It's September.



I've never tried VIA.  I never need coffee on the go- I'm home with my french press all day long- but I've always thought it was an awesome idea, especially for travel. 

I also almost never buy lattes.  I like my coffee black and strong and haven't used cream for years.  So when I'm out for coffee I usually pick up an Americano or just brewed coffee.  And I can froth my milk for steamers and hot chocolate at home (which we do, often.)  You don't fool me with your extra $3 for hot milk in my over-sugared coffee, Starbucks!  I'm on to you!

I know a lot of people absolutely love Pumpkin Spice Lattes. I get one every fall, and a couple of peppermint mochas in the winter; you know, seasonal traditions that must carry on.  The Pumpkin Spice Latte is a little sweet and over the top for me to enjoy more than once.  And news flash: crush up a candy cane and melt it in some Swiss Miss hot chocolate- it tastes exactly like the Peppermint Mocha, even without adding espresso.

I digress.

Ever since I read Bob Goff's book I've held a soft spot for VIA's namesake and creator.

And there was a big bin full of pumpkins outside HyVee today.

When I saw these, I splurged.

I topped mine off with some hot vanilla foam.  It was great.

Thrifted.

Almost everything in our house was given to us, or came from a clearance shelf, thrift store, or garage sale.  When our kids were younger and my house was not yet fully "in order", I went out thrifting and to garage sales at least once a week.  Now I'm not finding I need that much time to escape the house be by myself.  Also, our house is sort of "set" now- I spent several years finding simple, useful pieces of things that would last a long time and now here I am.  I just don't need anything, so I don't need to go looking.

Now I just run to thrift stores when we need something specific, like new jeans, boots, etc. or new seasonal clothes.  So, not more than a three or four times a year, really.

But this morning I had the itch, and Grace and Patience came along.  Girls after their mother's heart, they love combing through a thrift store.  All of it.  Not just the kid stuff.  This is the key, people.  You have to enjoy the hunt.

We found some great things, and Grace got herself a new pair of golden ballet flats and a new sweater.  Patience found a new pair of pajamas.  The entire purchase was just over $30. 

Now this afternoon Jim and his parents took the kids out rollerskating.  I have the house to myself, my windows are open on an unseasonably warm day, and I spent the afternoon drinking french press, listening to a live performance of Don Giovanni from the Met on MPR, and blogging about what I found.

Here are my little finds.....

I found two sets of hug mugs and saucers and I will add here that I wanted these so badly about two years ago around the holidays but couldn't bring myself to buy them in the store.  It was meant to be.



I am always on the lookout for wooden trays and bowls- they're awesome for entertaining, along the lines of these.  I found this really great tray that will be perfect for bread, olives, nuts, or candles.  I was so jazzed to find it and it was only $2.99.



(Case-in-point: In the photograph above you will find a half price television, two clearance picture frames, a gifted vase, a flea market iron cobbler's tool, a thrift store cobbler's wooden shoe-thing, and all of this sitting on a free dresser.  Oh, that picture frame on the wall was free, too.)



I also found a super-warm twin-sized wool quilt.  Another thing I'd really been wanting to find somewhere- I was hoping to sort of change up my bedroom a bit and subdue the colors somewhat, without spending a lot or changing much.  This is why I finally finished this project- and I think this quilt really works in here.



It has a cool V-shaped pattern that I loved.

(OK- just for fun I'll mention...the round mirror was $20 from a flea market (even years later I remember the prices of things I got a good deal on.  They are like trophies.)  The prints you see in the reflection were free, the lamp was $8 new, the vase was thrifted, the bed, mattress and side table were all free, the bedding was clearance, so was that little brown pillow... the sheets are clearance too, but those are newer.  I just got them this winter at Target.  The IKEA tray...I paid full price for that.)



Lastly, I found a cute little belt, which, coincidentally, looked great with what I was already wearing.



It was a good day, and it's not over.

Wet Paint.

