All posts by keith

books

JG Ballard died this morning

The author of such books as Crash, High Rise, and Empire of the Sun JG Ballard died today at 78

Despite being referred to as a science fiction writer, Jim Ballard said his books were instead “picturing the psychology of the future”.

His most acclaimed novel was Empire of the Sun, based on his childhood in a Japanese prison camp in China.

The author of 15 novels and scores of short stories, Ballard grew up amongst the expatriate community in Shanghai.

During World War II, at the age of 12, he was interned for three years in a camp run by the Japanese.

He later moved to Britain and in the early 1960s became a full-time writer.

Ballard built up a passionate readership, particularly after Empire of The Sun, a fictionalised account of his childhood, was made into a film by Steven Spielberg.

There’s more at the link above. I loved his work, especially his short stories.
and more on Wikipedia

General

Friday night

start_pizza

Yep Friday night at the Perkins/Bamford household. That can mean only one thing. Can you guess? (the picture’s a clue.)

That’s right–it’s pizza night. I thought my sauce on the pizza looked kinda artistic, so I took a picture. Here’s some more:

Into the oven
Into the oven
The finished product
The finished product

I forgot to take a picture when it came out of the oven, so you get to see the aftermath of four people eating it.

home repair

New Entryway

One and a half days later we have a new front door(s). As expected there were complications (there’s always complications with this house), but I persevered, and the new entry doors look real good.
Only things left to do are redo interior trim, exterior trim, and siding around the door (the rough frame was smaller, even thought e door is the same size as the old one).
Pictures:

Before
Before

After
After

General

Tired

Been busy, cutting down trees, planting a tree, working on the yard, started some new paintings. Blah, blah, blah.
Hoping the paintings will come together soon, so I can post them.
Soon, new front doors. There in at Home Depot, and I need to borrow a truck to pick them up. Should be installed by early next week. Yay!!!!!

gardening

Maple Syrup Experiment Finale

Finished up th maple syrup experiment a few days ago. (I’ve been really lax about posting.)
I started real late, and only tapped the tree for 4 days, so didn’t get a lot, but, I ended up with a little over a quart of syrup. I boiled it down most of the way using some roasting pans on the gas grill. This took about 12 or so hours over two days. then finished it up inside on the stove.
Total cost was about $24, which is on par with buying organic maple syrup at NLC, and more expensive than regular maple syrup in the grocery store.
Probably the cost would have been less if I’d boiled it down over a wood fire. So, it was fun, and interesting, but not economical.
Here’s pics of the finished product.
dsc01815

dsc01818

Yummy
Yummy
gardening, real food

More maple Sugaring

Pictures by request:

Here's my pitiful setup.
Here's my pitiful setup. The 2x4 is to weigh the lid down.

Another view (Yes, the kitty litter container was cleaned out real good before using it for this.)
Another view (Yes, the kitty litter container was cleaned out real good before using it for this.)

A blurry view of the tap setuo
A blurry view of the tap setuo

My container. It's about half full. I'll probably start boiling sap tomorrow. WOOT!
My container. It's about half full. I'll probably start boiling sap tomorrow. WOOT!