my heart, my home

This blog is my fun zone. I share things that make me happiest and I just realized that 95% of what I post are things that I produce - home projects, knitted pieces, recipes, plants that I grow. I thrive on being productive and helpful.

But it's hard for me to continue posting about these things that I'm creating, because all I can think about is the heartbreaking destruction in my home state of Alabama. Wednesday I watched on the web as tornadoes tore their way through my hometown areas of Concord - Hueytown - Pleasant Grove and my beloved college town of Tuscaloosa. I feel very fortunate that my family was spared in every way. So far, all of my friends are physically well though some have lost their homes and most precious possessions. So many more were not that fortunate. My friend Tim just posted that as of today, in Tuscaloosa alone, the numbers stand as: 5,731 buildings down, 39 dead, 570 missing, 1,000+ injured.

Tornadoes don't belong in my blog, because nothing could be more opposite of "productive and helpful". I do have faith that these communities will come together, hold each other up, and find a way to rebuild and move on. The truth is that it's going to get worse before it gets easier, but I know my people can do it. They can do anything.

My friend (and fantastic librarian) Lauren shared a list of ways that you can help. If you haven't seen the destruction, you should check out these links - I guarantee they'll make you want to get out and donate time, money, supplies, or blood.

Tornado over Bryant-Denny Stadium
Tornado near 15th Street in Tuscaloosa
Spann coverage of the tornado in Tuscaloosa
Aerial footage of the aftermath and viewer photos


And now we return to our regularly scheduled fun zone...

Happy Birthday, Hadley!

My friend Hadley's birthday festivities were last night and I happily accepted the assignment of baking her birthday cake. My target was a white cake with butter cream icing, so I went to my local baking foodie friend, Karin. She has an amazing blog all about her culinary masterpieces, and her parents own a bakery...so yeah, she has some pretty great recipes. Never one to let me down, she provided a mouthwatering set of recipes! I made two small modifications: I added green food coloring to the icing and I shaved white chocolate chunks all over the cake.

The verdict: super delicious, but my cake icing/decorating skillz need work. Oh no - I guess I'll have to make some more cakes for practice...

introducing...our (real) garden!

I've been plotting a vegetable garden since before I graduated from college. But last fall we decided that we'd have a garden plan done by the end of this spring with an outline of where the garden would be, how/if it would be built, etc., and that we would build it this fall and plant it next spring (2012). At the beginning of this weekend, that was still the plan...until Friday night, when Jose had some beverages and conversation with our friend Scott. There, the idea of the new planters was conceived.

By sunset on Saturday, they were built and set. By midday Sunday, they were lined, filled, and full of plants!

(notice Berger frolicking in the distance)

In the new, wooden planters, we have:

6 tomatoes
2 crimson melons
1 cubanelle pepper
3 sweet red peppers
3 green bell peppers
1 culantro
2 straight neck squash
6 zucchini squash
2 strawberries
and basil, basil, BASIL

And in the stainless planters, we have even more basil.

...and we may plant some green beans in the Topsy Turvies. (Because they failed at growing tomatoes and we have green beans with no place to go). Yes, I know I could give them away, and we are giving some away, but I do love green beans and it sure would be neat to be able to grow and put up my own.

The morals of the story: hard work is rewarding, plans need to be flexible when your very handy friend has a free day, and lemon rosemary mojitos are the birthplace of great ideas! Three cheers for Scott, three cheers for Jose and THREE CHEERS FOR VEGETABLES!!

Fun with eggs

We love Easter. We love fun times. Egg-dying is a no-brainer...

Tie-dye is this year's style.




Jose fashioned a crown out of the egg dipper and this egg was crowned the winner.


The white spot looks like an abstract reindeer leaping. It's Easter and Christmas, ALL AT THE SAME TIME!

Christy's Epic Idea - Part 2

A while back, I posted a video of someone turning an old hardback book into a lovely purse. I've long coveted one of these purses, but I lack the the ability to sew and I just can't bring myself to cough up the $80 - $200 that they cost.

My friend Christy sent an email to me and Tina last week explaining that she had intended to turn three of her (duplicate copy) Nancy Drew books into purses for us. The problem? She couldn't bring herself to gut the pages. I responded and offered to be the butcher and that sparked "Christy's Epic Idea":

• Christy sent the books to me
• I picked out fabric and handles, next I'll gut the books and send them to Tina
• Tina will assemble the bags and distribute them

The fabric/handle combos...







I'm calling this her "epic" idea for multiple reasons. We live in three (non-adjoining) states and keep in touch via email, twitter, and blogs. The fact that we will each touch the project in some way seems really meaningful (not to mention fun)! Over the past few years the three of us have read many of the same books and then discussed them via Google Chat and emails and I've so enjoyed our book e-club :) So kudos to my very crafty, innovative, bookworm-y friends!