently. That Catfish wanted to do the job decided the matter, none of the crew could object when the normally most reluctant figure of the crew to do any job had said she wanted to do it.
The ship was left at the airship dock in San Francisco bay with a few members of the crew to protect it. Both Blaze and Catfish had been reluctant to leave it, but Neriena had pointed out that they were looking for someone and that meant talking to people, floating over their heads was not going to do them any good. Instead Neriena bought them each a horse, a sign of her incredible wealth because horses were in high demand and therefore at a high price. Most people these days rode mules to save money, but Neriena had not even considered it. The horses made both Blaze and Catfish happier, Catfish because she loved animals, Blaze because he could load most of his guns on the back of his horse, even one of the large light guns that he had made for the airship, though he had to take it apart to pack it. Neriena asked him if he thought they were going into war, but he did not even blink, he just shrugged and pointed out that you never knew. Neriena could not argue with that, she had been in a lot of unexpected situations in her life.
The first few days out of San Francisco they could find nothing. So close to the city was a relatively peaceful, with few gold prospectors other than those who had made their roll and were heading to the city to spend it on more supplies. Neriena was dressed as a man again, and so their group received little notice as they headed deeper into the gold fields, farther into prospecting country. This was still a wild country, though not like it had been when the rush had started about fifty years before. Now at least there were prospecting towns, rather than the individual and spread out shanties that had originally peppered the landscape. Still, things also were not exactly as civilized as they were in the east. The entire crew, well experienced in dangerous situations, knew that the county they were walking through was not safe, and they were on their guard. One visible sign of this was that day or night someone was always awake and watching the horses to make sure that no one stole them.
Once they were away from the city Neriena started to ask the people that they met about whether or not they had seen any Chinese men, most of them had, at one place or another, but they were spread out enough to dash hope rather than to foster it. It was clear that Su Jiang was not the only man of Chinese origin who was wandering the gold fields in hope of money and they now had a lot of leads to sort through. Neriena decided to take the faster approach, the crew split up into groups of three and each went off in a direction that Su Jiang might be. Blaze, Neriena, and Catfish formed one group, but for a few days they were able to travel with Frank's group until he reached the road that would take him to one mining community and Neriena's group took another. They all knew that they were to meet back on the ship in a month's time, no matter what stood in their way, and if they did not find Su Jiang in that time they were to assume that another group had already found him.
Neriena had intentionally chosen what was reputed to be the most difficult of the mining communities for herself and her group. As the officers, Neriena trusted their ability to deal with any situation and from what she had heard the community they were heading towards was a situation, but she did not feel that it could be entirely overlooked in their search. The main problem, was that there was a highway man. The stagecoach company had offered a bounty some time ago for his apprehension but the locals were frightened of him, and the professional bounty hunters had failed to find him, for which Neriena had some respect for him. Neriena could admire a fellow crook and thief who was doing his job well, even if it now stood in her way.
The best option of course would be for the highwayman to ignore them and let them go on their way, that way there would be no confrontation and everyone could remain happy. That was what they were hoping for but none of them were actually so foolish as to count on it. It seemed like everyone in this part of the country had a gun and Neriena, admitting that her beloved knives were not distance weapons, had adopted a shotgun, loaded with rock salt, saying that she had no interest in being the downfall of such a successful criminal. The others, taking the hint that their weapons also were not to cause anything worse than extreme discomfort, armed themselves accordingly. Blaze had several small pistols hidden in various pockets that he had played with so that they would shoot cork bullets, which when well aimed could knock someone out, and certainly caused pain, but which were unlikely to kill. They had the added benefit that usually the cork fell apart on impact causing anyone who latter investigated without a weapon that had been used. Catfish however, flat out refused to abandon close range fighting, Blaze had the vague idea that she thought that anything other than close range was somehow playing dirty. Her choice of weapon also somewhat unnerved Blaze, she had chosen a rather long spanner which hung from her saddle, within hands reach, she had informed them, quietly and without fuss that it was the weapon she was most accustomed to. Since Catfish never left the engine during a fight, neither Blaze or Neriena had ever seen her fight and had no way of knowing if her confidence was realistic or not.
The first that they knew of the highwayman's presence was when a tree thudded down in their path, blocking their progression since the path was raised on either side. Since the trio was far more accustomed to sea and air than land, none of them had recognized the prime ambush spot that this area made. There was no spot like this in the air, the closest Neriena could think of was a bay or inlet, with a warship in front of the only escape, something that had happily only happened to her once. It did not help that they only saw the man who had caused the tree to fall when he emerged laying on the top of the raised ground, with a rifle pointed at them.
“Gimme your money,” he shouted down to them. Neriena, who had always liked a bit more of a dramatic effect than the blunt demand, wrinkled her nose and decided the man had no style. Blaze was too busy admiring the man's gun, which had been modified in a way that, from a distance in any case, looked like it was in his own style. Then again what that meant was that it was an efficient killing machine, and it was pointed at him, so he was not exactly thinking kindly of it, though he admired it.
“Come down and talk about it,” Neriena shouted back up at him. A bullet flew over her head, it was with great effort that she stopped herself from ducking, she prided herself on her bravery, but a bullet was a bullet and at a certain point instinct demanded a response that might be deemed cowardice.
“You're not going to scare me with that,” Neriena shouted up, hoping that this was indeed the case. “I've been threatened by worse.”
“How about I shoot you?” said the voice of the highwayman.
“I'd rather you not,” admitted Neriena, still showing the boldness that had made her reputation, to show fear was not something that went over well among pirates in general.
“Well then hand over your money,” said the voice.
“Come down here, I'm not surrendering to a disembodied voice,” Neriena shot back. “You'll have to reload now because of that warning shot and in that time I've got a shot gun, so I suggest you keep this friendly.”
“I've got another,” said the voice, and the muzzle of the rifle ducked over the edge for a moment and was soon replaced with the muzzle of what looked like an ancient Baker gun, Blaze was decidedly less impressed. Neriena was somewhat scornful as well, during the time that no loaded gun had been pointed at them Catfish had pressed herself up against the wall of the gully and was edging her way up, where she could not be seen, and more importantly could not be shot. Both Neriena and Blaze knew they just had to keep the highwayman busy for long enough that Catfish could reach him.
“Can that thing even fire?” asked Blaze sceptically. “Your grandad give you that to remember the revolutionary war by?”
“It was my father's,” admitted the man. “But I've made some changes and unless you want to find out what they are, I suggest you hand over that money of yours already.”
Catfish was behind him then, and both of them disappeared behind the ledge with the sound of a struggle, Blaze and Neriena rushed up the embankment to help her. Both of them were shocked to find Catfish had the bandit pinned to a tree with the wrench at his throat, his guns were thrown to the side. The wrench seemed mostly a threat, there was the option of pressure, but Catfish seemed unwilling to do anything else and even expressed some relief when the reached the summit of the embankment. Neriena tied the man's hands behind his back while Blaze looked at the Baker rifle.
“I knew he was lying,” said Blaze, “this gun is full of rust, it wouldn't be able to shoot a pea, let alone the lead ball he shoved in here.”
“Now, why'd you waste your one shot as a warning?” asked Neriena, patting the man on the shoulder, once she had firmly knotted the twine securing his hands.
“It's always worked before,” said the man, shrugging. He seemed to take his capture philosophically.
“Now this is a beauty,” said Blaze, from where he was examining the modified gun that the man had first pointed at them. “You're lucky he wasted that shot Neriena,” he added. “This far away from any doctors, even if he'd not aimed to kill you, this thing would do permanent damage, and from the look of this scope, he could hit you wherever he aimed. I hadn't heard of anyone doing work like this.”
“I did it myself,” said the bandit, confirming Blaze's suspicions.
“I'll buy it off you,” Blaze offered.
“It's not for sale,” said the bandit firmly.
“Well at least let me study it then,” pleaded Blaze. “I've never seen anything like it, though you might consider a reloading mechanism.”
“I don't have much choice do I?” said the bandit, jerking with his head to indicate his pinioned arms. “I suppose you'll be handing me over to the law?”
“Nope,” said Neriena. “Though we will be treating you to dinner if you promise not to try to rob us again. It's about time to camp for the night.”
“There's a reward you know,” said the bandit, clearly feeling that the world had somehow gone wrong if he had been captured and his captors intended to do nothing about his crimes.
“I don't need the money. I do need dinner,” said Neriena.
“I'm not going to tell you where I camp, it's a secret,” said the man, still clearly feeling the world had gone very wrong.
“That's fine, we're not asking,” said Neriena, who was already unloading her horse of packs. “Not the first time we've made our own camp. In any case Blaze will need time to look at your gun.” The highwayman followed her gaze and he saw with dismay that Blaze had begged a screwdriver off Catfish, and he had already began dismantling the highwayman's gun.
“What do you think?” asked Catfish, looking over his shoulder.
“Clever work, for an amateur, but see this spring here? Too much stress is placed on it, sure the gun fires fine now, but that'll be right up until it doesn't. One day he's going to go to fire it, and that spring is going to go on him, and then he'll be standing around looking mighty foolish. If it was me, I'd change the firing mechanism, so it worked with a lever rather than a spring, though some people say a spring is faster. Is that why you chose it,” added Blaze, turning to speak to the bandit.
“I copied it from another gun,” said the man, looking hunted now.
“Oh,” said Blaze, looking disappointed. He had hoped for a better reason than that, but then he brightened up again. “Then would you mind me changing it for you? It won't be any trouble and while it might be just a little slower, it will make your gun far less likely to misfire. I should have all the parts in my pack. While I'm at it, I could add a reloading feature,” muttered Blaze, already digging through his bag for the parts and a file to make them the right size for the gun.
“Better let him,” said Neriena. She had started building a fire, and had taken off her hat so it wouldn't fall into the fire when she bent down to her work, it revealed her carefully done hair, which she had wrapped around in a bun so it would fit under her hat. “You won't regret it.”
“You're a woman,” said the highwayman, looking shocked. It was fairly clear without her hat.
“That's right, so's Catfish, so remember, there are ladies present,” said Neriena, grinning at him. “And you haven't even introduced yourself to us yet.”
“So the stagecoach company will have a name to put on the posters,” said the highwayman suspiciously.
“They wouldn't have to put up posters if we were on their side,” said Neriena. “You're our prisoner, we could give you to them. In any case, this is Blaze, and Catfish, and I'm a woman dressing as a man, so if you haven't gathered, honesty is not required in the name department. I'd just like something to call you over dinner.”
“Jack will do,” said the man, after a moment to pause and think.
“It will indeed,” agreed Neriena. “Blaze, pass me a couple of matches before you get too wrapped up in that gun.” Blaze barely looked up, he just dug in his pocket until he found a box of the requested item and tossed it to her. Neriena lit the fire on the second try and soon had a pot of potatoes going over it.
Blaze ignored the boiling pot next to him, and Neriena fussing over the package of bacon which had gotten slightly crushed in her pack. He was happily absorbed in the world of guns. Without even realizing he was doing it, he disassembled the Baker Riffle as well, and absentmindedly began cleaning it, muttering to himself about a lack of oil. Catfish, meanwhile, had began brewing a pot of tea with some of the tea leaves that Su Jing had given them as a gift before they had parted. Catfish had developed a great fondness for them, and had already began fussing about where they could get more once they ran out of the ones that Su Jing had given them. Jack looked at the three, and it occurred to him that he could probably run now, and none of them would realize that he had even gone. On the other hand, with his guns disassembled and scattered across a cloth that Blaze had lain out, it would mean that he would be leaving unarmed. It would be the end of his career as a bandit. He was contemplating the pros and cons of this decision when he felt his hands released from behind his back. Catfish shoved a cup of tea under his nose.
“Drink,” she ordered. “I'm not helping you with it.”
“Where's mine?” asked Neriena.
“Get it yourself,” said Catfish. “You're not a guest.”
“Speaking of being a guest,” said Neriena, looking sheepish, “I suppose I should have asked what you wanted for dinner. I hope potatoes and bacon is fine. We don't have that many rations, didn't want to overload the horses.”
“Can I leave?” asked the man called Jack, rubbing his wrists from where the rope had rubbed.
“If you don't mind leaving your guns,” said Blaze, not even looking up from his work. “Or you could drink your tea, eat dinner, and leave with guns that work better and fire faster, your choice.”
“Don't worry,” said Neriena, seeing that the highwayman was still tense and nervous. “We're crooks too. Right now we're looking for a man. I don't suppose you've seen any Chinese men around have you?”
“What do you mean by crooks?” asked Jack.
“Much the same line of work as you,” said Neriena, who decided that she would rather not admit to piracy. There were too few pirates in the world, it would make her exact crimes to easy to track down. “Now, are there any Chinese men around?”
“There's one. Mines on the outskirts of town. People in town won't have anything to do with him,” said Jack, shrugging.
“Su Jiang?” asked Neriena.
“I don't know his name,” said Jack.
“Well it's another lead anyway,” sighed Neriena.
“What's he done?” asked Jack.
“You still seem under the impression that we're bounty hunters,” said Neriena, She placed a plate of bacon in front of him. “We're doing a favor for his brother, if it is Su Jiang, that's all.” She settled into her own seat on a log, and pulled her plate onto her lap. Catfish came and got her own food, but Blaze looked too absorbed in the world of gun powder to feed himself. After waiting for a moment to see if he was going to do anything, Neriena put her plate down, and set about making him one.
“Thanks,” said Blaze, but he didn't even look at the plate. He alternated between reaching blindly for the bacon on the plate and cleaning out the rust from the Baker Rifle.
Neriena ate her food and then pulled a book out of her pack. Jack tried to see the title, but the light from the fire was too dim. It was a pretty, delicate, little volume, not what he would have expected the self confessed criminal to be reading. Finally his curiosity got the better of him.
“A book of poetry?” he asked. It did look like that sort of book.
“Etiquette,” said Neriena, turning a page. Catfish brightened up, and Blaze even looked up from the guns, which he had began reassembling.
“Read about chaperones again,” pleaded Catfish. “That's the funniest.”
“You only think so because you have never been asked to be one,” said Neriena, her voice peevish. It had been a great shock for her to discover that she was now considered old enough, though unmarried, to accompany young women to parties. The two did not press the point, and Jack was forced to wonder just what sort of people he was now dealing with. They had said they were in the same business as him, but they acted all together too casual about it. The only other criminals he had met were the sort of shifty men in San Francisco he sometimes sold stolen goods and gold dust to. Jack was just about to ask why it was that Neriena was reading a book on etiquette, when Blaze tapped him on the shoulder.
“I'm done with the Baker,” he said, handing Jack the gun. “I'm almost done with the other one. Trying out the Baker now though, make sure you still like it. Anything you want me to change, tell me now, while I've got all of the stuff out.”
“Has it occurred to you that I might test this gun out on you?” asked Jack, a question that had been bothering him for some time. He had never been armed by someone he had held up before.
“That would be very ungrateful of you,” said Blaze, calmly. “In any case, I bet I'm a faster draw than you are, so I wouldn't suggest you try it.” He sat down and went back to work on the more modern rifle.
“Try that tree over there,” said Neriena, pointing to one on the edge of clearing they were camping in. “I always like to see Blaze's work.”
For the moment Jack conveniently forgot that the gun had not fired for years, and he had the vague idea that Blaze might have ruined it out of spite. Mentally promising himself that he would get revenge if they had sabotaged his gun, Jack pulled out a cartridge and ripped it open, spilling the contents into the muzzle of the gun, and tamping it down with the ramming rod. He raised it to his shoulder and fired, it kicked into his shoulder, and wood splintered out of the tree.
“It works,” he said, voicing his surprise.
“Of course it does,” said Blaze, with some injured dignity, “I worked on it.” He was reassembling the other gun now, muttering excitedly to himself as he did so. Some of it sounded like math formulas to Jack, who had only made it to the fifth grade, and was somewhat intimidated by numbers. Finally he snapped it together, and the two women leaned forward in anticipation.
“Can I fire it,” pleaded Blaze to Jack.
“You have it,” snapped Jack.
“But it's yours,” said Blaze, his voice reasonable. For a moment Jack felt ashamed, ashamed enough to nod his assent. Blaze grinned, loaded the gun, and fired it, in a fluid and practiced motion that sent shivers down Jack's spine. The thought that he had threatened the boy suddenly occurred to him as a very foolish thing to have done.
“It's a lovely piece of work,” said Neriena approvingly.
“Jack did most of the work,” said Blaze modestly, tossing the bandit the remolded gun. “I just made a few changes.”
“I'll be leaving now?” asked Jack, his voice doubtful. His confidence was completely shaken now.
“If you want,” said Neriena. “Good luck, don't get caught, and make sure you know when it's time to retire,” she added. It was the advice that she herself had lived by. Jack nodded, gathered up his guns, and ran into the darkness. When he looked back, for only a moment, the group had already started to bed down for the night.
The cabin that Su Jiang was found in the next morning was a dilapidated shanty more than any thing else. Su Jiang himself seemed terrified of them, he had taken one look at the armed strangers heading towards his cabin and he had dropped his panning equipment and run into his home. Neriena had not forced her way into his cabin, though it was what Catfish recommended. Instead she had stood outside his door and said things in Chinese that the other two did not understand, until finally the door was opened and Su Jiang came out.
Unlike Su Jing, Su Jiang could not speak English well, and what he did speak was broken. Most of what passed between the group therefore was through Neriena who acted as translator. When she told him that they had been sent by Su Jing to bring him home, back to China, Su Jiang had actually started crying. Catfish and Blaze turned away, made embarrassed and awkward by his emotion, but Neriena had comforted him, and soon he had collected himself, and his possessions, and they were able to set off back to the city, with a happy reunion to look forward to.

