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dejablu
07 February 2010 @ 01:43 am
Vi had a huge crying jag today, these are getting more frequent and are often unprovoked by any particular situation or event. This tells she she is thinking about things she is not verbalizing. I asked her what was bothering her. She said "everything"... what she knows and what she doesn't know, the frustration of it, the emptiness of it, the fear it provokes. So to cheer her I asked her to help me with an art project. Being asked to help with anything perks her up, I figured this out a long time ago. So I gave her a sheet of paper, colored pencils, scraps of misc paper, and assorted fabric scraps and told her to make me a collage about living with Alzheimer's. I told her wanted her to show me the colors and textures of it. After the usual "I can't do artsy things" discussion, she worked on it for over two hours, adding, subtracting, moving things around. Let me tell you the brain in her is still ticking along, taking notes... even if it scrambles them up once in awhile. It is also analyzing her situation abstractly. I was so impressed with her final composition I am going to attempt to translate it into a fiber art piece over the next week or so. Watch here for updates as it progresses... I cannot start it tomorrow, I have yard work to do (we got a dreaded "or else" notice to fix some things that need tending to and it gives us a very short time frame to fix them in). These notices always come out when the weather makes it difficult to comply with the demands that are made. I am hoping for clear weather tomorrow so I can at least show an attempt to comply.

Before I head to bed here is a link to the blog for an artist whose work I discovered on Ebay and came to love called Keemo. Not sure if I love the art or the words/stories he posts with them more...he has a flare for both. The contrast of the light-hearted art and the deep thoughts that accompany them is thought provoking.

I also found this fun new food blog called Christines Recipes I nice mix of Chinese and Western cooking.
This recipe for Eggless Tiramisu looks really good.

I am annoyed with the spammers who are answering ads on Craigslist with spam emails. I posted the doorstop Subaru that has been sitting in the driveway for over a year as a for parts or scrap car. It seems I have to get it out of the driveway ( it was in the demand letter) so I posted it on friday. I got 4 responses today... all of them spam....with links to get rich sites and adult sites. Morons. ( This is me venting).

I guess this is it for tonight, I'm going to bed as soon as I shut down the computer, I have a lab draw bright and early in the morning... and then I have recycling to do so I can free up the yard debris can for blackberry and ivy trimmings. Oh Bother.

 
 
dejablu
04 February 2010 @ 09:40 pm
When I say my hair grows really fast few believe me. So here is my proof before it goes away. My last haircut was June of 2009, and it went short short and layered when cut. (Karina told me I looked "butch"). Today it looks like this a mere 7 months later:



Freshly washed, it is being cut off tomorrow. I washed it at 230 and it was still wet at 7pm, baby fine and I have a ton of it , so it takes forever to dry when long. I have had enough, it is driving me mad... it is in my face all the time, I cannot stand it long for another day. Besides that I have purple dye to cover the gray.... I have tons in the front even though the back looks fairly brown there is plenty there too underneath. I wish I knew someone who was undergoing chemo who could use it, but I don't and I am not giving it to Locks Of Love ( too much questionable activity there in my book).

Vi turned on the TV show "The Doctors" today, Dr Ruth was on discussing sex toys. This immediately caught Vi's interest and she asked me to explain to her what sex toys were... some days she really tests me, This was more awkward than discussing sex with a teenager who thinks you are an idiot. Karina told me to tell her that sex toys are "fiddlin sticks". That description amused Vi no end. I think she knows more than she lets on....

I was soup recipe searching from Vi's while she napped and found these yummy recipes on an online cooking community apparently hosted by ThePioneerWoman (of blogland fame):

Loaded potato soup
Peanut chicken soup with yams
Chicken corn potato cheese soup w/ green chiles

If you like cooking, the whole community is worth a cruise.

I guess this is it for now.... I am really tired lately. I am doing a 14 day test run between injections of B12, and not enjoying it.
 
 
dejablu
03 February 2010 @ 06:10 pm
Someone on my friend's list on facebook mentioned the first one and I had to go look it up, now I have to see it...the other one was mentioned in the comments, and I need to see it too





 
 
dejablu
This is a riot...really



So this post is going to be a mix of rants and links, aren't you excited?

First off, as part of Obama's high speed rail grant program Portland is getting 8 million. Are they using it to repair or replace the worn out Amtrak trains? Noooo, of course not. Instead they are "fixing the roof" of the Portland Amtrak station....for $8 mil that is a hell of a lot of roof fixing IMHO. There should be a head slap in there somewhere... I mean seriously, one so hard it should put whoever decided this was how to spend the money this way into a coma.

