lady cordelia

under the covers

Jeez.  I fell off the face of the internet because I got a sinus infection.  Having a social 5-year-old sure does bring a lot of colds to this house of ours.  And maybe it's because I hardly ever sit down and relax, but this one really got me.  I almost got real sick a few weeks ago and I really got sick this time. And, I had just been thinking in the days previous to getting sick...wow..I wish I would sit down and finish knitting that hat for my friend.  Yeah, the same hat I started a month ago.  But, who can sit down and knit for hours on end with two small children, mountains of laundry, a little farm and house to be tended & plenty of food that needs to be cooked and served!?

I have super big "homesteading icons" out there in the blogging world whom I respect to the millionth degree and I have decided they must have help in their home of some form.  Someone else is cleaning out the chicken coop or doing the laundry, no?  Someone else wiping a baby butt or two?  Or, maybe I'm just hopelessly horrible at multi-tasking.   It's possible.  My husband would say it's a rock solid bet that I'm horrible at multi-tasking.  (Rude.)

Anyhoo.  My Mammy came and spent the night because The Brad is out of town (and has been oh so very busy when he is not out of town.)  And, well, I was falling apart.   My mama was also sick but we drank hot lemon water together and had a very peaceful time and I had to explain to my oldest daughter why sometimes Mama needs her Mama.  And then I had time to sit in bed and finish knitting the hat and even start another knitting project.  I also read and read and read the biography of Alice Waters and Chez Panisse.  And THAT was so fun because it got me interested in cooking again.  (I am like...on for a month and then off for a month with my cooking passion.  Its terribly depressing.  I wish I loved food like Alice Waters does.) 

I even started perusing one of her cookbooks again and decided that YES I am very excited about cooking and NO I can't wait another minute to totally make a ridiculous attempt at a Goat Cheese Souffle tomorrow.  And I also got very happy about growing more food and adding to my random wild and messy veggie boxes that pop up here and there, wherever I can fit them, around the property.  Oh.  I got so bonkers about a new one I have planned that I pretty much just burned out the last little bit of energy I had saved
to write
the blog. 
Poof.

Wow.  Well.  I'm spent.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!  As for me, I am rather enjoying lounging around reading and knitting as if I have nothing better to do.  Luckily my girls are knee deep in books and imaginary play. Perfect! They'll hardly notice I'm under the covers.

Ciao.

weekending with my pal amanda

weekending (what a weekend.)

Hey: check out what I found this weekend.

Yes, that is my a** in $160.00 jeans.   Oh Yaaaa.   Only $3.50 at what us locals call Old Folks Thrift Store. Nevermind why we call it that.  Just don't confuse it with New Thrift, Mr. Munchkins or Stinky's.  Anyhoo: check it out:  I never thought I would own 7 for All Mankind jeans.  (Nor was I really all that upset about not owning them, if you catch my dirft.  I mean, really.   Who needs to spend that much on jeans?  I'm lost on the point totally.  But, hey.  Put those pricey jeans in my face for $3.50 and I'll be super happy to brag about wearing them.)

Then yesterday I went yard-sailing with my favorite thrifting buddy (sans kids!).  She picked me up at 8 a.m. sharp.   Unfortunately, all the yard sales we hit really left a lot to be desired.  That is, until I took my chances with an Italian espresso maker (and also a milk frother. )

Oh. My. Goodness.  I will never use a regular coffee maker again.  Never.  Never.  Never.  I AM SO HIGH  ON CAFFEINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Plus it looks so rad in my kitchen.   I feel so Italian.  Even the guy at the yard sale told me it is "way Italian" of me to buy this coffee maker.   Wow.  You just never know what amazing things can happen to one girl in one weekend.  Me: an Italian coffee drinking person in $160 jeans.  Holy.  Freaking. Moley.  

