Also, these are in the piece-of-art-in-itself vase that I bought before going to Nassau. I was just so sure that flowers would be readily available there….in reality, not so much. So it sat empty in our living room for two years. It looks as great as I imagined it would with flowers in it.

As you can see, I am in need of something other than depressing things to focus on, so I got myself busy crafting this weekend. First of all, I might be the last quilter on earth to catch onto this craze, but last month I learned about Mug Rugs. I was trying to come up with some small gifts to make and stumbled across this website. These are perfect! They can be as simple or as complex as you want, and if you make them simple, like I have been, you can whip up a bunch in no time at all. And they are fabulous for stash busting. Here’s what I’ve got so far (all done except for the binding):

Mine are mostly 5″x8″ (since there’s not really any rules, these are pretty forgiving if your math is not so hot). And I’ve got 16 made so far. I’m having an awful lot of fun, so I’m not sure how many I’ll end up with in the end. Maybe everyone will get one for Christmas….

While working on these this afternoon, I also worked on setting the colors in the Androsia fabric I’ve been collecting. I think I finally found the perfect pattern to really show off the colors and batik patterns. I’ll post more photos as I really get going on the project, but for now I’m just admiring the colors:

Anyway, I’ve been checking out food websites and collecting recipes in anticipation that I will soon have easy access to things like kale and quinoa. A few weeks ago, I came across the novel idea of making your own goldfish crackers and decided that I had to try it. I was not going to shell out money for my very own goldfish-shaped cookie cutter, so here’s my version of homemade cheez-its:

Whole wheat and I can actually pronounce all the ingredients! You have to feel good about that. I used the lower amount of salt in the recipe and as a result, I would say they are not as salty as the store-bought kind. The texture is slightly different, but the taste is definitely the same. And if I hadn’t told you, I bet you wouldn’t even be able to guess that they are whole wheat. I made these on Friday afternoon and they’re almost gone. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

So far, we’ve harvested 47 bananas in total. This is after half of the bananas were mysteriously stolen on the same day that our gardener was fired. (Hmm.) And there are still 30 to 40 bananas left on the tree that will probably need to be picked this weekend.

Today I have made three loaves of banana bread and Shawn has made a batch of spiced banana ice cream. We also donated a large bunch that had gotten too ripe to the zoo. I’m sure the animals aren’t picky about that sort of thing. And it’s amazing how quickly they get ripe. I swear we went to bed last night and most of them were green — this morning they were all ready to be used. So I think there will be several more loaves of bread made this weekend.

Anybody have any other banana recipes they would like to share? I’m taking suggestions.

This was the local news last night! Shawn sounded very intelligent discussing disaster preparedness. Very timely considering we’re sitting at home today waiting for TS Nicole to arrive.

And to explain – because I just remembered that it’s a little unusual – the woman in the lower left is signing the news.

We’re going on a mini-vacation this weekend. It looks like our first batch of tomatoes may be ready to be harvested when we get back!

Fabric Depot sales are one of the many things I miss about living in Portland, but I picked up a few things on sale online recently.

This box of 50 spools of thread totally makes my day. And I love how orderly it looks all lined up.

And some charm squares: Kona Cotton (on the bottom in bright and dusty palettes) and Love U by Moda, which I’ve had my eye on for a while. I’ve got no plans for any of these, but couldn’t resist when I found them on sale. Just look at those snails and turtles!

So that’s what’s keeping me happy this week. Well, that and the promise of a Miami Vice daiquiri (with rum, of course, but you have to specify) tonight at Twin Brothers. Mmmm.

And you may have noticed from my bookshelf sidebar that I’m reading a book on economics. I’m trying really hard to understand the financial crisis, even though it’s something I would normally find completely boring. I think Shawn and I have at least one conversation a day lately that starts with me saying, “Can you explain to me why….?” I think I’m getting there, but he recommended this book to me and so far it’s pretty good. The author promises no graphs or formulas and uses plenty of antecdotes to explain concepts.

But the most recent excitement here came in the form of a babushka selling small pumpkins on the street yesterday. I don’t remember seeing any pumpkins last year, so I squealed with delight when I saw them and made Shawn buy some for me. Laika has shown a large interest in these foreign objects in our living room.

Today on Laika’s mid-day walk, we were slowly cruising around Golden Gate when the sprinklers came on in the park. This summer, Laika has learned that she LOVES sprinklers. Almost as much as she LOVES chewing on my arm when I don’t want to take her for a walk. So we heard the sound of sprinklers and before I even knew what had happened, she had jumped over the little fence separating the path from the gardens and sprinted over to the closest sprinker that had popped out of the ground. And she stood there in the spray with her eyes closed, mouth open, and nose pointed to the heavens. Just watching her pure enjoyment of that experience was enough to make me forget myself and just be happy. Ahhh.

As we moved through the park, visiting all the sprinklers (yes, she needed to spend some time with all of them), we attracted quite a group of babushky that followed us around proclaiming over her cuteness. It was a little awkward with the first one because I had no idea what she was saying, but as soon as another one joined, they were talking together and I just became a part of the show. What a good dog! What an excellent dog! What a beautiful dog! Laika stared at them blankly as their cooing rudely interrupted her enjoyment of the sprinklers. I tried to leave once, but they all ganged up on me. She’s enjoying herself! You must let her play! Finally, they wandered off to poke a baby or something and Laika and I were free to make our way back home.