Thursday, February 26, 2009

Thankful Thursday

I hope it doesn't sound sad, because it's not, but I'm thankful that Thursday is nearly over and I have done a good deed, was grumpy without killing anyone, and have a Battlestar Galactica episode to watch with dh when we're done watching The Muppet Show with the boys. :)

To top off a not-that-sad Thursday, here's cool link to making classic cocktails from Fine Living! :)"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Random Tuesday Facts

...because Julie (Cool Mom Guide) begged for it, and I hate to see her beg. Heh! Random facts are as good as random thoughts, right?

Today, we'll tackle the English language...but not too hard since I don't want it to get a concussion. I'd like to highlight the nit-picky distinctions between these pairs: Farther/Further, Eager/Anxious, Use/Utilize.

Farther refers to a greater physical distance, while further means to a great extent, or more.

Eager means to look forward to something, or a happy anticipation of something, while anxious means the nervous anticipation of something, not exactly looking forward to, but more of a dread. An easy way to remember the difference is that "anxious" come from the same root as "anxiety."

Use...well, you all know what that means, whereas utilize means to use something for a purpose for which it was not intended. See this page for a more detailed explanation and an example.

And to round off this intense lesson *snort*, I leave you with a funny (which I had first seen at Diane's Much of a Muchness blog) - "He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Where, oh where, has my little week gone?

I hear the whooshing sound of my week gone down the toilet. Oy.

Well, this past week, we lost a young hen (less a year old) to, we believe, TB. Luckily, the other chickens seem healthy enough for now.

I also missed Thankful Thursday, although I will tell you what I'm thankful for: that our car wasn't one of those stuck on the road, or worse, ran off the road, in the slushy conditions on our way to my friend's baby shower yesterday.

On Thursday, dh wanted a field-trip, so we took off to bird-watch at Ewing Bottoms where we saw hundreds of Sandhill Cranes. There was even one Whooping Crane among the Sandhills! Then, as we were watching the cranes, a Golden Eagle flew over them and was circling them, causing the Sandhills to panic (which basically means they were even louder than they were while at rest). I couldn't get the video to load on Blogger, but you can find it at my YouTube page. We also saw four Mute Swans at Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge: And here we are, Sunday again.

I'm going to try to continue catching up on my blog reading...I really miss visiting all your blogs and I'm not ignoring you, honestly! :)

Oh, forgot to mentioned that Firefly Mom, of the hilarious Pack of Hungry Snails blog, gave me some bloggy love:*mwah* - I adore ya back!

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

Monday, February 16, 2009

Random (Facts) Tuesday

As you probably know, I can't seem to do exactly what everyone else does...so this variation is on the Random Thoughts Tuesday theme.

This week, I want to post something cool that ds#1, my just-turned-13 year old shared with me:

The blue that is seen on most birds, such as blue jays and Eastern bluebirds is not a color. Rather, it's what is known as a structural color and depends on the physical structure of the feathers to reflect certain wavelengths of light. Destroy the structure, and the color is gone.

Reds, yellows, and browns, etc. are true colors and result from pigmentation (melanins, carotenoids, or porphyrins). (Eastern bluebird image from http://animal.discovery.com/guides/wild-birds/d-h/eastern-bluebird.html)

Reference: Handbook of Bird Biology by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Suds to Love made me hurt my jaw

That got your attention, didn't it? Hah! But, really, Trisha of Suds to Love did make me hurt my jaw, and I'll tell you why. ;)

Trisha posted a giveaway (I try never to miss a giveaway from my soaper friends because they are the best giveaways on the Web...truly!) of which I was the winner!

I got the box in the mail a couple of days ago; I opened it expecting a couple of bars of soaps and maybe a couple of other bath and body products that Trisha makes. Instead I peer in and I see this:A box jam-packed full of these delectable goodies!! That was when my jaw hit the ground...ouch! snort!

WOW!!! Check it all out:There were:
Orange Mocha Foamy Soap
Orange Mocha Lotion Bar
Orange Mocha Foaming Sugar Scrub
2 Lip Balms: Cherry Vanilla and Ginger PeachA Bubbly Bath Bomb in French Croquembouche (which I'm going to use tomorrow in a luxurious bath)
4 Valentine Soaps in Tropical Mango, Tropical Fruit, Strawberries & Cream, and Limeand a managerie of cold-process soaps:
Green Pineapple
Wise Men
Sweet Lavender Lemon Martini
Peppermint Cocoa
Orange Mocha
Fresh Snow
Winter Wonderland
Auld Lang Syne
and TWO Crantini - Trisha remembered that my sister (the lush) and I love Crantinis, so the sweetheart sent two so that I can give one to my sister without having to share my own!

