Weekend Update

     So I have managed to find a way to work on blog posts without making myself sick or crazy. Which really may result in more frequent posting. I do promise to try to make it interesting. If anyone has any ideas of things they would like to see in this blog please let me know. Doll related or whatever. 

     Anyway, I was having several issues that made it super inconvenient for me to post to the blog. First was the fact that when I set it up I was using a yahoo email address. When my yahoo account got hacked I switched my email to gmail but I was super afraid of having anything yahoo connected to it. So I didn't connect it to my new (now super old) gmail address. The result was to post on the blog I had to either log out of gmail and log into yahoo, or use an entirely different browser to post. Which is what I ended up doing for a couple of years. Not fun or convenient. I also started having issues with my desktop computer. It makes me dizzy and sick feeling. I have tried changing the height of the monitor, turning the brightness down a ton, nothing helps. I can use that thing for only a very short time and then I often have to go lay down. Not really conducive to posting often. 

     A couple of weeks ago I decided enough was enough and I went in and figured out how to get a gmail email address as my main blog email. I actually made an entirely new email to facilitate it. Then I completely deleted the yahoo address out of it. Step one of retake the blog was complete! That same day I figured out I could post to the blog from my phone! So while I was at the laundromat I did that first February blog post. It was a huge pain in the behind because of all the photos. If I was doing short posts and never needed to move anything around it would have been fine. 

    Yesterday I discovered the absolutely easiest way to deal with blogging. I can go on my phone, where the photos are anyway, and I can start a post and stick all the photos in. Blogger saves it to a draft and then I can go on the Chromebook (which belongs to the school so I don't actually like to load photos onto the drive) and I can do the writing and move pics around if needed. The ease of this method means that I might babble at you guys a lot more. 

     I do realize that maybe no one other than me cares at all that I figured out how to solve a blogging problem I have had literally for years. But I was happy to find a solution to an ongoing problem. Now let's talk about some dolls!

    I have actually been really efficient with doll making this year so far. I have gotten a very large amount done, especially in comparison to every other year. Usually in the winter I am a bit sloth like and don't want to do anything. I have had seasonal depression issues for years. I don't seem to be having that problem anymore. More on that later though.

     So the first doll I want to share is this saddle seat doll. I wanted to try to make one with a removable coat. I know some people like to use the saddleseat dolls for in-hand showing, but the coat isn't really correct for that. I LOVE the color of her vest! She is fairly basic in most of her color scheme so she should look good with just about every color horse. Her coat is not as fitted as a permanent one would be, but she is extra versatile. I was pleased to see I could get this idea to work out. 

    Next I have a doll in pink. Because honestly I just can't go very long without making a doll in pink. She's a super versatile western doll and would be great for all sorts of casual riding scenes, games and working classes or even ranch work. Her pink top has a bit of a marbled pattern to it so it's slightly different than almost every other pink top I have ever made. And speaking of pink, I got some awesome in-scale pink plaid from a miniatures site recently. So that will be making an appearance in the near future.

     As a lot of you probably know, I have been having a lot of fun making dirty cowboys lately. They are something a bit different and really, not every cowboy is going to be squeaky clean. This guy looks dirty, but not filthy. His clothes look like they have a bit of staining from use, a bit of wear here and there and he has an overall sort of dusty look. Though it does look like his hat may have fallen in the mud! I like how the dirt on this guy ended up a bit more subtle than the last two. When I originally thought of making these I was thinking of that sort of layer of dust you get when you're out on a trail for awhile or out working hard all day. I am sure I will end up making more of these guys in the future. Though currently on my worktable I have a clean cowboy planned. I like the variety. I also like the different heads I have found. I ordered one for myself that looks like Christian Bale. He's going to be my new cowboy as soon as I get around to painting the head.

      I was planning on doing a post with some updates on Halestorm's doll but I have not gotten much further on her today. Today was chore day and I got into some major deep cleaning in the house. Have you ever had a to-do list that sort of took on a life of its own? Oh, and I LOVE to-do lists because being able to cross off the things you finished just feels good. Anyway, this morning I wrote up an extensive to-do list and I started into all of the different things I needed to do. And then I would see a bit of semi-neglected cleaning that needed to get done. For example, I took down the fan cover on the stove hood and cleaned that. I got wild today. But the house looks amazing. I did also manage to get the youth doll clothes cut out and sewn. But that was as much doll work as I have managed. And it was a couple more things I could cross off my list.

