Do you recognize this face?


It’s been in the 90s and Winston just looks so hot, poor little guy. He was constantly jumping in Sally’s wading pool to cool his tootsies. Mr. Heylucy, who is easily over-heated himself, couldn’t take it anymore and decided Winston needed a haircut. I had given it a half-hearted attempt a few weeks ago, but when Winston ran off at the sound of the clippers, I gave up. Mr. Heylucy was not so easily deterred, and locked the two of them in the bathroom for well over an hour. When they emerged I barely recognized my dog.


We have also determined that we can cross "Professional Dog Grooming" off our list of possible career paths.

Once Winston recovered from the trauma of the experience, I think he was quite happy with his cooler coiffure. I like to think that he posed for the above photo as a tribute to Nell. Please come home Nell!

One last look at the hack job:


This one is mostly just to show off that he’s shaking my hand. It might also be to show off my cute sandals. He looks so funny, I keep doing double-takes. It feels like we have a whole different dog. But he seems to be cooler and more comfortable, so that’s the important thing. Oh, and I cleaned up all the fur from the bathroom floor-it filled, to the top, a big paper grocery bag. That’s a lot of fur.

Other than cleaning up dog fur I was really lazy this weekend. I think it was just one of those times when you need to do nothing. It was a rough week. We’ve been invaded by ants, the cats managed to pull one of my curtain brackets out of the wall with their craziness, I took some Advil liquigels on an empty stomach and ended up doubled over in pain for an entire day, I had to spend a day last weekend with my mother-in-law, and I spattered mud all over my white jeans while filling the chicken waterer as I rushed off for work one morning. Life is hard sometimes. So I stayed in my pajamas until Saturday afternoon. Then I was so worn out from showering and getting dressed that I had to take a nap. We did have to eat, however, so I made some good food.

This is my luxurious fruit salad:

I’ve been making my standard fruit salad several times a week, but I decided to treat myself this weekend, and added a dollop of creme fraiche and a sprinkling of brown sugar, instead of my usual orange juice and mint. So delicious! I could practically eat creme fraiche right out of the tub. I’m going to miss all that summer fruit when it’s gone.

Then I made the best caesar salad ever, thanks to Jamie:

Several of you suggested Caesar salad when I asked for anchovy ideas, and the very next week, what did Jamie make on Jamie at Home? His proper Caesar salad. There’s nothing healthy about this one, but it’s so very delicious, and I think the anchovies are essential this time around, so don’t leave them out! Trust me.

I didn’t use my whole loaf of ciabatta for the salad, so I enjoyed it as a snack:

I love olive oil with fresh ground pepper, sea salt, and a pinch of red pepper flakes for dipping bread.

I think I really like taking pictures of food.

I hope to get over my laziness this week, and do some sewing and other things. The requested t-shirt tutorial is on my to-do list, and I hope to catch up on e-mail. Don’t forget to join in the Project Runway discussion, if you are so inclined. I’m hoping this season will start to get more interesting this week, or at least that I’ll be able to tell all the designers apart by the end of the show.

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I don’t think I ever mentioned here that I studied Clothing and Textiles in college. In high school I worked in a drapery workshop, and in my 20’s I did some design consulting for an import company, as well as lots of little odd jobs from slipcovers to wedding dresses. I’ve always loved textiles, and while I’m hardly cutting edge in the fashion department, I do love clothes. I haven’t done a lot of sewing for myself the past few years, and I hope to change that as I continue to lose weight and look better. I particularly love the little details that make an ordinary piece of clothing special (like sewing little petals all over a plain old t-shirt) :o). I loved my couture techniques class, and textile science class, and the theater classes where I got to work backstage on various productions. Lately, though I’ve been thinking about one of my very favorite classes: costume history. It’s so interesting how clothing permeates so many aspects of history. Art, religion, industry, it’s all intertwined with what people wore.

As you might expect, I love me a good old fashioned costume drama. I’m currently re-watching one of my favorite of all time, The House of Elliot. It takes place in 1920’s London-one of my favorite time periods, fashion-wise, and one of my favorite places. It’s the story of two sisters left destitute by their father. They start making clothes to support themselves, and eventually open their own fashion house. I was lucky enough to be in London when the V & A was doing an exhibit of costumes from the series. They really were just as exquisite close up as they were on the screen. Watching The House of Elliot again makes me want to make a 1920’s style gown with lots of hand beading and embroidery. One day I think I really will do this, just for fun. 

Another favorite (in a different sense) costume drama, Project Runway started again this week! I didn’t even know they were doing another season so soon. Luckily, my trusty Tivo was on the case and recorded it for me, so it was a nice surprise to come home to on Wednesday. Did they not do a preview show this time, where they show the selection process? It seems like there are more designers this time, and the introductions at the beginning were so quick, there’s no way to keep them all straight. Is anyone up for a PR discussion group? Let’s do it in the comments! I’ll start here.

