wabi-sabihomeandgarden

This Moment.

2012-02-10T05:00:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Soulemama.

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Thrifty Thursday

2012-02-09T06:32:00.000-08:00

FinnigantheCurious and I were "forced" to make a quick stop in Goodwill Tuesday night as our Thai food order was not quite ready.

I found some flower love ...

Strawberry napkins!

That is some old-fashioned strawberry love. Love, love, love them.

Two for $1.99!

I couldn't pass up this tablecloth thingee at $1.99 ...

It's so old that it feels like a handkerchief.

Super, super soft like buttah.

I also got some thriftiness at HEB, of all places ...

Flower Power Plates!

Can you tell I have a case of Springitis?

ONE dollar for these dinner plates!

I bought all they had. I think I got about 10. I wanted more.

The young girl checking me out seemed slightly horrified when I asked if there were any more.

I have a feeling that her house has a lot of black and white, maybe even some zebra print action.

Anyway, I have no shame over my flower power obsession.

Oh, and so many of you asked about the 7-Up machine.

We couldn't go yesterday after all, but we're going out this afternoon with Jackdaddy.

Here it tis:

I did realize that it holds cans instead of bottles and that might be a deal-breaker for me, but not sure yet.

(OK, so actually Jackdaddy realized it, but so what?)

I simply cannot resist the UNCola logo lure!

Think about that today, Missy.

Chickens

2012-02-08T07:35:00.000-08:00

Chickens love buttermilk.

So do cattens. (That's Finn's name for a cat that is still sort of a kitten.)

LOOK at Lanell's face over there on the right.

She is so irritated. (She's always irritated about something.)

And, DUH.

I forgot to show my new orange pretty when I did my orange post last week.

Isn't it adorable?

Have I told you that I grew up with cookware like this? YES! I did.

My mama was such a beacon of fabulousness.

All our cookware was this super orange enamelware from Japan.

I only have one skillet left from my childhood (bad Mama, bad bad!), but I am thinking about, maybe, just maybe, starting to add some pieces here and there.

Ebay, glorious Ebay has tons of it.

Mmmm. Since my kitchen cabinets are going to be back tomorrow (TOMORROW!!), and they are going to be that dreamy olive green, well, I'm just thinking how fabulous olive and orange go together.

I think I will. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

PS Can I just tell you that FinnigantheCurious and I are off to look at a 7-Up machine from the 70s? Finn wanted to set the alarm he was so thrilled. Hee hee. I'll let you know.

East Austin Succulents / Tillery Street Plant Co.

2012-02-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

Well, what with it being all spring here (I know you northerners find this hard to believe, but it's true), my thoughts, alongside every other gardener in town, have turned to EL JARDIN.

Now, I also know that we are probably going to get one, possibly two, very ugly freezes yet. That's just the way Mother Nature works here in Texas. She's tricky.

But none of us can resist.

I'm crazy excited to get started on my new ginormous succulent bed.

I got all those damn cement pieces moved in (whew). I still need to move some things out (blech) like a defunct little bird bath and some downed wood (critter habitat), but after that ... the fun part!

I've already mentioned East Austin Succulents before, but I'm gonna give you a big old honkin' tour today.

Get ready for a lot of pictures.

I can't stop taking picture when I go there.

I can't stop feeling a little panicked about winning the lottery when I'm there too.

There are actually two nurseries on this one funky east side property: East Austin Succulents and Tillery Street Plant Co..

Eric Pedley runs EAS and Jon Hutson runs Tillery Street.

(Both cuteashell, by the way.)

(Not that I care, I'm just sayin'.)

Um, so, you know you're on to something fabulous as soon as you walk up ...

Isn't that door just fantastic?

Orangeliciousness! And oh the font, the font, the font. Swoon.

And then ...

Mecca beckons.

Oh, there's more. More, more, more my pretties.

I'm just going to tantalize you with pictures now.

Prepare to be tantalized within an inch of your succulenticus lifeicus.

Uh, yea, and that's just the East Austin Succulent side.

Now, check out the love on the Tillery Street Plant Co. side ...

The world's best office.

This piece was made by Jon's wife.

Do not buy it. I want it. It's mine. I mean it. Next paycheck.

A swing from The Red Swing Project, of course.

Of course, of course, of course because everything here is just so wonderful and fabulous.

I know every gardener has their favorite spot; this one is mine.

I care very much about customer service and these guys are really on top of that.

They're friendly, and helpful, and really glad to have your business.

Me likee.

The nurseries are located at 701-801 Tillery Street on Austin's east side.

East Austin Succulents can be reached at (512) 947-6531

Tillery Street Plant Co. can be reached at (512) 567-1090

I hope you pop over for a visit because I really, really really want them to stay in business and also because I think you'll really, really, really love it there.

Bring the kids too, there's room to roam.

It's a happy place, fo sho!

PS In the name of full disclosure, Eric styled me with some freebies, but only because he is really sweet and I was gushing all over the place about everything and telling him I was going to blah, blah, blog about it all. I planned this blog post before he lined the old pockets. Cha-ching!

This Moment.

2012-02-03T05:00:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Soulemama.com

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Knock-Knock.

2012-02-02T08:16:00.000-08:00

Who's there?

Orange.

Orange, who?

Orange you glad I didn't tell you that long-ass joke about the banana and the orange?

HAR HARRRRR.

I'm all up in the orange today.

Hooray! I looooove orange.

Do you know that Frank Sinatra said, "Orange is the happiest color."?

(I have no idea how to punctuate a quote and question at the same time.)

He also said, "Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the Bible says to love your enemy."

So, maybe he was drunk when he made that orange quote?

Anyway. Some orange is on the menu today.

My precious, precious cupcake stand/nature table that Grandmary got me for Christmas is currently a Clementine stand.

They are the only thing, other than pizza and carrots, that FinnigantheCurious will currently eat so we keep a lot of them around. (A round ... hahaha ... get it?)

Hey, I suppose he's on an orange binge too. How 'bout them apples? Oranges.

Wow. I'm on a corny joke binge today.

Remember THIS POST?

I just could not get that Miss Baba the Elephant out of my head so, I made one!

I printed out an elephant silhouette from the Oracle then cut it out.

Placed it on a small, canvas bag from Hobbby Lobby (aka The Evil Empire) and traced around the edges with a fabric marker from Jerry's Artorama (not the Evil Empire).

Here's what the markers look like if you want to get some:

They're "Fun for ages 8 and up!"

They do require adult supervision though.

I wonder why on Earth markers require adult supervision?

Oh, the iron-ons. OK, I get that.

Um, where was I?

Oh, yea, then I colored it in and ...

Sqeeeeeeeeal!!!

Isn't she adorable?

I filled a baggie with some sand and plopped it in the bag.

She has handles (the bag, not the elephant) so I can move her from room to room.

Those of you who live in old homes know the never-ending door issues.

They won't stay open, they won't stay closed. They won't stay open, they won't stay closed.

Now they will.

I suppose I could also use it as a bag sometimes. Maybe if the doors are behaving?

Orange you happy for me?

Thanks to NEXT DOOR TO HEAVEN for the inspiration.

Unfinished Business

2012-01-31T09:01:00.000-08:00

I had a little shopette experience at Savers yesterday.

I had FinnigantheCurious with me so there was no time for the luxury Savers experience.

I picked up two sheets of floral love.

The pink one will be made into a dress and the other brownish/greenish one is going to be a kitchen curtain.

Those lovely green and white prints are place mats.

"Vera" place mats.

Whatever that means.

Vera Wang, maybe?

I dunno, but they are sooo pretty, and brand spankin' new and loverly.

The only problem with these new pretties is that I already have a stack of unfinished business to attend to.

That's a little problem I have.

I get the stuff to do the project, but fall short on the doing part.

My stack of fabric that was supposed to be place mats.

(Hence the buying of the already made place mats.)

Ooo, that stack looks so pretty that it gets me all fired up to get working on them again.

Poor Finnigan is suffering from my projectus abandonmentus issue as well ...

