30 Dec 2006: Wallpaper and Cats
Oh, I'm on a roll now that I can upload photos! My mother came over yesterday to wallpaper my 'feature wall' in the office for me. She's an ace wallpaperer, and although she didn't think one 'double' roll would be enough (for this tiny wall!), everything was okay in the end.
Be assured that I'm practicing the art of not showing you what's behind me, or what's around the corner. Because the craft room is still a construction site, there are boxes of fabric and thread stacked everywhere right now.
I haven't decided yet where to hang these two pieces -- I've had the letterpressed sign since last year's Frankfurt Book Fair, and it's lovely to see it finally framed. It's one of my favourite things; I liked it so much when I first saw it, I had to ask to buy it, even though I wasn't sure it was for sale -- and, of course, I had to ask in German!
Here's a shot of the wallpaper pattern:
Ideally, I would have used Cole & Son, or the fantastic Josef Frank wallpaper, but that's tricky to do when you live in America (and expensive!). I knew I wanted a simple, graphic print, no faux-finishes or 'aging'. This stuff is actually flocked, which is interesting. I would have just as soon used a non-flocked version, had that existed, but it's sort of neat, anyway. The doorway between the living room and my office has no door, so it's great to catch a glimpse of this when you're sitting on the sofa.
Here's the cutest cat ever:
Sleeping in a cat bed IN a cat basket! I would have never thought Booty'd submit to sleeping in purpose-built places, but perhaps that's exactly why he is. This is right by the window in my office; I leave the blinds open a few inches, and Booty keeps an eye on the neighbourhood between naps:
30 Dec 2006: Rooms and Biscuits
Hooray, I've managed to upload some photos (thanks to Rob!). This first one is from my living room, looking into the kitchen, so you can see how the two colours work together (with the footstool/coffee table and Minnie's toys in the foreground). You can also see my expensive Christmas decorations (I did actually manage to find one lone Tord garland at my new local Target). What with the long nights and only a radio for entertainment, a lot of paper craft went on around here. I hung six of those red and green 'balls' in each of the two open doorways from my living room, and they spun around whenever a draft caught them.
I'll have to do a proper before-and-after post about my kitchen, but it's still a work in progress. As I mentioned before, I'm painting my china cabinet (you can see the bottom in that photo above, with green presents on top). The first two pieces of art I hung on my wall were the postcards Camilla and Mav collaborated on -- I'll have to get a photo later, because they look so pretty, matted and framed in white.
I thought I made a lot of ginger biscuits last year, when I made the seasonal Snowcookies, but I clearly didn't know the meaning of 'a lot' back then.
I decided to give my extended family these ginger biscuits as presents, so I baked them in advance, froze them, and then iced them the day after I moved in. It took forever. The icing was a lot thinner than what I made last year, so they have a very different look to them, but they taste darn good! For most of my family, I just wrapped five or six of them in little plastic cookie bags, but I made these jars for my grandmothers:
I'm not usually big on traditional 'glue gun crafts', but I thought these turned out quite pretty. And everybody seemed to enjoy the biscuits. Phew.
29 Dec 2006: Words, but No Pictures
Oh dear. Did you see how long I was away from the blog? Oops. And now I can't even share pictures with you, although I do have pictures to share. Only my laptop is hooked up to the internet right now, and it seems I can't upload anything from this computer. Bum.
Anyway, I moved in last Friday but didn't have internet until Boxing Day, which explains why I've been gone for so long. With no internet or television, I was 'forced' to listen to NPR/MPR all day, and now I know how some people seem to know so much! With so many hours of time to fill, they really dig up the most random stories and facts, don't they?
It was a very peaceful, simple existence for a few days there (except for all the painting) -- only the radio and the dog to keep me company, and one Corningware 'pan' to cook all my food in. Now I have a full set of pots and pans and dishes and bowls AND drinking glasses. . . AND internets. . . but I'm trying not to get carried away.
Booty the Cat came to stay yesterday, and he's settling in much better than I expected. Instead of hiding in the basement, yowling for hours on end, he's been scouting for the best sleeping spots. So far, the cat basket by the front window gets a big (cat) thumbs up, as does the very middle of the bed. If only that darned dog would go away, he'd be a very happy cat indeed.
