30 Day Photo Meme – day 12

Day 12- Your mode of transportation

Here's my bike because I already posted a photo of my shoes. I guess I could have put my shoes in the shot with my Zipcar card and a Max ticket ,but I did not. This s my bike. Her name is Story. She is a tiny Terry Symetry and I love her. We've been to half a dozen states together

Day 13- Something you don’t leave the house without
Day 14- Something that makes you happy
Day 15- An old photo of you
Day 16- The view out your front door
Day 17- What’s in your bag/purse/pockets
Day 18- Where you work/go to school
Day 19- Something you love
Day 20- Your mailbox
Day 21- A photo you are proud of
Day 22- Something you cooked
Day 23- Your desk or work area
Day 24- Something important to you
Day 25- Graffiti you have seen
Day 26- Something you do everyday
Day 27- Your favorite place
Day 28- A favorite piece of clothing
Day 29- Something you like
Day 30- A photo of you today

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30 Day Photo Meme – Day 11

Day 11- Your bookshelf

It is true. The red things are filled with only some of my zines. I have a few boxes in my office and a wall of boxes in my basement filled with zines.

Day 12- Your mode of transportation
Day 13- Something you don’t leave the house without
Day 14- Something that makes you happy
Day 15- An old photo of you
Day 16- The view out your front door
Day 17- What’s in your bag/purse/pockets
Day 18- Where you work/go to school
Day 19- Something you love
Day 20- Your mailbox
Day 21- A photo you are proud of
Day 22- Something you cooked
Day 23- Your desk or work area
Day 24- Something important to you
Day 25- Graffiti you have seen
Day 26- Something you do everyday
Day 27- Your favorite place
Day 28- A favorite piece of clothing
Day 29- Something you like
Day 30- A photo of you today

30 Day photo Meme Day – Day 7

Day 7- an item you purchased recently

I don't purchase much besides food, craft beer, travel, and photocopies. But, I did buy this amethyst awhile ago. I had two other stone hearts that my mother bought me but I saw this and thought I needed it. Purple is my favorite color.

Day 8- Your favorite place to eat
Day 9- Your room
Day 10- Your music collection
Day 11- Your bookshelf
Day 12- Your mode of transportation
Day 13- Something you don’t leave the house without
Day 14- Something that makes you happy
Day 15- An old photo of you
Day 16- The view out your front door
Day 17- What’s in your bag/purse/pockets
Day 18- Where you work/go to school
Day 19- Something you love
Day 20- Your mailbox
Day 21- A photo you are proud of
Day 22- Something you cooked
Day 23- Your desk or work area
Day 24- Something important to you
Day 25- Graffiti you have seen
Day 26- Something you do everyday
Day 27- Your favorite place
Day 28- A favorite piece of clothing
Day 29- Something you like
Day 30- A photo of you today

30 Day Photo Meme – Day 6

Day 6- Your favorite shoes

I had shoes like these when I was 17. I bought them with one of my first paychecks from my first job. I had wanted them forever but they were really expensive. They are Birkenstocks but they had ties and I thought they looked life elf shoes. The pair I had when I was younger got worn to shreds and I found these on ebay a few years ago. I have a thing that I like to have good sturdy shoes when I travel. I had already worn through two pairs if these silly vegan Earth shoes that were red and had fake graf on them but they didn't make them anymore and I had ben scouring ebay for another pair. I found these, they aren't vegan but they are used. They are a 1/2 size too big for me and they are black and not green like my old shoes but they are super comfy and sturdy and have gone a lot of places with me. The thing they are sitting on isn't vegan either. It is a wool flokati rug that my parents brought me back from Greece. Not sure why they bought it for their vegan daughter, but it nice to cover the cold wood floor by the side of my bed.

Day 7- an item you purchased recently
Day 8- Your favorite place to eat
Day 9- Your room
Day 10- Your music collection
Day 11- Your bookshelf
Day 12- Your mode of transportation
Day 13- Something you don’t leave the house without
Day 14- Something that makes you happy
Day 15- An old photo of you
Day 16- The view out your front door
Day 17- What’s in your bag/purse/pockets
Day 18- Where you work/go to school
Day 19- Something you love
Day 20- Your mailbox
Day 21- A photo you are proud of
Day 22- Something you cooked
Day 23- Your desk or work area
Day 24- Something important to you
Day 25- Graffiti you have seen
Day 26- Something you do everyday
Day 27- Your favorite place
Day 28- A favorite piece of clothing
Day 29- Something you like
Day 30- A photo of you today

30 Day Photo Meme – Day 5

Day 5- Your home

The front of my house it all its messy yarded portland wintery-ness.

