Queenly Things

I'm back, finally

2006-12-12T14:03:00.000-08:00

But not for long. I've transferred my blog tothis place I'll see you there.

Through the looking glass

2006-11-29T07:53:00.000-08:00

It never ceases to amaze me that there is, truly, a universal consciousness. I mean what else explains the fact that so many people are tuned in to the same feeling and emotion at the same time. It's taken me a while this morning to get words on the blog. I probably "saved as draft", oh, I don't know, 15 times. Couldn't put a complete idea on the page, couldn't finish a sentence. So I went reading OPB's (other people's blogs) and found a lot of deep stuff out there, pensive writings and purging kinds of things.

Reflection seems to be the word of the day. The season certainly ellicits profound and penetrating thoughts. But let's do something else today, 'kay? I want you all to stand up, shake off that shroud, get the blood moving through those cold hands, stomp your feet, and let's take a trip. I would if I could take you all on this cruise back in time to Hawaii in the 30' like the poster. It would be nice to grab on to that sea turtle on the bag there and have her pull us through the warm ocean waving at dolphins and skimming the kelp gardens along the way. But today let's just stay closer to home. Today let's just go back to your favorite day ever. A day that was perfect. A day when everything was in sync and smiles just shone from your lips. Remember what you had on? Can you picture what you ate that day? Who was with you?

Did you feel like the Queen of the World that day? Yeah? Well, you get to be Queen today, too.

By decree I dub you all Queen of your World

Come join me up here. We'll do all that other stuff tomorrow.

...and red all over

2006-11-28T08:05:00.000-08:00

I did a little more thrifting last weekend. My secret thrift store was set up for Christmas and I went hog wild. This is but a bit of the stuff I hauled back. Love how it all matches.
First off there's this great candy cookbook. I mostly bought it for the cover art. It's from 1934. I love seeing how things were back in the day, back when people made candy, pulled taffy and glaceed fruit. Instead of going down to the mall to get it, I mean.

I also picked up my angel wings. They're little ones, maybe for a cabbage patch doll or something but they are beautifully made and my own pair was getting a little woebegone. I'll just keep them on hand, you know, just in case.

Swedish stars - aren't they cute. I got dozens of them

Then these little darlings were 25 cents. For both. I don't have a plan for them but I needed to have them. Isn't that the way we do it, though?

And one other ounce of red - these four little cloths. I think they're meant to be cocktail napkins but I'm not sure. I loved the little birds, however so I couldn't resist.

I've come to a time in my life where I much prefer thrift shopping to any other kind. Partly it's the hunt and adventure. But more than anyhting it's the uniqueness of the merchandise. My new goal is to hit all the rummage sales I can find. Thrift stores have become fairly mundane around here as I gather they have in many places. They get picked over by collectors. But at rummage sales there's still a fighting chance to get great stuff. I'll share.
Later, my taters

Long time no see

2006-11-27T07:44:00.000-08:00

Back to school after five days and everyone has forgotten how to act, grown-ups as well as students, so I've exhausted my supply of words already and it's only 8:30 in the morning. So lots of pictures, being worth 1,000 words each.
This is how I spent the time away from you.
First off I finished a christmas card for the fairy swap; one card, one ornament. Mine are going to England. I was a little intimidated about the card. As I think I mentioned I visited my partner's blog and she is a very good artist. I wrestled with illustrating the card. I wrestled with fairy-ness and finally I did this. No illustration, no fairy-ness. What a wuss!

But I am rather proud of the rest of my accomplishments. This is a little hat I've made for a friend's granddaughter. It's from the now-familiar sweater that I cut up. She will look adorable in it. She's quite the fashion plate.

Then from another sweater I fashioned this clutch bag. This came together like a dream. The color is yummy peacock blue and the lining fabric is a piece of Tracy Porter fabric I picked up one day. I think the combination rocks! (She said modestly)

Then because I wanted instant gratification I crocheted up a bunch of flowers and embellished them with buttons. Many of you will probably recognize a lot of goodies that you, yourselves, provided for me.

I got all my 10 ornaments made for swaps, wrapped them up and here they are like little soldiers, ready to march to the post office. (if only!!!)

I am glad to read that you all had a good Thanksgiving. We did, too. So much good food, although I'm kind of over turkey for a few days.
It's good to be back.

Turkey Trot

2006-11-21T07:21:00.000-08:00

The trotting will be done by me racing around trying to get stuff done. Went to Costco last night-I try to go there as infrequently as possible because it's so hard to shop. I must have been backed into, run over and halted by cart traffic just about every turn I took. On the plus side I managed to have a 5 course meal in samples - Hummus on crackers, bacon, chicken pot pie, bbq chicken wings and raspberry-chocolate cheesecake for dessert. But now, with the shopping done, the fun times begin. My mission tomorrow - decorate the table. Then, on Thursday morning, fueled by very strong French Roast, I will make a pumpkin pie with caramel-pecan crunch topping, sweet potato souffle, corn pudding, blue cheese bites, and chili-cheese crackers. Not one thing is lo-cal. I'm using butter and cream and sugar, marshmallows, cheese and bacon. No scrimping on the fat for Thanksgiving. No trying for healthy. This is a day for over-indulgence and no worries about waistlines.
No school tomorrow which means a five-day weekend looming ahead. Plans are to finish up swap stuff and send everything out so there's time to get going on gifts for family and friends. Five. Whole. Days. Whooooo-hoooo!
I wish you all a very full, festive Turkey Day. I'm thankful that all of you are part of my world, now. A hug to each and every one of you.

Good Morning Starshine

2006-11-20T07:42:00.000-08:00

Everyone it seems is getting so much done. I've been visiting blogs this morning and my goodness gracious, people have been busy. Me, too.

I am up to my middle with stars to send out for the ornament swaps I've become involved in. You've seen some of the stars in previous posts and now the little shiny things are being gathered together to form galaxies.

The tips of fingers hurt from pushing a big needle threaded with wool through felted stars. I'm pretty sure the glue on my skin will be there until next spring. And it's fairly clear that my work spaces will continue in delightful disarray until the 25th.

Some of you might notice familiar paper, yarns and other tidbits. I am using everything I have within the color scheme of brown, pink, sky bue and red.

I started a lot of the stars earlier in the month but they needed some tweaking. I decided what they needed was a touch of red.

Attaching the stars to the trim was a solution I had been unable to come up with. Then Saturday morning I just woke up with the idea...Buttons.

I got about half of the strands of stars completed while watching Midsomer Murders yesterday. I'm pretty confident that I can get the rest done before the due date of December 1st.

Next step is figuring out how to get those puppies to their new owners - I'm thinking padded envelopes but we'll see. Another day, another dilemma.

I feel like the slow elf in Santa's workshop, though. Look at Mary Ann and Miss Teresa. Those ladies are going to get a gold star this week.

A Turkey of a W.I.P.

2006-11-17T08:03:00.000-08:00

After a slow start, really, after a no-start, we are finally getting it together for Thanksgiving at our house. Most years there are lists of who's coming, who makes what and what to buy long before November's shadow darkens our threshold. This year, well as of last week, we hadn't actually even discussed Thanksgiving in any kind of meaningful way.

So Saturday and Sunday will be all about polishing silverware, ironing tablecloths, choosing recipes and shopping. We'll also be chopping and peeling and stirring and tasting. Mixing and measuring, going up the stairs and back down in a flurry of preparing for the big pig-out day.

We will only be eight people but we are eight people who are pretty demanding about the food we fix and eat. We like to show off with new dishes and we look forward to all the old favorites.

The table should be beautiful and the smells emanating from the kitchen, intoxicating. There will be football on the TV and big band on the radio.

Getting ready for a big meal is so much of the fun. This year I will be making the sweet potatoes, the vegetables, a dessert and an hors'd'oeuvre. Tomorrow I will read through the recipes I have collected and select the ones I have been waiting to test out on this Thanksgiving.

There are beautiful leaves on the ground everywhere and those will be collected to add to the displays of dried flowers and pumpkins already out on the mantle and sideboard and table.

But Saturday night all preparations will cease as the family gathers to see the boy who, seriously, last week looked like this

But today somehow looks like this.

Let me introduce you to Mikey, my grandson, who has the role of "the drunk uncle" in The Philadelphia Story. We'll all be in the audience cheering him on Saturday night. It looks to be a full and pretty fulfilling weekend. What have you all got planned? (Wasn't that a shameless display of grandmotherly devotion?)

Q is for...

2006-11-16T07:39:00.000-08:00

Not QUITE in focus, but that isn't what I was going to say. No.
Qis for QUANDRY. What to make, how do I start this, is it good, will they like it, do I like it? These questions are familiar, I know, because I read them in so many blogs. Mary Ann wrote about it yesterday and Miss Teresa wondered about it a month or so ago. I'm in it right now. I signed up for this Fairy Christmas Swap. The brief is to make an ornament and a card. Easy enough. I'm making nine ornaments for this swap so another one won't be a problem. But the card thing... I had ideas, tons of ideas, but, see, they required me illustrating fairy things and ethereal stuff and , wow, that felt like a big challenge for someone who is not all that confident in her drawing skills. Then I went to the website of the person to whom I'm sending this ornament and card and she is a painter and she is a really good painter. And I checked out her blog friends and they are really good artists, too and I am putting myself in a needless dither I know but right now I am paddling upriver without an oar. Not to worry, I'll get there, sopping and bedraggled, perhaps, but I'll get there. Q is not for QUITTER.

Q is also for QUEST. The quest for the perfect ATC. I spotted a swap on swapbot for ATC Newbies. Only have to make three cards. Why not? So last night I buckled down to the trading card business. Geesh, I must have cut up 2 reams of paper and miles of trim before I came up with these. Like 'em, don't love 'em. Letters, courtesy of sweet Mary Ann and the red rimmed tags I have been saving forEVER and finally decided to use a few. The plaid is the back of a loteria card and the little marigolds are the last three in my bag of tricks. The perfect ATC? Yeah, I'm thinking, actually hoping, that I won't come up with it just yet, 'cause then the fun of trying would be over. No QUALMS.

