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Sunday, December 31, 2006

Gagne family Christmas

dressed for our Gagne family Christmas. we planned to have it on December 31st because we already had plans with other parents for Christmas and the Gagne's bought their first BC home together and took this vacation time to move :D

Christmas sweetheart. she explained "polka dots!" when she put on her dress

opening a present from the grandparents

Thursday, December 28, 2006

visit to grands gagne's new home

chillin' at home

happy to be outside and in the stroller!

my brother and miles. miles was not liking the sun at all

me & ezekiel on the move

my parents (gagne) new beautiful!

he's making the "pee" face

my cute men

chillin' with grandma g

Monday, December 25, 2006

Christmas Morning

ORANGE: the best part of her stocking :D

reaching deep into her stocking (this angel stocking was mine as a little girl. i had to do some late night mending on Chistmas eve).

reading the Nativity story with daddy

playing with a new puzzle. she loves puzzles and colouring right now. she was also really helpful in handing ezekiel his stocking and presents and she got to help open them. here he is with his first rattle.

playing trucks with daddy.

opening gifts with auntie M (derek's sister) over the phone in California

grandma & grandpa gagne came over for Christmas brunch. they've been taking the holidays to move to their new home.

freshly bathed buddy

our older baby burrito

Christmas Dinner with several Mellengers

poppa and grandma mellenger meet ezekiel. they had been waiting on the sale of a house on the Island and were not sure they could make it over for dinner. thankfully they made it and were able to visit the grandkids, and the big kids (us) too. diedre got a super cool purse and ezekiel got some cute festive items and a track suit for when he gets older.

the twins (derek was really into swaddling big kids today)

playing with miles' new playdough set

one month old

things with ezekiel have been going really well. he turned one month old on Christmas Day. he seems to have some good sleeping habits so far. he wakes fairly early (like 5 or 5.30 am) then naps around 8am for anywhere from one hour to nearly two. he then naps around 10 or 11am for two to three hours. he has other naps in the afternoon and hits his fussy time around 4.30pm and it lasts around 45 minutes before he falls asleep or just calms down. he usually goes down for the night around 6 or 7pm and sleeps until 10 or 11pm which is great. then his night wakings are around every 2-3 hours.

by one month he has rolled over, done a push-up with his upper body, smiled, made cute sounds and is very active with kicking and batting his arms.

diedre is doing really well in relating to him. she is excited, very excited, to see him in the mornings. she asks about him if we put her in the car first. she helps out anytime she feels like it (she used to always want to throw out the diapers for us, but now she lingers a little too long holding them so we have temporarily taken back that responsibility).

diedre's sleeping patterns are a disaster at this point. thankfully derek is off work and very willing to help soothe her and get her sleeping. she has gone to bed at a reasonable time maybe 3 times in the last 3 weeks. she still wakes up at 5.30am regardless of her bedtime. we are continually working to try to get her back to getting to sleep on her own...oh those were the days!
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Wednesday, December 20, 2006

kids pics

victory for mom...she fell asleep here for her nap. its been a real struggle to get her to nap, although she'll fall asleep in one minute if we're in the car anytime after 1pm.

ezekiel trying to do a push-up
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Monday, December 18, 2006

ezekiel rolls, diedre naps

ezekiel rolled over today! stomach to back (the easy way) but still, he is really young to be doing that! just over 3 weeks old.

anyway, diedre slept alone in her room on saturday and sunday nights. she napped in the car on the way to each party (an hour or close to each day) and then was asleep in the car when we arrived home. she woke up lightly but managed to fall asleep alone. she is sleeping on her side of the futon on the floor.

also, she napped today in her room for a looong time and since we have Care Group tonight, i figured it didnt really matter. maybe she's coming out of her separation anxiety, i sure hope so!

i am so happy to have had a nap finally!!! yay!!! that being written, derek has made it possible for me to have morning naps when he's around (on the weekends) but its not quite the same as the afternoon naps when i need to be recharged.

also, some friends that i've met through playgroup threw ezekiel a baby welcome today. it was really nice :)

diedre has received many nice big sister gifts so maybe that's helping to ease the anxiety too ha ha

beta blogger

well, i thought i had switched to beta blogger a loooong time ago, but apparently i had just signed up for it but not activated. anyway, its done now so hopefully people will still be able to post comments (you need to be signed up for beta blogger in order to post, i believe).

Sunday, December 17, 2006

family party 2

diedre got to have some great cuddles with kitty at my aunt Susan's house

poor ezekiel was not a big fan of the noise at either family party. it was really stressing me out and probably not helping him to calm down.

i just felt like people wanted to see him and talk to me about him but he was so fussy and i could not calm him down. i figured people did not want to hear a crying baby at the party.

it was so hard for me to just let it be, i was so overtired having not had a proper sleep or nap for over a week (since diedre has been resisting bedtime and not napping) and i was definitely not coping well. my mom and derek came to the rescue and that really helped.

watching a Christmas puppet show.

santa arrived with a special gift for each child. here is miles manoevering through the crowd.

diedre received her first tea set (the teapot plays "i'm a little teapot") and had her first tea party with Lizzie.

VIDEO: diedre dancing

daddy with a happier ezekiel

Saturday, December 16, 2006

m'boy's 3 weeks old

looking for a party

lining up the bowling animals

diedre was quite upset to see the animals knocked over

but she loved standing them back up

basket of fun

perfect fit

little mama

my brother & sister-in-law

cousin alexa

aunt deb


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Thursday, September 03, 2009

My First 10k

Sitting on the couch in front of the latest episode of Dexter or 30 Rock. That's what I'd rather be doing than training for my first ever 10k. But that does little to accomplish my personal mission: to live out acts of hope and reconciliation between the church & gay communities. So instead I'm running. I've been running for almost a month now through beautiful Balboa Park. Down Pershing Ave. Through the Florida Canyon switchbacks. Across the Prado.

This is not easy for me - over the past couple of years, well, let's just say I've put on a few pounds. So not only am I attempting to regain the stunning physique of my youth, but I'm hoping to make a difference while doing so. Early this year I determined it was time for me to walk the walk I'd been talking. This meant really getting to know the gay community here in San Diego. I can't expect to be a voice for reconciliation if I don't truly understand where the broader communities in this culture war are coming from.

So this is another small step (or about 6 miles worth of steps, to be precise) for me in my effort to connect with people across the spectrum, show my dedication to the cause of reconciliation, and ultimately represent the unconditional love of God for all his children. That's why I'm running in the annual San Diego AIDS Walk/Run. If you dig it, please feel free to donate.

Love from sunny San Diego.

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Saturday, August 10, 2013

3759 Snork 2

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Some grow with responsibility, others just swell.

It has occurred to me that folks who don't live up there may not get why I found the news account in the "Snork" post so funny.

That particular street (actually more like a road, a minor artery between Poughkeepsie and points north) appears distressingly often on the police blotter for domestic violence and gang violence.  It's not one of the nicer streets.

3758 Flower Pots

Saturday, August 10, 2013

The victor will always judge the defeated, and always find him guilty.
--Goering, during the Nuremberg Trials--

Flower pots drive me crazy.  They all have holes in the bottom.  Yeah, ok, I understand you need holes so excess water drains out and the pot doesn't get all swampy and rot the roots and drown the plants.  But why do the holes have to be in the bottom?  That makes no sense to me.

When a soil is dry(ish), like in pots on the porch or in strong sun, or especially in hanging pots, when you water the plants the soil doesn't absorb the water quickly, and it tends to run straight through and out the bottom.  It takes a lot of water over a long time for the soil to gradually start absorbing water.  It's very frustrating.

The only solution is to use trays under the pots.  Trays catch the runoff, act as a reservoir, and then the soil gradually soaks it up.  Happy plant.  That works for standard plants, but not for hanging pots or the decorative pedestal planters.  Hanging pots come with a tiny, completely useless, attached saucer (I don't know why they bother) and it's next to impossible to arrange a tray reservoir.  You can go crazy trying to keep those things moist.  At the country house I had some huge pedestal planters outside, and when I planted them, I buried some big plastic bowls deep in the bottom for reservoirs.

The improvement is so simple:  Don't put the holes in the bottom!  Put the drain holes in the side, height depending on the size of the pot.  That creates a reservoir in the bottom, allowing water to be absorbed as needed.  In nature, that reservoir is called ground water, or the water table.  You don't even have to put stones down there because roots won't grow into that reservoir unless the plant likes it, and stones restrict the ability of the water to move into upper regions by capillary action. The soil above the reservoir will not be too wet, since excess water will still go out the hole.

I don't understand why someone hasn't already thought of that.

Any entrepreneurs out there are welcome to use this idea and make a bazillion dollars.  I'll even help.  Just let me know you're doing it and mention my name somewhere....

Thursday, August 08, 2013

3757 Bugged

Thursday, August 8, 2013

The immediacy and appropriateness of your action in the moment
is far more important than your cleverness with words and numbers.

Having finally come out of my recent obsessive funk, I looked at the July calendar for the first time.

I screwed up.  In July I managed to blow off three birthdays, two anniversaries, and one baby each of which merited at the very least a card.  Sheesh.

I know this won't make up for it, but

Happy Birthday, Baby Big Sister!

I did manage a sympathy card, because I got the call and responded right away, it didn't require awareness on my part.  A friend and his youngest daughter, also a friend, lost their mother/grandmother.  The lady had been on her way out for the past five years, multiple crises where she wasn't expected to make it through the night, but she'd recover, a little less strong, and keep on going.  So her passing (in her 90s) was almost a relief.  My friend had called me to tell me he'd be heading south for the funeral and wouldn't be back for a few days.

