Bohemian Oatmeal

I can't get no.....satisfaction

2006-09-04T09:55:00.000-07:00

I'm very unsatisfied with my blog. As you've probably noticed lately, the format has been changing like every time I post.

I've been reading tons of great blogs and really like their look and layout. Blogger leaves me unhappy and yet, it's free so ...

Also, no one is commenting anymore.

sigh....

UPDATE

There is a new version of blogger out there now and I'm going to try it out. The new address is:

www.bloggnome.blogspot.com

Whidbey Island

2006-08-27T15:29:00.000-07:00

We're back. We actually got back last week but I've been busy getting things back together in the house and laundry....man, lots of laundry.

The drive to Whidbey was pretty nice. I kept having Deja Vous since we had just driven the same stretch of freeway only two days before.

We got there pretty early since we wanted to have as much island time as we could fit into our 4 days.

Here's H on the beach right out front of the house we were staying at. We stayed with our friends C, E, & C. C's parents own this wonderful beachside house.

While on the island, we picked blackberries. H picked them for the first time so C gave him a lesson on how to make sure they are truely ripe. I'm sure there were some tart ones in there too. He tried to convince E to eat one that was half ripe and half not so she could experience the sweet tart taste. Then there was the time that he came running for me yelling, "Hey mom! I gotta sticker in my butt!" He indeed did, and it was removed promptly.

We did take an afternoon trip to Port Townsend. We loved the big ships in the marina and the ferry coming and going.

We also made it to Fort Casey. This is an old military fort that is not in use.

The days were mostly spent relaxing, knitting, and spinning. I also brought some yarn for E to work on a project. She was able to finish her project on the way home from Whidbey. This photo is at a rest stop outside of Ellensburg. Dish rag complete!

We had so much fun! Troy couldn't come because of work so it was only me and the kids. We hope next time, Troy will make it too.

On a sad note, while we were gone, our cat died. I waited to tell the kids until we got home. I'm very sad about it. More sad than I thought I'd be. Sometimes, when I'm spinning, one of his hairs will make it into the wool. *Sniff*

Martha's Yellow Cake

2006-08-10T11:24:00.000-07:00

Martha's Yellow Cake, originally uploaded by That Bohemian Chick.

I baked Troy's Grandfather a birthday cake last weekend. He's just turned 80. Since he's a retired baker, there was no way I could get by with a box cake. He highly praised the cake. It's from the Martha Stewart Baking cookbook I got from the kids for x-mas. I used the yellow cake recipe with the Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting. The filling is Bonne Maman strawberry preserves. Yum!

Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls of ....Yarn

2006-08-06T16:21:00.000-07:00

Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls of ....Yarn, originally uploaded by That Bohemian Chick.

WOW!
Sorry this is a bit fuzzy. I had to take a photo of this giant ball of yarn I pulled off the winder. That is a foot long ruler next to it. It also stood about 7 inches tall.

This is the ugliest sock yarn in the world. The blue is fine, the white is fine, the purple....U-G-L-Y. The dye was a dark brown but some how split during dying into this grape-y purple. Bleh Maybe I might need to overdye it.

Mermaid Clapotis

2006-08-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

This is actually from a few days ago. I've already started dropping stitiches. It's strangly gratifying. Just watching it run makes me so giddy.

So, now I've run out of yarn and need to spin some more. Luckily, I've got nearly a full bobbin and just need to finish it off and set the twist.

Woot!

2 dye 4

2006-07-30T17:45:00.000-07:00

I've totally lost my mind.

You know that merino/silk top from HelloYarn....uhhhh, I sort of dyed it all.

I got some cushing dyes and went to town. I wanted it to look like the ocean, I think I've come close. It's really beautiful. The above photos are of my favorite sections.

As soon as it dried, I couldn't help myself and started spinning it. I'm going for singles that are Aran/Heavy Worsted. It's a little less uniform since I'm going from spinning really fine to heavier. I'm hoping you won't notice much in the final knitted object.

Here's some of the yarn...

I'm calling it Mermaid Yarn, it's for the Clapotis (I swear I'm the last knitter to do this project). It'll be a Mermaid Clapotis. I've started knitting it up and the pattern is sort of dangerously mindless. There are some "pay attention" sections that I could easily space out on if I'm not careful.

WOOT for new fiber and yarn!!!

VOX Invite

2006-07-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

I have one VOX invite to gift out. Any takers?

It's really cool, btw.

New Paint

2006-07-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

New Paint, originally uploaded by That Bohemian Chick.

I'm so glad it's done! It was not my favorite thing to do, but I think I'm going to really enjoy the new color. There are little things I want for it but it will all come with time. I'm waiting for this evening to start spinning on it since the final coat feels dry but it's that dry that you think your nails are then you bump them and it's ruined....

