Saturday, March 28, 2009

Punkin-isms

Have you finished your English lesson?
No, I made finger puppets, and a diorama, would you like to see a play?

Is it just me or is this a gray hair?

When you said to finish my lunch, I didn't think you meant ALL of it!

Mom! Eddie just pooped in my snow fort!

Friday, March 27, 2009

It's a dog's life...



Poof



Checked ADN last night and Redoubt popped again. There are some good pictures on their website, and in perusing the pictures I saw an interesting photo credit.....groundtruthtrekking.
I wondered if "Hig" was somehow related to Higgy, a friend of my father's. I mainly remember that he liked to build small cannons and shared my father's love of wooden boats----and then there was the story about the time he laid a shot across the bow of the Coast Guard cutter that was over from Homer for the 4th of July. Or the time my father climbed the mountain above the house and stamped a (slightly off-color) message in the snow for Higgy to read when he stepped outside in the morning....

After digging around a bit, turns out it is in fact, his son. I knew him as Bret; back when we'd only been lampworking a couple of years, we did a demo in Seldovia and he was melting beach glass with a Fresnel lens at that time. I had no idea he'd walked from Seattle to Unimak...pretty cool!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Back

Back again! We had a spring storm/blizzard Mon and Tues. Sunday was 70 degrees, and Monday morning started out pretty nice, but it was raining by 7:30 with a bit of thunder, and by nine it was snowing. By the time Chuck came home at 11 it was a whiteout. The power was on and off all day, so we threw a blanket on the lizard, stayed off the computer and didn't make any beads. Con learned how to light the gas stove with a match, and I realized that she had never used a match before, so I let her light a few. She promptly used the burned tips to draw with! True pioneer woman there! By noon the windows were iced up on the south side and we couldn't see a thing.

Yesterday Chuck tried to go to work, but couldn't make it, took him over an hour to get just a few miles and back. By afternoon, the temp was in the forties, puddles everywhere and a warm wind blowing. Felt like a southeaster back home. When Chuck left for work it was almost whiteout, and when we went outside, a pheasant flew up, he'd been hunkered down right by the door.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Fog


It looked really cool at 6 am, but by the time I got outside with the camera, it had socked in, so I missed the good light.
Now this afternoon it's windy, with hugely towering cumulus to the south...

Friday, March 20, 2009

beads


Friday

At last....it's been a long week, not really sure why. I was up very late making beads, so there might be some later..

I was browsing Etsy this morning and was happily surprised to find my discs in a treasury, and another----I love what she did with them! And she has an awesome prize for the 200th sale!

It a gray day....one can hope for rain, we're still behind. It's been unseasonably warm, and the planting urge is strong, but it could, in theory, snow yet. Blech..

Moshe's crickets finally arrived. I must remember never to order this size again---I ordered 3/8" instead of 1/2", thinking that he would be able to eat more of them before they grew too large. Well, they are small enough that he'll have a hard time catching them, and, worse, they can climb the sides of their container! We keep them in a plastic tote with holes in the lid, with food and water. Once I got the box emptied in there, a whole wave of them started up the side of the container. I think it's because they're so light, their weight doesn't pull them down.
I finally made a sticky tape barrier by taping across the edges towards the insde, like concertina wire, and so far none have gotten past. We've agreed never to open the cricket tote without a cat or two on hand!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Year of the disc


Gratuitous puppy pictures




Cocoa is beginning to get impatient with the puppies---they would be happy to nurse more than she allows. We don't have any soft dog food to start them on, so I opened a can of meat that we canned last year and mashed a little up with some of the juice. My goodness, you should have seen them, they acted like they hadn't eaten for a week! Now they're sleeping---too much excitement for one morning...

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Quote

"Practice makes perfect, be careful what you're perfect at"
Not sure where I saw this----but I like it!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Moshe

We ordered worms and crickets for Moshe, and I ordered a little package of butter worms on a whim. I thought it might be nice to get him a treat, not that we would know if it WAS a treat, since we don't speak lizard. And he doesn't speak, period.

The package arrived, and inside was this little ball, about the size of an egg, which was heaving a little. I poked at it with tweezers and discovered it was full of the worms, they had spun silk and wadded up all their packing material in it to make a giant cocoon-like nest.


The worms are really pretty, sort of a rosy peachy color with a dark head. Moshe likes them, and he doesn't appear to care what color they are.

I'd been afraid that they would be too big for him, but so far it hasn't been a problem. We may have to make a little dolly so he can haul his tail around, the way he's been eating lately.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Pizza!

I had made an extra batch of bread dough on Wednesday, since I've never had a chance to see how it actually keeps in the fridge. I grabbed a chunk and rolled it out on a flored board with a rolling pin. It stayed pretty thin, probably because it was cold.

We used spaghetti sauce and canned green chilis from the pantry, cheddar, turkey ham, and green pepper slivers. I thought we had black olives, but they weren't there when I looked--not the end of the world.
No leftovers!

I can't say enough good things about this bread recipe (there's a link in the sidebar), and I fully intend to buy the book as soon as I can.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Beads



Pupdate


The puppies are playing! They stagger at each other and gnaw on whatever part happens to be in range...they'll do this for a minute or two then stop to rest.
This morning I caught Peanut (the black one) snoozing on his back.

