C'mon little plant, LIVE!

The winds of winter have begun to blow, and I moved the aforementioned poor little plant inside. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be adjusting to his new climate very well.  This plant story may not have a happy ending!  However, I refuse to give up on it!  By the way, stay tuned for some rather excellent recipes.  In the meantime, check out my friend Mary's blog : http://mary-made.blogspot.com/

OctoberPostFest3: In which several things are painted, and compared to Regency-era literature.

OctoberPostFest3: In which several things are painted, and compared to Regency-era literature. 

By now, you are realizing that I rarely purchase something to which I do not make alterations or improvements on at some time.  If that thing is furniture, the alteration/improvement most often comes in the form of paint.    I like to paint.  I really like to paint furniture.  Because I am a student and therefore it is not feasible for me to order everything straight out of the pottery barn catalog (like I would do that anyway because I like to adventure-shop in antique stores), my strategy is often to find a study, economical, and quite possibly antique (read: probably just OLD) piece that I can spice up with a little help from my good friends Folk Art, Apple Barrel, and Anita (These are brands of acrylic craft paint, for those of you who are wondering).  I like Folk Art best because it is called Folk Art, which is clearly a superior name.

Read on, I say to you!

Today, I will tell you the story of three pieces of furniture.  Where they came from, what they were, and what they are now.  Unfortunately, I have only after pictures, and no before pictures.  Fortunately, I have…um….stylistically arranged these stories in the style of one of my favorite authors, Jane Austen.

Story One:   Sense and Sensibility

Sense will always have attractions for me.  Practicality must not be denied its importance in choosing a piece of functional furniture.  Yet, when the romantic refinements of a young mind are obliged to give way, how frequently they are succeeded by such opinions as are but too common and dangerous! Such was the case with me and my search for a desk.  I am sense AND sensibility, propriety AND impulsiveness.  I did not want a desk; I wanted a table; for will a table not serve the purposes of a desk, and then some? Truly, a multipurpose piece could be the only thing to satisfy my needs. Such a table I found, and procured, after successfully talking the seller down in price by no mean number.  I was satisfied. I esteemed my table and chairs. I liked my table and chairs. I was Elinor. And yet, the part of me that is Marianne cried out “Esteem them! Like them!? Cold-hearted Courtney, Oh! Worse than being cold-hearted! Ashamed of being otherwise!”  I knew that something must be done.  Who am I, to have a plain, wooden table, with not even the most simple design or decoration? Am I not young? Am I not vibrant? Why, then does my table look so industrial, so harsh, so cold, so unfeeling?  I gathered my paints, my paintbrushes, my stamps, and several cans of shellac around me, and commenced to paint.  I think if you look at this table you may understand my mind a little better.  It is order and chaos, whimsy and boundary, all mixed up together, with no subtle use of color, to be sure.  But I digress.  The chairs are a bit different, but they still “match”, in their way.  And my seat cushions, each in their own way, I find very pleasing and am sure you could find nothing more lovely in Combe Magna.  Not that I would ever live in Combe Magna, because Willoughby is a scoundrel and a libertine.

View from the top! I think this might be what the inside of my brain looks like.

I also made a cute seat cushion with RIBBON TIES!

Did I mention the leaves fold down? 

Story Two:  Persuasion

A few years before, this chest of drawers had been a very pretty piece of furniture, but its bloom had faded early, and even in its height even the bedroom set had ceased to admire it (so totally different were its delicate features and mild wooden knobs from the set’s own) there could be nothing in them now that it was faded and worn to excite the set’s esteem.  However, it happens sometimes that a chest of drawers is more handsome at 49 than it was 20 years before, and that is the case with this chest of drawers.  I found this chest of drawers at an antique shop that was not called Kellynch Hall, but for the sake of this story, let us pretend it was.  The poor chest of drawers had obviously been jilted before; and its indifferent but undoubtedly well meaning dealer had marked it with masking tape that read “chester drawers”.  Note the wheels on the bottom, which the good dealer assured me would be “real helpful” in moving my “chester drawers” from place to place, and were “added value” (I am in no way making fun of this good gentleman’s accent or word choice, I am simply making it known to you, good reader, that the correct terms  are “chest OF drawers: and “really, or very helpful”.  I am in no place to criticize anyone’s grammar, seeing as I have often committed transgressions against the Good Lady Grammar (who I believe resides in Devonshire in the summer).  So long had dear “chester” been neglected and unloved, it was quite persuaded to think itself a lost cause, good only to encourage and support the efforts of other, more beautiful pieces of furniture. A few coats of “leaf green” later, chester was beaming with happiness, from its “valuable” wheels to its “barn red” drawer pulls, just like Anne Elliot when she realized Captain Wentworth didn’t hate her anymore, but loved her enough to say “You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope.  Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever”, which is a very dramatic and romantic thing to say, obviously, and no one would ever tell that to a chest of drawers.

