Happy Mother's Day!

We spent part of the day wandering the Rhododendron gardens at Hendrick's Park in Eugene. What was cool about this aside from the amazing display of flowers, was that it was planned by my daughter! What she didn't realize was that EVERYONE in Eugene goes there for Mother's Day!! She's used to being there when it's quiet, peaceful, unpopulated... Luckily, we found parking easily after being redirected at our first attempt at park entrance (they switched some roads to one way only to accommodate the crowd) and it was busy, but not uncomfortably so---made for fun people watching as we wound our way along the masses of rhodies. Here are a few of my fav photos from that garden:

I've been Tagged!

I was tagged my Michelle---http://www.michellegeller.typepad.com/ sadly I don't know how to make her name light up & become a link to her site...someday I'll figure that out!

Now I'm supposed to post 7 weird or random facts about myself----there were several other rules too, but I've never been good at following rules exactly. I like to change them up for some reason... For fun, if you read this, post 7 weird or random facts about yourself---then leave a comment here to let us know the link to read your 7. Or just post the 7 things in the comment section here.

My 7:

1. Both my babies were born at home---first was a successful breech home birth, 2nd was also successful but not breech.

2. I can’t eat sweets, or chocolate after 6:00 pm, or I have a hard time falling asleep (*sigh…)

3. I used to have angora rabbits and would spin their fur (you pluck it off them as they snuggle in your lap---they’re bred to not have a lot of feeling in their skin, so they don’t mind when you pull their loose hair!)

4. I could wear the same thing for a week---I don’t like changing my clothes or thinking of what to wear. When I'm working at home for lengths of time that's just what I do! Luckily Brad doesn’t care & since he works at home does the same thing. We’re very “green” that way. (Now if something gets pitted out, it’s in the laundry, no questions---I just rarely pit out!) (another random fact?!)

5. When I was 20 years old I managed a restaurant in Portland Oregon. I worked downtown at a different restaurant the summer after my sophomore year in college and was then offered the position of manager in a new restaurant the owner was opening, so I took that year off of college to run the new one.

6. May 1980 Mt. St. Helen’s blew her top and I was living in Portland when that happened---ash from her eruption blew all over Portland and the surrounding areas. In June I rode my bike downtown Portland with a friend to see the Rose Festival Parade wearing bandanas over our noses to protect us from the fine ash. We looked like bike-bandits!

7. When I’m painting with a fat paintbrush, at some point I have a real hard time not painting someone nearby… the urge to add an impromptu paint mustache is really hard to resist. I’m getting better at not succumbing to this urge the more I paint with my husband---he doesn’t like paint mustaches.

Now go ahead, think of 7 odd facts about yourself & list them in the comment section or leave me a link in the comment section to where you've made your list! Go! Do it! (ok, you have some time---took me several days before I had time to do this!!)

Also, I can't leave without sharing a photo--- & another random fact---I grow baby ginko trees on my window sill in the kitchen---I have 2. They are now 2 years old---every fall they lose their leaves & look like sticks in a pot through the winter. I faithfully water them still. Then sometime in the spring they show a teensy bit of green, proving they're alive. Here's one of them! Now go, write some randomness about yourself!!

Spring in Oregon

Or so the calendar says it's spring---but looking outside at 6 am the last couple of mornings you sure wouldn't think so! Both days we had SNOW covering the rooftop next door & dusting our car. This morning the grass was even covered! As far as I know this is the latest date Western Oregon has experienced snow---since records have been kept. Then throughout the day we've had on and off hail showers, some with snow mixed in. We arrived home yesterday after running a few errands to the scenes below---not the best day to start up the Farmer's market downtown---and to think it was 80º last Saturday here!!

One of the reasons I don't Mt. Bike....

Another reason: they bike uphill for miles on gravel roads.
Reason 3: Then they fly down tiny deer trails over fallen logs, roots, & slippery muddy slopes, (this time of year).

Luckily, they don't look like this usually, since they try to not ride when it's this muddy out. Give me pavement, the occasional small hill (love riding bikes downhill!) & dry weather please!

Easter colors

This year we played with rubber band resist on our eggs---sort of a tie dye effect. Way too much fun! Here are some of our favorite photos from our dye day:

GUESS WHO WE SAW!!!

Ok, so we knew he was going to be in Oregon Friday, speaking in Portland, Salem and Eugene. Since I was picking up my daughter in Eugene that day, I debated about staying to see him later that night, but figured Eliza would want to come home for her spring break and not stay late into the night. We arrived home mid-afternoon and while a friend of hers was visiting, she received a call on her cell phone from her sister telling her this fella was in our town! Downtown visiting the best pizza place in the state! We jumped into our car & zipped down there, not sure if it this was just a rumor or truth! A crowd had gathered outside the restaurant, so we joined in & spying the giant busses blocking the road with the police escorts we began to believe this fella was really inside! Sure enough, after a while, he wandered out, shaking hands, and waving. I was taking pics as fast as I could, craning to see through the crowd, hoping to get a glimpse---

The first photo shows his bus parked downtown in front of the best gallery in our fair city.


and just before boarding the bus, I had a clear view!!!


Such excitement!

Illustration Friday---Heavy

Heavy enough to crack nuts.
Watercolor this week, pastel last week, what shall it be next week?

Illustration Friday---Garden

It's been a while since I've participated---but this weeks theme was right down my alley. Garden---seems like I spend a lot of time in someone's garden painting. Here's a pastel of a water garden at Menucha. http://www.menucha.org/ A lovely place to visit and stay. Our local plein aire group went there last summer. Great place to escape!

