Today GW came over and we raised the coop! Although it may look to be a small feat, this puppy was heavy! but with GW’s masterful building skills we got it off the ground and started the process!
This is only step 2…step 1 of course being the purchase of the materials.
here is the progress for your viewing pleasure. I am hoping to have my girls in the Tour De Coops 2008!!! wouldnt that be awesome?? July 26th is the date! ohhh such high hopes for my ladies.
I was content with my green basket of mittens hats and scarfs and only randomly became annoyed with the pet hair, dust and the miscreant critter who would pull everything out of the basket and roll around and nap…(read more pet hair)
Then my friend Stacey wanted to create cabinet for her recycling and it got my thinking wheels spinning. So i went to IKEA, found a sweet although slightly countryish looking chest (ON SALE!!) took it home, painted it, decoupaged it and called it my new hatmittenscarf home.
Here are my before and after pictures
So at the turn of the year, i read my horoscope and was so excited for 2008. I cut it out and promptly lost it…which speaks volumes in my opinion. But, i found it again. so i want to put it on my blog so i never lose it again.
VIRGO (thats me) Your main assignment in 2008 is to become highly skilled at feeling good. Does that sound like something you might want to do? if so, here’s the beginning of the regimen you could follow: 1) Be constantly taking notes about what experiences give you delight and what situations make you feel at home in the world. 2) Always be scheming to provide yourself with those experiences and situations. 3) take a vow that nothing will obstruct you from seeking out and creating pleasure, peace, love, wonder, and an intimate connection with life.
Personally, i dont think you have to be a virgo to follow your bliss. I think this is a great way to start 2008 no matter who you are. This year i didnt make any resolutions or even think about what i wanted to accomplish for the year. however, i think my horoscope did that for me. it is nothing specific but everything that is important. I also dont think this is possible if i dont slow it all down a notch so i can enjoy it. those baby chicks will grow into ugly teenagers before my very eyes if i am not careful!
that being said. i entered 2008 with a craft room that looks like a bomb went off. I should preface this to say that even when my room is spotless, it looks like maybe a little cherry bomb was set off at least once a day in each corner. but here is my january 2008 space…before and here it is now after.
if you look out hte window that is where my ladies will live too.
i even cleaned out my drawers and labeled them. i still ahve mounds to do but this i think is a great start. The cats have come back to nap here now and Mieke and I crafted a great project for her birthday party invitations. turning 5 I kind of stole the idea from her dad but it was such a worthwhile theft.
i also spent a portion of a ridiculously boring meeting writing down all the projects i want to work on which includes…gasp…finishing my quilts! i know i know but it is seriously past due dont you think?
the sun is shining for the first time in what may be a month and i am not going to miss it! off to doggie land with the critters.
it seems that the link is temporarily down at this moment but fear not! my photos are there somewhere. enjoy! http://stellamacaroni.shutterfly.com/
here is a tease for you
i have to tell you, a girl could not ask for better friends in this world and not only are they great, they are creative too! i just want to show them off from time to time so everyone can appreciate them.
These are the girls. it is part where’s waldo, part whimsical fancy. i am officially smitten with the fluffy, flower-like lady feathers.
thanks Stacey!
OHHHH so i returned from Costa Rica where i ate fresh mangos, passion fruit, weird globual looking things that were super yummy, pineapple, papaya..oh i could go on and on. Needless to say, the Ticos eat what they grow and lucky for me, they share. They are also the masters of a perfectly grilled steak. I ate and played for a week…then i came home. Now i loved this fresh local food side of life but i missed my cheese products. So what is a girl to do? after several days of napping for almost 14 hours a day she stumbles around for a few hours readjusting to being vertical again and makes cheese! I have always wanted to make cheese. I even bought a book! but i read and read and got nervous about all the dos and donts and did you know that cheese is much like bread making? it takes a lot of patience! I should know because i also decided to make bread too. I initially thought Martha was working through me but it occurred to me that i didn’t need Martha, i had the blood in my veins of generations of magnificent women who made sure i didnt kill myself in the learning process. And i am sure they were just as excited as I was. I know the cats were purring at my feet under the steaming vat of milk and cream.
So after mustering the nerve, i went to it. I mixed and stirred and curdled and danced around in excitement. Each step of this process is a magic to behold. It really works! that is all i could say, it is working! I am making cheese! so fun!Next time i will channel the zen of Buddha and slow down a bit, my mozzarella balls looked a little “organic” in form but YUMMMMMMM!!!!
For the first time i really felt connected to my thought process about growing my own food and making products that are really simple and pure. I dont feel overwhelmed by the idea of my garden this coming spring, or raising my chickens. I am just excited! i want to grow as much as i can for myself and my loved ones. i want to eat figs and goat cheese and fennel and arugula with fresh eggs and homemade bread. i am not sure why it all seems so simple to me now but it does. i finally feel like gardening and cooking aren’t supposed to be complicated, they are just part of a process which of course involves a lot of learning and um did i mention patience…it is calming to me. i cant wait! i am still eating from my garden and the other night i cooked mounds of kale, added a little bacon and tossed in some Mozzarella! The stuff even melts right. YUM! Next time maybe i will make the pasta too 
Bon Appetite!
I am not exactly sure where to begin here. 2007 went out with a flurry of activities! is napping like a bear considered an activity? i say yes!
I am recently back from a trip to Costa Rica. It was such a fast and active trip, i am still trying to process it. i had to come home to sleep for a few days to recover from all that lounging and sunshine. Christmas day was actually the only day on my whirlwind trip that i permitted myself to bask in the sunshine by the pool, then the beach, then back to the pool, then a side trip to the bar for a shot of rum and some nachos…then a nap by the pool…well you get the idea. happy birthday to the baby jesus i say!
as i was busy wandering from one pale blue pool of water to the next with my plastic cup of sunshine, my cousin was busy getting her hair wrapped in braids and tinfoil.
She was also drinking plastic cups of sunshine…i however, felt no need for foil wrapped braids on my head (will this protect you from ufos?)I hoped they wouldn’t give her freezer burn when she returned to Montreal. She is still absolutely adorable dont you think?
Anyway, Costa Rica was magical, the Ticos are quite possibly the most charming people i have met on my travels thus far and would do anything to help out. They never even called me the gringa…to my face anyway. i certainly had my moments when i felt like the utmost gringa…next time i write my pin number in my forehead. I need to learn Spanish before i return.
As soon as i find my pictures, i will post some! they are pretty fun! I went horseback riding, snorkeling, hiking, covered myself in mud and allowed photographs to me taken, zipping over the rain forest, napping…did i mention the napping? ohhh such napping memories… to be continued…
my my my was i upset or what? i am now humbly sitting in my overturned soapbox, asking for your forgiveness for my rage (although my points are still valid to me) and thinking happily about chocolates and snow instead.
I had a lovely weekend and sunday was the cherry on top! i should preface this by saying GO KICKER CHECK! when the sun shines in Portland in December and the mail brings fourth free money, it is a good day.
Sunday i took my little wad of cash and did some christmas shopping. I got down to our little Pearl district and headed straight to my favorite store in the world Anthropologies. i like to touch every single thing in there twice and then try on things i cant afford and then buy some little happy trinket for my efforts. I am sure they love me in there and assume i am a wandering lunatic as they count the laps i make. And it was snowing! And i was drinking an eggnog latte and feeling quite festive!
After finding a cute top, i went down to In Good Taste for the most gluttonous wonderful day of chocolate. we baked and whipped and melted and froze a variety of chocolate wonders, which we then got to eat! our plates were the size of chargers and we got full slabs of each delectable treat. i wanted to take mine home and they looked at me like i was insane…i thought eating 8 full pieces of dessert was insane, even in the snow.
of course…i wrapped them in a very special tinfoil box that left people oohhhing and aahhing and maybe rolling their eyeballs, tucked them into my car for the ride home and after a sudden and unexpected stop on the freeway, i had a chocolate in every form, all over my car…SO SAD! if you are lucky, i will remake my recipes for you and your loved ones