I can't wait to show you pictures of my kitchen. The new paint colour really transformed it, and I've been taking great pride in keeping it as tidy as possible (if you've ever lived with me, you might think that's a lie, but I swear it's the truth). I'm in the process of painting my china hutch white (it's going to look amaaazing), so I can fill it up with all my pretty, mismatched dishes.
So, just in case you thought I'd disappeared forever -- I haven't. Thank you for all the nice comments on my birthday and the house; I hope you had a nice holiday time, and here's to a very happy new year!
22 Dec 2006: House, house, house.
Ooh, look, I'm serious about this moving thing:
See, the kettle's in the new house, so I can't be far behind. That box of tea, by the way, represents the end of a week-long (two-week-long?) tea-mergency. I ran out of my giant box of PG Tips a while ago and have been struggling by with Twinings, since that was all I could find.
Today the piano movers came and moved my piano!
Hooray, piano, hooray! The room needs the rest of the furniture, rugs, and pictures on the walls to dampen the sound. Right now it's the most echo-y piano you've ever heard. Sort of nice, but also sort of deafening.
In that photo, you can see the grey of the office (piano room) compared to the lighter grey of the living room. You can also see what colour the office was before I painted (the tan on the right) -- that last wall is the wallpaper wall. The wallpaper probably won't be in until Tuesday. Wait. Wait, wait, wait.
I didn't think I was going to get any good photos today, because it was dark and rainy this afternoon, but suddenly it went bright, and instead of rain, there was snow!
It's a birthday miracle! Or would be except that A) my birthday is tomorrow, B) I'm not really that crazy about snow, and C) we're hiring the moving van tomorrow, so a proper birthday miracle would have been the snow holding off for a couple more days. Oh well. At least we can all breathe a sigh of relief now. A Minnesotan isn't happy unless he's shoveling snow or complaining about the extreme weather.
P.S. -- The side of my garage is the cutest side of a garage ever. Also, can anybody tell what sort of tree that is just by looking at the photograph? I haven't seen it with leaves on, but it has little pod things at the ends of the branches.
21 Dec 2006: Grey Rooms
It was overcast today, so I didn't get any great photos of the new wall colours, but here are some sneaky-type previews. I think I'll save the proper before-and-afters for after all the furniture's been moved.
This is my office, the front bedroom. I painted three of the walls 'Morris Room Grey' (from Sherwin Williams), and I'm waiting for my roll of wallpaper to arrive to finish the fourth. This little cabinet will actually go against that wall once it's done. It's one of my favourite craigslist finds; it matches my piano, and I'm going to stain my desk to match as well, and then my office will be matchy-matchy AND have amazing wall paper.
We finished painting the living room today, 'Twilight Grey'. It was a sort of nondescript lightish green before, and somehow this grey actually makes it look much warmer. And it's so sharp! Not that you can tell that in this lamp-lit photo. My sofa arrived today (hooray!), so now I have somewhere comfy to recline while I watch my parents do all the work. Oh, but I kid! My fingers are still wrinkled from tearing down wallpaper. I don't like to be mean about others' decorating choices, but the little Italian chefs border had to go. I'm hoping to finish that tomorrow and start in on priming the currently red kitchen.
I'm excited about that coffee table I found, because it has a cushion that can be removed, making it both a coffee table and an ottoman. I'd like to recover the cushion, because it's not quite my style, but I'm afraid the perfect fabric lives at John Lewis. And my new house is a long way from John Lewis. Bum. Didn't plan that too well.
19 Dec 2006: House!
Hey, I've got a house!
Cute, no? (It's cuter when the day isn't so overcast.) I think fifty-five days must be some sort of record for moving to another country, finding, and closing on a home. It's in very good shape inside, but there's a false ceiling issue in one of the bedrooms, and none of the current paint colours is to my liking, so we're going to start working on that today.
It's a three-bedroom house; the front half was built in 1917, and the back was added in 1952 (I think). You can't tell, of course, except in the basement, where the newer half is considerably less scary, but the original footprint of the house must have been tiny.
I'll start taking before and after shots today, although I'll be surprised if we get to any 'afters' by today, even in the smallest rooms! Hooray! A house!