Yep.

Still need to finish decoupaging the dresser drawers.

Actually, he's not suffering at all over this.

He loves having everything dumped on the floor all kid-style.

He will probably rue the day that the doors are finished.

He's got no need to worry about it at this point. Ahem.

Oh, and, yea, the laundry.

The laundry that reproduces overnight.

I really don't even mind folding laundry.

I like it, really.

I'm not sure why this happens.

It's a project, that's why.

Yes, that is a piece of Christmas wrapping paper still on the end of the couch. Why do you ask?

What's on your project list? Do you have a stack somewhere?

I'm off to fold laundry.

Really, I am.

I Put a Bird on it.

2012-01-30T05:00:00.000-08:00

Oh, I had the nicest weekend.

The weather here was gorgeous and I putzed around in the yard alllll weekend.

My mailbox lost its handle somehow.

I have a vague memory of it coming unscrewed and then me taking it off and putting it somewhere, but ... all this is kind of hazy in a "where did I put that damn thing?" kind of way.

SO ... I put a bird on it.

Dear lordy, that thing still cracks me up soooooo much.

No, really though, I put a bird on it ...

Isn't that kayoooot?

I had some Anthropologie pulls that I'm waiting to use on my cabinet doors (whenever they finish painting themselves) and this one is just perfect for a mailbox.

Doesn't it look like he's staring right at you? Tweeet!

Wait, does he actually look creepy? Is he leering?

He's leering. Dammit.

I also "put a bike on it" ... (no hilarious video for that. Yet.)

I always love bike art.

I used to drive by a place in Georgetown that had tons of bicycles all lined up along a fence.

Theirs were painted white. I like mine red.

I found these in the dregs of a church garage sale for UNO dollar each.

I had a plan to buy and then give them away, but I got no takers.

None. Nada.

So ... bike art it is!

I was out and about in the yard both days, and I got lots of compliments from neighbors walking by. (Thanks, y'all.)

LOVE my hood. xoxoxox

OH, OH, OH, AND...

WHO put these in my yard?

Oh, gosh, that's just such an awful picture.

Someone hung two gorgeous pieces of art on my fence and I just discovered them on Friday!!!!

SO exciting!!!

Twisted up wire with beads and jewels all over, and this one has a bottle in it.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

I love them.

I've been moving them around in the yard, but finally hung them in the tree outside my kitchen window so that I can see them all the time.

How was your weekend?

Did you have spring weather like we did here in Austin?

I actually got sunburned. Crazy, crazy, y'all.

This Moment.

2012-01-27T07:34:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Soulemama.com

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Love Always Wins.

2012-01-25T05:00:00.000-08:00

I don't talk about too much about it for various reasons, but I'm assuming that most of you know that we homeschool here at The Wabi-Sabi House.

We practice a type of homeschooling called unschooling. Some call it Life Learning, or Child-led Learning, or Consensual Living.

Whatever you call it, we do it, and we love it.

I cannot even begin to express how much we love the way we live, and how fortunate I consider myself to be able to live this way.

So, today I am taking a leap of faith and showing you a little bit of that side of my life.

I wrote the following post almost 3 years ago and posted in on my private unschooling blog.

I am submitting it for an unschooling Blog Carnival that starts next week.

The theme for the carnival in February is LOVE.

I chose not to edit it in any way, although I was tempted to soften it.

I can hardly read it.

It brings me back to that painful, awful day in way that is almost unbearable.

But it's worth reading because it is about love, and how brutal and ugly love can look sometimes.

It's worth reading because it is about love, and how beautiful and cleansing love can be.

It's worth reading because it's about how much grace there is in love.

It is worth reading because, at the end of the day, love wins, even if it doesn't seem like it in the moment.

Love Always Wins.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Love, Regret, and Pizza

I was really shitty to my boy yesterday.

I mean really shitty. Not "grouchy" or "thoughtless," but out and out mean.

It's hard to talk about, but I know that we've all done it.

I decided it might help me lay down the burden of it if I just put it out there.

I "lost it" because I had expectations and they were not met.

I wanted to go the unschooling park day and visit with friends, and I wanted Finn to play with the other children or at least just play on the playscape so I could have a chance to NOT play with him.

Well, firstly, it wasn't park day. My days have been really off for some reason (maybe this lingering flu/cough/malaise/plague?).

That put me in a grouchy mood. I wanted to connect with some mamas, especially one I have been trying to connect with for awhile.

Then Finny was really needing me to stay close. Close as in RIGHT THERE EVERY SECOND. I followed him around for a while and then I told him I was gonna sit right there and just watch while he climbed.

About, oh, 5 seconds later he came over and said he was surrrre feeling hungry and thirsty (we had plans to go eat pizza after being at the park).

At this point I was just overtaken by a demon mother.

Where she came from, I have no idea. I hope to never meet her again.

I grabbed my keys and stormed out of the park with him running behind me ... sobbing ... it got worse before it got better.

I said some ugly things that I can't even bring myself to remember much less write.

We were both crying as we drove to the pizza place.

I'm still not sure why we even went to the pizza place, but we did.

We got inside and I ordered his pizza.

I came and sat down at the table and we both started crying and crying.

I took him in my arms and rocked him while sobbing my apologies.

The sweet pizza guy boxed our food up without being asked and we drove home. We climbed on the couch and held each other for an hour.

I cried and cried and told him how terribly, terribly sorry I was.

I told him all that I thought had happened, and he listened and we talked.

He said it was all OK. That he was mad and sad, but that he knew I didn't mean what I said and that he loved me anyway.

I asked him to try and tell me how he feels when we are somewhere and he can't play without me.

HOW that feels inside him - to help me better understand.

He said, and I quote (with tears streaming down my face):

"When you're far away from me my heart feels very tiny. When I know you're close by, it feels bigger. My heart feels better when it is bigger. It feels scary when it's tiny."

SO, today we had a redo.

We went to the same park and I told him that I would stay right with him and play with him and stay just as close as he needed me.

We had a really good time.

I figure today is Day One of being the best mama I can be.

I can't do anything about yesterday that I haven't already done, but I sure can try not to do that again.

Expectations! They are just the cause of so much crap in my life.

That's my new goal - I'm trying to stay in the moment and out of expectation.

I am actually grateful for that terrible few moments.

They were a reminder to me of who and what I do not want to be.

They provided me with valuable contrast. The contrast between who I want to be and who I sometimes am.

I HATED the way I felt when I was so mad.

I choose to try and not feel that way anymore.

Now, I have this experience of "when I go to the park with Finn I need to not have any expectations of how he will play."

I have that information now and I will choose to use it.

I am growing.

OW.

Thank god my sweet son and I have a relationship that is based in love and respect so that days like this "never" happen.

I know we're not permanently wounded by my crap.

We're raw and tender, but really OK.

I am astounded by how much I love him, and even more astounded by how much he loves me.

Desire.

2012-01-24T05:00:00.000-08:00

I'm still brewing a giant talk about meal planning and cutting down my outrageous food budget.

Um, yea, still brewing that out because it feels like work to talk about it and I don't want to work right now.

I want to look at Etsy. weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Oh, crap I want this.
An elephant doorstop. I need a doorstop, actually.
That, apparently, is Miss Baba the Circus Elephant.
Find her at this delightful little shop: NEXT DOOR TO HEAVEN

I also want this ...

HOLY s*** (does one put punctuation after asterisk cursing?)
A tiny fox.
I really do "need" a tiny fox.
You can buy it here: MIJBIL CREATURES

And this.
I'm dying ... just dying, dying, dying ...

Ahoy to that!
More locket love HERE

I'm so buying this ...

Don't buy it for me, OK? I'm buying it.
In blue.
FinnigantheCurious likes blue.
Get your own here: LELUNI

Must stop Etsying.
Must meal plan.

How to Make a Fort.

2012-01-23T09:29:00.000-08:00

FinnigantheCurious has been reading a wonderful book series called Warriors by Erin Hunter.

