Bicycats

Trains & Boats & Planes

2010-03-16T08:39:00.004-04:00

I lied, just boats. This is our hot new canoe! It's a Mad River Canoe from...uhm...the 90's, we think . One of Geo's clients used to be a canoe rep and apparently still has a fairly large stock pile of canoes. Among them George sniffed out this sweet gem which his client kindly traded him some work for. George spent the weekend sanding and oiling all the cross bars and acquiring a new set of seats. He even braved a tanning salon to get his hands on some UV protectant for the hull. We'll have to wait until next weekend to take it out for a spin though, the skies are threatening rain and it's getting a little chilly. I see this canoe being one lean, mean, adventuring and picnicking machine.

This is especially exciting since we'll be returning to the North East in the near future for ... good? the long haul? a while? serious? For serious. We're returning to the North East for serious and the North East happens to be chock full of bodies of water - ponds, lakes, rivers and we'll be navigating them all in our canoe.

2009-10-19T12:23:00.005-04:00

It's cold now. That's right, it's even cold here in the South. We turned the heat on in the house, we found most of our hats, mittens and scarves. I put the down comforter on the bed yesterday and it's awesome. Our bedroom used to be a porch and it's the only part of the house with the original, single-paned, wicked drafty, with slightly-cracked-glass-in-them windows. It's difficult enough to get out of bed when the floor's cold in the first place, but trying to get up when the floor's cold, the air's freezing and it's still dark out is not how I want to get up.

We've got a new trick in our home-winterizing bag this year: bubble wrap. Our friend, Taft, originally turned us on to the idea when it was still hot here and I've been biding my time to try it out. It's just as simple as it sounds: put bubble wrap on your windows. It takes a little time to cut the pieces to size, but that's the most time consuming part. To adhere it to the glass you simple spray a mist of water on then press the bubble wrap on. Magic! For more info and step-by-step photos check out Build It Solar's write up.

The wrap we used we bought at Staples, I've read suggestions of trying to get some for free from furniture stores, and there's also a type of bubble wrap made for greenhouses that's a little thicker and sturdier. We opted for the larger bubble style wrap which is supposed to work a little better than the little stuff, and every little bit helps. In addition to bubbling the windows I'm also going to put the plastic shrink stuff over them to help combat the extreme draftiness.

Other than winterizing things have been quiet, we're both gearing up for the winter Big Crafty and are looking forward to spending Christmas in Vermont for the first time since we moved away 3 years ago. I know we've been neglecting this little blog, but I've been a little better about keeping up with Petit Dejournal which is the other project I've been working on.

garden redux

2009-08-18T15:28:00.002-04:00

late summer garden
Originally uploaded by sawyer.george

Apparently you're allowed to have two gardens per year in the South... crazy. So, we tore up most of the summer garden this morning: the failed corn, one of the cukes, dying green beans, beheaded sunflowers, the empty pea fence.

We turned over and raked out all of the empty soil for a fresh start. Jenne managed to fit in about half of our thirty-odd basil starts, and I planted new rows of beets, peas, carrots, soy beans, and lettuce. I even spread out some mulch on the path (mostly applewood shavings from turning my first goblets! check 'em out on flickr).

Psychics, burritos.

2009-07-28T19:23:00.002-04:00

If you missed it last time: I started a second blog, it's about food, and it's freshly updated! Check it out! This week it's about burritos and coffee.

When we decided to move across town one of my main concerns (obviously) was for the cats and their outdoor habits. In California Boy was notorious for getting himself stuck up trees and even M.I.A for an entire week. When we first got to North Carolina he behaved himself fairly well, only getting stuck up a couple trees and easily located. Our new neighborhood is packed in with houses, trees, dogs and fences. I had visions of Boy following squirrels up the ancient oak trees across the street, jumping head-first into a yard full of loud, viscious, tiny dogs, weaseling his way into everybody's garages. To my surprise, none of these things have happened. He prefers to climb one particular tree, conveniently located just outside the front door from which he can jump to the roof of the house. He's never even been in a fight!

Sunday while we were burrito-ing up a storm Boy came in, snacked a little, and headed back out. Then he didn't come back. We did a lot of walking, a lot of whistling, a lot of calling and came up empty every time. The weird part about this little disappearing act is that we couldn't hear him. Usually he gets himself up a tree, thinks it's cool for a while, then freaks out when he can't immediately figure out how to get down and starts bellowing. By Monday morning he still wasn't home and we still had no clue where he was. We pawed through some neighbor-yards and scouted things out from the roof. Finally we did what any pet owner would do: we called a pet psychic. AKA: an animal communicator.

She asked me his name, what type of cat he was. She asked if we lived in a place with lots of houses but also lots of trees, maybe some woods. She said he was about three years old. She told me he could see a deck post, and some tall grass - a field? unmowed lawn? It looked like there was a basement entrance to something, under the deck. He went there often, it's where he likes to hunt. She didn't see any impact, any dogs, any harm. There might be a sliding glass door.

This description was perfect for a house two doors over from us. George and I walked over, knocked, waited. The fellow took a while answering the door, we thought maybe no one was home, we were going to snoop in the backyard. When he did answer I said, "Uhm...we're missing a cat..." and he interrupted me - "Oh, yeah, he's right here."

Apparently Boy had jumped through an open windown, hung out, and curled up on the bed while he was asleep.

CRAZY!

I called the lady back, I told her she was dead-on, that it was amazing, that I was so grateful, what did I owe her? I'd make her cookies - anything. She said people don't usually call her back and never asked for any money.

News

2009-07-21T17:43:00.002-04:00

News
Originally uploaded by lady grey cupcake

...and a blurry picture! (All the pictures we take seem to be coming out a little blurry lately.) Featured here are my new book, The Bread Builders, my new mug and some new bread! The book is really fascinating, it talks not only about masonry ovens and how they're built but also about how bread is made - not recipes so much as the mystery of baker's percentages. Between the chapters are little profiles of bakeries, like American Flatbread or the Cheeseboard and it's exciting to know what and where they're talking about. I'm just about to start the section on baker's percentages. Eee!

We picked six ears of corn from the garden last night and eagerly set some water boiling. George shucked them and we were pleasantly surprised to find they hadn't been ravaged by various bugs. We were not pleasantly surprised when we finally got to sink our teeth into it and it was ... kind of mushy, sticking to our teeth, and a little flavorless. Did we pick it too soon? Too late? What happened, corn?

Luckily we had some other dinner to fall back on. This leads me to my actual news which is that I've started up a second blog! It's really going to be all about food! I invite you all to head on over to Pétit Déjournal and read about my new project: Food Day. (At least that's what I'm calling it until something more elegant comes along.) Bicycats will continue and will still just be about what's happening with our riveting lives and how cute our cats are.

Catsup

2009-07-06T13:50:00.004-04:00

Here's a little recap of what's happened since we last spoke:

George & I both turned 27.

We sold our respective crafts at the Big Crafty.

Our garden is crazy!

George took a trip to Vermont.

I went to NYC.

George started learning how to brew beer.

I started learning how to use Microsoft Excel.

George's computer has taken a trip to the repair shop twice.

I finally started going to a chiropractor.

eye eye capt'n

2009-06-08T21:53:00.001-04:00

eye right
Originally uploaded by sawyer.george

I went rafting on saturday with the BRB crew, and our guide thought it'd be fun to dump me into the rapids 4 times in a row. Consequently my glasses now rest with the fishes. The optometrist took this photo to make sure the back of my eyeball is healthy. That green light at the center connects directly to my brain!

I'm leaving for VT on wednesday! Forrest, the banjo playing lab guy from work, thought it sounded like fun, so he'll be coming too. It'll be good to have a co-pilot. 17hrs of driving is a long time.

Vater Vlog

2009-05-25T18:49:00.001-04:00

RAIN
Originally uploaded by lady grey cupcake

Today's been a challenging day - mentally more than physically. George has been sprucing up the garden: a new pea fence, almost a trellis for the cucumbers, an extra bed - mostly for basil, fertilizing, weeding. We truly realized today just how much basil we're going to have. We're going to have A LOT. In addition to half a flat of young basil we've got an army of infant basil still not in the ground. It's going to be pesto central 'round here.

This afternoon (and this entire week) has threatened rain. In fact, it rained. For about 15-20 minutes it was some super crazy rain, and it all started with a bolt of lightning and clap of thunder directly over the house. Cats were frantic, we were startled, and then we watched the drains back up, the roads flood, the lady across the street and her friend sit in their car for the whole storm instead of making a break for the house. For a brief moment, while it was still raining hard, before the thunder there was some bright, bright sun. Conclusion: the weather in the South is wacky. And their thunderstorms are wicked sweet.

A new beginning

2009-05-15T17:09:00.003-04:00

When I decided to name my little book business "A Little Forgery" it was clearly not a keeper - we were getting ready to do the Big Crafty and I needed something to call it. Few people actually get "forgery" as in "copy", which is fine because it's a bit of stretch and a bit of a mouthful. Therefore, I've renamed it Bissy Bindery. I know, "what's the 'bissy' all about?" Bissy is a word that Liz introduced me to, it's a neat cross of bitch and sissy, and more and more I find I really identify with it. Sometimes we also use it to refer to our car. Here in Asheville you can find my earrings and mini books at the Flood Gallery shop in the Phil Mechanic Building and at Short Street Cakes. Out there in the rest of the world you can find some things at the new Bissy Bindery Etsy shop!

I've put up a picture of our corn and beans on Flickr - any idea what's eating them, moms? Any suggestions on how to stop it?

yet more news

2009-05-13T17:52:00.005-04:00

Check it out, I'm saving the world! With blue hands, and a faux carbon fiber helmet (with hearing protection):

http://www.mountainx.com/features/2009/051309the_green_scene

Unimog!

2009-05-03T20:22:00.002-04:00

unimog
Originally uploaded by sawyer.george

I just went for a spin in this 1976 Mercedes Unimog! (UNIversal-MOtor-Gerät). They're designed for agricultural and military use, and used extensively all across Europe. This one's a 6-speed, 6 cylinder diesel with PTO's on the front and back, a trailer hitch (for big trailers), and it's a convertible. Oh, it has a snorkel too. Those crazy Germans. Apparently they make all kinds of attachments; backhoes, cranes, plows, saws, whatev.

