WordPress plugin problems – again!

Plugin problems: Graphic cartoon that reads "Argh I just spent an hour troubleshooting my website. plugin problems. Sigh"

Plugins – not always user friendly

Ah, plugin problems. It’s official, I hate them. Yes, I do. Once again, I found myself spending an afternoon cleaning up a mess from a plugin conflict. I’m still not done with the cleanup. It’ll take rest of the week to repair the damage.

Here’s what happened. I use a great plugin called iThemes Security. It’s an excellent WordPress security plugin and has helped me lockdown the site for nearly 2 years. A few plugins were updated yesterday, but not iThemes. All seemed good when I turned everything off last night. When logged on to work on a new article, it was a mess.

UPDATE:

Tues Jan 26, 2021 – still struggling to put all the images back. Please be patient. I fixed the primary issue and it cascaded into a bigger one, which was resolved. But that fix wiped out the repairs and I had to start over.

The path to the login page no longer existed. Either “a page not found”, or a broken link error appeared. After that familiar sinking feeling settled in, I flipped over and checked to make sure the site still existed. Bitter Grounds was running properly. But nothing I tried brought the login page back to life. I was effectively locked out of the Dashboard.

How to log in when WordPress login won’t load

When locked out of a WordPress site because of a plugin issue, there is a way of recovering the Dashboard:

  • Log into the site with either FTP or your web host’s file manager.
  • Locate public_html -> wp-content.
  • Rename the folder titled plugins. Usually it’s easiest to rename it to plugins_old.
  • Once you do this, log back into your WordPress site and test it. If it works properly, then comes the tedious part.
  • Back to FTP/File Manager rename plugins_old back to plugins.
  • Open the plugins folder and rename every folder, adding _old to each.
  • Try each folder, one at a time, by removing the _old from the name.
  • Return to WP and test. When you find the culprit, delete that folder.

Because of the type of error message that appeared, I thought it might be iThemes so I disabled the folder. Didn’t work. So I disabled the entire plugin folder. Still no login available.

I had to sit and ponder what was going on. I examined the login link carefully and figured it had something to do with one of the iThemes security features. So, I re-enabled the plugin folder and left iThemes disabled.  I then tried a hybrid of the old changed login link and the default one. Bingo! The Dashboard let me in.

I disabled and re-enabled plugins but can’t trace the conflict.  I keep getting the same errors, so I removed iThemes completely. I installed a new plugin for the two-factor authentication and tweaked a few new plugins to ensure security is strong. But I’m disappointed because I love iThemes and hate to say goodbye to it, especially when the root of the problem was a conflict with a different plugin. When I have time, I’ll go back to iThemes and do a fresh re-install.

New plugin problems created

Removing iThemes created a new problem though and this one pisses me off. At least 2/3 of the links to images were wiped out. I spent the last 3 hours reconnecting them. I have over 570 articles to check and it’s tedious. It could have been far worse. I haven’t finished yet, so if you run into a page with place holders instead of photos, be patient. I’ll get to them this week. I’ve done as many as I can today, and my brain just can’t do any more.

Cheers and hope your week is conflict free

Catpaw

Read more about my WP efforts: 

https://bittergrounds.com/evolution-of-a-blogger-2/

 

 

 
 
Pen tools in Photoshop & a Penny Farthing

Pen tools in Photoshop & a Penny Farthing

For over a decade I’ve avoided Photoshop’s pen tools. The struggles I’ve encountered using them have been, well, monumental. And embarrassingly frustrating. You can do wonderful things with pen tool such as take a muddy, mundane sketch and create a beautiful image with sharp, clean lines.

I had a breakthrough last week ago. I finally figured out why I struggled with them. My problem turns out to be basic. I have no sense of left/right, horizontal/vertical, clockwise/counterclockwise. If you ask me to turn counterclockwise, I stop and envision a clock face first. My brain tells me the left is -> that way. You get the picture. I’ve always known this. But it wasn’t until last week that I realised this was the root of the problem.

Those mildly quirky bits of how my brain processes certain things turns into a hinderance when working onscreen. I can’t anticipate which direction a curved too will go. I struggle to flip things and end up going through all the options before hitting the correct one. It’s impossible to work on autopilot because I need to think through every move. So, I sat down and devised a solution.

