Fishgirl Speaks

A Rant

Mortgage company, you are damaging my vacation calm.

I paid the mortgage before leaving on a two-week vacation. I couldn't find the April statement, so I paid the usual X amount to ensure we wouldn't be late. When we got home, there were FOUR identical letters telling us we had not paid our mortgage of Y amount, which was $150 more than what we usually pay. WTF? I double checked the bank account, and SOMEBODY got amount X. Checked online with the mortgage company and they showed no April payment. Called them up and it turns out they had received amount X, but not the full amount of Y. 

Seriously? You couldn't at least show a credit of X to the account? No record of having received 97% of a payment? FOUR IDENTICAL LETTERS??? You people are messed up. Sure, increase our non-variable mortgage without telling us, then fuck up our vacation glow.

Ahem.

So now we have to dig in to why there was an increase in the escrow portion of the account and why we're paying hazard insurance through the mortgage company when I thought I had all of the insurance covered separately as I have for ALMOST 20 YEARS.

Add to this our attempts at trying to get a little assistance on the morgage. So many offers of HAMP and HARP to help the little people. First of all, I am absolutely willing to accept that the debt we incurred is our own. However, Charles's nicely paying job was essentially shipped overseas about 3 years ago. And when I gave it some thought, I remembered that the line of credit I secured many years ago was about $50K more than I wanted or needed. That company wouldn't credit me for LESS THAN $70,000, knowing full well I'd just use all that rope to hang myself. I tried not to, but tell me how many people wouldn't touch that extra $50K? That's what they count on.

Of course, Charles didn't just sit around and collect unemployment. He spent hours and hours looking for work, only to be told he was overqualified. He took on all kinds of odd jobs. And we started a business in the worst economy possible. Hey, when duty calls, you answer. Meanwhile, I'm busting my hump trying to make a buck at three different jobs, including the brand new business and one I've owned since 1993. That much effort and stress took its toll on my health, and I've been battling adrenal fatigue since last summer (add some medical bills to the pile.) That's another post entirely.

We're still here, getting by, learning how to not stress so much, and being creative financially. We keep getting offers to help us with the mortage. We apply and get turned down. Oh, hey the rules have changed! We apply and get turned down. Try this person! We apply and get turned down. For those of you who have ever refinanced, you know how much paperwork goes into that. Now do that 5 or 6 times. We're not upsidedown on the mortage, but not far from it. Our debt-to-income ratio is not favorable, they say. Can they not take into account that I have never missed a mortgage payment and have been late exactly once in 20 FUCKING YEARS?!?!?

I'll be fine. I always am. But it sure is harsh to come back to this after two lovely weeks in Hawaii. Two glorious weeks that we pinched together with some help from a lot of people. For two weeks, I knew that everything was absolutely taken care of. Sigh.

Piece Posted

Remember piece #51 from last year? Yeah, that one! It's up on Etsy now.

Packrat Win

Once upon a time, I worked at another bead store as an office manager/general factotum. They had previously merchandised something (T-shirts? gift certificates? not sure) in these cute little cans. Having done that much as they wanted to, they were going to chuck their canning supplies. Ever pratical, I thought "Surely I could use that for something!" and took them home.

15 years later...

I "canned" fresh, homemade shortbread bites for holiday presents. It took a little head scratching to figure out how to work the machinery, as there were no instructions and nothing particularly helpful on YouTube.

I was very, very pleased at being able to use something I had stored so long. Totally worth it!

The Lava is Coming!

Some snippets from last night's dreams:

Found at a bead store, the Palace of Fine Arts with bedrock underneath carved into some shapes. Turns out it's part of a chess set of San Francisco buildings (on bedrock).

A Rennaissance-like fair that is themed for Alice in Wonderland. I realized this when I see a hot air balloon (minus the basket) come around the corner shaped like Alice's head, or possibly the Queen of Hearts.

I am, or am observing very closely, a not very big T-Rex wandering the land, singing in a glorious tenor voice (a la Rinde Eckert) about the coming of the lava. The humans have won and all the dinosaurs shall perish, but that's OK, somebody had to go, and we'll get you next time. The lava is coming!

Best crop of weirdness I've had in awhile!

Forty-Six through Fifty-Two!

Voila! While not technically a piece every week, I made it to 52 pieces. Making them is one thing. Getting them photographed and posted is another. Wrap up stats are after all the pics.

Sterling with glass. For sale here.

Sterling with glass yo-yo beads. For sale here.

Sterling with vintage purple and lime glass. For sale here.

Gold-filled with glass and crystal. For sale here.

