tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62199138941889187172024-02-01T22:07:55.333-05:00makers of mischiefthese are the hair-brained schemes in many forms;
through food, projects, last minute ideas, and
well thought out ideas gone wrong.
We have been at this a long time and not long enough.
Hopefully any of this will be entertaining
or helpful to some cat out there.ushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09767144201694553825noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6219913894188918717.post-72819264551393155122012-02-17T21:03:00.000-05:002012-02-17T21:03:37.414-05:00the age of egg salad and tiger balm<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitjfy0s0dG32Btf8DjVU9wc3VawiTyZyHEvMHsjx-hoKt0wbLUSpWP9nEmgCOCIDy1JMIo9FFht2oCaVkm8piXss8PuEdii79N8VVAzJg3WUTjnJlH48GVqYTc-gqWTFTcf8Q4zFTuBJS6/s1600/IMG_0741.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitjfy0s0dG32Btf8DjVU9wc3VawiTyZyHEvMHsjx-hoKt0wbLUSpWP9nEmgCOCIDy1JMIo9FFht2oCaVkm8piXss8PuEdii79N8VVAzJg3WUTjnJlH48GVqYTc-gqWTFTcf8Q4zFTuBJS6/s320/IMG_0741.JPG" width="248" /></a><span id="internal-source-marker_0.24024161075378958" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This is a little tale on getting older. Sure you could say technically we are all getting older, even my tiny toddler is getting older. But on the heels of my birthday and the sprinting line of a big life number looming I give a minute to ponder all the life changes that can happen in a life. Sometimes my life events seem to come in waves; last year was no exception. At this particular birthday I am starting to feel the title ‘middle age’ take hold. Now really, you could argue how in the world could last year you still feel 25 even though you were (cough) 36? And when reasonably did you, Sierra, think that middle age started? Well to be honest I never really thought about it. Maybe it was when I turned 37 and suddenly actually felt like I was 37. So there might be the real argument. You are not middle age, until you think/feel you are or at least start thinking about it.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">There are some hilarious things about being middle age, and I am not the only one who thinks so. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I know there is some or many comedians out there who have a barrage of ‘you know you are getting old when.....’ jokes. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Here is what I have compiled from other older and wiser writers out there on the www</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You know you are middle aged when...</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: black; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div><ul><li style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">you find yourself in a garden centre and actually recognise the names of some plants. (ummm is that an epiphyte over there? oh yes certainly)</span></li>
<li style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">you keep more food than beer in the fridge. (excluding the dude of the house)</span></li>
<li style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.</span></li>
<li style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">comfort triumphs over style in the fashion stakes. </span></li>
<li style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">all you want is a quiet night in.</span></li>
<li style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">you choose Fairtrade coffee and organic muesli over pop-tarts and chocolate milk. (sometimes)</span></li>
<li style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">you make sure you're well rested before attending a concert.</span></li>
<li style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">you eat olives from the local farmer's market.</span></li>
<li style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">rather than throwing away old shoes, you keep them in case they come in handy for the garden.</span></li>
<li style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">when at a concert, you tut and sigh because the girl in front has wrapped her backside around her boyfriend's shoulders and you can't see the stage without standing up. And you really don't want to have to stand up.</span></li>
<li style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #101010; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">you feed your dog natural, holistic dog food instead of leftovers after a visit to McDonald's.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></li>