Sherlock Holmes' Birthday (Observed)

2012-01-07T19:24:00.008-05:00

The birthday of Sherlock Holmes is celebrated on Jan. 6th, but yesterday was a school day, plus I awoke with a terrible sinus headache, so we postponed our celebration of the great detective's birthday until today.

Blaze and I had a little tea party. I tried a new recipe that one of my co-workers told me about, bacon wrapped figs. Blaze loves bacon and figs and decided that together they were amazing.

It was a beautiful day and we hadn't tried the little steam powered toy boat the Blaze got for Christmas, so we took that out to the picnic table with a tub of water and let it putt around for awhile. It was fun, but it would be more fun with more water.

We also went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie. I agree with the reviewers who said that this one was better than the first. I still don't like the choppy, slowed down fight scenes that Guy Ritchie favors, but the movie was very entertaining.

DH is away at an archeological conference in Baltimore, where he presented a paper about the Kingsley Plantation and his professor receive an award for the work he's done at Kingsley.

A Steampunk Magazine for Teens by Teens

2012-01-07T10:52:00.002-05:00

I'm really impressed with what this teacher in Apple Valley, CA. has accomplished with his Special Education English class! These eleventh and twelfth graders have conducted interviews, written articles, worked on layout, and published their own full color magazine., called Steam Powered Teen.

The first issue just came out and can be ordered here.

There are plans for a couple more issues during this school year. It could also turn into a continuing project, depending on public response. The magazines are $2 for a digital copy and $6 for a print copy, which comes with a free digital download. I think this is a wonderful project to support!

I ordered a print copy for Blaze. He's not a teenager yet, but I think he'll still enjoy looking at all the great pictures and having the articles read to him. He also loves receiving mail!

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T22:32:00.010-05:00

We've had a fun New Year's Eve! We drove down to Tavares, FL. to ride on a 105 year old train, The Orange Blossom Cannonball. The trip was organized by the Central Florida Steampunk Association, so it was a costume event. Our costumes attracted a lot of attention from the train employees, who all turned out to be big fans of steampunk.

I brought a basket full of little bags of coal shaped chocolates and Blaze passed them out to everyone in our group, as well as the conductor and one of the other employees. I even surprised some kids who were waving at the train as it passed by, by throwing them a bag of chocolates.

This is what our trip was like:

We are now back home, eating snack foods, and watching the New Year's Eve celebrations on t.v.
We talked about going downtown for the countdown at midnight, but decided to just relax at home.

Have a wonderful 2012!

Easy, Child Friendly New Years Party Food

2011-12-29T13:36:00.002-05:00

Brie en Croute

1 wheel of Brie cheese

2 sheets of frozen puff pastry, defrosted in the refrigerator over night

1/4 of your favorite jam (I used some guava jam)

1 egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon of water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place Brie in the center of one pastry sheet. Spread the top of the cheese with jam.

Fold the pastry over the cheese, making sure it is sealed. Smooth the pastry with your fingers. You may use the second pastry sheet to cut out decorative pieces, using cookie cutters, to stick to the top of the Brie en Croute. The pastry is sticky enough that no water is needed to stick the dough together. Brush entire thing with egg wash. Bake 20 minutes or until golden. Let rest for 30 minutes before serving. Serve with apple slices and crackers.

Homemade Chex Mix

Fresh grapes, baby carrots, and celery sticks

Sandwich roll-ups, sliced, and screwed with stick pretzels

Place tortilla with cheese in the microwave for about 45 seconds, before adding the other sandwich fillings. This will made the tortilla easier to roll. Use a toothpick to poke a hole through the slice of roll-up, to make it easier to add the pretzel.

Grasshopper: A Festive Holiday Cocktail

2011-12-27T21:18:00.005-05:00

DH gave me a bottle of Creme de Menthe and a bottle of Creme de Cocoa for Christmas, so I could make my favorite after-dinner cocktails, grasshoppers.

1 oz. Creme de Menthe

1 oz. Creme de Cocoa

1 Cup half and half

Just to make this more festive, I topped my drink with light whipped cream and a sprinkle of green sugar.

Scenes From Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

2011-12-25T16:24:00.000-05:00

My mother sent Blaze a set of Star Wars pancake mold, so we had to try them out:

Merry Steampunk Christmas

2011-12-23T19:31:00.002-05:00

I made of slide show that covers all the preparation that when into this year's steampunk themed Christmas:

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!

Happy Solstice!

2011-12-22T11:29:00.002-05:00

It doesn't really feel like winter solstice here, it's supposed to reach 80 degrees today, but we are celebrating anyway.

DH made Alton Brown's Free Range Fruitcake Recipe. For the past two weeks, he has lovingly cared for the cake, spritzing it with brandy every couple days.

This morning, the fruitcake was sliced and served.

DH isn't normally a big fan of fruitcake, because he doesn't like the brightly colored candied cherries. The Edward Gorey Holiday card that Ula sent us, sums up his feelings pretty well.

This fruitcake, though, has only natural dried fruit and he really likes it. He said it was like a homemade Cliff Bar.

One of my contributions to today's festivities was Steam Piggy.

For more that a year, Blaze has been saving all monetary gifts, because he wants to buy a Victrola. Last Summer, while DH and I were both out of work, I borrowed most of that money and it has taken me until now to pay him back. The idea behind Steam Piggy, was the thought that by this time, Blaze probably thought he'd be paid back "when pigs fly", so Steam Piggy is the newest member of Blaze's airship crew.

He is really a chalkboard piggy bank from Target. The goggles were made from two of the plastic compasses left over from Blaze's 10th birthday party. I used the Dremel to cut the back out of each compass. The goggle strap is a leather belt from a resale store. Everything is put together and attached to the piggy bank with Super Glue Gel.

Since it is such a beautiful day, we had lunch out at the picnic table. Steamed buns filled with teriyaki chicken and ginger ale with star shaped ice cubes made from orange juice and cranberry juice.

Legoland Florida

2011-12-21T23:27:00.003-05:00

We spent today at Florida's newest theme park, Legoland.

The $12 parking fee was a bit of a shock, but after we got inside the gate we had a lot of fun. Blaze loved it!

