Meet Bosley

So, my parents have a new member of their family. I suppose you could say I have a new four-legged brother. His name is Bosley, and he's a mid-size Australian Labradoodle. He's goofy, he's a thief, he's got sharp little teeth, and he's just about as sweet as they come.

While I was blow-drying my hair one morning, he absconded with my sandal - luckily I caught him before any damage was done.

Bosley looks just like a stuffed animal that I had when I was little called Fuffy. Just like fluffy without the "L".

He's little now, but he should end up around 40 lbs.

Oh yeah - those sharp little teeth? Twice he's tested them out on my big toe. I was just standing there, minding my own business, and YEOWWW! Sure enough, the teeth work.

P.S. Poor Lillabee is terrified of him. I think it's cuz he's the only animal smaller than her that she's ever met. They'll be friends soon, I'm sure of it.

You thought I was gone? Nope, just shop hopping...

Last weekend I participated in the Western Washington Quilt Shop Hop. Before I set out, I thought to myself, "what would I really like to get, besides all the free block patterns?" and the answer was "a precut strip set." At first I was thinking something like a Bali Pop set, but then I happened upon this:

A honey bun! On 30% off clearance. I couldn't resist. (Cuz it turns out those Bali Pops are expensive. But have no fear - I will eventually buy one.)

So then I had this honey bun and I was thinking "what will I do with it?" Now, to make this story interesting, I need to tell you that I love diamond quilts and have been wanting to make one, so when I stumbled across this pattern:


It was decided. Then, I just needed to find yardage. The honey bun was on sale because it's older fabric - but I was in luck. I found yardage at two stores that I hopped afterward, and who knows what I would have found if I had started the shop hop looking? So here's the plan... The palest turquoise blue will take the place of the white on the pattern. The darkest piece laying across the bottom is the border - and the peachy/pink is the setting triangles.


Now I just have to find a charm pack. There is one on etsy (as pointed out to me by the lovely firefly) which I may buy, because even though it is overpriced, it'll be cheaper in the long run than buying half yards of a bunch of different fabrics and then having a ton left over.

My adviser in the picture taking process was so kind as to also warm my spot in the bed. Now I think I will go curl up in it and dream about fabric.


Sweet dreams of whatever your heart desires!

Sleeping Beauty

The Bean was catching up on her beauty sleep the other night while I shopped online (or something), and I got this great picture of her peeking out from her sleepy state.

Don't you just want to rub her little pink tummy? (I do.)

Catching up...

It's been a busy week or two recently. I'm not complaining. I like having lots to do. Last weekend was a little bit too much driving for me (to Bellevue, then Port Angeles, then back here in one day) - but I got this cute picture of Lillers while we rode the ferry. Her hair was super static-y and sticking up all over, but she managed to look quite tame in this picture.

Then, during last week, I visited my friend Nate and ended up standing outside talking until it started to get cold and dark. I spotted the moon, whipped out my camera, and here you have the best of the shots...

This most recent weekend, I baked chocolate cupcakes and decorated them with chocolate frosting and an assortment of sprinkles. They were a test of the new regulator on my oven, and a thank you/get well for my landlord. I also had a coworker over for brunch and made creamed eggs & peas on puff pastry, blueberry lemon scones, roasted vegetable galette and fruit salad. The food, if I may say so, was delicious! Very successful recipes. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of cupcakes or brunch.

This evening, I'm proud to announce that I have finished all the blocks for the quilt of merryheathreness. Now, I just have to lay it out and assemble the quilt top (then do all the finishing, quilting, binding, etc). So exciting to be this much closer to a finished project!

Finally, in random news, when I was in Costa Rica I visited a handbag store called Mario Hernandez. The great thing was that there were all kinds of things that said "MH" on them. The unfortunate thing (for me) is that they were quite expensive. So, I shelled out for the cheapest thing I could find - a purse decorate-y thingy that has a leather M and H and a unicorn. See below.

But, then I needed a purse to put this thingy on, and I couldn't afford the ones that I really wanted, so I joined bagborroworsteal.com It's like netflix for purses! I get a new purse every month without breaking the bank! I'm a fan so far. Here's the first one I've gotten. It's Calvin Klein, and fabulous.

Well, that's all for now. Must get some sleep. Tomorrow after work I'm helping teach swing dancing. Fun stuff!

Orange-Vanilla Bean Touchdown Dance

Okay, first off, I'd like to thank Firefly's husband, Ben, for deciding to sell his computer for parts money for a new computer. Secondly, I'd like to thank him for listing it on craigslist while I was visiting Firefly. And finally, I'd like to thank him for removing it from craigslist and selling it to me.

So now, my friends, I have a laptop computer complete with hard drive space, wireless capability, functioning battery, functioning keyboard/touchpad interface, and the ability to print! Thank you, Ben, thank you! I'm hoping to never repeat the New Year's Resolution post experience again.

My most recent issue of Martha Stewart Magazine featured cupcakes on the front and a bunch of delicious sounding recipes in the inside, so I decided to try my hand at the best sounding of all - Orange-Vanilla Bean Cupcakes. Here are the results:


You may notice that only one is frosted. Well, the recipe called for a swiss meringue frosting, but I wasn't sure that I wanted meringue, so I decided to try an orange vanilla version of cream cheese frosting. But, when I tasted the combination of frosting and cupcake, I realized that the cream cheese frosting was much too sweet and over powered the delicate flavor of the cupcake - so after a little experimenting I served the cupcakes warm with unsweetened whipped cream that was whipped with some vanilla and orange zest. So delicious!

Do you know how little vanilla beans are? Very tiny. Like bits of dirt. Smaller than sand. I know because I got them all over myself after scraping the pods. In this picture you can see how tiny they are.

Another thing of note about vanilla bean pods - they are expensive. I looked for them at a local grocery store and found them for $17.50 for two, or $10.50 for one, or $7.99 for two and figured "well, Martha can afford to write these recipes, but everday people must just drool over them" when I decided to check the bulk section. 99 cents a piece, folks. I did the touchdown arm gesture before remembering I was in a store. What have we learned from this? Always check bulk spices. It's really the way to go because you can buy only what you need and have fresh so your cooking is at it's tastiest. (Also, don't let merryheathre get too involved in a quest for spices. She talks to herself and does weird little dances of joy when she finds what she was looking for.)

Here's a cute little dog curled up on my couch! I think I'll keep her.