Out Stealing Horses

One of my goals in 2016 is to read more. See other books I've read here. 

Out Stealing Horses is the second book I've read from Per Petterson. I found this copy quite luckily in a little used book shop in Brooklyn. 

When I read Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes last year, I really enjoyed the pacing and textured nature of Petterson's writing. It's hard to tell if that's all his style, or aided by the translation to English. 

Trond is an old man. Three years after his wife's death, he's moved out to a remote island to live out the rest of his days in a purposeful, slow and quiet way.  But living on the river reminds him of his childhood, his father's abandonment, and events of a certain Summer that changed his life forever. When storms strike, family visits, and the past resurfaces, Trond starts to realize he might need to rethink the quiet life. 

I loved the atmosphere and emotional tone that Petterson sets with Out Stealing Horses. It's a little bit lonely, a little bit bleak, but reminiscent, nostalgic  and calm. The flashbacks to a Summer when the old man was a boy, in addition to the trials of his current cold winter, add a sort of double coming of age tale. I recommend this book to anyone one who likes coming of age stories, Scadinavian lifestyles, or tales of man and man's best friend. 

New Block: Basket Weave

For March, I really couldn't decide what block to do for the MadCatBOM. I scoured my books, and decided that this variation of a basket weave would do nicely. 

This block came together very quickly. I've done a few blocks that were similar, but never quite this one. I could see using this block in some ways in the future. 

I've been trying to build a bit of a theme with the fabrics, but the bits I have of them is already dwindling. I'll try to incorporate some more of my stash in the blocks going forward. Here's what all my blocks look like together:

I'm not sure what I'll do with these blocks when I'm done with all twelve. But for now, I'm linking up with Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching. 

On My Mind On Friday Morning

I've really been wanting a Himalayan Salt Lamp to add to my crystal collection. Some people say the work wonders, some say they're bunk. I've been looking at these for positive energy and beauty (one, two, three).
Love these gorgeous portraits of endangered species. So beautiful and so sad. 
Have you heard of Hairy Panic? It's devouring a town in Australia. Although the town is suffering, the articles and pictures are fascinating. 
I Love Dumplings!!
We planted some cat grass. All the cats love it... but keep throwing up. (We've moved it outside). 

Recipe Recap: Cauliflower Casserole
I saw a recipe on instagram that looked tasty, then promptly lost the profile (I think it's gone down, actually). so I scoured instagram then the internet for one that was similarly easy. I found this one which was pretty close. I had a cauliflower going brown, some green beans going limp and a few sunchokes that needed cooking. I put everything together, added a bit more liquid and a bit more cheese, and it turned out pretty good!! I am still battling my oven over listed temp versus actual temp so the bottom got a little brown. Next time, I won't pre cook the cauliflower (as was called for) and I will pre cook the sunchokes a bit more.  

Anyone out there have an tried and true recipes to use up veggies?

March OMG Goal

My One Monthly Goal (OMG) for March is also on my Q1 Finish Along List. 

Baby Quilt Commission #2 needs the quilting completed, bound, labeled, and delivered! I happily finished my February OMG, so I plan to keep up the good work!

Linking up with Red Letter Quilts OMG March Goal and Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching as I get down to work.  

Something New: Juicing at Home

As a house warming gift, my friend gave me a juicer. It took about seven months, but I finally started using it in February! And I love it! 

Here are some things I've learned:

1. It's not fun to clean.
My friend actually gave it to me bc he had bought it for himself, but hated the cleanup. It is a pain, that's true. But I find the benefits outweigh the annoyance. My technique is to clean it immediately after I drink my juice. 

2. Mostly clean is clean enough. 
I make sure to clean the screen and blade well after every use. I dump the fruit and veggie pulp into the compost. I clean the rest of the pieces and the base of the machine. But I don't worry too hard about getting every scrap off the outer parts. Since I use the juicer every day, I feel it's ok to have a tiny bit of pulp hanging around as long as it's not in the screen. For times when I know I won't be using it for a few days, I make sure to do a deep clean so the machine won't to start to smell. 

