the incredible edible egg

Question: can you fry an egg on the sidewalk in summer?

Answer: yeah, well.... sorta

Yesterday was a warmish 110 degrees. So it hit me .. that childlike curiosity of whether or not we could fry an egg on the sidewalk just like the movie Father of the Bride.

First we gathered our egg.. a "nice medium brown" (segue, read Lulu Atlantis and the Quest for True Blue Love for more thoughts on eggs and how they fit just right in the palm of your hand and could be full of surprises .. even a fairy crown).

Then Maggie took a rock to crack the egg and gently deposited it on the sidewalk.

After that, we waited.... and waited

.... and waited

It seems Hollywood Magic is deemed so for a reason... there was no immediate sizzle and frying of the egg as seen in the movies. Actually it sat for a mo until the fluid albumen dissapated and left only the thick albumen (egg white) and vitelline (or yolk). Say, who said you couldn't learn something new every day! Isn't this a dandy little diagram of the chicken egg? :o)



So Maggie decided to poke at it a bit and try to break up the thick albumen from the vitteline to see what happens. Chris pointed out that the dried leaf she used resembles a fried piece of bacon. Hey.. bacon and eggs on the hoof, what could be better?



Scrambling the egg seems to have done the trick a bit because the yolk actually did appear cooked..... NOT that any of us were willilng to try it out... well, Chris doesn't hold with the likes of eggs and well, being the paragon of the ultimate mine-shaft canary when it comes to food poisoning I would not dare press my luck, let's not even mention the 5 second rule applies about 1,000-fold.

What a fun little science experiment to give a little wilted joy in the confines of the blazing hot sun.

Book Review: Lulu Atlantis and the Quest for True Blue Love

Lulu Atlantis and the Quest for True Blue Love by Patricia Martin (ISBN 978-0-375-84016-6) "had me at hello".

Actually, the cover is what got me. The cover art captured my attention at our local library. It was on the "new books" shelf in the children's library.

The story is intended for 2-4th grade children, but I have to tell you.. if you have a big soft grown up heart get this book for yourself. It's a quick read though 228 pages. The characters are adorable. Maggie and I shared reading this book. When I read out loud to her I like to give each character a voice and these were F-U-N! I pictured Yogurt Skunk sounding like a cross between Lou Costello and a Good Fella. I imagined Lulu's best friend Harry (a top-hat wearing daddy long leg spider) to be somewhat of an English gentleman with a gravely voice.

The bottom line is it's a wonderful story of friendship, sacrifices, heartache, joy, secret ingredients and yes... True Blue Love.

I encourage you to check it out at your local library or just pass GO and buy it. In our case we did both. It's one of those books that we will read and re-read.

Wild America

This morning I was plugging along at work and saw a commotion in the tree. It was a large bird, but it wasn't black so I know it wasn't the usual crow. After I saw it hopping around a bit I realized it was a raptor... some sort of hawk.

In it's talons was breakfast. He was hopping around on the branches trying to keep a hold of his quarry and balance on the branch. Finally he found his center (ooom) and Mags and I watched as he defeathered his breakfast. First came the poofy downy feathers... then came the larger grey feathers. I'm not sure what it was.... but I'm guessing breakfast might have been a mourning dove or a mockingbird.

We watched from my office window for quite some time. It was as if Discovery HD was on in front of us.. in our yard! I snapped some photos and was pleasantly surprised that the images came out rather clear for being taken 40 feet away through dual pane windows with an eastern exposure at 7am-ish! :D

In speaking with my dearest friend Mandy, who is a Wildlife Biologist, she said it looks like a Cooper's Hawk! Apparently they are not commonly sighted in our area and since he was comfortable dining in our mulberry, he may come back. Goody! To view photos, click to enlarge!

Tropsicles from Vegetarian Times Magazine

Looking for something fun to make and eat during this heat wave? Here is a tropical treat that's sure to please everyone. It's healthy, tasty and also vegan.

Bon Appetit!

Tropsicles

Coconut milk and banana give these ice pops a creamy consistency without dairy or soy. Be sure to puree the mixture until very smooth so resulting pops don’t contain crunchy buts that may be too icy for sensitive baby teeth.

2 cups fresh pineapple chunks
1 large banana, sliced
3/4 cup light coconut milk
1/4 to 1/2 cup agave nectar
Puree all ingredients in blender 1 to 2 minutes, or until mixture is smooth.
Ladle into ice pop molds, and ffreeze at least 4 hours. Run molds under warm water to unmold.

Vegetarian Times Magazine

Summer Nature Camp is here!

That is mini-me's favorite summer activity, bar none. It is a week long outdoor Bacchanalia devoted to creek walks, hikes, games, stories, one overnighter under the stars and dirt, dirt, dirt!!! The kid is a certified tree hugger extraordinaire and finds close examination of insects and various flora / fauna to be the ne plus ultra.

