My Bit of Earth

Urban Homesteading

So, I started a new blog.  A local one.  It's on Lawrence.com and it's called Urban Homesteading.  

I don't really know why, but before I hit "post" for the first time over there, I had this horrible moment of insecurity.  "What if they don't like me?"  I whined to Sweet Husband.  He was unsympathetic, "The people on your blog like you just fine--get over it and post already."

So I did.  And now it's there, in amongst the much hipper blogs about pop culture and basketball and indie music.  I mean, what if my chicken-blogging gets poop on a local fashionista's virtual shoes?  Yikes!

Anyway, if you're so inclined...or if you (please) just want to go give me moral support...here's a snippet of my first post:

"So what would you think about becoming beekeepers?" I asked Sweet Husband one Saturday afternoon as we were snuggled on the couch reading out a snowstorm.

"Is that legal in town?"

"I don't know, but I think I might try to find out."

He raised an eyebrow in a patient but "here we go again" kind of way, and resumed his book.

Read the rest here.

Loving Right Now

1. This thrifted clothes photo set from Buttons McGee.  I really love the idea and the look of thrift store finds--they have more personality than my usual head-to-toe Gap--but I often don't know how to pull such an outfit together without, well, looking like I shopped at the thrift store.  (In the bad way, not the good way.)  Ms. McGee has looking cute on-the-cheap down pat, and I'm taking pointers!  (I really think it's the layering thing?)

2. My co-workers.  Not that this one hasn't occurred to me before, but it's so nice to work at a place where everyone is there because they want to be, and everyone pretty much likes each other.  I love the work, I love the people--it's pretty darned awesome really.

3.  Pickles.  Free cute knitting patterns.  I think I might have to make a Puff Mama soon.

4.  And speaking of knitting, I had to unknit five rows of a sweater tonight.  (Lesson: alcohol and knitting only mix to a certain point and no further!)  Miraculously, even though I thought that I had dropped stitches--I hate unknitting!--when I got back to rights, my stitch count was exactly what it should be.  Not only that, I'm adoring both the yarn and the pattern so much--details on my Ravelry page....I love it when knitting just works!

5. Giver's Log's 13 ounces or less category.  This website is a trove of thoughtful little gift ideas, but the fun thing about "under 13 ounces" group is that they can all be mailed for just a few bucks.  Can't wait to see what she comes up with for Valentine's Day!

6. Wee ones.  Chelsea just had a baby.  Aphrodite, Bird, and (in people I actually know) Stacy, have them on the way.  The cuteness and tiny toes and round bellies and nesting is delightful!

7. Acorn Pies' winter cookout and jek-a-go-go's adventures on the West Coast.  I obviously need some outside time this weekend.

8.  Vintage Heaven's living room.  Sixth picture down.  Doesn't it just look so cozy?  I love how she's incorporated the vintage goods--particularly the throw pillows, blankets, and tray in the background--without making it look frumpy or overly busy.

9.  This hilarious story from Sherando, wherein a defendant tells off a judge to good purposes.  A) It's just funny.  B) It reminds me of a few judges 'round my parts.  C) I think judges with that kind of plain old common sense are treasures.  (On an unrelated note, Sherando has also started a new wine blog--this is a girl after my own heart!)

10.  My lovely bed and pillows and snoring dogs and Sweet Husband.  Such a cozy little nest, that I don't think I can resist it any longer--g'night kids!

Virtual Advent Tour: My Perfect Christmas

 

One favorite topic of conversation among my knitting group while we were working on our wee tree was "What's your idea of a perfect Christmas?"  As in, if you had no obligation to tradition or family or anything, how would you celebrate the holiday?

This question has been particularly pertinent to me these past few years.  

Some background....

I grew up splitting Christmases between Mom and Dad (one year with Mom, next year with Dad), but at each house there was a very specific set of traditions.  

At Mom's it was Christmas Eve with extended family (which involved mass orgies of present opening among me and my 20-ish cousins), and Christmas mornings with "just us".  For "Christmas dinner" everyone got to pick their favorite food.  If my brother wanted jelly beans and I wanted chicken noodles, that would be what we would have.  (I have to think that there were some limitations to that, but I really don't remember them if there were.)  

At Dad's, Christmas Eve was a soup buffet at my Auntie's house.  Christmas night was at Grandma's where the present opening (very orderly, from youngest to oldest) was always preceded by a reading of the nativity story from my grandmother's bible.

Then, sometime in late high school/early college, all of that got turned topsy-turvy, which screwed with my Christmas for several years--it just didn't feel right without the established procedures.  I always felt like something was missing.