3. A little goes a long way.
Be it sweet, green, citrus, or ginger (or any other flavor you can think of), remember to balance it out. The first juice I made had a ton of citrus with the rinds included. It made my mouth numb, and killed my taste buds for about 8 hours. It was totally worth it, but I learned my lesson. I suggest tempering your favorite flavors with their balance. 

4. Use your scraps. 
I've found that the kale stalks are better than the leaves for juicing; they produce more juice! I love to use all my green bottoms or tops, fruit on the turn, wrinkly peppers, dry carrots, etc... they work great and don't get wasted! And don't forget to mix it up! The different fruit juices have different weights and will not mix on their own.

5. Limit your intake. 
I know there are many people who drink almost nothing but juice (this controversial article was recently the topic of a lot conversation and ridicule). I recently started this juice quest, and I'm still eating my same intake of whole fruits and veggies. I've found one to two juices a day is plenty. Any more and I get a tummy ache. 

So far, I've tried juicing just about every fruit or veggie in my kitchen. (Well, I have half a watermelon radish that I keep pulling out, but not being brave enough to throw in the mix). My favorite things to use are kale stalks, apples, ginger, whole lemons, whole tangerines/setsumas/clementines with their peels, oranges/grapefruit without the peels. I juiced an aging head of romaine that I did NOT enjoy. I tried to juice a banana. Turns out, you can't juice bananas. 

I hope anyone who juices, or is thinking of juicing shares their experiences, recipes, and advice here!

February in Review

For such a short month, February sure was busy!

We had some visitors, some celebrations, saw family, worked, but also put some things on hold. A fairly typical month, with ups and downs.  

1) Elvis. 2) the Fab Four. 3) Tom. 4). Elvis again. 

We had several guests, but one notable one came to stay for a long while. Elvis will be with us for several months, and he's causing quite a stir among our cat family. He's a great guest though, and we adore him!

1) snowy back view. 2) Cloudy train view. 3) Sunny beach view. 4) Blizzard rose view.  

This month the weather was better than usual for February. But much like all of the Februarys I've experienced, it was mostly consumed by wishing the weather was better. 

1) New tattoo! 2) New block. 3) Juice and work. 4) a faux watercolor. 

Many new projects were started in Feb, which was very invigorating (more on all that, soon). Quilting was a prominent feature of the month, which it should be. My MadCatBOM went into it's second month. I hope to keep it up all year.  
Even though some great things were started or continued, some things were postponed. We put our annual anniversary trip on hold. But hopefully that will be rescheduled soon. 

1) Pick a winner. 2) Get a prize. 3) An auspicious address. 4) An attentive #watherdog.

We had a book giveaway at the end of the month. I got some reading in for the month, which will be posted soon! I'm finding giveaways to be interesting and fun!

We got to see family several times this month, we may have even started a game night tradition! Our first (or second if you count  my family's obsession with 500 rummy) game selection was Machi Kori. It was quite fun!  

1) Wake up! 2) Eat up! 3) Bun up! 4) Bundle up!

February was a bit more hectic, a bit more stressful, but on the whole, there were more ups than downs. March, you're supposed to come in like a lion....I'll be interested if you'll be friendly or fierce. 

OMG February Goal Finish

My February OMG goal is a gift, so I can't reveal the whole thing until it's been given. But I'm happy to announce it's finished!!

I'm posting this to the OMG February Finish Link Up. Head over to Red Letter Quilts to check out all the amazing February finishes. 

I'm also linking up with Kathy's Quilts and Slow Sunday Stitching, as I put the finishing touches on this quilt. Keep you eye out for the reveal post soon!

On My Mind On Friday Morning

Some more quilt blocks I'm looking into for my madcatBOM (one, two, three for the woven block). 
I'm not a ruler user, but I thought this method for making hexagon 3D blocks with no y-seam was pretty awesome. So much so it gets it's own link.  
Did you know turning off Niagara Falls is a thing?? Here's an interesting little video here. 
I love coffee, pretty much any way you slice it, so this article has a ton of facts that interest me. 
Check out our tree! The new growth from a few weeks ago has at least doubled in size!