15 Dec 2006: Podcasty
That there is a podcat. Here is a podcast. I'm very pleased that my interview with Diane of CraftyPod is now available to download.
I was really worried about how I'd sound. Everybody tells me I have a strange (they don't use the word strange, of course) accent, but I've never had an opportunity to review it for myself. I certainly sound northern, don't I? What's that aboot? It sounds like I grew up in Canada, eh? Interesting. Also, I don't really have a lisp, do I? I don't think we've evolved, as a species, to a point where we're comfortable listening to our own voices. The danger is that I'll get too absorbed with listening to myself, and a tiger will come along and get me.
Also, because I can't let things like this slip by, it was really Robin Dunbar who said the thing about group size, although Stephen Pinker probably agrees, if he hasn't written about it as well. The problem is that I'm too well read, you see, not that I have a bad memory. No.
I'm really happy with the podcast, though, both to have just been a part of it and also the clever things I said. Thank you, Diane!
14 Dec 2006: Pets and Things
Oh, Minnie. I feel like we're still having some issues settling in, although the more rational half of my brain knows she's actually very well behaved for her age. I would say I spend 60% of the time mildly resenting her bad behaviour and 40% thinking she's really a nice, special dog. At least I know that the bad behaviour can be corrected, while the niceness is probably here to stay. Just now, she's curled up on the couch, right next to me, snoring into my leg -- that's the good 40%.
I've spent the last few years failing to get into the holiday spirit this time of year, but part of me is feeling much more festive now. Despite the utter lack of snow (and the balmy weather), it feels right to be celebrating the season -- not the whole baby Jesus thing for me, but the coziness and richness that the cold temperatures allow. It's as though all the life and activity leaves the outdoors and moves inside.
The severe winter temperatures in Minnesota are made up for by the fact that there are still brilliantly sunny days all through the season. I'm looking forward to have somewhere very sunny indeed to celebrate Christmas/ring in the new year, which I will be able to tell you more about in. . . three days and twenty-two hours.
And it's for a related reason that I'm not doing loads of Christmas baking, although I'd really be liking to. Soon, though, sooooooon. Some things:
-- I made some fabulous roasted parsnips the other day (I think I'd had parsnips maybe once before, but I was struck with a sudden need for parsnips, and who am I to resist?). I cut out the woody centre bit and sliced what was left into long, skinny parsnip 'chips' (fries). Tossed with some olive oil, salt, and rosemary and cooked in a hot oven (450F) for about 17 minutes. Tasty delicious.
-- I've been crafting lately, but it's been for Christmas presents, so you'll have to wait for photographs.
-- Er, I. . . hm. Maybe just those two things, then.
11 Dec 2006: Photographing Food
Do you know what I love almost as much as food? Photographing food:
Good photography depends on a few things, but the most important to me is light. Colour and texture are two elements that capture good light really well, and that's why I enjoy taking (and looking at) foodie photography. I think this is why flowers make such easy subjects as well; they look beautiful in natural light -- it's hard to get a bad shot of flora, so long as the light is right.
I've mentioned Donna Hay's magazine before -- it's one I often don't buy because it's not *so* useful to vegetarians (and the import price in dollars is a bit staggering!), but the images are really second to none. Two wonderful daydreams: having my home featured in an interiors/living magazine and taking photos for Donna Hay (Australia's too far away, though). I don't think I'm currently up to scratch; foodie blogs like Delicious Days and Milk and Cookies are much better at getting it just right. But maybe I just need to get the macro lens out more often. . .
I made these mini cornbread muffins today. I know, I know, if it's really cornbread, why's it look grey, eh? I don't know what drives a person to buy blue corn meal (it wasn't me!), but if that's what's available, you use it. I'm tempted to make blueberry cornbread next; at least then the colour will make sense. I'd never understood the appeal of cornbread until this Thanksgiving, and ever since, I've had a hankering for the strangely bland sweetness. Yum.
08 Dec 2006: Sixth Bloggiversary
Oh, dear. I forgot my anniversary. This blog and I have been together for six years, as of this past Wednesday, and I completely forgot to say anything.
