I don't know if I told you, I have taken on a paid project in which I am constructing, from scratch, a brand new fishing vest in place of an old beloved fishing vest which is worn, tattered and in an unceremonious state of disrepair. I am doing this for a family friend, and did I mention that I am getting paid? The plan was to copy the original vest and make a new one just like it. Can I just say, Fishing vests are HARD.
I created the pattern and cut out the pieces months ago, I should know better than to postpone projects like this it always proves more difficult to figure out what you did or were thinking when you come back to a project. Yesterday I began sewing the pockets together. This thing has pockets in pockets, on pockets, zipper pockets, velcro pockets (IT HAS A LOT OF POCKETS) its as if the fishing industry thinks pockets may some day go out of style and so they must fill each fishing vest with as many pockets as possible. Yesterday I constructed what I thought was 6 pockets, but actually turned out to be only one pocket, with six different pocket openings. I call this Pocket A. (Each of my finished pockets have a letter label so I can remember where to put them.) Pocket A consisted of Pocket A1, A2, A3, A4 and two zipper pockets A5 and A6. I made labels all the way to Pocket L, so I foresee a future where I will be construction pockets like a mad woman. I will be the pocket queen when I am done with this. Seriously, you need pockets, just ask.
And the entire time I was constructing these pockets, My sewing machine was on the fritz. the inconsistency of the tension was driving me crazy... or, making me tense, if you will. (lol) But I think I have finally figured out the trick to my sewing machine. You just have to threaten it, call it bad names. For instance, it was making continuous birds nests with the bobbin thread and I had adjusted the tension, so instead I told it rather rudely that if it did not quit that and cooperate with me, I would throw it out the window. It began to work just fine. Later, when the tension went wonky again, I started cursing at it to the point where you'd think the mafia, or Tupac had moved into my kitchen, and it fixed itself again. So the trick to my machine, threats and curse words.
At least I know where I'll be for the foreseeable future, stuck in the kitchen threatening my sewing machine and creating an endless amount of pockets. Oh and I thought I should mention, in the spirit of sewing, I have found the best tool ever. It is a little metal thing that makes bias tape. It is an amazing invention and I don't know why I never found one sooner. Every one who sews needs one of these babies. They come in different sizes and make life so much easier.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
The Daisy Chronicle...
I had a dream last night about Daisy.
For those of you who don't already know, Daisy is a dog I recently adopted (from a family I found on craigslist) who ran away 3 and a half hours after I brought her home. Daisy was gorgeous, She was a Great Pyrenees German Shepard mix, and she looked so much like my Buck, that I knew she and I were meant to be. Unfortunately, she had other plans.
She actually BENT my gate trying to get out. If I think I had a problem getting people to close the gate before, now I don't know if it actually can close. It's been about three weeks (maybe more) and I have not heard anything about her. Let me start by telling you a little bit about what I did when she ran away:
First of all, it was about 9:30 at night, and I spent the next 3-4 hours out in the dark looking for her. A few times I almost caught her, but she would dart by when she would hear the smallest of noises. I searched everywhere near my house I could physically get with a flash light and my sisters and Grandma searched everywhere else. So you can imagine 4 women out with flashlights, all calling "Daisy, Daisy". We must have looked like fools. It was nearly one-o'clock when I got back to the house and gave up the search for the night.
The next morning however, I sat on the sofa with the phone in one hand, a pencil in the other and the phonebook draped over my lap. I called EVERY SINGLE vet in town. You wouldn't know from the size of town, but there are vets all over the place. I called 15. Then I called the Animal shelter, The police and placed an add in the paper. Then my sister and I went out and placed flyers all around. In offices, on trees on posts. If there is a single person in Paradise who didn't know my dog was missing, They soon would. Then Jessie, my fifteen year-old-sister sent a text message to EVERY contact in her cell phone (she knows a lot of people, I was surprised by how many.) and made a Facebook event. This we sent to every friend in our Facebook friends. Both my sisters and I invited friends to help us find Daisy. And still, we have not heard a single peep about her.
Last week I had a dream that people kept bringing me dogs, but none of them even closely resembled Daisy, some had spots, some were small, some were large, there were black dogs, yellow dogs, brown dogs. No daisy. Last night, I dreamt that Daisy came home, and was very excited to be back, but slowly as the day (the day in the context of the dream) progressed, she slowly morphed into another dog, and then another dog and by the end of the day she was a completely different dog than what she had been.
I think I have made peace with the idea that Daisy isn't coming back. I think that my dreams pointed to this fact, but I also think that since it has been three weeks, and there hasn't even been a whisper about her, that it's not plausible anymore.
