No. 15: Bathe in Rose Petals

When I was drawing up my 101 Things List a couple of months ago, I looked through my 1,001 Things to Do Before I Die list for inspiration. One of the items listed there was "bathe in rose petals". It was one of those things I added just on a whim, thinking I'd probably never get around to it. But when I saw it again, my thinking on it had changed completely. It went from:

How ridiculously decadent! Where am I going to get enough roses for that? From a florist?! I'd need at least a dozen, that's got to be at least $80. Madness!

to:

Aha! That's a good way to get rid of the glut of roses in my garden every Spring! All I need to do is wait until they bloom, and Bob's your uncle!

Now that a source for the roses is taken care of, my only concern was the timing. The roses bloom in late Spring and Summer, and the weather might be too warm for a bath at this time of year. But then I remembered that I live in Melbourne, where it's equally likely to be 18oC in the middle of Summer as to be 35oC. As it turned out, after blooming began I only had to wait a week for the right climatic conditions. Yesterday I selected some nice fully-open specimens and collected them in my basket. Later in the evening, I plucked them and dropped the petals into the running bathwater. I didn't add anything else because I was curious to see what effect the roses alone would have.

Unfortunately I have to report that bathing in rose petals didn't quite live up to my expectations. I was expecting a strong rose scent, but it was actually very faint, and began to dissipate before long. I didn't step out of the tub decadently smelling of roses, with silky skin from absorbing the oils, or any of those romantic notions that I'd imagined. When I gathered up the petals and used them to scrub myself, more scent was released, but it didn't last, and the petals were left looking worse for wear. I guess roses are bred more for their appearance than their scent these days.

Having said that, the visual effect of the rose petals in the bath was beautiful and made me feel very special. Harvesting them and plucking them was a fun activity, so I wouldn't mind doing that again. I would definitely repeat the experience, but with some essential oils or other scents added next time. And it wasn't until I was editing the photos for this post that I thought to myself, why didn't I light some candles??

I feel a little guilty writing about this, as for such a long time, I thought it was an activity out of my reach. Dear readers, I hope that one day you can try this too. Perhaps you have a relative or neighbour with a rose garden who could spare a dozen or so? I hope so.

NaNoWriMo -- The Halfway Point

I have a confession to make. I've been failing miserably at NaNoWriMo so far.

If you remember, I decided to do a variant where I spent some time writing outside each day. I was very motivated and did well in the first few days, however, I started to drop off, and not for the reason I thought I would. It wasn't lack of motivation that stopped me, it was the fact that the first week was very rainy, and any time I had some free time, it was pouring rain outside!

However, on the first Sunday it was a lovely day, and I ended up spending a whole hour writing some reflections on an art journalling course I'm doing at the moment. Since then, I've lost motivation completely. I'm not even in the mood to write blog posts. Yes, I'm writing one today, but I'm in that mood where every sentenced is forced and it just seems so mediocre.

I've come to the conclusion that I'm just not the kind of person that can write every day. When I get home from work, I'm tired and just want to relax with a project that's fun and easy. (My granny square blanket is the perfect candidate -- the stitches are easy and repetitive.) When I'm inspired though, I just can't stop myself. If I've had an interesting dream, I'll type it out into my ipod on the train in the morning. If I've seen an interesting person, I'll write a few words about them in my notebook as I'm heading back from my lunchbreak.

If I have anything to report at the end of NaNoWriMo, then I will. Don't expect the next Harry Potter series, though.

In the Kitchen : Japanese Pasta Naporitan

A few weeks ago, I had a craving for pasta, so I decided to make Pasta Naporitan. I was inspired by one of my favourite YouTube Channels: Cooking With Dog. The recipe can be found here, and a history of the dish in this video.

In case the video is too TL;DR for you, in a nutshell: Pasta Naporitan was created by a Japanese chef just after World War II. The hotel he worked in was full of American officers, and he wanted to cook dishes that they were used to. Unfortunately, tomatoes weren't grown in Japan at that time, and proper pasta sauce (passata) was unobtainable, so he used ketchup from U.S. Army rations to create the dish.

I'd heard in the past of making a tomato pasta dish using tomato sauce (ketchup), but I have to admit, I just thought this was something made up by University students with no money and even less cooking skills. Once I saw the video and learned the history behind the dish, I was eager to try it, and I was pleasantly surprised!

I made a few substitutions as I didn't have half of the ingredients from the recipe. This is quite common in my household, but it always seems to turn out well in the end! Firstly, as per the history video, I cooked the pasta, tossed it in oil and put it in the fridge for an hour. This gives the pasta a chewier texture.

I tried to do that thing you always see on cooking shows where the spaghetti is fanned out as it goes into the water. I think I did an OK job!

While the pasta was in the fridge, I gathered together the rest of the ingredients: ham, onion, olives, pickled vegetables, rocket leaves, garlic, and dried herbs.

Frying the onion, ham and garlic:

Adding the pickled vegetables and rocket leaves:

Adding the pasta. The fridge trick really seemed to work in giving the pasta an al dente texture. I'll remember that one in future.

