Under a blue moon

Andrea's Rip-roaring Diet Adventures

 

Rick is recovering nicely.  Thank you for all the well wishes.   He's a very good, appreciative patient. 

The picture above has nothing to do with this post.  We are going to talk about killer abs.  And I don't have a picture of them that I can share (okay - I don't HAVE them to begin with).

I got back on the low-carb, low-cal bandwagon last week and instantly lost the five pounds that I've put on since Christmas.  Now I'm back at my pre-holiday melt down weight. 

I decided I need to start exercising more too.  To help things along.  I'm at a certain age where all my pounds are very fond of me and don't want to leave.  So I thought I would make them do crunches and jumping jacks and see how they like that.

If you follow The Biggest Loser (I admit to a perverse fascination with how fast they lose weight and how they look when they are done) then you know who Jillian Michaels is.  She is one of the two trainers on the show.  She has a take no prisoners approach to training.

After hearing some rave reviews for her 30-day Shred workout dvd I ordered it from Amazon. It is an intense 20 minute workout.  The feedback on it is it is hard but the misery only lasts 20 minutes and you can usually stick it out.  There are three levels of workouts and I'm starting with Level 1 and it is kicking my butt.   She's not as mean on the dvd as she is on the show.

I put together a 30-day Exercise Challenge with some on-line friends of mine.  Our goal is to do some kind of exercise every day, for 30 days.  Can be anything - working out in a gym, spinning class, workout dvd, walk.  I'm hoping that if I stick to it for 30 days exercise will become a habit instead of a chore.

My plan is to do the 30-day Shred dvd two days, then walk the third day and then start over again.  That way my body gets a rest from the more intense working out.  

I'm hoping that at the end of the 30 days I am ten pounds lighter.  Stay tuned. 

Pinching pennies

 

I can't think of one person that isn't carefully watching their money right now.  Everyone I know has been affected by the current state of our economy.  Whether it be a lost job, a reduction in hours or benefits, the higher price of things.

While I think I am a fairly conservative with my money I can be a bit of a spendthrift in certain areas.  Like magazines.  Is there a 12-step program for us magazineoholics?  And craft supplies.  I amass stuff and then do nothing with it. 

Late in December I decided to sit down and draft a budget.  I went through the year's spending and figured out how much certain set expenses were (cell phone, cable, car insurance, etc.).   Then I figured out how much I was spending on groceries, shopping, rubber stamps.  Ouch.  I figured the set expenses are pretty hard to pare down without getting rid of them all together (we haven't come that far yet) but in other areas I could vastly improve.   

I started my budget on January 1st.  I just spent the last of my gasoline money yesterday so I'm good for the month.  I am over my grocery budget by $68 already and we still have four days left in the month (we will presumably want to eat on those days).   I'm trying to pare down my cellphone charges and I'm headed in the right direction but I still went over by $40 this month.  

I have implemented a 'no tossing a magazine into the grocery cart' rule.  If I want a magazine it has to come out of my $20 a week allowance.  Which is also for the occasional lunch out, craft supplies, non-essential beauty supplies, that sort of thing.  It's a good thing I don't have a Starbucks habit.

I give myself a C+ for the month.  I think I'm on the right track anyway.  I do have some areas where I can improve - like better meal planning which should help the grocery budget.

I have to admit I'm kind of enjoying myself.  I think that comes from a feeling of taking control.  While I certainly can't control the economy I do feel good that I'm taking steps to improve my own situation. 

(By the way - the quilt in the picture was made by Nicki and I think the pattern is called Pop-Beads.  I love the 30's repo prints and I think it is a perfect backdrop for a post about saving and economizing.  I'm feeling a bit 30's-ish lately.  Next we'll get into the 40's and talk about Victory gardens....)

Polishing silver: Before and after

   

I haven't been posting much this past week because I've been polishing silver.  And it is time consuming.  Miserably time consuming.

I started off using Wright's silver polish - the purple stuff in the tub.  It has served me well for the past 25 years.  But it just wasn't cutting for the heavy duty tarnish on the new (to me) set.

If you look at the tarnished bowl on the right you can see how the tarnish is a slightly different color half way up the bowl.  That's because previously it had been polished using the aluminum foil/baking soda and salt method (a method I do not recommend).  The set was placed in a sink or tub and the water only partially covered the pieces.   That part that soaked tarnished differently than the top part.  It is MUCH harder to get that tarnish off.

Even after polishing one of the pieces with a ton of elbow grease you could still see that line of demarcation.