In addition to hurting my jaw, Trisha is also making me not want to be environmentally conscious because now I want to take a shower four times a day just to try all the soaps! Just teasing you, Trisha...LOL!...because you are an absolute love!! I can't thank you enough for this package!!

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

Michelle's lovely handicraft

To explain my going MIA and then posting two in a row, all I want to say is, "when it rains, it pours." Really, it explains everything.

A few months ago, Michelle of the Blog of the Soap Pixie and I did a swap. Have I mentioned yet how much I looove swaps? Elizabeth of Gracefruit and I did one back in the fall - her soaps for my cards/papers - and it was wonderful! I got some of the best stuff from Elizabeth, including the indispensable Wattle Balm (which, alas, she no longer sells).

For this swap, Michelle sent me cards for some of my soaps, a reversal of the other swap. Michelle does scrapbooking, and it shows - her cards look so professional: whimsical and perfect! While I love them all, here are close-ups of a couple of my favorites:The Cupcake card is actually a little bag that you can put things into; is that too cute or what?? (sorry for the blurry photo)Thank you, Michelle!! I'm always open to more swapping! ;)

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Guess what day it is?

That's right, Thursday! No, seriously, it's:I need to get a proper piping tool so I can write better on my baked goods. I made this for the LEGO Club meeting today; it's a bit ugly - the worst looking heart and script I've seen - but it was very tasty and that's all that mattered. Happy birthday to Darwin and Lincoln!

It's also Thankful Thursday time! And I'm thankful that:

1) the high winds we had didn't cut off our power (apparently many people in town were without power, but out here in the boonies where we are, our power stayed on), and

2) the weekend looks to be relatively free so I can sleep in a little and catch up on reading blogs.

That reminds me, I'm sorry I've not been around to read your blogs as much recently. Long days out here and there, and an unreliable satellite internet connection makes it hard to keep up.

I do have a couple of things I'd like to post soon though: lovely cards that Michelle (Blog of the Soap Pixie) made for me in trade for some soaps, and the fabulous prize from Trisha (Suds to Love) that I received in the mail today!!

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

Saturday, February 07, 2009

The Photo Tag meme

Meg of Get In, Hang On tagged me. Yup. And I have to follow rules:

1. Go to the 4th picture folder on your computer.
2. Post the 4th picture in that folder.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag 4 more bloggers.

Dh is a folder maniac, so we have folders inside folders. Within the Pictures folder, and there are folders according to years, starting from 2003. Inside each year folder, there are folders for each day that photos were taken.

I went to the fourth folder, 2006, and the fourth folder within that, Jan. 17th, and then picked out the fourth photo. Here it is:Not much of a story. The kids were in the shed playing with dh's ancient army men while dh was building the new fowl hut that's to be attached to the shed.

I know some of you have played this already but I can't remember who did, so consider yourself tagged if you're game. Just let me know if you're playing (if I'm not a regular visitor to your blog already) so I can come see!

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

Rhyming dinosaurs?

Thanks to the comments he posted to my blog, I stumbled across Douglas Florian's fun blog, Florian Cafe.

I know many of you who read this blog have little ones who are crazy about dinosaurs, so I want to point you to Douglas' very cute and clever book, Dinothesaurus. He shares one of the funny poems in a post: Pterrifying Pterosaurs. Check it out!

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

Thursday, February 05, 2009

Heidi, you spoil me!!

I wasn't going to do 3 posts in one day, but I received the most wonderful package in the mail today (besides our seeds arriving from Johnny's and Territorial). The giveaway prize I won from Heidi's Soapaholics Anonymous blog arrived!

I thought I'd just won the (big!) bottle of infused oil, but lookee, Heidi also added 3 bars of soap and a packet of tea (yummy!). Remember I was just talking about the generosity of my soaper friends?! Heidi, I so adore you!! (ok, pardon my highly wrinkled table cloth)BTW, I'm using Heidi's Plain Jane Soap at my bathroom sink and her Lemongrass Soap by the kitchen sink. Mmmmm!

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

I forgot to add...I'm thankful for Heather!