The books are about some clans of cats that live in the forest and all of their comings and goings, and fights, and truces, and fires, and floods, and the ever dreaded humans!

They really are super fun and we've all be enjoying them immensely.

Reading the books led to him role-playing in real life (of course). But trying to play clans with one boring mama gets old so, it was time to call in the troops.

We've got some kids coming over to play tomorrow and that means that we needed a CAT CAVE!

Hmmmm....how does one make a cat cave?

Well, you start with your every day, run-o-the-mill, ubiquitous, boring playscape thingee.

BEFORE

Then you get a staple gun, some cable ties and loppers.

Go around your messy, overgrown yard, and get busy cutting.

Staple, tie, wrap, and stuff all the branches to your playscape.

Then you have this!:

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE (Last one.)

AFTER

Last bulk pick-up day I went around and gathered old rugs from my neighbors.

We folded all those up and put them on the top and bottom for extra coziness.

Added some old ratty outdoor pillows (that had been waiting patiently for recovering that never happened. sigh.).

Filled up the treasure chest with hermetically sealed snacks and ...

VOILA! Cat Cave!

Jack and I tricked it all out as a surprise for him.

When he came out to see it he said, "HOLY SHIT!"

I think that means he likes it. Heeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Now it's time for the kids to do their part. First on the list, so I'm told, is signs.

Every clan needs their own sign, of course:

Thunder Clan

Wind Clan

River Clan

Shadow Clan

(Aren't you excited already?)

We probably need a CAT CAVE sign.

And what good is a fort or cat cave without a KEEP OUT sign?

I also bought some paper mache masks so the kids can paint their own cat. Previewed here:

Meow, y'all.

This Moment

2012-01-20T07:10:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Soulemama.com

" A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Purchased at [Buy] Love Life.

The Amazing Door-o-Vision!

2012-01-18T05:00:00.000-08:00

Oh mah gawd, y'all wanna do something crazy fun today?

Go over to CRESTVIEW DOORS and play around with the Door-o-Vision.

What the hell, you ask?

OK, so, Crestview Doors is this bad ass company that sells beautiful doors. Well, actually, they sell door light kits that you (or an authorized trusty door dude) install in your existing door to make it cooler than cool. They specialize in MCM and post-war looks, but really and truly ANY house or door would look genius with these kits. They also sell these crazy cool screen things, and I think they even sell doors now. Again. Maybe.

Oh, who cares, it's the THE best site and they have this crazy sh*tbomb thing called:

Door-o-Vision

Door-o-Vision is just THE best thing ever invented times a million. (You know I am such a house geek that I can sit around and play on this site for hours. Hours. Really.)

So, you go over there and you upload a picture of your house and then there's a little template thingee that lets you choose your door style, and the color, and the kind of glass you want, and the hardware, etc., etc.. You create your dream door and then it applies it to the photo of your house and then you can see just what the doors will look like.

GENIUS.

I wish I could do this with everything! (Like what if there was a Butt-o-Vision and you could put your face on Beyonce's body. Or Gams-o-Vision and you could have Jennifer Aniston's legs on your body. Then you could post it to Facebook as your own and hope that you never run into anyone in real life ever again. Oh mah lawd...YES!)

Dude. I have created every single combination possible with the Door-o-Vision and then some, but I think this is my favorite.

Oh double doors, how I love and want thee.

This is "The Parkway" in "Pumpkin."
Aren't they swanky as all get out? Double doors, y'all.

Now, you know me, I had a hard time toning it down. Sometimes I picked the busiest door, and made each door a different color! Holy crap, can you imagine? I can! (Jackdaddy would expire on the spot, I'm sure of it.)

I also looooove "The Fontenot."

Seriously!!! Is that fabulous, or whut?

This one looks better because I finally got the size right so that the door trim would show. I loooove my door trim.

Go on over there and play around, or just lose yourself in the gallery section.

Oh honey, lemme tell ya, I get a BIG ol' case of the green monster in that gallery area. Super fabulous homes with super fabulous doors. Sometimes you get a little peek inside the house too, and that thrills me to no end.

Sigh. Want. Super, super want.

Y'all go down and click on that one lonely ad at the bottom of my blog. If you all click it 567,990,888 times, I'll make about $7.00 and I can start a Crestview Doors fund.

Word.

Long Terminus Succulentus.

2012-01-16T08:46:00.000-08:00

Can you BELIEVE how amazing my succulent bed looks now?!!!
I mean, can you BELIEVE it?

Yea, me neither.
Truth be told, I found this picture on PIECE OF EDEN blog. Apparently, it's the Corona del Mar "Sherman Gardens" take on the coral reef look. (Oh, to live in Corona del Mar....sigh.)

My LAWD, that is just the most beautiful thing ever.

Anyway, I got to thinking about this utterly desperate spot in my yard. No matter what I do it still looks like total crap. Total, total crap.
BUT, it gets some really good filtered light off and on all day, and it's protected from wind and cold by the house and fence, and, and, and, well, my mind is kind of churning with how it might be an outstanding place for a big honkin' succulent bed.

I do pretty well with them here at The Wabi-Sabi House ...

That's my front porch corner. They get as much sun here as they will on that side spot, and these do quite well.
I suppose they would grow faster if they had more sun, but they do grow, and they keep their shape, and oh, they are eeeeeasy.
I like easy.
Easy like Sunday morning. (Love me some Lionel.)

So...I'm thinking I might try it.

I'm embarrassed to even show you the super crap side.
Actually, I'm not embarrassed at all; not sure why I said that.
You don't care. We all have our crap sides. (In more ways than one, right?)

Yea.
Lovely, huh? (Is that picture crooked? Must just be all the crookedness within it that's throwing me off.)

There is potential, though. I can feel it. I've just been mulling on it all these years, knowing that something would come to me.
That's a Crepe Myrtle there in the middle and it puts on quite a show in the summer so that's good. There's nothing to dig out, and that is very, very good.
I've got tons of these giant cement pieces hanging around that I just knew I would use someday. They'll make a great border for a big raised bed.

Oh, gosh, I dunno.
They look so good just sitting there like that, maybe I should leave them? HAHAHA.

Blech. I have shite like this all over my yard. "Someday" piles, I like to call them.

So, anyway, this project will take years and years, but I like that idea actually.
I'll make the big raised bed, move in some nice rocks, maybe some big colorful pots to take up space for a while, and then just start sticking 'em in there!
I have a little ritual whereby I buy one little succulent every time I go to Lowes or to a nursery. That $4 never hurts too much, and little by little, the pots get filled in. Succulents are so easy to propagate too. I just pinch a piece off one, stick it somewhere else, and it usually takes off. Sometimes nada, but most times a little sumpin' gets started.

Maybe I'll make a plan to hit up East Austin Succulents every month when I get my allowance. (I'll leave the credit card at home and just take a bit o' the green. Safer that way.)

If you wanna have some succulent love today, go over to Debra Lee Baldwin's blog. She's kind of the queen of succulent pushers these days, and you can get a eyeful on her site.

Pam Penick has a bitchin' succulent wall that she built out of cinder blocks that I love.

Hell, you can just Google "succulent garden bed" and spend the next 14 hours daydreaming.

I just can't get enough of 'em.

All-righty then. A garden post! How about that?

If you're so inclined, please take a moment today to send some love up/out to Dr. King. And maybe do a little service today, if you can? That's the best way to memorialize him, if you ask me - do something selfless for someone else. I think Dr. King would most like that.
You might want to treat yourself to watching that famous "I Have A Dream" speech on Youtube as well.
I like THIS ONE.
It never fails to send chills up my spine.
I wonder what this old world would be like today if he were still alive? Sigh.
Happy Trails, Dr. King, you were one in a million.

Friday Food

2012-01-13T05:00:00.000-08:00

From my "farm" to my table ...

Mustard greens, chard leaves, and broccoli.

Eggs.
Some from my girls, but most from Katherine's girls (Katherine is a fabulous woman - friend and neighbor to boot!).
Are they gorgeous, or what?

