Smelanie's Stuff!

Movin' on up.

2009-08-02T10:01:00.005-03:00

Smelanie's Stuff has a new home! Here's the address...

http://smelaniesstuff.wordpress.com/

See you fools there!

Tree of Life.

2009-07-31T16:20:00.004-03:00

I came across a couple of wooden hoops at Frenchy's for 10 cents a while ago, and immediately decided I'd try using them to make a hanging for the window modeled after hand-made Tree of Life jewelry pendants I've been seeing all over the Internets. So I gave it a whirl today, and ended up with this!

I'm happy with how it turned out, considering I had no frickin clue what I was doing! The wire I used was pretty heavy and hard to twist, so I plan on getting some lighter weight stuff and making some more... maybe I'll get brave and try it on a smaller scale as a pendant. The sky's the limit!

To braid a rug.

2009-07-30T11:03:00.008-03:00

I've always wanted to try making a braided rug. So this week, that's exactly what I did. Here it is!

I used 2 pillowcases I picked up at a thrift store for 50 cents a piece, an old pair of brown corduroys, and some fabric from my stash. The entire process was definitely a big learning experience for me... it takes quite a bit of fabric to make one of these puppies! Sewing the braids together is kinda tedious. And it works best if the strips of fabric are at least 2 inches wide... you'll notice my inner braids are foolishly tiny; the outer braids are nice and fat and definitely the way to go next time.

Being a practice run 'n all, I didn't make it very big. For now, it's found a place in my living room, beneath a white wicker stand.

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with this little learning experience of mine, and plan on gathering some rags together and making something larger sometime soon! Yeah!

2009-07-14T14:54:00.006-03:00

I was cleaning the bedroom yesterday and came across a little sewing needle I was sure was lost and gone forever. Here's a tip: the bed isn't the best place to do some sewing. The needle had caught on a blanket and flew right out of my hand. A needle isn't really something you want floating around in the bed or on the floor and I searched high and low. Couldn't find it anywhere and boy was I savage.

This happened a month or so ago, and I'd pretty much forgotten all about it. Imagine my surprise yesterday when I finally found the thing all the way across the room underneath the register. How the heck did it get all the way over there?

I picked the little bugger up and thought to myself, I'm gonna make a felt needle book and never search for this needle again!

So this afternoon, I whipped one up.

There. That'll learn 'em.

Penny rug for your thoughts.

2009-07-13T12:45:00.005-03:00

Well, wow. Been a while, eh?

Let's see if I can't get back into this thing. We'll start out nice and easy: my latest craft project.

Penny rugs.

What's a penny rug? A penny rug is a decorative mat made from stacked felt circles sewn together with a blanket stitch. They were most popular in the Victorian era as thrifty homemakers would save scraps of wool and create something new. Coins were used as templates, which is where the penny rug gets its name. They were used to adorn tables, stands, and mantles - they never touched the floor.

I learned about penny rugs from a crafty lady while visiting my parents last week. I think they're the bee's knees and immediately set my mind on making one. Here's the result!

And here it is in action on the coffee table!

I had so much fun I decided to make another one this weekend. Haven't decided where it'll end up yet, though!

This is such a great craft project. It's easy, cheap, and fun. What else can a Smelanie ask for?

And there you have it. My latest craftings. I've got lots more stuff from the past few months to share... now to get my butt in gear and actually post them. Stay tuned!

Want more finger puppets?

2009-03-07T15:54:00.006-04:00

You've come to the right place!

YAY!!

NOM NOM NOM

2009-03-03T12:39:00.014-04:00

B and I spent this past Friday evening in the kitchen, baking cinnamon rolls.

I've attempted cinnamon rolls a time or two already this winter. They turned out okay. Have I mentioned that a kinda suck at baking?

The first batch (my first attempt ever!) didn't look anything like cinnamon rolls. The dough was too soft and the ends squished together when I cut them. So I had to bake them on their side. The icing I made was more like a glaze, and just melted right off. They actually tasted pretty good - they just weren't pretty. Needless to say, I didn't bother with pictures.

Attempt #2 yielded slightly better results, but still far from perfect. Half of the dough was cinnamoned and rolled up and baking in the oven when I realized I forgot the f*ckin egg! F*CK! I ended up baking the eggless rolls, and mixing an egg into the second half of the dough. They looked pretty enough, but didn't taste as good as the uglies I baked up the first time. And I messed up the icing again. D'oh!

Typing it all out, I guess up until Friday night this whole baking cinnamon rolls thing has been quite the racket. Well it's a good thing I'm not one to give up easily. Attempt #3 was a whole 'nother story. The rolls turned out great. Better than great. They were mind-blowingly, earth-shatteringly, pants-shittingly delicious!

Luckily for me, I've married a man who can bake.

See? DELICIOUS.

We had heaps of fun, and both decided we need to bake goodies together more often. I'll be sure to post the results!

*drools*

DELICIOUS CINNAMON ROLLS
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
3 1/4 cups of flour

Mix in order given. Roll out on floured board. Spread with butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. Roll up like a jelly roll, slice and bake. Bake in 350F oven until golden brown, about 20 mins.

ICING
3 tbsp butter or margarine
2 cups icing sugar
1/8 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla

Beat butter, 1 cup icing sugar, and salt together thoroughly until light and fluffy. Use mixer at medium speed or beat by hand. Add remaining cup of sugar and milk alternately, beating until very smooth. Add vanilla. Drop by tbsp on top of cinnamon rolls while still warm.

Frankenfinger.

2009-02-13T13:51:00.002-04:00

ARRRGHHRAH!

2009-02-11T15:42:00.007-04:00

I'm done with Winter. Finished. Screw the snow. To hell with the freezing cold.

It's official.

I'm ready for Spring.

Sadly, this Winter thing will surely hang on for another month or two at least... What the hell is up with that, anyway? Stupid winter.

Now that that's out of the way, let's get down to business. May I present to you my latest Salvation Army Thrift Store find:

Hell yeah!

I certainly didn't need another basket - I've managed to amass an impressive pile over the past while - but I just couldn't leave this one behind. There's something about it that reminds me very much of an old square basket my parents had when I was a kid. It's a little strange, but I'm not really sure why. Maybe it's made from the same material. Looks like corn plant leaves to me.

So anyway, I love it. I got it home and decided it would be the perfect spot for the embroidery floss and felt I purchased at Michael's craft store last weekend. Much better than the Michael's bag I had been storing it in up until today!

It's perfect. I'm so pleased!

So I might as well explain the felt and embroidery floss. It has been what's got me occupied on the crafting front for the last little bit, after all.

I decided to go into Michael's over the weekend, and look around at what they have. I love that store. It's one of my favourites. I ended up waltzing out with a bunch of felt sheets and a huge pack of embroidery floss. Why? I don't know. I don't even know how to sew. I mean, I know the very basics... I can sew on a button. I can sew a straight line. But that, friends, is about the extent of it.

Since I had all of this felt and embroidery floss, I figured it was time I learned a few different stitches. I figured a simple, easy, fun way to do it would be to make crazy-looking finger puppets. So that's what I've been doing!

It's been a lot of fun!

Smelanie and the Beanstalk.

2009-02-08T11:06:00.009-04:00

Remember the bean I planted in a jar of dirt a few weeks ago just for fun? The thing has been sitting on the window sill in the kitchen and is still (miraculously) alive and well. In fact, feast your eyes on what I noticed just yesterday...

A little baby bean! I almost shit my pants!!

There's a dryer in our living room.

2009-01-28T13:43:00.013-04:00

It's pushed back into a corner, kind of out of the way. But it's still in the living room, and it's a little bit foolish.

Now don't get me wrong... I love having our very own washer and dryer. For the first time in 10 years we don't have to pay to wash our clothes, and it is a fucking luxury and I love it.

So I totally accept the location. I mean honestly, I'd rather have to sleep on top of the damn thing every night than have to go to a laundromat. No lie!

When we moved in, I hung a picture up on a nail above the dryer. It's a weird charcoal sketch we got at a garage sale years ago for a couple bucks.

What with all the "nest feathering" I've been doing lately, it was only a matter of time before I got thinking I wanted something different above the dryer. Maybe something with more colour. I picked up a canvas for really cheap at a discount store, and got busy this past weekend.

Here's what I ended up with...

I do like the red, but all in all I think it's a bit of a miss! I want something bigger. Maybe even a shelf? I'm not quite sure yet. It's definitely going to take some more thought...

I like how it turned out, but I think it's more appropriate for the bedroom wall actually. I'm thinking that's probably where it will end up. Here's a close-up...

I wanted to try something a little different, so I ripped up and painted some sheet music and glued it to the canvas. Ta da.

If I come up with something I like better for the space above the dryer, I'll be sure to post 'er up. So relax. And stay tuned!

So have you heard...

2009-01-24T12:57:00.009-04:00

... that I love thrift stores? Jebus. It's all I've been writing about lately! And so it continues. I went to Value Village earlier today and found quite the gem.

It's been a long-assed time since I went to Value Village. Not since the summer. I'm not sure why, really... I just never think of it. Well, I thought of it last night, for whatever reason, and decided I'd take a run in today and look around at their shit. I've been having really good luck at the Salvation Army Thrift Store lately, so I figured what the hell.

It must have been fate. I struck gold, my friends... in the shape of a gloriously ugly, HUGE, macrame owl!

Allow me to introduce you.

Surely you're all as excited about this as I am.

He makes it official. I collect macrame owls.

I had found 2 owls more than a year ago, on separate occasions, at my dearly beloved charity garage sale. But two isn't really a collection, is it? A third of anything is key. I've been watching out for that crucial third for months and months. Nothing. I really wanted to boast a macrame owl collection, and I was starting to think it would never happen...

So here we are. Thanks, Value Village. I have a macrame owl collection! Boo yeah!

Here's a pic of the three stooges in action...

:)

Speaking of nice finds...

2009-01-23T09:44:00.008-04:00

I recently decided that I was fed-up with the cushions that came with our love seat. They were huge and misshapen and ugly as sin- and not in the good way, either. I decided I needed to spice things up a little bit. With a WalMart gift card I got for Christmas in tow, I headed out on the hunt.

Well, I was pretty much horrified at the price of cushions there. The very cheapest ones they had were 10 bucks. Which doesn't sound like much at all, sure. But you have to keep in mind just how cheap I am. I am one cheap bastard. Though I prefer to call it "thrify"...

I am one thrify bastard. It wasn't even that the money would be coming out of my own pocket. I had a gift card, man!

But see, I didn't like any of the cushions they had there all that much anyway. They were bland and boring and totally not what I had in mind. It simply wasn't meant to be. I ended up picking up a wine-coloured throw for the couch instead. But I still needed some cushions.

Looked like a job for... you guessed it... the Salvation Army Thrift Store! So off I went.

And look at what I found.

99 cents baby. 99 glorious cents.

I went back a week later and found another one for the same price!

Look at those tassels! Gotta love 'em!

So... it looks like I've started a new collection of funky, ugly (in the good way) couch cushions. I'll be keeping my eyes pealed for more great finds...

Action shot!!

:)

New found appreciation.

2009-01-22T13:29:00.007-04:00

I've really come to appreciate my local Salvation Army Thrift Store as of late. Good thing too, what with the demise of my favourite charity garage sale. It's definitely looking like the next best thing.

I picked up a couple of picture frames last night. So I promptly had to come up with something to put in them. Naturally! It's looking like the re-decorated wall is a work-in-progress...

I took a piece of black felt and glued a dried flower onto it. Easy as pie.

This one should look familiar...

Nice finds, huh? The Salvation Army Thrift Store: Gotta love it!!

Whipped this up yesterday.

2009-01-21T14:28:00.012-04:00

We decided to re-arrange our living room furniture a couple of weekends ago. We'd had the same basic set-up in here since we moved in. The room is VERY small and I wasn't particularly crazy about the layout we had settled on in the first place. It was time for a change.

I don't really have a good "before" shot. Rest assured, it's friggin' different. I like it. It opened up the space quite a little bit... as well as an entire wall, which suddenly needed re-decorating.

Here's what the wall looked like after we re-arranged the furniture, very poorly lit...

And here's what it looks like now, also poorly lit!

That's "Three's Company" on tv, btw. :)

What I really like about this little project, is that I whipped it up in about an hour, with stuff I already had. I'm happy with what I ended up with. What's not to like about that?!

Here's a slightly better lit close-up, highlighting just how badly the walls need to be re-painted...

I've had the three largest framed pictures hanging separately in other locations for quite a while. I got the two smaller frames at thrift stores months ago, but couldn't think of anything to do with them. Until I decided to whip this up yesterday.

This one didn't have a back or glass. It was just a frame. So I made backing out of a piece of cardboard, and covered it with some wine-coloured fabric . Then I stuck on some dried flowers with Modge Podge. Love that Modge Podge!!

For this one, I cut out a sunset from the calender I had up in the kitchen last year (I save everything, people!), and glued on some dried leaves. Simple has that.

The End.

Banana bread!

2009-01-19T12:17:00.009-04:00

Have I mentioned that I kinda suck at baking?

Well, I kinda suck at baking... particularly baking from scratch.

I guess it's probably because it's just something I've never done a whole pile of. And practice does make perfect, after all.

So imagine my surprise when I decided to bake a loaf of banana bread yesterday and it actually turned out GREAT! My first time trying! I'm really proud!!

