2010, I'm not Ready for you Yet!

As a child I recorded New Year's resolutions in a brand new diary. I often received a diary for Christmas - sometimes there was a whole page for each day, sometimes just a few lines. My resolutions usually involved vowing to write in my diary every day. I'm not sure why I was so persistent in resolving to do this year after year. It could be my 'need to please' kind of personality, doing what I thought I should do as a child - write in a diary, use the gifts I was given etc. Although I think there was also a healthy (& hilarious) dose of "If I'm famous in the future, someone will want to read this." (Oh the dreams!)

Aside from recording these resolutions in my diary (which I usually only wrote in for about a week straight - I have several diaries stored at my Dad's with scribbles up until January 7th or something - the rest of the pages are blank!) I rarely reviewed them or followed through on them. Most likely because they weren't SMART (something I've learned to consider more recently when setting goals - not that I've mastered this technique either) - if I recall correctly, typical pre-teen goals recorded in my diary usually went something like this:

- be nice (not exactly specific or measurable even - seeing a pattern with that 'need to please' child?)
- keep room clean (not exactly attainable - especially considering I shared with my younger sister)
- find a boyfriend (not exactly realistic considering I didn't really have control over that matter - though you think it would have been an easier goal to achieve since I grew up in a class full of 28 boys and 3 girls for the 9 years I spent in elementary school ; )

Anyway, you get the idea - maybe your pre-teen years were a bit like this too?

Aside from attempting fresh starts at each New Year, I liked to try for this each September as well - starting off the new school year right, you know.

Well this January 1, 2010 will be started off on a chaotic and messy foot. My new year has probably begun this way before (and most certainly will again) and it probably isn't that significant, however, this year it seems a little more overwhelming than most.

Here's what I'm talking about . . . my shared office/craft space . . . (the space where I want to begin working on finishing off those last two chapters of my MA thesis in earnest on January 4th):

{for notes on this chaos see my set on flickr}

{My handmade Christmas intentions got out of control! And I'm still not done - there are some
gifts yet to made/mailed somewhere in here.}

Since we have plans to head out tonight to enjoy our first Atomic Vaudeville show and I have a giant cramp in my neck (could it be from blowing my nose too enthusiastically with this cold?!?) I really didn't get to tackling this room today so that it would be fresh and neat, and clean, and organized and inspiring to get me off on the 'right foot' for 2010.

:o {

Well it is what it is. And you know what, I wouldn't change it for anything.

So here's to all of 2009's ideas, inspirations and intentions! May they carry me forward to an even better 2010!

And I guess that's this year's resolution - just keep doing what I'm doing - even if that goal isn't Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant or Timely. It seems to be working. At 32 I've never felt more me, nor more connected to who I want to continue to grow to be, and that ain't so bad.

Here's to 2010 - Happy New Year to you!

{What are your resolutions for 2010?}

The Ghosts of Thrifting Pasts

I posted this on our personal family blog back in April and thought I would share it here too so that some explanations could accompany some of the photos I 'm uploading to my Thrifting set on Flickr.

Here goes . . .

My weekend started out on Friday evening with my 5th Bi-Annual Clothing Swap. Twice a year (usually spring & fall) I invite a group of women to bring clothing they want to get out of their closets. We enjoy tasty food and drink (I made tasty sangria with some of the remaining bottles of our wine shop brewed Wild Berry Zinfandel) and enjoy riffling through each others cast offs to find some great new pieces for our own wardrobes. I scored well and have a new dress, 5+ sweaters, a pair of jeans and a skirt to show for my swapping efforts. It is always a fun time and I love finding clothes (for free) that I may never even give a second glace to at the store a great way to spice up the wardrobe on a student budget!

. . .

Saturday was a garage sale bonanza for my friend Bryony and her 3 year old and I. We hit the annual Rotary garage sale held at Central Middle School - Kelly's school next year. Great finds for ok prices - always got to dig a bit deeper for charity garage sales ; ) I found some cute things which I have already cleaned and put away - sorry no photos - including a lamp, some vintage linens and a steal of a deal on a vintage Pyrex divided Snowflake casserole dish (like this one here - top shelf, left hand side behind the 'S' in the snow garland) for just $1!!!