Jim got me a watercolor set for Christmas.  I've been wanting to try out watercolor painting for a while- I've never done it (or any other painting) before.  I just love the washes and the blending, the way the paint behaves, and the things I've seen others do with it.  So, why not try it for myself as a little winter hobby?



Armed with several library books on topic I painted for four hours yesterday afternoon.  I need quite a bit of practice, but I have enjoyed it.

Things I have on my side:  Good knowledge of color, composition, and photograph/subject inspiration.

Things against me: Lack of experience, talent, and patience.

I am keeping on.  I painted a lovely parakeet yesterday , as well as a peacock today.  Both are satisfactory, if not beginner-level.  Above is my first acceptable painting- a "honey bird" as Hudson calls it.

Until then,

I hope to get some time this weekend to upload pictures, and who knows, even blog some.  Until then, watch this- it's amazing.


Faber Castell from eric yeo on Vimeo.

He created a copy of a Vermeer, with one pen, in one continuous loop- never picking it up.  Incredible right?  What am I going to do with my creativity today?

Lazy Saturday.

Our kids are in MN this weekend with Jim's parents, and we spent our day doing nothing, and something.

We slept in, and had a late breakfast at HyVee.  Went shoe shopping (it wasn't bad). Did things at home.  Drank coffee.  Watched two episodes of This Old House, and some of Ken Burns' new documentary. We went out to find some milkweed so we could attract more Monarchs next year....

Then Jim decided he wanted to go fishing.  So we packed up for that, grabbed some Subway, and took the dogs to the lake.

It was wet, but great.  No bites, that's OK.

Saw a frog with one good leg-  thought of you Gracie.  You would have loved to have seen it.  He had a sad and crazy hop.  He gets around fine.

We came back, and decided we wanted cheesecake for dinner.  We grabbed the essential ingredients at HyVee, and we did, in fact, eat cheesecake for dinner.  Watched another documentary (about Conan), and then Jim watched Tron while I sorted through pictures and listened to the soundtrack to Wicked.

So, it was a lazy Saturday.  We did lots of things, and nothing, and it was great.



Gourd Bird

We saw this gourd in a bin at HyVee yesterday afternoon. 

The kids and I instantly saw a swan. 

Jim sees a goose. 

See the wings?

A Farewell.

Driving through the prairie, Summer 2011

So long, Summer.  You were short, but sweet.

Cupcakes.

Hudson and I made some cupcakes this morning to surprise the girls after school.  (They are espresso, by the way, so we'll see if I regret the choice at about 4 pm...)

While making them, I realized that I can only come up with three kinds of people when it comes to cakes:

1.  They hate cake.

2. They like cake OK, as long as it doesn't have "too much" frosting, and "too much" is relative.

3.  They view the cake as a mere vehicle to the true adventure that is the frosting.

Hudson is a 3, and, I might be one too.  Depends on the type of cake, for sure.

Grasshoppers (are creepy).

Fireworks.

I'm looking forward to shooting some of these this weekend...

And as it happens, our kids will be with Grandpa and Grandma on the 4th, so, as much fun as it is to do the whole fireworks "thing" as a family...

I'm pretty excited to enjoy it alone with Jim.  Which is also fun. 

And much simpler.

I thought I'd share a few tips this morning on how to shoot fireworks yourself, and how to make your final shots just a bit better with a combination of shooting tips, and simple edits done with the free editing tools on Flickr.  These are simple, simple tips- anyone with a DSLR can mess around with this.  And if you're shooting with a Point and Shoot, mess with your special settings (do you have a "fireworks" setting?) and follow the other steps.

Because after all, most of us only get a shot at this once a year, people!  Make it count!

Tons of other photography blogs who write about this stuff all the time are, no doubt, sharing tips today too.  You can read some more about it here, and elsewhere, I'm sure.  It's not like I've got an original blogging idea here.  That would be rare.

But I always always shoot fireworks the "wrong" way- because I don't like loooong trails, and I hate seeing a bunch of smoke in the shot.  I also never use a tripod.

See this?  I don't like all the smoke.