</ul><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So in the same vein, some I have added, but not as entertaining. </span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You know you are middle aged when... </span></div><ul><li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">you have been to more funerals than weddings in a year.</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">you start to appreciate egg salad sandwiches (thanks mse).</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">you look forward to the hot water bottle at the end of the day.</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">you carry tiger balm under your wing. </span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">you start to critically think you are not getting paid enough for what you do.</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">you would dance anywhere any time and don’t care one bit (is this just me?).</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">you feel authority not just with your words, but your whole being and realize this is the more sophisticated-teen-thought version with actual facts and gusto behind it; not just a thought with a lot of hot air. </span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">you realize the people, especially other mamas and women are all super heroines with their own special powers and they feed your own superheroine-ness too.</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">you can ponder the existence and connection between every living thing and can feel it in your bones wanting your heart to bust from your chest.</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">you could care less about any imperfections about your body (or you have so many that it would be impossible to care about all of them).</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">you think of researching life insurance and examine your 401k plan with a finer toothed comb</span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">things start to make sense and are senseless at the same time</span></li>
</ul><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My additions definitely feel more sobering. I guess I have many more questions than answers to this. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Again I am new to this whole middle age thing. Is middle age is earlier for people who have kids? Does the number of kids contribute to the middle age feeling? Does it matter how old you are when you have kids? </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Is there an equation to all of this?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Can someone pour cold water on me and wake me from this dream? </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Do people have middle life views that are sunshine and rainbows? </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Someone give me more intoxicating mid-life antics please.</span>ushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09767144201694553825noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6219913894188918717.post-56706357104392942722012-02-10T20:04:00.000-05:002012-02-10T20:04:45.523-05:00Strawberry Letter 37<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhclQRkAF6kYaRrdHUvibRAL4tykuMBYl5SdeeG7z4_Iat7ArzODrdraqGbV25CeKBSE7O5ifCRupfjwbLhTYNh-5jlctHXMcX5qx3pHJDbBdq4CcBsMxiIz6H3l5DLa8WV1BUfdS-6PIn/s1600/IMG_0544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhclQRkAF6kYaRrdHUvibRAL4tykuMBYl5SdeeG7z4_Iat7ArzODrdraqGbV25CeKBSE7O5ifCRupfjwbLhTYNh-5jlctHXMcX5qx3pHJDbBdq4CcBsMxiIz6H3l5DLa8WV1BUfdS-6PIn/s320/IMG_0544.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><b id="internal-source-marker_0.3738480943720788"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kickin off the dark clouds that lay low over this noggin for most of January. This mama was out of commission and in the business of hot water bottles, tiger balm, nyquil and heavy doses of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Acetaminophen. In my sickly haze I was not very productive. I couldn’t take time off (are your little violins playing?) and honestly I could not get my act together to do the bare basics never keep up on my blog. (*sniff*)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But the sun is shining again and I am breathing. This pony’s first adventure of course was food shopping. Tuesday, I hit Trader Joe’s with the burst of excitement that can only come after weeks of drudgery. In my shopping splender I passed a beautiful, bright and mountainous end-cap of strawberries. Intrigued, I drew closer. They looked good. The red color was alive. But, what really caught my eye was a small flower bud just under the plastic clamshell lid (learned terminology later). What promise!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I took my little nature pod home and devoured them all over the next few days. Each time the strawberry pile got smaller, my strawberry bud continued to take center stage at the top of the clamshell box. It was not that the strawberries alone wouldn’t make my heart sing, but come on, the small white flower pushed it over on cuteness factor.