Why was it such an issue? I’ve gotten along without figuring out how to use shapes and the pen tool until now. It boils down to this – I can’t stand not figuring out how something works. I did, in fact, fire up pen tools every now and then, over the years. Frustration was the result. When I began playing around with cleaning up old patents, so they were viewable, I realised now was the time to tackle pen tools. They offered the only way of getting the crisp lines I wanted.

The line tool is basic enough. I just get impatient and oft times don’t line things up correctly. It’s the old issue of horizontal vs vertical flip and nudge a little to the right or left.  So, I sat down with the Antoinette Flyer and used it to discipline myself into getting lines even and laid down properly. Old airplanes were wonders of straight lines and cables, so it was the perfect thing to work with. Wheels were easy – the shape tools took care of that.

The propeller was problematic. I initially thought I could fudge my way through using the freehand pencil tool. It was a disaster. I wandered over to YouTube and watched a couple videos on using pen tools and that’s when I had an epiphany. Pen tools are about understanding directions. I spent a frustrating hour trying to get the curves right for the propeller and thought this isn’t going to work without someone standing over my shoulder yelling “the other left”. Little post it notes turned into the next best thing. I often have left / right notes on my screen when I’m running through a tutorial with a customer. I stuck them back on, included notes on horizontal / vertical, etc. All the little directional indicators I needed.

The propeller looked ok.

Now I felt frisky and time for more lessons with pen tools

Original sketch from an 1886 patent for a Penny Farthing bike

Here’s the starting ground.

I found it in the form of a velocipede – bicycle for we mere mortals. they were nicknamed Penny Farthings. Getting all the bends correct and using different line thicknesses to create a shadow effect was a challenge. I’m a little embarrassed to admit, it took me around 8 hours to get them right. I drew them and erased over and over until I got the basics down on how the pen adjust lines.

Here’s the line drawing of the above Penny Farthing

Pen tools elevate a sketch - Line drawing of a Penny Farthing bike

Pen Tools and Shapes were ideal for this

Yes, it did take a lot of work to get the little curves correct but worth the effort. I looked at the sketch and thought it was time to elevate it to the next level.

Pen tools and a bit of colour

Final drawing of Penny Farthing with colours added

A bit of colour elevated the line drawing

I can already see ways of improving the image with a bit of free hand highlighting. That’ll take practice but will be fun.  This little patent sketch is now poster worthy. And yes, I turned this into merch. How could I not? I’m now trolling through old patents looking for other ideas to work with. This challenges my brain on so many levels. It’s exhausting but fulfilling.

The penny farthing on coasters

Cool!

Wander over by clicking this link -> Bittergrounds.Redbubble to see how it looks on different things. When you get there, click on the Cycles category. I’ve been busy over at the store. Lots of things coming and going as I fuss with designs. So have fun, let me know what you think. Remember, anything you buy goes to supporting this website.

Cheers!

Check out my first pen tools sketch of the Antoinette Flyer mentioned above:

Cleaning up a magnificent 1908 Antoinette Flyer schematic

 
 
Cleaning up a magnificent 1908 Antoinette Flyer schematic

Cleaning up a magnificent 1908 Antoinette Flyer schematic

One of my favourite airplanes is the 1908 Antoinette Flyer. It’s a beautiful monoplane. However, one frustrating aspect of collecting pioneer aviation material is the lack of clean schematics to use for display purposes. 

Photo of the Antoinette Flyer in flight 1908

Fragile and magnificent

I’ve scoured the internet looking for something presentable and concluded last week that I’d have to do my own. When it comes to something like schematics, it’s essential the lines are crisp and easy to follow. They also need to be free of scan artifacts. The little spots of black and paper markings are distracting.

To achieve all of this, I had to get over my phobia of using the pen tool in Photoshop. It was the only way of getting sharp lines and smooth curves. But I’ve never been successful in earlier attempts. And yes, I developed a bit of a fear about using the pen tool. After this job, the fear is gone. I’m embarrassed to admit, it’s easy to use and I’m unsure why I made such a fuss over it through the years. I have a lot of work to do before I become proficient with it, but the Antoinette Flyer schematic was a great start.

