Purple Kappa

Getting Ready for Harry Potter

We have our tickets for The Half-Blood Prince next week. We are skipping the midnight showing because the girls have Zoo Camp next week and it's going to be hard enough getting them up early without adding a midnight movie.

Miranda had requested a robe to wear, she wanted to go as Luna Lovegood. I borrowed a pattern from a friend--Butterick P474, which is out of print and I can't find a good link online. It's a wizard robe with long pointy sleeves and a hood, I adapted it to look a little more like the movie robes.

Oh, the fits this pattern gave me. It's not that difficult, but I hate setting in sleeves. And I wanted to completely line the robe to give it a better weight, so that was two sets of sleeves. Or so I thought--I had the robe almost completely finished and was looking up where to get an embroidered House Patch, when I realized to my horror that Luna Lovegood was a Ravenclaw and wore a robe with a blue lining. I'd made a Gryffindor robe with a burgundy lining. So, back to the fabric store for more fabric, two more sleeves to set in and then--the armholes were too tight. So rip out all the seams in the sleeves, cut them larger, sew them again and this time everything is fine. Ever notice that all the clothing in my shop is sleeveless?

The clasp isn't quite right, it should be plain black but Miranda liked this one. The patch is from Ebay

Charm for keeping away Nargles

I'm driving Miranda a bit mad with all the details I want to be right--I was stressed over the patch not really being the same, and the charm should have a beaded chain, and should I really make earrings out of radishes? And I had plans to hunt down a pleated gray skirt, but after finishing the cloak I was so relieved I hung it in the closet and forgot about everything else. So we'll see. She's happy with the robe so that just might be good enough.

Pinafores and a Wrap-around dress

Finally, some new clothes for the shop. The gray dress is something I finished back in the spring, but was having trouble photographing it so stuck it in the closet to deal with later, then forgot about it. It's from my own design, I was trying to combine a kimono type top with a dress. I was also inspired somewhat by Korean Hanbok, but the finished dress doesn't like much like one.

Detail of decorative stitching along skirt.

Gray linen dress available here

This pinafore is another from the pattern I designed, using Wonderland by Momo fabric. I'm wondering if I should stock up on more, I love the colors and patterns.

And another one from black and white striped cotton. I'm not sure about the red buttons, it seems to give it a kind of eighties feel that I didn't really want

Pinafores available here

Aunt Teak and Uncle Junque 2009

Last Saturday we headed out to Avon for their annual city-wide yard sale event. We'd spent an evening counting and rolling all the change in our coin jars, so had a pocketful of cash. Ivy and Miranda added to their expansive animal collections and I found a few things as well

A bagful of cotton trims. Some are great, some not so much (that geometic along the top is pretty ugly). They also smelled awful, I can't even figure out what it was but they've all been washed and hung out to dry.

An assortment of sewing doo-dads for a quarter each. I probably could have bought more but these were at a flea market and the girls were impatient to move on to the garage sales since they weren't finding any toys they liked. For a quarter it was almost worth it just to get the cards the buttons were mounted on. Several of them are the type of buttons you cover with fabric, I'm not sure how well they are going to work, but again--only a quarter each

A Deluxe edition of Trixie Belden and a another tiny Japanese doll for my collection--this is the second doll I've found at these sales, I found a slightly larger one last year. Trixie Belden was a favorite of mine growing up, but when I became a cash-hungry book dealer 10 years ago I sold all my paperback copies, as well as any other copy I came across while scouting. Now I kind of wish I'd kept a set for myself--although the first 15 have been reprinted and I could get them from the library if I really wanted to re-read them.

Reading the Trixie Belden book was amusing--at one part, her little brother is bit by a copperhead on the toe, thanks to Trixie's first aid he's fine, but needs to stay in bed for a few days. Her dad hires a nurse to help her mother out, as apparently the strain of taking care of one solitary sick child and doing the housework (which supposed to be one of Trixie's chores anyway) is too much for her. The mother comments on how hard it is to keep him occupied --the first few books were written pre-television--as she heads upstairs with her knitting and magazines. Sounds rough! Oh, and Trixie gets five dollars a week allowance?! This first book was published in 1948, isn't that rather generous? She was trying to earn money for a horse, so maybe her parents were really trying to help her out, but still.

Trip to Columbus

Last week my computer finally succumbed to a long and lingering illness. We've been slowly working on transferring all my files and programs over to a new computer, with some frustrating difficulties. Right now I'm having problems getting the computer to read the picture card from the camera, the temporary solution has been to download them to another computer as a shared file. I'm also using different photo-editing software that I don't like nearly as much, but will do for now.

We took a small vacation down to Columbus, about a 2 hour drive. Yesterday we went to the Columbus Zoo. How do all of you get such great pictures of things for your blog? 95% of mine were blurry, or too far away, or too dark, or otherwise just not right.

We stayed overnight at a hotel, then the next morning stopped at Tensuke Market where I probably spent too much money on Japanese candy and bento. But isn't this beautiful?

There is rice with pickled radish, two kinds of seaweed salad, a piece of shrimp tempura, a piece of octopus tempura, some fried fish and a piece of salmon. All for 5.95.

Next was Cosi. I remember going as a kid, but it's been a good 20 years since I was last here. I think it's a completely remodeled new building, because nothing looks the same--actually after checking the website, I see it's in a new location, no wonder it seemed so different.

Our favorite exhibit was the Progress one, showing town in the 1890's and then in the early 60's, contrasting how technology changed and evolved.

And now we are back home, Ivy and Miranda napped in the car so are wide awake and giggling in the other room while I'm quite ready for bed.