So yummy. Whoda thunk banana bread is such a snap to whip up? Here's the recipe... (thanks Mum!!)

AWESOME BANANA BREAD ANY IDIOT CAN MAKE

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups mashed, ripe bananas

HERE'S WHAT YOU DO:

Preheat oven to 350°
Grease a 9X5X3" pan
In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients
In a separate bowl, mix together wet ingredients
Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix for 1 min until uniform. Batter will be lumpy
Put in a pan and bake for 65-70 mins until a toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean

Easy as shit, huh?! Enjoy!! :D

Some math.

2009-01-15T22:02:00.003-04:00

Empty olive oil bottle + Dollarama acrylic paints + a little imagination =

Hoorah! :)

Xmas gifts for the siblings.

2009-01-15T10:15:00.011-04:00

I kinda got off-track with posting the gifts I crafted for Christmas this year, didn't I?

Along with a purchased African mask wall hanging, I gave my brother a journal I modified...

I won't bother explaining the meaning... surely it still won't make a lick of sense to anyone outside of the immediate family. It's just an inside joke from when we were kids.

I bought a notebook from the Dollar Store, and painted the cover. I printed off a black-and-white Popeye, transferred the outline to a piece of light cardboard, and painted it. Glued him on. Printed off the words, and glued them on too. I covered the whole thing with packing tape to protect it.

I made a pocket out of scrap paper on the inside cover too.

I'm happy with how it turned out. It really made my brother giggle. Besides the Dollar Store journal, I used materials I already had for this gift.... gotta love that!

Now. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the tree ornaments I made for my sister and her partner. A real shame. Remember the Beetlejuice animated series? I made Christmas tree ornaments out of various materials and painted Beetlejuice and Lydia on them. They are kinda neat.

I also painted them a picture on a big canvas I've had lying around forever.

Yep, that's an electrical tape frame. I decided to try something a little different. They really liked it!

Woo hoo!!

I kill house plants.

2009-01-14T14:22:00.010-04:00

It's sad, but true. I kill house plants. The poor things never seem to last more than a few months. It's a desperate state of affairs, really.

What's my problem? I'd love to know, too. I always feel really iffy about the watering situation... when to water, how much to water, how often... that kinda stuff. Maybe I water them too much? I don't fuckin' know.

Remember this post from a couple of months ago? Yeah. Except for the African Violet (bless its little heart), all of those plants are dead now.

I may kill house plants, but dammit, I'm determined too. I love having plants around and I'll get this house planting thing down pat sooner or later! I guess it's just gonna take some practice...

Allow me to introduce you to my current crop:

Remember my first Aloe Vera? I over watered it long ago, and the roots rotted off. So this is take two. Bruce gave it to me for my birthday, and to be honest I'm surprised the thing is still alive at all. It's a monster, and top heavy, and it's been knocked over about a million times already. Hopefully it will end up beating the odds anyway... I love Aloe Vera plants!!

A Spider Plant! Isn't it a beauty? My Mum gave it to me when I was home visiting for Christmas. I love this plant, and I hope I don't kill it. I've watered it once since I had it home, and made a note of the watering on the calender. I'm serious this time, boys.

There's the African Violet too, but I wont bother posting a picture of that. It's kinda sad looking. Clinging desperately to life, really...

And oh! I planted a bean in a jar a couple weeks ago. Just for fun. :)

So that's my current greenery. How long will they last? Stay tuned! (and wish me luck!!)

2 days, 2 necklaces. Score.

2009-01-08T11:34:00.006-04:00

Well, I replaced the clasp on my sea shell necklace and made it a little longer. Done. Since I had all my beads and stuff out, I decided to whip another little something up...

Hemp!! I'm VERY new to this. It's actually the first piece of hemp jewelry I've completed. My younger brother gave me a roll of hemp twine and some wooden beads for Christmas. And taught me how to work it. Awesome gift!

I'm pretty happy with the result. This is certainly the kind of thing I'll get better at the more I craft and experiment. I see many more pieces of hemp jewelry in my near future...

Mandatory modeling shot:

Woohoo! :)

Some bad news.

2009-01-07T19:47:00.006-04:00

I got some bad news earlier today. Brace yourself.

My dearly beloved charity garage sale is shutting down for good in a couple of weeks.

Shutting down for good.

Ack!!! The faithful reader just might understand how utterly devastated I am by this news. I love that garage sale. I've picked up all kinds of wonderful gems there over the past year and a half. I... I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do without it!

So upon hearing this bad news earlier today I decided I need a little cheering up. I decided to craft myself a new necklace.

I've been wanting to make this sea shell I picked up off the beach last summer into a necklace since, well, I picked it up off the beach last summer!

Yep. It came that way, little hole 'n all. How perfect is that?!

Here's what I ended up with.

Wheeee! There it is alright! I'm pleased with the result. After modeling it for the photo I realized that the clasp has a space so I'll be replacing it in a bit. I think I'll be making the necklace a little bit longer when I do...

But anyway, yeah. I got the job done. I soon forgot about my poor, beloved charity garage sale destined to end all too soon. 'Course now I'm thinking about it again... sniffles...

We'll DEFINITELY be taking a trip in there this weekend to look around. I'll post any findings!

Dad's birdhouse.

2009-01-03T22:29:00.008-04:00

Hey. I frickin love Modge Podge.

LOVE IT.

Have I mentioned this before?

Well anyway, here's what I gave my Dad for Christmas. I was elbow-deep in the Modge Podge for this project, and loving every second of it!

I was browsing Michael's craft store this fall and came across plain wooden birdhouses. Perfect! Dad likes birdhouses. I like to paint. Win and win.

It took me a while (like, weeks) to figure out how to paint it. I ended up deciding to use dried wild flowers I picked and pressed last summer when I visited home for a while. Did I ever Modge Podged those things. Like a bastard.

I also experimented with crackle medium for the first time! It's really neat stuff.

I think he really liked it. Score!

Mum's gift.

2008-12-31T14:59:00.017-04:00

SO. The Christmas crafting bonanza has come to its timely end. I didn't end up doing any more decorating after all. Well. Besides re-decorating the tree after it fell over!

No sir. I was totally consumed with crafting Christmas gifts and simply didn't have the time to be messing with silly decorations. Our living room was a pig sty for about two weeks. Things got pretty hairy. I don't know why I always leave stuff so late...

The good news is, though, I finished all of the gifts I wanted to finish, and the recipients seemed pleased with the fruits of my frenzied labor. I took pictures of most of what I made. But of course!

Here's what I gave my mother.

I took a glass canister I already had but wasn't using, and made a label, glued on some vintage buttons and tied some pretty yarn around the lid. Then stuffed the whole thing full of - you guessed right - assorted teas!

The back label:

Some of the teas came from a variety pack I bought. Others, from my own personal stash, which I packaged up and made labels for.

So that's that.

I also made her some earrings! Yep. I've been getting really into making jewelry lately. I'll blog about that later. It's so much fun!!

Unfortunately, I'm a dough head and forgot to take a picture of the actual earrings I gave mum for Christmas. Here's a photo of a "prototype"...

.... "prototype" because they were the first earrings I ever made, and once I figured out how to do it I ran out and bought more, different coloured beads. So she ended up with the light blue ones in the centre of the card, a red pair, and a green pair.

And that's what I gave my mum for Christmas. I think she really liked the gifts. I had a blast crafting them!

Deck the Halls!

2008-12-09T20:08:00.012-04:00

Well. I've been crafting like a crazy asshole lately. It's the Christmas Season, and I get extremely crafty around this time of year. Now that I'm an adult, I think it's a big reason why I love the Holidays so much. Gets those crafty juices flowing all over the damn place.

Why haven't I been blogging my brains out, then? Because a lot of my recent doings will be given away as Christmas gifts! And since I'm not sure who's reading this blog and who isn't these days, I really can't take the risk...

But don't worry. Christmas decorations are totally blog-safe. So here's how I've decked our halls thus far:

Our tree!

The popcorn took me two days and a whole lotta mess to string... but it was worth it!

We ended up trimming a few limbs from the bottom of the tree to even it out a little... I've actually worked shearing Christmas trees a summer or two (or three!) in the past, and am stupidly picky when it comes to our own tree.

So I saved the limbs we trimmed... had some popcorn left over and a string of beads I bought LAST year that never made it to the tree... and whipped this up.

I wish I had some more brush for the other doorway! Living in the city, unfortunately, that would mean buying some? Pft. Screw that!

And. A chain of paper gingerbread men I made last night and hung on our tv stand. I think it's kinda cute!

And that, my friends, is a little snippet of what I've been up to lately. I'll be sure to let y'all know of any more halls deckage that may go on here in the next couple of weeks!

Christmas! YAY!! :)

Well, I wanted snow...

2008-11-23T08:53:00.005-04:00

and I got it!!

Wheeeeee!!! :D

Great morning!

2008-11-19T11:13:00.013-04:00

I've been going on about wanting cinnamon toast quite a lot lately. It's been forever since I had some. Bruce makes an amazing cinnamon toast, so I've really been putting the questions to him lately about his method. I wanted to make sure I got it just right.

Well I didn't end up having to put the info to work after all... I woke up this morning to some freshly made cinnamon toast and a cold glass of orange juice! Breakfast in bed, baby! It was realllly nice and thoughtful and earned Bruce some serious brownie points. Really, though... the cinnamon toast was absolutely everything I could hope for... freakin' delicious!

AND THEN. About five minutes after leaving the house for work, Bruce called. Look out the window, he said.

It was snowing!!!! And it's STILL snowing. It's pretty and Christmassy... I'm excited!

So, my morning got off to a pretty spectacular start, I must say.

And there's MORE. I also finished up my rainbow socks! I'm pleased with the result.

I even made a couple more gift tags.

Which, as it happens, ended up making me think of this post... the times I've sat my glass right NEXT to a coaster...

You know. Finally designating a specific spot and then not using it. Yup. My art nook just isn't large enough to accommodate the messyness that is involved in making these things...

Ha ha!! YIKES!

And I even cleaned up soon as I was done.

It's been a great morning!! :D

Snow!

2008-11-17T14:57:00.010-04:00

I decided to check the Weather Network website last night to see what it's supposed to be like the rest of the week. They're calling for "light snow" on Wednesday. Well I got quite excited by this forecast, so I immediately delivered the news to Bruce.

He just kind of looked at me.

Okay, so I understand that not everyone is the same way. And sure... I'll chime right in and curse the stuff come March along with everybody else. Hell. I'll probably be whining by the end of January.

But really, I love snow around this time of year, leading up to Christmas. It gets me all excited. I love the Christmas season. As it happens, I had started a little Christmas craft earlier that very afternoon...

I decided to crack out the ol' craft supplies and recycle some old greeting cards I've received into tags to use on Christmas gifts this year! Here's what I've made so far:

Fun, huh? Gotta love recycling and using materials you've already got! I've been having a BLAST!

Here's hoping some snow falls on Wednesday! Woo hoo!!!

It's been a while.

2008-11-16T10:30:00.008-04:00

It's been a while since I mentioned my beloved charity yard sale, hasn't it? Well don't you worry. I'm still sniffing out fabulous finds pretty regularly. Here, let me show you a couple of recent gems.

Decorative dried corn! Woo-hoo! Got it just last week. My parents had something like this hanging on the living room wall for a while when I was a kid. Hadn't thought of that in years but I always liked it when I was little. So you can probably imagine how excited I was when I saw this... being the ridiculously nostalgic person that I am and all. I haven't decided yet if I want to hang it in the living room, or the kitchen. We'll see.

Tea cup and saucer! Have I mentioned that I've really gotten to love tea over the past year or so? Well, I have. I'm really into tea, especially when it's chilly outside. And tea just tastes better somehow when you're drinking it out of something like this. Pretty, huh?

I broke the handle about a month ago, unfortunately, and I keep forgetting to buy some super glue to fix it. D'oh!

See the purple glass ashtray draped in dried Gerbera blooms that my Mary Poppins jar is sitting in? I mentioned it in my recent post about my desk. Found it a couple of months ago... and again. My parents had one just like it when I was a kid. I was pretty excited when I found this one, too.

Annnnd.... two of these ceramic wall hanging bird things. They are so ridiculous and I LOVE them. They hang in the bathroom and make me grin like a fool everytime I look at them. Not sure what Bruce thinks when HE looks at them... that I'm a nutcase, no doubt. HA!!

So yup. There ya go.

Moral? Fabulous yard sale finds. Gotta love em!! :D

Adventures in houseplanting.

2008-11-11T13:59:00.026-04:00

I LOVE having plants in the house. They're pretty and they liven the place up and just plain make me happy.

Trouble is, keeping the things alive seems to be a bit of an issue. I'm trying, and I think I'm learning... but damn. Is it just me, or is successful houseplanting a little tough to "get the hang of"? Sheesh. The aloe vera I blogged about back in March has long since perished. Same with this beast. Killed them with kindness, I guess... I'm pretty sure I ended up over-watering both.

So I bought some new plants, and plant food, and am trying my hardest to only water them when I think they need it. Which honestly is still a bit of a puzzle... short of shoving my finger in the soil and busting the roots all to hell, how exactly do I know for sure that a plant NEEDS water, anyway?

But, I do think I'm making progress. My new plants, for the most part, seem to be doing okay. I've started watering them from a basin beneath the pot instead of from the top, which appears to be working well. I can even see that the plants have grown... that's gotta be a good sign, right?