Oregon passed minimal new taxes on corporations and the wealthy... ( it was a long over due increase on people who have been skating too long at the cost of the middle class of Oregon and was really more about the middle class taking money from the rich for a change more than it was about giving the state more money to waste). Clackamas School Dist is crying they need more money a week after the election. I don't suppose the high end elementary school and Jr High being constructed out by me have anything to do with their budget shortages... not a huge surprise but argh anyway!!!!

The good Oregon news department, a jury found The Beagleys guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of their 16YO son, I say yay! Not only did they not seek medical care while he was dying, but when he stopped breathing they did not call 911 either. It is the 2nd recent child death in their family. The history of their "church" is rather disturbing... more info on that sad story here:
http://oregoncity.katu.com/content/faith-healing-trial-verdict
http://www.skeptictank.org/hs/fhkiler2.htm

I found a cool new Ezine worth watching... http://www.needlemagazine.com/
Issue one is out and free to download... VERY impressive first issue IMHO
http://www.needlemagazine.com/issue01/NEEDLE-01.pdf


I found it mentioned on this fun blog on hand embroidery and needlework: http://handembroiderynetwork.blogspot.com/

I find myself really getting into embroidery, small applique and asst hand work lately. I think this is occurring mostly because I need more skills in these areas for the spirit cloth style quilt I am working on, besides that small embroidery projects are so much easier to carry to work than most quilting or art bag making projects are.

I find myself annoyed by Vi's daughter today... we saw her 3-4 times last year, so her involvement here is slim. She apparently read a book on Alzheimer's and NOW she is now an authority on the subject according to the live-in caregiver who scolded me for helping Vi find the tea. Based on her daughter's new self awarded Alzheimer's degree, she and the live-in managed to get Vi severely depressed and agitated over my 3 days off.(Insert head slap)... No, you cannot bully and brow beat someone with Alzheimer's into "improving their memory" or into remembering something they forgot. I do not care what you think you read.... most people will tell you it is MEAN to refuse to help them get back on track. IOW, snipping "if you want tea you will remember where it is kept" ... at someone with dementia is a form of elder abuse. Maybe you ought to stick to being a secretary before you do real harm. I really hate people some days



 
 
dejablu
02 February 2010 @ 01:24 am
Having a sentimental evening... and found this video on youtube. A little known song that was my song with Ramie's dad... it was our song for the whole 6 years we had together before he died. This is music from the days when music had real soul to it:



Brings back many happy memories even 40 years later for me. I can still close my eyes when this song is playing and picture us at the Rose Gardens in Pismo Beach.... where his brothers and he played with their group "The Crying Souls".

I finished my create and pass journal page, and forgot to scan it before packing it up for mailing. SIGH! It heads out to Long Beach tomorrow... sooner or later I'll get a book of the journal pages and will be able to show you all what I did then, too tired to unpack it before I ship it. It wound up being a sunface, no overlay, what I wanted to do was to involved for a 3x5" page and frankly the book was getting too thick from other add-ins so it wound up going in a simpler direction.

More tomorrow from work...

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dejablu
31 January 2010 @ 10:47 pm
It started with my unexpected bargain shopping trip, calming the cats, doing dishes and laundry, cooking a ton of food and packaging it up into single servings and freezing it... around this I was toying with several ideas for the create and pass journal, which I am working on now.(I had to cut a stencil first and make an overlay)....I think it is going to be very cool.

I was looking for stencil ideas over lunch and discovered the linocut art of Barbara Hanrahan. Sadly she died in 1991... her art is really powerful!! I love the edge it has to it. The extensive detail in much of it is simply outstanding.







I love finding new-to-me artists that excite me.

I have been watching CNN off and on today...I find it almost amusing that the fighting and shoving in the Haiti aid lines ended when aid distribution was limited to women only. Men just do not know how to behave when under pressure ;p

So 10 Baptists from Idaho went dashing into Haiti to "rescue" children, grabbed 33 of them and tried to dash out of the country with them in a van... in the name of 'Christian Charity'. The 2 youngest (babies) were dehydrated when taken from them at the Dominican Republic border, several appeared to be drugged or disoriented, and one girl kept saying she was not an orphan, 9 others have living parents. The children were told they were going on an extended vacation. (AHEM).... even if it is true they did not know they could not do it this way, (which I doubt), all 10 should be jailed for their arrogant stupidity on mere principle.