Adding the tomato sauce. This really felt quite wrong, like I was breaking all the rules of 'good' cooking. But I ploughed on.

Adding an unhealthy sumptuous amount of butter and Parmesan cheese:

The end result. I sprinkled on some fried onion as a garnish, to enhance the East-West theme.

I was very pleasantly surprised with how this dish turned out. I don't like strong tomato taste in food, and using the tomato sauce/ketchup rather than passata or tomato paste gave it a more subtle flavour. The butter and cheese added a satisfying richness, too. I will definitely make it again.

A final note:
While I was cooking, Husband chose a Bluray to watch while we ate. He just happened to choose Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro. A Japanese anime set in a vaguely Italian Duchy, complete with kitschy Italian restaurant scene? The perfect accompaniment.

My October

It's Spring!
This time of year is when the garden really starts to come to life again. There's something new and different to observe every single day, and I'm learning so much. Plum saplings don't take well to being dug up and put in a pot. The Christmas cactus looks wilted just after it finishes flowering, but it soon recovers.

The warmer weather also gets me excited for another reason -- the festive season is just around the corner. I don't officially celebrate Christmas, but in the last few years I haven't been able to resist the things I used to love as a child. The Christmas tree, pastries and sweets, and special meals with friends. Then of course it seems like just a millisecond until New Year, which is an important occasion for me.

I've also been motivated to get a good head-start in my 101 Things in 1,001 Days list by watching lots of movies, pampering myself, and eating a lot.

What I've been cooking ...
My interest in cooking different things has surfaced again. I wanted to make a salad from a recipe I found in a magazine, but by the time I got home from the supermarket, I realised I'd only bought 2 of the ingredients I needed! So I just threw in whatever I had in the house, Husband made the dressing (he's good at mixing flavours) and it turned out very well. I made it at the start of the month, so I can't remember now what's in it aside from what can be seen in the photo.

A few weeks later, I had a craving for pesto, so I made this fettucine with bacon, mushrooms and basil pesto. Very satisfying.

Last but not least, it was Husband's birthday towards the end of the month. Making him a decorated cake for his birthday every year is on my list of Thing, so I asked him what he wanted. He said, "a doughnut cake with mini cupcakes in the hole!" He was joking, but what my man wants, he gets, so here it is:

What I've been working on ...
I've started crocheting a little bit again. I lost my crocheting mojo for quite a few months. I've been having issues with my eczema, which is on my hand and makes it uncomfortable to work with fibre, but it's clearing up now. I finished off one square for my Grannyland blanket and started another one:

What I've been sorting ...
I finally got around to making a space for my special things. Many of my treasures are still packed, but at least there's a nice place now to put the ones I have found so far. I've been having fun thinking of ways to improve it. This shelf is right next to my bed, so I can see it every morning and every night.

What else I've been doing ...

celebrated the Marimo festival ~ wrote some haiku ~ chose a puzzle book to work on ~ wrote a doll clothes review ~ watched 3 movies on Asian Pop Weekend ~ bought more pathtags ~ did some practice drawings ~ took some photos ~ worked on my conscript ~ wrote a reflective piece ~ bought watercolour paper and more canvases ~ gardened (not much) ~ posted my Exploding Kittens review ~ subscribed to some new blogs ~ picked oranges ~ dyed my hair ~ went to the Big Bang concert ~ went to a new restaurant ~ napped (several times!) ~ created some new Pinterest boards ~ got a massage ~ decided on my NaNoWriMo theme ~ went to PAX; bought 5 games

My "NaNoWriMo"

No. 32 on my 101 Things List is to do NaNoWriMo (or a variant of) every year. I say 'a variant' because I'm just not the novel-writing kind of person. I don't think I have it in me to write a full novel. I do plenty of writing though, in the form of journalling, blogging, essays and poems. I've heard of people changing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) to suit their own style -- writing a poem a day, or a blog post a day. (I think it would be a little unfair of me to suddenly go from one post a week to one a day, so don't worry, I'm not doing NaBloPoMo!)



I've hesitated in participating in NaNoWriMo before, for a couple of reasons. It seems like a very structured thing. There are rules, specifications, and word counts. The "Na" part is very Amero-centric. Also, November is a very busy month -- with the weather getting warmer, it's a busy time in the garden, there are birthdays, and the preparations for the festive season take up a lot of time as well. Yesterday I was thinking to myself, "why does it have to be in November?? It's so busy, and the weather's finally nice again. I don't want to be cooped up inside writing. I just want to be outside!"



At that thought, I had a lightbulb moment. Why don't I write outside? It doesn't matter what I write or how long I write for, as long as it's outdoors. At the risk of sounding pretentious, I'll call it: KaWriOutMo (Katie's Writing Outside Month). I'd better set some rules guidelines:



1. Must be out of doors.

2. Being on the train doesn't count as being outside!

3. Must be at least 10 minutes per day.

4. Can be any type or style of writing I choose.

5. Can use any tools to hand: notebook and pen, ipod, ipad, laptop, etc.

To be honest, I'm not hugely confident that I can do this successfully. Both finding the time and thinking of something to write about every single day are daunting prospects. Perhaps I'll give myself a big treat at the end if I do. I'm sure I'll think of something suitably enticing.