The Legoland park is built on the site of the old Cypress Gardens Park, which was one of those "old school" Florida attractions, a garden full of lush tropical plants and a waterskiing show. Legoland has maintained some of the historic aspects of the old park, such as this carousel:

The gardens are still gorgeous, and strolling through them is a nice break from all the colorful plastic blocks.

The 80 year old Banyan tree:

There's even some wildlife.

Then back to the Legos and the rides.

There are also shows.

This one was taught young children about fire safety:

Snowing soap suds:

I think that Legoland would be a great "starter" theme park for a young child who has never been to a theme park before. Everything at the park is geared towards children who are under 12 years old.

Gearing Up for Christmas/ The Tree Skirt

2011-12-20T16:15:00.001-05:00

I modified a basic Christmas tree skirt pattern to make my new crazy quilt/gear Christmas tree skirt.

This is the pattern I used:

I traced the boarder pattern onto a large piece of paper ( we have a large roll of art paper) and added the gear teeth, spaced as shown in the picture below:

I made the center panels using the same style of crazy quilting that I used to make the Christmas stockings (http://overthecrescentmoon.blogspot.com/2010/11/crazy-quilt-christmas-stockings.html).

The Christmas Tree

2011-12-17T20:54:00.000-05:00

We went tree shopping yesterday afternoon and today we decorated it.

Our treat after we finished decorating the tree: a vanilla ice cream ornament

The Gold Glitter Top Hat Tree Topper

2011-12-17T11:49:00.007-05:00

This cheap party store top hat was labeled "steampunk", but was not at all attractive.

I removed the hatband and sprayed it all over with gold glitter paint.

waiting for the paint to dry:

It will be the topper for our Christmas tree, but first it was the hat I wore to school on Thursday for "silly hat day".

I think it would also make a fine New Years Eve party hat (it now has that kind of over-the-top showiness).

Here it is on the tree:

Gift Tags

2011-12-16T19:10:00.011-05:00

I love Urban Threads! They not only offer really awesome embroidery designs at really good prices, but I have discovered that the designs made for hand embroidery make good graphics and coloring pages.

I used some of their steampunk Christmas designs to make these gift tags,

along with the Mechanical Fanfare Alphabet for lettering.

Here is the pattern for two sizes of tags. Just print out this picture as a full page:

Antiquing the edges of the was very easy. I simply rubbed the edges directly on the Distress Ink pad. I also used the ink to color the hole reinforcement stickers.

Our first use of the tags was on the Christmas cactuses that Blaze gave to each of his teachers and his speech therapist.

My Other Blog

2011-12-13T19:51:00.002-05:00

Since about the middle of the summer, I have been keeping a blog for the Trilogy School elementary classes. It is a small private school. At the moment our entire elementary program consists of only 11 children, so if you are looking for homeschooling ideas, many of our classroom activities could be easily adapted.

http://trilogy-school.blogspot.com/

Beeswax Airships

2011-12-09T23:45:00.003-05:00

This evening I discovered that regular, thin plastic, chocolate molds can be used to make beeswax ornaments, without the plastic melting.

Just melt beeswax in a double boiler. I create my own double boiler by placing a clean can in a pot of water. That way I can throw the can away, instead of trying to clean wax out of a pan.

The hanging loop is made from embroidery floss, which is placed in the mold prior to pouring in the hot wax.

The light colored airships are plain beeswax. The ones that look like milk chocolate are colored with shavings from a brown beeswax crayon (about a 1/4 crayon). The darker brown was made by adding more brown crayon. For the black airships, I added about half a black beeswax crayon to the existing brown wax.

Beeswax ornaments of the past:
http://overthecrescentmoon.blogspot.com/2008/12/birthday-and-christmas-prep.html

Planning to Do Nothing

2011-12-08T23:06:00.002-05:00

There will be no exciting outing for me to post pictures of this Saturday. We have purchased crackers, cheese, fruit, and pepperoni, so that we don't have to cook and have declared Saturday "a pajama day". We are all gathering books to read, movies to watch, and in my case, a little hand-sewing, and we are going to lay around in bed all day, rising only to forage. I think a relaxing day to de-stress will do us all a lot of good.

Happy 11th Birthday Blaze!

2011-12-06T16:00:00.011-05:00

My youngest child just turned 11 today.

I was up until midnight last night, making little white chocolate airships to go on top of chocolate cupcakes (airship pirates never seem to get old as a birthday theme).

The cupcakes were a big hit at school and the children sang happy birthday to him 3 times today. He just loved all the attention!

The jacket he's wearing in this picture was one of his gifts.

His big birthday surprise, though, happened first thing this morning, when he opened up the 6th advent calendar box and found tickets to the new Legoland inside.

Christmas at the Kanapaha Plantation House

2011-12-04T15:46:00.028-05:00

Today, we went to the free holiday open house at the Haile Homestead here in Gainesville.

Costumed docents were there to tell stories about the Haile family and answer questions, about the plantation which once grew sea island cotton using slave labor.

This board was made for bouncing:

The Haile's had 14 children, 12 of them boys, and one of their fun pastimes was bouncing on the board on the front porch. Blaze enjoyed it, too.

I'm not sure if I've ever seen a house with so many fireplaces.

One unusual thing about the Haile home, is what they refer to as "talking walls". The family, particularly the mother, wrote notes all over the walls of the rooms and closets.

None of the outbuilding are still standing. This fireplace is the last thing that remains from the caretaker's house that once stood behind the main house.

There were other interesting things going on outside the house, as well. We watched this woman demonstrate lace making

and then watched as this girl pulled the snake out of the bushes near the front porch and carried it off where it wouldn't scare any tourists.

A Christmas Carol at the Hippodrome

2011-12-04T09:14:00.012-05:00

Yesterday afternoon, we went to see A Christmas Carol at the Hippodrome State Theatre.

If you are in the Gainesville, FL. area, I highly recommend this.

The small theatre means that there is not a bad seat in the house.

The cast is fantastic, especially Scrooge and Marley, who narrates. This adaptation of the story is also well done. It maintains some of the spookiness of a ghost story, but mostly is very funny.

This is very good way to introduce children to live theatre, and on select days (yesterday was one of these), children are free with a donation of two cans of food, to be donated to a local food bank.

The show ended with an audience sing-a-long that had everyone clapping and singing "Jingle Bells" at the top of their lungs.

The Noah's Endeavor Holiday Party

2011-12-03T12:06:00.014-05:00

Last night was the Noah's Endeavor holiday party at the Boys and Girls Club. The University of Florida Gospel Choir performed Christmas carols for us and encouraged the children to join them.

Sorry about the poor video quality*

Every family brought food or drinks to share.

There was also dancing, games,

and plenty of adorable children.

*I'm having to use and older, and less good, camera for indoor picture taking right now. A couple weeks ago, while I was taking pictures of the students at Trilogy in their science class, the flash on my camera blew up. There was a noise like a gun shot, a blinding light, and then the flash was no more. The camera seems to have suffered other damage in the explosion, as well. It needs to be in direct sunlight to take good pictures and even then The edges are a little unfocused and fuzzy.

The Completed Advent Calendar: Very Photo Heavy

2011-11-29T18:24:00.002-05:00

The Steampunk Advent Calendar is Complete, at least on the outside. Since this was made out of mint tins, I started out making 3-dimensional scenes inside the boxes, but I decided that getting the outside of each box done before Dec. 1, was more important than spending large amounts of time on each individual box. I may continue working on the insides at some future time.

1.

2. outside:

2. inside:

3. outside:

3. inside:

4. outside

4. inside

5.

6. outside:

6. inside:

7. outside

7. inside

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13. outside:

13. inside:

14. outside

14. inside

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22. outside

22. inside

23.

24.

25.

These were all made following the directions I posted for making ornaments out of mint tins http://overthecrescentmoon.blogspot.com/2011/11/turning-mint-tins-into-3-d-ornaments.html, except that instead of adding a loop for hanging to the top of each tin, I added 2 strips of magnetic tape to the back of each tin. I also sprayed them all with a thin coat of clear polyurethane.

Candle Lit Christmas Tree

2011-11-28T19:16:00.011-05:00

Last night I made the last ornament for Blaze's little tinsel tree. It was a steampunk teddy bear with a felt top hat and goggles.

The 99 cent bear from Michael's Crafts:

Ready to hang on the tree:

Tonight, we lit the lights and candles on the tree for the first time this year.

We only let it burn for a short time and then Blaze had fun seeing how many candles he could blow out at a time.

A Possible Holiday Card

2011-11-27T19:30:00.005-05:00

I made this design as the cover for the final box of the advent calendar I've been working on. I think it would also make a good design for a Christmas card.

Tree Topper Top Hat

2011-11-26T13:33:00.014-05:00

Using the instruction from the mini top hat tutorial http://overthecrescentmoon.blogspot.com/2011/08/mini-top-hat-tutorial.html, I made a tree topper for the little tinsel tree in Blaze's room.

I started off by drilling a hole into the bottom of the hat, so that a light could be inserted and it could sit on the top of the tree.

Next, I cut a circle out of the crown of the hat and glued a clear plastic circle in place, filling the hole. In this case, the plastic came from the box that holds this year's Christmas cards. Designs can be drawn on the plastic ahead of time with a Sharpie, but since this was a trial run, to see if this idea would work, I just glued gears in place on top of the plastic.

I was actually working from an already sewn hat that was laying around the house, but it would probably be much easier to do the crown of the hat if the plastic was glued in place before the crown was sewn down.

I decided to keep the hat decorations simple, but that is just a matter of taste.

When the light inside the hat is lit, it casts a circle of gear shapes on the ceiling.

I think I want to try this with a cheap regular-size top hat from the party store and stained-glass paint for the designs.

Gear Wreath Ornament

2011-11-21T15:59:00.004-05:00

I found these packs of gears in the jewelry making department at Michael's Crafts.

It turns out that the larger size gears in the set, lend themselves very well to being strung on a ribbon.

A longer string of these, would make a good replacement for traditional tinsel.

I made a wreath shaped ornament out of this string, though. I made a base with a hanging loop out of floral wire (wrapping the wire around a large pillar candle to get the size circle I wanted). I then threaded the gears onto wired ribbon. I Super Glued the string of gears onto the wire circle and tied the ribbon into a bow.

Pre-Thanksgiving Traditions

2011-11-20T15:45:00.007-05:00

Today was the day of the annual hand-turkey.

We've been using fabric paint on Blaze's left hand to make a hand print turkey on our Thanksgiving table cloth every year since 2003. His hand has grown a bit since that first year.

Blaze chose the colors himself.

It was also the day that we dug out all the Thanksgiving food magazines we've accumulated over the years and laid around on the bed looking at them and deciding what we want to eat this year. This is a tradition that pre-dates the hand-turkey.

Picnic in the Park

2011-11-19T19:28:00.032-05:00

We had so much fun at the First Annual All Florida Victorian Picnic in Lakeland today. Blaze says it was one of his best days EVER.

We met so many friendly people from steampunk groups in Orlando and Tampa, along with some very talented women who have a costumers guild.

It was a beautiful park! So, with the charming people, in lovely costumes, there were many photo opportunities.

There were also games to play.

This is a potato race. The object is to get all your team's potatoes into the picnic basket first, but the potatoes must be carried on a spoon. Sorry about all the background noise. It was pretty breezy.

Croquet:

And, of course, there was time to just relax.

It was a long drive, but I'm very glad we went.

The First Annual All Florida Victorian Picnic

2011-11-15T18:59:00.000-05:00

http://www.thesteampunkempire.com/events/first-annual-all-florida-victorian-picnic-and-croquet-tournament

Rag Wreath

2011-11-14T16:11:00.002-05:00

The base of the wreath is simply a wire hanger, bent into a circle. Strips of fabric, in a variety of both solid colors and prints are tied onto the circle and pushed tightly together. Each fabric strip is 6-inches long and 1-inch wide.

This is a great way to use up odd fabric scraps and is simple enough for children to help with.