Recently Researching:
We have a rose bush which we have really put the ringer. We got it last year and it has not had a very good Winter. We got it late in the season, it's from home depot and is a tall plant with a round top, like a little tree. We had it outside but it kept falling over in high winds and being battered by rain. When it started getting really cold in January, we brought it inside bc it was starting to look very beaten up. It certainly liked being inside, although it was a bit confused. It started flowering again! We liked having it inside, even if we sometimes snagged our clothes or skin on it. We did start to notice that it had aphids. Soon there were millions of them!! We put it back outside after the big storm. But it snowed again, and the rose tree got bent far over, so we laid it down on the ground. We intended to get it back inside pretty quickly, thinking that now the aphids would be gone. Unfortunately, we waited a bit too long, and when we brought it in, the leaves were quite black and it looked very terrible. We're worried that it won't recover.    

I was hoping some of my readers might have some experience with roses? We really want to save it, but I'm having trouble finding out any info, as it's hard to boil down the problem. Can anyone help?

Art and Nature at Grounds For Sculpture

Last month, while my BFF was visiting, we headed over to Grounds For Sculpture on a very cold January day. 

Grounds for Sculpture was founded in 1984 by artist J Steward Johnson. Johnson was a sculptor and painter who had the idea that modern art and sculpture should be widely accessible. His work is mainly life-sized bronze sculptures depicting people in everyday situations or in the style of famous paintings such as Claude Monet's "On Poppied Hill" (above).

Johnson was born in New Jersey and started building GfS there in 1989. It's sprawling grounds are filled with his own work as well as many other modern sculptors. 

Personally, I think Johnson's work is very creepy, but I really enjoyed walking around the grounds and stumbling upon his life-like work. All the sculpture ion the grounds were neat and it was punctuated by being startled by Johnson's weird people made it all the more exciting. Besides the outdoor sculpture, there were several warming stations with fireplaces and circular motifs, restaurants made to look like Parisian cafes, doors that lead no where, etc.. Peacocks roamed the grounds freely. 
We decided that the whole place reminded us of the the island of Myst from the old 90s game.  

There are a few buildings on the grounds, some closed to the public for artists, and others housing indoor work and changing exhibits. 

In the main entrance building, there was a large gallery of Johnson's work. In one room he had assembled many tea trays that he had painted over the years. In another he recreated Van Gogh's bedroom. 

The day we visited was bitter cold, but it was nice to see the works in a freezing and barren landscape. Grounds For Sculpture will be a good place to keep my eye on for changing exhibits and I'm excited to see the grounds in the warmer weather.  

Grounds For Sculpture is known for being pretty close to NYC, and an easy day trip. It was a breeze to get there from Asbury Park. It's very close to Princeton NJ. I think the two combined would make a great day out.

Ready Player One Giveaway Winner

Last week, I reviewed Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and decided that I would hold a giveaway for my paperback copy. The giveaway was on my instagram, and the winner was @sublimepages.

This was the second giveaway I've done and I really enjoy doing them! I like having them via instagram, but my response hasn't been huge. Do any of my readers have any suggestions?

Baby Blue - A Finished Quilt

Baby Blue is my very last finish of 2015. It was down to the wire, too. I made Baby Blue on commission and had to wait to post about it until I had delivered it. 

This quilt is different than many quilts I've made in several respects. Firstly, I really tried to make this quilt modern and simple. I made this quilt for a coworker's baby, and I know that the mom is interested in modern quilting. I think you could call all my quilts modern, in that they use some modern fabrics, some modern blocks, are made in the modern age, etc... But I specifically try to use non modern techniques, age old quilt blocks, vintage fabrics. My quilts don't look "modern" to me. But for this commission, I tried really hard to get a modern look, while still retaining the feeling of my quilts. 

I made this quilt what I would call more "gender specific" than my other quilts. I knew this quilt was going to a little boy and thought the dark blues would give this a more modern feel. Of course, this quilt could be for a baby girl, or anyone else! For other baby quilts I've made I consciously tried not to use traditional gender binary representing colors. This was the opposite.   