A Noob Reviews : Exploding Kittens

The Game:

Exploding Kittens is the result of one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns in history. Designed by the creators of the popular comics website The Oatmeal, the perfect pairing of kittens and explosions has seen this card game take the tabletop gaming world by storm. When Husband saw the game on Kickstarter and asked me whether he should back it, my response was: "It has kittens, and explosions!! HOW IS THAT EVEN A QUESTION??!!"

Features:

The Kickstarter deluxe version of the game consists of the original Exploding Kittens deck of cards housed in the First Edition box. An optional Not Safe For Work deck was also available, which we of course availed ourselves of. The first edition box has room for both sets of cards, and is styled to look like a kitty litter tray. There's also cute surprise in the box, but I won't say what it is as I don't want to spoil the surprise! Each of the cards has an illustration on it from the Oatmeal -- the Action cards, Explosion cards and Defuse cards all have unique illustrations, while Cat Cards have a range different but repeating pictures, enabling them to be paired.

Gameplay:

Exploding Kittens can probably be described as a cross between Russian Roulette and Go Fish, with a dash of Uno thrown in for good measure. The aim of the game is to survive until the end by not picking up an Exploding Kitten card. As soon as you pick up an EK card, you're exploded and out of the game, unless you have a Defuse card in your hand to cancel it out. Likewise, if you can force other players to pick up cards, you increase their chances of exploding. All of the Action cards assist you in this mission. For example, the Attack card forces the next player to take 2 turns, doubling their chances of picking up an Exploding Kitten card. The Skip card means that you skip your own turn and you don't have to pick up a card -- sort of like reverse Uno.

The rest of the deck is made up of Cat Cards. This is where the element of Go Fish comes in. If you collect a pair of Cat Cards, you can use them to take a random card from another player. The main purpose of the Cat Cards seems to be to pad out the deck and make the game last longer. They also add an unpredictable element, in that your opponent may have a Defuse card or another useful card which you can steal away. As the game goes on and the draw pile gets smaller, it gets more exciting because there's more chance of drawing an Exploding Kitten card. Depending on the pre-game shuffle, all of the players might be out after a few rounds, or the draw pile might be whittled down until there are nail-bitingly few cards left. That's when those Action cards start to look pretty darned useful.

The playing time is approximately 10-15 minutes, depending on the number of players. The original deck can accommodate 2 to 5 players, while adding in the NSFW deck or a second deck brings that to a maximum of 10. While the game can be played with 2 players, in my experience a minimum of 3 makes for the more fun. I have also watched a 10-player game, which worked just as well -- as long as you can remember whose turn it is!

Pluses:

++ It has kittens and explosions, what else can I say?
++ The unique illustrations from the Oatmeal and cute extra touches on the box make it a very collectible game. The fun pictures and bizarre scenarios are amusing even if you weren't previously an Oatmeal fan. The game's repeatability depends almost entirely on them.
++ The deck can be customised so that a few or many people can play.
++ The concept is very simple so players can hit the ground running. There's even a video on YouTube explaining the rules for the non-rule-reading types.
++ The game is fairly short and engaging, which makes it good for kids as well as adults.
++ There's a mixture of luck and strategy involved, so whether you like one or the other, there's something for you.
++ The optional NSFW deck makes things more interesting. The individual cards have varying degrees of NSFW-ness, and a few or many cards can be removed to suit the age level of the players. This doesn't affect the gameplay at all.

Minuses:

-- Although the rules are easy to learn, the dynamic can be a little daunting for new players. Each round, the player can play as many cards from their hand as they like, before picking up from the draw pile at the end. When you're still at that newbie stage, it's hard to decide which and how many cards to play and what the consequences will be.
-- The presence of both luck and strategy in the game could be off-putting for people that like one but not the other.
-- For someone who was hanging out for months for their deck to arrive, the game is possibly a little too short. But, you can always play it again....

Final Comments:

Exploding Kittens is a lot of fun for all ages. The unique illustrations on the cards make it a very repeatable game. It's a good game to play when you only have a short amount of time, or as a warm-up on a games day and, being a simple deck of cards, can be taken travelling, etc.

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What I Wore -- to Ikea

I'm too shy to show photos of myself, but occasionally I like to share things to do with fashion. These What I Wore drawings are a good chance to do that as well as get in some drawing practice. I wore this outfit quite a long time ago, back in June, and I've been meaning to share it all this time. Oops! It's also been a really long time since I've done a What I Wore drawing, or at least finished one. I found several half-finished sketches in my drawing book, which was a bit sad, but it made me determined to finish this one.

I tried a slightly different technique. Instead of doing a pencil outline and then filling it in with ink, I skipped the pencil part. I also drew in a looser style than normal. I think the proportions came out fairly well considering I didn't have a preliminary sketch. Also, apparently I wasn't willing to have a go at drawing hands that day. Perhaps next time.