Art for everyone

Myriad by Yellena James

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Once upon a time I was a frequent visitor to art museums, galleries and art-focused events. I was lucky that it was part of my job to regularly go and peruse art.

For as long as I can remember I painted, sketched and assembled. My parents learned early on that I could be kept busy (read: quiet) for hours with a simple notepad and pencil. As a tiny girl I drew up couture fashions for my paper dolls and then later learned to sew and stitch up chic duds for Barbie, Ken and Skipper. I made all my own Barbie furniture taking care of every last detail like making itty bitty candelabra candles out of the red wax that you could peel from the edges of sliced bologna, a favorite after-school snack. I could turn a paper towel tube into eight million things.

These days my time for that kind of creativity along with trips to museums and galleries are spare, so I catch it where I can.

Good morning, sunshine!

Holy baloney folks, the sun is out! And it’s not raining!

Hold on while I wipe away a tear of happiness.

Sigh. Sunshine. It’s a beautiful thing.

Now these happy sunflowers currently gracing our kitchen match the cheeriness outside.

And the pooch, who has been cooped up in the house due to 21 days of rain, did a happy dance before stretching out to bask in the sun.

She has spent the entire morning sleeping in her favorite outdoor spot—at the base of our backdoor steps. (In order for the cats to exit/enter the house they must walk over her. Heh.)

Good morning, sunshine! We sure have missed you!

 

To beet or not to beet

Photo: Cook’s Garden

Lately I’ve spent my spare time perusing seed catalogs and making lists of the veggies that I want to grow this season. It’s an addictive pasttime. I have given up my passion for shoes and cute clothes for seeds and strange veggies.

Hmm. It’s really not as sad as it sounds.

Arugula and broccoli pesto

Last week while exams were in full swing I had only enough time for quick 10-minute dinners. A little sick of the stir-fry and soups, big salads and sandwiches I decided to make a quick pesto with what I had on hand: arugula and broccoli. And it was delish!

And easy. And fast. And oh yeah, delish.

And did I mention easy and fast?

Here’s the recipe:

The finished fence … and more ideas

Right now it’s raining. It’s been raining for the past couple of days and will continue to to rain every day for the next week. Blech.

We were supposed to go out to the coast for a bit of fun and romance yesterday, but with all this rain (plus the tornado warning) we decided to reschedule and stay home instead. Holing up in our cozy little house with a good movie and a hot toddy seemed a good antidote to the blustery sideways rain.

It also gave us a chance to discuss the next stage of our garden plans when/if it ever stops raining.

At least the first part of Phase II is underway … duh da duh …

Happy St Patty’s Day!

Photo: SimplyRecipes.com

Who doesn’t love an excuse to drink beer and eat Irish fare?

Given that my sweets is half Irish our household is celebrating fer sure. Plus, it’s Thursday and I’m done with hideous exams for the week. Yay!

Tonight I’m cooking up a little corned beef hash and Colcannon, which I found over at simplyrecipes.com, one of my go-to food sites. Elise does an amazing job and it’s nice knowing that she’s just right down the road.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! Sláinte!

A cat’s life

Do you ever wish you were a cat?

Weeknight whole wheat pizza

It’s raining cats and dogs. I’ve got exams all week and a big project due. It’s a busy week. There’s not much time to think about what we’re going to eat. But at the same time, we want to be pseudo healthy.

It’s the perfect time to pull some pizza dough out of the freezer, slap some stuff on it and pop it in the oven. Easy, easy. Add a salad and we’re good to go.

We made this pizza for SuperBowl Sunday accompanied by a big platter of crudite and good beer. We loved it. It feels indulgent, but we didn’t feel at all guilty.

It was the first time that I tried this recipe for the whole wheat pizza dough (most of the prior dough recipes did not yield good results), and both Jack and I liked this dough quite a bit. I’m glad I made extra dough balls and tucked them in the freezer for busy days like this.

And so it begins … outdoor projects

The sun is out. It’s not raining. And we, knock on wood, were not put out by the tsunami that hit our coastline yesterday. Thank you, Lord.

Before the next disaster hits we decided to keep moving along with our outdoor projects: Phase II of Backyard Re-do.

Our goal this year is to put in the vegetable gardens and transplant our citrus trees from pot to ground and create a little citrus grove.

Last year we tackled Phase I, which was reconstituting the soil, seeding a lawn of grass and observing a) what the sun exposure is, b) what drainage is like, and c) how we naturally use the spaces around the house. Starting this way allowed us to tweak our ideas for reality.

Online learning

Going back to school has been an interesting experience in so many ways.

Here’s what I’ve learned: