Holiday Preparations...

Slowly but surely there are holiday preparations happening around here. I've been working on our Christmas letter and soon it will be finished and ready to mail (many thanks to the husband and s-son for their help with envelope stuffing!) Our storage closet has been nearly emptied as all of the Christmas boxes have been taken out...I am always glad when I put things away in an organized and neat way the year prior...that bottom box looks good, the top one remains to be seen!

I love the rich colors of holiday decorations, when the house is decked out, it feels so warm and cozy!

The husband has been replacing lightbulbs this afternoon, I like colored lights for outside, but inside it's all clear lights.

We have been slowly establishing our traditions in the last few years, this will be our 3rd Christmas together as a married couple, but our 5th together since we met. I have a new tradition that I'm starting this year (I'll share more about that tomorrow), and there is another tradition that has been happening since our first Christmas together, I'll share about that tradition a little later this week also! What about you? Do you have any special decorating preferences? What about Christmas traditions? Leave a comment, I'd love to hear about it and I may have to adopt some more new traditions!

What A Bunch of Turkeys

Happy Turkey Day!!! None of the birds pictured above will be losing their lives in today's celebration. These birds belong to our neighbor, I've been watching them while they have been out of town over the last few weeks. They're actually pretty funny, they call to each other with a little popping noise and then respond with a little gobble. Easy entertainment. Hope you have a fantastic holiday!

Oh The Baking That Is A-Happenin'

I am responsible for yams and pumpkin pie tomorrow. So tonight we had a "do it yourself" dinner night - which around here usually means I eat leftovers and the husband has frozen pizza. This was perfectly fine with me though because I had to bake that pie. I had left over filling, so I mixed up more crust and made mini-pumpkin pies. I used a cupcake pan to make them, they ended up about the size of a cookie. The husband already had one, and they were approved.

So now I've got yams to make tomorrow, then we'll be ready to go feast. I am going to head over to Zumba first thing tomorrow. They are raising money for our local food bank. It's also going to be a way for me to burn a minimum of 800 calories! That way I can have a little pie without the guilt. I picked up a new scale today and broke it in once I got it out of the box...let's just say I know I need to kick myself into gear, like now!

I hope your holiday planning and prepping is going well!

Quick Update

This week is an odd one, my work hours are reduced (company mandate), but I still feel like I've got lots to do. I'm tackling those inevitable piles and messes around the house. This morning I made great headway on the laundry hurricane in our bedroom, only to be stopped by a shortage of hangers, that will be fixed after a trip to Target tomorrow. The goal is to get a house clean enough to be worthy of decorating for Christmas, it would depress me to decorate over a mess. I also did a deep cleaning in the kitchen, my stovetop hasn't been so clean since we let our cleaning lady go way back in February. A dear friend of mine may possibly be visiting for a few days later in the week, this will mean lots of fun catching up, snowboarding (she's the one I learned with), and I'll get to meet the new man in her life. Thanksgiving is going to be mellow, the husband's parents are hosting, grandma, an aunt and uncle and a cousin's family will all be there, I believe there will be between 12 and 16 of us. I'm in charge of yams and pumpkin pie, though I plan to possibly also make a pecan pie. It's my favorite and I found a new recipe. Berkeley is still crowing, but he is no longer doing so in my garden, there's a story there, but I'll share some other time. I'm fitting in a bit of sewing here and there, but I'm also trying to work on our Christmas letter and a suprise for the husband. (I can't go into too much detail about the last thing because he's been reading the blog lately). By the way, the picture above is from our trip earlier this year to Oahu, I like the picture and have never shared it, so since I didn't have any other pictures, today was it's day! That's all for now.

Poor Berkeley

Berkeley a couple of months ago on the hen house.

Yesterday was a bad day in my rooster, Berkley's life. I came home in the afternoon to find that Berkeley's right wing was basically hanging limp from his body. His feathers were scraping along the ground. He was slow and out of it, not his usual chipper, curious rooster self. It made me want to throw up, especially when he stepped on the end of the limp wing with his feet. Neither the husband nor I handled the situation very well at first. Let's just say that it took us a little while to get on the same page. I hunted around a bit online for some idea of what to do...I came across this post on a gardening website which basically described the same thing happening to another chicken. The picture of the chicken on that post is pretty much what Berkeley looked like. (I decided this morning not to put any pictures of Berkeley's injury on this posting, I still don't know what is going to end up happening with him, so it doesn't seem right.)