Anyway, let me introduce them to you.

First, a big leafy number I saved from Wal-mart. Saved. They had a whole bunch of them marked way down because they were clearly on the brink of death. This guy is looking MUCH better these days than he once did, that's for sure...

Next, my African Violet, which I also saved from Wal-mart. The blooms on it are pretty well spent. It's grown a little in width since I got it, so I'm pretty confident I'm not killing the poor thing. Someday I'm gonna get brave and try to start a new violet plant from one of its leaves. I've read it's quite easy to do.

Next up is a "Gerbera" I got at the Stupid Store. It had really pretty daisy-like blossoms when I bought it, which later wilted... normal, or so I've read. This plant was growing like CRAZY, until last week I noticed that the roots were growing out from the holes in the bottom of the pot and it looked ready to tip over at any moment! So -- get this -- I REPLANTED the sucker into a bigger pot last weekend! I have no idea whether or not it'll live... I guess we'll see. Unforunately, it isn't much to look at when there aren't any flowers...

Which brings us, finally, to the plant that currently has me absolutely puzzled. It's a "Calandiva" apparently, which I picked up a few weeks ago at Sobey's. The thing didn't look too hot when I bought it in the first place, so I saw it as a bit of a challenge I suppose. Honestly, I have no idea whether it's dying, or thriving!

Check out the big leaves on the left. They don't look good at all... yellowish and turning brown and obviously withering away. But look at what I noticed today....

All kinds of new, baby leaves! And buds that weren't there before! Certainly encouraging, but what the hell is going on with the rest of the plant?? I'm thinking those lower leaves should be removed? Or, should I just let them go and see what happens? A puzzle indeed. Suggestions are welcome!

So there you go, my latest adventures in houseplanting. Quite a challenge, as it turns out... but definitely a fun one. Wish me continued luck!

Speaking of surroundings...

2008-11-10T12:53:00.011-04:00

Up until last month, I was crafting here, there, and everywhere: sometimes while sitting on the living room floor with newspaper spread across the rug... other times, the kitchen counter served as a good work surface. And while this here-there-everywhere approach did work, it often left little piles of half-finished projects and materials, well... here, there, and everywhere! Most crafts take some time to complete, you see. Such little piles are pretty much inevitable.

So over Thanksgiving weekend Bruce went camping and I had the place to myself. Ahhhh....

I decided to take the opportunity to get some heavy-duty cleaning done. I tackled the kitchen and cleaned and organized it from top to bottom. It was great.

I also set myself up a little art nook in the space beside the fridge and in front of a window!

This is where I craft now. I'm a bit of a neat freak and having a specific spot for my half finished projects and stuff is really nice! It kind of gets the creative juices flowing too, everything I need is right there!

Moral of this story? Get yourself a nook, a spot that's yours to do whatever it is you love. It does the spirit good!

And see what you can do about setting yourself up with a better view...

Hey, I can see the sun shining.... hear pitter-patters on rainy days.... and if I crane my neck enough, a little slice of mother nature too. So I guess this story has two morals, actually...

Sometimes ya just gotta work with what you've got! :P

My desk. Again.

2008-11-08T22:23:00.016-04:00

Well it's been 6 months, so I'd say it's about damn time I blogged about my desk again.

Yup. I just love my desk. I do love to decorate it. Maybe a little too much, actually.... I'm constantly adding new crap, re-arranging the crap that's already on there.... so sure. It looks like a cluttered mess, but what can I say? I guess I like clutter. Clutter has its place. Like on my desk.

Here's what the thing is looking like these days, for those of you who can't take the suspense of all this.

A closer look, you say?

It's the apple head doll! my kick-ass collection of rocks and shells I've picked up, and a photo of my parents' home where I grew up.

And on the right? The Mary Poppins jar I painted filled with dried flowers I picked last summer, sitting in an ashtray just like one my parents had when I was a kid. More shells. Old-assed dictionaries.

It's Anne!
Books I've read lately, in order with most recent at far right, because I'm anal.

And. A postcard Bruce found in a scrap car at work.

As well as a bird's nest my Dad found in the woods, and a couple of scented candles, which I don't have photos of so you'll just have to use your imagination.

SO the moral of this story is: I'm a nosy individual, and I think most other individuals are nosy like me. Don't you feel a little bit better now knowing my surroundings as I write?

HA! The End.

Happy Squirrel Day!

2008-11-07T12:44:00.007-04:00

By now you might find yourself wondering "what the f**k is Squirrel Day?"

WELL.

A few weeks ago I decided to start squirreling away a little bit of money. For what, precisely? I still haven't really decided! I'm thinking it'll end up getting spent on Christmas presents. After that I might decide on some expensive item (a new tv, maybe) to start squirreling towards.

So once I decided to start squirreling away a little bit of money, I figured I should have some special spot to squirrel it in to. Since we don't have any hollow trees in our apartment, I figured a painted jar would be the next best thing.

I did a Google image search and found a cartoon drawing of an extremely neurotic looking squirrel. Ha! Perfect! Took a clean jar from under the kitchen sink where I keep them, my varied assortment of Dollar Store acrylic paints and brushes, and got busy.

THE SQUIRREL JAR, for squirreling away extra spending money that would have otherwise been squandered on random unnecessary JUNK.

Which finally brings us to SQUIRREL DAY, celebrated in our household every Friday for the past few weeks. Simply put, it is the day I put some money in the Squirrel Jar. No coinage allowed! Bills only.

I've squirreled a nice bit of money so far, and it's only been a little while! It feels kinda good!

Happy Squirrel Day, everybody! :D

What the hell?

2008-11-06T14:22:00.009-04:00

Two posts in two days? What the hell? Maybe there's hope for this blog yet. Take off your coat. Stay a spell!

I haven't been blogging lately... but definitely still crafting! I've got myself a nice little back-log of doings to write about, actually. For now, though, let's talk about my latest undertaking:

KNITTING SOCKS.

So back in March I attempted mittens, using a couple of online guides and a free pattern. I did learn the basics of using the double point needles, but the "mitten" (which I actually finished) ended up looking like a vaguely mitten-shaped pile of shit. It was too small and there were holes in it and... yeah. It was pretty bad.

The experience kept me away from the double point needles up until a few weeks ago. I'd knitted a couple of scarves in the interim, and was feeling more confident in my knitting skills. So I figured I'd give the needles a try again. Socks. No stupid thumb to mess with.

I actually made out ok! The socks certainly aren't perfect, but they're no pile of crap either. It was my first try and I'm pleased! They're super warm and I've been wearing them pretty much constantly.

Crazy, huh? They actually LOOK like socks! And since practice makes perfect, I've gone ahead and started a second pair, this time with ribbing on the top of the foot. Working on sock #2 at the moment...

It's so much fun! Knitting = win. Maybe I'm not a lost cause after all.... I might just have to give mittens another go sometime soon. I'm on a roll, baby!!

New look?

2008-11-05T19:25:00.011-04:00

Okay, we'll start off by stating the obvious here -- more did not come soon as promised. What's the big hold up? Well, I dunno. Laziness, I s'pose.

And well -- again, the obvious -- I've made some changes to the look of this blog. Maybe it'll inspire me to start posting again? I guess we'll see...

SO. The photo at the top of this page: the inspiration for the change in hopes of inspiration! Pretty picture, huh? I really love it. And I can't even take credit for it... Bruce took it at Hopewell Cape. We went to look at the Rocks again with a couple of friends last weekend.

Turns out he's a decent little photographer! Who'da thunk? Here's some more he took....

And what's a Bruce without some silliness? Like shit without stink, really: it just ain't right. So here's what happened when he wasn't paying attention to where he was stepping.

Ha ha ha! Oops!

Aaaannd thus concludes my come-back special, aren't you glad you stopped by? Next time I might even see about mustering some fresh material! ;) Here's hoping Bruce's Hopewell photos are just the inspiration I've been looking for!

My camera's fixed!

2008-09-07T19:42:00.010-03:00

Well hello there, Internets. It's been a while.

My camera's fixed! Woo hoo. I've actually had it back for a few weeks now. Sent 'er away to FujiFilm and would ya believe the bastards repaired it for free?!

I'm tickled pink.

So here's a craft project I worked on this weekend which ~I've taken a photo of~ and will post to mark this happy occasion.

That's right. I discovered something truly magnificent this summer, dear readers. I discovered Modge Podge.

One or two of you just might remember the green tea container I painted blue and white with googly eyes last February. Was keeping it on the bathroom sink filled with this and that due to utter lack of counter space. Well a couple days ago I decided it was time for a change. It was time to break out the Modge Podge, baby.

I took another tea container I had saved, slapped some green and yellow paint on it, and then découpaged (ooh la la) some flowers I picked and dried earlier this summer. Then varnished the whole damn thing.

And so there you have it. My camera's fixed. I love Modge Podge.

More to come soon!

~ Smel

My camera broke!

2008-05-15T12:51:00.007-03:00

As I'm sure the faithful reader can well imagine, this is a pretty big deal.

So I was taking a picture of the empty green corduroy chair for my last post (the chair's still empty, by the way!) when the camera slipped out of my hand. I didn't drop it though - I saved it before it hit the floor. Phew.

Only I guess I didn't save it after all! I kinda caught it by the zoom lens and apparently it broke. Bah! I'm hoping I'll be able to get an exchange or something on it..... I've only had it for like 5 months!

It'll still take pictures, though. So all is not lost, for the time being at least.

That said, I got a new plant last night!!

Neat, huh? SuperStore jobby. The little tag that came stuck in the soil just says "Dracaena Collection" - I'd say it's a Red Edged Dracaena, from what I've looked up online. I just think it's the bees knees. Not sure where it'll end up permanently, yet.... for now it's sitting on the tv stand next to the window.

I'm really getting into houseplants. They add a lot to the place. Smelanie: blossoming horticulturist. Who'da thunk!

Now if I can just manage to keep the things alive, we'll be all set.

A return to peace.

2008-05-13T14:19:00.006-03:00

Maybe the faithful reader remembers me having reported a rare sight a couple of weeks ago: to my surprise, the cat left his station at the green corduroy chair for a few hours one afternoon, opting instead to perch on the window sill. Could this signal a turning of the tides, I wondered?

As you can see, the green corduroy chair is empty. It's been empty for the past two days! This is definitely an encouraging development - a final return to peace in our household. I hope it lasts.
Aww. Seems he's taken up residence at the foot of the bed. And he's more than welcome to set up camp there all he likes. There will be no cat fights between the two of us over the foot of the bed, let me tell you. Have at 'er, buddy. It's all yours.

So it's looking like we've reached the end of an epoch. A return to peace. Ahhhhhhhh. Bruce, you'd best keep your ass outta that green corduroy chair........ I call dibs!!!

Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific.

2008-05-12T14:00:00.007-03:00

The other day I got thinking about "Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific" shampoo. I just love the name of it. I love the logo and the colours too. I remember receiving a bottle once when I was a kid for Christmas or my birthday or some other special occasion, from a friend. I wish I could remember what it actually smells like. While one would assume "terrific" - this simply leaves too much to the imagination. There are all kinds of smells that one could rightly describe as "terrific", so that's really no help whatsoever.

As I am wont to do when I get thinking about this or that, I ended up doing a search on Google. Apparently "Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific" shampoo is only available now in the Philippines. Bah. Since I don't really see any trips to the Philippines in my immediate future, it seems I'm left to keep on wishing I could remember what it smells like. Now I could order a bottle of it online from Ebay, it looks like, if only I was willing to pay more in shipping costs than for the actual shampoo itself! I am not curious enough. Screw that.

So I live in Canada and not the Philippines. Oh well. We have plenty of terrific smelling smelly products of our own to appreciate and enjoy.

Calgon's Mmmmm! Bath & Body products. I can't really imagine "Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific" shampoo smelling quite as terrific as this. I have 3 of their body mists - Orange Pop, Marshmallow, and Vanilla Swirl. I love these scents... they're just delicious. Almost good enough to eat!

"DO NOT EAT". Gotta know you're dealing with a pretty remarkable body mist when it's got a warning like that printed on the label. How exactly one would go about eating a bottle of perfume, however, is beyond me.

And thus concludes this little ode to my absolute favorite smelly product line. Calgon's Mmmmm! Don't you feel oh so much better now knowing what smells Smel loves best? Next time you're in Shopper's Drug Mart, take a sniff. Mmmmm!

"Oh, WOW!"

2008-05-11T19:12:00.012-03:00

The magazine editor I've been writing for this past while is interested in my story idea about the Hopewell Rocks. So that's what I'll be working on in a couple weeks time. I've never actually seen them myself before, so yesterday Bruce and I took a drive down.

There I stood, in total awe, furiously snapping pictures of the first couple of rocks we came across. I thought that was it... I thought that was the whole show. And boy was I wrong. We rounded a little bend.

"Oh, WOW!" I involuntarily exclaimed at the top of my lungs. What an awesome sight. All kinds of towering giant flowerpots littered along the shoreline, posing there just for me. I aimed my trusty camera, and promptly flew into 'er.

So long story short, I ended up with a friggin butt load of pictures. Are you surprised?

We had such a great time. I love the Hopewell Rocks. They're pretty special. And oh so photogenic, too!

Speaking of books....

2008-05-09T16:16:00.019-03:00

Check it out!

