Monday, May 31, 2021

...5.31...Over the Weekend...

...the tree guys came back...after quite the hiatus...and all they really accomplished was to make it even more likely that Jack can escape...as they cleaned up a bunch of the limbs around where they took the fence down...which will have to stay down until the cut the big trunk...which they did not do...
...I did the weekly shop...of note...Violife cheese was $1 off...so I bought every kind they had...haha...and FINALLY my favorite Silk milk was back in stock...and we're going to try the Tuno from Loma Linda...this one is sweet chili flavored...
...and in TWO of the British shows we watch on BritBox...recently...in entirely different shows...they mentioned Builders Tea...and the phrase make mine a Builders...so...of course we had to try that out...and I was thrilled when that arrived from Amazon...and you know the Man...he's much more susceptible to Amazon's suggestions that I am...haha...that's why we also have a box of Welsh Brew...haha...
...the Builders has very specific instructions...and a super-super short brew time of 20 seconds...whaaaa...
...but I followed the instructions...
...and added sugar and almond milk...and you know what...it's delicious...the Man liked it a lot too...he even had some for breakfast instead of coffee...no sugar though...just cream...
...while I as out shopping I got Mexican takeout...from a new (to us) "authentic" restaurant...it was really good...
...the Man's super old khakis that he just wears for working around the house are starting to wear out...so I mended two of them...by adding a little strip of tan fabric on the worn button hole areas...it should hold for a while...
...I made a small batch of vegan peanut butter cookies...
...and tried the Welsh Brew with those...I think I prefer the Builders...but the Welsh is good too...
...Our Airman's aquarium is finally back to normal...and I'm so happy about it...
...and finally...we saved a bunny...that Callie...arghhhh...

...I was leaving for my bike ride...and I heard an odd squeal...and Callie came prancing around the corner with this little guy in her mouth...so I jumped off my bike and took the bunny away from her...she gave him up easily...no fuss...I think she thinks she's doing a good thing...remember the Squirrel Rescue...

...anywhooo...the little guy was twitching oddly...but otherwise completely still...but still breathing...so I thought he probably would not survive...but I quickly put him in a basket in the laundry...thinking that at least if he died it wouldn't be with Callie chewing on him...

...but HAPPY me when I came back from my ride...and opened the laundry room door and the basket was empty...it took me a minute to find the little guy...but he seems completely recovered here hiding behind the vacuum cleaner...

...so I just reached down and scooped him up...he let out quite a squeal...and I took him all the way across the hay field and let him go in the little bit of woods there...and he scampered right off...so...so HAPPY about that little rescue...

...and one other funny thing happened after that...when I came inside...the Man said..."what's that on your shirt"...so I looked down onto my black shirt - right shoulder area...and guess what...a bird had pooped on me while I was riding my bike...and I didn't even notice...haha...

Happy Memorial Day...and blessings and peace to all those who have lost a loved one in the military...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

Saturday, May 29, 2021

...5.29...Dinner and a Movie...

...so it was time to make the Tik-Tok feta-tomato dish again...and NOT almost burn it this time...I used regular tomatoes this time too...it can be pretty 'spendy' to use the little ones...
...and I didn't bother forming the tofu feta into a block this time either...it just gets mixed all in at the end...and I would try the Violife feta...but I think it would just all melt...still...it'd probably be delicious...
...and I just cut the tomatoes into chunks...added some garlic onion and Italian herbs...
...and baked it...without overdoing it this time...
...and then stirred the vegan feta in...
...there's a lot more juice this time...you know if you don't overbake it...there would be...haha...
...it looks perfect...
...we had it over the fiori noodles...with a side of spinach...and spinach is the perfect accompaniment to this dish too...
...it was delicious...and so so simple to put together...definitely a keeper...

...it was the Man's turn to choose the movie...and he chose Operation Sussex...a historical documentary about a top secret spy mission during World War II...and BONUS...it had a LOT of French spoken at a reasonable speed...so I'd watch it just for that...haha...

...what have you been watching lately?...

~Have a lovely day!

Friday, May 28, 2021

...5.28...Friday Favorites...

...during the Bride Doll Project...I've mentioned several (and there were apparently a lot) of the quirky little things that I either wanted or didn't want at my wedding...haha...

...and one of the things that I didn't want (for who knows now what reason) were "posed" pictures...I wanted all of the pictures to be taken just as things naturally occurred during the ceremony and the reception...I have absolutely NO IDEA why that was important to me...

...but my sweet Big Brother was really into photography at the time and had a nice camera...so I asked him to take photos at the wedding and the reception...and he did...and we think he did an awesome job too...

...and he and my sweet SIL had all of the photos printed for us as a gift too...several they formatted as 8x10s and 5x7s...but they had all of the photos printed...
...EXCEPT this one...obviously...it was the end of the roll...and they probably didn't think it was worth printing...and I never even noticed that it was missing...