Then, like two days later, I get another call.  His eldest daughter's husband died in a fishing accident (he fell in, went over some falls, and drowned (there was also a heart attack, but there's some confusion as to whether the heart attack happened before he fell in or after the falls)).  The 12-year-old son was with him, and the kid of course blames himself for being unable to save his father, although he did pull him out of the water at the base of the falls.  So my friends had also lost a son-in-law/brother-in-law, and have a grandson/nephew who's a freaking mess. (Yes, they got him into counseling immediately.)

So I sent a card to the two of them at their business partnership, and included a letter --- after fussing over whether it should properly be two cards, or four cards, and then thinking it probably didn't matter how many cards, it's the expression that matters.  Four would be overkill.  No pun intended.

There was a huge bug on my window screen last night.  I suspected it was a cicada just by the size and shape, but it didn't look like any cicada I'd ever seen before, and I haven't heard a single cicada around here (city house), so I looked it up on the internet.  Yup, it's a cicada.  Strange.

They are all over everywhere at the country house.  There are many broods up there, two year, three year, five year, seventeen year, heck, I never asked any of them how long they'd been waiting, but anyway, it's a rare year when you don't hear them somewhere along the roads.  It was the same at the old estate across the road from our house when we lived near St. Louis.  There were cicadas every year.

As I said, I haven't heard a single one here.  Possibly because there are very few large stands of old trees?

Every one I'd ever seen was different from this one guy last night.  This quiet fellow was the same shape and size as the Mid-Hudson or St. Louis cicadas, but whereas they were splashed with color (black with red , yellow, and green spots or streaks on their bodies), with huge HUGE red RED eyes, this guy is solid black with small black eyes.  Very dull.  Boring.

And much too quiet.

Tuesday, August 06, 2013

3756 Snork

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

A cult is a shared belief with no political power.

Remember when I said I subscribed to the Rhinebeck Village (NY) news blog, and how it often inadvertently cracks me up?   Today's offering:
HYDE PARK – Police are looking for two men who held up a clerk at the Mobil gas station at 1110 Violent Avenue in Hyde Park around 4 a.m. on Monday.
That should be "Violet Avenue".

I blew iced tea out my nose.

3755 Periodic thing.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

"My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular."
--Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.--

I do something weird every so often.  Every so often I get what can only be described as an obsession, which can last anywhere from three weeks or so to three years.  It's sort of like bipolar, in that it lasts for a while and then goes away, but it doesn't seem to involve depression or mania.

After the year that Jay (and both of my dogs) died, I got heavily into estate auctions and eBay.  I bought stuff.  Lots of stuff.  The country house is chock full of stuff, some of it lesser junk, some of it very good (from live estate auctions).  That's what's so overwhelming about sorting out that house. I understand that part of it then was real situational depression, and an attempt to fill a suddenly empty and echoing house and life with something I could love.  That went on for three years.

But every so often, something similar but of shorter duration happens.  It might be needlework, when I spend every waking moment knitting, embroidering, sewing, and doing nothing else that has to be done.  Or reading, when I feel like I absolutely have to read the entire backlog of books on the shelves.  Or the past month and a half, when I started watching videos on YouTube, in particular some expats living in Japan who do videos on the culture, houses, customs, of life in Japan (**see below), and video tours of old Victorian houses - to the exclusion of everything else (including, as has been obvious, the updating of this blog).

But I'm not depressed.  I still enjoy stuff.  Even after Jay died, I still managed to get out, like I joined the fire department and got EMT training, went to the county fairs and the antiques fairs and the Renaissance fairs, took bellydance lessons, etc., I just don't pay bills when due, or clean the house, or do the dishes or the laundry - in other words, when I'm in the house, it's all obsession.  As if I want to escape responsibilities?

I didn't really realize that pattern until now.  I've been thinking back, trying to figure out when it started.  I think it started when I married Ex#2.  The guy who didn't talk to me for weeks at a time, who would go away on business trips without mentioning it to me and couldn't understand why I worried when he didn't come home after work (pre-cell phone days),  the guy who wet the bed almost every night and crapped his pants whenever we were in the car going somewhere he didn't want to go, and refused to admit there was a problem, let alone see a doctor.  That's when it started.  I was so alone, and I read and did needlework to fill my empty days.  Projects, projects, projects.

It was just Saturday that I came out of this latest (the YouTube obsession) cycle.  I got a bunch of stuff done around the house this weekend; suddenly I wanted to clean up and check things off to-do lists.  I wonder if, now that I'm aware of it, I might be able to see it happening and control it.

**On the Japanese videos -

Lots of good things about Japan, like very low crime, beautiful countryside, it's very clean, people respect others, and so on.  But there's no way I could possibly live there for any length of time (even beyond the fact that immigration is strongly discouraged).

The houses, even new ones, have no central heating and no insulation!  People use space heaters to heat one room, and the space heaters are kerosene so you have to keep a window cracked, and the heaters turn themselves off periodically, so if you don't get up pre-dawn to turn them back on, you wake to a freezing house.

Westerners are amazed by the toilets.  They are very fancy, electronic, and have heated seats.  Well, yeah!  THERE'S NO HEAT!

All social and professional interactions are governed by rank and seniority.  You must defer in all matters to those who rank above you, which means that if someone of higher rank than you says you must do something that makes no sense at all, is stupid or dangerous, you must guard your facial expressions and react with enthusiasm.  You NEVER correct or criticize the ideas of anyone of higher rank.  This is not just professionally - it's socially, too.  (Your bosses will expect to sit in the front and at the choice tables at your wedding, for example, ahead of your family.)  You never say anything negative.  If you want to say "No", you say "Perhaps".

Husbands outrank wives, so a wife is to expect that her husband will have affairs, and she is to ignore it in all ways.  Some husbands may never stray, but he's considered a fool if he has the opportunity and doesn't.

You have to fill out pages and pages of forms to do anything if you are more than just a short-time tourist, and there are no English translations of anything, not even the directional signs in official buildings, and next to no one speaks English.   Learn  Japanese, or starve.

Some YouTube channels:
- softypapa
- thejapanchanneldcom
- thesillyolddude


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The Challenge

Our client, one of the largest privately held food and agribusinesses in Australia, had identified 6 key categories of brands from their portfolio for potential launch in China.

They engaged us understand the market opportunity across all brand lines before determining which to activate.

Our Journey

Our stage gated approach entailed an upfront category ‘scrub’ to really understand the landscape of each of the potential categories across the marketing mix. Subsequently, we conducted an online feasibility study which resulted in the identification of a category with the highest potential for our client to win in market. We then moved into a qualitative phase to build out our client’s marketing mix.

The Result

Our white space identification for our client presented clear guidance on which brands to optimise for China and how to launch them.


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Sunday, 7 April 2013

Little Hornet!!!

Little Hornet!!! Where the hell have you been? I've been looking for you for ages!

Here's a great guitar-pop band that sprung up from Newcastle in the mid 1990s and then seemingly disappeared into oblivion almost as quickly, never to be heard from again.

 They burst out of the gate with a cracking tune called "C'Mon Mrs Jones" which charted high in the alternative top 20 in Australia, and scored itself heaps of airplay around the place, but unfortunately not too many copies flew off the shelves.

Second single "Mr Lazy", while not quite as immediate, didn't do as well, and third single "Don't Cry Mother" sank without a trace, to my knowledge. They also released two albums according to my cursory research, but they hardly ever turn up second hand and as such I deem them to be quite rare. So here's hoping Tyrone Penshorn (the singer/guitarist from the band who uploaded the clips below) sees fit to reissue the entire back catalog again, possibly on iTunes and streaming.

Like Header, as featured last week, Little Hornet demonstrated that Australian pub-rock bands with strong Anglophile leanings just didn't capture the local public's imagination, no matter how great they were. It's truly a great shame. However, it is my pleasure to give the band some due credit. And also to celebrate the fact that I've finally found a recording of the song to listen to after all these years, on YouTube!!!

Fellow readers and internet citizens, I give you

  1. thanks for sharing some interesting tunes!

  2. What a cook band, I can't believe they slipped under my radar! Thanks for sharing.

  3. Erg, I meant COOL. The band is COOL!

  4. Thanks for dropping by Mrs BC and Cate! Glad you like the tunes.

  5. Now following your blog and looking forward to reading more.

  6. Hey Mystery Case, Thanks for following!

    Is a link to another song think about u filmed at my local skating rink they are an awesome band would love to see them come back


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These 9 'Conversation Hearts' Would Sweet Talk Any Mom (IMAGES)

converation heartsConversation hearts. It just wouldn't be Valentine's Day without the cute little candies. They're like an edible pastel rainbow of short but sweet sentiments: KISS ME. BE MINE. HOT STUFF. Between you and me, I've never actually liked how the treats taste (does anybody??), but they're always good for a laugh and/or the occasional raised eyebrow. Like flirtatious fortune cookies.

Except, as with so many things, conversation hearts take on a whole new meaning once you're a mom. I mean, it's not like the sayings become completely irrelevant (sure, I'll KISS YOU), but they could be a whole lot more meaningful. If Conversation Hearts for Moms existed, here's what we wish they would say ...

Image via Amazon

The Lighter Side marriage love slideshow valentine's day


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Monday, July 26, 2010

Getting past the guilt

In my last post A meek and quiet spirit I wrote about the struggle I have had lately with patience. The very next morning I got up to have some quiet time in the scriptures and this is the scripture I turned to…

isher 12:27 “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”

Wow.What a powerful verse,especially for me right now. I think sometimes we become so bogged down with shame and guilt because we keep screwing up,because we should be “better”,that we forget that we are who God made us.I know I do! This scripture tells us that it is through our weaknesses that we learn to look to the Lord for strength and draw closer to Him.