If anyone has $13k burning a hole in their pocket, this would be the place to spend it. The owner's name is Jon. I can give you his phone number.

In the news, again.

2009-05-03T13:20:00.001-04:00

Continuing to storm the media outlets, Jodi was on the local news this morning talking about the cake shop and her blog!

In the news

2009-04-29T15:45:00.002-04:00

Check out Short Street Cakes in the Citizen-Times, again!

Tidbits

2009-04-28T11:48:00.003-04:00

You're all invited to check out my first attempt at guest blogging over at the Short Street Cakes blog! Surprise: it's about cake!

As soon as I returned home from my trip George got sick - George never gets sick. Then a week later, I got sick - I never get sick. We're both about 75% recovered at this point. George got the crazy chills/coughing/not-getting-out-of-bed-for-a-few-days-sick. I got the nose-so-stuffed-your-eyes-don't-want-to-open sick.

We put the seedlings in the garden and the sunflowers are loving it. The peas are grumbling about it. The cucumbers are undecided. I think the kale might be dead. (They were pretty scrawny, whispy starts.) It's been over 80 degrees here everyday for about the last week so I'm not too suprised about the kale and the peas.

The proof is in the cake.

2009-04-13T11:23:00.001-04:00

Billy's birthday cake
Originally uploaded by lady grey cupcake

Simple cake frosting is not rocket science - as it turns out. All it takes is a somewhat steady hand, frosting, and cake. Maybe some magic. By far the most challenging part is centering the writing on top. As Jodi pointed out to me, that's what flowers and stars are for.

I'm in Portland for the week visiting Liz. After harmless threats of "delays" and "grounding" I actually made it here on time. Boarding was delaying in Charlotte, then we sat on the runway for about 40 minutes (almost for another hour, but thankfully didn't.) Next it was running through Newark to a gate number in the hundreds (!!!) and being the last one on. Neither George nor I fly very often and neither of us like it all that much and we especially are not fond of any airline aside from JetBlue. I mean, my own little tv to watch? New planes that aren't gross and broken? Pleasant flight attendants? No questionable warm food from a flimsy plastic bag? Why do people bother to fly on other airlines at all? Well, JetBlue can be a little pricey I guess. Somehow I had a lapse in judgment and ended up on Continental. It was fine, no jerks on the plane, the staff was fine, the iceberg lettuce was fine, the movie was fine, but the one breaking point for me? The leg room. I, by no means, have long legs but by the end of the 5 hour flight I couldn't handle it anymore. My ankles ached, my back ached and most of all I was afraid my knees were permanently bent or if I tried to stand up my legs would simply snap off at the knees. And I had an aisle seat.

The sun is out this morning - something I was 90% sure I wouldn't see this week. Everyone is asleep still but my clock says it's lunchtime.

work : fun

2009-04-06T19:28:00.002-04:00

garden beds / sweet jump
Originally uploaded by sawyer.george

After another ridiculous week at BRB (Blue Ridge Biofuels) I realized my work to fun ratio has been leaning far to heavily towards the work side of the equation. For the past month or so my schedule has consisted of working at BRB from 9-5, and then coming home to do CAD drawings for Artful Shelter, or designing a house for our friend Ryan (I'll post more about it later).

I set about re-balancing the equation by dusting of my trials bike, thinking I'd finally go out and buy a new seat-post for it. But, before getting to the fun I had to finish raking out our load of compost, and build a bin for the new stuff. As I pushed the black soil around I noticed a nice red mound of dirt at the end of the garden, stuff that Scott had shoveled out from under the house and left there.

A lightbulb flashed above my head, I put down the rake, and shoved my bike to the top of the hill. The first run was a little rough on the garden bed, and the jump needed some reshaping. Within an hour or so I'd built up a couple of berms to protect the beds, and a nice little kicker right at the crest of the hill. I spent the rest of our 70+deg weekend hitting my sweet jump, and laying around in the hammock.

It's supposed to snow tonight...

Fancy meeting you here.

2009-04-02T16:37:00.002-04:00

Dying
Originally uploaded by lady grey cupcake

Today I've had three cups of coffee. It feels like it's been overcast and raining for weeks (months), there was a brief reprieve yesterday afternoon and it might clear up by Saturday only to turn gray and cold by Monday. I think I deserve my three cups of coffee. It was even gray and chilly while Cynthia and Leland were here which made us cancel our trip to Chimney Rock and spend most of the time in coffee shops and puttering around the house. On one of the only sunny days George managed to talk them into helping dig up our garden space, which is pretty much just solid clay, and then into getting a load of compost and shoveling it off the truck. (The convincing wasn't all that hard - someone in the group is mere weeks away from being a Harvard-educated landscape architect.) The morning before we shipped them off back to Cambridge we dyed some Easter eggs. It was pointed out to us that all the eggs we had for dying were brown, not white. We decided to dye them anyway and, as you can see over at Flickr, they turned out surprisingly well. I think if we'd been prepared with more rubber bands and a little more of a strategy they all would have been incredible.

There's only one more piece of furniture to move in and the house will be fully functional. Unfortunately it's the biggest, heaviest table IN THE WORLD and I'm too short to be of any use moving it. OH! I lied! There's another piece of furniture: a bed frame! Asheville craigslist finally came through for us and Saturday we'll go pick it up and (assuming the mattress is dry from the thorough bleaching it's going to get - mold, again) then we'll sleep on a real bed like real people. When you get down to it (or up off it) it's not the sleeping on the floor that I don't like, it's that sweeping the room is a huge pain and seriously, how great is it going to be to have space to store things under the bed? Wicked great.

We told you about the biofuels grant, right? Our blogging has been so scattered and inconsistent I can't remember. George and our friend James have applied for grant to start a biofuel refinery in Vermont. Word on the street is that they're one of three finalists and hopefully will find out if they got it or not late next week!

Meanwhile, my sweet job at the cake shop is totally sweet. Not only literally, but in that hip slangy way too. Jodi and I joke about how it seems I was thrown in the deep end - handed a recipe, talked through it, and left with the mixer. While it may have been a little jolting (my last job I spent a week, literally - a week, standing and watching someone before I was allowed to do it myself, and even then, supervised) it turns out: I know how to bake. I can confidently use my judgment and experience. One of the best parts is that Jodi trusts me and when time allows would rather I sort of figure it out for myself. (Because either a) she's pretty sure I'll get it or b) she's confident that it'll turn out at least acceptably, which is fine because she has at least one million other things to take care of) Regardless: my job rules and I'm going to kick ass at it. Honestly, there have been a couple little stumbling points for me, but I think they're being ironed out. The most important thing to remember: cake can smell your fear. It's not even a joke, if you don't assert yourself as the alpha that cake will dominate you.

Be bold little bakers.

To the sun.

2009-03-20T14:29:00.001-04:00

peas
Originally uploaded by lady grey cupcake

These were our pea sprouts two days ago, they've grown at least another two inches since then. Amazing! The only seeds that haven't sprouted are the zucchini and...some of the flowers, I think. By tomorrow night we'll have picked up some compost to mix in with our red clay "soil" in the yard and then it's a matter of building some beds.

We've been fortunate enough to have a neighbor with a wireless signal we could pick up on, but mysteriously we can't connect to it anymore. After calling the cable people to set up our own internet service they told us that our house was listed as "unserviceable". Naturally, we attribute this to the sketchy dude who lived there before us - unserviceable because his dogs were extremely mean? Unserviceable because the man himself was extremely mean? Perhaps because there was an electric fence around the property? All of these? They say they're checking on it and we should know by Wednesday.

I'm considering tomorrow the start of a new week. The most exciting part of this new week is that Cynthia and Leland will be here! We'll get to do all sorts of fun and refreshing things like go to the arboretum, even take a trip out to Chimney Rock, spend some time downtown, and what I'm really looking forward to: going out to eat.

Worst Thing Ever.

2009-03-02T09:40:00.002-05:00

Worst Thing Ever.
Originally uploaded by lady grey cupcake

This is what it looks like from the dining room, through the office to the bathroom. The yellow (Lemon Pound Cake) was the last color we chose for the house and it's clear it was made in a hurry and without thinking it through completely.

I need suggestions as to what color should replace this yellow. Things to know: the room will be an office/studio space, it gets TONS of light, and the rooms it connects to are blue and red (as you can see), and white is not an option. Help!

Bread & Milk

2009-03-02T08:48:00.004-05:00

If you're on the east coast you're well aware of the bad weather yesterday. Here in Asheville it snowed, it really, honestly, whole-heartedly snowed. Big, wet, slushy, opaque flakes falling like a holey blanket. When it snows here people tend to freak out, they don't freak out before, they freak out as soon as the snow hits the ground. There are the incompetent drivers, the people who have unmarred sleds they haul out for the exciting two occassions they might possibly be able to slide down their barely sloped lawn on, all the schools close down ("No buses on icy roads."), and most noticably - the grocery stores are completely overrun. When there's a storm brewing and I know I'm not going to want to leave the house the next day I'll go to the store and get things like, canned soup, vegetables, sandwich fixins, popcorn - you know, food. In the event that I think my power's going to go out I'll buy some gallons of water and extra non-perishables. People here tend to swarm the store as the bad weather starts and stock up on bread and milk. It's bizzare. After we had lunch yesterday we were going to stop at the grocery store to pick up some cat food but the store was packed and being impatient we headed to the pet food store. While checking out I commented, "We've got the cat food, the cat toys, we're set." The girl at the register added, "Now you just need some bread and milk." I didn't know what to say, I just wanted to laugh and say, "What is with you people and the bread and milk? No eggs? No canned goods? Fools!" Instead I just looked confused, gave a half smile and left.

Today the roads are icy, all the schools are closed - even the courts are delayed, and because we were too impatient to get groceries yesterday we're down to some lettuce, mayo, a little soy milk, half & half, jam, and the maple cream I've been rationing.

We've been waiting all week for a refridgerator and stove to show up. At first we thought Monday. Then Wednesday. Then Saturday for sure, definitely Saturday. PSYCH! Today Sears has promised between noon and four thirty. I've bet George a dinner out at Marco's that they don't show because of the roads.