This is the kind of program where you watch the camp counselors grow up too. Each year we get to see alot of familar faces. Summer Nature Camp has become Mags "Cheers", if you will. When she walked in for this morning for the first time this summer they greeted by cheering her name and big hugs. That's a pretty darned good feeling.

It's going to be hot hot hot (plus 100, people!) so we invested in a small scale Camel Back. Coated in a nice shelack of spf 45, armed with the dromedary hydration station, healthy lunch and hat, we hugged toodles and I wished mightily I could go with her! Ah the lazy fun days of summer as a kid. Good times.

Pow Pow!

Another Independence Day come and gone. My dad would have been 77 this Independence Day. For years he convinced me that the fireworks, the day off for everyone... were all for him :p Every year we make fresh strawberry shortcake cos that was Dad's fave. It's also the 16th anniversary of the hubby and my first date!

We spent the day with good friends at their block party. It was a little slice of old fashioned goodness with good food, good drink, liars dice, make your own ice cream sundae's, splashing and of course fireworks.

Happy Birthday America and Happy Birthday, Daddy.

The good list

Kids laughing, splashing at the pool, sparklers, starry nights, the smell of my gardenias, watching a lazy copper-coloured dragonfly grace our pond, hummingbirds at our feeder, warm snuggles with Lil Bit, listening to Chris read to Maggie, tiki torches on our lanai, the smell my tomatoes plant give off when I pull the vines back to see if there are ripe fruit, watching Mags sleep and gently touching my cheek to her warm chubby cheek, home pedicures with my lil gal, playing Super Mario Bros on my DS and Chris teasing me for getting all jumpy and moving around like it's going to help Mario jump over that crevasse, peanut butter and homemade olallieberry jam sandwiches, BLT's with lettuce and tomatoes from our garden, Maggie's toesies, laughing with friends, rubbing feet with Chris, warm summer nights, a good book, drive-in movies, running, knitting something fantastic.

May your days be filled with wonderful things that make you smile :o)

Happy Independence Day!

On my list

Telemarketers, Jehovah's Witnesses and pull-string pinatas are on my list today.

Telemarketers:
Every morning at 10am I get a call from unknown number/name. I pick up and hang up and they call back. I've left my phone off the hook, let the machine pick up etc. Today I picked up and waited for the click and someone to say hello (stupid machine dialers.. why isn't there a code verification for phones!?). Someone finally did say hello, in the background I could hear many others calling their victims, and I simply said "remove me from your list, goodbye" and hung up. I wouldn't mind people doing their jobs except we're on the donotcall.gov list! It burns me that political calls are exempt. Poo poo!

JW's:
Next, 30 minutes later as I am trying to work, my doorbell rings. I see it is someone I don't know or have time for and hear the rustle of paper. I look outside and the whole street is crawling with people in clusters.. men with men and women with women.

I open the door, see the publication "Awake" which is a Watchtower publication. I calmly and deliberately take the publication and walk to my big recycle bin. A group of them is clustered near my house and my neighbors house. They were frozen like deer in headlights. Seeing "a live one" come out of their target door is unprecedented. It's as if they don't know what to do... go about their business or try to corner me. Apparently my swagger suggests they should leave me the heck alone, but not before they see me recycle their "reading material". :o) I heard a slight "ooooh" from one woman as in "oh no she di-n't" Oh YES. I DID! And to make the point clearer I saw a water bottle on our fence (not sure how that got there) and recycled that too.

Also, if they really believe that only 144,000 people go to heaven, why recruit "competition" door to door? Of course, I've read that they believe that is the sweet spot number of the "elite" JW's who get to recreate earth at the "second coming" while the rest of the peons just get to be reborn back to the "glorified earth", what.. to start again? Sounds a bit like Hitler's "master race" to me .... or.. if you like we can put a Marxist spin on it... the bourgeoisie controlling the proletariats .. the haves vs the have-nots. Shouldn't a better earth be a unified and egalitarian earth? My sweet hubby probably would have invited them in were he here. He's always interested in hearing these things as an Atheist.

My mother, a fine woman, used to tell me "no one is better than you and you are no better than anyone else.... we all take our pants down to sh*t". Not just pretty words. They are wise and true.

I don't mind people having their personal beliefs, just don't come to my door or call my house uninvited to push your agenda. As Jack Nicholson said once "go sell crazy somewhere else... we're all stocked up here". Pfft.

Pull-string pinatas:
Who invented this? They should be tied to a string and bobbed up and down avoiding the stick. Pull-string pinatas are pointless.... as my friend Butterflychica says "may as well just give the kids the candy". Thwacking the heck out of a paper decorated cardboard or balloon to get to the third tier candy is FUN, PEOPLE! Why take away life's simple pleasures and replace them with politically correct, "safe fun". BLERG!

Worst Person in the World

Any Keith Olbermann fans out there???

We are fans of Countdown and the amusing reparte of Keith on Bill O'Reilly. Prior to seeing this clip of Bill O I found him to appear unstable... like he could crack at any minute. Yes yes, I know what you're thinking... all of us have job stress and have lost it, but there is something not right there. Also, I think BillO is a certifiable nutjob espousing hatred, intolerance and ignorance. Not everyone can fit THAT bill.. heh heh... no pun intended.