Things to do before you click the shutter button:

1. Watch your view. 

Is there a post or a building or something else that will obstruct your view of the sky?  Avoid it.  It will ruin otherwise great shots, and remember, we're thinking simple tips here using free online software.  If you have Photoshop, you can gauge whether or not you want to take time to remove/fill in distractions later.  

I think you should just move yourself if you can.

2.  Choose appropriate settings.  

People are aaalways asking me what specific settings they should have for a certain type of shot.  All I can give are general parameters.  Every camera and situation will be unique.  Generally, for me, I like to keep my aperture wide open (smallest f/stop possible), and keep my shutter speed slow-ish- something around 1/30 or 1/40.  You can mess around with longer exposures if you'd like.  They will be blurry. 

This all means you'll have to shoot steady.  All the advice you Google will tell you to use a tripod.  Like, as if you want to bring a tripod with you, AND beverages, AND snacks, AND your whole family. 

Hold your camera steady, or perhaps even support your elbows on something, like the hood of your car or a cooler or what have you.  Set up your aperture and shutter speed first to these general settings, then raise your ISO last to get a proper exposure.  Try not to get it up there too high, but your DLSR will perform uniquely- some show tons of grain at 400 or 800, some can go higher.  Work with what you've got.

My shots, your shots, will not be as sharp without a tripod, but, c'mon, who wants to pack one along?  This is for fun.

3.  Try to isolate individual explosions or small groups of them.

Aim for the higher blasts, away from the smoky, lower, cluttered area of the sky-view.

And now for a few quick and easy editing tips to finish them off. 

Here's #1, Straight Out of Camera (SOOC)

Here is the after...

I raised the contrast a bit and darkened the shadows just a scotch as well.  This drops the black (dark) parts out even darker, and makes the light parts more defined and a bit brighter.  I also bumped up the saturation and temperature of the colors just a smidgeon.  Then I sharpened it slightly- not too much or any high ISO grain pops too.  It's subtle.  Editing is aaaall about emphasizing what's already there, and minimizing distraction.

#2 SOOC

And the edit.

For this one, I dropped the exposure until the smoke fell away to my satisfaction.  Similar to the first edit, I bumped up contrast, and raised the saturation and temp and sharpness just a scotch. Subtle changes.

Have fun this weekend!



New Towels.

I got these dish towels from Jim's Grandma's house. 

They came in a big bag, bright white and pressed and new, never used.

They could have been stitched and pressed any time within the last 4 or 5 decades, I have no idea.

But there was something so special about them- someone took hours to make them, one for every day of the week, and for Market Day, Baking Day, and Washing Day to boot.

Lost in a drawer for who knows how long, and now they are mine.  And they'll actually get to see the kitchen- you see, they come from an era when a woman could not possibly have "enough" dish towels, and it was common to hoard piles of them away in a chest or closet for "someday".

The least I could do was photograph them in their pristine bygone glory, before they were put to good use.

Blindsided.

Summer Break is here. 

Schools are out in our city, which means people will stop asking my kids why they aren't in school every time we go out.

We're getting more sun.  We've headed to Sonic for Happy Hour a few times.

Our grass is green, and full, and needs to be mowed a couple of times a week.  Jim has finished planting our garden. 

Dirt and sand are constantly being tracked into our house.  It's fine with me.  Mostly.

School year activities have disappeared, and with them my compass for knowing which day it is seems to have gone on holiday as well.  Without the incessant schedule of places to be at certain times, I'm a little lost during the week.

I'm actually a little bit blindsided by all this freedom.

I can adjust.

I Kissed Dairy Goodbye

I took a 7-day Vegan Challenge with a friend last week.  We were just looking to take some time out to be more conscious of our food, and implement some specific discipline, for the benefits of discipline.

