lady cordelia

full randoms

A few non-congurent sightings into our week so far.   Hey man, sometimes there's a lack of flow.  That's life. 

~ A newest "child-size but could also be a lap size" quilt up on Etsy.  (One of my personal faves so far.)

~This week I'm working on some that are a little bigger and a tiny bit less child like.  Throws for the couch, I'm thinking.  Adult lap blankets.  You know.  Not everyone has a kid.

~Red Bottle Brush Trees.  I don't know if that's really what they are called but they line our street and bring in so many bees. I'm very concerned about the bee population.  And maybe that's for another post.  But, I will say that I love bees.  I wish I could pinch their cheeks while saying....awwwwww. wook at dis wittle bee.  But I'm not sure bees have cheeks, so I just adore them from afar and often get teary at all the dead ones I see on the sidewalks.  By the way: someday I still want a hive.  Of course The Brad gets all irritated when I talk about getting a hive.   But, has that ever stood in my way before?  I got two kids out of a man who said he wanted one, 2 dogs out of a man who said he wanted one and an ever-growing flock of chickens out of a man who wanted zero.  Brad likes to say to me...You know you'll get what you want regardless of my opinion so why are you even telling me about it?  The Brad is a very smart husband.  

~We went to our local college town yesterday, about 2 miles from our house, and surveyed the array of cheap restaurants.  Full.  On.  Cheap. Indian Food.  And a Thai Iced Tea with these little tapioca balls in the bottom.  I guess it's an Indian thing, evidently, cause I've never had a drink with balls before. Our littler daughter thought it was the funnest thing in the world to have a drink with little gooey candy things at the bottom that you could suck up with a big straw and so she kept grabbing it from me while screaming...Yay! Big Balls! (Note to self: don't give a 4 year old caffeine. Ever. Again.)

Anyhoo. 
That's a wrapper.
Peace.
Out.

oh, and  p.s.  please join me on instagram.com!  I've been trying to post more daily pics. I do have a private identity there, so you can't see unless you sign up.  my instagram name is: dearcordelia.

XO

 

dreaming of summer

I really work on being ok with what is, simply because I have the most fantastic life and most usually, I am totally satisfied.  So, I do feel like a bit of a jerk for saying I really wish Spring would come.  I understand I live on the West Coast.  But I am still tired of this unseasonably cold Winter we've had. We all finally came down with the dreaded Winter cold.  (Better than the flu, so again- reason to find thanks.) But dang it.  I'm tired of forced air heat and my gardens looking cold and crappy. My kids have watched so many videos this last week (yes we still call DVD's "videos" around here)  I'm sure their brains have turned into mush. 

So, naturally, I was so happy when my mom brought over big fat blueberries for us yesterday (I'll deal with the fact that they were imported from Chile) and look! my little tomato seeds are becoming seedlings.  I can't tell you how joyous that makes me. Glimpses of Spring and Summer right here in my cold little kitchen.

I started a triangle pattern on a quilt.  So much fun.  Very Spring and Summery, indeed.  No? Loving all the color and freshness in the fabrics. 

And I dare say I have three or four quilts that are finished and looking pretty good.  (Tough combo.) I have no idea how to photograph the things, I think I need to get a clothesline up (which I've wanted for years anyway.  Also a Summery, thing no?)  Thinking of starting an Etsy store, but that could be shooting myself  in the foot, right?  I mean, do people really sell things on Etsy? Wouldn't I just be putting my heart out there to have it ignored and pooped on even?  Sounds like an excellent exercise for me.  (Not.)   

Do you have any experience or words of wisdom about Etsy? Personally, I do like the idea of sitting at home and selling things, rather than doing the local weekly art fair and dealing with....gulp...people.  Also I like the idea that I could just put a few things up on the ol' Etsy and not have to have like...30 freaking quilts finished.  But.  Either way, I'll make my way to 30 eventually. So.  Whatever. Etsy or no Esty. (Give me your advice.)

Well, off to get some more lemon and honey.  Finally finding more uses for those lemons! See...gotta look for the positives. Ya!

 

apple pancakes and etc...

Let me ask you a little question.  Do you like Apple Pie Pancakes?  Duh!  Of course you do.  Everyone does.  Hey: I'm not into carbs that make me feel like a blotation device. But that's my problem.  And truth be known, I usually ignore that and eat these anyway.  Yes, even though they're not made with 48-grain flour.  They could be, I suppose.  But would they be as fluffy as a cloud with still just the tinest, perfect bit of gooey density?  Prolly not. Plus, I'm not the maker of these cakes.  You-know-who is.  And THAT boy cooks with white flour 'cause he is from the Midwest and thinks "brown flour is for hippies."  To which I reply: I must be a hippie then.  To which he replies: Not this morning you ain't.  And then he hands me a plate of Apple Pie cakes.  

Wanna make the cakes? Just Open up your good ol' Joy Of Cooking and make the standard pancake recipe.  YES! Who knew, right?  Well- Brad did.  For the topping?  Just throw some cut apples in the frying pan with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and a little bit of water and cook until soft. Voila! Your kids will love you even more than they do now! 