The last major difference in this quilt from my other work is the fabric I chose to use. I used all new modern fabric for this quilt. I also used flannel for the first time in this quilt. I'm glad I did this for this particular quilt, but over all it's not how I get my favorite results. 

Baby Blue uses a variety of new fabric in a simple large square pattern on the quilt front. I chose dark but bright colors, hoping this would give the quilt the modern feel I was after.   

The back of the quilt uses some of the same blue and grey fabrics from the front as well as a blue and white striped flannel. Baby Blue uses a new cotton batting. I quilted Baby Blue with straight lines using bright blue cotton thread. The simple grid pattern quilted was also chosen to evoke a modern feel.

For the binding, I used the fold over method that I prefer. This shows the soft flannel on the quilt front. I sewed two lines on the binding, but used an new (to me) applique method for the one closer to the interior of the quilt. I feel that this makes the binding a little softer and pliable.

I made a simple label for the quilt. I didn't know the baby's name at the time of attaching the label, but I wanted to include a special message for mother and child. 

 This quilt was my last finish for 2015, and the only finish on my 2015 FAL Q4 list.  

Bippi is always a very helpful quilting assistant, but Flounder also took an interest in helping with this one. 

I'm linking up with Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching today! Can't wait to get slow stitching!

Zoo at Home, Zoo Abroad: Cape May County Zoo

One zoo we enjoy is the Cape May County Zoo. We visited in May of 2015 and had visited about a year earlier. We're eager to visit again, but are waiting for warmer weather.

This is a strange zoo in my opinion. It's weirdly out of time and even a little slipshod looking. The cages are seemly little more than chain-link fences, and the inside enclosures are painted with trippy old murals or so spartan to seem as if they are abandoned. The zoo is nestled in a large wooded park, and the whole thing seems rather... unprofessional in some way. This could all be due to the amazing fact that this zoo is completely free and is run by donation. 

But once you start to look around, you see that the rangers are very caring, and the spaces are big, spacious, and well maintained despite looking outdated.

The Cape May County Zoo has some really incredible animals! Giraffes, buffalo, tiger, cheetahs, zebras are all kept in large outdoor pens, most of which have pedestrian walkways over head and slightly away from the habitats. A safe enough distance, so no one can throw anything at or harm the creatures, but so that one gets a good view of the animals roaming around. 

The Cape May zoo has some focus on local animals and habitats which is pretty neat. The last time we were there they were working on a few new areas, including some new ocelot pens. We're excited to go back to have a look soon. 

Another thing we like about this zoo is that they have a petting zoo! They also have chickens and peacocks who wonder around freely. We really enjoy the interactive nature of this zoo. 

In the end, I really care about this zoo. Having gone there a few times now, any misgivings I had have been alleviated. I also really appreciate that the zoo is free, open to the public, and fun for all ages! I highly recommend checking this one out if in the area. 

Ready Player One

One of my goals in 2016 is to read more. This kinda counts. See other books I've read here.   

I technically didn't read Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, I listened to Wil Wheaton read it. My dad read this book a few years ago and really liked it, so he got me the book-on-tape.

I have a complex relationship with Wil Wheaton. I hated the actor back when he played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation but since have pretty much fallen in love with his later work. His you tube show, Table Top, and his guest appearances on The Guild, are recent favorites. Now Wheaton has a specific way of talking and reading so one really has to want to hear him if they listen to this book. a few years ago, I listened to every podcasts he did from 2005 to 2013 over a couple of months, and even I had trouble listening to this book for super long periods of time. But that reminds me, I need to catch up on Radio Free Burrito.   

Wade Watts lives in a dystopian future in a trailer park, so cramped that the vehicles are stacked on top of each other and under the thumb of his abusive aunt. His life sucks and his only respite is the MMO "game", The OASIS, that the world relies on for escape. In The OASIS, Wade can have a virtual life where he learns, makes friends, goes to school, and avoids the harsh reality of an impoverished, oil barren, dangerous "real world".  When the creator of The OASIS dies, he tells the world that he has hidden history's greatest easter egg in the game, and whoever finds it first will not only inherit his staggering wealth, but control of The OASIS, as well. From that moment on, Wade dedicates his life to finding The Egg. His search sends him in new, sometimes terrifying directions... And he isn't the only person looking for The Egg. 

