Author: unbiddengrace

One Second Video, 2024

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One Second at a Time, 2024

This is our one second video for 2024. You might notice it’s missing days, entire weeks even, especially in January. Mind ya business.

Is this a “highlight reel”? Absolutely.

Does it leave out a lot- some things that we didn’t mean to leave out (because we forgot to get the video before we left! Remind us next time?) and some moments that were less (far less) photogenic? Absolutely.

I gave up on the idea of “one second a day” meaning exactly one second per day a long time ago. In between some of these clips were days where we just went to work and then felt tired after, or, we had such a bad day that we didn’t have a darn thing that felt worth remembering.

But what we are left with is a conglomeration of moments that I’m delighted to notice and remember.

  • The matcha from Valor Coffee on that day I drove to drop off film at Dunwoody Photo.
  • The first time we left the house to go on a date after the 2nd miscarriage (we had sushi).
  • When we hopped onto the boat to “help” Dad burn off some fuel before winterizing the engine.
  • The day that we harvested honey. The day that colony swarmed.

There’s an argument that moving images– short clips, video, etc- elicit memory more readily than still photos. And I think, for my own mind anyway, that this tends to be true. Whatever anyone else may enjoy about the video, or whatever glimpse into my day-to-day it may offer, these short clips do trigger an entire contextual memory for me (at least for now). The joy in rewatching these clips is not that it’s some perfectly accurate record, but that each clip, at some point on that particular day, felt worth capturing.

For what it’s worth, I hope you enjoy this glimpse into our 2024 (but it’s ok if you don’t find it interesting at all, because it’s really just for me).

Happy 2025 to all! 🩷

a stable renovation

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My Mom started collecting Fontanini figurines in the early 90s. My Great-Grandmother Jewel was a big contributor to her collection.

I remember the small figures arranged in the dining room on the buffet, perfectly at eye-level for curious kids. I distinctly remember the year Grandmother gifted my Mom the inn and innkeeper, expanding the scene beyond a stable… from there the originally intimate gathering of a few animals and the Holy Family grew into a veritable village, now consisting of ~45 characters. From shepherd to angel, Roman Centurion to Rabbi, rug salesman to pregnant washerwoman.

Because the figures are virtually unbreakable, the children of the house had full leave to move, arrange, and play with the figurines at will throughout the Christmas season. As a child, I enjoyed reading the tiny booklets that came with each character- telling their name, backstory, and relationship to the birth of Jesus.

When it comes to Christmas nostalgia, “the Fontanini” (as they are called) are key players in my memory in terms of both decor and interactive play.

I recently found a Fontanini Nativity set of 7 pieces at a thrift store for $28 (quite a deal!).

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Ruddy and Small-Crumbed

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The story goes that it wasn’t always artificial red food dye that made a red velvet cake red.

The “velvet” portion of the name refers to the fact that this is a small-crumbed soft cake made with cocoa powder. A “velvet cake” is lighter and fluffier than, say, a pound cake. Velvet cakes rose in popularity in the Victorian era.

The original Red Velvet Cake was not artificially bright red, but merely had a reddish tint to the crumbs due to a chemical reaction caused by the combination of buttermilk, cocoa powder, and baking soda in the batter. That hint of rouge distinguished the red velvet cake from the deep brown color of a devil’s food cake (which is also a “velvet” cake, but has melted chocolate in the batter instead of buttermilk).

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Relaxing (with sharp shards of glass)

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In the Chinese tradition of Feng Shui, sharp objects can create an aggressive form of bad energy (chi). But personally, I find making stained glass really relaxing.

Recently I enjoyed using a stained glass kit I found on Etsy from this shop. (I’d recommend it for purchase, but it’s currently off the storefront.)

For the record, I do know how to cut my own pieces of glass — and I even have a grinder to polish them, but for this project I really wanted to guarantee I’d have it done before Christmas.

Using a kit with pre-cut glass pieces meant I could be certain I wouldn’t run out of time, stamina, or motivation. Plus, by buying the kit, I’m supporting an artist/entrepreneur… so it’s a no-lose situation!

The pieces as they arrived in my kit.
Tacked together.
Prior to patina application.
Done!

I realized after the fact that I had my soldering iron set too hot. Whoops. Because of this I had a bit more struggle with the bead than usual, but he still turned out just fine in the end.

If you’re local and want to learn stained glass, I highly recommend a class with Spectrums by Suzi.

I hope he enjoys his life with my cutie pie nephew! 🦕