I ended up I heading down to a local farm supply store to buy vet tape, which is basically an ace bandage type of product that will stick to itself but not to anything else. While I was gone, the husband and stepson (who had to be picked up for a visit in the middle of all of the chaos - part of the reason we did not handle things well right away) set up an extra cage we have for Berkeley. It is necessary for Berkeley to be apart from his seven hens right now to prevent any kind of pecking. He is still right next to their coop, so he can hear and see them and they him. He has food and water and hay on his floor to keep him cozy. We wrapped his wing to his body last night, our goal was to try [gently] put it in it's natural position and then bind it to his body using the tape. We had to be careful to wrap the tape beneath his good wing so he would still be able to move it. We are assuming right now that his wing could be broken because it did not feel like it was dislocated when we were wrapping him, maybe a hairline fracture of the bone near the joint. The other more likely possibility is that there is a torn ligament at the joint. Either way, having it held to his body with the tape should keep the pain to a minimum and will keep him from further injuring it.

This morning when I checked on him, I noticed his wrapping had slipped. So we re-wrapped his wing to his body, this time a bit more thoroughly, and let him try to walk around with it on. It was clear right away that it wouldn't be wise to let him free-range with the tape on, he was having a hard time keeping his balance. It actually kind of broke my heart to watch him fall over. He would very likely be spotted as easy prey by a hawk flying overhead who noticed his gimpy little walk.

Honestly, this situation is tougher than I could have thought. Right now, my job is only part-time, so I'm not making what I used to. The husband is a general contractor, I don't need to explain to you what the housing market is like, it has been tough everywhere. Financially, even though there is light at the end of the tunnel, we are still having to be extremely careful with our spending. We just don't have the extra money to take a rooster to a vet, it's simply not an option. That's hard to say, I don't want it to be true, but it is. Our plan right now is to give him a few more days in his "bachelor pad" to begin to [hopefully] heal. If he doesn't improve, we are going to have to face the other option. Believe me, that makes me sad. I said even before we brought home our 8 little chicks last spring that I didn't want to grow attached to them as pets. I don't think of them as pets, but my fondness for Berkeley has grown. He has always stuck out the most to me, if we end up losing him, it will be hard.

The other consideration we have right now is the fact that even if he heals, he may still not have full use of his wing. Our chickens are not protected at all times from predators. At any time, a hawk could pick one of them off, or a coyote or weasle could get in and take one. So far we have been very lucky not to have these things happen. Our fence is only 4 feet high, but it seems to have discouraged the coyotes that have been coming through our area from bothering our chickens. Over the summer, one of our neighbor's chickens was killed by a weasle, a viscious animal that is able to squeeze through a hole the size of a quarter, I felt lucky then that it didn't happen to one of my birds. I have seen hawks fly over the garden many times, and ironically I was always proud of how Berkeley called out with clucks to the hens to take cover. When he warns them, they run into the coop and also tuck themselves closely to the greenhouse...he is the reason none of them have been attacked. I don't want to make him an easy target, especially with his protective nature.

Obviously I don't know how Berkeley's injury occured. I can speculate that he may have gotton into a scuffle with a predator bird, I'm not sure. I've read that roosters will put themselves in harm's way to save the rest of the flock. If he heals, even partially, I'm worried that he's always going to be an easy target. This is a part of raising chickens that I didn't anticipate being so rough.

Fall Changes

I snapped these pictures last Thursday when I stopped at a grocery store in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day, and the leaves of this tree were stunning in the afternoon light. Nature changes very quickly in the fall, I saw that tree again the other day and nearly half of the leaves have now fallen off. Winter is coming so quickly this year, it feels even more so after the blustery weather we've had this week!

The Effects Of So Much Rain

It seems like it's been raining almost non-stop lately. Because we're housesitting for our neighbors this week, it has been necessary for us to be outside quite a bit to take care of their poultry birds and pups. Today there was a short but well enjoyed window where the rain stopped and the sun peaked through. I had my camera ready. I think the theme of this set of pictures is "The Effects Of So Much Rain". A nice afternoon assignment.

