A time during which I maintained my blog

See that soup up there? I'll tell you how to make it later on :)

Well here I am, doing a peachy job of maintaining my blog in the new year. What is this... three blog posts since New Years? I seem to do a pretty good job updating my blog when I put my mind to it. That is usually around the start of the year and when something exciting is going on in my life (unless it was 2008 in which case I seemed to have caught blogging fever). That also seems to be the pattern I have in keeping up to date with my far away friends.

It's sad.

I should fix that.

And since talking about blogging isn't nearly as exciting to the reader (or the author) as writing about something deep and introspective, I'll depart from my opening words and embark on a more interesting topic.

The first few days back to the office after an extended vacation (17 days to be exact) are never very easy. Mentally you are ready to head back, but physically, your body is ready for a nap at 11:28AM and then another one after a big, lazy lunch and a movie around 3:21PM. Back in the office, though, you might find yourself in important meetings or water cooler discussions around those times and a nap just doesn't cut it (at least, not in this country). On top of some long, napless days, you go home to a house void of all Christmas cheer. The decorations have been taken down, your baked Christmas goodies are getting stale, and the money you spent on Christmas is being replaced with a strategic plan that involves eating at home, every night, and on a budget.

Things look bleak right about now...

... unless you've found a hidden burst of creativity that you didn't use up preparing for the holidays.

While lounging about this past weekend, I worked very hard to make available some easy to grab activities and tasty, new menus for dinners. If my evenings are filled with new kitchen adventures followed by a game of solitaire with an REAL LIVE deck of cards, perhaps I have something to look forward to (why solitaire? Well, it's mindless... sometimes you need mindless in a day, don't you judge me. And why with a real deck of cards? Because it hurts my eyes less than my phone or computer screen).

Humor me for a minute. I adore cooking. I'm pretty good at it but long days at work coupled with exhausting brain things filling my head all day can lead to cop out meals. These are meals I know how to make without a recipe and that I know will be liked by all parties involved in the noshing process. My go to meals rotate between alfredo sauce on any kind of pasta that suits my fancy that day (sometimes I kick it up a notch and do a cajun chicken alfredo, but it's still alfredo), various types of enchiladas (I can make any freezer mystery meat into a killer pan of those Tex-Mex favorites), curry split pea soup, curry chicken pot pie, mushroom/sausage/pumpkin soup and... well... sometimes spaghetti and sometimes chili (although I'm not a fan of either but they are easy so we eat them). There you have it. If I'm going to cook at home, it's usually one of those things.

This can easily lead to thoughts of budget suicide (i.e., running to Cable Car Pizza for $30 worth of gourmet pizza or heading to China Cafe because it's familiar and they know you are the lady who likes extra sauce with her egg foo young). Foods that used to be tasty and exciting seem, quite honestly, upsetting to the stomach. Changes were inevitable if I was going to be able to maintain some form of a happy home that smells delicious every night.

Thankfully, I'm the proud owner of about 147 food related or recipe filled magazines from the past few years. Between Martha Stewart Living, Every Day Food (also Martha Stewart), and Everyday with Rachel Ray, I surely had a few good recipes to try out. It only took 20 minutes, but I was able to find 2 weeks worth of items to make in just three magazines. I'm happy to report that every single one I've prepared so far have been killer good.

Okay, so I've only made 3 so far, but things are looking up!

Now, all of this to say, I'm thinking that a weekly post to share one or two of my favorite recipes tried over the past week is surely in the cards. To kick things off, I bring you last night's Chicken Tortilla Soup - pictured above. The base recipe is from Everyday Food (the Jan/Feb 2012 issue) but I took a lot of creative liberties when cooking this 'cause that's what I do best.