We also headed up the peninsula towards the annual Dean Park neighbourhood sale (located in a rather posh area just south of the airport) and stopped in at a church rummage sale I had seen signs for the day before as I biked out to see Stephen Lewis speak at Royal Oak Middle School. Our stop at Garden City United Church was successful and I came away with two armloads including some sock yarn and a Fisher Price Happy Apple (thanks for the keen eye Bryony!) - the prize being this quilt for $5!

It is a bit of the crazy quilt style in that the pieces vary in shape. It is backed with yellow cotton and the pieced front seems to be a synthetic rayon - shiny, smooth stuff. There are some rips and tears and worn pieces (like the pink & white polka dot piece) but I think this will be a lovely picnic blanket.

Stopping at this rummage sale was fortuitous as we saw signs for a few other sales. We missed turning at one sign and took the next right instead - this led me to see an amazing find on the side of the road and I asked Bryony to stop.

I ran over to a scruffy looking table and lifted the nailed down cardboard-like top to discover it was hardwood!

I ran back to the car and we immediately tried to squeeze it into the back. It wouldn't fit with three of us in the car so Bruce and I came back later to pick it up. When we did, we learned the story of the table from the woman who was moving and giving it away. Her mother-in-law had been a rather small German woman who made sausage. The sausage maker/grinder was clamped to this table (lots of marks on the table to tell that story) and since she was short, the legs were cut down so that the grinder would be at the perfect height for her. The table is just over two feet tall and hits me about mid thigh. I was hoping it would be a good coffee table but it is too tall.

Instead, after a serious baking soda scrubbing to remove years of sausage grime and to get some sticky bits from the topper off, some elbow grease to pull out about 25 nails and that plastic red

trim, and an oiling to freshen it up, it is now sitting under our living room window asking for an appropriately sized chair so I can use it as a bright and inspiring work table.

HEY, it just dawned on me . . . with the light from the window and the large surface of this table, this may be the perfect sewing table! No more sewing at the dining room table and having to move it and/or eat around the sewing - how great is that?

So, that was my thrifty weekend. Garage sale season is officially here in Victoria with the arrival of warm, sunny spring weather so stay tuned for more!

Wednesday is Thrift Shop Day

Today was a nice quiet visit to the thrift shop at St. Aidan's. I wasn't there too long and I had some specific things on my list (Christmas shopping to fill baskets with kid craft materials). I found a few things on my list and a few others as well (of course!).

I especially love the oak leaf soap dish - lovely find!

Check out flickr for notes and close up photos of the other items including my mysterious Pyrex find - if you have any hints, please leave a comment! I'm curious!

In other thrifty news we are the proud new owners of a big, white, comfy chair! I have been coveting a 'chair and a 1/2' for some time now - good friends of mine have a lovely chair and ottoman set that just seems perfect to curl up in with the kids, or your knitting, or a good book . . . (you get the idea)

BEFORE

This 'beauty' has been sitting in our living room with sheets on it for the past few days since it was in a pretty sorry state when we picked it up from the UsedVictoria seller who happily took 1/2 the asking price since it was in far worse shape than the original photo let on. The photo above was taken at the gas station - we drove it there to vacuum some of the cat hair off. It took $5 in loonies!

Today, Wes from The Soap Exchange came with his eco-friendly citrus cleaner and steam cleaned this chair, our couch and two thrifted tub chairs we've had for forever. I washed the cushion cover for the big white chair earlier in the day and now everything is drying. It looks SO much better and needs one more vacuum with a brush attachment (the car wash vacuum didn't have one of those!) to get the last of the cat hair and it will be pretty good. There are some serious cat slash marks (right down to the foam/wood) on the lower right leg of the chair so we'll see what we do about that. Maybe a patch a'la Soulemama's cozy patchwork chair on page 178 in Handmade Home or maybe a whiter version of these. Some day I may tackle making a slip cover but I said that about the thrifted tub chairs - somehow I think this chair is different . . . I do love it! Can't wait to reveal the 'After' shot!

Well I best go - the sun is setting and I've got too many windows open, too many piles around the apartment and oh yeah, a thesis to write!

Thrifting!

A glorious day for hitting the St. Aidan's United Church Thrift Shop! So many lovely treasures & a few holiday gift items were found as well!

Favourites include:

This lovely vintage plastic tray
- I have a weakness of these you know - $1!

