Making Do

One year and two months ago...

2010-05-23T19:46:00.000-07:00

Was my last post. It doesn't feel like that long ago. But there it is. I think perhaps it's safe to say I am not into blogging right now. And that's ok. Or perhaps Facebook has simply replaced what this blog was for me to begin with, a place to connect with friends and family over the Internets. I have moved to NE Portland, I have advanced in my career, I am doing well. My life is good. I do not

Changes

2009-03-10T20:05:00.000-07:00

I long ago. ok not so long, 2 years? 3? Started this blog with ambitions of grandeur that life got in the way of. Such is the way of things. I am actually surprised I kept it up this long! I have a short attention span. Anyways. Although I am geeky and crafty, I am not really one to make geeky crafts. The Geeky Craftser is gone. I am a lot more into the reduce, reuse, recycle, re-purpose DIY,

Vegan cream sauce and bonus dairy free white russian recipie

2009-03-07T21:02:00.001-08:00

Yes vegan. Because if you are going to make a cream sauce and can't consume moo juice, then that's what it will be. And it will be good. I have been experimenting in dairy replacement in various foods: scalloped potatoes, soups, lasagna, baked goods. I am having a blast. The sciencey me loves experimentation and it keeps things interesting in the kitchen. Last week I made a lasagna that was

More shades of red

2009-02-15T22:22:00.000-08:00

Today I tired a new recipe for vegan gluten free chocolate cake. It's really more like chocolate pie. I don't have a high powered blender. But diary and wheat free none the less. Not vegan since I used an egg instead of egg replacer. With raspberry-strawberry sauce it was pretty good! I have had fun at the thrift shops recently. I got a dress last week for valentines day that was originally 400$.

Fuscha Food

2009-02-08T21:49:00.000-08:00

I have too many beets (still) so I made borscht the other day using a recipe from the Edible Portland free quarterly Publication. It's a Ukrainian borscht. I have never had it before. It's a frightening shade of reddish purple for a soup ( the pic makes it look really red), and it has a name that is fun to pronounce. It's also very tasty. It tastes like beety veggie soup. I think I might try to

In Which I Post Pics of Yummy Food, a Recipie and Random Things.

2009-02-02T14:23:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't posted in awhile. It was the holidays and work was nuts and traveling and just general winter shut in behavior for me. It's not that I can;t think of interesting things to post about, I just haven't felt like it. Sad things, there will be no garden this spring. Normally I would be perusing seed catalogs and debating whether or not to do starts indoors or build a cold frame this

Support Science and Culture in These Dark Times

2008-11-19T19:17:00.001-08:00

I did not get laid off today. I am extremely lucky. I'm in the "Why me? Why not me? What's going on? What are we going to do?" phase of dealing with the fact I lost 20 co-workers today. Several, at least a 3rd, of whom I have, or had, direct working relationships with. People who I saw every day for the last 5 years. People who I mentored, who mentored me, who are role models to me, who have

Shades of Orange

2008-11-02T21:59:00.001-08:00

So, today was pumpkin processing day! I still have three squash on the vine and I fear they will not ripen all the way. So I went ahead and processed the other three, plus one that B brought home for Halloween and two we got in the veggie delivery box. The last three were pie pumpkins, the three I grew were called luxury pie squash. We got two butternut in the box too, but I am saving those for

Happy All Hallows Eve!

2008-10-30T23:31:00.000-07:00

Time for Soup and Knitting

2008-10-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

Snap, one day it's 70 and that toasty end of summer weather, the air is warm and smells baked, the light shifts to the south...and then suddenly the air chills. Then the rains come and the air smells like fall. The leaves are just turning, it fees late, mid-October. The pumpkins are finishing their orangification in the yard. The tomatoes have all been harvested to ripen indoors in paper bags

Summer's End

2008-08-29T22:31:00.000-07:00

July... August... where does the time go? I have no real answer to that but it's gone. It's been a nice mellow fairly uneventful summer. And that's good. Work is a lot of work these days so down time is valued for being just that...time to wind down. B and I have done a lot of cool stuff round the city. I can't remember what all really... but most recently, the bike

June

2008-07-02T16:55:00.001-07:00

What a month. Two weddings and pedalpalooza AND full time work. Non stop action. The garden has grown. the rain has given way to muggy warm humidity. California is sharing it's smoke with us creating a muggy haze over the city. And I can finally rest a bit. Woo! Recap of June. Two best friends married, cake made, pictures taken. Check out Photographia for some photo updates. A few here but, more

Yeah, Yeah, so it's been awhile..

