Some Changes

     As you can see, The Yellow Warbler's layout is a little different now than it used to be.  It's wider.  The header is not centered.  I'd like to change the header in the next few days (read: weeks) to make it fit the right way.  The reason for the change in width is that I would like to post larger photos.

     You may see the layout change many times over the next few days, because sometimes I take a while to make a decision.  You may see multiple headers, text colors, and the like.  The background will almost definitely stay white.  I like white.

Afternoon by the River at Grez

     We had the opportunity to see this lovely painting in person today, and it is now one of my very favorites!  Though small (roughly 7"x 12"), the detail and light are stunning. By Willard LeRoy Metcalf.  Photo from Brooklyn Museum.

It's That Time of the Year

     If you plan to garden this year, don't forget to visit WinterSown for free heirloom tomato seeds.  All you have to do is browse around the site for a few minutes, take an easy quiz on what you read and saw, then send in a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) with your choice of varieties from a list.  They'll send you the seeds (plus a few extra goodies, usually).  

     Tomatoes are really easy to grow from seeds.  All they ask is water (don't let them dry out), light (a South or West window), and a little bit of fertilizer every now and then.  When it's nice outside and you haven't had frost for at least two weeks, plant them in the garden about 3-5 feet apart  If you plant them deeply, they'll grow extra roots on their buried stems.  

The sweet, fresh taste of heirloom tomatoes is totally worth it.  I recommend the Black Krim, but there are at least 20 varieties from which to choose.  You'll be glad you did.  

Picture courtesy Burpee.com.

The Sandhill Cranes...

... are headed North with their gurgling calls.  More v-shaped flocks pass overhead each day.  Spring is coming!

Valentine's Day

     Valentine's Day smelled so good this year!  Mainly like onion, garlic, and cilantro, and tikka masala.  And chai tea.  

     It also smelled like naan.  Chrissy and David's youth leader and his wife lived in India for nine months several years ago.  Carolyn came over on Valentine's Day and showed us how to cook this delicious meal!  Don't worry, she got to go on a date with her husband - Chrissy babysat for them a few days earlier in exchange for this lesson.

     Did I mention the garlic yet?  Let me mention it again.  There was so much garlic in everything (excepting the chai tea)!  Even the naan had garlic in it.  I loved how Carolyn measured the cilantro - she just grabbed a bunch of it and starting snipping it into the masala until it looked right.

     This photo does not properly convey the warm, complex taste and creamy texture of the masala.  If you've never had Indian food, you don't know what you're missing!

Plants in the Dormer

     During the summer these plants are scattered throughout my room and the house - the lily sits on the back porch, and the orchid on my desk.  The airplane plant and succulents (in the plastic bags behind the orchid) are destined for the top of my bookcase, because the cat thinks they're tasty, where the terrarium will join them.  For now, though, I've crowded them into the West-facing dormer in Chrissy's and my room, so they can absorb all the low winter light possible.

Apparently it's working - the orchid is starting to re-bloom!

Freckles

Photo courtesy Oregon State University Archives.

When a Boy Makes Dinner...

    
     David made supper for our family recently.  I think it was a success!  The broccoli was right, and the meat was good, though a bit dry, due to a miscommunication over setting timers (these things happen).  As you can see, however, this potato was the most remarkable food on the table, and with good reason.

If looks could kill, no one would live to eat this spud.

A Baby Quilt for Sam

     Sam is a baby who has had a difficult life.  He's been through many medical troubles, but his smile is enough to melt any heart!  I had the privilege of making a quilt out of some of Sam's baby clothes this Fall.  Let me tell you, his loving, wonderful mother picked out some adorable onesies to go on her adorable son!  Dogs, stripes, huggable monsters, giraffes, frogs, ducks - all things cute and boyish.

     I used the Double Hourglass method from Cluck. Cluck. Sew. It went together very easily - the only difficulty was the stretchy-ness of the material, because the clothes were all knits.  I used a basting spray to fix the fabric to muslin, and then cut the double-layered material into pieces.  This made the quilt heavier and slower to sew, but definitely helped with the stretching!

In Which February Comes Sweeping In

     The air outside is damp and cold, and a mixture of rain and snow has been steadily falling all day.  The house is gray and quiet inside, because half the family is very sick and two of the healthy people are away.  I left a still house this morning to go to class, and came back to a still house. I ventured out again to the post office to mail a package in the afternoon, and when I returned the house was still quiet.  This type of day makes me want to hunker down in a big chair with a book and some tea.  I think I will do that, as I feel sorry for my poor parents and brother (though he's recovering quickly).  I'm afraid the book will have to be about accounting, but that's ok.  I'll survive.

     Plans are brewing in my head.  Plans for lots of things, like traveling, watching birds, helping more at church, sewing, designing, and walking the dog.  Good plans. Plans that I hope will work and turn into something.  But I should remember these verses:"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit' - yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'" James 4:13-15 
  
     I'm glad life doesn't happen according to my plan, because I would mess. it. up.  God won't. 

...

Talk about a stream of consciousness post.