Count the Happies

I just love this cake! I saw it online and it made me smile. I mean who doesn't love a bit of rainbow happiness? It made me think of my birthday which in turn made me think of my parents, who sent me an e-card on my Birthday as one of my little surprises. The card is hysterical and the birthday tune is sung partly in French, which I just love.

One of the lines of the song states, "So count the happies and not the candles". Well, I wasn't that old this year, but I still like this sentiment! That is what we should do everyday, just count the "happies" because I think at times, life can get us all down.

I have so much going on at the moment as so many of us do and I am finding that my long hours at work are beginning to take their toll. I seem to be spending more time there than I am spending in my house. And, by the time we get home, make dinner, do the dishes, it is pratically time to go to bed and start all over again. It is, at the moment, making me feel old before my time as they say.

There doesn't seem to be any time to do the things that I would like to do for me. I say that with a grain of salt because I am not a "me" kind of person. I like to do for others, but I am ready to just be able to look at a magazine with a nice cup of tea in peace, without a million-bajillion thoughts running through my head; about my day and the next day to come.

Tonight, however, I made some time, I carved it out and took time for myself. I made a raspberry buttermilk cake and just took pleasure in doing something simple. That was my "happies" today, and I shall count that, instead of the candles, because that is all that really matters.

(Image found here)

Its My Birthday!

WOO-HOO!!! Today is my Birthday and I am having a wonderful time! Mr. Michie brought me breakfast this morning, a chocolate muffin and a chocolate smoothie with lots of whipped cream and a chocolate stick and lots of surprises waiting for me on the kitchen table. He said I should be eating nothing but sugar today, so breakfast was a good start!

After we got in from work tonight, we started watching the lunar eclipse, it is amazing to watch. The commentary is so interesting, they said that the Algonquin Indians would call the June full moon a "strawberry moon", I like the sound of that.

We are about to grab some dinner and watch a movie!  Then on to Birthday cake, I can't wait....

A Week to Party

This week is a big week! It is the week of my Birthday! I am so excited. I will have a mini celebration during the week, but Mr. Michie is taking me out at the weekend to celebrate however I wish, although I know he has a few ideas of his own up his sleeve.

I have asked to go to Camden Market, eat some lunch, sit on a "vespa" seat and watch the water go by and do a little antiquing. There is a stall there that sells vintage suitcases and I have had my eye on a few! I can't wait.

Tomorrow, I plan to work on making my Birthday cake. Goose Girl & Foxy have asked if they can help, I would love their input.  I am busy working away on their new blog, with their help of course! I have put up the bios they gave me, however, Foxy thinks he might want to change a few things, he is very fussy. So, stay tuned I think they will want to show you their bios very soon....

(Image: Found)

The Anatomy of a Cupcake

Mr. Michie e-mailed this to me after coming across it. He knew I would love it and he was right! What a beautiful image. It was created by Allen Hemberger and Sarah Wilson as a birthday gift for a friend.

I think it is stunning! To see how they did it, watch the video here. Just looking at this poster makes me hungry!

A Recluse Who Has A Party?

I did... for the first time in ten years. I had myself a little party.
It started out sweet with many close family members, some neighbors and my uncle setting up a shelter for the two ducks he gave me as a gift! I love ducks :))))
It progressed to a raging awesome bon fire with friends, and lots of good inappropriate conversation topics being discussed, like composting toilets... which generally leads to talk of urine and diarrhea. We talked alot about roaches too. These are things I love to talk about.
But as the night draws on boys tend to want kisses...

and I start to wanna rock out to satellite radio by a warm cabin fire....

and it ends close to when I pull out my best dance move, which is a New Orleans thing called 'poppin' I learned when i was 16. Two african american girls at my catholic school shut the classroom door when the teacher stepped out and told all the white girls they were going to show us how to actually dance! They jumped upside down on a wall and basically booty shook & humped the wall with their school skirts falling over their heads. I learned it right away and have been sharing it ever since.

At my party... I am 'poppin' on my own fridge.

Before I had this first party as a recluse I wondered if i'd ever want to have another one again after it was over....

