Monday, May 31

Poppies on Fade to Black.

Yesterday I remembered that I still had Fade to Black film in one of my cameras so I decided to play with it again. During Polaroid week, I saw that someone had dry peeled a shot and attached to a piece of paper. I had no idea one could do that and I loved the result! So I've been meaning to try it myself.

F2B Poppies.

I absolutely love how it turned out! I have heavy weight smooth watercolor paper leftover from when I used to do Polaroid transfers so after about five minutes, I dry peeled the shot and stuck it to the paper. The colors keep so magnificently and the paper adds the slightest bit of texture.

Here's the shot before peeling.

F2B Poppies.

I had so much fun doing this, I had to take a couple more shots. I'll share those with you later. They all came out splendidly! Now I wish I had more F2B film. I only ordered two packs and now it is no longer available. *Sigh*

Hope these lovely
and bright
orange poppies start your morning off
right!!

Sunday, May 30

A walk in the sky.

Yesterday I went for a walk in the sky.

Yesterday I went for a walk in the sky...

I drifted through some clouds
and almost reached the sun.

I almost reached the sun.

(Sometimes it is necessary to point your camera at the sky.)

(Also, my Vans flip flops are the best flip flops ever.)

(Every time I type "flip flops", I type "flip flips" and then have to correct it. I think I might just have to start calling them flip flips. Why not?)

Hope you all have a magical Sunday
full of sunshine and
fairy tales!

Saturday, May 29

The first blooms.

White lilacs.

Lilacs! Lavender lilacs are my favorite, but the white ones smell just as nice. My mom brought over two sucker lilac plants from her garden three years ago. This one has been getting progressively bigger each year and while it's still rather small, this is the first year it has bloomed. Very exciting. Last year I transplanted the second plant to another spot and it struggled all summer. It looked like a goner at the beginning of this spring, but now it is getting new leaves and looking good. But it probably won't bloom for another year or two.

California poppies.

California poppy.

The California poppies that I planted from seed last summer not only came back this year but are spreading like mad. I love it. I need to take another pictures since only the pink ones are open here. Now there are red and bright orange open too. So pretty!

Irises.

The irises are so big this year and seem to have more blooms than ever. It's from all the moisture we got over the winter. They came back in full force in the front and side yards. The ones in the back are taller than last year, but for the second year in a row, they did not bloom. Not sure what that's about.

Pansies.

I planted pansies in a big pot in a shady spot in the back yard and they are so happy. Two years in a row I planted them where they were getting full sun and it was way too much heat for them. Finally got smart this year! We need to start adding them to our salads too.

Pinks.

These pretty pinks were an impulse buy. And for some reason, I did not keep the tag so I have no idea what they are. They're so bright and lovely, I hope they continue to bloom throughout the summer.

I'm a little late getting to this post so these pics are from two weeks ago. Now some things are on their way out (lilacs and irises) and more things are coming in! Echinacea is coming back nicely and I planted more in a spot in the back. I'm finally starting to get smart about planting more perennials so that I don't have as much to do in the coming years. It's hard not to get sucked in by the all the annuals at the nurseries, but I did pretty well this year. Of course I got my zinnias and dahlias, and marigolds for the vegetable garden. But I didn't go overboard like I usually do.

I'm just about done planting. This past week I put in the tomato plants, a few pepper plants, eggplant, spinach and some herbs. The lettuce seeds are coming in slowly but surely so I hope to have fresh lettuce later in the summer. It was so nice last year! I still have to plant my zinnia seeds and I have some cucumber seeds that I might plant if I can find a space for them. I want to get a butterfly bush for our "sandbox" in the backyard, but I haven't been able to find one. If I don't find one, I guess I might put flower seeds in there again. It needs something. All in all things are looking pretty good out there!

Thursday, May 27

Bags and bowls.

A few more new things over at Leslie Flynt this week.

Nested bowls.

One of my favorite nested sets so far! I love these colors together.

Lemon drop yellow.