2008-06-02T16:06:00.000-07:00

I've been busy. But, there's lots to show for it. There is more of my yard devoted to growing food this year. I hope it works out well, things are getting expensive. I got a late start, but our sunny weather is getting a late start too so I am not sure how behind my garden really is. The first round of seeds planted are all up and that was less than two weeks ago they got sown so... good, good! I

Locavorian

2008-04-05T17:03:00.000-07:00

My new kick, ok, it's not new, but I have been trying harder to do this lately, is buying foods that have been produced close to where I live. Right now I prefer things from Oregon and Southern Washington, but will still buy foods from California and Mexico. I cannot give up my avocados! It's been much more fun to grocery shop, it's like a scavenger hunt. But it means I get to eat much more

Forgotton craft projects!

2008-04-05T16:56:00.000-07:00

Hah I did this stuff last month, or even in February, really... This dress:Became this dress(sorry the pic isn;t great, it's very hard to take a pic of yourself in a dress, ugh.) It was way too big to being with and then I lost a lot of weight. SO I refashioned it. However, I want to take it apart and resew it better. I think the seems are a little sloppy, and I think I really understand why

Random Spring Ruminations

2008-04-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

Recently, I said this in am e-mail and I think it was actually a pretty good summation; "I think spring is the time to ponder making changes, for now or for later, it's such a transitional time anyways, it seems logical that this is when feet itch and minds wander down garden paths. Once summer comes out and beckons you away from your woolgathering with her hot flushed sky and balmy breath on

Can't I Just Find a Nice Cave?

2008-03-27T17:54:00.000-07:00

Updates from a lazy urban environmentalistI just ended a major spring cleaning jag yesterday. Well, there is more work to do, but for now I am all cleaned out. While cleaning, or actually, when I wasn’t cleaning, I can multi-task but reading and washing windows is an unlikely ability I cannot claim to possess, I was also reading the book Organic Housekeeping by Ellen Sandbeck. I have been

Fabric out of Matted Fiber

2008-03-10T23:01:00.000-07:00

Or felting. Erica and I are making a workshop on felting wool and other naturally fibery things. This will be at the Linus Pauling House on Hawthorn on Monday the 31st of March in association with Cascadia Wild. (My last name is uh, actually spelled with an "F" but this is one of the things that makes me love my last name, I know, I'm weird, I think we have already established this though..moving

Spring Cleaning Projects

2008-02-24T18:50:00.001-08:00

I have a whole mess of things I want to do this spring to lessen the amount of stuff I own and to organize what I do keep. My goal is to have most of my belongings, that are not kitchen related or a couch, you know, common area or closet things, fit in my room by the end of the year. I realised that I will most likely be moving again at some point into shared housing with other people. Maybe not

This n' That

2008-01-07T21:58:00.000-08:00

I've been so caught up in life lately, I haven't really worked on much in the crafty department. I forgot, even, to take pictures of all the knitting I did for xmas. Foo. I did get pics of the fingerless gloves I made for my mom. They were so much fun I made some for my brother too. And I am working on a pair for myself (slowly..I keep getting distracted.) I keep meaning to go out and take some

Archive part deux

2008-01-07T00:59:00.000-08:00

Hmm, gonna make this private soon. For one, there are only a few things in there at the moment I would share with someone in person like "Hey read this thing I wrote", most of it is stuff that has meaning beyond how well (or not well) the work is written. The older posts, are newer material BTW, and somewhat more interesting if any of it is...Its mostly only interesting to me. =) But the stuff I

On a life, while living

2007-12-31T00:08:00.000-08:00

As 2007 winds it's weary way into the pages of history, I have started to think on things I have experienced, learned, or realized this year. This blog reflects little of my life. It's merely a window into things I want to share. Mostly the little crafty things I do, or interesting things I have gone and done, seen, taken pictures of. Soliloquies on things I am passionate about, like living green

Kitty

2007-12-30T22:55:00.000-08:00

I posted about Kitty awhile ago here. My roommate and I have affectionately turned her name into Porch Kitty, because she would sleep in the cabinet in the little closet off our front porch. Kitty was finally accepted and taken to the Humane Society today by Dawn, while I was at work. They said she was old, and that she was probably sick. Dawn told me yesterday that the Humane Society had called