5 cups chicken broth (I bought a box which had 4 and made a 5th out of bouillon and the hot water I poached the chicken in, I'm sure this made it better)
10 chicken tenders
most of a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes (no salt added)
tablespoon of tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
chili powder (a lot... I didn't measure)
corn tortillas
olive oil
salt
pepper
avocado
cilantro
lime wedges
Mexican or Spanish rice of your choice (I make my own with white rice, a can of rotel, salt and cumin)
Shredded Mexican cheese (or cotija if you have cooler grocery stores than I do)

Poach the chicken until done, shred when cool enough to touch with out cursing
Heat oven to 350, cut desired amount of tortillas into strips (I used 3 for 2 bowls of soup), toss with a bit of olive oil (enough to coat very lightly), season with salt and chili powder, then spread on baking sheet and cook until crisp - turning once.
Cook your rice however you want to cook it (boxed rices comes with their own instructions, I don't need to put them here)
Cook garlic in a large soup pot with some olive oil until fragrant (a few minutes)
Add diced tomatoes in juice, tomato paste and chili powder (however much you want) and cook until liquid is almost gone.
Add all chicken broth.
Bring to a boil, salt and pepper to taste.
Meanwhile, DON'T FORGET ABOUT YOUR TORTILLA STRIPS (burning them is sad)

Place a scoop of rice in each bowl
top with some shredded chicken
top with a sprinkle of shredded cheese
slice avocado and set on top of the cheese
pour some of the soup into the bowl
top with cilantro and tortilla strips
then squeeze the heck out of a lime wedge over the top of the soup (you'll thank me later)

don't throw away the squeezed lime... put that bad boy down in some water, or tea, and pretend you're in Mexico. Better yet, make a margarita and dream of beach side restaurants in Cozumel. I did.

Serves 4 - don't be a pig, save the leftovers for lunch, unless you're starving. In that case, go ahead and be a pig.

Enjoy!

In which I REALLY see the light

After many hours of playing with my new light box, I have come up with a series of pictures with this look:I think that's it! I think Idyllhands has a new look. I purchased the fabric in the background to make pillow cases out of... but I can buy more. I think the combination of the yellow McCoy pottery against the green and white of the background is fabulous. And the small book underneath mellows it all out and provides an anchor. Soooo.... what do you think?

Everything is on sale!

I'm feeling like Idyll Hands, my first love, needs a fresh new face. I've had the jewelry shop open on Etsy since September of 2007 and while changes have happened (branding, photography skills, style), it has not undergone a major change... ever. I've decided to shut the shop town temporarily, while I put some thought into what I want Idyll Hands to look like and offer.

Before shutting it down for a grand remodel, I thought perhaps a sale was in order. I haven't had a proper sale in the shop since July and it's about time. So if you're a fan of jewelry, or know someone who is, head over to IdyllHands and check out the sale details. I promise it's a great deal!

Go shop here!

Afternoon

There was something about the way the sun shone into the windows today that created a sort of calm on the west side of the house. The beams of light that were cast across my office and fiber studio warmed me to my toes. It was the perfect afternoon after spending the morning at the Farmer's Market (freezing, I might add). It's days like this that really should never end. The leaves falling outside my windows are vibrant shades of gold, orange and red. The call of autumn birds provided a nice background to the sounds of autumn. The Schmoo cat napped on the corner of the guest bed while flecks of dust playfully floated in the sunlight. The scene left me feeling completely at peace with things... everything.

There was just something about the sun shining into the windows.

It inspired me to card up and label 54 mini batts of fiber for the November Phat Fiber Box. That is a powerful thing as I usually dread the labeling part and put that off until the absolute, last minute. But today was different. Today I'm left proud of my samples, completely happy with the outcome, and looking forward to shipping them off to Phat Fiber Headquarters.

There was just something about that sun shining through the window into the mounds of fiber (seen above). You can't even help but feel comfortable just looking at it.

A Finished Object

Remember that yarn I gushed over a while back (see here if you don't), well, I finally found a project worthy of this yarn. I looked and looked for something I'd wear... a lot. I love hats, but don't often wear them as I find myself trying to keep my hair looking nice for work. So a hat was out. Mittens or fingerless gloves were the same way... I like them but don't wear them enough. I wanted this yarn to get knit into something I'd grab almost everyday on my way to work. Well, almost every cold day.