I really needed that verse and I hope its helpful for any of you out there struggling with guilt over your own weaknesses.Remember that God made you who you are and He is waiting for you to come to Him with a humble heart so that He can make your weakness a strength.

1 comment:

mommyx12 said...

I love that verse too. Isn't it amazing how utterly dependent we are on God in all things. Body, mind, and spirit.

Great photos at the lake. We need to have a small, fun getaway like that before summer ends. Thanks for sharing.


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Sunday, June 30, 2013

Color Me Rad!

I am so proud of Cody & I!! Today we ran in our first 5K called Color Me Rad! We showed up bright and early sporting our RAD attire!

Team "MoHawk" was ready to go! I am so happy our dear friends were willing to join us for this experience!
We waited at the start line where the Wounded Warriors started off the race first. In the mean time, we started getting colored RAD! (thanks Cody for the bunny ears...classic)
Although it is a novelty run and they don't even time it... we seriously ran it! IN THE MIDDLE OF A THUNDERSTORM as a matter of fact! As soon as we started the race a thunderstorm came out of no where and we got DRENCHED! Our shoes were 5 pounds heavier, we couldn't see out of our glasses, the RAD chalk turned into more of a paint ... but it was AWESOME!
Cody gave me a hard time before hand asking me what we were going to bet on for who would win the race. Obviously, he thought he had a chance to beat me. He was wrong! Which is why I am already done and standing at the finish line taking his picture :) Love you Cody - awesome job!
 Here is our after photo! I timed my run at 26:20, which would be my fastest time. I was in the first group of people to cross the finish line but since they don't time it, I don't know where I placed. (yes, those are real thunderstorm clouds above us!)
Team MoHawk - Totally RAD!
We had such a great time and are already trying to find more races to run in!!

Friday, June 28, 2013

Watermelon Waffles

Today we are learning about watermelons as part of our Summer Treats lesson and what better way to start off the day than with watermelon waffles?!

They are super easy to do and we had everything already without having to shop for it. Sorry, these pictures aren't the best but we had 3 hungry little girls who struggle with patience when I'm photographing their food ;)

You will need:
Any waffle batter
red or pink food coloring
green food coloring
chocolate chips (we used mini ones)

To make:
1. Prepare the waffle batter then pour 1/3 of it into a separate bowl.
2. Add the green food coloring to the smaller 1/3 portion and mix well.
3. Add red or pink food coloring to the remaining batter and mix well.
4. Once your waffle iron is hot, coat with Pam
5. Start by pouring the red/pink batter into the center of the waffle iron and letting it spread out but leaving enough of a outside ring for the green batter
6. Pour the green batter along the outside ring.
7. Sprinkle desired amount of chocolate chips on top of the pink batter
8. Cook until your waffle is done!
This was just a quick test shot to test my exposure but I like how it shows the steam!
Ta-Da! Watermelon Waffles!!
Cut into fourths for watermelon wedges!!
kid waffles
This was picture of the 1st batch. The other waffles had more of a green edge once we got the hang of it.
The girls loved these! Reese was being silly and eating it just like a watermelon. She said she wasn't going to eat the "green part" (since you don't get the rind) but she was just joking and ended up eating 2 whole wedges!

Serve with butter and syrup (my girls don't like syrup) or even with cool whip!

I even had a recommendation to freeze them for later (although I have not tried that).

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Scarlett Kate is 18 Months!

Hello? Can you guess who is 18 months old today?!
I can't believe it!! The time seems to fly by even faster with each child. I wish I could just hit "pause" for a bit and soak it all in!
She looks so grown up here!
This child is ADDICTED to cereal! She asks for cereal at least 3 times a day. She will go into the pantry and grab a box of cereal and a bowl and bring it to you to pour. Or... if you take to long to help her, she will just do it herself!
She LOVES to eat...all the time! One morning she ate 5 mini pancakes, my Greek yogurt, and cereal with milk and was still asking for "more"! She is always the first one to finish her meal and does a very good job at eating her meat, veggies, & fruit!
Sour Cream Body Painting is Fun!
A few days past her turning 17 months we converted her crib to a toddler bed! She LOVES it and does PERFECT! She never gets out on her own (none of my girls do) and I believe it is from the early switching before they learn how to climb out of the cribs. She now goes to bed at 8pm and sleeps until 6:30ish. I really wish she would sleep in longer!!!

Scarlett has been paci free for almost a month now! We had to drop it right after converting her bed because she had bitten through the nipple of it. I just tore the nipple off and showed her it was broken and said it was trash. No paci? No problem! She was the easiest of all of my girls to drop it! She only used it for sleep and it never ever left her bed.

Holy vocabulary!!! This child is talking the most out of any of our girls for the age. She started talking a lot around 17 months (I remember Reese starting around 18 months and Emma even later).

She can now say...
"No" (a little to well)
"Wa, Wa" (water which is also synonymous with milk)
"I want down"
"1, 2, 3"
"Thank you"
"Oh Toodles!" (thanks to Mickey Mouse)
"Tickle, Tickle"
"I did it!"
"Ready? Go!" (as in Ready, Set, Go)
"Run, Run"
"Excuse you"
"Where's Dada/Emma/Reese?"
"Bailey/Harley, where are you?"
"I want a cookie" (Cody swears she said this to him although I haven't heard it)

She has learned how to come ask me for "help" although she can't actually say it. But at least she isn't just screaming when she's frustrated now. She will walk up to me, start mumbling, and point. This is her way of asking for help. I've been trying to get her to say it each time.

Get this...Scarlett has learned to blame her toots on Daddy! When she toots she will exclaim "Daddy?!" I don't know how in the world she learned this but it is hysterical!!
Scarlett is by far the funniest and most laid back child! She is always happy (as long as she has access to food)!
Yes, that's a bowl of cereal!
Motor Skills:
Scarlett has been eating (successfully) with forks and spoons for a long time now. She is a pro at going up the stairs and is learning how to go down (which makes me nervous). At 17 months, Scarlett learned how to swing like a BIG girl and she loves it!

      You are our little "firecracker"! You are so full of spirit and absolutely love life! You are also our "Wreck It Ralph" because you seek to make a mess of everything! You never let Mommy keep anything clean. If the art table is picked up and organized, you will pull all the buckets of crayons/markers down. If the dress up box is all packed up, you will pull every single dress/bracelet/shoes out! If Reese is coloring a picture, you will walk up and scribble all over it! (You did say you were sorry to Reese for that one).

      You keep us on our toes and never cease to make us smile! We know you are very smart and we are so proud of you! Thank you for showing us how to enjoy the moment!

                                                                                Mommy & Daddy

How To & How NOT To Build A Framed Magnetic Chalkboard {Tutorial}

We absolutely LOVE our magnetic chalkboard now that is is complete but let me tell you...we had know clue what we were doing and mistakes were made. I will try my best to walk you through the process, including what we did wrong.

DO measure your area and decide on a size of framed chalkboard. Once you decide on your frame you can subtract the width of the frame out from your total size and then get sheet metal cut to size. We had to go to a metal warehouse to find sheet metal this big but it was super cheap and cut to the right size!

DO prop your sheet metal up on a work table so that you can easily reach and paint it
DO buy material to frame your chalkboard with (sheet metal is sharp and you don't want it exposed)
We bought a package of interlocking siding since our plan was to "slip" the chalkboard edges into the siding groves (more on this later)

DO recruit your husband to measure and cut perfect angles for your frame
DO assemble 2 sides of the frame together to make a fixed corner
Liquid Nails for Wood

Securing with wood jointers

Use wood filler to fix any gaps in the corner on the visible side of the frame
DO paint all the pieces of your frame (we decided to use our baseboard enamel)

DO take a piece of course steel wool and rough up the surface of the sheet metal to allow the chalkboard paint to stick
DO buy quality chalkboard paint and a smooth surface roller
DO paint your sheet metal with the chalkboard paint (try and roll in the same direction)

After 1 coat

After 4 or 5 coats (I lost count...remember it fell and got scratched)
DO take a piece of fine steel wool and gently rub the surface of the chalkboard paint once it is dry. This helps get the roller marks out and also helps the chalk to stick better (sorry, no picture of this)

DO prime your chalkboard with a piece of chalk laying on it's side

Rub the entire board in chalk

Take a wet washcloth and wipe off all the chalk

A clean & primed chalkboard
DO buy a mount big enough to hold the weight of your sheet metal
Mount still packaged shown on top of unpainted sheet metal
DO screw the wall mount into the wall making sure you hit the studs (we used painters tape to map out the spot)

DO NOT secure the other 1/2 of the mount to the back of the chalkboard with liquid nails!

DO NOT try to hang with the mount glued to back of chalkboard
DO NOT try and "slip on" the frame while hanging. 5 Minutes after this... it came crashing down! (tearing a big hole in the side wall and scratching up the chalkboard paint)
*The glue on the back of the chalkboard could not hold with the slight bending the metal does when trying to lift it up onto the wall and with all the manipulation of getting the frame on.

DO secure the chalkboard to a larger piece of wood with a bunch of liquid nails (we got used the measurement of what the chalkboard would be framed for our piece of wood)
The wood acts as a support and prevents the metal from any bending
DO paint the exposed edges of the wood to match your frame color
DO glue your frame onto the exposed wood while it is still laying down - it is now merely cosmetic (sorry no pic of this)

DO screw the other 1/2 of the mount into the back of this supporting wood (again no pic)

DO hang your framed (& secured) magnetic chalkboard once all your glue has set (I did put some basic Command Strips under the bottom 2 corners so it wouldn't bounce off the wall any)
Completely secured Giant Magnetic Chalkboard (we even banged on the walls to test it out!)
You may notice I distressed the frame and this was not my intention. My enamel paint "bubbled" really bad despite a new enamel brush, sanding the wood and cleaning it off well. So I needed a new plan. I had never distressed before. I wanted the darker color to show through but I had already painted the frame white. So... I took a piece of fine sandpaper and lightly sanded out the bubbles and then got a heavier sandpaper and scuffed off some of the white paint on the ribbed design of the wood. Then I cheated (although no one can tell)! I took a stain pen (that I had for my daughter's crib) and rubbed the stain pen on the distressed parts of the frame. I then re-sanded the stain pen areas to help make it look distressed and not like fresh stain.


