Roaring Design

blog #496 >> 2011 Books in Review

2012-01-02T18:04:00.000-08:00

I wish I had more time to read! There are so many more books out there just waiting to be opened! But I've got a whole another year ahead of my to work on reading some more.

Listed below are my books in review:
2011 Reading List

Pinocchio
Carlo Collodi
1/11 ***
(Such an odd little story!)

Gulliver's Travels
Jonathan Swift
1/11 ***

Jane Eyre
Chralotte Brontë
1/11 *****

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald
1/11 *****

The Inferno
Dante Alighieri
2/11 **

(This book wasn't actually even worth reading. It was just page after page of pain and despair... What's this page about? Well, it's about despair. And the next one? Um, it's about despair too.... despair, despair, despair. I was going to read the entire "Divine Comedy," but "The Inferno" didn't make me want to read any more of it.)

The House of Seven Gables
Nathaniel Hawthorne
2/11 *****
(I've never read anything I didn't like by Nathaniel Hawthorne, but this is my favorite of his books so far.)

Vanity Fair
William Makepeace Thackeray
4/11 *****

Lady Susan
Jane Austen
5/11 ***
(While"Persuasion" is my favorite of the Jane Austen novels, "Lady Susan" is my least favorite. What a hussy!?!?!")

And Then There Were None
Agatha Christie
5/11 *****

4:50 From Paddington
Agatha Christie
5/11 *****

The Little Prince
Antoine De Saint-Exupery
5/11 *****

The Body in the Library
Agatha Christie
5/11 ****

Portrait of a President
William Manchester
6/11 ***
(Despite the fact that William Manchester is my favorite biographer, this is not his best work. His later works are definitely better!)

The Pickwick Papers
Charles Dickens
7/11 ***
(Dickens is hit or miss with me, and this one missed the mark. It's like a meandering brook that never goes anywhere!)

Miss Marple The Complete Short Stories
Agatha Christie
8/11 *****
(But oh, how I adore Miss. Marple! When I grow up I want to be just like her!)

The Catcher in the Rye
J. D. Salinger
8/11 ***

A Swiftly Tilting Planet
Madeleine L'Engle
8/11 ***

The Remains of the Day
Kazuo Ishiguro
8/11 *****

Dead Man's Mirror
Agatha Christie
8/11 ****

Wives and Daughters
Elizabeth Gaskell
9/11 *****

The Old Man and the Sea
Ernest Hemingway
9/11 ****

The Mysterious Island
Jules Verne
10/11 *****

Dracula
Bram Stoker
10/11 *****
(I liked it so much more than I thought I would, but I promise this is the only book about vampires I will ever read.)

Jane Eyre
Charlotte Brontë
11/11 *****
(I love this book so much I read it again! ...and again, and again, and again, and again...)

The Call of the Wild
Jack London
11/11 *****

White Fang
Jack London
11/11 *****

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
11/11 *****
(I really do adore this book... a lot!)

Agnes Grey
Anne Brontë
12/11 ****

A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens
12/11 *****
(Dickens at his best! A must read each and every Christmas!)

Old Christmas
Washington Irving
12/11 ***

His Last Bow
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
12/11 *****

See 2010 Reading List Here
See 2009 Reading List Here

blog #495 >> Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T21:27:00.000-08:00

Well as usual, I've been extraordinarily busy this Christmas season, and I'm just now finding time to start blogging again. The decorations are all boxed up, waiting to be carried down to the basement, and the new year extreme cleaning regime has commenced! Why make a resolution to do something later, when it can be done now! Therefore I have been a whirlwind of dusters, rags, mops, brooms, and sponges all day! Right now the place is in that complete state of disorder and chaos that comes before the neat tidy organization, when everything is cleaned and cleared out. So, I thought this would be the perfect time to settle down for the night, and catch up on the little blog.

There have been so many things I'd like to post pictures of this month, but unfortunately, remembering to take pictures of the neat things I've made isn't always my forté. Normally, I forget. But here's a quick recap of at least a couple of the best.

For Christmas this year my family had the food theme of "Traditional British Christmas." I love that I come from a family of great cooks, and when we pool together, we can really pull off some awesome parties. Now Britain isn't exactly known for there delicious cuisine, but I have to say, everything we made was positively AMAZING! And we should all be very proud of the spread we were able to dress our table with.
Below is a copy of our Christmas Eve menu:

Appetizers:
Cheesy Pudding
Real Eggnog
Wassail
Shortbread
Mince Meat and Cherry Tarts
Brandy Snaps
Stuffed Tomatoes
Stuffed Mushrooms
Scones with Lemon Curd

Dinner:
Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Bacon
Cottage Pie
Bangers and Mash (Sausages and Mashed Potatoes)
Brown Sugar Ham
Goose
Bread Sauce

Dessert:
Flaming Figgy Pudding
Turkish Delight
Assorted Cookies
Chestnuts

(We even had crackers!)

The flaming pudding was especially fun, and we're all in agreement that we want more flaming desserts next year, just maybe not a figgy pudding.

Here are my ingredients for the flaming pudding. The ingredients needed to rest overnight.

Then you tie them up like so, and let them steam for eight hours. After that, they need to season for at least five weeks. They're quite good if you like raisins. Raisins are definitely the dominate flavor.

(Image below from Vintage Ads.)

And here's a shot of my sister's homemade eggnog. It's so much better than the stuff you buy at the store!

And here are a few of the pictures my three year old niece Ada took with my camera. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos myself, so I have over 50 pictures of Christmas that look like this, and none that are very discernible. But honestly, this is a pretty accurate depiction of what Christmas looks like in the eyes of a three-year-old. Stella, (another little niece) was gathering wrapping paper into piles, and jumping into them like a heaping mound of leaves.

Best Wishes and A Happy New Year!
T

blog #494 >> Crazy Harold's Christmas Snake

2011-12-23T22:02:00.000-08:00

I designed this for the white elephant gift exchange at work. Poke a few holes in the box, and you're good to go! The gift had nothing to do with snakes, but guessing what's inside is half the fun! Plus, you never really realize just how much you wanted a snake until you've got one.

Because nothing says "Merry Christmas" like one of Crazy Harold's live snakes!

(I'll have a pdf available for download as soon as I get back to work. Sorry, I forgot to email it to myself.)

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!
T

blog #494 >> Wish List 2011

2011-11-27T14:46:00.000-08:00

All I really want this Christmas, is to get Florence up and running well again... poor poor Florence... But that's exactly what I'm getting for Christmas this year! My Dad graciously offered to fix all the little (and a couple larger) things that were wrong with Florence for Christmas. He fixed the barking light brake, touched up the paint, fixed the locks, replaced the starter, and when I get it back from having the carburetor rebuilt, (hopefully) it will be good to go for awhile. And then I've just got to get the swing of the manual choke, and I'll be good to go.

That being said, I feel like I still need to post my annual Christmas list, so here it is!

1. Vintage School Girl Dress $35.00
at One Rare Bird Shop
2.Vintage Granny Squares Afghan $37.00
at folk city
3. Bakers Twine $13.00
at Talking Twine and Trim
4. Armed with Technology Tea Infuser $14.99
at ModCloth
5. Grandma's Wartime Kitchen $9.95
6. 1940's House $20.00
7. C7 Light Bulbs $4.69
Someday I will go to replace one of my C7 Christmas light bulbs, and I will be out of replacements! I WILL CRY ON THAT DAY! I've got to stock up now!!!
8. French Curve Set $10.96
9. Vintage Camera Pencil Sharpener $18.00
from FredFlare
10. The House of Seven Gables $2.50
11. Far Far Away III Snow White Japanese Fabric $7.12
from Miss. Matatabi (but I've also seen it at Cool Cottons on Hawthorne)
12. Far Far Away III Clothesline Japanese Fabric $3.68
from Miss. Matatabi (but I've also seen it at Cool Cottons on Hawthorne)
13. Hark a Vagrant by Kate Beaton $11.73
p.s. I find her comics quite amusing. You can see them here.
14. Floral Molded Swim Cap $9.99
This summer I decided I need a vintage swim cap to go with my vintage bathing suit. Not that I actually swim much, but my hair does NOT like to get wet. (I like the mauve one.)
15. Fish Bath Plug - Stuck! $14.95
16. Better Bath Deep Water Bath $5.00
Ever wish your bath tub didn't have that overflow drain, so you could fill more water into your tub? I have! This has got to be one of the best ideas ever!
17. How to Knit by Debbie Bliss $3.50
This is my favorite beginners knitting book so far, and if someone gets it for me for Christmas, I can stop borrowing it from Amy!
18. School Girl Shoes Pris: 849 kr (I think they're sold out.)
I also think these are the cutest shoes in the world!
19. Vintage Tea Gown $149.95
from Victorian Trading Co.
I ADORE this Vintage Tea Gown, it reminds me of something from Downton Abbey. But they don't come in my size, so I'll be pretty safe from ordering one.

What does everyone else want for Christmas?
T

blog #493 >> Craft Show

2011-11-25T08:35:00.000-08:00

This poor little blog has been left to fend for itself once again, while I went gallivanting about.
I had a fine time and now I' back to get caught up for the Christmas season.

First off, last weekend I did a craft show at Ardenwald grade school. I know, I should have posted about it BEFORE the event. But I was so busy trying to get ready for it, I forgot. But I'll be doing another one next weekend at Overlook House in North Portland, Dec. 3-4 so you can mark your calendars for that one. I've also replenished my supply of goods to pedal at these two shows, including this adorable woodland bag, a lovely apron made from vintage linen and tea lace, walnut boats, book flags, new hair clips and hair bands, and more pig pot holders (made from vintage pig fabric!)

And here is what I came home with from Ardenwald craft show: this lovely painting by Jennifer Finn of imogenlovley. Last year she bought Mrs. Annabelle Witzel from me, and this year she painted this fantastic picture of her, and gave it to me! I just want to say in caps: THANK YOU! I LOVE IT! and I already found the perfect place to hang it in the living room.

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For a bonus post I have carrots from the garden, and a cool looking bug I found.

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p.s. I also have a new post on The Joys of Jell-O here!
Cheers!
T

blog #492 >> Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T16:14:00.000-07:00

Wishing everyone a Happy Halloween with an assortment of my favorite Halloween pintrest pins!

from pintrest

From maudelynn.tumblr.com who has LOTS of great Halloween pics.
"Paulette Goddard and Bob Hope in a promo still for The Ghost Breakers"

From jmurphybears.com

From livingbettertogether.blogspot.com

From happybirdycake.blogspot.com

From marthastewart.com

From community.livejournal.com

From myowlbarn.com

From maudelynn.tumblr.com

Enjoy!
T

blog #491 >> Driving Miss. Florence

2011-10-18T20:29:00.000-07:00

"Florence" is beyond any doubt, the name of my car.
I'm not sure how I could ever have thought of any other.
She has the personality of a little old lady.
She's slow to start out, slow to stop.
She takes her time, and never rushes.
And she has already made many of her likes and dislikes quite clear.
I'm not saying she's a complainer, she just lets you know what she's thinking, without beating around the bush.
For instance, Florence likes waiting a minute before rushing out in the morning.
Florence also likes to go down hill... FAST!
Florence doesn't like to go up hill fast.
And Florence does not like her doors to be locked or unlocked EVER!

