Craft

Carving pumpkins is pretty much the best.  

Can you guess which one is mine?

30 october 2012 . tuesday . (day one thousand thirty)

No Time Flat

Because I remember my mom making the cutest little arrangements with corn stalks, I thought that (prior to composting) I too would give it a try.

Probably everyone who has every made a similar gathering of stalks knows that you have to make a giant structure or else secure the stalks to something stable.  Day-after-day of rain along with a tiny wind gust wilted and then toppled my meek collection.

As it turns out, my mom had a secret trick for keeping it all upright.  She jams a shovel into the ground and uses that as a foundation of sorts.  A shovel handle would have been far to obvious for my Oregon garden's puny (not Midwest worthy) corn harvest.  Instead, I used two-foot lengths of rebar that we had on hand from dismantling our trellis frames.

Still meek and puny but not flat.

Incubation, or, Fruition

I originally got hooked on the idea of a Leah Duncan case (via Uncommon) thanks to a "High five..." from Abbey @ Aesthetic Outburst.  Six months later and it's mine.

My review: The colors are less vivid (more pink, less orange) than I imagined they would be.  Also, I hadn't really thought about it, but, because my phone is white, I would prefer white to black for the trim.  Hmmm...  Maybe my phone could use more than one outfit.  

Regardless, it still beats the [in-the-meantime] purple and black leopard print case that I bought at a kiosk in our local sorry-excuse-for-a-shopping-mall.

Bartlett Dreams

28 september 2012 . wednesday . (day six hundred thirty-two)

Our Bartlett pear tree had quite the lackluster performance this year.  By the time my fancy-pants Lehman's fruit picker arrived, I was able to harvest all of 10 pears.

Thankfully, J. brought home a bucket of [very ripe] pears.  We were given a generous 25+ pounds!  I spent all of one evening making a cardamom spiced Bartlett Pear Butter.  The recipe starts with chopped pears (no pealing, no coring).  Later the solids are separated with a food mill.  ...time-consuming but easy.

I spent the entirety of another evening making a lemony Bartlett Pear Preserve.





The few remaining not-too-ripe pears were dried.

Observations

There are two rooms at the back of our detached garage.  One of these spaces is a laundry room and the other is our "woodshed." For whatever reason, this is where the household's hot water is contained.*  Seeing how we have to walk outside (just two steps, but still...) to do laundry, thankfully the thermometer rarely dips below 30 degrees.  Until recently, when I turned a shelf on it's side (to hopefully keep wood from careening into the water heater), the cats were using the water heater to reach the shelf to then climb into the garage's attic space.  Is torn up insulation just as effective?

I observed Columbus Day by stacking a cord of oak.  Because I can't help myself, I know that it takes me nine minutes to move fifty pieces of wood from the giant pile outside the door to the tidy stack within.  ...and, by the way, Dale's Pale Ale pairs quite well with the chore of wood stacking.

Seeing how we're looking at high in the 50s next week and the rain is beginning to settle in, it's officially time to start building fires.

*This is also where we're trying our hands at some seed saving.

"The cupboard was bare..."

The marble topped dresser that J. had been eyeing for quite some time is finally ours.  It's not in stellar condition but there are at least three reasons that I really, really like it.

One:  It fits perfectly (with breathing room on each side) against the wall next to the door.

Two:  It's convenient to have a mirror near the door.  Plus, a mirror in that particular location seems to connect the living spaces.

06 october 2012 . saturday . (day one thousand six)

Three:  The drawers are perfect for storing hats, gloves, & scarves.

Lucky Bird

24 september 2012 . monday . (day nine hundred ninety-four)

About three weeks ago, I was lucky enough to score two [free!] castoff tickets to a Crosby, Stills, and Nash show at the Cuthbert Amphitheatre in Eugene.  What?!  It was aaa-m-aaa-zing.

I then came home to find out that I was the winner of Abbey Hendrickson's new book, You Are Awesome: 21 Crafts to Make You Happy.  Double what?!  Two great things in one day.

When the much anticipated book arrived via post, I found two of the cutest homemade birds tucked inside the box.  Don't they perfectly brighten up my work area?

P.S. Surprisingly, a third happy thing occurred that day: I unexpectedly heard from an old, college friend that I haven't seen in (...yikes!) over eight years.  She's doing really well and I miss her.

Shiny Newness

02 october 2012 . tuesday . (day one thousand two)

Toward the end of each month, I start anticipating the arrival of the next month.  Mostly, it's because I can't wait to see what the new desktop offering will be on Geninne's Art Blog.