And wait, that's not all.  We found a hummingbird in our living room.  (Our 5-year-old said she saw a very big bug and we should come look.) We thought she might die, she had been trying to get out the glass window for sometime.  She rested in my shirt and looked at me for a good long while.  She didn't move.  Her tiny black eyes just blinking.  (I think she knew I was wearing $160 jeans.  She just had that look in her eye.)  Then just as we were going to put her in a little open-topped box so she could rest and hopefully regain her stregnth, she suddenly flew away like lightning to the tallest tree around.  

Recap: Wearer of Expensive Jeans.  Italian Coffee Drinker.  Hummingbird Saver.  Can you improve on that? Perhaps not. Ciao.

weekending with amanda.

hello buttermilk cake, good bye paper towels.

Buttermilk Cake (with Pears.)  

Quick.  Easy.  So yummy. Light.  Not too sweet. Good with a little cup of coffee.  Or, how the girls had it last night with fresh whipped cream on top.  (My three-year-old begged for whipped cream, I made it, and the whole way through eating her cake she said.."I love whipped cream!  Then, after her plate was licked clean she looked at me and  said: "I hate whipped cream.")

Anyhoo: I used the recipe from Swanson's book but found a very similar one online at her site. Almost the same recipe I used but it features a different fruit than the book version, which was plums.  I used pears.  So see, you can use almost any fruit.  The online recipe also calls for salt (instead of sugar) to sprinkle on the top.  (Really?  Salt? I would use sugar.  But, then again, that's just me.)

So.  There is that.  

And.  That is that.

Here's my big news: Ready?  K.  Hold on to your seat cause this is heavy: We've decided to stop using paper towels.  Ya. Ya.  [nodding].  Maybe all of you are already fully grooving non-paper-towel users and I am late on the bandwagon.  Or.  Maybe you are like I used to be (up to last week that is ): you use plenty of paper towels but have a bit of a mental eco-block about it.  

Sure, sure, I hear you: one uses more water washing the cloth towels that replace the paper towels. Ya, Ya.  I hear you, I get it.  But, life is not perfect.  One must choose the lesser of two evils.   If I  just throw a few dish towels in the laundry with each load is it really wasting water?  No.  So: NO paper towels in the house.  

None.  Not even one roll. Because if I had even a little "emergency" roll  in the house, it would be dangerous.  Know what I mean?  I'd be all: "Oh, jeez, one paper towel won't hurt.  I just need to clean this spilled yogurt off the table."  But then, you know...before I know it, I'd be totally out of control again and, once again, a full-on paper towel junkie.  That is what I was.  A junkie.  Well, a moderate junkie.  But a junkie none-the-less. Yes me!   I come off so eco-consious but know this: it's really a work in progress for me.  

I am deconstructing myself and reconstructing myself one day at a time.  There are pieces of my consciousness that are still rock hard.  The paper towel piece was so...you know, so formed and almost unchippable it seemed.   But then, I take away the paper towels and I find I'm living closer to the source of my joy.  Closer to the real me.  And I love that. Ya.  I solidly love that.   I love it so much.  When I see a dishtowel lying around now I just kind of say to it "Hey, you."    And I kind of just take a deep breath and shake my head a tiny bit in a thoughtful way.  You know.  I just do that.  So.  Yeah.  I feel good about it.   Really great.  I could just go on and on. 

 

joy moments

Happy Friday to you!

I am going to keep Friday's Joy Pockets going.  (Did I miss something in the demise of this wonderful tradition?)  I think it's a lovely way to finish the week.  (I call them my Joy Moments as I like to include "This Moment" with soulemama.)

::joy moments::

:: Time with Nana at what I declare to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.  The same one my husband grew up playing on. 

:: A stop in at a beautiful "mini-forest" near the beach where the monarchs migrate (thousands of miles) each year.  (Hard to see - the iphone isn't the answer to everything evidentally- but those "clumps" you can make out in the trees are hundreds of monarchs resting together. )

::Fresh squeezed juice for my girls everyday.  I know I mentioned this yesterday.  But-- wow.  So happy about this.  I especially love the beet stains on their upper lips all day.  (Don't forget, you can find good juicers on Craigslist!  I bought mine "used" off  a juicing-fanatic friend who had several.)

