heylucy

birthday week, day six, random things

My final birthday giveaway plan has worked out, so you'll have to read all the way to the end to find out what it is! I'll draw the first three birthday week winners tomorrow night, and then the last three on Friday, so you'll have a little time to enter this one (as well as the last two). That way I can try and get everything shipped on Saturday.

Saturday mornings are all about breakfast around here. I love my yogurt and fruit breakfasts during the week, but Saturday is for something hot and hearty. I was feeling a little adventurous this past weekend and decided to try a little scrambled goose egg. I should have included a fork or something for reference, but that is one big yolk.

While beating it, it seemed heavier somehow and creamier, it's hard to describe, but it was quite good. I had it on top of my favorite potato hash (of which I make many variations-this one had lots of onion and some leftover pot roast). It was delicious, but that was a lot of egg.

A little story about something I learned this weekend:

The worst part about having chickens is cleaning out the chicken coop. Once I start raking all the shavings and poop up it gets quite dusty in there and I have to take frequent breaks to get some fresh air. It's not stinky, just dusty. I recently had the brilliant idea to get a dust mask to make the whole task easier and probably much healthier. I tend to do these dirty chores first thing Saturday morning before showering or anything, which is logical, right? But I also went out there with my dust mask just after finishing breakfast, but before brushing my teeth. And here is what I learned: do not ever wear a dust mask when you have nasty onion and cheese breath. Boy was that stinky. Now you know.

Lest you think I'm a complete idiot with poor hygiene habits I noticed today while at the bank that I have a real talent for pulling up nice and close to the drive up ATM. I laugh at the people who pull up and then have to open their door to do their banking (only in the most affectionate way, not mean-spirited). I love discovering hidden talents.

Have you seen the cover of Better Homes & Gardens April issue? It not a magazine that I usually buy, but I was completely charmed by this image:

So I've blatantly copied them and made my own version (it was pretty darn easy, so don't be too impressed. I also may have gone a little overboard with the little chick and the mushroom):

 

The pale pink violas are in a goose egg, and I used the ceramic egg carton my friend gave me for Christmas.

And now for the final birthday week giveaway! I wanted to find some more moss to share, but it's been dry lately, and while on my Sunday afternoon walk I only found little dried up bits of moss. The good news is that the dogs were very well behaved and didn't knock me over this time.

I wasn't about to give up, however, so I went to a favorite nursery on my lunch hour, and found a couple fun little mossy plants. The tag says one is baby tears, so maybe it will grow taller, but for now it's quite compact and flat, and the other is a creeping thyme, which I think is pretty hardy, so I hope it can take the high humidity of a terrarium. So I put together a little terrarium kit. You'll have to provide your own jar, but I'll send everything else! I think it will be so fun. There will even be three little mushrooms, because you know how I feel about mushroom-less terrariums.

Let's talk about breakfast for this giveaway. What's your favorite weekend breakfast? Do you cook? Or go out? We used to live in Mission Beach and The Mission was my absolute favorite breakfast spot. I loved the zen breakfast or the roast beef hash. I don't usually care for really sweet breakfasts, but their french toast-made from thick slices of cinnamon bread-was also always tempting.

I love violas, in large part because that was my grandma's name.

birthday week, day three and a few questions, answered

How come I didn't know about this Shannon Lamden fabric? I'm so glad I asked about fabric, I'm getting some good links, thanks you guys!

This picture has nothing to do with anything, I took it several years ago with my old point & shoot Olympus, but I still like it. Actually, it does have something to do with today's post, since these are Spring flowers (see the first question below).

Now seems like as good a time as any to do a little meme that I was tagged with recently. Both Robin (check out her terrific terrarium, and read about how resourceful she was finding the plants for it. I love that she has a little terrarium resident, too!) and Alice (look at her beautiful photos! I'm a little envious that she gets to live in Oxford. I spent a rainy Fall day there once and loved it so much) tagged me, and these are some fun questions, so here you go:

1. Cut and paste the questions into a new blog post and respond to the questions.
2. Replace one question you dislike with a question of your own invention - and say which one you added.
3. Tag other untagged folks.

