Hello Friends!
I took the family on an adventure in and around Boise recently, and let me tell you, it’s been a minute since I have been to a bigger city. I was a little out of my element, but it was so fun!
So, we had two goals in mind, one was to find the Reuseum, and one was to find a kitchen store. We were successful on both fronts and had some great food to boot!
So first, what is a “Reuseum”? It’s super cool, it’s basically like a tech-centered thrift store, maker space, and STEM learning space all in one. We rattled around the retail space looking at everything from old radio equipment, to old monitors, some old camera equipment, and refurbished computers. Plus just lots of odds and ends, actuators, soldering supplies, every kind of nut and bolt you could think of. It was really awesome! They also have a “maker space” which I love. It’s super cool to see more and more places like that opening up. It’s basically a shop with various tools for machining and building, usually specialized things that may be hard or impractical for the hobbyist to own, that you can come in and use for a fee. Think things like 3D printers or grinding wheels, milling machines, things like that. If you’ve ever watched Adam Savage (of Mythbusters fame) on Tested (his YouTube channel), he has a very extensive maker space style shop. Finally, they have STEM classrooms for kiddos, where they host various classes throughout the month, like build-a-robot and learn-to-code classes to get kiddos interested in math and science. I’m sure, since my official job title is “software engineer”, you can guess how excited I get about making STEM accessible.
We managed to surprise Dad with some old radio equipment from an old police car they had for sale. He brought it home and was able to plug it in and, after a little clean up, get it working again. Dad just loves old police memorabilia. I guess you can’t be a second generation, thirty year vet of the force without a little vested interest, huh? I wonder if I’ll be that nostalgic about old tech when I’m 30 years into my career. More pressing question, I wonder if I’ll still be in my career in 26 years and what my field will even look like. Dad says police work really changed over the years, and I imagine I’ll be looking at that too.
We found two different kitchen stores, one a restaurant supply and one was more boutique-y. I bought a few whisks, and a giant bowl from the kitchen store, and Christopher bought a pizza pan. I’m really excited, we’ve broken so many whisks so I’ve invested in some heavy duty ones, and I’ve been wishing for a big bowl for a while. Just today we used it for dinner, but so often I’m cooking for a lot of people and need a big bowl for mixing. I was looking for a big pot with a strainer built in, but I’m still on the hunt for that for now.
The other store was really cute, they have some gorgeous spoons made with stripes of different woods, a whole matching set of spoons and stirrers. Thing was, it was a little more form over function, and while I love a good aesthetic kitchen, I need hardy tools that hold up to heavy work right now. They did have some cute reusable straws I really thought about, but they were metal and I’m not a huge fan of metal straws. At least not without the little squishy bit, ya know? Lots of niche cocktail making gear too, which always looks so fancy, but would be virtually useless in my kitchen.
Finally, we decided to eat at Tupelo Honey again, which I wrote about when I last talked about a visit to Boise. I am down there fairly often, but rarely for “fun”, like window shopping for just goofing off. So, it was fun to splurge on a nice lunch, and no one else had been there so it was an exciting new experience for them. I had a shrimp po’boy, which honestly I am still thinking about.
It’s been just crazy busy around here with errands, adventures, work stuff, and holidays. Not to mention birthdays, new cousins on the way, and the very beginnings for spring prep (if the weather would cooperate). I’ve been trying to find moments of peace on the farm, and I shared some in last week’s video, and finding little ways to engage in some old hobbies as a way to settle. Share with me, what do you guys do when you need a little calm in the midst of a fun, but crazy, world?
Until we chat again, my friends!
The Farmer's Blogger 