First of all, super-tan Blayne and his stupid ‘girlicious’ needs to go soon. I didn’t like Christian at first, last season, but the little twerp grew on me, and he is extraodinarily talented, and I loved him and his ‘fierceness’ by the end of the season. I already know that Blayne and his stupid hat and sniffles is not going to ever endear himself to me. And yes, his design was daring, but it was also hideous and I hated it. There was a potholder on her shoulder. A potholder! Not deconstructed or anything, just stuck there. I can’t even post a picture of it because I hated it so much.

The cup dress was so clever, and talk about labor intensive! I loved how Daniel used the rims like piping. I loved Kelley’s skirt of vacuum cleaner bags, how great was it that she dyed and bleached it? I thought the spiral notebook hooks were genius, and I even liked the gold pushpins adorning the waistband, but the coffee filter bodice? That really could have been done differently.

I wish we could have seen more of the pasta dress, I loved the way the skirt moved down the runway, and the ovenmitt bodice was so cute!

I thought the pink candy dress was sort of cute, and I decided to find out more about Leanne. I really like her aesthetic, her designs are so pretty and soft and feminine. She has an etsy shop! How cool is that? I would definitely wear something made by her. Look at this one! The construction is so fascinating to me. I’d like to know where she gets her fabrics, they all drape so nicely. Look at some of her sold items on etsy to see more. 

I thought the judges were right on with the bottom two. I probably would have sent Stella home, just because her trash bag dress looked like…trash bags. At least Jerry put a lot of work into his weird little raincoat, and made a dress to go underneath (although I use the term dress loosely). Maybe if he had foregone the rubber gloves and boots he might have had a chance.

What do you think? Did any designers stand out for you?

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I’m sorry about leaving pictures of myself at the top for so long! Let’s replace them with a picture of Lucy, shall we? Is it just me, or is she just one photogenic cat? I think she likes having her picture taken. As soon as I get the camera out, she’s right there, sticking her face in it. Note to self: clean the cat nose prints off the lens before taking any more pictures.

Recently my Tivo recorded an episode of Jamie Oliver, and darn it if I don’t have a new cooking crush. That particular episode was all about strawberries, and I definitely want to make rice pudding with fresh strawberry jam and meringues, but when I was browsing through his latest cookbook, this recipe caught my eye:

Potatoes, stuffed with bacon, sage and garlic. Genius! Doesn’t it look delicious? I thought the picture of the raw potatoes was so pretty, but wondered why they chose to show the uncooked version, rather than the finished version. Well, duh. Because as delicious as it was, I don’t know that you could possibly take an attractive picture. This is the best I could do:

Not exactly appetizing, but I promise, these little gems were tasty. The only criticism I have is that each potato includes an anchovy filet in each little bacon bundle. Jamie says not to let it worry you, it’s just to add a nice richness. Honestly, they tasted a little too fishy for me, and I’m leaving them out next time. Also, what can I do with half a can of anchovies? Suggestions are welcome. I might just give them to the chickens, though.

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Recently, I was feeling a little vain and brave, so I added this photo to my flickr stream:


Hi, it’s me :o)
Then, this week I got tired of all that hair every time I went swimming, and did this:


Ahh, much better. I’ll miss the long hair, but it grows fast, and this is so much nicer for the summer.

I also added more to my t-shirt and wore it yesterday:


So that’s a lot of pictures of me. Sorry about that :o)

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I ripped this picture out of an Anthropologie catalog awhile back, and remembered it while on a recent trip to Old Navy:


Cute, right? The price? $98. It’s a t-shirt people. Who pays $98 for a t-shirt? Not me, but I really do like this t-shirt. So, back at Old Navy; they have lots of t-shirts for just $10 each, and they’re a lovely soft cotton knit. I bought two stone colored t-shirts, and cut one up and stitched the little heart shaped pieces to the other. I’m not sure if I’m done yet, but I think it’s looking pretty good.


I’m a bit on the busty side, so I may not want to add more. We’ll see.

I also got an unexpected package in the mail this weekend. It’s the second book which includes a pattern by moi:


I love those pomegranates on the cover. My creation didn’t make the front cover this time, but it did show up on the back, which was a nice surprise.


And here’s a look inside:


It’s a lovely book, although more for inspiration than actually making any of the projects exactly as they appear, I think. I love the flower magnets (also on the back cover), and think they would be a fun little project. It also makes me want to make another mini-quilt. They’re just so much fun.