This is the scene in front of the fireplace lately...with the cold wind and rain outside, it's all cozy time inside. I was blog hopping recently, and came across Jessica of Turkey Cookie, there was a post that particularly struck me. I'll let you go there yourself to read it...but I'll say that it has made me think. Since starting to blog I have found myself trying to intentionally find beauty, a good thing...but I have also found myself looking around with a critical eye thinking that what I was looking at may not be "pretty" enough for a blog post. The fact of the matter is that I sometimes live with piles on my floor or stacks of things I need to go through. It is not always tidy and picture pretty around here. The details of our lives sometimes resemble loose threads more than they resemble a tidy hem...I'm trying to be okay with that. When I first took this picture my thought was "How sweet Fig looks with his tail in a little curl lying in front of the fire", my second thought was "The dumbell weights that we keep by the ellyptical machine are on the floor and the AV chord is strung across the floor, those things aren't pretty". But the reality is that I live in a house where there are dumbell weights on the floor right now and an AV chord that needs to be tucked properly is still out in the open. There is beauty in that reality...maybe I've just been reading too many blogs that show what seem to be perfect houses that are lived in by perfectly neat and organized people. I like neat and organized, I really do, but I also like being able to enjoy life. I'm going to try hem things in on both sides, I can make an effort to be more organized and elliminate some of the messiness, and I can also decide to be okay with things not being perfect and still celebrate the beauty around me.

Senses Filled On A First Day Up

Our first day back up on the slopes for the season was a fabulous success. We dealt with a bit of frustration at the beginning of the day when we ended up in some really deep powder (at one point I was burried up to my thighs), the groomed runs really were the best, but it didn't damper us for very long. The husband used his board all day and I had a fantastic time watching him practice and tighten up his connected turns and begin to get the hang of carving. My riding was fun too, I took a run at the end of the day where speed was my goal, it felt good for my face to be freezing and my legs to be burning. We were both suprised at how long we were out before we really felt tired enough to call it a day (about twice as long as a normal first day - a testament to my new commitment to Zumba and at home exercise). It had been probably about 8 months since I'd experienced some of the snow related things that filled my senses that day. It's amazing how the familiarity of certain seasonal things can be so comforting when time passes without them...here's a little bit of what I mean about the sights, sounds, and feel of a day on the slopes.

The Jeepster covered in freshly fallen powder, which we brushed off with a glove before leaving.
Lodge kitties hanging out on a shelf in the store for a cozy afternoon group nap.

The sun barely breaking through the puffy snow clouds.

The sound of my boots crunching and squeaking on packed powder, and the confining feel of those boots after so many months of wearing nothing but comfortable shoes. Gravelly snow and light powder covering my board at the end of a run, brushing it out of my bindings before strapping in again after lunch.

Tightening up my bindings with bulky gloves on in the middle of a blue run.

The heaviness of snow on the limbs of trees making the trees look more narrow than they normally are, they have the appeal of frosted cookies.

The sound of mechanical gears moving the chair lift cables as we sway up the mountain with cold wind in our faces.

My happy snow-sport buddy giving me a thumbs up as we head up for another run.

Fresh Cut Flower Friday: First Day of Riding for the Season!

So it seems that my "Fresh Cut Flower Fridays" have kind of morphed lately...I guess it turns out that they aren't just about fresh cut flowers. Maybe it's more about intentionally looking around my life at least once a week to notice what is bringing me joy...right now it is the light dusting of snow on the foothills that I can see from my back porch, it is the beautiful warm shades of yellow and red that the leaves have turned to, it is the fact that TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY I GET TO RIDE MY SNOWBOARD THIS SEASON!!! (Okay, I'm actually writing this on Thursday evening so I should really be saying "tomorrow", but you get the idea, I'm stoked!) The Jeepster is making her maiden treck up to a ski resort - Mt. Baker specifically - she is all ready to go with the Thule mounted. As soon as that Thule was on her, she became an infinately cooler vehicle, now she's not just a "run errands around town" kind of SUV, she's a mountain bound, snow sport serving kind of car.
Am I being dramatic?! Let me just explain that I love to snowboard. This will be my 6th season of riding, and every year I appreciate the sport more and more. I didn't grow up in a skiing family, we didn't have money for that kind of thing. So when I got out of college and was in my second year at my first teaching job, I decided that I wanted to learn. It was one of the first investments I made as an adult for myself that was purely for fun...everything else had always had a sense of responsibility tied to it, car purchases, pursuing degrees, paying student loans, it all was tied up in what I "should do". With snowboarding there really was no obligatory "should", it was pure, joyful "want". Well, maybe joyful is a stretch when describing some of what I went through, I had a hard time learning initially, I feel alot and bruised my tail bone (very painful by the way!), but I had a dear friend learning with me. She and I committed to learning together and we have both continued to ride every year since. When I moved to WA from CA, I initially was thrown off by the differences in riding conditions. In CA I'd been able to get away with lighter first layers, in WA the cold is no joke, and sunny spring conditions are not as typical.