This very sweet book $1

This very lovely cotton wrap sweater - $2





All this blue!
I love these flowered envelopes which remind me of all the lovely vintage 70s stationary I scooped form my mom's stationary box when I was a bit younger - $0.50




You can see the whole set on flickr.

Now I'm looking forward to Friday's thrifting bonanza at Oak Bay United Church & James Bay United Church (a whole house full of stuff!!!).

In the Kitchen

Afternoon Kitchen
l-r: Jerusalem Articoke Pate baking in the oven, a pile of dirty dishes, the sink and little dishwasher connected to it, fuzzy bright light (jar with tea lights), crock pot of potato leek soup, big measuring cup of chicken stock.

It was simple enough, put a freshly defrosted chicken in the oven for dinner - my Gmail calendar popped up and reminded me at 2:30pm yesterday. Lots of time to get it in the oven so it and a host of other veggies from our veggie box would be ready for Bruce when he got home at 5pm so he could eat before he headed off 5:25pm to his second night course at the college, this one on tree pruning. I intended to put the chicken in and then come back to my desk to start some thesis work. That didn't happen.

Instead, I stood in that kitchen (quite happily I might add) for the next 7 hours. I woke up this morning (don't ask what time, but yes it was 9:30am) and promptly went right back at it and spent another 4 hours in there. It's a happy enough kitchen despite its lack of counter space. The light in there can be really nice in the late afternoon, especially in summer, and we're pretty well outfitted with good tools to get the job done. The 60s plywood cupboards were not my favourite when we moved in but they have grown on me and they are sturdy and simple and don't pretend to be something they're not (like the faux wood, plastic veneered ones in our last apartment). And I love the counter tops too. They are fully 60s vintage and are in amazing shape.

The photo above is probably a very typical scene after I have been in the kitchen for several hours (hey, sometimes it only takes minutes!). I don't really like to do dishes - hence our tiny portable dishwasher (aka the Marriage Saver) - and Bruce , I'm not sure he likes to do dishes either, but he really likes a clean kitchen and clean counters. I could work around things for weeks until I'd used every dish in the kitchen and then I'd think about doing dishes.

So what was the edible result of this lovely scene (the stack of dishes is now smaller - I have just put the dishwasher on for the second time today)?

1. Full Roast Chicken dinner, including garlic mashed potatoes, family favourite cabbage salad, roasted winter squash, steamed fresh crinkle cut carrots and frozen corn served with cheese cubes, slices of kohlrabi and garden green tomato relish (made before Thanksgiving & it still tastes delicious).

2. Crock pot chicken stock from said roasted chicken carcass, veggie box carrots and leeks

3. Leek Soup (kind of like French Onion Soup - my dad used to make leek soup out of wild leeks with toasted bread and melted cheese on top - yummy!) - the veggie box leeks were sauteed in some bacon fat from the freezer that we had rescued from the baking pan from a breakfast feast a few months ago. The beef broth was some of the 16 litres that we were able to make using the bones from Glory, the heifer a group of us bought butchered from a lovely farmer in the Cowichan Valley.

4. Potato Leek soup using the crock pot chicken stock, veggie box leeks sauteed in the crock pot with some more of that thriftily saved bacon, island potatoes and the cooking water from the dinner potatoes and steamed veggies.

5. Tahini to make the Jerusalem Artichoke Pate

6. Jerusalem Artichoke Pate (recipe from Saanich Organics, doubled & modified as described below)

1 cup Jerusalem artichokes, washed & chopped***
4 tbsp nutritional yeast****
4 tbsp each olive oil, tamari, tahini
4 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 cup hazelnuts, finely ground*
1 cup almonds, finely ground**
2 tsp rosemary leaves*****

Place all ingredients except for rosemary and hazelnuts in food processor and process until smooth. Add ground nuts and pulse again. Oil a loaf pan and sprinkle with rosemary leaves. Spread dough over top, evenly in pan. Bake 350 degrees F for 55 minutes. Allow to cool before serving. Spread on crackers or use as a sandwich filling.

* purchased from Village Family Marketplace, sourced from Butler Hazelnut Farm
** left over ground almonds from almond milk making, frozen awaiting such an opportunity to use them)
*** from our Saanich Organics veggie box
**** I used a tiny sliver of Village Cheese Parmesan we had left
***** growing on our balcony (they grow like trees here in Victoria)

I'm having some serious motivation issues with thesis work these past few weeks so I am struggling with that, though I'm feeling a bit better about it at this moment and I think my marathon stint in the kitchen may have helped.

So, now that the fridge & freezers are full of left overs I think I can turn to some thesis work (sigh).

Cookin'

We've got some of Dixiebelle's Fragrant Lentils & Rice cookin' in the crock pot for the night.

I'm looking forward to packing up a tasty lunch to take to work tomorrow!

Ingenious!

Could I love this project any more? Probably if I woke rested tomorrow morning ~ it's late right now! I am really wishing I will see a set of these in a future thrifting trip!

Nighty night!

Evening approaches

Some lovely light and liquid at my window:

'Tis the Season part deux!

I was around town on Tuesday and had lunch at Mo:Lé. I sat right beside their notice board and while I knit and waited for my lunch to arrive I spotted a few more craft fair notices. Here is a more complete list:

*Out of Hand* Crystal Gardens (713 Douglas) Nov 20th - 22nd

*Knitted Owl* Fernwood NRG (1240 Gladstone) Nov 20 6-10 pm & Nov 21 9am-5pm

*Hemma Made* Hemma (1274 May) Nov 28th, 5 - 10 pm

*Rock, Rock, Rock n' Roll Market* Logan's Pub (1821 Cook) Nov 28, 3-9pm

*Noel Bazaar* Victoria Event Centre (415 Broad) Dec 1-3

*local craft sale* habit (522 Pandora) Dec 5th, 5-11pm

*Dickens Faire* Glenlyon Norfolk School (801 Bank) Dec 5, 10-4pm

*Tribal Market* Base Lounge (1303 Broad) Dec 5, 12-8 & Dec 6, 12:30-6pm

*Moss Street Holiday Market* Moss & Fairfield (1330 Fairfield) Dec 12 & 13, 10-4pm

*Holly Jolly* Can West University (950 Kings St) Dec 12, 10-5pm & 13, 12-5pm


& continue to keep your eyes peeled for the annual *Smoking Lily Sausage Party* a guy's night out kind of party - you can even leave a list for him ; )

'Tis the Season!

. . . for handmade holiday craft fairs in Victoria!

Last year my friend Jen and I had a great time exploring the handmade holiday craft fairs in Victoria and we purchased all kinds of gifts for friends and family and some lovely goodies for ourselves too.

Last night a group of us met to kick the season off at Igloo, an event I first heard about from Cory Judd at her Shi Studio sale in September. The evening featured a great number of Victoria, Vancouver and Island designers along with drinks and food in the lovely Marriot Ballroom. We each came home with a new little treasure! I purchased this extremely awesome tee (I told you I'm a geography geek right?) from Identity (isn't this shop cute!) which I plan to shred up a bit to make a bit more woman friendly (I don't really get a 5 o'clock shadow). Modification may involve cutting out the neck and maybe taking in the torso and arms a bit as well. Or maybe it will become a pillow - Benita's tutorial at Chez Larrson is inspiring!

And that's just the tip of the iceberg - here's where I'll be heading to see new and exciting local design over the next few weeks:


*Out of Hand* Crystal Gardens (713 Douglas) November 20th - 22nd

*Noel Bazaar* Victoria Event Centre (415 Broad) November 26th - 28th

*Hemma Made* Hemma (1274 May) November 28th, 5 - 10 pm

*Rock, Rock, Rock n' Roll Market* Logan's Pub (1821 Cook) November 28, 3-9pm

*local craft sale* habit (522 Pandora) December 5th, 5-11pm


& keep your eyes open for the annual *Smoking Lily Sausage Party* a guy's night out kind of party - you can even leave a list for him ; )


Happy shopping!

Loving . . .

I was introduced to Katherine Morley's work in the July '09 issue of House & Home (I'm a subscriber you know).

I love this pin:

and these bookends:

I think what I love best about her ceramic works is the humour that seems to be embedded in each piece along with an overall view to simple beauty.

Just what I'm looking for in my life right now!

A Post per Month?

Lying in bed early this morning I thought about how I would write this post. SO many creative things are whirring around my head these days and I want. to. blog. about. everything!