Speaking of books, I’ve been doing a little reading lately. I was just browsing at the library and happened upon The Friday Night Knitting Club. New York Times Bestseller! the cover proudly proclaimed. And it’s about knitting, so I’m sure I would like it, right? Wrong. Very, very wrong. I don’t think I got past the third chapter. It was so poorly written, I kept wondering why the author didn’t have an editor. She couldn’t have with all the awkward sentences. Most knitters that I know are also pretty smart people, bad writing isn’t going to get past them. The characters were all such cliche’s, I just couldn’t take it. And then the main character gets all pissy because the father of her daughter comes back into her life, and she doesn’t want him to have anything to do with them. I get that the guy cheated on her and dumped her, and that was a really jerk-y move, but now he does want to be a part of his daughter’s life and she’s so selfish that she’s going to deny her daughter that opportunity out of spite? He’s not abusive, he paid child support, there’s no reason for her daughter not to get to know her father. Better late than never. I hate it when chick-lit books have to be all "girl-power" and we don’t need no stinkin’ men to be happy. Blah blah blah. Why belittle men to give a woman a sense of self-worth. Maybe it all turned out different in the end, but I can’t be bothered. And that’s what I thought of that :o)   

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I haven’t had a lot of time lately to take pictures, so I decided to make the most of my lazy Saturday and take a few. I also ate some very delicious food, so I combined the two activities and took artful pictures of what I ate. My kitchen table sits in a corner where there are two large windows, so the light is quite nice there. I know I’m probably a little weird, but hopefully you will appreciate at least one of these elements of my day-pretty pictures and/or pretty food.

I started the day with my usual yogurt and berries, but I had a treat of fresh raspberries instead of frozen blueberries. Mr. HeyLucy can be very thoughtful and generous, and likes to bring me ‘treats’ when he goes to the grocery store. I’ve been trying for months to get him to understand that four pints of ice cream and a giant box of chocolate chip cookies are not treats that I want every week. It finally, finally clicked, and this week he brought me a big box of fresh raspberries, and a package of fish (tandoori tuna, or something exotic like that). Go Mr. HeyLucy! Good job :o)


I tried Agave Nectar for the first time, instead of my usual honey. It was quite tasty.

Later I had a snack of figs and goat cheese, drizzled with honey. A couple summers ago I discovered that fresh figs are one of my favorite fruits, while spending a lazy afternoon at a friend’s house by her pool. Her neighbor had a fig tree, and had given her a huge box. I couldn’t stop eating them. I think fig season is fairly short, and I don’t know if you can get figs everywhere, but if you see them, try them! I love how they are sort of ugly on the outside, but slice them open and they’re all pink and lovely on the inside.


I love fig season! It also coincides with peony season, which is another of my favorites. I’ve had a bunch on my desk at work every week for the past month. I bought another bunch for home on Friday. They’re just starting to open, so I’ll be taking pictures of them over the next few days as they get bigger.


One last meal:


Chicken potstickers and ponzu sauce for dipping, and a bowl of edamame. The frozen potstickers from Trader Joe’s are a staple in our freezer, and I like ponzu sauce so much more than just plain soy sauce.


The bottle is quite pretty too. But that doesn’t mean I never use soy sauce. In fact, I just bought a little sauce pot to fill with soy sauce and keep by the stove. It’s much prettier than the plain Kikkoman bottle with the red lid I was using, and a bargain at only $5 at the Japanese market.   


Are you hungry yet?

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Well, it is now confirmed. I have some very smart blog readers. Thanks to everyone for telling me about the swallows. Since they eat flying insects, I’m going to let them stay. Eggs have most likely already been laid, and I don’t want to disturb them. Once they leave, I’ll probably knock down the nests, because they are right above the door to our shed, and stuff is dropping, and by stuff, I think you know what I mean. That wouldn’t be a huge problem, after all, I dodge chicken poop all day long since our chickens are spoiled and get to free range around the entire yard, but this is over a door I walk through several times a day, and I don’t want to be pooped on. Also, it’s still kind of creepy when they come pouring out of their nests and circle around and around above me. Silly birds, I was here first, and if I bug you so much, maybe you shouldn’t have built you little swallow colony above a door I go through several times a day. Doh! Also, there is a lot more bird poop on my car, and I think we all know who to blame that on as well.

Let’s change the subject, shall we? Sheesh, it was hot this weekend, well over a hundred on Saturday, and today a much cooler 98 or so. One good thing about summer, at least, is all the delicious fruit. So I made a lovely, cool fruit salad. This is a great recipe, because it works with whatever fruit you have on hand. I’ve made it with all sorts of different combinations and it’s always delicious. The only things you really have to have are oranges and fresh mint.

Today’s version had strawberries, red grapes, nectarines, and a french-kiss melon that I got at Trader Joe’s. It looks like a small cantaloupe, and it was so sweet and delicious. So here’s my fruit salad secret: cut the peel off an orange, so there’s no white pith-y stuff left, and hold it over your fruit salad bowl while slicing out each section, again, leaving the white membrane in between the sections behind. Once all the sections are cut, squeeze all the juice out of what’s left of your orange. Then chop up some fresh mint and toss everything gently. It’s just perfect. I’ll be eating lot’s of variations on this theme all summer long.

I managed to get a couple more curtains done, but my sewing room is our little guest house, which has no air conditioning, so I didn’t make as much progress as I had hoped. Instead, I decided to start on something cool and cute to wear.

Inspired by this smock/dress from Noa Noa (and really everything on their site is so pretty and inspiring), I got some white cotton/linen on sale at JoAnn and this pattern (view D), and thought I’d add a little embroidery to the front band, and make it wider. So I sat in the cool, air conditioned house, and did a little stitching with red perle cotton.

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