My Favorite Dish

This Salad Costs less than $7.00 to make and is perfect for a BBQ side dish.

Ingredients:

Can of Sweet Kernel Corn

Can of White Kidney Beans

Can of Red Kidney Beans

1 Medium Lime

Bundle 'o' Cilantro

Rinse all ingredients in cool water

 

Chop Cilantro

  Mix together in a big bowl

Cut lime in half, and squeeze juice over salad

 

Mix, Refrigerate and enjoy.

Adventures in Home Ownership

Our deck was considered completely unsafe; dry rot, rusted nails, and no bolting to the house.  It had to be replaced.  So when we were getting married last summer we requested in lieu of a registry, that people help us fund for our home projects-mainly the deck.  So after the wedding madness, the typical Northwest weather came in and we couldn't build.

Kevin and I took our tools out this month and took down the old rickety deck and had a work party made up of friends and family to help us.  This all happened in one week from destruction of the old deck, to the final railing on the new deck.

Before: (no railings as they were taken down over a year ago) 

Destruction- We managed to save all of the old wood (except for the most dry rotted) It will most certainly be reused in other "old west" dog houses, planter boxes and general woodworking my husband thinks up. 

Lots of Nails, lots of wiggling. 

Here is the dry rot....so dangerous. Your foot would step right through.

We then disconnected the whole structure from the house, which was relatively easy- it was only nailed to the siding (no bolts).  We simply wrapped the deck with a utility rope and pulled, hoping it wouldn't crash into our sliding glass door.

 

No more deck poorly connected to the house....

Only one major injury... hammering your own hand results in a lot of swelling and a big fat bruise....

To my surprise, no injuries with this part, had to bust out some concrete to set our pillars.

There was staining....a of staining. I spent every day after work staining all of the wood so it would be gorgeous when it went  up. It paid off.

Then the troop came out... there was some man talk, some beer drank and the deck went together piece by piece.

Then the beautiful railing was put up.  It is my favorite part.  It is safe, functional, and looks so nice. 

 The final product is exactly what we wanted.  We spend as much of our time out there already.

Screen Printing should be one word...

I still find myself blending the two words into one verb of fantastical possibilities..... Anywho....


I have started back up with the Yudu today due to a needed day off and some killer joint pain in my feet....no work, just screenprinting.... see one word......


I first needed a new screen since the two I have are already burned and have great designs on them that I intend to keep for a while. Kevin was sweet enough to pick up a new screen for me.


First step is to wet the screen. I have found that a wet (but not dripping) paper towel works best. The thicker the better. When the screen is wet, put the dull side (shiny side is the plastic covering) of the emulsion sheet down onto the flat side of the screen (or the side that is flush on all corners, trust me, I've screwed this up before.... make sure there are no airbubbles, or light green spots, these are enemies....

Then comes the drying. One push of the button simply does not do it. Three times and a hairdryer on low cool heat works best. Be sure that it is dried completely. If there are any tacky parts to the emulsion its just not dry...DO NOT PEEL the plastic back if it is tacky...



While drying- print off or draw your design on the the transparencies... silhouettes made of paper are also cool...the TimberDog design that is on the blog earlier was simply paper.This activity kills time while the emulsion dries... To make ink-jet printed images more defined, I rely on a good ol' Sharpie to hand fill the design. This allows for the light to be properly blocked when exposed.

Once the emulsion is dry place the designs print side up on the glass, then the flat side of the screen down.... EXPOSE.... not yourself.....the screen....


The green emulsion sheet will turn blue. Where the designs lay, it should be green....wash gently. I usually put the whole screen into the shower, and use the hand-held shower head on lukewarm spray and my hands... this works easily without scratching the screen fibers...






Once the designs are no longer green, and the green is down the drain...dry... again.... three times and a hairdryer.



Then comes the fun part, tape off the design you want to print (or just the sides if you went with a full page design).... Make sure everything is centered.


It can prove difficult when doing centered graphics from small designs like these.... flashlights and a partner help to shine the light directly down to really be able to center the graphic onto the fabric. Also putting a dark colored piece of tape in the center underneath the fabric helps...



Slightly lift the screen and put a stream of ink directly above the design, pull ink lightly downward first.










Lower the screen and pull with more pressure to press ink onto the fabric. Hold the fabric in place when lifting the screen up again.

