The Print Shop

During all of the construction for the weaving studio, a lot of things got piled higgledy-piggledy all over the other half/original part of the building, which is where the print shop is intended to be. helwen has been putting in a lot of work on insulating the wall between the two halves of the building, and now there is enough complete on that side that the furniture can be rearranged into a more useful layout, as well as removing construction material and tools that have accumulated during the process.

The current furniture includes an old double-wide dresser (with mirror!), a double-wide type cabinet with places on top to hold cases during composition, two heavy duty shelving units, a former sales counter (I forget what it was before it became a sales counter), a single-wide type cabinet, a table, and a proof press (the platen press is a tabletop model -- we don't have a floor press. Yet). We'll also be getting a second double-wide type cabinet from M. Iheronimus, probably on the first Saturday in December, so I have to have the space ready for it by then.

All of this furniture has to share space with various ladders hanging on the walls, storage for poles for the pavilion (the canvas stays in the house), the parts for the rope bed, and the bench and captain's chairs that we take out of the van on a regular basis to improve fuel economy.

I've been looking at the current layout of the furniture, and I think a number of items have to be relocated in order to make best use of the space: The counter gets moved over there, the double-wide cabinet and shelves trade places, the new double-wide takes the place of the counter, the single-wide cabinet moves with the counter…

Which would mean that the only piece of furniture that wouldn't be moving is the dresser. Which is the only piece of furniture that isn't already loaded with supplies and tools…

This ought to be fun. ;-)

No pie for you!

Occasionally, I bake.  My specialty (well, one of the few things that I actually bake) is lemon meringue pie from a scratch recipe.

Sometimes, the pie comes out very well.  Sometimes, not so well.  Usually, it’s acceptable, and usually, it tastes very good, which is why my mother often asks for one for holiday dinners.

Let me be clear, though: The problems that I have encountered with making these pies has never been with the meringue topping.  Even when the top­ping “sweats” a little, it still holds up well.  It even tastes good when I forget to add the vanilla extract (which happens a little more often than I’d like to admit).

The problems usually involve the filling or the crust (seldom both at the same time).

The filling sometimes doesn’t set up—I once had a pie slide right out of the shell when I took a corner a little fast on the way to the family farm…

I’ve had crusts swell up into little bal­loons during baking; I’ve had crusts swell up into big bal­loons.

Tonight, I couldn’t get that far.  No matter what I did, I could’t roll out the pie crust dough without it sticking to the roller, or the board, or my hand; it would stick to any­thing except itself.  So, no pie tonight.

I think I know how to correct the problem for next time, but I’ve used up too much time to do it tonight.

Um, what?

Latest cosmetic surgery craze: Eyelash transplants?

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