I found a pattern on Ravelry for a "Wham Bam Thank You Lamb" cowl. It was a free pattern, always a plus, I could do it in one evening, again, a plus, and it used chunky yarn, not only a plus but a requirement. I read over the pattern, cast on my stitches and a little over an hour later I had the masterpiece you see above (please excuse my old DMB concert t-shirt, I don't dress up for knitting hour in front of my tv). I'm so excited with how it turned out and with how it features my yarn.

And for all of you shoppers out there at the Fayetteville Farmers Market who pick up skein after skein of yarn and ask "what do you do with 100 yards of yarn" well, this is one project.

Things that go bump in the night

A few posts ago I announced that I'd be hosing my first SAL (spin-a-long) for Woolyhands. The turnout has been great and I can't wait until the spooky batts make it to their new homes and the creations get posted to my Flickr group. The add ins are a lot of fun and these colors just scream halloween. I thought I'd give you all a sneak preview of each batt and the description that went along with it. They are listed in order from top to bottom in the picture above.

“The Count’s Revenge”

It’s been a year since you escaped the dark woods slightly shaken but unharmed. You’ve almost put that trip to the mountains of Transylvania out of your mind. However, that rustle you hear outside your bedroom window on the darkest of nights is not caused by the breeze, rest assured, The Count is out for his revenge and waits patiently for sleep to fall upon you.

“Witches’ Brew”

You spy a light in the woods, a gathering of voices so screechy they send chills down your spine… “eye of newt… the blood of a frog”? What’s that smell coming from the gathering? Is that brew they are creating meant for you? You try to scream and run away, but you realize, they had expected you’d do that and the spell has already begun…

“Ghostly Whisper”
We’ve all heard it, late a night, a sound from behind you… a whisper of something so chilling, yet from an unfamiliar voice… looking around you hope it came from someone in the room and you realize, as a chill creeps down your spin, that you are alone.

Where did that Ghostly Whisper come from?

“HOBGOBLIN”

Something startles you from your sleep and you wake up to a pitch black room. Not even the dim light from a distant moon lights your view enough to see what caused your rising. Another bump in the night sends a shiver creeping down your spine and you remember a legend you heard as a child about hobgoblins that find homes under your bed and you pull your covers closer…

So Organized

My mom had a wooden architect table at her house that she used for beading. I loved it since she found it at a garage sale and it was one of those pieces that you wished you would have spied first so you could have claimed it.

My siblings and I have started the daunting process to figure out what we want to keep of hers and what we'd love to keep, but don't have room for. That table is on my list. No one else has mentioned it yet and I'm really crossing my fingers hard that no one does. I think it would be the perfect table to use in my wool studio as a carding station. It's the perfect height and it is sturdy enough not to walk around the room as I card wool like my current table (a folding table from Sam's Club that I use for Farmers Market) does.

Before I cant even beg my siblings to let me have it, I needed to make sure it would even fit in the space. So this afternoon was "Project: Make Room for the Table". As you can see by the before photo: and after photo: the table will fit perfectly and it really cleans up the space to add another piece of furniture to the mix. Funny how that happens.

I wish I'd get the same bug about cleaning as I do about organizing my crafty areas.

Halloween Spin-a-Long

Raise your hand if you like Halloween?

And raise your hand if you like spinning wool?

Now raise your hand if you are a fan of a good, old fashion SAL (Spin-a-Long)???

I'm sure many of you have your hand up if not for all of these, at least for one of these. I have started my very first SAL over at Woolyhands. This Halloween themed spin-a-long will feature some goolishly fun batts in a mix of fibers with some spooky add ins for those who love to spin art yarns. I've had so much fun carding up some various batts and I can't wait to send them out to the participants at the end of this month.

If you've never participated in an SAL, now is your chance. Don't know what an SAL is? Well, you're in luck because I'll let you in on the secret. SALs (or spin-a-longs) are just a chance for a bunch of spinners to all spin either the same batt or a selection of themed batts (which mine will be) into yarn and show them off in a forum of some sort. The fun part about mine is that everyone who posts a finished yarn over at my Flickr group will be entered into a drawing for some surprise spinning fibers. This couldn't be more fun!

