Tuesday, July 24, 2007

big mistake

Psh. See if I let Eric take the digital camera away for nine days ever again. There have been so many things that I normally would take pictures of, and only two film cameras to do it with, starting with the garden. I harvested the garlic on Sunday -- braided it and handed it off to Matte for curing in his basement. And the tomatoes are changing from green to their various colors, we have two pumpkins that are growing so fast, I could swear I could hear them if I got close enough. And tiny seedlings all over the place! Inside I have cilantro, chives and basil, and outside we have scallions, beets, swiss chard, kale, radishes, carrots, and as always, spinach and lettuce. The winter squash plants are huge and flowering, and I think the artichokes will be harvested today or tomorrow, along with a fistful of green beans. The broccoli has been a huge hit -- I really wish I had taken photos of that too. Oh, and the potatoes! Eric harvested two honest-to-gosh potatoes right before he left -- we'll wait until August or so to do the rest.

I've also been beading like crazy... mostly a set of napkin rings that I have been having a hard time with, but I think I may be onto something. Wish me luck!

Eric and OtherMatt are heading out to San Jacinto Peak near Palm Springs (excuse me while I vomit a little just at the mention of that city), for a short camping/backpacking trip today. I sure will miss being able to talk to him, but I'm sure they'll have a good time.

Friday, July 20, 2007

playing hooky

Eric had his first day off in seemingly forever yesterday, so I took the day off work and joined him. We took Finn to the dog park, went out to lunch at the Fisherman's Terminal, and he showed me a fantastic bead store (across the street from his favorite woodworking store, so he's not bored to tears while I try not to drool over the extensive Swarovski crystal selection and wooden beads and Thai silver and... and... and...). Then I fixed him his favorite dinner (mom's scampi!) before he leaves today for San Diego. I am sure Finn and I will be fine while he's gone, but we sure will miss him! And I will miss having a digital camera for nine days. I managed to snap some pictures of the newly-remodeled garden before he left... I'll try to put those up tonight.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

latest quilt

Newest fabric on the rotary cutting mat.... for a Zipper Quilt, as featured in The Modern Quilt Workshop by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr..... will actually try to post updates as it progresses.


Hmmm... do you think these colors have something to do with the blog's facelift? Those who've known me for a long time will recall my love of green and purple together....

do something

I found this (quite randomly) amongst the comments on Yarn Harlot's blog, in a discussion on rules for summertime television. I liked it and have been trying to incorporate it into my day:

Ask yourself....
Have you done something for your mind today?
Have you done something for your body today?
Have you done something for the house today?
Have you done something for someone else today?

Maybe a bit cheesy, but I still like it.

Monday, July 16, 2007

pollster

tee hee! I have entirely too much fun with this blog. Not to beat a dead horse, but I was actually considering writing a poll into a blog post to ask my adoring fans if they think I should cut my hair or not. and then, lo and behold, blogger read my mind and built a polling device for me! check it out at the bottom of the page!

Saturday, July 14, 2007

perspective

I have always tried to be a considerate neighbor. As summer approached, and we knew the windows of the house would be open more often (nearly always), Eric and I made a conserted effort to discourage Finn's barking. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. However, at shortly after 1 am this morning (Eric had just gotten into bed after a loooong day at work, so we were both awake), we witnessed a man tear up an empty 12 pack beer box and deposit the pieces in various bushes in our front yard. He then proceeded to urinate on our rock wall. Unbeknownst to him, we watched from our bedroom window -- he was facing us directly -- until Eric (through the aforementioned open window) said, "Can I help you?" Clearly startled, the man jerked his head up, blurted "sorry" and skittered off. (Eric thinks he recognized the man as a "kid" who lives a few doors down). I lay in bed afterwards just wishing I had the nerve to grab the toilet paper and follow him, informing him that I was planning on taking a piss on his lawn, 'cause that's apparently what neighbors do, and that's ok with you, right?

I find myself not scolding Finn for barking so much today.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

scorcher

My sister called me this morning to chat. I informed her that we're expecting a high of 100 degrees in Seattle today. She said, "really? do you even have clothes for that sort of weather?"

Monday, July 9, 2007

reprieve


After being sure to tell everyone I know that I was planning on going back to my short short hair style after the wedding, I went and changed my mind. I had even made an appointment for first thing Saturday morning when I finally remembered to check with Locks of Love and see what the requirements are for donating hair to their cause (thanks Ray and Kirsten for the reminder!). Turns out they need ponytails of 10+ inches for their "cranial prostheses", and alas, my hair is 12 inches if you measure from my skull to the very tips of the longest part. That doesn't leave one much to work with and wouldn't provide a good ponytail for lopping off. So I figured that since I've waited this long, I can wait another six months or so for a good cause.