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Saturday, 20 October 2012

bring on the winter

The weather is definitely changing here, the trees are turning yellow and red and bare. I'm loving it :-)
I'm a huge winter lover and although it's not really suitable when you have pups that need to be stimulated and you work a full time job, we adapt and make things fit our new surroundings.

These pictures were the first time that I noticed our walks had gone from beautiful sunsets to fogginess and breathiness (not even a word, I know haha).

Is it sad that i'm already planning our christmas card photoshoot (the girls are the main attraction haha)

On a side note, to whoever is a fan of dogs (I'm guessing everyone) here is a link for some giggles - DOG SHAMING

  1. Stacey....
    I love, love, love that last picture of Molly!! For several reasons. It is black and white. Adorable. And you can see her breath!! ;-D
    Do not worry about making up words. I composed a poem once, years ago, and did the same thing!! It drove my Dad nuts!! Hee, hee, hee.... ;op

    1. Haha, I know, I always make my own words up... always makes sense in my head! Lol
      Thank you!


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Sunday, 23 May 2010

Police Hang Woman in Phone Box

Which one of you lot is feeling suicidal?

I have written before about the advice that often comes from the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC.) Invariably they give advice that would be useful in an ideal world where resources are infinite. I have said before that we are not perfect and the people we deal with have high expectations. Occasionally we make mistakes and we should apologise when we do so. The sooner the better.

The IPCC look at complaints and whether it is about response, custody or investigation, invariably the advice is that we must do more. So some of our limited resources are moved around the board from one area to another until the next complaint when they get moved again.

This story caught my eye. A drunken woman with a number of issues rang the police to demand we attended to help her gain access to her sisters flat. She later rang again and during this call she said I will 'top myself' if the police did not attend. The operator missed that comment and that was a failing for which we should apologise. The article focuses on the missed comment but the advice from the IPCC made clear that the police should attend immediately any incident where someone has threatened to kill themselves.

What the IPCC decided was that the call was initially correctly graded as a 2. That means that we should attend within an hour. But as soon as the lady mentioned topping herself, it should have been graded 1 and we should have attended immediately. De facto, the police once again are responsible for killing this woman.

My problem with this is that every day the police get hundreds of calls from people under the influence of drink, drugs, mentally ill or just plain attention seeking. Operators talk to these individuals and make a judgement call as to how vulnerable they really believe they are and allocate resources appropriately. Very occasionally we may get it wrong.

If we now follow the guidance of the IPCC, (and God help you if you don't) every time anyone mentions suicide we have to rush to attend. There are consequences for this policy. Firstly, when you need urgent help from the police you may not get it because we are rushing around attending calls from those people crying wolf threatening their lives again. Secondly, most people these days call from a mobile. If we don't really think they are vulnerable, how many hours do we spend trying to locate someone? Thirdly, when the police attend what do they do? They will speak to the person and make a judgement call, just like the operator did. But one of these callers may still go on to kill themselves when the police have left. The IPCC will investigate and advice will be given that we must always attend and we must always call an ambulance, as they are the medical professionals. The ambulance crew will attend and make a judgement call, and so on and so on.

Public services cannot be held responsible for every aspect of peoples lives. We don't live in a society with infinite resources and we cannot stop everyone from harming themselves. We always need to act reasonably but we are not responsible for every problem in society. People and families need to take more responsibility for themselves.

Thursday, 13 May 2010

My Values Are All Wrong

As it has warmed up a little bit recently I decided to leave the confines of the office and accompany some of my team who were executing a search warrant.

The warrant was at the home of a family that are well known to us. It is a five bedroom council house occupied by mum, dad and five children. There are actually eight children but the eldest is in prison and the next two are being looked after by other relatives as the parents cannot cope with them. The remaining five are aged between 2 and 12. Neither mum or dad have worked for at least 15 years and live on benefits.

We had information that to supplement his benefits, dad deals cannabis and cocaine, largely to local teenagers. Apart from the serious risks to the users, this is undermining our reputation in the community, hence the search.

On arrival, the back door is open and we go in. There isn't a carpet anywhere. The house is filthy and absolutely stinks. There are two piles of dog faeces in the house and a recent pool of wee. The kitchen is disgusting with dirty dishes all over the place and stale food. The kids are sleeping on mattresses with a blanket or sleeping bag. Not a sheet in sight. Police officers will not think this is anything unusual and I have been in far worse houses.

Dad gets arrested with a bit of cannabis. There is not enough to consider a charge of dealing. But hopefully the message will get through to him.

I have mentioned before that I attend a regular meeting with partners where we discuss those young people that are causing problems in the community. Usually those committing crime and anti social behaviour. Two of the children of this family were on the next agenda. I felt it was appropriate to mention that we had executed a drugs warrant at the address and the state of the house. The Local Authority were very interested as they have been trying to get into the house to inspect it for over a year. Children's Services and the Youth Offending Team took a different view.

I was rebuked for judging people by my own values. Apparently, living in a filthy slum doesn't make them bad people or parents and if they choose to live like that we should not criticise their choice of lifestyle. Because I choose to live in a clean environment and wash up regularly and clean up dog poo immediately that does not make me a better person than them.

I pointed out that if the family chose to live in a filthy mess and their children were model citizens who were not being arrested almost daily and involved in local anti social behaviour. If the children attended school regularly and the parents were not drug dealing but set a good example they might have a point.

No I was told. They have just chosen a different lifestyle with different values and I must learn to understand and respect this. I was losing it at this point. They haven't chosen a lifestyle. They are lazy, idle people who have decided that a life of benefits and banging out children beats working. Setting boundaries and being a role model are vital facets of parenting. What are they teaching their children? Perhaps if these parents washed their children's clothes, they wouldn't smell and they would attend school as there would be less risk of them being ostracised by other children. Perhaps if the parents introduced a bit of order and discipline and put them to bed instead of allowing them to run around all night until they dropped they might stop committing offences and get some education and the chance of a job and a future.

I was stared at as if I was some right wing bigot for whom there was no hope. I was obviously never going to see this light that they have found. After a further brief conversation these services decided that the 'work' they were doing with this family was perfectly adequate and they didn't need to be doing any more. They are always 'working' with families. This usually means seeing them once every week or two and having a nice chat.

I hope to God that the new Government addresses the liberal (small l) cesspit that has been allowed to take over all levels of the criminal justice system and we get back to some common sense and reality as soon as possible.

Sunday, 2 May 2010

Neighbourhood Priorities

Good idea or just a pillock?

I have said before that I have worked in Neighbourhood Policing for many years and I am a big fan of local officers tackling the problem people and places and making neighbourhoods safer and nicer places to live and work in.

My teams clearly understand that I want the bad people arrested or prosecuted. I want them off the streets or towing the line on an ASBO or whatever it takes.

I get fed up, and quite frankly embarrassed, when I see some of the gimmicks that neighbourhood teams sometimes dream up to get a bit of publicity. Or is it someone trying to make a name for themselves when they put in for their promotion board?

Do you remember this stunt, where officers in East London were offering to follow people home from the cash point if they were worried about getting mugged. My question at the time was, if you have a mugging problem, what are you doing to catch the offenders? Why can't the neighbourhood teams be out visible deterring these offences anyway. If you don't have a mugging problem all you are doing is raising the fear of crime.

Now we have PCSO Vince Preston out on a BMX bike. He claims young people are more likely to talk to him and interact with him on a BMX rather than a normal bike. Vince, you don't know what you are talking about. I don't know who dreamt up this idea and you may just be the stooge for someone else's stupidity. You are not supposed to be regressing and becoming one of the youths that rides round on one of these things. You are supposed to be part of the police service and have the respect of the people you police. Riding around on a BMX just makes you open to ridicule and gains nothing.

Sorry to sound so negative but I wish we would just stick to the basics. In my experience the public just want us to be visible and enforce the law. That is our job, using discretion where appropriate. It is not to keep inventing ways of avoiding doing just that.


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The Wild

Holy cow!

Where Tonight's Reading Is

In Spite of Ourselves

This is it! Tonight's the night. This is what you've all been waiting for. Well, maybe not all of you have been waiting for it. OK, maybe some of you have been dreading it, but still, nonetheless it's here—the Brooklyn reading of the Thoreau You Don't Know, featuring the Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra. Why an orchestra, when talking about Thoreau? Because Thoreau is not a stick in the mud. He's really about joy, which, for him, is nicely epitomized in music, as some of these notes would indicate—he seems to be saying that we can be happy, in spite of ourselves, to kind of quote John Prine:

When I hear music I fear no danger, I am invulnerable, I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times and to the latest. (From his journal on January 13, 1857.)

A thrumming of piano-strings beyond the gardens and through the elms. At length the melody steals into my being. I know not when it began to occupy me. By some fortunate coincidence of thought or circumstance I am attuned to the universe, I am fitted to hear, my being moves in a sphere of melody, my fancy and imagination are excited to an inconceivable degree. This is no longer the dull earth on which I stood. (From his journal on on August 3, 1852.)