A lemon drop yellow clutch will definitely brighten up any outfit!

Apple green.

And apple green with one of my favorite cable designs on it.

In the coming weeks, I'll also be adding new items to the Mad Orange Shop and putting some older items on sale. I'm starting to worry that I'm going to be buried in an avalanche of felted wool, there are so many things piled up in my office!

Wednesday, May 26

Kitty feet are the best!

Kitty feet.

Hi! So much catching up to do here, but so very busy this week. Planting yesterday, weeding today, errands tomorrow. I am hoping to have time for a proper post as I want to share pictures of the garden, some new inspirations and some of my usual rambling.

Hope you all are having a wonderful week so far!

Thursday, May 20

Wednesday, May 19

20 Ways I Would Like to Celebrate My 40th Birthday

I know my birthday is over 3 months away, but I am turning FORTY so I have to admit, I have been thinking about this for awhile. In fact, I think I started thinking about it last year. I remember telling Will I wanted him to throw a surprise party for me. But I guess that wouldn't be much of a surprise, would it? Plus most of my good friends live across the country so I don't think it would work all that well. Unless we win the lottery.

Anyway.

My original plan was to make a list of 40 ways that I would like to celebrate, but the list got a bit repetitive after awhile. This proves that I have fairly simple taste, and, perhaps, that I am rather boring. The most important ingredients seem to be my husband (of course) and an incredible dinner. Other ingredients that would be loved but might not be as easy to do are friends, far away places , road trips and rock shows.

And yes, some of my birthday dreams would require being very, very wealthy. But some are actually feasible.


  1. Have a party with all my friends, preferably with a couple of my favorite bands playing.

  2. Have said party on a cruise ship.

  3. Or a tropical island.

  4. Rent an entire island for a week, charter a private jet to get there and invite some of our favorite people to join us.

  5. Spend the entire month in Spain with Will.

  6. Take a road trip to the northwest, visiting Seattle, Portland and San Francisco. A nice birthday dinner somewhere along the way.

  7. Have an incredible dinner at Terra (at Encantado) and spend the night in one of their suites with a view of the mountains.

  8. Fly out some friends and have a fancy dinner party at Terra and book suites for everyone.

  9. Take a road trip to Joshua Tree, have dinner at that Mexican restaurant we liked so much on our last trip there and then spend the evening on our motel room porch watching the sunset.

  10. Fly to New York City and have dinner at Blue Ribbon, or maybe Peter Luger, and then meet up with some friends for drinks somewhere, maybe see a band or two. And go shopping! (Santa Fe is a shopping wasteland.)

  11. Spend the week in Pittsburgh visiting friends, attending rock shows and having a fancy dinner somewhere on my birthday. Or maybe a cook out.

  12. Spend the week in Winston-Salem, have a rock show at the Wherehouse, or maybe just cocktails at Single Brothers.

  13. Spend the week at one of those super private resorts on the coast of Mexico with my husband.

  14. Drive to Las Vegas for the weekend, have a crazy buffet dinner, take loads of photos and stay at one of the luxury hotels. In a suite.

  15. Rent a little beach house somewhere and spend the week there with my husband, eating amazing seafood, running on the beach, taking lots of photos and relaxing.

  16. Or maybe a cabin in the woods, cooking out, hiking, taking lots of photos and relaxing.

  17. Get a tattoo before having an amazing dinner somewhere with Will.

  18. Friends over to our house for a cook out and margaritas and beers and lots of photographs.

  19. Take a day trip to somewhere in New Mexico that we have never been before. Get home in time for a fabulous dinner out.

  20. Spend the day being happy and grateful and enjoying life with my husband, no matter where we are. (And have a fabulous dinner out.)

Tuesday, May 18

New stuff!

Hello, thank you for bearing with me and my rambles about lack of sleep yesterday. I slept alright last night and am feeling mostly human again. Always a nice treat.

I took a few new things over to the gallery here in Santa Fe last week, things that I have been meaning to show you.

