artcricket2

Sketchbook 2012- A path through the trees

2012-01-30T15:19:00.001-05:00

This is the cover- I just inked up the cardboard and didn't make a whole new cover like last year. But of course I tore out ALL of the pages and did my own.

My little dangling girl, is actually my older sister, Cindy. I liked that her face couldn't be seen. She is affixed so she can move from page to page with the reader.

I added family photos onto deciduous trees, alternating each page. I was tired of evergreens and wanted to use family pics since family is a part of our journey.

I used quotes from various sources on the pages.

Sometimes family has not been a good part of the path- I wanted that reality for some readers for whom that is truth.

I like that the little girl can roam and that pages fold out. There is something about an interactive book that intrigues me. Next year, see I'm already thinking about it. I plan to have one that others can add to as they check it out. Then they become a part of the journal.

Why I wait until the last 3 days I'll never know!

But, it's just what I dreamed it would be.

On the Road Again

2012-01-28T13:15:00.001-05:00

The view from Sunset Park

I am just so lucky, lucky to be able to travel, to have family that lives in fabulous places, and to have the time to do it.
And lucky that every time I visit statistically rainy Seattle I have at least one or two absolutely breathtaking days.
Seattle didn't disappoint me.
Sunset Hill Park is one of my very favorite places to visit in Seattle. It offers spectacular views and when I see Golden Garden Park below and to the right (that little point of land) I know I have to walk, not drive, down to it. The seals were having a barking party on a buoy out beyond the rocks and you could hear them for miles.

I fueled up with a latte and headed down.

Trust me down is a whole lot more fun than up!

and I'll spare you the photos of that.

It's a pretty walk and one is rewarded with lovely vistas along the way especially in winter with the deciduous trees bare. I saw lots of crow and one tiny hummingbird that was too speedy for my camera skills.

Here I am at ground zero in Golden Gardens Park.

Look at that incredible sky, will you?

After that big hike I rewarded myself with a trip to Miro Tea. I had my "usual" apple, gouda and basil panini and a pot of white tea, took my book and enjoyed myself.

And what is a trip to Ballard without a visit to Cupcake Royale? The first of at least a couple, I hope.

When asked, my server suggested his favorite- a nod to Elvis- a banana cupcake with peanut butter and chocolate frosting topped with banana chips and bacon.

Super Yummy, but not my favorite- so I'll have to go back. Darn.

As a bonus, it was free day at the photo booth as they were having a tasting event for Deathcake from 5-7. Missed the tasting but took advantage of the photo booth. It is a little intimidating to do an out in the open booth with strangers staring at you, especially when you are alone.

yikes!

I ended the evening with this beautifully prepared meal by Amy and Rachel from their new book Plenty that I gave them for Christmas. It is a beautiful cookbook, with great pictures and recipes that are all vegetarian. But all of the reviews say that you won't care if you aren't vegetarian because the recipes are fantastic. I'd buy it for the photos alone. But, that's me. I buy Martha Stewart magazine for the same reason.

Montlake

Bridge to Mark Island

beautiful

I took Amy to an interview with a professor from UCSF, which could be her post-doc stop. And despite all of my efforts to be in the right lane and not cross the Montlake bridge, I did.

Happy accident. I went down the one way street to turn around and ended up at Montlake. The fog of the promising sunny day was shrouding it and I had to go take a look.

I got these spectacular photos. It makes me want to go take similar shots on a "normal" day to show the comparison. You can't see it, but the university stadium is in the distance in the shot with the ducks. Not so pretty on a clear day.

Next stop, snowshoeing-

Talk about breathtaking!

wonder what little bird's nest this is?

On the way home, we stopped at Snoqualmie Falls. So glad we made it before sunset.

the end of a beautiful day with my sweet Amy and Rachel

It was just..................

Farmers market

2012-01-22T19:13:00.000-05:00

Not a big haul but yummy none the less. I was delighted to see that there were brussel sprouts available. They have become my new favorite vegetable. I cook them with red grapes,salt and pepper, and a splash of olive oil in a pan at 400 degrees for 20 minutes and then add a little balsamic vinegar. I only wish there had been more for leftovers!

It was a chilly day and fewer farmers each week, but our overall winter has been unseasonably mild. We had a tornado last week and are under a watch tonight with thunderstorms expected. I don't ever remember a winter with numerous 50 degree days.

I'm headed to one of my favorite places on Wednesday- Seattle- so expect some great food reports from there. Poor Jim has to work and will be holding down the fort but off duty as chef for a week. I'm expecting a lot of carryout and dining out for him, too.

See you soon!

My Moo commercial

2012-01-14T18:34:00.000-05:00

Everything comes neatly packed in this sturdy box.

I'm in love with Moo. The quality of their cards is just fabulous. The packaging, materials, follow up, all just top notch!
I'd been wanting some new business cards. I've gone to my mobile phone primarily for everything now and my old cards had my land line. I also wanted to include email and my website. New cards it is. I got a great deal on some for my etsy store- if I ever get it up and running. Moo and etsy had a deal and I got 50 free. I didn't have time to design my own so I went with their green geometric and I really like it. I got an offer for free return address labels from shutterfly and they had a matching green geometric. Now if I can get the towels made for the store.
Anyway, it was the free Moo business cards that captured what I was looking for in a new business card.

this small, high quality box houses 50 cards. I like the "mine" and "theirs" dividers, too

These are my new cards. I like the puzzle piece photo, which I bought , which is a good representation of what I do, give people solutions. The other two I took myself with my phone. The fingers in the CPR photo belong to Jim.

My mini moos

One of the great things about Moo is that you can use as many designs as you want. You will get an equal number of each in the mix. With the mini moo, which are half the size of a business card, I went with more variety. I might hand them to someone who just needs my name, email, phone . I got a card holder for them that goes on a key chain. Not that I needed one more thing on my keychain, mind you. I used a mix of art, photos, altered photos and 4 designs for my business, just in case I have these but not a business card in a pinch.

It probably holds about 8-10 cards.

I can't tell you how impressed I am with them and highly recommend them for their quality, service and the ability to produce a variety for the same amount of money.

Now just for fun- Here is Elvis, who's been in our Jazzercize class this week. Our instructor is a big Elvis fan and as a tribute for his birthday we had a lot of Elvis music or songs with references. A member made this Santa an Elvis outfit to go with a black wig. He also moves to the music. Quite the site. No wonder I like Jazzercize!

Queen of Heart Challenge 2012

2012-01-08T07:58:00.001-05:00

Suzanne is hosting another fun Queen of Hearts challenge. Create any piece of art with the theme "Queen of Hearts" the only requirement is that it has a heart on it somewhere! You do not have to use Quietfire Design products to participate. Click on the the link to go to her sight for details. You can win some rubber stamps!
It can be a card, atc, altered book page, even an inchie!
Put a heart on it!

Farmers Market and something yummy

2012-01-07T17:40:00.000-05:00

And a beautiful day it has been! I began by cleaning out and organizing my freezer. I figured that I really should know what is in it in order to know what I might want to add TO it!
So I also have a clean and beautifully organized freezer to go with my purchases.
It is another fab winter day here. It is amazing how moderate our temps have been. Really, with the exception of a handful of days, one has hardly needed a coat and gloves. I've only worn my earmuffs once.
Upon examination it was determined that we needed only a whole chicken to round out the week's protein needs. And while I didn't expect our chicken guy to be there- today wasn't on the list he gave me before Christmas-we were pleasantly surprised to see him.
The watermelon radishes which have been at least the size of a tangerine have now gone down to a more normal radish size and I grabbed a handful of these. Aren't they glorious? I never tire of slicing them and seeing the gorgeous magenta color on the inside.

Really, that is what color they are!

All trimmed and nestled in the kale for a photo op.

How about some flat leaf parsley? Nothing says "fresh" like adding some of this to a dish.

This kale looked good so I think I'll sauté up some tonight!

Baby bok choy for a little stir fry Mr. Jim promises later in the week. Yum.

Didn't get an individual shot but also grabbed a garlic bulb.

We had the pleasure of seeing Brent, our favorite omelet maker, at the market as a shopper so it was nice to catch up with him. His wife's restaurant is closed for a few weeks for some updates. We had tried to have lunch there yesterday when we were both off work (yay). So it will be exciting to see what changes she has made when they re-open at the end of the month.

By the way, we ended up at Ramsi's for lunch. A patient of mine was working there and delivered a divine, complimentary to boot, chocolate bourbon mousse creme brûlée for dessert. It had a 1/4 inch thick layer of burnt sugar that was soooo good and worth every calorie.

Thanks, B.

Catching up

2011-12-30T12:04:00.000-05:00

I missed showing you my great gifts to finish out the 12 Days- It turned into a whirlwind the last days leading up to Christmas and the last of the out of town guests left yesterday morning.

Day nine is coming late or maybe not at all. Joanne has had a bundle of issues this year and I'm so happy she signed up and received gifts. I hope she enjoyed every one of them! It was nice to think of her having that fun every day.

Day 10-Robyn- was this lovely pin! Super sweet and looked great on my coat!

Day 11- Linda- was this beautiful beeswax ornament on a cd! I love the smell and look of beeswax so this was a real treat to me!

I've edited this twice and it still shows up sideways! Sorry.

Day 12-Jane- another lovely brooch! I am bedecked and bejeweled this year!

Coming soon- Christmas family fun and craft making!

On the 8th Day of Christmas my artist friend gave to me...

