I made loads of slicers (for sandwiches and stuff) on the last burst of summer. Since autumn is officially (by the calendar) and unofficially (by the weather) here, next up is apple butter and a couple of Secret Autumn Preserves that are for Xmas gifts. I have officially run out of room in the pantry for canned stuff, I need a rack in the basement.
I finally remembered to take some video of Budgie after a swim. He does this little dance after every swim and bath.
I keep forgetting to say that we have managed to acquire a kitten. This happens to me - animals just appear. We got her a couple (?) of months ago when we rescued her from a friend’s engine block. She was a tiny scrawny angry (she bit through my thumb when I picked her up) little stray only about six weeks old. She’s growing like crazy and is the most affectionate kitten I’ve ever seen. She wants to sit ON you all the time, in between manic bursts of kitten energy and tormenting poor Lulu.
Finally. I thought I was just going to have this nebulous beer belly forever.
25 weeks today!
I should wait for an auspicious occasion - this March will be the 16th anniversary of our first date, for example - but I’ve had this pic sitting on my desktop for months meaning to post it. So today is the occasion.
I feel like I should write more about this pregnancy than I am. Not because the internet at large cares - there are boatloads of pregnancy and mommy blogs out there - but because my memory is so bad that I won’t really remember what this was like. I want to have more kids, but I have no way of knowing if I will ever be pregnant again.
In any case I’m 24 weeks now (a note: I know everyone thinks pregnancy is 9 months, but that is sort of an average number - full term is 40 weeks, which is about 10 months). I’m feeling fine. Other than the anxiety I have felt pretty good this whole time. This week I started prenatal yoga and I can tell I am going to be addicted to it; I’ve been twice already this week. I love it and it makes me feel great.
Except.
Except that in a room full of various stage pregnant ladies I feel something very keenly that I am not used to: body consciousness. Call it narcissism or arrogance or just good self-esteem, but I’ve always felt good about my body. Even if I’m in a room full of people with “better” bodies than me - which happens in yoga or pilates or your average bar - I don’t really care because I like my body. But I feel like everyone has a bigger/cuter/better shaped pregnant belly than me. Which is such a strange thing to envy. I’m measuring fine (26cm fundus - your measurement should be within 3cm of your weeks), but I think my long waistedness is making me carry low and not very protruding. Anyway, I’m endeavoring to get over it.
I’m off not to lay around in the sun on Sauvie Island with S and B and dogs and trashy novels.
Since we bought the house in March, I’ve had to do some serious thinking about [re]decorating. See, our previously houses were late 40’s bungalow styles, so I went with a Danish Modern/Generic Vintage/Mid Century Modern eclectic style. I think it worked pretty well:
However, it doesn’t fit this house’s (built in 1910) style at all. So clearly a redecoration is in order. We have a tendency around here to decorate in themes, from the Buccaneer Bathroom to the Monkey Hut tiki bar to the 1970’s lounge. This house is much bigger than we’ve lived in previously (giving us more themes!) and also, the first we’ve ever owned.
The entry/living room/dining room are one big area, so they are going to be a united theme, which is Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse:
Combined with The Adventurer’s Club:
With some steampunk/British explorer’s library. Or, as I realized last night, Indiana Jones’ house.
After that, the kitchen! I’m thinking Britain, 1939. The fun parts, mind you, not the actual rationing.
The nursery is going to be The Nursery of the Future - orange and blue (which, as any child of Disneyland will tell you, are the Colors of the Future), and maybe some of the Disneyland Tomorrowland attraction posters if I can find them.
Then, the rest of the bedrooms. I’m at a loss.
Thankfully, the basement (tiki bar) is Craig’s domain. Whew.
It’s that time of year again - canning! Craig and I visited Kruger Farms on Sauvie Island last week and not only picked a boatload of berries (which are now frozen waiting to be jammed when it isn’t 14million degrees (C) outside) but I got cucumbers to make various amounts of pickled products. I always mean to write about pickling, etc (for instance I made pickled okra, asparagus and radishes (FAIL)) but I kept forgetting to talk about it.
I realized last week I am on my last jar of pickle relish, so that was the first order of business. The cukes are gorgeous:
and I hope they will be delicious. I experimented with using the food processor’s regular blade (instead of the slicing one) and I am not sure how crazy I am about the tiny texture of the relish:
But I guess we will see when it comes eating time. I always forget that you have to salt and wait on relish (to get the water out) and inevitably start relish at 7pm or something. Yup.
In any case, it eventually all got jarred in a cider vinegar, sugar and spices mix (this is sweet relish with a healthy dose of jalapenos) and now we wait. I hate waiting.
I used to try and make nice labels, etc. for the preserves (and I still do for gifts) but for home, a Sharpie on the lid is as much as I can do. This isn’t fancy gourmet stuff, it’s just what you do when it’s summer and you like pickle relish.
Next up: bread and butter slices, maybe dill slices (or maybe sandwich slices, hmmm) and onions.
I think the seven of you that read this blog already know, but in case I missed anyone: this is your official notice that sometime around January 1, 2009 the “mama” part of “Tikimama” will go from theoretical to literal.
Oh, and it’s a boy if you care about those sorts of things. Don’t you think “Brock Samson” would be a great name?
We were lucky enough to get into the Tiki Spirited Dinner - chef’d by Chris DeBarr and cocktail’d by Jeff “Beachbum” Berry. It was an amazing experience and I am so glad we got to attend. I took a bunch of pics (forgive my lack of skill at food photography - I should take a class) and posted them on my Flickr account here. Enjoy!
