So it is a nice quite morning here. Probably because Greg is still in bed! Which is not like him. I hardly ever get mornings to myself. All you with kids are rolling your eye's at me right now! I am looking out my window at our bare Birch tree and watching the cutest little birds searching for aphids. But winter time and bugs are far and few here. Oh except ants. I have a friend who has a 3 inch wide probably 10 foot long trail of them in his house right now! Hate that! So I have decided to try my hand at making clothes. I am going to venture out today to the fabric store and give it a go. I always want this skirt I see but I know I could make it. You know those long maxi skirts with the fold over top. I can do it right? That is easy compared to some stuff. I know I should knit but I am a little burned out on knitting right now and want to learn something new. I tend to do that. I get bored and want to try something new. Besides if I am good at it everyone will get a maxi skirt for Christmas! Watch out guys new fashion trend for you! Well I hope the weather is good enough you can all enjoy the day. This morning I am going to go for a walk at the elfin forest. (pictures later) and then go look at fabric! Have an awesome day as we say in California!

I hope everyone's year is shaping up to be a great one? Our phone rings with a new client almost every day. First time in a long time that January has been like this. Normally our calls do not come in till Feb or march. We are hoping to go to Hawaii next month. Top secret project for a big company. Hush hush! Kinda stupid but hey a trip to Hawaii I will keep my mouth shut.
It has been very cold for us here on the central coast. Many of our plants have crashed! It happens. You know if I pull out the down comforter it is cold! I have not worn my flip flops in a month now. I am starting to miss them. Though they say it will be warming up soon.
We have an aging kitty in our house right now and she has not liked the cold at all. I think all she has done is go outside and sit on the stair that gets the morning sun. It is so sweet to see her sitting out there with her face up to the sun. I will have to get a picture of her doing this.
I have fallen in love with the band The White Stripes and Jack White. I can't get enough and am constaly looking for stuff on utube about them and Jack. I just love his crazy style! If there is an actual style there. But I think that is the appeal to me is that the music is all over the place!
I had a bit of a health scare at the beginning of Dec. Found a large lump on my thyroid. Just got the all clear last week after several test. There is no cancer but we have to keep a close eye on it so I will be going back for another ultrasound at the end of summer. I hope I don't have to do another biopsy because that was not fun. I could handle it but it was still not fun.
I have been doing a ton of cooking and baking. Making all kinds of soups, pies, cookies, breads etc....don't know how we are not fat! It's funny I get off the road and I can't get out of the kitchen!
I have loved being home.
My mother in law is not doing so great though. She has been in full time care since Oct and has gone down hill. It has been hard because her memory is not good at all and sometimes she can't talk. We try and just have normal conversations with her and try and make her laugh. Hoping she does not have to be like this for long. She would not want to be is why I say that. Getting old sucks sometimes.
On a great note my niece Lorelei has been on a trial drug that has been a wonder drug for her and has helped her life so much. Her blood work has been better and better every time and her belly has gone down and her blood sugar has been normal And the big one is she finally gets to eat more fat! My sister said she had a burger! A year ago that would not have been possible! I am so happy for her and my sisters family! She still has to have 2 shots a day but considering what her life was like before this is so awesome!

 Ok having friends over tonight for soup and pie and a movie. Hope everyone is doing well! Thanks for reading!

so Happy New year everyone! It was a great holiday not only did I get to be with friends and enjoy having some time off but my husband made me cry on Christmas! He gave me the most thoughtful gift I have ever gotten from him! It was so cool!

I have also been signing up contests because of my friend Casandra over at Daily Dirty Diaper blog. So I am going to share one of the contest I entered. It is for a free pair of hand made underwear! Made with Organic material. Ho cool is that.  http://spunkyrealdeal.blogspot.com/2012/12/brook-there-organic-lingerie-review.html#.UOUJaeTQd84 good luck to anyone who enters!

If you want a link to the etsy giveaway page let me know and I will share. there are contests every day. Can't win if you don't play!

So we are already getting calls for this year for sculptures. Our phone is ringing daily. That is always a good sign.

