So far, this has not been one of my better weeks. Like on Monday, when I showed up for a client meeting downtown at 11am, instead of 2pm. Right! I forgot we had switched the time, and I even had it written correctly on my ical (I just forgot to double check). Luckily she was able to meet with me anyway. And on the way to this particular meeting, while I was stopped at a red light, a strange, very scary looking man stepped out of nowhere and attacked my car… with a windshield washer. I was all “No don’t!” but he ignored me and scrubbed and squeegeed my windshield (which was already clean, mind you) against my will. But then I felt bad for this guy, just trying to make a living on the street, so I gave him a dollar worth of quarters that I was going to use to pay for street parking. And he actually finished in exactly the time it took for the light to change to green. I guess that counts as honest work right? Better than begging on the street corners?

Then there was the time where I thought I was being so good and only helped myself to half of an ice cream cookie sandwich from the freezer. Yep, I cut that cookie sandwich in half, ate my half happily, and then was asked later by my husband (once it was too late, of course) why I left the entire box of ice cream sitting on the counter to melt. Why? Why did I do this?

Anyway, I could go on about my ridiculous mistakes this week. Truly. But today it is actually sunny and warm for a change, and I can only hope that maybe some much needed sunshine can unfreeze my rusty mind gears and put me back to rights again.

There have been times where I just happen to buy, borrow, or be given just the right book at the just the right time when I’d enjoy it most. This time, the book is called Eat Pray Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert.

I haven’t been doing much reading lately, mostly because I’ve been getting headaches before barely finishing a chapter. Pretty annoying for someone who loves to read as much as I do. Instead, using a credit generously given by my father-in-law, my husband downloaded the book for me from Audibles.com. Thanks to the ipod, now I can just sit (or lay) listening as the story unfolds, as the author’s voice transports me to Italy, and soon to India, and later to Indonesia.

I guess I should clarify my first paragraph a little, too. I have found this book to be very interesting so far, but not because I have any desire to divorce my husband, or because I want to put off having children (as the author writes). But because I am curious about her search, and her travels. In chapter nine, she notes “My truth was exactly as I told the medicine man in Bali – I wanted to experience both. I wanted worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence – the dual glories of a human life. I wanted what the Greeks called kalos kai agathos, the singular balance of the good and the beautiful.”

I found this idea to be so profound. Because in a way, that is what we all want to some extent (or maybe I’m just speaking for myself here) - to enjoy the pleasures of the world (a life full of good food, true love, travels, enriching experiences and happiness) and yet to also be enlightened, to have an understanding (religious or otherwise) but without giving up everything, to not have to be a beggar, or a monk, or to give up all our worldly possessions. I think we’d all like to achieve that sort of balance in our lives.

Ah, spring. You are so welcome at my house.

This weekend we had almost three days of sunny, 70 degree weather, and we’re seeing all kinds of growth in the garden. Here are some pics of what’s blooming now:

This weekend we went to our favorite nursery, Farmington Gardens, for plants to fill our annual containers. I’ve mentioned this before, but David and I have really different plant preferences. He likes what I call “dainty” flowers, ones that often comes in small clusters, have whispy stems, and are most likely pink or purple. I like showy flowers, the bigger the better. I also favor rich colors or unusual combinations. Here is how our container choices reflect our particular styles.

To the three containers on the sunny side of the deck, David chose purple blue bird nemesia, garnet twinspur, pink fuschia, and a green potato vine for the outside pots, and pink diascia for the center pot (to go with the overwintered dracena and silverdust). The effect is somewhat “country cottage”, and a far cry from my husband’s usual modern taste.

On the more shady back part of the deck is another container. Flowering plants usually don’t do very well in this area, so I chose some foliage plants, too - wine-colored coleus, heliotrope (it’s purple flowers smell like vanilla), silvery helichrysum, a white begonia (blooms even in mostly shade) and a lemon licorice to brighten the palette. David says it looks very masculine, and I suppose it does.

Luckily, there is room in the garden for both of us.

David and I returned on Monday from a 10-day trip to see my parents and sister in the Washington, DC/Northern Virginia area. We didn’t do as much during this visit as I have in the past, and sadly I hardly took any pictures, even though I meant to.

Mostly we just hung out, eating my mom’s delicious meals and chatting with my dad. David helped around the house, fixing a lamp, laying insulation above the remodeled bathroom, replacing lightbulbs, mowing the lawn. He also helped me go through countless boxes in my parents’ attic of junk I forgot I ever owned - mugs and glassware, books, old magazines, clothes, and other miscellaneous from my past lives. By the end the curb was littered with trash bags, not including the carload we took to Goodwill. Everything I decided to keep (photos, yearbooks, costume jewelry, awards, etc.) fit into a single plastic bin which we replaced in the attic.

