Thursday, 21 January 2010
Sandy Balls
Bwah-ha-ha, these guys were our competitors when I worked at Forest Holidays in Edinburgh. Never failed to make me giggle.
Sunday, 17 January 2010
Soap again
Wow, it's been a year since I moved to Guelph. Crazy. (also means I should be 1/3 of the way through my PhD, but let us not think about that). Which also means it's been about a year since I first tried making laundry detergent! I am still going strong with it. I have lost track of batches, but I think this must be about my fourth - so that is pretty good going for a whole year's worth of laundry. It cost me about $5 for the Borax, about $5 for the washing soda, and less than a dollar per bar of soap that goes into the detergent. Even if you get the cheapo store-bought detergent, that's significant savings (I still have 3/4 of a box left of both Borax and washing soda). Money far better spent at the pub, if you ask me.
Anyway, I made another batch last night and just wanted to update to note that I may have solved the texture problem. It seems that adding more washing soda makes the finished product more lumpy and gelly. This is fine to a point, but sometimes it doesn't dissolve properly in the washer and leaves soap spots on my clothes. This time, I made the soap and stirred everytime I went by while it cooled. Then, a few hours later when it was set, I poured in some boiling water (about a cup, maybe?) and stirred that all up like crazy. This dissolved all the lumps and now, the next morning, the whole thing has not reset into lumps but remains a nice, even, liquidy texture. I think I will add this to the standard process.
My recipe at this point is:
Dissolve one bar grated Ivory soap in 6 cups boiling water. Stir till dissolved.
Add 1/2 cup Borax and one cup washing soda. Stir till dissolved.
Pour into giant bucket and add 6.25L (25 cups) HOT water. Stir.
Let cool, stirring as often as possible.
When cool, add 1 cup (ish) boiling water. Stir vigorously to break up any lumps.
Use 1/2 cup to one cup (I use one due to Guelph's horribly hard water) as liquid laundry detergent.
Anyway, I made another batch last night and just wanted to update to note that I may have solved the texture problem. It seems that adding more washing soda makes the finished product more lumpy and gelly. This is fine to a point, but sometimes it doesn't dissolve properly in the washer and leaves soap spots on my clothes. This time, I made the soap and stirred everytime I went by while it cooled. Then, a few hours later when it was set, I poured in some boiling water (about a cup, maybe?) and stirred that all up like crazy. This dissolved all the lumps and now, the next morning, the whole thing has not reset into lumps but remains a nice, even, liquidy texture. I think I will add this to the standard process.
My recipe at this point is:
Dissolve one bar grated Ivory soap in 6 cups boiling water. Stir till dissolved.
Add 1/2 cup Borax and one cup washing soda. Stir till dissolved.
Pour into giant bucket and add 6.25L (25 cups) HOT water. Stir.
Let cool, stirring as often as possible.
When cool, add 1 cup (ish) boiling water. Stir vigorously to break up any lumps.
Use 1/2 cup to one cup (I use one due to Guelph's horribly hard water) as liquid laundry detergent.
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
happy!
I am feeling very lucky right now. I am hesitant to admit it in case it bring on some kind of voodoo-like surge of bad luck. However, I had an amazing Christmas in Alberta and got to spend some time with some of my favorite people, and now I have a quilt project to work on and the lab to myself quite a lot, and a Del visit and trip to Alberta to look forward to in February. I am going to enjoy this while it lasts.
Thursday, 12 November 2009
fashionable academics?
I find it hilarious and yet kind of awesome that this exists. Thinking about what you wear can be fun (especially for academics, who like to think about things). Reggie brought me back some amazing tights from Germany: one red pair and one blue pair. They are the thick ones (kindergarteny, my undergrad internship student says), so comfy and bright and unlikely to run. Pleased.
In other news, this sentence analysis thingy is also super awesome... I think I have a decent ear for what "sounds wrong" in academic writing, but fixing it is another matter altogether. Although of course I could always go with randomly generated ones.
In other news, this sentence analysis thingy is also super awesome... I think I have a decent ear for what "sounds wrong" in academic writing, but fixing it is another matter altogether. Although of course I could always go with randomly generated ones.
Monday, 26 October 2009
October
So Steph had to call and tell me what is going on with my family, as per the blog. Possibly something wrong there. I go through phases where I forget to check. I am so jealous of all those going to Scotland... if only silly old Ontario had Fall as well as Spring Reading Week! But alas. I am just counting down the time until Christmas. And my birthday! Although that will likely suck, because... Guelph. But maybe something nice will happen.
Sophie came to visit last weekend and I was SO VERY VERY excited to see her. Love having visitors (and have tested out the futon and know it is comfy, so sort of feel like I have a guest bedroom to offer) (even if only one duvet cover! But don't worry, the duvet cover is always offered to the guest). We had a lovely time doing not very much except chatting - it has been a LONG time. Katie the Newfie came over Saturday night for a bit of an impromptu girls night/craft night (she is attempting to knit a toque and I am making a sock monkey for Del's friend Pauline's baby Chloe) and on Sunday we just sort of wandered around Guelph. Discovered that what I thought was a bakery was a gorgeous upscale-food shop like the one that was down the road from me in Edinburgh. We had some 75% dark chocolate and I got chai masala and some smoked garlic (I am a sucker for spices in lovely tins). Sophie bought me something called Mayan Hot Chocolate: ingredients cocoa liquour, organic sugar, cocoa powder, chili peppers, ginger, orange peel, Madagascar vanilla and "a unique blend of spices". It is amazing! It may or may not be the same thing I had at the Hillside festival, but I love it. Too bad it's so bloody expensive... but since Sophie totally rocks, now I have some :)
Work's going well. I had a look at my data on Friday and it is looking good! very happy about that. This week I have to collect the rest of it (sigh) and then start on a write-up, I guess. I feel like this is a really big deal on one hand, but on the other need to keep thinking about the next thing...
