Under a blue moon

!!Last day of my birthday month...

Wicker pet basket

I think Sara needs one of these for Remy, don't you?

I have been looking on-line for wicker bike baskets.  Now that the weather is getting lovely I want to ride my bike on my shorter errands - like to the library (which I go to every Thursday) or to the grocery store when I just need a few things. 

This, in an effort to be more green and to kind of trick myself into a little bit of exercise since it appears that willingly exercising just doesn't come naturally to me.

Of course those big, ugly, rear mounted bike baskets would probably be more practical but if this trickery is going to work the basket is going to have to be charming. 

In other happy news - the folks at Urban Outfitters, Inc. (Anthropologie) are opening a garden center type store called Terrain.  Go check out Oh Joy! for pictures.  We just have to hope it catches on and they open other centers around the country.  Like here.

(Note:  Picture above has nothing to do with Terrain.  I just needed something to liven up the post so I threw in a picture of my old planter.  But who knows - Terrain MIGHT carry stuff like this.)

Hope everyone is having a happy Wednesday.  I need to go find a party hat since it's the very last day of my birthday month.

Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys....

Second favorite picture.  Rick's number one pick.

Eric on the left and Evan on the right.  They are about 15 months apart and while they had the normal spats of two brothers growing up they are close now.

I probably shouldn't share this story but since neither one of them reads this blog what the heck...

A couple of years ago, when Evan was 18 he had to have open heart surgery.  He had a condition called Cardiomyopathy where the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick and rigid.  The surgeon had to go in and thin the walls of his heart so it could beat properly.  When the surgeon came out of surgery to tell us how it went the one thing that really registered (after "it went well') was that he was wearing cowboy boots.

After a week in the hospital he was released - the beauty of youth and their resilience and natural healing abilities.  Only after a few days he started feeling bad.  Worse than when he first got home.  We went to the emergency room and they discovered he had built up a lot of fluid around his heart and had to go back into the hospital.

I called Eric and he drove over to the hospital.  Evan had just had a procedure where they drained the fluid (harrowing - let me tell you) and he was heavily sedated.  Evan had been pretty unresponsive all afternoon.  Eric sat in a chair next to his bed and just started to cry.  This big, strapping 20 year old, sick with worry.  Evan's eyes flew open and he looked over at his brother and told him it was okay, he was going to be just fine. 

It was so touching.  And of course since then Evan hasn't let him forget it - 'hey remember that time I was in the hospital.......you big baby."

Here's something ironic - the entire time Evan was in the hospital he REFUSED to eat the food.  He was down right surly about it.  I had to tempt him with Jamba Juices and croissants from a local bakery.  Guess where he works now?  At the very same hospital, delivering food to patients.

Finished!

First of all if I ever say I am going to put a pleated ruffle on something just take me out back and shoot me.  Or buy me a fancy sewing machine that has a ruffle foot.

The embroidery part of the pillow was the happy, mellow part of the project (except for the occasional knot on the front which I discovered only happened with the green flosses (Hmmmm...). The rest of the pillow should have been pretty easy but it frustrated me at several points.

First of all my finished embroidered square ended up being a weird size - 9.75".  I was doing all kinds of mathematical gymnastics trying to figure out how wide the framing strips should be so I would end up with a 12.5" square.  Then I realized I should just sew on some strips and then cut it down to a 12.5" square.  Math has never been my strong suit. 

Then the ruffling business.  Oi.  I originally planned to do a pleated ruffle then abandoned that idea as too time consuming since I would have to do each pleat manually.  So I tried a standard ruffle (sewing two parallel lines and then pulling the threads to create the ruffle).  Forget that.  The length of fabric was LONG and my thread broke about a third of the way in.

So back to my original plan for pleated ruffles.  By hand.  And who ever invented corners?  What a stupid idea.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to sew a pleated ruffle around a corner?