When Sweet Husband and I moved to Lawrence, Christmas fell into a kind of rhythm again (Christmas Eve with my side of the family, Christmas Day with his side), but it's always been a temporary state of affairs.  Sweet Husband gets off at four on Christmas Eve and often has to be back at work by the 26th, which makes for a whirlwind 36 hours of get-togethers.  I love seeing our family, but it makes me dizzy!

This gets us back to the original question.  Because, if I kinda-sorta get to start from scratch at making a Christmas, it makes sense to do it right, yes?  So, what is my idea of a perfect Christmas?

I'm not religious at all, but I do love the stories of the various religions that have holidays at this time of year.  And it seems to me that the main connecting thread of all those stories is that they're all celebrations of light.  Jesus bringing light to the world, the oil in the temple burning to keep the lights on, St. Lucia's Day, Yule....So, my perfect Christmas has that as a sort of guiding principle--a celebration of light and warmth in the cold, dark winter.  

I also like having friends and family around, so if any of them want to show up for some of my perfect Christmas, the door is open.  

And really, if you're going to do Christmas right, well, there just must be feasting!

With that all being the case, I think I want to have a fabulous Christmas Eve dinner--something we don't get to have almost any other night of the year (I'm thinking crab legs, maybe?)--by candlelight.  Then go outside for a beautiful (hopefully snowy?) bonfire or tromp through the woods with Christmas carols.  Then I want to snuggle up in new Christmas Eve pj's (a tradition from my Auntie's house) and read some of my favorite Christmas-y books...maybe The Polar Express or some Lemony Snicket (his Christmas books make me laugh so hard).  And, of course, the evening must end with a dramatic reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Sweet Husband has fond memories of eating German Pancakes (aka Dutch Babies) on Christmas morning, so that's a must.  But this year I think we're also going to work in a few morning hours serving breakfast at our local homeless shelter.  (I used to do something similar for Thanksgiving and it always made me feel incredible.)  Then home for presents and a continuation of my family tradition, which I have affectionately nicknamed "The Feast of Whatever" (being short for "The Feast of Whatever You Want to Eat").  And I definitely think that's going to be especially "open" for whomever wants to come, especially considering that--given the nature of the celebration--I don't feel at all like a bad hostess for telling people to bring their own food! 

Yep, that sounds like a pretty darned good Christmas celebration to me.  Anyone see any obvious bits that I'm missing?  And how would you spend your perfect Christmas?

*******

This post is part of the Virtual Advent Tour.  Please check out today's other "tour stops" ....

Jenn @ Jenn's Bookshelves
Rob @ Books Are Like Candy Corn
Cam @ epiBlouguer

Confidential to My Book Blogger Holiday Swap Secret Santa....

 

....while I do not know who you are, sir or madam, you rock!

In Which I Meet the Pioneer Woman

Do you all know about the Pioneer Woman?  

Also known as Ree Drummond, she's a city girl turned rancher's wife who blogs about life in the country, food, photography, and lots else.  (If you don't know what I'm talking about, start with her Black Heels to Tractor Wheels story of how she met her husband, "the Marlboro Man"--that's how I got sucked in!)  

She recently compiled a bunch of her recipes into a book--I love bloggers-with-book-deals, it gives me hope in life--and was in Kansas City last night promoting it.  Not being able to let such a close opportunity slip by, I recruited some former co-workers who are also big PW fans, and we went over to meet the Pioneer Woman in person.

While, of course, there is only so much observation you can do in the time it takes to get your book signed, she seemed just as sweet in person as she is on her blog.  Hilarious impersonations too!  She just made me want to cancel my plans for the rest of the week and go laugh with her over coffee.

And although I've only gotten to skim through so far, the book--The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl--looks awesome.  The recipes are of the "simple-but-yummy" variety, with nice, standard ingredients that are easy to come by.  Stuff you'd have on hand on a ranch in the middle of nowhere, I suspect.  

I can guarantee we will be trying every single one of the delicious looking breakfasts!

Oh, and did I also mention she gave out cutie-cute t-shirts?  In fact, because I had two tickets for the signing, I got two of said shirts.  One for me, and one that I will give away here.  (That's me, always thinking 'bout you!)  It's an extra large (but they run pretty small), and you can see what it looks like here.  To win, just tell me why you're a Pioneer Woman fan.  I'll randomly pick someone at, oh, let's say 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

UPDATE: And the wiener--as the PW would say--chosen by Sweet-Husband-random-number-generator, is Abby.

