Ocean Sapphire...

Sarah's friend got a Siamese Fighting Fish(betta) a few weeks ago and she's been bugging us to get one too. I resisted because of the cats, but finally gave in today. He's GORGEOUS!! (click to see larger images)



I wish his irredescence showed up better in the photos. He's a dark blue with slightly lighter fins.


Here he is backlit, showing off his greenishness. You can see a few of my needle-felted balls behind his bowl too, an nice foil for his coloring.


This is the truest picture of his color.


We already had the bowl and red marbles, a perfect habitat for such a beauty. However, we will be looking for a bigger container. They do better in 1-2 gallon tanks, this one is probably a half gallon. Why yes, that is a C3PO standing in the corner!

In other news...

I'm taking time this weekend to go through a newish(acquired last year) old cookbook, Rodale's Naturally Great Foods Cookbook by Nancy Albright(published in 1977). Is it ever full of good stuff! Not just recipes but instructions on everything from making yogurt, sprouting sprouts, and even grinding flour from pumpkins! Wowza!!! There are soooo many recipes in it that I'm dying to try out, like Alfalfa Sprout Gazpacho, Avocado Banana Dressing, Grainburgers, Millet Meatloaf, Broccoli Timbales, Yogurt Cheese, Sourdough Rye Bread, and the list goes on and on and on!!! I'm also reading another goodie called Cooking Vegetables the Italian Way by Judith Barrett. Lotsa good stuff there too.

We are supposed to be taking the last bits of wallpaper down from the dining room tomorrow. The paint we've decided on is called Caramel Cream, a rich, bright orange. All the playing I've done at Valspar's online room painting thingie points to this color. I think it will be perfect.


I'm sure it looks garish on your monitor, kinda looks washed out on mine too. Trust me, its really a rich, goldish orange with depth and a nice warmth. In fact, if you'll scroll back up to the third picture of Ocean(his true color pic) and look directly above his tail you can see a felted ball of red, yellow, and orange. The orange in that picture is very close to the wall color. I can't wait to get it painted!!

Guess that's all the goings on for this weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to blog more next week. Having a working teen who is also very social is demanding more of my time than I ever thought possible!!

A weekend day around the casa...

First we enjoyed the comings and goings at the bird feeder.





Then we enjoyed the company of our youngest three kitties.


(Tallulah, 7 months)


(Gypsy, 16 months)


(Jasper, 16 months)

Later, the girls helped out with the garage clean-up. Ryan helped too but I didn't get a picture of him.





Finally, I looked through our glass door at the afternoon sun. Can't wait to get it sanded, painted and installed!

Merry Pigmas!!!

(Panda Claus)



(Rainbow the Reindeer)



(Meadow Claus)



(Meadow, Stella and Sundae)


In other news...

We have the computers back for now! Mine is still not perfect but the AVG and other symantec managed to get rid of all the baddies. Myspace is known, from what we hear, for virus and other lovely problems so the kids are banned until further notice.

The Weekend....

When comrades seek sweet country haunts,
By twos and twos together,
And count like misers, hour by hour,
October's bright blue weather.
- Helen Hunt Jackson, October's Bright Blue Weather


Friday morning I took the girls grocery shopping with me while Mark and Ryan stayed home. It was a beautiful mid-morning and promised to be a lovely afternoon as well. I had the bright idea that we should spend time outdoors so I called Mark from the store to see if he'd be interested. We decided to wait til Saturday and head north to the Yamboree, a local festival celebrating that wonderful cash crop of the 1930's, the Sweet Potato, which is really not a yam. The Yamboree is one of the oldest folk festivals in Texas just behind the Tyler Rose Festival and the Jacksonville Tomato Festival.

