Tap, tap, tap The sun was just breaking on the horizon. I had a hot cup of coffee and a hotter cup of water. I was drinking the coffee and using that boiling water to heat up some plastic tubes. My mornings are pretty weird and sometimes I can't believe I'm actually still doing this challenge. On day 162, just before the sun woke up, I was tapping maple trees. Since it's part of my 365 day adventure its obvious that I haven't done this before. I have always wanted to and neve

Soup On Tuesday nights I play trivia with friends at a cute place called Siebert's Pub. The menu is basic bar food but it's pretty amazing. For the last few months I've had outstanding nachos, reuben sandwiches but I've avoided their French onion soup. Until tonight... On my 161st day I experienced my very first bowl of French Onion soup. I don't know why I've never had it until today but my best guess would be a dislike of soup that's only made of onions. This cup of soup fr

Shakere Months ago I asked my mother to help me find a gourd. I know it sounds strange but I had a very specific plan for it. When she asked me why, I was mysterious about answering and told her it was a 365 experience and I couldn't give any clues. She supported this adventure and found the perfect gourd for me. She even invited me to a gourd event so I could learn more but I was already obligated to do my glassblowing adventure. On day 160 I made a shakere. I'll bet you are

Snelled About 150 days ago I made a set of windchimes. When I set up that experience I used some lead lines from a package of fishhooks because the looped ends worked perfectly for that project. Because I'm smart I kept the leftover hooks just in case. On the 159th day I learned how to snell a fish hook. You're wondering why? I will need this skill when I use my flies from day 79 to learn how to Fly fish. I can not wait for the day to come. I have wanted to learn since I was

Nuts There are food items that I avoid just on principle. Mostly because of the questionable chemistry involved in making them. (Thanks Uncle Ed) On day 158 I consumed a real troublesome food spread, Nutella. If you look at the ingredients, the first one listed is Nutella. Isn't that like defining a word by using the word? First no-no rule in english class! SMACK MY HEAD!! That was the actual split to describe the ingredients. I take it all back. So the mystery of what Nutell

Leather Day 157 involved some leather, a few studs and a bit of muscle. Did you ever start a project after searching and searching for the right tool so you settled for what you could find? That's how my experience went today. I needed to make my very first leather choker but couldn't find the hole punch. This entire project required making many holes in some very thick black leather. It's a good thing that we are obsessed with knives and weaponry in this house because I foun

Rubber Roof I’m not a roofing expert but today I learned a bit about it. Day 156 was an absolutely blind experience that my guy registered me for. It was a women’s event with a focus on heat welding. I had no idea what it was and for that reason I was totally in. This was a two hour event. The first hour was an endless lecture on rubber roofing materials. The speaker went on and on about the different types of rubber, pvc and other compounds used to cover a roof deck. I was t

Springing spring Today's experience went well but it wasn't how I planned to do it. It was definitely a first but I wanted someone special to be involved. When I invited mom to help me she said it was too messy. She was absolutely correct but I didn't really care about making a mess. She did and I decided to let her rest and do this all on my own. On day 155 I let the master gardener take a nap and I made my very first seed bombs. Mom is an amazing plant whisperer and lives f

Food of the gods There are things that I've chosen not to eat because they look horrible and there are things that just never made it to my dinner table because they're impossible to find. On day 154 the juicy delicious persimmon made its way into my kitchen. I bought this piece of fruit in a beautiful orange hue. This particular variety is the Fuyu Persimmon. There are other varieties but this one was all I could find in my local grocery store. In the future I might look for

Butter up Today it rained. The buildings I spend most of my days in are so dry I welcomed any moisture even if it was outside. A few times a week I become the bringer of moisturizer when I take care of mom with lotion provided by her nurses. Today I wanted to make a gentle massage lotion for tender skin. I also wanted it to be simple, using real ingredients. On day 153 I made a simple, all natural whipped body butter. I happen to cook with coconut oil which made this an easy