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February 15 Creating MinionsWe've decided to grow our family to include more than just fur children - that's right, I'm preggers! Heaven's to Betsy, that's quite the life change. I'm about half way there so far, and until now having a little one growing inside me has been an interesting experience. I've had to quit my tropical drinking habbits, and learn some new booze-free libations. It's actually been quite fun, there are many 'virgin' (yes, I see the irony) ingredients that go into the traditional tiki drink. During the first few weeks, before I was praying to the porcelain tiki god, I had to keep things a little secret. We had a loudmouth friend over(yes Ken, I mean you) and I had to fake a few rounds of Mojitos. Luckily, Mojitos happen to be one of the easiest drinks to virgin-ify. Take some mint, some fresh lime, some sugar and some fizzy clear stuff, muddle away and there you have it! Completely identical to the original. I fooled him goood. Just recently I had my half-way (that's week 20) ultrasound. I've attached some pictures for you to attempt to understand. Anyone who can identify the bits 'n pieces in all of the photos gets a tall frosty beverage of their choosing. September 12 The Great Canadian Beerfest 2006I had a wonderful time at the beerfest this year. The libations were divine
and
the
level of inebriation was ideal. The lineups were never too long and the crowd never got too rowdy. I can't wait for next year. That's Amaya on the left and me on the right.
Treadmill Fun - Working out with a TwistHave a look on YouTube, Here August 25 War is an ugly thing..."War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature, and has no chance of being free unless made or kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." - John Stuart Mill July 02 Summer Yardwork Ramblings in Victoria, BCI just finished pounding some wood out back. Let me rephrase that, I just finished pounding six 8' wood stakes into the ground to suppport my tomatoes. I've left them far too long, and now they're snaking every which way, trying to escape the confines of my small 4 X 8 foot veggie bed. Along with tomatoes, I'm also growing raddishes and squash, we'll see how they do. It's been at least 4 years since I've attempted to grow anything edible. The grapes, blackberries, plums, cherries, peaches, hazlenuts & almonds take care of themselves. Why is it, that whenever I mow the lawn, at least one bag of grass always ends up on my foot? My moist sandaled foot. Sticking every blade and fragment to it. The satisfaction of having a nice looking trimmed lawn slightly outweighs the giant pain in the ass this chore is to complete. Only slightly though And now, oh joyus of joys, the backyard neighbours have decided to blast some country garbage in my direction. Just as I finish up and feel like relaxing. I think it's time to mix myself a mai tai and crank the Martin Denny. You give me honky tonk? I give you bird calls! Take THAT! December 23 The Enchanted Gingerbread RoomThis year I made it my goal, nay, my quest to build a tiki style gingerbread house. First I made my pattern out of construction paper, a 3-D model to figure out weather not I was capable of such a task. When everything was tickety boo I went ahead with the plan. I baked, I whipped, I bought candy I wasn't allowed to eat. Finally, when it was all over I was tired and the house smelled fantastic. I cleared off the top shelf of my liquor cabinet(I know, I should be shot) to make a nice safe spot for it. With a large dog and two cats around I want this thing to last at least until after Christmas dinner. I chose a classic A-frame model with dual pointy roofs and a puffer fish suspended underneath the main peak. I'm happy with my creation, and content with knowing that after 10 years I can still create something that will stand up to a magnitude 5 earthquake. Here it is in full colour. December 06 Merry Kitchmas and the New Aluminum TreeA week or so ago I finally broke down and bought a little aluminum tree off e-bay. For only $46.95 I have become the owner of a vintage piece of metal kitch. Although I'd love to find one in the 'wild', I just don't see it happening this year.
"They glitter, they shimmer, they bask in the glow of gently rotating color wheels. They last forever."
-Season's Gleamings: The Art of the Aluminum Christmas Tree by J. Lindemann
While I'm ok with adding an aluminum tree to my Christmas repertoire, the artificial ones made to look real just don't float my boat. I'll never give in to plastic.
"Artificial trees are like breast implants. They look funny, they don't feel right and why would you consider them when the real thing is readily available and works just fine?"