Objects of (in)Signifigance

2007-12-29T19:15:00.000-08:00

I was walking through the park blocks recently and thinking about something or other, and my train of thought led me to thinking about stuff. The stuff that accumulates in our lives, over time, seems inevitable, like wrinkles or grey hairs or regrets. It's something i have been pondering for some time in my efforts to become less, to own less, buy less, simplify. I have given away car loads of

Small Exciting Things

2007-12-21T19:53:00.000-08:00

It's been an exciting week (well, week and a half or so I guess, not week as in Sun-Sat), long tiring but many little happy things are coming to fruition or are seeds of potentiality. This is the first year I have bought absolutely NOTHING as a gift for anyone. I have made (or am feverishly finishing) all my gifts this year. I did not step in a mall, I did not order a thing on line, and I did not

Happy Holidays

2007-12-20T22:00:00.001-08:00

Tabula Rasa

2007-12-18T00:15:00.000-08:00

While recuperating this last Fri/Sat, I decided it would be a great idea to refinish my coffee table. The design I had on it before was getting old, and the table ( and it's cousin the end table) were looking rather beat up and worn. I didn't want to sand the whole thing down, too much work, no garage or anything to work in, so I decided to repaint it instead. Yay paint. It was fun and I am very

Condolences

2007-12-14T16:32:00.000-08:00

In the last two weeks or so, three different people in my life, close and dear friends have lost family members, A father, an uncle and a grandmother. My heart goes out to them all, and I just wanted to mark their passing and hope others might keep them in their thoughts too. We are all so lucky, to have each other. Always remember how precious and short time is. How we take for granted health

This is a real kicker...

2007-12-14T15:12:00.000-08:00

So a couple years ago, Oregonians paid too much in income tax, to the tune of 1.1 billion too much. This caused the kicker refund, in which we would each get back the over paid portion. I didn't earn much that year, so I didn't think much of what I would get back, I thought, oh 30-60 dollars maybe. So when I get a letter from Oregon today indicating my notice of the donation of my kicker refund

Oh.. When Darkness Comes...

2007-12-12T18:47:00.000-08:00

Where did the last 3....4? Days go? I am not entirely sure. I slept through most of them and half watched Miyazaki films and chick flicks the rest of the time. I got a bad case of strep and was apparently lucky the Dr. didn't think I should be admitted for an IV right then, She did give me a sprite, I think it was a test to see if I really could swallow anything.Normally the germs and I have a

Driving

2007-12-06T15:10:00.000-08:00

So, my car sort of died, the Ford. And I now have a new car, courtesy of my dad. It's a lovely SMALL car, and it's cute. It's also a manual. I was driving it home last night from work and it struck me, that, this car, this stick shift, is analogous to my life. This is the story; I don't know how to drive a stick. When my dad called and said "I found a car for you...you can drive a stick right?" I

It's Thanksforpiegiving Day

2007-11-22T14:35:00.000-08:00

So this has been a crappy year, on several counts. Crappy crappy dismal evil worst year in a very long time. That included the garden=( It was poorly tended due to many other things but it managed to give me some lovely, lovely pumpkins. Two of those lovely pumpkins were from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company's Luxury Pie Pumpkins. I got about 4 lbs of meat from them. 4 lbs... I roasted the

New Pics in Photographia

2007-11-09T13:36:00.000-08:00

Check em out, it's late fall in portland.

Moratorium

2007-10-07T16:43:00.000-07:00

I can only do this bloggy thing when I'm upbeat, when I have something fun or happy or cool to share. I'm not sure when I'll back, but I am sure I will be some day. For now, life is in the way, and if you want to get a hold of me, just email or call, no updates here for awhile. This is the way the world endsThis is the way the world endsThis is the way the world endsnot with a bang, but a whimper

Sew what?

2007-09-20T15:18:00.000-07:00

Me sew? hee! First, note my new craft space. You may notice that it is kind of dark. That is becasue it is kind of dark. I need a craft light and I need the summer light back, cause it's just going to get darker form here on out! ugh. (Mom, please note the ironing board and Rowena Iron.) I got a pattern from Angry Chicken to make the cutest bonnets ever made and I wanted one. I think there are

Where Does the Time Go?

