In the latest installment of Richard tries to make a knife, I wanted to work on the handle tonight. Instead, by trying to fix a small section of scratches, I managed to completely cock up my flat grind on one side of the blade because my freehand grinding skills still suck. I ended up chasing a small issue into a giant pile o’ shit. I found a good way to pivot out of my predicament though by using a dremel to texturise the top part of the blade and mostly cleaning up the edge before buffing it into a matt finish. I’m actually really happy with the end result. Now that all the grinding is done, all I need to do is put a handle on and the final sharpening (not to say that the blade isn’t already sharp enough to slice part of my palm open – happily only superficially).
Month: November 2023
Time: truer the older you get
A real retirement worry
Lord congeniality
It was Byron’s grand dog show début today.
We made it bright and early (!) to the Automnales and got setup. We met Frédérique, the breeder we got Byron from, and she was very happy to meet the boy.
She was supposed to show him for us, as we have no idea what we were doing, but Byron had other plans. He got a little bit nervous when he couldn’t see us and decided to splat and nope, so I had to be brave and show him.
In the end, the boy placed last, but with an “excellent” mention. The comments were generally positive, except that he’s possibly too tall and his babines a bit too floppy. His bones, ears, eyes, nose, teeth and gait are all good, but his knees are apparently still a bit wobbly.
I’m the end, he didn’t hump anyone and was super zen around all the other dogs. He didn’t seem fazed by all the noise and commotion, everyone loved him and heaped lots of praise on him and his behaviour. We always said we’d get him a miss congeniality ribbon, but Anna had the best idea when she declared him lord congeniality.
[recipe] 5min Brownie in a mug
45g unsalted butter
3 tbsp packed light brown sugar
3 tbsp whole milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
40g all-purpose flour
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
Pinch salt
1 tbsp dark chocolate chips (optional)
Vanilla ice cream, for serving
Place butter in a large, microwave-safe mug. Microwave on high until fully melted, about 1 minutr. Swirl to coat the mug with melted butter, then pour the butter into a small bowl.
Add brown sugar, milk, and vanilla extract, and whisk until smooth. Add all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, salt, and stir until combined. Fold in chocolate chips if desired.
Scrape the batter back into the mug. Microwave on high for 1 minute and 30 seconds. The brownie is ready when the center is slightly gooey and the edges bounce back when pressed. If not ready, microwave for 15 seconds more. Top with ice cream and enjoy!
Hello, this is dog support
Cuddle bug
The flip side of bed hog is cuddle bug. Several times a night, and every morning, the chonk will come on the bed and flomp on us – sometimes just to check in, most often he’ll stay for a while until we either push him off or he goes on his own. Morning cuddles are a bit different though. He knows we’re awake so he’ll come on the bed, flomp, and sigh contently. Big sighs. Then he’ll start snoring.