What's for dinner?

Well, it's dinnertime.. again. It sure comes around a lot. But with DH out of town (hi, honey!) I don't have quite the same restrictions or requirements to deal with (you know, actual food, for one.) So, this is what I made:

Looks yummy, huh?

And I enjoyed it enough, but was curiously still hungry, (even after eating the napkin too) so I made this one as a chaser:



Now, did I mention that these are actually made of felt and beads? Oh, you thought they were real?? Tee hee! I don't know how that misconception got started! Of course, I ate an entire box of doughnuts in the name of research ( not really, yes I did, no I didn't!)



Actually, I got the idea from this tutorial, which is part of the Handmade Holidays (see November 8th) at Sew, Mama, Sew. As the tutorial points out, these aren't *hard* to make, just time consuming. And if you like lots of sprinkles, like I do, it will take a bit longer.

There's also a tutorial for felt cupcakes, and somewhere else I saw one for felt sushi! A plan is brewing in my alleged brain to stop cooking altogether and just reach into the pantry for a entire meal of felt food. Soup might present a challenge, but think of all the dishes that wouldn't get dirty!

So, whadda think, Honey? Hungry? I have some felt pork chops in my pocket!

Sundays from Singapore, part 2

As promised (or threatened!) part two:

7/20/2001

Riding in a taxi is a matter of hanging on for dear life and hoping the driver knows where he's going ('cuz I sure don't!) Apparently, the lane dividing lines on the road that we Americans take as gospel are mere suggestions in Singapore. Either that or nobody operating a motorized vehicle can aim straight! They all race to be the first in queue (line) for anything and will cut each other off without care. Getting use to swinging wide for a right turn will take a while too. C keeps muttering 'This is sooo wrong" whenever they make a turn.

Taxis are plentiful and quite cheap by our standards. I think I can make it around town for the equivalent of $2.50 US. The best thing is that our apartment is right across the street, okay, and a little alley, from the Great World City Mall. Right outside... taxis! So unlike most people who have to risk their toes standing on the curb trying to flag one of these diesel maniacs down, I just have to dash across 5 lanes of traffic to the taxi stand.

However, as night wears on, the drivers get picky and will roll their window down to find out where you want to go. If they don't like it, sorry, off duty! Shift change doesn't come until 11:30 PM, but starting around 10:00, they get choosy. Considering the fact that you can get to the other side of the country in about 45 minutes, can't figure out why they wouldn't want a 10 minute fare in town, But enough of transportation.

The phone installers came today, and spoke little English (surprise), so I ended up with 2 jacks with the second line and all the rest with the first. Not too bad, except that each bedroom has 2 separate jacks side by side, and they are both the same line. That's okay, I got the second number on the most important jacks to use the fax machine.

I called Singtel to find out how much it costs to call the US and what kind of calling plans were available. They are very simple here. It costs $.39S or about $.22 US a minute to call. Anytime. That's it. Now if I want a cheaper rate, no problem, but I get to use a cheaper line and get poorer transmission quality. I tried it once, but I think I ended up ordering takeout from another instead of calling the United States of America. Oh well, at least I won't get those annoying calls asking if I want to switch plans or companies... no other company to pick.

Had the air con (not air conditioning) serviced as well today. They do it every month on schedule. Took the housing apart and washed the filters in the maid's bathroom in the "yard" (read, back service porch, 17 floors up.) I have 14 air con units... it took awhile. Every month, huh?

In this palatial apartment and most other luxury ones, there is a room and bathroom for the maid on the yard. Lest you think this might be a good way to see the world starting with Singapore, let me tell you that this maid's room won't hold a bed bigger than one of those junior size model that toddlers test drive. The room is about 7 feet square (I'm being generous,) about 11 feet high, with one louvered window directly over the washer and dryer outside. Did I mention NO air con? The luxury bath includes a sink the size of a soup bowl, toilet, shower nozzle on the wall, and a drain in the floor. Bathing ensures that the entire room (3 ft by 6 ft) gets hosed daily, or however often you can convince your maid to bathe.

Well, it looks very seriously like a storm is coming, and I want to get online before it hits. Hope you are starting to get a sense of the educational experience that is Singapore. Tonight, I will attempt Macaroni and Cheese baked in the oven! The girls incinerated a bag of microwave popcorn this afternoon (where is that manual?!?) so the house smells like charred plastic. C went to the grocery to get one of those Aim 'n Flame thingies to light a candle and came home with a gizmo that looks the same, but only sparks to light the gas appliances. Oh well!

Love to all.

Saturday night into Sunday

It started out just fine! A nice warm Saturday afternoon, working in my studio with the door wide open. The dogs were cavorting in the yard outside. And then it was time for dinner. I locked up, called dogs... no dogs. Hummm.

Get the Bad Boy Buggy (it's really called that!) and started driving the property roads, calling doggies. No dogs. Drive up the hill, down the hill, over the bridge, through the woods (to grandmother's house we go... ) and come back up behind the shop. Nope, no dogs.