2007-09-12T17:14:00.000-07:00

I am still busy... Actually I will be busier for a bit, until October. I have a full plate, side dish, soup bowl and thankfully, wine glass at the end of it all... Here is a brief rundown of August till now: (brief!) ~the big exhibit at my place of employment is hell. Oct 7th can't come fast enough and then I think we will ALL have a big party of some kind and sleep through October. Well, we

busy!

2007-08-31T19:44:00.000-07:00

I have been busy busy busy lately and also very tired. Someday I will properly post again and have new pictures and everything! Lots of things going on and stuff to write about. Maybe next week!

YARR!

2007-07-30T21:42:00.000-07:00

My D&D group is starting a new campaign, in a world geographically like Portland. I gets to be a swashbuckler this time round, a half elf named Moaria Theoden, or "Mo". She is going to kick booty. I drew a pic for my CS, if I scan it, I'll post it.

It's Been an Exciting Evening ...

2007-07-25T22:07:00.001-07:00

Here at Wild Jungle in the City. Really, what next, a deer?

My First Ride

2007-07-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

No, not my first car. I am going to do the Bridge Pedal this year. I am gonna do the 8 bridge route, which is 24 miles. It will prolly kick my butt a little bit since part of the route is over the Marquam Bridge, which is high over the river. The rest, should be alright. It;s not a race, it will prolly take me about 4 hours, but it sounds like fun. Every year, at OMSI, when I would drive into

Meet Kitty

2007-07-25T15:38:00.000-07:00

Kitty is a stray who has been living in our yard, along with other yards no doubt, for longer than we have been here. She seems like one who has lived a grizzled life, her tail is well mangled and part of it was lost at some point, she walks stiffly. Her instinct is to run away from people. She is a funny looking little tabby, she is tiny, maybe with malnutrition, she had a little patch of black

Oh bother.

2007-07-22T01:58:00.000-07:00

So I lied, I should have said, see you in less than 24 hours. I got home around 1, read till 3 something, slept till noon, went to get food around 1 and started reading again. A break here and there for this or that and I was done by 9:30pm. I can say nothing about the book, for that would be inappropriate. I will say I am really sorry I read it so fast, because now, it's all over. The last book,

I am a HP Fangirl

2007-07-21T16:05:00.000-07:00

Powell's has outed me, can you find E-beth and me? hint- Second pic of the "throngs" of people waiting in line. (We, all of uis, Adam and David, E-Beth and I, are in another pic too, in the store, but we are hard to make out.) This blog post details what Powell's does to make this such a fun and magical night for everyone in Portland. They do this stuff at all thier stores, even the airport

See you in a few days....

2007-07-21T01:19:00.000-07:00

Livin' la Vida Verde

2007-07-18T16:11:00.000-07:00

So I have been changing some things in my life lately to be less impactful on the earth. I do think that small changes we make as individuals will do the most for preserving Earth's resources and such in the long run, small changes made en masse drive larger social change over time. If we all do what we can, within our means to be more eco-friendly, we do right to ourselves and our good earth. I

Furminated Max and other things...

2007-07-11T18:08:00.000-07:00

So I was reading someone's knitting blog and they have a dog and they got this grooming tool called a FURminator. I looked at the website and read about what some others have said and it has quite the buzz going on. So I found a PetCo, they sell them, and got one. It's like 40$. Or 30, I forget. Anyways for a comb, it's expensive, but it is so much MORE than a comb. Check out Max here, a

OHhhKAy...

2007-07-07T21:03:00.000-07:00

It's not tomorrow. That would have been Friday but here it the continuation of "More later". I have just been rather busy. But tomorrow, one might expect a spoiler free Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix movie reveiw, oh yes they might! I drove out to lovely, lovely hood river and picked cherries. I picked rather less cherries than I had planned because; one, it was in the 90's and

More later

2007-07-05T00:54:00.000-07:00

I had fun today, it was a wonderful 4th of July and I will write more tomorrow, as I am having more adventures and will have more to say! For now, I suggest peaking at Photographia for a whole mess of new photos from today.