Antoinette Flyer schematic – 1908

Schematics for Antoinette Flyer airplane 1908

Cleaned up and ready to display

I used a composite of a couple grainy and badly scanned schematics to build the above. It took hours to lay out the lines and align them correctly. I don’t have all the measurements included yet. I’m hoping to layer them in at a later point.  I also have the entire Antoinette engine somewhere on my hard drive. I might pull it out, clean it up a bit, and post it.

I played with several backgrounds to highlight the airplane as well as thicknesses for the lines. I opted for a very thin 2px white line and a black background. It displays the framework’s delicacy better. I tried traditional blueprint blue, but the airplane didn’t show well. The final schematic is 5,000 px x 3,843 px and prints to 10″ x 7.6″. It looks smashing.

Technology as art

One of my motivations, aside from the sheer joy of watching the Antoinette appear in pristine shape, was to use them over at Redbubble for a few merchandise ideas. I’ve played with a few postage stamps and early aviation photographs from my collection and have been pleased with their overall look. It takes quite a bit of time getting everything the right size and clarity. Schematics like the Antoinette adapt to Redbubble designs well.

Technology as art is an appealing genre. There’s something elegant in a simple schematic. I have a thing for industrial and mechanical style art, so I guess my passion for schematics is a natural extension.  I’ll be working up more ideas in the coming months.

I’m currently taking a stab at a schematic for an Avro CF-100 Canuck. It’s a bit uncharacteristic for me, I’m not normally a jet fan, but it’s a bit of a sentimental journey. The Canuck was the jet my father worked on when he was in the RCAF with the old 440 Nimble Bat squadron. It’s not looking good at the moment, I need a few more drawings and blueprints if I want it to look correct.

Enjoy the Antoinette Flyer in the meantime and pop over to Bittergrounds.Redbubble.com and check out how well the Antoinette Flyer looks.  Wish I had more space for pillows in my little apartment.

Pillow with Antoinette Flyer schematic as the pattern

Worked out better than I expected

If you’d like to learn more about the magnificent Antoinette read my previous article here:

Diving into pioneer aviation with the amazing 1909 Antoinette Flyer

 
 
 
 
Holidays, cranberries & 1 patent to put ridges on the jelly

Holidays, cranberries & 1 patent to put ridges on the jelly

Holidays equal cranberries. And what holiday meal is complete without a feeding of freshly cooked cranberry sauce. In my family, cranberry sauce was home-made, starting with raw cranberries.  Put them on to boil, add some sugar and serve. Nothing is easier. I like to grate a bit of fresh ginger into the pot while the berries are coming to a boil to add a touch of zing. Ours was more a relish than a jelly, and tarter than canned varieties.

The cranberries harvested for commercial use are Vaccinium macrocarpon and native to North America. There are over 100 varieties within the Vaccinium family alone. It has an impressive international pedigree:

North American cranberries have cousins in Europe. Vaccinium vitis-idaea is known as the preisselberre in Germany, the lingonberry in Sweden, the cowberry in England and also partridge berry, foxberry, upland cranberry, rock cranberry and mountain cranberry.
Cranberry Facts from Muskoka Lakes Farm and Winery.

My earliest memories came from learning how to cook with my Mom. We made everything from scratch because it was cheaper. We’d look in the cupboard and decide what to make based on what was there. Often, we would page through Mom’s cookbook seeing if there was something new, we could do with the same old ingredients.

I remember learning to make cranberry sauce. I was measuring out the sugar and Mom stopped me. I said that’s what the recipe calls for. She looked over the rim of her glasses and said, “you never use the amount listed”. She plopped the cranberries into water, brought it to a boil and we waited for the “pop, pop, pop” sound. Once the cranberries started to shed their skins, Mom would decide if more water was needed.  Once all the cranberries were de-skinned, sugar was added, slowly. A little at a time and left to simmer. Taste and decide if more sugar was needed. Repeat if needed. Over the years, I began to add diced up tangerines and a bit of ginger to the mixture. Mom was horrified when she discovered my adulteration. She was a cranberry purist. But ginger cranberry sauce is great on toast in the morning.

