Tofu ahoy and video joy

I'm having such a good time with the daily short YouTube videos, a good reason to get up each day. Bare bones simple production, minimal editing, it's not the contrast, framing, cutting etc, it's the content. There's an idea or vision or feeling behind every tiny short. Anyway that's the plan.

I'm so bored by wannabe producers on YouTube who get all excitable and technical when they're not conveying any interesting content.  I've blocked a lot of copycat channels, too. You can't copy your way to the pleasure that comes from creating from your own vision, even with less techie skill.

Meanwhile today I remembered one more cooking task I'd forgotten -- red lentil tofu. I'd washed the lentils and soaked them, then, this morning, realized I still need to make the tofu.  Here it is cooling in the fridge in s glass pan

And here's the process after you blend lentils and water, and I added in Better than Bouillon to season it.  This is half a cup of lentils, one cup of water. Stay tuned till it shows up on my plate. 

Meanwhile here's the cubes, ready to become tofu katsu.

One big reason to soak lentils is to make them more digestible, particularly green and brown lentils. The red is more tender but it's still a good idea to soak it overnight. And definitely wash it well first, like rice, a ton of dust and debris washes off.

Yesterday despite a dewpoint in the 60s, uncomfortable, I did get a walk, and tossed a couple of golf balls back onto the course. 

Under the beech trees there's a variety of fungi, evidently a symbiosis going on, shoe in pictures for scale 

And at home, despite the heat and humidity, this is really a beautiful August.

I had a hummingbird sighting a couple of days ago, rare in this neighborhood, so that was exciting. There are hummingbird clearwing moths, butterflies and bees all over the flowers and shrubs. 

I finished the current bracelet, still need to do the fastening. As you see, this is a two sided pattern.

At this rate I'll have an armful. 

They're so light in weight you hardly feel them. I'm not pushing to make anything significant just now, it being August after all.

Happy day everyone, those of us who push ourselves need to try not to, at least for now. I need your solidarity on this.

A day packed with minutes

Today I felt tired but still, oddly, did a lot. I was out very early making videos after the overnight downpour left everything covered in diamonds.

Later I walked but not very far 

Then food safety -- strawberry jam 

I've been in touch with Misfits Market, who assured me that NONE of the cyclo suspect foods ever got into Misfits, that Taylor Farms had removed the suspect lettuces anyway, and that they were on top of it, all that. They talked me off the ledge. But I'm not taking any chances just yet.

 I macerated and simmered all these beautiful organic peaches and plums 

Custom grated fresh nutmeg to add in, that wonderful smell reminds me of my mom making egg custard, always grated nutmeg fresh over it.

While that was happening I took all the July drawings and paintings and assembled them into a book. Here's the Book of July 2026.

Front cover 

Back cover

Standing up. Since the left hand pages, the backs of the work, are blank I may write in them. TBD.

And while I was being busy outside, I noted that the morning glory is finally underway.

This is a good proof of concept, because I just let it self seed last year and since it's flowering it will seed again, so I think it's getting established.

While I was admiring flowers I picked a new bunch, I mean bouquet, posh 

And I organized the workbasket under the coffee table which has TBD items, and finally stitched up the front of the slippers I made months ago. 

They only needed a few stitches at the opening to tighten them up a bit. It took five minutes including finding the needle and matching the yarn.

Boots the upstairs bear, approved 

However his sidekick Pink Rabbit is looking at me a bit sideways, and evidently campaigning for boots, too.  Hm.

About the short videos. This is really new art direction for me now that I've managed to get my meager devices sitting up and taking names. 

Like all art, a video is not a picture of something nor a story about something. It's an experience, which has an arc -- a beginning, a middle, and an end. In this case it's movement within a short time frame, 20-30 seconds max. 

This all sounds a bit highfalutin, but bear with me, it's my jam. With each video I'm looking right now for either a dramatic beginning, as in the hibiscus one, or end, where the thing is in your face. As in the butterfly, and the maple foliage. 

And as I explore more, not the boring tech, the actual potential of this limited visual experience, I'll see where I get. 

What I'm doing is inviting people to just look. Breathe, look. If 20 seconds sounds short to you, it's a heck of a lot longer than people usually pay attention at one time. It's more than the glance we often give.

I don't want to distract with music, maybe once in a while I'll say the title, I'll see.  And the art of presenting it will either succeed in holding attention or not. 

Meanwhile it's compensating me for the demise of knitting, so there's that.

Happy day everyone, do all the things. Or delegate them, if you can.