A felted coaster set which includes 6 coasters and a small bowl to keep them in.

Felted coaster set.



Another coaster set, this one in a "petal" bowl. I like to think that when put together, it looks like a flower. Yes, me and flowers. I love flowers.

Felted coaster set.

Felted coaster set.

And this clutch isn't a new style, just a new color. Bright and fabulous for spring and summer!



The fuchsia and turquoise look really great together.

I'm really excited about the coaster sets. I think they're pretty cute and they're even useful too!

So they aren't in my Etsy shop, but the coaster sets will be available there soon. And of course if you ever see anything here that isn't in the Etsy shop but it is something you would like to purchase, just let me know! I'm always happy to make special orders.

Monday, May 17

Knitting, felting and sleeping.

The knitting and felting is going well. The sleeping, not so much. I used to write about sleeping a lot, or rather, not sleeping. And then I stopped. For one, I imagine it's not that interesting and for two, it didn't seem to be such an issue anymore. Not that I was sleeping through the night regularly, but it definitely had gotten better. I still had bad nights, sometimes a few in a row, but it was okay. More often than not, I slept decently and I felt good. And I wasn't obsessed with the problem. It felt so nice to feel kind of normal again. And it felt super nice to have hope again. Hope that maybe I would be a good sleeper one day. And because I felted more rested, hope about everything. I felt inspired, creative and open to new possibilities. A nice change from the heaviness that a lack of sleep brings.

And then.

A few weeks ago, I actually slept through the night, a rare occurrence. And I was so chipper that morning, I said to Will, "It's almost annoying how chipper I am after a good night of sleep."

I haven't slept through the night since then.

At first, I could tolerate the exhaustion, but last week was rough. That's how it always goes. I'm okay for awhile and then it just builds up and builds up and I start to feel worse and worse. Fortunately it doesn't affect my work as far as getting it done. I work at home and I can knit when I am tired. But it does affect my work in the sense that I no longer feel so inspired or creative. The ideas stop flowing because the space in my head is taken up by thinking about sleep. Whether or not I will sleep that night. Why I don't sleep. Why I haven't slept well for so many years. How tired I am from not sleeping. How all I want to do is sleep. Wondering how I can be so so so very tired and not sleep properly. Let me tell you, it pretty much kills the hope. And that upsets me a lot. I've never been the most positive person in the world and lately, I had been feeling so damn good, it was awesome.

And I really don't know why I can't sleep properly. I generally fall asleep easily but then wake up throughout the night. And I've tried so many things...I even have sleeping pills that I was prescribed a few years ago after I didn't sleep for five nights in a row. I was so desperate this past week that I tried them again and guess what? Don't work. Still don't sleep through the night. I mean, what the hell? When this cycle goes on and on, I seriously start feeling punished, I suppose that's my Catholic upbringing showing.

I realize I sound like a broken record. I've said all this before and I still don't have an answer. And I know you don't either. I really wish I never would have to write about this again. I am not a particularly good writer so I am guessing I am not really describing the feelings all that well, but it's just so disheartening to me. It's not a few months of bad sleep. It's not because I am sick or this or that. It just is. And so I have no idea how to fix it. Trying to fix it gets exhausting too.

Anyway, this post has gotten away from me. Last night I slept the best I have in four nights, but I still didn't sleep through the night. 1:46 AM. Awake. I fell back asleep, but it's just not the same as having uninterrupted sleep. It's not like I am asking to win the lottery or to live forever or something. All I want to do is sleep through the night on a somewhat regular basis. And I want to feel alive again. Being excessively tired all the time seriously affects quality of life. I really don't want life to pass me by while I am sitting around being tired.

Sunday, May 16

Tuesday, May 11

Like a pom pom.