That's right. A whole crap load of books for a phenomenal 13 bucks. And not just any books. Good books. Books I've read and loved and want to read again. Books I've never read and have always wanted to. And even a few I've never even heard of before. What the hell? They were like 25 cents!

I am pretty damn happy.

Bruce's mom told us about this huge used book sale that goes on for a few days every May..... and I'm really glad she did. It started yesterday evening so Bruce and I took a drive over. Holy shit! Books, books, and more books. And lots and lots of people. But we braved the crowd anyway. We simply couldn't help ourselves, especially when we saw the prices!

So we ended up with-

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
The Stories Behind the Words, Expressions and Cliches We Use
The Portable Nietzsche
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
The Mountain and the Valley by Ernest Buckler
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The African Queen by C.S. Forester
The Stone Angel by Margaret Lawrence
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Billions and Billions by Carl Sagan
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Windy Poplars

Quite a haul, eh? I went back again this morning and got 4 more!

Emily of New Moon
Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh

Yup. So I'm good for reading material for a little while I'd say...... HA! You'd think I'm some kind of a crazed avid reader, eh? Nope, not quite. I've been reading about a book a month or so. I'd actually like to be reading a little more. So I've decided to buck up and start keeping track of the books I read. The observant observer may have already observed the list on the right hand side of this blog below "Archives". Whenever I finish a book I'll add it to the list. It'll be neat to look back on someday. Maybe it'll motivate me to read more, too.

So there. The friggin mother load. We're all pretty excited about it. Even the cat got into it.

Hey, it ripped him away from the green corduroy chair for a while. You know it's gotta be good!

This one's for you, Mom.

2008-05-07T12:42:00.011-03:00

I just got off the phone with my mother. At one point during our conversation I asked her what she had for lunch today. I'm nosy like that. Then I told her what I had for lunch, too. I knew she would want to know.

"A pita pizza", I reported.

"What, no picture?" she joked, an obvious reference to this blog.

"Nope, no picture", I giggled back.

We talked for a little while longer, oh, about this and that.

Then after our conversation was over it hit me. I had once, in fact, made a particularly delicious looking pita pizza... and yup. Took a picture of it! Some things just need to be documented. See, you never know when it might come in handy someday.

So here you go, Mom.

Looks yummy, eh? Today's was delish! :)

Move over, multigrain rolls....

2008-05-05T20:46:00.007-03:00

There's a new loaf in town, 'cause I'm feelin good.
Get a smile, get a song, for the neighborhood
Things are great when you stand on your own two feet
and this loaf's here to say
with some luck and love life's gonna be
so sweeeeeeeeeet!

Yes, that's right. The multigrain rolls I blogged about back in April are old news now. I've moved forward. Last week I discovered something I had never even given a chance before...

Sobeys' Multigrain loaf.

Doesn't that look hearty? Mmm. It's loaded full of flax seeds and sunflower seeds and other indiscernible seedy type things and... I just really enjoy it.

And you read right. Sobeys. Now we don't usually do our grocery shopping there, so this may well end up posing a problem in time. We just happened to take a run in one evening last week to pick up a couple of things. Multigrain bread wasn't on the list but they had a table piled high just inside the doors and they looked way too good to leave there.

I actually bought 3 multigrain rolls the next day when we took our weekly trip into the Superstore. And they're still in the freezer, untouched. I've been eating the bread. It's really good!

So it seems this new bread has ushered in a new generation of great tuna sandwiches around here. Remember the sucker I blogged about back in March?

Yup, that's the one. Those haven't been around for quite a few weeks. I was using the rolls instead of bread for a while, but the sandwiches have really evolved now. They're pretty different. I had one today for lunch. Here it is.

There are changes you can't see here, too. I've been making my tuna sandwiches with green onion instead of white. I haven't been putting green pepper in them either. Everything else is the same as before. And boy are they somethin' else.

So this is where I'm at with tuna sandwiches lately. I thought the faithful reader deserved an update. Incidentally, I still have some tuna salad left over in the fridge for lunch tomorrow. Yum! Tuna salad tastes way better the next day, doesn't it? Surely someone out there will agree.

And oh yes, to finish up. The lyrics at the beginning of this post are from the theme to Alice, in case they rang any bells. With "loaf" replacing "girl", of course. Remember Alice?

AKA One Of The Greatest Shows To Ever Air. "Mel's Diner". I always liked the sounds of that!!

I love books.

2008-05-05T13:06:00.013-03:00

How does one go about switching one's brain
from science for kids to one's blog?
It's a tough one you see, it's quite hard to explain
the way one is left in a fog.

Making it simple! one spends one's whole day
for children to read in Grade One.
And now for a blog and one's lost for a way
to write as if reader's aren't stunned!

Yes. That pretty well sums up what's been going on with me lately. I've been working on an article intended for readers in Grade One.... the youngest I've tried writing for yet. And when you spend all day trying to think up the simplest ways of explaining things, how then do you switch your brain back to something like a blog? Without still writing for 6-year-olds? Without unwittingly insulting the faithful reader's intelligence!?

Hm. I'm sure I'll figure it out. In the meantime, what else could be easier to write about than something you love? Which brings us to the title of this post.

I love books.

I really do. And not just the stories told inside of books. But the books themselves too. I love the book jacket. The pages and the way they feel and the way they sound when you turn them. I love old books. I love the way they smell. The way the spine creases and cracks.

Yup. I just love books. Sadly, it can be hard to make the time to sit down with one. I always try to be picking away at something, though.

Here's what I'm reading right now.

"The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". Look at that, ain't it great? This book has been read over countless times. The cover is creased and tattered. The spine is flimsy and broken. Numerous pages have been folded down at one time or another to mark the reader's spot.

It's the first time I've read it, though. Where did I get it? Well that's the best part. Bruce brought it home for me from work. He found it in a scrap car! Luckily for me, he realizes that if there's something I love more than a good book, it's a good book once bound for the scrap heap! Ha ha!! This is actually the second book I've thoroughly enjoyed that came from there.

And it's a great book. No wonder they made it into a movie.

"A great crowd of people were standing all round the Stone Table and though the moon was shining many of them carried torches which burned with evil-looking red flames and black smoke. But such people! Ogres with monstrous teeth, and wolves, and bull-headed men; spirits of evil trees and poisonous plants; and other creatures I won't describe because if I did the grown-ups would probably not let you read this book - Cruels and Hags and Incubuses, Wraiths, Horrors, Efreets, Sprites, Orknies, Wooses, and Ettins."

It's great stuff! I would have never read this book had Bruce not brought it home last week. I'm really glad he did.

So there you go. I love books. And imagine how proud and excited I was last week when I found out my very own mother has had a novel accepted for publication! A book with my mother's name on the jacket! With her own story printed on the pages! Wow. Congrats again, Mom!

You know I love a good book out of a scrap car but I'll proudly march into Chapters to pick that one up!!! :)

Ladies and gentlemen, a truly rare sight.

2008-05-03T18:08:00.018-03:00

The other day I walked into the living room and look at what I saw.

Could it really be? My eyes went directly to the green corduroy chair.

Empty.

Okay, well maybe the cat's in the kitchen at his water dish. Or in the litter box taking a crap. Let's not forget he frequents those areas too.

And yet I just couldn't imagine what else this shadowy figure perched on the window sill could be. Bruce wasn't even a possibility. He was at work.

The cat! Wow. A truly rare sight, since the green corduroy chair. And he stayed perched up there for a good little while too.

Could this signal a turning of the tides? Is this bitter feud plaguing our household for weeks finally headed towards an end??

Ha ha ha!! He's in the chair again tonight, so who knows. Ah well. One can only hope....

Apple head doll: done!

2008-05-01T18:32:00.012-03:00

SO. It's Thursday. Apple Head Doll Day. And GUESS WHAT. It's done!

Hee hee hee. Isn't she cute? I'm tickled pink. I'm actually pleased with the way she turned out!

I was bound and determined to use whatever I could find around the house for this craft project. First I painted the heads of two bobby pins, and stuck them in the eye holes. Suddenly, I saw a sweet little old lady looking back at me. So then I had to make the body to match.

I wrapped some stuffing around a pipe cleaner, and stuck the head on top. The stuffing, hair and shawl all come from an old cushion my Grandma gave me when I was a kid. It got ripped a while ago - right across the front, the kind of rip you can't repair. And surprise! It's been like that for a year now and I still haven't thrown it away. It was special, and I wanted to make something out of it someday. Most of the cushion is still left so I've crammed it in the back of my craft shelf again to be used for something else at a later date.

The faithful reader has seen her dress before. Only it wasn't a dress. It was a wool sock with the bottom all ripped to shit! I'm not sure why I hadn't thrown it out yet. Just hadn't gotten around to it I guess. I certainly didn't keep it on purpose! I've got all the wool socks now my little heart could desire. With bottoms in tact! [Thanks again, Linda! :)]

Maybe you remember the "trinket box" I painted to match my Mary Poppins Plum Sauce Jar. I still have a couple of those trinket boxes left, so I used one of them as a base so she stands upright, nice and sturdy.

The cane is a twig from a bush outside. The pin holding the shawl together is another bobby pin.

Three weeks later. Done!! :)

My cat, the duck.

2008-04-29T20:17:00.006-03:00

Nine days after my previous post on the subject and the cat and I are still at-odds over the green corduroy chair. This is a major issue in our household lately. I don't know anymore that it's just a passing phase. Is the thing stuffed with cat-nip or something?

So today I came across a shocking sight, a bit of atonement on the cat's part really. I laughed out loud. I grabbed my camera. I needed a picture of this.

He looked like a duck!

I showed the pictures to Bruce and he says I'm nuts. Secretly I'm sure he knows what I mean. It's the way all of the cat's limbs are tucked under his body like that. The way he's sitting on the edge of the chair with his chest stuck out, too. Just picture it. A duck's head on that body. And you've got a duck!

Well. A fur covered duck with no wings, I guess....

So maybe I am a little nutty. It still makes me giggle though.

I took a few pictures until the cat-duck realized what was going on and I got the customary unimpressed glare.

Ha ha ha!!

How silly. So the cat and I have our hard times. So we're constantly at-odds over the green corduroy chair. But then he makes me laugh like he did today, and totally redeems himself. Cats. Gotta love em! :)

My desk.

2008-04-26T16:57:00.015-03:00

I just love my desk. I love to decorate it. Maybe this doesn't come as much of a surprise... I've written about several items ending up there on display. Like my aloe vera plant, the vase I painted, and the ceramic turtle in his rectangle jar.

And of course there are plenty of other things I haven't mentioned as well... items placed before I started posting here.

Like this jar I painted a while ago.

I love painting jars.

Well anyway, I decided it was time to change things up a little bit earlier today. Rearrange the crap on my desk, tidy it up some. It's sort of an important space to me. It's where I sit to work at my writing. Atmosphere is important! It's my own, personal space, so I want it to look my own, personal way.

So here's another Before and After for ya. Gotta love Befores and Afters.

Before

and

After

A ha ha... okay, so I guess it doesn't look all that different. It's pretty much all the same crap in basically the same spot. It looks pretty different to me, though!

If you look closely enough, you might notice something on top of the desk in the After picture that isn't in the Before. I got it today at... you guessed it! The charity garage sale I'm always going on about.

For two dollars!

I have been keeping my eyes open for a clock to sit on my desk for ages now. It's what inspired me to do some rearranging today, actually.... I didn't have room for it! The one I got is pretty much exactly what I had in mind. I love it. And guess who spotted it? Bruce! Geez. He's good to have around!

And speaking of Bruce and desks and phenomenal purchases at the garage sale, I didn't mention the last thing we got there... about three weeks ago or so. A desk for Bruce, for 15 bucks.

Pretty nice, huh? Lots of drawer space. He loves it.

Hah. Not hard to tell that desk belongs to a guy, huh? There's something about the decor he's chosen that gives it a far more "masculine" look than my own if you ask me. Maybe it's the sparseness. Maybe it's the cribbage board. The funny beer bottle, or the Batman figure. Nope. Not hard to tell that's Bruce's desk at all.

Ha ha ha!

Both sides now.

2008-04-25T15:29:00.009-03:00

Rows and flows of angel hair

And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
I've looked at clouds that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way

I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all

Pretty song lyrics, huh? They're from "Both Sides Now", written and performed by Canada's own Joni Mitchell. I love that song!! In case it's been a while, a 1970 performance of it can be viewed online here.

Pretty pictures of clouds make me think of "Both Sides Now". Like the one above I took last summer at work. I love clouds. They're like a painting in the sky.

Whenever I notice a particularly pretty looking sky and I have my camera handy, I'll snap a pic. So I have loads of cloud pictures.

Yup. Clouds are awesome. I even painted some on a couple of shelves in the bathroom a few months ago!

Painting furniture is fun. But that's a whole 'nother post.

How do you like to look at clouds? :)

It's snowing out.....

2008-04-24T22:00:00.002-03:00

and we are not amused.

Day 14 and zombies.

2008-04-24T14:12:00.007-03:00

Well, it's been 2 weeks since I carved up that Red Delicious apple and hung it in the bedroom to dry. Day 14 looks remarkably like Day 7....

But with better lighting.

Hah! Actually, the apple has dried out quite a lot more since last week. It doesn't look all that different, it feels different. Last week it was still pretty spongy and there was some give to it when squeezed. Not now. It feels dry.

