every-single-day

Same chibatta, different week.

Better results!
Is it spelled ciabatta?

Bread again! I used the same recipe as last week, though I used olive oil, kneaded more thoroughly, used alot more water, salted the top, and baked for 10 additional minutes. I think the crust could be a tad darker.

But, I feel I did alot better than the loaf I baked last week because this was much less dense, and I have a few good holes in my crumb. It is moist, the crust is soft though still has crunch.
I need a better salt and the flavor isn't as intense or developed as I would like it. hmmm. Next week, I will work on that aspect.
Even the photos look like I did better, don't you think?
Mom? Any help?

Someone is Happy

Gentle, as I now call him, is finished, isn't he purdy? He is zooming to the show he has been slated for since his inception. This was a super difficult piece. I started it too close on the heels of Wandering in the Garden, and a few weeks prior to moving across country. When he got to the other side he had to contend with my inability to create which became a hesitance to engage with him.
You know I hate naming pieces. It seems almost an after-thought to me, something I do because pieces of art get named. As I was making him I called him 'the man' or 'he's a big'un'. You see, David said those last words when he first saw the man on my work table. But that seems rude. How can you name a piece something that might offend.
The real offence in this piece is that there is a pen!s on an 'art quilt'. Heavens to Betsy! If 85% of the nudes in museums are female it is about time some males got more coverage, or lack thereof.
So as I was making that one, I kept wondering what I might do next...

Still wet. Oh, hmm. That doesn't sound too good. I know I am going off into treacherous waters with these words...
So I will let this dry for the day and begin to regenerate ideas for tomorrows day in the studio.

MOMMMMMM, Look! Look Mom!

My mom bakes fantastic bread. She could open a bakery. Her bread would look so much prettier than mine, but she's inspired me to make bread none the less.
This is a recipe from the pages of Peter Reinharts, The Bakers Apprentice for Chabatta. I know I don't really have the look of the bread down and I just took it out of the oven, but it is my first loaf!

I am truely blessed.

This will be a long and varied post...

Angie, my partner in Lost Shakers of Salt, sent me this extravagant birthday gift, which showcases her talent as a fabulous Mag Pie. Gathering as she does, the most glittery of all notions and wrapping them each individually.

And Deborah, sent me this brilliant pin cushion, with hand-made pins!! I admired them over at her blog a while back...

And Jeannie, showcasing her exuberance and dyeing prowess, sent these hand-dyed silks. They are gorgeous and wrapped in beautiful paper and held in a bird-centric folder. Her card was quite touching too.

With your speakers turned on...

JJ sent a package of gifts that arrived about a week before my birthday. These finger puppets and theater were the showcase of the gift and I figured they deserved their very own movie...
Again, can we applaud JJ's folk art aesthetic?

I am just amazed and grateful at the love and talent of those who are my friends. Floored, really. I love all of you!

Prezzies....

I picked up a box of presents sent by my Mom and Pop today. I gave my Mom the bum wrap by telling her to mail it to the P.O. Box, not asking how she would be sending it. UPS doesn't ship to P.O. Boxes. But they were nice and held the box for me. Safe and sound.

and the box is just chock full...

I decided to open the presents as a blogging event, so that my folks could have an experience too. If anything is too personal, I won't share it. But I figured I would open and upload as I went. So far...
Mom and Pop are encouraging my new found, rekindled even, foodie roots. I received my first issue of Gourmet magazine (which I love) last Friday. And made the crackers in the last post, promptly. Now I find that they have also gotten me the subscription to Vegetarian Times. I look forward to my first issue! Yeeeah!

I love that my mom calls me Sweetie.

My mom sent a copy of the review of her book. I haven't read it yet but her proud smile and beautiful photograph brings tears.
Ok, I read it. Mom, keep having the balls to contact and put your name and work out there. I am very proud.

My dad went to the local Quilt store and bought me a stash of fabrics. I love the bright colors he chooses. It is just the way he is and I get him. He loves to wear fuschia, purple, turquoise, it is all bright for my Pop.
And you can't really read it, I didn't want it to be read, really. But there is a note from my Pop. I have always been really fond of both my parents handwriting. I can't explain it really, suffice it to say that when I was a child, I used to study it.

The scarf? It is one of those, I would have pined over it in the store and walked away to regret not purchasing it later. And it is my favorite color with sequins...

Never another cold winter. My folks know how I love warm feet, even if today it is too darned hot to do more than model them, it won't be this hot forever.

And a purse, or is it a backpack? And it fits my journal perfectly. My mom knows that really, I want my stuff on my back, I want my hands free and I need decent pockets.

So this bag by Le Donne, small but just big enough, has a strap that unzips to become shoulder straps, and has a nifty pocket that is hidden from those who might have nefarious intent.
((I just got sorta Lemony Snicket there, didn't I? I didn't really get that series of kids books until I saw the author perform at a reading. He was fantastic.))

And the great thing is, I have been using a really fun plastic tote, which I have been needing a break from. The tote is open and the bummer part of it is that it tips over in the car, spilling my junk all over.
I am going to need to keep my head about my beautiful, new leather bag and allow it to age. The leather is so pretty that as soon as I started to check it out, I worried that the straps would get stained with handling. Well, they are and it will look even prettier soon, right?

And my Pop specifically gave me this thistle bird feeder. Pop started feeding birds when I was a teen. We even had a little budgie who so wanted to land on our first feeder. Poor little guy.
Pop got the Peterson's guide and started to identify the little feathered friends. And I caught the addiction.
And tucked into the feeder was a special little fortune.
Thank you both so very much. I miss you too. Miss, miss, miss you too. I love you like meat sauce over ziti with Coca-Cola in big slurps. I love you like salted peasant bread. Like ricotta cheese and sugar on white bread. I just l-o-v-e, love you both.

And thanks to everyone, everyone who left comments and sent emails. Lisa, JJ, Ang. You all make living so much better.