As Seen On Mt. Tabor

• A large man riding a scooter sized crotch rocket.
• A mid-twenties surfer boy on a long board hanging out with a forty-something woman in a leopard print leotard on roller blades.
• A man that looked like Dr. Emmett Brown (Back to the Future) riding his long board (I wished it was a hover board--but I guess they don't take those out into public yet).

Cannon Beach

Dave and the ocean

Molly and Kate

Artistic shot of me

Artistic shot of Dave

Molly finds a seashell!

Molly, Alexis, and John walk in the big bath...

Yoda Likes Grass.

Yoda occasionally makes the great escape. These rare adventures into the wild come after months and months of sneaking around by the door and waiting for a moment when we slip up and leave it open for a second too long. His small head has almost been smashed by the door because his speed didn't quite match his desire to be outside (poor thing).

On the rare occasion that Yoda does get outside, he is really cute to watch. He'll stare at the sky for long lengths of time; smelling the air and basking in the glory of sweet freedom. He rubs his face in all the plants and chews on grass. He'd probably be a great cat for Wendell Berry.

In an effort to make living inside more appealing to our not-so-street-savvy cat, I went to the Portland Nursery to purchase grass. The place is so monumentally huge that I had no idea where to even begin looking for edible grass. I wound up stalking one of the Portland Nursery employees until he noticed me and asked if I had any questions. "Yes," said I, "Do you have grass that my cat could eat?" He told me that there wasn't any in the potted section but that they had some Cat Grass (or Oat) seeds in the main building.

Cat grass??? Grass just for cats? You betcha! It even boasts of being good for them and reducing hair balls (which it has). So, I purchased some seeds and planted them. Now, every morning Yoda gets a grassy treat and a small taste of the great outdoors.

Pizza!

I'm in a "do-it-myself" stage right now, that I probably should have grown out of when I was 5, but whatever. This stage has lead to making weekly loaves of homemade bread, a clothing line of my very own, and some other great revelations that I can do it myself!

To your left, you can see with your own eyes, a beautiful pizza. This pizza was not delivery or Digiorno for that matter. It was made from scratch, dough and sauce.

It's not the perfect pizza, yet. I need to let the crust cook longer before I put the toppings on and the sauce could use a little tweaking, but aside from that it's good to eat. And really, what else can you ask of a pizza?

Quilted T-shirts

A few months ago I went through my closet in an effort to downsize. It's always hard for me to do this. I'm a sentimental person and as I pull out clothes that I've had for what seems like forever, I tend to think back to "that summer when" or to that person who gave that piece of clothing. It's these thoughts that make me put t-shirts I haven't worn in ages back in my closet.

I had four such t-shirts that had made it through round after round of elimination. Each of these t-shirts had been worn and washed so many times that the cotton knit had broken down, leaving the fabric softer and more pliable than when it was originally purchased. It takes time and dedication for a t-shirt to make it to this stage and I just couldn't part with all that effort easily.

In a moment of great inspiration a solution came to me. I could make them into something else. I pulled out the t-shirts and noticed that their colors went well together, which meant I could cut them up into pieces and sew them back together to make a quilted fabric. I also thought that it would be wonderful to have a skirt made from this soft material. So, I went to work.

I cut the t-shirts up into 5x5 inch pieces, then sewed them together. After I had my quilted fabric, I pulled out one of my favorite skirts, the one that fits just right, and used it to create a pattern for my new skirt. I had just enough quilted fabric to accomplish the desired skirt! I cut the pieces and sewed them together adding a light weight white cotton lining to it and a hot pink, velvet, elastic binding to the waist.

In the end, I had to add more elastic to the waist because the binding wasn't strong enough to keep the weight of the fabric up. Aside from that, this skirt is great. It's the best on sunny days, because it's light weight and breezy. I usually wear it with my brown Birkenstocks and my favorite soft yellow cardigan. Sometimes I even gussy it up a bit and throw on a few strands of pearls. It's just a fun skirt to have in the closet!

Grocery Shopping is Fun.

Today commemorates my first ever 99.9% plastic free shopping trip! It would have been 100% but I had to buy garbage bags for our kitchen's trash can. One day that won't be a necessity, but as it is, I had to buy them. The great thing about the trash bags I bought, is that they are biodegradable and will decompose in 18-24 months. That being my only plastic purchase, I feel very good about my groceries!

At the beginning of my shopping extravaganza I ran into my friend Libby, who truly inspired this epic event. When she found me I had a plastic bag of pre-shredded mozzarella in my hand. I complained to her of not liking to shred mozzarella and tried to justify making such a purchase. She put a finger to her chin and began letting her mind work out my dilemma. Within a minute she ran into the New Seasons deli (where she works) and started pulling shredded mozzarella from a bulk bag. She weighed it and gave it to me in a biodegradable paper container! The great thing about her brilliant plan was that I was able to get the exact amount of cheese I needed. The plastic bagged mozarella was short by 2 oz., meaning I would have needed to buy two packages and wasted 6 oz of cheese. Thanks Libby!

Another highlight from my shopping trip included buying barley. I know, I'm really living on the edge. But, catch this...I went to the aisle where you normally buy beans in plastic bags, but they didn't have any pearled barley. I scratched my head and pondered where to get barley, regardless of its packaging, if it wasn't in the bean aisle. I thought it might be with the flour. So, I wandered in the direction of flour. On my way I happened past the bulk aisle and there it was...with a choir of angels singing and bright lights illuminating it. I was so pleased.

In case your wondering if all my no-plastic purchases increased my grocery bill, I'll tell you it didn't. As I would make one decision that would be more pricey, the very next decision would inevitable offer me a savings. In the end I walked out of the grocery store spending at least $30 less our normal grocery bill!

Look Mom No Plastic!

Last weekend my Grandma sent me home with a large paper bag filled with freshly picked rhubarb straight from her garden. My Grandma picks the rhubarb so that it has some of its root base still attached, this helps it to stay fresh longer. This is good for me, because I'm always slow in finding a good use for it.

I've had some delicious rhubarb dishes in the past week and a half, so I decided to freeze the rhubarb my Grandma gave me and make use of it later. As I mindlessly went about the kitchen in search of a plastic freezer bag, I ran across two large Ball jars with old fashioned glass lids. They're really quite cute and I love having them on display in our windowed cupboards. But, it struck me that these two Ball jars might be put to some industrious use.

Without even really considering it, I made a plastic free decision. It's incredible that there always seems to be an alternative to plastic. I'm truly excited about this plastic free choice, because once I use the rhubarb I just need to throw the jars in the dishwasher and they're ready for another use! I may need to stock up on these Ball jars...