Happy Birthday to all the July 2nd Babies in the World!
Image is Yuwa Blooming Vintage Fabric from Kitty-Craft.

I came across a few prints and I cannot remember where I saw them! I want to believe that these prints are from the NY Public Library Print Collection, but I am not sure at all. That’s what happens when you surf the web, find cool stuff and do not make an immediate note of where they came from. Maybe someone can help me out on this one?

Nevertheless, I think that they are very lovely prints. They are all prints of little children of the days gone by. The little girl playing with the cat print is so adorable! Brings back memories of playing with the kittens when I was little as does the print with the kids peeping through the fence. It looks as though something interesting is going on over on the other side of the fence and it’s making me wonder what it was! These prints are so wonderfully expressive that they awaken my curiosity and good memories. What do they make you think of?

Inspired by Looming Time-Off this week, I came up with a few Projects for Summer 2007 to January 2008.

Knitting Projects
• Wren Blouse
• Leaf and Acorn Lace Scarf
• Katia Cindy Short Sleeved Sweater

Shoes are very important as we all know. Try going barefoot for one day while doing all the things you normally do such as grocery shopping, work, school, etc. Hah! There is a good reason that someone invented the shoe. If you doubt me, ask someone who has chronic foot pain. Shoes protects the feet and makes life a lot more pleasant.

Why am I going on about shoes? Well…because there is a shoe sale! yay! I recently visited DSW and signed up for a DSW card. All I have to do is give my name and telephone number (cell) at checkout to save 10% off all my purchases. That is 10% off in addition to any other discounts. Imagine my glee at finding a shoe at 80% off plus my card discount…that would 90% off!

Starting today June 28 – June 30th, DSW is having an 80% off shoe sale. For my friends and family who know my name and number, feel free to rack up your savings to 90% off. hehe! Hey, if you are going to indulge that shoe habit, for heavens sake be thrifty about it!

FYI, My birthday is coming soon! As in next week and I am so excited! I won’t tell how old I will be and no one had better let the secret out or else! You all know my love for ice cream, so in honor of the birthday, I am sharing a delicious homeade frozen yogurt recipe with you as well as my coupon for a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake which I will not be using. Speaking of Baskin Robbins, sign up to get a free ice cream cone for your birthday.

Vanilla Frozen Yogurt Recipe

Notes: Remember to use good-quality whole-milk yogurt. Try different flavors such as pureed mango, raspberries, lavender, green tea, mint, lemon or whatever infusions you want. You will just have to play around with the amounts for each ingredient to get the right consistency.

3 cups (720g) strained yogurt (see below) or Greek-style yogurt
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

1. Mix together the yogurt, sugar, and vanilla (if using). Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Refrigerate 1 hour.
2. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
   
   You can also create your own ice cream maker by:
   • Take a medium sized stainless steel bowl and place it in a large stainless steel bowl
   • In the large bowl, place a ice so that it surrounds the medium sized bowl. Cover the ice in Kosher salt.
   • Pour yogurt mixture into the medium sized bowl and using an electric hand mixture, mix the yogurt until it is of ice cream consistency.

You may need to add more ice and salt, periodically. Check out this site for bowls that would be ideal to use for this project.

3. To make 1 cup (240g) of strained yogurt, line a mesh strainer with a few layers of cheese cloth. Then scrape 16 ounces or 2 cups (480g) of plain whole-milk yogurt into the cheesecloth.
4. Gather the ends and fold them over the yogurt, then refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

For the above recipe start with and strain 6 cups of yogurt.

Makes about 1 quart.

By the way, I had made cupcakes and cakes in the winter, of which I shared with certain members of my family. Some parties have yet to return my baking pans! Since my birthday is coming soon, I would love to bake myself a cake and thus would appreciate the return of aforementioned baking pans. Has anyone seen my muffin pan??

I am sorry I didn’t hug you goodbye. And that was why I came there today. I wanted to tell you that I love you and want you to have the most awesome trip ever! I remember how wonderful my own trip was and I hope that yours surpasses mine in every good thing.

I hope you find that freedom of self, the beauty and all the wonderful qualities I discovered on my own journey and even more. In fact, I am certain you will. You truly are an exceptional woman. God bless and keep you always.

-your sister

A priest, a Pentecostal preacher, and a Rabbi, all served as chaplains to
the students of Northern Michigan University in Marquette. They would get
together two or three times a week for coffee and to talk shop.

One day, someone made the comment that preaching to people isn’t really
all that hard. A real challenge would be to preach to a bear. One thing
led to another and they decided to do an experiment. They would all go
out into the woods, find a bear, preach to it, and attempt to convert it.

Seven days later, they’re all together to discuss the experience.

Father Flannery, who has his arm in a sling, is on crutches, and has
various bandages, goes first. “Well,” he says, “I went into the woods to
find me a bear. And when I found him I began to read to him from the
Catechism. Well, that bear wanted nothing to do with me and began to
slap me around. So I quickly grabbed my holy water, sprinkled him and,
Holy Mary Mother of God, he became as gentle a lamb. The bishop is
coming out next week to give him first communion and confirmation.”

Reverend Billy Bob spoke next. He was in a wheelchair, with an arm and
both legs in casts, and an IV drip. In his best fire and brimstone oratory
he claimed, “WELL brothers, you KNOW that we don’t sprinkle! I went out
and I FOUND me a bear. And then I began to read to my bear from God’s HOLY
WORD! But that bear wanted nothing to do with me. So I took HOLD of him
and we began to wrestle. We wrestled down one hill, UP another and DOWN
another until we came to a creek. So I quick DUNKED him and BAPTIZED his
hairy soul. And just like you said, he became as gentle as a lamb. We
spent the rest of the day praising Jesus.”