Eating a fully Vegan diet (a plant-based diet- no meat, no dairy- no food that came from an animal) was not a challenge at all for me- nearly all of what we eat before dinner time is Vegan anyway.  So to step it up, I also tracked every ounce of everything I ate and drank for the week, to chart nutrients, and to be sure I met my personal dietary goals.  I should mention that I did eat honey as contained in my Kashi Honey Almond Flax, and on the last day I made some Black Bean Brownies, which did have eggs in them.  Also, on Saturday our refugee family came over and we made cinnamon rolls together- which had cream in the icing and some in the dough.  I ate some, because refusing to eat would have been strange, and bordered on being a Pharisaical Vegan.  Challenge or not, not worth it.

Now a week later, the challenge is over.  We'll still eat in much the same way as before, but I've kissed dairy goodbye for good.  I went to Africa last December.  About halfway through the trip, I noticed I was feeling really, really great.  It was hard to describe, but, it was like I felt some sort of extra inner energy- I just felt especially "good".  I thought of what I'd been eating, and the one thing missing was dairy.  Other than some cheese on a pizza one time, I'd not had any dairy of any kind for well over a week.  Dairy has never made me sick, but I wondered if I should try to eat less of it when I got home.  Slowly, I've been leaning out of dairy.  No more cream in my coffee, almost no milk, very little cheese.  V-Week sealed it for me.  Dairy doesn't make me "sick", but,  I feel amazing when I haven't had any for a while.  I tried to investigate why online.  The best I could find was that, while some people are intolerant to the point of being ill with dairy, others just have a harder time digesting it, and it slows their body down.  I think that might be me.  I always noticed that ice cream especially made me feel sort of sluggish, but always attributed it to the sugar.  So, thanks to my little Elisabeth Hasselbeck-Survivor-like experience in Africa, I realized Dairy was not loving me back.  I will still eat eggs for dinner once a week, like we've always done, and have them in baked goods, etc- but milk-based things, I'll avoid.

I love soy milk, and this coconut milk, and my kids do too.  We'd always done milk twice a day- breakfast and dinner, with water at lunch- and now they love the alternatives so much, they're drinking soy at breakfast instead.  So far I can't see that any of them have aversions to cow milk, but, it did take me nearly 30 years to realize I had one, and I am happy to give them a variety.

Nutrition.  A plant-based diet.  The first thing people ask is where you'll get protein, iron and calcium.  I charted every single thing I ate for the week- and I didn't eat anything strange- just good, "normal" plants and plant-based foods- and these are my numbers, averaged over 7 days.  When the bar hits 100, I've had the recommended daily allowance.  I do take a Vitamin D/Calcium supplement that gives me 100% of the Vitamin D and 80% of the Calcium I need in a day- keep that in mind. 

Eating plants ONLY, and nothing "weird", here are my numbers for an average day...

Remember that leafy green vegetables- Spring Mix, broccoli, etc, are SUPER foods, FULL of good things like Calcium, Iron, Fiber, and Vitamins A and C.  Just a few servings per day cover so many needs (I love them, my kids happen to LOVE them, and my husband tolerates them well). 

I really, really loved using this free food log.  I loved it so much that I'm committing to using it faithfully through the end of May, and by then, the next goal would be to use it through the end of the summer.

A few other things...



1.  I really like warm soy milk.  We drink a lot of steamers at home- steamed milk with some Torani syrup.  Warming a cup of vanilla soy milk in the microwave is an ultra-fast and easy alternative.  Also, take a cup of that same vanilla soy milk, heat it in the microwave for about 1.5 or 2 minutes, add 2 teaspoons of quality instant espresso powder, and you have a super-simple and good vanilla latte.

2.  You know about Black Bean Brownies, right?  I made these yesterday-  I did use carob chips for chocolate chips, but that's up to you, and they are great-  just try it.

Have a sweet week, everyone.

People Watching People

A couple of weeks ago I was sitting at Starbucks in Barnes and Noble, waiting for a friend.  I glanced down and noticed this spot, where a student obviously was studying, preparing for finals- laptop and energy drink in tow.  He wasn't there at the time, and I snapped this shot quick with my pocket camera. Under the table.  Like a private investigator.