Back in the olden days (way further back than the archives remember), I used to commemorate my 'bloggiversary' by looking back through the last year's posts and finding my favourite passage from each month. This year, I've found a photo of something I've made, instead.
I feel like I'm such a visual person these days, or maybe all this crafting has just allowed me to find new ways of expressing it. I was paging through my magazine clippings book the other day and was interrupted by a noise, only to realize that I had been completely absorbed in those images, reading them just as I would read a book of words. It feels like having a secret talent, or realizing I speak a language I never learned, and I must figure out how to hone that skill to perfection.
Six years ago, I started a little blog to be goofy and tell people what I was up to. If I hadn't, I would have never met Rob; never lived in London; never realized I can just *do* things, like creating a craft book from scratch; and I certainly wouldn't have been able to ramble on about the significance of blogs in the crafty world (my CraftyPod interview airs 15 December, I believe). What a crazy old world this is, and how lucky I am to be a part of it!
07 Dec 2006: A thing, a thing, and another thing.
Crafty odds and ends. I made this book wrap the other day, out of some of the left over woolen flannel I used for the leaf garland. The ribbon wraps around the button for closure, so it can fit books of varying sizes, and it has a little pocket inside for a pen (see here). Love that leafy Rowan fabric.
Speaking of Rowan fabric, I've been working on a set of hotpads (nearly done, but for the hand stitching of the bias tape -- blah). I used to subscribe to the Cotton Patch's Kaffe Fassett fabric club (which included other Rowan designers), so I would get a selection of 9"x11" swatches when a new design would come out. Since my hotpads are 7"x7", I was left with lots of strips, which I cut down to make this:
Obviously influenced by Lyn's scrap bag. I like hers much better, of course; I'm not very good at just letting things happen, which is pretty crucial to the look of the project. I wish I would have cut the strips narrower now, but it's still a cute little basket-type bag, perfect for a small crochet project on the go.
Lastly, I really liked the tofu tiger Jennifer made for her son the other day. Turns out when you're an adult, you have to cut your food into fun shapes yourself. My tofu medallions:
I was tempted to use a bunny cookie cutter or a deer-shaped one or a cutter meant for gingerbread men. But. . . it just seems weird (especially the gingerbread cut out!). So medallions it is. Dipped in soy sauce and fried in sesame oil, like I always do. This tofu was much different from what I used to buy in the UK, though. Very dense and almost rubbery. In the UK I'd buy Cauldron's organic tofu, so maybe I need to look for organic tofu here to find the lighter stuff I'm used to. I wouldn't say it's an issue of firmness so much as density. . . if that makes sense. Any tofu brand recommendations?
Thank you to everybody who left interesting comments on the last post. I'm always excited when I learn things (as anybody who's around me when I read an interesting book will know -- I tend to relay every fact as I absorb it!), and nutrition knowledge is no different. What's more, it's so easy to make a positive change to your lifestyle, but you don't really realize it until you've started. If you ever want to know more about the changes I've made to the way I eat and exercise, please do not hesitate to e-mail me -- I can go on for hours on the topic!
04 Dec 2006: It's Just Food
Okay, I know no one cares what you had for lunch, but bear with me. I recently read this article (via Mimi Smartypants), and it's got me all. . . oh, I don't know. . . defensivey.
That Salon article is about calorie restricted diets (and refers to a much longer New York magazine article), which they define as an intake of 1,200-1,400 calories a day. I don't talk much about the way I eat, because it really is quite a boring topic, but I eat about 1,400 calories a day (never fewer than 1,200, and rarely more than 1,400). So when such an intake is referred to as 'disordered horseshit', you can probably guess how I feel.
Continue reading "It's Just Food" »
04 Dec 2006: Graham Bread
I love graham crackers, don't you? And haven't you wondered why only graham crackers taste like graham crackers? It seems so simple -- some graham flour, some honey -- there's nothing exotic in the ingredients list. So I decided to try my hand at coming up with a recipe for Graham (Cracker) Bread (you could have smores sandwiches!). My first try doesn't really taste of graham crackers, but it's still a huge success, if I may say so.
You should give it a try!