They both looked down at the rabbi, who was lying in a hospital bed. He
was in a body cast, and traction, with IVs and monitors running in and out
of him. He was in bad shape.

The rabbi looks up and says, “Looking back on it, circumcision may not
have been the best way to start…”

Recently I was having a chat with my roommate who spent a year traveling. Out of some of this time, he visited New Zealand for a few months and that is where the story or his-story begins.

Don’t you just love wonderful, warm, fuzzy sweaters? Think about those freezing days in the winter when the closest you get to the warmth of a spring day is sitting in the sunniest spot in the house clothed in the warmest sweater you could find.

Did you ever wonder where angora comes from? Well here is a very simplified pictorial version of the Birth of the Angora Sweater.

How do we produce this?

First step is to enter the shearing shed full clothed in all your bunny glory which will then be shaved off leaving you a naked, but still cute bunny! Aww! After that comes the spinning, dyeing, weaving and then sewing/knitting into garments. In the first photo of the bunny you can see the blankets, pillows, etc. in the background, all of which are made from angora. Whew!

G’night!

It has been a tough year and these past few weeks especially have been rough. Despite or perhaps because of it all, I am really encouraged. Maybe it sounds strange to say that I am encouraged because of the hardships I face. Usually people speak of the hardships as horrible things and that despite these, they have some sense of calm, etc.

However, I have come to realize that there are some hardships that in of themselves are a blessing to experience. Not a blessing because of the the results they produce, but that they are intrinsically good things. Before you wonder if I have finally gone over the edge of reason and sunk into the valley of insanity, just think about the times you thought life was really miserable and years later looked back on that time as one of the best, and most exhilarating times of your life.

Weren’t those moments tinged with regret that you did not find the joy in those precious moments? Now imagine if you suddenly realized in the middle of a miserable experience, that you are completely content and happy. Imagine that not only does it not cause you anxiety, but in that moment you derive joy from the experience.

Alright! I know this sounds crazy, but believe me it is a really freeing experience. I’ve discovered a new facet of life; the fountain of joy and contentment! So…I encourage you to look within each experience that life offers you and find the joy in it. Especially in our everyday frustrations and disappointments. I was reading my daily dose of comics and thought this was a bit interesting. It’s all about our perspective!

Well, this Memorial Day weekend was certainly memorable. I spent it with my family celebrating my Grandmother’s 75th Birthday! Congrats Grannie Beryl! hehe! By the way, when I say family, I mean my mommy and her crazy sisters, my granny as well my sisters and a few of my cousins. I miss everyone so much! I wish the entire family could have been there! Aunt Debbie looks awesome, and Aunt Michelle your new home is so lovely (you could definitely decorate for me any day!). Oh! And I wish I had girls like Aunt Marva. bwahaha! Jokes aside, it was an interesting time and more than a few surprises appeared. I will soon post more about this and pictures! Right now, I feel like Andrew Speaker as I battle a weird illness/severe allergic reaction? where I am covered with hives. I am going back to sleep now. * sniff *

Remember Gwen Stefani’s Rich Girl? The warm weather warms inspires a certain amount of materialism in me. There…I admit it. I love summer clothes!! As I begin to put away the sweaters, I’m torn between my commitment to A) doing my part to stop sweatshop labor, and help the environment and B) my desire for Gorgeous clothes and …god help me…SHOES!

It doesn’t help that the summer catalogues are flooding my mailbox already. Sheesh! We haven’t even had a full week of decent spring weather yet! Anyway these are some items that are causing me to have severe pangs…MUST….PADLOCK….WALLET! * sigh *
Anthropologie
Free People
The Gap
Banana Republic

I tell you, I am a mess this time of year. My only saving grace is that I am way too cheap to pay much money for something I could kinda whip up after a visit to Ann’s Boutique.

On nicer note, I wanted to share the Orisinal website with you. It has a lot of cute games, activities and puzzles. I dare you to try the Puzzler. Some of my favorite games are:

• It Takes Two
• The Perilous Voyage
• Rainmaker
• Floats
• Winterbells

There is also the Flowers that allows you to create a bouquet of flowers and email it to someone with a message. I think this very nice and I have used it before.

From Anthropologie we have:

The River of Grass Dress

Nectar Halter Dress

The Wet Season Skirt

From Free People we have:

The Bali Wrap Ballet Flats

Bug Drop Earrings

The Sling Back Platform

Zebra Flip Flops

From the Gap we have:

The Seersucker Bandeau Bathing Suit

The Seersucker Bandeau Bathing Suit

From the Banana Republic

Printed Halter Top and Cropped Sweater

White Chinos

Crochet sleeveless trapeze sweater

Today I made a new banner in honor of May. I will be changing it again later this week in honor of Mother’s Day! Whoohoo! I can’t wait to share my Mother’s Day presents!

Oh! I also did laundry, cleaned and rearranged my bedroom. I am so glad that DeeDee took the couch! I have so much space! Speaking of the couch…

Ramon who is a film maker, producer, and couch mover (thank you!) recently returned from an extended trip. I still haven’t heard all the details, but I know India was a huge part of the trip. You have to watch the video…he’s so funny even when he’s upset. “I’m not coming back” just about sums up the experience I think. bwahaha!! You can see more about Ramon, the unhappy traveler, and his trip here.

For those of you who entertain fantasies of India, this is just one person’s Indian experience. I suppose that like curry, sushi and calamari, India is perhaps an acquired taste.