My first winter in WA was rough for other reasons as well, I dealt with some seasonal depression from the lack of sunlight (and also because of all of the crazy transitions I'd just been through). It took a while, but eventually it sunk in that I was very close to some amazing places to ride, snowboarding helped me get through a difficult period of my life. My snowboarding went to a new level my first year in WA, I made a very stubborn decision to no longer be just a mediocre rider, I wanted to improve. With a ton of work, lots of falls, and many grouchy days (the poor husband had to deal with me through those - sorry honey!), my turns became cleaner and tighter, I learned how to carve with the edges of my board, my stance became stronger, I gained the confidence to ride in sometimes less than ideal snow, I stopped cursing everyone and everything when I unintentionally ended up on a cat track, I had the chance to teach the husband the basics of riding a snowboard (he's a great skier), last January I even got to teach my oldest friend in the world how to ride when she was up for a visit. The picture at the top of this post was actually taken that day at Mt. Baker. That was also the day that I began to seriously consider trying to become a snowboarding instructor.



Now this Saturday I will begin a course that will allow me to become a certified instructor and possibly even get a job as a part-time instructor this winter at a nearby resort called Steven's Pass. I am proud of myself for sticking with snowboarding even on the hard days...it is not a difficult sport to get the basics down, but to really ride with style requires tons of commitment. Snowboarding is something that I've shared with many of my students over the years. They always looked at me suspiciously if I missed a day during the winter...especially if a storm had just passed through and left fresh powder in it's wake.
Since I started to ride, I have had the pleasure of riding at some of the most amazing moutains in the world, I have riden in California, Nevada, Washington, Canada, Colorado, and Utah...some of the best days of my life have been up on a mountain, strapped into my board. So maybe to some, this all sounds silly and dramatic, but one day when my body is old and tired, I am going to be glad that I made a point of enjoying the beauty and thrill of mountains covered in snow. Time to go shred!

Cheerful Christmas Apron

This is the apron I made for a customer who came into Bungalow Bay recently. She was looking for a full bib style Christmas apron. I like how it turned out, the fabrics were fun to work with. that is a ruffle at the bottom. It was a pretty simple design, ties at the neck and waist and pockets on the top and bottom panels. I actually think it looks better on than laid out, it's boxy, but that gives it a clean look when it is on and it also highlights the bottom ruffle. I may just have to make a few more Christmas aprons, and perhaps even keep one...it would put me in a seasonal mood

14 Items

A summary of my random recent happenings:

