Going Green(er)

We turned a little bit greener this week. Our house, because we will be using 30% less natural gas to heat our water and my DH because he's thinking "Green schmeen, I can think of other things I would have rather spent our money on than this!" We bought two solar panels to use as an energy source for heating our water.

Here is our old water heater after they cut out the piddly little wall that partially hid it in our garage.

Here is the new, triple insulated hot water heater that we have now.

Here are the guys hoisting the second panel over the roof line.

I wish I had been outside five minutes earlier to see how they got it up there without smashing our windows. I know ropes were involved. But still. These guys are pros.

Mounted on the backside of the house, facing South. They are about two and a half to three feet wide and probably close to six feet tall.

My DH worries the panels will fall through the roof and crush us in bed. He likes to worry.

I am excited that our gas bills will be lower, our water hotter, we'll be green and using fewer of our earth's resources and will also get a nice rebate check back from the government for going solar.

I LOVE this kind of feedback!

Today was a long day and normally simple tasks took much longer or were just extremely difficult. But this convo back from one of my Etsy customers totally made my week!

Kelley llegaron mis hermosos beads!!!! me encantan, estan bellos. Muchas gracias. Esas bellezas solo pueden ser hechas por alguien que le pone mucho empeño y cariño. Okay now in english!! I got my beautiful beads!! I loved them, they're beautiful!!! thank you so much!!! A beautiful thing like that can only be made by someone that puts a lot of effort and love into making them!!!


I was a little confused at first because I don't speak or understand Spanish (in spite of two of my cousins being from Puerto Rico and being fluent in Spanish). The language is on my mental To Do list of things I want to learn within the next year. But she translated it and it was the best! Now I re-read the Spanish and wonder if I'm pronouncing the words correctly. What would her voice sound like in person if she was speaking them to me? I imagine they would sound more beautiful than they look in writing.

Thank you, Mari. You totally rock and I'm so glad you love your beads!

Warm Springs, GA - FDR's Little White House

Saturday morning I woke up with an itch to get out of the house and drive. I woke up earlier than anyone else and it was hard sitting on my hands and keeping the nervous, stir-crazy energy to myself when I really wanted to just jump up and down and yell "EVERYONE UP, WE ARE GOING ON A ROADTRIP TODAY!"

But when they all did wake up, there was immediate agreement from the husband to hit the pavement and take the kids with us. I haven't been to Warm Springs since I was in high school. My folks used to take me almost every year when I was in elementary school and junior high. Todd had never been before, so it was fun taking him to see it for the first time.


We left the house around 10:30am and rolled up to the Little White House almost two hours later with no stops in between. The first hour was on the interstate and the second was on a two-lane state highway through little towns. Next time I will have my camera and out and ready while driving so I can get some pics. Passed a great town square in Greenville and other homes in between that were growing the most beautiful flowers up from the middle of old, worn tires.


This sign doesn't cover FDR's major accomplishments during his presidency, but I always think about how he instituted the social security system and the requirements for our interstates that there must be straight, one-mile stretches of highway every 5-10 miles that could be used as emergency landing strips by aircraft.


This little fountain replaced the old wishing well that is now covered for reasons of liability. Each of my kids received a penny to throw in after making a wish. I'm pretty sure Owen wished for a wii and Chloe confided that she wished for applesauce. God love my bizarre four year old. I don't know why her mind works the way it does, but she amuses me and I love her to pieces.


Wow, a rare sighting of me in front of the camera. Not that I try to avoid pictures, I'm just normally the one holding the camera steady. :)


This plaque was on the footpath directly in front of FDR's house.


In our decade, this appears to be a rather modest home. Perhaps in his time here, it was a modest home, too. FDR had his own bedroom with one small twin bed and a fire place. Eleanor had two twin beds in her bedroom for when their daughter would come visit. A small bathroom with a claw foot tub and tiny sink separated the two bedrooms. The kitchen was small and the icebox/refrigerator was on the side porch, outdoors. A generous library flanked the living room fireplace in floor-t0-ceiling shelves and shared the same space as the dining room large enough for six people to sit at the table.

It was very quiet, with few other visitors on Saturday morning. I imagine it was even quieter when FDR came to Warm Springs to stay when his polio was giving him troubles and he needed the relief of the pools filled by the springs.

New Blog Format & Pre/Post-Philly Beads

So. What do you think of the new blog format? Do you like it? If not, why? Is it too busy? I've been wanting to have three columns for several weeks, but it took me that long to find a template I liked and the nerve to try switching over. The widgets all disappeared, which is normal. I was glad I took the time to copy/paste much of that information on how they were set up so I could bring them all back.

I wanted to have more of the link to other blogs, posts within my blog and many of the other features closer to the top of the page. I already had issues with pictures being too big to post side-by-side, so I didn't think I would lose out on anything by narrowing one column to make room for another one along the side. What I like best is that if you click/drag your browser window to expand the width, the columns also expand accordingly.

Here are beads I made Tuesday night after coming back from BeadFest filled with inspiration.


These are black base beads covered in spirals of Kronos and then dotted with clear. I love the ocean blues!
Beads I made before going to BeadFest. I just love the purple over copper green and how it separates the colors and forces brighter outlines.

A new pink frit that I just tested out. The sun really makes them bright.

Lorelei asked for this color combination. My faves are the green on opaque yellow. Really love how the green reacts and separates.

I made a twisty of black and some Gaia before wrapping it around a core of clear and then encasing.

