New soap

From seeing it profiled at Soaps and the Finer Things in Life blog, I bought some soaps from Savonara. They arrived today! Pictured above is the 'Soapstone Hand Soap'. Isn't it the coolest thing? I also got the Greenstone Soap (funky and great smelling), and the Catalina Stripes Mozaic Soap (stunning). Can't wait to try them all!

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

'Nother pair of socks

Finally am done with the socks I was knitting for ds#1. The yarn is supposed to have aloe infused so hopefully his (not-so) little feet won't get chapped. He pulled up his pants for me but left the socks in a slouched position so I can't show it off fully. His feet are officially bigger than mine now (wears a men's size 7; I wear a women's size 6), which means I'll have to use more and more yarn from now on.

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

Still pluggin' away

Some days, I'm worried that I'll never get my art/sewing room cleaned and organized. Anyway, found this drawing below I made in one of the classes I took at the Waldron Arts Center. (Rick Ortwein, if you're out there somewhere, just wanted to let you know that you are one of the best art instructors I've had - you and Bill Mammarella at U DE - and I hope life's been good for you and your wife!) Another parenthetical remark - this picture is not of Rick, the instructor, but of an older lady who was also in the class; we had to draw each other.
It was a lesson on seeing the many planes that make up a human face. Fascinating project for both artists and anatomists, I think. I need to do more art (uh, I said that yesterday, didn't I?).

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

Master! It's alive!

I had my doubts that this poor lemon verbena was going to make it. We tried taking a couple of cuttings from it to start a new plant, but that didn't work out so well. So, finally, as winter approached, dh just hacked the heck out of it, and brought the stub plus its roots indoors. And whaddya know?! It survived. The leaves smell as wonderful as they did in the height of summer. And it's that kind of intense, sweet lemony smell that reminds me of cool summer evenings and makes me smile.

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

Artist's date

I finally had one (as suggested in Julia Cameron's Vein of Gold book) with my friend Grace yesterday. Our hubbies and kids went on a long hike together and she and I sketched dead birds.

Sadly, occasionally, birds meet their demise on our huge windows and rather than letting the dog or ants eat them up, I gather them and put them in the freezer. Sometimes an ornithology prof from the local university will take them, but if she doesn't, I use them for art.

Grace and I both chose an ovenbird to draw, and here are my sketches:

The head and claw sketch (at left) was done with a 2B graphite pencil.

The two head shots at right were done with "medium" charcoal pencil.

The head was a bit crooked due to the impact of the crash on our window. As well, it was frozen in a strange position, so the anatomy isn't quite as accurate as I'd like for a more scientific rendering. But, close enough.

I need to sketch more often. I keep telling the kids that, as with anything else, you only get good at it if you keep practicing. I should listen to myself.

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

Warming up the kitchen

If there's one sure thing about winter, it's that I bake...a lot. Ds#1 wanted an angel food cake, but I talked him out of it and made a citrus chiffon cake instead. For some reason, it has a strange dent in it, but it still tastes fabulous. I just love anything with lemon and orange zest (although it's not that much fun zesting).

Today, I made snowball cookies. Pecans are one of my favorite baking ingredients. Dh was all out of cookies to bring to work, and I'd rather make him cookies than buy them (even the organic ones).

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

Yarn, beautiful yarn

I'm so excited! Green Mountain Spinnery now has funky sock yarn.

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

Fabric sale

...at Nancy's Notions. Drool! But, I'm not allowed to get any more until after 1) I clear out some of my stash, and 2) I finish cleaning out and reorganizing my art/sewing room.

But, what wouldn't I give for some Bali Rain fabric!

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

Remembering Star

With one of the last of Star's eggs (above), I made lemon poppy seed muffins (below), using the UBC cookbook recipe. They were delicious!


I was also thinking of doing something with the egg shell...some art, perhaps. What to do with something that fragile...hmmm.

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

Vogue Sale!

Today (Wednesday) only (although they sometimes extend it), Vogue Patterns is having a sale: all patterns are only $6.99!

If I didn't already have 6 of their patterns (not counting 20 more others) that I haven't made yet, I'd go knock myself out because I so need this outfit:


Is that Liz a la A Place in the Sun, or what?!

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

Yet another one of those days

Today, I lost my wallet after shopping at Bloomingfoods. Luckily, they found it and held it for me while I rushed back to get it. I had some serious panic in the meantime though.

Last Wednesday, exactly a week ago, I left the house with a pot of water boiling on the stove. Luckily (again), I remembered before I got to the end of the road and was able to go back to turn it off, being just a little bit late for the boys' French class. I also forgot my own house number while filling out a form that morning.

I think I'm losing my mind. Or it's left me for a younger woman. :}

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

One of those days...

Definitely a Monday.

In addition to my cramps and poor sleep the night before, we got home to discover that one of our chickens, Star, had been killed by a red-tailed hawk. In fact, the hawk was still sitting next to her body and really didn't want to give it up. I got within 2 feet of it, waving my arms, before it flew off. Unfortunately, we had the dog on the porch while we were gone so she couldn't protect them. We'll miss her sweet personality and her lovely green-blue eggs.

