sohobeads’ Neighborhood

Soldier's goodbye & Bobbie the cat, ca. 1939-ca. 1945 / by Sam Hood
from the State Library of New South Wales collection on flickr

It is really time to ditch the canned food! Visit the healthy librarian to find out why.

My friend Mickey at Nicholas Landon Jewelery in Texas is having a Thanks-Give- Away
Her work is really lovely!

Another friend, Mark Brennen shared this link to a really interesting 1941 film produced by the National Film Board of Canada about the famous painter A.Y. Jackson following him on his painting journeys into the bush.

Still trying to raise $1000 for a digital mammogram machine and getting ready for those 6 hours of fitness classes on January 30th for Bust a Move! If you could help me please I'd be very grateful. It says Canadian $ but will convert US to Cdn.

Delicious Butternut Squash and Pear soup. I use an immersion blender and you don't have to add the cream at all or you can use evaporated skim milk for creamy no fat flavour.

Also, don't forget to enter my bloggy 1st Anniversary draw:)

Have a fun weekend:)

At the start of the day I thought I knew what today's "Note From The Universe" meant and I laughed out loud at its perfect timing and choice of words.

Thinking brand new thoughts that you've never thought before, Patty, is wildly more conducive to creating big life changes than just thinking different varieties of the same old thoughts. Think about it -     The Universe

p.s. Like, where will you be at this time next year, Patty? Who will you be playing elephant polo with? And what will you be dreaming of after you get your sense of integrity?

However, at the end of this day, I am less certain what it means than when the day started.

But it is Friday the 13th and perhaps it's time to think some entirely new thoughts.

The Universe is looking out for me. I just need to keep listening. 

  

A neighbor found a kitten in her woodpile, another neighbor thought it might be my cat and got me. Of course it was not mine, but I got to find out what one does here when one finds a cat. AND I got to meet a neighbor who is MY AGE! Nancy, who found the cat is awesome and 55. She and I hit it off. She like me finds animals and helps them to find new owners.

I took the cat to my sis's animal clinic and they checked it out, fed it, gave it shots and tests and have it under observation for the weekend. On monday I'll "drop in" and see if I want this new little girl cat or if I feel she should go to another family. (likely)

There, I snagged Beanie, Barb's dog for a playday with Nym. Beanie and Nym played ALL day and into the night.

My sis and Mark came to dinner and I finally got to cook for them. Mexican was the theme including intense margarita's. We all plan on going for a motorcycle ride tomorrow!

I found the "STATE" store and stocked up on liquor. :-)

It's all good. It really is.

Okay, so that is a picture of the S'more Cupcakes (Seriously, DO NOT replace the frosting with marshmallow fluff, it does NOT work well.  Melts all over the place.) and the Carrot Cupcakes with homemade Cream Cheese Frosting.  Delicious, probably my favourite thus far.  These are all from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  The most brilliant book ever.   These have been a hit with EVERYONE that have tasted them.  Gobbled up :)

Well, I've had a request for the Pumpkin Cupcakes.  They were wonderful.  I wasn't able to take a picture of those.  But I made half with and half without chocolate chips (just add them after filling half the cups) since my mom doesn't like pumpkin and chocolate.  They are a bit dense, but they were still delicious.  I'll highlight the small change I made:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cupcakes with Cinnamon Icing
Makes 12 Cupcakes

Ingredients
1 cup canned punpkin
1/3 cup oil (I split it oil/apple sauce)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup soy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup AP Flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
I added 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c choc. chips
--Cinnamon Icing

Direction:

1.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Line muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2.  In a medium bowl, stir together pumpkin, oil/apple sauce, sugar, soy milk, and vanilla.  Sift in flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon/pumpkin spice, salt.  Stir together with a fork--don't use a handheld mixer, as it will make the batter gummy.  Once well combined, fold in the chocolate chips.
3.  Fill liners two-thirds full.  Bake for 22-24 minutes.  Transfew to wire rack and let fully cool before icing.

Cinnamon Icing
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (also added some pumpkin spice)
2 Tbl margarine, melted
1 Tbl soy milk
1.2 tsp vanilla

1.  Place sugar and cinnamon/pumpkin spice in a small bowl.  Add the margarine, soy milk, and vanilla and stir with a fork until smooth.  Keep at room temperature until ready to use.  The mixture should look opaque and honey brown.  If it's glistening a lot or looks too liquid, add a little extra confectioners' sugar.

