A Closer Look at Ottoman

Night Sky Nails

I painted my nails like the night sky yesterday evening. Subtle, but I'm happy with the result.

Shop Update Scheduled

I'm planning on a shop update on Saturday, November 19, 2011. I can't reliably give a time because I'm currently nursing a feverish Boo. I'm attempting to keep positive that I will be well on Saturday and will have not caught the bug that Boo has (poor little pumpkin). Items to expect: Abstract Fragment Necklaces, Moss for your Wall, Lichen for your Wall, and some more Special Limited Edition Lichen for your Wall pieces. There may be more and I'll try to post images of what will be posted if I am able.

Speaking of visuals...I hate to have this post lack one. I know how popular Ojo de Dios have become...and I understand why...

Jenny and I tried our hands at making Ojo de Dios (the above is mine) a few weeks ago because I have a huge stash of yarn. I think it turned out nicely for a first try and the colors worked so well with the gourds that Boo picked out for decorating at Halloween. Here's the tutorial I used for the attempt (the sticks are bamboo from Jenny's yard).

Those Oatmeal Cookies

I made those oatmeal cookies again (via)...with said modifications including lowering the amount of brown sugar (1/2 c. instead of 2/3 c.). I liked it (I say "liked" because they are already gone).

A short post today...lots of laundry to fold...it never ends, am I correct?

I hope you have a great weekend, it's been sunny here two days in a row, but it's supposed to rain tomorrow. Oh well, two days of open-toed shoes has been so nice anyway. Besides, pretty soon I'll be sweating and wishing for a break of rain.

Happy weekend!

Preserved Lemons

This post reminded me that Jenny and I recently made some preserved lemons. I had brought some oranges and lemons back from our trip to Southern California from my grandmother's trees. I'm wondering if my grandmother's lemons are Meyer lemons, they're so orange. Or, maybe they are just allowed to ripen fully on the tree. I'm always amazed at the citrus trees in general when I visit...they can have ripe fruit on them for months and can simultaneously have flowers blooming, my all-time favorite scent.

Anyway, I've been wanting to make preserved lemons for some time. I've actually never tried them, but they sound intriguing and complex in flavor. A local pizza place actually had a pizza with preserved lemons as a topping on one of it's specialty pizzas, but I never tried that particular one.

Jenny and I used this recipe for the preserving the lemons (which includes a wee bit of sugar and peppercorns), and there are recipes included on the post for what to do with said lemons (including putting them atop vanilla ice cream - whoa...sounds incredible! Sweet + salty + sour = wonderful). We have a couple more weeks before we can use these beauties...I can hardly wait! Oh, and the recipe says to use another lemon for juice to cover the lemons being preserved. The lemons from my grandmother's tree were so juicy that the jars were overflowing from just the lemons in them...amazing.

A couple other recipes that have inspired me lately are: this one for oatmeal cookies (I used whole wheat flour, would lessen the brown sugar next time a bit like I usually do, and used dried cherries)...best oatmeal cookies I've ever had...and this more sophisticated version of rice krispie treats. I havent tried the latter recipe yet, but it sounds divine (again, complex flavor).

Have you been experimenting in the kitchen? Any success?

I hope your week is going well!

Signs of Spring

A couple of weeks ago, Boo and I received a little package that contained some goodies from my mom and sister. In it were basil, zinnia, and wildflower seeds. Boo and I immediately planted two pots of zinnias and a pot of basil (I wanted only one basil because I plan to get some lemon basil and thai basil at a local plant sale). After a few days, the zinnias popped up.

Then I recalled why I keep succulents and not other plants in the house...fungus gnats. Every time I attempt something other than a succulent, they somehow invade. Then I remembered why my succulents don't get them; not only do the fungus gnats like moist conditions, but they can't get into the soil with the porous rock I put as a soil cover. So, I covered the soil with some sand.

So, my fingers are crossed that no fungus gnats appear and I can, once again, grow all sorts of plants indoors (because I have deer to eat them outside...sigh). Since I layered a bit of sand in the zinnia pots, the basil has *just* sprouted in the last few days...they're barely noticeable. So, when the seedlings show their wee leaves, Boo and I will spread a layer of sand around the stems as well.

I do hope the sand will work...I love simple little tricks that make such a difference!

Happy weekend!

Oh, and PS - terrariums are another good way to keep fungus gnats at bay.

Eating Carrots

My good friend Jenny emailed me a carrot recipe she made up spontaneously this past week. It was inspired by some big carrots she had kicking about and a regular side dish at a local fancy restaurant that is served year-round. She made this with what she had on hand. it's so simple, yet the flavor is so complex...delicious...and the perfect thing for those big carrots (besides juicing them).

Grated Carrots with Slivered Almonds

1 tsp butter

1/3 cup slivered almonds

1 cup grated carrots (when I made this, it only took one big carrot)

salt

Melt the butter in a skillet, add the almonds, and stir until they are golden and toasted. Add grated carrot, stir to mix, and finish with a sprinkle of salt.