I've been wanting to do this for a few months. I participated in an SAL over the summer and absolutely had a blast. Now that I've had a bit of time to devote to my piles of wool, I decided it was time to host this. I just can't wait to see what people spin up with their Woolyhands Halloween Spin-a-Long Batts!

Plumbing - just add it to my resume

Living in old houses comes with advantages and disadvantages. I could list advantages all day (claw foot tubs, high floor boards, built in telephone shelves, doors with skeleton key holes, etc) but in turn, I could also list disadvantages all day (hot spots in the summer, cold spots in the winter, cracked windows, scary electrical outlets, scary basement furnaces, etc).

My washing machine was replaced last week as the old one was doing some crazy things. However, with the replacement came a fountain of water every time the thing would drain. Water would spew out all over as the drain wasn't draining. It was fun for a few loads, but the charm quickly wore off.

A call to my landlord ended with me being quite upset. A clogged drain was apparently my fault and it would be up to me to call a plumber to come fix it. I'm pretty sure that I had only been washing clothes (mostly cotton) since moving here and unless the cat was taking a bath in the washing machine, I couldn't figure out why my drain was all of a sudden clogged. I am also not sure why the landlord didn't want to take a look at it since it started immediately after having a new machine installed. Many, many things confuse me about the landlords in Arkansas, I'll add this to my list.

I'll be darned if I have to pay a plumber to show me his backside while bending over to fix the drain, so I decided to add plumber to the list of things I dabble in for fun and I headed to the basement with a flashlight and untwisted wire hanger. After digging around in the drain for about 10 minutes, I had pulled out a good pile of rusted metal shards and bits of sandy clumps. No hair, no fuzz, no folded up notes that had been left in pockets (not even any money - darn).

Now, I'm hard pressed to say that my laundry created rusted, metal shards and clumps of sand in the washing machine drain. As you can see by the picture above, those drains are old and skanky - I think they did it to themselves. Shall I bill my landlord?

Wish List

There was much discussion going on between some Fiberistas on Twitter yesterday about spinning wheels. One of my favorite fiberistas, Cloudlover, made a big announcement that she just purchased a Lendrum DT complete (DT stands for double treadle and complete means it comes with all of the fabu stuff you need for big HUGE bobbins of art yarn).

Normally I just congratulate the fiber artist on their new baby and am done with it. However, this announcement came one day after a fairly frustrating evening of trying to get a bulky, plied yarn spun up. It almost ended with my throwing my wheel out of my house into my front yard. Don't get me wrong, I love my spinning wheel, but I'm thinking it's just not cut out for the HUMONGOUS art yarns that I would love to do more of... and would do more of if I didn't lose hair over the whole ordeal.

So, now I have something to save up for. I must also own a Lendrum DT complete. I'm not sure how long it will take me to save up for it... I do have to restock my merino supply soon, but after that I'll save up for a new wheel.

And if you are wondering if I'm going to sell my other wheel - I'm not sure yet. It was my first wheel and I really like it for almost every yarn I do... just not for super bulky, heavy, art yarns. Oh, and if you are wondering if I'm going to sell my other, other wheel (the super duper Craigslist find) I doubt it... unless I need that money for the new wheel... then I might be persuaded to part with it. I just can't be a three wheel lady, that sounds a bit crazy.

Big Return... I hope

I do believe I am done watching tv and am ready to get back to making things. I've been carding wool like it's going out of style for the past few days and have come up with quite a few new lovelies. However, I'm running out of room to store them all - SO - as a welcome back to crafting event for Woolyhands, I'm offering a free surprise batt with every batt or roving purchase. That means, if you purchase three braids of roving, you get three surprise batts. See my shop for details.

I'm not sure how long this special will last... I suppose until I'm tired making surprise batts!