There are many YouTube clips with the "full Monty" of BillO dropping the f-bomb and it's funny but something about the bleeps from Countdown makes it funnier for me.

Unfortunately the embedding feature is disabled, but you can view it here. It really makes me want this shirt......and yes, I doctored that too with flowers cos this is a family blog.....

Berrymania

Another successful berry-picking season for Rosendin-kind! This year we went a little earlier in the season and the berries were much firmer, but still sweet. We managed 10 and a half pounds. There were still loads of unripe berries with the sweet promise of tomorrow :o) I guess if time allows and the urge hits us we have the opportunity to go back for more!

We had a lovely dinner at Carpos and Mags and I enjoyed our olallieberry shakes. Mmm.. Sunday was spent doing this and that and making some jam. We reserved a few pounds of fresh berries to be used later for other delights. Yay!

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

Last night we enjoyed a fine grilled steak, corn on the cob and Mediterranean Pasta Salad. I picked the tomato and basil from our garden just as I needed to add them to the dish. Our fresh picked basil packed quite a fragrant punch!

I humbly share this recipe with you. I modified one I found on-line. Forgive my kluge "measurements" as I have begun the metamorphosis into my mom's way of cooking. Measurements are a "pinch of this", "enough to fill the hollow of your palm" for that. Life is too much fun without measuring spoons!

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

• 8oz cooked rotini pasta
• 1/4 C finely chopped red onion
• 1-2 persian cucumbers, thickly sliced
• Handful of pitted, halved kalmata olives
• Handful of fresh chopped basil
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• Crumbled Feta Cheese
• Vinegar
• Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and let marinate in the fridge for an hour.
The fresher the ingredients the better the taste! Feel free to increase or decrease ingredients as desired. Serve chilled.

Bon Appetit!

progress

I am giddy because our limited edition poster "Progress" by Scott Hansen finally arrived last night! Glad we ordered when we did as it's now sold out. Since we were out getting Mags ears pierced we missed the delivery but found it this morning when we took a peek at a new morning glory.

This is the first time in our voting lives either of us has felt passionate about a candidate. When we saw this poster, we fell in love with the artwork and the meaning. We look forward to hanging a little bit of historical progress in our home.

Yes we can.

ain't that a kick (holes) in the head

After a rocky try on the first attempt and proclamations of "never ever ever" wanting them, Maggie decided 8 months later that she did, indeed, want pierced ears after all. She was very brave, not a peep. She was very proud of herself later and pleased with the results. Another milestone for our baby. ***sigh***

a little piece of americana goes dark

Summer berry pickin' time is here and each year we make our pilgramage up the 1 to pick olallieberries just north of Santa Cruz. We finish up sticky and stained and giddy about our haul. What doesn't get eaten in route will eventually end up in our world famous olallieberry jam. It's world-famous, trust us :o) If there's enough left over we make olallieberry ice cream. Maybe this year I'll reserve some for a berry crisp.

Usually we stop and hit the beach in Santa Cruz and play. Sometimes I get to visit a yarn shop :o) As far as eats.. well, we have our faves... one year we stopped at Carpos and had yummy eats and olallieberry shakes. Occasionally we hit the Upper Crust Pizza for a slice of pesto pizza and often end our evening with tilapia fish and chips and a pint of Seabright's finest. Don't worry... Mags has a pop :o)

If we aren't too sun-tired from berry picking and surf fun, we hang out until we can catch a movie at the Soquel Skyview Drive-In. Well, we used to...... Sigh. Like most great slices of Americana this too has gone the way of the Do-Do. After some research I found that the land was bought by some medical developer. As Eloise would say Poo Poo!

Well, I guess we could always bring the portable dvd player, park near the ocean and watch a movie! :o) We'll be sure to have some ice cream..... Let's hope this landmark stays put!

Gorgonzola Pear Pasta

Occasionally I crave meat and lots of it. Other times I crave simple vegetarian dishes.

Here is a simple but delicious meal that is a favorite in our home.

Gorgonzola Pear Pasta

• 2 pears, skinned, sliced into wedges
• 1 sweet onion, sliced into thin wedges
• 5oz of Gorgonzola (or 1 tub of crumbles)
• 1 package of pasta (we like farfalle - bowtie)
• Olive oil
• Grated or shredded Parmesan cheese
  
  Bring pot of water to boil for pasta and cook while preparing onion/pear mixture.
  
  Prepare onion and pears. Heat olive oil in pan and add onion. Saute until translucent then add pears. Saute pears and onion on medium-low heat adding more olive oil if necessary. Cook until lightly browned on all sides. Turn off heat.
  
  When pasta is cooked, drain and add to the pear and onion mixture, mix lightly and add Gorgonzola. Mix well.
  
  Serve hot with shredded or grated Parmesan cheese on top.
  