It's Thursday.

2009-02-26T15:08:00.004-05:00

Whenever I talk to my parents they remind me that some people actually read this blog.

Most of the big work on the house is complete and by Saturday night we should have all the kitchen appliances installed and running. Cereal and sandwiches have been our staple meals this past week. The tiny cooler from my childhood (the one with the teal green top that my brother wrote my mom's name and our phone number on that's big enough to hold a six-pack of cans) has been chilling our half and half, sandwich meat, and cheese. The stock pot with one handle we got from a yard sale (or Goodwill, I can't remember) filled with ice has been chilling our milk and mayo. The lettuce is on its own.

We're sleeping on our real mattress again and have even unpacked our clothes. The clothes that aren't in desperate need of washing (those are properly piled in a corner) are becoming rarer and rarer - there are rumors the plumber is hooking up the washing machine tomorrow. (Honestly, this plumber: unimpressive.) There're shower curtains around the tub and after several afternoons of hunting and pawing I found a sizable cotton bathmat at a reasonable price.

Our office got it's first coat of paint, lemon pound cake, and man - it is IN-TENSE. It's like walking into a glowing lemon. I finished the first coat at night and as I stood in the blue bathroom and looked through the office to the red dining room I knew the yellow was a mistake. It felt really...primary. It's been yellow for about a week and I still don't like it, some people thought the color would "settle down" or we would "adjust" but they were obviously and instantly wrong. The color we're pretty sure we're switching to is a grayish tan called Haze. I'm going to do a little more scouting around for a similiar color with a different name, I'm not so down with "haze". It doesn't sound like a very productive office.

There'll be some pictures soon, maybe even as early as tonight. Maybe.

It's the little things

2009-02-15T14:48:00.002-05:00

bathroom
Originally uploaded by lady grey cupcake

I highly recommend this wall color to everyone for their bathroom. It's "Provence" by Behr (How awesome is that bear at the loading screen? Wicked awesome.) , available at Home Depot. We have yet to install the shower curtain rod, a mirror, and any sort of shelving, but then again, the light switches aren't full fastened to the wall yet.

Tonight we're installing the lower cabinets in the kitchen and by the end of next week the counters, sink, stove, fridge, dishwasher (!!), and upper cabinets should all be in place. I can't really express how excited we are to not be living out of a suitcase and cooler in one room with two cats, a litter box, and an air mattress. SOON.

George is attending his last Bee School class today, maybe he'll win a hive in the raffle at the end. (He's hoping for bee books instead.)

I've started doing a little itty bitty bit of work at this new great cake shop, maybe I've mentioned it: Short Street Cakes. It's extremely close to our house, it's super small, and adorable. The cake is delicious and the owner, Jodi, is great. If you're in Asheville and are hankerin' for some sweet next Sunday you should stop by her graaaaaaand opening! I'll be there making cake. (225 Haywood Rd. Be there.)

Living

2009-02-11T15:36:00.002-05:00

After three days without a bathroom, we have a bathroom. Best of all - it's gorgeous. Seriously, just wait until it's clean and I get some pictures, it's by far the nicest bathroom I've ever lived with. The last three days have also been very long days, tiling and painting into the wee hours of the morning, sleeping on an air mattress, waking up and feeling as though we just went to bed. Last night we started assembling the kitchen cabinets and hopefully by early next week we'll have the lower set installed. This afternoon I tried to put one together by myself and parts ended up inside out and backwards. C'est la vie d'Ikea.

The cats are handling living in one room very well: Girl spends most of her time under the loveseat and Boy spends most of his time on top of the loveseat. Some time in the near future they will go to the vet for some shots and will not handle it very well.

Snow day!

2009-02-04T10:28:00.001-05:00

kitten tracks
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Overnight roughly an inch of snow fell. Boy is not into it. Girl is hiding under the house. The neighbors are spinning their way up the hill to get to the main road. Our car won't start.

On the home front: the floor guys didn't put the second coat of finish down when they were supposed to. Friday night we're having a "tile the bathroom" party. Sunday morning we'll move the mattress and the kittens, hopefully by Sunday night we'll have installed the toilet. =/

Rats

2009-02-02T15:10:00.001-05:00

rat
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Under the porch at this other house is a lot of dirt, the furnace, the water heater, some rusty hooks, a weird cage thing (big enough for one rabbit to live comfortably in, but was apparently used for the ex-owner's vicious dogs), the barn & fence paint for the house, and this rat. It's completely dehydrated and in relatively good shape. Not only does he still have his big nasty teeth, but also his little claws and seven-ish inch long tail. We've joked about making a shrine to it down there, but it's so incredible I sort of want to get him mounted in a shadow box. Regardless, we think that after the renovations are complete the final exorcism will be removing this rat from the premises.

(Yesterday it was in the fifties and sunny, this morning it was partly sunny, by noon it was gray, by two it was raining, half an hour ago it was sleeting, currently it's snowing. What gives?)

Almost

2009-01-29T18:26:00.002-05:00

gothic amethyst
Originally uploaded by average lavender

The floors have been sanded and the first coat of finish is on! Man, those floors are great. See the color they are in that picture up there? They don't look anything like that anymore - they glow! It turns out they're made from heart pine so the grain in them is really amazing. The next coat of finish will go on sometime this weekend, I think. Consequently, we've decided to rent the house we're in now for another week. It was either that or stay at a hotel or hostel...with the cats.

We've begun moving things into the weird industrially, garage-y building behind the house. The cats are getting wise to our plans and are unsure about it all. They've decided to cope by going in and out of the house as many times as they possibly can in a day. We're exhausted.

Progress?

2009-01-23T20:55:00.002-05:00

Progress
Originally uploaded by average lavender

This weekend is all about insulating. Next week is all about floors and drywall. And moving everything we own. And camping out in our "new home." Hopefully there'll be a floor in the bathroom and a toilet. And no gaping holes in the house. And heat. Follow the picture to Fickr and I've sort of explained what's going on. Too much painting, more sleeping.

Up: date & a tree

2009-01-20T09:42:00.005-05:00

The schools in the area are closed today, for a brief moment I thought maybe it had something to do with the inaguration, but as it turns out they're closed for snow, the whopping inch that fell last night.

We've got two weeks until we need to be all moved out of this house and, boy, is it going to be close. It means we've got two weeks to finish the other house, today is inspection day for wiring, plumbing and framing, the paint arrived last night, there's no floor in the bathroon/laundry room, the kitchen should be arriving from IKEA today and the drywall that's up is still drying. We're hoping the floors will be refinished as they're cleaned up and not all in one fell swoop. George has gently argued for the floors to be refinished with some nice, friendly stuff from Vermont Natural Coatings, and as of this morning he's succeeded! It doesn't smell as awful, it can be recoated in two hours, it's made from whey!, and it's made it Vermont.

We've recently rediscovered our one friendly, neighborly neighbor who is (surprise!) also from Vermont! and who's looking for a new job! She lives with a great golden retriever, Indigo. We've been taking Indigo out for walks since we got home; it urges us (read: me) get out of the house, it lets our neighbor get out to continue the great job hunt, and Indigo gets to run around twice as much.

Yesterday afternoon Boy got himself up the biggest tree in our backyard and it took at least an hour of coaxing to get him down. In the end, I think it was jealousy that Girl was getting all the cat treats that got him down. (Something to remember for the future.) Since it's only about 20 degrees this morning he's content to stay inside and no up a tree. Girl is content to take a bath directly in front of the space heater.

Fauxskine

2009-01-16T15:56:00.002-05:00

Fauxskine
Originally uploaded by average lavender

I don't usually use any of the blank books I make, it's akin to not really eating after making a gigantic meal. There's something in the effort that says, "this is for other people." I haven't been able to find a new sketchbook since coming to Asheville so I decided to try and make something for myself. After a lot of debate, laziness, and "meh"ing I whipped up: the Fauxskine. What makes it not a Moleskine is it's lack of page marker, lack of pocket in the back, cloth cover instead of leathery cover, and it's got grommets.

Dutch Baby

2009-01-15T18:06:00.002-05:00

Dutch Baby
Originally uploaded by average lavender

It wasn't until we reached Boston that we started hearing about this breakfast thing called a "Dutch Baby." Cynthia described it as a giant popover, and as you may know, I adore popovers. Once we got to Vermont George's mom started talking about a Dutch Baby. I had honestly never heard of this baked good until Cynthia first mentioned it, so naturally after hearing about how delicious it is from her and Susan, we had to make one.

Preheat oven to 425.

Whisk up:
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. a.p. flour*
1/4 c. sugar
2 eggs, room temperature

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a cast iron skillet. Swoosh the butter around in the pan so all the sides are coated. Pour in the batter and let cook for a minute on the stove top without stirring. Stick the skillet in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Serve immediately! Sprinkle a little lemon juice and powdered sugar on top and serve fruit preserves on the side!

Seriously, delish.

I've put some pictures from our trip up on Flickr, we realized when we got back to Asheville is that we didn't really take any pictures at all. So when I say, "some" I mean "most of."

* a.p. = all purpose (it's something I say to myself and use when I write recipes and will probably do it again, so now you know what I'm talkin' about.)

Whew

2009-01-12T08:54:00.002-05:00

I'm sorry we didn't go post crazy while we were in the north. It had been my intention to document the trip with great detail and oodles of pictures - this plan, pretty much, immediately failed. There are some pictures and even a couple of videos. As for narrative, the plot of our trip was eventful in all the wrong ways. I know what you're thinking: "But, Jenne, those are the best stories - hilarious, heart-warming, something-you'll-look-back-on-and-think-is-just-too-funny!" Yeah, but, no. Let's work chronologically.

After we left Boston we had an uneventful trip through New Hampshire and a familiar trip up I-89 to our home-sweet-surrogate-home of Montpelier. If you're driving that route yourself, I recommend stopping at the Sharon rest area - not only is it home to the Vietnam Memorial, but it's a green rest area. It uses a "living machine" to recycle waste water, among other things. (One of the other reasons it's awesome, especially in winter, is it's big, bitchin' greenhouse for the living machine.)