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Luckily, on the top of the strawberry clamshell box, there was a little bit of info that also gave me a sparkle. It was the number code of the person who picked these particular berries. I wanted to tell the company that it was a genius move to include a little strawberry flower in their strawberry bundles. So I sent them an email and thanked them for the little extra gift. I told them if they didn’t do this on purpose, that they should consider it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is what I got back just a few days later.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.3738480943720788"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dear Sierra,</span></b></div><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.3738480943720788"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></div><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.3738480943720788"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you for visiting the FreshQC™ website to rate our strawberries. Consumer feedback is invaluable to us. The 16-digit FreshQC™ number is tied to the picker, variety, field location, date and exact time of day the flat was picked. We are able to connect you to our growers and the actual picker that picked your package of produce. They are able to read your comments providing accountability and continuous improvement for their work.</span></b></div><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.3738480943720788"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></div><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.3738480943720788"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFT1zlV3RIp3S3aN5UpdVANNfH80_QTjDfOYSEu1KhYMy3IXWKXTyMJiLG6f8ASF7At_qJeRdJhJY8jLkPnKoTgDwwaSzyOoG22EZK_2Q7IimJK0EwQ4CDVmbkz7hAqbK4UjGNpgt9ZAp/s1600/IMG_0735.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFT1zlV3RIp3S3aN5UpdVANNfH80_QTjDfOYSEu1KhYMy3IXWKXTyMJiLG6f8ASF7At_qJeRdJhJY8jLkPnKoTgDwwaSzyOoG22EZK_2Q7IimJK0EwQ4CDVmbkz7hAqbK4UjGNpgt9ZAp/s320/IMG_0735.JPG" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m so glad you had a great experience with Wish Farms! I love that there was a strawberry flower in your clamshell – a lot of people don’t realize that’s how strawberries form. I wish I could say it was done intentionally, but I think that package was meant just for you to find! They are of the Radiance variety and picked from one of our growing operations in Central Florida. We are a year round supplier of strawberries – our Florida season kicked off in November and will go through the month of April until our California season picks up! Be sure to keep letting us know what you think through our FreshQC™ program! </span></b></div><b id="internal-source-marker_0.3738480943720788"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nice to get the response, especially so soon. I have little faith that they will take my advice, but it is good to know some ear heard my little ole comment. Here is to a delightful flower in my strawberry clam shell that gave a hint of sunshine in the midst of dreary winter. Fists to the air; STRAWBERRY FLOWERS FOR EVERYONE!<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">p.s. a few weeks later, I find this in my next strawberry purchase at T.J.’s, an extra long stem. Ok, maybe I am just easily pleased.?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>ushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09767144201694553825noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6219913894188918717.post-71613245600265706512012-01-11T13:13:00.013-05:002012-01-11T13:17:41.559-05:00Don't Trash On Me<div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I feel like having the name Sierra, people have always made assumptions. Some of them are right, others less so. The biggest misconception is that I am a vegetarian, which I am not, but kind of wish I was (just for the record </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">VIENNA</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is). Other assumptions hit the mark: I have hippie parents, eat organic food and sometimes wear clogs. I am earth-conscious, a proactive, avid recycler and composter and yes, I drive a prius. I wear some of these boots proudly. Until recently, I was so focused on reuse (compost) and recycle (recycling) that I never thought about manipulating the TRASH (reduce!). </span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNASoch7MXWcTPUBToW3TjdOERsCy7sIEvd6AiRpsl7UyJ4H8-lbIL588Az6igL6Izp6pKLretLj-whKnsYSWfuN24sfgDySxTccjBRYLTELBM4cI6dv65eHOay2Q-I4EW-9G7DI9481wD/s1600/IMG_0467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNASoch7MXWcTPUBToW3TjdOERsCy7sIEvd6AiRpsl7UyJ4H8-lbIL588Az6igL6Izp6pKLretLj-whKnsYSWfuN24sfgDySxTccjBRYLTELBM4cI6dv65eHOay2Q-I4EW-9G7DI9481wD/s320/IMG_0467.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'itty bitty under-the-sink wares'</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span id="internal-source-marker_0.70848946319893"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, I don’t know you, but I get a small thrill in solving problems. It’s a little bit of a curse. Creating “efficiencies”, with family, children, teaching, travel, etc, my brain is constantly running (like when you hear your laptop engine humming even when you are not doing anything).