Sunday, July 8, 2007

finally!

Not super-exciting blog material, but it's great news to me! I finally got the kitchen organized! All the food is in the pantry, the mixing bowls are away in the drawers, the baking materials are all in the cupboard and I finally have a junk drawer!.... it's beautiful!

Friday, July 6, 2007

What do you do when standing makes you sick?


You sit in bed and make hairbows of course.


A week or so ago I took my kids to a museum on a feel-good day. I talked to a lady there whose little girl had these darling bows in her hair. I shared how I had made my little girls flowers in their hair and I assumed she would like to share information. I even gave her the name of this blog so she could look for how to organize her daughters hair things.


Well, the woman wouldn't share. She said she had promised her friend that she wouldn't tell. So much for sharing information. So I came home and googled "little girl hair-bows". HA! Guess what! There is a FANTASTIC woman out there who feels the way that I do. That the IDEA of making hairbows isn't patented. Ribbons have been around forever! So she shared the trade secret.


I am passing it on to you. Enjoy this website!!! Gleen all you can! Make it so that you don't have to spend oodles of $$$ on a bow that you could easily make for pennies! http://bowdesigns.50webs.com/

crafties: earrings and a bracelet

I whipped up some jewelry last night (I needed a craft fix...bad). The earrings are for Emily's friends Rox and Emily who were such a big help before and during the wedding.





but the bracelet is for me!



finn stuck his nose in while I was going macro-happy with the camera...


the big day!

I finally got my hands on some wedding pictures, so here we go....

First of all, you can't have a wedding without pre-wedding chaos. Emily, Eric and myself hit the farmer's market on the way to the wedding site and collected some fabulous flowers. At the "staging area" Eric and my fabulous Aunt Janice got to work arranging them in about a dozen teapots that Miles, Emily and I had collected during the previous two weeks, while I worked on Emily's bouquet....



Then we wrangled Dad, Aunt Jan, my Uncle Leonard, Eric and Mile's-sister's-boyfriend Heath into filling the kid's wedding favors with jelly beans....




(grown men have never had so much fun with colored paper and ribbon, I swear)


Grammy and baby took care of each other....


The ceremony was outside and lovely. Kristen (sister-in-law) served as officiant, and presented the story of Emily and Miles very lovingly. Best Man Tate read from the Velveteen Rabbit, and I read from The Irrational Season, by Madeline L'Engle. Kudos to Emily and Miles for giving completely extemporaneous vows -- quietly and to each other. I cursed my dressing for having to pockets to stash a hankie in!




I love this family shot....



....and there was cake for all!

Congratulations, Emily and Miles -- we are all so very happy for you!

mosquito city


Lake Wenatchee.... a bit chilly!

We went camping last weekend at Lake Wenatchee in central Washington with Frank and Matt (Knitmoka was sick at home). It was mosquito haven (I think the bites are mostly gone now), but the view and the food was fabulous. Frank roasted up a chicken and potatoes in the fire, and we brought a fresh green ceasar salad from the garden. For breakfast, we had bacon and Spiral Farm chicken eggs (YUUUM!).


Roasted chicken (aka: tin-foil-ball-in-a-fire)


Eric and Finn did a little hammock racing....

It was also Finn's first camping adventure, which led to some unexpected sleeping in the car. While I took care to set up our new tent in the living room the day before (purchased specifically for Finn's sprawling sleeping habit), Finn didn't care to actually spend the night in a tent. He napped for a little while due to sheer exhaustion (he swam and swam in that icy water!), but around 1am, he decided he was going to whine until he got out. After we couldn't take it anymore, Eric took the dog and his sleeping bag up to the car and they slept in there. If you have any ideas on how to encourage the dog to like the tent, please let me know!


Finn fought the mosquitos with all he had, but I think the skeeters won....

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

just a typical wednesday

...except that it's Independence Day and I am at work. Me and about two other folks, but I am headed out shortly for a BBQ at the farm. Don't feel too badly for me... I took Monday off instead.


Wedding and camping photos coming soon..... in the meantime, here's a status update:

To Do:

*visit Gail!!
*replant teeny tiny garden
*clean and organize the garage
*mop the floor
*see crafts
*add photos to blog
*make lasagne
*look into airfares for various summer/fall excursions....

Currently:

*reading…lots! Angle of Repose, Collected Stories by Wallace Stegner, Reading the Landscape, US News and World Report: Secret Societies, Siddhartha, Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
*eating…fresh greens from the garden! woo hoo!
*crafting…quilting, beading, clothing, cushion making.... will post pics as they get done

Activities on deck:

*Access I class starts on Monday
*Jeff's wedding in July
*Elise's wedding in August