New Year's ended up being less a new beginning and more a rerun of classic instances: bad weather, good friends, video games, car breaking down.

We did some sledding, we drove the various routes we always drive, we visited our favorite shops and resaurants, and we saw people we missed.

Now that we're home we're overwhelmed, which is really what I wanted to convey to you. We're offically moving into the other house at the end of the month and while we were gone the need for bigger repairs was discovered. The Asheville job market has not improved since we left (as I dearly hoped it would have.) I may or may not be returning to VT at the end of the week to help out while my grandfather is unexpectedly in the hosptial.

The overwhelmed isn't all stemming from stress, we've also managed to come up with a ton of new and exciting ideas. They're so exciting and new that we don't even know where to begin, we just know they're going to be awesome.

Pictures from the trip will show up soon, we'll lead you on about the exciting ideas for a while, and we'll strive to post more regularly. (Promises, promises.)

News flash:

2009-01-05T15:12:00.000-05:00

It's snowing!

Bean town

2008-12-30T10:57:00.003-05:00

We've made it to Boston. The drive, flight, T ride, and short car ride were all painless and efficient. There were bagels for breakfast. In case you didn't know: New England is old, dirty, worn. It's okay with itself, it has accepted it's identity, it is what it is. This makes it comforting.

Being in the north is also exciting due to good friends, good family, and good food. Again, the NY Times is talking about central Vermont's cuisine, apparently it's all the rage these days. Fresh ingredients? Lovingly prepared? Who would've thought?

Have I told you lately

2008-12-14T09:57:00.001-05:00

Piggy popover
Originally uploaded by average lavender

...that I love breakfast? It is, by far, my favorite meal of the day. I'm not keen on pancakes (but have come to terms with cornmeal pancakes), but adore waffles. I don't want whipped cream or piles of strawberries, in fact, I don't even really want that fruit cup. I don't want powdered sugar or blueberry pancake syrup. I want bacon and butter, I want a savory breakfast. Sweets have a place in the day: dessert., or even snack. My absolute favorite breakfast food is a popover - four popovers, to be precise. They're so simple! So amazingly delicious! Eggs, milk, flour, salt. Seriously, that's it! I devour them with butter, my mom prefers them with peanut butter and jam.

London Bridge is not the only thing falling down

2008-12-14T09:40:00.001-05:00

Wall removal
Originally uploaded by average lavender

George and I are helping one of his co-workers renovate a house. Yesterday we started tearing down drywall, plaster and lath, and tearing up old disgusting linoleum. Whoever worked on the house in the past did a swell job of patching the place together in the most half-hearted way. Some insulation had been sprayed around the water pipes and the front door in the kitchen, the rest of the kitchen walls were completely uninsulated. In the walls we found: a AAA card, an empty Marlboro carton, a tiny rusted wrench, and the original window weights. Today we head back to clean up our giant mess.

Big Crafty, big news

2008-12-10T09:40:00.005-05:00

The Big Crafty was a huge success and not only for us, personally. There were over 100 vendors and a pretty constant flow of people starting before it actually began at noon and straight through until we were packing up. People were astounded by how thin George made his bowls. There was another old dude there selling bowls, thicker, clunkier bowls and he kept coming back and checking in with George to see how well his were selling. (They sold just fine, thankyouverymuch.) People were surprised by how tiny my tiny books were, were intrigued by the earrings, and thought the paintchip books were a great idea but not great enough to buy. There are a couple more holiday markets we may try and weasel our way into.

In the meantime, we've both opened Etsy shops which you can find here and here! Maybe you've already noticed the fancy Etsy sidebar thing George put in...

In other news: My job and I have parted ways! It's an incredibly exciting, sudden development - my wrists and shoulders are already feeling better. Who knew that moving hundreds of pounds of dough and pans around would be such a big deal?

sawyer brand

2008-12-05T21:21:00.002-05:00

sawyer brand
Originally uploaded by sawyer.george

business update:

-finished brand for bowls.
-sold three on etsy! (one to Iran. thanks!)
-need to cut bases off five bowls for the craft show on Sunday.
-bought a speed regulator to slow down the lathe, but it turns out the motor draws too many amps. blew the fuse instantly.
-maybe I should just get a smaller/slower motor.
-also need a reversing switch for sanding.
-and a smaller faceplate (1 1/2" x 8tpi)

-I've recieved lots of interest in podbarks for newer ipods.
-the Mountain Xpress mentioned me in passing!
-ordered two 2'x8' sheets of veneer for podbarks (walnut & cherry. maple hasn't sold very well).
-finished patterns for more versions of ipod.
-got quotes from a local laser cutter.

-still making fuel at Blue Ridge Biodiesel.

-started working for Charles, a local contractor.

-feeling a bit overwhelmed.

---------------

Girl had her staples and cone removed today!

Big Crafty, small earrings.

2008-12-04T18:16:00.001-05:00

Book earrings
Originally uploaded by average lavender

These little fellas are about 5/8" square.

Thanksgiving and beyond

2008-11-28T20:05:00.002-05:00

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

2008-11-23T17:52:00.001-05:00

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

2008-11-19T13:06:00.001-05:00

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.

2008-11-18T18:30:00.000-05:00

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

2008-11-15T18:24:00.001-05:00

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

2008-11-03T08:45:00.001-05:00

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?)

news

2008-10-25T08:18:00.000-04:00

more press about hardiwick's food:

http://www.gourmet.com/travel/2008/10/hardwick-revival

apparently our cross country trip wasn't that original:

http://www.algonquin.com/products/9781565125957/

though we did have 2 cats, 4 bikes, a bunch of houseplants, a trunk full of stuff, and went at the hottest time of the year, without AC.

the best bowl of oatmeal. ever.

2008-10-18T10:55:00.001-04:00

the best bowl of oatmeal. ever.
Originally uploaded by sawyer.george

Fall weather's finally arrived. I'm celebrating with an incredible bowl of steel cut oats. Here's the recipe from Cook's Illustrated:

3 cups water
1 cup whole milk (or water)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (or oil)
1 cup steel cut oats
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Simmer water and milk over medium heat. Heat butter in a skillet over medium heat until just beginning to foam; add oats and toast, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until golden and fragrant with butterscotch-like aroma, 1.5 to 2 minutes.
2. Stir oats into the simmering liquid, reduce heat to medium-low; simmer gently, until mixture thickens and resembles gravy, about 20 minutes. Add salt and stir lightly with spoon handle. Continue simmering, stirring occasionally with wooden spoon handle, until oats absorb almost all liquid and oatmeal is thick and creamy, with a pudding-like consistency, about 7 to 10 minutes. Off heat, let oatmeal stand uncovered 5 minutes.

I realize it's a bit involved for a bowl of oatmeal, but it's worth every minute. You'll never think of oatmeal the same way again. Don't forget to stir with the spoon handle, it makes the consistency just right. Apparently the Scottish have a tool dedicated to this task, it's called a spurtle.

Ridic.

2008-10-13T12:17:00.000-04:00

A recap of the events on our street this morning:

10 a.m. Dude from the city puts a note in our mailbox saying that they're "resurfacing" our street tomorrow and the day after.

10:30 a.m. Two dudes from the city walk down either side of the street with gas-powered leaf blowers clearing the street.

11 a.m. Maintenance dude for the elderly couple across the street uses electric leaf blower to clear their lawn - blowing all the leaves into the street.

12:15 p.m. Maintenance dude uses electric leaf blower to usher leaves he's just blown into the street around to the drive way, consequently blowing a bunch back on to the lawn.

12:22 p.m. Maintenance dude is apparently blowing all the leaves up the driveway?

Somehow, I feel that if he had just used a RAKE on the lawn in the first place this whole thing wouldn't feel quite so awful and wasteful and he would have had a little exercise which he looks like he could stand.

Update: 12:43 p.m. He's got a rake! Continuing to move them up the driveway. Smoking a cigarette.

Birds, cupcakes

2008-10-11T14:34:00.001-04:00

The bird that Boy caught.
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Boy and Girl managed to sneak this bird through the kitchen door when I wasn't looking. I thought I heard a car door shut, so I went to the office room and even then I didn't notice the bird! Was it alive when they brought it in? How long had they been playing with it? George buried him in the grub-filled compost.

On a more delicious note: I tried making some Mocha Stout Cupakes this past Wednesday. I used a recipe for Chocolate Guinness Cake I found over here. One of the local breweries does a mocha stout, so it seemed a natural, possibly superior, beer for the cake. In the end I was left feeling, "Meh." Some changes I made to the reicpe, aside from beer substitution, were using unsweetend cocoa and Dutch process cocoa (which resulted in halving the amount of baking soda called for - check it out: baking science), and using 1/2 cup less sugar than called for. I was aiming for a less sweet cake that would let the stout shine through. What I got was a cake that was less sweet but just sort of tasted like it had more sour cream than it actually did. I think that in addition to reducing the sugar, the cocoa should've also been reduced - it's a mocha stout, duh. Better luck next time.

bowl lathe

2008-10-11T08:41:00.001-04:00

bowl lathe
Originally uploaded by sawyer.george

It's finally coming together! I'm just waiting on the local woodworking store to order another 2ft of belt for the big pulley. I have a bit more engineering to do on the tool rest. Oh, and I need to find some wood.

I found Bruce and Loy! For those of you who don't know them, they're old friends of the family, and live only and hour away in Celo. Loy had an opening of her latest prints and letterpress at Warren Wilson College. Bruce played the fiddle. They turned off all the lights and sang for us.

Hardwick in the NY Times?

2008-10-08T11:19:00.000-04:00

It's true! My friend Alex brought this great article to my attention: Uniting Around Food to Save an Ailing Town.

Oh, Hardwick, I'm so proud of you.

For real

2008-10-07T15:51:00.001-04:00

Legwarmers
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Slowly I've been making progress on a pair of legwarmers and a hat, both gifts, both should have been done ages ago. I'm finally getting lace knitting down - I knew it couldn't be that difficult, I mean, other people do it.

Acupuncture is beginning to help again, last week was one of the absolute worst - the elbow, the shoulder, the neck, headaches all day. It was another episode of Self Pity: My Life is Over. It's not so much my life anymore, just maybe ... this shitty job is over...when I find an awesome new one?