Assemble:
I just used a spoon and drizzled the icing on -- the book tells you to pipe it on.  Whatever.

Originally published at Calobee Doodles. You can comment here or there.

It's that time of year... shopping season is upon us, and it's especially important for small businesses to get the word out about where to find the best handmade holiday gifts. Why not spruce up your shop with a look that's fit for the season?

Originally published at sixhours.net. You can comment here or there.

If you're a designer (and even if you're not) there are probably certain fonts you absolutely cannot live without. My favorite Web site for new font discoveries these days is MyFont.com--tons of fonts, freeware and otherwise--in a sleek Web interface that is as attractive as the fonts themselves.

Here are some of my favorites:

Sexsmith. It's playful. It's fun. If a font could be sexy, this one would be sexy. I use Sexsmith over at Calobee Doodles and it's one of those I keep coming back to... I have to force myself not to over-use it!

Rosewood Std Fill. This font was designed to be used as a (you guessed it) fill for its fancy cousin, Rosewood Std, but I think it stands quite well on its own.

Didot. One of my regular design practices involves combining a simple serif with a simple sans-serif, and this is my simple serif font of choice.

Little Days. Another of my Calobee Doodles favorites. Whimsical and a little loopy, just like me!

Respect the font, people. What are your favorites?

Originally published at sixhours.net. You can comment here or there.

I'm feeling a little nostalgic. Last year at this time I was eagerly counting down the days until the arrival of Miss Elspeth and wondering what the future had in store. Well, the future is now, as they say. Here's a snapshot:

Babies come with luggage, not baggage...
Then: Our living room had a fairly straightforward arrangement. Chairs, a TV, a lamp, a bookshelf or two--simple, functional, nothing fancy.
Now: It looks like a Toys R Us exploded. There's a sippy cup in the middle of the floor, and I'm pretty sure it's been there for three days. There's this behemoth of a thing we call the Pack n' Play sitting in one corner, although the name is misleading... it implies that baby might play in it. It should actually be called Baby's Favorite Torture Device, because that's what you'd think we were doing when we put her in it.

Handling someone else's excrement is...
Then: Not happening.
Now: Any diaper that doesn't require a new outfit or a bath on the part of either changee or changer is a good diaper, no matter how stinky.

The soft spot is...
Then: Eurghh. *shudder*
Now: I admit, I'm still squicked out by the soft spot. If you're not familiar, it's that part of the baby's skull that hasn't yet fused, leaving an opening covered by skin. If you happen to press on it (I wish you wouldn't) it's like pressing into warm Silly Putty... if that Silly Putty were made of your baby's brains.

On the pacifier...
Then: Hadn't said the word "binky" more than a handful of times in my life. Probably didn't know what "binky" meant. Didn't care.
Now: I say it a handful of times each day, usually preceded by "Where is the damn..." or "What the hell happened to the...." Binkies, like cat toys, have this nasty habit of disappearing to hold secret binky meetings under the furniture.

Laundry--I'm...
Then: Always drowning in it, but there's hope!
Now: Always drowning in it, and there's no hope in sight.  Considering nudism.

On sleep (or a lack thereof)...
Then: 6 a.m. is an ungodly hour. No self-respecting lover of sleep should be subjected to it.
Now: "It's 6:15 a.m.? She let us sleep in! Wait, is she alive? Yes? WOOHOO!"

Alarm clocks are...
Then: A necessity if I want to get to work before 8.
Now: Still necessary, but we got a new one. This particular model totally ignores all user programming, is loud, insistent, and I've yet to find the snooze button.

When someone tells you that having a kid will change your life... take heed. Listen to them and listen well. Now, where is that damn binky...

B1/B4 - Study Guides for pages 3-46 DUE.  Quiz: pages 3-46.  Daily Oral Grammar exercises #8 and #9.  Discussed pages 3-46 and went over the study guides.  Gave students the remainder of the period to work on their short story projects with their groups.  Assignment:  Read pages 47-84 and complete the Study Guide (two-sided) for that portion of the reading.  Continue working on the short story projects, too.

B2 - Study Guides for pages 3-46 DUE.  Journal Activity: Give up 2 more items from the list you created previously.  Write about those two items.  Daily Oral Grammar exercises #8 and #9.  Discussed pages 3-46 and went over the study guides.  Assignment:  Review pages 3-46 and the notes over Night and prepare for the Quiz for Tuesday.