Chain Maille

What does a crafty teen who has just visited the Renaissance Festival do with her last weeks before college begins? She picks up and masters a new hobby, of course.

Julia and her friends were intrigued by the chain maille for sale at the Renaissance Fair. She bought a small bracelet that drapes over the hand in a "V" and loops around the middle finger. It was an innocent enough purchase at first. Now, she is hooked. Now, there are bags of jump rings littering every horizontal surface in the house and pliers lain askew on place mats and coffee tables. And, there is a young lady, her eyes glued to a laptop monitor in front of her, pliers in both hands, who wrestles these stainless jump rings into all kinds of intricate patterns and beautiful weavings. We have a chain maille junkie on our hands!

Seriously though, the jewelry she is making is quite lovely. When one thinks of chain maille, if they are like me, they think of chunky suits worn by knights to protect them from glancing sword blows. But, this craft has grown to be much more. There are so many different fancy "weaves" and patterns that have crossed over from chain maille's once strictly utilitarian purpose to resemble something of art.

Julia has become so intrigued with this process and so proficient at her new craft that she is even considering selling her work, which I might add goes for a pretty penny online. Bravo to her for teaching herself this wonderful pastime and creative outlet.

My kids' creativity and ability to look up how to do something and then do it and do it well never ceases to amaze me.

Tagged by Melissa!

I've been on a bit of a blogging break, as you know, but my WTM blogging friend Melissa tagged me for this meme and I am a sucker for memes! Also, as I read over Melissa's list there were so many similarities to me that I just had to do it.

6 Unspectacular Things About Me

1. Link back to the person who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

Here goes:

1. I love homemade popcorn with lots of real butter and sea salt.

2. Like Melissa, I startle very easily and my family has taken advantage of that fact. Just ask Julia about the fake black spider...

3. I sleep with one very old, flat pillow and sometimes even push that above my head. Hotel pillows, you know the puffy foam kind, kill me.

4. I snore sometimes. Dh has earplugs in his nightstand.

5. I require everyone to leave their shoes either outside the door, in their rooms, or in the cellar. They often opt for outside because it's easier, then they get angry at me when their shoes get wet!

6. I am a nut for SciFi.

There, everything you always wanted to know about me, right?! I'm not sure I will tag anyone right now, but I reserve the right to change my mind at a later date.

Reading and Watching

Summer is ideal for reading and watching. The heat and humidity dictate either a break on the couch with a book or one floating in the Intex pool. The long days turn into late night movie viewing as cool breezes finally begin to waft in through the open windows.

I am usually a one-book-at-a-time type gal, but right now I am reading two. I thought I'd fly through a few more Miss Read books this summer, but I've gotten side-tracked and will have to pick her back up a little later in the season.

A friend loaned me To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. I'm finding it very good and rather funny, but I am not compelled to read one chapter after another. I like the book well enough, it is after all a pleasant adventure in time travel with much silliness and history. It just seems I put it down and forget to pick it up again for days.

My other read right now is open next to me on the couch. I am almost halfway through its 311 pages after picking it up at the library yesterday. At the end of each chapter it compels me to begin another, and then another...Sundays in America, A Yearlong Road Trip in Search of Christian Faith. I don't always share the author's views, but her "trip" is intriguing. Earle and I have always talked about worshipping at a different church every Sunday. Suzanne Shea did it for a year and we are along for the ride.

Apart from reading books I have been reading a blog I discovered called Zen Habits. I am all for simplicity and the articles there are very inspiring. Hop on over and give it a try.

Movie watching has been slow but steady. We picked up a few $5 movies out of the Walmart bin to add to our small collection. Among the usual fare of Terminator and military action movies were True Lies and one of my favorites A Knight's Tale. It is a great movie. What can be better than the character of Geoffrey Chaucer, stripped naked (from the back of course) bemoaning his gambling habit! Side-splitting stuff. The other great movie I watched (part of) recently was Master and Commander. I watched it at the precise time to see my favorite part: "Don't you know that in the service you must always choose the lesser of two weevils." If you've seen it you know of what scene I speak!

Old Friend

My blog template, minima black, was like an old friend whom I missed while she was away. I tried to like my new friend. I thought she was more summery and light-hearted. But, in the end old friends are the best friends and I missed my minima. So, I gave her a call and invited her over. We're very close and having her here just feels right. She may be a little dark, but I love the way she makes the colors pop. She makes me happy.

Since I've been on my short blogging vacation, my nieces have been roaming the world, Earle and Julia have been to Germany, and my lovely sister-in-law has joined the blogging world. I think it might be time for an update soon!

Blessings to you all and I hope you are enjoying summer.

Update

I can't believe how much time has gone by. We've all been very busy here. I've had to conclude that blogging may not happen over the summer much, so don't be surprised if you come to visit and nothing has changed. This is what we have been up to since I blogged last and what we are anticipating the upcoming summer to be like.