I hope that wherever she is, she is happy. I like to imagine that she is with all lost things, that she has found that place where socks go when they disappear from the dryer, that place where lost keys go when you search, and search but can't for the life of you find them. The place where you can find everything people have lost over the years, a bright colorful dimension full of the lost but never found. But actually, she is probably with some family, and learning how to be happy as their dog.
For those of you who don't already know, Daisy is a dog I recently adopted (from a family I found on craigslist) who ran away 3 and a half hours after I brought her home. Daisy was gorgeous, She was a Great Pyrenees German Shepard mix, and she looked so much like my Buck, that I knew she and I were meant to be. Unfortunately, she had other plans.
She actually BENT my gate trying to get out. If I think I had a problem getting people to close the gate before, now I don't know if it actually can close. It's been about three weeks (maybe more) and I have not heard anything about her. Let me start by telling you a little bit about what I did when she ran away:
First of all, it was about 9:30 at night, and I spent the next 3-4 hours out in the dark looking for her. A few times I almost caught her, but she would dart by when she would hear the smallest of noises. I searched everywhere near my house I could physically get with a flash light and my sisters and Grandma searched everywhere else. So you can imagine 4 women out with flashlights, all calling "Daisy, Daisy". We must have looked like fools. It was nearly one-o'clock when I got back to the house and gave up the search for the night.
The next morning however, I sat on the sofa with the phone in one hand, a pencil in the other and the phonebook draped over my lap. I called EVERY SINGLE vet in town. You wouldn't know from the size of town, but there are vets all over the place. I called 15. Then I called the Animal shelter, The police and placed an add in the paper. Then my sister and I went out and placed flyers all around. In offices, on trees on posts. If there is a single person in Paradise who didn't know my dog was missing, They soon would. Then Jessie, my fifteen year-old-sister sent a text message to EVERY contact in her cell phone (she knows a lot of people, I was surprised by how many.) and made a Facebook event. This we sent to every friend in our Facebook friends. Both my sisters and I invited friends to help us find Daisy. And still, we have not heard a single peep about her.
Last week I had a dream that people kept bringing me dogs, but none of them even closely resembled Daisy, some had spots, some were small, some were large, there were black dogs, yellow dogs, brown dogs. No daisy. Last night, I dreamt that Daisy came home, and was very excited to be back, but slowly as the day (the day in the context of the dream) progressed, she slowly morphed into another dog, and then another dog and by the end of the day she was a completely different dog than what she had been.
I think I have made peace with the idea that Daisy isn't coming back. I think that my dreams pointed to this fact, but I also think that since it has been three weeks, and there hasn't even been a whisper about her, that it's not plausible anymore.
I hope that wherever she is, she is happy. I like to imagine that she is with all lost things, that she has found that place where socks go when they disappear from the dryer, that place where lost keys go when you search, and search but can't for the life of you find them. The place where you can find everything people have lost over the years, a bright colorful dimension full of the lost but never found. But actually, she is probably with some family, and learning how to be happy as their dog.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Hey, What's for Dinner? (and a quick recap.)
Hello kiddies. It's been a while I know. I apologize. Let me just say that nothing entirely interesting has happened, except of course that I lost another dog. This time though, I actually lost her, well actually, she ran away, but still she is gone. So I have decided to take a break from being a dog owner. It is obviously not my time. This saddens me a little, but that makes 5 dogs gone in one year. I'd say i've filled my dog quota for a while.
Lent was mostly successful. I felt all sacrificial and successful (mostly). I think that overall it was a good experience, although i'm not sure it brought me closer to, or showed my devotion to God since I am not a very religious person and I think that is the point of Lent. . .
Also, we're edging closer and closer to the end of the semester and I have been very busy. Mostly with school work, I am pleased however to report, that my last group project was completed a few weeks ago. It should be fairly smooth sailing for the remainder of the semester, that is if you consider story workshop (my second story), papers and exams smooth sailing.
Also, tonight I would like to introduce a new segment, a segment I like to call What's for Dinner. In this new segment I plan on sharing some of my more successful recipes, hopefully you'll try them.