Specs:
Minwax-Water Based Wood Stain Decorateror Tint Formula
Minwax Polycrylic Water Based Protective Finish (3 coats..BLAH)

The parts that look like natural wood have only been sanded and sealed witht the Polycrylic.

Moving for a while

2006-07-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

I'm trying out a new blog service.

Please follow me here:

http://gnome.vox.com/

UPDATE
So I just figured out that you have to be a member to comment. So I think I'll post on both. Feel free to comment here for a VOX post. As soon as I get invites, I'll invite people.

The Hitchhiker

2006-07-21T17:04:00.000-07:00

The Hitchhiker, originally uploaded by That Bohemian Chick.

I did it, I ordered another spinning wheel. It's called The Hitchhiker and it's from The Merlin Tree in Vermont.

This one has the advatage of being uber portable unlike my Ashford that takes up an entire seat and flops around. I'm worried one of these days the entire maidenhead will come crashing off.

When I called in my order, he said he would ship next week.

Now to decide about finishes. It comes plain jane and I really want to have some fun with it.

I'm thinking either Gnomes or Jack Kerouac.

I'd like to use stain vs. paint and maybe stenciling or decoupage.

Any ideas?

Pirate Frenzy

2006-07-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

My life seems to be filled with pirates.

H's birthday is next week and he wants a pirate themed birthday.

Last winter I knit Troy the We Call Them Pirates hat and imediately wanted one for myself. I decided to make it for fair this year out of homespun. As soon as it got spun up and dyed, I had to start knitting. It went really fast and I was able to finish it up last friday at a local steel drum concert at the park. My loverly pal Ali took photos since I couldn't be bothered.

I had the two boys try it on since they are a good judge of softness and look entirely too cute in hats. The first photo is H and the second is Ali's boy N. Click on the photos for a larger size.

These photos are of the hat pre-blocked so it's kinda lumpy looking.

There be pirates about....

2006-07-12T12:12:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we went to our local premier of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. A friend of our through our Academy of Children's Theatre invited us to attend the premier in full costume and then after to go to her house for a huge pirate party.

Here is H and C. Notice C is going for the modern pirate look:

Our friend Janice is a HUGE pirate fan and dressed like Capt. Jack Sparrow.

The movie was great but I don't think as good as the first one. It also leaves you in a a lurch at the end with the impending third movie.

At the after party, the local newspaper showed up and interviewed some of the attendees. I got quoted so that makes me famous right? Article Here

Zizou a brisé mon coeur...

2006-07-09T13:47:00.000-07:00

I'm moping today.

France lost the world cup game.

It was a great game, double overtime then it came to penalty kicks.

Zidane was red carded during the second overtime for loosing his temper. It was a very sad way to finish your career.

I weep for France.

Le Tour de Fleece

2006-07-06T10:44:00.000-07:00

+=

I haven't posted about the Tour de France starting last Saturday. I'm just in such a world cup frenzy right now.

Since Mr. Armstrong has retired, I'm a little less enthusiastic about the race. To keep myself involved, I've joined the Tour de Fleece. It's a spin-a-long for the duration of the race. The details are here.

I've set up a 30 minutes a day goal. I've exceeded this on some days due to world cup watching and this is what I've got so far.

It's Merino Top spun up into sport weight two ply. It's for a project for the fair. I want to knit We Call Them Pirates for myself. The black in the pattern will be replaced with olive green.

ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!!!

2006-07-05T12:37:00.000-07:00

OMG!!!

ZIZOU just got a penalty kick for France!!!!

WOO HOOO!!!!!!

UPDATE!!!

France Won!!!!

Sunday: France vs. Italy for the final

WOOT!!!!!

Sock Monkey Hat

2006-07-05T11:12:00.000-07:00

Sock Monkey Hat, originally uploaded by That Bohemian Chick.

The new Knitty is out: www.knitty.com

I have to make this hat! OMG It's the coolest!

Happy 4th of July!!

2006-07-04T11:52:00.000-07:00

I'm just getting ready to watch the World Cup game of Germany vs. Italy. It should be a very good game. I'm not sure who I favor...

Hope you have a great 4th of July!

Saturday Spinning

2006-07-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

Saturday Spinning, originally uploaded by That Bohemian Chick.

This year I've been so into The World Cup. I don't know what it is, I'm loving soccer.

This was the view from my chair Saturday morning, watching Germany and Argentina play. Germany won after double overtime and penalty kicks. It was intense.

The End of the Season

2006-06-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

This year H played coach pitch baseball through the local community center. Last night, their coach arranged for them to sit in the VIP box and be "baseball buddies". They were right next to the dugout and got to get autographs and a hat.

Before the game, they ran out with the players and stood next to them for the national anthem.

Here he is running in after the anthem.