::This movie, which breaks the heart in the best of ways and mirrored The Brad's and my belief that there is much more good than bad in the world. All is possible with one simple, natural act of love. (Why only one? Because one good turn deserves another.)

See you later friends, have a magical weekend in your beautiful life.    

(How do I know life is magical?  Fragile monarchs migrate thousands of miles on paper thin wings.)

A weekend of lights and gifts

Pretty, no? First time stringing twinkly Christmas lights in the garden.  Kids will really bring out that Christmas magic in a person, you know what I mean?  I love my kids so much I really think my heart is going to explode.   They inspire me to make the world a more sparkly place.  And a Chirstmas-lighty place.  You know what I mean?

I love Christmas lights.  I love my kids.  I love this little area of our yard.  Especially since all the millions of leaves are temporarily cleaned up.

Now. Let's talk knit:

I woke up in a panic last night because it seems, once again, I set the bar too high.  This time, the "bar" is making Christmas gifts. Knitting them, mostly.  I'm not a good knitter, but after a year of doing it, I'm ok.  I have tenacity.  And I persevere.

At 6:46 a.m. this morning I finished....(drum roll please)...The Big Lace Scarf! (modeled by daughter.)

Then I finished the Hurricane Hat! Modeled begrudgingly by my dad.  He's from the Bronx. Got it?   He really doesn't have time for crap like modeling a imperfectly knitted hat that makes him "look homeless."   My dad doesn't mince words.  (I fully received that gene. It rocks.)

Both gifts turned out on the rough side. I know you'll say..."commme onnn....they look grrreat!"  But, photography can also make my skin look perfect.  So.  Cut it out right now. If you saw the top of the Hurricane hat, you would think quietly to yourself..."Man, Hurricane Katrina was less devistating!"

So, you'll understand that I was hesitant to give the gifts away because they weren't "perfect."  But, give them away to the "giftees" I did, so they could be worn now, when cold weather is here (because you can be SURE I'm not re-knitting them AGAIN. Hell. No.)

Two down.  And more imperfect knitted gifts to come!  How lucky for the receivers!

I wonder if my knitted gifts are those that get shoved in the back of the closet once unwrapped and fakely oogled over.  Hmm.  That's a very sad thought.  I want to cry.  Guess I'll have to go knit to make myself feel better.  Try, try again!  I love to knit.  I really do.  Sniff.

 

 linking with Miss Amanda.

an artistic messy blur of a weekend.

Good Morning!  Up and at'em! 

I get in these creative flows that have really no foresight or organization. A blur of yarn and material, cleaning products (natural of course), recipes and food surround me.  In other words, I want to clean, cook, knit and sew.  And two children to take care of in the midst of it.  (Yes, in the midst of it, I make myself take them to the park.  I don't really want to, per se, but I do it anyway.)

First, let me talk to you about the Big Lace Scarf.  I call it a Big Lace Pain in the A**.  I love, love, love the pattern.  But.  You can not..let me rephrase that..I can not successfully pull out rows on this thing when I make a mistake.  All the yarn overs and SK2P's and all that stuff...come on!  How in the hell can one make sense of a pulled out row?  You can't.  Or, rather I can't.  And so I have to start All. Over. Again. when I make a mistake.  But I'm determined.  I will finish the Big Lace A** in time to give it for a Christmas gift.  I will.  I will.  I will.

So, there was that mayhem this weekend.  The trying ever-so-hard not to hang myself from the rafters when, for the 9th time, I am pulling out about 30 rows.  I'm sure it isn't healthy for me, The Big Lace Scarf... but it beats chain smoking or binge drinking or abusive relationships so I'm feeling pretty ok about it as far as obsessions go.

