poppytalk's summer colours week: pink

It's time for summer colours! Check out the flickr group for more bits of happy and Poppytalk for a curated dose. Aaaand...if yer interested, you can take a wander and look through my previous colours week pics. Happy summer!

poppytalk's summer colours week: yellow

It's time for summer colours! Check out the flickr group for more bits of happy and Poppytalk for a curated dose. Aaaand...if yer interested, you can take a wander and look through my previous colours week pics. Happy summer! 

mondays are for reflections: june 27

There has been a wee bit of heart-heavy ick floating about these past two weeks in dilly-land. It's the kind that exploded in a moment and has a lingering effect that makes me feel like I have been royally dumped and I wake up every morning, too early with an anxiousness in my belly. The "wee-bit" part is me trying to make light though really, I can't but every day begins anew and I move forward.

Aside from icky-ick, I did get to visit with two new friends on three separate occassions! Well, whadduya know, I can be social. Meals were cooked, crafting was done and a little cake batter adventuring was adventured. I worked on articles, sent out resumes and applied for apartments. Sadly, mister and I were declined yet another living space as it appears what we can afford is smaller than small and owners/landlords prefer the smaller than small spaces go to one person not two, and most definitely not two a-go-gos. Sigh. We keep trying to let them all know that we know smaller than small and actually would love a Tumbleweed abode or a trailer or a garden shed, or...or...or...

So, we keep trying.

On Friday we partook in donuts for an art night in town and really did do our best to socialize. We're really not good in a crowd and as obnoxious as we are, we are fairly introverted in an extroverted way. We did get chatty with a new friend or two and the donuts were quite tasty and we walked so hey, it wasn't a bust a'tall.

Saturday however was a sort-of bust. We hit up a church rummage sale in search of cookie tins and potholders. We're broke folks so we had specifics in mind and not a potholder or tin in sight. Crazy! We did break our tiny piggy bank on a mini marble run set for the nephew and a boxy vintage suitcase and folding yardstick for myself. Not too shabby for a $1.50. The prices were right even without our preferred items.

Mister finished my new-new cookie tin uke (hence the hunt for cookie tins). It is most gorgeous and loud and so swoon-worthy. If my eyes ever sparkle when he is around, they sparkle more because of his dandiness. I haven't picked up any uke for far too long and I had to retrain my fingers to find their places. I'm am far-far from musical and after (cough, six) years of "playing" I can give ya a super wonky version of alphabutt and only alphabutt. I can, however, do a mean pony and twist so there is that. Right?

On Sunday, we hit up the local swap-meet in search of, yup, cookie tins and potholders. I was also looking for things to photograph for Poppytalk's Summer Colours Week. I got in one good photograph alas no potholders or cookie tins. I did see the most amazing older gentleman in the bestest of the best two-inch wide screaming yellow, ruler suspenders inch his way up and down each aisle aided by his walker and I seriously worked on being brave enough to ask him for a photo but I wussed out. I may have been slightly distracted by a sad little handmade sock doll...maybe. I'm still kicking myself for not asking. I am not kicking myself for forking over a dollar for the doll. It is most unusual. Completely unnecessary but fantastically quirky. I also shelled out a dollar for a (not very pc) chalkware figurine and wooden "leave a message" box while mr. a-go-go scored a mini amp for five. He's going to try to make an electric uke. Here's hoping the amp works. He thought five would be okay to drop in case it didn't.

We also went in search of fire works but it seems ya can't sell fire works on Sunday. Either that or all the stands were sold out. Drats. And that's it. Not a whole lot of internal reflection going on, at least the kind I want to write about right now. Instead, Mondays will be a new kind of week in review, sans the photo mosaic. This week will be more of the same. Writing and searching and searching and writing. Oh and Poppytalk's Summer Colours Week. Stay tuned!

friday's confessional: june 24

I don't have an average track record when it comes to "Hollywood" crushes. While most of young feminine peers were off crushing on John Travolta (it was the seventies folks and Grease had just come out) I was planning my future as the Mrs. Dr. Pepper Guy. Yup, I had a crush on that guy from An American Werewolf in London only I knew him as the Dr. Pepper Guy.

My memory is foggy really but I remember my mother really ribbing me hard about it. Especially when at my school talent show, one of the sixth graders who played piano looked a heck of a lot like him. I remember her all elbow-jabby nudging me and whispering how cute he was. Mind you folks, I was 8. Nice, mom. I think what I liked is that he sang AND danced a lot like Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire and being that my mother raised me on Hollywood Musicals, singing and dancing nestled heavily into my crush radar. It helped too that he was the Dr. Pepper guy as I quite liked that soda and thought if I married him we'd be fizz happy for life. Before that it was Peter from The Monkees. I recognized his dorkiness right away and felt we could be very good friends. It seems my nerd-guy crush habit began young. What can I say, I'm a trendsetter.

After my Monkee man and the Dr. Pepper guy faded out and I began Junior High, most of my girlie peers were waxing poetic over Duran Duran and the like. I think the big argument was over whether or not it was John Taylor or Nick Rhodes who was cuter. Both of them failed my fashion sense test as I was still geeking out over Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly but I added Danny Elfman to the mix. Hey, red hair, eyeliner, fire breather...Danny Elfman and a ninth grader named Martin Trammel who to me looked just like Gene Kelley if Gene was (were?) a punk rocker with spiky-like black hair. Oh and don't fergit Duckie. John Cryer was okay but Duckie was the man.