2011-12-20T16:15:00.000-05:00

Sue B.'s gift

Love the little tag and the beautifully hand scripted greeting on back (oh didn't photo that)

And inside was this!

A clever idea for the binding machines.

I love, love it!

The paper is embossed with the butterfly embellishment- I love copper!!

Inside a pad of sticky notes! This was a Sue-per idea, Sue!!

Thanks a bunch.

Day 6 and 7 (my day!)

2011-12-19T22:43:00.000-05:00

Where do the days go!? I'm terribly behind on everything but I must blog about the 12 Day of Christmas!
Here is Jean's lovely Day 6 package!

Notice I photographed against a different background? My bedroom rug instead of the dining room table!

Love the stamped card.

And inside........

Was this lovely book board booklet that is held together with ribbon. I think I will add photos.

And the part that flips up! The papers are beautiful and the gold ribbon, a lovely touch! It is about 4x6".

Thanks, Jean, for a super gift!

And on to today, Day 7, which was my day. I got to open day 13 from Mary-Beth, but since it is for each participant's day, I'll save it for last not to spoil it for others. But it's a beauty!!

I am thinking of selling these towels in an etsy shop after the first of the year. I have done some vintage images in black and white and personalized them in the past. I decided to do color for these and a Christmas image that could go beyond Christmas if one wanted.

So here is my package with a design from my sister, Richey, who's etsy shop, Items of Interest by Richner, can be found here. I also bought bags from her, but ironed the image myself.

And inside was this:

I hope everyone likes them. I think they are cheery! I add byhandartists 12 Days of Christmas ( some had year and some didn't) under the bulb and my name at the base of the bud stem in tiny script.
I printed the amaryllis and writing on Avery light fabric transfer paper for ink jet printers. Avery product number 8938.
Very important if doing anything with writing to flip the image to the mirror side (horizontally or vertically). Ask me how I know this!! Yikes. Thankfully not ironed on but printed none the less.
I cut the image out very close to the printing and cut out all the little white spaces. This is what makes them really look best so there isn't unnecessary transfer paper on the towel, just the image itself.
Iron onto towel per instructions on the package.
Note:
You cannot iron the image. I don't iron them at all. But if you must, iron only from the back on a low setting.
Here is Richey's instructions for care:

Day 5

2011-12-17T20:13:00.000-05:00

Here is today's package from Ruth! Isn't the tag cute?

Inside was this pretty canvas! I'm deciding where to place it. It is a color combo I really like a lot.

This were ambitious for a big group.

Thanks, Ruth, for a wonderful start to my day today.

This is so much fun!

Day 4

2011-12-16T07:54:00.000-05:00

Today is Irene's day!

Here is the cute package...

And inside!

these cute tags, again they would look cute sitting on a table on on someone's package!

here's another view...

thanks, Irene!

I can't believe day 4 has come and gone! We are already 1/4 they way through!

See you tomorrow

Day 2 and 3!

2011-12-15T20:37:00.000-05:00

Sorry I didn't get yesterday's giftie up yesterday! I didn't have a chance to open it until late last night after an early 5 am start to the day for some out of town work.
So the reward is a double dose of goodness!

My package!

Isn't this a lovely booklet ornament? I love the calligraphy tags included. Another beautiful art gift-thanks Carmen!

And then Day 3- from Judy! Love the little french hens :)
And inside.............

This beautiful felted necklace! I've done some felting this year and I am totally taken with it. Thanks, Judy. I love that I can double it and still get it over my head!!

I'll get a photo of it on me soon!

Sweet!

Wonder what will be in tomorrow's package??

Stay tuned!

Day 1

2011-12-13T15:31:00.002-05:00

Day one is here! The package itself is lovely.

And this is the beautiful contents:

The little cards were enclosed in the stamped kraft bag which was pinned closed with the stick pin and tile. Sweet. Each card is a tag folded matchbook style with a beeswax coated vintage image and aged with ink. These would be lovely tags for gifts as you can open them up and write inside. I'll save them just to lay out at Christmas but use the idea for gift tags which is super!!

Thanks to Marg for these beauties so elegantly wrapped!

Off to an arty start!

Byhandartists 12 Days of Christmas Swap 2011

2011-12-12T20:48:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is the 1st day of the byhandartists yahoogroup's12 Days of Christmas Swap. I've been participating in this little bit of fun for several years. Mary-Beth is our swap hostess, which means she reminds us to sign up and to mail. We make 12 (or 13 if you want one of your own) gifties to swap with other artists. You can go back and see previous years gifts if you want. Sometimes they are an ornament, jewelry, a mug cozy, cool zipper bag, etc. This year they are all nice and petite- I got the prize for the gigantic gift that would barely fit in the little basket in which I've placed my treasures.
It is great fun to get up and head downstairs to open the day's gift.
I enjoyed decorating my tree this year and revisiting byhandartists' gifts from previous years that come out this time of year.

The 2nd photo is my day one gift ready for tomorrow! I love the wooden tile with the number 1 and my name on the back!

Sue's gift for me

This is the beautiful ornament I got "early" from my friend, Sue, who after years of encouragement, joined in the swap. We are in different groups so swapped with each other at church! I love it! She used original photos! and wonderful ephemera. It is a treasure and I love looking at it on the tree.
Come back tomorrow to see Day One!

Advent, week 3

2011-12-11T15:14:00.000-05:00

Beautiful sharing, beautiful music, beautiful people. Church was great.

I was the only one who brought another box today. I'll do one next week, too, so that I will have brought at least one every week. I woke up with my idea this morning. Just wanted to do a line drawing of the baby Jesus in the manger and decided to find a poem to go with "hope" and made the star with the "hope" written in it. Used some watercolor pencil for color and glitter glue accents. Voila.

Farmers Market

2011-12-10T17:19:00.000-05:00

Brrrrr, it's in the 20's this morning. Quite a switch from my previous Saturday posts! We struck out for the market none the less. I was rewarded with red spinach my favorite variety, some still-on-the-stalk brussel sprouts, carrots, cabbage, buffalo, chicken and a gift of caramels from Ann! Yummy!

Closer

How about this beautiful spinach?

And some cabbage?

Brussel sprouts on the stalk!

close up

Super orangey carrots!

My beautiful gift from Ann!

I'm enjoying the day in the living room with a fire and a little candlelight. Ah........

ART!

2011-12-07T18:37:00.000-05:00

I had some catching up to do in journals for the round robin I'm in. One book's theme was "Put a Bird on it" and I put a bird on/behind a wire with an encouragement to "fly"! and I put a bird on the word "Bird", too. I struggled with this one- am I tired of birds?
"Green" was the theme of the other book and it could be any aspect of green. The book repurposed some paper so it was "green", too! Some had done the color green I decided to do both. Who can think of green without have Kermit come to mind somewhere? And I thought about the song "Bein' Green" and realized while that's not exactly what the songwriter had in mind, it isn't easy being "green" environmentally and went with that thought. Here is my page:

I wrote parts of the lyrics around Kermit and used the universal recycling symbol on the opposing page. I'm happy enough with them, just hope the artist/owners will like. Was super glad to get them in the mail. Another book should be heading my way next week.

Here is a look at my gifties off to my byhandartists friends for the 12 Days of Christmas swap. Always fun opening a gift a day from artist friends. This will start next week on the 13th! Woo-hoo!

I had day 7 so on the 19th I'll post my gift.

Saturday adventures and Advent, week 2

2011-12-04T23:15:00.000-05:00

I just stopped in at the market for a quick visit with Ann of Kenny's cheese. I hoped her mom might have made the trip this week. I haven't seen her for quite some time, but alas, no. But, no other shopping for farmer food today.
I was meeting some friends to go on our annual Christmas bazaar trek. We've been doing it for probably close to 20 years, the first Saturday in December.
We met for breakfast at Janet's and headed to Anchorage School, which is usually my favorite. One of my fav soap makers is usually there-oh, the disappointment. She must be doing so well at farmers markets that she doesn't have to do the bazaar. Holy Gourds is the name of the business and they do beautifully painted gourds of which I have a few, too.
I bought a couple of books for my grandson from a very pushy woman who was more interested in me becoming a bookseller than a book buyer!
There were a few empty spots- I wondered what that said about the economy? Was it related?

Next stop-Ballard High School, a bigger venue also with many empty spots. I bought a couple of cute barrettes for my precious granddaughter who's hair is long enough for a barrette but very fine- the barrettes were Little Red Riding Hood and an Easter Basket. Super cute.

And I thought these were cute, too, but more expensive. I figure maybe I'll make some at a later date.

Next, Thomas Jefferson Unitarian for a real art show, not just crafts! And to my great surprise and total delight I found Estelle!

I had looked and looked for her on the internet, I wanted to buy another pair of her earrings which I wear almost every day. My DIL has made me some beautiful ones and I wear them on special occasions but Estelle's are my every day earrings. I love them for their design. The extended piece above the piercing hole hides the elongation of the pierced hole that age has brought. I have a silver pair, gold plated pair (my first) and I wanted a pair of silver with gold wrapped wire. Tada!

I told her I was so happy to see her as I feared something had happened to her since I couldn't locate her via google!

That was the find of the day!

A trip to Wild Eggs for lunch was a tasty end to the annual fun.

Last night was Bardtown Road Aglow-another annual outing and it was so nice weather-wise that there must have been record attendance. Jim is a big fan of bagpipes and we saw two pipe bands that eventually met up with each other and played together.