(image found at Pintrest, from this site.)

Today, was my first day of actually driving Miss. Florence, and she is everything I remember driving an old car to be, for good and bad. But it's funny how the two mix in your memory. One thing is certain, driving an old car always leaves a chance for an exciting day everyday. You never really know if you're going to make it to and from your destination. I've yet to build much confidence in the old girl, but that will come. The more you drive it, the more you trust it. But she may not have much confidence in me yet either. That's probably why she keeps on locking me out. "Help! Save me from this girl who doesn't know what she's doing!!!"

Everything is exactly how I remember it, pumping the gas and revving the engine a little before starting out when the engine is cold. Taking the corners slow, breaking before you actually need to stop, speeding up nice and easy, it's surprising how quickly those things came back. It's a good thing I'm not an impatient driver. She's not the car for an impatient driver. We're a good fit for each other in that way, neither of us care much when we get someplace, it's more about how we get there.

(Image from Plan 59 - such awesome ads! You must visit this link!)

But the thing I think I like best about her is the fit of the steering wheel, and signal light. It's not one of those bulky, fat, chunky, plastic things. It's slight, slender, sleek and large. It turns smoothly with precision, and it fits my long-slender fingers perfectly. And I can just flick that tiny little wire signal light over with my tiny little finger.
...thing I like least? THE BLOODY DOORS WON'T LOCK! And when I finally get it locked, it's even harder to unlock. (However, I did get some "Lock Ease" for the locks and at least the passenger side works pretty slick now.) I seriously thought I was locked out of it this afternoon, and then I realized I had been turning the key the wrong direction. *sigh* I obviously still have much to learn about Florence.

Well, tomorrow is going to be a busy day! I've got to call about insurance and take a trip to the DMV. This is the not-so-fun part of buying a car. But I'm excited to see what the next couple of weeks have in store for me.
Will Florence break down on the side of the road leaving me stranded to walk home? Or will she continue being constant, reliable and running smooth as silk?
In truth, I'm guess the future will consist of both.
Cheers!
T

blog #490 >> Rambler

2011-10-16T16:01:00.001-07:00

Somebody's got a new car...
And that somebody is ME!!! I'm so excited, I'm giddy.

I will never know how fast I'm driving.

I've wanted a new car for quite awhile now, but it's never really worked out. Whenever I see one I really like and think, "Hey I should buy that." It sells before I've a chance to give it a third or forth thought. Then I always come back to the same notion, the car I have is fine. Why get rid of it just because I'm tired of it? As I said, the car I've had for several years now, has been a fine car... Not a great car, not a bad car, just a fine car. It breaks down occasionally, but nothing to warrant replacing it. But this past month it's been a bit of a headache. First, it failed DEQ, which was actually quite a shocker, it's not that old of a car, and it's got super low miles. Even the lady at DEQ mentioned its low miles. Next it needed a new battery. Yes, fine, it hasn't had a new battery since I've had it, cars need stuff like that. Then, it cost over $500 to get it fixed just so it could pass DEQ, not much over... (okay it was $501) but it just keeps on adding up. Basically, it's getting annoying. And the sad part is, I don't love the car. If I did, I wouldn't care how much it broke down or how much it cost to get it fixed. I really want a car I love again. I want another Hornet. If I'm going to have an old car that's breaking down all the time, I want to love it.
So I decided to start looking. I scoured the ads on Craig's List with a fixed price range with-in my budget. I started in 1970 and worked my way down. I found a lot of contenders. A few can be seen here, here, and here. And I went to visit a couple of them, but the Rambler has been one of my favorites from the beginning. And the more I saw of it, the more I loved it. Plus, it looks a bit like the Hornet. It has that nice old car smell and rumbling engine. I'm trying to pick a name for it now... it's between Ramblin' Rod, and Florence Hobart, (after the original owner.) I just can't decide.
It's a 1965 Rambler American and I'm picking it up tomorrow after a trip to the bank.
I can't wait!
T

p.s. Anyone want to buy a 1996 Ford Taurus, recently passed DEQ, with low miles?

blog #489 >> Red Plaid Skirt

2011-10-01T21:19:00.000-07:00

I must admit, I finished this skirt awhile ago, but I just now got around to taking pictures of it. The fabric is from The Sew Weekly, "Mad About Plaid" fabric bundle. ...and I have a confession to make, I didn't use the buttons. After a lot of planning, I went with a larger variety. But I'm sure those little fellows will be perfect, and exactly what I need for something else. I love how this skirt turned out and I can't wait to make the matching hat and bag to go with it!
(This was also my first full project with Evette, and she did a swell job. But she wasn't so smooth with the thin slippery lining. I've still got some bugs to work out of her, and she's still got to go into the shop. But we're off to a promising start.)
Cheers!
T
p.s. The pocket idea came from pintrest.

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For today's bonus post you need to go check out these fantastic lady ties made by my blogging friend Flapper Girl. They are a great way to jump into fall fashion.
Buy them on etsy here!

blog #488 >> Homemade Catsup

2011-09-27T19:13:00.000-07:00

This weekend my mom gave me a bunch of tomatoes from her garden to make homemade catsup with. I haven't had homemade catsup since I was a little girl, but I've found that I still really love the stuff. It hardly even tastes like regular catsup, it's like a whole different condiment.
This batch turned out fantastic, even though it made twice as much as it was suppose to. (I'm still not sure why.) I was worried that I didn't boil it down enough, but it's only slightly thinner than regular catsup, and it's perfect for dipping. So I suppose I shouldn't worry about it. Last night I made home-fries and a corndog just so I'd have something to eat catsup with. It was not a disappointment.

I also made a batch of my favorite pickled carrots, and I threw the turnips into a shepherd's pie. I tired preserving the eggplant in olive oil. We have so much eggplant this year! But I've never tried it before so I'm hoping for the best. And those are the sunflowers I got from the little flower stand when I was out and about this weekend. They are quite lovely, but I wish they didn't make me sneeze.
Cheers,
T

blog #487 >> Bella Beach

2011-09-26T21:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know... I'm very late in getting these up, and I've been an extremely lazy blogger. As always, I forgot to take pictures on my vacation. (To be precise, I took four!) And I was waiting for my family members to post their pictures first... so I could go and steal them! (I bet you're glad you watermarked your photos now Carrie!) Now that I think about it, I haven't posted a single blog since I've been back from the beach. There's always that point in which I get so far behind, it's hard to get caught up. I imagine this will be the first of many blog updates to come within the next week.
Anyhow, here are a few pictures of our trip to the beach. My grandma rented a beach house for a week so my entire family could spend some time at the coast. The weather was beautiful and I wish I could have stayed longer.

Some pretty rocks I found, because I'm always picking up pretty rocks.
The driftwood graveyard at the end of the beach.

Cool tree growing over cliff-cave.

Sinking in the mire.

A crab we caught, only we had to let him go.

Tangle of sea cucumbers.

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For a bonus post, I have Scotch Eggs: a hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage, rolled with bread crumbs. They're quite delicious, (I skipped the bread crumbs, but I'll add them next time.) I served mine with Irish Soda Bread. I realize, that's not a culturally proper combination, a bit like mixing Sweet n' Sour Chicken with Sushi, but they do taste great together, so I hope it will be overlooked.
Enjoy!
T

blog #486 >> I Love Flow Charts!

2011-09-06T22:28:00.001-07:00

I was bored, so I made this flow chart.
Have you ever been at a yard sale and thought, "Should I buy this?" Now if you're ever in a state of doubt, you can look it up on this handy flow chart. Just follow the questions to the correct outcome.

(Click image to enlarge.)

You can see other awesome flow charts here.
Flowchart: Understanding the Web, for Fans of Charles Dickens
The 30-Second Rule, A Decision Tree
So You Need A Typeface
Sheldon's algorithm for making friends - Big Bang Theory

Enjoy!
T

blog #485 >> The Slant-O-Matic

2011-09-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

...The greatest sewing machine ever built!

And I didn't just make that up, that's actually what it says in the manual. And I'm sure it's true. How could such a lovely machine NOT be the greatest sewing machine ever built? It was made in 1961 and was one of the last models of Singer sewing machines to be made entirely of metal. It even came with an a "Multi-Slotted Binder," "The Ruffler," and a good variety of feet. Also, the manual has tons of helpful notes, whoever originally owned this machine, really loved it.

Yesterday, my sister gave me her old Slant-O-Matic. A friend gave it to her, and she's never used it. Recently she got a cute old 60's Singer in a table from Mike's for $45, so she's passing this one on to me. I LOVE it! But I'm afraid it's going to need a little work. It runs well and sews nice, but not as smoothly as I had hoped. I think it needs some oil and the timing adjusted. I fussed around with the tension and pressure and it helped quite a bit, but I'm probably going to take her into Montavilla for a tune-up anyhow. Today I'm going to sew up my muslin on it. Sewing machines, like cars, don't like to sit around for years and years and not be used. They bind up, so after I oil her up, I'll see if I can work out the kinks and get her to run a little more smoothly. (I named her Evette.) And I just can't part with my grandma's old Kenmore, Margaret. She's just such a great machine! It's perfect for heavy weight fabrics and I like that the plate comes off for sewing collars and cuffs. And I recently learned (while reading my manual) that it has a faux surging stitch, that I'm excited to try. I think I'll keep them both and use them for different things. Margaret and Evette, they sound nice together.

image found here

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And here is some swell plaid fabric I ordered from Sew Weekly. It's a fantastic sewing blog. I can't wait for it to arrive. I'm planning a darling skirt.

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And just to make sure everyone knows, JoAnn's is having an amazing sale this Labor Day weekend. Their McCall's patterns are $1 and the Vouge are $3.99! I spent about $14 yesterday and saved over $100! Normally I like Simplicity patterns better, but they are on sale all the time, the Vogue patterns are rarely on sale and I love the Vintage Vogue patterns. And $1 for a new McCall's pattern is just a really great deal. I never actually follow a pattern anyhow, I just piece them together like ingredients in a cookbook. Take a sleeve here, and skirt there, a collar from over there... I'm more of a Frankenstein sewer. Here are a few of the patterns I got, and I want this one from Simplicity when it goes on sale.