Finally finished the front and got the ruffle attached but when I went to sew on the two back pieces I cut them about a 1/4" too short. 

I've always thought it would be lucrative to go into the throw pillow making business because they are always SO expensive.  Now I know why.   

Now I need to go redecorate the guest room around this new color scheme.

My favorite picture

I was going through an old box (one of those ones that hasn't been unpacked even though we've moved about three times since it was originally packed....) and found a picture that my Mother took. 

The little guy on the left is my youngest son, Evan and the sweetie on the right is his cousin Maddi.  Look at those curls!  And how they have their plump little hands on each others shoulders.

They have been the best of friends their entire lives.  They are both young adults now and still fast friends. 

The curls, sadly, are gone - Evan's hair is short and Maddi's is long and luxurious and not a ringlet in sight.

Catching up

Anyone remember this?  I think I started it back in January.  I got a knot in the front (hate when that happens) and I tried to untangle it but couldn't so I put it down for a while, hoping it would sort itself out.

It didn't.  So I picked it back up this week and and cut out the offending knot and pulled the stitching out and started up again. 

I plan on finishing it this week.  Ha!  Famous last words.  It's going to be a pillow when it is done.

I would get things done a lot faster if Belle didn't think the floss spools were her play toys.

Let's see what else have I been doing?  Oh - fighting battle with the aphids.  Every morning I go out and spray them off the roses with a good blast from the garden hose and the following morning they are back.  This morning, however, it looks like their numbers are diminishing so I might be winning.  They did ruin a few of the early buds though.  I have mutated looking roses trying to open up.

Stupid aphids.  Look - I just sprayed them a half hour ago and they are coming back.

They haven't been bothering the Iceberg rose bush though.  Iceberg was my Mother's favorite rose.  I love how the first blooms on the bush always have the slightest pink tint. 

It's because of the cool temperatures when the bud is forming, I've been told.  And since Iceberg tends to bloom until November around these parts the last roses of the season tend to be a wee bit pink too. 

Last day of Remy sitting....

I can't believe the week is almost over.  We have had so much fun.  He is just the sweetest soul I have ever come across.  He makes me laugh every single time I look at him. 

We spent his last full day together making daisy chains and letting him ride around the yard in big fat soap bubbles. 

I am not looking forward to giving him back.  Go back to Mexico!  Shoo!  Look!  Over there?  Is that a margarita??

Sigh.  We never did get tattoos.

Remy sitting or how not to wash a dog...

Remy got into a little situation on Sunday.  My very first day of puppy sitting him.  I'll never be trusted again. 

As mentioned the weather here in Northern California was spectacular.  We decided to have our hors d'oeuvres and wine out on the patio on Sunday.  Before we could do that we needed to wash all the grime and bird poop off the patio chairs.  We lined them up along the lawn and had an assembly line of spraying and wiping down.

When we were done we had a dozen clean chairs and a bit of a mud puddle along the edge of the patio and grass.

Turns out Remy is part pig.  Or is the hippo the animal that likes to roll around in the mud?   You would have thought the mud puddle was made out of liver treats the way he was flopping and rolling around.  In a matter of a second and half he was completely black.  Everyone wanted me to take a picture of him but seeing my career as a professional dog sitter quickly evaporating I declined to document this huge failing in my canine sitting skills.

I immediately took him back to the bathroom and commenced bathing him.  He has special shampoo for white dogs that gets his coat all sparkly looking but when mixed with mud it was turning kind of lilacky-purple.  I rinsed him off for a very long time but I don't know - what do you think?  Does he look a little bit pink? 

Maybe it's not noticeable.

Or maybe I'm pulling someone's leg.  How's Mexico guys?

Just a little Photoshopping magic courtesy of Joe.  See - he's a bit tuckered out but a normal color. 

Fruit bowl

 

I am a paragon of proper eating.  I think the basis for any healthy eating plan is a well rounded diet that includes lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Fruit especially.

