Thursday, April 26, 2007

phalaenopsis

phalaenopsis, full stem

phalaenopsis bud

phalaenopsis detail 2
one of the gifts we received for our housewarming was this beautiful orchid from my boss's wife(who is awesome). i am positive i will kill this thing within a month, as i have no idea at all how to take care of it. my friend emily walked in, and said--that's a lovely phalaenopsis! my reaction was more like--wha??? now that i know what kind of orchid i have, i have been reading all kinds of stuff online about orchid care, and trying to figure out how best not to kill it. how much water? how often? how much light? can i re-pot it out of its ugly green plastic pot while it's blooming? everything i read seems to say something different. emily offered some good advice from her parents, who turn out to be avid orchid-growers, but i will feel that i need more help. so, internet people, help me! if any of you guys know anything at all about these things, or if you can recommend a good book or a reliable website about orchid care, i would really appreciate it. i think this thing is lovely and peaceful, and it looks amazing with the greens in our kitchen and dining room. it's also VERY appropriate to project spectrum this month as well--i am trying something new! growing a pink and green plant. :)

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

creature comforts

this past weekend we had a housewarming party. and let me tell you, people--there is no better way to get your own ass in gear and unpack some boxes than to throw a party! we got the downstairs half of the house pretty well done before said soirette, and the upstairs is at least fit for humans, if not remotely complete. well--to be honest, you still can't walk in the studio, but hey--no one but me cares about the stuff in there anyway. well--maybe THK cares. and meredith. and the hippie, whose yarn is hidden among my own. but i digress...

the housewarming was (as demanded by our friends) a cocktail party. i made pineapple infused vodka with which i made a bunch of martinis, and they were a huge hit. (meredith and i have been known to drink a whole fifth of pineapple infused vodka in one sitting, so i can attest that they are not only easy, but also easy to drink. not that this was the only cocktail, but i like to feature something. y'all let me know if you need to know how to make 'em.) and here's the thing--i kind of forgot that people give you presents at housewarmings. i mean, i would definitely give a housewarming present, but i didn't really think about GETTING any. many people gave us wine, giftcards to stores where we need stuff, etc. and my friend sonya blew me away by giving us 6 soup bowls in my grandmother's china pattern AND a beautiful piece of art glass. WAY more generosity than i deserve. and yeah--there were many fabulous gifts, so i won't bore you by running through the whole list. BUT. i HAVE to share THESE:

family portrait
THK made us these sock creatures, and not only do i LOVE them, but i also think they look just awesome on the blue blue wall of our new giant bedroom. are they not the cutest things you've ever seen that don't meow or bark or have fur??? they are from a book called stupid sock creatures, and i think maybe i need to try making one myself. i am not sure i could rival these, though--they are just great. :)

all in all, it was a good party. i am SO GLAD it's over. and now i have the new weekend coming up, and i am torn between going home to see my mama, working on the house some more, and just sitting on my ass knitting for a whole weekend. what to do...

oh, and as an aside, meredith's posting again and she even has pictures of knitting! yay!

Friday, April 20, 2007

i like to fix things

so my friend meredith has apparently decided to quietly start updating her blog again, which pleases me. and she posted a quiz, i had to take myself to see what character from firefly i am. i LOVE firefly and am still depressed that it had only one season--i want MORE! anyway--here's my result:

You are Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic)
You are good at fixing things.
You are usually cheerful.
You appreciate being treated
with delicacy and specialness.

kaylee

Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic)
85%
Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command)
75%
Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic)
75%
Inara Serra (Companion)
70%
Derrial Book (Shepherd)
65%
Wash (Ship Pilot)
60%
Malcolm Reynolds (Captain)
55%
River (Stowaway)
35%
Alliance
30%
Jayne Cobb (Mercenary)
25%
A Reaver (Cannibal)
0%


Click here to take the Serenity Firefly Personality Test


oh, by the way, the hippie got the same result. coincidence?

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

maw-maw's china

i have been a busy girl, y'all. and who knows what all i have been doing--i have just been too busy to write, and that's all i can tell ya. the house is still full of boxes that appear to be multiplying as i unpack them. however, as of last night, i actually finally feel like i am starting to make a teeny tiny bit of headway, which is good, since we're having a giant housewarming party this weekend. whew! i will NOT be ready! but anyway. i am about to wax sentimental on you, so quit reading right now if you're not in the mood for that sort of thing.

china
a week or so ago, i had a pretty tremendous time when i unpacked my grandmother's china. now, my grandmother is living, but her mind is just gone, and she can't live on her own anymore. my parents and aunts and uncles agreed to move her into an assisted living community, which means everything in her house was divided as she had wished it to be and given to all the various relatives. i have a few things from her, all of which i love and cherish. but above all, i am still astounded to have this china, which she had always told me she would one day give to me. i admit i thought one of my aunts would keep it. but they didn't. they gave it to me.