(McCall's M5591 Misses' Skirts and Sash- It's a pleated skirt WITH POCKETS!)
(McCall's M6446 Misses' Capes - It's the perfect coat to wear over a coat. Wouldn't it be cute in a dark red?)
(Vintage Vouge V8728 - Misses' 1946 Dress and Belt)
(Vintage Vouge V8686 - Misses' 1933 Dress Suit)

Cheers!
T

blog #484 >> Dilly Beans

2011-09-04T10:20:00.001-07:00

Earlier this week I made a batch of dilly beans with the green beans from my parents' garden. I LOVE dilly beans, but this batch got all shrivelly. I think I might have over processed them. I suppose they'll taste alright though. I can't wait to open a jar.

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And as a bonus post, I've been working at taking pictures with my telescope this summer, so hopefully I'll have some great telescope pictures to post soon. I'm still trying to master the manual focus on my camera.

Cheers!
T

blog #483 >> Classic Films

2011-08-27T14:44:00.000-07:00

(In which I prove I am a hopeless romantic and sentimentalist.)

Recently I read a post over at Puddles of Memories about her favorite Stars of the Silver Screen, which got me thinking, "I love the Silver Screen and classic movies of all types. I need to do a blog post about this." But instead of choosing my favorite actors and actresses, I went with a few of my favorite old movies. I had a hard time picking, but I settled on these ten, in no particular order:

The Shop Around the Corner: 1940

The More the Merrier: 1943

(Anything with Charles Coburn and Jean Arthur together is pure brilliance! I LOVE all her clothes in this movie and her squeaky little voice never fails to make me laugh. She was wasted in the silent film era, and Charles Coburn is pretty awesome as well. I feel like "The Devil and Miss Jones" deserves honorable mention, although I didn't have it up here. It's been forever since I've seen it. It's hard to find. Movie Madness only has it on VHS and I don't even own a DVD player anymore. Curse technology!!!)

Rear Window: 1954

(This movie is like looking out the window at my apartment, but without the crazy murderer living next door part.)

Roman Holiday: 1953

To Kill a Mockingbird: 1962
(Excellent book too!)

His Girl Friday: 1940

Holiday Inn: 1942

(I know most people would pick "White Christmas" over "Holiday Inn." Good choice, but I definitely prefer "Holiday Inn." The 4th of July dance is pretty awesome, and I can relate with wanting to run away and start a farm. I'm not usually into the musical dancing movies, but this one is a classic. I also love "Shall We Dance." Best rollerskating dance routine ever, and "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" is a fantastic song.)

It Happened One Night: 1934

Desk Set: 1957

(Love and a giant computer, what more do you need in a movie?
Plus, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn and such a great couple.)

Arsenic and Old Lace: 1944

Enjoy!
T

blog #482 >> The 25¢ Dress

2011-08-21T18:19:00.000-07:00

At last, I've finished the 25¢ dress. I've been meaning to alter this dress for weeks! My sister found it at a garage sale for 25¢ and picked it up for me, but it needed a bit of work. It was super wrinkly, had a hole under the armpit and was a couple sizes too big. So I ironed it out, raised the waist line, turned the hole into a dart and added another dart to the other sleeve. Raising the waist line is my favorite way to take in a dress that's too big. And I look pretty good in high waisted dresses too. It will be perfect for the remains of summer and early fall.

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And as a bonus post, more eggplant from the garden.
Cheers,
T

blog #481 >> Terry-Taylor Yard Sale Extravaganza

2011-08-07T11:49:00.001-07:00

This weekend was the amazing Terry-Taylor yard sale in Longview, WA. Honestly, it's one of the unknown wonders of the Pacific Northwest. It's a large neighborhood where everyone has a yard sale on the same day. And since it's full of older ranch homes, everyone has some pretty awesome stuff. Thrifters flock from all over, and parking is certainly treacherous. Don't even try to park within the neighborhood itself. You will be lucky to get a spot less than a mile away. It's a bit like a carnival inside, there are church fundraisers, hot dog and elephant ear stands, and local political candidates trying to get a vote. Some people who aren't having yard sales, just sit in their front yards in lawn chairs watching the folks go by. I imagine it would be quite entertaining.

This immaculate yard has some fantastic yard ornaments, I wish I had gotten closer to take the picture.

Here's a "bear chair." He looks like he'd bite your ear off when you're not looking.

And although this picture doesn't do this bed justice. It's one of the largest, heaviest beds I've ever seen. One loose screw and it could crush you in your sleep.

Here's an awesome retro hair dryer.

And I'm sure everyone needs a hand in a jar. (from Budd's Curious Itch.)

And this is a picture of the remarkable pirate shopping cart. I bet the other shoppers quake with fear when they see them careening down the store aisles during the Black Friday sales.

And here are my Terry-Taylor finds. I got that yellow thermos for 50¢, the little spice jar for 50¢ and the cute caterpillar on a leash was $1, The pink secretary blouse was $1, the sock darner was $1, the vintage bandages were 50¢ each, Charles Dicken's, "Hard Times" was $1, and the owl mug was my big purchase at $5. A little steep for me, but I really liked it and I wanted it for a planter.

I also bought two other books, a 50's first aid book and an early copy of "The Moonstone," but I'm so depressed... No, that's not the word, distressed? No, that's not it either, disappointed? Closer... I'm just so sad that they fell out of my shopping cart somewhere between Terry and Taylor! I didn't hear them fall, and I didn't think they could, but they must have slipped through one of the one inch gaps along the side of my collapsible cart. I've decided to make a cute cloth bag to fit inside so that never happens again. I'm still feeling their loss. At least I'm only out $3.

I almost spent more on lunch than I did on all my finds combined! There were a couple of cute kids out trying to drum up business for their mom, "Are you guys hungry, you sure look hungry! Come on in and get some Hawaiian BBQ! My mom makes the best Hawaiian BBQ! Try a free sample! We got fresh baked pineapple upside down cake. We'll even entertain you while you eat!" What can I say... he was right, I was hungry! All I had for breakfast was a quick slice of toast before I left Portland, I had been walking around for hours, and it was nearly two o'clock in the afternoon. mmmm... Although, $7 is more than I would normally pay for a lunch, it was some of the best BBQ, I've ever had. And even though I can't remember the name of it, that banana drink for $3 was pretty remarkable as well.

A close up of the vintage bandage boxes and a couple of pictures of the cookbook my sister found.

One of the houses was having an Estate Sale, (I bought the owl mug, sock darner, and bandages there.) And if it were closer to work, I would have seriously considered buying that house! It was a beautiful time capsule home from the 60's. I wish I had sneaked in and taken a look at the bathroom, but it was really crowded, and I'm sure they didn't want us snooping around. It still had all the original lights, carpeting, hardware and appliances.

Take a look at the cute pink retro dishwasher! It was teal inside with a circular lazy susan rack on top. Yes, I opened it. I was trying to not be snoopy, but I could resist!

The lights were pretty amazing too!

And it still had the original countertops...

As well as this remarkable wall unit.

Anyways, the Terry-Taylor yard sale is once again, the best yard sale of the year. I don't even bother to going to any other.

• • • • • • • • • • • •

And as a bonus post, here's a picture of my first ripe eggplant!

Cheers,
T

blog #480 >> From my internet travels

2011-07-31T14:39:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's a nice little blog post w/o any meat!
This is a swell little collection of cool links I've found online recently.

p.s. I should mention, I'm becoming increasingly addicted to pintrest. I think I even like it better than my google reader feed, and that's really saying something!

Here is a super cute kitchen found at Apartment Therapy.

Here is a dorky accordion kid, found at pintrest.
(Also, I find this advertisement slightly misleading. )

Amazing bedspread from Sewing Daisies. See how she made it!

I love Nutella too! From Chibird.

Adorable book couple. I tired to track down the original link, but it turned up blank on etsy. See it at pintrest here.

Tea is indeed refreshing! Found at pintrest here and at this beautiful tumbler page named the oxford circus.

The perfect "welcome" mat for less then welcome guests. Like those crazy poll takers.
Found here at ffffound.
I love how they filled in the cracks, chinks and crevasses of their home with books as if they were spackle!
See it here at Pamela Love and Jordan Sullivan's home.

These two fancy fellows are from My Daguerreotype Boyfriend. I love this site!

And these strange floating people are from:

Edison's Anti-Gravity Underwear Kite Babies, 1879

JF Ptak Science Books Post 1562 [Part of a series on the History of the Future]
There was a time in the late 19th century when it was seen that Thomas Edison could do just about anything--so much so that the Brits in The London Punch gave him tongue-in-cheek credit for inventing (flying, so to speak), anti-gravity underwear.

Read more about it here at Ptak Science Books.

And although I usually try to avoid the kitty internet craze, I just can't help it! These ones are just so funny! From Cats That Talk. Discovered here.

And as a bonus link, here's a fascinating story about The Vidocq Society.

Nineteen years ago three men had the idea of a regular lunch club for crime experts that would try to solve some of the United States' most baffling homicides. The Vidocq Society has now been instrumental in solving hundreds of crimes. Adam Higginbotham meets the founding members.

I suppose I find this so interesting because I've recently been reading lots of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple novels lately.

Find the complete story here at The Telegraph. Well worth a read.

Okay, time to go be productive now...
T

blog #479 >> Bacon!

2011-07-31T13:52:00.000-07:00

(Image from Plan 59)

I did not intend to write a bacon post today. But it was meant to be. This morning I woke up and went to bacon heaven! There are several reasons why I will never be a vegetarian. Steak is reason #1 and bacon is reason #2. You see when you grow up raising your own livestock for meat, (we raised turkeys) there's never any shock about what you're actually eating. You're very close to your food, and that's okay. You become used to the fact that animals are edible, and not only edible, but quite delicious as well.

Here we have Chester and Bacon. A few months ago my brother and sister-in-law raised a couple of pigs and I bought 1/6 of a share. Now the pork is ready and my little freezer is full to the brim with meat. I have pork chops, pork shoulder steaks, ham hocks, bacon, and all kinds of pork!

This morning I tried the bacon for the first time, and WOW! It's some of the best bacon I've ever had! With its brown sugar glaze, this thick sliced bacon is like eating a smoky, bacon-y steak. Chester turned into some fine pork!

(bacon cookbook recipes here.)
(image found here.)

blog #478 >> A Really Big Tongue

2011-07-17T20:41:00.000-07:00

This weekend I embarked on a culinary adventure. I tried cooking tongue aka lengua.

I recently got "Grandma's Wartime Kitchen" from the library, and it ended up being a really fascinating book. I've enjoyed it quite a bit. Not all of its recipes are practical for today (most are), but it does have authentic recipes which are really interesting. I love reading the comments and introductions they give for each section. It talks about the rationing and the meat shortages during WWII and that everyone ate lots of beef livers, hearts and tongues. (It also has... a recipe of sugarless cake, and butterless butter.) Anyhow, I wanted to try a couple of the recipes, and the more research I did about tongue, the better and better it sounded. I knew Saturday would be my only chance for awhile to get out to White's Country Meats, so I picked one up.