Cranberries don’t come with ridges in the wild

Photo of a slab of cranberry jelly showing ridges from the can

Slab ‘o cranberries

I have a friend who thinks it’s not cranberry sauce if he can’t see the ridges left from the can. Believe it or not, there’s a patent for those ridges. Ok, I’m lying, not the ridges, but the whole canned jellied cranberry stuff, seeds, and all.

Edward E. Anderson, Lexington, William F. Hampton, South Duxbury, and Arthur W. Anti, Kingston, Mass, assignors, by direct and mesne assignments, to Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc., Hanson, Mass, a corporation of Delaware Ser. No. 78,238 2 Claims. (CI. 99-129) https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/50/04/d5/315c5d4414c57a/US3142577.pdf 

The original patent was filed Dec. 27, 1960, and granted July 28, 1964 on behalf of Ocean Spray, the ubiquitous giant of red berry products. Earlier canned cranberry jellies were pressed through a sieve to remove the seeds and skins. According to Ocean Spray, this step meant a loss of 10% of the raw cranberry product. If you are in the business of food production, this is a substantial waste.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide a process by which the entire cranberry may be
used to form a jellied sauce. It is another object to provide a method of making a novel jellied cranberry sauce
which contains the entire cranberry..

Patent #3,142,577 PROCESS FOR FORMING A JELLIED CRANBERRY SAUCE

Ocean Spray’s new process starts with turning whole cranberries (fresh or frozen) into a puree and then cooked with sugar. The crushed cranberries were required to pass through a sieve 0.027 inch in diameter. That ensured a uniform puree. If you’re mashing the canned cranberries around your plate this year, look at the size of the seeds and that will give you an idea of how fine the mesh is. According to the patent, if pieces were larger than .027″, the puree won’t create the “desirable smooth gel-like texture”.

At sieve measurements between “0.006 and 0.027 the puree gives a constantly smooth jellied sauce without objectionably discrete particles being present.” Objectionably discrete particles meant things like overly large chunks and skins that rolled up instead of being macerated.

Next was the cooking process. The mashed-up puree would pass along to be mixed with sugar and water, both balanced to form a smooth gel once cooled. Then off to the cooking stage. The mixture was to be heated from between 180 to 218 F for up to 10 min. This process cooked the berries into a gel and effectively sterilized them. The cooked cranberries would be poured into cans or jars and vacuumed sealed while still hot.

And this is why there are ridges on your canned cranberries. It’s the cans Ocean Spray opted to use. The cans act as a mould, and as the cranberry jelly cooled, it forms into the shape of the can, ridges, and all. Thus, was born a weird tradition – slabs of cranberries complete with can shapes. I suspect, if Ocean Spray changed the shape of their cans to a non-ridged type, there might be a mutiny in Cranberry Land.

It’s not all one cranberry recipe fits all

The interesting part of this patent was the different types of cranberries. If you’ve cooked your own sauce, you know you must be careful with the amount of water and sugar used or you end up with sweet, cranberry soup instead of sauce. Mom’s adage was “start off with a minimal amount of water and add some later if needed”.

The patent looks at frozen early black cranberries, raw early black cranberries, and fresh Howe cranberries, each requiring different macerating techniques and amounts of sugar/screen size/cooking times.

The above description and examples show that, by the process of this invention, a new jellied cranberry sauce may be made from the whole cranberry. All of the cranberry is used and the time and labor required to make a finished product are materially decreased.
pg. 3 Patent #3,142,577 PROCESS FOR FORMING A JELLIED CRANBERRY SAUCE

DIY can mold

So many have grown up expecting ridges on their cranberries that a cottage industry has sprung up telling people how to make their own cranberry jelly complete with the can indents. Here’s one if you want to try it.

I don’t have anything against canned cranberries. They’re a bit sweeter than I like but I prefer cooking my own. I get a nostalgic rush thinking of days rooting through the cookbook with Mom and learning how to use various ingredients. Up until her death this year, we still spent time together in the kitchen. We would chat and laugh when putting together something new, just like when I was a child. One of my enduring memories is hearing Mom sing while crashing pots and pans about. Christmas won’t be the same this year without the smells of something roasting in the oven, the banging of pots and “Silver Bells” being sung off key. I was still learning from her until the end. Thanks, Mom, for the skills and the memories.

