small hands

I checked this book out of the library, after hearing the authors interviewed on KPFA.

It's thought provoking to see different families around the world and their weeks' worth of groceries. It's shocking to see how little Africans have to eat; unimaginable that they can sustain themselves.

The recipe is from the January/February 2006 Cook's Illustrated.

Here you are:





Enjoy.

I spent the late morning getting the back yard in a semblance of order. My patio is made of brick, so weeds grow between them. They had gotten quite tall, but they're cut down now. I wondered, while I was using the weed wacker, whether I was disturbing the neighbors, but decided that 11:00 AM was not an unreasonable hour and any hangovers I was worsening should be used as a learning experience.

I generally buy whole chickens. During the weekday, I remove the breasts, pound them and sautee them in butter and shallots or garlic, which makes for a quick dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy and a vegetable. I put the rest of the chicken in a ziploc bag. I've defrosted a bunch of leftover chickens and I'm grilling them now.

I made a buttermilk lemon poundcake to take to a barbecue, given by my girl's classmate's family, with a half gallon of vanilla ice cream. It should be fun and low key.

This a Falstaff rose:



It's more purple than the picture indicates, but I think it's an excellent flower.

I am working away on the Ohio Star quilt. I finished marking the vertical lines; lots and lot of vertical lines.



I'm using the walking foot to quilt it and I have to say that I admire the technology of it, though it's slower going than a regular foot.

Have a wonderful holiday.

Frustrated!!

My internet connection at home is spotty, at best.

Sorry.

I don't do anything exotic with my internet connection at home. I let them install it and then I leave it alone. No wireless routing, no pets, no nothing. Nevertheless, my modem decided to go kaput.

I think it's because Comcast sucks.

I went to replace it at the office near my home and it was closed on a Saturday. [Bad words]

I went to replace it at the office near my job and they couldn't replace it because it's 25 miles away from my house and they use different equipment. [Bad words]

I left work early to get to the office near my home on a weekday and they gave me a new modem.

The old modem worked very sporadically once it broke itself. The new one does not work at all. [A jeremiad against Comcast stuffed to the gills with bad words.]

So I'm supposed to take tomorrow morning off from work so they can come by and fix my internet access at home.

* * *

I volunteered in my lovebug's class this morning. So much fun. It's my last one this year, so I cheated a bit. He was working on a ranger vest made out of a big paper bag, with the other kids at the table, and I sat next to him and cut out colored construction paper to make him a sun, a tree, and a rainbow. I've never assisted my guy before, but he was just drawing geckos and I thought his vest needed more decoration. His best buddy, the one whose utterances are The Holy Gospel to my son, complained that my assistance was "unfair", so I made him a sun and a star. Silenced him.

I spent the morning listening to the radio and drawing quilting lines on my Ohio Star quilt. Hundreds of lines. I got inspired by a picture in a book of a Log Cabin quilt that was quilted this way. I'll scan it if my internet connection is ever re-established.

I read Japanese quilting magazines and I get inspired to quilt the dickens out of a project; then regret it when I have to do the actual work. Like this one:



But I like a quilt with a lot of quilting, like the flattening effect of the stitching on the fabric.

Yesterday evening I assembled fabric for two baby quilts. I'm not going to start piecing until I finish the Ohio Star, but it is so fun to consider different colors and combinations.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is my new, long desired clothes line. I put it up this morning after struggling with inadequate tools to conquer the weeds in my back yard, whiney, yelling boy, and a stressed out, homework burdened pre-adolescent.

I went to the hardware store last Saturday and bought two of these:



four screws, and 100 feet of nylon rope. My girl helped me put it up and informed me that hanging up clothes, thereby not using the dryer, helps with global warming. Yay.

The first order of business was to hang up a quilt top I am trying to figure out the border for.



I need to get clothespins now.

I finished the tote bags for my little dude's kindergarten teachers. I am going to give them to them on Friday, after I iron the linings.

I was listening to Alicia's podcast on Craftsanity and I got inspired to get them going. I had been lagging a little because Sunday tired me out.

I sewed these up while I watched Munich. I did not care for the movie (plodding, lots of killing, lots of exposition), though the screenplay was written by my boyfriend Tony Kushner.

I checked this book out of the library last week and I suggest you try to locate a library copy. It's very nice to look at, but used copies seem pretty expensive to me (over $20).

Cheap Chic
by Emily Chalmers



ISBN 1841724734





I'm a sucker for pictures of folded up and neatly stacked linens.

My favorite part of Mothers Day is getting the portraits my kids make.



No, I don't have male pattern baldness, but I really dig this likeness created by my sweet boy. It goes well with this one from my girl:



Mothers Day was deeply satisfying this year. My sweet girl made her First Communion and it went without a hitch. We got to the church on time, she was very pleased with her outfit, my family was all present to watch.



After Mass we all went to my house for brunch--grilled chicken, roasted potatoes, pasta with sun dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts, strawberries and blackberries, cupcakes, 7-Up cake, etc.

After everyone went home, I cleaned up and washed dishes and then took a nap, as I had gotten up at 5:30 A.M. to get everything done. It was hot and dry yesterday and thus perfect for laying low.

The satisfying part was just being with my kids and feeling good about them and being their mother. It was such a relief to be done with the First Communion and the brunch, after only having one day between the camping trip and the Mass.

A lovely lady in Koln, Germany sent me a package of magazines. They are excellent and very inspiring and crafty. I don't even need to understand German.

I'm just back from a camping trip in the Sierra foothills. My daughter's class has done a unit on the California Gold Rush, so we went to the Sierra foothills to explore a gold mine, swim in Sutter Creek, pan for gold, camp out at Indian Grinding Rock State Park. They have a Miwok Roundhouse on the campgrounds and it's very beautiful.

