MUG SOMEBODY TODAY!

We made Muffin Stands (aka Mini Cake Stands). Only one thing could have come from that--baking! We didn't exactly bake anything, though, unless you count the delicious enchiladas my daughter fixed for Monday dinner.

What we did was put together mixes for someone else to bake, using a book I'd picked up titled, Mug'Ems--Sweet Things It's a nifty little tome full of recipes for mixes, with printed tags. Assemble the mix, put it in a plastic bag in a mug, cut the tag from the book and attach it, and give it away. Your recipient adds the last few ingredients (usually liquid), and bakes it, right in the mug. Hence the title.


I figure it would be easy enough to come up with your own recipes for this, but I had the book so it made sense to use it. We made Chocolate Blondie Mix, and had so much fun we wanted to make more. Unfortunately, we hadn't brought more baking supplies than we needed for just the one mix, so we were out of luck, with the nearest grocery store about ten miles away.

The lovely thing about this activity/craft was that is was one even our five-year-old could participate in, with her mama's help. Of course, part of the activity was finding the mugs to use. I'd brought some with me, and we found others at the local Goodwill. Even little Meggie picked out two mugs she loved. In the photo, hers is the one with the hearts, her mom's is the plain one, my mom's is the one with the rose pattern, my daughter Sarah's is the one with the caterpillar, and mine is the one with the swirls--each a reflection of our respective personalities.

I love that this is so quick, easy, and inexpensive!

PS HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAR HUSBAND!
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MAKE A MINI CAKE STAND

Make a mini cake stand? Your first question may not be "How?", but "Why?"



Oddly, when I wrote the sentences above, what popped into my mind was the question of why anyone would climb Mt Everest, and its classic answer: "Because it's there."

We have even better reasons for mini cake stands:

• They're pretty, and you can put things other than cake on them:


• Cupcakes and muffins


• Candy


• Soap


• Jewelry


• Candles


• Your keys


• Small bottles of perfume, lotion, etc.


• Any number of other small things that would be pretty displayed like that

I'm back from my near-week of crafting with Mama, Aunt Charlotte, two daughters, and a five-year-old granddaughter, and eager to share what we did. The muffin stands were the first things we worked on.

You need:

• Candle sticks, or similarly shaped glass items


• Pretty saucers or salad plates


• A really reliable glue (My choice: E6000)
  

The process is simple: Glue a saucer to a candle stick. Done.



But tips are good, too:
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Pay attention to style consistency--put modern with modern, delicate with delicate, etc.

Let yourself see things with "different eyes". A candlestick may be what's on the Materials List, but that doesn't mean you can't use an upside-down wine glass, or a tumbler. What else makes a good pedestal? Let yourself see the possibilities. I frequently shop the thrift store aisles with a saucer in hand, checking to see if one thing or another will work!

Most surprising to me was the discovery that plates and saucers may be somewhat warped, rather than perfectly flat, and candlesticks may not have perfectly level tops. Before you glue pieces together, make sure the saucer is level. If it isn't, try rotating it on the candlestick, as sometimes the slant of one can be positioned to offset the slant of the other. If that doesn't work, try another piece.

You may feel a colored candlestick might work better than crystal. You can paint them, if you like. I paint the inside of the cup on top, and the underside of the base with the color I want, and then coat the paint with a clear, protective "lacquer".


I have a mental image of the breakfast table set, with one of these stands at each place, a lovely fat muffin atop each one, inviting smiles and butter. I have the stands now. All I need are muffins!

(A final word on the glue. E6000 is the best I've found for bonding glass, bar none. You do have to go back and check every few minutes for the first half hour or so, to make sure things haven't slid off-center, and do be sure to give the full twenty-four hours before doing anything too brutal to test the bond, but after that you'll be hard pressed to pry the pieces apart. You can get it at craft stores. And no, I don't work for the company that makes the stuff!)
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A SOLID WEEK OF SOLID FUN

It's a family tradition. Mom and Dad bought one of those time share vacation packages years ago, and every year they would choose a location, and then we would gather--Mom, Dad, Uncle Walt, Aunt Jewel, my husband, and me--and we would spend from five to seven days together.

We had a routine. In the mornings, for the first several days, the women would hit all the thrift stores and garage sales in the area, gathering booty, mostly things we needed for crafting.

"Crafting," you say? Oh, yes. Each woman was charged with selecting a craft all of us might enjoy doing, and bringing the materials for that craft. Many times, we've chosen crafts that utilized things you could get second-hand--glassware, placemats, old jewelry, etc. Hence, the garage sales.

The guys would go golfing, or take in tourist spots in the morning.

Noonish, we'd all gather back at the condo, and have lunch, and there was always a sort of ceremonial unwrapping of everything we'd found. The job of the guys was to exclaim over what great deals we got, and they were good at it. We hardly ever caught expressions of befuddlement on their faces.

The afternoons were spent crafting. Once in a great long while the men would join in, but mostly they watched TV or read.

Evenings after dinner we played cards.

Uncle Walt passed away about five years ago, but we went on. Dad died seventeen months ago, and then Aunt Jewel, a few months later. It was hard to think about going on after that. Mama didn't think she could bear it, until I suggested we make it "Ladies' Week". My DH thought that was a good idea, and said he wouldn't mind being left out.