I'm going to give it 1 more week I think... and spend that time thinking of what I'm going to do for a body! Ahhh. Hopefully I'll come up with something.

See the painting on the wall I got in the Day 14 shot by mistake? It's a picture I painted last year for Bruce of the two of us as zombies. Yes, zombies. Here's the whole thing.

Bruce really likes zombie movies, see. So that's why I did this. Although I'm not sure why we're green. Or why Bruce has blond hair. That's okay though. I wasn't exactly going for a realistic look....

Hehehe. Apparently that wasn't foolish enough, so a few weeks later I painted him a picture of us as Zombies in Space.

Which hangs in the bedroom too, beside the regular ol' Earth Zombies and, temporarily, the apple doll head.

So there you have it. Day 14 and zombies for your viewing pleasure.

And that's all I have to say about that.

You know those lint roller pet hair grabber thingies?

2008-04-23T12:56:00.005-03:00

Oh, surely you do... especially if you own a pet.

I'm talking about those rolls of sticky paper on a handle that's supposed to be really good for picking lint and pet hair up off your clothes and whatnot. We have one of these things and yeah, they work pretty good.

And yet, I've come to realize that there exists a material that does a much better job at picking up cat hair than mere sticky paper.

AHHHHH!!!!

I meant to mention this in my post about the cat and his chair a couple of days ago; another decidedly less cute side of the tale that's definitely worth mentioning. Yup. To hell with sticky paper. It's all about the green corduroy, baby. That's what they should make those lint roller pet hair grabber thingies out of. The stuff is like a cat hair magnet.

To be honest I don't really know how it is that the poor guy has any hair left at all. Anyone out there looking for a cat? I'm sure I've thrown enough cat hair out by now to make one for ya....

It's really too bad. All that hair doesn't look very nice, and it's white so it really shows. Cats "molt" in the Spring, eh? So I'm hoping the severity of this problem is just temporary. I've been cleaning the chair off every day, and it's not an easy task. It really is like a magnet!

Next time I'm looking to buy a chair I'll have to bring the cat along to see if he sticks. Ah ha ha ha!

Mama mia!!

2008-04-22T19:56:00.012-03:00

Boy. It's been a while since I last painted a picture. Not since the Log Driver's Waltz, and that was almost 2 months ago.

So today I decided that I really wanted to paint a picture. Of what, I wasn't sure. I knew that would come later. Thankfully I had a canvas on hand so I was able to do 'er up just as the urge struck.

I decided to make something to hang in the kitchen. It is the most neglected room in the apartment as far as decoration goes. But what would make sense in a kitchen? After a little consideration, I decided on a chef. Did a bit of online research and found a print to copy.

Here's how he turned out.

I showed it to Bruce when he got home, before it was framed or on the wall. After admiring it for a few moments he said, "Wait... isn't that the wallpaper in here?"

Yes it is!

Ha!!

When we moved in, there was a small square of the wallpaper that's in the kitchen laying on top of the upper cupboards. As soon as I found it I knew I wanted to make some foolish kind of artwork with it to hang on the wall. Today it finally happened. And I like how it turned out.

And oh, nice frame, eh? Came from the Dollar Store. The canvas, too. Have I mentioned lately how much I love the Dollar Store? Hehehe. I love it a lot!

Cat fight!

2008-04-20T16:22:00.007-03:00

Back in March I made a blog post about my new chair. The one that's green and corduroy and swivels and rocks, remember? "The cat loves it too", I recall reporting. And Wow. Little did I realize then just how much.

These days, if the cat isn't eating or shitting, he's on the green corduroy chair. Asleep and content as could possibly be. Cats can smile, and our cat smiles when he's asleep on that chair.

And while this is really very cute at first glance, there's a far less cute side of this sordid tale.

I've hardly had a chance to enjoy the chair myself! Cat always in chair is one thing... incredibly possessive cat always in chair is something else all together. The cat thinks the chair is his, and that's the end of it.

Here's the look I usually get when I go to sit in it myself.

It doesn't impress him very much. I'll pick him up and set him on the floor anyway. And sometimes, if I'm not fast enough, he'll jump right back up there again!

So for the past month or so the cat and I have been fighting over the green corduroy chair. Even when I do manage to plop my ass in there, the cat fight isn't over yet. He wants his chair BACK! He'll jump up on the arm. Sit on the back. Misbehave. All a desperate ploy to get my ass outta there, and his back in it.

And he wouldn't even dream of sharing it. Oh, no.

It's really kind of silly. So a lot of the time, I don't even bother trying. It makes the cat happy, and at least he's not scratching it up or climbing the walls or getting himself into the usual cat shenanigans he would be otherwise.

I'm glad he likes it. Hopefully the novelty will wear off soon and I'll get the chance to enjoy it a little bit, too. Gah! Friggin cats.

Whip one up.

2008-04-20T00:38:00.009-03:00

Our elementary school would hold a Science Fair in the gym every year. Coming up with a project was completely optional. And so the year my little brother was in grade 3 or 4, he decided not to do one.

Well, right up until around 8 pm the night before.

"We could just whip one up!", he argued his case to our mother. Ha! A Science Fair project isn't really something you can "whip up" an hour before bedtime! Needless to say, it did not happen.

So earlier this week I "whipped up" a little craft project and just as I sat down to talk about it here I thought of this story and it made me giggle. Fortunately for me, craft projects are far easier to whip up an hour before bedtime than Science Fair ones.

Well here's what I made.

A few weeks ago I had bought a package of 3 wooden "trinket boxes" at the Dollar Store. No idea what I was gonna end up doing with them. But they were way too cute to leave there. As it turns out, this one was the perfect little project to "whip up" an evening last week when I felt the urge to get crafty.

And it matches the Mary Poppins vase! Which is obviously all that counts here, because I still have no friggin idea what I'm actually going to use it for! Maybe some little trinkets after all. Or a couple pieces of jewelry perhaps.

I'll think of something. The end isn't important, it's all about getting there. Ya gotta love quick and easy craft projects like this that just make you grin. I had loads of fun whipping this one up!

Major brownie points.

2008-04-19T14:04:00.012-03:00

Bruce managed to score some pretty major brownie points earlier today at the grocery store. On the way home in the car I proclaimed him "Hero of the Day", as a matter of fact. He really outdid himself. The Bruce really pulled through.

By now you're probably dying of curiosity. Well, here's what happened...

Last week I picked up a couple of multigrain rolls at the Superstore. They're baked in-store and are like 35cents a piece. It had been a long time since I had one and I had honestly forgotten how much I love them. They make a fine tuna sandwich, let me tell you.

Mmmmm.

So the two I bought were gone in a couple of days, and I spent the whole rest of the week looking forward to getting some more. We go grocery shopping on Saturdays. Today was the day.

I was really excited.

And they were all out!! I couldn't believe it. I gotta be honest.... I was actually pretty disappointed. So I resigned myself to settling for their plain ol' multigrain bread instead and started to continue on with the shopping. And that dear reader is when Bruce swooped in, and saved the day.

He went to the bakery counter. Asked for multigrain rolls (who woulda thunk it was just that easy, eh?). Apparently, he thought he spotted some back there among a bunch of other breads and rolls that hadn't made it to the shelves yet. Apparently, he was right!

So there I was, heading towards the meat isle, when I looked back towards the bakery. And there was Bruce, making his way towards me, a wonderful bag of my beloved multigrain rolls in tow. I squeeled "YAY!" and clapped my hands with glee.

I was that happy.

Hopefully none of our fellow grocery shoppers around us were paying attention. But ya know what? I don't really give a crap either way. I have multigrain rolls this week, when I was absolutely sure I had none.

I ate one of them today with tuna salad for lunch and it was great. Thanks again, Bruce. You saved the day!

Apple head doll: 1 week later.

2008-04-17T11:58:00.011-03:00

Since it's been a week since I last talked about the big apple head doll attempt, I thought I'd give a little progress update. The faithful reader will be pleased to learn that it has yet to mold over as I had originally feared. In fact, it seems to be drying out rather nicely.

To refresh your memory, here's what the apple looked like just after I carved a face out and hung it to dry.

And here's how it's looking now!

Ain't it great? Check out the stem in both the pics. Wow! The apple has really shriveled up quite a bit already. And still with a couple more weeks of drying left, according to my online sources. Pretty neat!

Yep. So far, so good. I had originally hung it in the kitchen... probably not the driest room in the joint what with all of the steam from cooking and dishes and stuff. I clued in to this on Day 2. So I made an executive decision and moved it to the bedroom beside the window. And it seems to be working out pretty good so far.

That's one week down....... stay tuned!

Free food for supper.

2008-04-15T18:26:00.023-03:00

No, I didn't have to steal to get it. I didn't have to do any "dumpster diving", either. It was a gift. A kind, generous offering from one Jolly Green Giant, straight from the bottom of his giant, green heart.So here's the scoop. Inside every 1 kg bag of Green Giant's "young and tender" mixed vegetables, there is a coupon. But here's the catch. It doesn't say anywhere on the bag that there's a coupon in there. I discovered this a month or two ago as I was dumping some veggies into a pot on the stove. Huh? I immediately fished it out and investigated. It was for one free Green Giant "Simply Steam". Simply Steam? I had never heard of such a thing.

Well I was intrigued. I actually set the coupon aside and somehow remembered that I had it the following Saturday when we went grocery shopping. Come to find out, "Simply Steam" is a pouch of "lightly seasoned garden vegetable medley" that you stick in the microwave and steam. The picture on the box looks good. Sells for $1.99. But I had a coupon! I picked it up.

This stuff is quite friggin good. Since then, we've gone through two more bags of the frozen vegetables, so I've had two more of these deliciously free sides.

I had one of them tonight.

To accompany a whole wheat pita with chopped chicken boob, celery, onion and shredded cheese. Yum!

These "Simply Steam" pouches include sugar snap peas, roasted potatoes, red peppers, and 'garden herbs'. Which, as it turns out, seems to be a crap load of salt among a few other choice ingredients I'm not sure how to pronounce. Hm. Certainly not ideal as far as vegetables go I suppose, but what can I say? It's friggin free.

But you know, I'm sure that someday there will be no more coupons. Even the Jolly Green Giant can only give so much. And when that day comes, I think I might just pick one of these things up now and again anyway. Yup. They're pretty good.

I really don't think I would have tried such a thing had it not been for those coupons. Thank you, Jolly Green Giant. Wow. What a guy!!

My latest food obsession.

2008-04-14T10:21:00.008-03:00

Homemade chicken stir-fry. Mmmm....

About a week ago I talked about "tonight's supper" and how I should really "let my hair down" a little more often. And so here we are. I never tried making chicken stir-fry before my little improvisation the other week. I guess "tonight's supper" ended up being a bit of a confidence booster, not tasting like total crap and all.

So I made chicken stir-fry again last night, the second time in a week! It's so good. The above pictured deliciousness included celery, peppers, onions, mushrooms, brown rice, chicken breast, soy sauce and bean sprouts.

Bean sprouts! I bought a bag of them last week. Know the last time I bought bean sprouts? Try never! I'm just letting my hair down all over the place lately, eh?

And oh. For those of you who might be worried that poor Bruce starved to death last night (the Bruce isn't much of a fan of the chicken stir-fry, in case you didn't know....), I decided to cook him a nice steak with some mixed veggies and potatoes instead. One of his favourites. Awww. Ain't that sweet.

Spoonful of sugar.

2008-04-13T10:48:00.014-03:00

After finishing off a jar of pickles or salsa or mayo, I'll sometimes wash it out and take off the label and save it under the sink. Whenever I feel like getting crafty, I've got a nice little collection of jars under there waiting to be made pretty. Painting glass jars is fun. I love practical art pieces. And I love finding a new use for something that would have otherwise ended up in the trash.

So a couple of weeks ago I finished off a jar of plum sauce. I had been itching to add the empty jar to my stash under the sink even before the sauce inside was gone. It's tall and thin and looks just perfect to use as a flower vase.

Last night I finally decided to paint it. Here's what I ended up with!

I'd know that silhouette anywhere. Mary Poppins! :)

I love Mary Poppins, in case you didn't know. Ever since I was a kid. I've been thinking about the Disney film a lot lately... Julie Andrews has an autobiography out and I've caught a couple of different interviews with her on tv.

So yes. I decided to paint Mary Poppins. I went online and found an image of her silhouette to use as a guide. Went with purple because that's just the colour I think of when I think of her. Tied some blue and black yarn around the rim. Done.

Overall, I'm pleased with the way it came out. I think it'll end up going on the bookshelf in the bedroom. Seems like a good fit there. Some white flowers would look nice! Maybe an assorted bunch of wild flowers too...

Yes, Bruce. That's a hint! Hee hee.

Who woulda thunk?

2008-04-12T16:10:00.014-03:00

Who woulda thunk that just 1 little nail

could cause this much trouble?

I love how you can even see some of the sock fibers sticking to the nail in that first picture.

Yes indeed. In the floor between the living room and the bedroom and bathroom, there is a nail that sticks up a little. Slowly but surely, every single last sock that I own is being destroyed by this silent, unimposing menace.

It's really quite ridiculous. And outrageously annoying. There I'll be, walking along, minding my own business. And BAM. It snags me. I actually have to stop and take a step back to unhook my sock from its vicious grip. It's really quite nasty.

