Congratulatory Potholder

This is my congratulations color scheme for Lynda -- I still need to add a tassel in honor of her passing a big test that gave her a bunch more letters after her name, the meaning of which is still up for debate. They are impressive nonetheless .


The finished and suitable-for-framing potholder. Hopefully the tassel won't become a fire hazard.

Lyla's here! We took her to try out the new bench that Lenore and I donated to Library Springs (one of the Township Open Space sites). The deer were also interested in this new addition to their environment.





Potholders were used most recently with two experimental Irish soda breads in the bread machine. It wasn't bad, but the baked-in-the oven kind made with Linda Stawinoga's recipe is better (not that we're hinting or anything, Linda).

Birthday Outing

We took Sabine to Geneva for her birthday outing, which included lunch at the Little Traveler, ice cream, and a large Jelly Belly purchase. Sabine also posed by a smart car, which cousin Ute has in Berlin.

Smooth Moves!

I haven't had a chance to resize all of my pictures from the weekend, but in the spirit of food (there was a lot of eating that went on -- we went to a new Thai restaurant, plus a new breakfast/lunch place called Burnt Toast, which I thought didn't sound all that promising at first blush, but it wasn't bad) here is Lenore's very delicious Grits Bread (made from real live grits) and an experiment in Rosemary Shortbread. I know, sounds strange, but I thought they were really good. Lenore, not so much. I'll have to post the recipe so you can decide for your own selves. No potholders were harmed in the making of these treats. Lastly, check out this very entertaining little clip of a dancing toddler from YouTube. It's a good giggle for a Monday.


Coming soon...Sabine's outing and more (maybe).

No Potholder Needed

We went out for sushi recently at one of our favorite Japanese restaurants. We refer to it as "that K place in Algonquin," or "not Bistro Wasabi, the other one" because nobody can remember the name or how to say it. The photo above is Nina's dragon.


The orders for Roland, Gary and me all came on one platter. Mine included salmon, eel, veggies and probably tuna. Amy had one of the specialties of the house...I think it had "fire" in the name and came highly recommended by Gary, our "go to" guy with all sushi questions that evening and who ordered three different dishes, not that I was counting, but this is the same guy who very innocently shared his amazement over how much *I* eat. Yes, I still remember. (And it was pretty funny...and kind of true!)


Here's Julie's salmon, which is also excellent there.

Lenore is not into epicurean adventure even when her taste buds are behaving (and should probably steer clear of raw anything right now), so she had Chicken, which looked really good too.


I like this sculpture made of CDs.

Political Victory!

We're are still trying to confirm official results, but Kane County election postings appear to indicate that Lenore won her race for Library Trustee! Yay Lenore! See the numbers here.

Lenore was up against two incumbents and long-time residents, so it's an impressive victory considering she just moved here. I think the "more porn!" platform really helped. At least that's the word on the street.

Lenore's going to drive the new library bookmobile.

Latvia Still Hasn't Called...

So this is my attempt at making Ingrid a Latvian flag potholder. I left a message with Latvia letting them know they'll need to change their flag just a smidgen if they want to be represented accurately in a potholder. Still waiting for the president to call back. I'm sure she's busy.

I made it with my vintage e-bay potholder loops, so there's some wonky fading, but it's the closest red I could find (I even did a google search). Think of it as a flag that's been around the block a few times.

Lenore picked these colors from the vintage collection, and I love it! I told her she couldn't take ownership 'til I documented the finished potholder.


Here's a montage of all the vintage ones so far. The loops are thinner, but I think the colors are kind of fun.

A Tragic Development

Eggstra HUGE apologies to Lynda, whose Easter Egg entry was not retrieved until today! It's totally my fault for not checking my other e-mail, and I'm so very sorry it was overlooked, especially since it's so bejeweled and incorporates the fabulous pink car from me and Lenore. Lynda, please send me your color scheme preference so I can make you a special Perky Potholder prize for:

The ABFAB Award
To Lynda Rock for her Pearl and Confetti entry. It's simply STUNNING!!

We Have A Winner!!

(and it's not this one)

Here are our somewhat disappointing eggs (next year we'll avoid the $.99 egg dye), flanked by pastel perky potholders for Easter, of course.

Sorry it took so long to report the results. All those eggs made one of the judges whose name we won't mention here feel a little peckish and he would not stop with the snacking.

I should say now that I'm not a very good contest facilitator because I want everyone to win just for making the effort. So we have some special awards, starting with...

An Honorable Mention to Cathy in Florida for her exploding eggs that turned in to scrambled egg soup. Apparently it was too traumatic to photograph, but I'm sure she's glad she had a perky potholder on hand to handle the aftermath.

The Intercontinental Award

Goes to Ingrid and Lyla for their natural Latvian-style eggs. Snaps to them for presentation too -- it's tres purty. I'll try and make you a Latvian flag potholder.

The Eggs in One Basket Award

Goes to Austin and William. We enjoyed the variety of goodies displayed along with your eggs. It wouldn't hurt your chances next time to share. Not that we're hinting or anything.


The Cat's Meow Award

Goes to Mitzi the cat...judging from her expression, those eggs are destined to become cat toys. Thanks to her person, Donna, for sending it.

And now...the moment you've all been waiting for. For volume, variety, and cleverness (these guys named their eggs, people!) the grand prize goes to...


TEAM CAPPS!

Wayne, Halley and Mary-Rachel pulled out all the stops...here is but a small sampling of their 70-plus entries (I could be eggzagerating). Remember, you can click on any of the pictures to see them larger. I should mention that Daryl gave you an extra point for sympathy when he heard about the tragic blow torch incident. In the future we hope you'll be a little more careful with your perky potholders. We don't yet have a source for asbestos loops, so, ya know, a little common sense wouldn't hurt. I'm just sayin'.