A Change of Plans for the Mint Tins

2011-11-12T15:14:00.014-05:00

After I had already posted the tutorial for making the ornaments out of the empty mint tins, I had a sudden brain storm and completely changed what I was doing. I removed the hanging loops from the top of the ornaments, added numbers to the fronts of the tins, and strips of magnetic tape (two strips for each tin) to the back. They are now going to be part of a magnetic, steampunk, advent calendar that can be used to decorate the refrigerator.

This one is for DH and Blaze, who are always talking about their "manly tea parties":

the inside:

Blaze's birthday is Dec. 6th, so the box for that day reflects that:

The inside:

Outside of tin 2:

Outside of tin 5:

The pros and cons of Newman's Own Mint tins vs. Altoids mint tins:

Altoids' tins are deeper, but have raised lettering, making it necessary to cover the lids with decorative paper or pictures. Altoids are easier to find in stores.

Newman's Own tins are shallow, but have smooth lids that make them easier to just paint and decorate (the manly tea party tin is from Newman's Own). Personal preference, I prefer the flavor of Newman's Own.

I have 7 days worth of tins completed, but that means I have many more to go. I'm on my way to Michael's to get more magnetic tape, right now.

Steampunk Ribbon Wreath Ornaments

2011-11-08T17:40:00.006-05:00

Starting with about two feet of wire, make a wreath shape by forming the wire around a drinking glass or a large pillar candle. Make the coil handle by wrapping the excess wire around a pencil or chopstick and then carefully slide the coil off.

For the ribbons, I used 3-inch lengths of 1/2-inch wide shear ribbon in 5 colors (gold, silver, black, brown, and white). The ribbons are just tied onto the wire.

The gear in the middle of each ornament dangles from a piece of embroidery floss tied to the wire.

Ula's Halloween

2011-11-01T20:49:00.003-04:00

Ula had an awesome Halloween. My home town, Elgin, IL. hosted a zombie invasion event last Saturday, called Nightmare on Chicago Street.

The city did a fabulous job decorating and turning this into an immersive experience.

Decorations included turned over cars, boarded up shop windows, missing persons posters, and lots of fake blood.

Ula got into the spirit of things and dressed as a Victorian zombie in a long black skirt and a black bustle jacket. She also did an amazing job on her make-up.

I am the proud mother of a VERY scary looking zombie.

Turning Mint Tins into 3-D Ornaments

2011-11-01T06:49:00.001-04:00

The plan for this year is to have a Victorian/Steampunk-ish Christmas, which means making some new ornaments out of "found" objects and things I already have around the apartment. These are my first ornaments made out of mint tins. I really like the way they turned out and I'd like to make more.

Spray paint that is made to adhere to plastic and metallic spray paint both worked well to cover the tins.

I covered the tops of the boxes with Victorian Christmas pictures that I found on the internet and framed them with gold pipe-stem cleaners and glitter glue.

I used a regular glue stick to attach the background pictures and then Super Glue for the trim.

A 12 pt. font worked well for typing out the words on the inside of the box and double sided tape added a little dimension to the moon. 3-dimensional scrapbook stickers can also be used for this effect.

This is my favorite of the two I've created so far:

The outside of the box is a picture of Queen Victoria and her family celebrating Christmas, while on the inside, a little chimney sweep (played by Blaze) is asleep on a roof top, with his stocking hung on the chimney.

Mint tins can also be decorated, without the 3-dimensional elements, and used as boxes for gift cards.

Boo at the Zoo 2011

2011-10-31T19:08:00.013-04:00

It rained all morning, but cleared up and became quite hot and steamy by afternoon, so the Santa Fe Community College Teaching Zoo was able to hold their annual Halloween event, "Boo at the Zoo".

Once again, the students were very creative with their costumes and the areas they set up for the children to walk through. This year's themes were, super heroes, Toy Story, alien invasion, and pirates.

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Muffins

2011-10-30T14:17:00.023-04:00

Pumpkin Muffins

3 Cups unbleached white flour

1 Cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

1 Cup plain low-fat yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 Cup vegetable oil

1-15 ounce can of pumpkin puree

Toasted pumpkin seeds (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

grease muffin pans ( I use Pam baking spray)

Mix dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Stir well. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly. Fill the muffin cups and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Makes about 14 muffins

Ghouls, Goblins, and Greeks 2011

2011-10-27T22:37:00.001-04:00

The Tesla Ranger headed off to another great adventure tonight. This time it was "Ghouls, Goblins, and Greeks", the University of Florida's sorority trick or treating event.

Each house on Sorority Row chooses a theme.

The decorations and children's games go along with the theme and so do the girls' costumes. Here we were met by Willy Wonka:

Blaze competing with an Oompa Loompa in a ring toss game:

For this game, a very enthusiastic Blaze got to smash a pie (a pie plate full of whipped cream) into this girl's face:

There were some fun costumes there, too.

The magician who tried to make Blaze's Nerf gun disappear:

The sorority girls are always very generous with the candy.

Tonight's haul:

University Graduate and Family Housing Halloween Carnival

2011-10-27T06:02:00.002-04:00

Last night was the University of Florida's Graduate and Family Housing Haunted House and carnival.

There were lots of activities and games for the kids and lots of candy given out as prizes.

Mad scientists teach the Tesla Ranger how to make slime:

You see the pretty college girl smiling at Blaze? The perpetual flirt gave her the pumpkin he painted.

There was also free pizza, popcorn, and drinks.

The Costume Contest:

Blaze was the only child his age in the competition, so he didn't stand a chance against the adorable, tiny people,

but he did a great job and was a great sport about it.

There was also an adult costume contest, but there weren't nearly as many participants.

We waited until after the costume contest, when it was good and dark, to go through the haunted house and it was pretty scary.

The Mystery

2011-10-24T10:05:00.003-04:00

My mother's house was broken into while she was out of town. This is very disturbing, because my 79 year old mother was left with a damaged back door, wet leaves tracked in all over the house, and an unflushed toilet stuffed full of toilet paper. There is a humorous side to this story, as well, though. They took many things from her house, but it was a strange list of items.

Ladders

tools

plastic saw horses

Only select DVD's (the rest they set up nicely and held in place with a bookend): a box set of Rock Hutson and Doris Day movies, National Velvet, Sea Biscuit...

All her CD's, which were mostly singers like Bobby Darin and Frank Sinatra, along with ethnic music or novelty songs she had purchased for the theme parties she has every Labor Day.

an old radio-CD player, but no other electronics

5 Decorative, railroad-style, oil lanterns (cheap new ones, not antique)

a pile of extension cords

16 vinyl tablecloths

Although this has been awful for my mother, having to inventory the things that are missing and cleaning up after the thieves, not to mention, the insecurity that one feels after a break-in, but with that list of missing items, it would also make a good writing prompt. What are they going to do with a bunch of "chick flicks", CD's of Frank Sinatra and 12 Girl Band, and 16 vinyl tablecloths?

McIntosh 1890's Festival 2011

2011-10-22T22:45:00.000-04:00

Today, we went to the McIntosh 1890's Festival.

McIntosh, Florida is a pretty little town. Most of the year there is not much there, except some big, old, Victorian-style houses and several antique stores, but once a year, the streets are lined with craft and food vendors and filled with tourists.

We had some wonderful, homemade ice cream, which we ate while sitting on the grass, under an enormous live oak tree, covered with dangling Spanish moss, and listening to live country-rock music.

We stopped at every antique store we passed on the way back to the car, which was quite a few.

"Please, mom! Can we build one in my size? Please!"

Blaze placing a call to the past:

Welcome to the Halloween Party

2011-10-22T00:01:00.004-04:00

Welcome! Please come in and make yourself at home. The other guests will be arriving soon. Help yourself to some refreshments, while you wait.

Don't worry, they won't bite (much).

Monster Apples: Apples cut into fourths, slivered almonds, strawberry fruit roll-ups. and a tiny dab of peanut butter used to glue the fruit tongue in place.

http://overthecrescentmoon.blogspot.com/2011/10/vanilla-meringue-bones.html

http://overthecrescentmoon.blogspot.com/2010/10/not-so-sweet-halloween-treats.html

http://overthecrescentmoon.blogspot.com/2009/10/spaghetti-and-eyeballs.html

http://overthecrescentmoon.blogspot.com/2009/10/bread-of-dead.html

What other guests? Oh, just a few of the locals who are dying to meet you.

They will rise from the swamp,

skip from the fairy ring,

creep from the dark, moss shrouded forests,

and fly through the moonlit night to get here,

(The University of Florida bat houses)

hungry for your company and so glad to have you for dinner tonight.

Oh, really? Must you be leaving so soon? The other guests will just howl with disappointment when they find they've missed you.

Big Yard Sale for a Good Cause

2011-10-17T15:13:00.003-04:00

Noah's Endeavor is a non-profit organization that provides a wide range of recreational activities for children of all abilities. They sponsor soccer, baseball, swimming, arts and crafts days, and dances. Blaze has benefited greatly by being involved in Endeavor sports and special events, because he is able to play with people who encourage his strengths without criticizing his weaknesses. They taught him to swim, good sportsmanship, acceptance, better balance (before starting soccer, he could not stand on his right foot at all), and to never say "I can't".

The Trick or Treat Bag with the Robotic Horse

2011-10-16T07:20:00.001-04:00

I had thought about making a stick horse that looked robotic, to go with Blaze's Tesla Ranger costume, but I'm not really sure how to go about it, and I'm sure I don't have time between now and Halloween. So, I asked DH to draw a steam-powered robot horse that I could print out on iron-on transfer paper and use to decorate a trick or treat bag. DH can draw anything.

The first rough sketch:

His sketch of what the inside workings of the horse would look like:

The final drawing:

The completed bag:

The Completed Tesla Ranger Costume

2011-10-15T12:05:00.007-04:00

With clear skies and cooler temperatures, This morning was an absolutely perfect time to go out to Morningside Nature Center, a small living history farm and forest preserve, and take pictures of Blaze's completed steampunk cowboy costume.

Free Streampunk Music

2011-10-15T08:19:00.003-04:00

If you are curious about what bands or style of music can be considered "steampunk", this free, downloadable, compilation album is a perfect place to start. It contains 13 songs, each by a different group or artist.

http://pegasiamusic.com/2011/10/13/pegasiamusic008-the-lost-journals-volume-i/

Birthday Noodles

2011-10-10T20:45:00.002-04:00

Birthday Noodles with Peanut Sauce

2 Tablespoons of smooth natural peanut butter
1/4 cup of hot water
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of honey
4 cups of cooked spaghetti
2 green onions, thinly sliced
chopped peanuts for garnish

In a small mixing bowl, stir together the peanut butter, water, honey, and soy sauce.
Stir mixture into cold, cooked noodles and sprinkle each serving with the green onions and clopped peanuts.
Eat with chopsticks.

Vanilla Meringue Bones

2011-10-09T13:02:00.004-04:00

A Halloween treat that looks like old bones.

Vanilla Meringue Bones

6 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup superfine sugar

pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C) and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer until foamy. Add cream of tartar, vanilla, and salt. Beat until soft peaks form. Slowly add the sugar, beating all the while, and continue beating until shiny, stiff peaks form.

Use a pastry bag, filled a little over half full, to form the bone shapes on the parchment paper (If you want to add a round tip to the pastry bag, you can, but I found it was just as easy to make these shapes with no tip at all).

Bake for 60-70 minutes. Then turn off the oven and let the baking sheets remain in the warm oven for another 60-70 minutes.

Cool completely before serving. Store in an airtight container.

Makes about 14 cookies.

Indoor Swimming

2011-10-08T23:20:00.001-04:00

It was a rainy Saturday, but Blaze had fun swimming anyway. Noah's endeavor (inclusive recreation) had indoor swimming at Gainesville Health and Fitness.

The Clockwork Electric Disturbance Indicator

2011-10-08T13:46:00.000-04:00

When I purchased the pocket-size plasma light, my plan was to use it as a belt buckle for Blaze's Tesla Ranger costume.