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Getting back to the trash. Sept 2011: the fruit flies are killing me. It’s war. I’m hot, irritated with fruit flies and smelling something mysterious and horrible in the kitchen. If this description so far makes it sound like I live in a sty, I don’t, we are just a family of 4 with a dog and my sensitivity to smell is positively prenatal sometimes. It was driving to the center of my sanity. I bravely put my nose in the trash, nada. I smelled a foot away, the sink, the dishwasher, the walls; it seemed to be everywhere and nowhere.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For days this went on; investigation was a code red. In a moment of sheer panic and overwhelm, I took the whole 13-gallon-plastic-complete-with-rocking-flip-lid bastard outside. Miraculously aromatic peace was restored. I knew with every fiber of my being that I didn’t want that trashcan in my life anymore. I was done. The break-up was final. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sooo, you might ask what we did when we had to throw something away. Compost is limited and recycling doesn’t cover everything left over at the end of the day. So we played the geriatric lady syndrome of keeping an old plastic bread bag on the counter and shoving our waste into that puppy to the brink of full madness, pushing, stuffing. It became like a video game (there is irony there). The stakes had never been higher (insert irony here).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then this magical/evil plan was hatched inside my brain. What if we had no trash, what would we do? I started recalculating our trash problem. What if we focused on NOT throwing away things. Food was the biggest issue. Children don’t clean their plates, it goes in the trash, food that we forgot we bought shoved in the back of the fridge, garbage! We have a 2.5 year old and sure we use at least 1 disposable diaper at night and those add up over 7 days -all other times we (predictably) use cloth diapers.</span></span><br />
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.70848946319893"> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cutting to the chase: some facts (and opinions)</span><br />
<ul style="font-weight: bold;"><li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.70848946319893"><span style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">meal planning changed</span></span></li>
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.70848946319893">
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">buying changed </span></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">i got a little zany, but in an interesting way</span></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">adam, the other half of the decision making in the house, was not privy to the challenge end: “we don’t have a trash can anymore, ok. (no biggie)”</span></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sadly, food scraps could not be fed to dog, as she had lots of food allergies</span></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">it was kind of fun</span></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">then the dog got into the trash (a lot) and it was really really gross</span></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">realized we had to get a real trash can</span></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">so we continued to push and push into the smallest possible size.</span></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in the end we got a small 3 gallon ikea flip open trash can</span></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">another small fact is that our kitchen trash can is the only trash can other than my studio in the house, not even in the bathrooms (much to the dismay of some, especially out-of-town visitors)</span></li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPog-m5rBGpOJBg1xdT0WQWDexmA7b3xFkLo8NqfwJB5A-4lVlUJlKSa7eyqPCDOC0Q8Lcb41TQsOrt8uT0O08EapHmyEUq5FCgDJ3rr0mMyxi13QAplAtN5Ra2cYyPOOFNuigWDz_nFFt/s1600/IMG_0480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPog-m5rBGpOJBg1xdT0WQWDexmA7b3xFkLo8NqfwJB5A-4lVlUJlKSa7eyqPCDOC0Q8Lcb41TQsOrt8uT0O08EapHmyEUq5FCgDJ3rr0mMyxi13QAplAtN5Ra2cYyPOOFNuigWDz_nFFt/s400/IMG_0480.JPG" width="303" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the wee bear was just right</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span id="internal-source-marker_0.70848946319893"> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After a full week of getting rid of our trash can we had a party, non-trash related. There were over 75 people at this party and I thought argh we are going to have to drag the trash-barrel-bastard out again, but without me even instructing anyone, my adorable friends were sorting and compiling trash, recycling and composting. Talk about love! In the end, we used more than a bread bag of trash, but not much; it was the stuff legends are made of. We reused our industrial and faithful pile of Preserve dinnerware that we have had forever and here we are many months later and still going strong in peaceful partnership with our 3-gallon can. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.70848946319893"> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Luckily the city of Boston has been more on board over the last year with a larger (finally appropriately) size recycling barrel. Our garbage amount pales in comparison to our busting 64 gallon recycling bin. Now we might fill our trash barrel in a month or so. Don’t even get me started on the quandary if the recycling is even being recycled (an investigation for another time). </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have had the pleasure to see the infamous, 'No Impact Man' a while back and wow!, Its the movie about the man who took his family on a year long project of making as small of an impact on the earth as possible in what seemed like the impossible fact that they lived in NYC. It was hardcore and admirable. It was not what fed my desire to de-trash-ify the house, but the fact that people who are willing to go above and beyond, always gives me an adrenaline rush.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t mean to stand on any soap box. Trash in the home was something that I never thought about till that moment of ousting the dictating 13-gallon menace. Then I gave a little tweak in the noggin and now it is part of life, not another thought (until it was requested by a certain someone as a story). If only I could apply this sense of logic to exercising. The old adage: when you have a bigger house, you will fill it. It seems that there is never enough kitchen cabinets, if you have 10 or 30. No matter the size of your garage, basement, closets, toy bins, they seem to all get filled to capacity. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So where is the lesson in this? I don’t know, try it if you like, for a week or a day. Without the recycling or compost it would be big- maybe impossible, you might end up on a TLC show about hoarding (sorry). But it might teach you something about yourself, or might make you think about what is ‘trash’ or start you on composting. Over 7+ years of composting in the city, we have learned a few things about not creating a hotel environment for rodents, especially a deluxe spa where they receive shelter from our half pipe neighbored with a bounty of edibles.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Did I make this sound doable? Interesting? I would like to say that it solved all of our problems, made us eat like birds, I lost 10 lbs and my husband’s hair grew back, my two children never fight anymore and our cars became powered by wind. Instead of all that happening, I have less trash, less smell and a greater sense of peace about the battle.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>ushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09767144201694553825noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6219913894188918717.post-39540358053685502822012-01-04T15:11:00.001-05:002012-01-05T20:05:17.606-05:00frosting that froze me in my tracks<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMcwKkGRlLcCJRuPep6Md3rXCPHmmT1dSMjE5j4GRs8yFX8zivKi5LEcjbrejXq1lKCfqZ-Du7zjLaaPKVXyRUuklJgg3sWXEQ_aeaIJ-fDazqNFyZ0ddeR_BRtokzjZoqA0SEhTTZ7YbS/s1600/IMG_1657.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMcwKkGRlLcCJRuPep6Md3rXCPHmmT1dSMjE5j4GRs8yFX8zivKi5LEcjbrejXq1lKCfqZ-Du7zjLaaPKVXyRUuklJgg3sWXEQ_aeaIJ-fDazqNFyZ0ddeR_BRtokzjZoqA0SEhTTZ7YbS/s320/IMG_1657.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">memphis debuts on the cake</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">when a child asks for frosting in the form of humans and animals for their birthday, </span><span style="font-size: large;">don't run for the hills.</span> instead get <i>sculpey</i>, and get those fingers warmed up.<br />
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my daughter turning 6, asked for her beloved border collie, memphis, who died just a month prior and herself throwing a frisbee in frosting on their cake. argh! nothing scares me like mucking up a cake just before a party, i mean come on.<br />