Pay no attention to the stacks of journal articles in the corner.

Story Three: Mansfield Park

Give a shelf a coat of paint, and introduce it properly into the world, and ten to one but it has the means of settling well, without further expense to anybody.  There was a shelf in the basement which I plucked from obscurity and introduced into the fashionable world, much in the same way Fanny Price was lifted from the general squalor of her Portsmouth home and brought to the Bertrams at Mansfield Park.  The shelf, like Fanny, was pale and unpolished, but with a great depth of possibility.  I’m pretty sure it was a shelf my Dad made many years ago for the sole purpose of storing things in the back of the basement or garage, so it wasn’t that…pretty.  About 3 years ago I snatched it from its cold abode (of course, I asked first!) and began my improvements.  Pink? Indeed. More pink? Yes, lighter shade, if you will.  Painters tape? Oh my, but that will make some interesting designs. Done.  Shelf, you have now married Edmund Bertram.  Wait. That comparison doesn’t really make sense.  Well, shelf, you have at least bested Mary Crawford.  

Whimsical AND functional. The best of both worlds.

Well, Folks, That's all I've got for now.  

OctoberPostFest2: In Which a Plant is Snatched from the Jaws of Death

OctoberPostFest 2: In Which a Plant in Snatched from the Jaws of Death

Before I begin, allow me to introduce my dear friend Jessica's blog, which chronicles her life an an intern at the Wesley Foundation.  Go check it out at  www.jaytaylifetimes.blogspot.com

Those of you who know me perhaps will know that I am descended from a line of excellent gardeners.  My grandfather, in fact, is officially a “Master Gardener”.  My Great-grandfather (other side) actually owned a nursery (for plants, obviously) and invented (spliced? Grafted?) his own special kind of plant, if I’ve heard the stories correctly.

About a month and a half ago I was walking through the store when I spotted this sad little fellow.  The store was all but giving him away, he was marked down to a mere 99 cents.  99 cents, for a delightful miniature yellow rose plant.  Granted, this little plant had one foot (root?) in the grave.  Look at it.  So sad, so thirsty.  Abandoned by its fickle master (the store) and sold for a pittance.  I took one look at this plant and said “Come with me, Little Plant, and I will take care of you.” 

I didn’t say that out loud, of course.  That would be ridiculous.

I’m not claiming to be a master gardener here.  What I know about gardening wouldn’t fill a thimble. Well maybe a thimble, but not much else and there would be room at the top.  Basically all I did was prune off those dried up flowers that were sucking the life out of the little plant (this is called “deadheading”, I am told) and water it devotedly.  Now, several weeks later, it looks like this:

Yes, I attempted to paint the pot.  No, it doesn’t look very good, but it is sort of charming in special way.  You will all soon find out that painting straight lines is not my forte.  Look at how nice and green the plant is, though, and so much fuller!  I ought not to have taken this picture at night.  It’s not very good….

I can’t wait to see if it flowers again. I hope it does.  I’ll bring it inside for the winter.

A brief note on pumpkins

Hello All,
I'm afraid I haven't the time for a good post right now, but here's a teaser for what is to come: (yes, I realize I've already hinted at a few of these, but I've got to keep myself on track, right?)

This time of year always makes me think of the book Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder, specifically the part where Almanzo grows an enormous pumpkin by cutting a slit in the vine, and putting one end of a wick into a bowl of milk and the other into the vine.  He wins first prize at the fair.  Now, this book is based on real life, so I am assuming this is a viable method of pumpkin nourishment, but I really don't know.

Anyway, the point is, one of the posts to come will include a touching story in which a half-dead plant is nursed back to life.

Also, I'm still working on the thing with the tiny wine glasses. In my head, that is.  It's going to be very simple and wonderful, I just haven't had time to go to hobby lobby in a long time.

and finally, stay tuned for a very elementary school style Halloween costume.  (aka lots of GLUE is involved)

Hopefully these things will make it up here in October.  However, there is a 99.9% chance it will be November before I get to it.  I'm sorry blog, October is a very busy month this year!

Court Could LEARN That

This post is unrelated to the umbrella topic of this blog....but this is just so good, I had to share it.
Actually, it is a little related, as you will see at the bottom.

Learning is great, and it sure is a good thing I think so, since I have a significant amount of graduate education left to complete.  I have a increasingly large pool of interests and I am going to tell you how I keep up with some of these things.  You're going to read this and think I have a lot of spare time, which I assure you is not the case. The truth is, I have developed some excellent multitasking skills (I'm listening to an Audiobook RIGHT NOW. Granted, it is something I've read before, which is why I am able to split my concentration)

Reading.  I love, love, love reading.  School provides me excellent opportunities to read journal articles and textbooks, which, though they are important and necessary are not always great fun.  I'm also a fan of the less (much less) scientific genres. Right now I'm reading several things- The Kitchen God's Wife, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Look Unto Me (the devotions of Charles Spurgeon), and re-reading a book about the First Ladies by Margaret Truman, among other things.  I like to keep up with my reading through www.goodreads.com, which I highly recommend.  I don't get to update my goodreads page much, but it really does help me remember what I want to read next.

Podcasts.  Podcasts may be one of the most wonderful things I've discovered in the year 2010.  Prior to 2010, I was under the vague impression podcasts had something to with whales.  Nope.  It's like talk radio...well sort of...for your ipod.  You can get all kinds of great things (for FREE)  like sermons, lectures, hilarious people saying hilarious things, whatever you want. For a while this summer I tried learning French by podcast.  That was difficult, and didn't really pan out.  But I may try again.  Oh, and did I mention there are FREE AUDIOBOOKS you can get chapter by chapter in podcast form?  Yes. you can. most classics, at least.  Check out librivox.org or search librivox in the itunes store, I find them most reliable.

Online Music Lessons:
I used to be able to play the guitar....and when I say play, I mean "knew 7 to 10 beginner songs".  I took lessons for THREE YEARS and that was the extent of my skills. We all have our weak points. I hadn't touched my guitar in about 8 years until this summer, when I decided to relearn. (and hopefully, surpass my former glory)  I found free online lessons and so far I'm on lesson three, and I can play the chords for Johnny Cash's "ring of fire" very, very, slowly with a great deal of concentration.  I call that success! I'll keep you updated on how this goes.

iTunesU. I haven't used this yet. You would think that I would feel as though I have enough classes already, and I do, but I just can't stop myself.   I just downloaded an entire class' worth of lectures on CS Lewis from some seminary somewhere.  I don't know when I will get to listen to this, or if it will be good, but I am more than excited.  Perhaps I will listen to this in the car? (and now EVERYONE wants to carpool with me, right?)

Pandora-  This has very little to do with learning, and is fast turning this post into a list of websites I like.  This site is great for listening to music....it helps me know what I may actually want to purchase on itunes. www.pandora.com

Other people's blogs- This is a great way to learn....and be entertained. Here are a few I like:
 Favorite craft blog: http://www.rufflesandstuff.com/  (and NOW this post is related to crafts)
Favorite food/nutrition blog (right now, at least, I keep finding so many good ones): http://nutritiontokitchen.com/ (and NOW this post is related to cooking)
I could mention a few more but I've got to get back to work in a minute (this post is brought you by the letter B, as in "I am taking a BREAK from studying")  Friends, if you have a blog, I will find it. and I will read it. Especially if you tell me the url.

Other people in real life and not on the internet-  Listening to other people talk is one of the most interesting things in the whole world.  Provided, of course, they are saying interesting things.  I will tell you about several such people.  (if you are omitted, pray, do not be offended,  I know so many conversational geniuses I simply cannot include them all here).  My friend Jessica is like my History and English tutor.  She keeps me sharp on all that good stuff, and tells me awesome stories about people from days of yore, and reminds me to read things like poetry.  I, in return, use my inexplicable knowledge of trivial literature/history facts to quiz her. (Hey Jessica, What was Louisa May Alcott's father's name? No googling)  My dad is another such fountain of knowledge, albeit knowledge of a different sort.  Thanks to him, I have a vague understanding of words/concepts like "capital", "start-up costs", "mergers", "valuing", a good though somewhat undesired knowledge of how to kill rodents and check the air in my car tires, and much, much more.  From my friend Sammy, I have learned how to appreciate the complexity of hip-hop dancing. From listening to my dear friend Whitney, I have absorbed enough information about art to at least not completely sound foolish at a museum. Example: Before: "oh yes, the frame is lovely"  After:  "Yes, Monet is a lovely example of impressionism".
I could go on.  (Not about Monet, but about learning from other people)

Movies and Television:  I know that you can't stop hearing about how we're all getting too much screen time and TV is contributing to the obesity epidemic, and yes, I think that is true.  However, in the right dose, TV and movies can be an excellent channel for LEARNING!!! yay! I like tv as much as the next person (the 30 rock premier was NOT as funny as it should have been, I watched it on hulu this weekend) but I've come across some really interesting things in the past few months-  I saw Food Inc. a few months ago, and it was pretty interesting, a little shocking even. Now, I'm not ready to start raising my own chickens....but I like to challenge my own perceptions every once in a while.  Also, recently I watched a based-on-real-life movie called "A Man Called Peter", which is about Peter Marshall.  I knew about Peter Marshall because I'm sort of a huge fan of the inspirational novel "Christy" which is by his wife, Catherine Marshall.  He was  from Scotland and had a lot of really interesting things to say/do, which the movie portrays fairly well.

