Coffee Mug Flowerpots

There are a lot of plants in our home and I'm always starting new clippings to give to friends.
Most recently, I had a bunch of baby jade plants that I'd rooted and needed to transplant. I bought these coffee mugs that look like flowerpots -- perfect for the little jades. When they outgrow these starter pots, my friends can re-use the mugs.

They were so cute I wanted to take a picture. Looks like Peanut thinks they're irresistable too.



















Then, while I was taking a picture of the FlowerMugs among some other plants I noticed ...

the "Christmas" cactus has buds! I guess maybe it's an Easter cactus? Or perhaps, it's just confused. What ever the reason, there are a bunch of tiny buds starting and now that I know what's going on I'll make sure to keep it watered and rotated. It has stunning flowers and I'll post pictures when it blooms :o)

February Catalog

Looking through Lee Valley & Veritas catalogs is like being a little kid with a brand new Sears Christmas catalog. Am I dating myself? Do you remember those fat holiday catalogs filled with wonderful toys and games and things? I remember scrutinizing pictures of a favorite item and imagining what I would do with it if it was mine.

Some things don't change.

MMMMmmmm... look at that tool. If I had that I'd make a ________. While visions of sugarplums danced in my head.

Anyway, this month's cover photo is amazing. It's "a half-carved jacket emerging from a single block of basswood" by Dan Driscoll of Toronto. Incredible!

Music to Work By

I'm photographing soapstone carvings in my studio this afternoon with Ok Go playing in the background. They make me jump around! How can you not? While I wait for images to download off my camera I can make up new dance steps to A Million Ways!

WaterMonkey

I'm revising WaterMonkey ads for the New Hampshire Gazette and The WiRE. (I was going to link to the NHG, but it seems they're having trouble with their site. It's: www.nhgazette.com) I like to see how ideas can evolve, so I put together all the 2006 ads for an easy reference. What a bunch of monkey business!

Okay, enough!

No more drool enducing food pictures! Cynthia, I apologize.

Here is the new Varmint Box. We had to retire the old one because it was becoming unstable from all the chomping, flopping and craziness. The new box has fancy schmancy saloon style doors. I'm toying with the idea of drawing some slats on the doors and making a "Cathouse Saloon" sign. Freakin' spoiled cats.

Carole's Birthday Cake

We got together for Carole's birthday and I made her a Pineapple Upside Down cake. It came out of the oven, cooled in the pan for 10 minutes, was tipped out onto the platter... and ta-da! Lovliness! I snapped a picture of it and drove with the still warm cake to Carole's house. I haven't had this type of cake in a very long time and the first bite blew me away. It was unbelievably delicious.

Hot Out of the Oven

Too bad the computer monitor doesn't have a scratch-n-sniff option because this Macaroni & Cheese is bubbly, steamy, cheesy goodness. I have been cooking this morning while getting ready for work... and messing around with this picture isn't going to help me be on time... but it just smelled so darned good I couldn't help but wanna shout about it! Woo Hoo! Look up happiness in the dictionary and there's a picture of hot Mac & Cheese!

King Arthur Flour

The Spring 2007 issue of The Baker's Companion has a recipe for these Love Letter cookies. Aren't they great?! I'm going to make some for Valentine's Day and fill them with Almond "Schmear"... mmmm...

I have tried a lot of recipes from King Arthur Flour and they have all been delicious. I've also purchased their mixes for myself and as gifts for others and those have been excellent as well.

Looking at this picture motivates me to go work on a shopping list so I can make sure I've got all the ingredients. I'm also making a Pineapple Upside Down cake this weekend for Carole's birthday, so I've got to make sure to get everything I need for that too. I can't wait! I haven't had Pineapple Upside Down cake for years. Let the baking begin!

Coming Soon...

WaterMonkey is getting ready to print the second farm tee-shirt I've designed. The first one was a "support organic farmers" graphic, silkscreened onto cotton/hemp blend tee-shirts. I don't know what types of shirts this new design will be printed on, but I can't wait to see 'em. I'm hoping to add some canvas shopping bags onto the print run.