Happily, we rearranged the house! I no longer need to search for a room divider and it feels much more comfortable and homey. There are pictures, explanations, etc. over at Flickr. We consolidated the desks and the coziness, the dining area is on the mend.

I cut my right pointer finger across the first knucle with a serrated knife at work on Sunday. Barak Obama was in Asheville this weekend, he gave a speech over at the high school and apartently got some ribs at the local rib joint, 12 Bones. I wish I'd been there seeing him speak instead of slicing my finger open--they happened at approximately the same time.

Our contract with Verizon has finally ended and we're shopping around for a new cell phone company. Front runner: Credo Mobile. I think deep down they're all evil and no one is better than another. Better to go slightly cheaper or lesser of two evils?

I leave you with this: Cuppie Capers: Pastry Politics

Empty promises?

2008-10-07T13:11:00.001-04:00

I swear I'm going to make some sort of "real" post here today. Just not right now. There will be pictures. Maybe some snacks. Stay tuned.

Soup & the decorating scoop

2008-09-24T13:16:00.000-04:00

While Asheville is suffering through the gas crisis George and I marvel at how little it's effecting us. So far as we can tell, there's no predicted shortage of biodiesel and the little single gallon tank on the scooter is full, but mostly we don't go very far even when we do drive. I thoroughly enjoy my life revolving mostly around home right now: knitting, cooking, baking, attempted home decorating, garden watching are all at my disposal.

The latest food craze around here is carrot soup. Now that the weather is cool and we're both working with little time to make lunches, soups are our new best friends. Yesterday I made the Herbed Carrot Soup* from the Moosewood Cookbook and after George snatched it away for the pot luck Wednesday at work, I started in on the Gingered Carrot Soup from the previous page. The herbed soup was lacking something and I'm pretty sure it was enough herbs. And lemon juice. In case you'd like follow along at home:

Gingered Carrot Soup

from "The Moosewood Cookbook"

2 lbs. carrots

4 cups water

1 Tbs. butter or oil

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

2 medium cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbs. freshly grated ginger

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp each: cumin

ground fennel

cinnamon

allspice

dried mint

3-4 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

1 cup lightly toasted cashews

1) Peel and trim carrots and cut into 1-inch chunks. Place in a medium-large saucepan with the water, cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until very tender (10-15 minutes.)

Meanwhile...

2) Heat the butter in a small skillet. Add onion and saute over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, salt and spices. Turn heat to low and continue to saute for another 10 minutes - until onions are very soft. Stir in lemon juice.

3) Use a food processor/blender (or swanky immersion blender you got for Christmas) to puree everything together (including the toasted cashews.) You may need to do this in multiple batches. Transfer it all back into a dutch oven and heat gently before serving.

The changes I made included: omitting the fennel and mint because I had none, adding a potato, and sauteing the onions & co. in the bottom of the big pot and then adding water, carrots, etc. Will it be delicious? Perhaps. Next on my list of soups are the Brazilian Black Bean and Susan's Easy Woodbury Chili.

Now I'm going to share my home decorating woes with you. Number one is that what little wall-worthy art we have is all miniscule for these walls - I don't know how to hang these without them swimming in a vast sea of wall color or without the walls become wicked cluttered. Number two is that I'm still searching for an awesome room divider. After dreams of a big Ikea bookcase turned to nightmares I'm finally moving on. It would be great to do something so hip and so DIY like ladders with planks - but where do people find those oh-so worn and loved magical ladders? I'm still considering the curtain divider which has potential to be neat, but also potential to be torn down instantly by Boy. C'mon personal think tank, give me some ideas!

I leave you this afternoon with my next culinary task: Pine Nut Tartelettes.

*An interesting note: while making this, the simmering carrots, onions, and potatoes smelled exactly like my grandmother Jane's kitchen.

2 weeks

2008-09-20T18:51:00.001-04:00

work
Originally uploaded by sawyer.george

Well, I'm still employed. This is our building. So far it's been a lot of pump fixing and plumbing and spilling oil. Wednesday the whole building has a potluck lunch. Good people. Sadly, the giant woodshop on the 4th floor is moving.

On the upside, I got a lead on a design job. The guy who helped us dig for a retaining wall footing is a civil engineer and knows all kinds of architects and builders. He got me in touch with these guys. Tensile structures... also known as tents.

Three things

2008-09-20T18:27:00.000-04:00

Firstly, if you'd be so kind as to head on over to the Pabst Blue Ribbon site, verify your age, follow the 'art gallery' link in the lower right corner, verify your age again, click on 'gallery' and take a gander at the fourth image from the left, that'd be great. What you're seeing is the awesome piece my friend Amanda painted for PBR's contest!

Secondly, I apologize about being the lamest blogger but work's been taking it's toll on my wrists and soul. Naturally the discomfort hasn't deterred me from knitting; I'm almost finished the hat for Yannick and am plugging away on some amazing belated birthday legwamers for Hope.

Thirdly, where have all the good room dividers gone? (HINT: Not our house.)

Pissing in the wind. Err..intersection

2008-09-13T01:16:00.000-04:00

I would like to direct your attention to this blog post over at Ashvegas. What's peeing on an electrical box at a busy intersection got to do with me? I'm the one standing on the corner trying to cross the street away from the peeing dude. I mean, seriously.

For all y'all with repetitive stress injuries...

2008-09-10T15:57:00.000-04:00

...don't make an apple pie. Don't peel and chop the apples yourself, at least.

Harvest

2008-09-09T18:05:00.001-04:00

Harvest
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Around here the days go by slow and lately there's nothing to show for the passage of time - except these vegetables. Out of the three squash plants we've got the big papa squash, the medium mama squash, and the baby squash - big papa's the only one producing. It was beginning to feel as though we weren't going to be able to eat anything from the garden this year, like it was a dry run.

Seriously though, aside from the garden, the air is like molasses in this house--especially today. Sure, we didn't get up until 9:30, but that's because I didn't get home until 11 or 11:30 from work and then not to sleep until 1:30 or 2. The sky looks like a full lint trap and it's been dead quiet all day. We're having cereal for dinner and, if nothing more exciting comes along, I'm going to watch some Star Trek and make big plans for tomorrow. You're in luck, here's the preliminary plan:
- make a pie
- make more hummus so George can eat it all again
- call acupuncture place again, hope they answer the phone or call me back
- whip up some pizza dough

Employed!

2008-09-04T14:27:00.000-04:00

At least part time. I'm going to start learning about biodiesel production on monday. The pay is terrible, but the people are great. They're in an amazing turn of the century grocery warehouse, now called the Phil Mechanic Studios. The upper three floors, as you may have guessed, are artist studios and galleries. That means opportunities for showing furniture and bowls or whatever.

Oh, everybody should download google chrome, it's a new web browser. Totally sweet.

Fashionable food

2008-09-03T16:47:00.001-04:00

Coffee & cinnamon cupcakes
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Yeah, I bet you all wish you were coming to our Project Runway Pizza Party we have every Wednesday night! Especially tonight when dessert is coffee cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream. (Earth Fare checkout girl = not invited*.) These are coffee cupcakes intentionally plain ol' coffee and not mocha because I believe coffee to be a flavor strong enough to stand on it's own.

Tonight there will be two types of pizza dough: the good ol' basic pizza dough from Joy of Cooking and a yeast-free, wholewheat naan-ish one from some website. Last week I tried a wholewheat yeast-free dough that relied on baking powder and soda for any rising. Unfortunately, the pies turned into big, dense crackers. One of the pizzas we didn't put a sauce on, which is not unusual, however with this particular dough it meant that none of the toppings adhered. It was a huge disappointment for everyone. I'm optimistic about tonight because in addition to two types of dough I'm also armed with fresh roasted red peppers and pesto.

*Apparently, after I glared and left her she had to repack the whole bag because she hadn't accounted for the two large glass bottles we had. HA.

2008-09-03T11:33:00.000-04:00

Dear Earth Fare checkout girl,

Do not ever, ever tell me how to bag my groceries and should you dare to withold the broccoli from me again I will not be so polite as to glare and walk away a second time.

MIG test

2008-09-02T23:46:00.001-04:00

nailed 2
Originally uploaded by sawyer.george

I didn't burn the house down, or get electrocuted! Tomorrow I start the lathe construction.

I'm also going in to Blue Ridge Biofuels for a follow up meeting. I had a pseudo interview with them last week, and I'm going to talk to the money guy about how much they can pay me... probably partially in fuel.

$0.20/lb

2008-08-29T21:15:00.001-04:00

$0.20/lb
Originally uploaded by sawyer.george

Now that I have a swanky 'new' MIG welder (thanks Steve!), I can get down to building myself that bowl lathe. I wandered into the local scrapyard today. It was like I'd finally entered the deep south. I must have seen a half-dozen different styles of mullet, and got into 2 traffic jams within 100 yards, one involving a crane. The beautiful, crusty mountains of steel more than made up for the clientele though. Near the back corner where I found my haul was a pile of steel shavings 20 feet high, very strange. The grand total for 280lbs of steel, $59.71. Considering a professional bowl lathe runs for $2,000, I'd say I'm doing pretty well.

The desk

2008-08-28T13:25:00.001-04:00

The desk
Originally uploaded by average lavender

After years of biding my time I've finally managed to get my favorite desk. This desk lived in various places around my parents house: near the kitchen, in a bedroom, in a hallway. I always remember it stuffed with papers and old Christmas cards. With no pleading and no promising not to ruin it my mom agreed to send it back with George. Now it's living in the living room; a great spot to use and store our computers, my ever-growing stationary collection, the camera, and all the various cords that come with things these days.