Lettuces and cilantro.

I eat a huge bowl every day. (Ever day, as we say in TX.)

Mmmm mmmm good!

Someday I shall talk about gardening again. I was so in shock from last summer's drought that I thought I might never garden again, but, BUT ... come mid-January we central Texas gardeners know that spring planting starts NEXT month.

Crazy sh*t, y'all, but it's true!

I've got a succulent idea brewing and it's making me feel that giddy gardener thing. Maybe we'll "talk on that" next week.

So, whadda y'all think of the white?

The WHITE. It's SO WHITE.

I kinda like it. Just kinda.

I do want you all to be able to read the damn blog, so I'm glad Pam spoke up!!

I shudder to think of you all crowding around the monitor trying to squint and read.

Boo Hoo, poor girls!

Have a good weekend. La, la, la!

Cornbread, y'all

2012-01-10T08:39:00.000-08:00

Cornbread is a funny thing.

Some like it sweet. Some like it savory.

'Tis a very personal thing though.

I like mine savory with corn in it and cheese. Although, we're trying to eat less cheese these days (horrors!) so I'll just go with corn.

Jackdaddy likes jalapenos in his, but that's just wrong to me.

However, I will tell you that Jackdaddy has THE best cornbread recipe in the world. Ever. Bar none. It's the total sh*tbomb cornbread of all time.

IF you like savory. I guess you could figure out how to make it sweet, but you'd probably be better off just finding a sweet recipe.

(The one thing I will tell you ahead of time is that you really, really, really do need a cast iron skillet to make this right. If you don't have a cast iron skillet, get one. Nothing like 'em, and you'll take your cornbread to a whole new level with one.)

Jackdaddy's Cast Iron Cornbread

Preheat oven to 425

1 cup good quality cornmeal

1/2 cup flour (don't get all fancy here... just some flour.)

1 TBL baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 TBL brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup vegetable (or whatever) oil

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk (or more) (You can also add some juice from the corn can if you used canned corn, but not all of it for sure.)

Whatever mix-ins you want: Fresh or canned corn, jalapenos, cheese, etc..

Mix all ingredients

You want the batter to be pourable, but not runny. It should kind of easily plop in.

Take two small (or one larger, but not big) cast iron skillets and put a dash of oil in each one and rub it around. Put them on the stove burners and get them hot, but not smoking.

When they're good and hot, pour 1/2 batter into each one. (Or all in that big one if you're just using the one.) You should hear a sizzle. If you don't get a sizzle, put it back on the burner.

Cook 20-25 minutes in the oven.

(You can also make ho cakes (pancake thingees) by just adding more buttermilk and cooking on a griddle.)

OH! And did you know that you can make buttermilk?

You can make buttermilk! Isn't that the damndest thing you ever learned?

Buttermilk

1 cup whole milk

2 TBS cream of tartar OR 1 TBS white vinegar OR 1 TBS lemon juice

Mix it together and let it sit until it gets all buttermilky!

Crazy, huh?

Now go make some cornbread, dammit. Throw a fried egg on top and eat it with a cup of strong coffee. Crumble it up in the bottom of your soup. Eat it hot out of the pan with butter on it. Or honey! Take it to a party and tell your friends that it's a recipe you've been perfecting for years. Or, better yet, tell them it's your Grandmother's secret recipe and you'd love to, but can't possibly share it.

Har, Har, Har.

Oh, and if for some reason it sucks, talk to Jackdaddy.

Mmmmmmm.

Pedernales Falls State Park

2012-01-09T06:58:00.000-08:00

Woke up to RAIN (yea!), and cold, and mounds (literally) of laundry.

A perfect day for staying home and to unpack all the madness that constitutes "home from camping."

You'll have to be content with pictures today as I'm in a relative stupor this morning.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

A Northern Cardinal party at the magnificent Pedernales bird blind. (Actually, there are two bird blinds now!)

We call it "Bird Church." They have these pew-type things in the blinds and we sit there in total reverence. Just incredible.

This was left at our campsite by previous tenants.

How delightful is that? And a great idea for "something to do" while camping.

I have never in my life seen the falls this dry. I felt sad at first, but then realized that it was a whole new experience being able to walk all through there. So cool to see where the really deep swimming holes are. Normally you can't tell because it's all covered in water.

If you look closely you can see that some little boy did not care that it was January and took a swim anyway! Some other little boy would have too had he not had jeans on. (Damn pants!)

FinnigantheCurious, Geoffreythebeautiful, and Uncle Paul.

This was only our second trip with the pop-up, and HOLY COW, man, we looooooove pop-up world! Totally different trip than tent camping and I, for one, am not looking back. It's the perfect blend for me. We still spend all our time outside and we cook outside, but sleep ... oh, the wonderful sleep in that cozy cave is divine.

Off to "warsh," as we say in Texas.

Hope you had a good weekend too, also, too.

Friday Food + Art

2012-01-06T08:38:00.000-08:00

Gotta be semi-quick because we're going camping today. Woo hoo!

One of our family's new year resolutions was to camp more. More, more, more. So, we are. Just taking a quick weekend trip out to Pedernales Falls State Park with some friends. (Camping is so fun when another family comes along!)

BUT, I wanted to tell you about a great recipe - healthy, easy, yummy.

Pumpkin, Barely, and Sage Soup

Recipe:

8 oz cooked andouille or smoked sausage links (We used LightLife Italian Soy Sausage.)

1 small onion chopped (I used 1/2)

1 Tbsp snipped fresh sage

1 Tbsp oil

1 cup quick-cook barely (I could not find this at HEB so I used arborio rice because I forgot that I did not have any barely and I also forgot that I was out of orzo so, rice it was.)

1 tsp instant chicken bouillon granules (I used vegetable broth AND some shakes of Smoke flavoring.)

1 15 oz can of pumpkin (I also had some chopped and cooked butternut squash that I threw in)

2 Tbsp maple syrup (I did not use this.)

1 Tbsp cider vinegar

1. Cook sausage, onion and sage in oil on medium for 3-5 minutes, stirring often. Add barely (or whatever grain you choose) 4 cups water (I used 3 cups broth + 1 water) and bouillon (I shook in some Smoke flavoring at this step). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, COVERED for 12 minutes, stirring every now and then.

2. Stir in pumpkin, syrup, and vinegar; heat through. Add salt and pepper (I added quite a bit of both).

Makes 4 servings.

(From Better Homes and Gardens magazine.)

Now - Mine came out more like what you see in the photo and not like soup. I did add some more water and veggie broth after this pic was taken to make it more soupy, but it was not like soup at all, really. We dumped it on top of cornbread and YUM.

You really gotta have the cornbread in there for the full Monty, but I'm sure it would be good without.

I can't tell you enough HOW yummy adding smoke flavoring is if a dish calls for meat and you don't want to use it. I use COLGIN Liquid Smoke. It's vegan, gluten-free, no byproducts or additives, blah, blah, blah. Deeelicious!

I might try it again with rosemary as the herb next time.

Anyway, it was a keeper!

Now, ART!

The holiday toy craze slowed down so it was time to find new stuff to do.

This fantastic and clever project was alllll over for Pinterest for a while, and we finally got around to doing it...

Take a canvas of any kind. We had some old canvas and I just Gessoed over it. You could use a piece of wood or, well, I dunno, just something.

Dig out one of those thousands of bags of crayons that you have buried in your art area.

Peel off the labels. (The labels don't come off as easily as I thought so be sure to do this ahead of time; I almost lost Finn to this process as it was tedious and boring. At the final hour I broke out some knives and let him cut them off which made it more interesting for him.) (Oh, DO let your kids play with knives. Just show them how to use them safely. They'll do the right thing.)

NOW, hot glue all those colors to the canvas. You do need to put them all together like you see above because....

You're going to blow dry the hell out of them and they are going to meeellllllt all down the canvas!

Note1: They melt very quickly so this process is super rewarding for busy minds and hands.