We also had dinner at a food truck, Holy Mole and it was yummy! Fried fish tacos, a veggie taco with mushrooms and pablano pepper. Perfect. We usually wander aimlessly looking for a spot to get a bite so the sight of the truck was welcome and an easy decision.

I always enjoy going into St. James Catholic Church even though I am not Catholic. It is a beautiful church on the outside and I've photographed it more than once. The oranges of the brick are spectacular against a KY blue sky. The interior is pretty impressive, too. The organist was playing when we were there. Nice.

St. James

alter

The "eye" in the dome

We had a great time wandering around and people watching.

2nd Sunday of Advent was great at church, though we only had two additional boxes this week. I'm going to try to do two this week. One was a great painting by Dan Trabue and one was my Jack-in-the-Box, which wasn't a Jack, but did pop up!

After church I went to my previous church for their Christmas concert. If I can figure out how to attach music, I'll leave you with a tune.
E corrected the date on my chalkboard-sort of.

Advent

2011-11-29T08:51:00.000-05:00

is here! I'm feeling very festive and enjoying welcoming the advent season in ways I haven't for a while.

We started the season is really fun ways at church. Robert played the "Charlie Brown" Christmas song on the guitar and his son surprised him and joined in on the harmony on his guitar on the second verse. Super sweet. I wish I'd had my phone recorder on.
I love the advent candle display. Pillar candles of varying heights so that as they are burned they will be more even sit on a tray of cranberries and succulents. So sweet I may have to duplicate here.
For our advent "calendar" we are decorating boxes filled with what we hope to find during advent. Right down my alley- I did two! We are hoping for at least 7 each week, one for each day of the week. This week we had 6. I'll probably do another this week, too. The creativity in this group is inspiring for me and I love seeing the evidence of it every week in meaningful ways.
There is a lovely wall hanging that I'll share another time.
On to the advent boxes. I made on for Peace-I used Martha Stewart punch around the page snowflake and punched with square punch. I die-cut the letters with my Cuttlebug and glued to snowflakes which I attached with tabs and double stick tape to various depths of the box. Added the flameless candle to cover a little round hole in box! Wrapped exterior in foil and sponged alcohol ink on the shiny interior. The other box is Happiness and is a vintage image enlarged and cut out. I double cute the outside and pop dotted onto the bottom layer. Added a brad with a hanger and threaded gold ribbon through brad and out top of box and tied in a bow. Lined the interior of the box with pink cardstock.

The worship table

This is Shameka's super fun box (we both used flameless candles!)

Sophia behind her box and one of my boxes

Sue(bottom) and I hope for Peace

Kate's "outside the box" box-can't wait to see what grows!

This week I plan to make a Jack in the Box type box-it's already in my head-now to find the box!

Farmers Market and more!

2011-11-27T21:18:00.000-05:00

Have you gotten tired of me saying it is a fabulous Saturday here in KY? Well, sorry to bore you but, really, it was fabulous! Warm, sunny, just super!

And look at the colorful array of goods today! It was really obvious that things are slowing down. Less than half of the usual farmers present. Oh....
I had my heart set on some carrots and nabbed some from Ivor along with a small cabbage. Headed down to Charles and got spaghetti squash and broccoli. Our usual cut flower folks had winterberry and I got a bunch of that to decorate with. Claire had greenery and it will become a swag for the front door when I get a ribbon this week.
We both had stone cut oats with cranberries, which were really delicious though I do miss my omelet. But, it was lovely and we sat at the table at the market to enjoy!

winterberry

Yumminess

my carrots!

Greenery-love the touch of blue and a side of winterberry!

I did a little Small Business Saturday shopping and found these Matryoska doll measuring cups for my niece and her new husband. A nice way to hide a money gift, too. Fell in love with the dolls when I visited Russia a couple of years ago. Very clever to use the nesting to create measuring cups.

Matryoska measuring cups

Hope you have had a great weekend.

Tomorrow- the beginning of advent at my creative church.

A Time of Thanks

2011-11-24T07:54:00.000-05:00

Sometimes my heart is overflowing with thanksgiving. It's often in the little moments, a soft unexpected touch, a word of appreciation from no where, a look between two people that says more than words ever could. Tender sweetness that can bring me to tears.
Today I'm living in abundance of love for my family, near and far, for my sweet husband and his unconditional love, for my daughter and her partner who life has disappointed lately, for my son and daughter-in-law who's home was destroyed by fire just a month ago but who survived and will go on, for my sweet youngest son who makes me laugh and shares his talents in many ways, for my six sweet grandchildren, for my sisters, some of whom are living with health challenges, for my mom who's going strong at 83, for nieces and nephews, especially Ryan who is marrying this weekend and surrounded by family old and new in Savannah, for large family gatherings and small, for my work-the absolute joy of doing something I love, for my former church family and my new one, who has welcomed me warmly, for my faithful friends.
Sometimes my heart is overflowing with thanksgiving.

It's the Saturday report!

2011-11-20T19:02:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's time for Thanksgiving! I didn't even know what I was doing to celebrate until this afternoon. My family is scattered this year and it left me, Jim and Brian. Being a 20-something, Brian's plans are rarely in place much before the day before an event. But, he called today and wants to eat here. So, I am cooking and the turkey breast is bought and defrosting in the refrigerator. Side dishes to come.
The market was bustling because of Thanksgiving and because we took a leisurely approach to the shopping, I missed any little carrots that were there. Boo. But I did get a nice selection of fruits and veggies.
It was the last day for omelets for 26 weeks! Oh, what will I do? But, I did enjoy every bite of the one I had and shared it with Jim since they ran out of oats before he got them. He got about a 1/4 cup for free. My omelet had a little sausage, garlic, onion, butternut squash, kale, potato, radish, egg, cheese, tomato and a little hot, sweet relish. Yummy! I will remember it fondly until next May.

Last day, boo.

Kale and Arkansas Black apples

forgot the name of these but they are a tart, sweet crunchy variety

more spaghetti squash for tonight's stir fry and some sweet potatoes

Delicata Squash. Who knows what it will become?

Wishing you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'm hoping to get a little crafting done. I'm behind on some round robin art, need to get my byhandartists 12 Days of Christmas gifts done, and some Christmas cards. Good ideas but limited time to execute!

What are you cooking and who are you spending Thanksgiving with?

It IS Saturday, therefore...

2011-11-12T15:21:00.001-05:00

Farmers Market day! And a big shout out of Happy Birthday to my DH, Jim, who is a gem! It is a spectacular day here in Louisville, 65 degrees, sunny and windy. Ah!

We headed out pretty early with the usual stop for coffee for the walk there. There were not many folks when we arrived and probably a third fewer venders now.

Sadly, we were reminded that there is only one more week for omelets. Boo.

But, the one today was yummy! Not a big fan of whatever cheese they used today- too strong for my taste, but the rest of the delicious goodness made up for it.

Surprise! The flower guy was there after saying he wouldn't be! He said the zinnia were so great this week he just had to come! Lucky us!

How about this dinosaur kale? Isn't it too beautiful in texture for words?

These carrots looked so good I bought the bunch on the right!

Here's Jim post-oatmeal readying for the trek to the next FM-yep, two today!

These were at market number two and I really wanted to take them home, but didn't. We have so much to do in the yard. Planting is not in the picture.

Aren't these beautiful loaves of bread? I bought one of the lavender loaves pictured just above.

The pretzel breads were tempting but I didn't get one.

Wasn't this just a lovely display of veggies? Below are the closeups of my haul today.

So delicious!

We are heading out to Gasthaus German Restaurant for dinner. Jim is hoping the Hossenfeffer is on the menu (rabbit). I'm hoping the hot mulled wine is.

I love these grasses. It's time to take the big fake gerber daisies out of the glass urn and put something more fitting in!

See you next week, if not sooner!

Well, it was mostly about the fun!

2011-10-30T12:14:00.000-04:00

OK. I had to keep the pumpkins in the picture for interest. Amy, Jim and I headed out on this 30 degree day with our mandatory first stop at Day's for coffee.
We took the wagon since Amy needed to return a tote of camping supplies from her sister-in-law's wedding last week to a friend near the market.
Kristen, Ez and O met us at the market which made it all about fellowship and not much about the food gathering for the week!
I headed to the flower peeps-the last week for flowers :(-
before they got there and snagged these sunflowers and one tuberose that's in a vase in the window.

Aren't the colors beautiful in this squash?

Love these!

Then, we had omelets, oatmeal, apple cider and some pound cake. I grabbed a spaghetti squash and a pound of bison (in freezer) on the fly as we left to head to the airport.

Lots of photos and coffee

And hot chocolate

O had fun eating and drinking cider which required a clothing change mid-market

Who doesn't like a wagon ride?

Love life celebrations!

2011-10-26T20:44:00.001-04:00

Our sweet Baby O is 1! Where does the time go? We had a lovely celebration at Kristen's mother and step-father's home to commemorate it.
Despite a burned house we found plenty to celebrate and lots to be grateful for- especially this precious one.

Mom, Dad, O and Ez

She's pretty keen on ice cream!

Older brother, Ethan

Balls are quite popular these days.

May you celebrate with family many more happy birthdays, my sweet O.

Farmers Market

2011-10-24T08:14:00.001-04:00

You can see things are winding down. But, we are still enjoying the market and there is a little burst of fall produce now, more greens and root vegetables-fewer tomatoes.

I had a free latte at Days, which means at some point I had 10! Sheesh. So I chose to try the pumpkin latte complete with pumpkin with a heart inside design. So talented!

Then we walked to market!

So great just to be there and look at all the lusciousness!

