Over There...Craft-Crazy

A new schedule has me away from home a bit more than usual...and I'm loving it! My schedule includes a balanced square of my favorite things...I am still with my kids, painting and learning new tricks everyday and my new sewing machine has me in a trance. It is a good life when I go home to change out of my painting clothes and into my dance clothes....I will never stop dancing, it is in my blood.

...Check out craft-crazy for more of my new sewing machine madness.

Lance and I are off to a kid-free, live jazz and wine drinking kind of an evening...Cheers!

Soy Tempeh...Another Way

Another way to cook with Soy Tempeh...Tempeh Nachos. I just threw the Tempeh "block" into my food processor and we were in business. If I were to do it again, I would not add water with the seasoning. Doing so makes the Tempeh melt together again. This was my first go at using Tempeh.

Although the kids loved it, I didn't. Prefer my nachos the Quorn way.

"They Call Me Frosty!"

Show and Tell...

Kazizah has been begging for weeks to take Rogue Bear for show and tell . Actually, she talked about it before Rogue even came home, last June. Show and tell this morning was fun. The kids all had questions, love and hugs. Kaziah was proud of her pup.

Bling...

I am not a bling bling girl, me being blinging is putting on my high heels and jeans...that's about it...but I absolutely LOVE this design and chandelier...

This is my friend Haylie's dining room.

Almost...

Although the grout is not done, I couldn't help but place the sink and faucet in place for a picture...We hit a few more speed bumps, sickness and such, which put us behind schedule with the master bath...soon, so very soon. Things like this take much longer when it is an "after work, 2 hours here and there" project.

Awesome...

Another day, another glaze...This piece is AWESOME!

Count Us In...

"Idaho Green Expo...Where Green is another shade of Red White and Blue"

The Idaho Green Expo will be a celebration, but one with a serious purpose: to accelerate the emergence of a new green economy - an economy that is sustainable, healthy, ethical and earth friendly.

If you are in the area, I encourage you to consider attending.
May 17-18th 2008 Boise Centre on the Grove.

Image from web.

New...

As I have said before, my childcare career is slowing down and the need to continue having an income and be able to be with my kids is priority. I have many patterns and fabric choices floating in my mind for an Etsy Shop, but this is not what I am sharing today.

My close friend, Haylie, has a very talented family. They are amazing craftsmen in a world full of "Made in China", everything's the same, plastic finishes. This was my first week working with her brother, Tucker. After finishing a beautiful piece of furniture (I don't think you would actually call it a piece of furniture, it's more like a wall unit) he has me helping with the finish work. You got it, right up my alley! He had me working with chains and rocks and making worm holes in his beautiful woodwork. Learning from a master is what I am doing, and I couldn't be happier! The flexibility is also a key factor to this being a success. I am able to take my kids to school and then able to pick them up at 3:15. Of course, I still have Rocco (Haylie's son) under my care. My Mom is picking up the slack for me with him and Roxie, as Roxie is in preschool two days a week. Although I still have a very busy daycare schedule this summer, once school starts again I am hoping to be in the workshop even more. As for the childcare part, we are calling it, "It Takes a Village Childcare". None of it would be possible without my Mom, I can never thank her enough. And I must say, it is hard to pull Rocco and Roxie away from Mimi's house when it is time to go back home. I don't blame them one bit though...if I was hanging out in front of a cozy fire and playing all afternoon, I wouldn't want to leave either.

True Believer...

Have I mentioned how much I love Maggie's Soap Nuts lately?

Photo of my last batch of "Nut Juice".

Just A Peek...

So close...I can almost taste it!

Making Do...

Although I am making do with this rack in my laundry room, I am missing my clothesline! In the warmer months, I put everything on the line. Here in the winter, more things get put in the dryer. Using this drying rack helps with heavier things, like Levis and towels, greatly reducing the need for so much dryer time.

Compromise...

After much persuasion, Lance hung our Christmas lights again this year. Of course, this was done early December and I have been hesitant to share them. They are pretty cool, if I do say so myself. The candy cane trees are always a hit. We could not afford to switch over to LEDs but compromised on the amount of lights we strung. It may not appear to be so, but we did cut the amount of lights we lit considerably. I am sure to be booed, but I ask for a bit of leeway. I love my Christmas lights and I wasn't quite ready to give them up...After our last big snow I made sure to take pictures, this was my last year of having them...

More of our light display here.

The World Without Us...

Thanks to Urban Botany, I have a new book on my reading list, _The World Without Us_ by Alan Weisman.

In The World Without Us, Alan Weisman offers an utterly original approach to questions of humanity's impact on the planet: he asks us to envision our Earth, without us.

In this far-reaching narrative, Weisman explains how our massive infrastructure would collapse and finally vanish without human presence; what of our everyday stuff may become immortalized as fossils; how copper pipes and wiring would be crushed into mere seams of reddish rock; why some of our earliest buildings might be the last architecture left; and how plastic, bronze sculpture, radio waves, and some man-made molecules may be our most lasting gifts to the universe.

New Challenge...

Chile Chews is on to something...Presenting my very first challenge. Reduce-Reuse-Recycle: Rethink it! The purpose of this challenge is to help you reduce your consumption, expenses, and garbage by getting you to think about every aspect of the recycling logo. Break out of old habits and find new ways to reduce your consumption, reuse what you can in creative ways, and recycle everything else.

Reduce – Stop and think before you buy. Stop and think before you use too much.

Reuse – Slow down before tossing it out. Find another use for it.

Recycle – Go ahead and recycle it for a new life if you’ve exhausted the other possibilities.


My response: Reduce Reuse Recycle...You bet I'm in!
In trying to save on plastic, I have stopped purchasing garbage bags...When I am out of Maggie's Soap Nuts, I use baking soda wash for our laundry needs -no plastic, no harm...sewing my children clothes and such from thrifted finds...I love this challenge!