creations lately

cleaning, cont.

Check out these slippers. Who knew what treasures lay in my closet?? They were made my great-aunt, the one I'm named after, and they are bright pink on top, puke-green on the bottom, and each adorned with a big fat pom-pom. I have been wearing them all day.
I did get rid of LOTS of stuff. Like this hat, which I had to take a picture of before throwing in the give-away pile, because its the first hat I ever knitted. Its not great, but it has that special feel. Not special enough to keep, though. Seriously, I was feeling so motivated today, I had no room for nostalgia. My mom looked at my room and asked "Are you moving out, or something?".
And it was another granola day. This batch was improvised, with lots of cinnamon and dried cherries and more brown rice syrup than sugar. Not bad at all.
I also made a trip to the library and came back with a great loot of books. I think the library is my favorite establishment...ever. What a great idea: "Hey, lets get a whole collection of books, and let people borrow them, for free!". That is just positively marvelous.

closet clear out

Before:Clothes clothes clothes. My frequent stops at Sally's and Value Town have resulted in many frivolous purchases of colorful, challenging clothing that I see and refuse to leave on the racks. After A's brutal scrutinization and me trying on much, we were left with this:
La creme de la creme, the most precious and favorite. Feels sooo nice to get rid of the piles of clothings that I don't really like but simply wont discard them, that mostly decorate the floor of my room. Yay!
In other news, I'm on a mission to find lye for soap, and it is proving more difficult than I thought. In the mean time, maybe I can find a glycerin base to start, before I get into the burning, caustic, chemically process.
I am also going to keep cleaning out my room. I'm on a roll, and I'm feeling unmerciful.

Its foggy and rainy and my brain feels the same way.
I'm feeling out of sorts.
I wrote a list of everything in my brain.
Its a good list.
The last 2 nights were spent with distant family out in Kenai/Seward.
Pictures.

I have so many pictures, its overwhelming. But here are two more, from Paris.
In other news, I bought a bread book for $3 and might make brioche today, if I feel adventurous.
I went to the lake yesterday, and it was mighty nice. Big white puffy clouds and the water was that sea-greenish-bluish-grayish color that I think is my favorite color in the whole wide world.
My camera charger was lost somewhere...but I remember it with my eyes.

to Europe and back

Wow, wow, and wow.
5 weeks in Europe can be a whole lot of awesome.
And it totally was.
I can't possibly show all the pictures in one post, so I won't.
But now I have a stash of amazing photos that I am so happy with.
I got tanned from the hot sun and plumped up on all the really delicious food.
I saw so many art galleries I didn't know what to do with myself.
Open air markets with cool clothes gave me new sewing inspiration.
Pastry shops and bakeries renewed my desire to be a baker.
Churches and cathedrals blew me away.
It was wonderful.