Ok. Onward: my obsession with thread, material and my new sewing machine, which I love like a human.. Boooring.  I know. But, I think you may have to get used to it. Capice?

I got into applique this weekend which was very exciting for me.  The birds (which were appliqued on) are in the process of getting their little legs embroidered on, and then I'll embroider around the shape of their body too. Then I'll try and quilt this sucker.  I was messing around with the free motion quilting this weekend.  WOW!  It is so hard.  Way too hard to chance messing up an almost-finished quilt with.  Even with the tips I found on the internet...it's clear I need a lot of practice and maybe a few lessons.  Anyone out there free-motioning?

And...see that cute heater?  I love it so much.  I  saw it over and over in photos on the Posie blog and finally bought for the girls room a few months back from here.  It works amazingly well and the girls huddle up to it several times a day, everyday.  The quilt you see is the finished one from the Posie pattern I showed you last week.  I learned a lot making it.  Mostly, I learned how much I have yet to learn.

Anyway, I do believe that's a wrap for this morning.  I'm onto embroidering bird legs. 

 

scenes from winter

Our Winter. Perfect weather for staying in, drinking hot soup, having a cup of black tea with lots of honey and cream.

Ok.  It's not that cold, like you East Coasters.  We can still grow lettuce and go out for a quick jaunt on the beach.  Then let's go out thrifting to find cheap material and little containers for all things sewing!!!!! By the way, I truly "quilted" my first baby-size quilt. Straight lines up and down (pretty straight at least) and easy-peasy on the new machine. (And no, I'm not having a baby.)

The garden is windblown and sad.  It's hailing today! We just don't see that too often, round here.  Rainbows come and go. I can't get my office/studio space organized. The days pass too fast.  I forget to do unimportant things like laundry.

We are on the 1st graders school schedule: early rise, brrrrrr, making breakfast and doing my best to come up with  healthy lunches. 

On that note, hearing the flu is bad this year, doing lots of chicken broth and high quality supplements every day. I'm not saying we won't get sick this Winter, just saying we haven't yet! As you know, I'm not big on meat.  So when we eat it, it's high quality, pastured, raised consciously (that is, as consciously as you can raise an animal that is going to be killed for food.)  The chickens we buy from Whole Foods come from here.  

I might as well share this now about the bone broth because I've been meaning to and it's such a part of our Winter routine.....Once a week, we roast a chicken in the dutch oven with herbs and veggies, eat it for dinner, then cook the carcass in the same dutch oven with all those drippings in there from the chicken and all the leftover roasted veggies. Add enough water to cover the chicken and a few tablespoons of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar.  Then we strain the broth, put it in mason jars, and when it cools...back into the fridge.  It's powerful nutrition.  (The lemon juice -or vinegar-brings out the dense nutrition inside the chicken bones.) Getting at least 8 meals out of one chicken is pretty rad. No?  We add rice noodles to the broth for the kids.  Fun fun fun. Yum yum yum. 

Have any interesting (or not interesting) Winter routines you want to share?

A Christmas Card.

It's been a wonderful, blessed week around here.  So much love and goodness and family.  And I sit here, on Christmas afternoon, just downright teary with thankfulness. 

I'm peeking forward into the New Year, and yes, maybe wondering with a wee bit of healthy anticipation what creativity will sprout forward in 2013.  Mostly though, just being with the last of this year's moments. The giggles of little girls as they play with new games. A husband resting on the couch with a new book. And a mama who will probably play around with her new love of (and very first try at) needlepoint in a little bit. Another cup of tea perhaps? By the twinkles of Christmas lights? Or a walk on the beach, bundled and warm. O To Be Merry and Bright. 

A quite impromptu photo of us to share our immediate love and wishes for a Merry (last few hours of) Christmas and a Happy New Year To All!

Good Tidings.

Hello.  I am going to share a few things today and then I am planning take a little break for the Holiday. My birthday is this week too.  I am proud, happy and thankful to be fantastically 41.  Because of that, I'm lucky enough to be doing a small bit of socializing with dear ones.  I'll need all my energy to try and find something appropriate to wear for these occasions.  Something beyond stained jeans and second-hand Old Navy long sleeved tees (my personal fashion statement.)  I do wish I was more fashionable...but evidently, not enough.

I wanted to share with you that I made these cookies.  Don't they look fantastic?  Mine came out looking like "Peppermint Poo-Poos."  It's hard to make a brown cookie look good in a photo, or rather it was for me, and I eventually gave up. Luckily, they taste not like poo at all. (I had to try about 6 of them to make absolute sure.) .....My goodness, you have to keep the humor going alongside all the intensity of being a human in this day and age.  If there was not potty humor, I don't know what I would do with myself. 