What is there in music that it should so stir our deeps? We are all ordinarily in a state of desperation; such is our life; ofttimes it drives us to suicide. To how many, perhaps to most, life is barely tolerable, and if it were not for the fear of death or of dying, what a multitude would immediately commit suicide! But let us hear a strain of music, we are at once advertised of a life which no man had told us of, which no preacher preaches. Suppose I try to describe faithfully the prospect which a strain of music exhibits to me. The field of my life becomes a boundless plain, glorious to tread, with no death nor disappointment at the end of it. All meanness and trivialness disappear. I become adequate to any deed. No particulars survive this expansion; persons do not survive it. In the light of this strain there is no thou nor I. We are actually lifted above ourselves. (From his journal on on January 15, 1857.)


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October 07, 2015

a long overdue queen of colors

How can one sum up a complete month, that has been flown away like a very fast little bird. A September as different as August has already been. Probably not at all, but I will try my best to fill you in, on all the tiny and the bigger stories.

First of all, my computer is working again. I have a lot of files that still need recreation, and some of the data will be lost forever, but as expected one gets used to the concept of saying goodbye and it hurts less today, than it did four weeks ago.

Then there was the conference, I had been talking about a lot lately. Art and Inclusion. And it has been another very interesting experience 2015. The aim was to bundle a strong group of experts and get into dialog with politicians, art organisations and cultural institutes. At the end of two days of speeches and workshops, we had a big panel discussion. My speech went quite well and I did meet some very active and competent people, but I have to admit, other than in my personal world, art and inclusion simply does not happen on a wider level. So far. There is a lot of work ahead for this society. And even more, a lot to change on a political level, until at least some parts of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will be transformed into action around here. My sight on the topic and my conclusion as well, will be to go on working as an artist and to be present. Maybe turning up at show openings and art fairs, is much more of a political statement, than to do the talking alone. At least, it seems to be exactly my way. Not that I will stop talking, as you might have guessed, but working as an artist simply shows, that working as an artist with a disability, is no rocket sience.

Apart from this rather special event, a lot of tiny things have changed in our daily routines. We have taken over the attitude of drinking our tea the Arabic way. Strong and aromatic. Because our guests have teached us and it stayed. A lovely way to have your tea, believe me. There have been picnics with old and new Berliners, long hours in the kitchen, the husband has been cooking a lot of chicken and Couscous lately and the more we have opened our doors, the more blessed we did feel. Blessed to meet extraordinary people. And blessed to set a little statement against ignorance and a statement for respect and love. As cheesy as this might sound, but once a Hippie, always a Hippie.

And finally, I am back in the studio, painting and drawing. The next thing, I am busy working on the new edition of the Foodthoughts Calendar. So expect of lot of fruits, vegetables and within the next days, the chance to reserve your very own, personal issue.

For now, this should be enough. I wish you a great week ahead and will see you in a couple of days.

  1. sounds like a busy month. I've been following your stories on FB. has the situation improved? here, it seems it has all dropped from the news. like so many things these days it was full panic mode and then all of a sudden nothing... we live in a strange world!

    1. it was, busy and to top it all off, I had another nasty Annton accident and am sitting here with a slid foot and a twisted knee. silly me! the refugee situation hasn't improved. at all. our couch is still used almost every night and the news and papers are exploding from it. I am worried. and see chances on the other hand. the rest is, desperately trying to focus on my work. not an easy task. but I am very thankful, that at least there are possibilities to help...


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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Reflection I see

who’s reflection do I see?

as I stand before this mirror

the image tis both clear and real, it cannot be me.

my mind’s own eye hast its own image clear

dressed and colored with prejudice free

who’s reflections do you see?

who’s reflections do I see?

this mirror cannot lie,

but shows a face full in imperfections

masked with colors sharp and clean

on skin with soft and subtle lines of age.

mine own vision, an aging beauty be.

who’s reflections do you see?

who’s reflections do I see?

the mirror sees only outside, not what’s within.

her time before the mirror is short, her pain hidden well

until others gladly welcomes the person she sees

her joy to share with all, her true reflections

only then can mirrors see the image she knows

is hidden until her true self is who you see?

As I stand before the mirror in the bathroom, the image I see reflecting back still does not match up with the image that I carry around in my mind. Going through the day without noticing my reflection I get a sense of false security, not seeing the stain on my blouse, how bad my hair has been messed up by the wind, or if I have small bits of food around my face, because I didn't wash up after I ate. You study other people, how they look at you with a quick smile, or you study how they put the clothes and accessories together, or the way they carry themselves. But because you can't see your face, you try to match the different images in your head with what you guess you look like.

For me, the image that I held in my mind was of a younger person with less wrinkles. I know and remember how I had dressed that morning; a woman or a man when I was living in the two worlds, if for some reason I wasn't able to see my body, I could very easily believe I was a different person, a snapshot of me from my past.

I still need to examine my reflections as a sort of pinch of reality. To assure myself that the woman looking back at me is really me. And I am very happy and contented to be who I am. The people I meet in the halls or the mall see and recognizes the person walking towards them is just another happy woman, doing what she need to get done. And I am happy with that thought.

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The Open University: distance learning in the UK

The Open University

We have explained more than once that university in the UK is quite expensive, over £9,000 a year. But if that discourages you from studying in the UK, you can consider a good alternative that is a little cheaper: The Open University, the distance learning university.

I’m writing about this today because a few days ago I was looking up degrees and masters at various universities. Everything was a bit overpriced until I chanced upon the OU. It is very well known, but immigrants might not be as familiar with it. So I want to make it a little better known.

Data about the OU

Founded in 1969, it is the country’s largest university by enrollment number, in addition to being in the global Top15 with more than 250,000 university students. 50,000 of them study from abroad.

Over the course of its history, over 1.5 million people have obtained their diplomas there.

Studying in the OU

There are a wide range of degrees in more than 15 department. You can study anything from Art to Engineering, Chemistry or Social Work. Whatever you decide, they have it for sure.

  • Arts and Humanities
  • Business Administration
  • Informatics
  • Design
  • Education
  • Engineering
  • Environment
  • Health and Social Care
  • Health and Wellbeing
  • Languages
  • Law
  • Mathematics and Statistics
  • Medical Sciences
  • Nursing and Healthcare Practice
  • Psychology
  • Science
  • Social Sciences
  • Technology

Types of Degrees

In another article on the British Education System, we explained that studies can fall into three categories, depending on the credit and/or length in years.

  • 1 year / 120 credits: Certificates of higher education (CertHEs)
  • 2-year / 240 credits: Diplomas of higher education (DipHEs) or Foundation degree
  • 3-year / 360 credits: Degrees / Graduated = Bachelors Degree

So if you are interested (for example) in Fine Arts or History, but do not want to do the whole degree because you just plan to learn but not to work in that sector, you might be interested in doing one year and just getting a certificate. However, you can also take two years of Business Administration or Graphic Design if that would help your career.

The other advantage is that you can switch from one degree to another depending on whether you’re interested or not. This way, you really get educated at the level you actually require, leaving the overtraining for once you actually get a specific job specific. And what if you want to change your sector? Imagine that you work as a social worker and you want to try out a scientific field. You could get a CertHEs, and if you get a job, continue your studies and transfer to that field definitively. You set the limits.

Time for yourself…

You obviously have a lot of flexibility while studying, as the OU allows you to go at your own pace. You can register as Part-time or Full-time. That means there is a limit of up to 12 years to get you your chosen degree.

It takes about 18h of studying per week for 60 credits a year.

More affordable price

The modules cost between £1,350 (30 credits) and £2,700 (60 credits). A full year of 120 credits is £5,400. Compared to other British universities, it is 40% cheaper annually.

There is option of Tuition Fee loans, which you only begin to repay when you start earning more than £21,000 a year, with the repayments proportional to your salary. For example, if you earn £30,000 per year, the fee for the loan would be £67 monthly.

For people on benefits or with low incomes, there are other, more affordable financing options.

However, these prices are for residents of England. If you live in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, the modules are cheaper. For example, for 30 credits the price would lower until it reaches between £452 and £702 a year.

Learn for free

If you are just looking to expand your knowledge and learn new things, and you don’t care about titles, the OU has two sites where you can access contents of various subjects in the catalog free of charge and study for free.

  • OpenLearn  = has online courses on Criminology, Mathematics, Writing , Psychology, Music, etc.
  • FutureLearn = a site where several British universities unite their resources to provide free online courses of all kinds. For example, the University of Southampton offers History; the University of Reading, Programming Games; and the University of Strathclyde, Forensic Sciences. And they are adding more new courses every day.

So if you feel motivated or need more info about this:

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Ever since Bill McKibben and his organization 350.org chose the Keystone XL pipeline as a rallying point for their anti-climate change movement, a few persistent critics, led by New York's Jonathan Chait, have questioned McKibben's political acumen. Given the undeniable fact that EPA regulations on coal-fired power plants will have a far greater effect on overall carbon emissions than Keystone XL, aren't McKibben and company wasting their time on a side issue?

A key piece of support for this argument was a State Department estimate that the pipeline would have a negligible effect on total carbon emissions, because the oil would simply be shipped by rail. This gave credence to the Chait view, since it implied that McKibben hadn't just picked a less-than-ideal issue as a stand-in for climate change as a whole, but was spending a whole lot of time and energy on an initiative that would literally have almost no impact on climate change.

However, a new study has re-examined the issue and come to a sharply different conclusion. Finding that the State Department analysis didn't consider the effect the pipeline might have on the world oil market, it quadruples state's high-end estimate of what effect Keystone XL might have on carbon emissions, from 27 million tons of additional carbon dioxide per year to 110 million tons.

The study probably isn't the last word on the issue. But the fact that the state analysis didn't consider the global market is a pretty glaring omission. Furthermore, it has always seemed implausible that the pipeline would have no effect whatsoever on total oil consumption; supporters of Keystone have overestimated Canada's ability to transport the oil without the pipeline, which would require some significant construction on Canada's part.