In retrospect I have decided the Supreme Court may have done us all a huge favor by removing contribution limits. We no longer have to sort through the bills or candidates... now that excessive contributions can be done openly and they do not have to be hidden under employee names or under the CEO's children's names, we just need to see who supports what and vote against things backed by drug companies, oil companies, insurance companies & other asswipes. This is going to make voting a whole lot simplier! Thank you so much Supreme Court justices!

Now, I have art to do....

 
 
dejablu
I came home with 10# of cat food, oatmeal cookies, ice, 7up, tomatoes & a LOT of 1/2 off meat (I spent under $32 total, & none of it is that expiring soon meat either) 2# grd sausage, 5 cheddar brats, 6 chops, a huge chx breast, 1# each of smoked turkey & ham slices & a 3# pork roast. I bez a very happy shopper...

Karina demanded to see the receipt and then asked me why she never finds these kinds of bargains when she goes shopping. "Because I am good and you are evil, that's why"..."and also because I had on my lucky tacky clothes" :)

Now to load the crockpot and oven, and then I need to figure out what to do on my create and pass journal page so I can get it started... I think a sun face of some kind is required :)

Thinking a fold out of some kind might be fun...pondering...pondering...

 
 
dejablu
In a few minutes I have to run to the store because we appear to be out of cat food and the cats are in a panic. Karina is also worked up because I just announced I am going out "ala carte", in mismatched clothes. She assures me there is a social dress code regarding clothes matching and not wearing sock slippers as socks with tennis shoes... but I don't want to take time to change my clothes for a 5 minute dash to the grocery store JUST to be socially acceptable, so if the fashion police get me, they get me... (Karina does keep threatening to turn me in to the "What Not To Wear" people...). I say if Albertson's wants me to dress up to buy cat food, they need to hire some buff checkers to motivate me....until then, I am going comfy and 'as is'. While I am gone busy yourselves with cruising these links...

Ebooks:

First off check out Chest of Books Free online out of print books beyond fiction, This is a very cool resource!!! Extensive cookbook selection, handy info on alt health and herbalism, really worth a cruise.

I liked this one on spool knitting

Handy Man's Workshop And Laboratory has a ton of info in it still worthwhile even if it was published in 1910!



Cooking sites:

Visual Recipes Taking visual cooking to new heights with steps by step pics... I'm passing this one on to Karina too so she stops texting me every 3 secs while cooking for advice

I hate cooking recipes

101 cookbooks

Great recipes from SparkPeople dieters

How2 make a yummy coffee cocktail

Crafty:

Great Monkee See Monkee Do sewing and needlework videos for beginners

One reason I need to learn to crochet

A second reason I need to learn to crochet

A cute cell phone/change purse Tutorial

 
 
dejablu
31 January 2010 @ 12:58 am
Vi and Keegan were both in high cranky gear today, & both are lucky to have survived the day.

In the good news department I had a great mail day... my purple hair dye arrived squeeee!!!
AND, I signed up to do a page in a Create and Pass Journal over on NING on the Art From The Heart group last year...it finally made it to me, so tomorrow is going to be an art day so I can speed it on its way to the next person on Monday. The timing of it's arrival was perfect Iam off Sunday and Monday.

4 more links before I crash out...

This looks really tasty to me, Shrimp Tilapia Burgers

You can find some really yummy recipes over on the Life's Ambrosia cooking blog

A fun read The Doodlers Anonymous Blog

And this is a cool vintage recipe site, Heritage Recipes

 
 
dejablu
30 January 2010 @ 11:18 am
If I was smart, or organized I would make a text file of fun links so I do not have to figure out which ones are new shares... I need to do that I guess so I know which ones I want to share.

Anyway, here is a short list of some worth visiting:

Great art tips and technique tutorials

The same site offers a nice list of calls for entries, many of which I had not heard of before

By Nancy Standlee

The art blog of Nancy Standlee...water color collage artist

Both by Lana Grow

The Abstract Art of Lana Grow ( which I REALLY like btw, and I sure which she offered some of her classes as DVD's).

Art Daily a nice collection of art related articles sponsored by Interweave, who happens to put out a lot of art related books and DVDs I like.

More links will be posted later from Vi's, gotta get ready for work...

 
 
dejablu
29 January 2010 @ 10:44 pm


Butternut squash stirfry with potato and beans...the great thing, even Keegan loved it, and he refuses to eat every single veggie in it(but he didn't know they were in it). Simple to make...

slow cook 4-6 hrs or simmer on stove top till veggies tender
2-3 cups chicken or veggie broth
1 package fresh stirfry veggies (I used Trader Joes, but most markets offer fresh stirfry mixes in the produce dept)
1 pkg diced butternut squash ( also Trader Joes, = 2 cups fresh squash peeled & diced)

when cooked, place all solids in a food processor and puree, add back into broth and add
1/2 cut chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup diced fresh parsley
1 1/2tsp garam masala spice
1 tsp minced garlic
garlic pepper & salt to taste
1 large or 2 medium potatoes diced
1 can of pinto beans drained

simmer till parsley & potatoes are tender, serve. I added a teaspoon of lowfat sour cream to mine when eating it, this was a personal preference.

It is truly delightful soup. More tomorrow, I am beat.

 
 
dejablu
26 January 2010 @ 12:06 am
to be busy for my 2 days off & still get nothing much accomplished. I sorta cruised through Sunday, napping here and there, did a load of laundry, and napped some more. Today I bought new car insurance, I wound up staying with the same company, but I made one slight change and that got me a much better rate.

Today I poached some chicken, cruised through the New Seasons market and bought a few groceries including 2 hazelnut espresso cookies for my work lunch tomorrow... sorted through 3 boxes, and because Vi accidentally un-programmed my van radio... I went online to try to find an owner's manual for it so I could figure out how to reprogram it. I discovered a wonderful website where you can find all sorts of consumer electronics owner's manuals as PDF files for free.... (TVs, Tivos, routers, car stereos, stereos, phones, you name it) http://www.retrevo.com/samples/index.html It's a GREAT resource!

In light of the Supreme Court ruling that Corporations are no longer limited on political contributions, I encourage you to sign the petition found here: http://www.movetoamend.org/

My violet hair dye is ordered and in route...yay!!!! Thinking since my hair is about 50-60% white, (living with Karina did this to me), I am not going to bleach it. Just going to dye it, and if it all goes as I think it will, the white will be bright violet and the dark with be plum tinted. That will be purple enough...
using this color of dye:
and I am thinking of doing a slightly longer back on this style cut:

It's time for the One World One Heart Blog event again, not sure what I am giving away yet but I am joining it by next weekend after I figure out what I am giving away.If you want to meet new to you bloggers from all over the globe, please think about joining the fun, if you do not have time to make anything you can also give away books, supplies, etc. It's a fun event!


More info on joining the event can be found here.

More tomorrow...gotta get to bed the dog is glaring at me. Might do a links post tomorrow night, one is overdue I think.
 
 
dejablu
21 January 2010 @ 10:08 am
I took Vi for a walk at the mall yesterday, because she is tired of fabric stores and thrift shops (something I cannot even imagine). While walking we stopped by the Barnes and Noble because I wanted to see if they had the UK magazine Stitch so I could see it up close and personal. Sadly they did not have it but we cruised the art section books and I found 2-3 to add to my wish list on Amazon. Books in person are such a different shopping experience!



"Crazy Quilting - The Complete Guide"(It is a very nice spiral bound book full of great illustrations and fresh ideas if you love embroidery). I LOVE beautifully presented books and this one is really well done. Sadly the preview pages Amazon chose leave a lot to be desired, and they really do not do this book justice.



Who's Your DADA?: Redefining the Doll through Mixed Media" Eye candy and unique ideas in art doll-making and mixed media art designs from cover to cover. Delightfully done and jam packed with pictures and great info. If you enjoy making found object art, you will love this book! As in the first book, Amazon sucks on the promotion page choices for this book.



"Mosaic Basics: Everything You Need to Know to Start Making Beautiful Mosaics" Great illustrations and filled with some great tips and shortcuts even I had not thought of. The preview pages on this one are a tad better but not great. If you do mosaic art already this book offers some fresh ideas, and if you want to try it, the basic info is clearly outlined and well explained. Really well laid out.

Okay gotta head to Vi's... more later from there!


 
 
dejablu
18 January 2010 @ 03:27 pm
Out of frustration I sent the following email to Wolf Blitzer on CNN

Please ask someone in Haiti... If there are warehouses of supplies and food being looted, causing a danger, attracting gangs, taking manpower to defend, why are they not taking an inventory, buying the contents at replacement value for dispensing those things to the people who need them....(like the orphanages for instance). This would eliminate the looting, reduce the danger, free up manpower, furnish supplies to those who need them at a much lower cost than flying them in and it would limit the owner's losses. Trying to defend them makes no sense to me...