You can't believe how hard it is for me to actually find the camera and take a picture. Seriously.

Anyway, I want to add for Thankful Thursday that I'm also thankful for Heather (One Bubble at a Time). She is one of the tremendously wonderful and generous ladies I've met since venturing into the soaping world and I am ever grateful to have met her.

She sent me (and Carrie - Under the Willow - and possibly some other folks I'm not aware of) a wonderful surprise this week!Oh, and for Michelle (Chocolate and Marmalade Tea), here's Heather's cupcake soap I was telling you about. In the cute little package:and in its full glory:It smells so wonderful and looks so beautiful that I can't bear to use it in the shower; I keep it out as a decorative air freshener. :>

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

Thankful Thursday

While it's still 20F (-6C) right now, it's a lovely sunny day.

So, today, I'm thankful that

1) the kids and I don't have to head out so I can enjoy the summer-y sunshine from our living room without having to slip on the ice (like dh did this morning while taking care of the chickens), and

2) dh (and all my friends in wintry conditions) got to work and home again without any mishaps during those days when the roads were messy.

3) there are many things that make me laugh...just a couple of examples:

Map of Cat's Brain (posted at The Good Enough Witch)

andand"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

A few random things...

Because I hadn't posted in a few days and have some brain farts stored up. :)

First off, I want to mention an award from Diane (Much of a Muchness)The dear gal thinks I have a creative blog; methinks she's in need of a good vacation. LOL!

I'm supposed to list 6 things that inspire my creativity and pass along the award, but honestly, I can't think of even 2 things, let alone 6! I don't even think I'm very creative at all.

On the other hand, apparently, I'm very good at winning things! The Candy Cane soap from Heather (One Bubble At a Time) arrived in the mail yesterday. Heidi (Soapaholics Anonymous) is sending me a bottle of infused oil that I won at her blog. Then, yesterday, I found out I won the prize from Trisha's (Suds to Love) giveaway! Happy dance....

And finally, from reading Ian's First Contact Astronomy blog, and seeing a comment at Annie's always eye-candy Imagine and Create blog, I'm inspired to re-read my old astronomy text from the class I took at UBC back in '83/'84. It's a classic:It'll be fun, but I need to remember to allot time for it.

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

Sunday, February 01, 2009

Peanut Butter "Balls"

I apologize I didn't get around to this sooner. It was a busier weekend than most, and I'm still behind. I'll try and visit people's blogs tomorrow. :)

The peanut butter balls I made were very simple and I didn't use a recipe, but here's how I made them.

Start with natural peanut butter - the kind without partially hydrogenated oil because that makes the pb too soft to handle. I used the pb that was ground fresh at our local health food co-op...about 1 to 1.5 cups of it.

If you get the regular, sweetened pb, then you can skip this next step where I sweetened the pb. Do it to taste...and I do mean taste it after adding a bit of sugar and keep adding until it's sweet enough that you'd be happy to eat it on its own like candy.

If the pb has gotten a bit soft, put it in the fridge to harden up.

Scoop out about a 1/2 teaspoon of sweetened pb and roll it into a ball (I just do it in my palms...quickly because it can get soft easily). Place on a cookie sheet (or jelly roll pan) lined with parchment paper. Repeat until every bit of pb is rolled up.

Melt chocolate either in double boiler or in the microwave. I used a combination of milk chocolate and dark semisweet chocolate, but you can sub in any kind you like.

Dip the pb balls into the melted chocolate and then place coated pb balls back onto parchment paper. Stick in fridge to firm up, and then they're ready to eat!

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

Number One son turns...13!!!

I remember the sixteen seemingly interminable and painful hours of labor like it was yesterday,
and yet, here he is, on the verge of becoming a young man.I know I grouse about him a lot sometimes and I lose my patience with him too many times to count, but truth is, he is a pretty great kid and I love that he is clinging onto to his childhood.

Do you know what he became addicted to over the holidays? The Muppet Show. While other kids his age start to get into girls, video games, and perhaps even drugs, he gets into cute little singing puppets that are only a stone's throw from Sesame Street. Granted, sometimes they have innuendos and stuff (Miss Piggy throws herself at Kermit every episode), but overall, it's really tame compared to what kids today watch. It makes me want to hug my kid.

Here's a couple more photos of him (he's often found with a book)...at about age 1:and around 6 years old:"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe