Getting artisanal..

I've been looking for a hobby to feed my artistic side for a while now. I bought sculpting clay, but it looks so pretty in its neat little packages, I can't bring myself to actually open it and mess it up. 

Then I got a nice set of watercolor markers and an "adult" coloring book, but that leaves me feeling like a fraud. It's not my drawings. 

So I moved on to Paint Plot. Paint by numbers kit. Also not my drawings, but the canvas is huge and the detail work...ok, yeah. It was overwhelming. 

While contemplating my choices, I made myself a drink, forgetting that the ice in our Big freezer tastes like a combo of garlic and slightly gone off chicken. 🤢 I do have a small fridge in my bedroom now to keep medicine, drinks, and snacks for those days when walking to the kitchen is too painful. #peripheralneuropathy 

Could I make my own ice? There is a small freezer compartment... So, I researched ice trays. My hands/arms are weak and tire easily, thus necessitating something easy to bend and crack. I also wanted something close to bullet ice. It would be the wrong texture, but small ice cylinders sounded very appealing.

I ordered silicone trays with clear plastic covers off Amazon. I started trying to fill them by pouring spring water out of the big bottle I keep in my room. Our tap water is undrinkable, sadly. I soon discovered my hands were too shaky and I was wasting precious water slopping it all over me and my bed. 

How could I fill these tiny compartments with water without making a mess? I thought back to my school days and doing precice measurements with pipettes. Do they make plastic ones that are easy to use? They do! Amazon had these nifty squeeze bulb pipettes that turned out to be the perfect size. One squeeze dispensed enough water to fill one "cube" in the tray. 

I soon found that using a pipette, a glass of spring water and my silicone ice trays while watching a movie or TV program was a very satisfying way to keep my hands busy. And the ice? Crystal clear and very tasty.

I've invented artisanal ice. Handcrafted and produced in small batches. 🤣 And it's fun! One tray fills a red Solo cup about 2/3 full. Perfect for chilling drinks and munching. I have two trays that I alternate and use/fill each day. It takes about 12 hours for them to freeze solid and the cubes are so pretty. Fun to pop out of their little silicone molds too. 

So, I can't sculpt, draw, color, paint, knit or crochet but I can make crystal clear sparkling ice cylinders that look pretty and taste fantastic. 😋  It's silly, but little things sometimes make me happy.