As I raced pell-mell down the drive, calling dogs, out they pop from the woods behind my studio. And Nick is wearing a light but grainy layer of mud on his legs and belly. Okay, clean up the dogs, checking all over for wounds, snake bites and missing appendages. Serve them dinner. As Sassy hoovers her food, Nick looks at dinner and then at me as if I have fed him rocks! Not good, but with no other menu choices he reluctantly eats with Sassy trolling like a shark behind him.

Both dogs lumber off to sleep with full bellies, with Nick occasionally groaning. I flip TV channels (DH is out of town and the remote is mine! All mine!!) Bedtime comes and out we go out for a last bathroom break. Well, not me! And off to sleep.

12:30AM and Nicks wants out. Put on heavy bathrobe and slippers, and stumble to the back door. Out everyone goes. Nick does all his business. So does Sassy. Back to bed.

2:30AM... Nick again, poking me and giving me a face full of hot doggie breath. Repeat with bathrobe and slippers, out to the back door. Nick does all his business as if he never has gone before. Who knows what Sassy did, I don't have my eyes open. Back to bed... again.

4:00AM... Nick wants breakfast! Jumps on the bed and roots around under my pillow with his snout, bouncing my head up and down. Bet you didn't know that's the universal dog sign for Feed Me Or I Will Wash Your Face And Pick Your Nose! Forget about the robe and slippers, just get the food. Back to bed yet again.

4:15 AM...Hear suspicious noises (thump, slurp, crunch, crunch.) Get out of bed to find Nick has gotten into the dog food bin and is helping himself to seconds on breakfast. Remind him I'm on my last nerve with no sleep. Return to bed after banging arm on the doorway in the dark. Yawn!

7:30AM. Nick and Sassy are well rested, fed and watered, so it must be time to play!

I don't know what Nick ate in the forest yesterday... acorns, squirrel snot, creek water or whatever, but I think this is going to be a long day!


Later:

Just back from the Walmart store where I bought lots of groceries. Apparently an argument took place between groceries in the back seat of the truck while I drove, and after some heckling from the frozen turkey, a jar of Prego flung itself to a violent death when I opened the door! It jumped right out of the bag, it did! Spaghetti sauce and broken glass everywhere. On the floor, on the cabinets, the garage door, and my just-washed jeans and (not just washed) shoes. Needless to say, i was very popular with the dogs when I came in the house!

Since Garage Marinara wasn't part of the plan today, I scooped and swabbed, washed and scrubbed. The dogs helped, by which I mean that Nick ran off to chase critters and Sassy threw toys at me when I stooped down to wash the floor, in between tries at licking my pants leg.

Yes, dear. I got it all off, using water and a bush-on-a-stick, a rag and some Windex. Also, paper towels and a dust pan, hand sanitizer and the washing machine. Sigh.

And to make matters worse, I think there is sauce on the underside of the truck, so I will smell like a pizza delivery van when I drive into town!

If you're going to knit...

Let me say (even before finishing the title sentence) that I took better pictures of this, but my card reader *eated* them. So, you are stuck with the poorly lit ones that the dogs took for me. Really!

So, if you are going to knit, you naturally need a tote to hold your stuff!



And while you're at it, a needle roll and a zippy pouch for all those pesky metal stick things and miscellaneous tools they sell you at the store.



What I am most proud of this project is that all the fabric was thrifted at the Goodwill. The flower/stripe outer fabric is from a twin size sheet, and the pink polka dot fabric, well, was a piece of fabric I found at the Goodwill (Did I already say that?)

So, now I need to go to the Goodwill again and see what other neat sheets and fabrics they might have, followed by a trip to the Hobby Lobby to look at yarn and knitting books.

I see a vicious cycle starting... yeah!

And you say I can't knit

Pay attention, Miss C, I knit something! Me, your non-knitting mother. And I can even purl... HA! I admit, it is not the most ambitious project, but since I needed to buy a book, needles etc just to start, I thought it was pretty good. I used this book, 1-2-3 Knit. I think is usually comes with water wings and a safety helmet for those of us neophytes (great word... neophytes) but I decided I was grown-up to go without. I did the cover project, a short neck wrap with a split at one end to feed the other end through to secure.

A neighbor in Hawaii tried to teach me to knit as a child. She was, and still is, a stellar knitter, even designing her own patterns. She is one of those (and you know who you are) that never have to look at what she is doing, just follows the rhythm of the needles clicking, and wraps the yarn around the needle with a rapid flick of the yarn-loaded index finger.

Not me. I have a death grip on the needles, burns on my cuticles from trying to control the yarn, and painful dents on the tips of my index fingers from stuffing the needles through the really tight stitches. But, isn't it fun??

Of course, once finished, I needed a model. I haven't been able to take a decent picture of myself in the mirror, something keeps shattering the glass and anyway, I look like my mother and she's been dead for years! Anywho, Nick kindly offered to try on the scarf (really!)

