Martha does organizers with ethnic panache

Get a load of these babies from my Martha Stewart Craft of the Day email today:I absolutely love them!! Not only are they clean-lined (or is that clean-curved?) and ethnic-chic, but they also remind me of one of my all-time favorite foods: dim sum!! I am so counting down the days until we go to Vancouver to get some really good dim sum. As well, now I'm definitely going to buy some bamboo steamers while in Vancouver. I wonder if Ming Wo has high quality ones?

And speaking of food, dh picked up some eggplants yesterday and will be making badenjan borani tonight for dinner. Drool! Is there nothing this man can't do?!

"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

Crafty day

Finally, we got back to making more paper and soap (at the expense of Spanish, which is put off yet another day)!

Ds#1 was in charge of soap-making, and ds#2 did the paper-making.

We used a heart-shaped mold and red dye that I won from one of Anne-Marie's giveaways, as well as other Bramble Berry molds and their Romance and Lilac scents.
Ds#1 melting the white soap base:Meanwhile, ds#2 is shredding junk mail to make paper:Ds#1 again, after the soap has been poured into the molds:It's an awfully pink and girly smelling soap for the boys, but they were good sports about it. ;) I told them they could maybe do some "manly" embeds next time.

"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

Working the dessert off mah butt

I am sooo sore today. We spent a couple of hours in the garden yesterday; dh was there longer than that, but the boys and I helped a good bit. I did most of the hand-weeding. Dh did some weeding by soil-turning, and planted potatoes. The boys weeded some and helped mulch the garlic.
Here they are behind the garlic bed:And here are some of the mulched garlic (the hardy ones that survived the flooding, and the rabbits' nibbling - the rabbits bite off a piece and realize they don't like it, and then just leave a mess on the ground. Then, they return the next day, having forgotten they don't like garlic and do the same thing again. Darn rabbits). They are still young, small plants, not to be harvested until late summer:

Our apples trees are blooming in full now:
One of the strawberry beds (I believe we have 3 or 4 of them) looks a bit better after I weeded it. You couldn't even see the strawberry plants before with chickweed and other stuff choking it. A close up of one of the strawberry plants:Last fall, when we should have been tidying up some of the garden plots - the ones that weren't growing fall and winter crops - we were a bit swamped with other things (dh's becoming chair of his department, moving his dad to our town, my sister visiting - she was a big help, not a hindrance, though - and our homeschooling activities picking up). One of the things that should have been taken out was the Red Russian Kale, which is now flowering. Kind of pretty, isn't it? It was Ds#2's chosen plant from a couple of years back.The asparagus are starting to poke up. I am so excited! I just love asparagus. Luckily, Cascadian Farm has very tasty frozen packages of asparagus that we resort to in the winter, but nothing beats your own straight (or crooked!) from the garden.Inside the greenhouse, things are growing nicely. The lettuce, spinach, and gai lan (I think...I always get those mixed up with choi sum) are almost ready to eat. There are other things growing in there too, such as green beans, and I forget what else.Dh grows a mix of lettuce, and if I weren't such a flake, I'd remember more than just the Oak Leaf variety. I'm pretty sure dh grows mizuna. I'd also like him to start growing arugula; I'm very fond of the slight bitterness of arugula. On the north side of the greenhouse is where dh has a platform for some of the seedlings. The different varieties of onion are in the front (I think he's growing copra and candy; not sure what else), and we also have some celery and peppers (sweet and hot). We bought a chard plant the other day, and friends bought us a few more peppers. A few miscellaneous photos from around the yard...here's a view of our house, dog in the foreground, looking up from the flat area of the property:Close-up of Gali (anyone with boys under the age of 13 will likely know that she is named after the Bionicle Toa of Water) with her frisbee:The chickens roam around inside their electric-fenced area. The taller triangle is their movable chicken tractor (that dh designed and built about 6 years ago), and the smaller A-frame is the dog house, which the chickens use for extra shade. We should maybe call it the chicken gazebo instead. The electric fence system is great because we can move them around to new patches of grass so they have fresh grass to eat and so no terrible stench builds up.And here are some of the chickens, including big old Nick, the sweetest, gentlest, and stupidest rooster on the face of the planet. The other black chickens in the photo are australorps (Blackberry, Licorice, and Stubby) and a black star (Gaia). The gray/white one (Hypatia; ds#1 picked the name) is a mix of Ameracauna and something else that we're not sure of. Last but not least, here are some free trees (from joining National Arbor Day Foundation) that dh potted up to plant later.I think I'm going to have to lay off weeding for a couple of days while my muscles recuperate. I am such a wimp!