A Vintage Swap

 

As another mail-swappy-thing, I also signed up for the first of many Vintage Swaps organized by Heather of Shivaya Naturals.  The requirements for this swap were that we send between three and five vintage goodies to our partners. My partner for this swap was Hannah, who incidentally is from Wales--you all know how we love the Welsh around here!

I sent Hannah these (the "Garland Kit" is to make a "Love Scraps Garland" like mine--Hannah said she really loves vintage quilt bits).

The goodies I got in return?

Completely.  Awesome. The little bottle, the British kitsch and candy, the hankies, the sewing kit, the vintage knitting needles...just wow!  Thanks Hannah!

Yay for good stuff in the mail!

Via Snail Mail

I love getting mail.  Mail is awesome.  Especially when it's not bills or catalogs or advertisements, but rather something fun and personal.  In that vein, I signed up for a few different little mail swaps this Fall.

 

The first was the Snail Mail Revolution over at Apples for Poppy Anne.  The idea--pack up a little box of nothings from around your house, toss in a letter, and use the mail to communicate.  (I know, what a novel, old-fashioned thought!)  I was paired with the wonderful Andrea, to whom I sent the following goodies:

In return, came an envelope full of all kinds of happy things: 

I literally squealed when I saw the little Harry Potter lego man--truly, ask Nice Mom, I was on the phone with her at the time.  Very fun, and thanks again Andrea!

The Make-Something Mini Challenge

Welcome Read-a-Thoners!  (And others, if you want to know what the heck I'm talking about, info here.)

For this mini-challenge, tell me a story about a character in a book you've read today who made something.  It can be literal--e.g. a cake, a quilt--or more figurative--e.g. a joke, a mistake.  

This challenge will run until 1 a.m. central time, at which point I will randomly choose a winner.

The prize?  A set of nice, new knitting needles and a skein of bamboo yarn--so you can "make something" of your own!

Happy reading and good luck!

Update: Congrats to the winner nomareader!

Two Things I Love This Week

Number one: Orangette.  Truly, this girl has me wanting to cook like a whirling dervish.  (Whatever that might be exactly.)  On advice of several other bloggers, I ordered her new book, A Homemade Life, from the library.  It's a wonderful mix of stories and recipes and family and food--I devoured it in one sitting and quickly moved on to both her blog and her monthly column for Bon Appetit.

The latter is where I found her recipe for homemade mayonnaise.  Holy.  Hell.

Our favorite brew pub makes it's own mayo.  A friend and I have been known to go and make a meal of it...with a few fries on the side, just to get some veggies in.  Is it completely awful that I can now recreate that meal at home?

Honestly, the mayo takes about ten minutes to put together, but the results are so worth it.  And if I had a mayonnaise making jar (or, more practically, a stick blender) it wouldn't be any work at all.  I used a bit more lemon than Orangette recommends (let's call it the juice of one whole lemon), and per Alton I will store it in the fridge for up to two weeks--if it lasts that long!

Number two: hank&cheef.  Yes, I'm still eschewing paper tissues when possible.  I really don't even think about it anymore, I've officially made handkerchiefs a habit.  (Except for the other night when a visiting friend asked for a tissue.  Felt less than hospitable pointing him to the bathroom tissue, but handing him one of my handkerchiefs--even a clean one--seemed kinda...eh.  Anyone have a good solution for that?)  At any rate, because allergy season is here and because they were super fun, I ordered a few new handkerchiefs. 

They arrived today.  Completely soft.  Completely cute.  Although they came all the way from Canada, the company uses the most minimal packaging I've ever seen, so that probably evens out a little, right?  Next time maybe I'll just have to order more than three at once--I see some owls in my future!

Welcome to Kansas Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Several months ago, Sweet Husband met an internet-scooter-friend in person.  Nice Scooter friend did not leave Sweet Husband in a ditch, but rather the two hit it off well, and we have since spent several evenings in his company, often being highly entertained by Nice Scooter Friend's formidable story telling skills.

As we both got to know and like Nice Scooter Friend better, we heard more and more about his girlfriend who was living in New York, but thinking about moving to Kansas.  Gradually, "thinking about" turned to "coming for sure", and earlier this week she and a friend set out driving in a westerly direction.  Via updates from an increasingly more excited Nice Scooter Friend, we were able to follow their progress cross-country--they did a little sightseeing along the way, they spent a night there--the whole thing had the air of a modern-day "schoolmaster's bride".  Deliciously romantic!

And at last, this evening, the much anticipated lady arrived.  We popped in for a bit to say hello, and--perhaps because I was thinking of the story still--it didn't seem right to show up without something welcoming in hand.  