Q is for QUIXOTIC, foolishly impractical. That would be me. But don't you think that impractical is the definition of the QUINTESSENTIAL artist and crafter? What's practical about spray glitter and gold doilies? I make crowns for crying out loud - there is nothing practical about crowns.

Unless you're a QUEEN

Arts and Crafts

2006-11-15T07:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the mailman left me all sorts of goodies. You know how it is feast or famine. You go for weeks and... nothing. Then one day a treasure trove of neato stuff. This is the neato stuff I got and it put me to thinking. So, watch out. Thar she blows!!!
I received Craft which I had totally forgotten that I'd ordered. Nice surprise!! I stumbled on a column written by Jean Railla. Her entry was titled Why Making Stuff is Fashionable Again. She posits four theories about why, and two of them absolutely fit when I tried them on. Her theory #1; "crafting allows us to make art out of everyday life" and #3 "crafting allows us the experience of the tactile world...making something that you can touch, wear or inhabit is satisfying on an almost spiritual level."
I have always crafted or done art, truly, for as long as I can remember. My mom was teacher and would bring home all the "dittos" that she gave to her third graders for me to color, or cut and paste. When I was in 7th grade I learned to sew. It was simple to whip up a cotton shift or a cute little wool mini a-line skirt. With my $5-a-week clothing allowance I was stylin' - I could make a skirt every week if I wanted and buy a top and knee-highs to match the next. I sewed because it gave me more choices - I could decide on the fabric. the length and the style which wasn't (and isn't) always possible when you buy off the rack. And I could have more clothes because the cost of sewing was considerably less than retail shopping. Later as a young mother with a very limited budget, I sewed and crafted to make my home beautiful, to make cute customized clothes for my kids and myself because I couldn't afford to buy goods of the same quality in the stores. My girls got to an age when they didn't want to wear handmade clothes - they were into labels - so I stopped sewing for them but I made clothes for myself because I didn't have the funds to buy what I liked nor could I find a lot that liked in the department stores.
When I was single mom, I went back to college and took a graphic arts program. I made art everyday and it was one the best times in my life. I took drawing and illustration classes, silk screening, painting, calligraphy and lettering. Oh, I was in heaven. After getting a degree, I did fine art and had a couple of shows. I was still in the mix. Still creating all the time.
I moved out of the country and found that I was forced to make my own clothes again because the offerings were slim and pretty much ugly. As a teacher I made art for the classrooms and encouraged my students to make art ,as well.
Then I moved back home about eight years ago, home to California. I was kind of broken. I had left a damaging relationship and I moved in with my mom. I found the job I still have here at the high school. It is very satisfying - I love the kids, and up until a few month ago I also had a night job at a restaurant to give me more income so I could go out to dinner, buy clothes, take vacations. But for those last eight years I didn't really do anything creative. I was becoming a grumpy old lady. I was sleep deprived from all the hours I worked and I really had no life because I was either working or vegged out. It wasn't pretty.
Last spring I quit the restaurant gig. Not a financially sound decision but I had to change something. I started browsing blogs about that same time and really got inspired. I thought, well I have no money this year, I'll have to make Christmas presents and I just plowed in. I took inspiration from all these incredible women who not only had the wherewithal to craft and create but, also, to write about it in posts. Those women and their blogs propelled me forward. Today I am a blogger and just about every day I create something, and I write about it. I am rarely grouchy and I cannot wait to get home a work on a project, take pictures of it and share it the next day. I have made some friends along the way. The statement on my profile says "learning to have a life." I think soon I will have to change that. I'm pretty sure I have one now. I can't afford anything in that Anthropologie catalog, but I can create something that looks just as hip and probably make it better and you bet, for way less cash.

I know you are probably tired of reading. That was a lot of spewing but please take a minute to look at this lovely merchandise I got from Posy Press. I ordered it from etsy and it's even cooler than I expected. I got a bunch of fabulous handmade cards.( Hey, Jen and Amy, I want to learn how to do that.) and then a sampler bag of vintage ribbons and buttons that are so cute I'd like to pinch their cheeks. That's what I'm talking about. This is what all of us need to be doing. This is a life - creating and gathering great stuff, passing it along, working in your art. It's fabulous.

Gooder'n grits

2006-11-14T07:47:00.000-08:00

There's nothing better than scooching down into a comfy bed on blustery, wet evening and jumping into a mystery. This is what I've been jumping into lately.
The craft books are pretty good, the "Second Time Cool" one being the best. In fact, I might pass the other two on to my college-going niece. Cutting felted sweaters apart is really great fun. Often you can get three or more projects out of one sweater. I've been making hats and tea cozies but I'm inspired to make purses and wrist warmers and gloves with my newest acquisitions.

Last night I really did do a lot but most of it is confidential. These cute little roses will be lapel pins for friends. I want to crochet leaves but the first pattern I tried didn't come out quite the way I'd hoped. They only take minutes so I figure I can experiment a little.

Here we have a little stash of paper stuff for people with paper obsessions, not naming names, but it gives me a warm cozy feeling knowing I'm not alone, not the only one out there with this addiction to paper.

And here we have the results of Mary Ann's card challenge. That woman is a mad crafter and she keeps us on our creative toes. I love that she is so unwavering in her devotion to crafting and motivates us all to higher levels of production.

I have been busy and industrious and it feels good, especially at this time of year. I get a thrill out of fashioning gifts for folks I care about and to just exercise my imagination. All the swaps, official and casual, really get me moving when my first inclination is to plop down in front of the tube and veg out every night. Every night I go home thinking about what I will work on, what ideas I will pursue, what I will complete. It's fulfilling and really that's about as good as it gets.

C'mon Baby, Thrift and Shout

2006-11-13T07:55:00.000-08:00

You know you thrift so fine!!!!! Well, if I do say so myself!! Look at this treasure, will ya.

So, we went up to Tahoe and scoured the thrift stores. I was looking for materials to use in my crafting and I really scored big time! I got these two wool sweaters to felt. These are high calorie sweaters. The colors are so rich and the texture so buttery.

I have never found old wallpaper in a thrift store before but look at this roll, tootsies. And underneath are four brand new placemats with a damask print that is so totally all the rage. Who would give those up?

I picked up about four yards of mattress ticking for $1.50 and the multi-colored stripe is another sweater to cut up and have my way with. The colors of the stripes practically sing they're so in tune.

These are napkin rings, handpainted and very Scandinavian, sitting on top of a fat quarter of cotton flannel printed with the tiniest little blue flowers. No plans for either, I was just grabbing at goodies. The red fabric peeking out there is four yards of a blue and red bandana-print heavy cotton, $2. Shake it up, baby, now!!!!

This is an unusual find. Four placemats and four cocktail napkins on this rather somber gray linen with green ivy leaves silk-screened over the corners. I thought they were different enough to maybe come in handy someday - gosh don't ask me how. I was just glomming on to anything of interest. I was thrift-starved.

The almost complete set of amber-patina-ed dominoes. I thought I could work those punkins onto a crown...or not. I love game pieces, don't you. They conjure up images of families gathered in a den with a fire blazing, everyone laughing and having a good time together. Yeah, that wasn't exactly my family experience but I like the image, nonetheless. The blue print fabric is a tiny little mini-skirt (size 5) that I will gleefully cut up and use in my holiday ornaments. (What? I'm not saying just because some one somewhere wears a size five that...you think I'm jealous? No. I said gleefully because, well, cutting things up is fun, you know. Who even thinks about sizes. Not me. No. Never).

Here we have the detail of a square tablecloth that I just adore. The tulips are appliqued and the rest is embroidered on the softest white cotton. I think this samba-salmon color is one of my favorites.

I know I'm not being so very humble about all this loot I discovered but just so you can see that it was not ALL FUN, look at what we woke up to on Saturday. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Well no pain, no gain, they say but let me tell you "they" can take this snow and shovel it, I say.

Well, you know you got me going, girls, just like I knew you would!!!! Shake it, shake it, shake it, now!!!!

Here, There and Everywhere

2006-11-09T07:30:00.000-08:00

Last night I was here. I was all set up in my studio/bed ready to get going on Christmas ornaments, swaps you know. As you can see my studio/bed is very well organized and polka dotty.

My chair of choice is well-padded 'cause I spend a lot of time in it. It doesn't have wheels but I can scoot it, easily, into different positions at whim. Take special note of the work surface. It kind of sits on my lap bringing my work in to close view for the very intricate stuff I'm required to do. Granted, I have to be very careful while using an exacto knife not because I couldn't use some thigh reduction, only because my white bedspread would latch onto the bloodstains and never recover. The TV is right there, "Top Chef" the last two episodes. I have a bowl of ice cream sitting to the right. And...

And so...I got on with it
First there was the embellishment of the crocheted stars which I think looks adorable. I only had white so I colored that bright pink one with a gel pen. I think there should be something at the stem but I haven't decided what yet, so I have left the wires hanging. Pretend you don't see 'em

When I'd used up the flowers it was time to move on so I had I tried out the star pattern I want to incorporate. I got the idea from the most recent "Midwest Living" which, by the way, is a great resource even if you live outside of the Great Plains area. With all modesty I must say that they turned out just the way I'd hoped but I'm going to get some poster board and cut out a backing so the stars are stiffer and will last for more than one holiday season.

While waiting for the poster board I decided to fool around with ATC's. I just plowed in. No plan, no thought just snip, snip, glue, glue. You gotta admit I have it kind of easy with my last name being Queen and all. There's just a lot of material out there to work with. Step one, cut up some card stock. Step two, stamp it with my signature crown. I found a page from an old "Victoria magazine that was filled with pictures of Queen Victoria so a little piece of her went on each card. Then the name we share was stamped willy-nilly underneath.

Now the fun began. Glue on the frou-frou stuff like feathers and flower petals and glitter, oh my! I kind of got carried away, but hey, a queen must have her bling after all. And I have never been accused of having restraint.

The image needed anchoring and that's why I added the embroidered ribbon. I'm not completely happy with them, I think there's an unknown item missing, but I've set them to percolate for a few days...and by next Monday or Tuesday I should be able to tell what it is they need to be complete.

