i’ve been messing around trying to get a sufficiently depressing, fall header. how’s that?
Archive for September, 2008
but aunt natalie did put some nice pictures of the boys on picasa. so i thought i would share.
sitting on leonardo.
catching bugs along the creek.
planting a tree for baby jael.
making apple pies with grandma.
i get the distinct impression they don’t miss me. particularly when i call and ask if the varmints if they want to talk to me and they say “no.” then you hear them hollering and giggling in the background. but it still makes me feel good. if they were miserable i would feel guilty for shipping them off. i would hate to have a plaguey conscience. but i am getting some work done. even though it is very tedious work with not much to show for it. for instance, today i am painting the windows in the basement. filthy, old, bug encrusted, paned windows. i knew there was a reason i was putting this one off. here’s how it goes; first you vacuum them, then scrub them, then scrape them, then sand them, then vacuum them again, then go outside and wash them, and scrape them, then go inside and putty holes, then sand the putty, then vacuum, then paint, then paint again, glaze the panes, then put up new trim, and paint the trim. but this last step is my favorite, replace the windows with vinyl ones. someday. i just can’t bear looking at them until then. so here goes.
on hiatus if you will. i’m kicking the kids out and i’m hunkering down with my paintbrush for a week. going to do exiting things like paint trim and the undersides of the stair treads. nothing you will miss, in case you were worried. besides, they’re taking the camera. all i have to leave you with are some “happy kids in the suburbs” graphics. i had hubby make them for one of my art classes in college. yes, he’s always been sweet and accommodating. just ask his mother.
someday i want to ship them over to shutterfly and have them come back as magnets for my fridge. meanwhile they just hang out on the hard drive.
that just leaves me with a week of free time and my to do list: paint french doors, back door, bathroom door, bedroom door, french door trim/frame, back door trim/frame, undersides of stairs, trim around stairs, telephone window, bathroom, basement ceiling, kitchen cabinets, living room window, bedroom windows, closet doors, basement windows and most importantly, clean my house. it will be amazing. i don’t know if i will be able to stand it.
every time we would go out to indian food we would get these babies. delicious. and also slightly maddening, since i wanted to drink close to $20 of them in one sitting. i was left with no other option than to learn to make them myself. after trying lots of recipes i finally just made one up (those other people didn’t know what they were talking about).
so here it is: 1 cup milk, 1 cup plain yogurt, 1 cup mango pulp, 2 cups ice, 1/2 cup sugar, and a dash of cardamom powder. whip it, whip it good.
it basically goes with anything spicy. it’s not a dessert, it’s meant to go with a meal. preferrably one that’s packin’. then it’s appreciated all the more.
you will thank me later.
it’s too funny.
i was out to a scrap booking party last night. stayed out until around midnight, hence the youtube. girls shouldn’t be left alone late hours. but it was so much fun. thank you sharla.
p.s. i had my chocolate dipped strawberries for breakfast. looks like marc won’t get any after all…
i think she would look cute in one of those, “i can kill you with my brain” shirts.
take that, apple pie
Published September 5, 2008 cooking things 3 CommentsTags: does this count as baking?
try little, crispy, apple, taco thingies instead. so much easier and made to be tackled with your fingers, if you want to bring them along to a shin dig instead of cookies.
so, ingredients. ten flour tortillas, a cube of butter, 1 can apple pie filling, 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon for sprinkling. melt the butter and brush the back of the taco then flip over and brush the front. sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. scoop on some apple pie filling. roll and sand with sugar and cinnamon again. bake for 20 minutes and 400 degrees and you’re set. these babies reheat nicely at 200 degrees and are even good cold. but they are best right out of the oven, naturally. enjoy.
p.s. lesser men have been known to use cooking spray instead of butter… just a thought.
even though there is no hope of satisfying them.
this is my friend sharla’s pad. the omnicompetent entertainer, and impeccable decorator who is not past stripping the eight layers of paint off her vent covers, even if no one else will notice. except for me of course. we are both rightly tuned to the moral fabric of the universe.
she is also conveniently married to an artist/web design guy. now that is freaking handy. i’m trying to get my sister to marry someone in graphic design so i can get my clutches on him. (that’s my evil plan anyways. a dentist would be nice too.)
i especially love “jubitron.” she is the the enterprising, pig-tailed character from a story book randy wrote for their daughter jubilee.
and this would be her room. wouldn’t you just love the rocket lamp? an acquisition they claim to have found at lowe’s. but it’s too cool for that. really?
sharla just finished up new curtains. she got three sets done, with one to go, making me look quite guilty.
this is the master and accompanying bath. randy hew it out of an old bedroom i believe. it’s pretty amazing. and i think the bed had it’s way with a few trees. it’s a monster.
anyways, being the tasteful folks that randy and sharla are, they decided a curved wall would be just the thing for their new bath. until they had to trim and tile it, then they realized that they were insane. but it looks smashing. and the bathtub with it’s own fireplace has to be just the thing. don’t you think?
new california closets too. sharla also had that poor randy put matching lintels over all the closets, doors and windows on that level. which i believe amounted to 21. hubby has decided that randy must be one of those people who has to be doing something all the time. you know, those people.
and this is the baby girl’s room. pink and brown.
they used up their leftover squiggly molding to make a sculptural shelf along one wall.
and my favorite. sharla’s mother’s day present which appropriately hangs in the kitchen. isn’t it the truth? well, at least in my case. i have been known to regurgitate. a bad habit i picked up from my parents. (we’re those kind of people.)
and lastly is the unfinished craft room. the windows were covered over for painting so the vibrancy of the colors didn’t show up in the dim light. but they are pretty spectacular. the fabric on the left is what is lined up for the drapes in that room. some spank amy butler.
originally i took all these pictures for my mom. we are both house nuts. but then i thought, “who wouldn’t like sharla’s house?” so i’m sharing. with her permission of course. just don’t stalk her. i would feel bad.