Does this make total sense to anyone besides me?

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dejablu
No, not a natural gas leak...well, I guess it was sorta "natural" since it was from the small dog who had sneaked into my bed sometime after 1am... Angel. It was an odor so horrific it curled my nose hair and made my eyes open as wide as they could go. I did not plan to wake up at 630 in the f-ing AM, the dog's digestive system clearly had conflicting plans...

So, I power-loaded homemade fudge and coffee to kickstart my energy level to my oh-hell-I
-might-as-well-stay-up mode. I did a little web surfing and discovered the "Joyful Abode" blog on it (so far) I found these yum inspiring recipes:
Lowcal icecream sandwiches
Mocha Maple popsicles
Coconut lime chicken soup
Pinacolada Pork with cauliflower rice
Oatmeal walnut pancakes

I also found this cool tutorial for Shisha mirror embroidery. I love Shisha Mirrors!



Also while surfing I found a cool magazine from the UK called StitchI think I would love in person but I cannot justify putting out almost $60/yr for it. I sure wish mags would offer digital format issues. I would pay $5.95-$8.95 to get the issues I wanted while avoiding the high international shipping costs.
they offer a few cool sample articles like these three:
http://imgs.embroiderersguild.com/stitch/pdfs/chatelaine.pdf
http://imgs.embroiderersguild.com/stitch/pdfs/bayeux.pdf
http://imgs.embroiderersguild.com/stitch/pdfs/surface.pdf

Surfed out, I cleaned my coffeepot, it was running rather slow, so I ran vinegar water through it. It is much better now... me without coffee would be a very unpleasant scene.

I did two loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen and I have watched The View... now it is time to get serious about finishing the living room... I have one more matchstick blind to cut to fit, this means blogtime is over for now. Might get another post in later...



 
 
dejablu
17 January 2010 @ 05:12 pm
I've been cooking today, my one day off. Not just cooking... cooling, bagging it up in single servings, labeling it and getting it into the freezer... because bulk east to get at, ready-to-eat goods don't last long around here, so I am hoping this slows the evaporation.
Made so far: garlic udon noodles with stir fry veggies & chicken - dirty rice with turkey sausage and tri-color peppers - this fideo recipe: http://tinyurl.com/yaes997 - and this soup: http://tinyurl.com/y9wuel3.

Garlic Udon noodles with chicken and veggies
dirty rice with sausage

What Geeks Eat is a really great cooking blog btw. I just discovered it yesterday and started cruising it this morning. I do know I also want to try their Cherry Limeaide recipe, it sounds wonderful, just need to get the cherry flavoring they listed first.

I encourage EVERYONE to read this post, called "Turn Off Your Shift Key America". It is truly A WORTHWHILE read.

This has got to be the coolest "hat" pattern ever!

Here are a ton of free patterns, in case you need something else to do.

Here's a fun way you can draw online: http://sketch.odopod.com/
(This link found on my quilt list a few days ago)
What makes it fun is the fact you can also clone by using a sketch by someone else as your base and building on it... or someone can clone off of one of yours.... read the help file to sorta understand it better. It works sorta like "artrage", the shareware program I posted about a year or two ago. The starter edition of that shareware is still free and has no time limit, but it is such a great program it is worth buying. In the meantime, this online drawing program is fun... and you 'know' you need another online time waster ;)

Back to cooking and cleaning for me... might get another post in later.
 
 
dejablu
11 January 2010 @ 04:59 pm
Is this not the coolest thing ever? A MICROWAVE KILN!


I mean seriously... I could have a blast with one of those!!! Anyone redecorating a kitchen or bathroom could make their own tiles, you could custom mosaic tiles, jewelry, use them in mixed media work, even art quilters could have a blast with a gadget like this. Odd that I have never heard of such a thing before... Finally a great use for my microwave besides reheating my coffee and defrosting meat!

I even found a Fuseworks MIcrowave Kiln kit on Amazon (on sale), to add to my wishlist! They also have the Microkiln Medium-sized Kiln, which is bigger but it tends to get lower reviews.... could be user error I suppose.

Yes I know it is winter, and half the country is under snow, but it's been a rough year for farmers and that means it's gonna be a rough year for consumers financially. They lost a lot of crops and that means higher prices on what is left when it hits the supermarket. Because of that I am reposting this link to an easy-to-make, homemade earthbox. Even if you have never gardened before, this year you need to try... and nothing makes it easier than doing it in an easy to water, weed free container. Bookmark this link and start gathering plastic storage containers now.