Small but colorful bounty this week!

Okra- two mixed varieties

Big Bubba who was dinner last night!

Isn't this beautiful?

These gourds were 3/$1

I love that Charles's truck is filled with pumpkins!

more sweet potatoes and another Delicata squash

I don't know the variety, but I bought it for its purple stripes

The day started out well enough

2011-10-23T08:29:00.001-04:00

But then it became heartbreaking .
I did go to the market and it was lovely. I promise some pictures of fabulous food soon.
But, the heartbreak is on my mind.
Oh, my.
I was reminded-most tragically-of a fire in my family's home when I was 7 years old. Nothing smells like a house fire.
Heartbreaking.
My DIL was going to try to meet us at the market this week. I was disappointed that she didn't but I know how things go with little ones and if they sleep in- ah....
I check my phone and looked at Facebook while there. After taking my farm photos I checked Facebook and saw a message from her.
Heartbreaking.
Their home burned beyond salvation this early morning. No car key, no phone, but gratefully their lives, with just minutes to spare. All that matters in the big scheme of things. We get reminded of that when stripped bare, you know. Her older son who had been living in the upstairs above the kitchen had moved out just recently to live with his brother. Thankfully. The firemen said no one on the second floor would have survived.
I don't remember the flames, but my sweet E does. He saw his kitchen engulfed just 12 feet from his bedroom and all of his toys charred and in a pile in the back yard with the rest of the smoky, soggy remains when he returned to see the house. He asked to. His short life has been filled with some uncertainties and disappointments that 6 year olds shouldn't have to shoulder the burden of and now this. The place of comfort and rest, the security he will rarely turn loose of to even stay at Jams' house, gone.
Heartbreaking.
I cannot do enough, no trips to Goodwill to find clothing, Target for containers to keep new belongings, laundering and folding. There is not enough busyness to take away the sadness of this. Nothing but gratitude for the lives that remain and hope for the future will put the heartbreak at bay.

Holy Cow!

2011-10-15T20:01:00.001-04:00

Another beautiful Saturday! Really, this time of year reminds me why I love living here. Splendor, pure splendor.

Beautiful sky and the moon was still hanging around, too.

I went really not thinking that we'd buy much. I had a group on for a market box that will be home delivered this Wednesday. I knew it would have fruits and veggies so really didn't need too much but, flowers-beautiful and pumpkins! I fell in love with the one I got which is supposed to be very delicious. So, a week or two of admiration and then into the oven! It weighed in at a whopping 19+ pounds. So this week's haul was over 38 pounds. We walked 1/2-3/4 of a mile home.

I wasn't going to get fruit because 6 pears and 3 apples are coming Wednesday. But, I wanted a few apples for the meantime and Jim likes sour and I like hard and crunchy sweet ones.

We bought a whole chicken, cut-up whole chicken, two pounds of ground bison, apples, a nice small ivy house plant, two mini mums, one for my neighbor Judy, and one for my Mom.
I got Punkin' Sticks ( the little eggplant pumpkins from last week but still on the stick), little sunflowers, and tuberose- can you smell it? So sweet! There were bunches of them.

I hope you enjoy the pictures from the market and the super heavy haul for this week. I know we will!
Amy, the vegetarian will be in residence for 10 days so I know all will be eaten.
I'll give you a review of the box that comes mid-week, too!

mine is 2nd up from bottom left

pretty, huh?

gourds and zinnia

parsley and radishes

my omelet!!

tuberose

Punkin' Sticks

Zinnia

Oscar!

This week's haul! Can you believe it? It took some effort on both our parts to get this stuff walked home.
Whew!

my flowers

more flowers

chicken

ivy

Mid-week market, can you stand it?

2011-10-11T20:50:00.003-04:00

My cider being made

Super Duper Saturday!

2011-10-08T17:29:00.001-04:00

Another beautiful day here! Really too hot for me but since poor Amy is in cool, most often rainy Seattle I won't harp on it.
First stop was Day's for coffee and then off to market #1-Bardstown Road. I didn't need a lot of basics today so I went wild with squash and pumpkin. Charles Hambley told me which were good prepared this way and that so 5 varieties came home with me. Talk about heavy! I added a summer squash to the mix, too. We still had apples and tomatoes, cheese, too and our chicken guy wasn't there. Green pepper and some cute little pumpkin shaped eggplants, flowers and skirt steak rounded out the selections. I carried my bag I got from my sister, Richey.

I love pumpkin to look at and eat!
The big on will be partly sautéed and baked for stir fry and curried soup

Summer squash for the grill tomorrow and peppers for the stir fry night

Aren't these little guys cute? Would you have guessed they were eggplant?

Spaghetti squash for stir fry, also!

I knew you wanted a close up of this beauty!

Mini sunflowers! I love them!

After the market, we walked back home, took the photos, refilled coffee mugs and walked back to the Douglass Loop Farmers Market. Oh, pic! Rats. I bought bread there-honey wheat which was delicious!

I had a sample. Across the street, there was the Belknap Fair with arts and crafts, food, and bluegrass music on a small stage. Jim had gumbo and I had a slice of garlic butter, sun dried tomato, pizza.

I bought a cute ring from Emily, who is wife to Brent, our omelet chef. Darn another missed photo op. She make rings with vintage buttons.

tomatoes!

Brent

my omelet

Tonight we are going out to dinner with friends to Harvest- we are becoming regulars there. Our reservation is later than we wanted but we are promised a window seat! More food photos to come I'm sure!

Ring

Back with the heavy haul

Super Saturday

2011-10-01T20:05:00.000-04:00

Fall is here! I needed a sweatshirt for the market today and would have loved it if I had brought my stretch gloves, too.
I must have been hungry as I have a big bunch of goodness from the market today.
Clearly the carnivores are present in this house and we have a bunch of chicken and bison. Yum! I can smell the chili Chef Jim is cooking right now with said bison.
I'm guess this is it for tomatoes. We have a frost warning so I'm not holding out much hope for next week. So, a celebratory bruschetta will be had this week with the last of these Cherokee Purples.

Cherokee Purples

Eggplant Parm to come

apples, sweet potatoes, radishes

oh, cumin seed gouda!

Bouquet, partly edible!

Apples were in abundance and I chose a selection of Fuji, Stayman Winesap, Granny Smith, and 1 Corland which I wanted to try. They are a little softer and I don't like a mushy apple.
See the eggplant? Jim made a fabulous eggplant parm a few weeks ago and I'm hoping for a repeat performance this week.
These red potatoes looked great and I figure green beans aren't on the horizon for long either.
A great thing about fall is the return of radishes! I picked a bunch of red and white for this week.
Boo Hoo- not a single sunflower this week. It was chilly and they love sun-imagine that! So, three Big Heads and some butterfly something came home with me along with a bunch of basil (bruschetta). They are all happy in the same vase.
We put the top down on Jim's car and headed to the other market after depositing these goodies at home.
I needed to get something to make for my DIL for her birthday. Pics to come in October.
Then off to the St. James Court Art Show. This is the 55th anniversary. My mom had a booth there when the show was much smaller and "craftier". She made painted wooded keychains back in the 70's. There were a lot of Canadian artists this year and one was probably my favorite overall, Marjolyn van der Hart, who's style is one I'm working similarly to in some things I'm doing. It was oddly familiar as it is what I've been thinking of doing with the Poloroid technique I learned and want to incorporate into collage. Sort of disappointed that someone is already doing something like it. But, art is always different with a different hand.
I also love these cute characters and might need to make some of my family!

And lest you think all of last week was decadent fun- here is documentation of my dining room chair covers!

hard at work

Voila!

Ahhhh

2011-09-25T08:54:00.000-04:00

See the rainbow?

I'm at the beach, and really, is there anywhere better? Well, not for me. Too bad today is just like yesterday-spectacular!!
I never tire of it and appreciate every wonderful moment. I'm having fun texting E some fun pics to see if he can find the lizard, see the rainbow, count the lizards etc.
Maybe you'll enjoy some photos, too!
Hope your day is spectacular, too.
Enjoy

OK, I didn't really pick the farmer's cotton

Cotton-the fabric of our lives (hike, ear worm)

sea oats

beautiful

how many lizards?

Love the clouds

Spectacular sunset

Can you find the lizard?

Sunrise

See the lizard?

More round robin

2011-09-18T21:43:00.000-04:00

My page

with the pattern open

I was behind on the flag and now ahead on the next one that isn't due to mail until the 10th but I'm going to send it along with the flag package.

Linda's journal is a nod to childhood memories and she chose a vintage scrapbook to store them. It's super sweet.
I used my memory of Easter dresses. My mom often made them and when she didn't I had an aunt who had no daughters and loved pretty dresses who would send us dresses, often matching ones. This continued with my two younger sisters when they were born.
I loved dresses and new patent leather shoes. White gloves and little purses.
I was a fashionista even then.... :)

Saturday of Fun

2011-09-17T21:38:00.000-04:00

As noted on the chalkboard I'll be missing the market next week and instead be sunning myself on the white sands of the Gulf of Mexico. Jim will hold down the fort and scope it out I'm sure for me.
Today-not so much stuff. Since I'll be leaving mid-week, we didn't need the usual big haul but we made a few choice selections.
Apples- a Golden Delicious, Nitany, Jonagold, a few Gala, and some Fugi. Ah, my mouth is watering just thinking of their juicy goodness.
Tomatoes-some heirloom cherry and two yellow for a delicious pasta Pomodoro that was tonight's dinner. Yum.
Some sunflowers, of course, that I hope will survive until I get back.
And that was about it.

heirloom cherry tomatoes

more tomatoes!