I feel bad about depriving the hawk of its meal, but, really, it can just catch the hundreds of mice, moles, and voles on our property instead. Heck, it can have a few mourning doves too.

It's been a bit of a sad start to the year. First, one of dh's uncle died, rather suddenly. Then, we found out that the mom of one of my old friends also died suddenly (was hit by a car). And now Star.

Maybe the Chinese New Year will ring in a better year. I can only hope.

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

Let this be a lesson to me...

Still restless and was trying out new, free Blogger templates. Well, guess what?? It deleted all the changes I'd made to my blog since its inception...all my links that I've carefully cultivated are lost.

I'm going to go have a little cry, drink some pome-tini, and will be back after lunch to add some links and pics. Curse me and my wanderlust.

And please let me know if you don't like this new background because I can change it back or to something else.

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

More changes

I must have restless fingers (or spring fever). I changed my photo...it's about time anyway...plus my Display Name. "MotherHen" (changed yet, yet again) goes a little better with the chicken pic than "ShadesOfGrey", but I'm open to any other suggestions. :)

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

Sharing the love

Since the dawn of guestbooks and blog comment boxes, I've been leaving little "xo" footprints, not expecting reciprocation (there often isn't anyway). But, sometimes, someone goes beyond nice and does something even more special than write sweet little notes.

Such an example would be Suzanne Buchanan (whose terrific blog, an open [sketch]book, I’d mentioned in an earlier post as being one of my favorites). She has very generously offered a beautiful Valentine package in a random draw to those who go out to link or send appreciative thoughts to a fellow blogger.

It took me a while, but I finally found and decided on Planet Ham. The whimsical illustrations caught my eyes. Upon further reading, I discovered it is the blog of professional illustrator, Matt Phelan. While I'd like to touch someone less famous, a deserving blog is a deserving blog.

Maybe next year when I manage to get some cards done, after the tortuous art/sewing room clean-up, I'll follow Suzanne's example and offer a gift for others to similarly share the love.

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

We are so removed from the rest of the world

...and I don't mean physically, although we do live out a ways too.

We were watching Jeopardy last night (tangentially, ds#1 is now getting nearly as many answers as I am, dang it, and me with 31 years over him, and him not quite yet 12), and during a commercial break, this URL came on the screen: chemistry.com. Immediately, dh and I took notice, thinking how cool it was that science is buying advertising spots on prime time TV. HAHAHAHAHA!! Oh, how stupid we are. It turns out to be a new online dating service (their premise is about how eHarmony rejects some applicants, yada yada).

Stupid and disappointed, we are.

Now, how many other people in the U.S. had the same thought as we when they saw that URL? And how many other couples in the U.S. would simultaneously have that thought? We are a strange couple of middle aged adults.

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

By any other name

No, neither of the little hens are named Juliet or Rose (although those are good names to consider for our next batch of chickens), but we have finally named the crazy buggers.

The first crazy bugger, and she is really crazy - screams like a girl if you try to pick her up and will unhesitantly peck your hand off, dh decided to call Attila. I said, "hey, that's great: Attila the Hen!"

The second hen, the kids were allowed to name, and ds#1 decided on Hypatia. I love the reference, but am not as crazy about the name for that hen. Still, it's only fair that the kids name one.

I'm reserving my name choice for one of our next hens. It's a punny one.

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

And speaking of stuff...

I've been in a purging mood for a while. I want our home to look like something out of Architectural Digest, not the local landfill. Serendipitously, I found the very interesting video "The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard" thanks to the delightful Colorado Art Studio. It's a must-watch.

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

Too much good stuff

Well, damn...how am I supposed to spend more time off-line when there are so many goodies out there on the Web?

The Top 101 Artists Blogs via The Artist's Magazine's blog...check it out.

This is one of my favorites: an open [sketch]book

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

Changes, movie, Trulli

Feeling like a new year deserves some sort of change, I toyed around with a new look, etc., for this blog. The best I could do was change the title. Changing the URL will null any links to it, and changing the graphics requires more time and energy than I have. Bummer. I like change...in some things.

We watched The Prestige (through NetFlix; we're enamored with NetFlix right now) a couple of days ago. While it was overall an all right movie, the main characters are rather unsympathetic and unlikeable. I'm rather fond of Hugh Jackman, Michael Cain, and Christian Bale, but that did nothing to help me like the characters any more. I was, however, quite taken with Nikola Tesla as played by David Bowie. Perhaps it is due to my being intrigued for years by both Tesla, and to a lesser extent, Bowie.

We finally had lunch at Trulli Flatbread, as recommended by Abby. It's a classy looking place, but comfortable at the same time. The great thing about it is that it features products grown by local growers, and the offerings are pretty interesting too. I had a creamy root vegetable soup that was tantalizingly tasty, plus a shrimp pasta that incorporated a lot of olives, capers, and, my favorite, anchovies. The boys split a small but hearty duck confit (house-made) flatbread. Dh had an arugula tapenade panini which was subtle, but yummy too.