"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

Yummy dessert

Some friends came over for dinner yesterday - their kids and ours had been begging for a playdate, and we also wanted to thank them for taking care of the dog and chickens while we were in Boston - and I made a new dessert I found at MarthaStewart.com.

These Chocolate-Coconut Bars were fantastic! I like making bars because they are like cookies, but take half the time since you cut them up afterwards.

I forgot to take a photo of my masterpiece (*grin*), but this is the one at Martha's site:
Go get your own recipe! ;)

"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

Just so Joanna won't grouse at me...

But, really, I'm glad she's keeping me on my toes so I don't let the blog stagnate. :)

The boys have started another drawing/painting class. They did several sketches of a still life yesterday consisting of a pineapple, a basket, and various other things.

Here's one of ds#1's attempts:

And here's one of ds#2's:


Things are greening up even more now. Unfortunately, that means the grass is growing like crazy. Dh is not looking forward to mowing; we've already left huge patches of our property for meadows, but there're still areas that need tackling. It takes him about 2 hours on his professional model mower.

But things sure look pretty! You can see our shed, greenhouse, and garden in this picture:

"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

Satellite internet connection...grrrrr

I was going to post Thursday Thirteens today, but my internet connection was a bear, a total bear, yesterday, and I didn't get to visit all my favorite blogs. I saw more error pages/msgs in one day than I usually do in a week.

So today, I will be making the rounds and visiting people.

For the lack of a better work, satellite internet connections (we have WildBlue) suck.

"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

To Boston, and beyond

Firstly, I'd like to mention that Joanna's Yuzu scented Shea Butter Infused Cream and Heather's Grapefruit Lily scented Birch Bliss Shea Butter Cream kept my skin from turning into parchment in the dry, dry air of motels and hotels on this trip. Thanks, ladies, for wonderful products!

En route to Boston, we made a stop in Erie, Pennsylvania the first night because no trip is complete unless we do some birding.

Unfortunately, our camera batteries died while in Erie so we couldn't take any photos of the thousands of red-breasted mergansers that littered the waters at Presque Isle. So, our first photos of the trip are from Parker River National Wildlife Refuge in Massachusetts. As you can see from the sign below, much of the beach was closed for the nesting seasons of Piping Plovers.

Before we got to MA, we stopped in Ithaca for lunch at the famous Moosewood Restaurant. The food there was as wonderful as it is reputed to be, I was happy to note. I am now tempted to get one of their cookbooks.

In Boston, we did The Freedom Trail to hit some of the historic sites that ds#2 and I have recently studied together in the What Your 3rd Grader Needs to Know and What Your 4th Grader Needs to Know books. The first picture is the State House, with dh and the boys in front, taken from Boston Common.

This next one is of me and the boys at the statue of Ben Franklin in front of what was the first public school in the U.S. (kind of funny for us since we're homeschoolers).

And finally, Paul Revere's house (with a large group of school kids on a fieldtrip):

We stayed at the Westin in a very convenient downtown location. And if you think vacation is all fun and games, here's a photo of ds#1 doing homework for his botany co-op class:

A visit to Boston wouldn't be complete, for those of us with kids who have read Make Way for Ducklings a few million times, without a trek to the Public Garden, which, luckily for us, was just a few blocks (a few twisted Boston blocks akin to navigating through different dimensions) from the hotel.

Here are the famous swan boats:

We had dinner on our last night in Boston at the Top of the Hub Restaurant which is on the 52nd floor of the Prudential Tower. What a view!

After Boston, we headed south to DE to clear out more of the stuff in dh's dad's house. It was quite an experience going south on I95 (right through NYC) and the New Jersey Turnpike. Then it got worse arriving at the house to mildewed sheets left damp in the dryer by dh's brother's family who were there the previous weekend taking away all the furniture. I was up until 12:30a.m. re-laundering the sheets and towels as well as cleaning the bathroom. Luckily, we had a pretty nice lunch in Mystic, CT. One can weather boorish behavior better on a full stomach.

I am just thrilled to be home, as much as I enjoyed Boston and all the fabulous seafood there. Often, I find, one needs a vacation to recuperate after a vacation.

And I hope to be back visiting everybody's blogs within the next day or two! :)

"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

I'm baaaack!

It's so nice to be home! Will post some photos and a little about the trip tomorrow. Laundry awaits. :)

Joanna, I'm doing fine...honestly! You're so sweet.

"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

Got my prize!

I have to keep this short because I have to finish packing.

Despite the best efforts of FedEx to keep my prize from me, it finally arrived on Friday! Thanks a whole bunch, Anne-Marie and Bramble Berry!!