Blind Quilting

I am a self-taught seamstress of sorts. I followed the advice of Whit a few years ago and purchased a $50.00 Brother Sewing Machine and some good scissors... What has blossomed are many adorable custom fit shirts, christmas stockings, three sets of curtains still in use, original purses by Oertli Original (thanks Katie) and one finished photo quilt. Now today I am going back to the Brother to whip up a family photo quilt for Kevin's Grandma for Mother's day. She is the ultimate Super Mom.

Here is the first I made for my own Grandma at Christmas....

I have no idea why this photo is sooo small...


Anyway, I have started from scratch again with 9 photos printed in sepia onto printable fabric sheets 8x11 (found at JoAnn for 5 bucks for 4 sheets) Most are group photos from over the years...










I Then bought a bundle of 5 fat quarters and a couple extra stray colorschemed quarters (about 10 bucks from JoAnn) and cut them into the following: 2- 3"x16" strips for the sides of the photos, and 2-3"x12" stips for the top and bottom of the pictures to creat the "frame" of the photo.

My tools of use and luxury-


rotary cutter and mat

measuring guide

fabric/thread

pins

and of course the brother

iron with ironing board

PATIENCE...


Of course this quilt is a work in progress, will update once complete...

...well the day has come and the quilt is finished. This took about 6 hours to complete, but stretched out over a week or so, it goes pretty easy.

The Finished product....

New Hobby

With the new changes, always comes a bit of creativity. I have started to put my screen printing set up to good use. Check out my Esty shop ShareABitOfLove if you get a chance, pretty bare for now, but as I get going more will be added. I adore simple clean design with a personal touch.



My first item is a silhouette of our sweetie pie Timber....

Travel

I adore airports. I am first to volunteer to take ANYONE to the airport. I love the coming and going-business, vacation, reuniting, and departures. LOVE airports. I have had a very blessed life in travel, I usually get a couple trips per year. This one happens to be from Whit- for her birthday. This girl is flying me out for HER birthday. I am just so lucky.

I am sitting in Seatac Airport at 9pm- people watching, listening to the subtle sounds of voices, ventilation systems, announcements. The lighting is pretty mellow, and there are the occassional soft sofa like benches that I have managed to hog. Lets hope that the seat next to me is empty, perfect for putting my feet up and sleeping. Its a long trip from one coast to the next. I managed to bring some tunes and my newest project to allow myself to crochet mindlessly. I of course had to ask my airline savvy aunt if a crochet hook would be allowed... FYI totally is...

Here's to the next four days of spud buds reuniting... I plan to spill out the story of Whit and Monica in the future.....

Fair Warnings

The time has come where I will be sharing my thoughts online. I make no guarantees that anyone will find these interesting, but I do plan to post photos and links to things I have discovered, made, or seen.


First are introductions:

Meet Me: I am your average Northwest Grown 25 year old- I work an office job, I love mother nature, and sing very loudly in my car. I have lived in cabin on a farm, downtown apartment in the city, and adore both equally. I have friends to kill for and know it.













Meet Kevin: He is my loving husband. We were married in August of 2009. We met when I was 6 and he was 15 on a frozen pond on his family's farm. He was a "big" boy then, and well now that we are a bit older, it doesn't seem so weird. He is funny, logical, and most of all kind. He works hard and knows how to make life fun.














Meet Timber: Our first dog. She was found, abandoned on a logging road back in 2007 as a pup. She is part lab/shepherd and part cheetah. This dog is fast. Not just out-run human fast, but abnormally and amazingly fast. Next walk we take, I will try to get it on video to show the world.














Meet Tahoe: She is our second dog. She was also rescued-was running loose as a pup in the Moses Lake area. She is part Golden Retriever/Shepherd. She is not cheetah fast, but tries her hardest. She has a deep fascination with her tail and has the softest belly in the universe.

Meet Sam: She is my first pet as an adult. She has moved 7 times with me. She is sweet and stoic most of the time. She was a former farm cat given to me as a gift in college. She was pregnant when I got her, and you will see the result of that endeavor next.

Meet Hans: She is the product of Sam not being spayed as a barn cat. Hans was the cock-eyed runt of the litter that no one would take. She obviously grew into a beautiful, but sassy little cat. Whitney dislikes her tremendously. (You'll meet Whitney later)