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Project Discussions:  Let’s Earn Another Badge Together  |
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Bellepic
True Blue Farmgirl
290 Posts
Christine
Santa Ana
CA
USA
290 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 11 2025 : 2:01:32 PM
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Self Portrait [6]
I hate taking selfies, but convinced myself my phone camera was safer sitting in the coffee plants ticking down its 10 second delay than with me on the slackline. |
Farmgirl#8680
www.steamstead.blogspot.com
Oct 2025 FGOTM |
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Wanda Sue
True Blue Farmgirl
1660 Posts
Wanda
Murrells Inlet
SC
USA
1660 Posts |
Posted - Oct 11 2025 : 2:02:59 PM
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Christine I have always wondered how the pour overs work, I guess it’s a good idea.
Also I love your story of Pause and Panda, so sweet! |
A day hemmed in prayer is less likely to unravel.
Wanda Sue
Farm Girl #3677
Farmgirl of the Month-August 2022 |
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debbieklann
True Blue Farmgirl
3161 Posts
Debbie
Madras
OR
USA
3161 Posts |
Posted - Oct 11 2025 : 2:09:33 PM
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| Christine, I have a moka pot and forget to use it! You’ve inspired me to get it out. The red one is SO pretty! |
Debbie Klann
Farmgirl Sister #770
2018 Farmgirl Sister of the Year
January 2020 FGOTM
"Well behaved women seldom make history"...
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich |
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Bellepic
True Blue Farmgirl
290 Posts
Christine
Santa Ana
CA
USA
290 Posts |
Posted - Oct 11 2025 : 2:27:06 PM
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Gardens [7-12]
What system do you all use to plan your gardens and document how it all went? I set a reminder to take a picture of my yard once a week, but am discouraged by how unextreme of a makeover I see in a 4 year span. I could say the same for my photography skills!
We got some strawberry towers in, started another compost Amazon box, swapped the broken down wheelbarrow for a capsized plywood dog someone threw over the fence that needs power tools to fit in our dumpster. I guess all those wheelbarrows of mulch helped a bit with the weeds.
Do you all have dilemmas like this too? I planted pole beans in a potted citrus because they're nitrogen fixers and good companion plants, right? But then they trellised themselves up this big thorny sucker that sprouted below the graft. Do I cut it, sacrifice the beans and route more energy to the kumquats or let it ride?
More bean drama. Fallon and I bought a half dozen varieties of pole beans from Rancho Gordo -- the $7/lb for eating ones. Then we planted them along a fence to see if we could make our own landrace version. We think Coronas and Scarlet Runners won, but we neglected to consider that we planted the north side of the fence and most of the beans followed the sun and grew south onto our neighbor's side of the fence so we can't provide a full report.
I think in general, things go better if I get uncomfortably close. You can see a bee coming in for a landing on our banana stand and I can't see the hundreds of pounds of bananas about to be cluttering up the kitchen counters.
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Farmgirl#8680
www.steamstead.blogspot.com
Oct 2025 FGOTM |
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Bellepic
True Blue Farmgirl
290 Posts
Christine
Santa Ana
CA
USA
290 Posts |
Posted - Oct 11 2025 : 2:56:09 PM
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Kids [13-18]
I took this one as a joke for MJF first aid badge because we even squeezed a kit on Fallon's new "vehicle" a geared bike. But this shot just feels so "arty" to me without doing anything to modify it. Maybe it was the low in horizon afternoon sun and how photographers say they like working at dawn and dusk? Or that theory about zooming in way more than seems appropriate? Or maybe just all these lines of bike frame and legs? I don't know.
This morning at the climbing gym, inspired by photographers that captured candid shots of kids not looking staged and happy. Then tried cropping it and letting the software auto enhance it. Still don't think I got close enough to convey the terrified expression. Frustrated that photos of things that are steep don't look nearly so steep in photos.
And celebrating a successful summit over acai, thinking Fallon beat me to finding the perfect lip color... but I wanted to try to erase the distracting ad on the top of the table and messed with one of the preset filters ("punch").
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Farmgirl#8680
www.steamstead.blogspot.com
Oct 2025 FGOTM |
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Bellepic
True Blue Farmgirl
290 Posts
Christine
Santa Ana
CA
USA
290 Posts |
Posted - Oct 11 2025 : 3:29:28 PM
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Spark joy. [19- ?]