What else??

Beautiful apples!

I missed out on a great item at the yard sale across the street looking further before claiming it but at the time we were the only ones there, I turned around and MY swinging antique mirror dresser topper was in someone else's hand. Shoot. And it was only 5 bucks. Oh, well- moving on before I cry.
I am behind on a round robin. I wanted to use my new Inkadyes for it-it is a prayer flag. But we have been plagued by cloudy weather any time I had a free moment and so I was going to keep my flag to await sun and mail the rest on to the next player, but I didn't get to the post office and today was sunny sooooo I made my flag!

I started out by cutting a peace sign out of sticker paper colored black to block sunlight. I painted the flag with Yellow Green and Blue Inkodyes in a sort of starburst that came out more like an "X". The dyes are semi-clear with just a hint of color. They can be thinned with clear dye or water. I used a bit of both. This is the flag painted.

subtle, huh?

I applied the peace sign on top

And headed outside to the little bit of sun remaining in my shady-in-the-afternoon backyard.

This was how it look in about 30 seconds, I was a little worried, not the colors I was looking for.

Looking better- can you tell it was sitting on an azalea?

Finis! and About to remove the sticker.

I immediately rinsed the flag and hand washed with soap and dried.

There was still a little bleed-through to the white area but overall I'm really happy.

Here is the finished flag. I used a micron pen to write the chorus of John Lennon's "Imagine" around the symbol.

Simple but effective. I think I like it and it will send a good vibe into the universe when she flies it.

Peace.

Farmers Market and a memory

2011-09-11T09:12:00.000-04:00

It's Saturday!

okra

Apples

mini sweet potatoes

tomatoes and corn

Fall is in the air as evidenced by the offerings of the farmers market today. We were first greeted by pumpkins! The first of the season. Lots of fall squash are coming in and I vow to give some a try. I'm not a winter squash person as a rule, though I love pumpkin pie-my # 1 every time.
I'm going to give pumpkin growing a whirl next year choosing one super-cool small, warty variety to give space to growing out of a 5 gallon container, as suggested by Donna, blogging at Mamma Mia Days.
We chose a mix of summer and fall offerings. Lots of okra-I mentioned buying some and Jim heard "Buy some".
Apples-three varieties, Red Delicious (which I never buy at the grocery, they are some kinda mutant), Gala and tart Jonathan for Jim.
Some more of those oh, so good green beans, too. Tomatoes are thinning out but I found a handful of heirlooms. Our flower farmer offered up only a few sunflowers this week and so few tuberose that they were gone by the time we arrived at the market. So I have this nice mix this week.
Purple basil and mini sweet potatoes.
Lots of end of season yumminess.

Saw these pretty berries on the way home. I was looking for large caps from acorn for some felting but only found really small ones. If any one has those super big ones please send them to me. I use to find gigantic ones at my aunt's house in Russellville and at a state park.

this week's selection

berries on the walk home

relative of the big head

On a different note, I'm remembering the horror of the attacks on 9/11/01. My sweet Amy was living in DC and it was hours before I could reach her by phone-the lines were all busy. Rachel was to meet with a contact from the Pentagon for work. He died that day, I believe. I watched with disbelief at all that unfolded that day and 10 years later I have appreciated hearing the lesser known stories of those who died that day and thank their families for sharing them.

The Pentagon

And try it I did!

2011-09-09T15:32:00.000-04:00

Well, here it is! My lattice cinnamon sugar topper for apple cider. It is delicious, but I realized something. I really like my pie crust with fruit in/on it. The rest of the circles I will top with some peaches or sliced apples. I'm not so big on pie dough plain (even with cinnamon and sugar!) Honestly, I probably wouldn't do this again. But, it was fun to do on this cloudy day. Now, back to my book-mug in hand....

I can't wait to try this!

2011-09-07T19:47:00.000-04:00

I may have to go to the store right this minute for cider and pie dough to make this! Friday for sure!

photo from Not Martha blog

I love Not Martha! And while I'm on my Not Martha kick- I should go ahead and admit I am super jealous that she is going to fashion week for the finals of Project Runway. I am rarely jealous of much, as I admitted to her, but a get a little twinge when I think of it. She also got an HP computer free from HP and has been doing blogs creating fashion to go along with the PR challenges.
I know, a side of me you didn't know.

Hummers, Market Day, Yard Sales and another craft project!

2011-09-03T14:46:00.001-04:00

I don't know why my pictures got added in this odd way but I find it tedious to try to rearrange so sorry for the randomness of this post. Yuck. First photos are of the yard sale and estate sale, then on to the hummers and craft project. Keep going and eventually you'll see the farmers market review, if you have the patience!

Yard sale finds. The pitcher is for a friend who collects this. I'm going to break the chipped plates and resurface the interior of my birdbath with them. I collect flower frogs.

I don't know why she didn't want this.

My morning hummers

sweet!

yesterday's craft project

Gotta love Saturday, and a long weekend, too! It is blistering hot here today so we headed out early to beat the heat.
Corn was back! Lots of flowers, fewer tomatoes, and oh my-radishes again!
We got jonathan apples-Jim loves their tartness and 2nd tomatoes for today-they are 1/2 price with some flaws. I got some other tomatoes for later in the week, another tomato pie, I think. Yellow squash, too, from Charles. I have peaches from Tuesday that will hold me for a few days so none today.
Ground bison and some bison brats for the holiday weekend to be served with green bean potato salad. Yummy!
Radishes are a favorite of mine and I forgot to ask Ivor what variety these are, I think maybe French Breakfast? -they are pretty and will taste fabulous! Eggplant this week. I don't really love it but I'm branching out. Peeling, seeding and going from there.
More basil to add to what is still looking beautiful from last week.
Tuberose-check out my mini vase below, eucalyptus, sunflowers, and a red Big Head Celosia- can't pass up a flower with the name "Big Head"! Oh, and Cumin Seed Gouda from Kenny's Cheese!
Hope you enjoy the pics. We also stopped at a yard sale and estate sale on the way home. So much to see this week!

tomatoes and eggplant!

the beautiful radishes, I think they are French Breakfast variety

Last weeks and this weeks!

Aren't these graceful crooknecks?

Holiday food

These will be eaten together!

fragrant tuberose

The Big Head!

Dainty little bouquet

How about a craft project-

2011-08-29T19:45:00.000-04:00

that doesn't involve chalkboard paint? I knew you thought I was going to use more of that stuff and I've seen it done on cute little clay pots.
But, this is a French-inspired pot. You know I've been working with clip art and have a collection of French labels, etc, and decided to try my hand at these! I think they are lovely and I knew my sister, Richey would be crazy about them, too. I used a few clips from the Graphics Fairy who has great clip art.
I did mine a little differently, of course. I had a brown clay pot for my first one, and painted it with slightly diluted cheap, white acrylic paint, which I dabbed some with paper towel until it looked the way I wanted. I edited my clip art and covered over the address in the ad with my own. Flipped the entire image horizontally so the words would be backwards (this is crucial if you are using text). I didn't have Outdoor Mod Podge so I went with Matte Medium. I think it did fine. I painted the matte medium on the image and place on the pot printed side to pot, smoothed it down well and waited for it to dry overnight. Then got it wet and rubbed the paper off, revealing the transferred image. Part of the white paint came off, too but I touched it up. I will try giving the third attempt a coating before I do the image and see how that works.
I didn't coat the finished first pot with a matte coating for outdoors but I will when I take the plant out and hopefully I won't have to redo. I will however seal future pots.
On to pot number two- a BIG pot! I did the same thing over regular orange clay pot but added a little grey here and there. Again, I like the aged, mottled look.
This time I used a cute garden label and added our address inside it.
The one I am working on tonight, I did our address in French instead of English and no one will know if I did it correctly since none of us are fluent in French around here.
And- I didn't spill anything on the floor!

It's Saturday!

2011-08-27T11:50:00.000-04:00

See the new chalkboard?

Sometimes you are just glad to see a new day! Yesterday I spilled almost an entire quart of chalkboard paint on my hardwood floors in the living room. Thankfully, it wasn't on the wool rug but did splash onto the antique washstand. Boo. Lots of cleaning.
But, not only is it a new day, but a beautiful one here in Louisville. We headed out early to the market. What a difference a week makes. Very little corn from our farmer we got all of that corn from last week! Fewer Cherokee Purple tomatoes, but lots of flowers and peaches. I love all of the things I got.

Close up of the goodness

Yummy tomatoes and peaches

The peaches look great and I have some more goat cheese! Tomato and Peach Salad coming right up!
The green beans last week were fantastic- the best of the year. He was back with more this week- I was so glad!

yummy!

Cukes!

I was also in the mood for cucumber salad with onion so picked up these two varieties for the week.

Raspberries are thinning out so this could be the last week and we could only get a pint.

The Mother's Sticky Chicken was so great I was still eating it for lunch Thursday. I asked Chef Jim to indulge me again this week. Our chicken farmer will not be at the market next week. So we bought another whole, cut-up.

And now for the flowers which were glorious this week!

zinneas

The big picture!

sunflowers!

tuberose- I just threw out last week's this morning.

I forget the name of these-but I think I'll buy some next week.

This is "something" shield-the purple and it is spectacular! looks so perfect that it could be artificial.
Love this little green plant which will replace one that died with my hibiscus outside.

Isn't this a beautiful variety? Green and maroon.

And a favorite, as you know

ending on a sweet note!

basil-oh, the aroma!