I think this was his favorite part of the entire baseball season. Next fall, we've him signed up for soccer. I think baseball is not fast enough for him. And, he loves watching the World Cup.

Merry Mid-Summer!

2006-06-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

It's finally summer!

It's so beautiful here, temperatures are in the 80's and low 90's.

The ice cream truck has started to make it's appearance.

Cherries are in season...

*sigh*

Summertime and the living is good!

2006-06-19T09:48:00.000-07:00

Please send more of these my way.

Yes, I'm finally posting. Last week I finished finals at school and this last weekend I rushed about doing things that I could finally allow myself to do. In the last weeks, I have been doing other things and luckily, I've photographed some of it.

My friend Elane had a last minute get together at her house the night before my French Oral Exam. We had to go, Elane is such a great hostess and we knew other friends would be there. We had grilled sausage and sangria. My first mosquito bites of the season occured there. I'm such bug bait. Who needs citronella when I'm around to attract all the mosquitos...

My niece E came over last week. She's so funny and smart. Yeah, yeah, yeah...all babies are smart, it's just I forgot how smart they can be. They hide behind all that cute-ness and then BANG! they're into the book shelf. I love it when she visits.

With local schools out, the community events that mark the arrival of summer have begun. We went to the local concert at the park on Friday last. It was jazz and they sounded good. It was aweful windy though and we left at 8:30 to warm up at home.

Saturday, we went to the local Master Gardener's Garden Faire. They have a demonstration garden at the library that you can walk through. They had guides and vendors and food. The kids dyed their hair green in the children's garden. We ran into the Shmoos there. I bought some organic blueberries for a snack and the kids bought very expensive ice cream.

Afterwards, we picked up Troy and headed off to a birthday party. It was lots of fun as well. I ended up spilling a full glass of wine on myself and I wasn't even tipsy at the time. My hand just had to teach me a lesson appearently and *splash*. It did wash out of the dress thank goodness.

Father's day we woke up and went to my parent's house for brunch and afterwards, the kids went swimming. We came home and crashed with full bellies and pretty much laid low for the rest of the day.

My week is filled with fun stuff and now that I've got more free time, I'll be more faithful at posting.

Tag Sales

2006-05-27T12:04:00.000-07:00

The kids and I went to an estate and a few yard sales today. Above is our booty. If you click on the photo and go to flickr there are notes on everything showing what we paid.

We also got a push mower. It needs oiling and sharpening but otherwise, it's in great shape. H is looking forward to doing his own mowing. I'm hoping to convert to just the push mower. Troy is not into that, he would rather just mow once a week.

Towel Day!!

2006-05-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

I almost missed this. It's today.

We're big Douglas Adams fans here.

Check out the info here.

"A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitch hiker can have. Partly it has great practical value - you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in and-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you - daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with."

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

May 25 is Towel Day, a tribute to Douglas Adams

A Snail's Pace

2006-05-24T10:06:00.000-07:00

The other day, one of my favorite blogs did a post about snails and taking things slower. It was a great couple of posts. It got me to thinking about how hurried I am all the time. Most of it is due to school, the other is outside commitments. Before I started back to school, I would complain that I didn't have enough time. Now, I really know what that looks like. Believe me when I say, the grass is much greener on the no school side.

With summer coming on, I want to make an effort to live our days at a snails pace. Everything doesn't have to be done right away. Appts. can be cancelled and we can choose only a few activities.

While oogling over Knitting Iris' snail photos, I wished that we had snails like that around here. This morning, my wish came true! While at school, walking with my friend a HUGE snail(golf ball size shell) was trying to make it accross the sidewalk into the shade, attempting to flee from the rising sun. Luckily, I had my camera from the day before in my bag and was able to snap a few shots of him. I was so content to just watch this fella stretch and progress along the side walk. I easily spent 5 minutes watching. I love the shadow he made on the sidewalk. Later, while going to class I noticed a bunch of them in the grass and near what is to now be called a "snail cove by" some bushes. When you actually stopped to look, you could see there were so many of these little creatures.

A snails pace...that's the life for me!

OMC- Westside Story 1961

2006-05-23T10:13:00.000-07:00

We've gotten back into our Oscar Movie Challenge again. With school ending soon, I can see the horizon and it's called more free time.

We watched Westside Story yesterday with the kids.

It's a musical.

I have decided I'm just not a musical fan. Songs just take way to long to convey a message that could be done in a sentence or two. Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know, how very immature of me.

For those who aren't familiar with this movie, it won best picture in 1961 (and unbelievably 9 other oscars). It's a musical, it's got a pseudo Romeo and Juliet theme with a bit of race issues thrown in.

Near the end, we just couldn't stand it anymore and started fast forwarding through the music numbers.

I did really like the "technicolor" filming. It's pretty to watch.

Rating: 2 stars out of 5