I hope everyone has a restful, rejuvenating three-day weekend. I'm headed to our house in the mountains. The forecast is for snow on Saturday. Me no like snow but I'm driving Ms. Mom. There are great thrifting opportunities up that way, however and my daughter and my sister might just drop by so let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!

Stars in my eyes

2006-11-08T07:40:00.000-08:00

The last few days have been so incredible, I've felt so loved and appreciated, and well, I didn't think it could get any better. But doesn't everything get better with...chocolate?

Yesterday afternoon a parent came by and dropped off this FIVE POUND box of See's chocolates. Yes, five pounds!!!! Of mixed chocolates!!!! Lord have mercy on my blooming butt!! She dropped off the FIVE-POUND box of chocolates to say thank you for all the help I'd been to her and her daughter. Really, I didn't do that much but whatever it was I guess it meant a lot to her. Isn't that always the way. Sometimes we have no idea how much we touch another person, in good ways and not so good ways. In any case, there's a big box of See's on my desk if you wanna stop by. Better hurry though 'cause the vultures have started ravaging the contents. (Don't you hate it when people leave the little brown papers in the box empty? It's like they think they're fooling you about taking one. Geeeeeesh.)

The stars in my eyes are these little gems. I really got going on crafting last night and managed to whip up several crocheted stars and gather together the matching papers for a little project I have in mind. You'll just have to wait to see it but what do you think of the colors? I am trying to keep it Christmasy without being toooooo Christmasy, if that makes sense. Always the maverick!

Some of that paper is from Teresa, from the big boxes of goodies she sent for the Pink and Brown swap not too long ago. I wish I could tell you more about this project but, well, frankly, I'm kind of making it up as I go along, "Zenning" it as it were. It's like I have a picture in my mind of what I'd like the finished project to look like but I haven't quite figured out how to get there and actually there are parts of it I haven't yet envisioned but...hey, that's what we do, isn't it? I'm happy to be creating something that someone else will, hopefully, enjoy.

Thanks to everyone for the great e-mails this morning. Love you guys. Group hug! Ahhhhhhhhh!!!

It's Good to be Queen

2006-11-07T08:57:00.000-08:00

In fact, it rocks to be queen. I got back to work yesterday after a week long vacation. This was on my desk to greet me when I came back. Notes from staff and kids and the dearest little pewter acorn a friend found while antique-ing. So my first day back was rewarding just knowing that I was missed. It's always great to feel wanted.

Then, I got home and waiting there was a box from Ohio. Curious. I wasn't expecting a box from Ohio. A card, maybe, but not a box. What could it be? Well, just take a gander at what it was. It was this incredible burst of Queen Bee colors, yellow and black and it was brimming with goodies. Was it from a swap? No. Was it my birthday? No. Was it in exchange for something I sent? No. It was Mary Ann, the very generous and thoughtful Mary Ann, who for no reason whatsoever, just sent out a box of wonderful loot to little ol' me here in California, just 'cause.

Look at the hat, at the pins, the ribbons, at the cups and scarves, and fabric from old quilts. Look at the charms, at the sewing notions, at the pillow case, at the trims and, oh yeah, more hats. And did you see that purse?

Aad Mary Ann, dear Mary Ann, just sent this out, to her never-met friend, me, here on the West Coast, a box of terrific and much-loved bits and bobs to me.

Even though she was suffering through weeks of hell with grading English papers and barfing daughters, she managed to find time, amidst all that harrowing yuckiness, to put together and mail a box of delicious and delightful and appreciated things to me.

And friends like Mary Ann are precious and few and far between. And because of my friend Mary Ann I have made friends with Teresa and Raesha and Jen B.
and that is why, it's good to be Queen.

Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit!!

2006-11-06T07:31:00.000-08:00

It's so very good to be home. We had a great time but I'm a little punchy having got in at 3:30 a.m., well, just about 4 hours ago, in fact, due to late planes and missed connections. Two places you should try to avoid - Atlanta Airport, any day and Las Vegas on a Sunday evening at midnight - craziness!!

South Carolina and Georgia were absolutely gorgeous. We were lucky and had great weather. We stayed 'pon top Edisto which means on Edisto Island. It's a resort place so a number of places were closed for the season and there's really not much to "do" except relax so every day we took a road trip off the island to experience what is a lovely area of our country.
These two photos are of the "backyard" of our condo. There are all sorts of warnings about not feeding or teasing the alligators. As if. One day, early on, my mom mentioned that she wished she'd see a alligator. I reminded her that as pristine as the resort was, it wasn't Disneyland and "seeing" an alligator, oh, say, under the stairs that lead up the front door at night probably wouldn't be that interesting. She agreed, sort of. I, on the other hand, was glad to keep the fauna at arm's length.

Each day we went on a different excursion. We went to Beaufort, Charleston and Savannah, and in each of those places we usually found a carriage or trolley to help us get acquainted with the sites and history.
Charleston was warm on the day we visited and the horse-drawn carriage ride provided a delicious breeze, as well as commentary on the port city. The homes are something to make a California girl's jaw drop. And look, they named a street after me. Now isn't that a dainty dish to set before the queen.

Savannah's homes are breathtaking, too, and the downtown area is fun to browse. While waiting to get in to Paula Dean's restaurant (so-so by the way) we popped into a shop full of the most beautiful wares. If you are ever in Savannah you have to check out The Paris Market. Look at these yummies I found. (Why does Blogger turn my pictures around?)

I have so many photos to show you (no groaning out there) but here are a couple to tease you. I don't know why the mannequin was on the street, this wasn't a a store, but you gotta love a place that styles a photo shoot for you. The one at the top of the post is another example.

I hardly ever take pictures of people being the misanthrope that I am, but golly, who needs humans when there are details like this stair rail to look at.

The days we moseyed on over to the beach were warm and pleasant. The islands are a great place to find sea shells. The scallop shells are smoky colors of brown and gray which I have never seen before.

I'm happy to be back, I missed writing and blogging and all my blogger friends. I'm happy to sleep in my own bed and see all the kids and all my friends here at school. I want to get going on lots of projects for swaps - my mind was working overtime thinking up stuff to make. Yeah, I'm as happy as a bird in a puddle to be back.

Now, I'm going to check out what you all have been up to while I was gone. Later Sugars

Po' Little Piggies

2006-11-04T06:13:00.000-08:00

This is what I've been dining on, yummmmm, at a delightful place here in Edisto called Po' Pigs Bo B Q. We had the buffet and that included, if I can remember everything, Fried chicken, pulled pork, sweet potatoes, chicken hash, red gravy, red rice, white rice, cream sweet corn, greens, lima beans, green beans, mac and cheese, squash casserole, hush puppies, and much much more. Definitely the best meal of the trip.

This is what we see as we drive to our condo. The beach is close by and full of shells. Yesterday we explored the little town of Walterboro. It is full of antique and collectibles stores and I scored a few goodies which I will let you see when I get home. The weather turned cold yesterday but is better today.

Back on Monday, have a great weekend!

In my mind I'm gone to Carolina

2006-10-31T17:21:00.000-08:00

Just a short post because I'm doing this in the rental office where we're staying.
These are pictures by some artists I have just discovered.

The cut paper is by Clay Rice. Last month I saw an article in one of the magazines about a woman who does cut paper pictures. More than silhouettes, she does elaborate and large works. Also, there is a guy that a lot of bloggers have mentioned lately, forgot his name, but he does fascinating thing with cut paper, using both the positive and negative parts of the cutting. Now I find Clay Rice who is local to South Carolina and look at this example of work. The universe is trying to tell me something.

This second artist is Jonathan Green. I saw an original of his in a bookstore in Beaufort, SC and WOW!!! Many of his paintings are the backs of gorgeously dressed black women. The colors are sparkling and they make me smile.
Today we went to Charleston. It is elegant and tropical and lush. We ate at Jestine's. I had fried okra and fried green tomatoes and a meatloaf sandwich. Last night we ate here in Edisto Beach at a wonderful place called the Old Post Office. I had pecan crusted fried quail with cheese grits and a Charleston Chewy cake for dessert. Hey, I'm walking a lot - no worries.
I'll try to get back to the computer tomorrow. Until then...

Queen of the World

2006-10-27T08:55:00.000-07:00

And I've got the sign to prove it!!

New camera in hand I was able to capture a bit of what I've been up to. I got my apron finished and I can show a little corner. I love this fabric! It is the softest cotton, it really feels like it has been washed over and over again for years.

And this little sweetie is a pin cushion that I fashioned from little ollitas from Mexico. The picture is rotated, Blogger did that all but itself. That's a nice little service, no?

This picture is to show you why I probably had trouble with my apron. This is where I was sewing. Our downstairs is full of stuff from the kitchen remodel (SIX MONTHS AND COUNTING) so I set up a tray table in the guest room and sit on the bed. Wacky, huh?

Time is racing by today. I'm off to the South tomorrow, where there's honey in every accent and on every biscuit. I will post if I can. Sure to be lots of photo ops and me with my new camera, tra la!

I just want to show you these silhouettes that the art class did. They lent me some to decorate my desk. Spooky!!!

Happy Halloween, y'all (do you like my accent? I'm practicing)

Boo! (not boo hoo!!)

2006-10-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

I got a camera - that's the first bit of good news. The photography teacher here at school has lent me one to use until I can buy another and it's even niftier than the one I had. Second bit of good news - my readers of this blog may be few but they are the best ones ever!!! Everyone should wish for such goodness in friends. Thanks, ladies. And three - the apron is coming right along and should be done on time. Order is restored in my little world.
Next week I'll be heading off to places heretofore unknown to me, Georgia and South Carolina. I have my own personal trip advisor, Teresa who has set me up with an enviable itinerary. including little towns to snoop around in, places to eat on a Sunday and Halloween ghost tours. She has also been the guide for my travel wardrobe - warning me of impending cold weather and possible freezing temps. I'm ready, I'm prepared and I'm excited.
Every year for the past decade or so, my mom and one or more of her three daughters have gone on an autumn trip to somewhere new in the lower 48 states. We've been to Iowa, Cape Cod, The Outer Banks, San Clemente, and this year we will explore the coast of Georgia and South Carolina. I am really looking so forward to the cuisine - Southern food is one of my favorites - grits and biscuits and sausage gravy - all lo-cal, of course, is my breakfast of champions. Then there's all the seafood, yum, I never miss a meal on vacation!!! I hope to trip around thrift stores and find folk art and go to the beach and marvel at the architecture and dream of where I would live and what I would do if I could move there. Now that I have a camera again I can post pictures and my blog from the road - a regular Charles Kerault.
The world is so full of a number of things we all should be as happy as kings or queens.