Enjoy!

Farmers market, of course!

2011-08-21T22:04:00.000-04:00

Oolala

Scrumptious, what else can I say about Saturday's haul from the FM? I was evidently hungry! First stop was the beautiful basil, I bought two bunches. I know I won't actually eat all of it, but it makes the kitchen smell so good that I decided to look at it like flowers. Bunch of purple and bunch of green. Yum.

Next peaches. I had two today. They are so good, a little granola on top, maybe a little vanilla ice cream. Tomorrow-more tomato peach salad.

These are the first apples of the season. Jonathan and Gala. See the peaches, too?

On to green beans which were in the potato salad last night. One of my favorite summer dishes-green bean potato salad with shallots, basil, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. So very good.

I picked up 12 ears of corn-most will be cut off and go in the freezer for later use in soups and stews. We had a mix of corn, peppers, green beans for dinner tonight along with Mother's Sticky Chicken and sautéed romaine with mustard dressing.

I see some grilled squash in my future and this looks perfect!

I was intrigued by white watermelon and it didn't disappoint. Super sweet, not sure I would want it every time, though, it's really just like sugar! The white flesh with the black seeds was beautiful!

Red potatoes! Of course for the potato salad, forgot about them, and a few Cherokee Purple tomatoes for the above mentioned salad.

No blackberries this week so Jim went with raspberries. Oh, no omelet either- I was on a schedule so I could meet friends to go see the movie The Help, so breakfast was at Fleur de Lis Cafe, which I think took as long as the omelet line would have-note to self**

Okra-this time the other variety (not Star of David), hum-maybe Milsap White? I'll ask next week. It is an heirloom variety.

Now for flowers- yay for the tuberose which makes the house smell wonderful all week. I went with the darker sunflower this week. Not to wish my life away, but I am looking forward to fall.

And that about covers this week's market adventure. Missed having Amy here, though.

Farmers market 8/13

2011-08-15T20:45:00.001-04:00

This week was a special farmers market because Amy was here to enjoy it, too! We headed out on our usual trek with a stop at Day's for coffee and then off to Kizito to pick up ginger muffins- a special request that they went to a lot of trouble to honor.
Then it was on to the market. Yum-tomatoes, including my favorite Cherokee Purple, okra (Star of David variety), peaches for peach and tomato salad, corn, chicken, of course, flowers, cheese, hot pepper butter, the same I slather on my omelet every week- sweet, hot, spicy-delicious! Oh, yes, and blackberries. Already made (and have eaten) the peach and tomato salad. Easy peasy. Peel and seed tomatoes, peel peaches, course chop both place in bowl. Chop up fresh basil add to fruit and splash a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil, salt and pepper and crumble a little soft goat cheese. It is soooo good.

The goods

Kizito yumminess

Add caption

Another fabulous week of goodness. Jim made brown rice, okra and bacon casserole, barbecue chicken, and I added the peach and tomato salad for dinner last night. Left overs were lunch today. I love good eating.

Flour Sack Towels

2011-08-09T13:28:00.000-04:00

This is the project Richey and I worked on. I LOVE these and am inspired to do more and open an etsy shop! (Thanks, Richey!)They are soft and cute, cute, cute! I got the idea to subtract some of the image and add personalization of name and address. Just a hint of color. I'm a big black and white lover. While I'll probably do some color image transfers, I really love black and white best. The right one has the street address which I blurred to protect privacy. I did some for Jim for his birthday. Watch out-a set of flour sack towels could be headed to your home soon!

The thought crossed my mind that people might not like an old address on them, but then again, how fun to look back at where you lived different years if you are a frequent mover.

Oh, the possibilities! I love possibilities!

No market today but fun none the less!

2011-08-06T21:50:00.000-04:00

Paperweight and gift bag

Cute plate favor bags

I'm visiting my sister in Georgia this weekend. We have been crafting together. I customized some kitchen towels for a friend who just moved into a house. Actually, I picked out the designs and told her what to do to them and she printed them, cut them and I'll iron them!
Richey has an etsy store, by Richner, and makes cute muslin bags, magnets and paperweights that are perfect for gifts and favors.
She also made me this great pillow cover, tea towel and lovely bag of goodies! I got the bag with the quote earlier.
Off to iron!

Bag of goodies

cute tote I got earlier

pillow cover 12x12

kitchen towel

Fun project

2011-07-31T14:59:00.000-04:00

I decided that the cedar chest I had been using for a coffee table was too big and bulky. I wanted something with legs but nothing ordinary. Looking around on the internet I found some furniture made with luggage! Perfect! I had this trunk that I got at Goodwill several years ago. It needed a wood bottom to support the screws for the legs, legs and the hardware for them, some stain and polyurethane. I had the stain and poly so a trip to Lowe's for the rest and 30 bucks later here is the "new" coffee table! I love it and it makes the room appear so much larger. I like that my feet fit under it and it still holds almost all of the vhs movies I had stored in the chest.

The trunk

The stuff

The new table

A closer view!

Farmers market 7/30 and the winner is.....

2011-07-30T11:43:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Anne A-winner of the rubber stamp set and whatever ends up in the envelope with it!

Anonymous said...

Hi Beth, no way wouuld you get such good deals at the Farmers Market on the west coast. It's been a long time since we exchanged ATCs. I Need new rubber. Too bad you didn't join us in the Ampersand rolodex swap. Suzanne came up with a good one: Black & White & Re(a)d all over. Pick me, pick me. XXX. Anne A.

11:12 AM

Thanks to all who commented on my 400th post.
I hope you enjoy using the stamps, Anne!

Now, on to the 401st and the haul from the farmers market and a bit about dinner at a new restaurant.

Today's haul!

It was a great day to go to the market. The overcast skies were inviting and provided a reprieve from the sweltering heat of late. We needed lots of items. First stop was for heirloom tomatoes! I got a variety today-Mr. Stripey, Cherokee Purple and a pink German one. Bruscetta tonight or tomorrow night. Yum.

Ok, my blogspot isn't letting me do what I want so, inserted is a commercial for Harvest, a relatively new restaurant located downtown. It is "farm to fork" and so yummy! Our omelet guys started it and it is getting rave reviews. Jim and I went with my sister, her friend, Jon, and Mom this week. I love the decor, the tables which are big hunks of wood, and the pictures on the wall- big photos of the farmers! There is also a map of the area on which the farms are marked and photos of the farmers. I look forward to a lot of good meals there.

Mom and Mary Ann

Mary Ann's pork, grits and carrots

My fried chicken and spoon bread

I have been craving green bean potato salad so that is on Mr. Jim's menu tonight along with bison burgers. Our chicken guy will be away from the market next weekend so a whole chicken was needed. I also got a dozen jumbo eggs and am making egg muffins today for the week.

These jumbo eggs are beautiful!

Had to go back to these!

Green beans and red potatoes

bruschetta makings

I'm still captivated with the texture of these

for the carnivores

blackberries

The blackberries were wonderful last week along with the peaches in a crisp so I think a small one will be whipped up tomorrow. Jim doesn't eat sweets much so it will be all mine!

I went back to sunflowers this week and that had a bunch of them! I may get the pretty brown petaled ones next time. Cabbage, cucumbers (I love cucumber sandwiches!) and a box of little pears round out this weeks selections. I had an omelet, of course, prepared by Brent who is home from doing his Masters degree and getting ready to go back to teaching.

picked at 9 last night

white peaches

The corn was picked 12 hours prior to our purchase. Doesn't get much fresher than that unless you grow it yourself!

Pears!

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

400th post, a giveaway, yard sale finds and Farmers Market all in one!

2011-07-23T12:24:00.001-04:00

Wow! 400 posts- I don't really know what to think about that! I started this blog June 1, 2005. So in a little over 6 years, or 319 weeks or 2273 days- I wrote 400 posts, hum a little over one a week average.

So, maybe not so much a celebration but a reward for those who read my ramblings- I have a small giveaway.

I love this Tim Holtz rubber stamp set, so much that I bought two, opened them and didn't realize I already had. So, I am delighted for it to find a new home. I use the quotes and the little bird a lot. So, if you want this rubber set to come live with you or to pass it on to another who will love it, just comment on this post before next Saturday morning and I'll use the random number selector to choose a winner. Since my readership is certainly small you have an unusually good chance to win this prize and who knows what else might end up in your envelope!

Today's haul

The market was hot today and we got there by around 8:30 with a detour to the coffee shop (iced, please) and a yard sale (details to come). So, we didn't linger. The chicken is frozen and I didn't bring a proper storage bag and frozen blue thingy for toting. The blueberries are done-boo- and the bison woman wasn't there- boo hoo. But, there's a box of blackberries, peaches, tomatoes, chicken, cabbage, flowers and an omelet!
Love the Cherokee Purple tomatoes. Bruschetta tonight!

the peaches looked great!

Jim has been loving these on his Shredded Wheat, which he eats dry- yuk

my omelet!

The omelet had potatoes, kale, beens,onion, squash, choizo, goat cheese and some kind of Kenny's cheese. Yummy!

Aren't these flowers pretty? Sweet William and a type of hydrangea I thought would be nice as a switch from the sunflowers.

These are growing on a fence in the alley we go home through. So inviting!

Baby O clothes

for later

little fleece jacket

I love little sets like this

for early fall

Isn't this the sweetest

for fall

another fall shirt

even sweeter

reversible

The reverse

who doesn't like bristle blocks?

needed one of these!

