Bazaar-o World

I finally made it to the annual Hutton House Bazaar, and I will definitely add this event to my must-go-to list every year! I made off with a giant bag of ceramics and jars of homemade jelly. I am plan on sticking to buying handmade this holiday. I did pretty good last year, but I am decidedly stepping it up a notch. Currently I am busy knitting mittens like no one's business, and I have the girls' Christmas lists already, and I have big plans!! Big plans, I say.

Have you ever seen such a pretty leaf? I picked it up downtown last week from a gingko tree - it was truly beauty amongst the dirty debris that litters the sidewalks.

Speaking of litter - like my new waste basket or my new umbrella stand? I think it's too pretty for garbage - it's probably better suited to the foyer filled with wintry accessories for now. It's making me smile right now.

And speaking of the holidays, I dug up this little doe for my mantle. The ladies at the antique store are treating me like a regular now. While there this weekend, one of them followed me and offered to empty my hands every half hour - I practically have my own hold shelf now. It's probably a good thing they're closing at year end because I am running out of space to store all these trinkets. Someone stop me. Please.

My goal this week is to make Potato Leek soup. I have potatoes, and I have leeks. Bon appetit! More importantly, I am crossing my fingers that my little family enjoys eating it. I have a feeling it's going to be a giant batch.

Night, night.

N

Go Play Away From Me

She found a pair of my old glasses a few days ago, and when we least expect it, we will turn to look at her, and she is wearing them and going about her business as if everything is as it should be. When we see this, we start to giggle, and then we want to squeeze her little cheeks and gobble her up. She's too cute. So when she starts encroaching on my knitting territory (a big comfy white couch with lots of warm throws and my cup of tea to my immediate right), I can't help but stop what I am doing and whip out the camera. She's always game for pictures.

I love how J just makes his way into the shot. Honestly, the guy has two legs - he's just sitting on one. I keep waiting for him to cut off the circulation in one leg and try to stand up only to realize that he is laying on the floor like a puddle of jello, but I guess that only happens to me.

In knitting news, I have mastered the magic loop method on another pair of mittens. Wow, is it ever faster than wrestling with 5 dpns. Just saying . . . sometimes it takes me a little longer to hop on the wagon. Or like Fat Bob says you're "jumping someone else's train". It kind of fits here, but doesn't. It's a free train, right? I'm just not the first one on it. In fact, I'm kind of late. It's embarassing really.

Time for bed. Big day tomorrow involving lots of crockpots and surely a large number of power bars. Until then, cheers.

N

Yes We Cake!

What does a transplanted Canadian in the US do on election day? Well, I can't vote but I can bake.

This is going with us to our very first American election day party tonight at a friend's. Let's hope it brings us luck.

A Special Announcement

I used the Dice Roller since there were six entrants in our big give, and a four was rolled. That means that Kathryn won! She suggested:

I think the blog at sewmamasew is doing their month of gift thing again this year. There were so many great ideas last year. http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/

I had forgotten about the Sew Mama Sew month of gifts in December! Kathryn, please email me at corazenia(at)hotmail(dot).com with your address, and I will get that Gratitude Wrap out to you pronto!

Here's an oldie that I found on my computer at work. You gots to love a little wizard-y witch and her sidekick Tigger. Happy Halloween, everyone!

N

Random Facts Meme

I’ve been tagged by Robyn for a Random Facts Meme. Holy moley, I could have gone crazy with totally random facts about myself. If there’s anything I am, it is random.

Here are the rules: Link to the person who tagged you. Post the rules on your blog. Write six random things about yourself. Tag six people at the end of your post. Let each person know he or she has been tagged. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Random Facts About Me

:: I only run for the bus, and even then, I leave really flippin’ early so that running is prevented. This goes with my golden rule to never, not ever pet a porcupine.