Note2: BE SURE to put towels or plastic down under AND behind your art as the colored wax is going to spray everywhere until you figure out what you're doing. Ideally, you want to hold the blow dryer at the top of the colors and point it down so that the colors drip down and not sideways. Once you see what happens, you can adjust the dryer and start doing more crazy sideways stuff with it. You do want the art to be standing up like this because the dripping action requires it.

See!?!?!

How freakin' gorgeous is THAT, Missy?

Fantastic, right?

Oh, you could do all the same colors, or blocks of the same colors, or do this and then glue white ones on top of these and then heat those up or, or, or ... the possibilities are endless.

We thought about sticking trinkets in the wax as it was pouring down, but nixed that idea as we were too completely fascinated by the dripping to do anything else. The wax dries very quickly and is not particularly hot (weirdly enough) so you can let even the little ones touch and feel it as it's coming down.

I would rate this a 10+ on the boy crafting scale and that is saying a lot as my boy is sooo not into crafting. Sigh. (Damn "preacher's kid syndrome.")

Off to hit the road. Well, off to hit the grocery store, and walk the dogs, and go to the gym, and pack the camper, but you know what I mean.

La, la, la ... may the ART be with you!

2012!

2012-01-03T09:31:00.000-08:00

OK, so I'm a tad late with the New Year stuff, but what they hey, right?

We took the bus downtown with some friends to celebrate Austin style: outside!

The City closes down the 1st street bridge so everyone can get a good look at the fireworks. They set them off at 10 which is soooo great for families. It's really tough keeping the little ones awake until midnight. Course, my "little" one has no trouble at all staying up until midnight and then some. He and Jackdaddy are some serious night owls. Me? zzzzzzzzzzzz by 10.

Anyway, see those cute little things we're shooting into the air? Star Seeds, they're called and the line to get them was UNbelievable. They are the coolest little things you've ever seen. Just a little plastic bird-like thing with a light on it. You put it on a rubber band and shoot it up in the air just like a slingshot. The blue light and the bird "wings" make it look like the most amazing little star creature or fairy or something. We could see them from the bridge when we were heading down and all of us were entranced. I just thought they were magical and delightful. We asked the sales guy about them and he, somewhat mysteriously, said to "look it up on the internet." I did and found this:

http://www.nibiruancouncil.com/html/starseeds.html

Say what you will...it's interesting. I love that kind of stuff ... wooo weeee ooooo!

Look at this beautiful picture that Jackdaddy took of the Hilton post-firework...

SmokySpooky!

I love, love, love the New Year! Do you?

Oh my gosh, I LOVE to make resolutions. I just look so forward to making my list and getting geared up for all my intentions. I get a new journal every year (and abandon it by March, usually), make a new work out music mix, get all my vegetarian recipes lined up, buy my new family calendar ... weeeeee.

This is the year that I get my fitness level back. I've was (I've was?) I was plagued by plantar fasciitis all last year, but with the help of acupuncture and some much-dreaded revamping of my workout routine, (creature of habit here) I think it's on the wane.

Good riddance!

My other major goal this year is to really get a handle on meal planning. Our food budget is obscene. I feel very, very grateful that we have the money that we do to spend on groceries, but it's gotten out of hand. SO ... this year I meal plan. I wanna talk a lot more about this in the next few days because I know we all love to EAT and maybe you have some helpful hints for me.

I'm off to go spend a little Christmas and birthday money. Weeeee! Jackdaddy bought me some new athletic shoes and some fancy inserts (to help with my plantar fascia), but now it's time for some useless girly stuff. Candles? Maybe a facial? Hmmmmm.

Look at my cute birthday "cake." I looovvvveeeeee Ferrero Rochers.

OMG I could eat the entire package. (And probably will.)

I was not too fond of 2011 and I have HIGH hopes that 2012 is going to be spectacular in every way! I feel rejuvenated, and hopeful, and determined.

How 'bout you? How are you feeling about this new year?

RED

2011-12-30T07:45:00.000-08:00

I was going to write a long, somewhat interesting post about Christmas and the new year and all that, but then I got OBSESSED with putting cork floors in my kitchen.

Like, now.

Like, today.

Except that Jackdaddy is in M-I-crooked letter crooked letter - I - crooked letter crooked letter - I-P-P-I, and I can't do it alone.

(Here's hoping Jackdaddy is not reading this while in Mississippi or he won't come home, I fear.)

It's all Rita's fault. And her husband's, Cane.

Read about my new obsession HERE.

I've had cork floors before.

I am now going to have them again. In my kitchen where there is the somewhat cool, but really hard and holey, pine sub-floor.

So, what does that REALLY RED picture of my Christmas table have to do with this?

Nothing.

I just needed to put a picture in and it seemed sort of Christmas wrap-upish.

(Why is everything SO RED? It's like having food stuck in your teeth and no one telling you.

Note to self: Next year, more green.)

I am also here to say that I am going to finish painting my %&$*# kitchen cabinets in the next week or else.

There is no way in hell to live in a 60-year-old house with 2 huge dogs, one small boy and all his friends, two adults, and a cat, and have open cabinets. The dirt and dust is astounding. And it settles quite happily in all my cabinets which means on everything in my cabinets. Blegh. Gross.

So there ya go.

25!!!

2011-12-25T11:41:00.000-08:00

Hoping your day is wonderful in every way!

Love,

The Wabi-Sabi Holts

Solstic Recap

2011-12-24T05:00:00.000-08:00

We're having Christmas Eve dinner here with Jackdaddy's lovely familia. Christmas dinner is at Chez Mo and oh how I'm looking forward to eating some of her food. It's good to have friends who are professionals. Really, really good.

I am no pro, but I do love having people over for fancy dinners.

La, la, love.

Le Menu:

Dig that fancy black and white thing. (Truth is my kitchen is soooo dirty right now what with cookies and Solstice party crap and Christmas dinner prep that when I went to look at these pictures there was so much gross stuff everywhere that I just had to cover it up with black and white.)

I'm a tad worried about the scalloped potatoes in individual ramekins. It's the only thing I've not made before, but, honestly now, how bad can a small bowl of hot potatoes, cream, and cheese be?

My rosemary-orange turkey. Oh lord honey...you've got the rosemary shoved up under the skin (poor turkey) and all chopped up in the pan with your turkey juice and your butter and your garlic and then you squeeze a bunch of orange on it (or better yet, some zest) and in it and just baste away with that for hours. (You could also just dump a 1/2 can of some high-quality frozen oj in there as well, but you will not feel nearly as sanctimonious. You could also use the frozen juice and then lie. Be sure to bury the cans at the bottom of the trash!)

Girl, girl, girl. Slight orange taste with all that other business will have you on your knees.

May I regale you with some delicious boy pictures from our Solstice Party?

There were light sabers ...

and a primal fire pit ...

and a super fancy telescope borrowed from Jackdaddy's friend, Tom.

Thanks, Tom!

(Had Tom known there were 4 outrageously rambunctious, smored-up boys spiraling his telescope with fireworks he may not have loaned it to us. Good thing that didn't happen. Nope, no way, not here.)

Look at fabulous Jupiter and its moons!!! Oh man, you could see the bands around it just perfectly. And the three moons.

That is just so amazing to me ... seeing planets so clearly like that. Just magical and sobering.

A fine time was had by all, as they say.

All-righty.

Hope you got it all done! If you didn't, just don't worry about it. I sure didn't and everything is just fine.

I'll talk "at" you later (as we say over here in Tejas). I might be comatose for the next coupla days or so, but you never know.

Kiss Kiss, y'all!

Merry Solstice!!

2011-12-22T07:52:00.000-08:00

The winter equinox was officially, depending on who you ask, at 11:30 pm last night.

Too late for me olde blood so, today it is for us!!

The celebration ring is all ready and waiting for someone to wake up.

We'll take a walk later in the day to fill out our nature table. A scavenger hunt it will be, mateys! I'll make a little list with things like ...

an acorn

a big leaf

something red

something green

something that reminds you of Christmas

And so on and so forth. Makes things super fun and a little bit more exciting for a wild boy - muy importante!

