healthy dinner

roasted tomato and red pepper soup

can you BELIEVE this stove??? veggies roasting away (the house smells amazing!)


recipe here and the finished soup:

i am the worst at photographing food, flash is no good on my teeny camera. so far this is good, i am about halfway through my bowl. it will be much better with fresh tomatoes that are roasted and cut up correctly, i used my stash of frozen tomatoes (too much water from the freezing process) but even frozen tomatoes retain a fresh raw taste. i froze about 100 (yes 100) freezer bags with tomatoes, always picking them and freezing them right away. my favorite kennel owner gave me a used freezer that has been storing tomatoes, peppers and zucchini away since summer. all this healthy eating has given me reason to pull them out. the broccoli stash is still at 4 (thats FOUR large heads in the fridge) and i bet at least 5 more ready to go in the garden. fresh broccoli is great, but i am trying to get more creative than just steaming or stir frying. trader joes has a few types of peanut sauces and dressings that i will incorporate soon.


sweet moon


i noticed my prized (prized is actually a joke) magnolia is blooming, cant wait for the time change so i dont get home from work in the dark. sheeeesh!

where am i?

i am in a strange new schedule as of late, working tuesday through friday, feeling pretty exhausted when i get home each night. trying to eat better and having a blast with a "whole foods, macrobiotic, sometimes raw, mostly vegan" type diet. i have cut way back on the fast food and the wine and spirits... oh how good it feels to wake up after a night of stir fried broccoli (fresh from our garden) night after night and actually be hungry. i have made new soups and of course found new books and blogs to visit. there is no shortage of info on food out there.

   anyways, i then have the three day weekends going on and have enjoyed just hanging with the family. less tv time, less computer time, more outdoor time. candy sales are in full swing with about two weeks more to go. the cabin has snow, so we will make an attempt to visit this weekend. i dont feel as overwhelmed with projects since i am getting things done on the weekends now. camp fire meetings are on hold (due to candy sales) and there arent any looming birthdays or holidays... except valentines i guess, better get on it. so thats it! photos of my commute are about all i have. a few things i am loving right now: this series (i am so flippen HOOKED), this movie, this book (just bought it to read with emily) and this video ( freaky!)

one last thing: i asked my dad to keep an eye out for costume jewelry, of course he has already come up with two large bags... here is some of the stash, lizzie and emily play with this stuff like real treasure hunters



i see some projects coming out of all of this.

new clips, cut and ring

new clips and haircut (home job, dont look too close at the ends)




and a daily reminder, found here

clouds

i am sure this isnt so original, but after looking at a few of my paintings (finally got two more up in strategic locations) i am motivated to start painting again (havent i said that a million times before?? yes!) i love the clouds and skies when i am painting landscapes, so i think i will work on a series of clouds... i have dozens of great sunsets, sunrises and storms on film to use as reference (even though outside is the best). we are currently waiting for a storm, hoping for some rain and snow. please!!

so if i can just get focused and not be so busy with cleaning, work, kids etc... look out for some colorful clouds! check out this artist, her skies are fantastic.

lost dog

our good friends just had an elderly dog pass away, i found lizzie hard at work on a card for them and this is what she wrote:

perfectly said i think.

mish mash day off

"house"cleaning day


i can see the floor! cant wait to have another room for the girls...someday.


my new shrine, more on it later




my picture wall in the bedroom, i just couldnt wait anymore. our room is in desperate need of new paint... but thats not happening anytime soon. i wanted to look at my painting i did during that horrendous week of the slide fire and some etsy art i have collected. another painting was made by a young girl who was selling her art with her brother at a flea market in paris, chris and i stumbled on their booth while on our first trip to europe together (the parents were selling antiques and the kids had a small corner to themselves, almost like your classic lemonade stand, but much cooler). the young girl artist was "emilie" and we vowed that if we ever had a girl, that would be her name. ahhh how sweet (i also stayed on "rue amilie" with my mom my first trip to paris so that was also a favorite version of emily) i bought a painting from emilie and one from her brother yvan (need to dig that one out of the garage). they are amazing paintings along with the amazing (romantic) story. i have said before, i wish i had bought everything they had to sell, they were that good. and cheap!

it is hotter than heck here right now, we went down to the beach for some kite flying and of course i forgot my camera... here is chris' photos from his phone:

kite break

chris scored at christmas, two cool kites (i spent hours and hours researching these two and they were both awesome!) we spent today cleaning the house from top to bottom, serious spring cleaning (in winter) and there is still a ton left to do tomorrow. we took a family break to try out the kites, the bigger one will be heading to the beach, needs more wind than the park offers.

lizzie went off to make fairy houses, i love how she does this all on her own. i was so impressed with lizzies candy selling this weekend, she has some natural talent for selling. she and another sibling from our group stole the show at todays candy sales. she is like a shark, calling out "here is another customer!!" rushing people with a sweet, alluring smile. she had her routine down and was gracious when turned down. it is fun to see her growing up and feeling good about camp fire. i will be organizing a group for her starting in june, it will be tough having two groups but lizzie is so ready to be part of something just for her.

candy sales

happy candy selling!

california winter

madrona marsh

madrona marsh in the winter, loving this place and so close to my job right now. i spent a great lunch break walking around and listening to the frogs croaking.




fingers crossed we can save our local wetlands and i can spend my free time there, soaking up some nature locally.

art:work

taking my camera to work is turning my blog into a bore, sorry.

that time again

lock your doors neighbors, here we come

i am still doing the photo a day for a year on flickr.... harder than i thought when you work all day...caught this on my phone during the first real official break i have had at this account in months (shhh dont tell)


fresh air is good

snowed

hoping for more snow, this was icy and perfect for sledding

emily was so brave, she went to the tippy top and sledded down several times. one time (this photo is right after it happened) she banged up her finger and cried so much. poor baby, she is really tough so we knew it was bad) so far she is feeing better but we will do an xray tomorrow since daddy has "connections." hoping she wont have anything broken.











baby austin, loves his block!





liz reads to austin, everyone is very serious




the sweet peas are coming in, so great straight off the vine!



super fun weekend, hanging with the cousins, mine and chris' and hoping for more snow, more more more!