...but...when we lived in North Dakota...I found all of the negatives in a box...(all of the photos were printed and in an album)...and there was still a little photo shop on Main Street (remember those)...and they would take 35mm negatives and somehow copy them to a cd...there were a lot of negatives from the wedding....I think my brother said he shot 3 rolls of film...and the cd cost $40...but I think we were getting ready to move and it got packed up without any (or much) review...

...but I got it out (from an envelope that I affixed to the inside back cover of the wedding album)...to get some digital photos for the Bride Doll Project...and I found this photo...that I had NEVER seen before...

...and I wanted it...fixed...and printed...
...so...y'all know I don't have any fancy-schmancy editing tools/apps...I basically just used MSPaint...and a crazy amount of time...cutting out and pasting parts of the photo and adjusting colours and 'painting'...and I know it's not perfect...but I think I've got a printable photo of the wedding toast now...and I'm pretty happy about it...

~Have a lovely day!

Thursday, May 27, 2021

...5.27...What I Ate in a Day...as a Vegan...

...for breakfast...I had a bowl of Cheerios and banana with almond milk...
...mid-morning snack was a slice of whole wheat toast with peanut butter and a banana...and tea...
...for lunch I heated up some leftover black beans and plain rice...added some salsa and a Foreman grilled sweet potato...it was yummy...
...afternoon snack...I used the mandoline to slice up a potato and then microwaved the slices into perfect crisp chips...I love those a lot...
...and then while I was cooking dinner...I snacked on some of those cute little peppers, tomato and cucumber...
...then for dinner...I was experimenting with a vegan meatloaf...and I wasn't sure how it would turn out...but it worked perfectly...this is just TVP crumbles with some peppers and onions...hydrated with water...and just sort of pressed into a baking dish...
...and it held together and made a perfect little vegan meatloaf...
...served with Grandma's mashed and peas...of course...and ketchup...it was perfect comfort food...
...the only other thing I think I had was one of these drinks...I found a tote with about 15 of these still in it from our trip to the beach before the kiddos left for Japan...I brought them all upstairs...and I'll probably just try to drink one a day until they're all gone...

...what did you eat yesterday?...

~Have a lovely day!

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

...5.26...Bride Doll Project...Day EIGHTEEN...

...the Bride Doll Project is now complete...Dolly has a little home...
...I went looking through my stash for some black material...and I found this very oddly shaped piece of black satin...it's from Our Airman's Darth Vader Halloween costume...from 2007...wow...such a long time ago...

...it's really jagged and barely covers the carboard...but I'm definitely going to use it up...haha...
...I just trimmed it up a little bit and hot glued it to the cardboard...I (almost) always wear gloves when I used a glue gun...I've seen a lot of people use their bare hands...but whenever I've tried that I invariably get burned...
...first I cut another piece of cardboard and covered it so Dolly would have something other than glass to stand on...
...and then I covered the long rectangle...see how the material barely covers the board...

...then I glued a piece of black paper over the back to cover up the cardboard and the ragged edges...but apparently I didn't take a photo of that...
...the finished back board...
...now...Dolly needs to be able to stand on her own...

...and quite a while ago...I had gotten this freebie at a Goodwill...it is (I think) an actual part of a doll stand...but I think the V end of it is supposed to slide into a support of some kind...which I don't have...also hence it was free...
...so I just turned it upside down...and I'll use that as the base...and then I made another loop at the (now) top out of a coathanger...
... to fit around her waist...
...and then slipped her into it feet first...
...and now she can stand on her own...
...so I just placed her in the center of the aquarium-turned-on-end...facing forward through the glass front...
...and popped the back cover in place...here you can see the paper covered back that I didn't photograph before...and the satin side is on the inside behind Dolly...and it just fits snugly inside the aquarium rim so no fasteners are needed...
...so that little (NOT) project is all finished...but really it was just a short time each day for...what...eighteen days...haha...

~Have a lovely day!

...5.26...W.I.P. Wednesday...

...y'all know I can't remain monogamous to one project...haha...I started a pretty little multi-coloured dishcloth for my sweet sissie to use on her boat...
...and I also knit a few more rows on the grey trouser socks...I will finish them eventually...ha...

...oh...and the Bride Doll Project has wrapped up as well...

...what's in your workbasket?...

~Have a lovely day!

Tuesday, May 25, 2021

...5.25...Bride Doll Project...Day SEVENTEEN...

...I totally intended to finish the project today...but there'll be one more day...because...
...while I was downstairs getting things for Our Airman's aquarium...I spied this small dirty dis-used aquarium...and thought it would be a perfect little dust-free home for Dolly...not in its current state obvi...

...Mom's Bride Doll has a nice clear 'proper' doll case...but you know me...use what you have...right?...
...so...Mom told me that CLR would clean this thing right up...but I didn't have any...and I didn't want to make a special trip to the store to get some...so I used white vinegar and Bar Keepers Friend...
...which worked...it just took a long time...and a lot of elbow grease...haha...
...so then I got a piece of stiff cardboard out of the recycle...
...and cut it to fit snugly inside the rim...

...I'm going to cover it with fabric...probably black...but we'll see what's in the stash...

...so tomorrow...the Bride Doll Project will officially end...

~Have a lovely day!