Loteria

2006-10-25T09:22:00.000-07:00

Last night I went home to make an apron for a swap I'm involved in and it was one of those situations when, despite my care and attention, a project refuses to be done easily. I had issues picking out contrasting material. I thought I had several to choose from and in the end none of them worked. Anyway, I solved that dilemma by deciding to make the entire apron out of the one fabric and trim with some print bias fabric that I have. I guess I thought this whole apron making adventure wasn't going to take a huge chunk of time and it was taking a long time to do everything and the bias tape didn't go on easily and the tension messed up on the hem and at that point, after 2 1/2 hours of wrangling pins and needles and bobbins and such and the room looked like the calico cat and the gingham dog (or is it the reverse?) had finished there fight in my spare room - well, I just bagged it, left everything everywhere in a mess and went into my bedroom. Just gave up!!
An hour later I had calmed down some when I remembered that I had promised to make an apple cake for today. Jumped up, ran to the kitchen and started peeling apples. The batter didn't look right. I hadn't made this particular recipe for a couple of years. There wasn't much batter, mostly apples. Another failure? I shoved the darn thing in the oven and crossed my fingers. Wow! It turned out great, moist and delicious and I had hope that all was going to be right with the universe. The cake looked so lovely. I whipped out my camera so I could show blogland how great this cake is and what a miracle had occured in my kitchen. And I took those pictures and they turned out beautifully, also and then, in all the joy and glory - I dropped my camera. I dropped my camera and it landed on the hard Mexican tile floor. I dropped my camera and...I think I killed it. And all the great words I had in my head to tell you about how when things look like there not going right, when the stitching on the apron is crap and the cake batter looks like something a three-year old would concoct, when ideas don't come for the Christmas ornament swap -= well, I was going to say, don't give up, just keep plugging on because you will succeed, blah, blah, blah. Then I killed my camera and nothing was right in the world.
This morning I tried to get someone to revive my camera. The man at the camera store was uncharacteristically nice but said no go. The man at Frys, the least customer-friendly store on the planet, told me I couldn't buy a new camera today because they were remodeling that aisle of the store, only that aisle. I could see the camera I wanted just out of reach but no, I would have to wait until tomorrow if I wanted to buy it. Yes, and he will probably have to wait until hell freezes over for me to even consider going back to buy one gosh-darned thing there. So now I am without a camera. I know that I can overcome this. But I love writing this blog and I love taking pictures to put up on this blog and now I won't be able to for awhile and the whole situation, well, it's really getting me down. And it feels like the earth has shifted of its axis. Yes, I am being a baby. Many things are more important than this, almost everything is. But I feel glum.

In my room

2006-10-24T09:48:00.000-07:00

It's where I do almost everything - in my room. My mom looks in sadly and says, "I wish you had some better place to work." But over the years I've made my room the most comfortable nest and like a gawky bird, I fly out now and again to get food or supplies to bring back to my room where I prefer to be.
Often, when I'm home alone, I bring a tray up with my dinner to eat in front of the TV. Food is limited to things that don't need to be cut with a knife - that's a little hard, really I pretty much go the fingers-as-tools route when at all possible.
My room is where I read - I have the balance of pillows down to a science. The big down pillow at my left to balance the arm with the book leaving the right hand free to turn pages. Head propped up by one pillow set horizontally behind one set on its end to keep my head and neck from hanging in painful positions.
My room is where I talk on the phone and write letters and cards, where I go through cookbooks and design menus and make shopping lists and where I try to finish my Sudoku puzzles, one each night.
My room is also where I do pretty much 100% of my crafting. That's why my mom shakes her head when she finds me chin-deep in yarn and bits of wool, working on my crowns or Christmas presents, glue tottering from my work board and glitter and needles, pins and markers always close to becoming a disaster on the comforter on my bed. It conjures up an image right out of a Dr. Seuss story.

My room is, also, where I sleep and my bed has been made plush with feather pillows and feather pads and wooly blankets. Most nights I nod off reading or watching TV in velvet comfort. Some nights, though, as most of you experience, sleep doesn't happen for all the thoughts swirling and eddying behind my eyelids. Last night was like that - I had a kaleidoscope of ideas and concerns and "to do's" and "what if's" clicking around. I don't think I relaxed and fell asleep until after 2:00 a.m. Not good when the alarm goes off at 5:30.

I needed solid ideas and I had too many bits and bobs of ideas, that was the reason I couldn't get to sleep. I have three swaps I am preparing for. I like to be ahead of time when it comes to getting the goodies ready for these swaps, so although many of the deadlines are far ahead on the calender, I hate to be doing things at the last minute scrambling at the end. Last night I was rolling over ideas for apron swaps, ornament swaps and Christmas card swaps in my brain for hours and actually, I didn't come up with much in the way of solutions though I kept running pieces of ideas through the machine
This morning while taking a shower, hot water washing away the sleep in my eyes, I remembered so many of the art classes in college and how we had to come up with new ideas and projects on a weekly basis and how in hell did I manage that? And I remembered "Zenning" my work, that's the term we came up with. We'd "Zen" a project by letting the parameters of it sit in our minds, snippets of ideas percolating , not dwelling on it until one day, seemingly without effort, the vision of what you were to produce came fully formed into your mind's eye. We would let loose of the urgency of getting the project done and just store the thoughts away to form themselves into a whole concept and every time, every single time we were ready to make the project come to life, the idea for it was there in our heads. It always worked. SO that will be my plan. No more sleepless nights trying to come up with ideas for Christmas ornaments and Christmas cards. The ideas will come if I open my mind up for them. They'll come just in time, I'm sure. Ohmmmmmmmmm

I Wish You All Could Be California Girls

2006-10-23T08:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I chose that title because I was going to brag about our summer weather here in the Golden State. We have enjoyed 85 degree sunshine for the last four or five days. But then this morning - look what we woke up to. FOG!!! Yes, it will burn off and yes, it will probably be 80 degrees this afternoon but right now it looks like wet winter on weck!! Sooooooo.... Now I wish you all could be California girls so we could get together for dinner or brunch or a weekend at the beach and drink wine and talk crap just have a good ole' time.

I spent most of my weekend in the kitchen, cooking and baking and in the dining room stuffing my tummy and hanging with the family. On Saturday we were graced with the very rare appearance of my younger daughter Erica and her husband Sean for brunch. They were going to a concert in town so we all got together for ....What else, food. Erica is a vet and is interning this year at a big animal hospital. Her free time is almost non-existent. I haven't actually seen her since June. SO to celebrate I made brunch for everyone, my other daughter Megan came with her husband and my delightful grandson Mikey was there, too. I made scrambled eggs, sausage (turkey for the non-red meat eater, veggie for the vegetarian and pork for the rest of us) ham, muffins and scones and my very easy hash browns: two pounds frozen shredded hash browns, one can cream of celery soup, one pint sour cream, a bunch of grated cheese, half an onion chopped and half a can of French fried onions. Mix it all together and put in greased pan, Bake 1 1/2 hours until it's crispy. Top with remaining French-fried onions. It is sooooo not low-cal. I think I got the recipe on the All Recipes website. What I really liked and was easy to do was sliced pears and apples drizzled with olive oil and then sprinkled with salt and fresh rosemary and broiled. That was delicious. The recipe came from epicurious.com. We ate and ate and ate some more. We talked and laughed and told stories. I love having my girls home.

No sooner had we packed away all the leftovers and finished drying the last dish, than I started preparing my Sister's birthday dinner. We celebrated her day on Sunday. I have been wanting to make a roast like I sampled in England this summer. I roasted a loin of pork and had mash and veg and sticky toffee pudding for dessert. My niece came up from university to join us and that made it all the more special. Cooking is a passion for me but it is never as much fun as when I cook for my family. I love sitting around after we eat, telling stories that we have heard a hundred times but always find funny, usually about the youngest members but everyone is fair game. I always feel so lucky on the special occasions that we are family.

I did manage to get a couple of crafty things in. I'll let you know about these soon.
Well, the fog is just now beginning to burn off and it looks like today will be a good day to be a California girl after all. I'd like to hang on to these last days of summer but I know that the frost is on the pumpkin and I will surrender to autumn...But maybe not for a few weeks yet.

Boxes and boxes of love

2006-10-20T07:41:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I was at a loss for words when I tried to post, but today I have so many words trying to tumbling out of my brain and down to my tap-tapping fingers that they will probably get garbled in the process. For this I apologize beforehand. The cause of my loquaciousness (loquacity?) is the absolutely jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring generosity of my Brown and Pink Swap partner Teresa. I knew to expect 2 boxes from Georgia. I knew they were coming this week. Truth be told, I walked up to the front stoop every afternoon with anticipation and yesterday, well, yesterday waht was waiting was beyond anything I could have imagined!
First off, look at these boxes. The care given to make the outside beautiful is just a hint to the care and thoughtfulness given to the contents.

I couldn't find the box cutter so I just grabbed a knife (shh, don't tell my mom) and started slicing away. Look what I found!!! Dozens of packages, each one wrapped and fit precisely into the big boxes. There wasn't a breath of space between them. I started to count the bundles but I got too excited and just opened them all with mad abandon, reading all the delightful messages attached to many.

I found this...

and this...

and some of this...

and WOW, look at this...

I she even sent this...

And the icing on the cake with the cutest little strawberry on top was this...

