sweetpea and aloe plants

sweetpea vs carrot shreds


she cant eat whole carrots, they're too big and hard for her to bite thru. but she enjoys carrots. and now the grocery store by me carries little bags of julienned carrots, which are perfect for her (and easy to add to various meals i make)


my aloe plants have lots of babies, so i pull them out and stick them in their own pot for a year. i always need fresh aloe. its good for burns!


then after a year i stick them in in the tortoise enclosure


the tortoise eats and crawls all over them


my mother aloe plants, the oldest ones i currently have. not the original one tho, that one fell over. it was growing sideways and tipped the pot over. and since i have had plenty of healthy exuberant aloe babies over the years, no sense in keeping an uncooperative one.


this years babies. they're a duller color because they were out in the greenhouse getting much much stronger sun. they greened up within days of being brought indoors for the winter.


aloe is the only houseplant i can keep alive. i'm a great OUTDOOR gardener. indoors i tend to forget and neglect and kill off houseplants. aloe thrives on neglect. only remember to water it once a month? thats fine! its happy! i can succeed with my spring seedlings because its only just two months, and its daily planting, tending, and repotting. every day there is something more to plant or pot or water or do SOMETHING to. its a constant. not like houseplants which are too easily forgotten. and after only two months, then all the seedlings go outdoors and everything is as it should be.

the many faces of molly

eeeeehehehehe - molly in the leaves


how can you resist the cute of molly?


coy molly?


molly, half buried


serious molly is serious


goofy molly is goofy


and wiggly


and silly


wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle yeah


i mean what are the leaves for if not rolling in


happy molly




these would have made fabulous xmas cards, except i've already done the dogs in the leaves.

a really neat picture/piece of art

temporary art from budapest. more pictures here http://www.cubebreaker.com/giant-man-sculpture-budapest/

cake mix fudge

cake batter fudge

it was pretty good actually! i'll definitely make it again. its dense and only takes a little bit to satisfy.


i used cherry chip cake mix instead of yellow cake, real milk, and no sprinkles.

Ingredients

1 cup yellow cake mix
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter or margarine, cut into small squares
1/4 cup milk or 1/8 cup soy milk
sprinkles (optional)

Instructions
Mix cake mix and icing sugar in microwave-safe bowl. Add butter and milk. Don’t stir.

Microwave for 2 minutes. Stir immediately until completely combined. Add optional sprinkles. Do not overmix as sprinkle color may bleed.

Spread into greased pan or use parchment paper. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

* Makes one 6 x 6” container, or double for an 8 x 8” pan.
** Notes: If the batter comes out too runny, stir in about 1 tsp or sugar or cake mix at a time until stiff. If too thick to stir in all components, slowly add 1/2 tsp of milk at a time, but batter should be thick like dough!

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/335447872219690161/
http://bakedfromabox.blogspot.ca/2012/07/cake-batter-fudge-10-minute-recipe.html

dollhouse furniture

dollhouse furniture kit that i put together. each room came in two flat punch cut sheets of thin wood.


carefully punch out the pieces


and glue everything together - living room


dig thru national geographic magazine for a small picture to glue to the picture frame


library


bedroom


whats leftover after punching out two rooms of furniture


bathroom


kitchen


dining room


stain the furniture


more stain. there were two different types of wood, one turned more golden, one more red.


the piano came with a keyboard print i cut out and glued in place


the clock came with a clock face to cut out. i found more pictures from national geographic. the flash washed out the mountain scene. its prettier than it looks there.


some of the furniture seemed a bit flimsy so i added in some extra support pieces from the leftovers.


making cushions from the cardboard cut-outs that were included in the kit


cushions/mattress/pillows


glued those in place


i made a blanket/bedspread too


finished living room


finished library


finished bedroom


finished dining room


finished bathroom


tub and sink have drain holes


finished kitchen


stove burners and kitchen sink drain


there was only one bed, but most dollhouses have a whole family of people, mom dad boy girl and baby. so i used the leftovers and made a bunkbed. it always pissed me off when i was little and playing with my dollhouse that i didnt have beds for everyone.


and i made mattresses and pillows


and blanket/bedspreads

hole in the bag

puppy tried to take a bite out of the leafblower bag when it was all inflated as i was sucking up leaves. that didnt go over well. "STOP THAT! I NEED THIS BAG, YOU DORK!" a few days later, i was yelling "dammit puppy thats not a chew toy!". i was sucking up more leaves, and sat the leafblower down and pulled out a tissue to blow my nose. turned around and puppy had ripped a little hole in the bag. that made the leaves blow in, and blow right back out up into my face! *sigh*. i could order a new bag. it'd cost $16 plus s&h. the whole leaf blower only cost me $60 new (metal impeller! waaaay better for shredding leaves without clogs). $16 for the bag seems like a lot for something that isnt even well made. (it was coming unraveled inside). and no matter what, it wont arrive in time to finish that last pile today.

the hole puppy ripped/chewed in the leaf blower/shredder bag


turned inside out, you can see the 'collar' or material lining around the plastic part that connected to the leaf blower/shredder. its all torn to bits by the leaf blower (puppy just chewed the little hole).

in searching online for a replacement bag, i read about how this material 'collar' is failing on ALL the bags for this model. its being torn apart, shredding, just like mine is! and apparently its failing to the point where the bag becomes unusable. which mine likely would have done with another year of use. i sent the company this picture. they sent me a new bag, no cost. because right NOW, mine is still under warranty. it wouldnt have been next year!


still, to finish up before the replacement arrived, i sewed up a frankenstein seam that held well enough to suck up the last few bags of leaves.


so i guess i have to be grateful puppy ripped a hole in the bag. because i got a brand new, better built, free bag.