My lucky day

2008-08-22T11:30:00.000-04:00

Today I look forward to the relief that's coming at the end of the day: George will be home. I look forward to this for purely selfish reasons and feel no remorse or guilt about it. Starting life here in Asheville while progressing well and confidently proves a difficult task when half of the team simply isn't here. Sure, I can hang all the pictures and put them wherever I please, but we all know that when he gets home George will move them all slightly so they're level and level with the top of the door casing or perfectly parallel to something else. Trying to live in house by yourself is very unlike setting up shop in an apartment - apartments are temporary, strangely proportioned, hodge-podge lodgings that feel informal, gritty, and cramped (you know, in my experience.) Houses have whole rooms devoted to one purpose: a bedroom, a dining room, a kitchen, a living room and they're all HUGE compared to the space that served all these various purposes. I am not person enough yet to fill this space and the cats have chosen the yard as their turf.

Additionally there will be a return to food. I don't remember the last time I experienced such anxiety, frustsration, and confusion about eating. I want to cook all sorts of things but there's no need to. While my new job is exciting because I don't have to get up at four a.m., my internal clock is all messed up because now I stay at work until two a.m. This means I wake up at nine and freak out because I've wasted the whole day (as far as I'm concerned), have a reassuring cup of coffee and launch straight into doing things, sans breakfast, and by the time I have to start wrangling the cats inside I've just enough time to get my ridiculously large shirt and stupid hat together for work and whisk out the door to scoot my way to breadland, sans lunch, where I get a big cup of ice water fill my mug with their mediocre iced coffee and prey on any scraps the pastry department has left behind like a fox in a hen house - sly and ravenously. Sometimes there are pastries from the case up front left over we can have, sometimes I shell out money for a sandwich (yeah, I have to buy a sandwich from the place I work made on the bread that I baked - LAME) or we order out for some noodles. Sometimes I try and bring my own sandwich or some leftovers but I haven't perfected their transportation to and storage at work, it's a little annoying.

George's return will clearly solve all my issues. This includes having someone else around to let the cats out in the morning.

Ahhh

Gosh

2008-08-20T12:54:00.000-04:00

I don't know why you all haven't rushed over to read Hope Larson and Byran Lee O'Malley's amazing new short: Bear Creek Apartments!

Garden update

2008-08-18T15:14:00.001-04:00

Holey broccoli
Originally uploaded by average lavender

The garden looks pretty sickly these days. It could have something to do with the drought, it could have something to do with the fact that the cats think it's the most incredible litter box, it could also be attributed to something nibbling away at ALL the plants. Not surprisingly, the squash is thriving. (We also have a mystery squash growing out front, under a window box. No one knows how it got there.)

Living and the room

2008-08-14T12:49:00.001-04:00

Living room 1
Originally uploaded by average lavender

The living room is nearing completion. Looking through this doorway it seems pretty great - but looking in the other direction there are bare spaces on either side of the doorway which look...lonely. Two matching desks? Long banners? A tall bookshelf and a side table with a plant and some hip art? Blank? Furnishing a home with a budget of $0 is a sick game of waiting.

Letter books

2008-08-11T09:14:00.001-04:00

Letter books 3
Originally uploaded by average lavender

You know those little projects you have that you think you're going to buckle down one day and just do but then never do them because there's something more pressing to accomplish? I finally finished one. Some people have boxes of nostalgic whatever squirreled away under beds, in attics, crowding mantles, but I have stacks of letters. There's nothing like getting real mail. Real in the sense that it isn't electronic and it's something you actually want to read from someone you actually care about (I mean, unless you don't care about them and they're a terrible person, like say, a landlord.) So after you receive the mail, you read it, you savor it - what do you do with it?

It's really satisfying to have all these (90% in chronological order, I might add) somewhere nice, somewhere clean, somewhere safe. The first letter is from Cynthia, mailed to me when I was living in an apartment complex behind a Wal-Mart in Rochester.

Woe is us...

2008-08-09T21:10:00.000-04:00

George is headed north, last I knew he was somewhere in Virginia. He's hoping to stop and get a little sleep somewhere along the way and then hit up some dude in New Jersey for some veggie oil before 10am. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Girl is a little clingy, a little unsure of how she feels about George being gone, he is her favorite. Boy is pacing and yeowing. I have been watching "Murder, She Wrote" and eating dinner - refried pasta with garlic. None of us know what we're going to do without George for two whole weeks.

Enough about dinner, let's talk about breakfast. This morning we went to the Sunny Point for breakfast, we even walked there! While George had eggs over easy with sausage and cheddar grits, I had an orange cornmeal hot cake with blackberry butter (okay, it was Earth Balance) and a side of mapley, peppery bacon. All the food was, naturally, incredible. There was, however, one thing that I did not love about my meal, and it wasn't the service, it wasn't the noise, it wasn't some screaming child, it was that our table. While wonderfully outside, it was one of those tables in "the path." You know what I mean, it's near the server station so someone is constantly whisking by you with busy energy. I'm a fairly picky person, but I'm not going to go through the trouble of having a fit and asking to be moved because that's just out of line and ridiculous. I will however have a grumpy moment while I fidget around trying to find the spot that makes all the bustle less annoying. Also, 90% of the time stuff like this doesn't actually bother me at all, it's just that we've been seated in "the path" three times since we've been here - which mystifies me because we've only been out to eat like four times!

I think maybe I'm more sensitive (i.e. crazy) because I work in a food environment, so the last thing I want to be around when I'm not working is other people working like I work. Sitting next to the bus tub and water pitcher make me feel as though I should bus my table the table of the people next to me in addition to filling my own water glass. Going out to eat is a gluttonous treat, it's exciting and special, I look forward to it.

For fall/winter I hope to perfect the art of cheesey grits.

One room down, seven to go.

2008-08-08T14:26:00.001-04:00

Kitchen
Originally uploaded by average lavender

The one room that's 99% put together is our kitchen, mostly because we didn't have to really hunt around for furnishings. Hope & Mal gave us their big island that didn't work in their kitchen and everything else simply fell into place.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm due at work at three o'clock so I can bake bread until midnight or one a.m.

Scoot

2008-08-07T17:12:00.001-04:00

Scoot
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Vrrroooom!

northward

2008-08-07T10:33:00.001-04:00

I'm coming north!

Jenne isn't =( She went and got a real job at the City Bakery.

I'll be collecting furniture donations for our empty house.

I just sent this proposal over the the Green River Preserve. They have 3 diesel buses they're thinking of converting.

projectiles

2008-08-03T18:00:00.001-04:00

headstock for future bowl lathe
Originally uploaded by sawyer.george

project 1: build a lathe burly enough for turning giant bowls
-found headstock, $42 on ebay, from an old Atlas metal lathe
-find suitable steel I-beam, etc...
-find access to, or buy, MIG welder
-make bowls
-sell bowls

project 2: new antenna for cellphone
-done, it actually works better than the replacement I bought

project 3: set up Etsy.com account
-see if there's a market for podbarks
-sell other stuff

project 4: update portfolio
-wait for yannick to email photos...

project 5: make furniture
-helped mill lumber (from Hope's mom)
-pick up whatever she doesn't use
-design furniture
-buy more tools...

project 6: collecting waste veggie oil
-found 2 barrels for filtering
-find restaurants

'sup p'up

2008-08-03T16:56:00.001-04:00

pu'p bed
Originally uploaded by sawyer.george

I finished the Isuzu P'up conversion on Friday. Surprisingly, there was virtually no troubleshooting. I took it on a test drive, and aside from the smell of stanky old car interior, everything went great.

For those of you who care, if any, the system works like so:
-dirty oil into the small tank (heated w/ coolant)
-flip switch, pump oil through filter into big tank (also heated)
-once up to temp, flip switch to switch from regular diesel to veggie
-before final shutdown, switch back to regular diesel to clear veggie from engine

On Tuesday I'm going to drive out to the camp Ryan (the owner) works at. They have a couple of diesel buses they want me to look at. Could be fun!

Saturday: funday

2008-08-02T10:38:00.001-04:00

Baby beet
Originally uploaded by average lavender

To our surprise our beets have sprouted! Eeee! We also have two tiny little kale sprouts - which is surprising because the kale end of the garden is the end of the garden that Girl has deemed her giant, fancy, new litter box. Peeking their little limbs out this morning are some oh-so delicate carrot sprouts! The peppers are flowering like crazy.

Stuff's cool around here, the kittens are finding their daily rhythm - 6am: meowing (Boy: Meh-eh-eh Girl: mao?) 6:05: napping 6:30: circling, more serious meowing 6:35: outside! 12 noon: nap time inside 3pm: outside! 8:30pm: grudgingly come inside. I'm losing my rhythm: three days in a row working at 8am, one day working from 3pm until 1am (!?), a day off, then starting at 7am. And George never had much rhythm to begin with. (Zing!)

I want to take a little moment to talk about "the blog". My goal for the blog is to post more frequently and about fewer topics; since we've been fairly slack about posting I feel the need to give you this big general updates, which is a little boring. So while I'm going to try and bring you better, more interesting content, I would like you to let me know you're reading (Curtis? Shannon? Uhm...Johann? Emily?) Comment, people! I live for it!

Progress

2008-07-26T20:47:00.001-04:00

Garden
Originally uploaded by average lavender

It's a little late to be starting a full garden, but somehow I maintained some misplaced confidence that we'd be able to find a few cherry tomato starts around here. We managed to round up four pepper plants (two banana, one green, one yellow), brussel sprouts, broccoli, squash and seeds for kale, carrots, beets, basil, and chives. We also found some thyme and parsley. I mean, it's not my dream garden (no little tomatoes, and no, sniff, cucumbers), but at least we'll have some edible things.

It sounds like George will be headed north in the beginning of August, to see Jesse who's visiting home from China, to see his family, to go to some dude's wedding in Maine, and (hopefully) wrangle up some furniture and plants that'll fit in the car. Meanwhile... I'll be staying in Asheville to play with my consolation prize: the new scooter we haven't got yet! Which will take me to be trained at: my new job I haven't started yet! I've managed to land a part time gig with City Bakery & Cafe making bread; I start Tuesday.

The cats are way happier here than they were in California. They have a yard to play in, so Boy isn't getting chased by dogs and stuck in trees, and Girl is comfortable and not always slinking around afraid. They spend their afternoons sleeping and the late evenings being pissy because they're not outside.

George is washing the car.