Later tonight we've got an ALL BOY SOLSTICE party going on. Weeeee!

Check out these precious invitations ...

Bonfire. Smores. Hot dogs. "Sparkelers."

Cute, cute, cute kid writing.

Add a marshmallow ...

And we're good to go!

I will, at some point, force him to sit on the couch and read our Solstice book. Not his favorite book, but we're having a tradition, dammit! HA.

You know us evil Mommies and our traditions.

I hope you have a lovely wintery Solsticey day! Be sure to light a candle and send up (out?) a little prayer of thanks that electricity was discovered!

Joyful madness.

2011-12-21T05:00:00.000-08:00

Oooo, it's been such a wonderful mad rush these last few days.

Cooking, and baking, and wrapping, and company parties, and family in town, and light-seeing, and, and, and ...

We're really enjoying these magical days leading up to Christmas.

There is nothing sweeter than having a small child in the house at Christmas time ... so delightful. Even a small child who no longer believes in you-know-who (but says he still wants to try. How sweet is that?)

Have I told you the story of FinnigantheCurious and the "Santa Talk?" I'll go back and see if I told you last year. It is too hilarious, but I really don't have time for my usual blathering. It's almost midnight and I can barely keep my eyes open, so just a few pictures and hopefully more tomorrow.

This begat ...

This.

A rare meat dish. Rosemary infused chicken and dumplings.

Cozy and delicious!

The boy ran screaming from it in horror, but Jackdaddy and I quite enjoyed it.

Booty.

I never made it to the store to get postal wrap to go with those adorable new tags I bought. Just dug out last year's wrap and my gift bag stash.

Oh well, maybe next year I'll "Martha" up the packages.

The world's most awesome advent calendar, if I do say so myself.

I made it out of matchboxes.

It's beyond cool, but a total bitch to make. I really don't recommend attempting one unless you have a little self-punishment thing going on.

Look at that tiny howling wolf I added to the top this year ... could you die with the cuteness?!

Advent booty.
Not shown in photo: Whoopie Cushion, Can of Snakes, Shock Gum, and a battery-operated crawling roach. (VERY lifelike. Freaks us all out.)
Such are the things one puts in an advent calendar for a 7-year-old boy child.
If the toy doesn't fit in the calendar, I put a little note in there with some directions. I hide them all over the house and he has to go find them. He LOVES the days with a note.

I hope you're enjoying the season and not getting all stressed up and out. I always feel so badly for people who say the holidays are stressful and chaotic. I don't know why they're not for me, but if they are for you, I wish you a big pot of tea and some cozy socks! I give you permission to not do it all. Or any of it, for that damn matter!

Party on, Wayne.

PS Today is Hanukkah! Many blessings to all my wonderful Jewish friends.

Personally, my favorite thing about Hanukkah is watching Adam Sandler sing his famous "Hanukkah Song."

If you've never ... you MUST: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zigPOkCytoU

The Cat's Meow.

2011-12-14T08:00:00.000-08:00

Wanna see something sweet?

Look at Jackdaddy there with FinnigantheCurious in their matching cat masks.
That's what a good Daddy does ... puts on the mask without question and goes on about his business. Jackdaddy is also an expert cat cave builder ...

Look at that tuckered out little feline on the Brady Bunch couch. He's got his flashlight at the helm.
What you can't see is my Kindle (which he has confiscated for his own) and a giant Nerf gun for ... well, who knows? The gun thing is totally the realm of boys as far as I can tell. I know plenty of girls who brandish swords, but I haven't met one yet who is really into the gun thing.

I've been dragging him out of the cat cave to play with the new toy that Grandmary brought ...

The coolest little record player on the planet!
He just giggled his heart out after that first song.
It's such a novelty for him; he can't believe that this is all there used to be. He's is not enamored of the fact that you cannot jump repeatedly and throw yourself on the floor randomly while near the record player due to the skip threat. That's a big negative in his book. (Although, I must say, it has not skipped yet!)

And would ya look at this score ...

Jack's sister, Aunt Mimi, had this stack of records (and case!) back from when she was a kid.
Can you believe the coolness of that? Bobby Sherman, Beatles on the old Apple label, Sinantra, Grand Funk, The Guess Who, etc., etc..
Oh, and there are also some crazy old storytelling records that you can barely understand. A very southern woman reciting Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs - that kind of stuff. Finnigan was horrified! HAHAHAH. He was running around with his hands over his ears acting like he was dyyyyying.
Grandmary and I took him to Half-Price Books later and got some "proper" music ... AC/DC. (HA) Oh, and a Tom Lehrer album for us. Do you know of Tom Lehrer? Oh man, I have such distinct childhood memories of laying around on the floor listening to him and Bill Cosby and Flip Wilson. I love audio comedy.
I'll probably have to duct tape Finn to the floor to get him to listen to such old-fashioned goodness, but who knows? He's got a fine sense of silly, that's for sure. Maybe he'll "get it."

I got my birthday present early too! Wanna see?

I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love this little MCM piece of awesomeness. It's a cupcake/dessert stand officially, but I've been looking for one forever to use as a NATURE table.
I just don't have much room in my house for big trays or table top displays, so this is just puuuurfect.
Oh my gosh, I love it soooooooooooooo much.
Thank you Grandmary!!!

I'll leave you with a little family portrait (sans the picture taker).

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

More Christmas crap tomorrow ... Yee hawwww!

I'm melllllting.

2011-12-13T08:30:00.000-08:00

The internet is agog over these adorable melting snowman cookies. Have you heard?

Oh, they are cuteashell, that's for sure, so we thought we'd give them a try over here at The Wabi-Sabi House...

Roll a bit. Eat a bit. Roll a bit. Eat a bit. Eat a bit. Eat a bit.

Jackdaddy whipping up some frosting.

HAHAHAH! Aren't they HUHlarious? Just the funniest damn cookies ever!

This is our Siamese twin cookie. Finn ate it because it had two marshmallows on top.

The creative genius behind them is a woman named Meghan over at The Decorated Cookie. (There really should be a way that she could get compensated because these things have gone completely viral!)

I didn't make her dough because I had heard raves about another cookie dough recipe and I really wanted to try it.

Normally I am not a big fan of Christmas cookies. They look good, but usually taste...oh, bland.

So when a girlfriend swore to me that THESE cookies over at The Kitchn were ta die for, I was mucho feliz to try them.

Oh yea, baby...these are good, good, good sugar cookies. Really good. Really, really good.

(I did not put the almond extract in because I don't like almond flavor in my cookies. I tripled the lemon zest because I looooooves me some lemon.)

They. were. delicious. Thin, but not too crispy...super lemony...not doughy at all. Our next batch just had sugar on top and oh mah gawd, y'all. Oink Oink.

Here's the recipe, but do go on over to The Kitchn if you want to read her tips or get the large batch recipe to make a ginourmous amount of them.

Best Cut-Out Sugar Cookies (Small Batch)
about 3 dozen cookies, depending on size

1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature for an hour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 ounces cream cheese (1/4 of a standard cream cheese package)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and add the sugar. Cream until light and fluffy. Add the egg, and beat until golden. Add the cream cheese and again beat until well incorporated. Add the flavorings and lemon zest.

Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl then add, bit by bit, to the butter/sugar mixture until fully incorporated.

Refrigerate the dough for at least one hour.

Heat the oven to 350° F. Divide the dough into smaller balls and roll out 1/4 to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut out cookies.

Bake cookies for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on thickness. The small, thinner ones started browning after about 8 minutes, and I didn't want these brown at all. The larger ones had a slight golden bottom after 11 minutes, which was perfect for my purposes.

Let cool before icing or decorating, and store in a tightly covered container.

Grandmary has been here for a few days and somebody opened his presents early. (Yours truly might have opened one too. Ahem.) (My family is famous for this. You know, the old - "Eat dessert first because you just never know" theory.)

