How Stuff Gets Created

I have recently been following author Donald Miller's blog and he has been writing about creations, creators, and creating. Love it! I read this and knew exactly how he felt. If you would like to check out the rest of his blog, the post title is the link. Enjoy!

"I’m learning the fruit of my creative effort often ripens instantly. I’ll sit down and get thousands of words, but then a week later, working with the same discipline, will have nothing. But my job is not to make the words come. Who am I to make the words come? My job is no different than a farmer. I till the land. I fertilize the soil. I plant the seeds. Unlike the farmer, though, I am surprised when the green shoots sprout in the spring. I think perhaps it is magic, and it will never happen for me again. But the farmer knows if he tills the land, and is blessed enough to get rain, the harvest will come."

Donald Miller, Feb 16, 2011

Poppy Delight

Finally! I have been really excited about this piece and I have not had a camera to post it. This is titled Poppy Delight (for now) and was my first (real) felting project. I actually did this on Saturday after my little Skype lesson from Mom. I liked it so much that I matted it. The felt measures 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 and the full mat measured 10 x 10. Now my biggest problem is finding a frame for it.....

I have one more started. It was supposed to be a fish in water, but I think it is going to turn into a lilly pad. We'll see.

Until next time...

New Design

We have a new design! (I thought it needed a little seasonal change) Leave a comment for feedback and let me know what you think!

1000 White Women

I was invited to join a book club, and the book they were reading actually sounded interesting. Amazing right? My problem is that so many times book club books are filled with sex, violence, and downright depressing things. I care not to fill my free time reading about all of the horrors of this world and tend to stick towards the more pleasant things in life.

1000 White Women by Jim Fergus was what I was to read. I looked at the cover, read the back, was irritated at how small the print was (I am an extremely slow reader), but decided to give it a go. It is a historical fiction novel about the Cheyenne Indians taking 1000 white brides to help assimilate their culture into the white world in the 1860's. The idea was since in their culture the children grow up in the tribe of their mother, this would be a natural and more fluid transition and blend of the two people. The story follows one of the women that goes out west to marry one of the "savages" and her experiences along the way.

Some things in the story were a little far fetched, but hey, it's fiction. Overall it was a beautiful view into a world unlike our own and the story really allowed me to think about how things in this world have change tremendously - some for the better, some for the worse. What remains the same are human emotions and our connections to the things that are individually most important to us.

Felting 400 Miles Apart

So Skype is amazing. If anyone has friends or family a distance away, get yourself a web cam and video chat with your loved one. This is probably the one thing that has saved me when I have been feeling homesick after we moved.

My mom is super lucky and has a felting store close to where she lives. The last month or so, she has been going to different classes on Saturdays and has felted all sorts of things. (Some of her creations are on older posts here on the Watering Can.) I, being in Rifle, was of course jealous that I can not go with her to any of these classes. Felting is something I have always wanted to learn how to do.

I got a little package from my mom in the mail the other day will all the materials and a little note saying we would felt together via Skype this weekend. Here is a quick video of how we had a little craft date 400 miles apart.

Thanks mom!

Toity Doily

I drink enough fluids in the morning to "re-hydrate" to keep me "going" until at least noon, if you get my drift. Well, I have always had an overactive bladder, but I'd venture to say that mornings are most significant.

If there is a used calorie count available for everything one must go through to position oneself, I should be losing weight, but evidently, it isn't working. Regardless, I'm off the path....sorry.

Yesterday, I went shopping in Centerra at the JoAnn's Super fabric store. I think I was in there a total of 2 hours and made 3 trips to the Women's room. One my first trip in there, I started writing this blog, because, I ran into one of "my challenges" and thought it was worth talking to the girls about.

Go in the room, lock the door, take a paper seat cover out of the container, and place it on the seat. It really didn't take but a few seconds to start drifting into the bowl. I hadn't even had the chance to start unfastening my waistband on my pants . Now, I have just entered the store after just arriving and I haven't "gone" since leaving home. You know that feeling when you really hope you don't sneeze or cough. YES! Well, there I was.... a sinking doily falling into the bowl. So, fine...grab another one and told it to behave...and fortunately, it listened. Since this blog has nothing to do about discussing my bladder, I'll try to not go there again unless totally necessary.

I thought about past experiences that I've had along this line and I think it's worth sharing. When DIA first opened it's doors, it was my first exposure to auto flushing. Wow...those are really neat! So, I go in, close the door, take out the doily, place it on the seat, turn around and start unfastening and flush! GONE! Turn around, put another one on, turn back around, FLUSH! GONE!..... unfasten my pants, drop clothing to knees, take a doily out, put it on the seat and spin around at top speed, aiming my behind for the seat, hoping I don't miss it, and get it parked prior to flushing. Well, you know, those things are activated by motion.....ta da....a free spray while you are sitting doing your thing.....

A few weeks later, I was taking Kara to the airport for a departure and we were in the women's room. I told her about my experience and she came up with the best answer....are you ready for this? Drop "trou", take doily out of container, stick it on your hiney and sit down. Now how clever is that?

