Catch-All: Random Notes from my Notebooks.

On vacation in October, I took my French press as my only way to make coffee. I tried so many variations to see what I liked. I discovered...that I liked my normal method best. 4 minute timer, break the crust after 30 seconds, and then slowly press. All other methods (12 minute steep, spooning off the foam, etc) don't improve the coffee much. There is always a bit of silt on the bottom. Pressing slowly improves it though. 

The garden is mostly done. Our first frost is usually around October 18th. We haven't had one yet, so I still pick tomatoes, lettuce, cilantro. I do have mulch and cover crops on the empty spots. I'll probably do a reflection post on the garden later.

I really enjoyed Following God Fully by Joel Beeke and Michael Reeves. It's an introduction to the puritans through the major figures and teachings of the movement. It whet my appetite for the bigger volume Meet the Puritans.

I read several kids books on vacation (and following). The Penderwicks is a perfect novel. My kids love this series, and I had listened the to second with the whole family on vacation a few years ago. I didn't believe that the first book could be as good as the second. I was wrong. Jeanne Birdsall does everything write. Sometimes I was astounded at how she would tell without telling.

I also reread The Diamond of Darkhold and the Gregor books 2 and 3. Darkhold  is not as good as I remembered. Gregor is.

I'm learning two skills that I neglected: to sight read music and to doodle. I play guitar by chords, but I want to be able to follow the music staff. This would come in handy when I'm testing a song from the hymnal that I don't know. I set a goal to learn the staff. Each day, I set a timer for 5 minutes and pick a song. I name the note on the staff and play the note on the guitar. I learn two things at once that way.

I'm also learning to doodle. I decided that I like doodling, so I made a board on Pinterest of doodles I like and fonts to use. I practice something on most days in a little pocket notebook that I keep with me. Doodles make things that I write more fun. My kids and my wife put up with my absurd fonts and doodles. I think it makes my family notes better.

Speaking of notebooks. I keep 5 pocket notebooks--often in my backpack. One is my all-purpose place to keep notes, the second is for writing (I sketch blog posts and articles there), the third is for doodles, the fourth is for tracking my music practice, the fifth is a bible notebook where I keep lists of things I find in the bible. The bible one has been really fun.


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