In Ready Player One, the creator of The OASIS grew up in the 1980s, so just about every clue to find The Egg has to do with that time period. Everything 80s pop culture is the constant theme of the book. And everything geeky: video games, tv, movies, etc...

I had some troubles with this book. The writing style is stilted. Every action is painfully over described, making the book drag on and feel endless. I also felt that the constant over-detailed nostalgia bogged down the story in many areas, acted as needless filler, and/or talked down to anyone who had lived thru that era or knew well the source materials. The constant injection of 80s trivia seemed strangely calculated, as if it was included only for the film adaptation. And the movie has already been green-lighted. My last gripe was that the story was immensely straight forward with no unforeseen twists. Although the universe constructed is an interesting one, the tale proceeds exactly as one imagines. 

All that being said, I enjoyed this book OK. There's a sequel but I don't think I'd bother reading it. I will see the movie, which will be directed by Steven Spielberg. (My choice would have been McG or Edger Wright). Even though I didn't love this book, I would recommend this book to nerds and geeks, young adults and people who like video games. 

Right after I was given the audio tape of Ready Player One, I was lucky enough to find a paperback copy on a stoop (my favorite way to acquire books). I kept it bc I wasn't sure if I'd rather listen to the book, or read it. Now that I have listened to the book, I don't think I need the paper copy. So, I've decided to give it away on my instagram! Head there for all the details!

New Block: Snowball

I feel I'm doing well enough with my goal of a block a month in 2016 to call it a BOM. How exciting! I know I'm only 2 months in but I feel confident! I used this tutorial to make my first Snowball Blocks.  

Actually, I made four of them! Since I don't measure, they all came out slightly different. I like the effect for this larger block, but I think I have the hang of making them a bit more uniform in the future.  These are made with fabric from my stash, so I'm counting this post as part of my Year Of The Stash. My fabric count hasn't changed much since my last post on it. 

Fabric Added in February So Far: 0
Fabric Added Year to Date: 5 1/2 yards
Fabric Used this Month So Far: approximately 1/4 yard
Fabric Used year to Date: Approx. 3 1/4 yards

I've been tempted a few times to look and possibly buy on line, but I'm fighting those urges! Since I'm working hard to finish some well started quilts, I haven't had the chance to use too much stash up, but I hope this will change soon. 

Here are the two blocks from my personal BOM side by side. I'm trying to use a bit of a theme in the fabrics. We'll see how that works as the blocks add up. 

I'm also linking up with Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. 

On My Mind on Friday Morning

Since last installment, I found some interesting Tarot Decks. (one two three)
A new Beatrix Potter book!!
#howihandquilt is a great quilting hashtag!
An interesting article about one of my all time favorite TV shows. 
Elvis! (see below)

Recently Researching: You may have noticed a distinct lack of blogging last week. This is in part due to the creature above. Elvis has come to live with us for a few months. He's lived in Brooklyn all his life and now he's thrown in with four crazy cats by the beach. It could make a good buddy movie... So far it's only been a few days, and things are going well. There's been some hissing, a few swats, but mostly everyone is just keeping their distance. It's all pretty remarkable, especially considering Elvis is 22 years old!!

Here's my question for you today: Does anyone have advise for taking care of a very elderly cat? I would love it if we could get him to put on a little weight while he's here. He's so skinny! 
He's very mobile and pretty spry. He doesn't seem to want to play too much. Understandable. I wonder if there's anything I can do to help his stay be more enjoyable. I'd be grateful for any advise or suggestions!

Something New: Winter Citrus

Now, I know eating citrus in the Winter isn't anything new, really. But it's new to me! 

All Summer I ate so much fruit and I felt so great! When Fall and Winter came, I thought fruit season was over for me. How wrong I was!