Prizes will be mailed soon! Thanks to everyone for playing.

Today's Weather...

Not so Zen*, seeing as it's April and all...but this is what's going on in the Zen garden here at work. I had to take this through the window since you can't go into the actual garden, which to me defeats the whole POINT of a Zen garden, but whatev. I PhotoShoped the image a little, in case you can't tell.

*According to the definitive source of all things (Wikipedia), Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that places great importance on moment-by-moment awareness and "seeing deeply into the nature of things" by direct experience. Or, in this case, though a window.

Ruth's Rockford Revelry

While everyone else was taking pictures of their Easter Eggs (contest results coming soon!), we were in Rockford celebrating Ruth's 75th birthday. We had fun visiting with everyone, and there was enough food for a small third world nation. I thought this shot summed up the point of the whole evening: LET'S EAT CAKE!




I myself was mesmerized by the bottomless cookie basket.


This was the cookie I had my eye on, but, alas, I was not fast enough, so I had to settle for a photo to remember it by.

The kids soon got bored with all the grownup chatter and reverted to their introverted high-tech forms of entertainment. Though the balloons were a big hit too, so there's still hope.



Oh, and also I fired up both bread machines. The one on the left is sesame oatmeal, and the one on the right is whole wheat oatmeal with wheat germ and birdseed (not really...I was out of birdseed). They were both delish.

7 Down...

Lenore had treatment number seven of eight yesterday and got to talk to a very sweet older lady who was having her second IP* treatment, which Lenore is pretty sure she'll try. It helped to get a first-hand account and see what an abdomen filled with two liters of fluid looks like. Shout out to Gwoba Electra (how cool is her name?!) for sharing her experience and a peek at her belly. I made a couple of potholders while we were there; here's Abby, Lenore's wonderful chemo nurse, with hers.

*That's where they implant a soaker hose of sorts into the abdominal cavity and then administer the chemo drugs directly into the abdomen. It's even more fun than it sounds. Lynda is thinking of joining us for one of the treatments in hopes of getting a two for one deal. However I'm not sure I can fit two sloshing sisters in my Mini and still have room to drive. Plus, you know them, ever the competitive siblings, they'll be arguing over who's the most bloated and I'll have to threaten to stop the car.

A Most Eggcellent Response

Judging is going on NOW for the very enthusiastic response received on the Easter Egg contest. Please stand by. Complaints r.e. duration or outcome should be directed to the head judge.


His name is Daryl. Best time to communicate is AFTER lunch.

It's Catching

Good Friday can be so depressing. So take a look at this and just try not to laugh. Seriously.



Speaking of giggles...look who else is on YouTube!



(Today's post was an exercise in YouTube-ness)

More Easter Irreverence

Thanks, Lenore.

For Ryan

Also, here is a unique illustration of passover...with peeps.

Spring is in the Air!

Well, sort of. It's actually supposed to snow this week, but I won't let that stop me from buying tulips, as evidenced by my refrigerator-magnet vase from Lyla.

Plus, it's time for another contest! In keeping with Easter, this round's potholder prize is reminiscent of jelly beans.


And to win it, you must send me a digital photo of your freshly dyed Easter eggs. Entries will be judged on photo composition, creativity and colors. If there's a tie, then whoever sent theirs first gets the extra point. Are you up to the challenge?

Under other business, the three-day editor’s conference I went to in Chicago was OK – not entirely relevant, but I wasn’t expecting it to be. Mostly, I just wanted to get out of the office and do something different for a few days. While events like this are usually refreshing, and it’s fun to meet new people, I usually come away feeling wistful because everyone else’s job seems so much cooler and more fulfilling than mine. Also, my mind wanders too easily to things like people’s odd choice of attire, how many *&%#! cell phones have to ring before people think to put theirs on vibrate, and whether there’ll be good snacks during the break. Snacks were so-so, but the Marriott did have very good coffee, and their tea selection included these cute little jars of honey, several of which I pilfered. It’s the gypsy in my soul.



Also, the beds were to die for. I am in the process of researching these fantastic mattress toppers to see if I can buy one. ‘Course, if I do, I may never get out of bed again…

I do need to comment on the elevators, because there is something seriously wrong with the whole elevator concept in Chicago high rises. Holy crap, I can’t believe how much time we wasted standing around waiting for elevators. It was even more irksome than suburbia’s stop lights. Normally I’d just take the stairs, but not 34 floors, and, ya know, the knee thing is still an issue.

Does anyone know why the military is banning big tattoos?


More houndstooth potholders and some colorful ones I forgot to post last week. Maybe these will be runner-up prizes, you just never know.

Whooo II

My digital pictures turned out better than the 35 mm, so I thought I'd post a couple more. The adult owl shot is taken through the spotting scope, so it looks a little funky, but I love the expression on the owl's face. I'm just going to replace the baby owl shot below, and then I couldn't resist including the severed leg. It's the circle of life, people! Scroll down to the prior post to see the new images.

Whoooo?

Lenore and I took a road trip south to lovely Geneva, IL because we heard some great horned owls were nesting at the courthouse again. Geneva is also home to the unique and somewhat she-she shop, The Little Traveler, where we dropped a few bucks, and a great German bakery, which we visited not once, but twice during our expotition.



Here are the two babies



Two people from the Audubon Society also had their spotting scopes set up and were letting people take a peek, which was very neat.

The Audubon lady thought the adult owl near the roof was probably the male parent -- both mom and dad owl get involved in the rearing thing. We're told mom was likely somewhere else on the roof keeping watch as well. We know they're hunting for the kids, because we found a freshly severed rabbit leg under the tree. Ahh nature.



Here are a couple of pictures from the mystery roll of film that was in my camera.