Now, you could argue that 110 million tons is still not very much compared with world emissions of nearly 40 billion tons annually. But as I've argued at length, the Keystone XL fight is about the logic of political organizing, not the arid and bloodless logic of policy design. What American politics desperately needs is a mass movement to add organizational heft and energy to the formal but inch-deep commitment the center-left has shown to climate policy. Bill McKibben knows all about and supports EPA regulations, but the plain fact is that Keystone XL is a far, far better issue for mass mobilization. Without that, the long-term chance of serious climate policy is low.

As Steve Randy Waldman once wrote, "policy is a third-order pile of BS" compared with the creation and maintenance of the moral norms that underpin society.

Still, we have yet more evidence that stopping Keystone XL would, in fact, be a substantively decent move. The question now is whether Chait will acknowledge that this new study punches a big hole in his anti-McKibben case. Back when the State Department analysis came out, he jumped on it with palpable glee. So far he has not mentioned this new one, which adds some weight to my ongoing suspicion that the whole goofy controversy was nothing more than a bunch of pointless contrarianism.


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Official theme song

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Ciccone Vineyards - Suttons Bay, MI - 7/2/09

Ciccone's website will be your destination if you click that.

This winery is owned by Madonna's dad. Yeah, that Madonna...besides a few bottles of "Madonna wine" that is close to being sold out and not available for tasting, you'd never know it. Seriously - if you want glitz and tackiness, you'll be disappointed.

I was going to put in a bunch of lame puns about Madonna, referencing how if an older gentleman was working the room I'd insist he 'not preach' and making sure to tell everyone we were on 'holiday' - but I'm not going to do that. That would be tacky. I was hoping for something light so I could say something like "there's no evidence of body" - but really, this is a classy blog. So, instead, I present you my notes:

2007 Chardonnay - Enough butter and oak to turn me off, but not enough that I couldn't respect this as a well crafted wine.

2007 Pinot Grigio - Dry with muskmelon and honeydew notes - well played.

2007 Pinot Noir - Cherry and eucalyptus on the nose with plum, cherry, and even some chocolatey notes on the palate.

2007 Cabernet Franc - Smoke with green pepper, cherry, and soft tannins over all.

Lee La Tage - A Bordeaux blend with cedar, cigar, and cherry.

Marechal Foch/DeChaunac - Cinnamon and plum, not doing much for me.

You know, the notes here may not reflect it, but I really dug this place. The wines are mostly Old World in style, subtle, refined, and well crafted - not to mention cheap, I don't think anything we tried was over $16. I bought a bottle and we'll see how it holds up to concentration, but based on the samples, I'm down. Well played! Five for five on Leelanau!

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Saturday, December 27, 2008

BURROUGHS-ing IN...............

After all the festivities and good times with family and friends, yesterday I got to go back into the studio and spend most of the day working and I must admit it felt GREAT!! I got 90% of the background done in the Earth's Core painting and started to work a bit on the figures. Today I am starting on some of the foreground as well as more of the figures and tightening a few things up, so the whole thing is coming along and there is another ink that I have started to pencil in sitting on the drawing table.

I will update a bit more later and maybe let a few images sneak out soon, but until then I am keeping them to me. There might be a rough pop up in a week or so.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

My wife and I were at the annual Christmas party that we go to last night, and somehow during all the fun I managed to find my bag of stuff that I carry everywhere I go and whilst we were sitting around talking and having a good time...............I accidently did this drawing.
I was just sitting there on the couch and talking and making comments and yet at the end of the evening I had this sitting on my lap. I don't really remember doing it, but there it was and so here it is.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Just a few Christmas cards that I had done in the past.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, I wish you PEACE , LOVE, and HAPPINESS in the new year and hope everyone has a safe and blessed Christmas and holliday season.

See you all next year.


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Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Early on in the last week or so, I came to a passage in my rereading of The Hobbit, it is where Bilbo is up on a limb saving the Dwarves from the giant spiders of Mirkwood. As I was reading I was drawing images in my head and composing a piece to be painted. When I got the chance I picked up my doodlebook and drew out this little rough:

 After drawing out the scene, I kept looking at the piece and thinking there was something oddly familiar about it.  I let it sit a while as I had other things going on at the time, but it was still in the back of my mind as I was for lack of a better word, bothered by the image.

Eventually I got back to it, and sat down with a bit of ink and watercolours and completed my little rough so I could move on to the next phase and get it to the board as soon as I could.

With that done, I still kept thinking "what is it about this drawing that is bothering me?"

Now, skip forwards a few days and it is the weekend, weather is warmer and time to set up the front porch for another season of porchsettin, so we spend the day getting the porch cleaned and the cushions all aired out, the blinds and the curtains up........it is a nice relaxing porch for settin, talkin, socializin, and doodlin.

After all the work is done it is time to set a spell and as soon as I plop down in my chair ........... I look at the oak tree I have looked at for the past 14 years and my light bulb goes off.............THAT IS MY LIMB!!! I just start laughing as I realized why the image was familiar and bothering me.

I drew the limb from a tree that has been right in front of me the whole time and just didn't realize it until I sat down on the porch. I walk past this limb daily as I go out our front door, but never looked up or at the tree. It wasn't til I sat down and looked out that everything was in the right order, the angle the perspective and the whole 9 yard that it hit me.

Now, granted I did not draw the limb exactly as it looks in real life, but it is there, it is the influence for my rough. It has been filtered and stored in the back of my brain to finally come out here as the shot needed for the drawing.

So, the point of this whole long story, is basically to be observant, watch and study everything, you will retain the information somewhere and it will pop out when you least expect it. Reference is EVERYWHERE, everyday things can be turned into the images you need for your fantasy works.

We are all influenced by the world around us visually and  we do store all this information in our heads and are influenced by it subconsciously. There are many, many tools available to us as artists and illustrators that we can glom on to for reference, the internet has become a valuable tool, but we cannot forget about the world right in front of us. Observation is an amazing gift if we just look at the things right in front of us. Sometimes we see it and just don't realize it.

Monday, March 06, 2017

Sometimes when you read, there is a passage that sticks with you, just resonates and sort of speak to you......you get it, and in my case I sort of see it, it is there visually for me.

For me, when I read, I take visual notes of things to possibly draw,  as I a rereading The HOBBIT again, I came to this part of the book:

" he saw all round him a sea of dark green, ruffled here and there by the breeze; and there were everywhere hundreds of butterflies. "

When I read this again, I immediately sketched out this image:

That very brief passage was for me the perfect amount of description to let my mind go to work. It had all the information needed to move from rough sketch to a more detailed image.

So from the initial rough, I went on to a colour image. The following pictures show the progress to the final piece.........

From here, I will in all honesty move on to doing a full on oil of this image.

This piece is done in Gouache on a piece 9 X 12 Strathmore 400 Series toned paper.


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Friday, October 28, 2011

Are there other places for writers like Demand Studios?

Demand Studios titles have dried up for most DS writers. Even many of the 15 percent, or so, who are in “First Look” are finding little or nothing to write. A question keeps on popping up on the DS forums: Are there other sites that are like Demand Studios?

The short answer is “no.” But while there are no sites exactly like Demand Studios, I think it’s possible to cobble together a substitute that is at least satisfactory and potentially much better.

The best path out of Demand Studios probably depends on the path you took to get there in the first place. Roughly speaking, there seem to be three partially-overlapping groups at DS: people who chose DS because they wanted to work at home, people who were career writers, and people who enjoyed picking titles from a list.

More after the jump

Working at home

Demand Studios is hardly the only work-at-home option. The best resource for finding other work-at-home jobs is the WAHM forums. The site is aimed at moms, but you don’t have to be a mom or even female to join. Just looking at the forum titles will give you an idea of the huge range of things that people have done to make money at home, and the discussions themselves are quite active.

To look for other online writing jobs, Google “writers wanted,” check Craigslist (but be wary of scammers), and bookmark some of the many sites that list writing jobs, such as Freelance Writing Gigs, the Absolute Write forums, Freelance Writing Jobs, and Write Jobs. Keep on reading the Demand Studios general forum, too. I found my now-favorite writing site because someone on the DS forums was raving about it.

I'd suggest staying away from revenue-share sites, for the most part, especially sites that have been targeted by Panda. The best bet now is to work for clients directly or for sites (such as Constant Content, WriterAccess, and Textbroker), which act as middlemen between writers and publishers.

To branch out beyond online writing, check out the job listings at Media Bistro and take a look at the classic guide, the Writer's Market. If you buy the deluxe edition, you’ll get a year’s free subscription to their online database as well.

If you were mostly a creative writer before DS, this could be a good opportunity to find new, more interesting projects that don’t require writing about computer-generated topics while typing into little boxes.

If you had professional writing experience before DS, brainstorm new ways to get back in touch with old contacts.

Picking titles from a list

It may seem silly, but one part of writing for content sites that always appealed to me was browsing through lists of titles. It’s not that I couldn’t think of my own topics to write about, but seeing those lists somehow kick-started my brain.

Textbroker and WriterAccess both have lists of requested titles. While their pay rates are often (though not always) less than Demand Studios' rates, you can usually write articles for them faster than was possible at DS. Also, both offer the chance of being selected for direct orders at potentially higher rates.

Don't burn bridges

While it may be tempting to leave DS with a bang, you can't predict what will happen next at this company, which has always been  unpredictable. They could come up with new projects some day that would be just what you were looking for. I certainly wouldn't count on it -- but I wouldn't rule it out either.

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Swimmers on a beach in SpainImage copyright Getty Images

Travellers buying their currencies at UK airports are being offered as little as 86 euro cents to the pound.