I'm a bit in disbelief that July is very close to being over. As much as I love what summer brings (longer days, tomatoes, other veggies, herbs) I'm not so sure I'm a huge fan of the heat. However, It seems like summer just began the other day and it worries me that time is flying by like it is. I want things to slow down, I want to just relax and enjoy. Instead of trying to figure out where in the heck last week went. Perhaps I need to take some vacation days from work and actually go somewhere. Suggestions anyone? And be realistic, I live in NWArkansas and would need to get there by car.

Well, my drum carder is calling my name so I'm off to play with wool.

It's a SALE!

The Etsy Supply Street Team (ESST) is hosting this year's Etsy YART Sale. I participated last year when it was brand new. I'm glad it's being done again because it worked out quite well for me and I hope for the people that scored some killer bargains from me.

The sale will start tomorrow (Wednesday) and go through Sunday evening at 12PM Central or whenever I wake up on Monday and turn off the sale. I'll have YART Sale sections in both Idyllhands and Woolyhands and also be sending a free gifty with each purchase. I might do some other "one day" sales throughout the week - we'll see how I feel.

Oh, there are some other Arkansas artists participating for those of you who like to shop local. You can view the list of participants here: AREtsy Blog.

So come on down and do some shopping - I promise you'll save some BIG dollar signs.

I blame Hobbledehoy

During the holiday season of 2007, I noticed a shop on Etsy selling the most BEAUTIFUL bits of wool. That was the first time I laid eyes on the batts that Hobbledehoy creates. I didn't spin yet but wanted to learn, so I asked for a drop spindle for Christmas.

In January I purchased Drunken Sailor - my first Hobbledehoy batt. It was the beginning of a fiber addiction. I held on to that batt for days, weeks months and then a year. That batt was my first fiber love - I had to hold on to it for something special. I had to wait until I knew EXACTLY what it wanted to be.

Last night, it spoke to me. It wanted to be a super chunky, way funky, plied yarn. So out it came, I spun it up pretty thick (for my standards) and plied the heck out of it. I fell in love with it all over again. I don't know what it is going to be yet, but that will come to me... in time.

A New Toy

If I seem preoccupied for the next few days, it's because I brought home a new baby yesterday. While browsing through Craigslist, I found a spinning wheel for sale. After some research and lots of help from people on Ravelry, I found it was a Mathieson wheel from New Zealand. It came over to NWArkansas by way of Ebay a few years ago, and lucky me, the owner just never got into spinning.

So now it's mine.

I did some work on it last night, spun some yarn, gave it lots of hugs, and I absolutely love it. It spins VERY well and although it won't hold as much yarn as my other wheel, I'll still get a lot of use out of it. I already have this skein of yarn to show off - spun up from some luscious fiber from Hobbledehoy.

Not the Big Stink

Is it possible to think that washing wool could be my next fiber addiction? I started out last night with foul smelling, bland looking wool and this evening, fabulous, gorgeous wool that smells quite nice (I pick out the good soaps). I keep fondling it - it's so smooth... so soft... so wonderful!

Oh, and this comes from Icelandic Sheep raised locally at Bloomin' Acres Farm.

In case you don't already know, unwashed wool/fleece smells like poop. Yup, like poop. Unfortunately, sheep are not animals who pay close attention to their bathing habits and hopefully good things will come from having to put up with the big stink while washing this stuff.

Okay, perhaps I'm being a bit unfair. It's not like I walk into the room it's sitting in right now and I smell it. I have to get right up to it to catch a sniff of that unfortunate smell, but it's still bad.

Last night I was reminded of the fact that I have 1 pound of fleece sitting in a bag just waiting to be washed up and then spun. It's a lovely brownish/grayish mix from a local farm (Bloomin' Acres Farm) and I'm not sure what has taken me so long to finally get around to doing something with it. Perhaps washing sounded so daunting. It really sounds like a bit of task - wash it twice, rinse it twice, wash it some more if needed... it didn't really sound like something I wanted to start until I was good and ready. Well, I was never going to be ready - so I chose tonight.

It's currently hanging out in its second bath and so far, so good.

Oh, and the above picture is the before the bath picture. Hopefully you could tell by looking at it.