1. I've been asked to do a couple of custom pieces for Bungalow Bay recently, some onesies and an apron, those opportunities make me feel good!
2. I recently upgraded my laptop from Windows Vista to Windows 7...in the process I lost all of my bookmarked pages - kind of a drag! But, I do like the new version much better, I'm having an easier time getting online with our Verizon mi-fi card now.
3. Two friends recently asked me (separately) to make nursing covers for them to give as presents to new mama's. Like #1, this makes me feel good!
4. I am already decorating our house for Christmas in my head...when I get the chance, I hope to sew up a couple of new decorations.
5. This Saturday the husband and I begin a two day (consecutive Saturdays) course to learn to be snowboard (me) and ski (him) instructors. I spent a little time the other night previewing some of the course materials with the husband before we went to sleep. It will be the first time we've done a class together like this, I'm excited about it. If we get jobs for the season together it will be even more exciting.
6. On the same note as #5, one of the mountains nearby, Mt. Baker, opens tomorrow (Thursday), it is an early opening, made possible by the recent storms that have passed through...our plan is to go up on Friday...the first day of riding for the season is always a big deal to me!
7. I have been kind of quiet on this blog lately, but it's not because I've felt quiet, I've just been busy. I've really thrown myself into the work routine in the last few weeks...the job has already proven to be a good fit, I have a fantastic mentor and I get along well with my boss. Working at home rocks!
8. One of the reasons working at home rocks has been my flexible schedule. For the last few weeks I've been heading to Zumba classes a couple of times a week in the mornings (and one evening class last Friday night). Zumba is a dance based exercise...it's great cardio. I leave each class completely sweaty and feeling amazing from the exercise endorphins. I like being in a room full of women who are having a good time burning calories. Sometimes I have trouble catching on to some of the routines, but generally I've been pretty pleased with how I've been able to catch on and learn the steps/moves quickly. My core region is tightening up which is an amazing feeling. I'm one of those people who kind of likes having sore muscels because it means I worked hard and am on my way to being in shape.
9. Oh and #8 is going to help a ton with the upcoming snowboarding season...Zumba involves a good amount of squats, an important part of a good snowboarding stance.
10. After finding an amazing deal on plane tickets to Oakland, the husband and I decided to head down to the Bay Area for a few days next month. Family stuff can be complex, hopefully the visit will be a good one.
11. Our friends/next door neighbors just got engaged...the wedding will be on their beautiful property late next spring - Memorial Day to be exact. I'm already starting to brainstorm a wedding gift I can make...
12. Lastly, the picture above was taken last night at Mallard Ice Cream in Bellingham...we went there after having a delicious and much anticipated meal at Fiamma Burger. I love the vibe in Mallard, it reminds me of places I went to when I lived in San Luis Obispo during college. Their flavors are unique and delicious. I had a scoop of Strawberry Rose in a waffle cone. It tasted like a summer garden, which when I write it sounds strange, but believe me, it was delicous!
13. Before heading home from Bellingham last night, we made a stop at Trader Joe's...always a treat! While we were there I was inspired to do an original "advent calendar" for the husband...we are trying to keep Christmas more simple this year, so I'm trying to go heavy on the creativity factor. I'll write more as my ideas progress.
14. That's it for now...hope you're having a great Wednesday! Happy Hump Day!

He Does This Very Well...

Figaro's life: Another day, another nap. He's taken to sleeping in the white chair in my office. I guess it's okay, the cover is removeable/washable. Besides, he's so darn cute, how could I say no? I apologize for the gratuitous kitty cat post, I'm obviously a mother in love!

Christmas Swap Owls

I mentioned not too long ago that I am participating in an ornament swap that is being sponsored by Sarah of the blog Small Fox. The thing that drew me into this particular swap was Sarah's pictures of the ornaments she's made for swaps in the past. I loved her style. I also love the idea of receiving ornaments that other's have handmade. Even though this can be a busy time of year, I decided that making ornaments would put me in the mood for other present making. I am trying to have a more "handmade" type of Christmas this year...it turns out that is easier to say than to do. So my contributions to the swap are done now. Clearly from the 7 pictures in this post, I had fun doing a little owl photo shoot even though it was cold outside. So now my little ornaments are all ready to send in the mail. I did make a few extras, 8 extras to be precise. I kept 3 for myself and the other 5 are now at Bungalow Bay where hopefully they will find owners to love them and take them home so they can be a part of an annual Christmas tree just as mine will be. It will be fun to share with you the ornaments I receive in the swap...already there is a flickr group going for swap participants to share photos of their creations, I've just uploaded my pictures. I will be peaking at it every now and again in the next few weeks to see what other people are making, now you can too.

I have a very warm feeling when I think that a year ago I was in a place where I was aching to be a more actively creative person. I had lots of ideas, but I was not acting on them. In the past 11-12 months I have really allowed my creative side to come out. It was a bit intimidating to think of sharing what I was doing on this blog, but it has also been a great source of accountability and inspiration. I think the thing I'm probably the most proud of has been taking the time and effort to learn to sew. I have a long way to go, I'm no where near the seamstress that my Oma was, but I do feel "closer" to her when I sit down at my sewing machine. I wish I could have shared that with her when she was alive, but I think she knows that and is happy for me anyway.

