01 Thursday Oct 2015
Posted in Photography
Clyde is taking a nap after playing with his mouse.
It feels like I’m in a holding pattern for the next few weeks. Every weekend for the whole month of October will be filled with something going on. Luckily some of my time will be spent with the family but there will be a lot of time away from them.
My next “official” day off will be for the Thanksgiving holidays. I don’t have any doctor’s appointments until mid December. Maybe I can use this time to build my vacation time.
“Life Goes On!”
30 Wednesday Sep 2015
Posted in Photography
https://tchphotography.smugmug.com/Landscapes/i-845rCRW/A
I had great news from my doctor appointment today. My blood levels all were in the good range, including my cholesterol. My A1C was still a little high but at 6.6 it’s a lot better than what it has been in the past. The first thing the doctor asked me was if I had been riding my bicycle because he knew right off that I must have been doing something to get my levels down. Now if I can just get my weight down and keep it down I think I would feel better about myself.
29 Tuesday Sep 2015
Posted in Photography
Tags
365 Day Photo Challenge, Appointment, Cancer, Cats, CML, Diabeties, Doctor, Leukemia, PTO
I have a doctors appointment tomorrow with my general practitioner. I see him every six months and have been every since I’ve been diagnosed with Diabetes. If you don’t have a regular doctor I would highly suggest that you get one. If it wasn’t for my biannual checkups my CML would not have been diagnosed until it was too late.
I’ve got to talk to him about several items that I’m having problems with so it might be a longer visit than normal. I will not be going back to work after my appointment. I’m sort of looking forward to a little time off.
28 Monday Sep 2015
Posted in Photography
I say that with very mixed emotions. I have twin 17 year old daughters and both of them have been looking into colleges lately, more this past week than ever. I am not ready for them to go off to college. They are my babies and I’m not ready for them to grow up much less go off to college. I
When my son went off to college I was ok with it. My wife, however, was not. Although the school is not but 45 miles away he was not coming home but a few weekends out of the year. My son and I had spent a lot of time together camping and doing other activities with the scouts so I I figured I’d have problems with him going away.
I’ts going to be different with me with my girls. We don’t do a lot of things together because dad isn’t cool. We don’t have anything in common and we don’t watch the same television shows. It kind of reminds me of the commonality of my wife and I. Anyway, when they go off to school they will be missed a lot. I’m not sure how I’m going to handle it. Just going to take it one day at a time.
“Life Goes On!”
27 Sunday Sep 2015
Posted in Photography
Tags
365 Day Photo Challenge, Bacon, Breakfast, Cast Iron, Comfort Food, Cooking, Dinner, Eggs, Lodge, Pizza, Sausage, Supper
I spent nearly all day in the kitchen starting off with breakfast. Bacon, eggs, and sausage all cooked in my 10in Lodge skillet.
After breakfast and after I cleaned up the kitchen I began the finishing prep work for the pizza for supper.
There were no left overs.
“Life Goes On!”
26 Saturday Sep 2015
Posted in Photography
https://tchphotography.smugmug.com/HDR/i-KHf48kK/A
I had a fairly busy day today. It started when I took my daughter to the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame for her music lessons then home for lunch. After lunch I prepared the dough for the pizza that I’m planning on cooking tomorrow night. I did get a chance to watch a little bit of the Alabama game but it wasn’t long before I had to leave and go watch my daughter’s perform with their high school band at a band jamboree.
Tomorrow is going to be just as busy. The girls are wanting me to cook breakfast in the morning then I’ve got some cast iron that I’ve got to start on the re seasoning process. I’ve got yard work that I’d like to do plus I wouldn’t mind going on a bicycle ride if I have time.
Once I start on the pizza I’ll try and remember to take pictures so that I can share the cooking process. Right now the dough is sitting in a bowl with tin foil over it so it can rise. According to the instructions, once I get it in the skillet I’m supposed to let it rise again for another hour before I put it in the oven. I’m really hoping this works out.
“Life Goes On!”
25 Friday Sep 2015
Posted in Photography
I have many hobbies and as I’ve stated in earlier posts I love to cook and I love to cook in my cast iron. If you love cast iron cooking as much as I do then you need to follow The Black Pot on Facebook. It’s just a group page where I am starting to share my recipes as well as some tips on how to take care of your cast iron. I have even put some information regarding restoring your cast iron if the need arises.
I’ve been seeing some homemade pizza recipes on different websites and it’s really sparked my interest being that I’ve never made homemade pizza before. Tonight, on my way home from work, I stopped at the store and picked up everything I need to make this dish. According to the directions, I have to make the dough a day ahead of time. So, I’ll be making the dough tomorrow afternoon and set it aside to used Sunday evening. I can’t wait.
“Life Goes On”
24 Thursday Sep 2015
Posted in Photography
I got into restoring cast iron back last summer. This was my first project. It’s a Lodge Sportsman Grill. I paid a lot of money for it and I accidently left it outside for several years. I had misplaced it and couldn’t remember where I put it. I originally thought that I had either left it at the last location I used it or someone stole it from me. I never dreamed that I left it outside but alas I did. When I found it I was so mad and disappointed in myself. I thought it was ruined.
I started seeing a lot of posts on some of the forums that I follow about how to restore cast iron by using a process called Electrolysis. At first I thought this was so far above my head that I wouldn’t be able to even consider it. I was wrong. I first started off with a five gallon bucket, a battery charger and a couple pieces of scrap iron. I put the smaller pieces into the tank and after a couple of days, the process had stripped all the rust off of it and left nothing but raw metal. I was impressed. After I got all the pieces stripped I then began the process of re seasoning. Which is another story altogether.
If there’s one thing I learned during the whole process is this. Don’t re season your cast iron in your house. It will leave a nasty odor and it will linger all day long. If you have an outdoor grill this is where you should re season your cast iron. Your marriage may last a little longer if you do everything outside.
“Life Goes On!”
23 Wednesday Sep 2015
Posted in Photography
The wife and daughters had a meeting right after school and would be very late getting home so I used this opportunity to do a little cooking. I really enjoy cooking but I don’t get the opportunity to do so. I get home after my wife and usually she has supper cooked when I get home in the evenings. When we first were married she used to cook a lot every meal. She’s part Italian and she cooked just like one. Now, she does the bare minimum. It may be chicken fingers one night, hamburger helper the next but she does cook. I’m not complaining mind you, she does work and she has to put up with a lot being a elementary school teacher. I’d be happy with a PBJ sandwich but she feels that she must cook something. Tonight we had grilled pork chops, fried potatoes and salad. IT was late when we all sat down to eat but it was good, even if I have to say so myself.
22 Tuesday Sep 2015
Posted in Photography
Francois de la Rochefourcauld stated that “The only thing constant in life is change.” This may be the case but I don’t have to like it. My boss has implemented a few changes in our department that has made himself a few enemies. Me for one. I won’t bore everyone with all the details but the point is that he’s messing around with our pay. His excuse is that these changes will “make us better stewards of our time.” Now with these changes we’re spending more time on the computer keying in our time than we are on the jobs. It makes no sense to me nor to anyone else in our department. It’s enough to pull my hair out.
“Life Goes On!”
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