today i endeavored to unfunk myself. wake myself up. i've been comatose these last weeks of january. sluggish thoughts turning over in my winterbrain.
i put on some coffee when i got home. did NOT take a nap. thought instead about the neglected kingdom of my little studio. and while a dusky twilight settled over the rooftops of my neighborhood... i turned on the light strings above my art table and started clearing and cleaning.
I made this crock pot chicken pot pie. I recommend you make it if:
A. you hate yourself
B. you hate a friend and want to get back at them for something
otherwise. just don't.
iPad scribbles! done with sketchbook pro app for ipad.
good messy fun. the one on the left is from a rug i saw on pinterest.
slow going in the travel journal. i seem to be more interested in reading travel books, playing words with friends, watching irish thrillers on IFC, and gearing up for an evening spent at DOWNTON ABBEY. also i made chicken pot pie in my crockpot. also i did more doodling & coloring on the ipad. the end.
this morning i went to the licuado shop on york here in highland park.
i've been wanting to try this little shop for awhile. i decided to try something i knew how to translate. which was numero 4.
the lady behind the counter whipped my strawberries, bananas, and walnuts into a light milky froth. also she gave me a large, even though i ordered the medium. this happens to me a lot. but it is not something i complain about.
next time i'm going to have the escamocha. either that or the chamango.
i also took home some arroz con leche for safekeeping.
not for me! in case a guest dropped by later.
sister, when you come out we're going here! we can sit outside at the orange table with the plastic ivy plant. you can knit. i'll play words with friends on my ipad.
whadda ya say?
catboy & catgirl are snoring away on the couch. i'm doodling on my ipad. watchoodoin?
i only thought i'd made stew before. i hadn't actually.
fortunately last week my dutch oven cookbook arrived. i read about it over on POSIE GETS COZY.
i've been getting cozy with posie for a long time so when i saw the book recommendation i assumed she left it just for me. i mean i know she has other readers, but i doubt they all have brand spanking new orange dutch ovens. like me. i just bet they don't.
i was very pleased with the weird foil tip the recipe mentions. any chance i get to do something strange whether in cooking or other life areas i seize the opportunity.
so i got my foil and i started seizing.
i did.
this is what happened.
i'm aware that a big pot of brown stew may look less than appetizing, but...
it was very extremely intensely wonderously delicious.
it was all that.
just in case you were wondering.
and if you come visit me on facebook i'll give you the entire recipe. instead of half.
i am extremely persnickety & miserly when it comes to art books. this one is unputdownable!
which. is why i endeavored to sit at the kitchen table in the sunlight, drinking coffee with the slider open, reading every word, poring over the photos. today. hello sunday.
new flowers from the market. a fresh tablecloth. mild winter air circulating in from the open door.
a cat with his winterpaws
a captivating book
with pictures!
beef stew bubbling away in the dutch oven. must push pause button. must push it now!
this & that
the streets were filled with sparkly sunbeams as i drove home to start my 48 hour vacation.
the porch was all golden and full of promise.
a halo of light spread out over the roof of my little cottage on the little hill in the middle of the big metropolis.
home to roost. home to a lounging twinset of cats, one almost finished travel journal, stacks of reading, a quiet house with no talking, and no being talked to, a bedful of pillows, a red flannel granny gown gettup, a new dutchoven cookbook, and a delicious winter rain that is beginning tonight. (claps hands and squeals)
In other news... go HERE and read about Aslan the sweet pupper who's trying to find his way from Afghanistan to Virginia. A very worthwhile cause to support I think. You who love animals will enjoy reading about this. Sara, a bloggy friend I happen to adore, is at the center of the story. I'll be mentioning it a lot in the coming weeks as money is raised to bring Aslan to his new home in America.
PHOTO OF ASLAN FROM SARA BERRY'S BLOG
You can also read about The Afghan Stray Animal League HERE. They are doing good work to help save animals in Kabul.
I've put a widget up in my sidebar if you'd like to contribute.
update: 100% of the money to bring Aslan to America has been raised. thanks for all of your donations!!!
This post was approved by the missus.
here. a small sliver of poem. to go with the glimpses into my travel journal.
taken from New Years by Dana Gioia
because sometimes i like the little bites better than the whole piece.
But can this blur, this smudgy in-between,
This tiny fissure where the future drips
Into the past, this flyspeck we call now
Be our true habitat? The present is
The leaky palm of water that we skim
From the swift, silent river slipping by.
The new year always brings us what we want
Simply by bringing us along—to see
A calendar with every day uncrossed,
A field of snow without a single footprint.