All my yard sale stuff was a total of 8.00! Baby O will be dressed to the hilt and travel in style!

Now don't forget to spread the word about my giveaway, if you don't mind the competition! And leave me a comment to be entered!

Hope you are somewhere cooler than here doing something fantastically fun! And just because I can't help myself, here are O and E!

More art and a giveaway to come

2011-07-17T09:55:00.001-04:00

The sign in tag for the artist-my contact info is on back

Front of my page

I failed to post my art for Barbara's book. Her theme is Traveling the Road of Life-balancing Time.There were several sizes (all "large" to me) to choose from. I like folds so chose one with a flap. You could do one page or as many as you wanted. I ended up doing my chosen page front, inside and back.

opened flap

Inside

This is the page opened out inside.

close up of the quote

Back page

close up of quote

It was a fun book to work in and I love using quote stamps on art.

I always feel privileged to work in other's art pieces.

NEXT POST will be my 400th! I'll be doing a giveaway!

Farmers Market and a link to a star book

2011-07-16T11:55:00.000-04:00

It is a dreary, humid day in KY so we headed out early to the market. It had a slower vibe, funny how weather affects everything! It was a big haul and heavy, too!
Here is a link to a star book, too! And here you can order all of the materials in a kit from my friend, Suzanne, at Quietfire Design.

another good week for these!

He had balloon flower and lilies, too, but I like these!

Gotta have some protein

garlic, yum

Anne was back and with this!!

Eat your veggies!

The first Cherokee Purples of the year!

I never tire of radishes-love them sauteed

Opted for a smaller version this week

ARen't these pretty?

Jim has a great recipe for these

We sure enjoyed these last week

I think the season is ending locally soon. She had half what she had last week.

I think we will head out to our other market now! Maybe find a few rummage sales along the way!

Two colors and zentangles

2011-07-15T11:42:00.000-04:00

This is a part of a future star book that I am working in for another artist. I chose Y and Z and thought yellow and zentangle would be perfect for it. I like making zentangles! This also qualifies for the byhandartist challenge ( if you don't count black as a color and do count white!! or vice versa).The perfectionist in me hates that I got a blop of yellow in the zentangle. Rats.

details,

details

And more about seeds and sunflowers from church

2011-07-10T19:10:00.000-04:00

I went to Sue's church today and even if it becomes "my" church, it will forever be Sue's church, Jeff Street Baptist Community Church. It is a wonderful place in downtown Louisville that welcomes all, is creative, inviting, warm, and has a lot going on. I don't know how many people go there but on a given Sunday, I'd say about 60-80. That is a big change from the 1400 or so at my church in the suburbs.

It is inspiring to see a truly diverse group gathered with common purpose. I like a lot of things that they are doing. They welcome and feed the homeless several mornings a week, they have a coffee house where anyone is welcome to share a song, poem, guitar or other instrument and where homeless feel welcome and loved and their offerings appreciated. I haven't been to the Urban Goatwalker but I will soon. They eat together at least once weekly and believe that all can be ministers and preachers.

This morning a young woman who works at a center for refugees and immigrants here in Louisville shared a wonderful story of our diverse community and the lives that are touching hers.

The reading was the parable of the sower and the seeds that fell on varied ground. Part of the lesson was to be a sower, figuratively and literally, in unlikely places. There were sunflower seed packages for 10 people to take and sow in an unlikely, unwelcoming place and to report updates on in coming weeks. I waited until no one else wanted seeds and volunteered to take a pack. I knew just the spot.

The packet on top of the bulletin from worship

My side yard, which is about 6 feet from building to building has become a source of contention between the owner of the apartment next to us and us. The fence has been there for years, as has our air conditioner and further down, some lattice work supporting plants and a tiny 3 foot pond with fountain. We love our back yard which is a tiny, secret garden away from the urban noise of the busy street on which we live. The part you will see is not the lovely refuge.

We may end up having to move the above mentioned "stuff" because of property lines and lawyers are involved where no lawyers should be necessary. But, long story short- I knew immediately this was an unlikely, unwelcoming place for something lovely especially under the current legal uncertainty. It also gets little sun and the dirt is poor.

Here is our unloved space

Here are my seeds

Here they are sown

Let's see what comes of this. Perhaps a thing of beauty will spring up and discourse will be pushed out.
I did get inspired to remove the weeds in preparation, but the ground is still pretty unwelcoming.
More to come.

Well, you know, it's Saturday!

2011-07-09T15:13:00.000-04:00

Aren't these luscious?

These are from the 2nds box but look ok to me!

I can't see spots on fruit without thinking of Joni Mitchell

Sunny

Happy

Glorious!

Sunflowers! The first of the year

texture

more texture

It was fabulous, as always

Farmers Market 7/2

2011-07-04T18:26:00.000-04:00

We had a great time at the market this week! Picked up some favorites-blueberries, tomatoes, squash-having that tonight, apples, flowers-our poor flower folks, the weather has not been good for flowers that would be blooming now. There were precious few to be had but I got these, eggs, peaches, garlic and fennel. Yum! We didn't go to our other market. It was getting hot.
I am not a hot weather fan.

Aren't these beauties?

another view

I like this little bouquet I added licorice plant, impatiens, and scented geranium leaves.

Farmers Market and other fun

2011-06-28T09:09:00.000-04:00

A fabulous day of markets and fun! It may have seemed more fabulous since DH had been in hospital to deal with undiagnosed crazy-high blood pressure. I think Mr. " I haven't been to a doctor in 40 years" will be going a little more regularly now. And we both are so grateful that he didn't have a stroke or heart attack. No symptoms at all, not over weight, eats a healthy diet- I just brought a blood pressure cuff home from work to check it since he wouldn't go to a doctor. I thought I'd just reassure myself that at least he had good blood pressure-NOT.

We went to our Bardstown Road market first. Oh, so happy to see Brent, our favorite omelet maker. We went to the Butterfly Garden for lunch this week, Brent's wife is the owner and we wanted to know where Brent had been this summer not to mention have a wonderful lunch there- post coming soon.
Turns out he's getting a Master's Degree in North Carolina this summer! The omelet line was long so, I just went up to chat a bit but skipped the omelet. We did our shopping, picking up blueberries, cabbage, tomatoes, flowers, kale, bison, and fennel. It was bike awareness day so we got these great stickers, bumper stickers and pins. Love that nice clean logo. They had a petition for more bike lanes, which even though I'm not a biker I'm all for- I worry about my biker daughter and DIL and all bikers that have to share narrow roads with big cars and trucks. They also had a bike with a blender connected to it that people rode to blend smoothie samples!

love these small cabbage

fennel!

We passed by a yard sale on the way home and I picked up a basket-75 cents, vhs tapes for 50 cents, and this great bottle to add to my kitchen windowsill- 10 cents, and bundle of bubble mailers-$1.00. I'm loving the basket to throw things in that need to up or down the stairs.

cute shirt!

love this jacket

There was a big yard sale at St. James School just around the corner from us where I got a great yellow jacket-new with tags, a little pricey $20.00 but I'll wear it a lot, cute white and metallic sleeveless shirt-$2.00, and a wooden box of silverware-$30.00 for 88 pieces and the box, that is going to eventually be plant markers among other things whenever I get to Richey's to use her metal alphabet stamps.

yard sale silver

It was such a nice day we took our fold up chairs and hung out at the Douglass Loop market had lunch, listened to live music, did a little more shopping, June apples and squash, oh, and a red honeysuckle vine for my trellis!

Royal Queen Violet Tubeflower

Red Honeysuckle

After all that, that we went to Churchill Downs for a few races. I find I either have it or I don't at the track and unlike Oaks Day, I didn't. So we stayed for three races and left. We have an invitation to the last day of racing this Sunday, so I'm hoping for better vibes.

A full day of fun!

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

2011-06-19T15:21:00.000-04:00

This is a wonderful movie that would still be very interesting but not nearly as spectacular if it wasn't in 3D. Therefore, I encourage you to see it in the theater unless you are the lucky one with a 3D TV and some 3D glasses at home! You will not be disappointed. It matters not if you are a history buff, artist, anthropologist or have no interest in any of the above, you can't help but just be amazed at what you will see and hear about in this exploration of a relatively recent discovery in France.
Run, do not walk, to a theater near you that is showing it. As with many documentaries, I'm sure it will not be playing long.
Read a professional review here.

It's Saturday!

2011-06-18T16:51:00.002-04:00

See, Richey? I carry my recycled billboard bag!

I woke up to thunder and lightening, not a great way to start a Saturday which brings a trip to the farmers market. But, I went downstairs, caught up on some blogs, reading and took a shower, by then-no rain! I grabbed my bags, Jim, some cash and an empty coffee mug and headed out. First stop, Day's where I allow myself a latte a week, made by Chris. The first sip is a liquid toasted marshmallow taste that only he can make. Love, love it!
Now, on to the market. The line was so long for the atm that we decided to see if we had enough money at the market and come back if necessary. It's only a block away. I passed up the blueberries today. I still have a pint from last week. I hope they have them next week, though.
A bunch of black-eyed Susans, some yellow squash, beets for Mom, tomatoes, jumbo eggs, red potatoes and a giant cucumber for sandwiches was my haul.
Jim joined me in having an omelet this week. It was interesting to hear comments about the price. We think it is a steal at 8 bucks. Farm-fresh eggs, farm fresh produce, farm fresh cheese-cow and goat, cooked on site, served with a couple of hot sauces, sitting at a table surrounded by farmers, patrons, and a whole lot of goodness! One man guessed they were 4 dollars when asked by his wife. He was appalled by 8 and the woman across from us said that 8 crossed her comfort boundary. She was remembering two years ago price of 7. I can't sit in any restaurant and have a lower quality, not as fresh omelet anywhere for 8 dollars. I think it's a steal especially since I hate chopping stuff.
I'll have another, please.