My girl was really pleased that I opted to go on the trip and so am I. It's good to flip the script on myself and do something I'm not inclined to do. I even played baseball with the fourth grade boys and I was pretty good. I missed my little fellow, who didn't know I was going on a fieldtrip with his sister.

The drive back was hectic because Bay Area traffic is atrocious, but I got to see parts of Northern California I've never seen before.

Happy Mother's Day!!

I'm having a lot of fun cutting bouquets of flowers from my yard.



The pink roses are called Parade and I got the bush from Ashdown Roses. (I highly recommend Ashdown--big pots, fast shipment, excellent plants.) I really like the disease resistence of the plant, its vigorous growth and the beautiful blooms. The yellow/apricot colored rose is a Whiskey Mac. The purple plant at 7:00 is a lilac from the only plant that produces blooms for me. I have three others in the back yard which never blossomed. (I think I'll move them.)

Since I was volunteering in my son's class, I had time this morning to cut the lawn in the back yard. The grass grows really fast, so in two weeks it really needed it. It was so peaceful to be cutting the lawn on a quiet weekday morning and then to smell new mown grass before I headed out.

Last night I did something I've never done before. I sewed a shirt from a pattern. My mother sewed my entire life, and back in the day, her patterns were made out of tissue paper. They seemed completely unfathomable to me. with the pinning and the darts. (Paradoxically, she says she could never make a quilt.)

However, my son wanted me to make him a shirt and there is a brand of patterns called Kwik-Sew, so I decided to give it a whirl.





It worked. I'm a bit apprehensive about my son's fondness for camouflage prints, but I don't think one shirt will make him join the military in 12 years time. It better not.

I have no intention of getting a serger or anything, but I might try to make myself a skirt next.

I brought the shirt to his class so my boy could see it and he really likes it, much to my relief. He suggested I make his teachers tote bags for their end of the year gifts. What an excellent suggestion. That boy.

The enormous flower on the right is a Coral Charm peony. My bush produces three blossoms a year, but California's winters are too mild to make a vigorous bush. I'll take the three blooms. The pink rose is a Constance Spry. I love this rose, despite the fact that it's once blooming.

It is a gorgeous morning. We had to do the up-early-race-to-court thing, but the kids were excellent and helpful, so I got them to school and to court on time. My hearings went very smoothly and there is nothing more beautiful than the bright sunshine after you leave a courthouse. [Well, maybe there is.]

Last night my son and I ate fresh blackberries and strawberries with ice cream for dessert, while he explained different ceramics techniques he is learning in his afterschool ceramics class. The berries were delicious.

This weekend we purchased my daughter's First Communion dress. We went to a bunch of shops on International Boulevard in Oakland, but the dresses were all "too fancy" for her. We had so much fun walking around. The kids are so game for exploring different neighborhoods and were fortified by an ice cream treat from a sidewalk vendor. We finally found the dress which fit the bill at the mall, so with it and white gloves, a veil, white shoes and stockings, she's ready this Sunday.

I love driving down International Boulevard and seeing all the different cultures, represented in the retail establishments. It makes me happy to live in Oakland. At the end of it is Lake Merritt, which is a jewel in the crown.

Thank you, thank you for all your kind words about my quilt.

Hi Coleen: the fabric on the right is a Sakura print I got from Cia's Palette.

Hi Krista: Mariko's tote making tutorial is here.



There was a question about why more people don't participate in the Whiplash competitions from whip-up. I haven't participated yet because I was sick when the first one occurred, I haven't had time, and I don't want to be competing with my crafty projects. Sewing/crafting is a form of meditation for me and it's a product of my inspiration.

Thrilled

I am thrilled that it's finished.



Overjoyed

I am overjoyed with how it turned out, though it's not perfect by any means.



Ecstatic



I am ecstatic that it covers my entire California King sized bed with overlap.



But the darn thing is impossible to photograph in its entirety.



Is this the second or third time I've blogged that I need a clothes line? I forget.

The binding is made from the red toile on the left that I got from Cia's Palette.

I got my mojo workin'
~Muddy Waters

I am so pleased that this morning I finished quilting the blocks on the Crow's Foot quilt. All I have to do now is quilt the border, sew on the binding, cut all the stray threads, wash and dry, and then probably resew the errant stitching. I'm happy.

Here are a few updates to documenting my fabric stash on flickr.







Now I get to think about piecing another top, though I plan to quilt one of two quilt tops which have been waiting for a year, after I finish this one.

Jan was so kind to post instructions on this very interesting block.

This weekend should be good. It's going to be cloudy and blowing, but that's fine. I still get to hang out with my kids, try some new recipes, see my mom, sew, and go to the movies.

I finally tried Tim Tams. Mariko is a big fan of them and wrote that they were available at Cost Plus World Market.



The US packaging is different [top picture] in that "Tim Tam" is omitted from the label.

They're good, but, in my opinion, so sweet that they're best with a big cup of coffee.

I've got my quilting mojo back, thank goodness. I made very good progress last night, while watching Grey's Anatomy DVDs.

My opinion of GA? I am delighted that there are lots of African Americans and some Asians in the cast, but it's clearly designed to be Sex and the City, minus the gorgeous clothes and eating, meets ER. Down to the Size 0 protagonist who provides philosophical narratives at the beginning and end of some episodes. It's also completely unrealistic, these surgical interns running amok with little or no supervision; hello, lawsuits, HMOs? And why does there have to be a full figured, always disgruntled African American woman? It's good she's a doctor, but it is monotonous.