"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

Running around

The Dalai Lama has headed to Seattle for a 5-day conference, and I'm getting ready to head to the opposite side of the country, the east coast. Wonder if he'll have more fun than I?

Anyway, I won't have computer access so, please, everyone whose blogs I visit: don't write too much while I'm away!! ;)

"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

Thursday Thirteen #1

Firefly Mom talked me into the Thursday Thirteens, with the threat of stalking me forever until I do it. ;D
So here is my first ever list. [I can't do very many graphics because our satellite connection's been horrible today.]

13 songs I’ve been known to spontaneously erupt into, in no particular order:

13) Pollyanna – as sung by Doris Day – "Everybody loves a lover. I'm a lover; everybody loves me..." How can anyone resist such a cheerful song?

12) Almost Heaven – John Denver – we used to have to drive through West Virginia a lot when we had to visit my FIL on the east coast, and I break into this song as soon as I see the state's welcome sign.

11) Spring Fever – or that's what I think it's called; I'm not sure because I don't even know what movie it came from or who sang it. I saw it on an old show, That's Entertainment, many moons ago, and it attached itself to my consciousness. "I'm as restless as a willow in a windstorm..." Alliteration – maybe that's why I love it.

10) The opening song to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes – "We're just two little girls from Little Rock..." One of the funniest Marilyn Monroe movies, next to Seven Year Itch. Usually, I follow it with "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend," also from the movie.

9) Voi che sapete – from La Nozze di Figaro – I don't actually sing this as I know not a single word of Italian (ciao and grazi don't count), but I love to do a vocalization of the melody, which is hauntingly beautiful.

8) Crazy – Patsy Cline, and a bit of Nora Jones – an all-round great crooning song for those sadder moods.

7) Once Upon a Dream – I usually stay away from things Disney, but this is a very pretty song that is almost operatic (and I had wanted to be an opera singer for several years in my youth)

6) Oh What a Beautiful Morning – from Oklahoma, of course – it's not like I'm a Broadway musical fan, but I listened to this album a lot when I was young because my parents had the LP (Shirley Jones as Laurie). I break into this song usually in August when we drive by the ubiquitous corn fields (gee, corn fields in the mid-west…get out!) on a sunny day, to the kids’ chagrin. "...the corn is as high as an elephant’s eye! And it looks like it’s climbing way up to the sky..."

And sometimes, too, I’ll break into the Oklahoma song itself when we see hawks soaring – "...sit alone and talk, and watch the hawks making lazy circles in the skyyyy!"

5) C'etait Toi – Billy Joel – it's the only adult French song I know since I don't know any Edith Pilaf. And I only know one verse to "La Dernierre Valse." It sounds really good in the shower.

4) L-O-V-E – as sung by Nat King Cole – happy, cute ditty. I used to sing it to ds#1 all the time when he was a baby.

3) This Can't Be Love – also as sung by Nat – I can't get enough of this man's voice and his style. My version isn't quite as nice, but it's a catchy tune.

2) When I Fall in Love – Nat, again, and a touch of Rick Astley – weird, I know. Sappy, but a nice and easy vocal piece.

1) A song that I think is called "In the Morning" - no idea who sings it. A high school friend had taped it for me back around ’84 or so, and I don't think I even have the tape anymore, but it's another sad song that sounds great in the shower.

** I tried to look for some audio clips as suggested by Suzanne, but it's taking me forever, so I'll stop. :} If you go here though, you can listen to a clip of "When I Fall in Love" and other Nat songs. Mmmmmm

To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

The greenhouse

Here's a pic, like I promised!
It's needing some landscaping though, and the cement blocks are not going to stay there. Goodness, they make us look like we're hill-billies, don't they?

We have the windows open and the door cracked because it is pretty hot in there today due to the sun being out (no complaints about the sun being out!!).

"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

Biznik...neat idea

I heard about Biznik on Morning Edition today, and was intrigued by the idea. I thought some of the bizzy ladies who visit here might be interested too. :)

"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

Paper making answer for Firefly Mom

Firefly Mom asked: "...could you put a hand towel over it and iron it (like you would an iron-on transfer) to smooth it out?"

And here's my long, convoluted answer *grin* -

Dh's aunt bought us an Arnold Grummer paper making set complete with a very handy how-to video. I'm a video/demo gal. I don't think we could have successfully made paper if we hadn't reviewed the video prior to each attempt.

Anyway, yes! you sure can use an iron! In fact, if you go to the Arnold Grummer link and click on the video demo, and then on the "drying" demo option, you'll see that he irons it at the end. I don't do that just because 1) I don't like to iron, and 2) I have heard that the iron is one of the most energy intensive appliances in the house (I love reasons to not iron...haha!).