What is your current obsession?
Spring flowers. There are wildflowers blooming along the freeway as I drive to work, and of course you know all about the daffodils and grape hyacinth. I also have birthday flowers all over my desk. There are a big bunch of baby pink and white roses (courtesy of Mr. HeyLucy), sunflowers from a friend, my annual Lily-of-the-Valley from Trader Joe's, and a bunch of blooming forsythia branches I bought last week.

What are you wearing right now?
black & cream striped jeans, long sleeved pink t-shirt, 3/4 sleeve black sweater, black ballet flats, new earrings that I won from Pamela Susan (more on those later)!

Who was the last person you hugged?
It was either Mr. HeyLucy or Winston. I guess Winston is not exactly a human, but they both get hugs every day.

If you were a tree, what tree would you be?
A cherry tree. or maybe a fig tree.

What’s for dinner?
Mr. HeyLucy put a giant pot roast in the crock pot this morning, so I guess that's what we'll be eating.

What was the last thing you bought?
Jamie at Home (I had a birthday gift card for Barnes & Noble)

What are you listening to right now?
My Pandora station is playing Rocco Deluca & The Burden. I do not know them, I haven't decided to give them a thumbs up or thumbs down.

What is your favourite weather?
Sunny and 70 degrees, although I do appreciate a nice rainy day. I hate windy days, they make me cranky

What’s on your beside table?
Lamp, an orchid, photo booth picture of my grandmother, a bird-shaped dish holding earrings and stitch markers, a pretty handkerchief, a vase full of daffodils and a tiny box with some new earrings  and dust.

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be?
A little village in England. It would have to have a thatched roof. I hope the locals wouldn't mind me moving in.

What would you like to get rid of?
30 lbs around my middle

Favourite vacation spot?
All my vacations are usually spent visiting family. I would love to go back to Italy someday

Name the things you can’t live without.
My laptop, sewing machine and knitting needles. And also Mr. HeyLucy and all the animals, of course.

What would you like to have in your hands right now?
A big stack of money would be nice, but if that's a little much to ask, then I would be happy with my knitting needles

What is your favourite tea flavour?
Peppermint, but I'm also loving Yogi Tea's Classic India Spice right now too.

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
I would probably want to visit my parents in China, to see how they're doing and meet some of their students.

What is your favourite snack?
Chips and Salsa, no question, unless I want something sweet, then it's definitely cookies and milk.

I'm going to add this question for today's giveaway:
What is your favorite, can't-do-without beauty product?
I'm not a big 'product' girl, but I love my MAC Sequin Lipstick. I've been wearing it for at least 12 years. I experiment with other colors, and I have a nice pink right now, called Hot Gossip, but I always go back to my Sequin. It's neutral but with a little sparkle, and it blends with whatever else I'm wearing. I also love the lack of scent in MAC products. I like wearing perfume and certain smelly lotions, but I'm very particular about the scents, and I hate make up that smells. Here's a swatch from the MAC site, which is looking a little pinker than it really is on my monitor, it's definitely got a bit of a brownish undertone:

Sequin

Plum-pink with pink shimmer (Frost)

So that's today's giveaway, your very own tube of Sequin Lipstick, it's one of my favorite things! Just share your favorite beauty product in the comments, it's always good to get opinions on these things. Oh, and I'm terrible about tagging people, so the first three commentors with blogs, consider yourself tagged!

thinking time and birthday week

I wasn't kidding about more daffodils. I love the ethereal quality of this pale apricot variety. They are nearly always two to a stem, and have a lovely, light fragrance. After a cursory internet search, I still don't know the name of this particular variety. I should keep better gardening records.

I am very lucky to have a lot of thinking time. I spend a lot of time in my car every day, and when I'm driving I come up with a lot of really brilliant ideas. If only I could write them down to remember later. I also think a lot while I am swimming, but swimming-thinking is usually about the things I need to do. I plan elaborate to-do lists for the evening when I get home. Seldom is more than one to-do completed when I actually do get home, but still, it doesn't hurt to be ambitious. Anyway, the point of all this is that this morning while driving to work, I thought that since this is Birthday Week at Hey Lucy, there should be some presents, don't you think? Only these presents will be from me to you. So I also thought up a list of some of my favorite things, which also happen to be quite small (I don't want to break the bank here, after all), and I'll do my best to have a post each day with a little giveaway. I might make you work a little for these giveaways, and I'm sorry I can't send a present to everyone, but I think we can have some fun! Are you in? Spread the word, if you have a blog.