The goods!

aren't these eggs beautiful?

a study of reds

and now some yellows

These make me happy!

And a second post today- a Birthday shout out!

2011-06-15T18:40:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to my sweet Amy! The above pic shows us 32 years younger!
Amy brings a wonderful joy to my life. She's intelligent, ambitious, fun, makes fabulous felt ball mobiles, is a wonderful aunt who'd like to be even more wonderful if distance wasn't an issue, indulges all of my tourist desires in Seattle, recommends great books and movies, makes friends with purpose and ease and added Rachel to our family. I'm so glad to also call her my friend.
The world is a better place with her and I'm so lucky that I got to be her mom.
Hope you're spoiled silly today!

Her felted ball mobile for friend's baby.

Farmers market

2011-06-15T18:13:00.001-04:00

I caught a stupid cold somehow and it has slowed me down! Here it is the middle of the week and I haven't even told you about Saturday's market!

Rainbow Chard- isn't it pretty?

Omelets in the making

This one is mine!

This is one of our flower growers

The bellflowers have been so pretty

I don't like the smell of lilies but they are beautiful!

Here's my haul! Raspberries, two more quarts of blueberries, cabbage, kale, tomatoes, broccoli, chicken, buffalo-ground and brats, beautiful gooseneck loosestrife, basil, some kinda yellow flowers and a package of cumin seed gouda from Anne- she didn't have any with her to sell me and therefore didn't need her samples either (lucky me-at least for the sample part). Now one sad thing is that Brent, my fav omelet guy is MIA. His wife owns a restaurant we frequent. I need to ask about him. She may have put him to work there in his off season- he's a middle school teacher. Hope he's doing something fun. He's the sweetest guy.

Raspberries!

yummmmm

all the cumin seed gouda there was

Tomatoes and kale

Carnivore's dream!

basil- I could eat it everyday

Love these

This is at the other market. I plan to take a paper and hang out a while next week!

Kitten overseer

Sweet, eh?

And now for a little art

2011-06-12T22:23:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow I'll post about the farmers market which was fabulous as always and a good haul of stuff!

But, today I finished up an art piece for a round robin I'm doing over the next 13 months. I love collaborative art. I met these artists at Artfest. Some are relatives of each other, some friends and some new like me. They had a journal that they did last year, each choosing their own theme. Each person got theirs returned at Artfest. Ours will not be done by next year's Artfest, but those attending will bring whatever they are working on along to share with the group.

I decided not to do a book. I wanted something that would be viewed more. So I decided to go with canvas that I'll put in embroidery hoops and hang as a group. The 13 circles vary in size from 3" - 12 " My piece is the 12 inch one since it has the theme. I'm pretty excited about seeing what others are doing. Our first round starts now. We have each book/project one month.

Opposite wall

They will hang around this little door

Yippee! Farmers Markets-yep, plural!

2011-06-04T15:27:00.000-04:00

It has been a banner day! I went to our farmers market, my favorite coffee shop, an arts and crafts fair in Butchertown, where I found a few good things, mostly in the jewelry department, and then to another NEW farmers market near ours, but with later hours. Fun, fun, fun!

The flowers were beautiful, I loved the peaceful look of the blues, whites, and yellows. Nice and spring-like-though it is more like mid-summer temperatures.

Oh, the joy of the first omelet of the year. Sweet- veggies and cheese. It was absolutely delicious! I'm so thrilled to have our omelet makers back at the market.

Jim opted for tamales

Big day for chicken!

These petite green beans look great.

Also, I was excited to see the blueberry folks from Daviess County back this year. The blueberries are fantastic- my first stop at the market. Last year, I was going to get them on the way out- GONE! I learned my lesson. Two quarts -one for eating and one for freezing. Couple of yellow squash, green beans, sugar snap peas, quart of strawberries, chicken, flowers, and three tomatoes. Oh, my!

Aren't they beautiful?

more garden goodness

These stock flowers smell delightful!

The haul

They look pretty together, eh?

This was at the Douglass Blvd market.

The Douglass Blvd market has a totally different vibe from ours. I liked it a lot , too in a different way. I was thrilled to be able to get my favorite granola here from a precious Mennonite or Amish little girl. She was about 8 and one of the prettiest children I've ever seen. You can't see in the cup, but it was filled with delightful lavender lemonade. Oh, so refreshing. We bought barbecue pork and potato salad from them, too. Jim thinks it is the best potato salad he's ever had-ever!

The DB market

The haul from that market

Pansies

2011-05-31T12:41:00.000-04:00

I removed the pansies from my window boxes yesterday, it is so darn hot here you'd think it was 4th of July instead of Memorial Day weekend. I made lots of little bouquets that I put in the little glass bottles on my kitchen windowsill. Gave a Dixie cup full to my DIL, too.
I just love seeing them there.

Beach and Books

2011-05-29T19:33:00.000-04:00

I was so thrilled to get back to the beach, my first trip in two years. I do nothing at the beach but sleep, eat, walk, read and enjoy the sights and sounds of surf and sand.
Destin is a beautiful beach on the Gulf of Mexico with sugary sand beaches and this year a lot of surf to go with our 80 degree temperatures.

I usually woke up at 5:30 which is my normal 6:30 EDT. Amazingly, Jim was an early riser, too! We took walks early and then settled in for reading and enjoying the beach.

Gelato- twice, sorbet once thanks to Richey's suggestion

I like to get a lot of reading done. I don't give myself permission enough to slow down and read when I am home. Being a business owner, there is always work to do!

I read Gone by Lisa Gardner. I love mysteries and thrillers- I can't help myself. When we used to go to FL in August, Janet Evanovich's latest was always with me. But, now her's don't come out until June or July so still waiting for Smokin' Seventeen to come out next month. It was good and my first of Lisa's so I'll be looking for more.

My next choice was The Help, another good read. I'm so excited this will be a movie. I hope they do it proud. Strong female characters and a reminder of my childhood and the memories of segregation in my small town.

Next was Henry's Sisters, a dark novel about a dysfunctional family (hits close to home but we aren't nearly so dramatic) but has a wonderful, probably too wonderful theme of grace. As a matter of fact- grace was the theme of the week. I must have needed that.

Lastly, I squeezed in this peach of a book that I had read a good bit of previously but not finished. I think at the time I read it before, the fact that it consists entirely of letters was distracting to me. I absolutely loved it and all of its characters. I wonder what they are doing now as I still have them in my mind.

All of the books featured strong characters and as I mentioned a theme of grace and hope. I feel in a transitional period moving into something new- a personal paradigm shift of a sort. I'm curious what the future is bringing to me.
Because of this sense, I am participating in Mondo Beyondo, we'll see where my dreaming goes. I'm not much of a dreamer. More of a realist and fairly concrete so who knows? But, I feel a pull in the cosmos and I don't know where it is leading or what is in store, but I'm trying to be open and listen-not something I do well being a take charge kinda gal.

Next week? Finally, the farmers market again. Wonderful travels but missed our market two weeks in a row!!

Yesterday-this week's movie

2011-05-08T08:45:00.000-04:00

This week I watched Yesterday, a wonderful film about an HIV+ woman in Africa and her struggles including what to do for her daughter, Beauty. It is a beautiful story and brought home to me the importance of the work my daughter, Amy, does with HIV/AIDS research in Kenya.

Another must-see movie to add to your list!

"Best Film" at the 3rd Pune International Film Festival in India.
"Inaugural Human Rights Film Award" at the 2004 Venice Film Festival.
Awards for Best Sound, Best Make Up & Best Editing at the 2005 African Movie Academy Awards
Nominated for "Best Foreign Language Film at the 77th Academy Awards.
Nominated for Outstanding Made for Television movie at the 2006 Primetime Emmy Awards

Farmers Market

2011-05-07T17:55:00.001-04:00

If you missed last week's Seattle farmers market post, you may want to take a look, it was a great market.
This week in Louisville it was a cool, cloudy start to the day which, for Derby goers thankfully has turned into a beautiful day.

I bought a handful of dutch iris buds to add to these beautiful ones from last week, still looking spectacular!
Buffalo steak and ground for dinner this week. Jumbo free-range eggs- pretty much a staple around here.

ARen't they beautiful?

Ready for summer

A staple at our house

These tomatos are for a snack today with some fresh basil, fresh mozzarella. Yum. How about a cup of burgoo for a nice Kentucky Derby treat? I got Mom a basil plant for Mother's Day along with another little treat.
Not a lot of stuff at the market today- and darn if I didn't get to Anne to say a quick hi, rats. I came in a different end of the market and it threw me all off.

The new restaurant Harvest that some of our farmers opened was reviewed in the Courier Journal today. It was a hit- can't wait to try it! You can like them on facebook, too.

And for a little KY Derby Flair here is Amy ready for the race in Seattle, 2nd hand dress and a handmade hat. Gotta love it!

Something the Lord Made

2011-05-01T08:54:00.000-04:00

Something the Lord Made- a not to be missed, Emmy winning movie from HBO. I watched it on Netflix DVD today and I must say it is one of the most moving and inspiring movies I've ever seen. It has moved into my top 10 favorites.
Do yourself a favor and rent it-soon.
Read a NYT review here.