Foreign exchange broker FairFx, which carried out a survey for the BBC, said this rate, from Moneycorp at Southampton airport, was the worst at any airport bureau de change.

The average euro rate across 16 big UK airports was higher, at 95 euro cents to the pound.

Ten months ago the average at these outlets stood at 99 euro cents.

James Hickman, chief commercial officer at FairFX, said the fact that airport rates are so low – much worse even than at High Street banks – shows that the bureaux de change firms are taking advantage.

“In reality they are ripping off the customer, who is effectively captive as they have nowhere else to buy their money at an airport,” he said.

“At most airports and terminals individual companies have a monopoly.

“They should be regulated as there is simply no justification for charging someone 14% [the average margin between the tourist and money market rates] to change their pounds to euros,” he added.

That margin is as high as 26% at Moneycorp’s Southampton airport outlet.

Pauline Maguire, Moneycorp’s retail director, said: “The reason for our higher airport rates is the significant cost associated with operating there – from ground rent and additional security, to the cost of staffing the bureaux for customers on early and late flights.”

“An easy and more cost-effective way for customers to buy travel money is to pre-order online and collect at the airport,” she said.

The best euro rate for tourists detected in the airport survey was 1.05 euros, from Travelex at Newcastle airport.

Wide variation

The average tourist rate for the pound against the US dollar is also very low.

Currently the average is $1.12 to the pound at UK airports, ranging from $1.05 at ICE at Norwich airport to $1.15 from Travelex at Heathrow Terminal 3.

Koko Sarkari, chief executive of ICE, which runs bureaux de change at Belfast, Birmingham, Heathrow and Luton airports, dismissed the idea his firm was exploiting a captive market.

“We work hard to keep our prices fair and competitive around the world,” he said.

“However, due to differences in distribution, costs of operation, regional competition and other factors such as ongoing volatility in the market, as we are experiencing now, online prices may not be the same as our ICE branch prices and prices may also vary between branches because of these factors.”

  • Southampton Airport 0.86 euros

  • Heathrow Terminal 2 0.91 euros

  • Stansted Airport 0.91 euros

  • Newcastle Airport 1.05 euros

Getty Images

One reason for the poor rates on offer to tourists is the continued decline of the pound on the foreign exchange markets, in the wake of last year’s Brexit vote.

The pound’s money market rate – the one at which banks buy and sell to each other – has dropped from $1.31 to $1.29 in the past 12 months.

Against the euro it has dropped much more in that time, from 1.18 euro to 1.08 euro.

Continuing Brexit uncertainty is feeding into sterling weakness, said Simon Derrick, a managing director at BNY Mellon.

Traders are looking to see what will happen over the next two months, with the attempted incorporation of EU law into UK legislation through the Great Repeal Bill, and EU negotiator Michel Barnier reporting back to the European Parliament on Brexit talks.

Sterling also hasn’t done that well in August after the Bank of England monetary policy committee voted to keep rates on hold – investors see no prospect of a rates rise any time soon, he said.

However, there are two sides to the story. The euro is also getting stronger because “the eurozone economy is really starting to show some signs of life,” he said.

Eurozone consumer confidence seems to be picking up, and investors think the ECB will start to tighten monetary policy as inflationary pressures build.

Have you been dissatisfied with an airport exchange rate? Which currency did you feel you got the worst rates for? Please send your pictures of currency exchange boards to us by emailing .

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

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02 October 2007

I've Moved to ThirdQuarterCollapse.com

Some of you may have wondered why I had been updating this blog less frequently recently, especially in light of Tony Battie's potential season-ending shoulder surgery, which is pretty big news. The reason for the relative inactivity is the relaunch of Third Quarter Collapse as part of the SBNation brand. Thus, this post is the last one I'll make at this site. Ever.

The site will still be here to function as an archive, though. It's been a pleasure getting to know you over the past six-plus months and I look forward to hearing from you over at the new Third Quarter Collapse!

Thanks for everything.

- Ben


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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Well, Hello There!

Look what I found today. We went out in search of early signs of spring and yes, we found it! Very strange indeed.
I was very tired this evening and needed a break from the twice weekly trips to ballet class with Kaiya. So Tait took her and I stayed home with the two littles. It was nice. I made lentil soup for our supper and a loaf of this bread. We went outside while it cooked, which is when we found the daffodils. Just the three of us, which meant no bickering, thank goodness. Perhaps all the bickering that's been going on was what I really needed a break from.
No sooner had I finished photographing the flowers and turned my back, River plucked the heads off!
This soup is really delicious, by the way. My friend made it for one of our Friday Waldorf get togethers a few weeks ago and I had to have it again. It makes a bunch so we'll be having it for lunch tomorrow, too.
Are you cooking anything good lately?

Monday, January 30, 2012

Meltdown Monday Giveaway

I present to you, for your Monday consideration... Love Bunnies. Two blushing bunnies (who happen to be madly in love so you should never split them up) that would love to make a home with someone special. Might that be you?
Each bunny stands about 2.5" tall to the very tip of their ears. Their base is wooden and they wear 100% wool, knitted suits and tail.

OK, so to enter leave me a comment. You can let me know how your Monday is going or, better yet, tell me how you beat the dreadful Meltdown Monday or just say hi. Whatever.

For additional entries;
(leave a separate comment for each entry, if you don't, they count as one)
Tweet this (include @thiscosylife in your tweet)
Share on Facebook
Blog this giveaway
Like me on Facebook

I will randomly pick a winner on Sunday February 5th and announce here, on my blog. (Please, make sure I have a way to contact you!)

PS: If anyone is interested in participating in a Monday Meltdown giveaway, here on my blog, contact me here. Whether an item from your Etsy shop or just a little something you would like to give away to brighten someone's Monday, it's all good!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

It's Nearly Here

Hello. How has your weekend been? For us, Friday and Saturday was filled with friends and Tait and I went childless to dinner on Friday evening. A late birthday gift to him from my parents. That was nice. Since he's moved back in I think it was the first time we'd had any alone time, out of the house.
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Today started off very lazy, then I became inspired as I was reading through various posts around the web on Candlemas. We've not observed it before, never even gave a a second thought to Groundhog Day. So I dug through the links I've been collecting on Pinterest, and I think Candlemas may be exactly what I need right now. The unseasonably warm winter may not have made for a very cosy season but the early signs of spring are rather comforting. I'm still pouring over my seed catalogues and I'm so eager to get started on the garden! I ran across this site on Pinterest. You put your zip code in and get exact dates for planting what, when for your area. This week I'm supposed to start broccoli indoors and leeks next week. Planting!
Have I shown you this? A play garden.. it's my plan to keep River occupied so that I can actually get some work done in the garden this year.
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So, the plan this week is; get my broccoli started, tidy up the greenhouse, make candles and spring cleaning. I'm really excited about the spring cleaning. I love pulling everything out and putting things in order and purging, of course. I also read in one of those Pinterest links that this is a good time to make some goals, resolutions, if you will and decide what you want to see birthed in you this year. I like that. I never did face that pile of discontent and sort it out, but I'm ready to now.
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I made these Lemon Cranberry Scones last week and they we so good. I cut small triangles and ended up with 16. The girls ate so many! I thought there would be enough for two breakfasts... not a chance. Maye you would like to try them this week. And if you're making plans for Candlemas, would you mind sharing them with me?

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Some Finished Gifts

A birthday was had, cake (and batter) was eaten, gifts were opened and the birthday girl felt a lot better than the day before. Thank you so much for your 'get wells' and birthday wishes for my River!
And for the handmade gifts...
I didn't get the man gnome finished (or started) but I love how this the lady gnome turned out. My goodness, all that seaming up was maddening! But well worth it. You can find my Rav notes here. I will be making the man soon to go along with her.
And here is the most excellent set of picture puzzle blocks that Tait painted. So cute! He added a couple of different characters than Lori had done. The fox is my favorite.

Anyway, a lovely day was had by all and my heart was so full of love by the end of the day. I just love birthdays!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Almost 2

Well, here we are. Just hours away from a certain little one's birthday. She's obviously not feeling very well at the moment but you can't tell very much in the daylight hours. Really, the telling signs are a constantly oozing nose and fitful sleeping. Fitful.. that's a nice word for it. Let's just say I'm praying for sleep tonight. I do hope it passes during the night.

I don't think I've mentioned it but River's speech has just taken off in the past month or two. She went from saying just a few random words to sentences and attempting to say just about everything in a short period of time. And let me tell you, it was the breakthrough I've waiting for since she took her first steps at 7.5 months. I know I've mentioned what a wild child she is. But this new speech development seems to have been the equalizer she needed. As though all that frustration of not being able to properly communicate has eased and she has a newfound peacefulness. She's just more easy going and, dare I say, a wee bit mellow. That's probably a stretch but it certainly has eased her mama's daily frustration.

Anyhoo, I'm not quite finished with the birthday stuff so I'm gonna go knit. Goodnight, all!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Light and Space

Lighting candles in the evening, inviting warmth and light in.

Every Tuesday and Thursday evening (from 5-6) I have dinner with my mom in the little restaurant just next door to Kaiya's ballet class. This past Thursday, as we sat waiting for our check to come, I realized that something was very different from just the week before at the same time. It was still daylight! Yes, friends, this means that the promise of the Winter Solstice is true, spring is coming and our dear sun is growing strong once more.
I take serious solace in that this year. Usually I don't begin yearning for spring til the end of February. But this year... I believe it's the unseasonably warm weather, the complete lack of snow here. Winter just isn't holding it's same appeal to me this year. I'm already eager for the bright, sunny days, things growing, everything growing.