Tonights recipe is Pea Salad. For a few weeks now, since apparently pea salad is abundant in magazines in the springtime, my Grandma has been casually mentioning how much she likes pea salad, and how long it has been since she has had any, I took this as her way of hinting that I should get my butt to the kitchen and figure out hoe to make her some, or find it in a store. Let me start by saying that I had never really had pea salad. I'd seen it at potlucks, and in buffet lines, but had never had any, let alone made any. My first idea was to look up a recipe, but that was unsuccessful in that many traditional pea salads have cubes of cheese (YUCK). So I made my own version, which my grandma raved over and ate two bowls of. Here is the recipe:
Karin's Pea Salad:
1/2 bag frozen peas (you could also use fresh if you'd like)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tbsp yellow mustard (this is all I had, but I would love to try a dijon, or some other brown mustard I'm thinking one of these from Sierra Nevada Brewery)
2 tbsp olive oil (use a good one.)
1 shallot diced
1 cup cubed ham (I used leftover spiral cut from Easter)
1/2 tbsp honey
pinch of salt
Defrost, but do not cook your peas. They should be cold (I wanted to defrost them quickly so I put them in a colander and ran warm water over them. Then before draining and moving to a bowl, I ran cold water on them.) Dice your shallots (A shallot is like an onion, only it is more delicate in flavor, sweeter and has a richer flavor. I love to use them, and prefer to put them in cold things which will not be cooked in lieu of onion, as I think onion can be over powering. Do not confuse a shallot with a scallion, or a green onion.) and ham and put in the bowl with the peas.
In a small bowl, blend your dressing which will be the flavor base of your salad. Mix mayonnaise, mustard, olive oil, honey and salt until blended and dressing-like. I used a whisk to whip it a little bit and followed with a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl.
Stir Peas, Ham and Shallots just to blend. Add in dressing slowly, and stir. Chill for a bit before serving. This will allow your flavors to blend.
My grandma suggested that next time I would consider adding a chopped hard-boiled egg, some chopped bacon. I've also heard of other things you could mix in, but I thought that my version was pretty damn delicious. Try it if you will, and let me know what you think.
Lent was mostly successful. I felt all sacrificial and successful (mostly). I think that overall it was a good experience, although i'm not sure it brought me closer to, or showed my devotion to God since I am not a very religious person and I think that is the point of Lent. . .
Also, we're edging closer and closer to the end of the semester and I have been very busy. Mostly with school work, I am pleased however to report, that my last group project was completed a few weeks ago. It should be fairly smooth sailing for the remainder of the semester, that is if you consider story workshop (my second story), papers and exams smooth sailing.
Also, tonight I would like to introduce a new segment, a segment I like to call What's for Dinner. In this new segment I plan on sharing some of my more successful recipes, hopefully you'll try them.
Tonights recipe is Pea Salad. For a few weeks now, since apparently pea salad is abundant in magazines in the springtime, my Grandma has been casually mentioning how much she likes pea salad, and how long it has been since she has had any, I took this as her way of hinting that I should get my butt to the kitchen and figure out hoe to make her some, or find it in a store. Let me start by saying that I had never really had pea salad. I'd seen it at potlucks, and in buffet lines, but had never had any, let alone made any. My first idea was to look up a recipe, but that was unsuccessful in that many traditional pea salads have cubes of cheese (YUCK). So I made my own version, which my grandma raved over and ate two bowls of. Here is the recipe:
Karin's Pea Salad:
1/2 bag frozen peas (you could also use fresh if you'd like)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tbsp yellow mustard (this is all I had, but I would love to try a dijon, or some other brown mustard I'm thinking one of these from Sierra Nevada Brewery)
2 tbsp olive oil (use a good one.)
1 shallot diced
1 cup cubed ham (I used leftover spiral cut from Easter)
1/2 tbsp honey
pinch of salt
Defrost, but do not cook your peas. They should be cold (I wanted to defrost them quickly so I put them in a colander and ran warm water over them. Then before draining and moving to a bowl, I ran cold water on them.) Dice your shallots (A shallot is like an onion, only it is more delicate in flavor, sweeter and has a richer flavor. I love to use them, and prefer to put them in cold things which will not be cooked in lieu of onion, as I think onion can be over powering. Do not confuse a shallot with a scallion, or a green onion.) and ham and put in the bowl with the peas.
In a small bowl, blend your dressing which will be the flavor base of your salad. Mix mayonnaise, mustard, olive oil, honey and salt until blended and dressing-like. I used a whisk to whip it a little bit and followed with a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl.
Stir Peas, Ham and Shallots just to blend. Add in dressing slowly, and stir. Chill for a bit before serving. This will allow your flavors to blend.
My grandma suggested that next time I would consider adding a chopped hard-boiled egg, some chopped bacon. I've also heard of other things you could mix in, but I thought that my version was pretty damn delicious. Try it if you will, and let me know what you think.
Bon Appétit!
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