The first thing I thought when I saw that tongue was, "Whoa! That thing is HUGE!" I had no idea beef tongues were that large! It's 13" long! That's going to make a lot of taco filling, sandwich filling, etc. etc. etc. which is good, because I'm still not sure what I'm going to make with it. I think I'm going to try several different things. Today, I made tongue tacos. Here are some of the recipes I've been looking at. I love reading the comments.
Beef Tacos de Lengua at Simply Recipes
Tongue and Mustard Sandwiches at All Recipes
Tacos de Lengua by the Hungry Texan
Boiled Tongue at All Recipes

For my tacos I kept it really simple. I just fried the cubed tongue with a little butter with taco seasoning and served it with grated cheese and greens. It turned out remarkably delicious! It tastes a lot like roast, a really tender roast.

After washing and scrubbing the tongue.

Boiling the tongue for 4 hours with onion, garlic, celery, bay leaves, pepper corns, salt, and spices.

Pealing the tongue.

Chopping the tongue.

The final product! Tongue tacos!
T

blog #477 >> Down by the Creek

2011-07-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I finally remembered my camera when I went to the creek! So, I took a LOT of pictures to make up for the lost times. It was such a nice relaxing evening. I took a chair down to the water and just sat and read while dinner cooked on the wood stove. It was really hard to come back home. It was so tempting to just spend the night. The tent is set up for the summer, and I had a trunk full of clean laundry and groceries. But now I'm glad I came home since it has rained all day today.

Here are the black berries, they're just starting to flower.

And I discovered four huckleberry plants that I am very excited about. I bet I can find more, but I didn't want to go tromping into the underbrush. There are lots of stinging nettles out there as well as huckleberries, and I didn't want to get into those. But the plants are much easier to find now while the berries are still red before they turn to blue.

And I learned these are called salmonberries. I read that they're edible, but I haven't tried any yet. Plus, there's not very many of them.

And I discovered these are wild cucumbers. They are not edible, as this brave blogger learned. But they are so strange! They don't look like anything that would belong out in the woods. They climb up the branches of the cedar trees and look more like an alien invasion, than a wild plant.

And here's an old saw blade that washed in. It's probably remnants of the logging community that was here around the turn of the century.

And here's my dinner cooking and the tent all set up. It's just waiting for me to go camping.

And finally the little snail.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

And as a bonus post, I have the owl cross-stitch I made for my wall. I still think he looks a little like a penguin, but I like him.
T

blog #476 >> The Garden Grows

2011-07-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

I realized I hadn't done a good ol' garden post in awhile. So just to keep everyone updated... it's growing. Not as quickly as I had hoped, but I think it will make it never the less. It's just been such a wet and cold summer! I'm amazed it's doing as well as it is! The only thing I think will be a complete flop is the corn. Knee high by 4th of July? It wasn't even close! And now that the bunnies have moved on and quit eating the peas and beans, they might just make it. There's only one purple pole bean plant left. I'm still hoping for a beautiful fall.

Here's the eggplant on my front porch. It's doing pretty good. So are the ones in the garden.

The corn rows.

The potato rows. The potatoes are doing great, I think we'll have a good crop of potatoes. My dad has built a smoke/drying house. We're going to experiment with drying potatoes for soups and potato flour.

The spinach actually did pretty well. Not every variety made it, the "Bloomingdales Long Withstanding" went straight to seed without ever getting big. But the "Mustard Spinach" variety did great. (Actually, I think "Mustard Spinach" is a type of mustard not a type of spinach, but it tastes just like spinach. I'm actually still a little confused on the subject.)

The zucchini is one thing I can always count on to do fantastic!

And now that the bunnies have stopped devouring peas by night, we might just get a few of them as well. (peas not bunnies)

And the radishes are doing beautifully. I love these "Sparkler White Tips."

• • • • • • • • • • • •

And for a bonus post here's a picture of one of my all time favorite cookies: Salted Butterscotch Cookies made with browned butter... mmmmm... I think I want one right now.

T

blog #475 >> Summery Stuff

2011-07-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

Here's a blog post devoted to catching up on the things I've gotten behind on.

Today, I finally got a chance to make pickled garlic with the giant elephant garlic head one of my clients, R/K Polka Band, brought in for us at work. I love that couple. They are so sweet. They say they have 18, 50 foot rows and they sell them at the farmer's market and local produce stands. They said they had one head of garlic that weighed 3 lbs! They also offered us a garlic chocolate chip cookie recipe... but I think I'd want to try one before I made a whole batch.

Looking back, I should have saved a clove for garlic bread.

And I had quite a bit of leftover brine, so I thought I'd try making some pickled carrots too.

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

And here is the playdough I made for Ada for her birthday. It turned out fantastic and it was a huge hit. I got the recipe here. I made four half batches and it still made a lot!

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

My dad also got out his theater pop corn popper and made pop corn for everyone on the 4th of July. It was such a treat! He needs to get it out more often, plus it's a lovely old popper.

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

Charlie, my sister's 5 year old son, also had a birthday on the 4th of July. He had a super hero party, and as you can see, it was extremely exciting. She made all the kids super hero costumes that were super awesome! You can buy them here on her etsy store: etsy.com/shop/BabyDear. You can get the party set or individual sets. Your kids will be fighting crime and flying around the house before you know it.

Cheers!
T

blog #474 >> Happy Independence Day!

2011-07-04T09:15:00.000-07:00

Wishing everyone a Happy 4th of July!

Image from Karen's Whimsy

blog #473 >> Sea Foam Dress

2011-07-03T12:14:00.000-07:00

One week, 80 photos, and 5 washings later... I'm finally able to post about my sea foam dress! I finished it late last weekend, and it came together splendidly! I couldn't find a pattern that was anything like what I was looking for, so I pieced together a few of my random $1 simplicity patterns, and I added pockets as well as a few other details. Actually, I added a lot of details. It took me awhile to adjust the pieces to fit right, but no longer than it does for any other dress. That's always the hardest part, getting the right fit. But considering I cut my pattern pieces out of brown packing paper that I taped together, I think it turned out amazing!

...but then disaster struck. The first day I wore it, even before I had a chance to take any pictures. I spilled gravy all down the front of it. Now normally I'm not a messy eater. Normally, I'm quite neat. But I tend to have bad luck. The only time I spill food on myself is when it's most inconvenient. Such as, about five minutes before I have a client come in, I always spill tea on myself. Anyhow, about 15 minutes after the gravy, I managed to get red ink on it too. I was carrying a bag with a red logo stamped on it, that apparently wasn't quite dry yet. It was so sad. So, I did the obvious, I washed it.

Normally, I never pre-wash my fabric. I live in a tiny little apartment with a coin washing machine in the basement, but I'm too cheap to use it. It costs about $5 a load, and it doesn't have many wash options, or hold many clothes. With how much I spend on clothes, it would cost me more to wash my clothes than it would for me to buy new clothes. Therefore my parents graciously let me do laundry at their house, and I occasionally wash clothes in the sink. I think in the future however, I need to start pre-washing fabrics. The first thing I did was try to get the stains out with stain sticks, but they didn't quite cut it, and left big clean circles on my dress. I had no idea fabric fresh from the store was that dirty. So I washed the whole thing in the sink, but it still didn't get out the stains. Then I washed it again with dish detergent and that did get out the stains. Yay! Next, I started to iron it and it left these huge dark marks on the fabric. Huh? I panicked and washed it again, and the dark marks came out, but I couldn't figure out what it was... it seemed a little sticky. Then it dawned on me... I USED WONDER TAPE! I've never used Wonder Tape before. And if you had asked me a week ago, before I tried washing it, I would have said I loved it. Wonder Tape is a notion that tapes seams down to hold them in place while you're sewing. It really worked great, it was easy to sew over, it didn't gum up the needle, and with the thin, slightly slippery fabric, it really kept everything together and on track. It's also water soluble so it will wash out when you're done. I should mention... I used a LOT of Wonder Tape... I mean YARDS of it. And since I was being careful not to shrink anything, the water I was using wasn't very warm and I wasn't soaking it long enough to wash all the Wonder Tape out. So I took it over to my parents house and washed it for real, in a washing machine, and now it's back to normal... I'm just waiting for what I'm going to spill on it next.

p.s. I will use Wonder Tape again, but maybe just a little less of it.

T

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

And as a bonus post, here's the silhouette I made of myself... only I made my hair style look more a little more Victorian.

blog #472 >> White Lacy Skirt

2011-06-19T20:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my sisters and I got together for a sewing day, and I finally had a chance to finish a sewing project. I used a little of my new fabric stash and made this white lacy skirt. I love how it turned out. And I can't wait to start my sea-foam dress next.
Here's a close up of the texture and lace.

• • • • • • • • • •

And here are a few pictures of the garden.

Most everything is up now, and there are even a few little baby zucchinis coming up.

I'm not sure how the corn will do, but the turnips are doing fantastic!

T

blog #471 >> My New Specs

2011-06-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

At last! They're here!
Originally, when I got my eyes checked, I hadn't planed on getting a second pair of glasses. I knew I wanted to use my grandma's old frames again for my primary pair, and then I thought I'd use my old prescription for my second pair. But it turned out that in the last three years, my vision had gone downhill fast! When I went in, I couldn't even read the third line on the chart. I honestly had no idea I was that blind. I've known for awhile that I needed new glasses. I noticed I couldn't read street signs unless I was right on top of them. And I noticed I couldn't read the clock in the lunch room from where I always sit anymore. But now I realize, I should have gotten my eyes re-checked three years ago. Last time I went in, they told me I didn't need glasses at all! I knew that was wrong at the time. I was wearing a really light prescription for nearsightedness then, so I thought I'd give it a try. I went without them for about a day, and soon realized they were wrong. I needed those glasses. Right then, I should have made an appointment elsewhere, but I didn't. Instead I waited three years, and now there's a huge difference between my old glasses and my new glasses. When I got my grandma's old frames back with the new lenses I walked all the way home shouting, "wow... Wow... WOW! WOW!!! WOOOOWWWW!!!!" People must have though I was mad, and maybe I was momentarily. But mostly I was just amazed at how detailed the world really is, I had forgotten how clear everything is suppose to be.