  Bon appetit!

Bountiful Garden Update

Each day I look in our garden I am amazed at the beauty of growing our own food.

A few things we bought already as plantlings, but our scallions, carrots, corn and lettuce are all seed-grown. We started those in a little seed greenhouse back in March.

I just came in from picking some sweet 100 tomatoes and some lettuce. Oh happy day! It just makes my heart swell with joy to see this bounty of goodness. All organic :o)

We have a few bell peppers growing, jalepenos and ambrosia melons. The corn has several ears getting bigger by the day. I wonder if you can hear corn grow? I hope our zucchini make a comeback and produce.. I worry cos I removed one of three and replanted the two about 2 weeks after planting them. It may have been too traumatic :o( My cukes are sorta hanging on but I saw one baby cornichon and if I get one for my salad I'll be a happy girl.

Last weekend Maggie and I picked our first harvest of lettuce and I had the BEST BLT on the planet!! We grilled some burgers Sunday night and enjoyed lettuce from our garden. Can't wait to put our tomatoes on there too.

Below is a sampling of our garden for you. Mmm... have a taste.. it's organic fresh picked!

Haiku of the day

Cupcakes and ice cream
Candy, soda, frosted flakes
Fruit Loop cavities

crunch

Technicolor what?

As we left a delicious dinner at Anita's Taqueria, we had to drive around back to get back onto Railroad Ave. In the process we had to pass the front of the Good Time Tavern where we were forced to wait because a cab was double parked while waiting for a fare thus blocking our egress.

We patiently waited and in the process saw a youngish feller lumber out of the front door with his pint glass. He ambled over to the curb where he proceeded to tilt his glass and emtpy the 2oz of beer left into the gutter. It was a comical sight as he swiped at it like he was getting sand out of the glass. Still the cabbie parked and just as I was about to lose it and honk the horn (because he could have pulled to the side.. why are so many people selfish tossers?) it was then that we noticed the young man smacking his lips, gulping repeatedly and turn red in the face. I said "uh oh... looks like a dry heave!"....

Ah... what a beautiful night... Maggie had an outstanding test run on demonstrating her kata at karate, she is up to 35 out of 100 books in the library program, we had just eaten a satisfying meal at one of our fave restaurants and now.... we get to see a Technicolor Yawn. Chris said "that's no dry heave!" Though we all knew what was happening we couldn't look away (and not just because we were still STUCK behind this selfish cabbie!), but it was almost in slow motion and the kid's face was a sight to behold. I only wish I had my good camera with me cos you just don't see a multiple booze barf like that too often when you're boring folks like us. No less on a Wednesday night at 7pm!! We were just in the right place at the right time.

I simply turned to Maggie and said "did you see that?" she said "yeah" (all grossed out) and I said "I'm adding guys like THAT to the list of boys you shouldn't date" to which she replied in her "no-doy,-mom" way "Yeah, NO WAY!" Good girl.

Haiku! Why, thank you

Blank paper calls whoosh
Ink pen whispering loudly
Poems must be eaten

(splash)

Yes, you too, can have fun with Haikus. Just find yourself a copy of this little beauty and you could make long since passed Masaoka Shiki (the Japanese writer who coined the term Haiku) proud.

Sometimes days are just like that

Most days are great, but I'm sure you mom's (and dad's) can appreciate this Baby Blues.

Size matters

I recently visited the market to get a carton of my fave "house"vanilla ice cream... Dreyer's Grand Vanilla Bean. With real flecks of vanilla bean!

I paced the aisle searching for a good long time til I realized it was still there, but the package was different. I'm a very visually tuned creature. I buy the same things all the time, but if the packaging changes, I'm totally befuddled and lost. Such is the case with my delightful Vanilla Bean.

Only it wasn't just a redesign/color... I discovered something more nefarious. Dreyers not only changed their carton from white to brown, they also shrunk the carton from 1.75qts to 1.5qts in the process. Meanwhile the price is the same.

Those clever little marketing monkeys. Change the package and give them less for the same amount no one will notice!!! Well, I've got news, Dreyer's .... THIS knuckle dragger noticed! When I'm done with that carton I'll boycot Dreyer's. I suggest you do the same.

Here's the size comparison and yes, in some cases SIZE MATTERS. Pardon the carton, but we had already washed/recycled the old one and I had to pull it from the recycle bin and smooth it out just to get a look-see to confirm my suspicions.

SUCK IT, DREYERS!!!

Farewell "Kind Eyes" Tim Russert

I am really saddened by the news that Meet the Press Host Tim Russert died this morning at an all too young age of 58. We love watching MTP and listening to his very calm voice and diplomatic moderation. Even when he was turning the heat up on his interviews, he was always calm and respectful. This election will not be the same without him. He appeared to be a very kind-hearted man, for that we coined the term "Kind Eyes" and once in a while "Sparkle Eyes" because of his election coverage glow.

"Life moves pretty fast...."

