Family Ride

When we bought our house several years ago, a selling point for us was its proximity to the Oak Leaf Trail. We love to get our bicycles out on the trail whenever we can. This section is one of our favorites. 

Milwaukee with a view. Magnifique - n'est-ce pas?!

Weekly Randomness 22 August 2014

News that made me stop what I was doing to look it up.

• Naked portraits (no, not what you're thinking...)
• So, why is college tuition is so high if teachers are paid crap?
• Vindicated! And still weird.

Weekly Shits n' Giggles

• Not your average Dreamsicle. 
• Literally.  

Weekend Aims

What. Are you serious?? I have no time for frivolous shit!

Tomatoes, Cheese Ball, and a Broiler: Refrigerator Roundup

Fresh, summer, dirt-grown tomatoes are a weakness. They are good for only a few weeks, and then it's another year until they are available again. I can eat them breakfast, lunch, and dinner when they are in season. 

We had some cheddar cheese ball leftovers (I know what you're thinking: how on Earth did you end up with leftover cheese ball?! It happens.). Hunks of cheese ball on thick slabs of fresh 'mater, heated under the broiler for some cheesy-tomatoey goodness. Now that, is a summer breakfast. 

These are admittedly darker than I was aiming for, but they were warm and gooey and gone in ten minutes. 

Refrigerator Roundup = Leftovers. Reinvented. 

Magnet Monday: Lady Liberty

Cheesy Refrigerator Magnet for Monday, August 18, 2014
"New York", Statue of Liberty, circa 2000

This is the magnet that started it all. A gift from my dearest friend on the occasion of her wedding in 2000. One of the goodies in one of the best goodie gift bags ever.  XXOO KnM (You know who you are. At least I hope so.)



Magnet Monday features a selection from our semi-vast and ever growing collection of cheesy refrigerator magnets. Without doubt the perfect souvenir. Only slightly less cheesy than collecting snow globes but maybe a lot easier to smuggle in your bra. If need be. Which I hope it never is. Unless it's really worth it.

Weekly Randomness 15 August 2014

This Week's Randomness - 15 August 2014

News that made me stop what I was doing to look it up.

• Robin Williams: Fly! Be free!!
• Lauren Bacall: You know how to whistle, don't you? 

Weekly Shits n' Giggles

• Remembering World War I, begun 100 years ago.
• Or you could buy whole beans from a real coffee roaster. 
• How good is your aim? 

Weekend Aims

• Date night: dinner and a movie about dinner. Squee!
• Keeping it crafty.
• Sláinte!!

Mondrian-Style Blanket

I have a bad habit of starting a yarn project, getting partially done, deciding I don't care for it, and frogging* it. My husband is amazed at how many different things I can make with the same yarn... I tell him this way I never have to buy more yarn. But... it also means I rarely finish something. 

I don't like to admit it, but I can be a real stinker when it comes to finishing a project. Once I know how it will turn out, I find it less compelling, and if I don't like what it's shaping into, I'm even less interested. I have this trouble with books and movies too. It's one reason I dislike seeing movies of books I've read (unless it's been awhile), and I never read the last chapter first. 

I started this blanket the second winter in our current house, almost five years ago. It was a struggle. Mostly I fought with carrying the different colors. I admire color-work, but it's too fussy for me. I wanted the blanket to be viewable from both sides; carrying yarn along on one side was not possible. And the endlessly repetitive single crochet was, well, endlessly repetitive (but I repeat myself...). The yarn and partially crocheted portion sat in a large multi-colored lump in the corner for three years. I ignored it and made other things. Socks. Sweaters. I'm pretty sure the lump was mocking me. I ignored it some more. 

And then, I thought: I will not be brought to heel by the mocking lump. I decided not to allow myself to start any new project until I finished or disposed of this, or any other, existing WIPs. This blanket was first on the list (mostly because of the size of the lump. And the mocking). I devised a mostly acceptable, not too annoying, method for trailing along several separate balls of color (full disclosure: I confess to several bouts of whining). But: it is done. At last. And it is good. And the peasants rejoiced. 

I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease and adapted the colors to suit our living room. The Mondrian Blanket pattern is available free from Lion Brand, but you have to register/log-in to get it. I like how the colors interact, and I imagine you could substitute other color sets with equally good results.  



*rip-it, rip-it, rip-it (get it?)

Rescuing Rudyard

Can anyone tell me what this is? I'll give you a hint: it's not animal or mineral. 

About fifteen years ago, a dear friend decided I needed a plant. What she really meant was "my plant is too large so I will pass some of this growth burden onto you." 

She gave me Rudyard, a potted cutting from her philodendron Kipling. Lo and behold, Rudyard is still with us. But...

Rudyard had some, er, issues. My husband suggested several times to toss "it." I can't toss "it". "It" is Rudyard. How can you throw out a plant with a name and a pedigree?!

A trip to the barber is what Rudyard needed: let's give Rudyard a haircut. 

I don't know if Rudyard is the only Kipling scion still surviving, but having the same plant for ten-plus years is a good track record for me. For plants to survive in my hands, they need to enjoy - nay, thrive on neglect. Oddly enough, cacti and succulents work well for me (and even bloom!). 

Getting back to Rudyard. Immediately after the haircut and replanting, looking much renewed. If you haven't already guessed it, that mess in the first picture was what I trimmed from Rudyard. 

Rudyard. Rescued.