There were a few very interesting finds, like my old jewelry box with several pieces of valuables, my old My Little Pony Stable and dolls, and an almost complete (now vintage) Fisher Price Farm and Silo set still in it’s original box. For some reason we had two barns, but only a few duplicate animals. We also found a less well kept Fisher Price Hospital and my old warming plate from when I was a baby, complete with tiny remnants of my last meal. That was really cool. The only thing missing was the sippy cup.

We did go on a couple outings, including a visit to the nearby Woodlawn Plantation, a gift from George Washington to “Nelly” Custis, granddaughter of Martha Washington, and her husband, Major Lawrence Lewis. Washington hired William Thornton, the first architect of the US Capitol, to design the house and provided 2000 acres from his Mount Vernon estate. But the real reason I wanted to visit was because Frank Lloyd Wright’s Pope-Leighey House is now located on the same grounds. I think it was moved here in 1964, from its original location, because it was scheduled to be torn down to make way for the Route 66 Interstate. It was definitely the smallest FLW Usonian I have ever toured, at about 1200 square feet, but its design and layout were unmistakeable.

Other outings included a fun evening playing miniature golf with David and Dad, where we each scored a hole-in-one (on different greens) and then enjoyed frozen custard from the Frozen Dairy Bar, where we used to stop as kids. We also took a trip into DC with Mom where we perused the fancy jewels (Hope Diamond, anyone?) and other famous rocks and gems at the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum. Afterwards we strolled along a gorgeous public garden (I don’t remember the name), and now we’re really looking forward to working on our own garden, now that we’ve returned.

I recently made these burp cloths using this handy tutorial. I wanted to add a handmade element to some of the other items I bought from Marcy’s registry for her baby shower. I made half with dog park blue (which seemed very appropriate considering our dogs are best friends) and half with full moon polka dots.

Only a few more weeks until we all get to meet their new baby boy. Very exciting!

Speaking of random, I thought this photo would be suitable here. It is only a portion of a sea of shopping carts all stacked together one morning on a visit to Ikea. This was as many as I could fit in my camera frame, but there were lots more.

Well, I’ve been tagged by Pina to share 7 random things about myself. I think its been long enough since the last one, so I’ll give it a try. I find these pretty hard to do, partially because I don’t want to repeat myself (which I’m sure I’ll do anyway) and partially because I have a hard time coming up with anything very interesting. But anyway, here goes…

1. I am so bad at remembering to water the household plants. I have a small potted gardenia on the window sill by my computer and I won’t notice how badly it needs water until it becomes so wilted and sad that I’ll think I’ve killed it this time for sure. But somehow, it always perks back up almost good as new (except for the handful of inevitable brown and yellow leaves).

2. My favorite kinds of flowers are happy and showy, usually richly colored with one main bloom per stalk - like dahlias, gerbera daisies, ranunculas, and the like. The very opposite of my husband who likes dainty little flowers that come in tiny sprays or clusters.

3. I love chocolate milkshakes. Even better are chocolate malts. There was a time where I absolutely could not leave a restaurant without ordering a chocolate malt if it was on the menu, even if I wasn’t really hungry. My current favorite shake is from a nearby chocolatier called Moonstruck who makes an amazing Chocolate Old Fashioned, complete with a dark chocolate coin garnishing the top of the whipped cream. Delicious!

4.I am 5′ 3″. It used to really bother me when I was a kid, but now I never think about it. I come from a very short family. My mom is 5′ and my dad is 5′4″. I’m not sure about my sister, but I think she is somewhere around 4′ 10″.

5. I do not like to exercise, although I enjoy walking. Actually, its not that I don’t like to exercise, but I find going to the gym boring and I’m not good at motivating myself to do things that I like more, like riding my bike, especially when its so cold outside.

6. I still have problems telling left from right, too. I still make the “L” shapes with my thumb and index finger of each hand and look down to see which actually makes a true “L” for “Left.”

7. My first real pet (as in, given to me by my parents, not found in the backyard or caught in a stream somewhere) was a hamster. I named her Lady, and she was a pale golden beige with white on her chest. I could watch her for hours. My favorite was when she’d clean her face and fur with her dainty little paws.

Wow, I actually thought of 7. Whew! Forgive me, but I’m not going to tag anyone else, for now, but I’ll send out a random tag to anyone who is interested in sharing. I’ll certainly be interested in reading, so let me know!

David and I have been making totes lately. That’s right, David is sewing now, too! We were at New Seasons and saw a batch of simple, unlined totes for sale made from Ikea fabric and David asked me to teach him how to make them.

For his first two totes, he decided to recycle an old Pottery Barn curtain panel from our fabric stash. I walked him through cutting for size and inseam, and a few other basics like threading the bobbin, back-stitching, squaring the bottom and making french seams to keep the inside neat-looking and strong. Actually, David kind of knew how to sew long before me, because I remember him making large curtains for one of our first apartments back in the mid 1990s. However, this was a machine he hadn’t used before. He was a fast learner, and doesn’t get hung up and fussy about details like I do.

After making the bags, he then screen-printed one with an image of a bird. Didn’t it turn out great? I’m so proud!