"...if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

Ferris Bueller had it right. Life does move pretty fast.

Days like today make me realize the importance of each moment. Why, just yesterday I was pregnant with Maggie... walking up Boot Hill twice a day cos I read that walking gets labor moving. I read that spicy food did too so the eve of her birth we had just finished stripping wallpaper off the kitchen of our newly moved into home (2 weeks). The nesting instinct is not a joke, no mistake! I shook lavish amounts of Cholula hot sauce on my tostada that night and 2 hours later I was in labor. Heh.

Life is fast paced and I don't always take the time to slow down and live in the present. "Never wish time away" says my friend Big Andy. I take cues from my Maggie... there is an older couple with a huge rose garden which is on our walking path to/from school. Sometimes we stop and well, cliche as it is.... smell the flowers.

Today is the last day of second grade for my Bodhisattva. Maggie is a wonder to me. She is everything I wish I was and hope to be. She is kind, intelligent, altruistic, empathetic, brave, strong and beautiful inside and out. I am blessed to be on a great journey with her ...this adventure called life.

Now.. a few photos of the last day of second grade....

Is breakfast ready yet?

Daddy hookin' up the bacon and eggs request

Ooooooooh yeah!

Looking delightful on the last day of school

Me with my hero

Be the change

Gandhi said "be the change you want to see in the world". Not just inspirational words, but words that CAN be true if we dare.

Maggie and I were almost sideswiped by a woman driving a van leaving the gas station last week. She was going entirely too fast and swerved into our lane. Maggie was sitting on that side of the car. It scared the bejeebers out of me and my blood was boiling. Not only did the idiot almost kill us, she then cut me off in the middle of the intersection. I was so upset and ranting about people. What has happened to society? I was talking to Maggie about the newsstory I heard about the 78 year old man who was run down in Hartford. Not only did the motorist who ran him down flee, but other motorists ignored him as did pedestrians. Even worse, some of those pedestrians simply stood over him, never once offering him help or calling 911. I really don't get it. How am I supposed to explain that codswollup to my 8 year old? Well, sometimes we don't have to... sometimes they explain to us.

I realized my jaded perspective when Maggie said to me "You know, Mommy, I'm going to get a meeting together with some of the other second graders. We're going to change the world!"

That was the shake of the shoulders I needed. Sometimes I forget we can be the change. Even if the goal is lofty, it is a cause worth fighting. I have my little ray of sunshine giving me hope. She is the candle and the mirror reflecting the light.

Be the change.

Here is something additionally inspirational

Talent

Mags and a couple of classmates performed their karate Kata for the school talent show. Too bad the memory chip wasn't in all the way but we got most of the demonstration.

Bee kind

Yesterday Chris got his new Newsweek and as is the custom in our house, the minute we get a publication the first thing we do is remove all of the blow-ins and other inserts which thins out our periodicals quite nicely.

One of the inserts was super cool so we kept it and plan to do as it says. It was an ad from Häagen-Daz about saving honey bees. It is a pressed page with bee-friendly wildflower seeds. You simply plant the page under a thin layer of soil in a sunny spot, water and keep moist.

I just think it's a great idea and a wonderful way for a company to be proactive about the world environment.

Check out the website (click the honey bee heart to the left) and see how you can help the beeeeeees pleeeeease :) Winnie the Pooh would, so can you!

Summer music for kids of all ages

I am one of those people that has a pretty varied musical palette.

I like everything ranging from G. Love & the Special Sauce, Van Halen, Mozart, Harry Connick, Jr., John Fahey, Dean Martin, Glenn Miller, Baguette Quartette, Coldplay, Ella Fitzgerald, Me'Shell Ndgeocello, Louie Prima to ambient Yoga music and Om chant. I also used to say I liked it all except Country and Rap, but in some cases I even like small doses of those genres depending on the theme, lyric and setting.

At any rate some of our favourite summertime (and anytime music) to burst forth from our iPod are goodies found from Putumayo Kids. Actually, I enjoy just about any Putumayo CD, but there are three I'd like to suggest for you and your family.

Putumayo Folk Playground

Putumayo World Playground

Putumayo Dreamland




Dreamland is one of those CD's that I get all new parents. One of our fave songs is Naima by Angélique Kidjo accompanied by Carlos Santana. I always use it in some form of opening or closing meditation when I teach kids yoga or do yoga with Maggie.

Folk Playground has some terrific songs. One of my faves is Sheep. Maybe it's because I'm a knitter. Maggie's is Roller the Coaster. It's a wildly optimistic tune full of hope. It doesn't surprise me that she loves that song.

World Playground is just fun and funky. It's really hard for me to pick a song on there, but if I had to.. I'll pick two... Bongo Bong and Zichronot M'Africa. I just love this album for the simple fact that music is intrinsic to all children all around the globe. It just feels like unity to me.

I hope you have a chance to check out these CD's. The links I provided above have samples. If you don't want to buy the CD's, maybe your local library will have a copy. Though, in my humble opinion, I think it's a good investment for you and your family.