Anyhow, my original plan for using my old pair as a second pair was soon vanquished. And it was soon time to pick out a new pair of frames. I thought about using one of my many vintage cat eye frames, but I kinda wanted something different. I've worn thick plastic vintage frames since high school, and I sort of wanted my second pair to be completely different from my usual. That's when I saw these in the case at Asterix Eyewear.* It was love at first sight. I tired on a few other pair of wire rims. But I knew these were the ones I wanted. My mind just kept on turning back to them. I loved the shape, the size, the way they fit on my head. But most of all I loved how the wire curves around at the ear. It reminds me of glasses from the 20's. Then I noticed the price tag... EEEKK!!! I have to admit, that it did quench the fires of my heart for a time. But then I saw them again when I picked up my old pair, and remembered how wonderful they were. I would say I am too poor, and could never afford them... but that wouldn't exactly be true. It's true that I don't make much money, and there have been times when things have been extremely crunched, but I'm an excellent saver. The truth would be to say that I am frugal, and don't like to spend money on unnecessary things. I also don't like to buy expensive things. The cheap version is (in most cases) good enough for me. I have lots of nice things, it's true, but I didn't pay a lot for them. I search and dig, I stalk the second hands stores, and rarely buy anything new. That's why these glasses were such a jump for me. It's not normally something I would do. I cringe to think that I could have bought this or this for about the same price. I think I'm still getting over the sticker shock of it all. But it was love. And there's no use fighting against it. Right now I want to wear them. But I can't really see them when they are on my head, so instead I have them sitting next to the laptop so I can admire their beauty. Wow, I love these glasses.

*Asterix Eyewear has some of the best frames in Portland! They are also awesome about fixes and repairs. I highly recommend them. My family and I have been using them for years.

blog #470 >> All Things Bright and Beautiful: Day 3

2011-06-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

And next we come to Day 3 of The All Things Bright & Beautiful Blog Party hosted by Grace at Puddles of Memories. Today's post will be a...

::Summer Reading List::

Now this list is extremely optimistic. I realize I have a few extra thick ones in the mix, so in reality I know I won't get through all these... but I like to think that I could. But the first one is required, and since I'm reading it right now, I know I'll finish it before the end of summer... Actually, I know I'll finish the first three, it's the rest I'm unsure of.

1. The Pickwick Papers
Charles Dickens

2. The Miss. Marple Collection
Agatha Christie
I want to be just like Miss. Marple when I grow up.

3. The Gathering Storm
Winston Churchill

4. A Swiftly Tilting Plant
Madeleine L'Engle

5. The Catcher and The Rye
J. D. Salinger

6. Wives and Daughters
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell

7. The Old Man and The Sea
Ernest Hemingway
I read it years ago in high school, but I think I'll like it better now.

8. Tess of The D'Urbervilles
Thomas Hardy

9. Up From Slavery
Booker T. Washington

10. The Remains of The Day
Kazuo Ishiguro

2009 Reading List
2010 Reading List
2011 Reading List: see side bar on lower left.

blog #469 >> All Things Bright and Beautiful: Days 1 & 2

2011-06-12T11:58:00.001-07:00

Good Morning!
...at least it was still morning when I started this post.

Here I am at last "fashionably late" to The All Things Bright & Beautiful Blog Party hosted by Grace at Puddles of Memories. I need to do some make up posts, so I'm simply combining Day 1 & Day 2. This particular theme is SUMMER! Which is hard, since it seems summer has been always just out of reach this year. We'll have an almost warm and sunny stretch, but then the weather just sinks back into the 60 degrees and overcast rut. Oh, elusive summer, when will you finally show your face?

Day 1: Summer Bucket List!
Is it sad that I don't really have any summer plans yet? I think that means I'm getting old. I work the same hours summer and winter... I miss summer vacation. Well, I think it's time I got into the spirit of summer and made a list!

Day 2: Summer Photo Post: What does summer look like to you?
Well, this is perfect! Summer is going to look a lot like my list of things to do.

So here they are... Days 1 & 2

Things I want to do this summer:

1. Stay cool! This shouldn't be too hard, since it hasn't been even a "warm" summer yet. Plus, I'm so cold blooded, I'll wear sweaters and socks up until it hits 80 degrees!

picture found here.

2. I'd also like to try making some of these colorful popsicles or maybe some fruity frozen Jell-O things!

3. I'm definitely planning on spending lots of time in the garden...

this isn't my garden... but I'd like to spend lots of time in it.
image from Better Homes and Gardens.

4. And I think I'll take advantage of the non-rainy weather to do some aimless wandering. Just pack a bag full of random objects and start off in no particular direction. That sounds right up my alley. I'll be sure to pack a camera as well so I can document all of my non-adventures along the way.

image found here.

5. A trip to the beach is also a summer classic. I'd love to go at least once this summer, even if it was just for the day.

6. And of course I have a summer reading list, even though I doubt I'll have much extra time for reading this summer. But I can always pack a chair and head down to the creek in the evening after work and eat a camp fire dinner while curling up with a good book.

image found here.

7. Once the weather clears up, I'll be able to get the telescope out again. I had such high hopes for this spring, but the sky thought it would be better to rain each night instead.

8. I want to get a LOT of sewing and crafting finished. I'm all backed up on projects, and I'd like to get my etsy shop back up and running again. I'm taking a break while I try to decide what I want to do with it. I'm good at making everything and anything, but I really don't care if I make any money. I also don't like to make the same thing twice. Which is bad, since that means if I sell out of something right away, I don't very often make more. I also like to spend a lot of time on one project and make it quite detailed. Which isn't good if you've got an etsy store, then the goal becomes quantity over quality. I'm starting to realize I'm not cut-out for a high-profit etsy store. I think I'll just populate it with a few odds and ends that I've enjoyed making instead.

9. I'd also like to finish the coloring books I've been working on. I have the roughs all sketched out, and I've started to vectorize them. But I'm not liking how the super clean lines are looking. I think I'm going to pen and ink them instead.

10. Do lots of canning! With that giant garden this year, I can already see, I'm going to do a LOT of canning this summer. And this pickle recipe will certainly be one of the things I'm making!

recipe and photo from here.

11. Practice the accordion as much as possible! One thing summer does mean, is more accordion time! The window air conditioner does a great job masking the noise and for a few brief months I can play at home!

Edith Piaf and her accordion, image found here.

Until the next posting,
Cheers!
T

blog #468 >> New Stash

2011-06-11T19:29:00.001-07:00

Today, I had a chance to stop by Fabric Depot's outdoor sale. They had so much great fabric! Most of it was around $5/yd. I got some vintage style pig fabric to make into pig potholders, and a few other vintage 30's prints as well. I got a white cotton that has a vintage, lacy, off-white pattern on it, along with some wide eyelet lace to make into a new summer skirt. I also got some 50's occupations themed fabric. I think I'm going to make that into bags. But best of all I got the loveliest, sea-green, light-weight, satiny-matte, fabric... I got five yards of it, for only $2 a yard! It's what I've been looking for, for a very long time. I'm going to make a dress with it that looks a little bit like this one below.

Seen here on etsy! Buy it because it's lovely!

• • • • • • • • • • • •

And I've gotten tired of always losing, and forgetting who has, my 9x13 pan. My last one was actually stolen! Yes!!! You know who you are, you 9x13 pan thief you! But you bought me a new one! So all is forgiven... Although, I engraved my name on this one to avoid all future confrontation. Thanks for the new pan!

Cheers!
T

blog #467 >> Mossy Cottage

2011-06-11T17:22:00.000-07:00

Here is the Mossy Cottage planter I made Trina for her birthday! I love how it turned out! I got the fern and little green plant at the nursery and the moss and rocks from the creek. I wish I had taken pictures down there, but I forgot my camera. I also don't want you to think I'm so clever that I got the idea all on my own. This is what inspired me.

Cheers!
T

blog #466 >> Wide Open Spaces

2011-06-11T16:06:00.000-07:00

This year has been a gardening dilemma. As much as I love to garden. I know with working full time, I cannot keep up a garden all on my own. Last year, I spent waaaaayyy too much time out there, and although it is nice, I realize I need some help. The apartment garden is technically a community garden... but I always have a really hard time finding help. Last year and part of the year before, I had to keep it up all on my own. People move and come and go, plus it's hard work. Most people like the idea of a community garden, but not the work of actually keeping up a community garden. This year my parents also started a VERY large garden that they wanted extra help with. And last year I was having a hard time just taking care of the littler one! So I was very thrilled when some of the neighbors wanted to help out in the community apartment garden this year. They're actually the neighbors who started it five years ago. They moved back to Portland and are ready to start anew. I now realize I may have overstated the fact that I REALLY needed some help in the garden. I did this mainly due to the fact that in the past anyone who wants to help either: a) Wants to help late in the fall... and in actuality, only wants to help eat the produce, even though they haven't helped grow any of it. or b) They say they want to help with the garden and drop out as soon as the weather turns nice. What can I say? People are flakes! Therefore I have stooped to practically begging for help, "You can do pretty much whatever you want with the garden, I don't mind... just please don't flake out on me!" If I were a better judge of character, I probably wouldn't have taken that approach. I think I overdid the "I don't really care," and "do whatever you want to," part. Because now I realize that not only did they sincerely want to help, but I think they didn't really want my help. I really just wanted a little patch of my own over by my strawberries and herbs to plant some lettuce, but they seemed against that. They said I could plant wherever I wanted, but they didn't want to give me a small allotment, which was actually all I wanted. They truly are very friendly and good neighbors, but they're a bit bossy. I think they still see it as their garden that they started five years ago. Unfortunately, I lack the inner resolve to stand up for myself in any way. Or at least I won't be doing so this time, since I did say they could do whatever they wanted with it... and they're taking me at my word. So therefore I'll be pretty much taking a break from the community apartment garden this year and letting the other couple care for it. I'm sure they'll do a great job and I'll just keep one foot in the mud so to speak, and help with the watering a bit. Instead I think I'm going to focus my gardening skills on more wide open sp a c..e...s . . ........... . ..........

As you can see my parent's garden is sprawling with space. There's room for pretty much anything in here and LOTS of it. It's been a cold, rainy, yucky year, but I'm hoping for a nice long warm fall. There's even a little garden bunny who's continually getting into the tomatoes. I've named him Peter. I helped my parents get the last of it into the ground last weekend.

There's going to be potatoes in this section.

Charlie my four year old nephew was helping me plant some seeds... well a four year old doesn't really help, it's more work for them to help than to just do it yourself, but they think it's really fun, and it's a good education. I remember one of the kids came out when I was in the community garden and asked what my tomato plant was... "Well, it's a tomato plant." I said, "Oh, I thought those grew on trees!" said the neighbor kid... This is why we need to keep gardens! Anyhow, Charlie was very good at putting the seeds in the little holes, sprinkling the dirt on top, and giving them a little drink with his tiny watering can. Later we went into the house for dinner and when he came back out he noticed the starts I had planted earlier and said, "WOW, Those seeds really growd fast!" he he! Did I correct him? Nah, you're only four once. The world only seems that wonderful for such a short time. Enjoy it while you can! Now, let's run up and down the rows barefoot through the mud! weeee!!!

This is where the radishes are.

And here are the onions.

And a tomato tree.

And here's a few quick pics of the apartment garden this year.

The strawberries...

And the chives are looking lovely as well.

Happy Gardening!
T

blog #465 >> Reading Nook

2011-05-29T09:07:00.000-07:00

I can't wait to get a few of these books!

'Reading Nook' by roaringcrafts

Antique Rare The Woman In Wh... TwoBirdsVintag... $30.00	Rare Antique Book, Children... WhimzyThyme $28.00
Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights... ForgottenMargi... $135.00	Vintage TREASURE ISLAND 1940... ladyfranslibra... $16.00
A Full Set of "The Seco... GrandpaJoesShe... $60.00	Antique (1927) copy of Black... jollytimeone $15.99
Vintage Charles Dickens Book... DaydreamersUni... $29.00	The Scarlet Letter by Nathan... ThePaperTomato $5.95
My Bookhouse Antique Childre... oneredhen $13.99	A Vintage Collection of Sher... GrandpaJoesShe... $8.00
treasury item...1900s Rebecc... MyraMelinda $7.50	Through the Looking glass, L... elitas $26.00
Antique David Copperfield by... CleoTheRio $20.00	Hawthorne - 1907 House of Se... jollytimeone $17.99
Jules Verne 20.000 Leagues U... VernasVintage $795.00	8 antique volumes Novels & L... ToppaTheLine $35.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

blog #464 >> Burning House

2011-05-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

Every once in awhile, while scrolling through blogs, I'll find something phenomenally fascinating and at the same time extraordinarily inspiring... this is certainly one of those websites. It's called The Burning House. They collect people from all over the world and ask them to take a picture of what they would save from their home if it were burning down. As they say on their website, "It's a conflict between what's practical, valuable and sentimental. What you would take reflects your interests, background and priorities." Which obviously got me thinking, "What would I save from my little apartment?" I don't think I'm quite posh enough to submit my collection, but here are my relics of choice and the reasons why I would save them.

• My old Dr. Martin's that I found at the GoodWill. They fit perfectly, and they are an excellent, practical pair of running shoes, ideal for escaping from a burning building.
• My glasses that belonged to my grandma. It's best to be able to see where your running.
• The vintage 20's deer dress, one of my favorite articles of clothing.
• My great-grandma's black and orange rhinestone necklace from The Roaring 20's.
• The key my grandma gave me when my grandpa died... I'm not sure what it opens, but I always thought it was lovely.
• My grandpa's pocket watch.
• I know it's lame... but I'm going to save my hairbrush. I LOVE that hairbrush, and I don't think you can get that type anymore. It's a creature comfort, and when all else is lost, well... at least I can still brush my hair.
• Although it's not in the picture, (because it's at the cleaners) I'd take my old wool overcoat. It would be cold standing outside watching the place burn down, and I'd want to be warm.
• I'd also grab my purse. I made and designed it myself, and I can see it being helpful to have identification and credit cards. I could also live on it's contents for several days, and stuff things into it as I'm running out the door.
• Lappy, that laptop has become like a part of my brain and my right arm combined.
• My grandpa's diary from WWII and the film negatives of the photos he took during the service.
• My three favorite books from the bookshelf. Replaceable, yes, but I love them. They're like old friends to me. I'd take Jane Eyre, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and Robinson Crusoe.
• Heilenröslein, an old book of German poetry that belonged to my great-grandma. I can't read any of them, but I sometimes translate them when I get bored.
• The big red accordion. My dad and my brother before me played it, and now I do too.
• The stripy umbrella, it's conveniently right by the door, and there's no point standing in the rain.
• A cup of tea, if I had a cup of tea, I'd take it out with me. No reason to let it go to waste. Plus, it would bring a little bit of comfort in the midst of the trauma. But if I didn't already have a cup of tea ready, I wouldn't take the time to make one while the house was burning down. That would just me silly.

(Kitchen, yes there are things I love there too... but it is not on the evacuation route, no time to save anything from there. Sorry kitchen.)

I can just picture myself, standing out in the rain, in my overcoat, with my purse slung over my back, the big red accordion in the front, holding an umbrella and drinking tea, while fearing for the worst and hoping for the best.

If your house were on fire... What would you take?
T

blog #463 >> Antique Lace Summer Dress

2011-05-13T18:12:00.001-07:00

I was also able to finish my new summer dress last night. I made it from an old vintage lace bodice that Trina gave me, some of my grandma's old lace that I tea stained and used for the hem, and some muslin that I had leftover from my lace curtain skirt. I'm very pleased with how it turned out, but I wish I had a little bit more of the muslin so I could have made it longer. However, it's short enough that it looks cute with a pair of pants too, so I guess it's alright. And yes, I did go back and clean up the seams. I always get sloppy when I'm sewing with scraps, and I didn't use a pattern on this one either.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

And here's the latest project I've started. I saw these vintage car tea towels on my google reader and decided I need to make a set of my own. The first one I've finished is of my first love The Hornet. Man, I loved that car. More to come later....

blog #462 >> Chai Tea

2011-05-13T16:51:00.000-07:00

At last! Blogger is back up! I haven't updated this blog in weeks, and of course blogger decided to shut down just when I had everything ready to post! But I realize, I need to be more patient with technology. Just think how new and amazing it really is! I mean I can actually remember a time before there even was such a thing as the Internet. We'd sit around and throw paper airplanes at each other because there was nothing else to do. I need to keep in mind, that the Internet is not always going to do exactly what I want it to do, when I want it to. Just think how remarkable it really is! Everything's amazing now & nobody's happy!

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Well, anyways... below is my favorite recipe for Chai tea. It's so delicious, it's like drinking a gingerbread cookie. I realize that there are about one thousand different ways to make Chai tea, and I've tired several varieties. But this is my own concoction mixed up from several different Chai tea experiments, and I think it's AMAZING! mmmm... cooking Chai from scratch makes my little apartment smell wonderful for days!

Here are the ingredients:
4 cups cold water
2 bags or 2 T. of any black tea, I like Darjeeling
6 whole cardamon pods
(this is a classic Chai tea ingredient, you can't make Chai tea
without cardamon.)
8 whole allspice
12 whole black peppercorns
(this is the secret ingredient that gives it a little bit of a bite.)
1 cinnamon stick broken in half or 1 T. crushed cinnamon stick
1 T. fresh ginger cut into chunks about the size of a pea
a generous dash of freshly grated nutmeg
(DO NOT USE GROUND SPICES! It won't turn out very good at all.)

Bring all the ingredients above to a boil and keep it at a medium boil for at least a half hour. You can boil this all day if you really wanted to. If you're boiling it more than a half hour, you'll probably need to add more water at some point. The more you boil it, the stronger the taste.
Remove from heat. Strain to remove all the spices and tea. Pour back into your pan and... Slowly add...

2-3 T. condensed milk depending on how sweet you like it
or 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream or whole milk sweetened with sugar or honey to taste.

Return to a boil and ENJOY!

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

And here's a picture of the cute Jell-O poster Trina got me.
Thanks Trina! I love it!
T

blog #461 >> Rubix Master!

2011-04-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

Yes! I just accomplished one of life's greatest challenges. I solved a Rubix cube. This is PROOF that I am really good at following directions!

And just so you don't think I only got three sides, here's the other side.

blog #460 >> The Princess and the Pea

2011-04-24T22:01:00.000-07:00

Here it is, the secret project unveiled!
This is the gift I've been working on for Little Miss. Stella's birthday. It's a princess and the pea play set, and I'm tickled pink at how cute it turned out.

• • • • • • • • • • • •

And here are the kids anxiously waiting for cake. It really was delicious!
Cheers!
T

blog #459 >> Happy Easter!

2011-04-23T21:21:00.000-07:00

Wishing everyone a swell Easter!

(image found here.)

And here is this year's Easter egg. I sort of wish I had done this silhouette for my wall instead. It turned out so pretty!

Cheers!
T

blog #458 >> Fairy Village Cake

2011-04-23T19:52:00.000-07:00

Here it is! The fairy village cake I helped my sister make for her daughter's second birthday! I can't wait to taste it... Actually, I think I will feel a little bit bad cutting into it, but it won't last forever, and I'm sure it's delicious.

Cheers!
T

blog#457 >> by the dozen

2011-04-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

I know, another etsy treasury post, she must be printing cd's. Yes! I am!
And I just can't stop thinking of all the things I need to finish before Sunday. Easter is coming and Good Friday is today. I finally finished my secret project last night and got the entire living room picked up and clean. (I'll post pictures Monday morning.) It really is one of the most fantastic things I've ever made and I'm bursting at the seams to show it off. Tonight is church, and tomorrow I'm helping my sister decorate he daughter's birthday cake. It's a fairy village... I'll have to post pictures of that too. And I haven't even started my annual Easter egg yet.

But since soft boiled eggs is one of my favorite breakfasts, I thought I'd do an egg cup treasury for Easter. Plus, they make an excellent Easter breakfast with tea and toast.
What's your favorite breakfast?

Vintage Plastic Egg Cups in Green Metal Tin
from Camp Hobachee
$20.00

Two Red Rose Vintage Egg Cups
from Four Finds Vintage
$14.00

Boiled Egg Service Set
from Sea Glass Vintage
$18.00

EGG CUPS Chicken Design by KN0BLER
from not forgotten vintage
$20.00

Bossy Lady Egg Cup w/ Shaker
from Stuff Carrie Likes
$15.00

Vintage Chicken Egg Cup Japan
from Treasure Cove Ally
$7.00

Vintage Egg Cups Hankscraft
from Juney W Cleaver
$25.00

Vintage Porcelain Egg Cup Farm House Cottage Country
from Katy Bits and Pieces
$8.00

Vintage Cow Egg Cup
from winkin possum
$12.00

Visit by the dozen etsy treasury to see more!
Have a good Friday!
T

blog #456 >> Keeping Cozy

2011-04-21T11:56:00.001-07:00

Well... basically I'm blogging because I am bored. There's not much happening in the art dept. today which means I'm stuck in the dup. room. It's not so bad in here... Pick blank disk up, place on tray, push button twice, tray goes in, makes crunching sound, tray comes out, take printed disk off, drop on spindle, pick blank disk up, place on tray... over and over again. I'm still lamenting the death of that robotic arm. I'm all caught up on google reader, facebook, and I don't think I can take much more internet news; therefore, it's time for blogging!!!

Last night, I made this wonderful etsy treasury of tea cozies. I'm sure there is an easy way to post your favorite items from etsy to your blog, but I've yet to find it. So if you have a trick for it, please let me know and in the mean time, I'll do it the slow way. Below are some of my favorite tea cozies and tea cozy patterns from etsy.