I had been asking for a golf cart for errands and kid activities and Jens found me the functional equivalent that would not get me in trouble with highway patrol. This is from a decade ago before Tesla had its own assembly line and was putting electric vehicle guts in Toyota Rav4's. I named it Spark Joy and eventually got a license plate to match. Since I drive like a granny, tailgaters will have plenty of time to reflect on Konmarie's methods while trying to get around me.
Similar to steep things not looking steep, I tried taking a picture of a painting in a public bathroom from an extreme side angle which reminds me of how photographs don't let you see paint texture.
And as long as we're being edgy and taking pictures of bathrooms, might as well capture the view from our home "throne." We used to have a clawfoot tub in here with a shower curtain and Jens got annoyed that when you turned the shower on, the curtain would vacuum in and attack him. So now it is a wet room with non-load-bearing climbing holds. This also had me thinking about a quote in some photography book about 99% of photography being rearranging the furniture. Does anyone else feel compelled to tidy because there is some distracting clutter in the background of your shot?
But I let this one stay busy because we're supposed to be living the farmgirl lifestyle right? Compost bin? check. Seed sprouting jar? check. Sink drain diversion to greywater handle? check.
Mom uniform. Only 8 years away from being able to join the Red Hat Society!
Beverage of choice-- Madagascar sipping chocolate from coffee shop in photos 1-3 for chocolate badge. This is sipped while Fallon is taking piano lessons at the other end of the strip mall because drinking coffee at 4PM is a recipe for disaster. I am trying to collect 100 beverages served in real cups after freaking out about microplastics, so now my phone is filled with pictures of them to keep track. I like that the crockery is chipped.
Dessert -- [ensconced in plastic!] still working on chocolate badge. This brand (Royce) has chocolate from different origins with a flavor map for how they are stronger in different notes. So very educational. I have a map of our town under a vinyl cover on our dining room table because I realized I am so navigationally challenged, I use my map app to get everywhere and vaguely remember learning all the states and capitals off a placemat...
Taco Tuesday! I learned how to fry tortillas to make chips.
Hard to believe a dude chugging coffee out of a Mr. Coffee can also inlay a squid in the floor of your steampunk kitchen renovation...
His son is more of a scuba diver, welder, electrician... This was what he and Fallon made me for Mother's day. When the sun hits the solar panel and the pump starts running, Charlotte is not happy in her web.
Alright, that's what I got for now. Thank you for the encouragement Wanda Sue and Debbie K.!
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Farmgirl#8680
www.steamstead.blogspot.com
Oct 2025 FGOTM |
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debbieklann
True Blue Farmgirl
3161 Posts
Debbie
Madras
OR
USA
3161 Posts |
Posted - Oct 13 2025 : 07:31:53 AM
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| Chris, I loved your photos! It was a great peak into your life...thank you for sharing!!! I seriously want your kitchen countertops, though.... |
Debbie Klann
Farmgirl Sister #770
2018 Farmgirl Sister of the Year
January 2020 FGOTM
"Well behaved women seldom make history"...
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich |
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MaryJanesNiece
True Blue Farmgirl
239 Posts
Krista
Utah
USA
239 Posts |
Posted - Oct 13 2025 : 2:37:08 PM
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| Great pictures Chris. I agree with Debbie. It was a great peak into your life! I do love Fallon's new lip color! |
Krista
Farmgirl Sister #528
Farmgirl Of The Year 2025 |
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Bellepic
True Blue Farmgirl
290 Posts
Christine
Santa Ana
CA
USA
290 Posts |
Posted - Oct 14 2025 : 09:05:51 AM
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| Thanks Debbie and Krista! I love the counters too (another father in law project). I love how butcherblock takes on the character of its occupants over time-- our favorite areas to chop stuff, a bit of water damage around the sink. Mother in law offered that if we cleared out for a few days, they could sand and re-seal them back to brand new perfection, but we've never taken her up on that offer. ;) Fallon is usually sporting "Nutella brown" lip color (and foundation--all the way up to eyebrow liner this morning!) from a breakfast biscuit so this deep purple shade from a superfruit is probably an upgrade, haha. |
Farmgirl#8680
www.steamstead.blogspot.com
Oct 2025 FGOTM |
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nndairy
True Blue Farmgirl
1876 Posts
Heather
Wapakoneta
Ohio
USA
1876 Posts |
Posted - Oct 14 2025 : 6:12:34 PM
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| WOW! Sorry I'm a bit late arriving to the show, but you have an amazing life way over there in CA! I can't believe you can grow bananas!!!! I wish I could grow them here. I dehydrate a lot of them and keep them in the freezer for snacking. I can't grow kumquats either, but my blackberries were using the tomatoes for support this summer LOL! Kind of a similar situation. Is there a difference between sipping chocolate and a hot chocolate? Can you taste a difference in the chocolate samples? Sounds like it would be fun to try :) I also tidy up things for photos. Something to try - the next time Fallon is rock climbing see if kneeling down or even laying down and taking the photo at more of a looking up angle helps capture the steepness. Oh, and I had to laugh - our shower curtain attacks Nathan all the time too! |
~Heather
“I would rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world.” — George Washington |
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Bellepic
True Blue Farmgirl
290 Posts
Christine
Santa Ana
CA
USA
290 Posts |
Posted - Oct 15 2025 : 08:00:54 AM
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That's an idea-- we have a dehydrator but haven't tried dehydrating bananas yet. We do a lot of freezing bananas to popsicle sticks and coming back to dip them in tempered chocolate so far.