:: I have spelling and grammar skills up the wazoo. In Grade 5, I came in second in my county spelling bee only because I spelled Celsius with a little c. I was rewarded with Chinese food, but I have NEVER made that mistake again. I also feel huge pangs of guilt when I end sentences with prepositions, and I don’t use commas unless I can connect it to a rule in my Gregg Reference Manual. I have fought grammar wars with this office ‘bible’. My edition is riddled with highlighter and there are a gazillion self-inflicted coloured tabs to mark the really important stuff. My co-workers don’t get it.

:: I love to eat as if I am a vegetarian, but I am not a vegetarian and can’t fathom giving up meat. When eating out, I order strictly vegetarian meals. I also LOVE bran muffins, and can eat up to ten a day if I had the resources. No, I do not have issues with my bowels.

:: I dance wildly around my house with the music blaring when no one is home. I think I inherited this from my father. Once, in high school, I popped home for some toilet paper for a bush party (y’all brought your own TP, right?), and it was a Saturday afternoon, and my dad was home all by himself, and the music was really loud, and I caught him dancing in the basement. We never spoke of it again.

:: I am too lazy to bring all my clothes up to my bedroom from the laundry room. J installed rods and some shelving in the laundry room, and my clothes all stay in the basement hung up or in piles. In my defence, I shower in the basement, and my bedroom has a giant picture window facing all the houses in the neighbourhood, so it makes sense for me to dress in the basement, fresh from the shower and where all the clothes are located. Silliness aside, I do bring up all the girls’ clothes, and they are placed neatly in their drawers for the most part. Some frequent spillage does occur.

:: I am not married. J and I have been living common-law for almost 14 years. I have a million and one reasons to not get married, and maybe three reasons to seal the deal in front of our family and friends. This has never bothered either of us as neither of us want to dance in front of anyone. Secretly, I am a little thrilled that this shocks people. I think that people sometimes assume my children have different fathers because of the nearly seven years between them and the fact that I am not married, but J and I never wanted people to say that we married just because we had kids. We’re rebels. Maybe one day when everyone least expects it, we’ll pop into City Hall and make it official and shock their pants off. This does not mean, in any way, that I don’t love me a good ol’ wedding invitation. Other people’s weddings are fun because I don’t have to plan it or pay for it – and the food!! Mmmm . . . the food.

That was fun!

I tag: Kat, Kata, Isa, Katherine, Shelaine, and Scrappymom

N

The Finest of the Flavours

So my pound of organic Tahitian vanilla beans arrived by mail last week. Mr. T just rolls his eyes whenever another package arrives for me (but secretly he is happy because he benefits from the goodies that get made by said packages). As someone who bakes a lot I go through a lot of vanilla extract and it gets expensive. I came up with the idea of making my own from the Instructables site and really, isn't homemade always better?

Hmmm, what to do with the rest of that vodka?

Eight weeks and I'll have vanilla that lasts indefinitely (you keep topping off the jars with vodka as you use it).

Ok, so vanilla not your thing? How about winning something totally cute and handmade from our very own N of London, not England? Don't forget to check out this post and leave us your ideas for inexpensive and quick to make holiday gifts and you'll automatically be entered to win a gratitude wrap. The winner will be announced this Friday! Bonne chance mes amis!

C'est L'Halloween Again

I'm a sucker for punishment. The littlest and her friends had such a fun time at last year's boo bash that I felt compelled to bend over backwards to plan a repeat performance. I pulled a few new tricks from up my sleeve. Witches' hats made out of Pillsbury crescent rolls brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, cardstock skeleton bones ready to be attached with tiny brass brads, and a spiderweb vanilla cake topped with a strawberry jelly spider. That was just for starters.

For two hours, four little girls swooned and danced around a sullen Darth Vader. He defiantly remained in character throughout the party, and subsequently kept us in stitches. He fumed and stomped and answered questions about being tricked into going over to the dark side and loving his saber. He did not dance to La Bamba, and he asked for water to 'avoid dehydrating'. He's definitely invited back next year. That was awesome!

N