Now, on to the first giveaway. I love music, and I love my family, one member of which happens to be a very talented musician. I know I make you watch his videos and download his music, but it's all so good, I wouldn't want anyone to miss out. Today I have an autographed copy of his brand new, very excellent CD, Goodnight Human. Big things are in the works, and you will probably start hearing his music on the radio soon and he will likely be appearing in a city near you this Summer. Despite the fact that Cary likes to tell everyone the story of how I laughed at him when he first told me he was going to be the lead singer in a band, I've always genuinely liked his music, but this album is really something special. I know he's poured his whole heart and soul into it, and it shows. Don't ask me what my favorite song is, because I love every single one.

So, here's what you have to do if you'd like this CD: just share your top five most favorite albums ever. I know it's probably hard to narrow it down, but if you could only listen to five for the rest of your life, which five would you choose?

My brothers tagged me on facebook to do a list of 25 albums, and that was hard, I already want to add a few more. If it helps, here are my 25:

In no particular order:

1. The Cars - The Cars
2. U2 - War
3. Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
4. Dar Williams - Mortal City
5. G. Love & Special Sauce - Philadelphonic
6. Cowboy Junkies - Pale Sun Crescent Moon
7. 10,000 Maniacs - In My Tribe
8. They Might Be Giants - Flood
9. Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs
10. Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator)
11. Annie Lennox - Diva
12. REM - Out of Time
13. The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
14. Barenaked Ladies - Maybe You Should Drive
15. Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
16. Billy Joel - Glass Houses
17. Yann Tiersen - Les Retrouvailles
18. Toni Childs - Union
19. The Sundays - Reading Writing & Arithmetic
20. Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise
21. Styx - Paradise Theater
22. Rogue Wave - Asleep at Heaven's Gate
23. Richard Thompson - Rumor and Sigh
24. Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
25. Indigo Girls - Indigo Girls

I think I'll leave comments open for a couple days for each giveaway, so you'll have until Thursday night to enter this one. And don't forget to come back tomorrow for another birthday present!

pioneer weekend

I pretended to be a pioneer this weekend, except for the electricity and indoor plumbing, oh, and the washer and dryer and gas stove, but other than those little conveniences, it was just like being a pioneer.

I haven't been cooking much more than dinner lately, so I decided to spend a little more time in the kitchen this weekend. When the Angry Chicken mentioned making butter, and 70-some comment-ors shared their enthusiasm, I had to jump on the bandwagon and try it too. I did it in a more pioneer-like way, and shook a pint of cream in a quart-sized mason jar. It was fascinating how the texture changed. First it just got all thick and frothy, and I was worried my jar was too small. Then I could hear it sort of thunk-ing around, and then suddenly it was a solid mass and finally, it turned pale yellow and there was a chunk of butter sitting in a pool of milk. This would be a great home-school science lesson! I recently scored a bunch of mini jello molds, which will soon be turned into pincushions, so I pressed the butter into one of them and let it harden in the fridge for a while and then turned it out on a plate.

The pint of cream made that-which I would estimate is 3/4 to 1 cup, plus another half a stick. I salted it very lightly, really just a couple shakes of kosher salt, and when I tasted it right after it was finished I was worried that I put way too much in, but today it's much better. And I have been eating a lot of slices of bread and butter.

So that was my weekend to-do list up there, and I didn't get it completely finished, but I did make quite a lot of progress. Make Butter: check!