So here we are again, at Eagle Crest in Eastern Oregon. For the first time, it's just the women, but we've added one, my eldest daughter. Actually, we've added two, because she brought her daughter along, too, five-year-old Meggie. We have four generations of women here! On top of that, my middle daughter will join us tomorrow, and actually asked if she could cook dinner. She cooks for a living, God bless her. We gave an emphatic "YES!" and are looking forward to her enchilladas. Oh. Yum.

This is day four of our week, and I'm just going to put up a few photos of the first full day's garage/thrift sale fun. I'll add more soon, but I'm a mile or two from an internet connection, so I don't exactly know when that will be.

My daughter and granddaughter checking out the goodies




Bags o' booty




What will we make, & with what?


We've spent a lot of time doing all the things we've always done, having fun, laughing together, playing and creating. And there have been poignant moments, too, thinking about the dear people aren't with us anymore, but I'm so glad we still have this time to share, so happy that it won't end, and that we're widening the circle, passing the tradition down.

HERBALIST'S LAMENT, THE LYRICS

I've had a request for the lyrics to my song, "Herbalist's Lament", so here they are. (Toni, thank you so much for asking!)

HERBALIST’S LAMENT

A is for the Adder’s Tongue, with which my lover spake,
Betony begins with B, and cures the head that aches.
C for Comfrey, heals all wounds, Dittany as well.
Elderberry’s a tasty wine, but cannot sorrow quell.

CHORUS:
And it’s Heart’s Ease, Heart’s Ease, to soothe this heart of mine.
Forget-me-nots forgot their task, and I need more than Thyme.

Give me Fennel when I cry, a poultice on each eye.
Let me breathe Geranium when I’m inclined to cry.
H is Hops, to bring sleep nigh, Iris root as well,
Jacob’s Staff, lit when I die, can drive away the smell.

Knapweed’s for my reddened nose and soothes my aching throat.
Lovage is the herb for those like me who missed the boat.
Marigolds the spirits lift, Nettle tea as well,
Origanum used as a snuff will errant sniffles still

P is for the Periwinkle. A lie said it brings love.
Queen-of-the-meadow gladdens the heart,
And Rue gives pain a shove.
Stonecrop cools the fevered brow, Triticum as well.
Unona is a pick-me-up for those whose eyes are dull.

V is for Valerian, to soothe my shattered nerves.
A Wallflower I’m bound to be, and Xyris will not serve.
Y for Yarrow, Z for Zilla, from the mustard family.
No cure for unrequited love in all my herbary.

Oddly enough, I can't find where I'd put the actual music up, except here: NaBloPoMo On the left side of that page is a small heading: Music. Below that is a list, that shows the album title but not the track titles. If you click on Track 03, you can then click the play arrow and hear the song. Hope you enjoy it!

Background on the song? I had gone to a St Patrick's day celebration, and the band sang and played a song that went through the parts of a sailing vessel alphabetically. I wondered if I could write an alphabetical song myself. To wonder is to do, yes?

MORE TEA KETTLE CHARACTERS

Whoo-hoo! My mojo has rejoined me! So I did a (very) little housework, and went to an estate sale, where my dear husband surprised the heck out of me by buying a 15-foot, two-person, kayak and paddles. He's says he's always wanted to try it, and I love water. I told him if we end up not putting it to use, we can resell it. We got an extremely good deal on it.

I also painted several more Tea Kettle Characters:

Jemma

Dan

Ardith

Buddies

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HELLO TO JOAN, RALPH, & IZZY

Well, I did manage to get three of the little Tea Kettle Characters painted, though I found myself wondering at time where I'd mislaid my stamina. It'll be back tomorrow, right?

Here's Joan, who's thrilled to see spring arrive, even if she still has her chin tucked securely in her black turtleneck. Sandals is one thing. A cold neck is something else altogether.



This is Ralph, just barely old enough to grow that soul patch he's so proud of:
And a view of the top of his hat, because I like it:


Fast friends, enjoying the day, just after it poured rain in buckets, sending all the birds and squirrels to cover, and the humans goggle-eyed to the windows:


And last and least, in size at any rate, my personal favorite, the little Izzy. He's about five inches tall, and clearly not from around here:


Don't know why these photos are a bit fuzzy. My apologies there.
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FRIDAY FENCE POST #17

Time for a Friday Fence Post! I found this one down in Arizona last month, and was struck by how dry the wood is, and the bleached silver-gray of it. You know without even touching the wood that it has virtually no weight to it, and I suppose that fascinates me because wood here is full of moisture, damp to the touch, and heavy. (Mostly, anyway. It's not as though wood never get dry here!)

These first few pictures are undoctored, except for some judicious cropping.

I loved the flow of the wood's grain around this knothole.

The weathered top of a fence post

After cropping the photos above, I started to play. It's my way of teaching myself PhotoShop, and sometimes the results are pretty cool.

That's it, our fence for the week! (By the way, clicking on a photo will give you the full size version, some of which are very large. Pushing the F11 key on your keypad will give you more screen, less verbiage top and bottom. Return to normalcy by pushing F11 again.)

In other news, a cold has been dogging me all week. I have spent the great majority of my time in bed, and I'm growing bored with that routine. I vow to create something tomorrow, paint a face on a tea kettle person or nine, make a bracelet, crochet a doily for the roof--ANYTHING that feels productive.