Thanksgiving and beyond

Recuperating Lady
Originally uploaded by average lavender

The day started with me scrambling to complete some mix cds before heading to work. It's not that I minded working on a holiday, it's that I felt sort of used, taken advantage of. No holiday pay, no "thanks for working on this holiday that the rest of the company has off," no sandwich. Someone left the big hood vent on all night so the kitchen was about thirty degrees. The dough gave me little trouble.

The celebratory part of our day was spent with Hope, Mal, and her parents at their wonderfully secluded house outside of Asheville. There was amazing brined turkey, incredible dressing (my favorite part of the meal), brussel sprouts, green beans, gravy, rolls, and of course, pumpkin pie with homemade ice cream. Amazing. Delicious.

The exciting part of the day we spent at REACH, the emergency vet. Girl came in with us when we got home and she quickly settled down onto the bed. It wasn't until a couple hours later when I pulled the covers on the bed up that Girl freaked out: hissing, growling, yawling, and gently limping away. When she settled down again we notice one of her back feet clenching and releasing and then that whole side of her body clenching and releasing, along with her head wobbling around. After waiting a little over an hour in the exam room the vet agreed that Girl would need to be anesthetized if they were going to get a good look at her leg. We left Girl with her and headed home for some much needed sleep. At six a.m., after check-up phone call, after nine staples and one e collar later,we headed back to bring her home. All we could squeeze out of the vet tech guy and the copy of the papers he gave us was that she had "punctures" - whether they're from another animal or not, we have no idea.

Immediately after being released from her carrier the e collar (aka: stupid plastic cone around her head) scratched along the floor and scared her to her little kitty core and sent her rocketing around the house flailing her head around. She's quarantined in our bedroom, the e collar has been trimmed back so it doesn't drag on the floor, and she gets her pain killers and antibiotics every twelve hours. Boy is seriously uneasy about her. He looks at her as though she's completely off her rocker.

Girl's incident comes on the heels of another sad cat incident: my mom's cat, Yoda, suddenly died a few days ago. We adopted Yoda after my cat Annika was put down due to leukemia when she was a year old. Yoda was named Yoda because when she was little her ears tended to lie flat and my family is kind of nerdy. Yoda is survived by Mischief, adopted at the same time as Annika and Elizabeth, who happened into our lives a grumpy, stand-offish cat (hence the nickname, Elizabitch), and who has found a home and chilled out, finally.

So on this Thanksgiving I'm thankful for cats, vets, good family, good friends, and the roof over my head. Also, food.

Oh! AND after at least a year of waiting and probably many many years of meaning to do it it's finally happened: my mom has gained Irish citizenship!

Vance Craft Explosion

Vance Craft Explosion
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Okay, so it ended up being more like a...pool of stagnant craft? Craft show and tell? Adorable-because-it's-so-small-quaint-slow-and-kind-of-sad craft experience? Two pretty sad points: 1) two vendors left early, at four, instead of sticking it out until five 2) the bake sale had no baked goods.

We were, surprisingly, prepared. Last night George put together our booth - made from palettes, some boards we had lying around - and painted the faces of the palettes with some $3 blue paint from Lowe's. To our right: Dogwood Digs, makers of a wide assortment of kids clothes and accessories. To our left: Slaphappy, two cool ladies recycling clothes into way more awesome clothes. (Note: find their stuff at Twice Round in W. Asheville.)

Much to my surprise the paint chip books didn't sell...at all. Predictably, the tiniest books (1"x1") sold very well. (There were only five.) Interestingly, three of the tiny books were purchased by different, unassociated women with the intent of being used for "fairy secrets" by small girls.

George sold one bowl, but received many, many compliments on them. We think they'll sell better at the Big Crafty and, hopefully, Etsy.

Now we're going to clean up the site of the real Craft Explosion: our house.

Sneak peek

little books
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Vance Elementary is on Sulpher Springs, which is off of Haywood - super easy to find .

I've been spending all of my free time working on things for this Craft Explosion and I feel pretty good about them. There are little ones, big ones, medium ones, hopefully there will be ones with pockets, there are elastic closures, and there'll be a tiny box set or two.

It's exciting and gratifying to work on these books, it's something I love doing just as much as I love baking. That should have been my first clue - like baking this booking is wrecking my hands and shoulders. Over the course of a day I go from being motivated and thrilled to being mournful and self-pitying. Luckily all the books are blank and don't expound on it.

Be there.

C'mon, Asheville!  The holidays are coming and you know you have some shopping to do.  You also know you want to do it responsibly and support your local artists, so I expect to see you and all of your friends Sunday (unless you're legitimately out of town on a business trip.)  

Bowl 1

Bowl 1
Originally uploaded by average lavender

I hadn't realized just how much I missed making things.

I finally found some cherry logs yesterday at the local Sunrise Sawmill. Just in time too, we're signed up for a craft fair next Sunday, and then the Big One on December 7.

Here are a couple of things I've been reading:

Humanure. a fascinating compost book. read it.

Clusterfucknation. take it with a grain of salt. or two.

Weekday update

dried leaves
Originally uploaded by average lavender

We voted. We winterized the lawnmower we never got to work, we put plastic over the picture window that doesn't open. We suddenly got a new roof put on the house. We went back to Verizon.

We also had a small pumpkin carving party! I got our pumpkins at a church up the road and am pretty sure George and I got a weird chemical burns from the pesticides used on the pumpkin: burning, redness, soreness. The party also featured: roofers roofing until 7:30 or 8pm, a pretty but seriously flawed pumpkin cheesecake, a clear picture of how our home is not ready for any guest entertaining.

We did not give out any candy or really celebrate Halloween in any other way. I worked all night and George turned all the lights off. However, before he could get the lights off a couple of kids came to the door:

Knock, knock, knock
George opens the door, sees two middle school dudes.
Dudes: "Trick or treat, we're kids who're too lazy to dress up."
George: "Well, I'm the guy who's too lazy to buy candy."
Dudes: "We'll expect double the candy next year."
Later, when I came home, I notice that our friend's pumpkin had disappeared.
Conclusion: disgruntled lazy dudes stole one of our pumpkins because they didn't receive any candy.

We took the time to hit up the NC Arboretum on Saturday while it was in the 60's and sunny. We walked one of the trails and decided to save the rest (bonsais!) for another day.

We've been chilly (me), sick (George), and achy (both). The kittens have been hogging all the blankets and space on the couch and bed.

We may try and have a table at The Big Crafty this December. Unlike SF, Asheville doesn't feel quite so intimidating for starting some sort of small, vogue crafting biz. As a warm up, I've paid to have a table at the Craft Explosion happening at the elementary school at the head of our street. George is ready to start turning some bowls as soon as he gets his grease-stained, dry, rugged hands on some wood and I'm sewing up some notepads and blank books with my ever increasingly RSI stricken hands.

We also are hoping to be home this holiday season, particularly December 29 through January 4. It mostly depends on whether I get this time off from work, which I've already requested. We're hoping to get someone(s) to drive at least one of the directions with us. (Curtis? James? Jenna? Halley? Anyone?)