30 thing: How to start a fire (in a grill)

"Skills That Save Time or Money"

2.  How to Start a Succssful Fire in a Fireplace, at a Campsite, and in a Barbecue

Why You Should Learn this:

There are many modern reasons to learn this most primitive of skills:  The person who cheerfully offers on a chilly afternoon to start a roaring fire, to be enjoyed with a nice bottle of red wine by all, is irresistible.  (SN:  We live in Florida, enough said).  The person who correctly ans swiftly builds a campfire for the convenience an/or survival of others is a hero. (Camping???  No comment) The person who bravely fires up the barbecue for the imminent consuption of ribs and/or tofu dogs is noble. 

The author's directions read like the directions on the bag of charcoal and the lighter fluid or may I thought that I had seen it done enough time to do it myself.  (That was also mentioned in the book)

I am texting Q because I was very anxious to get started.

The grill , which we have had for almost a year, required assembly. Yes, I helped assemble and grilled in wedges.

Q arrived as I was taking all the parts of the grill out of the box.  Great photo opt!

After a quick change Q dived right in.  (The third set of hands in the pic belong to my mom)

So how many naturals does it take to assemble a grill?

 

Yep, we're still screwing it in...

No, we're still not done...

Yes! We put it on backwards! *sigh* There's a first time for everything.

So two naturals and a child try...

And so we started screwing the pan into the legs again...

Don't you love Q's ring? Gotta be girly even when doing a man's work.

Almost there!

Look at her go! In wedges and a sundress no less!

Allllllmmmmooooooosssssssttttttt there.

And finally! We're ready to cook folks!

We placed our grill in an open area, away from the house and trees.

Now it's time to add the chacoal and get to grillin'.

A women who isn't afraid to get her hands dirty. Go V!

Ok, ready, set...

FIYAAAAAA!

Q was tired of waiting, so she went and picked up a snack for the crew.

Hmmm, guess V was hungry too?

The grill is now ready after a loooong wait..had to let the manufacturer's chemicals burn off.

Hope we don't burn it.

Q seasoning the meat to put on the grill.

Looks so yummy!

If he were willing to put his chicken down, he'd tell you that V and Q should go into BBQ business because it was finger lickin' gooooooood!

30 things: How to Wrap a Present

"Skills That Save Time Or Money"

1. How to Wrap a Present

-Why You Should Learn This:

* We (humans) like beautiful things, and especially like ripping beautiful things open
* Gifts were invented to inspire as much pleasure as possible, on both sides of the transaction

The author goes on to discuss the classic present-wrapping technique, which is the method Q and I will attempt to do, and bows: the simple ribbon bow, the curling ribbon bow, and the fancy bow.

Here is where we started.

Q's box half done.

Q is more than half done, but V has yet to start. Instead she's telling Q she sucks!

V finally decides to get off FB and start.

Q is finishing up her box ends.

And here is Q's second end.

V is catching up and doing a better job than she thought.

V finishing up here second end.

V all done.

V claims her ends were ugly, so she won't let you see.

Both boxes are now wrapped.

Q's attempt at making a bow out of wrapping paper.

V thinks she has no clue at making a bow from wrapping paper, but later found she's more creative than she knew.

We didn't waste much paper, even though Q started her bow over again.

 

V working at her bow.

Q's finished product.

V's finished product. Too cute! So creative, the butterfly is an earring! Yes, V removed her earring and added a literal personal touch. Very nice!

And we're done. Overall, it was pretty simple to wrap the boxes. It took us about an hour, but we were watching television, harvesting gardens on Facebook, and shooting the breeze.