Today, while I was supposed to be doing my weekly cleaning, I did some more purging. We really don't have too much stuff, I don't think. It's just that we have a very small house and everything is very visible. And I find the older I get, the more I am willing to and want to let go of things. I do this in steps. I go through at least a couple of rooms at a time, looking for what I can let go of. Sometimes I come up with just a few things, other times I have boxes and boxes. It's not that we have a lot of stuff... it's that I'm very willing to let go of much of what we do have. And the more I go over an area (once every month or two) I realize I can let this stuff go. But I don't do it all at once, I think I would end up with regret. Time passes and I can let it go.
I've been eyeing what's hanging on the walls for the past couple of months. Many things I love, photos, random art pieces, shelves. But after some time I decided I would love it even more if there was just nothing hanging there, just space. So, today most of it came down. I kept what I truly love and joyfully put the rest in a box and took it to the Salvation Army.
Right now, looking out over my uncluttered walls, knowing that behind my craft cupboard door it's just a little more emptied... it feels really good. Really clean and fresh.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

This Sunday finds me still sick, blah! But up and working just a bit after a very restful couple of days (thank you, Tait!). After a pretty rough start this morning I'm finally beginning to feel that good health is just around the bend.
So, today I am working on new Valentine's toys, destined for the shop.
And Tait is working on a set of picture puzzle blocks for a certain one, about to be two year old. Her birthday is on Wednesday. Oh, my goodness, she's not a baby anymore! I can still call her 'the baby', though, can't I? He's modeling these sweet blocks after a set I saw on Lori's blog. She made them for her own little ones twenty five years ago. I hope this set holds up just as long.
And I'm about to begin working on a set of gnomes for my little River. This free pattern can be found here.
My camera is on the fritz and I'm so bummed out about it! I'm not certain what happened. I know several days ago it was half on/half off a dish towel in the kitchen (my bad) and Kaiya came along and jerked the towel off the counter and the camera went flying. But after that it worked completely fine for another day or so. But then the shutter stopped working and I can't figure it out. So off to the repair shop it goes, I guess. Fortunately I passed my old camera down to my husband when I go the new one over the spring or summer and I'm using it right now. It's just not at all the same, though. Oh, well.
Hope your weekend is warm and happy!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Some Randomness

I'm sick again! Really, this is like some kind of record for me. I know I just said on Sunday that I had been sick and was all better, then I turned around on Tuesday and woke up sick again. I actually thought I would just cry this morning when I opened my eyes and realized I was still sick, thoroughly convinced the night before I would be better. Well, tonight I'm thoroughly convinced I am going to wake up tomorrow feeling much worse than I currently do. Maybe I'm just being a sour puss but I really can't tell you how many times (back to back) I've been sick this winter. The girls, too. They were looking rather droopy tonight and I'm afraid I'm going to have to cancel our Friday date with our friends tomorrow.
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Sooo, I've been kinda hiding out, feeling sorry for myself and darn grumpy to boot. I've made some pretty lame attempts at school this week but it's doubtful we'll have anything to write home about at the end of the week. And that's OK, I guess.
These photos are completely unrelated to anything. I've just not been in the mood to pick up my camera at all this week. These were some I took back in the fall, I think. They've just been sitting in the folder saying, 'Pick us! We're pretty and pink!'. I do hope to finally have a shop update tomorrow. I've told one reader some bunnies were headed to the shop in a day or two (five or six days ago) along with some other friends. Well, the friends were giving me a hard time and I got a little stuck. You can't win them all, right? But they're on their way!
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I think the best thing for me to do is is hide out in bed this weekend and hand the mama reigns over to Tait. I may walk out to a complete disaster but hopefully I'll be fully recuperated, with a sunnier disposition and Monday is cleaning day anyway.
What's going on your way this week?

Monday, January 16, 2012

Waldorf Inspired Home School Themes-Animals In Winter

We are Waldorf-inspired homeschoolers, just starting out in kindergarten. Each week follows a theme, inspiring our work and play and learning. This theme is chosen based on the season and what's on our minds. Each week I will share what we've been up to and some links and resources that will hopefully inspire you. There is a link-up at the end of this post... I hope you will share what your home school has been up to. You can find previous weeks here.
'Mr. Bear says all he wants to do is sleep
Now that winters here and snow is very deep
He is curled up in his den
And we probably won't see him
Till the spring when all he want to do is eat!'

Our theme last week (sorry I didn't post this yesterday, Kaiya and I were both sick again, better now) was animals in winter. I shared this project over on the Natural Kids blog last week. It was inspired by Jan Brett's 'The Mitten' and her printable activity page.

Zoe worked on the coloring for us...
while Kaiya practiced her hand sewing.
We also made a paper mache bear cave like this one. We did the paper mache on Wednesday, it wasn't completely dry on Thursday so we took it with us on our Friday meetup with our other Waldorf friends. So instead of cutting an opening as in the tutorial we cut it in half so we could share with our friends. We let the girls paint the cave and a piece of cardboard to sit it on and Sunday the girls finished it up with their dad, cutting construction paper leaves. They've had so much fun putting their animals in there.
PhotobucketWe weren't able to get everything done that I would have liked, as Saturday was my husband's birthday and we were pretty busy crafting for that. But if you check out my Pinterest boards you can find more 'animals in winter' inspiration. I also printed some coloring pages from Jan Brett's site and let the girls color them on Monday. Monday is my cleaning day so I like to keep it light that day, generally coloring, drawing or painting.

Where Is Bear?
Mr. bear
Little Bear
Winter Is Cold
The Mitten

Winter Story
and a couple of books we have
Animals In Winter
When Winter Comes (They're both good but we especially like this one, very informative but not over their heads, even mama learned new stuff! )

Snug In the Snow

My Pinterest Home Schooling page is here, Verses and Stories here.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

A Birthday

Today is my husband's 30th birthday. What a wonderful moment he woke up to. I awoke to the smell of toast and the sound of little feet scurrying about in the kitchen. I could hear plates being pulled down from the shelf and stacked on top of one another. I heard something scrap along a wooden shelf, a sound I knew to be the big serving tray being taken off the shelf. Light clinks and thunks and much scurrying of those little feet. I lay still as Kaiya quietly dashed passed our room and went to the room she shares with her sisters. 'Wake up, Zoe. Zoe, wake up! It's Daddy's birthday! Come on!" Urgently whispering to her sister. They both head back to the kitchen and Kaiya asks Zoe to help her with the tray because it's heavy and tells her to sing 'Happy birthday to you, Daddy!'.
In they come, singing their own version of 'Happy Birthday' and carrying a heavy tray full of toast, jam, apples and homemade presents. Happy birthday, indeed!
I spent the day in the kitchen. Pretty much the whole day. I've been on a bit of a baking frenzy lately, taking much pleasure in trying new recipes, especially bread recipes. Money is really tight right now but I wanted to make Tait something special. Well, simple/special, which is what I do/like best.
Hummus. With extra garlic.
Naan. My first time making it. Love it and will make more. I baked it in the oven.
Cranberry walnut Swirl Bread, sans walnuts. Was supposed to be for breakfast but I was feeling lazy this morning so it's will be tomorrow's breakfast.
Carrot cupcakes.... from a mix! I asked him what kind of cake he wanted and he said carrot cake... 'Just buy a box.' I thought I'd take a break and just do it the easy way. Then I spent the whole day in the kitchen kneading 2 different types of bread and making hummus. Oh, well.

They were well received.

I'll be back tomorrow with some homeschooling inspiration.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

A Winter Craft Inspired by Jan Brett's 'The Mitten'

We're learning about animals in winter this week. I shared a little project inspired by Jan Brett's book 'The Mitten' over on the Natural Kids blog. Kaiya loves a chance to work on her hand sewing skills. She really does enjoy it. I think I'm going to give her more sewing projects.

It feels really good to get out homeschooling back on track. We just have so much fun together. And this Saturday I will have a new homeschooling theme post for you. Till then, come on over and visit me at Natural Kids.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

It's not really cold here, not much at all. We've had extremely mild days lately (nearly 70 on Saturday!), 50s and 40s this week. But something about winter, even a mild one, just makes me crave a certain warmth.
Hot beans, soups and breads. Cosy blankets and lying directly in front of the sunny window. Cuddling, knitting, hot tea and candles. It's not really what the thermometer says (for me, maybe it is for you), it's a state of mind. As nature goes into hibernation my spirit seeks warmth and comfort elsewhere. You know, I resisted beans and cornbread as a child, but I crave them often these days. Simple goodness in a bowl.
I finished knitting this hat. It was intended for a friend but felt rather snuggish and just wasn't as slouchy as I would have liked. I think I'll knit another for the friend, this one I handed along to the girls.

Kyrie shares some beautiful reflections on warmth here, that are so inspiring. How are you keeping warm?

Monday, January 9, 2012

Happy Monday

We had a lovely day of cookie baking, popcorn making and movie watching yesterday. A very cuddly way of spending our family day together. However, River and I finished it off with a rather fitful night of constant nursing and tossing and turning. I suppose those molars are back to working their way in. Molars just take forever to come in, don't they?
Needless to say, Mama's feeling beat and I'm thinking that cup of tea just isn't going to cut it. I'm trying to make the switch from coffee.
I'm feeling prepared to jump back into home schooling this week, though, after taking an extended Christmas break. I have some fun projects lined up for us. I know the girls have really missed it. We all appreciate the more structured days and focused creativity.
And I just wanted to say, even though I have not had the chance to respond to everyone who commented on my last post individually, thank you so much for your understanding and supportive words. I just had to smile reading them all. What a blessing to be able to reach out, say what is heavy on your heart or perhaps joyful or just thoughtful, and be heard and hear in return, 'I'm right there with you!'. What an amazing bunch of ladies you are. Have a beautiful week!