Me:

I spent last week subbing full time at the school where I will be teaching in the fall. The teacher whom I am replacing is pregnant and was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and preeclampsia which sent her home for complete bed rest and sent me into the classroom full time, early. It was a good opportunity to get to know the kids before the upcoming school year and to take stock of the supplies. I will need to order supplies, plan for the classes, organize the room, and fire the kiln a few times over the summer. I expect to be in there quite a few times.

Also, while Earle and Julia were in Germany I painted the sitting area in the kitchen which we affectionately call "the cafe" and I painted the hall leading to the bedrooms. The cafe is now a lovely light orchid and the hall a pale sea blue. I also rearranged the great room so that the furniture grouping faces the view instead of the tv. I think there will be more thunderstorm and rainbow viewing than tv watching during the summer months. Since we have been experiencing a rather severe heatwave here, Earle and I put up my Intex pool and we purchased and installed air conditioners for the bedroom windows. This week would have been unbearable without them.

This summer I will be doing British Lit with Shawn and finishing Art History with him. I will continue with my art student and will also be creating and implementing a 1/4 credit art course for a friend's high school aged daughter who wants to graduated early and needs to fullfill a fine arts requirement. Hopefully I will find some time to fit in my own art as well.

Earle:

Earle is back from his two week stint in Germany. He and Julia had a wonderful time and he may eventually find the time to update his blog so you can share his adventure with him. We will be hosting someone from Germany when they visit here for work at the end of June. Earle is off for a few days to Taiwan and Germany in the meantime. His knee swelled a little again when he and Julia were away so he hasn't gotten on his bicycle yet this year, but he will soon. He and Shawn are still playing floor hockey though and we are looking forward to taking the canoe out for its first time this season. It's been too hot this last week to even think about being out on the water.

Julia:

Julia is back working at Kohl's for the summer and spending her free time with Seth. She is hoping to make enough money to pay her share of school in the fall, buy her books, and have some left over for a few riding lessons. Anything horse related is always so expensive and the rising price of gas has put a dent in every one's pocket. She will be picking up a little extra soon as she dog sits for some neighbors.

Shawn:

Shawn is working quite a few hours at Target. They gave him almost 30 this week. He has to fit in some school work this summer so that I feel I've covered everything with him that I wanted to before he heads to the community college. He has a few weeks left of fencing then our prime objective is to get him signed up for his drivers' test. He has been ready to get his license for a while now, but we haven't had the time to do it and haven't really wanted to pay the extra expense of the increased insurance cost. Shawn will also be doing some lawn work this summer for some neighbors, the same ones Julia is dog sitting for. It sure helps the gas fund.

So, as you can see, life is busy and there is no end in sight. We all feel as though we are chained to a treadmill that keeps speeding up regardless of what we do to try to slow it down. And of course the things I mentioned above are really just the tip of the iceberg. It is all those little plates we try to keep spinning in the air that take their toll in time and put us over the edge, things like: pets, and lawn care, and meal prep, and exercise....If I had back all the time I've spent cleaning cat puke off the floor in the last few years I could have painted a masterpiece instead! C'est la Vie.

Happy summer everyone. I'm sure you'll see me around, but it won't be regularly. Enjoy your families.

Food Stuff

Have you missed me? I've been taking a small blogging break. Something had to take up all the time I usually spend here. So, we've been eating! Since Friday's Feast is on vacation this week, I thought I'd share a feast of my own making, the yummy kind. To say "we like food" at our house is understatement extraordinaire. We cook. We eat. Therefore we are.

Breaking in the new wok from Taiwan with a batch of fajitas. I know, wrong culture. It worked great though! Our stove even has a wok ring that you place on a burner to hold the wok in place. It is so cool!

Can I tell you how much I adore pumpkin? I can eat it any time of year. This particular Pumpkin Cheesecake in a Gingersnap Crust was particularly yummy last week, especially with pecans substituted for the hazelnuts in the crust.

This is truly a sad sight. I only made this batch of brownies last night and Shawn and I are the only ones home! These are the best chocolate brownies ever, ever, ever, ever.........ever.

Brownies

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8" square pan. (I used Corelle greased with butter). In a medium bowl (I used my KichenAid mixer for this recipe) combine melted butter and cocoa, stirring until dissolved. Add sugar and mix well. Add eggs one at a time and mix until well combined. Stir in vanilla, flour, and salt until combined. Do not over mix. Fold in chocolate chips. Spread in pan and bake for about 25 minutes. Do not over bake. There's nothing worse than dried up brownies! Test with a toothpick for doneness. Toothpick should come out of center with moist crumbs, not clean. Cool, cut, eat. Yum.

You can thank me later. Just don't send me the bill for your new pants, one size bigger.

Happy Friday everyone!

Wordless Wednesday