We've been having a grand old time playing with our new goodies.

Today's obsession

2011-12-08T10:04:00.000-08:00

Yep, just when you think your Christmas crap is looking really good and swanky, someone sends you a Pinterest link to this ...

Rebekah over at A Little Bit of Sunshine recently took "a little time" to make a village of these.

"A little time" away from her THREE kids under the age of 5.

I'm am definitely missing something.

I have one almost-8 year old and there are days that I forget to brush my teeth. This woman is making snow villages that the entire Internet is agog over.

She also has a much better camera than I do.

Damn.

Damn her. I love her.

I think these are my favorite decorations ever. I'm scrapping the plans I had yesterday to create a little woodland village of trees and critters. Now I'm going to hit Savers up all year for candy jars and fill my house with these next year.

One perfectly placed round of Nerf bullets and these things will be toast, but I care not! I'm going to have them. Snow village or bust!

LOOK at the preciouness of them. Dear lord.

I'm making one now, but it's the masses of them that really makes this so impressive.

I've got 7 million Mason jars, but it's those cute candy jar tops on these that are killing me. Killing me.

So "I Dream of Jeanine." (Wouldn't Jeannie look sooo cute in one of these jars with her slutty harem outfit topped off with fur muffs and mittens?)

Here are the ones I threw together ...

Not as cute as hers, but you just wait until next year.

And who knew Epsom salts look just like snow!!! When I'm finished with these I'll just dump it all in the tub and reeeeelax. La, la, la.

And as long as I am singing the praises of others, check these out ...

Wild Things slippers from http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaulaAndErika?ref=seller_info !

HHAHAHAH aren't they darling?

People are so clever and good.

A Peek

2011-12-07T06:12:00.000-08:00

Meowwww.

Good grief, it's cold here this morning. Frozen bird baths and stock tanks. None of us knows what to do with all this icy coldness! I'm all for just climbing back into bed with some hot chocolate. Unfortunately, there's a whole houseful of critters who disagree with me.

And so it goes.

OK, quickie peek into some gifts...

Is that Cat's Pajamas the cutest thing evah?

I got it here: COTTAGE ROSE JEWELRY

It comes as a download and then I printed it onto transfer paper and ironed it on a pillow case for FinnigantheCurious. He'll get it Christmas Eve with his annual Christmas pajamas (that he never wears ever again other than Christmas morning). Boys.

A little something for mama too ...

Also from Etsy, some Alexander Henry fabric to make holiday napkins out of. I wish I had yards and yards of this. I swear I'd have a full-length skirt made out of it! I want curtains! Placemats!

I got it here: MY LITTLE RIBBON SHOP

Grandmary is the best gift-buyer ever, ever, and here's what she got Finnigan for Christmas ...

Is that not just soooooo cool? He's going to LOVE it.

I went to Half Price Books and rounded up some albums (how fun was that?!). He loves AC/DC (yea, thanks Jackdaddy), Boston (eek!), The White Stripes, The Arcade Fire and a bunch of other stuff. I threw in some things I think he should love like Elton John, "Honky Chateau," REM, "Murmur," and, oh, crap, I dunno...I got a bunch of stuff.

Uncle Roo gets to give the "good" present though. The one that will et the most use probably ...

Crazy-ass Steam Punk gun from Ebay.

This is the seller:

(http://myworld.ebay.com/old-junkyard-boutique/?_trksid=p4340.l2559

And .... Mama's current favorite ...

A beautiful Viking ship mobile from The Wooden Wagon.

Dreamy, huh?

I've got plenty of craftiness going on too, of course, but this is most of the bought stuff plus a few odds and ends here and there. I got a freaky, fantastic cat cookie jar at Savers. He'd currently smothered in the back of my car with some other hidden gifts. I'll rescue him today and show you tomorrow.

What's going under your tree?

Christmas Thrift Love

2011-12-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

OOOO lawdy, I had to really control ye olde checkbook at Savers the other day.

Sometimes that Christmas crap just seizes my brain up and makes me buy things that I should not.

Well, it's not that I shouldn't, per say, it's just that it ... well, you know, it's crap.

But it's really adorable Christmas crap!

I left behind a weird elf angel boy, an owl, a crazy Spalding duffel bag (not Christmas, but cool), a super kitschy rabbit couple, and some wacked-out, super hipster, low boots for Jackdaddy that would never see the light of day on him not matter how I pleaded.

Having resisted all that, I decided that this year I "needed" to have lots of mismatched holiday dinnerware. I love Miss Match on the table anyway, she's just so sassy and wabi-sabi.

I snatched this sweet, old-fashioned set right on UP ...

Holly, sweet Holly.

If I had a baby girl at Christmas time I would name her Winter.

Or Holly.

I have a friend who is a Christmas baby and her name is Colleen Noel...isn't that prettypretty? (She is too!)

Anyway, Christmas stuff is funny. There are holly prints that are just godawful and then there are the dainty, precious holly prints. I got the dainty, precious ones.

So simple, so classic. I love, love, love them. Complete with a little gold trim to match my Nana Eileen's china that I have.

Can't you see these with a crisp white tablecloth, the good sterling, and some Holly branches tucked here and there?

Omg, remind me to show the incredible silver that Jackdaddy's mama gave us when we married.

Girl, girl, girl.

Dutch. From the WWII era. Insanely gorgeous.

I would use it every day if I could. Wear purple and use the good silver.

You know that poem by Jenny Johnson, right? Warning?

OH, well then, we must have a detour.

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And stain sandals, and say we've no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And govvle up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railing
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grown more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keeps us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised

When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

AMEN, sister!

Don't you just love that poem?

(I'm already there for the most part, but there's room for improvement, for sure.)

And now, a treasure!

A treasure for Finnigan!

Isn't that just the dearest thing?

I'm telling ya, there are few things in the world I love more than sailing ships and maps and compasses and spy glasses. Something in me just moves when I see this kind of thing.

A few seconds of peering into this and I am gone, gone, gone to Narnia.

OH, and if anyone asks you what I want on my tombstone (it could happen) you tell them this:

Heigh-ho, I'm off to Narnia at last!

I don't really want to be buried at all, but I might enjoy a tombstone somewhere. I dunno. Maybe the cremator could just tattoo it on my ass?

And, last, but not least, some of these trendy little trees that everyone is all aflutter over ...

I just crammed a bunch of them on my little reddish lamp table thingee and they look soooo sweet.

Now, the ones over there on the left are the trendy ones.

But, here's a little holiday secret for you. The ones on the right? Dollar Tree. TWO for a dollar.

Buy them, and some spray snow, and there ya have it!

Trendy, cute red base be damned! I like the Dollar Trees ones just as much.

(Don't bother going to the one on Burnet cuz I bought them all. Damn me.)

Next year I'm going to buy a gazillion of them and build a little winter wonderland on top of the piano. Some fuzzy forest creatures from Etsy ... maybe some little knitted mushrooms.

I'm all farklempt at the thought!!!

OK, and just one more little thing ...

I bought the most beautiful things on Etsy. Customized gift tags. Fancy, huh?

I am not really a fancy wrapper kind of person, but beautifully wrapped packages just slay me, and so I try a little bit harder every year to make mine better. I love brown postal paper with gift tags and beautiful ribbon. I saw these and swooooned.

I'll keep and use them every year. Won't that be a lovely memory for him? These gorgeous tags that convey so much. I keep going to the site and looking at them over and over again. LOVE them.

You can find them here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/KidsAtHeartDesigns

You know what else? They monogram them for free. Free! Isn't that so nice?

Why don't you go look around and see if something tickles your fancy.

Support an indie artist!

More sneak peeks tomorrow. Since FinnigantheCurious has his nose buried in the Warriors book series right now, there's very little chance he'll see the blog and I wanna show you some of the stuff I got him.

Nothing more fun than Christmas shopping for children.

Maybe, drinking excessively with your best girlfriends at a holiday party, but, other than that ... haw, haw, haw.

Home, y'all.