In high-school the girlie-os had moved on to Michael Stipe and Mel Gibson and I opened my circle a wee bit wider and tossed in Daniel Day Lewis, Julian Sands and this adorable blonde guy in my class that I never ever knew but admired from afar (and he had the awesome moniker of Charles. Swoon...Charles!)

In my twenties, it was Jonathon Pryce or as I called him, "that guy from the Infiniti commercials". I still kept the other boys close to my heart but I wasn't NOT going to add more to my collection. Next came Kevin Spacey, there is just something about him all creepiness aside that I adore. I still have a crush on him.

Now that I'm all growed-up, I find myself crushing hard on the mister. Everyday (except when he drives me batty) I count my lucky geeky stars that I found a dork of a mister. Not only does he sing and dance but he sews and cooks and humors me and my zany ideas. Before I met him, I had this whole theory of the "kind" of guy I thought I would like and while he more than makes up for it, he doesn't match it in so many other ways (have I told you about the list?) and I am so glad I threw it all out the window. Still, I need to write out my "theory" as this lady is always asking me to go through it again so I will, someday on a Friday not far away. Who were your oddball crushes? Go on share, it is confessional Friday afterall...

it feels like fall this morning...

All grey and drizzly. That's one thing about living where we do, our days are generally fairly mild. A little sun, blue skies and more wind than is necessary. We really should put in a windmill somewhere. Yesterday we had our first summerish day at almost 80 degrees. Spoiled? Perhaps.

The witch-baby is perched atop sofa number two all nestled in her fur garden. I can tell she is eyeballing the kitty door that she has finally mastered but since it is cold and drizzly she remains all loafed up on the sofa. The whir of the dishwasher is playing its morning symphony and the crows are outside causing such a ruckus. Maybe they are returning home from a long night out partying or something.

mr. a-go-go has already left for the day. Poor guy didn't get any sleep tossing and turning and fretting over an apartment we looked at yesterday. It's cute, has good light, is close to town and the rent isn't stupid but it is smaller than the tiny casa and lacks a living room. It's not a studio either, a studio could be adaptable. We really liked the owner and like I said, the light was really nice. So, what do we do? We couldn't bring any books and most of my fabric would have to remain in the mama a-go-go's garage. The kitchen is nice and large, and goodness the bathroom is kinda HUGE. Oh and the tub is one of them old fashioned deep dealies. In a word, nice. I suppose we should apply for it. It doesn't mean we'll get it, we are two people and most of the applicants are single. We couldn't put in a garden and there is no place for the bikes but there is a parking spot for Rodney and if you came to visit, you would have to sleep on the kitchen floor...heehee...and the witch-baby would stay with the family a-go-go. Sigh. Decision making is not my strong suit.

The culmination of my recent crafting for craft article is heaped up on the table waiting for good light to be photographed. I tried yesterday around dusk for the magic hour light but the wind was being pesky and I had to bring it all back in. Come on sun, where are ya?

And...I sent out all sorts of resumes, cover letters and contact emails and have not heard a peep. Not even a no thank-you or a get lost. That kinda irks me. At least let me know you received a query and are not interested, right? Once again, I expect too much. Stop with the whining already! Moving on. I have an idea for a job that doesn't really exist yet but should what with all this social media hullabaloo that is kicking around us. Trying to figure out how to propose it, I overthink too much. Maybe it is a defense mechanism, if I'm still thinking about it I won't actually be failing, ya know?

Oh and I had a dream last night that gave me such a sense of calm and well-being and I cannot remember it for the life of me. Drats! Sure, I remember all the crappy, icky dreams and I remember all the crazy trippy dreams but not the simple sweet dreams. I wish I could, I wish I could.

Methinks it's time for another round of cake batter baking. My chai could use some breakfast... happy Thursday everyone!

recipe: 3 minute cake batter cake

As you can see, I still have cake batter on the noggin. This time around, I have an instant gratification cake in a jar. Jar goodies are ever so trendy, aren't they? This one was kicking around for a while and after searching and peeking and finding a nutella version on Pinterest I decided to create my own. Not that this is original by any means nor does it yield an actual fluffy puffy pretty-to-look-at kind of cake but still, it is easy, cute and tasty so who needs pretty, right? My recipe omits the use of egg though I do use butter for the fat. I suppose an entire egg would make your cake more fluffy but I felt that would be a waste of a good egg. You can try substituting a vegan margarine or maybe even oil and try your favorite non-dairy beverage instead of milk-milk. Have fun and experiment!

The Usual Suspects:

*1/4 cup yellow cake mix

*1-2 T butter

*milk

*microwave safe mug or jar

*sprinkles

*whipped cream is optional though we may have to discuss our friendship if you omit it.

Place the butter into your microwave-safe measuring cup and nuke it about 20 seconds or so until it is all melty. Add enough milk so that your measuring cup reads 1/3 cup. It will froth up a bit here, don't freak out.

Transfer the mixture to your microwave-safe vessel and dump that cake mix in and give it a whirl. Add a shake or two of sprinkles for effect and microwave on medium/high for 2-3 minutes. don;t get too crazy on the sprinkles as they will sink to the bottom of your cup and it won't look as festive as you want it to.

The cake may or may not rise up then collapse as it cooks. I used a 1 1/2 cup jar for this, my first try was done in a 2 cup mug, anything smaller and your batter may spilleth over. When you remove it from the microwave it will be steamy and dense. Stick a spoon into the now-cooked cake and give it a choppy mix so redistribute those sprinkles.

Add a dollop of happy barely-sugarfied whipped cream, add a few sprinkles and enjoy!