i used to, every spring, go through the kitchen with my grandmother, wash everything in all the cabinets, and put it all back. and every spring, the china was my favorite part. this was a gift to her from a wonderful lady for whom my grandparents cared for and for whom they did many many selfless things over a long period of years--she gave it to my grandmother by way of thanks. and in turn, it had been a gift to her from someone further back in her own family. this pattern is so not me, and yet i just adore it for its history and its leagacy of kindness and for the memories it carries for me of my grandmother's kitchen.

when the hippie and i were in our apartment, there was nowhere for the china to live--it's been packed in boxes in the basement for literally years. it was one of the last things i found when we cleaned out the basement. and now, for the first time, it has a home. i took it out of it's boxes, washed every piece, and then put it away in my own cabinets. and i realized that this was the first time i had ever washed it without my grandmother right there by my side. and y'all, let me tell you that it was more than a little emotional. i missed my grandmother so much right then. and i know i will think of her every time i use it. i did use it for the first time on easter surrounded by friends and laughter--the Right Thing. maybe i will get around to finishing out the set someday. and hopefully one day i will be able to pass it on to someone who does me a kindness, too.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

green

green
green. second only to blue on the list of colors i love. that banana leaf in the top corner makes me want to buy all new oil paint and a new easel and breathe in the smell of turpentine like i haven't done in years and years. and i will, just as soon as i get the studio unpacked and set up. but in the more immediate future, i have the green sweater for kimmie's baby (the girl that is--the blue sweater in progress is for the boy) to start, a green blanket for a different baby to make by the end of may in this lovely pale grassy green yarn i bought a couple of weeks ago, and some green malabrigo still hanging around for a sweater for gabriella (if i can ever get around to it). green is a strange color for me to think about consciously including elsewhere, because it's implicitly everywhere! i am sure i will be using some green in any embroidering i do as well as in any of the botanical drawings i have floating around in the back of my head, and i use it pretty much every day in my cooking as well. not to mention how many rooms in my house (kitchen, dining room, guest room, laundry room, powder room...) are now painted green--the hippie, he loves green, too!

for the record, i will also be glad when this cold snap we are having goes away and lets all the plants get back to flowering and turning green.

Thursday, April 05, 2007

yellow

yellow
this collage may be my favorite one so far, which kind of surprises me. yellow is not usually my favorite, but this just looks so light and cheerful!

yellow projects i have in mind for the next couple of months? hmmmmm--i'm making another fluffy yellow baby blanket as we speak for a baby that's due at the end of april, but that's all i've got on the radar for the moment. i need to think about this one some more...

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

pink

pink
i am still into these collages you can make with flickr toys. it seems such a great way to get started with the new phase of project spectrum: looking at all the pictures i have taken over the last couple of years for some pink, green, and yellow inspiration.

pink projects i am thinking about? pink botanical drawings for my new olive green powder room--it's been way too mong since i have picked up my colored pencils; pink flowers embroidered on SOMETHING--REALLY want to learn some embroidery! a crocheted pink christmas tree skirt for my sparkly lime green office christmas tree--i have putting off the art of hooking for way too long, which is so stupid when i have a great teacher sitting at my table almost every sunday. all i gotta do is feed her!

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

lest you think it's all doom and gloom over here...

pink gerbera

flowers make everything better. meredith sent us these lovely gerbera daisies last week, and they are still looking fabulous on my kitchen counter. they are the bright and lovely oasis in the otherwise wildly disorganized house. and they give me hope that some day (hopefully soon!) the house will be worthy of them. i am making a little headway every day, and i know i will get there eventually. feng shui be damned--the house is starting to be lovely. the hippie's mother also sent us a beautiful rosemary plant, which is an amazingly thoughful gift. the hippie and i both ADORE rosemary! at the old apartment, we had this big gorgeous rosemary bush in the front yard, and i was so sad to leave it behind. this new beauty will live in its pot for the summer, and then i will plant it next to my front walk, where i am hopeful that it will thrive and grow and become part of our daily landscape. really, all stress aside, life is good, people. life is good.

ps--my camera battery remains dead as a doornail, so alas, there are no pictures of the rosemary to share. maybe someday, i will find the charger.

pps--as we have come into april, the colors of project spectrum have changed! we have moved away from blue, white, and grey into the springier combination of pink, green, and yellow. consider this pink flower to be my introduction to project spectrum, phase the second.
:)

is this throwng my feng shui out of whack?

cheer dark
so i am doing laundry at the new house this morning. and i have the new washer and dryer, which are now stacked, and i LOVE them in that way that a 50's housewife loves her applainces. so anyway--i have the clothes in, and i am washing the hippie's black stuff with the new detergent that i got that's specifically for black clothes, and i am kind of into it and all. and yet. the washer is making this loud clicking sound. and i have no idea if this is normal or not, and it seems like--how can that be normal? and how do i find out if it's normal or not? the thing is supposed to have a "quiet wash" package... do i ALREADY need a whirlpool repair guy? because i sure hope not! and if so, when the hell am i going to deal with that? and anyway, this CLICKING sound is messing with my laundry zen and kind of pissing me off. and i don't have any real point here, but i just felt like sharing. stupid laundry.