I wonder no longer. Parties are good to have, and human nature is hilarious.

xoxxoooo

A Day (or two) In The Life

On October 5th I turned 33. Not a big deal really except that it marked a ten year anniversary of something that would change my life forever. This of course led me to think in slightly different terms then usual - basically that silly deep contemplative junk that comes up while I am doing something like shoveling donkey poop, i think: WOW Whoooo woulda thought I'd be doing what I am doing right now back when I was 23...!
This is why instead of doing a ten year soul review (cause it's not like I'm having a near death experience just a birthday), i thought I'd do a day in the life! This is actually a day and 1/2....
*
Pictured at the top is what happens every morning. I sleep with my cat toots every night and in the morning I wake up with her either snuggled under the covers by my belly, or on top the covers by my belly. Always keeping me warm. I tell her that she is a "fish in the ocean of love" while petting her head, she lays back and looks like she's swimming through an invisible ocean and smashes her face against my hands.
Now that it's cold, before doing ANYTHING I get my fire started... I get dressed, eat a lara bar and prepare to greet outside and feed all my animals!

JuJu the donkey and all the chickens get fed a little corn (the chickens also get food scraps), and JuJu gets her 'flakes' of hay (mixed grass hay, never gluten grain hay)...

While all my babies are eating and happy, I take the time to shovel all the donkey shit. Unlike many other areas of my life, I am quite maticulous about keeping the animals fenced area clean. She usually poops in the same place over and over as if she's potty trained but my daily shoveling sometimes throws her off (i think JuJu thinks i am saying it wasn't a good spot to poop in.)

Each day I take the bucket of donkey poop and dump it in the organic gardens I am building. If I have really good energy I keep going with mushy rained on & trampled top soil from the fenced in area too. I usually max out at ten buckets in a day, cause dat' shit is heavy!

On this particular day, while building up the garden JuJu the donkey also went into HEAT again! When donkeys go into heat they make this attractive face (pictured below), while making smacking, chewing and breathing sounds. Some drool can happen from time to time. Chewed food falling out. Tail up. Alot of pee'ing.

After I've taken care of everyone I sit down at the computer to check on emails, stalk ya'll on facebook, check on my store, and watch music videos. ;) I spend time at the computer throughout the day, especially while resting and cooking (i cook all three meals a day).

A RARE thing that happened on this day was I cleaned my house...

only cause after the cob project it was a dangerous (broken plate pieces) and scary (donkey poop cob dirt smeared all over) place.

The tempature also dropped so drastically at the high elevations inthe mountains here, I had to carry all my plants in one by one... gawd I love my plants. So much. Most of them are herbs i use for cooking everyday. I set them up on little round logs so they could reach the light of the window.

Since basil is seasonal and had already died, i took the old peaches I had collected from a neighbor's tree to plant in that pot in hope's that next year at least one of those seeds will sprout a new tree. :)

A daily thing now too is splitting all the logs I have here. This is the stack I did in one day...

Lately, my gravity fed water has been getting clogged with silt. Since the spring water has now been boxed in I can't see exactly why this is happening but there's a good chance some North Carolina crawfish are playing around in there...

I have to blow the pipe.

A neat trick I learned, instead of shoving a long wire up there to unclog it, if i put my hand over the pipe and blow air up into the pipe hard enough the clog come out and tons of water rushed out. Sometimes so fast it hits my face before I can pull back.

I try to walk in the woods everyday. Which isn't hard to do cause I am surrounded. I think it is when I feel most relaxed, most energetic, most healthy and happy.

For my birthday me and Bort took a small trip to Waynesville, NC to go to my favorite thrift store ever! We thrift scored big time, I even found a winter coat that's washable and almost matches my donkey. :)

Next door to the Second Blessings thrift store this little town actually feeds their homeless and poverty stricken everyday. It's pretty awesome. I always wanted to help there but my stupid auto-immune disease won't let me touch the food.

Me and Bort also stopped at the lake there, called Lake Junaluska. All the times I lived near that lake and I had never sat by it. It had quacking & laughing ducks and sparkles reflecting off the surface.

As pretty as it was, I could not wait to get back home to my own lil' pond, and the quiet of my cabin.

I read. Alot. Usually before I go to bed, or by the fire, when evening comes, or when I am sick of the internet during the day. I get used books online, from friends, or borrow from my local Spring Creek Volunteer Library.

Was my average day as exciting as you thought?
Is it as exciting as I thought it would be when I was 23?
*I imagine 23 year old Leslie sitting outside the All Natural store on Magazine St. in New Orleans. Her eyelids shimmer with pink glitter, her lipstick is red, and her head is shaved on the sides. She's eating the daily special which happens to be a vegan Jambalaya (her favorite), she has no idea what is going to happen in a week or two. She is a successful artist, she's young, educated, what could go wrong. Her Italian artist boyfriend gets up to go use the bathroom...
and 33 year old Leslie comes to the table and sits in his place.