Did you enjoy this article?

Check out the patent for frozen cranberries found in TV dinners. I had fun writing this one a few years ago.

Ponder the TV dinner cranberry sauce – yes, there is a patent for that.

 
 
Official Store Launch – merch to support Bitter Grounds

Official Store Launch – merch to support Bitter Grounds

I finally followed through on a project I started last year – merch to support the site. I spent a few months working on several design ideas, fussing over them, and looking at various online stores. Then all hell broke loose, and it was put on the back burner. Well, it is time to put all that work … er … to work.

Store launch. Look! Merch Redbubble 

After looking at a few stores, I settled on Redbubble for a number of reasons – the most important being I’d already seen their products and liked them. A percentage of each sale goes directly to me. Shipping is available worldwide, so no matter where you are, you will be able to support Bitter Grounds and get something cool to show for it.

I haven’t had the store up long and already sold 4 items. A friend purchased 2 masks and was pleased with both the quality and design, so I feel comfortable recommending you “buy my stuff”. No idea who purchased the other items, but let me tell you, I was tickled when I woke up and found a pillow and mask sold during the night.

I have a few designs that will be up for Christmas only, so you might want to pop in now and then to see if anything tweaks your interests. What’s available? Lots of different items, like shirts, graphic ts, bathmats (I have a thing for cool bathmats), sweatshirts, socks, journals, magnets, stickers and of course masks. To see everything, you need to click the Redbubble link above,

Sampling of what merch is in the store

Masks? Yes, we have masks

Old pioneer airplane on a mask

Vintage images on masks look pretty good

Face mask with a cat silhouetted against night sky

Cat contemplating taking over the world

Black mask with "Coffee goes here" printed on it

Friend bought this one!

 

Canadian Maple Leaf Flag masks for sale at https://www.redbubble.com/people/BitterGrounds/shop?asc=u

Canadian Maple Leaf Flag masks for sale at https://www.redbubble.com/people/BitterGrounds/shop?asc=u

Most of the designs worked on masks. I’ve begun to focus on a lot of vintage stamps and aviation, so if you have a collector in your family, check out the store in a week for more philately and aviation related items. In the new year, I’m going to go heavy on both topics.

Shirts and sweatshirts too!

Coffee stain face with a lightbulb over the face

I have a couple “Coffee Stain Carl” images on the back burner

Graphic tshirt with large ink stains & slogan Carry/Spill/Repeat

Came up with this one after I dropped a bottle of ink on the floor.

Canadian flag sweatshirts

Show your Canadian pride with a sweatshirt

Most of the above designs were created over the summer months, while I was hiding out from the world. They started as doodles and sketches that gradually morphed into full-fledged shirt designs. I especially like Coffee Stain Carl (the first image). The original, was a coffee-stained note that I doodled eyes and a lightbulb on, giving me a bad case of the giggles. After refining the stain, tidying it up and finding the perfect lightbulb, CSC was born. A couple new images are in the works for the new year.

How about throw pillows?

Vintage airmail labels on a pillow

Vintage etiquette labels

One of the pillows sold shortly after it went up on the site! Colour me impressed.

Or journals

White hard covered journal with a circle stain face and light bulb

I designed quite a few journals because I use them all the time.

I have hardcovered journals scattered around the apartment. Each one is assigned a different task, so you can never have too many. You can grab soft covered notebooks as well.

Stickers, magnets, and water bottles

Magnet with Airmail symbol

Lots of stickers and magnets too

Water bottle with a skyscrapper photo on it

Dizzying optical illusions

Not sure if my fridge can hold any more magnets. Or maybe the magnets are holding the fridge together?

Bags of all sorts

Tote bag with a full picture of a dragon fly on a moss green background

Dragon flies are popular

Show your Canadian pride with a Maple leaf backpack

Or a knapsack?