Wow.  Hitchens, The Atheist's Bible, and a giant pile of Microbiology notes.

Do you ever people watch?  Wonder about their lives?  I wonder if he really ascribes to a Hitchens-like world view, or if he's considering it.  I wonder if he's just curious and wants to be well-informed, or if his Microbiology professor is persistently quoting Hitchens and the like to the point that he wanted to read it for himself. I know I had a few profs much the same. 
You people watch too, right? 

Well I'm just people watching the other people watching me; We're all people watching the other people watching we...  Jack Johnson, People Watching

Be There or Be Slytherin

A few friends are coming over for a little Potter-themed book discussion tomorrow night.

Today I threw together some Butterbeer Cupcakes...

And some chocolate frogs...

And yesterday I saw this unknown/never tried bottle of wine at World Market...

It seemed very Gryffindor-appropriate.

The Recap.

OK.  I know you were dying to know how it went.

Thursday I dropped the kids off with Grandma, came back to Sioux Falls, and went to some garage sales, then I bought groceries, and Lily and Grace's birthday presents.

I got home, washed and sorted all of the kids' summer clothes from the storage tubs, and sorted/switched over their closets for spring/summer. 

When Jim got home, we did miscellaneous tasks, made lists of what we wanted to get done over the weekend, then drank a bottle of wine and watched Glee.  It was a good day.

Friday morning we got up, got organized, and started working.  Jim fixed our doorbell, changed a headlight, fixed the railing on our basement stairs, ate lunch with friends, and did some other things, I forget.  We also steamed all the carpets in our house.  So, most of the day, our house looked like....

When things were dry, everything was re-organized, cleaned, and put back where it belonged.  Then, totally tired, we went to Target to buy new sheets for our bed, because that was my motivation to finish, grabbed some ice cream, and came home to drink another bottle of wine, and watch The King's Speech- which was incredible, and I have since geeked-out with the DVD special features.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to meet friends for coffee, then we helped our church move it's offices into our new building- I'm really glad we could be there-  it's a pretty big deal. 

We grabbed lunch with everyone, then headed over to see some of our African friends.  Here's a video from that afternoon....

Then, we ran home because our dogs had been left inside all day, and Jim went back out to head over to our other refugee family's house, so he could take them out to buy seeds and garden supplies, and give them advice about when to plant things (it's a little colder here than in Africa, go figure).

Saturday night we went out with a couple of great friends, who also flew sans kids for the weekend.  We ate steak, then went to the Wild Sage for dessert, and Touch of Europe for drinks.  We were out until like, midnight- it was fantastic.

Sunday morning we picked up coffee, breakfast, and Lily's birthday balloons- Sunday was her 5th birthday- and we headed to MN to grab the kids, and have Easter dinner/ Lily's party with Jim's family, which was also great.

And then it was all over and Monday showed up as usual.

mayflowersmayflowersmayflowersmayflowers

It's running through my head, over
and over
and over.

Our crummy, 40 degree, rain-snow-mix weather that will not quit is doing something good.  It is.  It is. 
The sun, and green grass, slushes on the porch, fires in the backyard, and long evenings of warm daylight are coming.  The trees will have leaves, the flowers will show up and show off.

All the gloom has a purpose for the Earth- and my attitude.  I'm already grateful in advance for summer.

Just a really long ramble about coffee.

We've been drinking Starbucks Estima Blend for a long time.

And for almost as long, I have really loved it- we both agreed it was good- very smooth, roasty sweet and deep flavor.  The last few bags I bought, though, tasted bitter to me.  A disappointment.  I tried Googling the issue and didn't find anything. Obviously that means it might just be me, because Google knows everything. Maybe the blend has changed.  Maybe my palate has changed.  Either way, it was just tasting off.  Every day. 

Three off bags later, I thought it might be good to expand our horizons- I have no idea what we're missing if I never try anything new, you know.

I'm starting with two blends from World Market.  The Costa Rican Tarrazu, and the Guatemalan Estate- these are the Fair Trade Certified twins the chain offers.  The Guatemalan option is also organic. 