Vintage 60's Handmade in South Africa ZULU Felt Tea Cozy
from Babylon Sisters
$24.00

Vintage 1960s Australian Knit & Crochet pattern booklet
from All The Precious Things
$16.00

Blue Cottage Tea Cozy
by Baby Dear
$23.00
(I own this one, I can confirm that it's the perfect tea cozy! It will keep tea hot for a couple of hours!)

Vintage spotty tea cosy
from Jenny Lou and Patsy Too
$16.00

SWEET OLD LADY Tea Cosy - Pattern
by Hand Made Awards
$4.50

Vintage Rooster Tea Cozy
from Vic and Julie
$12.00

Retro-Style Knitted Tea Cosy
by Little Tin Hut essential frivolity
$30.61

Blue Bobble Tea Pot Cosy
by Georgina-Kay Designs
$30.00

Vintage Flower Basket Embroidered Teapot Cozy
from Blissful Notions
$24.00

Peach Flower Basket Tea Cosie
by Andrea Lesley Crochet
$32.00 (She has lots of other cute colors too!)

KNITTED LIQUORICE SWEETS TEA COSY
by JACKSKNITS
$25.00

I have a few more in my treasury that you can see here, but I've got to go to lunch.
Cheers!
T

blog #455 >> New Project

2011-04-19T08:24:00.000-07:00

So while my tea seeps and I'm waiting to leave for work... which I should have left 15 minutes ago... but that's alright... I decided to do a quick blog post. I've been really busy lately with so many new projects started! Here's a quick look at Stella's birthday present. I can't say what it is, because my sister always knows what I'm giving her kids, and this time I want it to be a surprise. But I can say it is the cutest thing I've ever made! I can't wait until it's finished... I hope I can finish them on time!

Here's the doll frame.

And I know everyone always takes pictures of their homes when they are pristine and clean, but this is a picture of my apartment the messiest it's ever been! I'm normally really good about picking up after each stage, but I've been racing the clock on this one, so I've just been throwing fabric and thread all over the room. It looks like a stick of dynamite exploded in my sewing cabinet. I've got a huge clean up project coming up next!
T

blog #454 >> Irish Soda Bread

2011-03-17T20:11:00.001-07:00

Today during my lunch break, I walked up to the local bakery to pick up a loaf of their Irish soda bread. I got one last year and it was FANTASTIC! It was nice and biscuity, with whiskey soaked golden raisins and caraway seeds. I was looking forward to it all day. But when I got up there, they didn't have any this year. They made shamrock cookies instead. I'm sure they would have been delicious cookies, but I was all excited about Irish soda bread. So when I got home from work I decided to make some myself.
I found this terrific recipe from allrecipes.com and I think I like it even better than the bakery's Irish soda bread! I pretty much followed the recipe, except I added some heavy cream to the milk and let it sit for a couple of minutes after I added the vinegar. I also boiled the currents in orange juice before I added them, and I would have used whiskey instead of the orange juice, but I didn't have any. Anyhow it's an excellent recipe, like a giant scone with crispy edges... mmmmm...
It would be perfect with a cup of Irish breakfast tea. Enjoy!
T

blog #453 >> Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T18:12:00.001-07:00

May "The Shamrock Blimp" fill your year with luck and joy!
T

blog #452 >> Muddy Creek

2011-03-14T07:11:00.000-07:00

Although most people who read this blog are probably getting a bit tired of creek pictures... I love them, and I think they're pretty, so I'm going to continue to post them. This week the water was extra high due to the heavy rains we've been getting. It is also the muddiest I've ever seen that water. It looked like chocolate milk.

We also lost a large tree limb that fell across the path going down.

And there's a new cupboard in the sheltered area, I can't wait for another reading day down at the creek. It was just too wet and rainy this week. Maybe next week...
T

blog #451 >> Simply Awesome Award

2011-03-13T16:06:00.000-07:00

Last week I was so very honored to win The Simply Awesome Award! This little dainty was graciously bestowed upon me by the very sweet Miss. Grace over at Puddles of Memories. This could be where I go on and on about how I don't deserve it, and I'm not actually very awesome, but I'm not that humble... I'm totally awesome, and I know it! Anyhow here are the official rules:

1. Accept this award graciously because you (and your blog) are simply awesome.
2. Pass it on to five other bloggers who have simply awesome blogs, and tell them about it- either by commenting on their blog, emailing them, etc.
3. List five things that you find simply awesome.
4. Pass these rules on.

Well, there are so many awesome blogs and awesome things I don't know where to start.... um... 5 simply awesome things...

1. tea - I really love tea... a lot. Nothing beats a nice hot cup of tea when you first get up.... unless it's a nice hot cup of tea before you go to bed.

2. books - Books are wonderful! I really hope books never go out of style, but even if they do, I'll become like the crazy cat lady, but instead of a cat refuge, I'll have a book refuge. I'll pile them up in every room to the ceiling with little arched book tunnels to get around in. Oh, and they'll be organized, because what's the sense of having all those books and not knowing where anything is. See more lovely bookcases at Bookshelf Porn... don't worry there's no actual porn on the site... just very modest bookshelves.

This image is from Apartment Therapy.

3. Beirut - Still one of my all time favorite bands.

4. Sirius - Such a pretty little star. I don't care how cold it is outside, I'll be fine just as long as I get a quick look at this lovely silvery-twinkling star in my telescope.

Image found here at Weather Underground.

5. pie - I know cupcakes are in their prime, but I'd take pie over cake any day... mmmm... PIE! Sweet fruity pastry goodness!

And now the hardest part of all... trying to pick just five awesome blogs. I've got sooo many loaded into my reader, it's been really hard to pick just five. It's taken me all week!
But I think these are going to be my final five. (Grace, I would have picked you, but since you picked me you've already won, so I'm passing it on.)
So here they are:

Lolly-Tots Crafty Goodness by Mary the maker of fine furry hats.

Inadvertent Farmer by Kim grower of organic veggies and camel lover.

Food in Jars, lovely pictures and delicious recipes of food in jars.

Flapper Girl Creations, by Christine, collector of antique yearbooks and creator of retro aprons.

Backyard Farm Wife, by Carrie raiser of chickens and collector of vintage delights.

Enjoy!
T

blog #450 >> Mochi

2011-03-13T13:22:00.000-07:00

At last, I finally tried making mochi! I bought ingredients for these way back in January. They turned out fantastic, but the recipe made waaaay more than I thought it would. (Over three dozen.) All I can think is, "This would be the perfect opportunity to have a fund raiser for Japan!" If I sold these little buggers for $1 each, I'd have $40 to send over there in no time! Personally, I wouldn't think twice about making a nice sign and just walking across the street and selling them in front of the Safeway. But since I don't have a food handlers permit, or a quality controlled kitchen, or a peddlers license, I can't even count all the city ordinances I'd probably be breaking. It's times like this I wish I had a good church I was attending... that would be the perfect place to sell these! Anyhow, hopefully someone reading this will make these and create an awesome fund raiser out of them. They're not hard to make, just a little time consuming. I got all the ingredients at Uwajimaya, and the recipe is from JustJENN. I don't normally say this, but that recipe is perfect as is so, DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING. And when it says, stir like crazy... JustJENN is not just joking, you need to stir it really really fast and well. Also, don't skimp on the potato starch, it's super sticky so you can't have too much. Meanwhile, I'll keep on trying to think of who I can legally exploit for donations.

Here are the ingredients for mochi, there's really not much in them. You'll need water, food coloring, 1 box of mochiko sweet rice flour, 1 bag of sweet red bean, potato starch (lots of potato starch) and sugar. I know I took a picture of granulated sugar, but I changed my mind last minute and used super-fine baking sugar instead. It usually works better for anything involving dissolving sugar in water, but I'm sure granulated would have been fine too.

Generously sprinkle your cutting board with potato starch. This was not nearly generous enough.

Wrap red bean in mochi. If I had been smarter I would have pre-rolled out little red bean balls.

And the lovely finished mochi!

This morning I was reading this blog post over at The Food Librarian (who also makes excellent mochi) and I couldn't help but wonder... why is it I can watch houses (on fire!) floating away with cars and airplanes piled on top of them practically unmoved, but I cry when I think of the little kids in emergency shelters eating rice balls. Suddenly there's a link of relation... I like rice balls too! And it all becomes real. ...Needless to say, I just pulled a nice pot of sushi rice out of the oven. I know what I'm eating for lunch!
If you would like to donate money to Japan, you can donate to the International Red Cross (Japan: Earthquake and Tsunami Fund) online here. (I've been trying to get it to work all morning without success. I think it's overloaded at the moment.)

Enjoy!
T

blog #449 >> Sister Day

2011-03-06T11:43:00.000-08:00

When my sisters and I found out that my brother was going to go pick up his new baby pigs, we dropped everything for the day and we all decided to go visit the baby pigs. But first we had some other stops to make.

My oldest sister Carrie needed a place to stay in town Friday night, so she stayed over at my place and slept on the couch. We ended up staying up until midnight watching Coal House at War. It's my latest favorite historical reality show produced by BBC Wales. It's about 3 modern families who go and live in a Welsh coal mining community in 1944. The families of today need to cook on a wood stove, raise rabbits, pigs and tend a "victory garden" for food, take in evacuee children from the London bombing, and deal with black outs and air raids. The wives work sewing ammunition bags in a factory on treadle sewing machines. The kids go to a 1944 one room school house where they need to take cod liver oil and malt syrup everyday. And the men need to walk 4 miles to and from their work at the coal mine each day... well sometimes they take the original 1940's bus, but it's broken down a lot. It's really made me realize how lazy I am. It's a great show.
In the morning I made us a mostly English breakfast of tea, cooled toast, soft boiled eggs, cheese, and the last of my homemade sauerkraut that I've been telling her about for weeks. ...and yes, we watched more Coal House too.

After breakfast my other sister Amy and her daughter Maggie stopped by, and we all went to "The Wall of Herbs," Edelweiss German market, Cool Cottons on Hawthorne, (which had some amazing fabrics, I'd definitely go back.) The Monticello Antique Mall, and then we had some lunch. After that we picked up the rest of the kids and stopped by Mike's in Estacada before we went to see the pigs. Everybody loves Mike's! I also noticed he had some new cautionary signs, and apparently if you get caught switching the lids on the pots, he'll now prosecute you for shoplifting... and we all know what happens to shoplifters at Mike's... so don't mess with his pots and pans!