Okay, okay.  That's enough of that for now.  Back to work!!!

PS I wrote this REALLY quickly, please forgive any grammar/spelling/bizarre sentence construction errors.

It Takes Yogurt to Make Yogurt

It Takes Yogurt to Make Yogurt

This post has a lot of pictures of milk. That's not very exciting. oh well.

I really like yogurt. It tastes delightful and is a great way to get some Calcium and Vitamin D. It’s a probiotic too, which means it promotes the good “flora” of your gut. Wow.

I’ve recently gotten into making my own yogurt at home, and I really like the results.  This summer I bought a Euro Cuisine Automatic Yogurt Maker on the internet.  Basically, it’s an incubator.  And the “automatic” part? It shuts off when it is done…..but you need to put it in the fridge immediately after, so I feel like the automatic part isn’t entirely necessary. 

My little yogurt maker

Oh? What’s that? You’d like to know about homemade yogurt and food safety? Well, I’ve been eating it and I’m still alive and kicking.  In all seriousness, though, you should be careful.  I recommend perusing this webpage from The National Center for Home Food Preservation before you begin:

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/nchfp/factsheets/yogurt.html

They have a recipe similar to what I used on the site.  I didn’t use a double boiler, though. I can, however, totally see the advantages of using it, seeing as how I spent most of the time I was heating the milk anxiously checking for signs of scalding/scorching. (Made cheese for the first time the other day and scalded the milk.  That does not taste super delicious.  I need some copper-bottomed pots and pans :) )

Anyway, back to my yogurt.

So, I follow the manufacturer’s directions fairly closely since I’m somewhat of a yogurt making novice.  They tell you to use the glass jars the machine comes with to measure- so that is what I did.

So, I did 7 jars of milk (nonfat), and heated it very slowly while stirring (to avoid scalding it) to 180ºF.  Heating the milk first makes the yogurt firmer in the end.  The very first time I made yogurt, I didn’t do this, and my yogurt was very….drinkable. 

Then I popped the pot into my lazy-girl’s ice bath (aka I dumped a bunch of ice in the sink and added water) to cool down the milk, because if you put the starter culture in while it is hot, terrible things happen, like the whey separates out and you have yogurt-cheese.  (This happened to my mother and I. But our dog really enjoyed eating our mistake)

Once it was nice and cool, I poured in 1 jar of plain yogurt as a starter culture.  (It takes yogurt to make yogurt!)  Then, I whisked it until it was all nice and combined.

Then, I just poured it into my cute little yogurt jars and put it in my yogurt maker. (You have to leave the lids off, according to my machine’s manual)  Now, I was doing this in the early evening, so I set the machine for about 12 hours so that when I got up in the morning I could pop them in the fridge.  The longer you let it go, the tangier it gets. Or at least that is what the user’s manual indicates.

All done! And quite delicious with a little honey, fruit, and granola! 

Oh, and let’s have a little economy moment.

The average store-brand 6-8oz container of yogurt costs about 35 cents.

I bought ONE for my starter culture (it has to be plain).  Then I bought a half-gallon of milk which was on sale for 89 cents.

So, when all was said and fermented, I had seven 6 oz jars of yogurt for $1.24.

If I bought 7 containers at the store for 35 cents each, that’s $2.45

I saved $1.21.  Of course, that doesn’t consider my labor or opportunity cost.  Luckily, I enjoyed doing this, so maybe we can consider that added value? I think my enjoyment was at least worth 3 dollars.  So really, I almost made money doing this.  Except no one counts that way, especially not the bank, so I didn’t.

But isn’t that sort of great?

When Good Crafts Go Bad

New Feature:

Court’s Crafts Hall of Shame

Sometimes my little projects do not turn out great.  I think on the whole, they are usually very nice, and often useful or at least pleasing to look at. Or eat.  But not all the time.

Here is my first self-submission to the Hall of Shame.  Last summer I had a day with a bit too much free time.  Combine that with a pink box I found in my closet, some old pink ribbon, leftover lace from my Halloween costume, a glue gun, and an old birthday card and you get this…….thing.

Ouch.

Someone needs to revoke my glue gun license.

“Oh, does that box have….a skirt?”  Um, yes. Yes it does, unfortunately.  Remember how I said that sometimes too much was just enough? Well, sometimes too much is WAY too much.  And now the little container I keep my paper clips and safety pins in looks totally ridiculous.  I keep it as a reminder that more is not always better.  Actually, I keep it because I have nothing else to keep my paper clips and safety pins in. 

Sigh.

Lesson Learned.