Next up was Make Pickles. I will not be able to tell you how successful that venture was for two or three months, however. Here's a little more pickle backstory: Mr. HeyLucy loves a good antipasto salad, and the last time we had pizza the salad was a little disappointing. We are also trying to be more thrifty and not eating out, so this will be a good thing to try and make ourselves at home. Summer garden plans are in the works, so if the homemade pickling thing works out, we'll plant lots of pickle-friendly vegetables. Also, I was talking to a couple Persian friends at work who told me all about torshi, Persian pickles. One of found this recipe and sent it to me. I modified it a little, and made it a bit more Italian style (because I'm such an Italian cuisine expert). Here are all my vegetables, ready to be mixed and put in jars. The bowl is full of herbs and vinegar, and it smelled delicious, although now I need a break from the smell of vinegar for at least a couple days.

 

Vegetables are pretty! Clockwise, from the top left we have green pepper, cucumbers (the little persian ones), herb-y vinegar, cauliflower, carrots, cooked eggplant (not too much of that, I wasn't sure if we would like it), whole garlic cloves, and celery. I ended up with five quarts and one pint. Now it has to sit for a couple months and then we can enjoy it! Make Pickles: check!

Next up, Sew Skirt. Didn't happen. I have some pretty grey linen for a Summer skirt, and I want to sew lots of rick-rack around the bottom, but the fabric store I went to on Friday only had purple, so I will have to go on a rick-rack hunt next week. Sew Skirt will move to the top of the list for next weekend.

Gather Moss. I don't think I'm ready to take the dogs out again, my hand should be healed by next weekend, however, so that stays on the list. The dogs each got a little brushing, and therefore quality one-on-one time with me instead, and it's not like there was a moss emergency. My terrarium in the little house studio is doing quite well, I will have to take a progress picture so you can see how pretty and green it is.

Sew Blouse. Well, it's cut out, so that one gets a partial check. I hope to work on it this week, so expect to hear more about this later.

Sweep Driveway. We have a big driveway. Between dogs digging and chickens scratching, and wind blowing, it gets messy. I got a lot swept, so I'm giving myself a check mark, but there is one more corner to do, so it will be back on the list next week too.

Do laundry. Done! Although not yet put away, at least it's all folded. Maybe tomorrow I will finish putting it away, and then I will get my check mark.

Make Pincushions. Well, I tried, but more experimenting is needed. I did make a strawberry with emory sand, so I'm kind of excited about that. I made one attempt with the aforementioned mini jello molds, but I have to try again. No check mark, back on the list.

 

I'm excited to make some new little sets, with wool-stuffed pincushions and emory-filled strawberries, and maybe even matching needlebooks.

Bake a Cake. Specifically, Nigella's Clementine Cake. I've been wanting to make this forever, or at least for the last three months. So forever might be an exageration, but I finally did it today. And it's good, but not quite as outstanding as I was expecting. She does say that she prefers it the next day, so maybe my opinion will change tomorrow. I think I might like it more with a simple orange glaze. It's flourless, so it might be a good recipe to add to your reportoire if you need a gluten-free cake. Also, it's not all that exciting to look at:

 

So that was my weekend to-do list. I should have included Pick Flowers, because that would have earned me another check mark.

 

I hope you won't mind just a few more pictures of daffodils and grape hyacinth, but we have to enjoy them while we can!

 

I love that bright orange center, and how about that extreme bokeh, eh? 

 

I just love these tiny things. That photo is worth looking at full-sized. This version is straight out of the camera, but I played with some Photoshop actions and added those versions to flickr.

it's beginning to look a lot like springtime

Spring is my favorite time of year. My birthday is in the Spring, my favorite flowers bloom in the Spring, things turn green, the sky is bluer, it's just the best. Tomorrow the pool opens after being closed for 3 months and my swimming stuff is already packed and ready to take along to work for a lunch hour swim.

Saturday I declared an official pajama day, and I spent the morning with the bedroom window open, and enjoyed the fresh Spring air along with a little breakfast in bed, followed by a little knitting and hulu.com watching (while still in bed). I would have just stayed in my pajamas all day, but around 1:30 I decided I had better get dressed and go to the feed store, or I was going to have to deal with some grumpy, hungry chickens.

I've worked some more on my skirt, although I have to finish off the yoke facing, and I may sew another row or maybe even two of ruffles. Two might be too much, but I think I really will do one more. I'm wearing my boots, obviously, but once it's a little warmer, I think these cute shoes will work well with this skirt.