Survival

Peak Oil Hausfrau has a Doomer Dinner Party - Challenge up today! Me, I'm just glad to have survived Wednesday night!
There weren't as many children as usual---but we managed to keep from freezing anything afterwards.
We served spaghetti, vege-all, salad, carrots, and bread. I wondered if Vege-all is really as awful as I remembered it as a child----it still is! I may have to publicly beg forgiveness for that one...hubby has fond memories of the stuff, all I can say is that he must have been raised by wolves or something.
I made the 5-minute-a-day bread again, four batches of it. So far I haven't ever gotten past the next day, so I have no idea how it works long term. This time I have a bowl of dough in the fridge, so maybe!

Last night I tripped over something at the curb and did a wild dance before catching myself on a conveniently parked truck----I expected not to be able to move today. Fortunately, I woke up feeling fine---wouldn't it be funny if my neck was fixed? We have a friend who spent years and dollars on chiropractors to no avail. He was in an accident that knocked his head into his windshield---he said he heard/felt an awful crack and thought his neck was broken. Once he dared move, he realized that not only was it not broken, he was moving like he hadn't moved in years. As far as I know, he hasn't had a bit of trouble with it since.

Off to list beads, I meant to do it yesterday, but didn't get to it somehow.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

R I P

"If you performed the above procedure and are confident that the crickets are dead, please call us at (xxx) xxx-xxxx to make arrangements."

It's time to order crickets for Moshe, but there are temperature restrictions....the above is from the company I order from....I just wonder how you arrange a funereal for 500 crickets?

Glass

My glass order arrived yesterday, but I didn't unpack it---pulled it out today and almost threw away the enamel....good thing it was in a bag, too, the little plastic container is broken. As well as it was packed, I kind of suspect it was packed broken.
It's always nice to get new glass, even if it isn't new...there's just something about the possibilities. I did try Moretti clear again, we'll see how it works. I haven't used it since about 97, except for a base and things that are etched anyway. Well, with the exception of that little bit I found from when I first ordered glass. The clear was not too bad back then, but then it seemed like it really got crummy for a while. Having been through Czech, Murano, Lauscha, TAG, and lately DH, I decided to try this again, just for giggles.

I spent the last couple of hours digging through the black box, looking for pics of Cocoa as a baby, but got sidetracked with old bead pics. Funny, some of them are pretty good, and on some I really wondered what I was thinking!

Blackbirds

The blackbirds are back, I've been seeing the first scouts for about a week---staking territory in the cattail patch by the highway, and doing a straight-up greet the day and tumble routine.
Hubby spotted a robin yesterday in the park, and the bluejays are suddenly obvious, we hadn't really noticed them all winter.

Monday, March 9, 2009

The sweater

I think the sweater is getting smaller!! I decided to catch up on laundry today, and almost did----and the sweater went through every load.
I had picked up a book on felting, using knitted yardage made on a knitting machine, but there was a pair of mittens made from recycled sweater sleeves. I thought that was a nifty idea, so I've been looking for a wool sweater to felt. Finally found, not one, but two at the thrift store so I brought them both home with me. One, a lightweight, cream colored Shetland wool with cabling is too pretty to ruin. Not to mention it actually fits me. I found the resemblance to a snowball a little disconcerting, but it's a warm layer for winter, so I put it away in the closet. THE sweater, the chosen one, is an eighties bat-wing affair with a high neck in black, gray, and a black and gray zig-zag. Made mostly of angora wool, with a little rabbit, I thought it would be ideal. I missed the ten percent nylon. Imagine my surprise when it didn't appear to have done anything after the first wash and dry. Or the second, or the third. I think we're up to about the tenth--and it does appear to be shrinking, as well as pilling. Maybe by next fall.....

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Little peepers

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Eyes!!

Houston, we have eyes!!!
Tiny little peepers that don't focus on anything yet....pictures later, of course!

Audrey is the winner!

TTFN

Friday, March 6, 2009

Bliss


Friday giveaways

I was wandering the forums and found quite a few blogs with giveaways today. So, if you have the time, here are several to look at!

Magicisland has a giveaway
www.OcracokeIsland.blogspot.com

Carollai has a great giveaway on her blog..

Crunchy Chicken has a great book giveaway, but you can't win because I'm going to!!

Still no eyes

No eyes yet, but totally extreme sweetness! I looked this morning and they were both crammed up next to mom, on their backs, with tiny paws twitching!

Back later with pics, I actually managed to get some!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Guess when the puppies eyes open



I thought it might be fun to have a guessing game with a prize!
The babies still don't have their eyes open, it seems like it's overdue, but they aren't as squinty as they were a couple of days ago.
They were born on the 21st of February, so they're almost 14 days old.

Anyway, leave me a comment with your guess, and the closest one wins this bead. It's a large lentil, almost an inch and a half across, so very suitable for a focal piece. In the case of more thsn one person guessing the correct day, I'll take the first comment with the correct date.

New beads




Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Alaskaslist

Checked in on ADN this morning and found this article about a guy who got fed up with being flagged on Craigslist.....as have a lot of us!

So he started an alternative, called Alaskaslist---I'm off to check it out!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Sweetness







I dreamed last night that the puppies eyes were open, and they were bright blue.
Of course I hurried to look this morning, and they're still shut..

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Uneventful

A slightly lazy day....it was warm and pleasant, almost like spring. We came home from church and sat around--I did turn on the kiln, but I haven't gotten back down to the torch yet.

I did see a fast moving spider when I let the dogs out, but couldn't tell what kind it was. At least something is moving....I was looking for the rhubarb shoots yesterday, but they haven't come up yet.

Not much of interest today!