I love World Market,  I do.  But I am always really disappointed that they don't do more to add a Ten Thousand Villages quality to their items.  I've never found Fair Trade chocolate there, and though I love the colorful, eclectic items from all over, World Market seems to just throw a Wal-Mart vibe at me, insofar as where their items come from.  If they got more concerned about this, of course their prices would go up... and so it goes.

Anyway.  As I type I am drinking my first cups of the Costa Rican from my french press.  First impressions-full and bright.  I like it.  Not love, but, I will give it a shot, at least through the bag.

Another bonus.  Price. 

A 16 oz. bag of Estima is about $11.  You do get to trade the bag in for a free tall brewed coffee at Starbucks, which is something I'll miss.  But still.  Let's call it $11.

A 12 oz. bag from World Market is about $9.  But, for every 6 bags you buy, you earn a free bag of coffee.  Add to it the bonus that every Wednesday is double-punch day for coffee purchases, and you get a free bag after just three purchases.  See here.

Breaking that down....

Estima Blend from Starbucks = about $.69 an ounce.  (With a free $1.49 tall coffee at the end, if you care)

World Market blends (with the Wednesday double punches) = about $.56 an ounce.

While I'm on the topic of hot beverages, I should mention I do drink this rooibos tea nearly every day,  and I love it.  You can get it at Ten Thousand Villages here in Sioux Falls.  I always knew it was made from a South African root (it's not actually "tea"), but, was delighted to see that "everyone" actually does drink rooibos tea in Zambia.  Now it's like a nice connection for me.  Rooibos is good for you- in addition to being naturally smooth, sweet, and delicious without adding a thing to it.  It also doesn't get bitter if you steep it a long time, like green tea does (my other favorite tea).  The flavor stays the same and doesn't go "bad" so you can take your time drinking it, and just leave the bags in the tea pot.  Ten Thousand Villages does carry a great selection of equal exchange coffee, too- but because it's pricier, I think I'll stick to offerings from other retailers for now as I expand our coffee horizons.

Phew, that is all I wanted to say. 

8:20.

This morning I woke up,
on this morning halfway through our
Spring Break,
to find snow everywhere outside.
Not surprising, since it's been so cold
for days now.
Last weekend I actually had to promise
our African friends that it would eventually get
hot and they would eventually get to go outside in
flip flops.

Then, though my morning started
quiet and full of coffee as usual,
things got a little rocky.

Well, see, Hudson's Pull Up was on funny,
so it leaked overnight, and I needed to wash his bedding.
And then someone woke up early with quite a bit
of business to take care of in the bathroom,
leading to the use of way too much toilet paper.
Then, of course, the next riser used the same bathroom,
and seeing that the toilet would not flush, proceeded to do
the only logical thing- flush it over and over and over,
causing a disgusting overflow, which was then brought to my attention
at once.

The cat followed me around as I cleaned and disinfected,
concerned because I did not clean out her litter box
immediately at breakfast, which she, well,
demands that I do, or else I'll hear about it
to no end.

The dogs, too, constantly whined at me as I worked,
dying to get out of their kennel for a much-needed
trip to the backyard and then breakfast.

I threw out the last of the paper towels, about to
wash my hands when I noticed our kitchen
trash can was overflowing with sticky banana peels
and all kinds of other things.
So I postponed the hand-cleaning and took that out too.

All this by 8:20 AM.

The rest of the day has been generally pleasant and productive.
It's been full of little obligations, and other work to do,
and lots of tea and coffee and a really good orange
and conversations with people in Africa, and
the girls called their Grandma and they sounded adorable,
and there was lots of reading to my kids and a few funny things
that made them laugh at me out loud (in a good way).

But that first bit of the day, I admit, had me worried.

And because I hate to post without a picture, if I can help it....

I pulled this shot out of my bag of tricks for my HS class today. I thought it was nice.  I think I've blogged it before.  I don't care.  Peace out.