The Power of Compost

2007-07-02T22:00:00.000-07:00

A tale of wonder and great feats of nature: When we moved in to this place I started a compost bin and blogged about it in naturalista, I think. Anyways, this spring i moved it to a more hidden and less space occupying location. I turned the dirt the the patch of ground where the compost bin WAS and sowed wildflower seeds. This part of the story might be familiar. So anyway, there were lost of

New side bar stuff

2007-06-30T22:17:00.000-07:00

see! look to you <----left and there are new things. There is info on getting jam from me, it can be done! just ask! (Unless you are visiting in August and then it might be prudent to RESERVE your jam and you can eat it on the ride home. But i really reccomend it on toast and not straight from the jar, that's just too sweet!) you will also see a new photo section "Cute of the Month" Supposedly I

Bolt Cuff Links

2007-06-30T21:41:00.000-07:00

true geek craft by mattsee? they are COOL!

The Blackberry Massacre of 2007

2007-06-30T21:26:00.000-07:00

A moment of silence please.....A billion potential blackberries cried out and were suddenly silenced this morning in the name of "weed control". It was tragic. however......my veggie garden will gain the benefit of more light. We can always get blackberries on Sauvie, they just aren't free and right in the yard. =( there were soooo many last year.......

Random things.

2007-06-28T13:52:00.001-07:00

I really wanted to blog about Matt's crafty cuff links, but I can't find them, so he is maybe wearing them today or they are someplace that I can't find. See, Matt is crafty too, sometimes. One day I was with J9, we were going to Savuie Island and Matt calls asking where my cuff links are. (Why do I have cuff links you ask? Good question, I had to wear a button down shirt to a formal event I was

2007 Lables

2007-06-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

I reused the blueberry and raspberry jam labels from last year as I haven't felt like fiddling with photoshop much lately, my free time is too precious. So I also co-opted some graphics for this years new jams, since I am not selling them, I think it's OK to use the strawberry flower fairy, although I am not sure I should be posting it here, I may take it down, but as I am not a famous blogger of

The Nerve!

2007-06-20T11:17:00.000-07:00

I couldn't get a pic but the jay bird who lives in my yard was just stealing my blueberries. It was cute. I guess I should go pick the rest before he does.

It's not every day...

2007-06-17T00:49:00.000-07:00

That you see a historic Carriage House in the middle of a downtown street. This is the Ladd's Carriage house, which WAS on the corner of SW Broadway and SW Columbia, it is now in a parking lot at Columbia and 10th. For most of the day is was lumbering down Columbia to it's new temporary location. Quite a sight. In other news, tonight was jam night. No I did not join a band. I did make Strawberry

How do you do? Berry well, thank you!

2007-06-14T16:25:00.000-07:00

Time flies when you are busy at work. Oh yes it does. I am adjusting to my new working schedule of doom and it's going swimmingly, more or less. My sleep schedule is a bit wonky though. Riding my bike to work when there is no traffic is downright enjoyable. That's maybe the one upside of working late. The exhibit is extraordinary. It wasn't before we opened, when I was helping to install it. It

Out and About

2007-06-03T21:16:00.000-07:00

I may be busy at work installing a large exhibit of plastinated bodies from Germany, but I have tried to get a whole lot done outside of work before the exhibit actually opens. Once it's open, my evenings are sort of gone 3 days of the week and it's going to be crazy busy AT work. I needed to sort of squeeze a lot of summer into the last couple weeks. And I have managed a pretty good job. The

And Some Crafty Stuff...and chatter

2007-05-28T14:47:00.000-07:00

Gardeny crafty: made labels for the veggies out of a "Simply Limeade" bottle, then duct taped them to bamboo sticks. Not sure the tape will hold up but didn't really have another option right now. Knitting: the HP shawl is on the back burner, i think I will start on it again soon. I have been knitting dishcloths 'cause they are easy and mindless. Painting: I am actually painting something.

More Garden Nonsense

2007-05-28T14:16:00.001-07:00

The yard is all tided up and ready for simple summer things like maintenance, few new plants here and there, watering, pruning, enjoying. No more big projects. The last was covering the back slope of the vegetable garden with weed blocker stuff, plastic mesh that is supposed to allow only thing things you cut holes in it to grow there...it's mulched (as are the other beds), it's got three

Amended!

2007-05-21T21:12:00.001-07:00

This shot from Saturday (which I used as a before shot, but it's actually next to the plot I worked Saturday, the other side looked as bad before I worked on it so it made a good before shot)...is now this...Matt even helped! =DAnd, at the end of the afternoon when all the gloves had been washed, they turned into "demented ikebana" according to Matt. or somthing like that.