The story behind it was that it could sense electrical activity, so that Blaze could be alerted to approaching robots. That idea hasn't changed, but the belt buckle idea has, because, as of this morning, it looks more like a pocket watch than a belt buckle.

That's because this morning I discovered that the pocket plasma light fit perfectly into a canning jar lid, giving it a nice, gold, metal frame. I had an old lamp finial that made a perfect winding key at the top of the light.

Capt. Robert Style Striped Pants

2011-10-07T17:25:00.006-04:00

Using this video tutorial for spray painting stripes onto pants, I have turned a pair of brown cargo pants into the pants that Blaze will wear with his Halloween costume.

The painter's tape came from our local dollar store. It's more narrow than the tape used in the video, but since the pants are also smaller, I figured that worked out fine. I used a ruler as the divider between the lines of tape as I laid them down, so that the stripes would be evenly spaced, as much as possible.

I did not use regular spray paint, but I wish I had. I used spray-on fabric paint, in opaque black. It took three bottles to completely cover the pants, which made this much more expensive than the regular can of spray paint. If I do this again, I will follow the instructions and buy spray paint. Still, the pants turned out good and Blaze is happy with them.

Decorating for Halloween With Classic Movie Monsters

2011-10-07T07:30:00.000-04:00

I love decorating for Halloween (or any other holiday, for that matter), but too often, the decorations sold in the store are too ghoulish, as well as cheap, plastic, and garish. The fake spiders' webs were also hard to clean up after Halloween last year.

I found this Halloween decorating idea on the blog, Whimsical Moon, and was very impressed by how simple and classy it was. It was also fairly cheaply made, since the photo paper and frames came from the Dollar Tree.

The pictures were all discovered on "Goggle Images", by typing in the words "classic movie monsters".

Chalkboard Pumpkin

2011-10-06T17:22:00.001-04:00

I really do enjoy carving pumpkins, but the heat and humidity of Florida makes keeping a cut pumpkin around for more than a couple days an impossibility. So, this year I'm not cutting into this pumpkin. Instead, I spray painted it with chalkboard paint.

This way, we can have a different pumpkin design every day , if we want to.

New Costume Additions: The Vial Armband

2011-10-03T19:04:00.007-04:00

I found these black leather chaps at a resale shop. They are a women's size 4, which means they can be adjusted to fit Blaze around the waist, but they were too long.

I cut them down to the right length and ended up with two wide strips of leather with snaps attached.

I cut one of these left-over strips in half length-wise and then made it less wide, so that I could make a bullet/vial armband. The strip of leather that is holding the vials in place was left-over from an old leather miniskirt (the one used to make the pilot's cap).

The silver studs are metal scrapbooking stickers that I just glued in place with Super Glue.

The Claw

2011-10-01T12:31:00.003-04:00

I've been working on a new tool for the Tesla Ranger (Blaze's steampunk cowboy costume). Instead of a rifle, we decided that the Tesla Ranger would carry this devise for handling hazardous materials, which will also emit an electric charge.

The claw started out as a humble plastic toy, on clearance at Toys R Us.

A coating of black spray paint (made for plastic) and some gold and silver Rub 'n Buff has greatly improved the way it looks:

I'm not sure I'm completely done messing with this design. I still have almost a month until Halloween.

Hats: It's Costume Making Time Again

2011-09-26T16:18:00.000-04:00

I have already finished the hats that will go with our Halloween costumes this year.

I'm going to be Mary Poppins. I found the hat at a vintage store in downtown Gainesville and added flowers from the dollar store.

Blaze has decided to be a steampunk cowboy.

Our favorite inspiration pictures for this costume are these:

(http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=735557&gsub=98256)

The movie version of Wild Wild West wasn't very good, but Will Smith's look for the video was awesome.

(http://www.arcanetimes.com/?p=399)

Blaze was really excited by the idea of a Tesla Ranger, enforcing the laws of science and fighting the robot menace in the wired West. So, last night after he went to bed, I made a special hatband for his cowboy hat.

The gears are a way for him to count coup, each one was taken from a robot he destroyed.

Dragon*Con Scrapbooking

2011-09-25T19:00:00.003-04:00

I was very resistant to getting a digital camera years ago when my family first suggested it, because I was afraid I would never get "hard" copies of any of the pictures and in time they would all be lost. I wasn't completely wrong. I certainly have fewer printed pictures now, although I take more photographs. The only thing that motivates me to have prints made, is Blaze's scrapbook.

I started making copies of photographs and doing scrapbooking, because I wanted to make sure that my children had childhood pictures they could take with them when they grew up and left home. I have very few pictures from my childhood, because my mother was very protective of family photos and would not allow me to put very many into my own photo album. Even when, as a teenager, I was taking pictures on family vacations with my own camera, I was not allowed to keep the prints. For me, scrapbooking is a reaction to that. The memories of special events we have shared, do not belong to me alone.

It's taken me awhile, but I finally made up some scrapbook pages of pictures from Dragon*Con for Blaze.

A Dynamite Toy Storage Idea

2011-09-21T17:02:00.007-04:00

We are still trying to find ways to replace all the black plastic cauldrons that we have been using for toy storage in Blaze's room (left over from the Harry Potter theme that no longer exists). DH found this antique dynamite case (circa 1910-1930) on eBay.

We cleaned the box really well and I even sanded the inside a little. Then DH made some beeswax furniture finish and rubbed it into the wood.

The beeswax finish is made by mixing 1 part melted beeswax (use a double boiler) and 6 parts mineral oil. It should have a consistency similar to Vaseline. It can be stored in a sealed container for several months, without refrigeration. It is also edible, so it can be used to treat wooden bowls and platters.

We decided to use the dynamite box for the Lincoln Logs, because they were the most dynamite shaped toys Blaze has.

The wood finish really brightened up the color of the wood.

Chai Mousse in Chocolate Tea Cups

2011-09-19T21:35:00.013-04:00

I think this would be wonderful for a tea party or a Willy Wonka themed party.

Making chocolate tea cups is fun and simple. It starts with covering a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and blowing up a dozen dollar store water balloons (just with air, not water).

Next finely chop 4 cups of milk chocolate (for nicest texture, the thick chunks or bars of chocolate work best for melting). Melt three cups of the chocolate in a double boiler. Once it is completely melted, remove from heat and stir in remaining cup of chocolate. Stir until it is all melted and glossy. Dip each balloon into the melted chocolate, covering the lower half of the balloon. Set the balloons on the parchment paper to cool and harden.

Set the balloon covered cookie sheet in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

While the chocolate on the balloons is setting up, use any left over melted chocolate to make tea cup handle shapes on a separate sheet of parchment. Refrigerate.

Then, here comes the fun part, with a pair of scissors, snip the top of each balloon to let the air out. Once it has deflated, it should be easy to remove the balloon from the chocolate shell.

Attach the handles to the cups by using just a little melted chocolate as "glue". Place the cups back in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Chai Mousse

One pint of heavy whipping cream (whipped and chilled)

3/4 Cup cold water

1 envelope of unflavored gelatin

1 Cup Big Train brand instant spiced chai (if you live in Florida, this is available at Fresh Market)

Place cold water in a small sauce pan and sprinkle gelatin over the water. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Add chai powder. Turn heat on under the gelatin water (med.) and begin heating, while stirring constantly. When it is hot, but not yet simmering, remove the pan from the heat. Let it cool for 10-15 minutes, stir occasionally. Slowly add half of the chilled whipped cream to the chai mixture, stirring gently. A spoonful at a time, fold the chai mixture into the whipped cream that is still in the bowl. Chill for about an hour, stirring occasionally . Serve in a chocolate tea cup (or in a china tea cup). Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Piratical Lunch

2011-09-19T16:11:00.003-04:00

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!

I haven't really talked like a pirate much today, but I did dress like one to go to school, and made Blaze a pirate themed lunch that included a hard-boiled egg skull and a cheese pirate on a bed of carrot coins.

Talk Like a Pirate Day

2011-09-17T12:36:00.005-04:00

Arrr! Monday be Talk Like a Pirate Day, matey.

I just finished decorating the tinsel tree in Blaze's room with pirate decorations. Puppets make great tree toppers.

A Little Filler

2011-09-16T19:39:00.008-04:00

We have now reached that part of the party where I show you a poor quality film from my vacation.

A very small sample of the Abney Park concert at Dragon*Con.

The camera bounces around a lot, because the whole floor was bouncing, as excited fans jumped up and down to the music.

It was an awesome concert but not such an awesome video. So why am I posting it, you might ask. Well, my creative energies this past week have all been taken up by the school and can be seen here, but I have this strange competition with myself. On my blogger dashboard, I like my personal blog to always be on top, but that only happens if that is the most resent one to have a new post. Thank you for baring with my silliness! Now go watch a better Abney Park video on YouTube (there are many).

The Picnic Basket Gets a Makeover

2011-09-13T18:53:00.011-04:00

Only a couples days before Dragon*Con, I found out that I was invited to show my picnic quilt at the Steampunk Exhibition. I decided it would be fun to set up a picnic scene on the floor of the exhibition, but when I looked at the picnic basket, it just looked too plain. With so little time (school had also just started that week), I should have left well enough alone, but I have trouble doing that. So, using a pattern that was really meant for embroidery from Urban Threads, I traced a design onto the lid of the basket. Then I used the wood burning tool to go over the traced lines (which, by the way, were not as clear as they should have been). I was really unhappy with the results. The design looked sloppy. The apartment and I smelled like a campfire.

I noticed some rough edges caused by the burning, so I got out a piece of sandpaper to rub at them, and scratched the basket lid pretty bad. I could undo the scratch, so I just put scratches all over the lid to give it a more worn, rugged look. I hated it! There are no close pictures of it at that point, because I was so unhappy with it.

As you can see, I stuffed it into the back corner of my display to make it less obvious.

I have finally had time to fix it.

Over the weekend I sanded it down.

I went over all the lines in the design with the Dremel, which did a far better job than the wood burner. Then refinished it with red mahogany wood finish and clear polyurethane.

It's not perfect, but I'm much happier with it now. I had never used the Dremel for wood engraving like this before and now that I kind of know what I'm doing, I want to try more.

For more about the picnic basket click here.

Another Dollhouse Attempt

2011-09-11T11:22:00.003-04:00

If you've been following this blog for awhile, you know that quite awhile ago I found a dollhouse kit at a resale shop and started trying to put it together. I failed. The directions were in English, but were microscopically written and made no sense to me. So, I gave up.

Just recently, I had considered throwing the kit away, since I'm positive I have lost some of the pieces. Then I was given this half finished dollhouse.

It didn't come with any extra pieces, but I'm hoping the kit I already have will help me finish this house. This shouldn't be as difficult, since the hard part of the construction is done already.

So, here we go again...

New Soccer Program

2011-09-10T19:27:00.007-04:00

I was not much of a fan of reality this week. School was very stressful and Blaze and I had to jump right in without catching up on any of our missed sleep from last weekend. Having a day off from work has greatly improved my outlook on life. I was able to sleep late, we're all caught up on laundry, Blaze had a fun time playing soccer and frisbee this evening, and we're going bowling tomorrow.

Tonight was the first time that Noah's Endeavor has had soccer here in Gainesville. Many of the Gainesville parents had complained about having to drive out to Jonesville in Friday night rush hour traffic, to get our children to soccer practice. The time and location of these practices are really much better for us.

The Other Costumes of Dragon*Con 2011

2011-09-09T16:08:00.004-04:00

Not all the the people who descended on Atlanta last week end were steampunks. Here is a small sampling of the other costumes.

More Dragon*Con Steampunk 2011

2011-09-07T15:25:00.024-04:00

Yesterday, I only posted my pre-parade pictures because photobucket stopped cooperating in the middle of downloading my pictures. So, make yourself comfortable, here come the rest.

Abney Park put on a fantastic concert at midnight on Saturday. I'm sure someone out there has better pictures of it than I do.

Blaze not only managed to stay awake for the show, but it was hard to get him to settle down and go to sleep when we got back to the hotel around 2 a.m., because he was so excited.