Okay an onion (with a bit on cilantro stuck to it, no less) isn't exactly fruit but real estate on the counter at my dad's house is tight so the onion and garlic frequently share the same bowl with the fruit.

Where was I?  Oh yes - my beyond reproach eating habits.  I am blessed to live in a place where fresh fruits and vegetables are plentiful and varied. 

We have bananas, pears, mangos, (garlic).....wait a minute.  What is that?  I know the USDA came up with a new eating pyramid not too long ago but I don't recall chocolate being relabelled fruit (but truth be told - I think they are kind of skimpy on the oils/fats part of the pyramid so I don't always exactly follow their guidelines).

Okay so maybe not a paragon of proper eating.  But I do believe chocolate is part of a well rounded diet.  Especially straight out of the bag.

Now if you'll excuse me I have to go brush the tortilla chip crumbs out of my keyboard.

Summer...what the??

It's 6:14pm PT and it is 81 degrees F.  Summer has officially started in my neck of the woods.  Need proof? 

(temperature was recorded at 12:00Noon).

I am putting out an all points bulletin for Spring.  If you have seen it kindly send it back our way.

I have grand plans for putting out tomatoes and peppers but if the temperatures are like this already my poor little seedlings are going to be toast.

Where are my cool, ocean breezes?  Oh that's right - about 150 miles due west.

I spent the afternoon dragging Rick through the big antique mall in Sacramento.  As I was perusing the Jadeite, handkerchiefs and teacups (looking for those elusive Paragons) I could hear the sales women, a few rows over, asking Rick if they could help him.  Each time he said he was looking for his wife.   I didn't buy anything.  I had a $5 bag of MOP buttons in my hand but I put them back thinking I would find something even better. 

I am trying not to buy things without a plan in hand.  As much as I love the idea of pretty jars filled with buttons I can't justify buying them (or can I say the decorative element IS the plan??).

Tomorrow I am fully in charge of Remy.  His people are going to Mexico and I get to puppy sit for an entire week.  We are getting tattoos, staying up late every night, drinking margaritas and I'm going to teach him how to burp the alphabet.   

What's in your pantry?

I tend to get infatuated with certain chefs/cookbook authors.  Right now we all know I'm in my Ina Garten phase.  Prior to this it was Susan Branch.  And before Susan it was Joanne Weir.  I'm fickle, what can I say?

Or maybe not.  Bizarrely, whenever I am randomly searching online for recipes, nine times out of ten the recipe that catches my eye is by Pam Anderson, food columnist for USA Weekend.

What I want to ask these women is what staples do they always have on hand?  What ten things do they rely on. 

When I am grocery shopping I can throw the following things in my cart and they will get used in the course of a week.  Lemons.  Shallots.  Thyme (dried or fresh).  Milk (only in recipes or tea - never to drink on it's own.  Gross.).  White wine (only to drink.  Never to use in recipes or tea.  Gross.  Okay, maybe in recipes).  Basmati rice.  Basil (fresh).  Mozzarella.  Tomatoes (fresh or canned).   And I'll throw in chicken just so I can actually make a meal out of my list.  You could substitute shrimp or salmon just as easily.  Chicken is probably better though.

I tend to be a shop as I cook type of person.  I used to work for a woman, quite a good cook, actually; she would sit down every Sunday evening and plan out her meals for the upcoming week, make her grocery list and go shopping on Monday.   As much as I aspire to that level of organization I just can't do it.  I think the good folks at my local market would send out a search party if I didn't show up every other day. 

Tell me.  Why would a person need three opened containers of sour cream in their refrigerator?   I'm an equal opportunity sour cream buyer - you can see that I am not brand loyal (I am loyal to my wallet - I probably picked out which ever was on sale when I was in the store).

Can you tell which shelves I use and which ones Rick does?

I'm thinking it might be time to clean out the refrigerator. 

So what are YOUR pantry staples?