And here are the new baby pigs. We named ours Chester, (he's the one with the spotted bum.) and the other is named Bacon. I know you're not suppose to name them, but since we see them so seldom, I doubt we'll get too attached. The kids really liked them, but they're not too tame yet, and were more than a little bit timid. They'll be more fun in a few months after they've learned that people bring food. This year's pigs are really cute, but overall I think last year's were cuter.

blog #448 >> New Skirt

2011-03-06T11:00:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to get caught up on my sewing projects. I keep on buying more fabric to start more projects, but I haven't even started the projects I already have fabric for. So no more! It's time to start sewing! This is the skirt I made from some pretty lace curtains. I bought the curtains at "The Bins" the same time I bought the bedspread that I turned into a robe, and the ties for the tie skirt. I love how this one turned out, but I'm realizing that it runs really easily, so I'm not sure how long it will last.
T

blog #447 >> Sauerkraut and Snow

2011-02-24T19:49:00.000-08:00

Nearly three weeks ago, I chopped up some cabbage, soaked it in salt, stuffed it in a giant jar, and simply left on my kitchen counter for a REALLY long time. I have to admit, I had my doubts whether or not it was actually fermenting. I was afraid it was just going to sit there, rot and get moldy. But I'm happy to say that I just made the BEST sauerkraut I've ever had! WOW! I will NEVER buy it from the store again. It was unbelievably easy and well worth the wait. Next time I make it though, I think I'll use a little less salt, and I think I could have let this one ferment a little bit longer. But I could tell it was fermenting correctly, because when I took it out of the jar and drained it, it was surprising warm to the touch. It was about the warmth of hot tap water... it was kinda strange. But absolutely delicious! (I should also note that the cheese cloth lasted about three days, before I gave up on it and took it out. I'm still trying to find a good way to weigh the cabbage down.)

Today we also had our first snow of the year! Unfortunately, the roads were clear, so I still had to go to work and couldn't stay at home and drink tea all day while knitting and watching the snow fall... but I'll admit, I did show up a little late anyhow. It took me longer to brush all the snow off the car than it did for me to drive to work!

T

blog #446 >> Creek Rabbits

2011-02-20T22:03:00.001-08:00

We now have bunnies down by the creek! I'm really hoping they stick around and don't hop off or get devoured by a predator. My brother dropped them off today. They were roaming around his yard, but he's afraid they'd get into the garden, so it was time to find them a new home. And the creek is a beautiful home where they can roam free and at liberty. They are very tame and seemed really happy to see us... well I guess the carrots I brought them helped. I think I'll be sneaking them lots of veggies in the future.

T

blog #445 >> About Toast

2011-02-19T20:35:00.000-08:00

...and toasters... and other things too.

But first, I just want to say that, I LOVE TOAST! mmmmm... buttery, crispy, cozy toast! I enjoy a nice slice of toast or two with tea and milk everyday for breakfast. And the great thing about toast is, there's so many things that taste great on it. It's delicious with jam, or peanut butter, or nutella, or cheese, or soft boiled eggs, or bacon, or cinnamon and sugar... it's just so versatile! So when my toaster broke down last week, it was actually a bit traumatic. My entire breakfast infrastructure was thrown out of balance. I am willing to eat cold cereal and fruit for breakfast once in awhile, but it's just not the same as a warm slice of toast with a hot cup of tea. However as you can imagine, someone who loves toast as much as I do, will have a back-up just in case.

I started buying things for my apartment when I was thirteen, so by the time I moved there wasn't much left that I needed to buy. And since I got everything so long ago, I had duplicates of a few things. Somehow I ended up with five ash trays, and I don't even smoke! I also ended up with two toasters, not such a bad thing at that. I knew my favorite chrome toaster would not last very long. My parents got it for a wedding gift and they gave it to me when I moved out. Surprisingly, it has lasted these past five years without any problem, that is, until last week. I just could not get it to work. Therefore the little yellow toaster my sister gave me came out of the basement. Cute? Yes! But to my dismay I realized that it makes TERRIBLE toast! Do all modern toasters work so horribly? Technically, it should be the best toaster ever! It has great features. It pops up when it's done, and it is extra wide for bagels. But I don't eat many bagels... I eat toast! It will burn one side of the bread and barely toast the other. It also doesn't toast the bread all the way through. So sad. Yet there is HOPE! My dad is very clever at fixing things, and at last my beloved toaster is repaired and back to its normal feisty self. (It hasn't popped up on its own since I was about five years old. But since it's never worked, I have developed an "inner toaster sense" and know exactly when it is done without even looking.) I'm so happy to have my good old toaster back! I think I'm going to go try it out right now! And the little yellow toaster is going to find a happy new home full of bagel lovers!

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And as for other things.... af;lajdsf;awoifjsdknlxhjkl... sorry, I was brushing the toast crumbs off my keyboard. These are the swell sewing things I got today at Knittin' Kitten and Scrap. The shoe stretchers I got at Mike's for $1! Altogether everything cost $10! Pretty good bargain day for me!

And this is my crazy Christmas cactus which doesn't know what time of year it is, but at least it finally decided to bloom.

T

blog #444 >> Happy St. Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T08:16:00.001-08:00

Happy St. Valentine's Day!
T

Image found at vintageholidaycrafts.com

blog #443 >> Knitted Hat

2011-02-06T15:00:00.000-08:00

At last! I've finished my hat! Now I think I'm going to make arm warmers to match.
T

blog #442 >> Homemade Sauerkraut

2011-01-30T21:41:00.000-08:00

Usually, I'm not a sauerkraut fan. I used to think I didn't like it, but that was before I tried homemade sauerkraut or my sister's baked sauerkraut dish... and now I LOVE it! I'm so excited to finally be trying this recipe for myself. I have to say it sounds too incredibly easy. And I'll just have to wait and see how it turns out in a couple of weeks. I got the recipe here from my friends Dave and Trina. But I did make a few modifications, because I'm incapable of cooking anything without: I just made 1/3 of a batch using 1 cabbage instead of 3 to test the recipe. And I used a brine of 4 cups boiling water to 3 T. pickling salt. And I also used a piece of cheese cloth to help keep it all weighted down.
I hope it turns out well!
T

blog #441 >> Lemon Curd

2011-01-30T21:05:00.000-08:00

As I was strolling down the produce aisle, I made a remarkable discovery. Lemons were really cheap! I mean incredibly cheap! They must have been on sale and in season, and tempted by their lovely yellowish color, I decided on the spot that this was the perfect week to make lemon curd. I was thinking about canning it, but apparently it's only good for a few months if it's canned, before it turns brown. And it's good for up to a year if it's frozen. So this was one time that I decided to freeze something instead of canning it. Here's the recipe I used and the link to the batch I made last year. (I made a triple batch. One batch makes a little more than one pint, three batches yielded four. I also used super fine sugar, omitted the lemon zest, used 1/2 the amount of butter, and I used regular butter, not unsalted.) It turns out sooo good! I love homemade lemon curd! It's quite a bit more tart that store bought, which is extra good if you're eating it on something sweet like scones or shortbread. I can't wait to have some with tea!

Obviously, I used a LOT of lemons, and eggs.
T

blog #440 >> 美しい本を編む

2011-01-30T19:06:00.000-08:00

For my birthday this year, I drove to Seattle with my sister Carrie and my friend Trina to visit the wonders of Daiso the 100 yen store and Uwajimaya the Asian grocery store. (Their seafood section is like an aquarium!) I got so many amazing things! And as usual I forgot to take a single picture! I even got a bag of hot roasted chestnuts from a cart right outside the door! Among other things, I got grass jelly, litchi vinegar, some interesting candies, a rice-ball maker, tin foil with elephants on it, decorative tape, bath salts, a bento box set, ingredients to make red bean mochi, and a few craft books. This one is my favorite from Kinokuniya inside Uwajimaya. All their craft books where so delightful! I had a really hard time picking one out. I hope I can figure out how to make some of these things. Diagrams are helpful, but I can't read Japanese at all!
T

blog #439 >> Homemade Ricotta Cheese

2011-01-18T19:19:00.000-08:00

At last! I've successfully made homemade ricotta cheese thanks to my handy new digital kitchen thermometer. I can't wait for dinner to come out of the oven. See recipe and complete instructions here at Serious Eats.
T

blog #438 >> Cool Things!

2011-01-16T15:24:00.001-08:00

I know, two posts in one day! I feel like I need to make up for being a lazy blogger lately. This is a collection of cool things I've found on Google Reader recently. If you want to see more of these cool things you should follow me, I share lots cool things!

These are a few of the mind bogglingly awesome dioramas done by Lori Nix. See more of them at her website here.

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Remarkable photos from Olivier Grunewald of blue lava from inside the sulfur mine Kawah Ijen, in Indonesia. See more here.

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Here are some very cute children who are very puzzled by outdated technology. They're adorable, but they make me feel so old. "What's this? I don't know... A carpet?" (Don't worry it's subtitled in English.)

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This is so extraordinary! I would totally buy stock in this company if I could! It's a 3D printer called Thing-O-Matic! It can print just about anything from a chess set to a coat hanger in 30 minutes. I am so impressed with this, it makes me want to go back to school and major in 3D modeling software. What would be even cooler is if you could throw the plastic back into another machine and then reuse it. They need to start working on that. Buy your very own here for only $1225.

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And this is the house of my dreams found on Retro Renovations. Unfortunately, it's on the wrong side of town and about 1/2 million more than I can afford. But it's absolutely stunning with a huge backyard.

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Now I'm not really one for staying out all night drinking, but this looks like a cocktail lounge that even I would enjoy. Anyplace that has a phone booth for an entrance has to be pretty remarkable inside. Found at SuperPunch and you can read a full review here and see their official website here.

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Not that I need another waffle iron, but if mine ever breaks down... I'm getting one of these!
Found here at Happy Things!

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While moving on to other delicious things to eat. I can't wait to try these Earl Grey Cupcakes. Trina made me some for my birthday and I'm sure they're going to be as fantastic as I think they will be! Cooked up by The Food Librarian see recipe here.

I also want to try her recipe for homemade mochi...mmmm... it all sounds so good!

Enjoy!
T

blog #437 >> Simple Pleasures

2011-01-16T10:34:00.000-08:00

That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest.
~ Henry David Thoreau (Walden)

Recently, I was reading over my Google Reader posts and found this quote posted by Chiot's Run. I find this is an important thing for me to remember right now, since material riches have been sparse, it makes me happy to focus on the simple pleasures that fill life with joy.

Such as... ...the smell of a freshly baking pie in the oven... ...long walks on foggy mornings... ...listening to the sound of the rain on the roof at night... ...digging in the dirt and watching things grow... ...the cozy aroma of a wood fire... ...looking at little distant fuzzy objects in the sky with my telescope... ...soaking in the tub after a long day of work... ...jumping in mud puddles... ...reading a good book while drinking a hot cup of tea...

What are some of your simple pleasures?

T