She says "In ten years you will be a recluse living in the woods in the mountains near Asheville, NC. You will never have returned to New Olreans, even this deli will no longer exsist. In the Mountains you will be surrounded by animals you love and love you, in a cabin, in a place so remote it will shock people. You will buy only hypoallergenic toilet paper, cook all your meals, and use a toilet that composts poo. You will know how to identify trees by their bark and plants you can eat in the forest. You will never eat this Jambalaya again."

23 year old Leslie will frown hard about the Jambalaya, but smile a big grin about all the rest. She will say "That sounds really fucking cool."*

I Love to Snog!

Armed with my new camera, a trip into central London this week, meant an excuse to go into Snog and grab a tasty frozen treat! I'll be honest, at first, I was not sure about their frozen yogurt, but now I think I have been won over. I really enjoyed their chocolate flavour with white chocolate stars, and they were far from skimpy on my toppings!

The walls had wonderful colorful art, like a page out of a storybook. My first Snog treat was on my Birthday day out and I was not expecting the Greek slightly soured tartness to it, I expected it to be more like frozen yogurt from the States, which is sweeter, but little by little, it is growing on me, even if only for the chocolate stars!

* A note, for my non British readers, "snog" is slang for kissing in jolly ol' England & I like the fact that they have played on that word, because who doesn't "fancy a snog"?

A Birthday Trip Out

Well, I am ashamed to say that my Birthday Post has taken me so long to write. I did give you a hint of what was to come and that I did get the lovely turqouise shoes I wanted! But, I have yet to write any more and there is so much to say.

I have lived in London for a number years and I know some of its secrets, but not all. I love when I have gone somewhere that I have been a thousand times, but yet I discover a secret I did not know it held. Our secret discovery came in the form of a secret garden.

We went to the Natural History Museum in search of Phoolan, alas she was no longer there. In our hunt for her we wandered onto a side of the Museum that I have never wandered to. It is there that a wildlife garden exists behind an iron gate. Next to the entrance of the gate stood a majestic bronze fountain.

Inside those gates held a wild meadow, a little stream, an impressive bee hive in the hollow of a tree. It was a little oasis in the middle of London. You completely forget where you were, watching the little ducklings following there Mama, with reeds and lilies surrounding you.

From there we walked across the street to I think my most favorite Museum, The V&A. The Grace Kelly Exhibition was sold out for the day, so that will be a Birthday treat yet to come, but we did manage to get into the Quilt Exhibition.

The Quilt Exhibition was amazing. The quality and workmanship in the quilts was awe-inspiring. It was very interesting, to me, to walk through the gallery and see these pieces objectified and paid homage too. It is a fine line we walk with Art. I have two quilts in my possession, both from the 1800's American Mid-West and I use them, they are lovingly looked after, but they are used. I stared at some of the quilts on "bed-frames" or hung on the wall, being revered, dated to around the same period of my own, never to be used again, which is against the reason they were created for in the first place. A little dichotomy that I find intriguing.

There is such a hidden story to tell with quilts: How many hands touched it? Who made it and who was it made for? How long did it take to create, to save the fabric scraps? This was a wonderfully put together show as far as the pices went, there were a few I would have loved to have seen in more detail, but the bed frames they lay upon made it impossible. There are a few quilts I would have gladly liked to have called my own as well, like this one:

The scalloped edges and the detail in her work was so intricately beauitul.  It was enough for me to have just seen seen the exhibition but a few surprises were put into my hands, and one of them was this:

Created by the artist who designed the quilt featured on the exhibition poster. We were able to see the real quilt piece this was made from and I think it is such a cool way to tie everything in. I love when you see thought has gone into something in the exhibition store. That a fabric "poster" was available to tie-in with the fabric in the show.

I was disappointed to not get to see Grace Kelly as well, but in retrospect, I think we were being very ambitious, we were in the Quilt Exhibition for over 3 hours and after that, we needed a visual break, I would have hated to go through Grace Kelly and not have enjoyed it because I wasn't taking in and absorbing everything that I possibly could have.

After the V&A we wandered down to do a little shopping and thus a new pair of Birthday shoes jumped into my hands. For dinner we went to one of my favorite places. It is my own Luke's Diner (if you watch the Gilmore Girls, you will know what I am talking about). It is not as bright and cozy as Luke's, but is is a happening little dive.

After dinner, we strolled to Liberty's and Snog had set up a mini store inside. I walked out with a delicious frozen yoghurt covered in chocolate and fresh summer berries. It was a perfect end to a perfect day.