The Steampunk Exhibition on Sunday afternoon:

He was really a very good prop

If anyone doubted the growing popularity of steampunk, just look at this crowd. Every few minutes, announcements had to be made asking people not to loiter for too long, because the room had reached capacity and more people were waiting to get in.

A short break for dinner:

Then back to the Westin Hotel for the Guiness Book of World Record attempt for most people in steampunk costumes.

Getting ready to go stand in line

Standing in line

Not everyone who showed up was deemed steampunk enough to enter the ballroom for the count. Oddly enough, the members of Abney Park were turned away, even though they were in costume, because they had no mechanical gadgets with them and Guiness had set that as one of the rules for being steampunk. In hindsight, I wished we had all walked out, in solidarity with them at that point. Being part of a rebellion would have been more fun than the long tedious attempt to get us all into straight rows to be counted in the ballroom. There were no lines marked on the floor to help with this procedure, so a woman on the balcony yelled instructions at us for quite awhile. Blaze's lack of sleep finally caught up to him several minutes into this. He looked up at me and said, "If we don't win, I'm going to cry." Then the tears started pouring. It was very hard for him to get himself back under control again. In the end, we did beat out the previous record, set by Comic Con.

The huge panoramic picture of the entire world record setting group can be found here:
http://gigapan.org/gigapans/86450/

Each individual can be zoomed in on, just like Google Earth. Blaze and I are in the second row (Blaze is smiling. I wish I had smiled at the right time).

The Pirates and Time Travelers Ball:

Monday we returned home, despite being lost in Atlanta for two hours and then having to drive through Tropical Storm Lee to get here.

Blaze's new Abney Park poster has already replaced Harry Potter on his bedroom wall.

Steampunk at the Dragon*Con Parade

2011-09-06T18:40:00.009-04:00

Steampunk was very well represented at Dragon*Con in Atlanta, Georgia, over Labor Day weekend.

The milling crowds, lining up for the Saturday morning parade:

Blaze was given a pin by the lovely Musette, and invited to walk with the Revengers ( a steampunk group from Huntsville, AL) in the parade.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

2011-09-01T06:51:00.004-04:00

Today is the 109th anniversary of the release of the iconic, silent, science fiction film, "A Trip to the Moon".

Now, jumping to modern day. I would like to show you what a group of Australian movie makers were able to do with just a $1800 budget.

I am rating this PG for violence and mild language.

Sleeveless

2011-08-30T20:29:00.011-04:00

I'm concerned about the heat in Atlanta this weekend.
I thought a sleeveless blouse would be nice to wear with my outfit on Sunday, but I couldn't find one I liked. My solution, was to carefully remove the sleeves from this vintage blouse that I already owned. While watching t.v. last night, I picked away with a seam ripper. Then I sewed down the raw edge left around the arm hole. This took a lot less time than all the fruitless shopping I had been doing to find just the right blouse.

What Would You Call These Things?

2011-08-29T19:23:00.003-04:00

Blaze and I saw a picture of this dish online yesterday. He was so excited by this concept, that he told me he would cook it for dinner tonight. The picture we saw didn't give it a name and I can't figure out what to call it.

It's very simple and very strange looking. Poke raw spaghetti through chunks of hotdog. Then place in boiling water and cook just like you would plain spaghetti. Drain and serve.

Quick and Easy Choker

2011-08-28T09:10:00.003-04:00

I went into Walmart the other day to buy lightbulbs and came out with this octopus locket from the craft department. I didn't have a chain that it would look good on, but I found a far cheaper solution, by sewing the locket to the front of a stretchy lace headband. The headband works perfectly as a choker.

4 days until Dragon*Con (the first 4 days of the new school year).

Soccer Season Begins

2011-08-27T06:40:00.000-04:00

Last night's Top Soccer practice began the new fall season. With temperatures hovering right around 100 degrees F. it certainly didn't feel like autumn, but the kids had fun anyway. They just took frequent water breaks.

The Airship Pirate Gloves

2011-08-26T06:13:00.001-04:00

I found a pair of black leather gloves in the free box in our apartment complex laundry room, and since I can never leave well enough alone, I did a little modifying to make them go better with Blaze's airship pirate costume.

A set of skull and crossbones buttons and some wing shaped charms became an airship pirate insignia.

I attached them to the gloves with a combination of sewing and Super Glue.

I also cut off the fingers of the gloves, since his character is supposed to be very mechanically inclined and I figured he would want full use of his fingers.

6 Days until Dragon*Con!

The Skirt Lifter

2011-08-24T20:42:00.004-04:00

I need a nicer belt buckle, or better yet, a nicer belt, but since I have neither, this will have to do. I sewed two gold "D" rings to the belt and hung a chain from them. A separate chain, threaded through the right-hand "D" ring, has a globe style pocket watch on one end and a clip on the other. That is the skirt lifter. The idea is: when I check the time, it lifts my skirt, revealing the gun in the ankle holster.

The clip was made by glueing a a lace flower over one of these clips:

The count down until Dragon*Con continues. Only 8 days to go. Chances are, I'll be working on these little costume accessories right up to the moment we start driving to Atlanta.

The Escapist : The Escapist Presents : Dragon*Con Parade

Adding Some Little Touches to our Costumes

2011-08-21T19:54:00.002-04:00

Dragon*Con is only eleven days away, so I am already getting our costumes packed and adding a couple little things to the costumes.

Blaze helped me paint a base coat of black Krylon Fusion Spray Paint for Plastic on two toy guns, a Nerf Maverick for me and a Buzz Bee Toys Blaster for Blaze.

This is what they looked like before the paint:

After the base coat was dry, I went over both guns with antique gold and silver Rub 'n Buff. I wanted my gun to look aged, so i applied the Rub 'n Buff very lightly, letting a lot of the black show through. For Blaze's gun, which I wanted to look more modern, but abused, I applied the Rub 'n Buff more heavily and then scuffed it up with sand paper.

The reason I like the Rub 'n Buff for projects like this is because it's waxy consistency, mean it doesn't peel off.

The finished toy guns:

I also made an ankle holster for my Maverick out of some scrap leather and a leather belt that Blaze wore when he was a toddler. It was a pretty good demonstration of how much he has grown, because I only had to add two more holes to the belt to make it fit snugly around the calf of my leg.

I also burned holes into the sleeves of a new shirt for Blaze's airship pirate costume. I wanted it to looked charred around the holes, but when I washed the shirt, all the charred marks washed away. The discoloration around the holes is now from rubbing a used tea bag in the areas I wanted to look burned and then rubbing coffee grounds in random spot on the tea dyed areas, to add a more natural multi-toned look. These stains have survived washing.

I only abused the sleeves of the shirt, because that is the only part of the shirt that will really show once he is wearing the vest.

The Artist at Work

2011-08-21T13:22:00.001-04:00

Ring Park

2011-08-18T15:42:00.020-04:00

Since I didn't have to work today, Blaze and I were able to go get some exercise and have some fun at one of Gainesville's many parks. Alfred A. Ring Park had been closed for a couple months at the beginning of the summer, but it just reopened near the end of July, with newly constructed board walks in many parts of the walking trail.

It was a very hot day, so it was nice to go walking in the woods, where there was constant shade. The Glen Springs Run and Hogtown creek meet in the park. They are both really shallow, but were nice for wading and cooling our feet.

This barred owl flew over us three or four times while we played in the creek and was once perched directly over Blaze's head.

This is not a very clear picture of the Pileated Woodpecker, because it was busy pecking at the time, but I had to try. They are such cool looking birds and when Blaze was little he thought they were dragons.

The picture that Blaze took of me when we sat down to rest:

Pretty fungus:

It had started to sprinkle a little by the time we left the park, and by the time we got home there was thunder and lightning.

I'm so glad we went when we did!

Science

2011-08-12T23:28:00.001-04:00

New Pictures of Blaze the Airship Pirate

2011-08-11T18:02:00.006-04:00

Blaze has been going through a big growth spurt. A couple days ago, I had him try on every pair of pants and shorts he had and we ended up giving away a garbage bag full of clothes. This meant he had also grown out of the pants I had planned to have him wear for his airship pirate costume at Dragon*Con. I found him some cool looking striped pants on a clearance rack for $3, but then I had to replace his shirt, because the shirt I had for the costume was also striped. Yesterday, we went to the Mission Resale shop and found a plain white shirt for $1.50. I cut off the cuffs and used a lighter and a bucket of water to give it the distressed (battle-worn) look I was going for.

So, here is the revised airship pirate costume:

A Look into My Day Job

2011-08-09T19:42:00.002-04:00

Trilogy School, a small private school in Gainesville, Florida is my employer. The school has children who range in age from first grade through high school, but I mostly work with the elementary students. That's why, when I was asked this summer to start a school blog, I focused mostly on the elementary program. Once the new school year gets started, I hope to include more about what is going on in the whole school. Until then, I hope people will enjoy some of the scenes of past field trips, school plays, and classroom preparation that I have posted so far.

http://trilogy-school.blogspot.com/

Mini-Terrariums or a Decorative Way for the Mad Scientist to Display his Specimens

2011-08-07T17:38:00.002-04:00

Supplies:

Large, clear, glass Christmas balls ( purchased at the craft store during the after-Christmas sales)

Tiny plants (the Venus Flytrap looks nice)

potting soil, sand, pebbles, and tiny shells

one piece of paper (to make a funnel)

a chopstick or pencil (for poking things)

strong glue

The box lid made a very good stand, to hold the glass ball upright while it was being filled with dirt, sand, or water. A funnel made from a piece of paper made it easier to get the dirt and sand into the ball with minimal spillage.

A single plastic chopstick was the only tool I needed for this project. It came in handy for poking roots through the small opening in the glass ball and for rearranging things once they were inside the ornament.

I did not use any glue on the caps of the two terrarium balls, because the clip that holds the cap on was strong enough for the light weight plants and dirt. They also may need to be opened in the future for watering. I did glue the lid in place on the ornament that contains only sand and shells, because the sand is very heavy and there is nothing living in that one.

The Airship Pirate Communicator Armband

2011-08-06T09:33:00.001-04:00

The earlier incarnation of the airship pirate armband can be seen in this picture from Halloween two years ago,

but it was time for an upgrade before we go to Dragon*Con.

I salvaged the elastic and the number charms from the original armband, but disposed of the rest (it was pretty damaged after two years of play).

For a pattern, I traced the original armband on a regular sheet of printer paper, which means that a seam allowance had to be added. I chose to add a 1/2-inch all around to accommodate, not only the seam allowance, but also the fact that Blaze has grown over the past two years.

Using some of the scrap leather I purchase every year at the Medieval Faire, I cut two matching pieces from black leather. One of the pieces had a window cut into it, the size of the Ipod screen. Then I used a rich, reddish-brown leather for accent pieces. The number charms are glued in place with strong glue and the leather covering is glued over them. The other pieces of leather are held in place with both glue and rivets (really just office brads).

The two pieces of black leather were then sewn together, right sides together, leaving the wide end open. After sewing, the armband was turned right -side out. Stitching was added around the Ipod window and then a frame of the contrasting color, with a smaller window, was added around the Ipod window, to assure that the Ipod stayed in place. Extra stability was added to this layer, by gluing a match frame made of cereal box cardboard to the under-side of the brown leather. Velcro was used to seal the opening for the Ipod case.

Copper wire was wrapped around a pencil to create a coil, that was attached to the two brads on the side of the armband.

A piece of cardstock with Blaze's name, medical alert information, my name, and my cell phone number is placed under the Ipod. I will probably also add our hotel and room number information to it. I don't plan on letting him out of my site at Dragon Con, but with big crowds in big hotels, I'm not taking any chances. He has been told to show his emergency card ONLY to police or hotel security and ONLY if he's sure he cannot find us. This may not have been necessary, but I also explained that people dressed as super heros are not really working for the police.

