Hummingbird sighting

When I went out to set up the sprinkler this morning, I saw a hummingbird in our yard. This is the first summer I've seen a hummingbird in our yard, and it's the second time I've seen one this summer, so maybe it is in residence somewhere close by. Yay! I love the diversity of birds in our yard -- cardinals, robins, mourning doves, finches, wrens, and grackles (I think?) are regulars, with bluejays and crows coming through on occasion. And what are the birds that make so much noise at night in this area? I don't know what species are nocturnal in this area.

Fragments of my life

• I finally finished painting the basement bathroom. It is a VERY BRIGHT orange color with yellow glaze ragged on over it (actually, ragged off). This room glows in the morning -- it looks like a light is on even when it is not. Q did a great job building a much nicer sump pump cover and moving the pvc pipe to give us room for shelves. I even painted the pvc pipe to match the walls, so it isn't so glaring. I got a little orange and yellow rag rug that matches the color scheme from Etsy. I even replaced the shower head, although we still need to find a suitable shower curtain. So that room is mostly done, and I keep going by to look at it -- it makes me smile.
• The house is remarkably clean at the moment -- we had an out-of-town guest last weekend and I did a major housecleaning. I wonder how long it will last.
• I am two weeks into teaching my five-week summer class. My second class got canceled, due to low enrollment, so I have more free time than I expected. This is a wonderful treat, and I am enjoying it.
• I am beading the fringe on the black and silver bellydance belt that I have been hand beading for years. I enjoy this process, but it is very very SLOW. And when the belt is done, I still have to work on the bra and accessories.
• Our summer pesto factory officially opened today. I did a major harvest of our basil plants, and Q made 9 batches of pesto. We haven't even finished last year's pesto, yet -- our freezer is full of pesto!
• The garden is a jungle, as always -- the tomato plants are huge and entangled with the berry canes, and the front garden is in desperate need of weeding. I find it hard to work in the garden when I am constantly being attacked by hordes of mosquitoes. I have never found an insect repellent that really works, and I am unwilling to use insecticides in the garden. What I really want is a Rent-An-Insectivore service, where handlers bring in critters to eat the bugs. For mosquitoes, it would be trained bats, for ants it would be anteaters, for crickets you could have hedgehogs. The handlers would bring in as many insectivores as you need for as long as it takes to reduce the population to a reasonable level (keeping them in your yard in whatever way is cruelty-free and appropriate), and then they would go on to the next patron. Wouldn't that be an eco-friendly solution? And then I could venture out to pull the weeds and pick the tomatoes in relative peace.
• I've been working on building some "greener" habits. I think I am a bit more mindful and aware of my choices, but I find that these habits often require a lot more time, and I'm not sure whether that is something I can reliably maintain when my workload is high. I'm figuring that anything I manage to do is better than nothing, so I just try to be cognizant of my choices.
• Movies I have seen recently: Wall-E, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Notorious Bettie Page, Provoked
• I taught a bellyrobics class (subbing for a friend), and it was more fun than I remembered. It made me think about trying for a regular dance teaching gig again, but I probably don't have enough space in my schedule.
• I made a batch of orange muffins today from a new recipe, and I didn't care for them -- too much oil, I think. What do you do with something you cooked that came out badly (or at least, not to your taste)? Do I feed them to the birds, or anonymously fob them off on coworkers?

I now return you to your regularly scheduled activities.

Muffins and vampires

I have been on a muffin-baking kick recently -- I like muffins, and they are easy to make. They also freeze well, so I can keep them indefinitely (a quick microwave and they taste fresh from the oven). I've gotten most of the recipes from Google searching, and they have turned out well so far. I have made a couple of batches of strawberry muffins (very yummy way to use the strawberries from my garden, supplemented by some from the farmer's market), and tonight I made lemon-raspberry (used up some frozen raspberries) and lemon-blueberry (same recipe, just different fruit). Next up is maple muffins (in honor of our Canadian vacation) and orange muffins. Whee!

Today's puzzle: If a vampire sneezes, what comes out? Some of the vampire stories have vampires cry bloody tears and sweat blood, indicating that all of their bodily fluids become blood or some dilution thereof. But are vampires just a different physical being, a transformation of human species to vampire species, or are they magically re-animated walking corpses (or even demon-ridden as claimed in Buffy and Angel)? Do they actually digest and excrete, or are such physical considerations irrelevant?

What do you think?

Baby bunny

Just for faeriemage, here are some photos of our resident baby bunny. This first one is when it was very little (taken about a month ago).

These were taken today; note the yummy weeds in our lawn which we grow just for the bunnies. . .


In the middle of a hop . . .

Phone-y sheep

I love these sheep!

Silent auction

What did I do today? I took pictures and put them on Flickr. I am coordinating a Silent Auction to raise money for the Montgomery College Women's Studies Student Scholarship fund. The actual auction will be held on Wednesday morning, but I put up pictures of some of the items that will be auctioned. There are some great items in the auction -- if anyone wants to bid on the item, I'm happy to put in a proxy bid for you. Just email me to let me know.

I thought that ancientsong would like this piece.

The good and the bad

7 Things I'm Good At:

• Finding information (ask me a question, any question . . .)
• Teaching (leading discussion, lecturing, etc.)
• Expressing affection (just ask Q)
• Painting a room
• Being enthusiastic
• Basic sewing
• Baking (except for bread)

7 Things I'm Bad At:

• Making omelettes (truly bad breakfasts result)
• Estimating how long it takes to complete a task
• Remembering names
• Making decisions rapidly (I'll get there eventually, but it's not fast)
• Sitting quietly and doing nothing
• Self-promotion
• Representational drawing

Anyone else want to play? You get to brag and be humble all at once!

Candy creations

I like these funky marzipan creations that I saw on Craftzine. Check out Bobo and George the Dead Clown at the bottom of the gallery. Alas, the bakery is in Belgium, so I can't buy one for Q.

Craftzine blog links

I just found the Craftzine blog, and I'm enjoying the links they post. Some cool recent entries:

Use plastic bottles to create underwater sea creatures

Make edible googly eyes -- I love the creature they show in the picture.

They also linked to a Crafter's Manifesto, an effort by Ulla-Maaria Mutanen to figure out what is driving the popularity of craft. I think she makes some excellent points about how crafting creates a sense of satisfaction, communities of practice, experiences of play, etc. I may just need to print this one out to hang on my studio wall.

Pay It Forward exchange

I've finally decided to participate in the Pay it Forward Exchange.

From Aurora at Foxy Art Studio:

It’s the Pay It Forward Exchange. This exchange---which is going around the net craft blogs right now--- is based on the concept of the movie “Pay it Forward” where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return,---just passing the kindness on---with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness pass on their own act of kindness. Thus starts a "PIF"... which continues on...and on..and on... You all know I’m already a PIF type of person. So here’s how it works. I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 3 months) and that’s a promise! What YOU--the recipient--- have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. To play, you MUST leave me your e-mail address or some way to contact you so I can send you your gift, and your blog URL. thanks!

So the first three people to reply will get a small handmade gift from me (type of gift and time of being sent TBD), but you have to promise to put the same promise on your own blog. Any takers?