A late post

My house is all done up for Christmas. Most of my shopping is started (if not done). And tonight, I am sore. I fell decorating the dining room last night and am paying for it. So please enjoy a picture of my lovely pumpkin pie from Thanksgiving, while I heal.

Thanksgiving?

I enjoy Thanksgiving, don't get me wrong. I like the food (very non-traditional for my clan), I love that the day after means the start of the winter holiday phase. 

But the last couple of years I have been questioning Thanksgiving. It seems odd to me to choose one day to be thankful. And even odder to have a day to "celebrate" the American Dream. Especially in this day and age. Let me note here that I don't really buy into the concept of the American Dream as it seems to be interpreted these days. What I see is a nation of people who feel entitled. I can't imagine that the founding families felt that way. They didn't believe that they were owed anything but what they worked for. 

I think it is the little things that bug me. Little things like being angry that gas prices are going up (limited resource) or expecting something more then what was paid for or agreed upon, or buying things and using them and returning them (a sadly very common occurrence that I noticed when I worked retail). It is hard to explain, but I would wager every one knows someone who feels perpetually entitled.



I feel as though we have forgotten that "rights" are actually responsibilities. And that "rights" are just gifts that our culture allows us to have. I believe that my ability to complain about this is a gift that my government could take away and that the fact that I belong to no one is a gift as well. I also believe that we would go much further as a species if we could take a moment and remember that.

Connecting

I will be honest... it has been a tough week. So I think that part of my assignment in gratitude will be to sit outside and ground myself. Listen to what the earth has to say. Let the ground tell me what path to take.


At night, I sleep with my window open and I can hear all sorts of night noises, not all of which are urban related. I can hear the pine cones fall from the tall pine in the backyard. In the morning I can see the squirrels scavenging the seeds from that gift. It is fall here, but we are still growing. It does not get cold enough yet to damage the onions and garlic. There is frost on the car windows but not really anywhere else.

I will spend time in the garden, making what things wish to be made. And I will let the earth better guide my path by listening to what she has to say.

A new Doll

I was actually disappointed in the photos that I took of this sort of Christmas-y doll. I just don't feel they capture her essence. But I did make her with a matching brooch and hope to have her on-line this week.

I am still having computer issues, amongst some other frustrations that just seem to be sapping my strength. I hate that. I really don't like when I feel like I can't make head way. And, isn't it always that time when the same thing is going one with everyone you know?
But enough whining, I just need to get it together and get the house ready for Christmas. This coming weekend I plan on making a centerpiece for the dining area table. The girls will help. So stay tuned for that. 
Peace
K

I am a brave girl

BeforeBefore I get into why I am a brave girl, I want to let you all know that I am having severe computer issues. My laptop died. And that is making everything difficult. I can't get onto Facebook when I get ahold of a computer to use. I therefore am not at all certain if the blog will be something that continues to get updated in anything like a regular manner. Just a bit of a warning. 

Now, I was brave! Super duper brave. I did something that I have wanted to do for many many years. I got a tattoo. Just a small one on my foot.

I have wanted to get inked for probably twenty years, but haven't because I am a chicken. I hate pain and am so terrified of it. And I was never sure what I would want for the rest of my life. I get hennaed frequently, because it is ever-changing art. But a tattoo is forever. 

When I was doodling at work, quite a while back while thinking about personal mythology and personal symbolism I came up with my personal symbol. It is an open ended infinity symbol with a dot in the upper end. To me it represents a Ganesh in a boiled down form. The simplest form of the remover of obstacles, wrapped up in forever. When I doodled this, I knew immediately that this is what I wanted and I knew that it had to be on my foot. 

It didn't hurt nearly as badly as I thought it would and the tattoo is more then worth it. Chandra is a genius. So, now I just need to get my tramp stamp.

GlitterSniffer!

 

Above is a pic of Sister all decked out in her Halloween makeup. She was a re-imagination of a anime/Eighties something. All of her makeup comes from GlitterSniffer Cosmetics. Hands down the best cruelty free makeup out there. The colors will freak you out in the best way. She has a new toxic green that makes me smile every time I see it.

Please check her out. If you have a teen or tween or wild side you aren't scared to show, go to GlitterSniffer!

Traditions

It is that time of year. The time of year when we seem to naturally turn inward and start thinking about family and traditions. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. They all have traditions that we use to help teach our children the things that we want them to learn. Or traditions that are just really fun.

Growing up, we didn't have very much money. At all. But my mother could cook. She had an imagination that resulted in several fun yearly projects (and a few disasters, like the horseradish inident that sent a friend into labor). 

One of the things that we looked forward to was the giant face cookies. They were simple sugar cookies that were painstakingly rolled out, then decorated to look like smiley faces. Each cookie filled a cookie sheet, and took about half a batch of cookie dough. And they took days to eat. Days. 

In the above photo are me, my brother and my little sister. And our lovely 1960's wallpaper. This photo was taken in about 1979 or 1980, possibly earlier. 
Peace,
K

All I want for Christmas

is "Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar". 

I have "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World" and use it all the time. Now, I want cookies. 

November 5th 2009

First of all, Happy Birthday to my friend Dani! I hope that this coming year is better then anything you could hope for. 

Now, on to business, such as it is. I redid the pumpkin fabric. It was sitting on the stove cooling. I should have told Vyapti what was going on, but now the fabric is sitting in the compost bin. I will try again this weekend, I hope. I did learn that i want the smaller pumpkins and I want very little water. I let it boil and then simmer for a long time. I am just not sure how to set the color. 


I just pulled pumpkin seeds out of the oven. I love pumpkin seeds. I just clean mine and lightly salt them. For me the trick is to let them air dry a bit before I bake them Overnight is usually good. Then into a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes, stir them up and then 7 more minutes. They won't last the day.

 I will be busy in the studio most of the day, so I should have lots of fun stuff for the next week or so. I hope so. I have wanted to be posting something, even a small post every weekday. But, man that is difficult. I am just not that with it yet. 
Peace and pumpkin seeds
K

There were lots of little projects

This past weekend was busy. Of course there was Halloween, and shopping for Vypati's birthday, and just general being a grown up stuff. And I did try to get photos of it all.

The one thing that I really wanted to get a picture of, but couldn't (although I will try later this week) is the project I did on a whim. As you know, I make dolls. I am always trying to find a way to make them just a touch more artsy, and individual and so on. While picking through pumpkin guts for the pumpkin seeds (which I love!) I thought "Hey, why not dye fabric with pumpkin". So I did. Sort of. Having never done this before, I didn't do it very well. I used too much water and I don't think that I broke down the pumpkin well enough. 

The result was a very pale yellowy orange. I have lots of pumpkin and they are cheap this time of year so I will keep at it until I figure it out. 
And before we leave, here is my little zombie! She brought home a huge amount of candy.