And I can, without reservation, say that I have never felt, in my entire life, so appreciated and loved as I did when I opened this gift. I love every little morsel and drop of everything that was in every package in every box. There were goodies to eat, gorgeous pieces of fabric, trinkets that will become part of the crowns that I make. There were bath luxuries and kitchen things. There was paper, oh my gosh, so much amazing paper. There were flower seeds and stamps and coasters and yarn and ribbon and thread and frames and , gosh, too many items to even list. It was an unbelievable sight.
At the risk of getting mushy, I will say that starting a blog, getting in a swap and making these new and wondrous friends has given my life a boost and a focus and a joy that makes me jump for joy and kick my heels up and boogie on down the road. I thank you Teresa for the incredible bounty and Mary Ann who started this lovefest of blogging and swapping. The gushing is not over but I'm going to keep it to myself for now.

I wish you all a fantastic weekend. I'll be playing with all my new stuff. What will you be doing?

Paper Frenzy

2006-10-19T07:33:00.000-07:00

I have a passion for paper, fabric, too, but a real jones for paper. I save paper from labels, I save paper that is wrapped around the newspapers every morning. I go through the recycling bin at school and grab paper scraps. When the library discards books I go through them and tear out the beautiful caramel-y sheets from the front and back. I save cool cards that I can cut up and re-use, I once saved a whole cupboard of paper sample sheets of card stock whose colors were out-of-date. Can you believe someone parted with THAT!! When I was in art school having the right paper was ever so important. The paper had have the proper weight for every project, the exact tooth necessary to propel the medium, be it marker, paint, or pastels, and of course, the color was all-too-important. I'm pretty sure that I will become one of those old ladies who has 6-foot piles of paper stacked in my garage with but a skinny path cleared to walk through to the freezer.

Knowing all that about me, you'll understand when I read onTeresa's blog that she had issued a challenge to make a postcard for someone who inspires us using one or more of the images that she provided, I was ready and willing for the fun. Here's what I came up with.
I had the very best time creating this - it is my first ATC-ish project. Definitely not my last. In fact I envision stacks and stacks of these in my future, (but not piled in the garage). Teresa, dear, thanks for the inspiration.
I have made such lovely friends these last couple of months through this blog; Teresa, Jen, Raesha, and MaryAnn among many more. Stop by all their blogs and introduce yourself 'cause they are some amazing women. I am in awe of how much they do and create.

Also, on the paper front, look at the cool swag I got from Jen's etsy shop. Vintage wallpaper - oh my gosh, look at this fabulous, marvelous paper. And Jen sent a couple little tidbits - the great "V" card, some delicate ribbon with green embroidery and a tag with - guess what? - a crown on it. I am such a lucky girl. This paper is so beautiful and there's scads of it. Do I have to use it or can I just take it out of the drawer now and again and drool over it?Oh, that might be messy, nevermind.

Well this paper chase is over. Have yourselves a great day. Curl up with the paper and relax.

Smells like teen spirit

2006-10-18T08:24:00.000-07:00

And it is a delightful scent. The Quad looks deserted at 7 a.m. but 'long about lunch time kids will be screaming their little hearts out trying to garner points for their class. It's Spirit Week here at our high school. A week of festivities leading up to the Homecoming game and homecoming dance. It is a week of yelling and screaming and dressing up and acting crazy, in a good way, and having a barrel of fun. The Student Council decides on the theme of the costumes - yesterday the staff had to wear P.J.'s and I lounged around in my grandson's reindeer-print, XXL, flannel pajammies with my own UGG's on my feet. It was a very comfortable day. General consensus was that it would be a wonderful way to come to school everyday. The kids' theme was salad dressing. Let me explain that - Freshmen were Healthy Choice. They dressed in athletic or exercise gear. The sophomores were Ranch dressing - dressed up as cowboys and farmhands. The juniors were Thousand Island - Hawaiian inspired and the seniors were Caesar Dressing and were toga-clad. I always dread the toga day because I invariably run out of safety pins and am challenged to find different ways of draping sheets around teenagers.
Today is Color Day. Each class has a color.
The color doesn't change from year to year. The Freshmen are always orange; the sophomores, red; the juniors, yellow and the seniors take on our school color, green. Wearing costumes and colors and yelling loud accumulates points for your class. The staff just lends its support by dressing up and showing all-around spirit. Most of us can't really choose one color so we dress in a combination that is nothing short of haute couture. Kids come by my desk all day to make sure I have worn their class color - Today I am sporting an orange shirt, red pants, a yellow sweater and green tennies. I am a vision. Look at the rest of us

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Tomorrow the staff has to dress like students, oh yeah I've got my very saggy blue jeans ready. It is going to be a challenge keeping them up (down) around my toosh. How do they do that, anyway? The kids have a whole schedule of costumes that includes babies and senior citizens, sophisticates and teenyboppers. Does it get any better than this?
The homecoming football game - I cannot wait. I am a rabid high school football fan. I go to every game, home or away, and I yell until I'm hoarse. I have accumulated all sorts of green gear - down jacket, fleece blankets, beanies, boots, gloves, scarves so that I can watch in warmth and school-colors.
Saturday is the Homecoming Dance. It's semi-formal. Okay, okay when I was in high school, when my kids were in high school, even, a semi-formal dance was a dance where the boys wore a suit and the girls wore tea-length or cocktail -length gowns. Formal dances were tuxedos and long dresses. Semi-formal and formal dances were like the Emmies and the Oscars. These days formal is still long gowns and tuxes but semi-formal? Well, according to the kids that means no jeans and only nice tennis shoes. Seriously! You gotta love 'em.
Right this second I have two kids at my desk - juniors - who are wrapping their legs in yellow caution tape. I have managed to unearth some yellow cloth tape from the bottom of a drawer and that is being employed to secure the caution tape around athletic shoes as big as boats and thighs as thin as pretzels. This is the best job EVER!!!

I didn't take a picture of myself today except for the pin on my yellow sweater. Didn't know I did modeling, did ya.

At a loss for words

2006-10-17T07:42:00.000-07:00

Nothing came to me this morning. I hadn't words to put down. I went to other blogs I enjoy reading hoping for inspiration. They were great and beautiful blogs but they made me feel all the more pathetically banal - nothing to say. SO today I'll do more show than tell, unless of course I find some words along the way.
Monday night is one of two nights that I watch lots of TV. I start with Wire in the Blood and end with Studio 60 . That is a lot of time for idle hands. So rather than succumb to the devil's work (as much fun as that might be) I put those hands to work and LOOK! I finished a tea cozy and covers for pan handles (I'm sure they have a name...???) and hot pads and a trivet. I really like them. I lined them all with the sweetest , softest red calico print. The calico would make a nice little apron to go with the cozy set.

I also finished the cell phone caddy for my buddy Liz whose birthday it is today - !!!Sapo Verde to you my Lizard friend!!! Once upon a time Liz didn't even carry a purse, she's a minimalist kind of girl. Then one summer while on a road trip she decided that my purse looked kind of handy - you know to carry things in and stuff. I lent her an extra one I'd packed and, well, she was hooked. Upon arrival back home she promptly bought a purse of her own. At last count I think she has three purses. And so it goes. She mentioned to me the other day that her cell phone was getting lost at the bottom of her purse and maybe I could show her how to make a felted bag for it. Yeah, yeah, I'll show her but in the meantime I just made her one. She is on her way to being an accessory queen, first the purse then the cell phone caddy she'll probably be wanting a lipstick case any day now. I have created a monster!!

So, I found a few words after all and I will leave you with one of my favorites - corazon. You gotta have corazon.

Fifteen Pears A' Drying

2006-10-16T10:21:00.000-07:00

Gloriosky, I had such a productive weekend. I got so many projects done. Some I can show you and some I can hint at and some I'll photograph tonight. First, the little pears you see, all lined up in rows are for Christmas. They are not for eating, don't worry, just decorative. I make them from an applesauce-cinnamon dough and there they are, drying in the window next to one of my mom's African violets. All though it's kind of messy get-your-hands-yucky project, this is my kind of fun. The work time is minimal, the objects turn out looking and smelling divine and when given as gifts these pears are very popular. Check out the recipe a couple of postings down. They are scenting the entire house. It's beginning to smell alot like...
Chili! That's what we had for Sunday dinner. Having a big pot of red on the stove all day, well it was just right for the weather and the mood. My mom was coordinating her harvest craft fair and went up the the city to visit her ailing brother. I was crafting like a mad woman all day and watching my Midsome Murders while I stitched and snipped and hooked and glued. Having a bubbling pot on the stove was just a luxury for us. My sister came over and we had Tequila Sunrises (why did these go out of fashion, again?), queso fundido (melted cheese) with chorizo, chili and its fixins, cornbread with honey butter, and rhubarb pie. Y'all want a join us some day for Sunday dinner just let me know.
What was I busy working on this weekend, mmmmm? Well, just bunches of goodies. First I went to Target and spent a small fortune on all kinds of neat-o things from the dollar bins. I am a sucker for dollar bins. I bought beads and letters and girly stuff and halloween stuff and stuff and more stuff. I carried a big ol' bag out to my car. Then, I had to sort evrything and put it away in my very organized (??!!) craft room. And then I just became a whirlwind of craftiness. Let's see, I finished some pot holders, a tea cozy and a little girl's hat from one felted wool sweater, then I crocheted a cell phone caddy and made a rose to attach to it. I made a crown ( see a peek of it here) and got stuff together for another swap I'm doing this month. Do you like the color scheme. I am intrigued by it. Orange and yellow and peacock blue... it is a happy group of colors to me. Maybe not to everyone's liking, though. We'll see what I can do with it all. Many times I just like to see the colors together, revel in the loveliness of them all banking off each other, sending sparks up and bouncing goodness into my eyes before I decide what to make of it all.
I also had to get my costumes ready for this week. This week is Spirit Week here at high school, the week leading up to homecoming. Everyone dresses up according to some major plan. Today each staff member has to find a partner and dress like twins. My office mate and I are dressed in black pants, orange blouse, black sweater and these ever-functional bat antenna. It's hard to look professioanl with wobbly-bobbly bat antenna swirling about your head. You know, people take you so seriously. Right after that little choke of laughter as they enter these hallowed halls of education and see me, us, the look of perplexity... It's two weeks before Halloween. We look like idiots and that is, indeed, the point. Each clas of students has a theme. Today the juniors dress up like 80's and it looks like there is a casting call for Flashdance II going on here. The seniors are hippies and peace buttons, love beads and headbands abound. Judging by the amount of yelling and cheering going on at lunch I'd say they were all having a great time. Tomorrow I have to wear P.J.'s to work. I only pray for a quick and uneventful ride into work in the morning.

