Of dreams and things...

I cannot claim an award for regular posting.  Like many other things I have going on, its intense interest for awhile, until I am consumed by some other distraction.  I happen to be sitting here again at some insane hour, so hey why not post when everyones asleep.  Like all two of my followers. :P I'm adding some occasional sale pics.  Its what I've been up to, anyway.

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Delightful landscape painting.  Done by resident artist Whitney.  Just love it.

Following up on a birthday cake and gardening...

This is my copycat version of tuxedo cake. It has six layers, alternating chocolate and white, filled with vanilla mousse, then frosted with buttercream frosting and topped with chocolate ganache.  I shaved white chocolate on top and dark chocolate around the bottom.  Hubby said he wanted something decadent, so voila. OR wa-la.? You KWIM!  I neglected to take a pic of the lovely layers. Next time.  Standing next to the cake, is the first bouquet of the season.  Very slim pickings so far.
But, I'm really doing a fine job growing slugs and snails.  Those despicable creatures are causing me to go broke.  My kids earned $24 picking slugs in less than half an hour.  Almost 500 of those bad boys.  OR girls.  They are non-gender.  And I've awarded them the title of the most disgusting creatures on earth.  No arguments there.

*pop* goes my sanity....

Real therapy.This was last week in the garden, when it was warm and sunny.

I probably could be a candidate for a new reality show. Called 'On the brink. Daily brushes with insanity.' Even tho we don't watch TV.  Wait a minute, this isn't a show.  It IS reality. CA-rap!!!  Here it is, almost June.  I haven't even started my new years resolution to get organized.  All this clutter and junk and school papers and Barbies and half finished projects! ARgh!  ~bre-e-eath~  'Kay.  Time to quit sitting and get busy.  Put a load of laundry to go, start hubby's birthday cake, and start on the mountain of mail piled in the basket.  Oh, and if the sun decides to grace us today, all bets are off.  I'll be out in the garden.  Ah, WHO needs a psychiatrist....?

Here's the verdict...

Lemon Poppyseed Scones

De-lish! Perfect texture and oh-so-lemony! The dough is not super sweet, so, in my (ever so humble) opinion, the glaze is a definite must.  Just lay it on thick. I actually doubled the amount of glaze the recipe called for.  As far as a rating, almost a perfect 5.  I still prefer the blueberry scones recipe I found one Sunday in the newspaper.







In other baking adventures,  there is the Barbie cake.  If I had taken the time to do some research, I might have found out that two round layers are required as well as the batter bowl top.  I had to build up the skirt top with frosting because Barbie was too tall.  And, true to form, we lacked birthday candles so I had to construct some from tea-lights.  But, Willa was thrilled.-;) Thank goodness three year olds are easily delighted. (And, the terrifying twos are behind us) Fingers crossed.

What to do...

Here we go again.  Miserable rain, fire in woodstove.  Yes, this is Seattle, known far and wide for its abundant rainfall.  But this is ridiculous. On the upside, it forces me to focus on inside things.  So today, I am going to try out the Annie Sloan chalk paint.  I've heard nothing but good reports on the stuff, so I'm wading in with high expectations.  At a whopping $35 per QUART, (yes, ouch!) very HIGH expectations!  The dresser in the girls room is due for a revamp.  Bur first, I have to try the lemon poppyseed scones that were featured in the latest issue of Country Living.  Heard from my sister Mary that they are THE BEST ever!

Whew! Two feet on the ground...

All those morbid thoughts for nothing! I couldn't have asked for better flying, just as smooth as glass both ways.  And Elinor was like a champ.  Somebody up there heard my fears, thank you! Oh it's so good to be home and getting on with life.  Minneapolis was a nice little long weekend getaway, though it was COLD and yes, it even snowed on May 1st.  I DON"T miss that. Don't mind the rain that much, really.  Now it's time to get some stuff done, I'm so inspired after seeing the shop set-up over at Jux99 in Buffalo! That is the PLACE to go for exciting finds at great prices!

Bring back global warming...

Hark! Is that the sun? I was such a FAN of 'global warming'.  Not so much this 'climate change' stuff.  Everyone, put away those gas savers and get back on the road with those gargantuan SUV's!!! Seattle-ites will thank you.  (Secretly, those greenies)  Of course, those of us with large families are doing our best to keep everyone warm, even tho it's not really appreciated all that much.  Oh well, they'll thank us once again when our children are paying their social security.  Back to my opening line, since the sunshine is calling, I'm going to finish pruning those blueberry bushes.  Only 10 more to go!

Do I really have to go...