The skirt is made of a cotton bamboo fabric I got at JoAnn, of all places, and the ruffle is bias-cut silk dupioni. I like the cotton bamboo a lot, it's very nice to sew with.

I was also working on the mushroom tutorial, as promised, and Sally came for her usual visit. I took some pictures and then played around with them in Photoshop, using some Pioneer Woman Actions.

I like this 70's action. The sunshine one is fun too:

And then I went out and tried to take photos of flowers without dogs or a goose in them. I am trying to teach them to respect my personal space, but it's not sinking in. Still, I got a few flower photos without any animals in the frames.

I love all the bulb flowers, but grape hyacinth are one of my most favorites:

And the lilacs are getting their big fat buds:

I hope you don't mind all the pictures! But did I mention that I love Spring?

P.S. Mushrooms winner will be posted by tomorrow, if not later tonight, and the tutorial will be up soon too! I'll also have a few mushrooms for the shop, if you don't feel like making your own. Now I'm going to go make some soup!

things I like about Summer

Some of the best things about summer: lavender, roses and sunflowers. There's not much else, except weeds in our yard at the moment, but I am focusing on the positive :o)

I thought this was a really sweet entry on my dad's blog. It made me tear up a little.

I'm still working on the bookbinding post(s). I think part one may be up this evening. Unless I decide to re-do the entire thing.

Edwin says Hello blog readers! What do you have for me to eat? I want to nibble on your toes.

the very stubborn chicken

Well, the ice didn't work. I went out this morning, and that darn broody hen was sitting on a ziploc bag full of very warm water. So today she is spending the day in out in the pen. I put some food and water out there, sprinkled some scratch, tossed in a few grapes, and left instructions for the husband to take her some more treats this afternoon. I know she's not been eating enough, everytime I lift her out of the box I feel her crop and it's completely empty. She's also missing a few chest feathers, and I want to put a stop to that right now. Apparently, when hens are setting, they pluck out the feathers to control the humidity because the eggs need a certain amount of moisture to hatch. I'll keep you all updated :o)

I think we are on the last wave of daffodil blooms. One of my favorites appeared this week. These tiny little woodland daffodils belong in a fairy garden, don't you think? I love the snowdrops too.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes and words of concern for my silly chicken, I know she's just a chicken, but I've managed to keep them all alive and healthy, and I'm not going to let one of them fail me now, darnit!

how to survive a birthday

So, Saturday was my birthday, and I decided that I would just do whatever I felt like the entire weekend. So there were spurts of fun and busy-ness and spurts of lazing around. A friend gave me some little wooden egg ornaments, so I made an Easter Tree. I picked up some branches from the yard and gave them a little coat of Spring green paint, and glued silk blossoms all over. I added a few other Easter-y things that I had and I think it's a pretty little tree. I may try to add a few more ornaments. I just love that little feather chick.

I got my geek on for a few hours, playing on the computer with the husband. Then we went and got the best sandwiches at the deli and had ourselves a little picnic at one of my favorite places.

I spent a couple peaceful hours on the porch, watching a favorite movie on my laptop while eating an ice cream sandwich. I really need to get a daybed to put out there, for the ultimate in laziness.

We paid a visit to the feed store, where the husband looked at goslings and contemplated putting in an order for three. I'm not too sure about this addition to the farm, but he really wants some. Oh dear.

We also had a delicious dinner of seared ahi tuna with wasabi cream sauce and a tiramisu cake for dessert.

I made a little more headway on my list, and cleared up the last of the scrap wood pile. There is still the fallen down fence to contend with, but I'll just have to tackle that a little bit at a time. We moved some railroad ties over to where the wood pile was, to create an edging for a little planting bed on the edge of the future patio. The chickens hung out with me while I gardened, which was great, at first, as they scratched and pecked and turned the dirt and grow mulch for me, so I didn't have to do it. I rewarded them with all the worms I found as I dug holes to plant a dozen creeping rosemary plants. It wasn't so great later, after I finished planting and laid down some wood chip mulch, when they went back and scratched it all up looking for more worms, and nibbling on the rosemary.