Okay, so I get a little obsessed with the ranunculous this time of year! It's just so beautiful. The vivid colors of the petals. The wildness of the stems. And as it wilts and dries, it remains beautiful. The red petals really change in color, going from super bright red to a deeper, darker red, like wine and pale rose near the center. The yellow ranunculous doesn't shift color so much, but each flower sort of puffs out as the petals start to fall and they look like pom poms.

I love having cut flowers in the kitchen because they make me smile every time I walk by. And sometimes they make me run and get a camera. The light from the skylight above really does wondrous things sometimes.

Last week I went a little crazy and used up a whole pack of Polaroid 600 film on the ranunculous. So you'll be seeing more this week. (But not all, I didn't scan every picture. I didn't want to go to overboard. Ahem.)

Super busy with knitting and felting this week. Yesterday I had a very successful felting session. That is always a happy thing.

Hope you all are having a great week so far!

Monday, May 10

Words To Shoot By - Three

Just a quick post to lead you over to this week's Words To Shoot By. I didn't submit anything myself, but all the others who did submitted wonderful work. It's one of my favorite weeks so far! Please check it out.

Sunday, May 9

Anniversary dinner.

The last couple of years, we seem to have fallen into a sort of ritual for our wedding anniversary. We get gussied up - this usually involves a new dress for me, although this year I didn't get to wear the new dress because the weather wasn't quite warm enough for such summery attire. I take a bunch of instant pictures of us looking good. And, the most important part, we go out and have a fabulous dinner.

Love and food. Definitely the best parts.

This year we decided to try Restaurant Martín, a relatively new restaurant that has gotten good reviews and is only a couple of blocks from our house.

Oh, but wait, before I get to our dinner...this year a friend, Caline Welles, had an art opening at Marigold Arts so we stopped by there before dinner. Her drawings and poetry are so magical. It was awesome to finally see her work in person. Plus it was great to see her and Jono, both looking hot in purple.

Anyway, back to dinner. The atmosphere of the restaurant is unexciting, but whatever, that's not totally crucial to a good meal. (Of course last year's meal at Terra, sitting on the patio with a view of the mountains and watching the sunset...well, that was exceptional.) Our waitress was awesome which is always good, but especially good in a higher end restaurant. I think her name was Graciela.

We couldn't decide on wine. Oftentimes I like to start with a white and move on to a red with dinner, but wine by the glass usually ends up adding up to more money than just getting a bottle. So we asked Graciela what she would recommend to go with our appetizer choices as well as the entrees. She recommended a Chilean Pinot Noir and I have to say, she was spot on. It was light and fruity enough to compliment the appetizer but not so light and fruity that it took away from the main course. Like I know what the hell I am talking about. Let's just say that the wine was good.

We started off with the Roasted Organic Beet Salad with French Beans, Upland Cress, Marcona Almonds, Goat Cheese, Crispy Shallots. It was delicious. (I think I have Sheryl to thank for getting me into beets. The roasted beets with goat cheese that she and Rebby served one year won me over.) Fresh and colorful and light. Yum. Along with the beet salad, we had the Tempura Blue Point Oysters with Garlic-Parsnip Purée, Cucumber-Radish Salad, Fermented Black Bean-Chili Vinaigrette. They were good but not mind-blowing. We were torn between that dish, the Snake River Farm Pork Belly and the Wild Mushroom and Nantucket Bay Scallop Risotto. If we eat there again, I think we'll go for the pork belly.

Next up, the entrees. Will had the Spicy Crusted Ahi Tuna with Crispy Yams, Garlic-Spinach Purée, Stir Fry Vegetables, Soy-Red Wine Reduction.

Ahi Tuni

I had a bite of it and it was incredible. Really good tuna. As for me, I have to admit that one of the reasons that I wanted to try this place was because they have duck on the menu. I love me some good duck. And, in fact, I think I've had duck the past three years in a row on our anniversary. So yes, I like duck. I also like ducks, but I don't think about that when I am eating. I haven't had duck in quite some time since Rio Chama took it off the menu. Not many other places serve duck. Okay, so the duck. Maple Leaf Farms Duck Breast with Leg Confit, Smoked Bacon Polenta, Marcona Almonds, Brandied Blackberry Gastrique. I mean, come on, duck with bacon polenta? How could I not go there? It was really good. Fatty and rich and I love the confit.