Gator Gumbo

One of Ivy's favorite books right now is Gator Gumbo by Candace Fleming

Monsieur Gator has gotten old and slow and can't catch any of the bayou creatures for dinner. Possum, Skunk and Otter delight in taunting the poor guy, until he cooks up a spot of spicy gumbo and gets a tasty revenge.

I showed Ivy what okra was at the grocery store since the book mentions it and she wasn't familiar with it. She wanted to buy some to make Gator Gumbo, and since I'm pretty happy when my kids actually ask me to buy vegetables, I agreed

I'm not sure how traditional this recipe is, since I thought I had file but was mistaken, and I didn't cook a roux, but then sometimes I wonder what is really traditional when it comes to cooking. Especially if it gets your kid to eat okra.

Throw It In The Pot Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, a sort of recipe

1 piece of sausage. I used some regular smoked kielbasa, about half a package

Some chicken. I used what was left in a package of chicken breasts, about 2 big ones

One large onion

One carrot

One stalk of celery

Half a sweet red pepper

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

Some okra. About a cup chopped?

One carton Trader Joe's Chicken broth. (I think it's 32 oz.) Obviously, you could use another brand. Or make your own broth.

Paprika. One tablespoon? Two? I just shook it in the pan out of the container .

One 15 oz. can whole tomatoes. Chopped would probably be fine as well

One 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed. I rinsed them because I didn't want the broth to taste like beans, but you can do as you like.

a few sprigs of oregano. I have it growing in my garden, but dried would be fine. A teaspoon should do it.

Okay, chop the onion, the carrot, the celery and the sweet pepper. Put a little olive oil in a pan--I used a dutch oven, use whatever you like to make soup in. Cook until the onion is translucent and the other stuff is a little soft. Add the cut up sausage, and some paprika. I probably put in about 2 tablespoons. Add the chopped up chicken, brown a bit. Add the chopped garlic, cook a little more. The chicken was cut up pretty small, so it was pretty much cooked by this point. Now add the chicken broth, the can of tomatoes and the can of black beans. Oh, and the okra. And the oregano. I forgot to mention in the ingredients one bay leaf, put that in as well. But don't eat it when the soup is done cooking, take it out, it's just for flavor. I like the okra soft, so I simmered it about an hour and a half. Serve over cooked white rice, I used jasmine rice. Shake some hot sauce on top if you like it spicy--I like spicy stuff, no one else in the family does so I try and save the hot stuff for my own serving.

Last week I picked up a great carrying case at this fabulous retro shop in my neighborhood, Flower Child. They had some sale tables outside for the Clifton Arts and Musicfets and I bought several bags for a mere three dollars each.

Here it is after I decoupaged it in the same manner as suitcase I made last year

It was a little more difficult to get things smooth than with the samsonite suitcase, this one was a flimsier sort of box so it was hard to press out the bubbles. The handle needed some repair but the rest of the box was in good shape, including the inside

I'm not sure what kind of case it is, some websites call it a wig/hat box, others just refer to as being a "train case".

Abigayle's Quiltery

I convinced the family to accompany me on a trip to Grand Pacific Junction with the promise of ice cream, my reason for going was Abigayle's Quiltery and their tenth anniversary sale

They have the best selection of 1930's fabric around here. They used to keep it all in one of the little rooms upstairs, but they've re-arranged all the fabric so it's grouped by color rather than collection and I don't think I like it this way as much, too much hunting for the stuff I like. But it did get me to look as some other patterns and buy some fabric I might not have normally, so I suppose it was a successful decision for a business point of view.

Washed and hanging on the line

Starting from the left is Lodge and Lakeside by Thimbleberry Fabrics for RJR Fabrics, Mirabella by Sharon Evans Yenter for In The Beginning Fabrics, Little Darlings 6 from Darlene Zimmerman's Clothesline Club for Robert Kaufman, a batik with no information on the selvage, it reminds me of little pebbles in water, and Simplicity by 3 Sisters for Moda.

Summer Solstice

We have a fairy who lives in our garden. We've never actually seen her, but she takes good care of her house

When Ivy learned that the solstice was approaching, she reminded me that back on the Winter Solstice we put out cookies and milk, and the grateful fairies left a gift in return. The trouble is, those fairies had been so busy getting ready for summer they hadn't really thought about gifts, they'd kind of forgotten about that whole solstice thing. So after everyone went to sleep, one of them stayed up until 2AM stitching up little bags to hold fairy marbles.

We knew it was actually fairies that left the gifts because they left fairy dust behind--you can see a bit sparkling on the dishes.

Tonight The Cleveland Shakespeare Festival opens it's 12 season with Antony and Cleopatra. I'm so very, very glad rehearsals are over. I'm sure it was equally difficult to Brian to work all day and then rush off to rehearsal, but I'm focusing on me here--it was kind of hectic.

So now it's time for lazy summer, trying to coax my vegetable garden into producing something, trips to the beach, looking for bats at dusk, and getting some sewing done for all the babies that decided to show up at the same time

My sister and my brother's girlfriend had their babies within a few days of each other, my sister-in-law is due soon and a couple friends are kind enough to wait until August to give me some time to catch up.

Parade the Circle 2009

This was the 19th year for Parade the Circle, a multicultural celebration featuring giant puppets, bizarre creatures and strange machines. Anyone can march in the parade for a 5.00 fee, participants make their own costumes and paraphernalia.

It's monumentally crowded and usually very hot but this year the weather was a lot more pleasant--sunny and bright but with a nice breeze. We got there much earlier than previous years and while we still couldn't find parking any closer, we met up with friends by chance and sat with them.

Ivy's multi-colored lion's mane made using this technique