Graham Bread
Dry
1 cup Graham Flour
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon (ground)
1/2 tsp Ginger (ground)
1 tsp Salt
Other
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
2 Eggs
2/3 cup Brown Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
1/4 cup Honey
3/4 cup Milk
Topping
1 tbsp Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon (ground)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350F/185C. Grease a loaf pan, bottom and sides.
Mix together the dry ingredients and set aside. In a larger bowl, mix together oil, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and honey. Stir in the dry ingredients in parts, alternating with the milk. Mix until combined; do not over-mix.
Place in the middle of the oven and bake for fifty minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. When ten minutes are left (ie, 40 minutes into baking), quickly sprinkle the combined sugar and cinnamon on top and finish baking.
Calorie Info: 1 loaf = 2170 calories, 100g = 274 calories (by my measuring -- not guaranteed accurate!)
It's a nice, simple, whole-grain feeling sweet bread, like banana bread or similar. It would be fantastic with walnuts stirred in. I baked it in a Pyrex loaf pan, as you can see in the photo, and it baked very evenly. The tray in the photograph is Josef Frank for Svenkst Tenn (a continuing favourite of mine!). I bought it and a set of four Josef Frank coasters (just visible under the mug) the day before I left London, thanks to a gift voucher from the wonderful Em. Hooray!
Let me know if you give this a try!
02 Dec 2006: Happy Saturday!
Goodness! Even when you work from home, it's nice when the weekend rolls around.
Okay, I know nobody cares about ginger biscuits as much as I do, but I just need to correct something I mentioned before. I went back to the The Wedge co-op today, and I think what they were calling 'Triple Ginger' biscuits last time I was there were actually the molasses cookies. This was in the 'Triple Ginger' tray today, and it was definitely more gingery! Yum.
I bought a set of four of those little lotus-y plates at the Pier 1 outlet shop near my parents' house. Generally I'm a fan of white dishes, but these make such a pretty accent. And they were cheap.
We visited the No Coast Craft-O-Rama this morning, which was terrific. While there's loads of design in London, a lot of the markets and shows I've visited didn't seem to be of the same breed as our crafty world. Minneapolis' Craft-O-Rama gets two thumbs up from me, though -- very fun! I didn't buy any 'crafts', really, because I have a chronic case of Icoulddothats, but I did buy a few pieces of screen printed art:
This calendar was made by Amy Jo; I love it! I also bought a print of the same peacock (only smaller) in silver and red, for my office. The magazine files I covered a while back are for my office, and the walls will be light grey (with white trim).
I also bought a print from Adam Turman, but I can't find it on his site. He had a series of Minneapolis landmarks, and I bought the Gold Medal Flour building (print). His Minneapolis posters seemed to be selling as quickly as hottened cakes, and rightfully so -- they're excellent! The green in the poster matches the green of the magazine files, so it will be going in my office as well.
Such talent in the little ol' Twin Cities! I must find out how to convince these people to be my friends.
01 Dec 2006: Bits and Bobs
I've got nothing to say that requires photographic evidence, so you can enjoy these flowers from a couple of years ago. Pretty. I've just got a few random things to post about, so here you go:
-- Lars Own ginger snaps have the best flavour of all the ginger biscuits I've had (and I've had quite a few!). They're totally unsuitable for dunking, sadly, but they've got the spices exactly right. I keep *saying* I'm going to write up a ginger biscuit score card, but now I'm really, really saying I'm going to. . . soon. . . -ish.
-- I'm going to go to the No Coast Craft-O-Rama tomorrow morning (with my mom!). If you spot somebody carrying this bag, it'll probably be me. You should say hello! If you see somebody carrying that bag, and it's NOT me, then you should call security, because my bag's been stolen.
-- My birthday is in three weeks. Then I will be the age the Crafter's Companion says I am. I'm so young, I still have to lie about being older than I really am.
-- Who does reasonable, professional short-run printing in the US? Things like postcards, prints, posters, etc.
-- Booty and Minnie are still trying to figure each other out. Sometimes they're content to sleep on the same couch (not next to each other, of course), but this is a more common occurrence. Right after I took that photo, steam came out of Booty's nostrils, and he shot actual lasers from his eyes. Minnie wasn't bothered. (Booty was in the bathtub because it's his job to lick up the water. Perfectly normal.)
-- I think that's everything. Bye now.