Why not fix it? Well, that's the real kicker. I don't really know! Because we're both a little lazy I guess is what it all boils down to. And besides. It's not like the nail is right in the middle of a heavy traffic area or anything. It's kind of off to the side. The thing is completely avoidable so long as the walker pays attention to where she is walking.

And yet, here we are. Taking the time out to make a blog post about it instead of, oh you know, trying to fix the friggin thing! The worst part of the entire ordeal is that this nail seems to be particularly hard on wool socks. My favorites!

Hm. With all of that being said, it looks like you all know what to get me for Christmas this year. Nope, not a hammer. A truckload of socks! ;)

Apple head doll: the beginnings.

2008-04-10T20:19:00.012-03:00

Earlier today I was doing some cleaning in the kitchen and came across the last of a bag of Red Delicious apples from a couple of weeks ago. Apparently it got crammed behind some other food item on the shelf and forgotten about, because we've bought apples several times since. There was just one left in the bag and it looked old and slightly soggy and quite pathetic. I knew it wasn't going to get eaten, so I was about to toss it.

But I didn't end up throwing it out after all. I decided to try to make an apple head doll with it instead. Yay!

I can only assume that most readers have seen one of these things before. If you haven't, google it! I love apple head dolls. They're really special and so interesting to look at. My mom had two of them on a shelf in the living room when I was little. The image of those dolls are one of my earliest memories. I never actually thought of trying to craft one myself until I saw one that my brother had made a while back. He did a great job. He really inspired me to give it a try myself.

Now of course I really have no friggin clue what I'm doing with this. So I'm not sure how it's going to work out. I did a little bit of research online beforehand... and apparently it takes the apple "several weeks" to dry! That is not good news for someone as impatient as I am! So I thought it might be neat to post a little update now and then to show how it's coming along.

Here's how the apple looks today, hanging by a piece of yarn on a nail in the wall to dry.

Yup. There it is alright. I can't wait to see what it looks like as it dries and wrinkles up. Hopefully it won't mold over and be a total flop!

Making some sort of a body for the thing is going to be pretty interesting. I guess I have a few weeks to give it some thought so I'm not too worried about that part yet....

Watch for more about this Stuff in upcoming weeks! :)

I baked cookies!

2008-04-08T18:37:00.013-03:00

And now that those of you who know me well have picked yourselves up off the floor, here's a picture.

I do not normally bake. Anything. I can't even remember the last time I tried. It's been at least five years... probably even longer. A few bad baking experiences when I was younger pretty much turned me off of the whole idea all together. Always seemed like an awful lot of work to go through just to end up with something that really sucked.

I'm not sure what made me decide to give it another go after all this time. I got a recipe for shortbread and icing from my mom, acquired a few ingredients I didn't already have here, and baked up a storm.

I think I saw poor Bruce do a bit of a double take when he came home and saw what I had been up to. Best part is, they turned out good! And Bruce agrees. We're not sure what the cat thinks of the whole ordeal. I don't picture a cat having much to say about a batch of shortbread cookies either way.

I actually had a lot of fun doing this. I'm gonna give this baking thing a try again sometime! Maybe even warn Bruce beforehand, too. No one deserves a shock like that without fair warning ahead of time. That's just mean!

Holy crap, it's Spring!

2008-04-07T16:12:00.014-03:00

Is it ever freakin' beautiful outside today! Wow. The Weather Network is saying 6°C, but it feels way warmer. The sun is shining and finally, FINALLY, it's starting to feel like Spring.

Ahhhhhhhh. :)

Earlier this afternoon I decided to head out for a long walk and enjoy the day. No definite destination in mind. As it turns out, I ended up at the Salvation Army Thrift Store.

Look at what I got!

For a phenomenal $3.99, no less!

Besides the glass bowl, the whole thing is made out of wood. Guts and all. The wooden dowel that you would put the penny in will turn, but it turns hard. So I'm not sure whether or not the thing will actually work. There's a little groove cut out in the base on the right hand side where the gum ball would roll out. It's just adorable.

I haven't decided if I'm actually going to put gum balls in it or not. I'm thinking I should, but I guess we'll see. I'm not even sure where it's going to end up yet!

How exciting. I love the Salvation Army Thrift Store. And I love Spring even more. :)

Magnificent magnets.

2008-04-06T11:26:00.009-03:00

It's been a little while since I last crafted. I've just been too busy doing other things; namely, writing. Which I guess is a craft in and of itself! My article on Jupiter was accepted for publication in a kid's magazine last week. The second piece I've had accepted now. It's scheduled to come out in January, and I'm pretty excited.

So the faithful reader might remember me having mentioned that I picked up Scrabble at the charity garage sale yesterday. Despite the fact that we already own Scrabble! Why? I bought it for a craft project I've had in mind for months now, patiently awaiting the day that I'd spot a second-hand Scrabble board for dirt cheap. Well, yesterday was the day.

I made fridge magnets!

Months back I had picked up a couple of magnetic sheets at the Dollar Store. I've made magnets with the stuff once before. It's sticky on one side and really easy to use. This craft project took me about an hour... no waiting for glue to dry or anything at all. Perfect.

I had some of the sheet left over so I decided to make some old photo booth pictures of my brother and sister into magnets, too.

This craft project was really easy, and a lot of fun. A great welcome back to the kind of crafting I haven't made much time for lately, but really enjoy anyway. And for dirt friggin cheap too! Heehee. Gotta love it. :)

More mugs?!

2008-04-05T14:10:00.018-03:00

You know, this is really starting to become a problem. I don't have room for any more mugs!! But did that stop me today? Did I listen to that little voice of reason inside my head, and restrain myself?

HA! Not friggin likely.

Anyone who has enjoyed a cup of coffee at my parents' house in the last 20 years or so might very well recognize this set. I saw them this morning at the charity garage sale, and had to have them. Simple as that. They remind me of home. They make me happy.

Aww.

Now I just have to figure out where the hell I'm going to put them. It's just gonna take a bit of re-arranging in my kitchen cupboards, I believe. Surely I'll fit them in there somehow.

I picked this one up too!

I used to have a couple "drinking jars" just like it years ago but they ended up getting dropped and breaking. I loved them. I mourned their passing. And I'm pretty sure I squealed a little bit when I spotted this one there today. Are you kidding me? Room or no room, I had to have it, too.

SO. We got the mugs, the drinking jar, a Sesame Street 25 Greatest Hits record, and Scrabble..... for two dollars. How sweet is that?

And thus I have concluded that I'm all done buying mugs. For a little while, at least. It's either that or have some more kitchen cupboards installed! Sheesh.

:)

Tonight's supper.

2008-04-05T00:07:00.005-03:00

Tonight's supper was really good. So good, in fact, that I simply had to drop everything mid-stog, grab my camera, and snap a picture. I knew I'd want to talk about it here. Always thinking ahead, eh?

So here it is.

I had 2 veggie eggrolls and plum sauce with a side of a bunch of shit I threw into a pan and cooked up.

Yes, that's right. I took what I had in my fridge, and I improvised. Shockingly, it turned out to be rather edible. Nay. It was good.

I'm pretty proud of myself. This is, truthfully, the first time I've been so adventurious with a meal. I always know exactly what I'm going to make. I buy the ingredients specifically to make it.

But not tonight. I had some left over brown rice in the fridge that I wanted to use up, and didn't really feel like having it plain. So what the hell? I decided to let my hair down, and go wild.

I put some red and green peppers, yellow onions, mushrooms and pepper in a pan with a drop of oil. Let that cook a bit. Then my rice. I poured some water in the pan too and added some chicken bouillon. Let is simmer until it thickened and voilà. Rice a la Smel.

I almost fell over when I took a bite and it didn't taste like crap. Maybe I should start letting my hair down in the kitchen a little more often!

Portrait of a bug.

2008-04-03T20:58:00.012-03:00

Earlier today I got thinking about a bunch of pictures I took with my mom's camera when I was home for a month shearing trees last summer. I guess the weather outside is what made me think of them. Tomorrow is supposed to get up to 10°C! (... who else but a Maritimer would get excited about that??) Ahh... it's going to be glorious. Finally, there is an end in sight to this cold, hellish winter. Summer is slowly - but surely - on its merry way. I'm so excited.

Anyway, thinking about nice weather made me think of last summer and all those pictures I took. Here's one of my favorite ones. Check it out.

I took it in the vegetable garden, while my mom was pulling weeds. That was the moment I was attempting to capture, I suppose.

It would seem, however, that I managed to capture a bug instead. Front and dead centre, in total focus.

Teehee. How utterly foolish. Not even intentionally so!

I love this picture. It makes me giggle. And it makes me look forward to beautiful summer weather. It's on its way, folks. 10°C tomorrow!!! Woooohooooo! :)

I got April Fooled.

2008-04-01T13:02:00.013-03:00

So guess who won our game of candlelit crib?

Me! :)

Obviously then, Earth Hour ended up being an outrageous success in our household.

But it happened 3 days ago. It's ancient news now. Let's fast-forward to today: April 1st. Did you get April Fooled? Well, I did.

I was watching Canada AM this morning when I had about a million other things I should have been doing instead. I wasn't thinking about April Fool's Day at all. And that's how the bastards got me.

It was the end of the show and they started talking about a BBC documentary on a newly discovered colony of penguins that can fly.

You know, I probably shouldn't be telling this to anybody, much less broadcasting it online. But it's the truth. For about half of the segment, my mouth hung open in total awe of these amazing, flying penguins.

The clip they showed was a spot created by the BBC for April Fool's Day. It's really well done. Especially when they show the penguins "taking off". In case you haven't seen it, it can be viewed online here.

About half way through, I started to get suspicious. They fly thousands of miles every year to the Amazonian rainforest to find winter sun? Wait.... what? Reverse evolution??

Oh God.

Just before the segment (and the show) ended, Jeff Hutchenson exclaimed, "And it's April 1st, ladies and gentlemen!" and then I was certain.

AH! I got April Fooled... bad. Flying penguins?? Gee whiz.

Marvellous mugs.

2008-03-29T17:11:00.013-03:00

Oh. my. GOD.

Okay. Bruce and I took a trip into our dearly adored charity garage this afternoon. And... well. Feast your eyes on these puppies:

I got the set of four for a buck. Yep. That's one dollar. Gotta love it.

I think the jugglers are my faves. They kind of remind me of some illustrations from a favorite book when I was a kid.

Now I don't mean to be crass, but I gotta be honest here. I'm happy as a pig in shit over this today. I LOVE these friggin mugs.

Yay!!! :D

Earth Hour 2008.

2008-03-29T11:25:00.004-03:00

Yesterday morning I was watching Canada AM and they were talking with someone from the WWF about Earth Hour. I've heard quite a lot about this in the news as of late. Surely you have too.

I had already sort of been thinking about participating in this. Turning off all the lights between 8 and 9 PM on March 29. And as I sat there watching Canada AM yesterday, it dawned on me. If I'm unwilling to turn off all my lights for one hour as a show of support - me, one of the people claiming to give a crap about climate change and global warming - well, then. Maybe there really isn't any hope for us after all.

After the segment was over I went to the website and signed up.

Yeehaw.

http://www3.earthhourus.org/

So yeah. Tonight between 8 and 9 PM Bruce and I will be sitting here in a totally pitch black apartment like a couple of dinks. Poor Bruce...... you know, I don't really recall asking him what he thought of that idea! I have, however, promised a game of candlelit cribbage to pass the hour... so I'm sure he'll live. Teehee.

Done.

2008-03-28T10:10:00.013-03:00

The other night when we moved our bookshelves from the living room to the bedroom, I came across a little square piece of fabric I forgot I had saved. It's from the very first living room chair Bruce and I owned, in our very first apartment back in 2001.

I loved that friggin chair. I wish I had a picture. You'll just have to believe me, it was pretty damn special.

Sadly, we ended up having to throw the chair out last year. The thing was ridiculously old and it literally started to disintegrate before our very eyes. The cat enjoyed using it as a scratching post. In the end, I'm pretty sure this is what brought about its demise.

Well anyway, I found this little square of fabric, and decided to make some sort of art out of it.

I put it in a frame from the Dollar Store. Hung it up in the living room. Done.

... and speaking of done, I'm all done f'ing around. Time to get my article on Jupiter done. Ack! Hoping this post helped get those ol' writing juices flowing... wish me luck!

Big changes.

2008-03-25T21:57:00.008-03:00

New (to me!) living room chair + procrastination + a Bruce to move heavy furniture = BIG CHANGES.

Here's yet another before and after shot, this time of a corner in the living room.

These changes actually make the space seem a little smaller, but I like that. I like that things generally seem focused inwardly now, instead of just towards the television. It feels cozy.

The bookshelves and the fish tank are in the bedroom now, where the blue cabinet thingy used to be.

Which, you know, is a real gem in and of itself. We found it beside a garbage bin behind our old apartment last year. Yes, that's right. All it needed was a coat of paint. And a Nova Scotia tartan!

Ah, but the real star of this show is my new living room chair, spotted at our most beloved charity garage sale while out browsing with Bruce's mother yesterday. It's green and corduroy and it swivels and rocks and... well. It's just about the greatest chair I think I've ever plopped my ass into.

I love it. And the cat loves it, too.

Woo!!

A blast from the past.

2008-03-24T22:02:00.011-03:00

I just love blasts from the past, don't you?

Here's a good one from 1987 or so, just before my little brother was born. I was six years old.