So here we are Dec 2012! Where has time gone? I have now been with my husband going on 26 years now! 26! I still think he is awesome!
So it has been a good year. A few hic ups but life is always throwing those at us! Don't like it but it would not be life without them.
This month has been all about soups and breads. Tons of veggie soups. If anyone wants some good soup recipes let me know. Happy to share. This week was wild mushroom and southwest black bean soup. Jalpeno corn bread and reg bread. Oh and an apple pie. Apples from our own tree too.
Tomorrow night is a meteor shower that is supposed to be peaking. Hoping for no clouds.
I have become a sweep steaks fanatic this week. Etsy has a ton! Keeping my fingers crossed. My friend Casandra has like 4 things in the past month. Including a brand new pair of shoes from Holland! How cool is that.
Greg and I are going to a concert up in SFO on the 28th to see one of all time fav bands called "X". Old LA band. People might know them if they heard them.
We do have a few hic ups happening right now but I am not going to complain I will say how I count my blessings every day. I have had to many holidays I ruined with worry. I refuse to do that this year and just enjoy being home, being with my friends, good foods. farmer's market. cold nights. warm kitty's, hugs from my husband and so much more.
I hope that everyone has the holiday they want but it is what we make it. I choose to make it awesome! That is California speak for really good!
I can't wait to start chritmas cooking, I always do a Julia Childs recipe that starts with butter and ends with butter. Mmmmm butter.
Hey everyone, Merry Christmas and here is to a wonderful 2013 and please seriously the small stuff is really small so don't worry and have a good meal and hug your loved one's cause those two things you need to keep living! So I plan to eat a lot and hug a lot!

April shower's bring May flower's!

So rain is very late this year. Friends all over the country have commented on how strange the weather has been. Keeping my finger's crossed for friends in Iowa. They all have young plants and the threat of freezing temps this week.

Ok what has been in my kitchen lately........I have been following recipes in of my fav books you can't get anymore called Great Bowls of Fire. It is a great book that has all kinds of recipes dealing with spicy hottness. But it is as hot as you make it. Last night we had a dish called Gumbo Z herbs. Basically it was a tomato based soupy dish with lots of herbs in it. Then tons of leafy greens ( I picked kale, because it was so pretty at the farmer's market I could not pass it up). And we had cheesy jalapeno bread with it. Very yummy! But not a lot of protein so I was hungry at 10:00 last night. Having the left over's tonight. Thinking about throwing some kidney beans in it to add some girth.

Anyway just thought it was time to write something in here for my only fan (Becky) If you want the recipe let me know!

I must not like to blog!

It's funny I have not been here in a looooong while. I must not like blogging? I just like having a blog! Hahaha

Well let's see what is on the kitchen table these days.......pretty much anything you can shake a spoon at! Meaning lot's and lot's of soups! Winter and our farmer's market are a good combo for soup in the winter. Though it is supposed to be 74 here today. Seems more like grilling weather to me! This weeks soup was potato and leek. Super yummy! Used a lot of white pepper so it gave it a good kick!

A couple weeks ago I invented a black garbonzo bean marsala soup. That was interesting. Got the beans from the farmer's market and was told they were hard to soften and to try pressure cooking them after soaking all night. I don't have a lot of experience with my cooker but found the directions (thank god) and was able to use it without hurting myself or making a big mess. Worked really well. The soup was different but tasty!

Next soup is a broccoli and cashew soup. I love that one as well. Good lunch soup.

I do my 5 minute bread recipe and a salad and there you go! Cheap and good for you!

I think today should be a grill day though. These rare warm winter days are foolers and you need to take advantage of them while you can.

So I will try and be better at posting. I don't really have any follower's so i am mainly writting this to see myself talk! (that's funny)

Oh I watched a how to knit a sock video this morning. Might be trying my hand at that. There is always something new I want to try and never enough time!

TTFN!

So we are on the road again. Normally in the winter we don't travel much. But the 2 projects we are doing are in dry climates so it is good to have work early. Already miss home and it's only been like 6 days.

I have been trying to have a salad every day. So far I have stuck to my guns. Hate the hotel lobby breakfast selection though. Might as well be a candy store. It is all sugar. Nothing really healthy except the sad looking bananas and oranges that nobody wants. Thank god for the Barney butter I brought from home. It has saved me. Also the energy bars I got from Trader Joes before we drove here have helped.

I ended up warming tortillas in our ice bucket the other night. Stuck the ice bucket in hot water in the sink of our room. It worked out really well I was happy. We have no microwave in our room and a dinky fridge. Which is really too bad. It is making eating here slightly harder.

Thank god there is a Panera. If you have not been to one and you see one you should pop in for a treat. Lunch and dinner is awesome. Just soups and sandwiches type place but yummy. And the salads help keep me on a better diet track. I think...

Here is hoping you all have a good Sunday. I am off to the Date festival........don't like dates. To bad cause there are a lot here!