Sterling with hematite. For sale but not posted to Etsy yet. $85

Sterling with glass, crystal, onyx, and pearl.
For sale but not posted to Etsy yet. $65

Sterling with glass, crystal, sodalite, and pearl.
For sale but not posted to Etsy yet. $75

And now the numbers, just for fun:

• 52 pieces posted
• 4 were commissions
• 24 were sold
• 1 I kept
• 1 was not jewelry

Thanks for playing along! No promises for next year, other than I will continue to post as I'm able. Who knows, there might some bigger projects in the pipeline...

Forty-Five

I put these three things together, and then I couldn't take them apart. So they became a pendant.

Available on Etsy.

Forty-Four

Who knew red and grey worked so well together? Not my usual colors, but I sure like this one.

Available on Etsy. Free shipping through this month!

Forty-Two and Forty-Three

It's almost nearing the point where I see if I've completed 52 new pieces this year. I'm pretty sure that's a yes, but I'm not making any declarations yet. Until then, please enjoy these next two, both of which recently sold!

Sterling silver, glass, and one little amethyst bead at the bottom

Swarovski crystal with a subtle wire wrap on sterling silver chain

 

Post-Thanksgiving House Fun

When I moved into this house in 1998, there was a lot of work to do, including shoring up the living room floor which would travel an inch or two when bounced. Since it wasn't posing any immediate problems, it got put off.

Not long ago we noticed a crack in the living room wall (click any picture to enlarge):

Then this appeared in the office (in line with the living room wall):

Hm, guess we better think about fixing the floor.

The house is rather, um, homemade. The substructure is actual 2x4 redwood that is not necessarily well-assembled. Under the living room the 2x4s are just stabbed right into the dirt, and the dirt is quite soft. The living room is also the largest room in the house and eventually became known to our guests as a bit of a trampoline, having tamped down the 2x4s. We took an investigative crawl under the house to confirm what I already knew, and snapped a few pics:

Yes, that's at least an inch clearance between post and beam.

More not-touching supports.

At least this fine piece of support carpentry is still holding up the kitchen. Likely because it's actually standing on concrete:

On the plus side, several years ago I had the house bolted to the foundation (which it hadn't been for 90ish years). Here is one of the custom brackets installed:

This piece is about a foot wide.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we donned our dust masks and crawled under to work. Here's a workout for you: Travel 30 feet prone, using just your elbows and toes, pushing a 20 pound concrete block in front of you. Travel 30 feet back the same, minus the block. Repeat 10 times. 

For each block, we needed to create a level spot for it to sit. If the dirt wasn't super soft, it was hard and rock-like, requiring pick-and-smash action in close quarters.

About 28 hours worth of work later (split between the two of us) and we now have a firm, secure floor. Here is one row of new and improved supports:

And another row:

There were a few more pictures, but they didn't come out very well. The super fine dust, sketchy lighting, and awkward positioning make photography a challenge. But I did drag out a couple of pieces to shoot in the backyard. Witness the state of these "footings":

And for your amusement, some found objects For some reason, there were a lot of salad dressing jar lids.

Shasta soda, Durkee's Famous Dressing and Meat Sauce, and a prescription box for vaginal suppository. What's THAT doing under the house?

Our elbows were pretty much toast after all of that. At least it was a pretty cheap project. Yay!

Culinary Experiment Gone Right

Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

4 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed
1 1/2 cups cashews (plus water, see below)
1 tablespoon chipotle peppers in adobo, pureed
1 stick butter or vegan butter, melted
1 avocado
1/2 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place potatoes on a baking sheet and bake in the oven until soft (a fork can be inserted easily), anywhere from 50 to 75 minutes. Remove the potatoes from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes, or until cool enough to handle. Peel the potatoes, and put them through a ricer over a bowl, or mash them by hand.

While the potatoes are baking, put the cashews in a container and cover with water. Let sit for at least 20 minutes. Drain the cashews, then put in blender and cover with fresh water (you could also soak them directly in the blender). Blend until completely smooth. Add the chipotle, melted butter, avocado, and maple syrup and blend until smooth.

Add blended mixture to sweet potatoes and combine thoroughly. Put in baking dish, and bake at 375 until the tops just start to brown, about 20 minutes. You can also prepare the potatoes the day before and do the second baking the next day. You may want a slightly cooler oven and a longer time to make sure they heat evenly.

 

This recipe was adapted from Bobby Flay's of the same name. I have been serving the original version at Thanksgiving for several years now. Although I am not vegan, I enjoy the challenge and health benefits of vegan cooking and this year thought I'd try a vegan tweak for these beloved spuds. The cashews and avocados provide the fatty, creamy goodness. The chipotle and sweet combo is diVINE. Thank you, Bobby!