So that's it from this old bat. More mañana.

Always have WIP on Friday

2006-10-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

All these pictures have pieces of works in progress. Most are items that will soon be incorporated into work I hope to be finishing this weekend. I have birthdays next week and some crowns to develop. I love making crowns!!!! Another work I'm very proud of is my lovely daughter and precious grandson you can see in the photo. My grandson is now a senior in high school so this was taken ages ago but, really, aren't they just adorable? Megan is a first grade teacher and Mikey does stand-up comedy - for real! They and my other daughter Erica are the joys of my life.

The berries and the buttons are headed for a crown for a very special lady. The red chair, too. I haven't made a red crown and I think it will be terrific fun. This bedroom kind of has a red, blue and pink theme going on. I'll use it as inspiration for the crown. (that little girl all bundled up in red is ME!!)

See that birdie? That birdie sings. Honest! When turned on every time there is a movement near by little birdie sings. It is the sweetest sound. Birdsong is a perk of a second-story bedroom like mine.

So ladies, while this posting is uninspired I am not. Gone Crafting!

Freeze Tag

2006-10-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

Teresa my new blog buddy has tagged me so I guess I must answer. Is this blog hazing? Is this what you guys do to us freshmen?
Okay, but remember I have kids and a grandchild who might read this so don't put large stock in the truthfulness of the answers, 'kay

Have You Ever:

Taken a picture completely naked? No. because I could never think of any reason to do such a thoughtless thing

Danced in front of a mirror naked? That was the other girl

Told a lie? Though my nose is back to its original length now, the answer to this is that I had my fingers crossed so it really shouldn't count

Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back? Yes, and I made a right fool of myself, too.

Been arrested? Moi?

Seen someone die? No, and it is a fear of mine.

Kissed a picture? I kiss the picture of Mikey, my grandson and his mad face every time I see it.

Slept in until 5pm? Napping is a passion but I have never slept IN that late. I have way too much fun to get on with to be sleeping the day away

Had sex at work? I work at a high school so that is just too gross to think about. Mary Jo Letourneau - eeeeww and do you remember the men teachers you had in high school? Yuck!

Fallen asleep at work? I haven't...zzzzzzzzzzzz

Held a snake? One time at Science Camp....... The picture still makes me proud of myself. I'm the kind of girl who won't touch pictures of slimey, creepy crawly things in books and magazines for fear of getting cooties.

Ran a red light? It was late. I was tired. The light was kind of hidden by tree branches and I was talking to someone, duh.

Been suspended from school? My parents were teachers. We didn't miss school for strep throat.

Pole danced? Like the polka, you mean? No. But Mary Ann is going to take me clog dancing someday.

Been fired from a job? Let me explain.

Sang Karaoke? People pay me not to. I sing in the car but only with the windows up and if I pull up at a light I start to hum.

Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? The will is strong but the flesh is weak. Need I say more?

Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? Everytime my friends and I get together. There doesn't even have to be wine involved.

Laughed until you peed? Oh My God!!!!! As if!!

Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Hello from California.

Kissed in the rain? In the tropics on the beach.

Had sex in the rain? In the tropics on the beach.

Sang in the shower? Have you been listening?

Gave your private parts a nickname? I am not very imaginative I guess, never even thought of it. I have named other people's private parts, though.

Ever gone to work without underwear? Panty lines are soooo last week..

Sat on a rooftop? Used to be we could sit on the roof on the 4th of July and see three huge fireworks displays.

Played chicken? I am the chicken in a car

Been pushed/thrown into a pool with all your clothes on? You mean like a swimsuit?

Broken a bone? Never, again the chicken thing

Flashed someone? I'm waiting to do this when I'm really old.

Mooned Someone? See above.

Skinny Dipped? Remember the beach in the topics?

Shaved your head? I am a child of the sixties and seventies - but I think that's another thing for the When I Am Old list

Slept Naked? Absolutely

Blacked out from drinking? Close

Played a prank on someone? Yes, but it backfired. I'm not very sneaky

Had a gym membership? why would I pay someone not to exercise?

Felt like killing someone? Ever been married?.

Cried over someone you were in love with? Too many times and never again. (yeah, right!!)

Had Mexican jumping beans as pets? Oh yeah, my sister was allergic to animals so this was as good as it got.

Been in a band? I used to play air Paul McCartney, does that count

Shot a gun? Yeah, and in spite of myself it was kind of fun

Shot a bow and arrow? We were forced to take archery in high school. Can you imagine doing that in these litigious times?

Played strip poker? Yeah, I won.

Donated blood? Yes but I should do it more often

Ever jump out of an airplane? It's on the life list

Been to more than 10 countries?? Yes, I have. I surprised myself with that answer. I've been to 11.

Falling, yes I am falling

2006-10-12T09:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've got to admit that I am. sort of, just a little bit, not tons but kinda, getting into the Fall spirit. I am NOT getting into the cold weather (hate cold weather!!) which is creeping in but I am enjoying the first touches of autumn such as it is here in California; the colors, and the pumpkins, the birds flying south over our coastline and the excitement of forthcoming holidays, the football games and Homecoming, which is next week here at our high school (that will be a whole 'nother blog post ) and well, I like the food - you know, chili and stews and apple pie, cornbread and squash and caramel. Yum!
This is my Autumn potpourri, though if truth be told I have it out all year. I have star anise in there and then my applesauce dough pears. These are so fun to make. You could actually make any shape you like. I like pear shape - reminds me of...ME. Anywhoooo. The way to make the dough is like this. Drain some applesauce to get the liquid out. I do this with a coffee-filter-lined sieve. I drain it over night in the fridge. Then the next day mix equal parts dry ingredients with the drained applesauce. The dry ingredients can be all cinnamon but that's a little extravagant for me so I mix the cinnamon with flour, white or wholewheat and also throw in a dash of cloves and nutmeg and whatever else strikes your fancy. Mix all that together until you have a nice stiff dough, adding dry stuff or applesauce until it's juuuuust right and then shape away. For the pears, I used whole cloves as stem and blossom end and then dried the tiny beauties for a day or two. They last forever and are virtually indestructable if kept dry. I belive most people make ornaments out of this dough, for Christmas trees. You folks are all so terriby clever I have no doubt you will find some new and crafty thing to do with it.

I went to the thrift store a couple Saturdays ago. I didn't photograph my finds. Sometimes I forget the blog way of things, but I did score this cheesy little candle ring with acorns. I love acorns. My daughter Megan always gets acron stuff from me 'cause she loves acorns. Acorns always make me think of when I was in Brownies for some reason - I haven't quite figured out why.
A lot of the stuff I got at the thrift store that day will appear in other forms as I have joined another swap (see sidebar) and I am making a card for a sort of exchange over at Teresa's blog. Next time I score thrift stuff I promise to take pictures. I love looking at other people's stuff so you might like seeing mine.

I will leave you with this gorgeous bouquet that the PTSA brought to display on my desk. If you look closely you'll see that I even have an autumn photo on my desktop. So I am truly falling and she keeps calling me back again.

Button, button, who's got the button?

2006-10-11T08:17:00.000-07:00

That would be me! I saw some buttons that Mary Ann ordered from Button Empire over at etsy and thought they would be perfect for some beanies that I intend to make so I went ahead and ordered some myself. It was my first etsy experience and all I can saw is "wow, that was fun and easy." I got an email immediately from Amy who thanked me for my order and when I received the buttons yesterday there was another signed thank you from her. The buttons are awesome. Maybe I'll keep a couple for myself. My favorites are the red and yellow damask and the one with brown leaves and red flowers. What do you think?
Okay, okay....did you notice that I linked? I think I've graduated to first grade in blog school. Pat on the back!!! Let me do it again just to show that I am not a one trick pony - ohh, yeah it is the same trick but I'll double it this time.
I really thought that no one read my blog and that was okay because as it turns out I really like writing it and so if it's read or it's not read, I'm still going to plug along. I left some comments on a couple other blogs and lo and behold those people in turn left comments for me. Thanks Ulla and Raesha it meant alot to get your positive comments. And Mary Ann always bolsters my ego and makes me feel loved. Thanks.

I'm pretty confident that my pink and brown swap buddy, the very same Mary Ann, has received her box so here are a few pictures of what goodies I found and made for her. Yummy chocolate and berry colors that bring to mind lovely boxes of bons bons - eaten while lounging in silk robes on a chaise longue with a beauty masque on your face watching dialing for dollars movies. Okay my fantasy's been revealed. A pretty tame one but nonetheless delicious. I was, without a doubt, born in the wrong decade - shoulda been in Hollywood along with Della Street and Perry Mason. But I digress.

There are little pink and brown pretties inside the "crocodile bag" and already wrapped up before I took the photos so there are still some surprises in case the box is late in arriving. What a wonderful idea it was to use pink and brown. They are the colors that I most often wear and now I have so many ideas for making new pink and brown beauties for moi.
Coffee break is over. Back to "work"

Ireland

2006-10-10T15:29:00.000-07:00

This sign makes me laugh. I took this picture in Killmallock Co. Limerick Ireland this last July. The town is a beautiful spot with castle right downtown and an awe-inspiring cathedral and the Kerrygold dairy at the entrance. There are picturesque homes and buildings along the main street, a quaint little pub, baskets of flowers hanging above every door and in window boxes at every turn. It is everything you would expect if an Irish village AND, apparently, it has oodles of soprano-barking dogs lurking about. What do you suppose that's all about? It is going to be my new metaphor (or maybe simile). When things are not going so well I could say, "Geesh, I feel like Dingo's Dognuts today. I should get home and under the blankets. Do I have a fever?." Or how about when someone's acting a bit off, "Man, he's as high as a bark in Killmallock!". When somebody does something very bold you could comment; "Boy, you've got some Dingo's on you, pal!" Whaddya think?

Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, sheep gotta cross the road to get to the other side.....Can't help loving that land of Eire. I could wait in this traffic jam for days. Aren't those guys adorable? One day while driving around we stopped for cows to cross the road. Unfortunately the poor woman herding them didn't have a firm hand on those big ol' sweeties and they took off running in and amongst the cars snarling things up for quite some time. Swearing with an Irish accent - well that's just a gift.

My friends and I traveled all over Ireland in our little rented Opel. One day we ventured out to the Dingle Peninsula. This is on the west coast of Ireland and the panoramic vistas will take your breath away. We shopped and had lunch in the town of Dingle at a little pub called Adams that was delightful. I had the best fish and chips I've ever eaten and for dessert, an apple and blackberry crumble. Liz begged a bite and of course I let her have one. When I asked if she wanted another she said she'd really only wanted the one so she could tell people back home that she'd eaten "Dingleberries." The town was very pretty with the sea to the west and the landscape of rolling green hills beyond. And as you can see by the photo they have "boots that dingle, dangle, dingle" with flowers no less.
"Come you back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow..."

Yep, I hear the pipes acallin'. And I can't wait to go back.

Wishing I was Andy Goldsworthy

2006-10-09T15:21:00.000-07:00

Last fall I watched Andy Goldsworthy's movie and thought I could pretend to be him. So I made this chain of leaves and got bored after about five feet or so. I tried to hang them from the tree in an oh-so-tricky trompe l'oeil kind of thing that did not work because I am not very handy in that way and so the silly chain just fell to the ground and I left it there like it was my intention all along. All I can say is thank goodness I wasn't playing with rocks!!!
Does anyone remember Neccos? They haven't left the candy counters, I see them there all the time, but, surprisingly, many folks who dipped there fingers into my candy jar didn't know anything about them - and these were NOT all young people. One kid did ask, however, why I'd put Tums in my candy jar. Neccos were always part of my Saturday allowance spending because they were cheap (5 cents) and they lasted a long time. I preferred the choclate Neccos and was in heaven when I could find rolls of all chocolate otherwise I would pick the chocolate and licorice ones out of the roll and save those until the end. But it was only yesterday that I learned what Necco stands for: New England Confectionary Company. Coming across old-time candy just enthralls most of us. Chicken bones, remember those, they are my candy link to the past and I liked Cherry Mountain Bars, although now they seem soooo, soooo sweet. Good times, good times. What candy will send today's kids in to rhapsodic memories do you s'pose?
Here's the little beanie I fashioned from the sleeves of the tea-cozy sweater below. I love the flowers!! I still hace lots more cut out that I'd like to make into pins for Christmas gifts and I still have scraps left over to make maybe a cell phone bag or glasses case.

Even though we still have beautiful late summer weather I started changing the display in the entry hall for fall. Here is the scene so far - waiting for pumpkins. It's a hard room for autumn since the color scheme is pink and blue (it's my mom's living room) So I try to go for the pink and gold. That little glass pumpkin was bought at one the our school's glass pumpkin sales. We have a glass-blowing class here for the kids. The stuff they turn out is magnificent as you can see. I'd like to collect some leaves, too but ...oh yeah, HA!! we're still in summer.

Summer hasn't left us yet

2006-10-09T08:29:00.000-07:00

Just as I predicted, summer has returned for an encore. This weekend was busy here in the Bay Area and the weather was gorgeous. It is Fleet Week and that means that San Francisco Bay is just brimming with boats and ships of all kinds. It is a marvel to see. My mom and sister did the Memory Walk on Treasure Island on Saturday. It is an amazing walk when the weather is bright like it was. You walk along the edge of the island and it feels like you can reach out and touch San Francisco with your hand. The walk is to raise money for alzheimer's research. It is a lovely way to spend a morning near the bay as well as a way to benefit a very worthy cause.
I didn't walk this year because I went to Petaluma with my daughter, Megan to the Halloween and Vine arts and crafts show. It was great. Well, Petaluma is a great little town, anyway. This annual show is magnificent and so inspiring. Last year we went to Sonoma for the sale and got there around noon. There were plenty of people but it wasn't crowded. This year we got to Petaluma around 9:30 just after the hall opened and it was packed. Folks were three-deep around the tables. BEcuase most of the items are one-of-a-kind I guess people are in a hurry to get the "best" stuff. It's all really good stuff - all Halloween in theme. You couldn't go wrong with anything. I fell in love with some dear ceramics done by Julie Whitmore and of course the dolls that Nicole Sayre makes are absolutely awesome. There were artists from Ohio and Colorado and Michigan among many other places. I bought this cute little necklace - a metal box on a chain that holds a secret inside. Last year I bought the big Halloween corsage that just makes me laugh whenever I see it. Time to get out the black and orange clothes.

I managed to get some crafting in and all but finished the tea cozy I was working on. All that's left to do is to fashion a handle or some thing like one on top. I also made a bunch of felted-wool flowers and another beanie out of the same sweater and I still have alot of scraps left to make more stuff.

Sunday we were just three for dinner but I loved it anyway. I made a white bean and sage dip and served it with pita bread. The dip is from Martha's Hor d'oeuvre book and I make it often because it is soooo easy and so delicious. Then I made tuna with a middle eastern marinade that was out of this world. The fish was marinated for four hours in a lovely mix of cilantro, parsley, garlic, onion, cinnamon, saffron, cumin and a few other spices and then baked with tomatoes, olives, capers and preserved lemon. Wow! I served orchiette (sp?) pasta with broccoli, anchovies and more garlic. Look at this cool broccoli I found at the store. It's called coral broccoli. It tastes exactly like regular broccoli but it looks so bizarre I couldn't resist buying it.

What I loved and what turned out delectably was this cheesecake. It's made with ricotta cheese and flavored with anisette, cinnamon and fresh mint. All of the recipes I found in my Mediterrean, the Beautiful cookbook.

Today has started out very hectically. I hope it isn't a sign of what's in store for the next five days. I got here 15 minutes early and had already dealt with five crises in the first four minutes I was here - lost keys, rock through a window, parking permit for a rental because car didn't start, new substitute needing help, new teacher's aide without a clue as to what to do first. But we got everyone all in their places with nice shiny faces and so I'm going with the hope that all is right in this little world. Rock on!!

You Can Say Tomato Any Ol' Way You Want

2006-10-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

One of the most delicious aspects of summer is eating home-grown tomatoes. I am not a gardener but fortunately I know lots of people who are and they are also incredibly generous with their seasonal bounty. Every week I get a batch of tomatoes from my friend and co-worker Carolyn. I take only enough to make salads for dinner and to make my mouth-watering Tomato Sandwiches. I eat these every morning at my desk. The tomatoes are as sweet as sweet can be. I spread a bit of Best Foods mayo on fresh bread and I stuff a little bacon in between the bright red pieces of tomato and wrap the whole thing up in a couple paper towels and carry it to work in my very fancy plastic sandwich holder. While I browse the Daily and check my email, I savor every lovely bit of my summer sandwich. Mornings start on a good note this way. And this year I also scored some other tomato products from Carolyn - sundried tomatoes and tomato paste. That should keep me going long after the tomato harvest has waned.

Fridays, evidently, are works in progress day here in blogland so I've got a couple to show you. This first is a skirt I cut out, ohhhhh, back in May I think it was. The linen fabric I found on the discount shelf at joann's. It's a warmish gray with bright scarlet damask-like print. First I had zipper issues and then other things just came before finishing it.
This stripe-y thing is a tea cozy I'm making for a Christmas gift. I plan to ut some sparrow silhouettes on it cut from black felt. I know it kind of looks like a hat but the birds should define it as something other, I hope. I bought a bunch of wool sweaters at Savers a few weeks back and brought them home and felted them. Now i plan to get going on some beanies and some mittens and some pot holders and some flower oins and.... I better get my ample butt in gear if I want to get all that done for Christmas.
This weekend I'm going to Halloween and Vine in Petaluma. It is an incredible crafts fair with the likes of Nicole Sayre, Christy Silacci and Ulla Milbrath, among dozens of other talents showing their wares. My daughter Megan, who has been my guide to most things crafty is escorting me. I am not conversant in linking yet but the website for the show is www.halloweenandvine.com. Check it out and have a delightful early autumn weekend

Getting down to business

2006-10-05T07:54:00.000-07:00

Got a lot accomplished yesterday afternoon. First, I got the box of pink and brown stuff off in the post. I had mixed feelings about letting it go. I loved looking at the things I'd gathered - the chocolate, candy box colors. But I can not wait until Mary Ann gets the box. I hope she loves everything in it.
Next, I was able to get home before darkness set in and take a couple of pictures to show that I am not a total crafting slacker and to get some corners of my home photographed for posterity. Things look so well organized and clean in photos, don't they. Gotta love that crop button. This is a little crocheted flower I was experimenting with. I liked it and found a place for it on my brown winter hat. That little bug sniffing at the flower I found on Martha's Vineyard at a store called The Midnight Farm. I believe it's owned by Carly Simon and, serendipitiously, she happened to be there the day we were shopping. It's a terrific store full of very cool bits and bobs. But back to the flower. I love to make little flowers, out of felt, out of yarn, out of fabric. I put them on everything and give a good amount away. This flower was a ten minute outlay of time, my kind of project (I sometimes suffer from a little craft ADD).
Corners of my mind, I mean my home - that little bitty kitty next to the little bitty cathedral on a very crowded shelf. This bookshelf, and a chest of drawers, hold all (make that most) of my crafting stuff. Six months ago this corner of my home looked like a bomb had gone off. I just piled stuff on the floor and hoped that I didn't need to find it again any time soon. It's not that I didn't do any crafting in those days but suffice it to say I didn't do it with as much joy as I do now. I love having an organized space - I am thrilled to have One Spot to put back my tools and supplies. I sometimes just go in that room to look at all the ribbons on the shelf, the buttons in their tin, the lace sitting comfortably in it's own tidy little canister. It all makes my heart happy to see and there is that little missyfuss guarding it all with her inscrutable smile.
What a good day it was.