Laptop Sleeve success!

We had been looking at laptop sleeves out in internet-land & at a couple of local computer shops---mostly boring black, often the wrong size for our laptop, so I thought: "I could make one!" A normal thought for some---but considering my sewing talents are often on the weak side, a bit ambitious for me really. The thought isn't that abnormal for me tho---I often think I can create something I see but usually when it comes to sewing, my vision never reaches reality! Brad knows this well---and was really not that encouraging when this became my latest obsession.

A lot of laptop sleeves are made from neoprene which I looked into at our local outdoor fabric supplier. When I saw their price was $48/yard I yelped! Then on a visit to our local JoAnn fabric store I discovered some fabric with foam attached & since it was only 9.99/yard, & I figured I just needed 1/2 a yard (+ on sale w/coupon!) I bought some & brought it home. From there I started sketching out the design, how to sew it, made a little prototype and headed to our local quilt fabric shop with Brad. He became a little more enthused after spying some fabric he loved, but since I didn't love it as much as him, I figured I'd buy my favorite & make two---throwing out the idea of possibly making an interchangeable cover that slipped on & off the foam insert.

Back home I began refining my design---no pattern to work from, just what I'd sketched out ahead of time. My youngest daughter has been designing outfits to wear for dances these last couple of years---since she's never had a sewing class she doesn't understand the need for a pattern! We've had semi-success with a few costumes/dance outfits, but nothing outstanding. Just something that works for that night, rarely worn a second time. I peeked at a couple of patterns while at the fabric store but just didn't think I needed to spend the $ on something that I thought I could figure out myself. My daughter is rubbing off on me...

First thing, I made two foam "envelopes" to fit the laptop. One for us, the 2nd for my youngest daughter's computer. I measured several times all directions to make sure I had enough to fit, then cut it out. I then set the laptop inside the foam I cut out & immediately saw I had measured the width wrong!!! Considering how I often have trouble wrapping packages needing to add more paper to compensate for my mistakes, I wasn't too surprised this issue arose! I was a bit mad tho, since I thought I'd measured everything so carefully, even remembering to add seam allowances! What I'd forgotten to do tho was add the width of the laptop to the width of the foam---I did on the length but not the width. It was a snug fit but I thought I'd just sew it up as close to the edge and hope it wouldn't be too tight. Amazingly it fit! I sewed multiple times up that edge to make sure it was strong after trying it on the laptop. I then flipped it so the foam was on the outside, the fabric on the inside (along with the seam).



Next it was time to cut the fabric to go over the foam insert. This time I took into consideration the width of the machine---all around, not just in length. I even made sure to cut a bit wider to so I wouldn’t end up tight again.


The idea of having removable fabric that could be changed went out the window at this point. I realized to make a good fit I’d need to sew the fabric to the foam. This came together fairly easily---I slipped the laptop into the foam, then wrapped the fabric around this package, pinning along the sides to get a snug fit. I then removed the foam & laptop & sewed the side seams. I slipped them back inside once the fabric was turned right side out & was happy to see they fit well. I then designed the flap, cutting in from the edges, sewing under the fabric, eventually sewing it onto the foam at the flap & open edge. Last I sewed on velcro to hold it shut. Because of some issues with my bobbin thread being a different color, I didn’t sew the first one as perfectly as I wanted, so I ended up doing some hand sewing to clean up a few floppy edges.




The second one was easier & more controlled since I was smart and made sure my bobbin thread matched the top (duh!). (I really need to find some more bobbins for this machine…). Both Brad & I were amazed how nice, light and well fitting these turned out! He especially so, since he’d seen a lot of my sewing attempts in the past! I was just happy for once my vision became a reality.





A side note---the cover above was the first I made, the purple one the second.

Valentine Pizza!

For Valentine's day, two local pizza shops were advertising they were making heart shaped pizzas to celebrate the day. I decided to run with that idea and do our own homemade version! I made the dough in the bread machine, then shopped for all our favorite pizza toppings. We invited my oldest daughter over for dinner (youngest daughter was not able to join us, since it was the middle of the week & she's off at college), and after she compiled a valentine playlist in itunes on my computer we went to work in the kitchen. I cut the dough into 3 pieces and we each shaped our own crust, then created tasty individual pizzas! This might become a new tradition!

Once a month blog? Hope not...

Well, I'm not doing very good with keeping up here---last time I wrote was Jan. 6th, now it's February! We've enjoyed several snowy mornings and days in January---unusual for our area. I had to go out and capture some snow images before it melted away. Even took my honey out for some fun snow pics---gearing up for Valentine's day. Had a weird bug last week---mostly brain fog and headache... really squelched my enthusiasm for productivity, but it's gone now & I feel way more perky! Without further discussion, here are some favorite pics from the past month:

This first one we saw the night before when we took a midnight snowy walk around the block. I was happy to see it was still preserved the next day! Says it all....




I saw the water drip when I shot this photo, but wasn't sure if my camera caught it too---I was so happy to see it later on my computer!






And last but not least, a little valentine's love to share! Happy Valentine's week!

How to make Almond Roca...

After stirring forever on the stove you spread the almond roca candy onto a cookie sheet with sides, then you break pieces of hershey bar & scatter it on top.



Then you start smearing the chocolate pieces around on top---use a heat proof spatula.



Watch out for flying spatulas!




One of the things we did on Christmas eve...