See a couple of pictures below. Me wearing our 'Hella' fez in front of the little aluminum tree. November 25 Vote for Satin Moon at the Festival of Trees!This year Satin Moon Quilt Shop decided to participate for the first time in the Festival of trees. We had all sorts of fun bribing the judges with donations to the BC Children's Hospital(including the fancy scarves you see)
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October 27
LP to MP3 - Les Baxter's Caribbean Moonlight
Caribbean Moonlight (Capitol T733) by Les Baxter
Taboo
Deep Night
The Breeze and I
Nightingale
Temptation
Poinciana
Ay, Ay, Ay
Adios
Carnival
Green Eyes
Out of This World
Sway (Quien Era)
Download link
http://rapidshare.de/files/6813965/Les_Baxter_-_Caribbean_Moonlight__1955_.zip.html
Taboo
Deep Night
The Breeze and I
Nightingale
Temptation
Poinciana
Ay, Ay, Ay
Adios
Carnival
Green Eyes
Out of This World
Sway (Quien Era)
Download link
http://rapidshare.de/files/6813965/Les_Baxter_-_Caribbean_Moonlight__1955_.zip.html
October 20
I like Charlie Brown Christmas Trees.
There. I admit it. I like the pathetic looking ones, with the crooked top, and the lack of foliage.
I was browsing around Urban Outfitters when I spied their Tinsel Trees(see photo below) These 1950s throwbacks are all the rage these days, and I'd like to get my hands on a vintage one.
Anyhow, while I was browsing I spotted at Charlie Brown Christmas tree(see photo below) A perfect replica of the sad little tree used in "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
What's ironic about this is that the main goal of the movie was to teach children the true meaning of Christmas, not the commercialism of the whole thing. And now you can spend your money on your very own piece of the commercial propaganda.
I think I can make one myself at home. Go to Michaels, get branch, a couple pieces of wood, and find an ornament in your basement. Big hairy deal.
Charlie Brown trees have a special place in my heart.
My family always had the sparse trees at Christmas. So much so that friends ALWAYS bugged me about it. The three branch tree. 'Shani and her three branch tree.'
Well, it always embarrassed me, even though I was usually in charge of picking it at the lot. We seemed to prefer the less pruned, more natural variety. You know, so you can lie underneath and look up through the branches at all the pretty ornaments and lights. You haven't experienced Christmas until you've done that. At least I haven't.
Now that I have my own home I get to pick out a 7'-9' jobbie, and still get teased a little sometimes.
'Well, I see Shani's progressed to a total of five branches this year! Congratulations!'
Bah.
Charlie Brown trees have a special place in my heart.
My family always had the sparse trees at Christmas. So much so that friends ALWAYS bugged me about it. The three branch tree. 'Shani and her three branch tree.'
Well, it always embarrassed me, even though I was usually in charge of picking it at the lot. We seemed to prefer the less pruned, more natural variety. You know, so you can lie underneath and look up through the branches at all the pretty ornaments and lights. You haven't experienced Christmas until you've done that. At least I haven't.
Now that I have my own home I get to pick out a 7'-9' jobbie, and still get teased a little sometimes.
'Well, I see Shani's progressed to a total of five branches this year! Congratulations!'
Bah.
October 12
Mug Shelf Install
I've been collecting Tiki and Hawaiiana for almost three years now. Pretty much all my vintage items have been found at local thrift stores, or given to me as gifts from tiki friends. As my collection grew, we bought a large four shelf unit from Ikea to hold everything.(aside from the three Rubbermaid totes full of stuff in the basement)
When you collect tiki you usually would like to have a home bar as well. Our home bar will be called the 'Huki Lounge' but it will be a few years before it's built. Two years ago we poured the foundation, but some structural stabilizing needs to be done before the sunroom style bar is added. We are also building a suite in the basement, and remodeling our kitchen which are both priorities at the moment.
I'm lucky in that we have a 20 X 18 foot living room that can temporarily house the collection and bar for the time being. The living room(we call it the green room) has a great vaulted ceiling that will soon be covered in matting and bamboo, with many lights and flotsam & jetsam to add to the atmosphere.
