OK, it's a month into 2011, and I haven't posted anything in almost 2 months. But one of the things I'm striving for this year (I'm not saying these are "resolutions," because that's just setting myself up for failure) is to blog more. We'll see. My other strivignations include starting that business I've been thinking about for a year and a half, have some adventures, and get my shit together. That last one is sort of all-encompassing. I've been unsuccessfully trying to get my shit together for several decades. My shit refuses to be rounded up and collected, apparently.
So far, 2011 has sucked. Lots of people posted on Twitter & FB and such that they were glad to see 2010 go, but I really had nothing against it. It was sort of a pleasant, inert year. Bad and good, ho-hum. This year, however, has been terrible. Max almost died and we found out vie very expensive surgery that he is in fact very gravely ill, the snow and ice continue unabated, M has been sick, personal and professional setbacks abound, blah blah blah.
The good ol "Keep Calm and Carry On" sign has become a bit of a mantra. Just keep on keepin on. Right on. It's my second favourite British sign.
But, there is always the dawn. Tomorrow (today, actually) will come and it is a new month. Today (yesterday) it was 56 degrees and it brought the loveliest thaw. Lively water ran everywhere, making beautiful squelchy mud puddles that begged to be jumped in by willing three-year-olds. The sky was blue, the river was clear, and we sat, covered in mud, on the big rocks by the water in long-sleeved t-shirts, sunning like fat lazy lizards on the first day of spring. It was glorious. {Could I use more prepositional phrases in a sentence?}
Will it snow tomorrow? It might. But it didn't today, and you could feel the everything stretching and breathing, unfurling if just for a moment. The eye of the storm, maybe. Gorgeous calm.
---------
So, because I went to the trouble of doing these 'shops, I'll post the Making of the Gingerbread House before I forget it all:
1. I made a foam board mockup of the house and taped it all together to make sure the angles were right. This is actually the 2nd version, the initial attempt was gigantic. A Barbie would have lived in it. This house is perfect GI Joe-sized. (Yet another reason those dolls could never date each other, and that is just too bad since Ken is so laaaaame)
I'm no architect, and this step proved to be almost more than I could handle.Did I mention that I've never really made a gingerbread house before? Yeah, there is that. And this thing was supposed to be for the damn Chancellor? Why the hell did I raise my hand for this? Anxiety level during this step: 8/10
2.Keep calm and carry on. Using the foam pieces as patterns, I cut out the gingerbread dough and did my best to keep all the pieces groups with their own sections of house. I think there were 7 tiers of cooling rack set up in the kitchen.
I went through 15 pounds of flour and 2 giant jars of molasses for this step. I think that's sort of impressive, for amateur night.
Anxiety level during this step: 4/10
3. Assembly. There was a snowstorm in the middle of this project, and it kept me from going to Lowe's and buying a giant piece of plywood to glue this onto, so we improvised by using a large cork board. (Sorry DJ, I promise I'll replace it your massive laminate and press pass board. Someday.)
Soup cans were used to hold the pieces in place as they cured, and as you can see, the large front section of the house broke in half and had to be set back together. Anxiety level during this step: 7/10
4. The roofline of this house looks deceptively like a boring ol ranch, but it isn't. It spans different levels and depths of house, and the gingerbread equivalent promptly broke when I took it out of the oven. After some splinting and creative cursing, I covered the good side with roof tiles (Golden Grahams) and added the dormers.
Despite measuring and remeasuring, I still managed to put the dormers on wrong. more cursing, more covering mistakes with breakfast cereal. Anxiety level during this step: 7/10
5. The entryway was my favorite part. I loved cutting the gingerbread to match the woodwork at the front of the house. This is where the project started to get fun.
The square pretzels worked well as the multi-paned windows in the front of the house, and I spent some time painting in color on the stonework. I'd originally meant to use rock-looking candy for the work on the front, but the snow put a stop to my search for the right kind. So I improvised. Anxiety level during this step: 4/10
The rest coming soon. I promise.
Comments