My supervisor also went to a conference last week, so I took his class. I only had to talk to them for ten minutes or so and then meet with groups individually, so wasn't too scary. Felt like it was good experience, though. Oh, and it also wasn't too scary because I had to give a presentation to my Neuroscience class (that I am taking, not teaching) the week before, and TOTALLY STUFFED UP* the powerpoint - so after surviving that, ten minutes of talking to a bunch of fourth-years did not seem scary.
Apart from that, have been very much a homebody lately. It is boring, but on the other hand I am richer and thinner from the lack of alcohol (though the late-night visits to the Salsateria have persisted). I've been to a few gigs, though, because a friend hooked me up with his former roommate Melissa, on the basis that we both hate Guelph. She is doing an internship here and is a big ol' music geek (and I mean that in the nicest possible way) and keeps her ear to the ground about shows and then drags me along. It has been excellent. Last week we saw Ohbijou as well as the Hidden Cameras, because Melissa knows a band member. Yay for getting to hang with the band after the gig! makes me feel special.
Anyway, have done my yoga and had my tea, so off to bed before 11pm hits. Good lord, I am turning into Steph...
*[I made a beautiful, gorgeous powerpoint, emailed it to myself, saved it on my USB drive {or so I thought... dun dun dun} and then went to give the presentation. Two slides in, I realised that half of the slides were wrong - and suddenly came to understand that when I had backed it up to the desktop, I forgot to re-save on the drive... so all my three hours of careful edits were no longer there. However, I had already started talking and it was a bit late to ask to start fiddling about with my email... so I just gave the talk anyway, and had to draw my diagrams that should have been on the slides in living colour on the whiteboard, from memory. Ridiculous. I thought I screwed up bigtime, but after the talk was over, one of the profs told me it was impressive that I didn't need my slides to explain and could do it all from memory... so maybe I pulled it off!]
Sophie came to visit last weekend and I was SO VERY VERY excited to see her. Love having visitors (and have tested out the futon and know it is comfy, so sort of feel like I have a guest bedroom to offer) (even if only one duvet cover! But don't worry, the duvet cover is always offered to the guest). We had a lovely time doing not very much except chatting - it has been a LONG time. Katie the Newfie came over Saturday night for a bit of an impromptu girls night/craft night (she is attempting to knit a toque and I am making a sock monkey for Del's friend Pauline's baby Chloe) and on Sunday we just sort of wandered around Guelph. Discovered that what I thought was a bakery was a gorgeous upscale-food shop like the one that was down the road from me in Edinburgh. We had some 75% dark chocolate and I got chai masala and some smoked garlic (I am a sucker for spices in lovely tins). Sophie bought me something called Mayan Hot Chocolate: ingredients cocoa liquour, organic sugar, cocoa powder, chili peppers, ginger, orange peel, Madagascar vanilla and "a unique blend of spices". It is amazing! It may or may not be the same thing I had at the Hillside festival, but I love it. Too bad it's so bloody expensive... but since Sophie totally rocks, now I have some :)
Work's going well. I had a look at my data on Friday and it is looking good! very happy about that. This week I have to collect the rest of it (sigh) and then start on a write-up, I guess. I feel like this is a really big deal on one hand, but on the other need to keep thinking about the next thing...
My supervisor also went to a conference last week, so I took his class. I only had to talk to them for ten minutes or so and then meet with groups individually, so wasn't too scary. Felt like it was good experience, though. Oh, and it also wasn't too scary because I had to give a presentation to my Neuroscience class (that I am taking, not teaching) the week before, and TOTALLY STUFFED UP* the powerpoint - so after surviving that, ten minutes of talking to a bunch of fourth-years did not seem scary.
Apart from that, have been very much a homebody lately. It is boring, but on the other hand I am richer and thinner from the lack of alcohol (though the late-night visits to the Salsateria have persisted). I've been to a few gigs, though, because a friend hooked me up with his former roommate Melissa, on the basis that we both hate Guelph. She is doing an internship here and is a big ol' music geek (and I mean that in the nicest possible way) and keeps her ear to the ground about shows and then drags me along. It has been excellent. Last week we saw Ohbijou as well as the Hidden Cameras, because Melissa knows a band member. Yay for getting to hang with the band after the gig! makes me feel special.
Anyway, have done my yoga and had my tea, so off to bed before 11pm hits. Good lord, I am turning into Steph...
*[I made a beautiful, gorgeous powerpoint, emailed it to myself, saved it on my USB drive {or so I thought... dun dun dun} and then went to give the presentation. Two slides in, I realised that half of the slides were wrong - and suddenly came to understand that when I had backed it up to the desktop, I forgot to re-save on the drive... so all my three hours of careful edits were no longer there. However, I had already started talking and it was a bit late to ask to start fiddling about with my email... so I just gave the talk anyway, and had to draw my diagrams that should have been on the slides in living colour on the whiteboard, from memory. Ridiculous. I thought I screwed up bigtime, but after the talk was over, one of the profs told me it was impressive that I didn't need my slides to explain and could do it all from memory... so maybe I pulled it off!]
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
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