Here where I live, the sun is high and bright today.  I did see little minuscule ice crystals on the lawn and knew full well it to be the extent of my White Christmas. I am floating into the end of this year with a bit of tenderness...as I believe we all are.  Also much joy, love and thanks.  A sunny sky, beautiful handmade snowflakes made by my angel babies, Harry Connick Jr. on the stereo, and Holiday cookies that look like little turds.  I'm not sure what else there is to say, my darlings. ....Merry, Merry Chirstmas.

what can happen

found out about the school massacre just after posting this last night. so I took out all the text I had and am replacing it with a moment to pause....

a reminder to love deeply and be thankful for this moment with my own self and family and to fully give from that love. 

a hope that we can unite together, open our minds and hearts and make whatever changes are necesary so that this most horrible of devistations never happens again.

XO

 

 

 

Go Green.

I'm into eating green things.  I force greens on my kids most nights.  Leafy greens.  Either by way of a small salad or steamed greens (collards, kale, cabbage, etc...) all of which I am committed to plucking on a daily basis from our backyard garden and not having to buy ever again.  (Goal.)

There is something about greens that drive me happily crazy.  Especially kale.  But also reaching as far as seaweed.  I teach my girls that greens make you beautiful outside and in.  And if that doesn't work, I tell them: eat your greens or no dessert.  Both women and kids need LOTS of calcium and dark greens provide plenty along with many other easily absorbed vitamins and minerals.

Anyway.  There are other ways to get greens around my house.  You can have them on popcorn, for example. This is an idea passed onto me by a fantastic raw foodie whom I lived next door to for a number of years.  She taught me about many healthy food thingy's.  But one of the most interesting was Green Popcorn.

Made with the powder you see above and also some Nutritional Yeast and salt, you can make some awesome healthy popcorn.  The friend who introduced me to this yummy snack, puts many different powdered green things on her popcorn. So much, she once told me, that the underside of her fingernails are gooped with green powder after watching a movie on cable. We don't do as much gooping around here. Just a few sprinkles as the kids don't notice it too much that way, and also, the powder I am showing here -Health Force Vitamineral Green-is quite expensive.  But, as far as I can tell, it's the highest grade of powdered greens on the market today.  It is packed with so many amazingly powerful greens and clearly the company is highly conscious.  (I've been buying it at Whole Foods, but am sure there is a much cheaper online source.) There are plenty of other powdered greens you could buy (maybe you even have some old bottle of Spirulina sitting in your cupboard somewhere!)

Oh... and in addition to having it on popcorn and in smoothies, I have also been dumping a tablespoon of the Vitamineral into a cup of water every morning.  Can't taste it at all and.... well....might as well detox a little before that morning cup of Joe. Right? Right.

By the way....I will be having a really neat giveaway here very soon.  I rarely have giveaways....but I just know you'll love this and I must share! After all, it's the holiday season.

Until then....Happy Greening!

(And, so you know, I receive no compensation, financial or otherwise, by mentioning products on my site.  Duh. I just want to share! )

XO

C

 

 

real plans

What I want to do today: Get the kitchen cabinets sprayed white, have new carpet put in both the girls rooms, paint all three of our bedrooms, find new knobs for the girls thrifted dresser I just painted.

What I will do today: Find new knobs for the girls thrifted dresser I just painted. (Maybe.)

What I want to do today: Put a corrugated steel top on the chicken coop roof before the rain comes again, order pea gravel for an outdoor landscaping project, start another garden. 

What I will do today: Bother The Brad about getting the corrugated steel top on the chicken coop roof before the rain comes again.

What I want to do today: Make Apple Walnut Bread, clean all the Thanksgiving remains from the fridge, do all the laundry.

What I will do today: Look at the huge bowl of apples and wonder to myself if I will pull it together to make Apple Walnut Bread.

What I want to do today: Go thrift store shopping and find more antique treasures (like I did at Saturday's Flea Market...see the shell bowl.)

What I will do today: Pay Bills.

What I want to do today: Take care of my sniffling and coughing 6-year-old, read books to both kids, make hot lemon juice with extra honey, serve steamed greens from the garden. 

What I will do today: Ditto.

the day after

I'm tired.  Feet hurt.  And that's what having 17 people over for Thanksgiving dinner will do to a person. To me, the cooking and hostessing thing is still a relatively new concept.  It went over well.  But I hope all the guests realized that the "Pie Wars" were totally in jest.  Of course I don't think my Cherry Pie was better than The Brad's Apple!  It wasn't much better, anyway.  Maybe just a little bit.  Hey- if you can't playfully compete with your spouse here and there, it's gonna be one heck of a boring marriage.  That's what I say.

I must say in all seriousness that I am happy to take over the responsibility of Thanksgiving for the years to come.  You know, to pull my hair back, push up my sleeves and really get in there with all things holiday. It's my turn to be the server and hostess for our nana, grandma and aunts, all who have done more than their fair share for the last 30 40 and 50 years in the kitchen. I just need a week to recover afterwards is all. Or heck, a month even.

One really good thing about being the hostess is that there is no time for a second plate of food (you have to get dessert ready.)  The bad side is you wake up extra hungry and instantly commit carbicide with 5 potato pancakes and 3 large helpings of stuffing. 

Sigh. I'm fully bloated.  A blotation device.  Tired and really just plain flat out devoid of energy.  It's taking everything I can to just wish you a wonderful rest of your holiday weekend.

So: Have a wonderful rest of your holiday weekend.