Piles upon piles

I feel surrounded by jewelry, chain, wire and beads this week. I've been doing nothing but making necklaces, earrings and knit wire bracelets since Sunday night (and yes, in that order). As far as necklaces and earrings go, I have multiples of everything in almost every color. Bracelets aren't as simple since they really are all one of a kind. I have a few that are made from the same bead combination, but the rest are very one of a kind. I struggle a bit with the bracelets. What if one color combination is very popular and I only have one? What if none of them are a hit? What if, what if, what if? :) I'm sure everything will be just fine come Saturday morning when I'm all out of time for creating and I'm setting up my booth.

Warm spring (or maybe it's a mild summer) weather finally got here. It's been up near 80 for the past two days. It's odd how quickly it warmed up. I still have that herb garden to plant and I really think Sunday is the day! I've been doing a lot of cooking the past couple of weeks and cannot wait for fresh herbs from my front garden instead of dried ones from the store. I also can't wait for the prime picture taking opportunities that come from having your own garden.

Speaking of garden - I've got some crazy hosta action going on outside. I brought in a collection of them when I moved here. I planted them all over as there weren't any here as it was. Well, it seems there must have been but they had been hiding because this year I have a plethora of hostas all over the place. I even have one spot that has three varieties growing - not sure how that happened, I only planted on there. I won't complain about bonus hostas, I love them so, but goodness, there are a lot.

Well, the Sweet Boy is on his way back with some fast food action (don't judge me, sometimes fast food is in order when you need time to blog instead of cook) so I'm off to enjoy.

List? What List?

Well, I didn't quite get to everything on my list but that's kind of how it's supposed to go... right? I did get the custom order finished and baked bread. Hmmm - 2 out of 6 isn't too bad.

Okay - it's horrible. Oh well, I'm not bothered by it. I'll get to the other things at some point.

I've been invited to participate in the NWA Boutique Sale taking place on Satuday. I got the invitation tonight (it's Sunday, mind you) so while I don't show it, I'm kind of freaked out by the lack of time I have. Thankfully I keep my jewelry stock up for such an occasion but it's not organized, it's not labeled, it's not on hang tags... it's just not ready! It will be, but I still think I need to freak out just a bit.

One thing is for certain, I am not going to let this last minute show get in the way of my Yarn Everyday challenge - I will push through and spin each day this week. If I don't, I might not come up with lovely yarns like the one you see above.

I hear the dryer buzzing at my from the basement. Until next time...

Little accomplishments along the way

As I've mentioned a few times, I'm participating in a challenge to spin everyday in April. It's day 15 now and I've hung in there. I believe I talked about how this challenge would allow me to spin for myself along the way. I am happy to say that just in 15 days, spinning for myself has allowed me to try a few different things with my yarn. I attempted some slubs (although they might be the messiest ones out there) out of my own dyed roving and bits of wool from the Phat Fiber box...then some beehives on a super textured, plied yarn spun from some gorgeous roving from Cloudlover...And tonight I tried my hand at corespinning from some cheapo acrylic yarn as the base and a lovely Hobbledehoy batt (one of her Galaxy batts)...I'm beaming from what I've accomplished so far. I can't imagine I would have tried these out this month if it were not for this challenge. Oh, I would have eventually tried them out, but certainly not in April... and probably not in May... even June might be stretching it a bit.

This corespinning (all 51 yards of it) has worn me out. I'm going to go plop down and watch some Ghost Hunters. Goodnight!

Edit: Hey everyone - do fibery posts make you super happy? They make me happy! If you're like me, then go over to the Fiber Arts Friday listing and check out all kinds of fibery blog posts, you wont' be sorry.

It's taxing

HEY YOU!

Did you get your taxes done? It's April 15, I do hope you took care of that. If you did, or even if you didn't, come over to IdyllHands or Woolyhands and enjoy free shipping on any and all of your purchases today! I'll refund your shipping via Paypal. So go pre-spend that return or drown the sorrows of owing money with some new gifties just for you.