Sassy demonstrates the pose.


Isn't he cooperative?

And I think Nick's going need this scarf soon! We woke up to 28 degrees and frost on the ground.




We had a roaring fire in the fireplace and the colder weather really brought out the playfulness in the dogs. Sassy stole Nick's favorite blue toy, but in the end, they decided to share... Not!


Hope you are having as much fun!!!

Sundays from Singapore, part 1

Okay, I have nothing new to tell, having done nothing but whine about my sore back all weekend. So, I thought I would resurrect some emails that I sent out from our tour of duty in Singapore in 2001. It was an eye opening experience and I printed them out so I could revisit them in time. Without further ado, here is post number 1:

7/19/2001

Sitting here with the cable guy trying to hook up the new TV, so I thought I would start a note on the first few days. They certainly have been experience-filled to say the least! Just to give you an idea, I can't run any appliance in the kitchen yet, except the dishwasher and that took a hour of reading and a trip to the grocery for "special salt."

To explain, the dishwasher is British made, I think, and has a built in water softener to handle the hard water here. There is not only a soap dispenser, but a rinse dispenser with a low level indicator, and a salt dispenser in the back of the unit for special salt. The salt has to be refilled by crawling into the machine with a pitcher at some regular interval, which it will tell me with another annoying light on the front.

The front panel is a trip in itself. Apparently the rest of the world, except us energy wasting Americans, set their appliances to different temperatures or power consumption rates depending on what they are trying to do. So, instead of a button for heavy or regular or light loads, I have to know what temperature water to use, based on the chart in the book (which is written in about ten languages including Slovenian, if you have a need,) depending on the amount of soil on the dishes and how long the cycle should run. Oh, and by the way, I have purses bigger than this machine, but the racks and little dividers are better planned and you can fit the whole elephant into this purse!

The microwave works on a similar what-wattage-do-you-need-to-cook-a-potato idea, but since I am missing the multi-language manual, I haven't a clue. The clock, however, has a mind of it's own and no matter what I do, reverts to a 24 hour clock (you know 14:00) and is constantly incorrect at that.

The oven... well, you get the picture, The cook top (known as a hob) won't work until Thursday when the gas man comes to turn it on and make sure I don't incinerate the whole building with my first meal. The good news is I have figured out the refrigerator, except that after unpacking the shelves and bins, I have spare parts...oh well. I did get the new vacuum cleaner to go, and boy can that thing suck! It has 5 power settings including "tornado vortex", "hold-on-to-small-children", and "is it on yet?"

The movers came with 7 small and very smelly guys to move in and unpack. We had the pleasure of their company for two days, but the purple cloud of odor is almost gone now. On some levels they were very entertaining, especially when they would get together to argue in various chattery languages about how to assemble something, turning it over and upside down, then one shooing the others away and getting it done right. The two full sized, stuffed toy dogs also provided some amusing moments.

We now have some semblance of a home, well, except for the 25 boxes of books sitting where the yet-to-be-delivered dining table goes and the stacks of pictures around the rooms. We need to get some carpets soon, because every time I get up off of the living room sofa, it shoots backwards on it's wheels into the dining room.

DH and I are back at the hotel one last time to use the phones to log on, so I will conclude this missive. As you can see, we are having fun and excitement here in Singapore. Supposedly we will have phone service tomorrow, but since they have told us two different sets of numbers, I will wait until they work to hand them out. I have much more to tell you all, but don't want to bore you if assembling clothes drying racks with Chinese instructions isn't your cup of tea. Please email me and let me know if you would like the latest installment of "which taxi can drive Between the lines?"

Love to everyone...Lisa

It's Back!!!

I can't believe it! Years after I had given up hope of ever seeing it again. There it was... on a shelf in a bookstore in Nashville!

Victoria magazine or Bliss Victoria as they call themselves.

Some of the best eye candy legally available over the counter! This magazine was discontinued years ago for no apparent reason. I was crushed! When things got tough, or just boring, I would make a run to the bookstore for the latest issue. Apparently, former subscribers were alerted to the reissuing of the magazine. I, though a loyal fan, am not one of those people. I prefer the thrill of the hunt at the bookstore.

Inside, some of the most delicious photographs of a life I don't lead. Tea services, spa bath salts, wool skirts and lace covered blouses (heck, I don't even own a *blouse*, I wear shirts.) China patterns, luncheons, antique shoppes (gotta spell it like that) and damask upholstered furniture. Just look at this!

Photo essay on winter beauty.

Or these antique dresses from the collection of Tasha Tudor, which she is auctioning off!



Don't you think I would look demure and oh so lady-like wearing the dress on the left? While riding my tractor? Or splitting firewood?

And so, after I threw around some cow poopy, arm wrestled the tiller and planted some spring bulbs, I showered (I know, I know, you are quite welcome!) and settled in with a frou frou coffee and this issue of feminine fantasy. I even remembered to remove my white gloves and raise me pinkie finger when I sipped!