Brian found this really cool scientific review of Avatar. It is especially interesting if you have seen the movie or plan to.


My renal client got a Kindle for Xmas... it's fun to play with but limited to black ink, so not overly useful for down sizing my art book library, still, I might want one someday. In the meantime, and for those who do cannot afford a Kindle, Amazon is offering free software to bring you kindle capabilities for your PC, Blackberry, Mac or I Phone "here", (in the left side margin) and tons of free books. A lot of them are classics but there are also some more current books. The newer free books change, and there doesn't appear to be a pattern to it... some stay free a day or 2, others for a week or more. If you love to read... or want to kill a few less trees... a free app for your phone or computer is a good thing and gives you book buying options.

 
 
dejablu
11 January 2010 @ 12:33 am
I finally invested the last of some gift cards I have been trying to figure out how to spend, I bought a set of Derwent Inktense Watersoluble Ink Pencils , and a tub of moulage.... fun times ahead boys and girls!

It was a VERY long day for me today, (it included a blood draw, a dead van battery, and a temper tantrum out of Vi)... so I am off to bed now that I have new art supplies in route to dream about. More tomorrow after I rest up a bit, I am off tomorrow.

 
 
dejablu
First off, I would love to point out that I survived the faux swine flu pandemic without a H1N1 shot... many thanks to those who submitted to an injection of who knows what in order to keep at least some of the vaccine from being dumped into our rivers and streams. You are true American patriots.

I remain dismayed by what the Senate is calling health care reform, the extortion of it, the ignorance of it, the "good-old-boy"-ism of it. I would like to think the misguided efforts were well meaning and not biased towards forcing everyone to financially support a broken system of medicine, plus insurance companies and drug companies of course. As a person who prefers a more natural approach to my health care, I feel let down not only by the Senate, but also by my President and my neighbors. Health care reform that does not allow people like to choose natural health care providers if they want them, & in fact it excludes them, is a tragedy.... it might even be grounds for a civil rights challenge of the reform. The Senate seeks to reform me by forcing everyone to fund a broken system based on western medicine and will fine those refusing to at least $750 a year for not using it... which will pretty make natural medicine also unaffordable for me. I also do not like the idea the IRS will be enforcing and fining this... proof of year long insurance on April 15th or a fine is due with your taxes. Like I don't have enough issues going on with the IRS already. You would think states would be fighting this... health acre coverage will be a deduction on state taxes... that means lower state revenues doesn't it??? If we are going to do this, someone please tell me again why increasing insurance company profits is a better idea than Medicare for all under a single payer system?

3 good reads if you are in a thinking and pondering mood ( not about health care "reform"):

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mitchell-bard/the-republicans-disdain-f_b_405162.html

http://drb2008.vox.com/library/post/barack-obama-gets-angry.html

http://drb2008.vox.com/library/post/shattered-glass.html

More, funner stuff will be psoted later today.... I have errands to do with Vi first

 
 
dejablu
05 January 2010 @ 02:36 am
on Monday was making homemade ketchup. I found a recipe online that sounded interesting, I needed ketchup, we were out and I did not want to drive to the store to get some. I have to say it turned out pretty darn good. I used the recipe found here: http://www.recipezaar.com/Blender-Ketchup-89086 but I used the one in the margin by Ice Cool Kitty that uses a 28oz can of tomatoes instead of a ton of fresh ones. I did not have allspice so I left it out and added 1/2tsp each of garam masala and pureed garlic. I also added some seasoning salt and black pepper. Even Keegan loved it... I may never buy store bought again.

I also moved my bookcase ( no small feat I can tell you), the living room is not perfect but it's almost where I want it. I am so happy to have my books organized again, now I can use them. My next BIG project is the back bedroom and then in the spring... another big and probably painful downsize and a yard sale so I can afford new flooring. I find downsizing in steps much easier to do than biting the bullet. The first one was 50% of the stuff in storage, the on-going one is things we do not use at all and the clothes we no longer need. The next stage is stuff worth more to me gone than kept....you know, extra blankets, pots, pans, art supplies... things I use once every 3-4 years that take up space I could put to better use if the stuff in them was gone.

I work the next 6 days, hoping to get some art done at work if all goes well... well, at lest some hand quilting and sketching....

BTW I have proof Karina's cat Rascal is a hacker, I caught him in the act:



He is not as innocent as he appears! (He was trying to hack my password, and I think he was typing in Russian)

I am off to bed for now...might do a post from work tomorrow.