So I went back to the store and bought a product called Tarn-X.  Nasty smelling stuff.  Smells like rotting eggs.  It is a clear liquid that you can either soak the pieces in (if you buy the industrial sized container) or you can dab at your tarnished silver with a cotton ball soaked in the stuff.  It's still time consuming but it does a great job of getting rid of the tarnish. 

You dab for a few minutes and then rinse the piece in cold water.  I guess you don't want the liquid to stay in contact with the silver for too long.  What I did was take a Tupperware container and sit the piece I was working on in it so any drips were contained.

It gave the piece a slightly yellow cast so after I finished removing the tarnish I went over the piece with the Wright's silver polish.

So here's a question for you silver aficionados - why would a silver set have two bowls?  One has handles and the other doesn't.  One has a lid the other doesn't.  Is one for lemon slices and one for sugar? 

Oh - and notice the frost on the deck railing?  Baby it's cold outside!

Christmas slumber party

 

When you think of a slumber party you probably don't think of gold chargers and grilled salmon on puff pastry.  But when Nicki throws a slumber party that's exactly what you get.  Plus Christmas Cosmos, savory cranberry and sausage appetizers in filo dough, a warm Brie salad with apples and pistachios, champagne and warm peppermint brownies with vanilla ice cream.

It was the First Annual Christmas Slumber Party and I hope it is the start to a lovely new tradition.  My sisters Trish and Kate were there, my cousin Claudia and my niece Sara.  Missing was our sister Mary but I think she is buried in snow somewhere in Wisconsin right now.

We all wore our most festive holiday lounge wear or Christmas jammies and just ate and drank and ate some more. 

 

We listened to Christmas music and did an ornament exchange.  Nicki gave all of us aprons that she had spent the past week making, picking out fabrics that best suited the recipient.

Did I mention we ate?  A lot?  It was impossible not to.  Everything tasted so good.

We also enjoyed Nicki's lovely home and all her Christmas decorations.  It's making me feel kind of bad that I didn't put out much effort this year.  Well, there is always next year.

I took a ton of pictures but I don't want to post anyone in their jammies so you'll just have to imagine.  

 

Christmas Cheer

   

flickr favorites

I am trying to rally and get out of this funk.  I think I'm just too busy with work to fully concentrate on and enjoy the season.  I thought I would take inspiration from others and their wonderful decorations. 

I was pulling together my flickr holiday favorites when I received a comment from Maureen reminding me to enjoy the moments with my family and that all the rest is just background.   I think I needed that gentle reminder. 

I've noticed an interesting phenomenom - when I do keyword searches in Flickr the results ALWAYS have pictures from bloggers that I like and avidly follow.  Usually right up top.  I think that is really funny.  I'm making pretty general searches (like "Vintage Christmas") and there are something like eight bazillion photos on Flickr to search from.

Chickens!

   

Amazon

I have a chicken.  Or, actually, I have a chick.  A little Rhode Island Red named Rosie.  Rosie doesn't live with me.  She is being boarded at the Cottage with three other chicks.  You can see a little YouTube video of them and see her sweet little self. 

I have wanted chickens for years now.  Rick and I used to take a walk through our Los Altos neighborhood and there was one house that always had a few fat chickens peacefully roaming around the front yard.  Nothing fenced them in and nothing appeared to bother them.  They just happily spent their day picking at bugs in their pretty front yard. 

Then a friend of mine was telling me about her childhood pet, a Rhode Island Red with the unfortunate moniker of Lunch.  Lunch was an only chick and she dearly loved her people.  She would come running as soon as any of them came into the yard and wanted to be held and petted.

She never did live up to her name, I am happy to report.

Doing a little research I've read that Rhode Island Reds are a friendly type of chicken.  So when Sara said I could keep a chick at her house I knew that was the type I wanted.

I haven't seen Rosie yet but I am going to go this afternoon and nuzzle her.

Rick and I have been thinking about turning the Goat Palace into a Palais de Poulet.  It would require getting rid of Josephine, William, Antoinette and poor little Delilah.  When we got them we figured we would have little worker goats that would keep our property clear of brush.  The only problem is they are total homebodies and will not leave their little corner of the property. 

We shouldn't have made the Goat Palace so comfy.  They flat out refuse to go anywhere else and they have totally denuded that one corner so we have to supplement their diet with grain and alfalfa.  Which kind of defeats the purpose of having them.

We may have found someone that will take them.  A couple that has ten acres, other goats, a couple of llamas and a horse.  I would only feel right about getting rid of them if they were going to a better situation.  One does have an obligation to ones animals, after all. 