Speaking of chickens, one of the Ruby's has gone broody. For the non-chicken people out there, that means she wants to hatch some eggs, and has planted herself in a nesting box, hoping for some baby chicks. Ifirst noticed that she was sleeping in the box one night last week when I closed the coop. I thought it was odd, but figured she just wanted to get away from everyone else on the roost. But she planted herself in there all weekend and wouldn't budge. I kept taking her out and carrying her to different places, giving her little treats to eat, but she keeps going back. I'm starting to get a little worried. I collect all the eggs, every day, and even moved the golf balls (we put them in the nesting boxes so the girls will know to go in there and lay rather than outside the coop. They just think they're other eggs.) out of that particular box. She's still sitting in there, even though she's not actually sitting on any thing. I think the next thing I try is to put an ice cube underneath her. It doesn't sound too nice, but if she doesn't stop, she could get really weak and sick. Broody hens only leave their nest once a day to eat and drink and poop. Silly girl! I must have taken her out of the box about a dozen times this weekend. She's in the favorite box, too, so the other hens put up a fuss when they go in to lay. Any chicken experts out there have any suggestions?

We finished off birthday weekend last night with ribs and corn on the cob for dinner while watching a recorded episode of Battlestar Galactica, followed by a couple Advil for the aching muscles from the woodpile clearing, and a good night's sleep :o)

daffy

I know, I know, enough with the Spring already, but I really can't help myself. Here's the thing you should know about my husband. Don't ever, ever tell him you like something, unless you really, really like it. Because he will make sure you have more than you could have ever thought possible. I believe I mentioned that I liked daffodils once, and so now we have daffodils. Everywhere and every kind that you could possibly think of. I picked one of every variety that's blooming right now and took pictures of each of them. There are some varieties that have already bloomed out, and some others that are just getting ready to go, but here are the most of the current ones:

How could I ever pick a favorite? I love the icy white ones, and the pale apricot centers and the double-ruffles, and the tiny, fragrant ones and the gigantic ones, and the pale ones with the deep orange centers. I know, this is my favorite:

All bunched together in a sweet smelling bouquet.

It seems that my sister is smitten too. Even in Italy, daffodils have an irresistable charm.

more Spring Fever

I don't have too much to say, because I'd rather be outside than in front of a computer.

I can't possibly choose my most favorite flower, but I sure do love these little grape hyacinth. We planted a patch of these about four years ago, and they've come up faithfully every year since without any demands or special needs. I didn't see any sign of them a couple weeks ago, and was afraid that they had finally succumbed to our neglect. But I needn't have worried, a couple days ago hundreds and hundreds popped up, seemingly overnight. The daffodils are continuing to bloom and I hope to take some pictures of the various varieties this weekend.

And since there hasn't been a chicken picture here for nearly a whole month, I also took a picture of the chickens milling about under one of our oak trees the other morning:

I rented a cute little PBS documentary the other day called, "The Natural History of the Chicken". There actually wasn't much chicken history, just a bunch of people who understand the allure of chickens as I do. There was a short segment about how laying hens live that really turned my stomach. I don't think I can ever buy eggs grown like that again. I shared some of our eggs with all our neighbors, and I think I may have some regular egg customers. One has already placed a standing order for a dozen a week.

The sunshine and longer days always fill me with energy, which has me making big plans. Who knows how much I will actually accomplish, but so far by big plans for Spring include:
*Put up a clothesline. I just bought this clothespin holder to make hanging up my wet clothes much much more fun:

Don't you want to come hang up laundry with me?

*Build at least two raised planting beds, one for herbs and one for vegetables.

*Clean up all the various scrap wood piles, some left by previous owners, some the result of a fallen fence.

*Lay paving stones, which are piled here and there, in front of guest house for a new little patio area, near future clothesline.

*Paint ugly black iron table and chairs a cheerful turquiose to go on new patio area. Cover seat cushions with cheerful oilcloth.

*Paint inside of guest house light, bright white.

There's much more to add to the list, but I better stop there for now. Happy Spring!