Hee hee.

I think I like the drawing of my dad the most. Especially his mustache.

It makes me grin! :)

Backwards day + Aloe vera.

2008-03-24T13:19:00.020-03:00

Okay, well.........

I was doing some cleaning a little while ago, and decided to put up a few windows to "air the ol' dump out" as I like to say. I love the smell of the outdoors. I love fresh air. Things can get pretty stuffy in here over the winter since the windows usually stay shut, so I like to open them up for a while whenever it's nice and sunny out. Like today.

It's still kinda cold out there, though... the Weather Network is saying -6°C. I was cleaning the toilet (now there's a fun job for ya), with the bathroom window open, and started to find it a little chilly. I grabbed my hoody sweatshirt thing off of the hook on the bathroom door, and pulled it down over my head.

Yup, backwards. HA!

And I mean, like everyone else, I've done this a time or two before... been in a rush and put a shirt on backwards by mistake... saw the tag... (before leaving the house if I was lucky)... and put it on right again. Not a huge deal.

But this was just so jarring. There would be no leaving the house by mistake with this sweater on backwards. I was shocked when I pulled it down over myself and there was a hood over my face! I laughed outloud.

And then immediately got my camera, and posed for this picture. Look at that! I'm such a ham. :)

Anyway, besides putting my hoody on backwards today, I also got an Aloe vera plant!

After a little re-arranging, he's found a home on top of my desk. I've wanted an Aloe plant for a long time, and I love it. Thanks Linda! :)

One great craft project leads to another.

2008-03-22T13:48:00.008-03:00

This morning I finished reading The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.

I had seen it among the second hand books at Frenchy's a couple of months ago. I hadn't ever read it before, but was familiar with some of Plath's poetry, and her life story... both of which I found interesting. It was $1.50. I had to buy it. And I'm really glad I did. I quite enjoyed it.

I love buying books second hand. It's what I do. Buying books new is some risky business... especially when it comes to fiction. I never really know what to buy and who the heck knows whether I'll like it or not. At 10 or 20 or more bucks a pop, I don't feel good about the risk. I am cheap. This is nothing new.

And quite frankly, screw the library. I love books. I want to own the ones I've read, display them proudly on the shelf. Kind of like keepsakes from the journeys they took me on, you know?

So, yes. Second hand books are awesome. Buying used books is a great way to stumble across something you'd either be unable to afford, or wouldn't have thought to give a chance otherwise. They're cheap, so why not? Plus there's the reusing-someone-else's-old-stuff thing which is always an added bonus.

And now to change the subject entirely. Just for the hell of it. Let's address the subject of this post: One great craft project leads to another.

Now most craft projects will inevitably leave behind some left over supplies. And I never throw them out. You just never know when they might come in handy.

So the faithful reader may remember my fish tank re-decoration, for which I bought some shells and rocks and glass stones at the Dollar Store. I had bought a glass container with a metal lid at the Dollarama that night too, with plans of using it to store popcorn kernels.

That never happened. Instead, this did!

Ha!

I put some of the left over rocks and shells in the bottom, and sat the little ceramic turtle that I had in my fish tank before the makeover on top. I filled the rest with water and stuck the lid on. He's been sitting on top of my desk for the past few weeks.

And so, the moral of this story is: don't ever throw away those left over craft supplies. You may just come up with something fun that makes you grin. And also, Frenchy's is a great place to buy books. $1.50 is a steal!! :)

What's the difference between a fish and a piano?

2008-03-20T17:38:00.017-03:00

I love tuna sandwiches, in case you didn't know.

So I made one today for lunch, and it literally blew my mind. It was that good.

Everyone has their own idea of how to make the perfect tuna sandwich. I thought I'd share my version here.

Yum.

To make this sucker, there are a few specifics you'll need, like:

+ President's Choice Hot & Zesty deli sliced pickles.

I LOVE these things, on all sorts of different sandwiches. They're delish. Chop one of them up and put it in the tuna salad. Gives it a perfect little hint of bite.

Additionally, you'll need some green and red peppers, and yellow onions. Mix all four up in some tuna (I like flaked light in water) with a little bit of Miracle Whip or salad dressing of your choice. Not too much, though. You want to be able to taste the tuna, too!

+ Miracle Whip/mustard mix.
I don't have a picture, because it just looks like miracle whip and mustard mixed together. Picture that. You want about 1 part mustard to 3 parts miracle whip. Spread a bit of this on both pieces of bread. As long as it's in a covered container, this stuff will stay good in the fridge for 3 months. It's great on all sorts of different sandwiches too, like black forest ham or BLTs. Try it!

+ Dempster's 12 Grain Bread.
Or some other hearty bread of your choice. I like to toast the bread a little, especially this time of year.

+ pepper.
Sprinkle some on the tuna just before closing the sandwich.

As far as cutting it goes, you'll notice in the first picture that I'm a big fan of the straight-cut. No fancy diagonally-cut tuna sandwiches for me, please.

And there you have it. Simple. And the best part is, there should be enough tuna salad left over to make another one tomorrow. Woohoo!

And oh. What's the difference between a fish and a piano?

You can't tuna fish! :)

The view from my bathroom window.

2008-03-16T12:45:00.018-03:00

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my camera?

Well, I love it quite a little bit.

Now I'll be the first to admit that I don't know crap about photography, but I don't let that bother me. Not at all. I may not create the subject, but I do create the perspective, the framing, the angle. I choose that unique moment in time to capture. I'm usually pleased with the result. It is art. Instant.

There's beauty in almost everything; you've just got to look at it the right way, at just the right moment.

Like the view from my bathroom window.

No, it's not the ocean. No mountain ranges or pretty trees. I live right in the middle of town. When I look out the window, I see the houses across the street.

So, I was browsing through the photos I've taken since I got my camera at Christmas, and realized I've taken quite a few of the view from my bathroom window. And I actually like the way they came out. Like these ones-

Kind of pretty, for a bunch of houses and power lines.

So, yes. I love my camera. I love the instant gratification of the thing. The imagination that's actually involved. It's a lot of fun.

Oh. And one more. I didn't see beauty when I snapped this picture a couple of months ago. I saw a buttload of snow.

Gah!!! I'm so ready for spring, it isn't even funny........

Happiness is:

2008-03-14T13:27:00.008-03:00

What an amazing book. Charles Schulz's very first. It may be an oldie, but jeepers creepers is it ever a goody.

I haven't seen a copy since I was a kid. I would love to get a hold of one. Hm, yet another thing I'll have to start keeping my eyes open for...

"Happiness is a thumb in a blanket.", Schultz writes. "Happiness is an umbrella and a new raincoat."

I always think of this book whenever a simple, little thing makes me happy.

Like this:

Happiness is a macramé owl lit up by the setting sun.

and this:

Happiness is a freshly loaded banana tree.

and this too:

Happiness is a favorite craft project that isn't anything great, but that you're really proud of anyway.

:)

Though his book may appear to be directed towards children, I think adults are the ones who need to remember to appreciate the little things. Like a thumb in a blanket. Or a new raincoat. Or a freshly loaded banana tree. As Schulz writes: "Happiness is one thing to one person, and another thing to another person." Give it a try! You might like it.

Offhand, Bruce once told me that he sometimes feels like he lives with a Japanese tourist. Teehee. I really do take a lot of pictures....

Happiness is a digital camera for Christmas! :)

This is what I like to see.

2008-03-12T19:57:00.002-03:00

I walked into the living room earlier to this lovely sight. I just had to grab the camera and snap a picture. It made me laugh out loud.

How foolish.

Believe me. I'd blame this one on Bruce if I could. But I can't. I know very well I was the one who did this. Bruce was at work at the time!

It would seem that it's going to take a while to get used to having coasters around...

Ode to my favorite mug.

2008-03-12T12:17:00.015-03:00

Yes. I have a favorite mug. Doesn't everyone?? If you don't, you should really think about getting yourself one. Everything tastes better in a favorite mug. It's a wonderfully odd little thing.

Here's mine!

Found in my parents' attic this past summer. Oh, the drinks that could have tasted so much better over the years whilst this beautiful gem laid dusty and dormant. It almost brings a tear to my eye.

So this post is an ode to my favorite mug.

It's actually not as old as I had thought. It looks to me as though it walked into my parents' attic directly from the 1970s. Not quite so. After a little research, I've found that the first Save-Easy opened in 1959 in Sackville NB. Presumably, then, this mug dates to 1984.

So the mug itself is just about 25 years old now. I actually don't use it as often as I'd like. I'm afraid I'll break it! That would break my heart.

I love it.

And since we're on the subject of mugs, allow me to introduce you to my second favorite mug. Not really deserving of an "ode" but I definitely have to give it a shout-out. :)

Also from my parents' attic. I'm not sure how old this one is, but some quick research tells me it's definitely from a vintage set: Johnson Bros "Hearts & Flowers". The bottom stamp says "dish washer" safe, though, so it's probably about as old as the Save-Easy mug. I'd love to get my mitts on more pieces from the set. Particularly the teapot.

Which is actually available online for 139 bucks. That's a good little bit of money for a teapot. Maybe someday...

If I ever find out about a Save-Easy 25th Anniversary teapot, now boys no price would be too high. Somehow though, I highly doubt such a beast exists. :P

Another before and after.

2008-03-11T23:16:00.007-03:00

Before:

After:

There's some of that scarf yarn again. No googly eyes this time though.

Yup, so we went to the dollar store the other night to get some pine-sol. As it happened they were all out. Don't you worry, though. I managed to walk out of there with a bagful of shit nonetheless. I always do. :)

Since I don't have a vase I decided to buy one and paint it. See the "After" photo for what I came up with. I think it'll look nice with blue or white flowers in it. Hm.... maybe I'll get some sometime.

Heehee.

I also got a package of 4 glass coasters that I quite like. I don't even want to repaint them! They're great just the way they are.

Woohoo!!

Cats are such very odd creatures.

2008-03-09T16:22:00.005-03:00

When we first moved into this apartment, there was a crappy old venetian blind on the bathroom window. It was in pretty rough shape. After keeping my eyes open for a curtain I liked and not finding anything, I decided to make my own.

And by make my own, I mean cut up a sheet, hand-sew the appropriate hems, and hang it on a curtain rod. :)

It ended up working out great, though. I couldn't actually use the sheet on the bed because it was too small. And it was just the right colour that I wanted, too.

So like most cats, ours loves to perch himself on the window sill and look outside. Pretty standard behaviour right there. Ever since I put this home-made curtain up over the bathroom window, though, the cat's been acting like a real weirdo.

Check it out...

This isn't an isolated incident. At least once a day - often, more than once - I'll go in the bathroom to find the cat sitting on the clothes hamper, starring at the curtain.

For hours sometimes.

I find this really odd. When it comes to every other window in the place, he'll push himself behind the curtain so he can sit on the sill and look out. Despite the hamper in front of the window, he's still got full access, so that's not the problem. And it's not as if the curtain is all that see-through or anything. He'd have a much better view if it wasn't in his way. So it just doesn't make any sense. Not even a lick.

I have to admit, walking in on this so often can be pretty jarring - it bothers me a little, to be honest. The same way I'm bothered when he chases his own tail. It just seems so dumb.

He is a cat though, after all, so it is excusable. We all know cats are such very odd creatures...

Now if I were ever to walk in the bathroom to see Bruce doing the same thing, I have to say, I'd be pretty worried.

Is that a Tupperware strainer reading this blog??

2008-03-07T22:38:00.012-04:00

Yep. It is.

So my mom had the very same Tupperware when I was a kid. I spotted it today at our previously discussed daily garage sale, sitting there on the shelf, and I didn't even think about it for one second. Even though I already have a perfectly good strainer... I had to have this one.

I'm so glad that I do. It makes me really happy.

And since it has such a special place in my heart, I thought I'd give it a special place at the top of this blog for a little while.

Ain't it great?? :)

The most important meal of the day.

2008-03-06T20:51:00.013-04:00

Before:

After:

Now then: What the hell could this possibly have to do with breakfast??

Well, I'll tell you.

Earlier this evening I decided I really wanted to have some raisin bran for breakfast tomorrow. I LOVE raisin bran, in case you didn't know.

Sadly though, we were all out. There were a couple of other items we needed as well, so this meant a trip to the grocery store.

I sent Bruce in there with a list, while I went to the Dollarama that happens to be next door.

Teehee.

I love the dollar store almost as much as I love raisin bran. I always take my time in browsing the craft isle. It's a neat place to come up with little crafting ideas - especially since everything is a buck!

I saw a bag of pretty river rocks and decided to decorate my fish tank.

I got some rocks, glass stones, and shells for on the bottom. Now, there was a moment of hesitation there, it's true: I wouldn't want my silliness killing the poor things. I washed the rocks and shells with boiling water, though, which put my mind at ease. They'll be fine.

I think it looks much nicer. I may actually end up getting some more mirrors and putting them all the way up to the top. We'll see.

And so there you have it. This whole mess started with me wanting raisin bran.

Who'da thunk!

In the immortal words of Dr. Sam Beckett....

2008-03-04T08:10:00.011-04:00

"Oh boy".

So along with the canvases, Bruce also got me a gift certificate from Michaels craft store for Valentine's Day. Last night I decided it was time to go spend some of it. I got a ball of yarn, a crochet hook, and a set of double-pointed knitting needles. And I still have $12 left on the card, so that's pretty exciting.