A winner...perfect as a side dish or snack with the warmth and toasty-ness for winter and the hope for spring.

Found any simple, yet flavorful side dishes lately?

Oh...and here's something for the year of the rabbit.

HTML Twitter Widget

Oh, a couple of weeks ago, I thought it would be nice to put a Twitter widget on this here blog. When I went to "goodies" on the Twitter site to set up a widget, I didn't like how it looked (ie. logos). And, when I went to others' blogs, the widgets were very simple (muuuch better). I don't know much about HTML, but had done a bit of tweaking with hex color codes for the blog, so I looked at the code for the widget, but I couldn't figure out how to pare it down.

So, I started doing some online searching for things like "old twitter widgets" and such and came across a link to the HTML widget that is still on Twitter, but is hidden. Here's the link. However, the said widget isn't customizable like it is with the new (what I found out to be flash) one. And, there is a little note that states "It may not look like this. We're presuming, perhaps inappropriately, that you want to style this to match your site. You can do that with CSS."

I'm not very knowledgable about this sort of thing, so I did a search for "CSS" to find out what the heck it is. Then, I did a search for something like "how to use CSS for HTML Twitter widget" and found this site. It shows exactly where in the HTML code to add one's style for the widget...perfect. So, I studied the examples on this site and managed to come up with something that I liked! Here's a screen shot (in case I change it later)....

On the HTML widget, you can decide how many tweets you want to show for the widget, I chose four. For some reason today, the number was only showing three...so I bumped it up to five manually in the code...now it shows four. What the heck? But! it's still simple, which is what I wanted! The only strange bit are those little markers to the left of each tweet...I don't know where they came from. However, it's hard to complain with a simple little feed such as this....Hopefully, it doesn't crash on me.

Anyway, if any of you dear readers are experienced in such matters and have any advice, I'd love to hear from you! Any tips or resources would be most appreciated, I'm enjoying this little bit of cusomization. And, if you know why my number of tweets is one less than I instruct it to have, do tell why!

I hope your weekend is going well...we have more sun today which is so welcomed! Oh, and please...stop by and say "hi" on Twitter!

Paper Wasp Nest

I recently found a paper wasp nest high up in a tree. After doing some research (I badly wanted to get it down and hang it in my house), I found that it is safe to retrieve a nest in late-ish October when the nest is vacated (the wasps rebuild each year). But! last week, a storm shredded the nest. So, I brought home the bits of paper that I could reach.

Not sure what to do with these bits, I looked it over a bit and decided to attempt to adhere it to one of my boards I had cut for a Personalized Doily Painting. I'm not sure what I think yet, but I think I like it! Spare + nature + inorganic shape = stuff I like!

I'm not sure if I like it where it is now, but it's the space that I constantly mess with (really, the only finished space right now in the house...slow work around these parts for many reasons!). Amazing that the paper pulp is made from insects...and it really is paper. There's my piece from Miniature Rhino to the top left and some turkey feathers I have hanging to the bottom right.

In other news, Boo and I went to our local farmers' market today...we've only gone a few times this season because I forget (crazy!). Fresh apples! We are going to go back next week.

Subtle Shift

A bit of iridescence for a subtle shift in color. The tea-dyed paper is getting another layer...I love the look of history.

More Oak Galls and Yearly Change

Yesterday evening, Boo and I went in search of more turkey feathers as they were around quite a bit the day before. We didn't find any that were in decent shape, but Boo found some oak galls on the ground under an oak tree that we hadn't checked before. Then we noticed that this particular tree was loaded with oak galls. So, we went back to the house and Boo got his wheelbarrow and I got the camera. Hurried back to the tree and I started picking. I only picked what I could easily reach...there were many more.

The photo above is of a large oak gall on the branch which is stronger and different looking than the ones on the leaves (the tree made them afterall, so I suppose the material on the leaves and branches are a bit different). I'm starting to wonder if the ones on the branches will make a stronger dye than the leaf galls. I plan to make the dye seperately to see what happens (first, I have to do some research on how to make this particular dye...I'm such a beginner).

There's our loot from one tree: 119 oak galls in all! You can see the gall that was growing on the branch to the left that has a line nearly bisecting it...it's the largest.

Here's the biggest I've found...it fell from a tree after a windy afternoon:

It's the type that grows from a branch. There's another one like this in another tree, too high for me to reach. I hope it falls soon! I think that these get so big because the leaves fall from the trees each fall and the galls on the branches can continue to grow. I wonder?

It's funny, last year I was posting continuously about blackberries...this year, it's about oak galls. The blackberries aren't in abundance like they were last year, or at least they aren't ripening well. The weather is cold and rainy again and I hope it doesn't stay this way...two months of summer just isn't enough. We had a cold and wet spring and usually it doesn't get cold and wet until October. Sigh.

Yes, each year is different. I'm noticing this much more these days because I'm collecting more from nature. Jenny and I talked about this recently. Last year, we were canning plums like crazy and there were only a few apples on her trees. This year, the plums are few and she has tons of apples. The weather is different...the fruit is different.

Happy Monday, dear reader!