No, I'm not trying to imply that I think I am a fox in my socks, that was just my favorite Dr. Suess book that I never owned. I remember checking it out of the elementary school library multiple times, along with a book of jokes and an origami book. It was so popular that you had to get on the waiting list to check it out.

I actually forgot that I had this tasty yarn, hand dyed by Yarnchef. I'm trying not to have a yarn stash, so I figured I'd better cast on a new pair of socks, and use it up. I'm knitting the Go with the Flow socks from Favorite Socks, but I think the pattern might be too busy for the yarn. It's a lacy rib, but maybe I should just do a plain ribbed sock to show off the beautiful colors. What do you think?

I was playing with my macro filters again.
They are kind of fun, and much less expensive than buying an actual macro lens. Here's the exact one I bought:

Digital Concepts +1 +2 +4 +10 Close-Up Macro Filter Set with Pouch (52mm)

If you happen to order it by using that link, I think I'll get a little kickback. I haven't tried this Amazon Associates thing before, so I'm going to give it a shot and see what happens.

I also did a little Fall decorating this week. Please note Petey perched on the windowsill. He ate my orchids from last week. I'd like to see him try to mess with my pumpkins.

I got my first ever unfriendly comment today. At least I think it was unfriendly, because it was in ALL CAPS and the commenter seemed to be accusing me of hypocrisy because I have chickens, and I eat chicken, but I only eat chickens I don't know and that are killed by someone else. Interesting. I might delete it, but I might leave it there, just so I can feel like a real blogger, stirring up controversy.

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.

I hereby officially declare that this is the Summer of home improvement here at chez Lucy. A very long time ago, I ripped down the ugly wallpaper in the living room. And then I did nothing. The wallpaper had been pasted directly onto the dry wall, so that meant it had to be mudded, and to match the rest of the house, it needed a particular sort of plaster texture, and it was just all too much to deal with. So I didn’t, until I finally worked up the courage this week. I went to Lowe’s and bought a box of joint compound and a trowel, and did it all myself. I think I just pulled a muscle in my arm while patting myself of the back. You can sort of get the idea here:


Note to the guy at Lowe’s who I asked what I needed to complete this project: Please don’t tell me what I do or don’t want to do, I’m not a complete idiot, and when I say I want plaster, I mean I want plaster, and not orange peel texture. You’ve never been to my house, you don’t know anything about my taste, and most importantly, you don’t know what I am or am not capable of. I find that very irritating. I think I should bring him this picture and be all, "hey idiot, see, this is what I wanted, and this is what I got, because I’m not afraid to try and do it myself." but maybe that would be rude. Anyway, moving on…

I can only give you some previews of a couple corners of the room, because I have a few more projects to complete. Once I got the walls all looking how i wanted them to look, I primed and painted. As usual, the first color I picked wasn’t quite right, so I had to go back to the store with my paint-covered hands in my baggy painting pants and pick out another color, and the paint girl was quite surprised and impressed that I was doing my own painting, but at least she wasn’t all condescending like the Lowe’s guy. The new color was just right, and I happily finished painting and artfully arranging various pieces of art on the walls.


I was lucky enough to get one of Claire’s gocco prints, which I matted in bright turquoise, to go along with my little bird plate and Anthropologie hooks. The clock is from Urban Outfitters, but I don’t think they have it any more. The wall color is from Dunn Edwards, and it’s called Fly a Kite. It’s a nice periwinkle blue.  I especially like how it looks with the yellow in my kitchen and hallway, because you can see the two together in the archways:


Those are my beloved paint-by-numbers pictures that I found, framed, at an antique mall for $18 for the pair! What a bargain! And I also love my big pear. If you look closely, you can see that some ofbthe frames in the hall don’t actually have photos of anyone I know. Classy, no? But at least they’re hanging up, right? I better add finding photos for the frames to my to-do list.

I also got the curtain rods up and the two wall sconces, which are sort of ugly, painted. I’m hoping that my new paint job will make the sconces more bearable. Now I just have to make curtains, paint the door, re-install the sconces and slipcover the chairs. Not much at all. Heh.

I’m pooped and sore all over, I have more to share, but I think I better get some rest first. Thanks for all the nice comments about my skirt and weight. I really think that picture is just at a really good angle, and also, remember that you can’t see my bum, there’s plenty there to lose :o) I am behind on responding to comments, and my stupid e-mail is being stupid again, but I’ll do my best to reply this week!