Defer to Heather's expertise on hot chocolate vs. cocoa vs. sipping chocolate from the front porch discussion of dairy consumption if this is inconsistent, but... I think what I had as a kid was technically "hot cocoa" where the cocoa butter is removed and a lot more sugar is added. "Hot chocolate" is solid chocolate (with more of its cocoa butter) melted into milk or a dairy substitute. It is a lot thicker and richer, I'm only good for 8 oz or so before I've spoiled my appetite for whatever meal is coming up. "Sipping chocolate" vs hot chocolate I think is a branding thing for this coffee shop, using fancy adjectives to justify charging more.
If I have little nibbles of bars from different places to compare one after the other in one sitting and I am fully paying attention to the taste, I can detect a difference... Particularly if they are all made by the same brand and have a similar %cacao. The Madagascars across multiple brands all seem to taste a little "brighter" like when you add an acid like vinegar to a soup to change its flavor. The ones from Africa seem a bit more bitter. The Ecuadors I have tried taste pretty floral, a little the smell and aftertaste of something like a rose/lavender latte but they were both from one brand and beans from a single estate. The Venezuela I tried tasted nuttier, closer to Nutella than other regions, but I haven't tried enough from different makers to say that is typical of Venezuela. That said, if you were to give me a piece of chocolate randomly, I am not enough of a super taster to say "Oh, that's from [insert country here]" and probably never will be! Hehe. |
Farmgirl#8680
www.steamstead.blogspot.com
Oct 2025 FGOTM |
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nndairy
True Blue Farmgirl
1876 Posts
Heather
Wapakoneta
Ohio
USA
1876 Posts |
Posted - Oct 15 2025 : 11:19:36 AM
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| Don't defer to Heather's expertise LOL! I thought the difference in hot chocolate and hot cocoa was how you preferred to say it. I do prefer the melted chocolate kind, but I love them both so much! The only thing I don't like is when they're made out of water. I wondered if sipping chocolate was more bitter (less sugar) or something fancy. I'm always on the look out for new ways to try hot cocoa/chocolate. I have an Italian recipe that turns out like pudding and a Viennese recipe that uses an egg yolk. |
~Heather
“I would rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world.” — George Washington |
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Bellepic
True Blue Farmgirl
290 Posts
Christine
Santa Ana
CA
USA
290 Posts |
Posted - Oct 18 2025 : 5:35:20 PM
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| I'm with you that the water versions of drinkable chocolate taste like disappointment. This wasn't a bitter beverage, like if they melted a bar in the 65%-75% cacao range. Now you have me intrigued with chocolate pudding and egg yolk protein shot recipes! |
Farmgirl#8680
www.steamstead.blogspot.com
Oct 2025 FGOTM |
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nndairy
True Blue Farmgirl
1876 Posts
Heather
Wapakoneta
Ohio
USA
1876 Posts |
Posted - Oct 18 2025 : 5:54:55 PM
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| I'll start a new topic so the recipes don't get lost in the middle of all the pictures :) |
~Heather
“I would rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world.” — George Washington |
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Project Discussions: Let’s Earn Another Badge Together |
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Let’s Earn Another Badge Together