Tear drop beads with transparent cores.

A focal bead with dots on dots on dots. I like the colors, but the coral didn't keep very definite lines, which wasn't really the look I was going for with this bead. I'll try again with different colors for more finite separation.

Bead Storage

I realized recently that some of my etched beads were not faring so well in my little trunk of holding all the beads listed on Etsy. Normally this trunk is stationary in my studio, but it went on our summer trip up to Minnesota and got jostled around more than normal. As a result, I have taken all of my etched beads out of my shop for inspection and restoration.

This isn't the best pic, but it's all I got with my iPhone a few weeks ago when my old camera was loaned out before the new one arrived.


I bought these two sets of drawers when they were hot in the school supplies aisles. They work well for separating my beads into various sections so I know exactly where to look, instead of digging through the whole trunk and wondering if I will ever find a set. It is easy to look through these drawers to be reminded of what is inside and assures me they are no longer scared of the dark.

They are no longer sitting on top of each other and fighting for space. My beads are happy because they can breathe.

All the worry stone beads are hanging out together and behaving like the best of friends. I haven't heard any fighting coming from those big guys at all.

When My Boy is 100 Years Old

As parents of a four and six year old, we have worked hard to teach our kids to treat others fairly. To be kind and understanding. To not call names. To follow the golden rule of treating others the way you want to be treated.

As added back up, we have story books that display openness and appreciation of others in spite of appearances, infirmities or just some good old-fashioned stubborn bullheadedness. One of our favorites doesn't label races or colors, but champions people's skin tones as mocha, peach, cinnamon, butterscotch, or cream. Similar descriptives are used for hair colors.


I love that my son is growing up believing that people are just people. Not black or white. Not slow or smart. That he knows everyone is different, but that different does not equate to lesser or better than he.

Differences are what make each of us interesting. Owen agrees the world would be a boring place if we were all the same.


And I also love that he believes when he is 100 years old, he will look like Little Richard.

Mississippi Mud Cake

This is really my all time favorite cake. Every year for my birthday, I still ask Mom to make it for me. I have no idea what the caloric intake on this is, but I like the sound of 27 calories per slice. ;)

My favorite cookbook that my Mom gave me for Christmas one year. Go Mom!

Start off with two sticks of margarine (or butter, if you prefer).

Cut it up into cubes so you can melt it in the microwave.

While the butter is melting, get four eggs ready. We buy ours in a carton for health/heart reasons belonging to the husband. As many times as my Mom or I have made this cake, I can't taste the difference between real eggs and the. Ummm. Not-so-real eggs. Pour these into a mixing bowl with the melted butter.

Add one and a half cups of granulated sugar.

Scoop out a half cup of cocoa.
And pour that into bowl to mix up until it gets pretty thick. Don't forget to add a teaspoon of vanilla.

Slowly add one and a half cups flour, until all ingredients are mixed in. Scrape the sides of the bowl and then mix another minute. Or two. I'm ok seeing little chunks of cocoa, but feel free to mix longer if that bothers you. Knock yourself out and sift the cocoa first, if you want to be really crazy.

This is a bowl that I could happily sit down and eat with a spoon until it was gone. To save myself from caving, I try to tell others in advance that I'm making this cake as my form of accountability so I have to follow through on putting it in the oven.

Grease a 9x13 pan. My preference is olive oil PAM spray, but you could use butter or margarine or (gasp) lard/crisco. Anything to prevent the cake from sticking to the pan.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Don't rely on the toothpick test to tell you when this cake is done. It will come out a little gooey or with bits of fudgy cake sticking to it. Trust me, the cake will continue baking a little longer after you take it out of the oven and it really is the BEST when it's more fudgy than completely baked and crumbly like a normal cake.

While the cake is baking, you have time for a little kitchen clean-up of all the empties, including the mixing bowl & beater because you will have licked them clean at this point.

Sift a pound of powdered sugar to get it REALLY fine and powdery.

Melt one stick of butter/margarine and add one third cup of cocoa, one teaspoon of vanilla and six tablespoons of milk.

Mix it up good, slowly adding in the powdered sugar so you don't get a humongous cloud of powdered sugar dust flying up into your face. If you choose to add it all at once and turn the mixer on high, the aforementioned possibility may occur. Not that I speak from experience. Let's move on, shall we?

I used too small of a pan because mine is....ahem....missing. Mom denies any responsibility. As a result, the cake is higher inside this smaller pan, which unfortunately leaves less room for the icing layers.

Once the cake is out of the oven and has five minutes to cool a little, open up a small jar of marshmallow cream and pop it in the oven for a minute or two.

You want the marshmallow cream to warm and expand so it starts rising above the top of the jar, but not down the sides.

Then spoon the marshmallow cream onto the cake.

Spread the marshmallow cream evenly over the cake. If it cools too quickly or seems to be tearing the cake as you spread, you can zap the jar in the microwave again as you add more.

Give the icing one last mixeroo to freshen it up a bit since it has likely formed a bit of a skin on top.

Pour half the icing on top of the marshmallow cream and gently spread that around so the marshmallow is covered, but can be seen through the chocolate icing.

You may add more icing if necessary, but please remember this is a Mississippi Mud Cake and not a Death by Chocolate dessert. There is always extra icing at the end.

Always.

Can be served warm, but is equally as delicious if refrigerated (think cold fudge). Now you can lick the spatula, bowl and beaters from your mixer.

Enjoy!