All posts filed under: Life

Brain melt and ten on the 10th. December 2012

Published by

What a strange day today has been. Too grey to tell what time it is, felt like 4pm all day. Cold to the bone cold, cold legs through jeans, make your eyes run and cheeks freeze cold. A lots to do and nothing done day, my list remains complete with no crossings out. I have done lots I needed to but also not done lots I wanted to. I found a present bought about September, for Christmas. A bargain of bargains. And forgotten. I nearly bought another one!  Maybe being organised for Christmas early is not such a good idea for me!                                                                                                                         I did manage to take ten photos on the 10th though! YMCA for …

Writing with Es!

Published by

E is for Eccles cakes, made with frozen puff pastry, I mean who makes puff pastry? Not me. I did make the mincemeat which I used to fill the Eccles cakes instead of the usual raisins. My only complaint is that I didn’t make them big enough! I am pleased I made mincemeat, followed a Delia Smith recipe and ta da, easy peasy squeeze a lemon. Two massive jars of mincemeat good stuff all ready for mince pies and I have a recipe for mincemeat cookies courtesy of Mr Jamie Oliver! It is going to be a sweet fruity fiesta!! E is also for eggs in a nest pendant I am currently making whilst trying not to poke out my eyes with the pingy wire which springs about as I make the nest! I think this is one of my favourites, the mother of pearl beads almost glow, lovely. E is for exhausted dog. Pablo the French bulldog of the house took a walk with me to make a jewelry delivery this morning and he …

November 2012 Photo A Day

Published by

Day 1. Something beginning with C. Chrysanthemums in yellow. iPhone 4, Camera +. Day 2. Colour. Fire Hydrant on the way home from Target. Day 3. Breakfast. Loaf of bread, destined to be toast with Marmite. Day 4. TV. I did my first trail run this morning. Took this at the top of Castlewood State Park’s three hundred wooden steps. Day 5. 5 o clock Day 6. A favourite thing Day 7. Reflection Day 8. Something you do everyday Day 9. Small Day 10 Can’t (won’t live without) Day 11 Night Day 12 Drink Day 13 Where you slept Day 14 Man made Day 15 In Your Bag Day 16 The view from your window Day 17 Last thing you bought Day 18 Happened this weekend Day 19 Something awesome Day 20 Work/play Day 21 What you wore Day 22 Grateful Day 23 Black Day 24 A sound you heard Day 25 Sky Day 26 In the Cupboard Day 27 Tree Day 28 Vehicle Day 29 Big Day 30 On the wall

Kickboxing, zombie fighting, cookie baking ninja

Published by

This morning I did my kickboxing/ninja/zombie defense class at the Y and I have to say, it totally flew by. I can’t believe how fast the time went. No doubt sore arms and legs tomorrow, but I love that!  Really, I do, I think it confirms I worked hard, I firmed up some wobbly bits  and now I can make and eat some cookies! Did someone say cookies? Look at what heavenly beast I found in Trader Joe’s this morning.  I only wonder why I didn’t buy a cart full. These should come with a stern warning along the lines of… ‘Do not open until you intend to bake with them. Not even just to try them. You will nibble and nibble and they will all be gone – forever. No cookies.’ They are so good straight out of the packet, forget fancy Christmas M&M’s, just get bags of these for everyone who needs sweets! Job done. You’re welcome. Leave some for me though. I just used all mine in cookies….and nibbling… I am going …

Eat curry, hunt treasure.

Published by

This weekend was my birthday weekend as we wouldn’t all be here on my actual birthday to have cake and gasp at present opening! We went to House of India for a curry buffet extravaganza lunch. Bodhi ate his body weight in chicken Tikka Masala and I just wanted to eat the rice pudding, but tried to be an adult and had some actual food first. Onto Barnes and Noble to pick up a woefully old, Mollie Makes magazine,  out of date because it is a UK publication and I assume it takes ages for it to flap those magaziney pages over here. Not to worry though, there are no horoscopes to go out of date, no celeb gossip to age, just lovely crafty stuff for me to look at and plan to make. When I can knit and crochet effectively…..I can use a sewing machine and a needle and thread, so all is not lost!  I like the look of the itsy hedgehog on the cover, I can make him! After Indian lunch, we went off …