(Quilt Exhibition Fabric Banner created by: Natasha Kerr, Quilt images copyright the V&A)

Granny Knot vs. Wreath Knot

Now that I have my lovely new Birthday shoes (see: New Shoes), the question that begs to be answered is: Granny Knot vs. Wreath Knot?

After seeing this video, I think I will never go back... no more double knots for this little lady. You have to wait to the end too see what I am talking about, but it is worth it!



P.S. If you do not have Instapaper you should definitely get it, I have become an Instapaper junkie for those times I don't have time to read what I want, I can instantly save it and I can then, go back to it at a later time or date. Now that, is just happiness!

P.S.S. Instapaper is not paying me to advertize for them, I just like their product!

Mile High Banana Cream Pie

In lieu of a traditional Birthday Cake this year, I decided to make a MILE High Banana Cream Pie!

And it was Delicious! I even had a piece this morning for breakfast! Now what could be better than that? It could only have been topped by getting to share a piece with you!

(Images with my new Birthday Camera by J. Michie embellished with the Dot Freebie from The Pugly Pixel)

Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to ME! Today is moi Birthday and my little feast of surprises have not stopped, since my venture out to the Quilt Exhibition on Saturday (more to come on that)! I am being very spoiled!

This morning I was awoken to chocolates, which I munched away on as I opened this beautiful wise ol' owl card:

The postman delivered this to my door, and we all know how much I love gnomes!:

I must be a very deserving Birthday Girl, because I have been saving for something big for a little while now and cheerily wrapped in pink paper with polka dots was this:

So get ready, I am going to be going picture crazy! I already have plans to sew a fabric cover for the neck strap and I have the perfect scraps left to sew it with. I could just die from happiness! But, I won't because I have more surprises to come today!

I was torn between making strawberry shortcake cake or banana pudding, but, after a Twitter conversation with the lovely Susan Branch the other evening, I have decided to make a banana cream pie, so I am off to start whipping up cream and slicing bananas and hopefully I will get to soak up a little sunshine before I have to go into work.

My windows are open and the most delicious breeze is making my curtains dance around, Mr. Blue Sky is out and it is a gorgeous day! Hope you are having a beautiful day wherever you are!

**Update: Thank you everyone for all your well wishes, I am off to eat some Birthday Banana Cream Pie...

(Birthday Children Party Image by: Dagmar Wilson, 1957)

New Shoes

"Hey, I put my new shoes on today and suddenly every-things right!"

That is the song that played in my head this morning as I put my new shoes on! My crystal ball was correct, they did jump onto my feet yesterday afternoon after a glorious day wandering around the Quilt exhibition!

I have so much to share, but for now, I am off to bed, the rain outside is lulling me to sleep on this lazy-dazy Sunday evening!

Let the Weekend Begin

We are kicking off the weekend with a bang tomorrow and I can't wait! Next week is my Birthday and we are starting the celebrations this Saturday. In our house Birthday celebrations are not limited to just the actual day, they are an ongoing feast of little surprises. So, tomorrow I am being whisked away to one of my favorite museums, the V&A to see the Grace Kelly:Style Icon exhibition and the Quilt Exhibition.

Then off somewhere fun for lunch and a bit of shopping in the afternoon. I am looking at my crystal ball and I see a trip to Anthropologie in my future! I am gazing harder into my ball now and if I am lucky I see these jumping onto my feet:

My pink pair are sorely in need of a break and I love the bright happy color of these. So, the house has been cleaned this morning and made ready for the weekend, the only thing to do now is sit back and enjoy the ride....Hope all of you have a wonderful happy filled weekend too!

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Birthday IceCream

Today is my birthday! This year has gone racing by and it doesn’t seem right that it should be June already. I LOVE birthdays, whether it is mine or someone else's and I think they should carry on for more than just your actual birthday as well, like Alice in Wonderland’s “Un-Birthdays”:

“There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents ... and only one for birthday presents, you know.” - Lewis Carroll

In saying all of this, for the first time in my life I am not overly excited about this particular Birthday. I thought, like many of us do, that I would be in a different place right now, but that is obviously not in God’s plans for me at the moment.

Jack Byrnes’ wisdom tells me that you don’t always see the whole puzzle, so I am just waiting on some pieces to come together. We are blessed with a home, with food, with a job and most importantly with love, and that is all you really need. So, I continue to walk in faith and as Frank Sinatra sang, “the best is yet to come”. I’m going to hold to that and embrace the moment.

As my husband told me this morning, good things come to those who wait, and I have patiently waited for a pair of wellies for forever and amongst my birthday gifts this morning, sat a shining green pair with polka dots on them, just for me!