Some huh?

I didn't take this picture, but I wish I had...



That's a monkey knife fighting with an octopus. Best. Tattoo. Ever.

With the help of my friend Allen, the last 24 hours has seen a lot of house work:

Insulation laid down in a good part of the attic. Result: less heat loss

Top level of bricks on the chimney removed. Concrete placed there. Installed damper on flue. Spent 30 minutes on roof in the cold after dark with a Dremel and a tungsten carbide bit shaving off a corner so said flue will close. Result: this time tomorrow, I can light a fire in my fireplace!

Old rusty medicine cabinet removed and new one installed. Have you ever seen a medicine cabinet with a slot for disposing of old safety razor blades? Well, mine was used. A lot. There was a three inch pile of blades behind the old cabinet.

Vent that led to the roof from the bathroom removed and replaced with a light and fan combo. Result: less freezing my ass off in the shower.

There's still some unsightly holes in the wall and ceiling by the medicine chest and fan to patch, but things are much better!

Whew. Been an intense few weeks. I am officially on furlough this week. Next week is vacation. Let the relaxation begin!

My fireplace was inspected and got the ok on Friday. I need to fix up the top of the chimney a bit, but I can hopefully have a fire in my fireplace on Christmas.

I've had a few good shoots recently and hope to post some of them soon. I want to try to get into the Clermont Hotel to shoot once more before it closes.

I went to Holeman and Finch for dinner tonight. It was a special 4 course paired with 4 beers. All was awesome.

Plans for this week include slacking, house repair, interesting lunches and seeing Avatar.

No, we didn't get a goat, yet. heh. What I did do was go visit a little farm, get some fresh milk, and make CHEEEEEEEEEESE!!!!!!!!!!!!

To find out how we did it and see more cute goat pictures, check out this post over on my site blog.

crossposted from lorigami.com



This is genius. Pure genius.

One of my favorite bloggers "NotMartha" has put together an awesome holiday baking tutorial for these little houses that sit on the rim of your cup.

This might be the cutest thing I've seen all season.

well, looks like today's post is going to have to bleed over into tomorrow so I can tell the whole story properly. In the meantime, I leave you with a teaser pic:

Remember those ads about High-fructose corn syrup, and how what "they" say was just plain silly? Turns out, maybe "they" were right: http://lorigami.wordpress.com/2009/12/17/you-know-what-they-say-about-high-fructose-corn-syrup/

From the Lorigami.com blog:

I know this might seem a little late for some of you, but for others, your holiday doesn't really start until next week, when you just might have a few precious days off. If you are looking for some last minute holiday crafting ideas (many of which are extremely kid-friendly!) check out this post by The Long Thread. for simple delights like these star ornaments by ThePurlBee

I won a poinsettia at the department Christmas party. Since I have a black thumb and four cats in the house, my owning it is a death sentence. Does anyone want to save it?

The Clermont Hotel has been shut down

I'm glad I got to shoot there the time I did. I think I will see if I can get in to document the place once more before it closes completely.

I realized after a comment from a friend that I forgot to update the status on what happened last monday.
First, and most importantly, I found all the broken bits from my sewing machine, and managed to put it back together again. There are some dings, but thankfully it still works. God I love that machine...

Still haven't replaced all of my jewelry tools, mostly that's been a factor trying to decide what I wanted to replace one of them with. My dremel was a few years old and they didn't make that model anymore, and I really didn't want the computerized one. I was also trying to make sure all my old accessories that didn't get stolen would work with the new one. Hopefully I'll get that and the rest of thetools replaced this weekend, altho by then I guess making much more jewelry in time for the holidays really isn't going to happen. Oh well.

The window pane (vinyl double paned pain in the butt) finally came out of it's hole, and Wayne has taken it to a glass shop, hopefully they will not tell him we're out of luck, since the window is an odd size and it would probably be february before we could get the replacement special ordered.

Luckily, most of the dirt came right out of my carpet. I am so shocked that it did, and thankful that the pot was not full of even wetter dirt. A good steam clean should have it good as new. Yay Scotchgard. I did have to toss an awful lot of yarn, thread, lace, some delicate fabrics, knits, and a pile of pillow stuffing because I couldn't have ever gotten the glass and the dirt out of it. Same for several of my softies, there was not going to be any selling of those, especially not when they might wind up in a kid's hands. Better safe than sorry.

We'll be putting burglar bars on that window and also on Liz's kitchen windows so hopefully this won't be a recurring issue.