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

I stand corrected...

...on what veggies we still have in the garden.

Dh just came in with a huge bag of 2 different types of kale (Lacinato and Red Russian, which was ds#2's choice last year, and a good one at that), radicchio, spinach, and beets. He'd forgotten there were still beets down, and I'd forgotten a whole lot more than that.

Should be a great dinner tonight!

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

Growing and making our own (a response for Abby)

(Abby and her husband own the wonderful Barefoot Herbs, Barefoot Kids store)

Peanuts are way cool! Back in 2004, a friend was growing them and gave us a few seeds to try out. Boy, those few seeds yielded more peanuts than we knew what to do with. Cleaning them was a bear though, and dh decided that as little as we eat peanuts, we won't grow them again until we find a good method to extract the peanut off the plants and clean them with less effort. How does your father do it, Abby?




Here are the guys yanking the peanuts off the plants.






Ds#1 with a box of picked-off peanuts (still muddy though).






We usually give homemade cookies and other baked goods for the holidays. I feel like we should buy Organic Valley stock given how much of their butter I use in the winter months. We've also given away our own sun-dried tomatoes, salsa, and chili sauce as gifts. Dh has thought many times about having our own bee hives, but until he can quit his day job, he doesn't have the time to do more than the intensive gardening he does right now.

I've been trying to go more paperless, but when I do send correspondence, I like to use my handmade paper cards, or those crafted with our own dried flowers, some wild, some cultivated.



I love giving and receiving hand/home-made things! Some of the best gifts we've gotten from friends are Carol's home-made pickle relish, Blossoms quilted wall hanging, and John and Grace's stollen (John makes his own candied fruits for this amazing bread).

And, two of the best gifts I've ever made (not sure if Laura agrees with me or not) are the blanket and socks for Rosa (for Laura's shower).


"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

Good article

Jared Diamond does it again:
What's Your Consumption Factor

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

Soapsicles!

I've had a strong yen recently to make cool soaps, and have been looking at pictures of nice ones to get inspired. Found this today and it's way too cute not to share:


I don't know that I can buy this soap as I'm liable to want to eat it. *grin* Check out this crafter's soaps at Nilla Sammie Soapsicle

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

Waiting for Johnny

This is the time of year when we, in south-central Indiana, dream of the garden in full production, and all we are able to harvest right now are a few paltry things, such as celery and - for some strange reason - cilantro. Sure we have some storage veggies on hand too, such as sweet potatoes, onions, and garlic (I won't bother to mention the 6 tiny nubs of potatoes that we have left since we've had to resort to buying potatoes from the store), and some dried, frozen, and canned veggies that we busted our butts to process in the heat of the summer and early fall. But, all in all, not the fresh off the plant bounty that we get so spoiled eating in the warmer months. I really can't complain since those are more than most folks can harvest from their gardens or retrieve from their freezers, root cellars, and pantries.

The fun, however, is in the planning. Some people peak at their gardening excitement at this stage, in fact, and it's all downhill from here on end. We've had some gardening catalogs trickle through already that have tickled our fancies. The Cook's Garden has a new look...finally! But, dh is waiting for his all-time favorite Johnny's Selected Seeds. He never orders anything until he's consulted Johnny's and see what they have to offer.

We haven't decided yet on what new veggie we'll grow this year. Last year, the patty pan squashes and the edamame were huge hits. The okra, not so much. Thank goodness we only got one plant of that from a local nursery, May's Greenhouse. We also only tried one flat of celery from the same local nursery and that turned out to be a great gamble, so I think we'll definitely be doing more of those.

I would give my left arm to be able to grow a mango tree, but if that means having to move to FL or CA, or worse, AZ, TX, or MS, then I guess I'll have to settle for occasional splurges at our health food store, Bloomingfoods

I'm trying to convince dh to get another lime plant. Our key lime (see photo above) produced the cutest, tastiest little limes this year, and I made some delectable lime crescents with them. It really was heaven on earth, and better than any fictitious nirvana.

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)

She's out to ruin my new year, but I'm not going to let her

Ok, now I have confirmation that the hag in the homeschool2college Yahoo elist whom I complained about in my "Warning: Whining" post is truly out to annoy me.

Today, she allowed someone to post a message to the list that has a link to the EXACT same article on UC Riverside that I had tried to share with the group back in November. Have I mentioned it's the EXACT same article?

Well, I'm not going to let her have the satisfaction. I'm going to stay on the list as long as I want to get the information to help my kids, and and I am never going to post any information to the list again. If she wants to screw everyone else over because she wants to be petty with me, that's fine. No skin off my nose. Sometimes, it just doesn't pay to be nice.

Anyone want to bet money that she'll drum up some excuse to kick me off the list? ;)

"To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge." ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881)