The Mini Top Hat Tutorial

2011-08-01T19:08:00.000-04:00

With only about 30 days left until our trip to Atlanta for Dragon*Con, I've been thinking about what costumes to take. I made this mini top hat to go with my tiered bustle skirt.

Supplies:

Thin cardboard, such as a cereal box

Disposable party cup

Felt ( I use wool felt or a wool blend for all of my projects)

Fabric for hatband

Decorative ribbons, feathers, or charms

Embroidery floss that matches the color of the felt

Strong glue

Pattern:

1. Copy the patterns as letter size paper.

2. Trace the circular pattern onto a cereal box and cut out. Cut just inside your tracing line, so that the cardboard is just a tiny bit smaller than the pattern.

3. Cut two circles from felt. This can be accomplished by pinning the pattern to the fabric or by tracing the pattern with a white pencil, if you are using dark fabric, or a regular pencil for light colored fabric. Cut out the felt for the side band of the hat in the same way.

4. Glue the side band felt to the cup, overlapping the edges.

5. Cover the bottom of the cup with glue and center the cup on one of the felt circles. Press the cup down firmly to make it stick. Let dry.

6. Use " whip stitch" to attach the bottom edge of the felt around the cup to the large felt circle. The stitches can be pretty far apart, since they won't really show.

7. Turn the hat upside-down on a piece of felt and trace around the top to make the proper size circle for the top of the hat (crown tip). Cut out the circle and sew it to the hat using a blanket stitch.

8. Turn the hat upside-down and lay the cardboard circle on top of the large circle that is sewn onto the hat. Then place the other large circle on top of the cardboard and blanket stitch around the edge of the two felt circles to make the hat brim.

9. At this point, you get to make some of your own artistic choices. A hair clip or comb can be sewn onto the bottom of the hat to hold it in place. It can be sewn or glued onto a headband, or an elastic band that can function as a headband. I chose to glue on a ribbon that can be tied under my hair and to sew on a comb to help hold the hat in place.

10. Decorate the hat.

The Greaser

2011-07-30T17:41:00.002-04:00

I just can't resist posting these pictures of Blaze, because they came out so good. This started out as yet another attempt to spike his hair, which like all previous attempts, failed miserably. Since he had almost a half jar of sculpting gel in his hair already, I decided to try something else. It turns out he makes a good 1950's style "greaser". He says he wants to wear this look to the next dance we go to.

Quick and Easy Photo Antiquing

2011-07-30T11:25:00.002-04:00

I posted a link to this Japanese site once before, but that was almost two years ago. Since I was having fun playing with it this morning, I thought I'd post it again.

Giving your pictures a vintage look

You don't have to speak Japanese to figure out how to work this site.

1. Click on "choose file".

2. Pick a picture from your computer photo files that you would like to use and click on it, then click "choose"

3. Click on the blue bar under the file number.

4. Wait a few seconds and your picture will appear.

5. Drag and drop the picture onto your desktop.

This is what my pictures turned out like:

Out With the Old

2011-07-29T16:57:00.002-04:00

Our apartment complex common room was not an attractive space, but it's hard not to feel a little nostalgic for it as it's being torn down. It was the place where Blaze had his birthday party.

I think it's been about two years since the University started this constant construction on our family housing complex. I'm sure it will all be lovely for future University students and their families, but it's been a bit inconvenient, loud, and dirty for us at times. Most recently, we were without internet for three days.

Along with tearing down the common room and the laundry room/office to build one large building that will house all of that, the workmen are also completely gutting and redoing one apartment building at a time. This is their second one:

Greek Lemon and Rice Soup

2011-07-26T19:12:00.005-04:00

This soup tastes complex, but it's very easy to make.

Avgolemono (Greek Lemon And Rice Soup)

8 cups chicken broth
1 cup rice
4 eggs, separated
1/2 Cup lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper

Bring broth to a boil and add rice. Simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Salt to taste.

When the rice is nearing tenderness, whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl until medium peaks. Add egg yolks and lemon juice, whisking continuously.

When the rice is done, transfer 2 cups of the hot stock to the egg/lemon mixture, adding very slowly in a constant stream and beating vigorously to prevent the eggs from cooking quickly and becoming lumpy.

Take the soup off the heat and add the beaten mixture back into the pot, whisking to incorporate. Serve immediately with freshly ground black pepper.

My husband had a funny way of describing this soup, "It's like an Orange Julius made with chicken". Believe me, this is not a bad thing. He's made this soup for us twice in the past two weeks.

Solving the Toy Storage Problem Part 1

2011-07-24T18:37:00.014-04:00

Our previous solution for toy storage was a large collection of various sizes of black, plastic cauldrons, purchased from post-Halloween sales. These went very well with the Harry Potter themed bedroom, but the current bedroom style is going more towards steampunk, although bits of Hogwarts remain. I have become less enamoured of the cauldrons as I have been cleaning Blaze's room from top to bottom this past week. The open tops of the cauldrons, mean that many of the toys are very dusty and little pieces of toy sets have spilled out.

The worst problem with spilling is with this big cauldron of Legos. Blaze carries them back and forth from his room to the breezeway between the apartments quite often. The cauldron is unwieldy and spills Legos as he goes. I'm sure anyone with children knows how painful it is to step on a stray Lego.

One thing that we do have, that works very well, is this treasure box with a carrying handle, which is where all the toy cars are kept.

I was inspired by a discussion on Steampunk Empire to add some draw pulls to the side of the bookshelf I was refinishing. These will be used as hooks for hanging up bags of toys.

The shelf before:

Being stained red mahogany, to match the other furniture.

The draw pulls that I found at a resale shop for 10 cents each. I sanded the wooden centers and tried to stain them to match the shelves, but the stain wouldn't take. The wood sucked up the stain, leaving barely any color on the surface, so I painted the wood with brown acrylic paint.

I then glued a decorative gear to the center of each drawer pull.

I placed three of the knobs/hooks along one side of the bookcase. The top one is 5-inches from the top and then they are spaced 20-inches apart.

Here is the finished product:

This week, I'll start working on some bags that can hang from those hooks.

Summer is for...

2011-07-23T11:05:00.003-04:00

All those craft projects that we had no time for during the school year,

trying new things, at your own pace,

playing in water,

Spending lazy afternoons with friends:

The Bedtime Story

2011-07-22T07:51:00.002-04:00

Whenever Ula and I talk on the phone, it lasts for hours, sometimes late into the night. At least three nights recently, Blaze has not had a bedtime story because he fell asleep long before I hung up the phone. So, one day last week Ula said that she felt guilty about that, and the next time we talked that late, she would read him a bedtime story over the phone. The next time she called, he asked for his story from her almost as soon as I answered the phone, but I told him to wait, that I wanted to talk to her first. Again, he fell asleep without a story. The next day, we received this exciting new story of the adventures of Neriena Wordsmith and Blaze (Ula's and Blaze's steampunk personas). After getting off the phone with me sometime after eleven o'clock at night, Ula had gone and typed up a new bedtime story for Blaze, to make up for the story he'd missed. Here is that story:

Blaze's story.....

Blaze watched with some scorn as the hunting party left the woods, empty handed. The party had been made of some of the well to do local boys, as well as some of the visiting elite who had come to idle in the countryside. Some of the other well to do local boys, Blaze corrected himself, the official story after all was that was that he was Neriena's younger brother, and Neriena was considered very well to do. Most of Blaze's scorn came from the guns that the young men carried, they were useless by his standards, and his mind flashed for several seconds to how they could be improved. He dismissed these thoughts however, his plans would have made the guns killing machines while it was clear that the guns carried by the hunting party had been built to look good. While his improvements would insure that if there was any game to be had at all, the men would be able to shoot it, they would no longer be able to admire how nice their guns looked in those photographs that they insisted on taking.

It was not that Blaze did not like pictures, he did, but he could not understand the purpose of standing around admiring how nice you looked with a gun that was not actually good enough to shoot anything. He wished that Neriena had not banned him from carrying any of his guns while they were on her country estate, she was very insistent that they try to be respectable at least here, that way they would have a place to return to if things went badly with their city job. Unable to enjoy the simple pleasure of having his explosives and guns near him, Blaze was left to stalk around the estate, glaring at the neighbors.
Neriena was in no better mood when he got home than he was himself. She was in her study, a serious and somber affair full of dark wood and ledgers, pacing back and forth and throwing things. Frank, their navigator who had been with them since their pirating days, and who now acted as their butler, was leaning back in one of the chairs like a man appreciating a fine show. It was most likely the wisest course of action. When Neriena got in such moods she would calm down on her own eventually but was very difficult for outside forces to stop. When Neriena saw Blaze however, she did seem to calm down some, here at last was someone she could rant at.
“That Ms. Henson from the church committee stopped around,” Neriena began and Blaze could feel his heart sink. He sincerely hoped that this would not be another church committee story, the politics inside of that particular group made a pirate ship look civilized but Neriena had insisted on joining the local one because she thought it was necessary to seem respectable. It in all likelihood was, but that did not mean that Blaze enjoyed hearing about it.
“Don't worry,” said Frank, seeing Blaze's face. “It gets good.”
“She made it very clear to me that as one of the old maids of the community I am expected to assist in the organization of the church bazaar, since the married women are far too busy with their families. She then added that as one of the leading families, a sizable contribution would not be amiss.”
Blaze almost choked on thin air, the thought of someone calling Neriena and old maid, and to her face, was unthinkable. The thought that Neriena had had to put on a smile, even if it had been a fake one, until the woman left because this was where they retreated when the city got too warm for them, was even more unthinkable. He could not believe that Neriena was not suggesting that they burn down the town and go back to pirating out of retaliation. He had long known that the town in the valley below their hilltop home called Neriena an old maid, and that they called him the Wordsmith boy, which he liked about as much, but he had never thought that anyone would be rude enough to call Neriena an old maid to her face so he had never warned her of the possibility.
“You didn't agree to do the bazaar did you?” Blaze asked, once he had reevaluated his impression of Neriena's self control.
“I have no idea what one is, so of course I didn't. I figured I'd ask around after she had left,” said Neriena. Blaze had to remember, she had grown up in a slum in New York where no one had enough money to buy clothing nice enough for church, followed first by ships and then by China, neither of which had many church bazaars.
“It's boring is what it is,” said Blaze, dredging up memories of a past that Neriena had always been too polite to ask him about. “There are always religious speakers who talk about the duty of giving a lot of money to the church and then there are little booths with games and food. Then there is a lot of jam, and quilts, and things.”
“They want ME to participate in jam, and quilts, and things,” said Neriena, sounding horrified.
“I have even better news for you,” said Blaze cheerfully. “The Andrews brothers were hunting in our woods again. At least they didn't kill anything. It looked like they had brought in a whole party to show off the local landscape to.”
Neriena had tried, she really had. The Andrews were the second wealthiest family in the town, other than the Wordsmith family, a fact that they greatly resented since before Neriena had come they had been the richest and they had enjoyed the position. That was fine since Neriena resented the fact that Mr. Andrews went by squire, so they were even. As a powerful family, any farmer in the area would have allowed the Andrews to hunt on their land, so of course the Andrews instead decided to hunt on Wordsmith land, which was closed to anyone except by invitation. Neriena decided that she had had enough.
“We are going to the city, gather up the crew,” she told Blaze and Frank in a voice that spoke of fraying nerves. “The sooner we get away from here and into the air the happier I'll be.”