Then, I decided I wanted to make some sock elephants for a non-profit that saves Asian elephants (I will tell you more about the organization in a later post.).  I put about 7 hours into sock elephants. One turned out hella ugly.  The other just a little bit worse than that.  I emailed photos of my sock elephants to the head of the organization who I had been emailing back and forth with.  I had been trying to figure out how to help her and so came up with the sock elephant idea.  I have not heard from her since.  I can feel her thinking to herself: How can I tell this nice lady that those sock elephants are really scary.

My mom asked me this weekend:  Why do you take on so much?  Sock elephants?  Now?  It's right before Christmas! Don't you have enough projects going on?

DUH Mom!  Just trying to save an elephant or two!  K???????????

Then, I realized mid weekend I needed to clean The Brads studio.  WOAH!  This is not a simple or easy task.  He is a photographer and does all his own matting and framing.  Which means there is a LOT of paper waste that needs to be recycled.  AND, he does not pick any of it up.  So, I left all 800 lbs. of the recycling up at the top of the stairs for him so he can't really get into the studio unless he removes it.  Smart, right? 

Then I did a deeper clean on my sewing/craft/whatever room. Pretty no?  Not perfect, but certainly ready for the finishing of older daughters quilt.  (Oh, and for making more sock elephants! Much to the annoyance of the head of the elephant organization.) K.  Still with me?  Come on!  Keep up, would you?  I then had an impromptu dinner with some friends (The Brad was gone all weekend for work, by the way.) And I tacked this recipe  WHICH rocks.  Though it came out a little dry.  Still, I fully impressed my dinner guests! Wow.  Can you imagine if I would have showed them my sock elephants?  Right.  It would have ruined everything.  Which is why I did not.  And I why I will not show them to you. Ever.  I know you say you would not laugh.  But you would.  And then my feelings would be hurt.   I'm ever so sensitive like that.

posting late to weekending with A.

 

weekending into the holidays

Went upstairs to the room
where sewing machine lives.
I hardly go there
cause
I hardly sew.
The girls go up to this fantastic room sometimes when The Brad is working.  They mess it up real bad. 
And jump on the pink camo mini-trampoline (that will never ever make its way downstairs.)
They make it hella messy. 
Cause a bunch of pens and paper and dress-up clothes and other toys are up there too.
Every few months, I clean it up.
Then, after all that, I'm usually too tired to sew.

But.  It's time to make presents.  So, I cleaned it halfway and used the rest of my energy to start a twin size quilt for oldest daughter.

All thrifted material that I have collected over the last while.  Cool, no?  You betcha.  Way.  Cool.

Someday I would like to construct quilts that are a little more, shall we say, tidy.
But, I would probobly have to use pins and measuring tape and stuff like that.
Oh well.

But, anyway.
I love this room.
And I like to sew.
And I like to re-use material.
So I think I'll be getting better at this.
And in the meatime.
Things still turn out cute.
Even though.
My sqaures
don't match up.
Hey.
You know what?
They're pretty close.

 weekending with my pal amanda.

music, night-driving and persimmons & toast

Last Thursday I drove to LA, spent the night with one of my dearest friends who I've known for almost 20 years, then headed out to the studio of another wonderful old friend.  That friend is recording three new songs of mine.  I am very exicted to share the songs with you.  However, it's not time yet. Dang!!!!

In the span of about 8 hours I sang three vocal tracks, with background vocals, and did two acoustic guitar tracks.  Then I had to drive back.  In the dark.  In the rain. All the way home.  Three different freeways and several highways.  Didn't like that part.  I'm a night-time driving wimp.  I called The Brad a few times on the road, almost in tears cause I didn't know to stay on the 118 when it turned into the 23. Or something like that.  Whatever. I'm not too good with directions. When I got home he said: Really, honey? You got lost?  How many times have you done that drive? Really? And then he said Awwwwwww.  And patted my back like I was three.  I punched him a little. 