This past weekend we installed a large shelf to hold some of my mugs. I'd like to get more of my collection out from storage, so this was the first step.
I've included some pictures of the process. Jeff pre-drilling holes for the drywall anchors, the brackets and shelf up, then the shelf full of mugs.
September 07
I'll take a great big tiki to go, please.
Yesterday I had news a package had arrived for me!
Packages are one of those little joys in life that are only tarnished by the fact that I may be required to pay copious amounts of duty and sometimes tax as well.
This time, although the package was a big one, not a cent more had to be paid! Talk about your miracles.
The item in question was a palm wood tiki by Bosko, a well known carver from California. He outfitted the late "Taboo Cove" in Las Vegas.
Whenever a carving is brought home it feels as though I'm sort of adopting it. They always have faces, and they always attain a personality upon entry to the home. Last night we sat around trying to figure out this guy's personality.
Ken thought he needed a rasta hat with dreadlocks, or maybe a big cigar sticking out of his mouth, while I thought the chinese style rice picker hat would suit him well.
I joke about this, but I probably wouldn't ever accessorize my tikis. Maybe a fern on his head, but nothing too goofy. A fez and cigar would look swell, but where am I going to find one big enough? He's 34" tall and has a 10" diameter.
August 25
Pick a floor, any floor!
So I bought a doormat. You can see it here: http://www.crackmeup.com/images/shirts/1780073D.jpg
Unfortunately none of our carpets are low profile enough to
accommodate it. By the front door we have this god-awful orangey/brown
thing that has been screaming to be torn out since we moved in over
three years ago. This Monday it's dreams came true. You can see said
carpet in the photo below, Gypsy is lying on it.
As fast as I gave Jeff the go ahead to remove the monster, he
ripped it right out, staples, tack strips, underlay and all. Underneath
we discovered an amazing cork floor, original to the house which was
built in the 40s. 6" tiles with a 3" dark inlaid strip
following the perimeter of the 50 square foot hallway.
As cool as the floor is, man is it in rough shape. it's
grungy and discolored, with dark lines between the 6" tiles that were
not only glued but also nailed to the floor underneath. We(Jeff did the
dirty work) decided to rip up the cork, hoping to find more of the
wood that frequents the rest of the house. To our dismay the black
adhesive was applied directly to unfinished boards, which would be an
absolute bear to attempt to refinish.
With a 4' square of black sticky adhesive open to the air(and the
hair) we need to pick a new floor and get it installed, tout suite.
We've left some cork down so we can maneuver the house without our
socks adhering permanently, but guests be warned.
I'll be taking a picture or two before it's gone, and probably an after one as well.
August 08
Super Hot Photo Shoot!
So I decided to start photographing my tiki mug collection this past weekend. Not only will this be handy for insurance purposes(we do live on the earthquake ridden west coast after all) but it will also be very handy for when I'd like to give a mug away as a gift. I can show the prospective receiver an image, in case they already have one. I'll also be able to post mugs for trade or sale, something I need to start doing with my duplicates.
It was nice to remove most of the mugs, dust the shelf and put them all back again. Ok, so it's a pain in the ass, but everything's nice and clean and organized now. The photographing part would have been much easier with a tripod, I'll have to borrow one to do the rest.
The rest of the day I puttered around in the garden, and did a huge prune of the grapes. When the bunches start forming you prune all the foliage away to expose the grapes to the sun they need to develop properly. These grapes(Concord) are no good for wine, but would be tasty as grape jelly, juice, or just eating. When we first bought the house we had quite the windfall of fruit, and experimented by making some wine. Let me just say the "Baby Gull" was much better when ginger ale was added.
Later that day I found out that Koi like watermelon. My 5 little guys in the pond munch happily at their leisure on the piece I suspended from one of the Gingko tree's branches.
This weekend was a far cry from the excitement of last, kind of nice to bum around and accomplish things around the house. For those that don't know, I spent a couple of fun filled days over on the mainland at a tiki event which included visiting one of Canada's last intact Polynesian lounges, the Waldorf Astoria in Vancouver. I came back on Sunday and attended the Symphony Splash in Victoria's inner harbor that night. Talk about sensory overload!
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