For the occasion, I chose Banana Bread with Cinnamon Sugar and Chocolate from my newest blog crush Orangette (more on that later!).  I cannot vouch for the bread, as I didn't try any, however, it smelled incredible and the "bowl lickings" were 'nummy!

For the recipe, read on.

Lit Flicks Challenge Recap

This month is the end of the Lit Flicks challenge.  

If you will remember, at the beginning I planned to read six books over the course of the challenge.  I ended up skipping two of the book/movie combos I originally chose (I just couldn't get into The Contant Gardner, and I couldn't find M. Butterfly on DVD), but I finished the rest and then some.  Here are the books I read and movies I watched with links to my reviews:  

Brokeback Mountain

The Dark is Rising

About a Boy

What Dreams May Come 

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Twilight

Thanks to Jessica at The Bluestocking Society for encouraging me to read some great books and watch some great movies! 

An Inspiration Board

I love inspiration boards, but I can't do clutter.  (I know, I know...it's creative clutter, but still.)  So, for awhile now I've been saving bits of ideas--you know, "that would be awesome for a garden" or "that would be great to make for dinner in the summer when tomatoes are good"--through electronic means, i.e. tucking away a link, scanning a picture, etc.  Not terribly organized, but whatever.

Then yesterday, I read this post on BlogHer about a new microblogging platform called Tumblr.  You can do text, videos, pictures, even audio--either uploaded yourself or (handy-dandy!) pulled straight from the web via Tumblr's bookmarklet feature.  I can toss stuff up when I think it's cool, and delete it just as easily later when/if the impulse passes.  Revolutionary, I tell you!

Without further adieu...An Inspiration Board.  (A permanent link is also in the left sidebar right under the comments.)

Hats for Wee Haitians

My very most favoritest blog these days is Soule Mama written by Amanda Blake Soule.  It's nothing groundbreaking--just a creative mom, her kiddos, and their adventures--but it's just so darn peaceful there.  (Maybe that's what makes it groundbreaking, ya think?)

Last week Mama Soule started a new project called Mama to Mama.  It's mission:

"[W]e craft, sometimes, to bring a little peace to our lives, to our hearts, and to our everyday moments. Taking that just a step further, we can - and do, like so many crafters before us - turn our crafting into peace for the world beyond our homes. The simple act of creating something with intention and heart - for someone in need, can have a beautiful effect on the lives of others. We can, indeed, do something to create a more just and peaceful world...all with the simple, mindful and crafty work of our hands."

In other words, help others by being crafty--excellent!

Her first project is called Caps to Cap Haitien.  There's more info at the site, but basically, we're making baby caps to be distributed as part of safe birthing kits to birth attendants in Northern Haiti.  The hats are made from old t-shirts and there is a pattern here. 

(Aside:  This made the greatest excuse to go through Sweet Husband's old holey shirts.  And when he protested, I said, "But think of the little hatless babies."  And when he questioned if babies in Haiti--where it is awfully warm, after all--really need hats, I read him this.)

If you're itching for a quick something good to do--the holidays always put me in that mood--these little caps were so fun to make.  They look like little gnome hats, and they're super easy.  I made a dozen in about an hour and a half, and I am far from an accomplished seamstress.

The project is going until at least December 10th, so you have plenty of time to join in if you're interested!

Ditch the Disposables Challenge Ends

With all the excitement this past week, I haven't had a chance to post about the end of the "Ditch the Disposables" challenge (posed by the Crunchy Domestic Goddess).

If you will recall, I decided to give up paper tissues.  Although I did have to resort to grabbing a Kleenex in a few emergencies, for the most part it went really well.  (Having a box of cute hankies to choose from did help!) 

The challenge got me thinking about other things we could reduce our usage of around the house, and my focus ended up falling on our laundry room.  I started by making some reusable dryer sheets.  (I can't report on their performance yet because I'm still using up the last of a box of disposable ones.)  Then I started thinking about how we could get rid of those big plastic jugs of bleach and laundry soap that we throw away each month.  After some research, I decided to give soap nuts a try. 

Soap nuts are the dried fruit of the Chinese Soapberry tree.  When the nuts get wet they release saponin, which is a natural cleanser.  For laundry purposes, you put three or four in a little muslin bag, and just toss them in with your clothes--easy peasy!  The nuts last for several washes.  (We've been doing about a week's worth of laundry with one bag of four nuts.)  They really do work just as well as detergent, and when the nuts are used up they can be composted (or in my case, just thrown out into garden to decompose).  It's pretty cool, really.

(I'm still working on a solution to the bleach jug, so if anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them.) 