I have NO idea how to crochet. I don't even have the first clue. Teaching myself will come later, though... First on the menu is learning to knit with the double-pointed needles.

And oh boy.

I had about as much of a clue how to use those needles as I do how to crochet. I looked up some websites for patterns and such. Found one for a pair of mittens as practice. Then I scoured the web for info on how to knit with four needles! I am truly clueless.

I love teaching myself how to do things like this. It feels like a big accomplishment, and I'm even prouder of the resulting project. Sometimes, though, I can't help but think it would be so much easier to just get someone to show me how to do it!

Good lord.

Here's what I have so far...

It looks kind of cuff-like I guess, but truthfully, I hardly know what the heck I'm doing with this. I realized this morning that instead of knitting 2 stitches, purling 2 stitches, I misread the pattern and have been knitting 2 rows, purling 2 rows! HA! So this will end up getting unraveled today and I'll start over right. Rome wasn't built in a day, I suppose....

So this will be my project for the next little while: learning to knit mittens. I'm REALLY nervous about the thumb. AHHHHH!

Wish me luck!

Damn I'm good.

2008-03-03T10:09:00.008-04:00

Six days a week here in town there is a huge garage sale; its wares are supplied by donation, and its proceeds go to the charity organization that runs it. And it's a pretty great organization. It's devoted to helping parents of at-risk families learn to provide for their children. They run an adult literacy program. A housing program. They set up scholarship funds. And so on. All benefiting people here in town.

So, I LOVE their garage sale. Since it's entirely donation/volunteer based, the prices are phenomenal. I like that instead of these perfectly good things going to the landfill, I'm able to use them. I like that my money is going to local charity instead of some huge corporation. And I like the uniqueness of most of the treasures there: it's old stuff, with history. You can't find these things in stores. It's gold.

"Shopping" there is actually a really good feeling!

Well, anyway, Bruce and I went Saturday to take a look around. You never know what you'll find.

I found this!

... and a little gold picture frame that I'm sure will appear in this blog at some point or another. Both for two dollars and twenty five cents.

I've been kind of keeping my eyes open for a kettle there for a while. I'd just been heating water up for tea in a little pot. Which worked fine; I didn't feel the *need* to run out and buy a new one or anything. I figured I wouldn't be able to find one I liked anyway.

There were actually two kettles there but I decided on this one. I just liked the way it looked. I got it home and gave some water a good boil to make sure it was clean. And realized... it matches my wallpaper! Like... perfectly!

The blue and red and green stripes... right down to the creamy in-betweenies.

Damn I'm good.

Heehee.

Look Ma, it's half an afghan!

2008-03-02T15:29:00.009-04:00

Yessir.

Mom gave me an afghan recipe of Nanny's about a month ago.

Now I don't normally have it on the chair like this, I just put it there for the picture. So don't be deceived. In reality, it's been balled up in a pile on top of my dresser for probably 3 weeks now.

This is the first afghan I've ever tried knitting so I've been feeling quite uneasy about the whole ordeal, especially in the beginning. I underestimated the size I'd end up wanting the thing by about half: as illustrated by the fancy check pattern, which wasn't intentional until I got to sewing the strips together. It's probably big enough to use as a little lap throw kinda thing, but I don't want that. I want a full-sized blanket kinda thing.

Being all out of yarn has seriously slowed the progress of this project. I've just been too lazy/cheap to get more, and that's all there is to it.

Awwwww.

I really am going to finish it. Promise!

Today's masterpiece.

2008-02-29T18:20:00.006-04:00

After a few bites I was struck by how absolutely friggin amazing my breakfast was this morning, so I grabbed my camera and snapped a pic before it was all gone.

You can have an absolutely friggin amazing breakfast too! You will need:

- President's Choice® Corn Flakes, 1/2 bowl full
- Kellogg's® All-Bran®, 1 handful
- 1 ripe banana, chopped
- 3 strawberries, sliced
- sugar, very light sprinkling of
- 1% milk until Corn Flakes float

YUM! :)

I LOVE googly eyes.

2008-02-27T23:00:00.013-04:00

Heehee.

You'll notice from my earlier post that previously, my mascaras and eyeliners and such were just lying in a messy heap on the bathroom shelf.

Well, Wednesday evening I found myself deciding that something should be done about it. Since the googly eyes were still out from the day before, that something ended up being this.

Meet Cousin Carter. He's made of an old container that green tea came in. It's the first time I've ever tried painting a container like this before; I've painted a few glass jars, but this is sort of a foil-lined cardboard, so I wasn't sure how things would go.

As it turns out, the paint covered well, and my bathroom shelf is hardly cluttered now at all! And Curtis doesn't look so lonely anymore. So I'd say the mission was a success.

With all that being said, I have put the googly eyes away again for a while.

There is such a thing as too much googly eyes, you know. And I'm just on the brink of reaching that point, I believe.

I managed to scratch the googly-eyes-itch I'd been feeling for a while though, so it's all good. :)

Curtis.

2008-02-27T01:13:00.021-04:00

"Curtis! by the cheese n' rice!

What's that atop your head?"
"Tis Q-tips sir!" the young jar beams,

The old one turns bright red.

"Toiletry?! A son of mine?!"
he cries and oh he wails,
"I thought you'd be a manly man!

Store screws and tacks and nails."

"They think I'm cute!" the young lad grins
"I'm the luckiest jar of all!
Maybe one day your lot will improve
and you'll store some.. cotton balls!" :)

Hm, Father Jar there looks quite shocked. I don't think he's going for that idea at all.

It's funny how these little craft projects of mine sometimes just fall together.

I'd had this tiny pickling jar under the sink for months, along with a bunch of other glass jars I have saved. It was originally found in an old scrap car that was being stripped. I've never seen one so little. I just had to save it.

Anyway, last night I decided I need something to keep chalk in, so I thought I'd paint the little jar. I got the base coats down... in white... and decided it was a dumb idea. It would be holding a bunch of coloured chalk. My paint job would be ruined.

I think I'm just going to have a few pieces of chalk on the ledge of the board, and keep the rest in a nearby drawer.

So let's get to the meat of the issue: I decided to use the jar for storing Q-tips instead. I was going to just paint "Q-tips" on there, but decided to do something fun. His tuft of hair is a piece of yarn from the scarf I knat last week, tied around the rim and frayed. I always keep googly eyes on hand, because you just never know when you'll need some googly eyes. So I glued those on.

"Curtis" has found a home on a shelf in the bathroom that I painted a while back.

Isn't he cute? Even Bruce thinks so!

Teehee.

Birling down a-down the white water.

2008-02-25T16:29:00.032-04:00

A couple of weeks ago Bruce and I were browsing Youtube and happened across the National Film Board of Canada's 1979 animated short "Logdriver's Waltz". It used to air on television in the 80s. Bruce recognized it instantly. I wouldn't say I remember the thing per se, but there are a few bits that strike me as quite familiar, so I'm sure I saw it too.

It's an absolutely charming short in any event. The video can be viewed online here.

The film features a folk song of the same title written by Canadian Albert Wade Hemsworth, in celebration of the log driving profession. He likens the log drivers to dancers in the song, for the skill and agility the occupation required.

For he goes birling down a-down the white water
That's where the log driver learns to step lightly
It's birling down, a-down white water
A log driver's waltz pleases girls completely.

Soo... running across this video really set me off. Having grown up in a small Canadian community driven for more than a century by the forestry industry, I suddenly found myself quite obsessed, looking up as much information and photographs of the old profession that I could find.

And what a fascinating profession indeed! Before trucks and railroads, large sawmills were built at the lower reaches of rivers. This was quite intentional, of course - how better to get the logs out of the woods and to the sawmill than to float them down the river!

Often times, logs would become jammed or stuck and needed to be guided along the way. Men called "log drivers" would run from one log to another, ensuring their successful journey downstream. As you can probably imagine, this took loads of strength, skill, and agility. It was dangerous, too. Many log drivers were killed by falling and being crushed between the heavy logs.

Well all this inspired me. Naturally!!

I'd been trying to figure out what to paint on the canvas Bruce got me for Valentine's Day since... well... Valentine's Day. So I used a photo I found online as a model, some acrylics, and went to town. It's found a home on the wall above my computer desk in the living room. Not sure if that's where it will stay.... for a little while though at least, I'm sure.

Yep.

The Log Driver's waltz pleases Smel completely! :)

Chalk this one up boardom.

2008-02-24T13:51:00.016-04:00

This is especially important if what you don't have is a pile of money. ;)

A few days ago I got it into my head that I really, REALLY wanted a chalkboard. I didn't figure I'd ever be able to find exactly what I was looking for in a store, and that even if I did it would cost a crap load of money I wouldn't want to spend.

So it was apparent right from the start that I would be crafting this chalkboard of mine - but out of what?

Why, out of a bunch of junk, of course!

I was at work Friday when I remembered an old bulletin bored that had already been in the shop when we moved in, leaning up against the wall in the corner. The frame and backing were sound, but the cork board was a mess. It was just dumb luck that no one had bothered throwing the thing out yet. As with the left over piece of finished sheet board stuff from some work that Bruce's parents had recently done to their porch that was there too.

There I had it. All the junk I needed. And being in a shop, a bunch of tools at my disposal, too.

I was cooking with gas now boys.

So Friday afternoon when I should have been, you know, working (so, in fact, don't chalk this one up to "boardom" at all!)... I crafted myself a chalkboard! Bruce helped (a lot) too. Later on we headed to the hardware store and got a can of chalkboard paint for six bucks, and did 'er up. The next day I painted the frame with some DollarStore burnt umber acrylic, and finished it with a coat of polyurethane varnish I had.

Today we hung it in the kitchen. And WELL.

The ledge is even big enough to hold the chalk; one of those simple little things that just makes me smile from ear to ear.

Yay! :)

The Little Forklift That Could.

2008-02-20T20:38:00.020-04:00

A Little Forklift had a very heavy car to carry into a mechanic's shop.

All was well until he came to the ramp in front of the big doors.

It was the middle of winter, and the ramp was covered in a thick sheet of ice. No matter how hard the Little Forklift tried, he could not move the heavy car up the ramp in front of the big doors.

His wheels spun and spun and spun. He backed off and tried again. Vroom, vroom! But no, he could not make it up the ramp and through the big doors.

"Surely I can find someone to help me," the Little Forklift thought.

Just then, he saw Smelanie come along, paint and brushes in tow.

"Will you help me?", the Little Forklift asked.

"I'll see what I can do!" Smelanie replied.

Quite a predicament the little guy put me in, eh?

Well, here's what I came up with:

Flames.

Now I do feel a need to explain this one, but I'm not exactly sure how. What possible explanation for painting flames on the side of a forklift could I give that would be considered reasonable?

I work part-time in Bruce's car shop. There is a forklift there that he and his Dad use to lift scrap cars into said shop. Bruce decided to work some overtime an evening a couple of weeks ago. I decided to paint flames on the forklift.

That's really all the explanation I have to offer.

Some people see things that are and ask, Why?

And some people see things that are, and paint flames on them. :)

I knat a scarf.

2008-02-19T20:15:00.036-04:00

One wouldn't say, "I sitted all day",

Then why would one say that they knitted?

It took me all week! So it's my choice to say,

I didn't knitted this scarf. I knat it!

Ingredients:

- 2 balls Lion Brand Yarn Wool-Ease® Thick & Quick® purchased at Michael's craft store on a whim with no plan in mind because it's just the prettiest, softest yarn you've ever seen, and you simply must have it.
- 2 10mm knitting needles.
- scissors.

Directions:

1. Start knitting. Given the fact that you only taught yourself how to knit a couple of months ago, promptly decide to attempt a simple scarf.
2. Realize that 25 stitches is too wide. This yarn is damn thick. Unravel. Start over.
3. Knit first row.
4. Knit first 2 stitches of second row. Then Purl, to last 2 stitches; Knit.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 approximately eight times. Keep track with tick marks on a piece of scrap paper, because you know you'll lose count if you don't and mess the thing up.
6. Cut yarn, leaving a 2 inch tail. Tie the second colour onto the tail of the first, and start knitting with it on the next row.
7. Repeat steps 3-6 while watch television in the evening until you run out of yarn, approximately one week later.
8. Weave in tails. Iron flat on steam between two towels.

Result:
A friggin scarf.

Enjoy!

Does this curtain make my window look fat?

2008-02-18T14:41:00.021-04:00

So previously, I had an orange curtain and valence on my living room window. With pom-poms. A gloriously whimsical Frenchy's find! The curtain was white, originally, which I had dyed orange. I love the colour, and the pom-poms... though sadly, the curtain itself was just a little too short (it just reached the sill) - I'd been wanting to do something about it for quite some time. I just couldn't come up with any ideas.

Last week Bruce's Mom gave me a set of white sheers. Covered in cute little flower and leaf designs. Real friggin pretty. She'd gotten them from a friend, found she couldn't use them after all, so passed them on to me.

Apparently I had nothing better to do this afternoon (the entire operation ended up taking like an hour to complete), so I put them on my window. I decided to tack the old orange curtain in behind, and hang the sheers in front.

As it turns out, the effect is actually quite pretty when the daylight shines through. I managed to keep the whimsy and colour while adding length and opacity. Go me.

Kitty seems to like it! And Bruce too (no picture of him perched on the window sill so you'll just have to take my word for it...)

Woohoo!