Cranberries float

Published by

I spent the morning in my son’s second grade class doing experiments and explorations with cranberries.  Thanksgiving is on it’s way and cranberries are a main foodstuff to go with the essential turkey!   I was in charge of the ‘sink or float’ station. They float, in case you were wondering…even the smushy ones. While they all loved the experiments, the clear highlight was when a local police officer visited with our principal! He came to each station (excuse the pun!) and chatted with the kids, well,  they thought that was the coolest thing ever! I agree, I can’t imagine many schools where local law enforcement would show up for a quick chat to the kids. When I got home it was my turn for cranberry experimenting. I am making cranberry sauce, but I have no orange or juice which the recipe on the back of the cranberry bag calls for.   So,  I am using lemon juice and zest with water to make up the quantity. I think I will throw in a couple …

Stamping and teepee building

Published by

We took a walk to ArtMart this morning after a brekkie of ‘Nate the Great’ (recipe from the books) pancakes and bacon. I have an urge to make my own stamps so that I can stamp little catseatdogs logos wherever I please. I also want to make a star shaped stamp for making Christmas cards, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves! Here is the kit I bought, I haven’t delved into it yet, but I have established that it is not a toy! So anyone who knows anything about using these, feel free to share tips! I am looking forward to using my stamps, but I am doubting my ability to successfully manufacture one and keep all of my fingers intact. I will be sure to keep you updated! While we were out, I spotted these Peppermint White Chocolate M&Ms. A couple of bags later, off home to try them. Do I want more or will they be too sweet? Munch munch munch munch munch munch munch munch…..munch munch munch….smell nice..taste…yyuummmm!  I mean, they …

What’s in your bag?

Published by

‘In your bag‘ is the photo a day prompt for today. Confession-I thought this was a boring one. How can this be an interesting photo? Where’s the creativity. Well, it may not be an interesting statement of art, but I had a little giggle, or rather a crazy person talking to herself hearty laugh, as I emptied my bag to investigate! What did I find then?  Here goes, I will start with a list and then decide if I want to explain, defend and anything else in order to justify this hoard.  You will also be pleased to know that I put it all, yes all of it, back into the bag! E45 lip balm Yes! carrots tinted lip balm Neals Yard Lip gloss Baby Baby lip balm Good Clean Soap orange lip balm Creme Brulee Vaseline lip balm tin L’Occitane Green Tea perfume in a tin L’Occitane Rose perfume in a tin Pacific perfume Malibu Lemon Blossom solid perfume A ladder A plastic tortoise (not in the photo as I have only just found …

Ten on Saturday the tenth!

Published by

We are on the way to Pere Marquette state park. I have my real camera as well as my iPhone, and of course a Milky Way/Mars bar. I always remember the pure joy of a Mars bar on hikes when I was a kid! Well, we went the wrong way to the park, but a potentially dangerous situation (wrong directions are never pretty, even when confidently spouted out of a phone which answers back) turned good when we stumbled upon Smartt Field where there is a aviation museum of tiny proportions. The Commemorative Air Force, Missouri Wing is a shambolic looking gathering of hangars with impressive planes, including the B25 Mitchell and the 1945 TBM 3, both WWII planes. Spectacularly exciting for the boys in my life! We toured the small airfield and the men who worked there couldn’t have been happier to answer all and any questions. Saturday 11am, here we were. A happy wrong turn indeed! I think Bodhi has this on his birthday list…. This however, is not on mine, but it …

Beady Heart

Published by

For the photo a day, today’s was ‘A Favourite Thing’. I took a picture of a beaded heart at its beginning. I love to make jewelry  and it is exciting when someone buys one of my pieces and then I see them wearing it! Today my making focus is all over the place. I am washing, putting pots away, making a coffee, checking Twitter… and on it goes. I do like the whole social media merry-go-round, but boy, sometimes I wonder whether I need to duct tape myself on or just leap off and hope I hit some soft grass. I don’t like to post the same darn thing on every site, because I think that is boring and apparently I like to make more work for myself.  So I flit about on my little iPhone,  posting a photo,  writing a short sentence on a short sentence site,  or messing about with photo finishes so that the aforementioned photo is an interesting one. Then I feel that I really should be making something, because hey, …