A big thanks, as always, to the wonderful CDG for another great eco-challenge!   

Congratulations....

....alisonwonderland!  You won the Read-a-Thon mini-challenge.  The quote (randomly selected by Sweet Husband):

"Did the memory erasure device work, Uncle?"
"The what?"
"The memory erasure device. You were testing it when I last saw you."
"Don't know what you're talking about, dear girl."

From The Eyre Affair, the first in the Tuesday Next series by Jasper Fforde.

Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful quotes, and alison I'll be in touch to get you your prize!

Welcome to the "Quote From Your Book" Read-A-Thon Mini-Challenge!

A mini-challenge for my fellow read-a-thon'ers....

Ever since I was a little girl I've collected quotes--from books, from people, from road signs--but some of my favorites are from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books.  From Dumbledore's advice to Harry in the first book ("It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live," a good thing to remember for all avid readers) to Ron's funny jabs at Hermione ("You should write a book--translating mad things girls do so boys can understand them!") there are just some great bits!

So for the mini-challenge, give me a great quote from the book you're reading right now.  Be sure to say what book it's from, and also leave me some way to contact you.  My completely arbitrarily picked favorite will win my spare "Muggles for Harry Potter" pin and a lovely bookmark generously donated by Heather at Errant Dreams (see her pretty etsy store here).  I'm headed off to an Obama rally this afternoon, so I won't choose a winner until I get back--we'll say 8 or 9 tonight--but the challenge officially closes at 3 p.m. central time so I won't consider any quotes left after that. 

Find something good and have fun reading!

Quiet Please, I'm Read-A-Thon'ing

Today is The Hidden Side of a Leaf's 24 hour Read-a-Thon.  Although I intended to read for the better part of the afternoon, life has intervened, and I'm only going to be able to read for a few hours this morning. 

In my stack?  The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million by Daniel Mendelsohn (I made the mistake of stopping just as the second of the author's family members was about to be killed, and haven't been able to talk myself into picking this back up all week), and The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge (highly recommended by one of my favorite authors and hopefully a little lighter).

I will be updating via twitter (see feed at right) as I go.  You can check out the list of others who are read-a-thon'ing today here, and the way-fun prizes that will be up for grabs here.  In addition, if you're participating in the read-a-thon, please come back around noon when I'm hosting my own mini-challenge.

Lit Flicks: What Dreams May Come

For my fourth book/movie for the Lit Flicks Challenge (see my post here) I read What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson and watched the movie What Dreams May Come.

I realize I'm starting to lose my credibility when I say I never say this, but, again, I really liked the movie better.

I first saw the movie when I was a senior in high school, and it instantly became one of my favorites.  It just made so much sense to me--the idea that heaven and hell are not ruled by a human-like god, but rather are what we make them in living our lives.  It was broad-brush about the details, to be sure, but on the other hand, it really didn't need to fill them in.

The book tries to explain too much.  It gets into the mechanics of reincarnation, spiritual doctors and gurus, psychics, and the "science" of it all--it ends up just being hokey. 

It feels heretical to say it, but watch the movie, skip the book.

Wednesday Poll: Book or Movie?

For this week's poll, a meme that's part of the Lit Flicks Challenge (see my post here):

1. Are you more likely to see a movie if it’s based on a book?

2. Do you prefer to read the book first or see the movie first?

3. List one movie that was better than the book it’s based on, and one book that is better than the movie.

4. In your opinion, what film is the most accurate representation of the book?

Comment and discuss.

Lit Flicks: Brokeback Mountain

For my first book/movie for the Lit Flicks Challenge (see my post here) I decided to read Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx and watch the movie Brokeback Mountain.

I thought the movie tracked fairly well with the book, so I won't comment much on each separately (except to say that Heath Ledger was fabulous, of course).  Both were very different from what I expected.

I was expecting a love story, maybe something like The Notebook, except with guys.  And while there is a love story involved in Brokeback Mountain, the real central theme that everything else in the plot comes back to is this:  It is a profound tragedy when a person is not allowed to be who they are.

At first, I was actually a little disappointed in the plot.  It was initially heavy on sex without really showing how any type of emotional bond was forming between the two main characters.  But then you get these flashes (the shirts), where you realize just how much these two love each other.  And you realize it's not that they aren't talking because they don't love each other, they aren't talking because they can't--they don't know how to communicate what it is they're feeling.  Which makes the tragedy of it all that much deeper.

With it's beautiful, open Western landscapes, the movie underscores the loneliness of the story, and the book, at 64 pages, is a super quick read.  Pick a melancholy, stormy Fall evening and curl up with both.