Movies for Geeks Like Me

2007-05-21T00:27:00.000-07:00

Why is Clare Danes riding a unicorn? Read more and find out! (this still is from Stardust.) For what ever reason, suddenly the studio big budget movies this year look more than promising. The summer movie season, usually rife with action movies, all effects, little plot, and featuring "major male action movie star here" are almost all geek movies...Yes, yes! We have a few excellent looking action

A Gardening in Spring: Amending Soil

2007-05-20T20:35:00.003-07:00

I am going to start posting HERE instead of Naturalista for gardening stuff. Mostly 'cause I think it's excessive to have three blogs when two will do, one as a photo repository and one as a blog. So here the posting shall be! I won't delete NAturalista, but I won't be posting there anymore. Onto the garden then! So to day was a lovely rainy day in Portland. Not to

Updates

2007-05-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

New pics in Photographia and Naturalista!

Tired

2007-05-09T18:18:00.000-07:00

I have been working hard, taking down an exhibit and packin' it up. So I am tired and pretty busy. But I have finished a few more projects. I took a break from the HP shawl and knitted a beret, Le Slouch , which was fun to knit, turned out great but I, and Matt, are unsure if it is "me". If you like berets, let me know, I may be passing this on. I also made felted, and needle felted cat toys

I Don't Care How You Feel About Martha...

2007-05-03T11:31:00.000-07:00

But how can you not like this stuff? Seriously here.. I Cried. You can find it at Micheal's too.. the possibilities... the itch to add to my paper collection. ooooAnd I have tried needle felting and I deem it fun. This little pouch thing was just me messing around with bits cut out from a failed felting project from awhile ago. (It may seem obvious to you, but do not use different yarns when

HIs Dark Materials or The Golden Compass is the Next Harry Potter

2007-05-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

So I am actually re-reading this now, I'm on the last book in the trilogy by Phillip Pullman, The Amber Spyglass. It is being made into a movie and I have high hopes for it to be absolutely excellent. In the mean time, go try this out and help me find out who my daemon is! Or your own.

OOoo!

2007-05-01T21:39:00.000-07:00

Now it's a knitting bag... ! I added a bit to the tutorial page, but not an actual tutorial, I'd need to do this again to know what I'm talking about, this was all by the seat of my pants. I made it up as I went.

Like it?

2007-05-01T15:05:00.000-07:00

Make it!

The Veiw from Here

2007-04-30T16:38:00.000-07:00

Craftyness for today: I have been a big fan of old window panes as art or decor for a long time. I have several of these things lying around waiting to be turned into objects of beauty and wonder. The main one, a 6 pane thing, I started painting on ages ago and have yet to get back to. It will have birches in the wind, 'cause I love birch trees and their delicate little leaves. But that's

Automobile-less?

2007-04-25T12:53:00.000-07:00

I am contemplating selling my car. I do not particularly like my car. It's an SUV. And it didn't cost me a penny and it runs well and it's handy for carrying large loads... But gas in the PNW is over 3$ a gallon, I live 1.8 miles from work (20 mins walking). I live less than a quarter mile from one grocery store and about .5 miles from another. I live about 600 ft from a bus stop. and less than a

4 l33t g4m3rz

2007-04-24T17:47:00.000-07:00

Bizzaro by Dan Piraroand This.

and the total is

2007-04-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

449- four hundred and forty NINE. Good thing I have Children of Hurin on the way. (just have to have a 1st ed. you know.) I guess I have had more books in my life that have moved on. I have certainly read many, many more than this. But still...I thought I had more. There are a few in the basement, but I think they are outdated textbooks. Someone out there has 90 of the same books as I ( and she

Craftyness

2007-04-17T15:07:00.000-07:00

Tank top, finally, a pic, here: The Harry Potter shawl, looks more like a sparkly bat ray right now: And cupcake and card making for volunteer apprication week at my work. We made 90 cupcakes and two kinds of buttercream and about the same amount of cards. Here are some I did today( We didn't get em all done last night.) freezer full o' cupcakes:

Why I need a ball winder

2007-04-12T14:21:00.000-07:00

550 yards of yarn wound by hand. =P But this yarn will hopefully, magically, turn into this shawl.It's the Wing o' the Moth shawl from Knitspot and a rather dramatic departure from my usual projects. but the tank top(still blocking) has convinced me "I can knit anything now". And it might not happen, but since it's the Harry Potter yarn, I am hoping for some conjuring magic to aide me.

