Inspiration sometimes sings like a mongoose...

If you don't believe that is true, it's time to spend some time with some Kitchens.  I just did and I'm inspired.

I was in Baltimore this past week for work and I got to stay with Adam and Kathryn which was really great!  They were so nice to get me around from place to place and to show me what they could of Charm City and it is charming.  I hope Joey and I can go back soon and visit again.  It's so nice to be with family!  We're nice, huh, family?

I also got to see Ashley and Kelly Kitchen and it was magical!  We talked about all sorts of things we could be blogging about and aren't (well, Ashley does, and Kelly used to and will again, and I'm struggling with blogosis patheticosis).  So I'm going to try a little more.  I hope Joey will do some, too, when he gets some time again.

For starters, look at this neat loom I found!  This guy has free plans for building a loom and a really neat little loom that you could buy or I bet you might be able to make one if you're really clever and have the right tools.  Here's the site: http://laserloom.tumblr.com/.

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I had planned to post this right away, but obviously I didn't, so I'll try again.

I thought I'd post a little about some of the things I've done lately.  Most of it has been working and traveling for work, but other than that there has been a lot of house hunting.  The night I started this post I thought I'd just write a little about what I'd done that night, and since I took pictures, I'll just do it now.

One thing was making rice milk.  If you don't mind a weird alternative to milk that doesn't taste like the nice rice milk you get in the store, this is a pretty easy and very inexpensive option.  You just boil a bit of rice (like a quarter cup or a third cup) in a pot of water (like a gallon or less).  Keep it cooking on low for a while till it's really soggy.  I also throw in some blanched almonds or some cashews for a little oil and flavor.  I like the cashews and Joey likes the almonds.

Once it's mushy, scoop it into a blender and add some cold water and blend it to bits.  The more you blend, the better.  Then strain it through a fine strainer.  I add some more water to make it the right consistency.  I usually get about a gallon of rice milk from about a quarter cup or so of rice.  I add a teaspoon of salt and about three tablespoons of sugar and a bit of vanilla to a gallon of milk.  It works really well for smoothies and cereal but isn't all that great for some cooking.  Actually, the only things that really doesn't turn out so well with it are omelettes and hootenanny pancakes.  Here are a couple of pictures:

 The cooked rice.

 A closeup of the cooked rice.

 The rice being blended.

 The strainers in place.

 The process.

The product.

Another thing I was working on was a rug that is crocheted.  I'm making this one out of flannel so it looks kind of like a braided wool rug.  Look:

 Here's the crocheted rug.  I'm a little further on it now and have started another one.  This one is out of flannel but the new one is out of old sheets which are a lot easier to work with since you can just tear long strips.  Elizabeth had showed me this idea of making rugs years ago.

 Here's a closeup.

 This is the braided rug.  It really does look a lot better than the crocheted one, huh?  It takes a lot longer.

 These are the contraptions that fold the wool together like a bias tape so there aren't raw edges to show.  It's slow work, but this rug will last a long, long time.  And the process is fun.

Just another view.