Well, Happy Sunday to you, I hope your weekend was restful and that the week ahead has started well!

Fresh Cut Flower Friday: Barbie Wears a Head Scarf

Okay, so this Friday post has nothing really to do with fresh cut flowers, but it is an interesting story. While in Egypt, we spent an afternoon shopping in Cairo's oldest and most famous bazaar, the Khan Al-Khalili. As we were heading out, I spotted two young Muslim school girls walking arm-in-arm through the market. At that moment my camera was in one of the husband's pockets, so I sort of whisper-yelled for him to quickly get my camera. You see, both of the girls had typical backpacks just like you'd see on any average American school girl, plastic with characters. What caught my eye though was that one of the backpacks was a Barbie backpack and in her headshot on the back of the backpack, Barbie was wearing a head scarf, just like both of the girls. We have all seen Barbie take on many roles over the years, but for me, this was a new one. I didn't know that Barbie had ventured into religion. I thought it was interesting that these two little girls see Barbie as being a Muslim woman who wears a head scarf. Obviously Barbie has been quite controversial at times, the shape of her body and the roles she takes on have been discussed and debated since I was a little girl and I'm sure even before then. If I remember correctly from a special I watched on tv a long time ago, the inspiration for the first Barbie doll even came from a pornographic German doll from the 30's or 40's. I guess for once it's nice to see Barbie decide to take a conservative high road so that she can be a part of the playtime of little girls in the Middle East. It's stuff like this that makes visiting another culture kind of fascinating...I wish I could have seen what Barbie was wearing as an actual doll. Would she take on the more conservative Muslim ideal of a loose, flowing robe, or would she be like the more moderate Muslim girls I saw who wore head scarves with their jeans and tops? Maybe there are different versions...I wasn't in Egypt long enough to find out.

Opposites

It is a windy, rainy, and in general blustery-type of day here today...I woke up with a scratchy throat and I'm starting to have the headache that I went to sleep last night with. Is that enough complaining? Good, because I feel better now that it is out of my system. It's that female I-need-to-vent-not-to-be-fixed thing, I guess. The picture above was taken by the husband when we were in Alexandria on the Mediterranean Sea. How different that day was than today! It was hot and muggy, but we had a great lunch there and visited some amazing sights!

Egyptian Cotton

I mentioned before I took my trip to Egypt that I wanted to of course get some of their famed cotton while I was there. Well, everyone I talked to informed me that it is really not a good deal there, any where you go to buy it will be overpriced unless you go out into the country and make your purchase at one of the cotton factories. Because it wasn't really an option for us to visit a factory, I decided to look for fabric stores to buy the cotton in, that way the prices would be what a local would pay. I went into fabric stores when we were in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and it was fascinating to me...it's not a normal tourist stop, so the experience of buying fabric gives a bit more of an authentic feel for the culture. The same was true when I found a fabric store in a neighborhood near the Pyramids of Gyza. Just as in Brazil, fabric stores and the garment industry in general are run by men, kind of different from what we are used to here in the states where you typically don't find men in fabric stores unless they are patiently waiting for their wives. (My husband finds himself in this situation pretty frequently, actually!) The two gentlemen who we met in the fabric store pictured below were very friendly, after our purchase, they even asked us to stay for tea...a significant gesture in the Middle East. We of course accepted. Our conversation with them centered on our travels, family - they shared pictures and the husband shared a picture he keeps in his wallet of the stepson, and we even talked a bit about politics (they love Obama, he seems to always get a thumbs up from Egyptians). It was a very neat experience...I went back and forth when deciding whether or not to share the pictures below as part of this post...I don't usuallyshow pictures of myself, or at least not of my face. This blog isn't really about appearances for me, what I look like isn't my focus, I like to talk more about what I do and the things that inspire my creativity. But, in this case, the pictures complete my story and tell about a neat experience I had, one that really shaped the trip for me and made me feel like I had stepped into Egyptian culture. Those two men were fun and even goofy, I was glad that our path crossed their little shop.