 

Linear art work on a duffle bag

Took hours to get this design right

Black duffle bag with paint stains

Duffle bags look best with lots of colours

It’s been fun thinking of how to adapt my designs to viable products. The best part is how I can add and remove items whenever I want to make a change, so nothing will become stale on the store page. Drop by Bitter Grounds’ Shop and support the magazine. If you purchase anything, send me a photo when you get it. I’d love to hear from you.

 

 
 

Death in the time of a pandemic

Death in the time of a pandemic tends to make you feel isolated. Mom ran out of time last night. She died quietly and peacefully shortly after midnight, after years of serious health problems, with humour and an undiminished sense of “screw you cancer”.

For quite a few years, Mom and I took a hard journey with chemo, radiation, surgeries and more doctor visits than either of us cared to remember. It wasn’t always easy, but we did it – together. Along the way, we learned a lot about each other and had a lot of laughs. I met mom – the woman. And let me tell you she was fucking amazing. Funny, resilient, compassionate and smart.

It was difficult trying to work, write and help mom. Often, I pushed projects aside because I wanted to spend the time with her. I knew we were on borrowed time and I wasn’t going to waste any of it. It felt, at times, as though we’d just get settled into a routine and then mom would become ill or something would happen. For about 5 years, I’ve been living on high alert, waiting for the bad news, rarely sleeping the entire night. It was hard to concentrate and stay focused, but I tried the best I could, which, at times, was not terribly good. But our motto was “we’ll just muddle along”. I’m thinking of creating a banner with that on it and hang it on my door.

It was lonely, waiting, listening to people moving around outside the room and not being part of it. I spent hours looking out the hospital window, down onto a normally frantically busy street. Never was it clearer we are in the middle of a crisis – rush hour boiled down to 6 cars and a handful of carefully distanced pedestrians. It contributed to a general feeling of disconnection from the world at large and the lack of movement outside those windows amplified that sense.

Mom was always my rock. We helped each other out and were there regardless. Lazy summer nights sitting on the balcony sipping tea and chatting. Random jokes no one else will quite understand. Long, walks to test mom’s endurance after her various surgeries. She was proud of how she handled the devastating effects of cancer. I was proud to be at her side the entire journey. I didn’t want to say goodbye but there was no choice. I feel selfish because I didn’t want to let go.  But it was time.

Despite the overwhelming sense of loss, I can’t help feel, I was one of the lucky ones. I could stay with mom throughout.  I wasn’t going to be haunted by the knowledge she died alone, like so many during this pandemic. One of the nurses even found a big bark-o-lounger they dragged into the room so I could sleep there with her and I got trays of food to keep me going. Originally, they thought she would be gone quickly, but mom being mom, did things on her own schedule.

She hung on for over a week, unconscious and mostly unaware of the world around her. That’s ok, I fancied she could hear my running monologues with her, talking about rearranging the apartment (we lived together), deciding what shows to watch while waiting and talking about how quiet the world had become. I read her news, played some of her favourite YouTube videos and often, just sat quietly holding her hand. Occasionally I felt her squeeze my hand, whether that was a spasm or she was aware of my presence, I don’t know. To my heart, she was aware.

She’ll be bitterly missed. Every day I’ll think of her and how quiet life is without her in it. She would sing in the kitchen when she got up to get breakfast, and this morning was brutally quiet. The silence was painful. But in the wider scheme of life, like I said,  I’m lucky. Others aren’t going to be able to say goodbye to people they love. The pandemic means they don’t have the luxury of spending a week just talking to their mom. I  had that chance.

So now, I am a card-carrying member of a wider club of daughters who have lost their mothers – I referred to it as the Sad Daughter’s Club when a friend lost her mother last year. When the quarantines and distancing are over, those of us in the club (and the Sad Son’s Club members) will get together, hug one another and share memories. Eventually, things will be better.

And one last thought. I wisely decided to not follow one of mom’s ideas – split her ashes up into envelopes and mail them off to people with the note “Guess who”.

UPDATE:

Coping with Grief Guide – Affordable Burials And Cremations Toronto

I’ve changed the focus of this entire website, and this was one of the last non stamp related articles. I’ve left it hear, because … well … because. I write about things that bring me peace now. And that means stamps. Lots and lots of articles about stamps. I’m slowly indexing them here Index of Stamp Posts | Bitter Grounds Magazine

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