One of our wedding gifts was a fabulous pressure cooker/canner. This past week I (Lydia) used it for the first time. On Thursday, I canned some homemade chicken noodle soup and on Friday, I canned peaches. Both worked out okay, but I learned some things that could make it better. Adam and I had cooked the soup before hand. Next time, we will only cook the chicken and some of the harder vegetables. The soup turned out a little mushy, but it still tastes fine. When I put the peaches in the jars, I scooped them out of the syrup with a ladle and ended up with more syrup in each bottle than I intended. Next time, I will use something like a slotted spoon and then pour the syrup in after the peaches are in the bottle.
On some of the jars, I used reusable lids (Tattler brand). They seem to work fine and I think I will use them more in the future.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Happenings in the Liskey Family
What have we been up to the past few weeks?
We have been doing yard work for the McIntyres (a family in our ward). We have relaid bricks bordering flowerbeds, trimmed a tree, put snow guards on the roof of the garage so the snow doesn't fall on plants this winter, begun varnishing the wooden play structure, pressure washed a fence, etc.
On Wednesday, July 13, we found out that the person who is going to move in after us needs to have moved all of his things out of his current apartment by July 22nd. (He will then be out of town until the latter part of August, so we can stay until he gets back). We still hadn't finished refinishing the floor of the room where he is going to be putting his stuff. We decided to finish the two bedrooms that we had already begun as soon as possible. Adam had work Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I ended up finishing the sanding Thursday and Friday morning (we can only sand in the mornings because Brother Risley who we are living with works at night and sleeps from 11am - 7pm). Friday evening, Adam and I put on the first coat of polyurethane on the floors in the two bedrooms and the little hallway between them. We had a paint roller, but we didn't have tray (and this is about 10:30pm because after Adam got off work, we worked at the McIntyre's until dark). We ended up taking a little cardboard box and covering it in plastic wrap to make our own paint tray. It worked quite well, considering. After we finished putting on the polyurethane, we sealed the door with painter's tape and went to bed. Saturday morning after I took Adam to work, I tried to lightly sand the floors as the label instructed. The sander wasn't working well at all. It was quite the struggle and I didn't know how well I had done. I finally just went ahead and cleaned the dust off the floors and put on a second layer of polyurethane. Saturday evening when we checked the floors, they looked wonderful. We re-sanded the floors, cleaned them and put on a final coat of polyurethane. I must say, the end result looks better than I expected at those times during the process when I didn't know what I was doing and I felt like I didn't have time to do it as well as I would like.
One of the things we do to relax is read or listen to The Wheel of Time books together. It is one of Adam's favorites and he wanted to share it with me. We just started book five this week.
I have also been working on officially changing my name. I received my new social security card in the mail this week. Next, I need to go to the DMV.
Adam likes to try things. Recently he has been exploring different things in the kitchen. He tried making flavored yogurt and yogurt using whole milk. He is currently experimenting with sugar in making candies and figuring out the properties of sugar with and without other substances.
We have been doing yard work for the McIntyres (a family in our ward). We have relaid bricks bordering flowerbeds, trimmed a tree, put snow guards on the roof of the garage so the snow doesn't fall on plants this winter, begun varnishing the wooden play structure, pressure washed a fence, etc.
On Wednesday, July 13, we found out that the person who is going to move in after us needs to have moved all of his things out of his current apartment by July 22nd. (He will then be out of town until the latter part of August, so we can stay until he gets back). We still hadn't finished refinishing the floor of the room where he is going to be putting his stuff. We decided to finish the two bedrooms that we had already begun as soon as possible. Adam had work Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I ended up finishing the sanding Thursday and Friday morning (we can only sand in the mornings because Brother Risley who we are living with works at night and sleeps from 11am - 7pm). Friday evening, Adam and I put on the first coat of polyurethane on the floors in the two bedrooms and the little hallway between them. We had a paint roller, but we didn't have tray (and this is about 10:30pm because after Adam got off work, we worked at the McIntyre's until dark). We ended up taking a little cardboard box and covering it in plastic wrap to make our own paint tray. It worked quite well, considering. After we finished putting on the polyurethane, we sealed the door with painter's tape and went to bed. Saturday morning after I took Adam to work, I tried to lightly sand the floors as the label instructed. The sander wasn't working well at all. It was quite the struggle and I didn't know how well I had done. I finally just went ahead and cleaned the dust off the floors and put on a second layer of polyurethane. Saturday evening when we checked the floors, they looked wonderful. We re-sanded the floors, cleaned them and put on a final coat of polyurethane. I must say, the end result looks better than I expected at those times during the process when I didn't know what I was doing and I felt like I didn't have time to do it as well as I would like.
One of the things we do to relax is read or listen to The Wheel of Time books together. It is one of Adam's favorites and he wanted to share it with me. We just started book five this week.
I have also been working on officially changing my name. I received my new social security card in the mail this week. Next, I need to go to the DMV.
Adam likes to try things. Recently he has been exploring different things in the kitchen. He tried making flavored yogurt and yogurt using whole milk. He is currently experimenting with sugar in making candies and figuring out the properties of sugar with and without other substances.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Floor Refinishing Part 1
Adam and I are staying in the home of a couple in our ward in a section of their house that they are turning into an apartment. They asked us to refinish the wood floors in that section of the house in place of paying rent for this summer. They are paying for supplies, we just provide the labor.
This week we got started. Neither Adam nor I have ever refinished a wood floor before, so this is a learning experience. First we cleared out the two bedrooms, moving everything into the living room. We will be living in that room (plus the bathroom and kitchen) until we have finished the floors in the bedrooms.
Friday, we began sanding with a rented sander. It was only rented for the morning. We were not able to finish sanding both rooms. We also had a rented edger to work with. The edger worked too well, sanding off more than we wanted. We probably won't be using the edger anymore. We are going to try a different kind of sander for the edges. We will see how that works. We learn as we go.
This week we got started. Neither Adam nor I have ever refinished a wood floor before, so this is a learning experience. First we cleared out the two bedrooms, moving everything into the living room. We will be living in that room (plus the bathroom and kitchen) until we have finished the floors in the bedrooms.
Friday, we began sanding with a rented sander. It was only rented for the morning. We were not able to finish sanding both rooms. We also had a rented edger to work with. The edger worked too well, sanding off more than we wanted. We probably won't be using the edger anymore. We are going to try a different kind of sander for the edges. We will see how that works. We learn as we go.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
The Orange Skittle
A while ago, Adam was sitting on the couch next to me eating some skittles. He offered me a skittle holding one of each color in his hand. I picked one without really thinking about which color I grabbed. A few minutes later, he again offered a skittle holding one of each color in his hand. Again I grabbed one without paying attention to which color I picked. I had picked an orange skittle both times. Adam asked, "Is orange your favorite then?"
I explained that orange was not my favorite. I didn't really have a favorite, I just picked a skittle without thinking about the color.
A few minutes later, Adam again offered skittles. Without paying attention, I picked a skittle. Orange. Again.
We both burst out laughing. Throughout the evening, Adam continued to offer skittles. I was very deliberate in picking a different color skittle each time.
Whenever Adam is eating skittles, he still tries to catch me off guard. Today, he put one skittle of each color in his hand. I started laughing even though he was just picking them out for himself.
Adam's original purpose in offering the skittles was to find out more about me. (What was my favorite color of skittle?) He often asks questions to find out more about me but frequently isn't satisfied with the answers I give (if I answer). The orange skittle has come t0 symbolize Adam's never ending search for the answers to the questions I don't know how to answer.
The Beginning
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