Duck

So good. We both had very happy bellies. Very full bellies.

But that doesn't mean we skipped dessert. It was our anniversary after all. I've been really into red wine with chocolate lately so I was leaning toward a chocolate dessert. Granted our bottle of red was gone, but we figured we could order dessert drinks. I am not a big fan of dessert wines as they are usually way too sweet for me. But I figured our trusty waitress could give me a good recommendation. And she did. I don't remember the whole name of the wine, but it was some kind of Tawny wine that she said was not too sweet because something about brandy and the brandy cutting the sweetness. She said it would really bring out the flavor of the chocolate. She brought me a little glass to sample and I surprised myself by being able to drink it. So I went for it. Tawny wine and Bittersweet Truffle Cake with Pumpkinseed Crumble, Toasted Cinnamon Ice Cream. So good.

Bittersweet Truffle Cake

Will went for the Mascarpone Cheesecake which isn't on the online menu and I don't recall the exact details of it, but he loved it. And Graciela recommended at Sauterne wine with it. I tried the wine and it was way too sweet for me, although I imagine it did compliment the cheesecake quite well. I didn't actually try it because my palette was crazy with chocolate and Tawny.

Mascarpone Cheesecake

So we had quite the fabulous evening and I couldn't be more delighted with our life together. Will is the best.

For the record, we both decided our meals at Terra last year and Mauka the year before were better than Martín. But Mauka is gone now and Terra is way more expensive so Martín is most definitely on our list of places to try again. It's way more exciting than our old fallback, Rio Chama.

Saturday, May 8

Because this is one of things I do.

I take pictures of us on our anniversary. With instant film, natch.

[Alternate title: An overload of us.]

I didn't realize the flash was on when I took the first Spectra shot in the mirror. So we did it again.

This is the one that came out cute except you can see how dirty the mirror is. Ooops.



This is the one we took after we cleaned the mirror.



This is the black and white one.



And this is the one in which I have fish lips and Will is looking at the camera trying to figure out how to press the button and we didn't realize that we should move the lamp.



It all makes me smile!

I am a lucky woman.

Spring 'Roid Week, Day Five

Check out the 'Roid Week pool here. 3,556 submissions and I looked at just about all of them. That's a lot of instant pictures!

5/7/2010

1. rainy days..dreamy days, 2. Untitled, 3. The Door, 4. Good Morning, 5. Not nearly close enough. I can't take the distance, I can't take the miles., 6. Lifeguard, 7. Daffodils and Pebbles, 8. 'roid week 2010 - day 5, 9. with a flower in her hair, 10. Untitled, 11. Untitled, 12. Untitled, 13. Love is Best When it Isn't Perfect, 14. Yarn - Polaroid Week, day 5 -, 15. Molly and Darwin, 16. "plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom", 17. last summer, 18. Untitled, 19. split, 20. Untitled, 21. Santé!, 22. Noir, 23. my golden arm, 24. sail her, don't sink her, 25. favorite., 26. A. Fitzgerald, 27. 2010polaroid-27, 28. lake tahoe

[Created with fds flickr toys.]

More ranunculous and us.

My entries for day five of 'Roid Week.



More ranunculous on PX 600.

Six years.

Six years married. We like to get dressed up (well, dressed up for us) and go out to a nice dinner. But before we leave, I always have to have a little photo shoot. I forgot to turn the flash off for this one which made us laugh, and I don't know, I just like the photo. (We did it again without the flash.)

Thursday, May 6

Wednesday, May 5

Reel-to-reel & my freshly trimmed bangs.

My entries for day three of 'Roid Week.

Reel-to-reel

The tape machine that Will bought in Las Cruces.

Hello.