The way my brain operates, when there is something looming that makes me nervous,  I JUST DON"T THINK ABOUT IT.  But  it's only two weeks away....So, we'll be flying to MN together, Kerry and I, and Elinor.   I really don't want to leave all our children parent-less. Sure, what's meant is meant.  I'm trying to summon up those feelings I had when the flu knocked me over, about how I am not afraid to fly anymore.  Helps, a little.  But here's the deal.  We have to rewrite our will.  I guess you can't just scratch something down on paper these days, it has to be sorta legal.  I already cleared it with Lindsey.  She and Todd will get the life insurance policies, along with the farm, as long as they agree to keep the kids together here.  Sniff, boo hoo, sniff.   I'd rather just come back home, safe and sound.  Please?!

When good ideas go bad....

I had such high hopes. The shower curtain was coming along just great. *Sigh*.  But it turned out...ah, shall we say, not the best. I winged it; this is my usual method when it comes to sewing something.  Um, do I really need all those pins and patterns and stuff? I just like to hurry up and finish so I can see what it looks like.  In fact, if you don't look too closely at the craftsmanship, it looks okay.  Problem is, I used an old vintage blanket and cut it so the pattern made sense.  But, when a person is constantly pulled from the project at hand (just a few minor skirmishes to referee was all), one loses focus.  So, said shower curtains' pattern now hangs sideways.  I might fix it someday. Probably not, though, because that would require a seam ripper, which I can't find.  I already looked.  Who knows where it went, or why? One of the wonders of this world...

Anything coconut....almost.

Coconut+ coconut oil+almond butter+ vanilla+ dark chocolate=pure bliss!

I am a coconut fanatic. Coconut in jello salads? No thanks.  Kind of similar to cottage cheese in jello. Yuck.   But a macaroon? Swoon.  And coconut milk in smoothies...to die for! The oil is amazing for so many things.  I eat it just by itself, yum, the pure cold pressed virgin unrefined coconut oil.  So, where am I'm going with this? To this fabulous recipe I tried over the weekend.  I'm so obsessed.  It is all good with no added sugar.  It says that its kid approved but, judging from my perspective as a mom, kids don't usually like the texture of coconut.  I could've cried, because I served these at my Norwex party on Friday night, and one of the kids took three, and took one bite of each and disapproved of all three just the same. Boo hoo.

Chocolate Coconut Clusters (kid-approved!)

Not sure how it happened, but there's the link.  I'll get this figured out someday.  And,  the photo on my blog is more true than the one on the link.  Oh, whistle tweet tweet, these are just divine!

I have a plan...

Just finished surfing.  The blog-o-sphere, that is. (Although, with all the rain we've had the last couple of days, I probably could've surfed to Seattle and back.) ANYhow, here's the plan. I got inspired by some great diy sewing tutorials.  By tomorrow morning, there will be a new shower curtain hanging in the bathroom.  I have this great Amy Butler fabric that I've been planning to use, so it's off to sew I go.  If this project doesn't get finished, it's because Elinor woke up and 9 month old babies are attention sponges.

Fridge art...

Fridge Art

I love art supplies. Keeps the kids busy for hours!  I'd love to have a big room just like we had at Oakwood Elementary.  My kids could sprawl their creative works all over those big tables and dabble to their hearts content. Those scented Mr. Sketch markers. Big pots of poster paint, too. And reams of colored paper in every size and color.  I could really use one of those cabinets with all the drawers for storing those partially finished masterpieces...    One of these days, my studio will be finished.  For now, I'll just put up with paint drippings on the kitchen table and my bathroom sinks sporting mysterious color splashes every now and then.  This too, shall pass...but I'm not really in any hurry.

The WORST kind of pain....

Saved by garlic.  Has a bad reputation, and deservedly so. Once Kerry ate 13 cloves of garlic thinking they were baby potatoes. (They were on a plate with roast beef).  He wasn't fit for company for at least two days, such a horrible stench permeated from his whole being.  Probably cured anything that ailed him, though.  But, what a miracle cure for a toothache.  I had such a horrible one over the weekend, that I was ready to lie down in the path of an oncoming steamroller.  Fix! Internet=garlic=relief.  Ibuprofen only took off the edge. But, I just thinly sliced a clove of garlic and laid it on the offending area.  Blissful sleep, walk-in-clinic for an antibiotic on Sunday morning, and now its off to the dentist for that root canal I've been putting off.  Joy!

March is acting kind of Lamby...

Photo edited on Picnik.  Love it! It's the 60's effect.

