How To Do Yoga At Home

Step 1: Spread yoga mat on floor

Step 2: Remove dog from yoga mat

Packing for International Travel: Take Two

It's almost time for our big trip to South America, and packing for this trip is turning out to be even harder than packing for Belize. For one thing, our trip is a lot longer, and we'll be in a much wider variety of climates -- everything from the beach (warm and sunny) all the way to a mountain pass at 15,000 feet above sea level (chilly to cold with a good chance of rain). So we need more types of clothes and more layers.

Plus, I'm actually going to be taking less luggage on this trip. I'm carrying my duffel bag and a backpack, but I'm going to carry my camera backpack, which is designed to hold different cameras, lenses, cords, and accessories -- and which is smaller than my regular backpack that I took to Belize.

I'm taking more cameras this time, too -- an underwater camera for snorkeling pictures and the digital SLR for nature and landscape pictures. I'm bringing 2 or 3 lenses along with the SLR. Definitely a telephoto lens for birds, a wide-angle lens for the scenery, and maybe a basic everyday zoom lens for larger animals and snapshot-type pictures.

And somewhere I have to find room for lightweight pants, layerable T-shirts, long-sleeved shirts to protect me from sun and bugs, a sun hat for warm areas, a fleece hat for cold areas, a fleece jacket, a rain jacket, hiking boots, water sandals, swimsuits, warm pajamas....

We'll see how this goes!

It's 5 o'clock somewhere

I was straightening up the living room the other day when this little character scampered onto the porch, just a few feet from where I was standing, and flopped out, spread-eagle, underneath one of the patio tables.


Guess it was time for a squirrel siesta!

He lounged calmly while I ran to grab the camera and took several pictures through the glass door, and it didn't seem to bother him even when the dog pressed her nose to the window to get a better look.

I checked back on him about 10 minutes later, and he must have decided that the cushy patio chair was more comfortable for hanging out than the stone patio floor, because he had relocated:

Patchwork Towels & Pretty Cards

I did get the Mother's Day project done in time for Mother's Day, although I did not get it posted as quickly as I had originally planned. (This is going to become a theme for me: Not getting things done as quickly as I thought.)


I made patchwork kitchen towels for my mom and my mother-in-law following this tutorial from Sew Mama Sew. I bought 4-5 fat quarters in assorted colors (red, yellow, and blue to match my mom's kitchen, and tan, cream, and turquoise to match my mom-in-law's new spring kitchen decor) and I found a pack of 6 flour sack towels at Target. I couldn't find plain white waffle weave towels to save my life, but the flour sack towels worked out OK. Most importantly, my mom's set was done in enough time for me to mail the towels via regular mail and still have them get there on time. Pretty exciting!


Here's my mom's set:







And my mom-in-law's set:







I also made cards for our moms and my grandmas. The cards for the moms were blue with ink to match their towels (my mom's in red, his mom's in brown) and the cards for the grandmas were pink with hot pink ink. I used the same stamps on all 4 cards: I used a cherry blossom stamp from Paper Source several times on the front to get an all-over pattern, and then I used a set of stamps (one Happy stamp and one Mother's Day) for the inside/back of the card.


Here are the mom cards (the outside of my mom's card and the inside of his mom's -- both cards had the same design, just in different colors):






Here's the front of the grandma cards:







And the back of the grandma cards:













Turns out that the grandma cards were flat cards, not folded cards as I thought when I bought them, and I somehow got ink on the back of one of them, so I covered it up with a big decorative scroll-type stamp. The other one ended up being vertical instead of horizontal because I get ink on it, too, but the Mother's Day stamp covered it up. Despite these little eccentricities, I like the way they turned out!

Coffee = Bliss

This cute coffeemaker was a Christmas gift from my husband.

It makes cappuccino and lattes -- my favorite thing is to make a latte and pour it into a mug that has a touch of sugar-free vanilla syrup at the bottom. Mmm!

It's a really ingenious little device: you put water in the base, milk (I use soy milk) in the top and coffee grounds in between,; screw the pieces together (tightly, or you will regret it) and set it on the stovetop for a few minutes.

It makes really good coffee -- and the cow spots are beyond adorable.

One of the best gifts I've ever gotten!

Star Jasmine

Despite my enjoyment for dabbling in lots of different activities, gardening isn't one of my interests. I've tried it a few times and can't quite get into it for the long haul. There is just something about doing all that work -- prepping beds, planting flowers, spreading mulch -- and everything is good for a few days and then you have more work to do! Weeding, watering, and so on. I like my finished projects to stay finished, you know? And gardening is never quite finished.

That said, I do enjoy the fruits of other people's gardening efforts! And every now and again, I get to enjoy my own yard, despite not having made much (if any) effort.The previous owners of our house planted a ton of plants right before they sold the house, and many of the plants have somehow thrived despite the neglect I dish out to them, which leaves the yard looking less like a garden and more like a jungle. Which makes the birds happy, so I don't mind too much. And some of those overgrown plants are pretty in their own wild way.

This is one of my favorites: the star jasmine.

It has grown so much over the last 5 years, and it has the most amazing smell when it blooms, which it's doing right now. It's just covered in these little white star-shaped flowers. The fragrance is so delicious that our neighbor, who is in the midst of a massive and awe-inspiring garden project herself, asked what that plant was that makes our back yard smell so good.

It's the jasmine. Beautiful, sweet-smelling, low-maintenance jasmine.

Dabbling vs Immersion

My last post probably made it pretty obvious that I am a dabbler. I like to try a lot of things, and while I don't exactly get bored with them, and I don't quite quit them, it seems like I'm always trying something new and leaving the older things on the back burner.

So I've got quilts working and knitting projects working, and I've been making cards, and now I have a new project going for Mother's Day (assuming I get it done in time, I'll share it next weekend). Oh yeah, and I did go ahead and start a new quilt this week, although I just have one block mostly pieced so far, and I don't plan to have that one done for a while yet.

I know some people really immerse themselves in a hobby, learning all the details, perfecting their techniques, and becoming true experts. That is not my style, though!

Although I have to admit that doing something is always hardest the first time you try it, and if I try too many new things, I am doomed to a life of first tries. It sure is nice to do something you've already done before and are comfortable doing.

Case in point: It took me 5 (OK more like 10) minutes to remember how to use my sewing machine on Wednesday night because I hadn't sewed with it in a while and somehow I always forget to put the presser foot down (my other machine does it automatically but this one doesn't) and then I end up with a tangle of thread and if I sewed more often I wouldn't have this learning curve each time I sat down at the machine.

And yet I have to be perfectly honest here and say that now I'm not going to go sew but instead make some Mother's Day cards. I can't explain myself, but, hey, it's fun!