     Another thing on my to-do list is show prep. I have a 2 day performance show coming up as I mentioned. I have no planning done for it. I have gotten as far as copying the classlist and printing out the blank lists with double spaces for any classes I am going to show in. The easiest part is I know which horse I am showing on OF performance day. Since I only have one OF performance horse that was easy. So Bring the Mayhem is showing on Saturday. I have no idea in what classes. Travis will come with me for the Saturday show. Since I am only showing the one horse it will be easier to keep an eye on him. And if I can remember to get my act together I am going to teach him to sell raffle tickets. He's good at counting money and making change (at least with bills) so I am pretty sure he can do it.

    Speaking of Travis, I have some wonderful news! Yesterday he was asking for help. He would come out of his room and sing us part of a song and we had to try to figure out what it was and look it up so he could get the name. Now for anyone who thinks this should be an easy thing, especially with an 18 year old, let me explain. When Travis sings us a song he sort of mumbles and doesn't say the words clearly. We will usually get the basic melody and not much else. So we have to really know the song to be able to guess what it is. Ethan is actually really great at this. Travis came up with a song that Ethan hadn't even played in at least a year. He only had a few bars of it and the word confessions (I think that was it). I didn't really know what he was trying to sing but Ethan figured it out. He'd put it on YouTube and Travis would look at the name and then look it up on his tablet. The great thing is, now that he knows the name of the songs he wanted, he will likely never forget them. He has an excellent memory.
     Travis and I were driving to Walmart today and one of "his" songs came on the radio. I asked him what song it was (because I didn't remember) and he told me it was Faint. I asked who sang the song and he said Linkin' Park. I know he's right, even though I didn't remember when I asked him, and I am just incredibly impressed that he answered some questions for me. This is a life goal for me after all. Now if we can progress to hearing about his day at school...

     So at the top of the post I said I used to get seasonal depression and I don't seem to have that anymore. It used to get pretty bad and for several weeks at the start and end of winter I was useless for basically everything. Some of the improvement may be getting out and going to work instead of just working from home. Being alone almost constantly can be hard. But I think a lot of my improvement is from the low carb eating! I realized the other day at Marci's house that I don't get tired in the afternoon anymore. I used to have almost a super crash about 2:30. I would get home from school and almost immediately have to take at least a short catnap, just to function the rest of the day. Now I occasionally have a tired day, but that is usually on the days that I got very little sleep the night before. I do love the even energy levels. Especially since currently I am not supposed to have extra coffee.
     Lastly, I wanted to post an update about the pork rind pancakes that I first mentioned a couple of weeks ago. Ethan discovered that they make fairly excellent bread. And I discovered if you don't thin out the recipe at all they come out fairly sturdy. The thin ones were also really sturdy, but floppy. It may be the greasiest bread you have ever eaten (it IS made out of pork rinds after all) but it doesn't have an overpowering or offensive flavor and can make a really great keto sandwich bread! Now I want to try it out in a grilled cheese. Or maybe a grilled ham and cheese. Hmm, need to see if I can fit that into my macros for lunch on Monday. Tomorrow I am going to try it out with a burger and see if that works out. I have a feeling it will work fairly well and that makes me very happy. Bread was always one of my favorite things. And not just because I love the flavor of bread, which I do, but because I love sandwiches. There is a sugar-free (and artificial sweetener-free) nutella that I feel would be wonderful on this bread. Though probably better on the almond crackers I haven't made in forever. That stuff will have to wait though. For at least the rest of the weight loss competition I am going to super limit the nut flours and have no alternative sweeteners. Except on my birthday. I have decided I WILL have cake and ice cream. Now to settle on what kind of cake to make.

    Before I go I will leave the instructions for how to make the pork rind pancakes. They do not work as tortillas, no matter what the recipe pretends. I am still on the hunt for a tortilla recipe that works well. The coconut wraps are pretty good though. That may be the one I stick with. Anyway, Ethan got this recipe from a carnivore group he is a member of. He says this may be the only good thing that ever came out of that group. Enjoy!

Pork Rind pancakes/bread

yield: 5 medium panc70g of ground up pork rinds (they should be about the consistency of bread crumbs)

2 eggs

1 tbs of melted ghee/butter

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup or so of water.

Blend well until it makes a pancake-like batter and add more water if it's too thick to get it to the consistency you want. Then just fry them up on low-med on both sides. I spray the pan with coconut oil, but you might not need this at all. Use about 1/4 cup per pancake