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ok, so it might be a little easier being an artist and an art teacher with amassed amounts of resources, but I really believe anyone can do this.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqKSHl-u3VB6390JxL1ZS-p-HVq-PdG-HU12NOVAtjvC0MOp1FmoTXWtmqmYNyDgT9dMVQ1el9Vvpv3pdVxfn8opw5H4uNIejMmRQ1gQ7Oqb9fMq-sbXs9FZ9d2VNCj_MQzZ2rSpQ-gbSK/s1600/IMG_0103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqKSHl-u3VB6390JxL1ZS-p-HVq-PdG-HU12NOVAtjvC0MOp1FmoTXWtmqmYNyDgT9dMVQ1el9Vvpv3pdVxfn8opw5H4uNIejMmRQ1gQ7Oqb9fMq-sbXs9FZ9d2VNCj_MQzZ2rSpQ-gbSK/s200/IMG_0103.JPG" width="153" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">before sculpey was baked</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5LAA2YS2QkJF0nHvbYumLY7xZueNjIcgMFM1ZFp5sLh6GNSJqOTQgGA9mEVuH200UZamk-rvf2SRdzyO8PKdnYZfC8405ehdLAu1EmxXzRJMTMbO0U_eJ1Fl4jHo0cSdSiQP4Zj7O1Ab/s1600/IMG_0102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5LAA2YS2QkJF0nHvbYumLY7xZueNjIcgMFM1ZFp5sLh6GNSJqOTQgGA9mEVuH200UZamk-rvf2SRdzyO8PKdnYZfC8405ehdLAu1EmxXzRJMTMbO0U_eJ1Fl4jHo0cSdSiQP4Zj7O1Ab/s200/IMG_0102.JPG" width="115" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqKSHl-u3VB6390JxL1ZS-p-HVq-PdG-HU12NOVAtjvC0MOp1FmoTXWtmqmYNyDgT9dMVQ1el9Vvpv3pdVxfn8opw5H4uNIejMmRQ1gQ7Oqb9fMq-sbXs9FZ9d2VNCj_MQzZ2rSpQ-gbSK/s1600/IMG_0103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><u>cake toppers</u>: so i went to dick blick, the closest art store in boston, and got <i>sculpey premo</i>. I believe, go the extra mile with durability with the <i>premo</i>. I got the regular 1lb flesh colored stuff and the 2oz. glow in the dark and red sparkly accent pieces for fun. my big regret was not getting the sculpey softener. I am not sure how it would have helped, but that mutha was tough.<br />
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anyway, i had help as not to have felt defeated by the toughness of this clay.<br />
I mean how can anyone work with this stuff?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCfIPylW5RtVZDUTqQ5iodhzW3oN3O9n8zMKoyX8_BsCDulyoQDpsMJLAnOtx7SY7oYNj9wDc-rUlOej9TG8DoypVekgSHlL47XxbbHhRuVzOgiNuM8UumUjT_luCTa8F9_z_ru1t7b88E/s1600/IMG_1390.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCfIPylW5RtVZDUTqQ5iodhzW3oN3O9n8zMKoyX8_BsCDulyoQDpsMJLAnOtx7SY7oYNj9wDc-rUlOej9TG8DoypVekgSHlL47XxbbHhRuVzOgiNuM8UumUjT_luCTa8F9_z_ru1t7b88E/s200/IMG_1390.jpg" width="149" /></a><u>some shorts:</u><br />
<ul><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBRHJ0LJ26pUllKHIHoOwbpzTsDiMQVOIva_MzZ1q7XbNNsPOm7h8SkG1gVcth85sgZ3gzV3rl7B2GhypDKFJ5jicIKkqUJVPQ2TILAf1MEr6agTZWjkKzvgKt7niqbG3LMtOAroCpYGm/s1600/IMG_0392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBRHJ0LJ26pUllKHIHoOwbpzTsDiMQVOIva_MzZ1q7XbNNsPOm7h8SkG1gVcth85sgZ3gzV3rl7B2GhypDKFJ5jicIKkqUJVPQ2TILAf1MEr6agTZWjkKzvgKt7niqbG3LMtOAroCpYGm/s200/IMG_0392.JPG" width="150" /></a>
<li>1lb block was enough to make my daughter (4.5" tall person) and her beloved sidekick </li>
<li>knead chunks of the clay like bread dough </li>
<li>cut away from the the mass amount instead of trying to get small pieces together</li>
<li>tools: rolling pin, tooth picks, sharp paring knife</li>
<li>think pyramid, not tall cylinders</li>
<li>think chunky shapes instead of tall willowy for sturdiness</li>
<li>balance your shapes</li>
<li>follow bake directions for thickness</li>
<li>if anything breaks, use hot glue or super glue after it cools (that happened to my daughter's legs, much to the chagrin of my daughter) </li>
<li>use acrylic paint and be flirty with your layering of colors </li>
<li>I was super happy how the acrylic paint took to the sculpey</li>
<li>once the foundation and shape of your pieces is set, work with texture</li>
<li>go the extra distance with details, but don't go overboard</li>
<li>use a photo, it will really be helpful</li>
</ul><div><u><br />
</u><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYmjkeaemhegebgt-8zpLjel7j02tye5Pay3GkcYs89nlUwdu7arjNZqojA9XvfB45sN3NXTn-6AA3mBTUNGDGmV4y0Olf8qOr1kBl7q5FNHJgqLbI8epNUCaWpdcNWgQ0hTCtCeIkaHXE/s1600/IMG_0402.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYmjkeaemhegebgt-8zpLjel7j02tye5Pay3GkcYs89nlUwdu7arjNZqojA9XvfB45sN3NXTn-6AA3mBTUNGDGmV4y0Olf8qOr1kBl7q5FNHJgqLbI8epNUCaWpdcNWgQ0hTCtCeIkaHXE/s200/IMG_0402.JPG" width="200" /></a> </td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">glow-in-the-dark heart candle holders</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <u>extras</u>: my daughter and I even rolled out <br />
the sculpey glow-in-the-dark and the red<br />
sparkly stuff with rollers and used cookie<br />
cutters; hearts and flowery shapes. used a<br />
pencil to push holes through the<br />
glow-in-the-dark hearts for future<br />
candle holders on the cake.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYsqfzkEeWjLhyv9gywScYiX46A8nOEVc_e4JVsEhoU4ktG0FyYPS15ZbXs5e6nshB_2XcKunZgYzxF600O8WoMCTbHSahuV-f4kOKkOBlV2TGiA2mBRQRDFmGMwsOv8jHG43uWSKgePBF/s1600/IMG_0386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYsqfzkEeWjLhyv9gywScYiX46A8nOEVc_e4JVsEhoU4ktG0FyYPS15ZbXs5e6nshB_2XcKunZgYzxF600O8WoMCTbHSahuV-f4kOKkOBlV2TGiA2mBRQRDFmGMwsOv8jHG43uWSKgePBF/s320/IMG_0386.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div>in the end, it was super cute. my daughter has them forever, especially as a memory of our pup she has known her whole life. I highly recommend this project even if you think you can't;<br />
trust me, it will surprise you.</div>ushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09767144201694553825noreply@blogger.com3