May your evening be filled with joy and music.

Color me happy

I love to color. It was one of my favourite things to do growing up.. and since I'm still growing up.. I still love to color. There is nothing quite as heady to me as a freshly opened box of crayons and a blank piece of paper or blank coloring page.

Maggie and I enjoyed a burst of co-op coloring in her new Hello Kitty coloring book. Yes, I also still love Hello Kitty. HK is the only feline I've ever adored and not had an allergic reaction.

Why not pick up a coloring book and crayons and enjoy some inner child fun?

Head and shoulders above the rest

If you've never been to Etsy you should mosey on over. It's a wonderful place to find hand made goodies.

If you're not a DIYer or even if you are a DIYer but you want something handmade which isn't in your DIY-genre check it out. This is the case for me ... I'm a knitter, but I can't really sew. Well, I reckon I COULD sew if I applied myself, however I lack the patience to practice and improve. My mom was a fantastic seamstress, but maybe it's one of those things that skips a generation or in my case just manifested into a different craft. All the same Etsy supports my theory those who can, do and those who can't... buy!

I love the idea of supporting a fellow craftinista. One of my faves is Precocious. She makes fabulous bags and now... headbands :) I've been faithfully wearing my felted satchel bag that I knit a couple of years ago, but we had some wicked heat +100 about two weeks ago and I quickly realized that boiled wool against bare skin on those days just isn't comfy. I needed cotton and I needed it bad! There it was... the sling bag! I worked with Andrea (she is well named too :D) and got to select from a variety of Amy Butler fabrics and we collaborated on "The Andie". I absolutely love, love, love - j'adore my bag! (Any Eloise fans out there? You get me.)

So next I inquired about headbands. I noticed in Precocious' profile something about headbands. Now I don't have a very circle-headband friendly HEED. I have a flat head or something, who knows! So I usually opt for the C-shaped headbands, but cute ones are very difficult to find. I mentioned the idea to Andrea and she noodled on it. A few days later she surprised me with the news that she made a couple of prototypes, et voila!! Headbands!! Now let me tell you I also have a very sensitive noggin when it comes to headbands on account of my spectacles. Not only are these headbands abso adorable, they are comfy as all get out! There I am below in one of my new headbands.

Long live the entrepreneurial spirit and super talented craftinistas!

Interesting "Norm-isms" for today

• Thursday is my favorite day of the week because it's the promise of Friday which leads to the weekend.

• I enjoy D&J. What? Josh is lovable and funny, Drake is self-centered but often funny and Mags and I adore Megan for her sinister intelligence.
  
• <------I also enjoy ....which is a show on Nick about three teen friends in Australia who become "cursed" as mermaids and change into mermaids when they touch water. I just hope that punk kid Zane will finally learn to be a good guy.




• I was taught never to take food or drink from a stranger. Yet, in NYC, people answer the ad for a "flavor tripping party" on an apartment rooftop. The star of the party is the "Miracle Fruit" which has a protein that binds with the taste buds the effect of which is essentially like slipping a sugar sock on the tongue. Miracle Fruit turn acidic things sweet. Lemons taste like candy, wine tastes like Manischewitz, goat cheese like cheesecake. Interesting concept and the cat that hosts these party discovered it while searching for diabetic-friendly recipes for a friend. While it sounds cool, I guess I'm old fashioned and like my taste buds just the way they are.

• The Baskin Robbins York® Peppermint Pattie Brownie Sundae packs an astonishing 1,610 calories and 222g of carbs (74% RDA)!!!! I know you're saying "Andie, don't be buzz kill", but DUDE!!! That's the almost the entire total caloric intake for an adult in a day! BLERG!!! Kind of brings new meaning to "a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips"!! Make no mistake I'm not a food nazi cos I've never met an It's It I didn't like, but phew!

• The average human head weighs about the same as a roaster chicken.... or 8 pounds. Now that's finger lickin good. For more interesting facts consider reading Mary Roach's book "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers".

Share the Road

Yesterday Chris came home and told me "I have a funny cycling story to tell you". Well, after he told me I can tell you... I didn't find it funny. Not funny one bit.

For whatever reason unknown to my mind, sometimes people on the rural roads of our area... any area if you ask cyclists.... find it amusing to pit their half ton or more of automobile steel against a 15 pound carbon fibre bicycle frame. Keep in mind that these cyclists are human beings clad in nothing but foam atop their melon for protection. Why is it? Why do these people do such things?

Since Chris has been cycling for the past 6 or 7 years, he's encountered a lot either first hand or by word of mouth. Among the encounters ...cyclists have been charged head on by pickups, clipped with side mirrors, had hot dogs thrown at their back, been shouted at and called "faggot" among other colorful epithets. One of the women that rode for his company's cycling team in Austin TX was killed by a motorist in a hit and run during a one of her rides.