2011-12-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

Greetings! We're home! A little travel weary, but none the worse for the wear... or however you say that.

I have some proof of our trip for you lest you think I was here on the couch this whole time eating bon-bons and watching All My Children ...

Here we are doing our Holt picture taking thing. Every time we go somewhere good, we all hop out of the car and take a self-portrait.

FinnigantheCurious is still young enough to think this is fun.

Won't be long until he'll use this time to sneak a smoke or call his girlfriend to tell her how miserable he is having to vacation with us.

But for now...we're golden.

We stopped earlier in Marathon to stretch our legs ...

and hair.

Isn't that hilarious?

Too bad it was closed...I really want to know what a Big Hair shop is.

I do, however, know what big hair is. You should see me in the tent in the mornings.

Big. Hair.

Silly hotel room picture.

FinnigantheCurious was on the bed mesmerized by the television. We don't have "real" TV so as soon as he (and I, admittedly) hit a hotel room it's a battle for control of the remote.

He won.

All I like to do is watch the Oprah channel. All he likes to do is watch the cartoon channels.

Jackdaddy hates TV. (I pretend I do too when he's around, but as soon as he goes to putz around outside somewhere I hop on the bed with Finnigan and we veg out. Hoohaw!)

Here's what we did on Thanksgiving day...

Sat around barefoot on a porch in Terlingua...drinking wine and listening to lots of guitar playing.

My favorite was this kid (a 20-something) who played guitar so sweetly and whistled right along. Whistled! The whole song!

I'm telling ya, I just felt like I was the coolest girl in the world sitting in the desert on Thanksgiving day listening to a whistling minstrel. Lovely.

That's my homie there in the white shirt - Danielle. We went up there to visit her and her man, Don (the park geologist...fancy fancy), and her two adorable, precious, delicious, scrumptious little girls - Addison and Emory.

We just had the best damn time. The best damn time.

Did a lot of hiking...

A lot of self-portraiting. Obviously.

Slept in the tent when it was NINETEEN degrees. I don't care how much crap you put on or how good it is, NINETEEN degrees is *$&#* COLD.

I hate to be cold.

So we bought a pop-up from Danielle.

Seems a little extreme, but did I mention that it was NINETEEN?

No, really, we were thinking about buying before we ever went up there, but that one night in the tent sealed the deal.

It's old, but it was cheap, and it works just fine ... like me!

One last shot of my beautiful boys for you, and then I'm off to unpack 4,587 pieces of Christmas crap.

I even bought some new crap at Savers yesterday ... all of which I will be most happy to show you tomorrow!

La, la, la.

Aren't they sweet and good, those boys of mine?

All-righty ... better get your blinders on. From this point until the new year, it's allll about the holidays, baby: food, tchotchkes, cute kid stuff, presents, crafting, etc., etc., ad nauseum.

MerryMerry!!

We're off to see the Wizard...

2011-11-23T07:53:00.000-08:00

We're off to Big Bend, y'all! Checking oil, loading up, forgetting things...

I'll be glad to get out into the wild after spending so many frantic hours in front of the computer seeing if I was winning the Apartment Therapy contest (not). Time for some hot springs in the river and food by the fire.

Thank you all SO much for voting for me in the contest. I don't think it's actually over yet, but I'm down by 100 points or so and I just don't know any more people! Hahaha.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday, if you do celebrate this one. We call it "Grateful Day" around here. Hey, maybe we should all wear tie-dye and play Grateful Dead songs all day. Or not.

Anyway, I'm so grateful for so many things...my family, my friends, my life, YOU! I am one lucky girl, I tell ya.

Oh, yea, and Roberta told me I ought to repost that incredible greens and potato recipe from the Bryant Terry cookbook in case anyone was looking for something interesting to cook for TG. Great idea!!!

Here ya go, chicas!

PS Remember - it sounds more complicated than it is.
PPS Follow the recipe exactly (except you can use cow milk if you want like us heathens over here.)

3-4 medium yellow potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4 rounds (I used red potatoes because that's what I had.)

6 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Coarse sea salt (any salt is fine, really)

1 bunch collard greens, trimmed and chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 bunch mustard greens, trimmed and chopped into bite-size pieces ( I used swiss chard cuz that's all the store had that was similar.)

4 large garlic cloves, minced

1 cup panko bread crumbs (you could use very finely ground bread crumbs, but panko is easy to find in most stores and I highly recommend using it. It's just a kind of bread crumb.)

1 1/2 cups unflavored rice milk (I used regular)

*Preheat oven to 450 F

*In a large bowl, toss the potatoes with 1 tablespoon olive oil, the chili powder, red pepper flakes, thyme, oregano, and 1/4 teaspoon salt

*Transfer potatoes to a parchment lined baking sheet (I did not have any parchment so I just lightly sprayed the pan with Pam stuff), spread in one layer, and roast for 20 minutes. Gently turn the potatoes over with a fork and roast for another 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender and browned. (Mine were done after the first 20 minutes and I did not put them back in.)

*While the potatoes are roasting, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add 2 teaspoons of salt and the greens and cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes until shrunk down. Drain in a colander.

*In a heavy, wide saute pan, combine 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the garlic. Turn the heat to medium and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute (don't burn the garlic!). Add the greens and 1/2 teaspoon salt, raise the heat to high, and saute, stirring often, until the greens are well coated with oil and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

*Transfer the greens to a colander and press them gently to extract their excess liquid. Remove to a cutting board and coarsely chop. (They'll be hot. Go ahead and let them cool a bit.)

*In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs with 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

*Lightly oil a casserole dish (I used a small, square, glass one). Arrange one layer of the potatoes on the bottom. Spread half of the greens over the potatoes and repeat. Pour the milk over the top of the whole thing. Spread the bread crumbs evenly on top of the gratin, cover with aluminum foil, and bake for 45 minutes.

*Remove the foil and place under the broiler for just a few minutes (very few) to brown the top.

*Add pepper to taste and serve immediately. (I forgot to do this. The pepper, not the serve.)

*Scarf down like a wild animal and ask for more.

Ho cakes are just your favorite unsweet cornbread recipe made soupy and cooked on a griddle like pancakes.

Chipotle aioli is made by cutting up 3 or 4 garlic cloves and throwing them in a blender or food processor with 2 or 3 canned chipotle peppers and several globs of mayonnaise. Blend it all up and adjust to taste. You can't go wrong; those are the ingredients, make it like you like. Slather that on your ho cakes.

You'll need beer (or milk or water or beer) as both the casserole and the aioli are a tad spicy. Good spicy, not ulcer spicy.

Then you can bow your ass down to me as the goddess who introduced you to this bounty. Bow down, I say.

Oh, and buy that book because if everything in here is as good as this...holy crap, it's a brave new world, Aldous!

(You can buy it over there on the right hand column in the section called My Favorites. I get about 2 cents if you click through and buy it from here. )

I made the FINALS!!!

2011-11-22T10:08:00.000-08:00

Ooo, I'm just TOO nervous to talk about anything but the Apartment Therapy contest going on now!

I have no idea why I would put myself through such torture by entering this contest.

Did I need or want the $1,000 gift certificate from Farrow & Ball? Nope.

Did I need or want the Eames plastic chairs? Nope.

What. The. Hell. Was. I. Thinking? I am a crazy woman. Crazy, I tell you.

Oh, well, nothing to do now but get on with it and hope to win. That west coast girl is absolutely rabid to win though so...who knows?

I feel tres happy to have made it to the finals and have so many people say such wonderful things about The Wabi-Sabi House. La la la.

We're off to Big Bend for Thanksgiving so I may not even know if I win or not!!

Oh, wait, it's 2011...there's no way not to know.

Just picture me driving across the wide expanse of Texas looking not at the scenery, but my IPhone.

Sad, but honest, my pretties. And I am nothing if not honest. Heeee heeeee.

Onward to victory in the next 36 hours!

VOTE HERE, PLEASE: http://community.apartmenttherapy.com/contests/color/2011