Posted by fabricpile
Sat, 08 Dec 2007 21:56:00 GMT
Our first Christmas tree in our new house is up and decorated.
Whoops! What’s that cat doing, anyway?
Ah. That’s better. Yes, I finally got my upside-down Christmas tree. I’ve wanted to do this ever since I was a kid. There was a florist we liked who hung all of the trees upside down from the ceiling of her shop and decorated them for the holidays that way.
It looks very Seussian and it makes everyone smile. No Grinches allowed this year at our house!
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Posted by fabricpile
Tue, 13 Nov 2007 01:30:00 GMT
It took six months, but the bookshelves are finally up in my studio, and the books safe and happy in their new home. The walls in the living room won’t be finished until the new front door is installed.
Here’s a sneak peek at her naked:
And here she is in her full Izmir Purple glory:
Lucky for me I couldn’t stand the idea of cream, forest green, burgundy or navy blue. We saved over $800 by eschewing the factory finished paint job. Unfortunately, the directions for painting a steel door that my friendly neighborhood Sherwin Williams manager offered left me in tears due to the streaks I could not avoid. When I turned to my tried-and-true mini fabric rollers, I was thrilled with the results.
Millie’s footprints in the paint didn’t make me all too happy, but I fixed them. If they had been more artistically placed, I might have left them.
I think she is lovely and will look awesome when firmly in her new home. This neighborhood needs “that-house-with-the-purple-door.”
Meanwhile, back at the sewing machine (which I don’t get to nearly enough):
My Tango tablecloth quilt is coming along slowly. This is more complete, even though it was just an afterthought using the leftover pieces. Neither will be finished before Thanksgiving, but definitely soon after.
Posted in fabricpile, fibers | 4 comments
Posted by fabricpile
Sun, 04 Nov 2007 03:23:00 GMT
Another Saturday night, another bottle of wine, another round of Hei Sei Alaska Rolls, and another wonderful chocolate selection to round out the evening.
Vosges makes some pretty interesting exotic bars. I have a number of them tucked away for evenings just like tonight. The Black Pearl Bar has wasabi, ginger and black sesame seeds. I was skeptical, but other than the chocolate being a bit on the waxy side (especially for the price), it was really good.
The sesame seeds add a very subtle, crunchy texture, and the ginger gives the chocolate an interesting flowery flavor, but none of us could really detect the wasabi. We thought about smearing on some of our own, but that might have just been the wine talking.
This one is waiting on the chocolate shelf for its moment of glory. I just can’t decide what to pair it with. Any suggestions (besides fried eggs and hash browns)?
Posted in chocolate, fabricpile | 6 comments
Posted by fabricpile
Fri, 02 Nov 2007 23:53:00 GMT
There is nothing I can say about the amount of chocolate I have consumed in my lifetime that won’t make everyone roll their eyes and say, “We know already!”
So I’ll cut to the chase. These are by far the best chocolates I have ever tasted. Ever, ever, ever. Let a Torn Ranch Java Truffle melt on your tongue and it will be forever in your heart.
The trouble is they’re not easy to come by. They’re only available retail online as part of larger gift baskets (too expensive and who wants all that other stuff anyway?!) I’ve even spoken with the company and they won’t let me buy them directly—not even by the gross (Oh, yes I would!)
I’m lucky that Gretel loves them, too, because she’s more than happy to order them for me—but only in the colder months of the year. I’ve been looking forward to November since last winter!
I won’t tell you how many I ordered, but if you’re really nice to me, I’ll be glad to share.
Posted in chocolate, fabricpile | 3 comments
Posted by fabricpile
Tue, 09 Oct 2007 23:51:00 GMT
Apparently our long Indian Summer has turned into Indian Spring. Take a gander at what I found blooming amongst the dead echinacea:
Poor confused irises!
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Posted by fabricpile
Wed, 03 Oct 2007 19:40:00 GMT
Every year the Otterbein Public Library purchases new “Christmas” novels because there are a large number of older patrons who really like to read them to get into the holiday spirit. Last year I was truly surprised at how popular they were.
So today while Cindy was combing Amazon for this year’s new titles, she happened upon this one:
Of course I’m going to buy it, put it out on the Christmas display and see how the little old ladies react to it. It’s all I ever wanted!
Posted in library, fabricpile | 2 comments
Posted by fabricpile
Sun, 23 Sep 2007 19:28:00 GMT
This is Doris, my new Buick. She’s a nice, sensible brown, but likes to think of herself as a sweet chocolat au lait.
She’s comfortable and well-apportioned on the inside.
She doesn’t need to be too flashy. She has more subtle ways of showing off her style.
And please don’t call her a mini-van. She prefers Crossover Sports Van, thank you very much! She’s still young at heart just like me. I think we’re going to get along fine.
Road Trip!
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Posted by fabricpile
Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:22:00 GMT
The Other Mrs. Schmenkman is feeling very red today. I’m still solidly in my green phase.
I can never seem to get enough Tazo green tea. I love the stuff. I make and drink it all the time at home, but it’s also great to have one of the nice baristas at Starbucks shake me up a venti (con tre Splendi, heh!)—especially on a particularly tough early morning walk. I know, I know . . . . how tough can it possibly be if I stop at Starbucks?
Would somebody please inform the fabric designers to get crackin’ with some more chartreuse in their new lines? Thanks. I reaaaaaallllly need it to compliment the stunning “Hep Green” on the two biggest walls in the living/dining room. Check out Sherwin Williams awesome Color Visualizer.
And if you haven’t tried this juice yet, don’t be afraid! Even though Henry will tell you that it looks like the glowing cartoon nuclear waste in The Simpsons, and the older kids refer to it as “sludge”, it’s delicious. And darned good for you, too! But drink it super cold on ice or it does get sort of icky.
I think I’m going to put together a green tea yogurt sludge juice smoothie and see how that tastes!
Green soap, green soap. For the longest time, I didn’t even realize that I had a
thing about green soap. Apparently I do. [Not present at photo shoot: assortment of green shampoos and conditioners.]
I’m pretty sure it’s not just a marketing thing. I don’t want to think it’s some sort of neurosis, though. Green just screams clean to me. And I can live with that.
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Posted by fabricpile
Mon, 17 Sep 2007 21:06:00 GMT
I dislike wallpaper. A lot. But as I stripped it from the ceiling in the kitchen today, I kept a positive attitude. I had the narrator’s voice from Amelie in my head as I attempted to remove it in one long piece:
“Madame K. aimes . . . arracher des grands morceaux
de papier peint.” [flips hair out of eyes triumphantly.]
Sometimes I was successful.
Sometimes not so much. But it looks better in shreds on the floor than it did on the ceiling!
Kira says, “Look! I’m a princess!”
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Posted by fabricpile
Mon, 17 Sep 2007 01:17:00 GMT
In spite of my late start in gardening this year, I have some wonderful color in front of the house. Every day a couple of mothers walk their children to school past our house pushing toddlers in strollers. I have given them permission to pick the red globe amaranthus as they go by. Their little ones never seem to let them forget to stop and pick one along the way and it makes me smile. I’m happy to share.
I have begun to dig out the main gardens in front where the two mini van-sized bushes used to be. I’ll soon be doing some fall planting so that we start next Spring out with a blast of brilliance.
I finally found some time to play with fabric today. Ironically, this grouping is mostly from a new line called “Play” by Windham and Baum (Thanks, Mrs. Schmenkman!)
Gratuitous Handsome Herbie picture alert!
Comments are back.
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