Soaked up lots of Vitamin D naturally today, even got a little pink on the cheeks.  Five hours in my garden...things are looking fresh! March did come in like a lion...the wood stove has been going 24/7.  Even had to *gasp* buy some firewood to tide us over.  The Pacific Northwest can bone chilling cold when its gray and drippy and hovering in the 40's.  But can you say 62 degrees with sunshine? Ahhh.  It's going out like a lamb, and I'm loving it!

He has it handled...

All nicely mulched, too...

Usually I would be the one to handle the planting of our baby Christmas trees, but Kerry decided he would handle it this year.  He lassoed a couple kids and out they went.  It's clearly a good thing I was minding my own business, because from afar, I could see that he had his tape measure and string, and chalk and whatever else one would use for precision planting.  When I plant, I just use my EYEBALLS. (And a shovel, of course)  Okay, so it's not perfect.  But they still grow. Like mother nature herself had planted them.  I have to admit, though, it looks all nice and tidy, and I'm free to start the veggie garden planting.  Now if I can just find that pack of peas I bought...

Okay, so maybe I wasn't dying...

One a day for better health.  But I can hear my budget saying 'Ouch! Ouch!'

But I felt like I could just check out, then and there. "I guess she really was sick!" they'd be saying. But I digress.  Four days and four bottles of kombucha later, I'm feeling better.  :)  One thing I am happy about, though, while I was sick, I became unafraid to fly, because I know without a doubt that I'd rather die quick in a plane crash than to drag on for months or years with cancer.  Oh, but its great to be alive today with the sun shining once again!

There's always something...

I need to figure out how to do a drop-down list from tabs. And I should probably take a class to learn about blogging and web design.  Along with a knitting, photography, and jewelry making class.  Did I mention screen printing?  What about small business management.  Then there was that ceramics idea that I had...CRASH! Okay, back to reality.  I'm off to the Dr. today, to see if my baby is developing pneumonia.  Thankfully I finally got her down for a nap, however short-lived it may be...

ta da!

Sometimes, a fix is so easy I'm amazed.  Usually I'll avoid trying to figure out anything technical until my tech saavy son-in-law is around.  I really wanted this particular issue fixed RIGHT NOW so I googled "my blog appears too small".  Instant fix: just hit Control and 0 (zero).  Problem solved.  Whew, I won't have to pester Todd next time he comes over.

Artist in residence

barn study in Whitney's art journal

Just added a profile photo.  This is a painting done by one of our resident artists, Whitney. She is off to Minneapolis after graduation in June, to Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She wasn't put off at all by tornadoes and mosquitos, after spending last summer in Minnesota. If you happen to notice a camera wielding college student standing unconcernedly snapping pictures of tornadoes, that is her.

Rome wasn't built in a day...

My new batch of Christmas trees (60) and a few !!BIRCH!! trees. (10) Now to get busy planting them.

I have to keep reminding myself of this...it seems as if I can never get the things done that NEED to be done, much less something extra.  Something has to give.  The nice thing about having a nursing baby is that I can multi-task without pangs of guilt...  (FB and blogging :))
Another sale is coming up!  This one will be mid-April. (yes, my fingers are crossed)! I really need to work on sale consistency, but right now its just when  I get around to it. Don't hold your breath just yet...

About sleep...

This was so awesome, but my camera has outlived its usefulness.

It seems like I have THE best ideas when I'm trying to fall asleep at night.  I wish I could say that when my head hits the pillow, I'm OUT. It's just not that way.  For example, I will be thinking of a lovely transformation that will happen to one of the projects out in the garage.  That alone should make me tired, but no.  I am just getting started.  I then imagine what I will sell it for.  What the lovely price tag should look like.  Whether or not Fleatiques is really a name I want to forever be associated with, because I'm not even fond of it, but haven't dreamed up something better. All the great and catchy names have been snapped up by all the clever and talented people out there. (Who are nice enough to blog and share their great ideas). That is how new ideas are born.  Thanks, all you wonderful creative sources of inspiration.

And its off to bed I go...I hope to sleep! Of course, in the morning I'll have forgotten all the nights musings...*sigh*

What a mess!

Sometimes we get snow.  I love the monotone of this pic, esp. the skeletal poppies.

There is this problem that has come to my attention.  Somebody keeps recording what time it is when I'm blogging, and it just doesn't look good.  But I really do wake up early and make my hubby breakfast (an egg sandwich, so good with turkey and havarti cheese) at 5:15 am.  And then there's those girls that need some assistance getting off to school. (Bus arrival 8:05 am)  They would choose to look neglected. SOMEONE needs to tell them that they make these really neat tools called brushes.  Makes your hair look nice.  Oh, and didn't you wear that shirt yesterday? Thought so, there's spaghetti sauce strategically located on your left sleeve.

I'm off to bed now to catch a few Z's. I really do like to sleep.