scrappy update

So this quilt I'm working on? I just passed that milestone moment when I can say all of my quilt blocks are complete. (Even the extras.) It's taken months to reach this stage, and while I've still go plenty to go (piece the top, create a backing, sandwich and then actually quilt and bind the thing) the biggest part is done. This is what I would consider the halfway point to be, and I'm there!

What does the halfway point look like, you might ask? Well, it looks an awful lot like this:

That's twenty 12" blocks all good to go. I've also finalized my layout and while I do have pictures of that (for my own records, in case I screw up) I think I'm going to hold off on sharing that. A finished quilt picture would be more exciting, I think.

Unlike the baby quilt, deciding on my layout was not quite so easy this time. While each block has an identical design, they're all just that little bit different with the colour choices and the overall feel. Some blocks are punchier, some more subdued. Those bright blue and orange fabrics are kind of a bitch to work with, to make sure they don't take over the whole quilt.

So I had to decide how I wanted the overall quilt to come together. Did I want the colours kind of evenly spaced throughout? Did I want stark contrasts. Bunny seemed to like the idea of "colour zones", where different sections of the quilt are more heavily one colour than others. I love how using the 14 fabric patterns has come together - the blocks lead into each other, without being obviously matchy.

Now I'm left with this to contend with:

Five rows of four, ready to be ironed and sewn together. This is coming together!

quiet days

As much as I'm not crazy about a work schedule that includes evenings and weekends, I make a point of enjoying the perks of said schedule. One of those perks? Weekdays off. Yesterday was spent quite quietly around the house, recharging my introverted batteries and getting a little bit of this and a little bit of that done.

I played with my new camera. (Later I'll share the results of said playtime.)

Time was spent in the kitchen, chopping and baking and having fun. Old recipes were revisited, and snacks and dinner were both made.

I finished the final block on my Scrappy Trip quilt (seriously!) and got things laid out. Then I did some ironing and started sewing my rows.

I took a quick visit to my in laws. Love those next door neighbours.

Some time was spent reading - and reading non fiction, no less.

I caught up on the blogs I follow.

I watched the final race of the 2007 MotoGP season. Because that's what I do with spare time.

I snuggled with the dog. Petted the cat.

Wore hot pink leopard print fleece pajama bottoms all day because it seemed called for. I also refused to worry about the fact that trying to control my weight is driving me nuts right now.

Small amounts of cleaning were done in bursts of energy here and there.

There's something magic about a day all to myself, no obligations and nothing required of me. How do you spend those days?

Finally!

Meet Jethro.

 

 

How's that for cute? I know, he puts everyone in the world to shame. This is him in need of his eagerly anticipated spring hair cut. At which point he'll get twice as cute, and you will beg me to stop teasing you with the cuteness.

I also promise he's not actually in some sort of torture chamber or shelter, he's busy being perfectly loved in the laundry room. You know, concrete floor, water heater (to the left), spray painted newspaper on the wall courtesy of Bunny.

Actually, it's Bunny that's in the torture chamber. He works in the laundry room.

If you haven't guessed this means that I have finally finished getting my hands on a camera. I only had to go back to the store twice more, get refunded, forget the stupid memory card I bought elsewhere in the non-functional camera and then go spend more money than I'd wanted to at another store. (Although, working camera. This means a lot. Also included the memory card and the camera case.)

Mostly I'm never going to shop at Sears again. Great employees who know how to take care of a customer - but the fact that only ONCE in all the times I visited did the store actually have an electronics associate working in the electronics section was seriously problematic. Having the right employees doesn't mean much when you can't be bothered to effectively manage your scheduling.

But also I have a camera. And you will see pictures! Which means that crafting and baking updates might be about to get a whole lot more fun.

nostalgia

In my part of Canada, spring is a rather fleeting experience. As recently as a week and a half ago, we had a snowfall. The sort of snow that sticks to the ground overnight, even. Today it's bright and sunny; enough so that over the past two weeks I've regularly seen short shorts and little tank tops. I've been slightly more circumspect - transitioning with my lightweight leather jacket, tights under my skirt, swapping sweaters for tops worn with blazers. In a month the weather networks will be talking about our first heat wave of the year, humidity will make everything cling and fog over and get sweaty and gross, and temperatures will probably climb above 30*C.

Fall is a more drawn out season, perhaps, but my climate is ruled by the two extremes, and lots of wetness in the air.