I've been eating grapefruits, oranges, and all sorts of smaller citrus (What even is the difference between tangelos, tangerines, clementines, satsumas, etc...?) and it's doing my body good.

I try to buy USA grown, organic fruits, but if anyone knows anything else I should keep a look out for, please let me, know. 

Anyone else starting new eating routines?

OMG February Goal

So, I totally failed my first OMG goal. I didn't finish the quilt I was hoping to. 

But you know what they say; try, try again! So I'll make it my February goal, as well. 

OMG, I will finish this quilt!! I'm linking up with Red Letter Quilts.

Since it might be the last ever WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced, I'm also linking up over there. Best of luck, Lee!

January in Review

One month down. 
What an interesting month it's been!

Snow storms, a host of visitors, new jobs, new work, new places, too!  

1) Stormy beach. 2) Mad sky. 3) Confused roses. 4) Black and white parks.  

The first day of the new year, we made sure to visit the beach. Early this month we filled our house with new plants, and snuggled under quilts. We saw some watchercats and baby showers, and had some day visitors from out of town.  

1) Some of our sea glass collection. 2) Shifting light on the boardwalk. 3) New plants and noms. 4) more collections.  

1) Boardwalk #watchercat. 2) Our first bottle stopper (found in December but now displayed). 3) Piles of cats and... 4) ...cats in piles. 

Throughout the month we worked on the house, had a scare our heat was out, and shoveled our first snow! Walking around in a big storm was so fun. Snow on the beach is a weird and wonderful thing. 

1) Suspicious shopdog. 2) Brick colored porchcat. 3) Sunbathed porchcat. 4) Cozy shopdog. 

I got a lot of good quilting done this month and it was wonderful. I started up in a lot of quilty community join-ups and I hope I can keep up with them! I kept up pretty well with blogging in January, which made me happy!

1) Quilting in bed with cats. 2) Yellow bellies. 3) Stacks. 4) Color inspiration? 

1) Big, bad, kitty. 2) Out and about in NJ. 3) #myfavoritetrucksofasburypark 4) Just the ears. 

At the end of the month we had a longer term visit, we were able to explore some new places, have a few adventures. 

Much like December, January went at a lovely pace...we saw some Winter, and we settled in. I could stand a few more months like this...

WIP 1/31/16 + OMG First Month

I'm still working on this quilt despite wanting to have it finished by today. 

I'm working with a clear poly thread. It's hard!! Has anyone else used this for hand quilting? I'd love to hear some people's thoughts. 

This project was my first goal for OMG (One Monthly Goal), so unfortunately that's a fail for me. I will roll this goal over for OMG Month Two. 

Even though there are a quite a few more days to go on this one, I'll try to get a big chunk of hand quilting done today. For all the Slow Sunday Stitching I want to do today, I'm linking up with Kathy's Quilts. 

On My Mind on Friday Morning

Are you sick of hearing about my 2016 goals yet? I'm still going strong thinking of ideas and methods and things I want to try. Here are 3 blocks (one, two, three) I'm eager to sew to fulfill my goal of one new quilt block per month. 
I have been thinking of the tarot a lot so far this year. This post pushed me over the edge... now I need to find my deck. (another good post here and a easy spread here)
Here's another interesting post about simplifying life in 2016. There are some interesting points here: 1, 5, 6, and 15 are key this year, I think. 
This article on house hold foods that can be used as cleaners is right up my alley. 
Speaking of lemons, I've been drinking a lot of hot water, either with or without lemon. Keeps me warm and hydrated!

On My Mind Update: 
Right after I asked for dutch oven recipes, I saw this post by Reading My Tea Leaves which led me to this post. So I also tried the mac and cheese recipe. The results were... iffy. 
I know it's my fault bc I didn't have the correct pasta and don't really measure. I also think my oven and I are still getting to know each other. This mac and cheese came out more like cheesy pasta, and it was a little dry. The final results were still edible, but barely resembled the original. I would definitely try this recipe again, with a closer attention to detail. 

Have you made any casseroles or bakes this Winter? If you feel inspired to try this recipe, let me know!