 

and as a bonus: Th even messier back and side yard.

Day 6- Your favorite shoes
Day 7- an item you purchased recently
Day 8- Your favorite place to eat
Day 9- Your room
Day 10- Your music collection
Day 11- Your bookshelf
Day 12- Your mode of transportation
Day 13- Something you don’t leave the house without
Day 14- Something that makes you happy
Day 15- An old photo of you
Day 16- The view out your front door
Day 17- What’s in your bag/purse/pockets
Day 18- Where you work/go to school
Day 19- Something you love
Day 20- Your mailbox
Day 21- A photo you are proud of
Day 22- Something you cooked
Day 23- Your desk or work area
Day 24- Something important to you
Day 25- Graffiti you have seen
Day 26- Something you do everyday
Day 27- Your favorite place
Day 28- A favorite piece of clothing
Day 29- Something you like
Day 30- A photo of you today

I have seeds to share!

I have seeds to share? Have you looked at my garden or garden photos and wanted some of my plants? I’d down to trade seeds (or maybe something else?) for my seeds. Be warned that I think my yard is a weird micro-climate due to our giant sheltering Himalayan Cedar. Here’s what I have:

Calendula-all the ones in my yard grow yellow.

Borage-These are blue and lighter blue to white depending on where in the yard they grow.

Love-in-a-mist- these range from blue to white.

More Love-in-a-Mist

Walking Onion- I only have a few of these

These things are fun! They can be used as scallions when they are young or like shallots when they are big. I only have a few sets of 3 so I can’t spread as much cheer with these as I would hope.

My trillium had seeds this year! These are beatufil plants but can be hard to grown.

If you would like any of these, let me know! You can e-mail me at alexATsmallworldbuttonsDOTcom

Also, for a limited time I am offering my craft roasted coffee. Go here for delicious coffee.

Small World Blend coffee

 

Sad stuff and cat pictures…

My sister’s bike was stolen. It was locked up in her backyard in Kenton (North Portland) It is a dark green Terry. The really sad thing is that bikes are really hard to find for short ladies. Gr. Anyway, if you see this bike let me know.

There is a special place in hell for bike thieves, indeed!

At least cats are still cute.

This is what you see out of our kitchen window. The next door neighbors have a cat named Miss Ohio (Don't ask) She often stares out the window at me. She looks a bit like Nermal and is sort of the kid sister to Jackie and OJ. Also, if you look close you can see that their curtains have cats on them...only on the outside, so we can see it!

 

Jackie and OJ have been sleeping on the shady side of the house IN THE DIRT. It makes me sad. Jackie could be curled up with me but no, he wants to wallow in the dirt with his dirty brother cat.

Also, I finally got around the releases the day lilies that have been hating their existence under the Himalayan Cedar. I don’t know why I planted the lilies there. I just thought it was a  waste to have them tucked in the back of the house and figured I’d move them. That was before I got a grasp on gardening I guess. I placed them across the front of the house interspersed with the tiny white and purple irises. At least we will have plants that are span two season.

writing in September, zine event listing, and food from my kitchen

I joined this Facebook group to challenge myself to write 15 minutes per day in September. It’s been really helpful. I expected to write for the fiction split but the muses had other things in mind. I have been compiling a zine about zine events. It has been going really well.  I have been kicking around the idea that there should be a calendar of zine events. Well, in true DIY fashion, I started one myself and attached it to this blog.

Go here and let me know what’s missing. I’ll add more when people tell me what to add.

I was also invited to the “Last Night’s Supper” group. I feel like I am posting more than other people. Maybe I have been cooking more? Here’s what I have made and forgotten to take photos of.

*Red peppers stuffed with quinoa, corn, black beans, kale, and onions. Green beans with slivered almonds, and sauteed summer squash from the garden with fresh herbs.

*House made BBQ seitan, coleslaw, and potato salad.

*whole wheat bread and strawberry/blackberry jam from fruit grown in our yard.

*multi-grain pilaf with lentils, quinoa, teff, a variety of rices topped with steamed kale, green beans and peppers with a green salad.

*roasted garden tomatoes with a sweet pepper, some olive oil, and balsamic vinegar for hours in the oven at a low temperature and made into a sauce served over spiral pasta and sauteed garden squash and greens.

*vegan perogies (potato, onion, mushroom) topped with sour cream and caramelized onions. Also with steamed corn, kale, and zucchini. I used some left over perogie dough and made tiny blackberry turnover with berries from the yard.

