Mini Greenhouse Progress . . . Loaf of Bread . . . and Keyless Entry.

Hello World!

(The tall sprouts in back are Kohlrabi)

That's what these seeds are thinking. After only a few short days most of the seeds we planted burst forth from the miry earth to breath in the fresh air. The problem is, the Kohlrabi had to go and get all excited, and now they hit the top of the greenhouse whilst everyone else still needs the cover. I tried taking the Kohlrabi tray out, but they wilted pretty quickly, so I put them back inside. They aren't really a transplant plant, so this was more of an experiment. We'll probably sow some of these seeds the old fashioned way—as in straight into the ground. But the bell peppers, basil, chives, swiss chard and tomatoes seem to be doing well, and with the snow gone from the backyard, I'm sure they will transition to the garden with few problems. Still waiting on the jalapeños though . . .

Moving on, the other day Annie's friend came over and I made a loaf of bread. I got the recipe from Chef John, and have used it many times before. It's a beer based bread, and the flavor changes quite a bit with the different style of beer you use. This time I used a belgian strong ale—it turned out well. I've used an IPA and stout before and each tasted great. I wouldn't suggest a light beer though.

(Beer Bread)

This photo doesn't have much to do with the house per say, but I don't feel like starting a food blog, so there you have it. 

However, concerning the home, we added a keyless entry lock to the backdoor, which is uber convenient. Here's a pic.

(New lock on backdoor)

I'll admit this now, since the lock is changed, but our old lock was broken and there were several mornings where I'd leave to go to work and discover the door had been left unlocked all night. Now we just press that button on top and the door locks itself. Like I said, uber convenient. Plus, it illuminates, which is nice since it's hard to see at night. 

(Me installing the new lock. Multiple pitfalls led to a three hour procedure)

So the photo above is not my greatest picture, but it took me three hours to install the lock so don't expect a jolly smile. I'm not Santa.  The problem with the installation was the old lock was pretty basic, and whoever installed it only drilled holes for what they needed rather than drill holes like you normally would for installing a lock. And I don't have those tools, so I had to improvise with a jig saw, file, and spade bit. I'm actually quite surprised it worked, there was a while when I thought we were going to have no lock on the door, and then we'd have to resort to the honor system.

Finally, and unrelated to the title, I thought I'd throw in two pics I took while playing around with my camera. They aren't good or interesting pictures, but the method behind taking them is. Somewhat. I've been trying to use the Bulb function on the new camera (which means the shutter stays open as long as you hold the shutter down—great for nigh sky photos) but I don't have a camera remote. So I would have to stand there and try to hold the button without shaking the camera. And if you want those pictures of the stars swirling in the sky you have to hold the button for several hours. 

So I used a rubber band and a squished jelly bean to hold the button down. It was just an experiment, but here is a picture of our living room at night after a seven and a half minute exposure (with ISO 100).

(Like I said, not interesting)

The only light is from the streetlight a quarter of a block away and the brand name on the TV. Here's another one where I had the light on for just a second, then sat infront of the window for two minutes. 

( A little more interesting, but not by much)

Anywho, when it warms up more outside and I can travel aways away from the city, I plan on trying this technique on the sky to see if I can get some cool night sky pictures.

-Daniel