The Virtual Wren

My calendar is finished! I thought I had some orange ribbon here at the house but, when I went to look for it, I could not for the life of me find it so Em and I had to run down to JoAnn's and pick up some orange hanging ribbon. At this late stage of the game I was not going to screw it up by using something random.

While we were at JoAnn's, I noticed that they carry bone folders in the paper crafts section. Huh. Who knew?

( Oh, you want pictures, right? )

After Easter, I hung Emily's easter basket on the porch until it could be divested of the ants it had acquired. As it turns out, that might have not been a good idea because now I will have to get her a new basket and new grass anyway- a bird has made a nest in it. I think it's a wren and Emily says there are 4 eggs but I couldn't get at the right angle to see,



After dinner, Em said she was still hungry so I made some of the No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls- with the strict instruction that there would be a picture taken this time. I did actually get one so here is what the cinnamon rolls look like- for the first 30 seconds they are out of the oven!



After the first 30 seconds, you can refer to the picture I originally posted.

I notice that, as I finished up this project, I got ideas for two more advent calenders.

One for Thanksgiving- a tree with 30 leaf doors that has a harvest or thanksgiving scene and on the inside, something to be thankful for. The trunk could be a double door that opens to Pilgrims and Indians eating together to be opened on Thanksgiving independently of the numbered doors since the date is not the same every year.

The other one is for Easter with a picture in the middle and egg shaped doors around all four sides- 10 to a side so that it begins on Ash Wednesday. On the inside of the doors would be abridged quotes from the book The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes (my favorite Easter story) with illustrations from the book as the pictures. I could also use gilding techniques on the Bunny's shoes when she gets them. And the outside of the doors would be 40 different easter egg designs- some of them giving nods to other Easter stories.

Right here. This is why I am never ever done with all my projects. I finish one- and have ideas for two more. It's like the stinking doubling cube in backgammon.

I thought my basic cheesecake was as simple as you get. Not quite! This one is even simpler. Also, the recipe I posted earlier for Blueberry Scones was unnecessarily complicated. This one is simpler and even better.

( Cheesecake and Scones )

Hey tha1980s!

The Science of Cooking- The quiz doesn't work but I think you might be interested anyway.

Along with my new hairsticks, I got my box from the Lab today. The Last Rose of Summer smells almost exactly like Si Jolie that I fell in love with in Paris.

Magnetic Spice Rack

I'm going to have to check my spices to see which ones I need large jars and which ones I can get by with small ones... and which names I need on the lids.

I am making the world's best coconut cake... at least, it better be! Tomorrow is Mom's birthday and I'm making her birthday cake so I thought I'd share:



( Mom's Awesome Coconut Cake )

While I was washing up, we had a visitor:

Surprisingly, yesterday was not as busy as Friday... but it was busy enough! I kept thinking of the Leonard Cohen song "Everybody wants a box of chocolates and a long stemmed rose..."

I did get my Mom a dozen. She said not to... but she really really liked them. I didn't have to spend so much for them though... the roses were $20 and I snarfed some greens for her arrangement and mine for 50¢ apiece and arranged them in vases we already had. *Poof!* $80 arrangements. She keeps proclaiming that Valentine's Day and Mother's Day are Hallmark holidays... but I think she's saying that so she can be upset when she isn't remembered because we took her at her word. Are all women this difficult? Because I don't find it the least bit attractive.

I only had two people ask me why I was single yesterday... mostly, it didn't come up. One of them was a co-worker (boy-he's only 16) who simply couldn't understand how I didn't have a husband/lover/boyfriend. The other was a guy who came in with a friend to buy roses for friend's wife. I tried to sell him roses and when he told me he had no one to give them to, I suggested he buy some for himself- that I was. (well, I was supposed to be selling them, after all) He got this shocked look on his face and asked me why I was single... and then wished for me be surprised. Kind of sweet of him, I thought, even if I knew it wouldn't happen. So it could have been a lot worse.

Pixel decided that he'd get comfortable this morning on the couch- notice that he's even pulled a pillow down to lay his head on:

Comfortable Cat is Comfortable

I didn't mean to, I only meant to buy the supplies, but Wednesday I made lotion bars. In case anyone is interested, here's the 'recipe' I used:

5 oz natural beeswax
2 oz shea butter
1 oz almond oil
1 oz vitamin E oil
1 oz extra virgin olive oil
6 ml sandalwood oil (I used Airs Star Sandalwood)

Melt the beeswax on low heat, add the shea butter and the oils then remove from heat, add the sandalwood oil and half fill muffin cups.

They turned out lovely... I might could have had a little more beeswax to make then a little less oil-y but they work nicely. Much less greasy than Coon's Farm.

Because Emily is giving me so much trouble over going to sleep and I've been so tired myself, I have not gotten hardly any quilting done this week and very little reading either. I really should have known that working floral would kick my butt... but I never thought floral could be this physically tiring! I mean, really, it's just putting flowers in vases, right? There were just a LOT of flowers and a ton of flowers is as heavy as a ton of bricks, after all.

Now I need to go get two days worth of housework done in one... I'm off to the showers.