And me, with freshly trimmed bangs. I didn't intend this to be overexposed but considering I was going for a bang shot, it certainly worked out!

Spring 'Roid Week, Day Two

Check out the 'Roid Week pool here.

5/4/2010

1. daisy mae, 2. baby I'm home!, 3. Untitled, 4. doorstep flowers, 5. Untitled, 6. Feathers, 7. After the rain came, 8. Signpost., 9. RAR, 10. Untitled, 11. roid week., 12. Untouched., 13. Untitled, 14. Untitled, 15. Sigh no more, no more. One foot in sea and one on shore. My heart was never pure, you know me., 16. Morningside, 17. Polaroid EE100 SPECIAL, 18. balanced, 19. fern 2, 20. cash & mom self portrait, 21. Untitled, 22. Here is no place for guilt., 23. Instant Flowers, 24. walkin' around in our summertime clothes, 25. leave it up to chance

5/4/2010

1. fire walk with me, 2. morning mist, 3. Untitled, 4. New York, February 17th, 2010, 5. built in 1856, 6. lonely beach, 7. the river, 8. Tuesday, 9. tuesday**, 10. ID-UV haystack rock cape kiwanda, 11. i want to go to there., 12. wild sky, 13. dark, 14. prelude, 15. Untitled, 16. Untitled, 17. Riley, 18. the echo of a distant tide comes willowing across the sand, 19. Jane

*The blank spaces are there because some folks don't allow this application to use their photos, but the links below will take you directly to their Flickr page.

[Created with fds flickr toys.]

Monday, May 3

It's 'Roid Week!

That would be Polaroid Week over at Flickr.

My two submissions for day one:



Apple blossoms on PX 600 film. It's a bit out of focus, but I like it. And as you can really see in this shot, a line runs across the center of the film. I wonder if the next pack will have it as well. It doesn't really bother me. Instant film is quirky like that.

Simon

And Simon on ID-UV. Very expired ID-UV although it's not noticeable at all. I've seen a lot of expired ID-UV with very blue tones so that's kind of what I was hoping for here. But no, very brown and real looking. Handsome Simon.

I usually do daily faves during Polaroid Week, and let me tell you, I've already faved a ton of photos in the pool, but I have so much to do, I don't know if I can take the time to post so many photos each day. We shall see.

Now go out and shoot some instant film!

Saturday, May 1

Tiny Mary Jane Baby Booties!





This is the little crochet project that I mentioned a few days ago. I discovered this Hook Candy pattern via Ravelry. It was hard to pick a pattern because they are all so incredibly cute!

We have new friends here in town that are expecting a baby girl in July and it has kind of made me baby crazy. Or at least baby knitting and crocheting crazy! Baby things are so fun to make because they are so tiny and mind-blowingly cute and well, because they are tiny, they usually work up pretty quickly. Plus I absolutely love to make gifts that will be loved and actually put to use! (Unlike the few sweaters that I've made for myself that sit in my closet because I seem to pick patterns that don't suit me.) I love making stuff so much that I would probably just give it all away if I could, but alas, I do have to make money to keep buying yarn. (Hence, the Etsy shop.)

I have a couple more baby things on my project list that I am super excited about, I just need to get the right yarn. I thought I had ordered the right yarn, but when it arrived on Friday, I realized that I goofed up half my order. Don't know what I was thinking. Maybe it is the lack of sleep this week. (I went to bed stone cold sober last night and *still* didn't sleep well. Frustrating.)

Anyway, it's fun being around the excitement of a baby on the way and I'm looking forward to being able to hang around a little one. I've always loved babies, but we haven't had friends with babies since Pittsburgh. And all my nieces and nephews are in the double digits now. And while the cats are our babies, it's not quite the same thing.

It's also been nice to take a small break from constantly knitting up things to felt. I need to remember it's important to make room for other things sometimes! Like making baby clothes! A couple of faraway friends have babies on the way so I'm thinking I might need to make some more of these little Mary Jane booties.

Yes, baby crazed...