Adventures

A 20-post collection

Cake-like Object, Experiment #1

Followers of this blog will know that I've been making this bread with added linseeds for my intestinal health. It works pretty well in my humble opinion, but it is something of a brick and nobody else in the family will touch it.

I had been pondering how to turn it into a cake-like object, but not doing much about it.

However, Chaos has been battling internal blockages and since she won't touch my bread, I had to get into making that cake-like object sooner rather than later.

To the original recipe, I added:

  • 1 punnet of "ugly" strawberries, blended into goo and mixed into the psyllium gel [And of course you take the leaves and stems off, doy]
  • 1 punnet of prettier strawberries, sliced up [I cut the strawberries in half, and then cut each half into quarters. Your methods may differ according to your strawberries]
  • 4 tablespoon equivalents of artificial sweetener [I mixed half-and-half Xylitol and Stevia]
  • an extra half teaspoon of baking soda
  • "enough" thickened cream to stop the mix pilling in the electric mixer. I'd guesstimate about 200 millilitres, because I had 2/3 remaining of a 600ml bottle

The results were:

[Image shows a muffin from a top-down view. It is browned and beautiful, and you can see strawberry pieces in the crust]

...edible, I guess. Beloved tried one and shared bits with the family.

It was nice and moist -yay- but was neither detectably strawberry flavoured nor detectably sweet. I'm pretty sure real cake recipes measure their sweeteners in cups and not spoons.

Might be improved with a cream cheese frosting. As soon as I work out how to do that without buttloads of icing sugar.

Next iteration is going to involve two punnets of 'ugly' strawberries. See if I can force some flavour into this beast. I'm trying to keep artificial ingredients out of this [apart from the fake sugar], but if I have to use strawberry flavour, I guess I have to. But doubling down on the strawberry goop seems like a good idea.

And now it's time to wait for the bus.

Adventures!

Sundays and Tuesdays are Beloved's days off from April to just after November [long story]. So those are the days that Beloved and I have our little adventures.

For example: Last Tuesday, Beloved took us all on a budget-busting trip to Costco in an effort to save us some money in the long term. Short term? Not so much.

Today, I have actually found a factory outlet place that is not located in the extreme back of Burke or another state or

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Firkin Telstra...

I swear to the Powers That Be [pick your favourite] that tech support would be so much easier with people who understood what the fuck was going on.

I tried to get help from the alleged pros at Telstra. Several times. Concerning both getting MeMum's new compy online and accessing her Bigpond/email account.

I actually got assistance from Beloved about the former.

And as for the latter...

Cue the Benny Hill music.

Five calls. Two texts. One attempt by MeMum to

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Incoming Adventures in Tech Support

It's a long weekend for my little darlings, so Beloved is planning on taking them for an adventure to the ocean, the second-deadliest thing about Australia. The first-deadliest is, of course, Australia itself.

Meanwhile, I'm doing something a little more risky.

Tech support for MeMum.

Her old computer has gone to silicone heaven [I plan on taking it home to see if it's really, most sincerely dead] and she now has spanking new compy that will not get online and probably has

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I had an adventure! (and I've been playing with new toys)

You may have noticed that yesterday's story was more than a teeny bit late. That was because Beloved took me on a trip to the movies. And shopping.

All birthday presents.

Don't panic, dear readers. There's still a bit of a while before October Fourth. [What I really want for my birthday is for one of my stories to go viral. Or loads of book sales.]

As for the swag, I got what every writer loves to get - PENS! But these

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Day 16 of mail-watching

Sill nothing. Our postie is a nice human. I only had to explain my predicament once, and now they’re apologising for the lack of parcels.

I’m also using the house security system to keep an eye out for the parcel post truck, just in case. I know they come by sometime after the postie… if they have a parcel to deliver.

Knowing my luck with these, my copy of Vice Quadrant will turn up on the protest day and

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Day 15 of mail-watching

Managed to catch the postie with the cunning strategy of camping out on my doorstep and waiting for them to turn up.

Alas, the postie doesn’t know what’s taking so firkin long, either.

BTW - on weekdays, you get these just after I’ve come in from lurking for the mail. So you know just after I do. Assuming that anyone is bothering with this portion of my blog. I mean, you all probably have Vice Quadrant by now.

This

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Day 13 of mail-watching

No mail on weekends.

Today and tomorrow are just too depressing to think about. I have a 0% chance of getting Vice Quadrant on these days.

My Dark Side got out, this morning. Playing through scenarios on the premise of What If Someone Else Got It?

What if someone else got it and threw it in the rubbish?
What if someone else got it and decided to keep it?
What if someone else got it and erased the GD signatures because they

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Day 12 of mail-watching

…still no sign of Vice Quadrant…

Spoilers abound in many forms. Gifs. Art. Fic. Speculation. Confirmation and denial from the creators.

I can’t block the tags, so I have to retreat from Tumblr. Good thing I have a novel to write.

depression has me in its grasp. I am increasingly listless, because I know that I have another two days to wait until the mail returns.

The mail courier is a stealthy sort with no regular schedule besides “sometime

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Day 11 of mail-watching

My health is fading.

The endless stream of spoilers across my dash makes Tumblr a hostile environment for me. I can barely surf the web any more.

Hope fades, day by passing day.

The postie has advanced a ninja level. They managed to drop off one solitary envelope [bank statement] while my back was turned.

I must be more vigilant.

…yet my energy wanes without the precious sustenance of new Steam Powered Giraffe melodies…

I must gather my strength so

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Day 10 of mail-watching

At least I’m getting exercise. My regime? Running like a mad thing from the computer desk at the back of my house to the front gate to go get the mail as soon as humanly possible. All catalysed by the very instant I detect the postie’s approach.

I’ve now set an alarm so I should be out there to greet them. My plan is to chirp a sunny, “Any parcels for me today?” as if it isn’t any

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