All in all, I guess the worst thing about it was the timing. I could have used a few more days of being able to make jewelry for my Etsy shop, but I'm so very glad that it wasn't worse, and that someone came home when they did.

Life goes on, doesn't it?

Despite the issues we sometimes have, I really do appreciate so many things about this neighborhood. It often embodies the changes I'd really like to see catch hold elsewhere, changes I think would make our whole city so much more liveable. Over on my blog over the past few days, I've posted a few reasons why.

1. The neighborhood banded together and raised the money to pay for community recycling for all the bars and restaurants in the village.

2. We have stores (can I even call it just a store?) like this one.

3. Our public elementary school grows their own.

Last day for Xmas shipping is this Saturday, Dec 19th, (I'll still ship after that, but I doubt it will get there in time) orders need to be paid for by 11am EST so I can get them wrapped up and to the PO before they close. (If you're local, we can meet in person on Monday)

sneek peek of a few items left in the shop:

I confess: I have a terrible time finding gifts for my husband. I suspect I'm not the only girl who feels this way, so here's the flip side of yesterday's list... gifts for the men in your life!

First up: Ok, just like the TV says women want jewelry, I always thought it was pretty funny how ads for men seem to always be electric razors (anyone else notice this?) I've been putting together a nice shaving set for my husband (it's ok, he already knows) and that seems like a nice place to start this list.
Here's a nice brush and soap set, all ready to ship from Etsy seller Naiad:



Need a gift for that man who's never without his laptop? How about some of these awesome retro vinyl laptop stickers? (don't worry, they're removable)


Or, Maybe your man could use a little help in the wardrobe department? Here's an awesome twist on a standard necktie from ToyBreaker:

(actually, this shop has so many awesome ties I really don't know which ones to post...)



oh, and how about these awesome sterling silver cufflinks? Every man needs a pair of cufflinks...


Or hey, how about some awesome original art? This zombie/tiki print is by local illustrator Scott Thigpen.


And last but n ot least, you could always get him a classy vintage hat... Don Draper, anyone?

Holy Crap, Dr Sketchy's tonigt might have broken my brain... you should have really seen some of the last drawings... Oh wait! I took pictures! You will. Tomorrow.
Now? Martinis for dinner. Shut up, olives are a vegetable.

We were at a holiday banquet over the weekend, and a couple of the men in attendance were discussing their difficulties in finding gifts for their significant others. Now, not every girl has the same taste, but I thought maybe I'd put together a little assortment of ideas for those of you still looking. All of these things ship priority anywhere in the US and should be there by that day...

Since all the TV ads want you to buy jewelry, we'll start there, with a couple of original choices that say she's special, without breaking your bank...

Hydrangea Ring by Patrick Irla


Something a little less serious? How 'bout these PacMan ring sets from LuckyDuct?


Or, how about some sexy handmade silk lingerie? This set is only 68$! from Etsy seller Clarebare, AND she's offering a buy two, get one free deal.


Relationship not intense enough for the above? What girl can resist a little feltidermy? Or a Jackalope?



This lovely little creature is by GirlSavage on Etsy

Or maybe, your girl has a very busy social life? Check out this awesome hand-drawn dayplanner from etsy seller Veekee.


Or, you know, every girl likes a gift of flowers...

(floral hair comb by whichgoose)

Holidays got you stressed? Weather making you blue? Well here's your remedy, all wrapped up in a bow!



Tonight at the Clermont Lounge, Dr Sketchy's presents Ana Aesthetic, for your drawing pleasure! As always, we start at 8, and it's 10$ to draw. See you there!!!

Lily and Callahan

A huge thank you to everyone who showed up and did a little holiday shopping at our trunk show last weekend. Thanks to you, I was able to donate enough money to buy a family a flock of chicks from Heifer.org.


Did you know:

The protein in just one egg is a nutritious gift for a hungry child. Protein-packed eggs from even a single chicken can make a life-saving difference.

Heifer helps many hungry families with a starter flock of 10 to 50 chicks. A good hen can lay up to 200 eggs a year - plenty to eat, share or sell. With Heifer recipients' commitment to pass on the offspring and training, the exponential impact of adding chickens to communities in poverty is truly a model that helps end hunger and poverty.

Because chickens require little space and can thrive on readily available food scraps, families can make money from the birds without spending much. And chickens help control insects and fertilize gardens.

So this all started when I read this post via a link on facebook, about the 7 foods experts won't eat. In all honesty, quite a few items surprised me, including the fact that canned tomatoes topped the list.




You can read the rest over on my site blog.