And not to be completely outdone by my talented husband, here is a tote that I finished as well. I kind of made it up as I went along, which was not a good thing, in this case, because I think I would have made a couple different choices had I thought it through from the beginning. The outside is Ikea fabric (from the frederika collection) and the inside is Essex white linen cotton blend from Sew Mama Sew.

Today I made button earrings. A fast, fun, and affordable way to add new pieces to a jewelry collection. All you need are some buttons, glue and blank earring posts.

To keep the posts secure while working, I stuck them into small rectangles of foam for support. This also allows gravity to help secure the pieces after you apply a drop of glue and then position the button. I’m not a glue expert, so I just used Aleene’s Clear Gel Tacky Glue that I have on hand. Let them dry overnight and the next morning you’ll have brand new earrings to play with!

For packaging, I re-used one of the original paperbacks that a set of buttons came on, which then fits perfectly in an old altoids tin.

Correction: Aleene’s Tacky Glue did not work. After peeling off the residue I tried again with Instant Krazy Glue, which provided a much better (hopefully permanent) bond. I’d love to hear if anyone has any other glue suggestions.

Has it really been a week since I posted last? Sorry about that. One good reason was because I lost my camera. I tend to be such a visual person myself, that I guess I feel that my words are just not enough. I could not find that camera anywhere. David and I looked and looked. A little over a week ago, I finally got fed up with my messy desk and dumped everything into bags (to be sorted later), so I thought for sure that’s where I’d find it. But no. We looked in my purse, in the car, in the office, under the sofa cushions, in all my bags, everywhere we could think of. See what great shots I’d be missing?

Downy and adorable, huddling for warmth

Caught in the act of eating

Nap time for this little chick

Luckily, we still have our old digital camera. I’m so used to my newer camera that I found it harder to use, heavy and bulky. But I was able to get these adorable pics of Marcy and Alex’s new flock of chicks. Aren’t they so sweet? I think they said there were two Americanas, two Rhode Island Reds and two Australorps. We’d have chickens in a heart beat if it weren’t for our home owner’s association. I was entranced just watching them eat, then sleep, then eat again. There little chirp! chirp! sounds were especially innocent and endearing. They’ll be producing almost an egg a day in about 5 months.

The same day we got to see their new chicks, the weather went a little crazy. First it was sunny, then it would snow, then it would be sunny again and then it hailed! Big, gravel-sized balls of hail pounding everywhere and accumulating rapidly. Here are a couple pictures of that.

A shot with David’s shoes, for perspective

With a fresh-picked camellia blossom from M & A’s tree.

Lastly, I thought I should mention that David was the hero who finally found my camera. And guess where it was? In my purse. Where we BOTH had already looked, and which I carry around almost everywhere. Turns out it fell into the small zipper compartment that I hardly use. And David was all Are you sure it’s not in your purse? So he looked again and there it was. Safe and sound, right beneath my very nose the entire time.

Last week Marcy made brownies from scratch. I don’t know why, but that seemed like a foreign concept to me (though I was certainly impressed). Me, who loves to bake and is willing to make anything from scratch. Why hadn’t I ever tried it myself? Because my mom always made them from a mix? What a minute, she almost always baked from a mix. Or maybe because there are so many delicious mixes available (Trader Joe’s Truffle Brownie mix comes to mind) and it is so easy to keep a box or two in stock. I just don’t know. But I was inspired to try it myself a few days later. I had forgotten to get her recipe, but I did find this simple one. And although I didn’t add the full amount of flour, and had to cook them almost twice as long because of that (why can’t I just follow the directions like normal people?), they turned out marvelous. I also added a large handful of chocolate chips. Just like the chocolate cake recipe, the quality and color of the chocolate you use will affect the results. Mmm!

Happy Easter everyone! I’m sorry I’ve been such a blog slacker this week.

David and I had a pretty mellow day at home today. It was rainy and grey, so we mostly stayed in. This morning I made a special breakfast of Eggs Benedict and later we ate fresh from the oven Swedish cinnamon rolls from a package mix that I got the last time we were at Ikea. Very yum! Otherwise, we bought more dirt/compost to fill our new raised garden bed and went for a nice walk to our neighborhood lake with the dog. Pretty relaxing.

Earlier this week, I made my first artist trading cards for a swap. Actually, I wasn’t even sure what ATCs were, but from what I could glean from the good ‘ole internet, they can be whatever as long as they are (a mostly flat) 2.5 by 3.5 inches. This particular swap was for 2 pressed flower ATCs which gave me the perfect excuse to open my press from late last summer. Some real beauties in that batch. The background images are from an American Express booklet I found in our recycling bin, and I just added a couple lines of thread and hole punch dots. Will these count? I hope so.

So if you happened to read the previous post, I thought I’d mention that yesterday the Robin decided to transfer it’s affection to our neighbor’s car. But not for long. Yesterday evening it found it’s way back to our vehicle…again. This morning we’re watching it flutter on the car across the street. I’m telling you, this bird just won’t quit.