Door pt.2

2007-04-12T11:35:00.000-07:00

These are the doors that were hung in the frame for the bedroom. The closet door frame is really wonky, one side tilts way out to the left. But the yarn on the knobs( that I installed) will keep the cats from climbing all over the place and knocking things of shelving. The walls of the bedroom are purple, and it's a nice enough shade of purple, calming, like lavender or something. And since I

Squee!

2007-04-11T22:32:00.001-07:00

The door is hung, the tank top is done! pictures tomorrow.

Door

2007-04-10T11:53:00.000-07:00

For about 6 months I have been working on refinishing and hanging a door to our bedroom. Well, maybe I have spent a few weeks out of 6 months doing so, I took a big break during winter when the basement is freezing. The door was already in the basement, and one can suppose it used to hang in the house, somewhere. It was painted black and the paint was quite blistered. So I had to scrape down

I also garden

2007-04-04T16:04:00.000-07:00

over here. Not literaly, though I would be interested to see what a blog garden would look like.

Abject Falure!

2007-04-03T20:34:00.000-07:00

Well, not really. I just entered a good portion of my library into library thing. And my total is only at 277 or so. I still have many more books to enter, but it looks like I will have under 500, maybe around 400. I am oddly upset that the number is so low. I did get rid of about 100 books a year or so ago. Books I would never read, or never cared to read again. I now think I should have kept

Jedi Worthy Papercraft

2007-04-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

This is cool. Image is from the Craft: blog.

get well

2007-04-02T22:24:00.000-07:00

One of our volunteers is having heart trouble at work. One of my co-workers asked that I make a card for him. (I have done some graphic art for this coworker before.) And I said I would. This gentleman is a great man, who has done a whole lot of cool things in his life and I hope he gets well quickly and without trouble. He will be back in no time, I hope. Anyway here is the graphic for the card.

Kranz!

2007-03-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

This pastry is a family recipe, from the Polish side. I never got to meet my grandfather, nor any other members of that line. The siblings of my father, yes, but no one from beyond that. Who knows who they are? Falkowski isn’t common, but it's not uncommon in certain areas either. So, the secret history of the Falkowski version of Kranz may never be known! Anywho, the recipe that we have is

Burn, Baby, Burn

2007-03-28T14:10:00.000-07:00

First BBQ night 'o the year was last night. YEAH!

Library Thing

2007-03-28T13:47:00.000-07:00

So for months now I have been wanting to try, try being operative word here, to upload my library onto this site. I discovered it via Mr. Gaiman's blog a long while ago. And, not doubt, he has a great many more books than I.(And, it is worth nothing he has not uploaded his own library to it yet for more or less this reason.) I, however, do have a great many books. Books on the shelves, books in

Cocoabunny

2007-03-27T15:45:00.000-07:00

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. Good ole' Eostre (prolly sounds like ohst-ray), Angelo-Saxon goddess of fertility, gave rise to the month April, Easter bunnies (she was symbolised by a hare) and egg hunts. Easter is and should be a separate holiday from the Resurrection of Christ, but the early Christians didn't want Eostre to stick around anyways. They weren't fond of pagan deities you

Harry Potter and the Magic Yarn

2007-03-27T14:59:00.000-07:00

The new, and last Harry Potter book is out in June...I plan on being at Powell's City of Books for the midnight book release block party. Which is utterly amazing and this year will no doubt be an all out party for us muggles to remember for ever. Anyway, this lovely lovely lovely yarn appeared in one of our LYSs, Yarn Garden and if it isn't meant to be a magical scarf or cloak or something I

knitting now!

2007-03-27T14:11:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been making washcloths and dishrags. Dishrag pattern is from the Mason Dixon Knitting Book which has a lot of wonderful stuff in it and I love it. The washcloths are generally just random swatches of stitch patterns in a nice soft cotton yarn. Now the new exciting project is a tank top. It's exciting 'cause I have not ventured out of the squareish shaped knitting projects often. I

getting someplace!

2007-03-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

So this is blog three of the rarely used and updtated blogs, but since one is just for photos and one is pretty much about gardening and food and enviornmental things, a separate blog was in order for all other things. So here is where I will talk generaly about knitting projects, crafty things, cooking, video games, books, D&D, work, family, freinds, cool things in Portland, my cats, newsy

nothing here to see...move along

2007-03-03T23:36:00.000-08:00

blog is under construction.