Randy Eggert

Burra Maluca wrote:Just for interest, my son dug these out of a rubble heap at a renovation site he was working at.



His workmate pounced on the old whisk and said it was just like the one his parents used when they had the bakery when he was a lad. So not stainless, but looks like it's already lasted one lifetime!

And no, I've not tested it.

I've seen this style before, but I've never used one. Apparently, it's called a French spring coil whip. It can be used like a regular whisk or it can be pushed up and down like a spring.

I've tried my hand at making dorodangos. They're fun to make, but I find them to be a bit tetchy. It takes a long time, and just when I've got one almost fully polished, and I'm trying to get the last bits done, the polish begins to come off, and I have to start from square one again. I expect it's a matter of practice. And it's a good exercise in patience.

I like the ones I've done. With a couple of them, I gave up when the polish didn't take. The ones that took have places I couldn't get polished without jeopardizing the rest of it. So anyways, mine are pretty wabi sabi, but I'm proud of them.

Beau M. Davidson wrote:

We have a dough whisk for bread.

I've never heard of a dough whisk before. How does it work? Do you have a brand you recommend?

This video shows the what more than the how. I can attest that the art created by Senegalese artisans using aluminum cans is incredible. I saw a briefcase like the one shown, but I didn't buy it. I did buy a cool box for tea bags, and I bought a serving tray.

I never had the chance to see them cutting the cans, but I'm certain they used simple tools like scissors, snips, or razors. In the video, you briefly see the artist crimping the edges, which makes me think that they were jagged after being cut.

When I was in high school, we had a cross country ski coach who swore that eating a couple cloves of raw garlic a day boosted your immune system. It seemed to work for him, since he never got sick. But he stunk. The garlic came out his pores, especially when he sweated. During practices, we could smell him out on the trails--the stench in the van on the way home made our eyes water.

So my question: do the various methods described here give the same immunity boost without the stink?

John F Dean wrote:In my area of work, these are called “non-negotiables”. … those little routines we have in life that makes life normal for us

I love this idea. I've shared some of this elsewhere on this site. A little more than 10 years ago a series of events left me with chronic fatigue (along with a slew of other symptoms), which turned out to be a constant migraine lasting a year and a half. During that time, I had to give up a lot of things, among them alcohol and tea. Alcohol was easy. But giving up tea was incredibly difficult; it became the symbol for everything I'd lost.

Now, I drink a pot every morning. It's my non-negotiable.

We had a kai ken (think of a dog in between a shiba inu and an akita) named Basil, about 45 lbs. The only way Basil knew how to play with other dogs was to mount and dominate them, and he had an outsized ego. At the dog park, he didn't bother dominating any dog his own size or smaller--too easy. He went for the biggest, meanest dog in the park. One time he found a malamute, who was probably more than a hundred pounds. That dog liked to play domination too. Basil mounted the malamute, who shook him off with a quick shake of his rump and circled around to mount Basil, who dropped to his belly and crawled out, circling around before the malamute knew what happened and remounting him. This went on for a half an hour.

Another Basil story (I've got hundreds): He loved to hunt, and one time on a hike he chased a marmot into a hollow log. I kept hiking, and when he didn't follow I went back. He was tearing the log apart with his teeth. Blood dripped from his gums, and he kept tearing at the log. I took out his leash and put it on him. He looked at me with such gratefulness in his eyes, like he was saying, "Oh thank God you came, this hurt like hell."

Marvin Weber wrote:I prefer the Russian ploskorez or Fokin hoe. It's a great all around hoe.

The Fokin hoe is pretty great. I use it for small jobs like keeping the trails cleared in our "jungle" (the wild part of our backyard).

For big jobs where I'm digging in hard clay earth, I use a mattock. I hardly ever use the pick end, but it's what I have so I use it.

When I've done trail work, I absolutely love using a pulaski.

Anne Miller wrote:

Randy Eggert wrote:I was reading early posts to this thread and a "dog bed heater" kept coming up. I initially thought the idea was that you invite your dog into your bed to heat it up. I was disappointed to learn what it actually is. I think the other idea is better.

I thought the same thing that you did, so what is it actually?

Apparently is a heating pad designed for a dog kennel.

I was reading early posts to this thread and a "dog bed heater" kept coming up. I initially thought the idea was that you invite your dog into your bed to heat it up. I was disappointed to learn what it actually is. I think the other idea is better.