Scoot, boogie

2008-07-22T20:21:00.000-04:00

If there's one thing we've learned about Asheville it's that it's *the* place for scooters. They're everywhere, being ridden by everyone! It's partly because the city it's eco-conscious and people are attracted to the 100 mpg they get and it's partly because if a scooter's engine is 50cc or smaller the rider doesn't need a motorcycle license - therefore scooting is popular with the DUI crowd. While West Asheville is near downtown it's still kind of a haul, biking is possible but in the summer heat and humidity it's about the last way I want to get around. George and I have beeing eyeing the Honda Metropolitan. We figure it's the perfect second motorized form of transportation for us (me), ridiculously great gas mileage and I don't really need to go that far or get there fast anyway. Also, they seem pretty reasonably priced: if we opt for the '07 lying around the local dealer it's about $1600, and a new '08 is about $2000. There are a few differences we've noticed: the '08 has a more comfortable seat, better color, and chrome mirrors, is it worth it though?

We're heeeere.

2008-07-17T11:39:00.000-04:00

We finally made it to Asheville, after a disappointing attempt at seeing Graceland and going through towns like Texarkana and Bucksnort we rolled through the Smokies and coolly glided into our driveway. After some much needed quality food at the Westville Pub with Hope and Mal, Hope drove me out to the gigantic, crazy, ridiculous, pretty terrifying Wal-Mart where I bought an inflatable bed, sheets, and cotton swabs.

The house is really incredible, it's the nicest place I've ever rented or could dream of renting. The backyard is the perfect size for a small garden and clothesline with extra space for our hammock and some lawn. Next to the house was an awful cement pad which at one point had apparently been home to a hot tub, and boy was it hideous. I called the landlord to let her know we got here and double check about the garden and see just what things we could get rid of: her first suggestion without being prompted - that terrible cement thing. Needless to say, it's already gone.

Our pod of belongings has yet to show it's rectangluar face, we hear rumors it should arrive today.

She'll fly 'erself apart captain!

2008-07-12T22:08:00.000-04:00

After a couple tanks of veggie oil we noticed that the Mercedes was losing power, especially driving uphill. Initially we thought the oil we got was too thick for the engine, so we thinned it down with some diesel and that seemed to solve the problem. The third batch of oil we got from Lubbock, TX was excellent, so when we hit the highway and still had problems we decided to do some problem solving. The engine was acting like it wasn't getting enough fuel, and it seemed to run fine on a thinner diesel/oil mix, so we suspected that either the fuel pump wasn't maintaining pressure in the line or a fuel filter was clogged. We unplugged the auxiliary pump to isolate the main fuel pump and the car still ran. We decided the problem was probably that the primary fuel filter was clogged, so we decided to rig a bypass.

The veggie oil conversion kit George installed has 4 inline fuel filters, including a large primary filter with a water separator. We unplugged the fuel lines from the primary filter and hooked them up to the factory filter. The cartridge on the stock filter is smaller, but we figured that the first batch of oil we got might have been dirty, so we were hoping that the new filter would be clean. The work went smoothly with a little help from the local sheriff, after about 40 minutes we were ready to roll.

Luckily our guess was right! The engine started up, purring smoothly on the clean veggie oil and we drove on into the hot Texas night. Generally the engine runs more smoothly on the veggie oil because it burns cleaner than diesel, so with a new filter we cruised on into Dallas.

Today we took off the oil kit filter to rinse it out with gasoline. We figured we might be able to clean out the filter, just in case. We found a nice surprise waiting for us.

Turns out the hot oil was cleaning out 25 years worth of gunk built up in the combustion chambers. Our second sweet surprise was garlic mashed potatoes and steak. Now the car is fueled up and so are we. Tomorrow: on to Memphis.

You can't tame the J-Dogg.

2008-07-11T16:08:00.000-04:00

Happy B-day J-Dogg!

brownies and coffee and A/C heaven.

time to go rehabilitate some bridges.

See, it really works!

2008-07-09T22:41:00.001-04:00

See, it really works!
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Highlights:

- Running on vegetable oil 2/3 of the time so far.
- Being accused of siphoning fuel elsewhere and refused biodiesel purchase in Bakersfield.
- Cats not totally freaking out the whole time.
- Pretty uneventful trip.

Hopefully my traveling companions will be kind enough to weigh in on some of this stuff.

Pack it up, pack it in, let me begin

2008-07-08T17:55:00.000-04:00

We've decided to leave California on a day when it's just about 100 degrees, good choice? Of course. The heat makes me feel mostly brain dead, so I'll just say that we're leaving in roughly two hours, we have 10 gallons of water and our first stop is in San Mateo to pick up some veggie oil.

Adios!

I'M IN THE SIIIIINK!

2008-07-03T18:59:00.001-04:00

I'M IN THE SIIIIINK!
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Boy is adapting well to being on "vacation". After moving out we heard from our ex-landlord that we hadn't cleaned well enough to which I had a long rant of seriously pissed off responses, like, "It's not my fault that you didn't allow a day in between us moving out and the new tenant moving in to really clean and paint the place - which is your responsibility as a landlord." In the end and after a conversation that repeated itself at least five times, she said she'd have someone else go back and clean it - and take $30 out of our deposit. It's not that much, I know, but it's really the principle. When we tried to tell her we were moving out she didn't get the message because she was on vacation in Mexico.

We've decided to leave Tuesday afternoon, which means we'll be passing through southern California/Arizona/New Mexico hopefully at night. Our car is reliable, comfortable, beautiful, but lacks that new-fangled air conditioning. I think each of us has our own plan regarding how far we'll actually drive the first day, and I'm really hoping to make it to Albuquerque, NM - an easy 16 hour drive. After a night of rest in hopefully some great, cheap, pet-friendly place we'll truck along another 11 hours to Garland, TX where we get to stop and see my aunt, uncle, and cousins! The next leg will be a cool 15 hours to Asheville and our adorable little house. I mean, ideally.

Happy birthday, George!

2008-06-30T13:59:00.001-04:00

He's 26! We had blueberry pie & espresso for breakfast!

Today we're *offically* moving out of our apartment in San Anselmo!

Firing California

2008-06-26T17:44:00.000-04:00

I keep trying to write witty things about the atmosphere around here today but I'm rapidly running out of ideas and patience. My contacts are drying out, I'm tired, I'm hungry-but-not-hungry. We all feel like crap and it's legitimately not from being stressed about packing.

Smoke from fires sits over Marin (from three days ago) (Also, the fabric store mentioned is just around the corner from the bakery.)

Air quality gets worse in Marin (from yesterday)

Update

2008-06-22T12:43:00.000-04:00

I didn't go to Asheville today as planned. We decided that it would be okay not to because a) I was too stressed about finishing up everything here and b) it wasn't absolutely necessary because we've already found a place to live which was the trip's original purpose. I called our new landlord and she was completely understanding (as opposed to those landlords who're mostly understanding,) seriously, this woman is great. One of the best parts about not leaving today is the resulting three-day weekend for yours truly. And we both get to pick James up at the airport! Hooray!

Friday was the best beach day ever. Liz, Yannick and I headed out around noon, grabbed some bad iced coffees on the way, stopped by Yannick's house for cheese and snacks, then went straight on to Shell Beach where it was cooler than town (which was about, oh, 100 degrees) and perfect for beach sitting and even...swimming! We swam out to the raft, we sat around, we ate the food, Liz and I read US Weekly, Yannick slept with a towel over his head, and we took three great pictures. Just three. Then we stopped by the Bovine Bakery (where my boss used to work) and got some cookies (Liz is crazy about the Lemony Snickett), then we stopped at the Olema Farm House for oysters and a beer then came back to town where it was still about 90 degrees at 6pm.

2008-06-16T18:53:00.000-04:00

George left Sunday morning and drove down to L.A. where he'll be working for the week. Before he left he found a guy in ...Salinas? with some veggie oil for sale ($1.50/gal!) so he stopped and filled 'er up! He said everything ran great. He'll be getting back just in time to take me to the airport on Sunday then he'll have three or four hours to hang around until James arrives! (These next ... 4 weeks are full of comings and goings, it feels like forever, but I'm sure will zip right by.)

While George is gone I'm taking the opportunity to finish up some projects I moved to California unfinished and pack as much stuff as I possibly can. So far I've packed up almost all the books, the scanner, and am starting on the studio. Things I've found worth noting: that package of rubber bands I bought in college at least six years ago, a tiny jar full of tiny clothespins, all of my missing straight pins, and at least three packages of origami paper.

SOLD!

2008-06-14T21:08:00.000-04:00

I posted the Rabbit last night around 9 o'clock and had 5 emails by morning. Brett was so excited about it that he drove out this afternoon, test drove it to the bank, and wrote me a cashier's check for four THOUSAND dollars. That should make the move go a little smoother. I don't know that I actually made any money, considering all the parts I bought, but I may have broken even.

yeehaw!

So cool

2008-06-13T15:48:00.000-04:00

Our friend Liz has "tagged" us for one of these silly questionairey thingies! It's like we're "real" bloggers now!

"The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer."

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
Predictably, I was fourteen, less than a month away from turning fifteen, and reading my driver's manual over and over and over, dreaming of the day I'd drive a car and where I'd drive it to.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?
Pack some stuff, work on a couple secret surprises, try to sew the sleeves on that damn sweater again, make granola, get to bed early.

3) Snacks I enjoy:
Cheese - duh, chocolate chips, cucumbers, wavy/rippy/krinkle kut potato chips, pretzels

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Pay some bills, build a sweet house with a bitchin' kitchen, buy some of that fancy european style butter in the ceramic crock

5) Places I have lived:
Greensboro Bend, Montpelier, Plainfield, and Hardwick (Vermont), Chili (pronounced: chai-lie) and Henrietta (New York), San Anselmo (California) and soooooon: Asheville (North Carolina)

6) Jobs I have had:
General office monkey at a circus, short stint as a cashier at a general store, even shorter stint washing pots and pans in a dining hall, sewer/costume repairer at UVM's costume shop, under-appreciated stint as a screenprinter, bread baker, pastry baker.

7) Bloggers I am tagging who I will enjoy getting to know better:
I'm not tagging anybody because I'm seriously unhip.

Obviously, I can't answer for George, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for them.

