So...a couple of weeks ago, I republished two of my books. That always takes a lot of time and effort, and when it's done, I just veg out for a bit before I jump back into writing (or most writing-related activities).
Because of that, I've had some time to check out some intriguing videos.
This one came my way via a family member. Not fond of the distraction of the music playing in the background, but I found the concept interesting. In another (longer) video, the poster who had lived in several other places in the world, stated that there is no garbage day in Amsterdam. They simply have all these underground receptacles. Some of them have lights to show they're full, some have trash compacters. But you just drop your garbage in these receptacles that are located here and there and then you don't have to worry about putting your garbage out on the correct day of the week. It also solves the problem of having a lot of individual cans sitting around in a city with a limited amount of space..
On a completely different note, I was clicking around the internet the other day and discovered that during this time of trying not to get out and interact with people too much, some people (especially those who live in apartments without laundry facilities) are getting inventive about ways to avoid going to the laundromat too often. While there are such things as portable washers, they look a bit bulky (to me, anyway) and often have electrical components. Instead, at least for lighter articles (underwear is usually mentioned), they're using a salad spinner.
I've also seen this touted as a good way to wash the masks we're all wearing. And there have been people hand washing sweaters and then using a large salad spinner to get a lot of the excess water out before laying them out to dry. It's an interesting repurposing of an object that might simply be collecting dust on some people's shelves.
And finally, you may have seen this information on the news or on the internet during the past week, but I found it interesting, so I'm posting it here. In Finland, at the Helsinki airport, they're using dogs to sniff out COVID.
The program is still in the testing phase (I think), and I'm sure it has many limitations, but it's an interesting and innovative way to deal with a difficult situation.
So those are just some of the items that have made their way into my newsfeed lately. I hope you have some interesting things to keep you engaged during these difficult times.
When I first started writing, I wrote greeting card verse, predominantly for a company called Oatmeal Studios. It was fun thinking up clever and mildly amusing text for greeting cards, but it wasn't really much more than a hobby (I had other writing goals), so I moved on to fiction. That said, I still love the idea of making up my own cards rather than buying them. So here are some more ideas for greeting cards, courtesy of YouTube and all the fine craftspeople who post there. So get out your scissors, glue, pretty paper and any other supplies you might have, and let's see what kind of unique cards we can make.
Here's a very simple one that you can embellish any way you'd like.
Another pop up card
I like this shaker card, because you make your own shaker materials instead of buying glitter or confetti.
Enjoy making your own cards (and, hopefully, saving money)!
I'll admit that I waste far too much time on the internet, and often I have no excuse. It's easy to waste hours reading online news stories or bouncing around various social media sites. But there's also some very useful sites out there, too. Here is just one I've found to be very helpful (more to follow).
Canva is a free site (although there are features that require payment to turn on, and for work purposes I've upgraded, most of what I've used in my day to day use of the site hasn't required shelling out cash). It's a drag and drop program that enables you to create graphics (signs, book covers, letterhead, business cards, social media posts, invitations...), and it's incredibly easy to use, very intuitive. There are templates (some free, some available for a small fee), shapes, fonts, grids, frames, illustrations, icons, charts, photos, etc., or you can easily upload your own elements and use those. Admittedly, it's more limited than something like Photoshop (I can't make my text glow or easily add a drop shadow without doing a workaround,but I also don't have to sell my house to afford the program or spend years learning all the ins and outs of how it works). Here are just a few of the things I've made with this handy tool:
A protest poster for a march I took part in
An idea for a cake design I took to the bakery
A book cover for a book I'm rereleasing shortly
Some Facebook posts
The outside and inside of an invitation
And those are just a few of the many uses I've found for Canva. It's one of my favorite places on the internet.
I'm on a bit of a cake decorating kick, because we just had my mother's 90th birthday, and the bakery made us a very pretty (and delicious cake). Seriously delicious, with chocolate cake, raspberry preserve filling, whipped cream topping and butter cream roses. Yum.
But today, I'm all about the decorations. I would love to be able to decorate a cake and make it look beautiful, but since I don't really think that's in my skill set, here are some mesmerizing (and fairly short) videos of people creating cake masterpieces.
Those all seem to be way beyond my abilities (well, maybe I could manage the first one), but the one below is beautiful and it almost looks doable.
So, have you ever tried to decorate a cake? How did that work out for you?
I'm sure I've mentioned that I watch my calories, but it's summer, it's hot, and now and then I need a cold treat. My local grocery store (in fact all my local grocery stores, and there are many of them) stopped carrying Popsicle brand Fudgesicles in the low-fat 60 calorie variety (I like those, because they fit my calorie requirements, they don't have artificial sweeteners and they're only the half-size, single pops, not the doubles). So, I was stuck.
I decided that it was time to make my own, so I am now on a hunt for the best recipe. I tried this one, and it was pretty good (I went a little too heavy on the vanilla, but I can adjust that). http://www.food.com/recipe/fudge-popsicles-fudgesicles-272235
But I still want to try some others. Maybe this one:
These Nutella ones sound delicious, but I'm avoiding them for the same reason I avoid Nutella (lots of calories, and if I have it in the house, I'm not sure I have the will power to avoid eating more than I should). I'm still posting it in case someone else wants to try it.
I used 3 ounce paper cups the first time and peeled the paper away, but that wasn't easy (the paper stuck), so I may have to invest in some silicone molds. I've heard that those are the easiest ones to use (the separation is easier). These have gotten good reviews, but they're a bit pricey and that's a bit of an odd shape. We'll see.
I do like the idea of being able to control the amount I put in the molds.