My parents bought this house the summer I was six. I finished kindergarten and started the first grade in a new city. In a house I've never really liked in any way, there is one redeeming feature that somehow makes it feel like home. It just so happens that it's a feature that only comes once a year and is even more fleeting than spring itself.

At six years old, the lilac bushes that framed the yard were shorter than I was. Now, they are taller than many of the neighbourhood trees. Two weeks a year, when we pull into the drive way I'm hit by a sudden, unexpected feeling of being home. It's a feeling I can't force out any other time, not for this house, but when the lilacs begin to bloom? It's irresistible.

Of course, the buds are just beginning to swell and bloom and this is just the start of lilac season. Hopefully I'll have another two full weeks of open lilac buds in the yard, and maybe even in a vase.

Bunny of course is someone underwhelmed by the lilacs that have been left to run amok, much like the rest of my mom's yard, and spent much of last fall heavily pruning them. For all the trees you see there, and all the little shoots coming up, there were plenty more that he ruthlessly pulled up.

When we talk about our imaginary house, the one that we save our pennies for and are hoping to purchase by this time next year, we have a fairly clear idea of many of the "projects" we are going to take on and the way we're going to own it. Clearly we'll do lots of things inside, but we're also wanting to put work into our outdoor space. There will be a vegetable garden, and cherry or crabapple trees (we both love the leaves) and there will be a fence that serves as a sight-barrier (I like my privacy, it gives me more space to run around naked).

And there will be lilacs. Lots and lots of lilacs. So that when the buds start opening for spring, I will always feel home.

baked cinnamon french toast

Sunday morning I spent some time in the kitchen, doing some easy baking. It was mother's day, and while Bunny and I didn't really make a big deal out of it, there were flowers and we did make brunch for my mom. Breakfast foods aren't really my deal. I mean, I make some mean variations on pancakes don't get me wrong and I can make a very satisfying pot of oatmeal if you give me a pile of steel-cut oats, but that's about it. Bacon and eggs make me a little queasy, so I never perfected my technique.

Given that Bunny is the designated egg fryer in this relationship we let him take the lead on the bacon and eggs portion of brunch. We wanted something fancier than pancakes and it also seemed wise to have something that let me stay out of the way while Bunny was egg frying.

Which brought up baked French toast. There are two things I want to tell you about baked French toast. Actually, three things, but who's counting? First this is easy as pie. Toast up some bread in the oven, just lightly. Place in pan, cover in a milk/egg mixture. Bake. Eat. Secondly this is easy. You will enjoy the eating of this. You may eat an entire batch between three people and not feel a little bit guilty. The way that the egg soaks and bakes into the bread, and the little cinnamon sugar sprinkle makes this seem almost like biting into a really good cinnamon roll, without half of the work.

The third thing is the kicker, though. If you are me, while you are eating this your mind will be full of the fifteen things you can do differently next time to make this even more awesome. You will say "I would put maple syrup right into the custard" because its so delicious with Aunt Jemima on top. You will say "I would use chunks of bread, not slices" because of some mental math about how to get the perfect density of bread in the pan. You will say "maybe I'd use cream instead of milk, make it richer" because at this point you're thinking of turning the whole thing into bread pudding and making it dessert. You will say "I'd use stale bread instead of toasting it" because you are both impatient and slightly lazy. If you're me, that is.

Either way, making this again is certain. And when I say this is easy I'm not lying, I promise. My version here is a cross between the Martha Stewart and Smitten Kitchen versions of baked French toast. But again, dead easy. You could wing this.

Cinnamon Baked French Toast

Ingredients

• 1 loaf of bread (I used plain old D'Italiano white bread, because we have it on hand. You can certainly jazz this up)
• 3 eggs
• 3 cups milk
• You can play with this. I used straight milk, but you can certainly substitute part of the milk with cream
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp + 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp + 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp white sugar
• butter or margarine for spreading

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350*F.
2. Lay sliced bread on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Toast until the bread begins to lightly brown.
3. Grease a 9x13 baking pan.
4. In a small bowl mix 2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg.
5. Lightly butter. Use your own judgment here - if you like buttery things, butter those babies up. I just barely buttered them.
6. Sprinkle the spiced sugar mixture over the buttered sides of the bread.
7. Layer the toasty slices in your baking pan.
8. In a mixing bowl, beat your eggs. Add the milk and vanilla, as well as the remaining 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg. Wisk them all together.
9. Pour the egg mixture over the bread, trying to make sure you coat each slice.
10. Pop it in the oven for about 25-30 minutes.
11. Serve. Maple syrup and whipped cream are optional.