Four days

2008-06-08T18:55:00.001-04:00

That's how long the collar lasted on Boy. Seriously. Four days. What is this cat doing?! This makes the third one! He's putting himself on the fast track to microchipping. I don't have anything against microchipping pets, it's a fairly good idea, it's just that if someone picks this little fella up with no collar what's to say they're going to take him somewhere that can read the chip?

It's official!

2008-06-07T17:41:00.000-04:00

Asheville, here we come!

I hope that everybody has a friend as truly magnificent as Hope. See that side mirror in the corner of the picture? That's because it's some drive-by photography of a possible house to rent, this one also came with a picture of the "For Rent" sign and all the phone numbers. Then she even went to the house to check it out and meet the landlords in lieu of us! In more "Hope is incredible!" news, her new book Chiggers is up for sale at Amazon! And it's available in hardcover! Hardcover! I'm pleased to say that all her trouble was well worth it to us: starting July 1 we'll be this little beaut's lucky renters!

From what I hear the interior is pretty spotless and dreamy: yellow living room, gray (that's right) dining room with a gas fireplace, a green bedroom and a beigey bedroom, a laundry room with a ton of storage space and a half bathroom, a normal bathroom with (my dream come true,) a bathtub, clean white kitchen, backyard!, clothesline!, carport!? The house is near an elementary school and pretty close to the neighborhood pool and Hope's!

We're working out little details like when to ship all our stuff, when we're actually going to head out... The idea of leaving is already very very exciting and very very terrifying. And sad. I said it! It'll be sad to go, we really like our neighbors here and I love my job and my boss and my commute, moving away from Liz is going to be by far the most difficult part.

I.D'd!

2008-06-04T10:56:00.001-04:00

The cat came back...
Originally uploaded by average lavender

Hooray! He and Girl have shiny new collars, his is red and hers is orange. We're debating whether or not to get Boy a purple one instead, for fashion's sake - I like the red because it's bright, where purple may blend in.

We let him out this morning because he wouldn't shut up, here's hoping he's learned his lesson.

Meow!

Boy's back!

2008-06-02T22:49:00.000-04:00

I got home from work, and there he was sitting on the front step. Girl's quite relieved, she keeps sniffing him to make sure he's real. Jenne's in Berkeley, but is also quite relieved. Boy's just hungry. I went around on my skateboard and took down all the posters, and told the local cat lady the good news. She's actually quite nice, not one of those crazy cat ladies.

detectives and oil

2008-06-01T23:18:00.000-04:00

I didn't know they really existed, but Hope found us a pet detective. We spoke with her on the phone, and she actually sounds pretty legit. She's coming by tomorrow with her cat tracking dog. If nothing else the dog will be able to tell us where Boy hasn't been. We'll see.

In other news, I finally finished the veggie oil conversion! And the car still runs! (I think the photos get bigger if you click on them)

auxiliary pump and pre-pre-filter at fuel tank. note the shinny new axle behind.

engine compartment. the kit is basically everything attached to the aluminum bracket. the yellow thing on the right is a clear pre-filter. it's attached to the main filter. the metal canister to the left of the bracket is a final filter.

the back side of the bracket. the little black box with 2 wires is a thermostat, epoxied to the heater (a few cast iron pipe fittings, an inlet and outlet, and a glowplug).

left, main filter. right, pre-filter. in between is the on/off switch for the heater, and a couple of fuses to keep the car from blowing up.

this is a bi-valve, which lets the unburnt fuel either return to the tank (as it normally would), or recirculate through the heat chamber (if you're running vegetable oil.)

She's about ready for the cross country trek; a couple more bushings, and some new tires, and one annoying squeal... vacuum leak, i think.

The Lost Boy and Rambling On

2008-05-31T20:11:00.000-04:00

I went to my second acupuncture appointment on Thursday for my carpal tunnel and she decided to use my left arm (the first time she used my left foot.) She stuck a series of five needles in the underside of my forearm and said that I could move my hand, but that it would feel pretty weird. Not only did it feel really weird, but it felt like a deep aching soreness. I closed my eyes and tried to think of other things, make lists of stuff to do, come up with an idea for dinner...and slowly I felt lightheaded and dizzy. I opened my eyes and stared at the wall in front of me, breathing in and out slowly and with extra care. After about a half hour she came back and took out the needles, we both agreed that I'd had my fill and that we'd work with the foot from now on.

Boy still isn't home and it's truly breaking my heart. I feel like mostly all I can do is just keep taking deep breaths; like the needles in arm: "It's okay it's okay it's okay..." As crazy and ridiculous as it sounds, I believe (I like to believe) I have an extra preceptive intuition. Feeling it when someone close is in an accident or is seriously ill, like the day Ollie became suddenly and inexplicably ill and the few days later when Jenna showed up in the middle of the night to tell me he'd died - I just knew it. The last few times Boy's been up a tree there's been this feeling of urgency - I have to go home from work because I know I can find him, I know he's looking for me. This time I can't feel anything, he's my best little bud - sleeps on my legs every night, wakes up with me every morning, enjoys being carried to the food dish when he's too sleepy to that early, comes running for a little cream when we pour the coffee - and I can't find any sure feeling to latch onto. It's like he's just...disappeared.

I can't tell whether to be confident that he'll just come back because he's a cat and can fend for himself, he is and animal, or accept that he's gone and that's that, or frantically scavenge the bushes for him in his possibly injured state. Girl is absolutely no help and has peed on the couch twice. Our current working theory is that he got shut in a garage or someone's house and they went away for the weekend (our theory changes about every hour.) Sometimes we think that one of the little brats that walks by and likes to yell "KITTY!!" and chase after him managed to drag him off or their parent, noticing he had no collar, decided that he was fair game for the taking. (And I mean it when I say brats.)

It does feel like this needs to be resolved quickly and definitely because we've decided to move to North Carolina for real. I'll be flying out June 22 to hopefully find us an apartment and possibly scout around for a job (or two). If everything goes as "planned" we'll be driving out sometime in the beginning of July. We're 80% settled on packing up all our stuff in a pod-thing from Door to Door and having it shipped out to us, it's a little pricey, but frankly not that much pricier than a U-Haul would be much less of a hassle (we think.) We're also trying to convince James to fly out to California and hang out, help us pack, and drive with us. It sounds like he's not so keen on the driving, but I'm trying to persuade him, we're hoping to make it in just a few days maybe stopping in Albuquerque and...oh..say... Garland?

We're excited and sad. I don't really want to leave without Boy or at least knowing ... where he is? what happened?

Any support/advice welcome.

P.S.- The acupuncture is helping the carpal tunnel, my wrist doesn't feel as swollen, most of the shooting pains have subsided and there hasn't been any numbness and only manageable aching. I'm optimistic.

Gone Wandering

2008-05-30T17:39:00.000-04:00

Boy has decided to take a vacation - we don't know where he went or when he's coming back or even if he's coming back. We scoped out all the trees he's been stuck in and have found nothing but leaves.

(Based on the neighbor cat's recent yawling-which he never does-I feel like something is ... amiss.)

In the meantime we're trying to be patient and respectful of his need for space and listening intently for meowing (that isn't Rusty.)

Two tidbits

2008-05-25T16:41:00.000-04:00

1) There are two cop cars outside the house (presumably 'visiting' the apartment complex on the other side of our neighbors' house.)

2) I'll have some cupcakes to share with you in a few hours.

Summer is upon us

2008-05-13T18:10:00.001-04:00

The National Weather Service tells me that it's going to be 101 degrees in San Anselmo on Thursday. !!!! Holy crap! This is news that makes me appreciate two things: a) our apartment stays relatively cool due to the lack of sun and b) that I won't be in San Anselmo on Thursday! Ha! Liz and I are driving up to Portland to see Liz and Mike! Originally George and Yannick were going to come along but George can't tear himself away from the railing-building and I think Yannick flat out forgot and probably doesn't want to come if George isn't going (there are few people who would want to spend ten hours in a car with Liz and I.)

Tomorrow (only 90 degree day) is the day our veggie conversion kit is slated to arrive! George is pretty excited.

The carpal tunnel is subsiding, the nightly bracing seems to be helping, even if it chaffing the inside of my thumb raw. My panic is subsiding as well.

Diagnosis: CTS or An Account of the Week

2008-05-12T10:33:00.000-04:00

A session of dishwashing at home last Monday left me with a funky thumb problem - I couldn't put any pressure on it without awful shooting pains, no jar opening, no mug lifting, no supporting myself as I climbed down from the loft.

Then on Tuesday I was getting weird feelings in the back of my hand - not pain, but I could just feel everything.

Wednesday morning started with a bang in the first ten minutes: getting out of bed...feeling nauseous, ears ringing, vision darkening, chills, clammy, freaking out...to being completely normal. This has, in fact, happened to me twice already in my life: eight years ago and four or five months ago. Fearing brain problems, I made an appointment at the community clinic.

I learned that the weird freaking out is almost fainting, pre-vasovagal syncope. A nerve in the body sends out a signal that slows the heart rate, thereby draining the blood from the head and down you go! (Maybe.) Apparently it can be triggered by..oh..anything and the only danger to a person is if they actually pass out and hurt themselves in the fall. I also learned that I'm not anemic and I'm not diabetic. As for all my wrist/thumb issues, it's straight-up, good old y2k fashioned carpal tunnel syndrome. The doc seemed fairly nonchalant about this, granted it's not really a serious, life-threatening, exotic injury and it's mostly inconvenient, but so far it's seriously putting cramp in everything. I've been working with a brace, which is bulky, awkward, and extremely frustrating, icing it every night, wearing the brace to sleep, I stopped knitting my sweater, I can't do the dishes, open containers, use a can opener, teeth brushing has good and bad moments, as does getting dressed. Before this my days were spent working, then coming home to knit or maybe ride my bike, and now it's mostly searching the internet and checking my email left handed.

We made it to the farmers market yesterday and came home with artichokes, broccoli, cider (wicked pricey but delicious cider), yogurt, a kiwi, and bought some roasted chestnuts but they didn't make it home. We always bring the camera so we can show you how big this market is (HUGE) but when we get overwhelmed by the number of pushy people and children we're trying not to trip over and forget.

Pictures of things soon!