*Home made vegetable soup (veg, red and green lentils, split peas and alphabets) roasted beets, and store bought vegan Field Roast sage apple sausage.

Last night was pretty epic and super yummy:

* ravioli from scratch filled with tofu ricotta and topped with a coconut milk based alfredo sauce with mushrooms. And also bruschetta with fresh tomatoes from the garden.

I was asked on facebook for the recipe, and I’m horrible with recipes so I just explained what I did in this Facebook post.

tomatoes from the yard that were made into sauce!

Whole wheat bread and blackberry-strawberry jam, two great things that got great together.

Some graffiti from the guest cave. Up the witchy punx!

I’m looking forward to Mercury going direct on the 26th. How about you?

Last week was expensive. I spent about $400 in button parts, $400 buying all new toner colors, new laser paper, and a bunch of postal stamps. There were a couple other small expenses. I had the money, I just hate it when I have to spend all of it at once. ugh. So, if you were thinking of ordering buttons, now would be a good time. I’d like to have a little extra cash before my trip east at the end of September.

Stuff that happened at my house this week:

-Paul and I ate the first tomoto from our garden. There are seriously few things tastier than standing in the garden barefoot and eating a freshly ripened sun warmed tomato. I planted lots of tomatoes because I’m going to can them to make soup in the winter.

-I have been picking blackberries from the tiny patch in our back yard and I plan to make jam out of them instead of pie. I always make pie, eat one piece, and then try to get other people to eat it because I’m just not a sweets person. I have all these scratches on my arms from picking blackberries and I worry that people will think I’m a cutter!

-We had two lovely folks staying in the guest cave for a few days. They just got back to the US from WWOOFing in New Zealand. You can check out their blog about their adventure here. On their last day they made us a great meal and then…

-OJ jumped up on the table to get attention/entertain us. We had this berry basket on the table with candy and weird toys left over from the symposium. There were 3 or 4 DumDum lollypops in it and OJ would pick them out with his paws and drop them on the table. Sometimes he would chew on the end of the stick, sometimes not. But, if you put the lollypops back in the basket he would fish them out again. What a silly cat!

-Paul has to leave for work at 6:30am and he always comes up stairs to hug me and give me a kiss goodbye. Today, he came up stairs as usual and when he  let go he grabbed something under my pillow…there was a Sharpie there. Then he told me the Sharpie Fairy must have came to visit. I checked my mouth to make sure I had all my teeth! My hair is getting long enough again to put it up with pens so I think one must have fallen out in bed. it still made me giggle this morning to think about.

-I decided to tweak Brainscan: Nine Stories and Brainscan: it’s complicated and release them as issue numbers later this year. Hooray for tiny zines that require me to do a lot of work. I’m a glutton for that.

-I went to the book store at the community college down the street to buy a pen and a new notebook. I’ve joined a group on facebook where we plan to write 15 minutes everyday in September. Let me know if you want to join. I plan on using it to work on the fiction stuff for the split zine I agreed to do. I was also thinking I could spend a week using that 15 minutes to write down recipes for the cookzine I have been meaning to do.

Speaking of cooking…I’m going to go think about what to make for dinner tonight. We got out Organics to You box yesterday and we have some many vegetables!

I really need a better name for this than “squash bake”

Right now I just finished eating some left over enchiladas  that are pretty yummy. Paul and I just got back from the grocery store and there aren’t many things that make me as happy as having a fully stocked kitchen. I even bought some cans to make some jam with the strawberries and blackberries from the yard that we have been stockpiling in the freezer.

Anyway, the other night I made a sort of casserole type thing. First I made saffron rice and placed that in the bottom of a dish.

Then I tossed some summer squash and tomatoes with olive oil and herbs and stuck them on top to look pretty.

pretty colors!

It looked pretty much the same when it was cooked.

I think I would add more liquid if I was to do it again, maybe some broth or use juicier tomatoes, maybe?

I served it with a warm bean salad with herbs and greens from the yard, some lightly steamed carrots chilled with mint from the yard, and an iceberg lettuce salad ( I know! I never eat iceburg lettuce, but my mom gave it to me) I also drank it with a really good ginger pale ale.

We STILL haven’t had any ripened tomatoes in our yard! It has been such a cloudy summer that the tomatoes don’t know what to do. We have lots of green beans and yellow squash so far and I see a nice pumpkin that is ripening. I had to cut down the skeletons of the daisies today, that’s always a hit to the end of summer. I have been making plans for moving some plants around in my yard when it cools down a little more.