game of thrones, sans politics

Over the weekend I fell down the internet reading rabbit hole. You know the one, I'm sure. You click on a link, then another and just keep following. Suddenly there are so many open that you're going to break your browser (if you're like me), or else you have gone so hopelessly forward that the back button has become useless. A quick wonder about what the first race that Rossi won in MotoGP ends up with reading about rebellion in Tang dynasty China, or deepwater fish whose mouths fuse closed in adulthood.

What I found down at the bottom of this particular hole was a natty argument about Game of Thrones and whether it's feminist or not. There are some interesting points on both sides, though I find myself quite strongly thinking that no, the show's not feminist (nor are the books). There are some kick ass female characters, but feminism this is not. I'm also bewildered as to why this even comes up as a discussion, really.

It's entertainment, and it's not meant to make a political statement. This is pure fiction, perhaps somewhat inspired by medieval history, certainly informed by the fantastical but in no way influenced by modern political movements and leanings. It's a story that's told in context, and the context of Westeros bears an awfully large resemblance to feudal England. This story isn't written in a society where women's voices count for a lot. Yes, women jockey for power and influence, but their spheres of influence are limited and there is much less scope to flex their muscles than the men in their lives.

In a lot of ways the books at least are fairly open about the constrictions placed by society on women. Sansa and Arya serve as a stark (pun not intended by now deemed hilarious) constrast between the stereotypical good noble lady and the wild woman who wants to experience life outside the limitations of a lady. In King's Landing Cersei and Margaery juggle the influence offered them, influence given only by their relationship to the king. There are women who push themselves outside the bounds of their gender - Daenerys and Brienne are two notables - but this isn't necessarily something that's easy or brings success. Or even that they encourage.

None of that is feminist. Nor should it be. It's entertainment. It's not about a political message or about what women are capable of. I don't look at my entertainment to always carry a political message. It's not like motorcycle racing or quilting says anything about the worth of women in society. Why should we expect that of a tv show?

being seen

There were a few vendors visiting our office a few days back, visiting and hawking their product and giving us all random swag. Of course at work there is nothing uncommon about this - we have vendors and affiliates there at least once a month, and they always bring something to give us. Sometimes it's lame (like a pad of sticky notes), sometimes it's useful (new pens!! - these vendors make me seriously happy), sometimes it's fun (nurf guns? yeah that happened), sometimes it's random (have a journal!) and sometimes it's branded coffee mugs. Travel mugs are the way to my heart.

This week's vendors brought a plethora of things. Some people went home with t shirt, key chains, posters and apparently there's a raffle for an iPod for the visit. I came home myself with a variety of things: I got pens, a collapsible water bottle, that journal I mentioned and a sort of rubberized bracelet. These bracelets, which essentially look like the Livestrong bracelets, came in a plastic bag full of bright colours: blue, red, yellow and purples. One side is inscribed a company logo. The other has an "I am ...." statement on it.

After giving me some fun facts about the brands he was representing, this particular vendor gave me a hard look. One of those I can see into your soul kind of looks, if you know the one I mean. He grabbed the bag of plastic bracelets and pulled out one, then another and another. He'd shake his head and put each one back, which was confusing - there were only four colours, so it seemed easy. I hadn't seen the writing yet.

Finally he said "I know just the one for you. I just need to find it." Which of course piqued my curiosity. What was he looking for. Finally he grabbed a purple one (the colour I was hoping for!) and held it out for me to wriggle into.

"That's you, right there. Don't ever forget it."

I am courageous.

It's one of the moments that makes me stop and think. What is it he's seeing there, that made him choose just that bracelet, just that saying. What about me made it clear that "courageous" was exactly the word he should give me? Our exchange was less than five minutes total, and easily half of it was spent searching for this bracelet and chit chatting. In such a short time what made it seem so clear, so important that this be the bracelet he give me. (I have it on good authority that this was an anomaly - most people chose their own sayings or he just grabbed something for them.)

What was it he saw in just those first few moments? Something about me indicating courage, or perhaps fear? A glimmer that it would be something I'd need in my future? What is it that he has seen in me?