Once, Chris' encounter was with a woman charging sidelong down her dirt driveway toward him and the oncoming group of cyclists in her SUV... WITH her young daughter in the front seat. They called CHP and she denied everything, though there were 20 witnesses. Why does law enforcement take the side of automobile drivers? Doesn't it make her at fault for charging through her driveway and gate into oncoming traffic whether cyclist or car?

Now back to our story...Chris told me a guy buzzed him about 8" off of his shoulder during his Tuesday ride. As a friend tells me (also a cyclist and EMT) something like that can be the difference between life, life in paralysis or death. The kid fishtaled to a halt and Chris along with the guy he was cycling with went up to the guy and asked what he was doing. Chris told him "you could have killed one of us" and the kid said "I will kill one of you". What gets me about this mentality is I bet that kid is "Pro Life". I'm making assumptions, but I've lived long enough to know his ilk.

So it was during this part of the story the Italian blood in me begins to bubble up and I'm ready to go Michael Douglas in "Falling Down".... seriously considering going out on that road and waiting at lunchtime for that kid. A steady stream of obsceneties poured forth from my mouth (don't worry Maggie was showering and unable to hear this story or my potty mouth). I think my words are still (homage to A Christmas Story) hanging over the San Francisco Bay. The audacity of someone threatening my husband.. Maggie's dad! I can see how people commit crimes of passion, really I do. I do look good in orange and it's one of my favorite colors, but I prefer not to wear it for 30 or more years. Incidentally I do know the name of that woman in the SUV and where she lives.

Cyclists are tax payers and they are techincally driving a vehicle on roads paid for by their tax dollars, they are not "target practice". Cyclists are road warriors out for fresh air and exercise. Cyclists are sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, husbands and wives. Cyclists are human beings.

My mom, eloquent woman that she was, told me two things in my life which I can still hear.

• "No one is better than you and you are no better than anyone else. We all take our pants down to shit."
• "Manners are free... everyone can afford them."

With those pearls I leave you with the following requests... please:

Treat people with respect and courtesy.

Value human life.

Share the road.

Mambo Italiano

Last week I had a joke grenade dud. It was not from lack of trying but rather my recipient's lack of focus. And believe me, I'll admit when one of my "pearls" is well, a grain of sand instead.

I forget her name .. something ending in "etti" or "icci" etc... but I made the joke we Italians enjoy making (some, I should say) and I said "that's a great Irish name!". Of course I knew it was not Irish... I knew it was Italian, but she replied to me, deadpan.. "it's not Irish, it's Italian". Fehgehdaboudit!

It seemed moot to me at that juncture to even try to salvage the joke, but I was fraught that a fellow Pisano, didn't get it. Now, my mom always said that in our family village in Genoa, Italy some of our distant cousins had red hair, freckles and green eyes. There was talk of Irish blood and possibly bloodlines back to the Vikings! Though no one can really prove it. My mom herself had auburn hair ('til it greyed), green eyes and freckles! Hmmm.. curious!

I do have a fondness for Irish music come to think.. jigs, reels and airs. If only I could make a celtic fiddle sing! If that's your cuppa, let me introduce you to Maeve Donnelly. Chris took me to see her at the Freight and Salvage on Valentine's Day. Fantastic! It was heady! Maeve really worked over those strings like well .. you know that scene in Waking Ned Devine where the whole village is at the pub, millions of pounds as good as theirs and the band is playing... fiddler going nuts .. everyone in the pub held captive in silence until during his crescendo he finallly breaks a string..(mark 3:02 - 4:08 -and don't worry the old bitty got what she deserved) ....then an uproarious cheer. Good times. Also.. what a name! Maeve Donnelly.. now that's an Italian name!

When my mom married my dad in her heady quest to "Save the Vowels!" she was rewarded with a truncated last name to which I was ever grateful during those years of No. 2-pencil-bubble-your-name-standardized-tests. 11 letters to 3, pre-tty... pre-tty good! Interestingly enough I have a scads of freckles on my nose and cheeks!

I also consider the two halves of me... good food, I must say - Italian and Chinese. Chris' dad ponders why I do not cook Chinese food to which I always reply... smart Chinese people know it is easier and cheaper to get good takeout! Of course, Chris having that Basque/Mexican/French Canadian lineage.. we've got some pretty good food there.. cheeeeeeese... Mmmmm...

Still it is interesting to think about.... Irish blood could explain alot... I mean, I've never met a potato I didn't like.

Sláinte!!!

Band of Brothers

Today we remember and honor the fallen warriors who have given their lives for our enduring freedoms.

Shakespeare said it well and provided the name of the amazing series Band of Brothers:

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.

Thank you Band of Brothers and Sisters for giving the ultimate sacrifice whether the cause right or wrong.

And I raaaaan....

Well, more precisely.... WE ran. Mags and I went out for our LIVESTRONG training run this morning at Sycamore Grove. It was a wonderful morning.. so much different than last week's run at 86 degrees around 10am. This morning around 11am it was a glorious low 60's and a delighful cooling breeze with some cloud cover.