They did not immediately get airborne, even on reaching the city. They needed a manifest to make the port officials not suspicious of them. First they needed to find a cargo or passengers against a backdrop of a hundred other airships trying for the same business. Neriena's crew had an advantage however, they were willing to take dangerous jobs, and that did attract business to them. When the railroad man approached them it was Blaze who stepped forward, he acted as the captain in the public eye, at least until the ship was up in the sky, it made business easier.
“I hear you are a man who likes his explosives,” said the railroad man once they were in his office. It was a generous comment when the rest of the world considered Blaze a boy still. “I have a cargo of dynamite that needs to get to San Francisco.”
“The transcontinental railway is finished,” said Blaze. He could imagine a lot of uses for dynamite that did not involve railways and he wanted to ensure their cargo was not used for any of them. It might lead to an investigation of their business.
“But the transcontinental isn't my company, there are still mountains to be blasted through.”
“So a train company wants to use my airship,” Blaze said, still suspicious.
“I am not willing to ship the supplies for my company through another train company, that would be helping the competition,” the man explained.
“Leaving me with the risk of carrying explosives on ship filled with helium,” said Blaze. Of course it would not be the only explosive on board, Blaze probably had enough to blow up the office building they were in inside of his room alone, but it would be poor business decision to admit.
“There is little danger, the dynamite is well packed,” said the railroad man shrugging. “I hear the Germans have started making dirigibles filled with hydrogen for more lifting power, that I feel is a grave mistake, but I have little fear for your ship so long as you do not bring fire next to the boxes.” Blaze secretly agreed but still extracted extra money from the man for the danger of their cargo for good measure.

Their cargo of explosives was packed in their hold, which had originally been designed to carry the luggage of passengers. Neriena and Blaze had modified it soon after Blaze had come on board so that a portion of it was a fire proof room and completely air tight. Neriena had made it clear when Blaze had started bringing explosives onto the ship that she wasn't entirely comfortable with them simply laying around her ship where they could cause the ship to burn before it touched the ground. It was into this room that they placed their cargo of dynamite. The moment it was stowed Neriena gave the order to cut loose and began the long trip to California.
The entire crew was happier once they were airborne. Neriena was able to truly act as captain, her rightful place, which put her in a better mood. With Neriena cheerfully stomping around the ship dressed like a man, it seemed as if her mood was contagious. Blaze took the chance to care of his beloved guns, and put a couple of new designs in place. The mechanics and engineers buried themselves in the engine and the entire crew could hear them singing some very dirty sea shanties that were left over from the days when the crew had sailed the sea rather than the air. The ship's cook, who still cooked for Neriena at her estate, took the chance to cook the food he actually liked and not the sort of food that he now had to cook to please society women who visited Neriena. The smell from the kitchen suggested that that night's dinner was going to be fish chowder.
They were no longer alone in the sky, everyone knew that, it seemed like the world was taking to the air. At one time Neriena's pirates, the military, and a couple of the idle rich had been the only ones sailing, now passenger dirigibles crossed the nation regularly. At first Neriena thought that the ship that sailed in front of them and then circled them several times at a distance was such a ship. It was only its suspicious behavior that caused her to pay it any attention at all. She was leaning out of the mess hall window with a spy glass when it closed in and she could see the pirate flag it flew in several places. A skull with crossed daggers below it.
“That's my flag,” she sputtered indignantly. “I designed it!” It had been her vanity, a tribute to the fact that she favored a long bladed sailor's knife over any of the many swords that they had in the armory.
“Can we worry about the cannons that seem to be pointed at us from those windows?” asked Blaze, standing beside her and looking through his own glass.
“Release two bags of ballast,” screamed Neriena. It was the quickest evasive maneuver they had and it could be corrected later by the release of some of the helium. Few dirigibles carried ballast since the general goal was to make the ships as light as possible, but Neriena had always insisted for just such an occasion.
As the ship rose from the release of weight, several cannonballs flew harmlessly under them. Blaze meanwhile had run to the control room of the dirigible and was shouting into the speaking tube to tell everyone that they were under attack. It made Neriena proud to see how quickly the ship was mobilized even several years of relative peace. Blaze supervised the rolling out of his cannons from the lockers that they were now normally kept in, each one of the gleaming and dangerous, Neriena was willing to bet that they were the best in the sky. Every crew member armed himself with his choice of weapon and stood at the ready, waiting for what might happen. They were a motley group, armed with their favorite weapons, from cutlasses to pistols, and dressed as they pleased from fine suits to mechanics overalls. Such self expression was one of the things that pleased Neriena about her crew and she looked over them with a creator's pride.
“Frank,” she told their navigator. “Lure them to place over a lake. I'm already worried about where those cannonballs they just shot ended up. Let's keep it from raining lead down on villages.”
“We're higher than they are and I doubt they'll be able to rise up to our level. We could just sail away,” pointed out Frank.
“Not a chance, they are pretending to be us, that makes this personal,” said Neriena. “Using our hard work so they don't have to do their own. I'm going to go get ready for the fight, call me when we're in position.”
By the time that Neriena came back out on deck they were almost over a lake and the engineers were standing by to release the helium that would bring them down to the same level as the pirates. She had changed into a loose skirt, mostly because she found that when people attacking them realized that she was female they tended to pause just long enough to give them an advantage. She was carrying two dirks and three pistols, which she felt was sufficient to take advantage of that opportunity. Blaze had also clearly visited his cabin because he was now decked out with guns and dynamite in a way that should have frightened anyone who came face to face with him. The few in the past that had not been frightened by him were those who latter turned out to be insane.
Frank brought them down directly beside the other ship, something that Neriena's crew had been prepared for but something that took the pirate crew by surprise. It was that glorious moment that Neriena loved when the hunter realized that they had been hunting a lion rather than a rabbit. In a flash the crew had the cannons out and blasting. They aimed for the dirigible's helium holding area rather than the cabin below, it was a quick way to end a fight, in theory. Unfortunately in the time it took before the enemy dirigible actually sank towards the lake the pirates realized what was happening and they swung grappling hooks from their windows to hook onto Neriena's vessel. Neriena could feel their ship sink slightly under their added weight as they climbed into the various ports around the ship. All of the windows in the dirigible had been opened as vents for gun smoke.
Now it was a melee fight and that was fine by Neriena's crew. Blaze seemed to be everywhere, usually in close proximity to small and controlled explosions. The cannons stood forgotten as their crews joined in the fight. Neriena ignored most of the fighting, except to save Frank from a man with a sword, it was hard for him to fight and control the ship at the same time. Neriena wanted their leader and she could see him every once in a while in the whirling fight. Blaze found him first but Neriena was a close second. Most of the pirate crew had already been defeated at that point, they were green and inexperienced compared to Neriena's seasoned veterans. The captain of the pirates was easy to find even in the clouds of smoke that now filled the cabin, because he was not willing to surrender. Neriena was troubled to see that the door Blaze had finally pinned him to with some sort of dart shooting gun Neriena had never seen before, was the door that they held the dynamite in. Blaze had another gun out but Neriena stopped him and sat cross legged on the floor in front of the now captive pirate captain.
“So I'd like to have a word with you about that flag you were flying.”
“What about it?” asked the man, almost spitting defiance until he saw the look on Neriena's face and thought better of it.
“I'd like you to come up with your own, that one's mine,” said Neriena.
“We're letting them go?” asked Blaze.
“We're not the military, we've got no reason to hunt pirates,” said Neriena, shrugging.
“I'll tell the crew before they get other ideas,” said Blaze, nodding.
“The pirates that flew that flag were shot down by the military three years ago,” said the pirate captain, struggling against the darts that had pinned him to the door. Neriena did not give him good chances at freeing himself. The darts had been shot with enough force that they had plunged into metal and then they had seemingly hooked themselves, pining several layers of the captain's clothing with them.
“I hadn't heard that one before. It seems every year they come up with a different way to make us ghosts,” commented Neriena. She rolled up her coat and undershirt sleeve, both salvaged from a military ship they had once captured, to expose her arm up to the shoulder. She began pointing at scars. “That one was from a knife while we were still sea pirates, that one, if you look closely, came from a pistol, and this one came from a sliver of wood that shot up when we were hit by a cannonball from a military ship.”
“What's that?” asked the pirate captain, staring at her arm in horror.
“That would be an anchor tattoo, I was a sailor,” Neriena explained, grinning at him. “Everyone had one. Surely you've heard that the captain of the first airship pirate ship was a lady.”
“It's called fools talk,” muttered the pirate captain.
“Good, then no one will believe you when you say that you met me. I like people thinking I'm dead, it makes life easier. Now we're going to lower ropes and you and your men are going to climb down them or I will shove you off of my ship through the windows. Do you understand?”
The captain understood. Once the rest of the pirate crew was off the ship, most of them were too cowed to even complain about the fact that they were being dropped off in the middle of a lake, Neriena cut the captain of the pirates free and led him to the ropes they were letting people down with. He climbed down the rope to join his men in the water without a word.
“You know, it's going to be an interesting trip the rest of the way, you've punctured the fireproof door,” Neriena told Blaze. “We're going to have to be very careful.”
“That will just make it more exciting,” said Blaze, looking happy. “You know, today is the day of the church bazaar.”
The entire ship was filled with the sound of the two laughing.

Found Furniture

2011-07-21T18:11:00.001-04:00

One of my projects for the past few days, has been refinishing a table that I found next to a dumpster last week. One of the perks of living in a university town is all of the useful things that people can't take with them when they graduate. For instance, our old microwave oven died back in December and we went about 6 months without a microwave, until our next-door neighbor graduated and had to take his family home to Pakistan, leaving behind a very nice little microwave.

Before:

Dark green legs, very warn table top with paint stains from children's art projects.

I removed the tabletop from the rest of the table, spray painted the legs and support pieces "flat black", and removed the old varnish from the table top.

Blaze wanted to help with the sanding:

Then the tabletop was stained Red Mahogany and coated with polyurethane spray.

It's so hot and humid outside that after drying for two days, it was still sticky to the touch, so I finally brought it inside to finish drying.

The table's new home in the corner of Blaze's room (The table and the new pennant banners are the beginning of the redecorating I'm doing in his room).

Bowling

2011-07-18T07:17:00.002-04:00

Over the weekend, we went bowling at the Reitz Union on the University of Florida campus, with Noah's Endeavor. The students from the campus organization, HEAL, volunteered to help out and everyone had a lot of fun. Some of the volunteers remembered Blaze from soccer, so that made it even more fun for him (he loves getting attention).

The Harry Potter Room and Costume Revisited

2011-07-15T19:04:00.006-04:00

We went to see the last Harry Potter movie this afternoon. If you are thinking about going to see it, my advise is bring tissues ( I had tears running down my face more than once during the movie). It is very intense, so take small children to see Cars 2, not Harry Potter.

While the world is focused one last time on Harry and his friends, I decided it was a good time to repost some pictures of the Harry Potter bedroom that Blaze had before we moved to our current apartment and some pictures of the costume that won two copies of The Deathly Hallows when it was first released.

The fake stone wall was made out of stone print contact paper and then I added rub-on ivy decals.

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Here are some of the pictures from the release of the last Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (these were taken before I had a digital camera). We ended up with 3 copies of Deathly Hallows when it came out, which worked out very well, since there were four of us who wanted to read it right away, but we only had to pay for one. Blaze won two copies from Harry Potter costume contests.

The public library held the first event we went to. They had crafts, games, refreshments, and fortune telling, as well as actors reading a passage from one of the Harry Potter books and a costume contest.

Dumbledore presenting Blaze with the costume contest prize:

Getting ready for the Midnight Release Party at the bookstore.

The bookstore costume contest winners:

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Other Harry Potter related posts:

Universal's Island of Adventures, Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Witch or Wizard Hat and Broomstick Snacks

Baby Peacocks

2011-07-15T07:51:00.002-04:00

This was the first time I had ever seen baby peafowl. While taking these pictures, it suddenly struck me that I had no idea what to call them. If you just realized the same thing, I looked it up, and they are called peachicks.

Kipper Sandwich Spread

2011-07-09T18:03:00.007-04:00

Little Kipper Tea Time Sandwiches

1-3.53 ounce can of boneless kippers

2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 Tablespoon butter, at room temperature

2 Tablespoons finely chopped onion

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

Mash or blend everything together until fairly smooth. The emersion-blender worked great for this one. This spread goes well with hearty, dark breads, like rye, or we used a multi-grain bread, cut into finger-sandwich sized pieces.

It sounds like the flavors would be very strong, but the cream cheese and butter really tone down the fishiness of the kippers. Neither my husband nor son are big fans of kippers, but they both enjoyed these little sandwiches.