And because I can’t do a post without a pet picture, here is a rare visit from Petey, who is either sleeping, as you see here, or bouncing around the house, from one windowsill to the next.

First of all, some extreme cuteness, I hope you can handle it:
 
Friday was a Holiday, so I took Winston to the vet for all his shots and then we went to dog beach. Winston was a little overwhelmed by it all, and I think he was probably not 100% after all the vaccinations (I think he had 3, including a rattlesnake vaccine), so he spent most of the time like this:

That’s my knee his head is resting on. Oh well, it was a beautiful day, and it’s always fun to go there and watch all the dogs running around and having fun. Afterward, we went to the dog wash. Winston is not fond of baths, but we made it through and then went to a dog-friendly place for lunch. He got a lot of compliments for his good behavior.

I’ve also been feverishly working on quilts, and I just might make it in time, thanks to my mom who is helping out by doing all the hand-quilting of one quilt, while I do the other. There may even be pictures in a week or so.

I also thought I’d try coloring some Easter eggs. Here’s what you get when you start out with brown and blue eggs:

I like how the speckles came through on the yellow-y egg. Now I just have to figure out what to do with a dozen hard boiled eggs. I love deviled eggs, but there’s only two of us, I don’t think we can eat 24 deviled eggs.

One last bit of cuteness:

Lucy always has to get involved when I take the camera out.

I’m pretty sure I’m not going to have much time for writing the rest of the week, but I’ll try and post a few photos here and there. Happy Spring!   

My sister just wrote about their week here, and I didn’t realize what a great hostess I was, but I guess I did a really good job. Actually, she and Mr. P are very good house guests. They washed a lot of dishes and swept the floor a few times, two jobs I really don’t like. Her pictures are much better than mine, and there’s lots of good commentary, so I highly recommend having a look at her photo album.

It’s been a long week, so I decided to start off the weekend with a bubble bath. My selection of facial masks and pretty Oililiy soap was courtesy of Yvonne. What I should have also gotten a picture of was the cats, who stare endlessly at the bubbles whenever I fill the tub. I’m not sure if they are terrified or fascinated. A combination of both, I suspect.

Later, I took down the Christmas tree, which was as exciting for the cats as the day I put it up. Lucy made herself comfortable in the middle of the floral mesh I used as a garland. Later I found her in the tree box.

Lucy is a funny girl. Sijbrich thinks that I should train her to do tricks, and I think that is entirely possible. When we first brought the cats home, Petey settled in pretty quickly, and was a little cuddle-bug from the beginning, but Lucy took a little longer. Both cats were about nine months old when we got them, and had spent the previous six months living together in a cage at the shelter where they were being treated for ringworm. I think Lucy must have spent her first three months as a feral cat, because she would do things like steal bones out of the trash, running and hiding with her stash. Apparently she was worried that the feeder dish we keep perpetually filled with cat food Just Might Run Out one day, you never know with those humans, but she would be prepared for that day. She also likes to chew on plastic, any kind will do, plastic bags, plastic wrap, plastic tape. I’ve even caught her swallowing it, so now I try to keep it out of reach as much as possible. She also didn’t like being held. At all. She didn’t mind being petted, and was happy to rub against our legs, and even throw herself on the ground for a tummy rub, but the moment we would pick her up, her ears would flatten and she would squirm to get away. She seems to have realized that we are capable of holding her without dropping her now, so she’ll tolerate being held if we do it exactly the right way: right side up only (no cradling her like a baby), not too tight, and with lots of petting.

More and more she’s settling in and has decided that we humans aren’t so bad after all. She wants to play all the time, with us. Her favorite game is fetch, and she usually lets us know she’s ready to play by jumping on our headboard and dropping her toy on one of our faces and then chirping. She can do this, because her favorite time to play is around 6 a.m. So we throw the toy, she throws herself off the bed and runs after it and then brings it right back. She can do this for hours it seems, and it never gets old. If we’re not available, then Petey will do, and since he can’t throw a toy for her to fetch, they bounce from room to room and fly through the mini-blinds to hide on the window sills. If I ever get new curtains made for my living room, I’ll have to post before pictures of the sad state of the blinds. Then, when she’s tired from the ricocheting off the walls, she’ll curl up in my lap and sleep for as long as I can manage to sit still.

It took us a while to bring home new cats after losing Gigi, and a month later losing Dune, and these two will never replace them, but it’s comforting to know that they have their own specialness, and bring a new kind of joy into our little house.