How's Robb?

... I wanted to get in one more garden post before the end of the year. (Honestly, the whole "holiday season" has seemed somewhat unreal to me, despite the fact that we threw a lovely party and had a very nice Christmas. I hardly had a break from work, so it doesn't feel any different from any other weekend.) Robb has been working on a beautiful low fence, to keep our hooligan hens out of the vegetable garden.  We bought a book on wooden fences a while back, which was very helpful.  However, we have had a good laugh at this fence, because it really does make the back yard look like a rural cemetery.  Hopefully, once we paint the pickets a darker color, it won't seem so much like a family plot. I did a good deal of pruning this past weekend.  The rosemary bush, which I bought in a four-inch pot no so very long ago, was threatening to over-run our path.  I filled the cover to our firepit, and when I was finished, it hardly looked like I had trimmed the

... I thought I'd take a moment to look back on the projects that Robb and I undertook this past year.  It seems I'm far better at documenting work than I am at making any record of socializing. I take terrible photos of humans, most of the time.  I was very busy at work, but my theater no longer likes me to share images of what I do on this blog, so if you want to see what I'm up to, you'll have to buy tickets to a show.  One very nice thing that I got to do through work was participate in a workshop with Chris Palmer, who is some kind of origami savant.  He gave a class on manipulating fabric, which was incredibly fascinating and inspirational. I'm hoping to have him give a similar class at the Spindles and Flyers handspinning guild, of which I am now the program director. In the late winter, Robb and I began work in earnest on a chicken coop.  Robb had been designing it for quite some time, but we needed to finish residing our house, to see how m

... Robb and I hope that your Christmas was cozy. Filled with delicious flavors and warm fragrances. And that any Popover Monsters you may have encountered were tasty.

... Robb and I hope you all enjoy a Christmas Eve filled with laughter and good company. Thank you blog readers, every single one of you, for visiting with us (even if you've just stopped by silently).  We've loved your comments, and have enjoyed seeing what you're writing about on your blogs.

... It's Christmas, and our sweet kitty Smog is feeling very unwell. Poor little guy. Thanks to the injuries he sustained before I found him, Smog's pelvic bones are terribly distorted and compressed.  And as a result of this deformity, his digestion must be perfect, or he gets into dangerous and expensive trouble.  If he gets sick, things go bad fast. Smog has been off his feed for a little over a week, now.  He's barely eating, and apparently not pooping.  We've been squirting him full of medications and syringes full of water.  If things don't improve, we'll be giving him subcutaneous fluids, and a trip to the vet.  As you can see in this photo, Robb has the magic touch.  He has a masterful technique, whereby he flips wiggly cats on their backs and cradles them in the most adorable manner. Smog stares up at Robb with his demented Baby Eyes and grins his toothy grin.  When I try this, I get any angry hind foot in the face. Please think kind tho

...  A member of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition  plays the bagpipes for an indifferent penguin, 1904.

... Landfill Harmonic movie teaser from Landfill Harmonic on Vimeo . Every year, I reflect on how much *crap* gets produced to create the "perfect" holiday season. All that plastic packaging, all those bows, all those gifts that will be laughed at, and then never used. Given the fact that we all live in a world with limited resources, I tend to find the excesses of consumption sobering, rather than particularly jolly. So I was particularly touched by this movie trailer, about a community -- literally built on a trash heap -- that is turning garbage into musical instruments for their children. The video is short, but if you let its message roll around inside your mind for a bit, it's very thought provoking. What happens to the things we throw away? What happens to the people we think of as trash? Is there hope? I think there is. We humans have a great capacity for selfishness and shortsightedness, but at our core we are also brilliant problem-solver

... Admit it.  This is what your to-do lists look like, too. 

... Robb has been sifting through the Hungarian and Austrian cookbooks that I inherited from my father, and came across a recipe for Hussar's Kisses, which are (as anyone could guess) a type of cookie. I'm pondering the connection between confections and a soldier's kiss.  I'm also amused by this demure young lady, who is not actually touching her sweetheart, but is showing just the tiniest bit of petticoat and toe. Racy stuff, that! If you want to try a Hussar's Kiss (and I'll assure you that they're insanely delicious), you're going to have to stop by our place this Sunday between 1 and 6pm.

... Please join us this Sunday from 1 - 6pm, for a decidedly low-key holiday party.  Enjoy some yummy snacks, and  marvel at how little we've accomplished on the restoration of our little house. Contact us for directions.