We watched the Queen's Parade, ate some fair food, rode a huge ferris wheel, gawked at the crowds, visited the exhibit halls, the ag barns and all the other things most people do at festivals. Ryan found several of his friends in the ag barns with their livestock so he was busy socializing while the girls, Mark and I petted pigs, goats, calves, and bunnies. I think Sarah would have brought a baby cow home if she could have, or a goat! Then we hit the vendor area but didn't end up finding anything we couldn't live without. One of the exibits we especially enjoyed was the junior art and photography division. There are some very talented young artists in east Texas! Amy and Sarah are wanting to enter the drawing category and maybe photography too for next year.

As you may have noticed, there are no pictures. I decided to take a break from the camera this trip. Its a big, clunky thing and I did not feel like wagging it around all day. You'll have to imagine the dappled sunlight on the courthouse lawn, the chilly breeze, the greasy food smells, laughter, screams from the scary rides, and the sound of fiddles playing. You are off the hook as far as imagining the lovely livestock smells.

On our way to the car, we stopped at the monthly flea market across from the exhibit areas. Patricia, my homeschooling friend had a booth there promoting her business, Herbal Grace. She sells mineral make-up, organic teas, soaps, and much more. I left with a new eye shadow color(nutmeg) and some fantabulous organic seasoned salt. Her soaps are to die for too, LOVE them, and we use several of her other formulas.

We also nabbed a huge bucket of sweet potatoes for $4. Wooo hooo! Could have got a bushel for $13 but I didn't think we'd eat that many. How wrong I was...

Several days ago I came across a blog post featuring sweet potato fries and Hungry Girl had mentioned butternut fries not too long ago as well. I googled to get a good idea of what to do and went for it!

I preheated the oven to 425, sliced up our two largest "yams" into french fry sized pieces, layered them on two baking sheets(it is best if they don't touch and have space between each fry). I sprayed them with butter flavor cooking spray and sprinkled them with the new seasoned salt mixed with cayenne, onion, and garlic powders, and paprika. They went into the oven on the middle and lowest racks for 15 minutes. I stirred well and switched their places on the racks, baking for another 15 minutes. We scarfed them down with ketchup and there were no more. They are woooooonderful!!!! With a texture like a steak fry, creamy and soft on the inside, but not starchy(gritty) like regular fat fries, along side frizzled spiral ham and a spinach salad, these made a wonderful meal.

Today I'm working on our bedroom. We decided to try the bed under our window but I don't know if it'll work with the kitties wanting to be in the sill at night. I've swept and thrown away a whole bagful of garbage. Mark turned off the Cowboys game, too painful to watch. He's washing his car now and Sarah's got Dirty Jobs on.

Later we'll have more ham in some form, maybe a quiche or something. I'm not sure yet. Meanwhile, back to the room for me!

The Kids....

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."
- George Eliot

A Chupacabra of my very own!!

We are "fostering" her until a forever home can be found.

Her name is Tallulah, meaning "leaping water". She is a Manx cat, around 5-6 weeks old. Her hair is the weirdest color I've ever seen on a cat. Part of what makes it look so strange is that there are dark grey guard hairs over blondish under hairs. It makes her look bald but she isn't at all. Her belly is distended because she had worms but the rescuer had her treated for all worms so that should be gone by the end of the weekend, I hope. We are watching for Manx Syndrome and I hope, hope, hope, she doesn't have this and is just having worm or kitten issues.

Anyway, that's that. Ryan managed to find the loose snake tonight, thank God! I didn't post about his escape but did write some of my commenters about it. We will be releasing it at the park tomorrow or Saturday.

Inspired by...

These felted leaves. I was googling for something to do with some of my smaller scraps of felted wool and came across this fun project from one of my favorite unschooly, crafty persons. They are just the inspiration I was looking for!

Alas, Jasper had other plans for my felt which did not include me touching it.



Gypsy, however, was all about the crafting today. She helped Sarah, Amy and I make jeans for Pink Panther!(click for the detailed versions)

Another blog to share...

This blog belongs to one of the homeschool moms in my group. She is hip, smart, and cares a lot for her family as well as the environment. Please visit, Thrifty Domestica.


And, what happens at the friend's, stays at the friend's. Yikes!