After drying out the paper with the sponge and block as much as he could, he irons the paper directly, no towel or anything. You have to kind of test the heat setting...not so hot that it scorches the paper, but not so cool that it takes forever to dry it. He says that every iron is different, so you really have to get a feel of your own.

I have to add, also, that in our video tape where he shows how to dry with an iron, his sheet of paper wasn't completely flat either. It still tend to curl as it became drier and drier.

He is such a darling old man, that Arnold! :)

"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

Random Thoughts

I started this post a week ago and never did finish it in a timely fashion....

1) I rescued a fox sparrrow. It bashed into our window and was lying on its back, panting. I picked it up and put it in the shade on the stone ledge along the house where the dog couldn't get at it. After about a half hour, the poor thing recovered well enough to fly off. We were very happy.

2) More FOSs: brown thrashers, chipping sparrows

3) ARGH! Not another instance of misusing "light-year" as a unit of time; it is a unit of distance.

4) We finished the greenhouse...finally!! It only took us 1.5 years (note sarcasm). We were so relieved to finally pop the doors in. I keep forgetting to take a photo though...

"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

Goodies, birdies, and paper

Goodies
TADA!!! Many thanks to Joanna at Product Body Blog for my wonderful prize (see above photo). These are two of my favorite bath and body products and I can't even begin to tell you how thrilled I am to get them.

As a matter of fact, I was putting some Double-Whipped Shea Butter (Pink Grapefruit...not many things smell much better than that) on after my shower and I noticed that I was scraping bottom in my jar, and panicked because I thought I had forgotten to order a replacement. Frantically, I scrounged through the bathroom closet and all the drawers and under the sink space at both my sink and at dh's sink. Much to my relief, I found a brand new jar in one of the last drawers I looked in. Phew!

And lucky for me, this other new jar arrived today. Woohoo!

Birdies
I heard my first prairie warbler of the season today while hanging out the laundry. Another first was quite surprising. Ds#1 spotted a female rose-breasted grosbeak at our feeders. Usually the males come through first, with the females laggine a week or so behind. Not sure what's going on.

Oddly enough, field sparrows have started coming to our feeders too. They've never fed at the feeders in the 10 years we've lived here (at least not that we can remember). It's at least one little guy, maybe a couple more. I'm sure they're thinking, "we work 3 times as hard in the field to get the same amount of food as those schmucks scumming seeds up by the house, so we should go take advantage of free food too."

Paper
The paper we made dried a few days ago, but I've been too busy to take photos to post them. The first photo shows them dried and buckled like they tend to do when they dry. I have to press them under some heavy books now.

This second photo is a close up, but I was hoping it'd show the pretty fibrous look a bit better. Oh well.


"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

Nerdy fun

Some parents take their kids to lazer tag and Chuck E. Cheese; I take the kids to an academic talk and ethnic dining.

Yesterday, dh had commitments to the departmental colloquium and a dinner with the speaker afterwards, so I took the boys out on a (homeschool) date, just the 3 of us.

After the kids' piano lessons, we headed to a talk called "Living and Laughing by The Chopsticks-Fork Principle: A Course in Diversity" given by Cathy Bao Bean (the sister of Betty Bao Lord). It was basically about getting in touch with, and embracing, our inner multiculturalism, and maintaining our sense of humor.

We had a great time at this colloquium. Ms. Bean is one of the funniest speakers I've ever heard; ds#1 cracked up a lot, and that's unsual for this kid, Mr. Serious. Her topic resonated with me, and I plan to get her book, The Chopsticks-Fork Principle: A Memoir and Manual. If she hadn't run over time, I would have stayed to get an autographed copy.

Luckily, the kids and I slipped out as soon as the talk ended because the restaurant we went to, Siam House, was already pretty full when we got there and became packed mid-way through our meal - it was a Friday night, after all. The kids both had pad thai, ds#1 with calamari, and ds#2 with shrimp. I had a dish I can't pronounce nor remember the name of, but it has the most delectable seasonings: fish sauce, cilantro, Thai basil, ginger...yum!!

All in all, a fabulous night of nerdy fun!

"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

Making paper while the sun shines

The sun didn't actually shine today, at least not directly on us due to cloud cover for most of the day, but we did make paper. The junk mail pile is growing like a cold sore right before an important public appearance even though I had taken some measures to curb the number that reaches us. So, we made new paper from the junk paper! The boys were able to do it pretty much all on their own this time.

Here are a couple of short videos of some parts of the process (just ignore our messy kitchen):





"To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act." ~ Anatole France (1844 - 1924)