I have a friend that I met through our motor home club in Arizona. She is a total kick. Give her two margarita's and watch out. We used to go on an annual trip into Mexico with our club and the first night's ritual is to walk to the nearby restaurant with patio bar and sip on some margarita's. I hardly knew Dorothy at this point, but I knew right away, when she returned from the women's room wearing a....you got it....doily....for a hat, that she and I would become good friends. She got clever with her form of creativity and also made a bouquet of flowers once with several of them... I think they are still kinda escorting Dorothy to restrooms so she doesn't take all the doilys.

Little Women

So in light of the upcoming Oscars, TCM has taken the month of February and made it 30 days of Oscar winning movies, which is, needless to say, awesome. I love the idea of classic movies, and occasionally watch one, but sometimes they are just too over the top for me. Just like today's movies, there are good ones and bad ones, so a month full of classics that have won an Oscar lets me know that these movies were, at least at one time, considered to be loved by many. It is less work for me to do, and instead of sifting though one hundred old movies that might be good just because the cover is vintage, I can trust that my time watching some of these will be well spent.

One of my all time favorite stories is Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I have probably watched the 1994 rendition with Winona Ryder playing Jo and Susan Sarandon as Marmee fifty times in my life. Only recently have I actually read the novel and loved the story even more. Naturally when I saw there was a 1949 version that won an Oscar (Best Color) I was quite excited, but a tad nervous. Was it going to be any good at all?

I gave it a watch yesterday, and was pleasantly surprised. The acting was not too over the top and the plot stayed, for the most part, true to the story. There were a few casting flaws, changing the age of some of the characters, but overall a very beautiful movie. It is refreshing to know you are going to watch something that is pure and simple, and there is nothing like seeing a cast of classic beauties. Overall, a wonderful experience. Good Job Turner Classic Movies!

Heartfelt

This is a little felted heart that I learned how to make. It was supposed to be a pin - but I am not ever going to wear a heart pin and I can't think of anyone I know that would wear one so I just decided to "super Size it" and** ta-da ** a "heartfelt" coaster! I really wanted to learn the process and the heart was the assignment. It was very fun and quite easy really. This little project took about 20 minutes. It was enough fun that I left the class considering (very vaguely) the idea of having an alpaca an the endless supply of awesome fiber. I mean really - how hard can it be to have an alpaca. Well - I learned from a friend that I could get one for about $4000 - yes four thousand dollars! I immediately let that little dream evaporate - didn't even have to feel bad about it. I'll just pick up already sheared, cleaned and dyed fibers for $2.99 an oz (an ounce of alpaca wool could make about 100 of these little guys) and save myself mucking a barn, among other things!

Citrus Beef Stew

This is a stew I made recently that I really liked. The citrus and butternut squash add a nice twist to the traditional beef stew. I made a few minor changes (used russets cut into 1 inch cubes instead of new potatoes and 1 tablespoon dried parsley instead of fresh) I think you could tweak it any way you'd like and it will still be good! The recipe is in "The New Creative Crock-Pot Slow Cooker Cookbook" Maybe they could have been a little more creative with the cookbook name - but it does have some good recipes!

Give this a try and let me know what you think!

1 cup onion, finely chopped
1 cup carrots, finely chopped
1 cup celery, finely chopped
2 Tbs. tomato paste
1 cup non-fat beef stock
1/4 cup fresh Italian Parsley, chopped
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup orange juice
3 strips orange zest
1 1/2 lbs stew meet
1 cup butternut squash, cut in 1 inch cubes
1 cup new potatoes, quartered
1 cup green beans, trimmed
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 bay leaf

In a large skillet, saute the onion, carrot and celery until tender. Place in slow cooker. In a small bowl whisk the tomato paste into beef stock. Add to vegetables. Add the remaining ingredients to the stoneware. Cover, cook on low 8-10 hours (high 4-5 hours). Makes 6 servings.

Valentines Day

Having moved many times, I tend to be drawn to things that remind me of family and friends that I don’t see as often as I’d like or places that I have lived or visited. Not too long after moving to Wyoming I discovered a wine offering by Snoqualmie (pronounced “snow-qwall-me”) Vineyards located in the Columbia Valley in Washington State. This area is in the southeastern part of the state which has weather conditions similar to ours with slightly more moderate temperatures because of the proximity to the Columbia River.
I was immediately struck by the name – the familiar – and for me the romantic. The named warmed my heart and I was flooded with memories of my home state and my honeymoon which my husband and I spent at Salish Lodge, a beautiful historic establishment that is perched amazingly close to the edge of the spectacular Snoqualmie Falls in the Cascade Mountains. A bottle of wine from Snoqualmie Vineyards was definitely going to get a try!
I was very pleasantly surprised. The first type I tried was a very nice cabernet-merlot blend, 2008 “Whistle Stop Red”. Cabernet grapes, which have thicker skins and are high in tannin, are combined with the more fruity Merlot grapes which are lower in tannin, to soften the stern flavor of the bolder Cabernet. Snoqualmie Vineyards has achieved a delicate balance in their combination of these two popular grapes with “Whistle Stop Red” resulting in an especially pleasant red blend at a very reasonable price. “Whistle Stop Red” is bold enough to pair with beef but contains just enough plum and cherry essence to be a great accompaniment with spicier fish or poultry entrees too.
So, on Valentine’s Day share a glass of wine with someone you love and spend some time reflecting on a wonderful memory - a place, a time, a special celebration, friends and family. I know it will warm your heart!