So if they do go then we'll put some nesting boxes in the Palace and put a door on it and get a half a dozen chickens.   We'll eat as many eggs as we want and I have a friend that goes through 12 dozen eggs a week and I told her she could have the rest. 

Or I could set up a little roadside stand and sell them.

 

Jack Delano for the Farm Security Administration, 1940

Halloween Soiree 2008

   

We had our annual Halloween Soiree last night.  I must say it was an exceptional party.  *I* had a fabulous time, anyway - and by the looks of things so did everyone else.

The very, very, VERY best part of the night was a surprise guest.  My sister Trish has a passel of kids that travel with a pack of their friends and when an unknown, masked partyer showed up with them we didn't think much of it. 

Except WHO was it?  The person appeared short and I assumed it was my niece Emily.  But I was assured it was not.  Then I figured it was just one of their friends, again - assured it was not.  It was suggested I hug this person.  So I hugged Edvard Munch's scream and it was a little more substantial than my niece Emily (who must weigh about 95 lbs. soaking wet). 

I went in for a second hug (dearly hoping it wasn't some mortified friend of my nephew Scott's) and felt a tell-tale braid.

It was my sister Mary from Wisconsin!  Secretly flown in and a surprise to everyone except my sister Trish. 

 

The night was just fun fun fun.  Lots of food, drink and laughing.  Great sound track courtesy my sister Kate. 

I'm the one in all the cheesy MySpace poses above (no. 2, 4, and 19) if anyone wants to know what I look like.  We even had one of the Vice Presidential candidates show up, with a rolled pumpkin cake (won't tell you if that swayed my vote or not).

This is just the most fun party.  Everyone is so clever with their costumes.  And I am stuffed full of tootsie rolls and jalapeno poppers.  The one day of the year I allow myself to eat them

Photo love

   

Mario Testino for Vogue Magazine

You must click on the above photo to see it larger.  Actually what you must do is go buy the November US Vogue magazine and see the entire photoshoot of Natalia Vodianova and her family by Mario Testino.

I just love that picture.  So enchanting.  The man in the picture is the husband of the model.  He reminds me a little of the Wine Maker.  I think it is the hat.  Sara, we must buy the Wine Maker some stripey pajamas so he can serve you your morning tea properly.  And you must lounge about in your peach silk nightie (maybe ditch the matching Converse).

What I really covet, other than a pajama clad butler, is the bed.  Even without all the moss and other flora.   What I wouldn't give to have that in one of our guest rooms. 

Puppy, waiting

 

I am puppysitting again.  Actually I run a little doggy day care every Monday and Tuesday when I am down at my Dad's house.  Sara drops Remy off in the morning and either she or the Wine Maker pick him up in late in the afternoon.

This week though we get to do sleepovers.  The Wine Maker is neck deep in harvest and the Wine Maker's Wife is off on a business trip.  It must made sense to leave Remy with me Sunday night and he'll get picked up Tuesday or Wednesday.

Only right around 5:00 when he figured it was time to be picked up he went and sat down by the front door.

I'm going to have to ply him with liver treats and maybe a Lady and the Tramp dvd to get him to move. 

Edited to add:  Ha!  Not ten minutes after I posted this the Wine Maker showed up.  I think they missed each other too much.  So no sleepover tonight but I get Remy back tomorrow morning.

Photos

One of my favorite things to find in an antique store is a stack of old candid photos.  I love looking at all the details and trying to figure out what year the picture was taken, what was going on in the lives of the people in the photos. 

I stumbled across the best website called Square America and it is a collection of old photos - exactly the kind I love best.  The photos are sorted into different galleries that you can view as a slide show.

I have no idea how I managed to find this site - it was one of those down the rabbit hole type of searches.

Take the photo above - there is so much going on.  It makes me very uneasy, looking at this picture.  First of all that man in the background is so menacing.  What is he lunging at?  The poor kid next to him is just cringing.  And the baby yowling in the woman's arms.  That woman looks like she would like nothing better than to put that baby down and spend the afternoon at a day spa, being fussed and preened over. 

Of course the man might just be tossing a stick for the dog to fetch and there isn't anything menacing at all.

What do you think?  First day of school?  Getting ready for church?  I love their identical shoes and their identical postures.  Do you think the one second from the left is unhappy because he got stuck with long sleeves and everyone else has short?

At first I though this next one was taken on a cold snowy day but then realized they aren't really dressed for snow.  They must be standing on a sand dune.  I bet they were on a road trip and stopped for the photo opportunity.   Go check out the site - you will be entertained for hours.