Maggie is learning to pace herself so she can run longer. To be sure she can run fast as a cheetah, but I'm teaching her how to keep her pace moderate to endure longer running. She can easily clock me when she decides to pour on the coals. She may have a future in cross country methinks.

She is often less ambitious than I prefef, but she's a kid after all... and really who does want to expend more energy than they have to when it's not "just for fun". Still, I feel compelled to challenge and encourage her to push herself because I know she is capable of so much. She only wanted to go 2 miles today, but we ended up going 5k after all!

Along the way we decided to enjoy a respite in the sycamore trees and listen to the wind rustling the leaves and all of the sounds we miss when we're not focused. So we had our little moment of Zen where we listened to the grass rustle with lizards and snakes, buzzing of flies and dragonflies. We were lucky enough to see two gopher snakes, one in a hole .. his head not visible, but seemingly thick about 2/3 down his body with lunch. Another gopher snake simply stuck his head out of the hole, tongue flitting about smelling around.

It was a satisfying workout. On the way home Mags asked me to play the "classics".... which to her is our 80's music.... There we were .. a couple of gals after our run with the windows and moon roof open on our Slug Bug.. wind blowing in our hair as we listened to Boston's "More Than a Feeling" and her next favorite... (and a perennial fave of mine) "Mr. Roboto" by Styx.

Thank you very much-o, peanut, for another fantastic training run.

Be the change.

LIVESTRONG

Bountiful garden

Yesterday we drove up to see Chris' folks in Clear Lake. We had a groovy time hanging out, scoping out their garden, eating, yakking with them and Chris' sister, Michelle.

When I mentioned interest in asparagus, not only did they send us home with 6lb bag of their fresh cut asparagus... they also dug up a root ball for us to plant at home. Dad gave us some explicit instructions, most of which I remember.. hopefully Chris remembers the rest, if not, we'll call Dad back. That root ball must be 40lbs! I'm so excited! I can hardly stand it.

So, the heat last week was very good to our garden ...

This photo was taken May 12th.

Just a mere 10 days later after 4 days of solid 100 degrees the garden burst into this...

Taken May 21st

Our fruits/veggies: early girl tomatoes, sweet 100 tomatoes, basil, green bell pepper, jalepeno, scallions, eggplant, cucumber, zucchini, corn, carrots, baby mescalun lettuce, canteloupe, strawberries and grapes. Maybe I'll end up with a booth at the farmer's market .. heh heh... We planted the corn, scallion, carrots and lettuce from seed. We also planted sweet peas from seed as well as sunflowers and those are all happy as well. Excitement!!

Good reads....

Karma .. it's what's for dinner!

I was perusing the info super highway for a knitted pattern to make the original sock monkey of my childhood. Now, I've never liked the sock monkey .. even as a child, much less now, but Maggie always wants one and keeps asking if I'll knit one for her. It is in "the (perpetual) queue", but I have stalled hoping she will lose interest.

What I did find was something is a link for Artists Helping Children. What a fantastic cause! Of course my intention is thick where time is thin, but I'm sure I can manage something! Maggie, who has a highly developed sense of empathy and community at the tender age of 8, always saves a bit of her money which she wants to donate to the Children's Hospital of Oakland. Crafty or not, it doesn't take much to brighten a sick child's day and even a simple hand made card can make the difference.

Today's Karma Challenge... pay someone a compliment and make them smile. GO!!!

Knitsploits

Currently I'm working on a prayer shawl for our friend Jan. Jan and Bill were our fabulous neighbors across the street. They have three sons and we really miss them being just across from us. Jan's mom went through chemo treatment last year (in her 80's!) and did really well. She developed pneumonia about a several weeks ago and passed away. Having lost my mom relatively young (she 56, me 20) I understand what Jan is going through. It doesn't matter how old you are it still sucks.

Jan is one of those fantastic people that just captivate me. She works for her church and is in charge of the liturgy. Having not grown up Catholic, I'm not sure what that means, but it is important.. I know that. She is one of the few Christians I know that I truly respect because she walks the talk, as they say. I've been quite disillusioned with organized religion during my life and I remain skeptical, but Jan is truly someone who represents her faith well.

As I work on the prayer shawl I remind myself to send positive thoughts into stitches and at the end I will take the shawl to her Priest and have him bless it as well before giving it to her. I could not find a pattern I liked well enough so I developed a pattern by choosing a stitch in my Vogue Stitchionary and built the shawl around that stitch. It is a twisting leaves pattern.

I'm about 20" into the shawl and only have 50" to go! HA! Jan is about 6' tall so I need this baby to be almost as tall as her to wrap comfortably around. I'm not sure where I got that idea, but it seems to me that most scarves or shawls that wrap should be about as long as the wearer is tall. This would be a fast knit for me as I top out at a staggering 5'3". Haa!

I hope that I can put some inches on this shawl over the long weekend. I'd sure like to finish it before too long so I can give it to Jan. Fly little fingers... fly!!!!!

namaste

andie