Sometimes men who are good with directions can really make you feel stupid. 

Sang my butt off though, in the studio.  I can do that.  So: na-na-na-na-na (say that like a three year old.)

So.  Excited.  I am.  About.  The new songs.  

K.

Also:

Toast with butter and fresh persimmons mushed all over it.  
If you think that seems weird, you and The Brad would get along great.
If not, you can sit by me at the breakfast table and we can share.
Wanna?

weekending with Amanda.

 

weekending

We fully punkin'-patched it.  I used to hate Halloween.  Don't like orange and black together.  Don't like candy.  Now I have kids.  I'll deal with halloween.  Maybe even like it a little bit.  Kids'll do that to ya.

Apart from that, a mild weekend, not much to report. Ice cream. Even though she has a cold.  Whoopsie.  Oh well.

Papa and Nana visited.  Papa does the New York Times crossword with a pen. Always. Also, he beat me in 3 out of 4 games of one-on-one basketball.  Papa was raised in the Bronx.  He is smart and cool and kind of looks like a movie star when he has his sunglasses on. 
(Want to point out: if I did the New York Times crossword with a pen, it would be disastrous. Come to think of it, a pencil would be equally bad, if not worse, as I would erase so very often that there would soon be large holes in the newspaper.  Eventually, the crossword would all be just one big hole.  Then I would have reason to be finito with the crossword.   I would be relieved.  

::::::

In closing, this afternoon, if you must know, I cleaned the toilets. I must do it at least once a week or I get a little mental.  When I look at the toilets, and they look at me, and we both know it's been a week, I think of this quote from Samuel Beckett: "...I can't go on, I'll go on."  Yeah.  I can be a little dramatic sometimes.  

super lots

Oh my.  so much to share.

First: The Brad.  Love of my life.  Prince Charming.  He got me the new iphone (4s) for an early 40th bday pres. (my bday  is in December.)  I was so excited about this that I was one of the ding-dongs waiting in line at the Apple store on the day the new thing came out last friday.  I kind of felt cool, you know, hanging with all the techie-wechies in line.  Yes.  Definitely.  I was just all sooooo cool.  And stuff.  And I met a really nice, older and very wealthy Jewish grandma in line.  We talked and she taught me amazing things about the iphone that I never knew! Then my number was called and I had to go.  It was a bittersweet parting.  Me and Jewish Grandma.  I had a Jewish grandma once.  But trust me, she would not have understood the iphone one little bit.   She made a nice potato salad though.

Know what else? Until The Brad gets home from work this weekend we have very little money in our account.  But, I'm thinking I should wipeout the last $25 and upgrade my operating system on my computer. You know.  So I can get the Cloud thingy to work.  I really need to, what do you call it, like...link my iphone and computer together.  So I can be all in order and stuff.  Dinner for kids or upgrade operating system?  DUH!  Hello new operating system!!!!!!!!

Then, as I was all into my computer and iphone and stuff.  I remembered I needed to hear the new Coldplay single.  I listened to it about 50 times.  And I was so happy.   I'm not like the biggest Coldplay fan ever on the face of the earth, or anything, but I do like them quite a bit.  The new single however, really did it to me.  The only problem with this song is that is has an ending.

(Also in the news: I hear from my friend/producer that drums are being cut on my new songs on Tuesday.  I trust that it all will work out and soon enough we'll be opening hearts.)

Oh gosh.  What else?  The Brad and I spent a lot of time talking last night about the possibility of me taking some sort of martial art or self defense class.  I feel the sudden need to kick ass.   The Brad used to know how to street fight.  He learned how in a dojo when he was about 18.  He taught me some moves. 
So.
Better watch out.
Just saying.

Gosh.  I really love that I married someone exactly like The Brad.  A street-fighting iphone buyer.  Wow.  Really.  This is such excellent choosing on my part.  I love you darling!!! And I always will.

La te da te da.  What a beautiful day.   I can see it.

weekending with my pal A.