I would dearly love to start blogging regularly and am not sure why I haven't in the past. However I am just going to make an effort. A post per month from now on? I think that would be do-able. However I don't really think that's good enough. I love reading blogs and I can't wait to read new posts each and every day so if I actually want to connect with people through this blog I doubt that will work. However I have to start somewhere, so here I am.

This is a bit difficult since this blog is not what I want it to be, yet, however I will take my time, show myself patience and build it slowly into the blog I envision. And since my main life priority right now is to finish writing my masters thesis so I can move on with my life I will just do what I can so my blogging thoughts do not take over in my head leaving no room for thesis thoughts.

With that said, I need a new umbrella and really want one that will last - I found these Monsoon Vermont trashion umbrellas and they are 25% off. I think I'll email them to see if they have any that are made without pastel colours . . . I'm hoping for some blue and orange like in this messenger bag or orange and red like this travel wallet. I'm emailing them now and will pass this by Bruce to see if he's in favour since he may need ot use it from time to time as well!

November Blogger out. Hope to be back soon.

It's 3am & I Can't Sleep

Today I stumbled across Benita's blog, Chez Larrson and I would rather not admit to how many hours I spent reading through her archives. I'm not saying it wasn't pleasurable, it was (maybe too much!) and so, little was written or worked on in the way of my thesis. I was up until 2am pouring over Benita's beautiful posts and I have now tried to sleep for almost an hour but I can't because I can't stop thinking about her beautiful, organized home and all of the changes I want to make to mine. I want to wake up tomorrow and dig in!

I can't though. I shouldn't. I MUST wait until PT (post-thesis). Not sure I can though. Maybe I can use a few of my ideas to motivate me to get some thesis work done. Do a little thesis work, and then I can 'reward' myself with some home organization and improvements? Sounds perfect. Here is my list:

1. Find some sort of 'legs' to place under the white shelving piece on my side of the closet to keep my sweaters out of reach of the dust bunnies.
2. Move the newspapers and newsprint I have been collecting by the front door to the balcony where they will be more handy to use to line our compost pail
3. Hang three pieces of thrifted wallpaper above the couch & then hang our wedding photos
   
4. re-organize under the bathroom sink; clean & use the old yogurt pails and unused large & long plastic container that I have in my stash
5. use the old rubbermaid container to contain some of the rarely-used smaller plastic containers
6. Find some old tins to place around the legs of our basic bed frame so we don't have to keep stubbing our feet on those not so nice roller legs; add some felt to those rollers while I'm at it
7. Remove the caning and get some glass cut for Bruce's bedside table
8. recover the bench in the entrance way with linen from previous Babe owner
9. sort through kitchen cupboards and consolidate
10. organize hutch display behind glass door
    
11. organize wine storage in hutch; find more tubes for storage; cover tubes in white paper
12. go downstairs to the trash/recycling area and rescue that old brown shelf thingy; can it be used for something (on balcony?) even if stood on its end? NOTE:I think the 'shelf thingy' came from a renovated apartment we re-purposed it to create a whole new look for our entry way - photos to come!
    
13. go downstairs to the trash/recycling area and see if there is anything worth salvaging from that old fridge - wire racks or bins? Could the wire racks be used to hang laundry? Dry herbs?
    
14. go downstairs to the trash/recycling area and look for any great "white, clear, plasticky, useful and formerly meant for take-out, ice cream and candy" containers
15. cover a toilet paper roll in paper bag paper; add 2-3 slits in it to keep the large knives organized
    NOTE: I carved up some plastic wine corks instead - worked much better - I'll take a photo soon.
16. bring up the garage sale green lamps from storage; clean them and find something to cover their tops - use Sears gift card to purchase shades? ask Bruce
17. Cut bath mats into two; bind them and use one at the tub and the other at the sink. My feet are cold!
18. add felt bits to feet of sewing machine case - move it to craft area in living room. Clean out old green wooden cooler and put sewing bits in there - will it work as a sewing bench? Make a cushion for it (source soy foam and wool batting).
19. Find a place for to-be-gifted casserole dishes and take-out pans; what can be stored above the fridge now that the microwave blocks it?
20. Find better way to store old cassettes to clear off dresser in living room; what can the old cassette drawers be re-used for?
21. Slip cover chairs; fashion some padding for the arms; paint the legs
22. add l-hooks to the kitchen cupboard doors to hang the cooling racks
23. put honey in syrup dispenser like this one?
24. get some sleep!