The First of Autumn

2006-10-04T11:07:00.000-07:00

California, it is said, doesn't have four seasons. It has the summer and then it has the colder-than-summer part of the year. Okay, that may well be true but can I just say that it is getting awfully darn chilly around these parts. It's not exactly wool coat and mittens kind of cold but you definitely need more than just a sweater when venturing out in the a.m. I like the change, for about a week, then I'm wishing for the warm sun again.

This is where I work. Isn't it beautiful? It is a very old school, about 100 years old, in fact and because of that it is a very damp and icy place to hang out. To save fuel, the heat isn't turned on until later in the year so at times like today we have to wear a couple of layers, anyway. When I worked in the library building we had to wear full-on winter gear indoors and make repeated trips to stand directly in front of the space heater in order not to freeze standing up. Often, the buildings here are colder inside than outdoors. Is it any wonder that I long for the heat of summer? It is nice to have this view out my window, though. This is an old post card of the school. A couple of the buildings are still in use. The one I work in is one of them, it's the one on the right with the tower.
At the end of the month I'm going to Georgia and South Carolina - should be nice and warm there. Every year my mom and sisters and I go somewhere in this beautiful country. Last year we went to the Outer Banks in North Carolina and the year before it was Cape Cod. We've been taking these trips for almost a decade, I guess. We are going to stay on Edisto Island this year. I have a vague idea about things to do - Charleston, Savannah and eating and walking on the beach, but I would hazard a guess that there are great places to go to find crafts and thrift stores. Can anyone help me out? We will fly into Atlanta and drive to the coast. There have got to be dozens of sites to see. If anybody has a suggestion for places to see I'd be happy for the help.
Well, I'm off to start a fire in my wastebasket to keep my fingers warm. Have a good one.

In the Pink (and brown)

2006-10-03T11:38:00.000-07:00

This is just a hint of the batch of pink and brown goodies going out today to my swap buddy.
I didn't manage to do any crafting this weekend but I wouldn't say I wasn't creative. Yesterday at the outlets I was very resourceful about spending money I don't have. Bought a couple of great sweaters - one peacock cardigan with velvet on the placket and one terrific cuddly tweed with a shawl collar.

I love the color. I'm trying to get out of my usual color zone - pink, brown, black, and have vowed to only buy things that are nothing like what I already have at home oin my very full-to-bursting closets. Yes, closets, plural. I mean, how many white shirts does a sane woman need? Not as many as I have, that's for sure.
We are family
Our Sunday dinner was a success. I didn't think the dishes I fixed were going to be hits but they went over big, even with the 18 year old grandson. Our menu was Mexican for the most part, my favorite cuisine. For the main dish I made Pollo Pibil, something I learned to prepare while living in the Yucatan. It is chicken marinated in recado rojo (achiote paste) and then wrapped up in banana leaves and baked in a pit in the ground (pib in Maya). No, we did not dig up the new slate patio in our backyard, we used that old american standby, the oven. In any case, the chicken came out delish and moist. I made a green rice, cheese-stuffed onions, and a salad with fresh tomatoes, chicharron (fresh pork rinds), and cotija cheese. For dessert I experimented. I made a cream flavored with coffee, let that set and then made a coffee gelee to put over that - a coffee parfait if you will. The coffee gelee recipe I got from epicurious, the cream in my "1000 Mexican Recipes" which is my go-to reference along with Diana Kennedy and Patricia Quintana for Mexican food. This is the center piece of our Sunday table. One of these days I'll capture some of the food plates. I'm just happy to get it all on the table. I forget to photograph.

Tonight - two hours of Law and Order - lots of time for crafting while watching and Jesse L. Martin makes me swoon. Lordy!!

After the Clouds...Sunshine

2006-09-28T14:05:00.000-07:00

That's what I'm hoping anyway. Typically we have an Indian Summer in October, so even though it's gray and gloomy now, today, there is still a chance that summer is not over just yet. These lovely Adirondack chairs are tempting even under the cloudy sky, though, aren't they?
We have a three-day weekend coming up - no school on Monday AND today is pay day. Whooooooo-hooo.
Saturday night - It's "Sweet Charity" starring the pretty girl in pink - Molly Ringwald. The musical is NOT getting swell reviews but I love the music so I think I'll have a good time regardless. Hey, big spender...
My friend Caroline and I are going on our annual outlet shopping trip. We do it every year on the weekend after the first payday. We spend the whole day grabbing at bargains. We start out with a hearty diner breakfast, you know for energy, and then fueled by hashbrowns and sausages, maybe some pancakes, we head on down the road to Gilroy's fantastic outlet mall.

When will I have time for crafts? Good question. My swap box is going out on Tuesday. I started a tea cozy that got shelved for Pink and Brown so that's where I'll start back to crafting- there is so much to do before Christmas. I want to work on some felt flowers and a couple of crochet tidbits. Lucky thing the weekend is long. Holy Reindeer. I better get busy.

Morning Glorious

2006-09-26T15:59:00.000-07:00

Back in the day I used to work in a restaurant called St. Michael's Alley. It was started in the late fifties and when I was a kid in high school it was a dark and delightfully daring place. The Grateful Dead hung out there and Ken Kesey and Neal Cassidy were apparently close personal friends of the owner. I worked at the restaurant in the 80's on and off for about 10 years. It was a great place - everyone who worked there was creative in one way or another. There was a restaurant that served wholesome, yet luscious fare and next door there was The Waiting Room that was a coffee bar in the morning and afternoon and a wine bar with live entertainment in the evening. One of the most popular items in the Waiting Room was the Morning Glory Muffins. They were made with whole wheat and bran, raisins and coconut, walnuts and whatever whipped cream was leftover from dinner in the restaurant the night before. These Morning Glories on our fence in the back yard are contentious because they grow up through the trees, in the cracks of the fence and into the herb garden below. But they are so lovely and they remind of the time I spent working and hanging out at St. Michael's Alley, being part of the history of this area really.

Queenie's Kitchen
This is how I spent my evening, making treats for a meeting today. The chocolate stuff is brownies. I used a very old recipe that has served me well for a long time and I had a couple of bananas that begged to jump in the mix so there they are - smushed in with the brownie batter, making the whole pan moist and rich. The bread is a Rosemary Bread recipe I got from a "Nigella" cookbook. It is full of butter (1/2 pound) and has apple and rosemary for flavor and body. Considering that there are only scraps left on the platter after the meeting. I'd say they were a success.
The other task I managed to get done last night - I got all my Pink and Brown Swap goodies packed up and ready for shipment to the other side of the map. I can't wait to see how she likes everything.

Opal Finds a Home
story will continue, I promise

The Tail of Opal

2006-09-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

The Tale of Opal the Cat
This story begins once upon a time in the Golden Land near the sea. A tiny white kitten alone in the world, abandoned by her mother wandered through the alleys of the town. She poked into garbage bins and ate whatever scraps she could find. Day in and day out Opal was watched by the girl in the apartment near by. This girl, a healer-in-training, could not help Opal because the healer already had a houseful of cats and , there wasn't room for one single animal more, so she kept her eye on the curious little creature from afar.
Dirty lanes and rubbish containers are no place for little kittens and before long Opal got sick. The healer-in-training couldn't take the itty bitty thing into her home, but she also couldn't let such a sad baby animal fend for herself any longer. The healer decided to take Opal to the princess who aften worked in the clinic where the healer was learning her trade. The princess was known throughout the land for her kindness to animals of all kinds and for healing powers of her own. She was beautiful and generous and the healer-in-training knew that the princess would find a home for Opal.

Come back tomorrow for another chapter about Opal.

I am chomping at the bit to show you all some pictures of the loot I've come up with for the Pink and Brown Swap. I'll wait, however, until I send it off and it is received in a land far away. That will be very soon. Stay tuned

Pink and Brown

2006-09-25T07:46:00.000-07:00

Pink and Brown Lady Waiting
These flowers stand along the roads in Northern California, row upon row of stately pink flowers, no leaves to speak of, bending close as cars whoosh by.
Great weekend!!! On Saturday I finished up most of my little projects for the Pink and Brown Swap. What fun to see them all together. Pink and Brown together make me think of chocolate boxes, luxurious, velvety and irresistible. I am having such a terrific time gathering and fashioning all the bits and bobs that will finally be lovingly wrapped and put in a carton and sent off to my swap buddy. Good times!!
Sunday dinner was scrumptious - one of those meals where everything comes out just as you hoped. We had pear- rosemary martinis, brie with a warm pear, rosemary honey and balsamic vinegar topping. For the main course I briased short ribs and served them up with roasted potatoes, mushy peas with mint and an arugula salad with dates, oranges, and toasted almonds and for dessert... warm chocolate-chili pudding cake with clouds of whipped cream. Lordy, it's a good thing we only eat like that on Sundays. When I get a little more organized, maybe I'll add recipes. Nothing I make is too terribly difficult to make.
So Monday dawns and I stand like those pink Ladies Waiting along this week's stretch of road.

Learning to Blog

2006-09-19T08:47:00.000-07:00

I get so involved in reading everyone else's blog that I forget I'm supposed to be writing one of my own.
Fall is trying to wheedle its way into the California summer. The mornings aretingedwith a coolness that teases us into pulling down sweaters from thetop shelves where they've been stored for months. But then end up on theback of our deskchairs at work . This is the season that earns Californiathe reputation fora different climate every five minutes. Yep, it's chillyin the morning, then the sweaters and jackets come off in the full blast of 85 degrees around lunchtime. The heat slowly burns off so that by the time bedtime rolls around, you're ready to curl up under your blankie to stay toasty through the night.
The weather plays havoc on your fashion choices. Heck, you have to change clothes several times each day or wear LAYERS. It's hard to look cute in layers. Who has enough clothes to wear layers everyday and still match? And , goodness knows, I've always got to match.
The weather does push me to get on withmy cold-weather crafts, however. I'm repurposing wool sweaters into tea cozies,winter hats and scarves and cute little brooches.I promise to get picturesup next week. I'm still working on the technology of blogging.