CinnamonOpus Says

100 Good Wishes Quilt: Square #2

The first quilt square we got for our Good Wishes Quilt, other than from us, is from Stinkerbelle’s Auntie Vicki.

Now, Auntie Vicki is not technically Stinkerbelle’s aunt — she’s actually our good friend and hairdresser. But she has been with us through a lot of our big life events. She made us gorgeous for our wedding. She consoled us over our miscarriage. She talked with us often about our adventures in infertility treatment. And she waited, ever so patiently for our our adoption to be complete. Not to mention, she is a big fan of my gingerbread.

So she’s TOTALLY an honourary Auntie.

She was so very excited when we finally DID bring Her Babyness home, and, as she stood holding the girl in her arms, looked a little shocked and said, “I cannot BELIEVE I am holding YOUR DAUGHTER.” She’s been following our quest for a family so long, it was the end of a long journey for her, too.

When she went to give me the fabric, she got all flustered and said, “Okay. I saw this and thought it would be PERFECT: pink because she’s a girl, and lots of cats on it because you have lots of cats… But I bought you this BEFORE I saw the fabric you posted. And I realized it TOTALLY DOESN’T MATCH. So if you want, I can get a different one.” Which was really sweet.

I told Vicki not to worry, that this fabric would be just perfect. I explained that this quilt is going to be like a story: every square comes from someone special, and there’s a reason they chose it, and a wish behind it. So they don’t all have to match — it’s the story behind how each square came to be there that counts. And it’s a story I can tell our daughter. over and over again, as the years go by and her wishes come true.

So I said this one would be perfect, and I was keeping it.

Vicki didn’t have a wish for Stinkerbelle yet. She said that would come later. But that’s okay, there’s lots of time: the girl doesn’t have any hair yet, and so we’ll be sure to visit Vicki for her first haircut, but not for a LONG time yet, I think.

So thanks Vicki!

November 8th, 2008 Posted by CinnamonOpus | Adoption, Friends and Family, Craftiness | 4 comments

Square One

I have my first square of fabric for my daughter’s 100 Good Wishes Quilt. And it’s actually not sent in from anyone… it’s from me.

I was cleaning out the last of the stuff in her room, getting ready to carpet clean and paint, and I found a bag of fabric. I used to sew a bit, especially when I lived in Japan, because there were no clothes commercially available to fit a tall, athletic sort like myself. If I needed new clothes, I either had to make them or have them sent from home. So I learned to make them.

I spent free lunch hours scouring the local department store fabric departments for anything interesting to buy to make skirts or shirts or whatever out of. And then one day, I found a real treat: kimono fabric.

(click to embiggen)

Okay, so it wasn’t REALLY kimono fabric — kimono are made of silk, and this was cotton, so it was actually yukata fabric. A yukata is kind of an everyday-wear kimono. But it was really pretty, and really captured the essence of some of the kimono I had seen around, so I picked it up.

I never did make anything out of it. I always thought I would — maybe pillows or a tablecloth or something — but I never did. So it sat in a bag full of fabric for the last 15 years.

Until Saturday.

Then I realized, what a perfect way to start off our daughter’s quilt than to include a piece of my history? Japan is always close to my heart, and my time there such a part of who I am, that I wanted to pass some of that on to my daughter. So I will.

And I got to thinking, chances are I will never be able to gather 100 squares for my daughter, because I don’t really know 100 people well enough that they would want to participate in a project like this. I just don’t have a lot of friends or family. (So it’s going to be more like a 20 Good Wishes Lap Quilt… possibly a 10 Good Wishes Pillowcase…) And I realized I want more in life for my daughter.

My life is measured in experiences, most of them fun or interesting or memorable. Living in Japan. Scholarship. Hippie chick teacher. Volley dolly. But I never formed a lot of lifelong, lasting friendships, or stayed in touch with people (until my husband and I got married, that is). I’m a prickly sort of character, to start off with. And I am not really a girls’ girl, and I think I was well liked, but not really the sort of person others — particularly girls — wanted to be close friends with. But mostly, I just learned early on that it’s just best not to get attached.

But I want my daughter to have a life full of not only great experiences but also people who love her, and people that she loves. I want her always to have people she can trust, people she can rely on, people who will make her happy and care for her.

So my wish for her, that I will put in her scrapbook to go with her quilt, will be: “Measure your life in love.”

I hope she will.

I’ve also posted a photo and blurb to start off the 100 Good Wishes Quilt page, which is where I will be posting all the wishes and squares I get for this project.

September 2nd, 2008 Posted by CinnamonOpus | Adoption, Craftiness | 10 comments

Pesto

Because Sherri asked, here is the very very easy pesto recipe I use, courtesy of Canadian Living. It’s time consuming, if (like me) you are harvesting, trimming and washing your own basil, but otherwise? Takes no time at all.

2 c. packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 c. grated Parmesan
1/4 c. pine nuts
1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced

In food processor, finely chop together basil, Parmesan, pine nuts, salt and pepper. With motor running, add oil in thin steady stream. Stir in garlic (I just blend it in using the food processor, myself).

Makes about 3/4 c., which is why I always double it to make a batch to freeze.

Enjoy!

*****

We make chicken pesto pasta, which is also really easy:

2-4 chicken breasts, cubed (depending on how much of a meat eater you are, or feel like being)
1/2 cup pesto (again, depending on how pesto-y you like your pasta)
1 450 g. box of pasta with lots of grooves in it — we prefer fusilli/curly pastas but any textured pasta would do…
1 small jar of oil-packed chopped sun dried tomatoes, drained (but reserve a little of the oil for cooking)
1 c. frozen peas, cooked (I usually put them in the microwave for a couple minutes)
lots of Parmesan to sprinkle on top

Put the pasta on to boil.

While the pasta is cooking, put the reserved sun-dried tomato oil, tomatoes, and chicken in a large skillet to cook. Cook chicken until no longer pink.

Drain pasta, and add pasta, peas and pesto to the chicken mixture in the warm skillet and stir until pesto is blended through and everything is warm.

Serve sprinkled generously with Parmesan. I mean, it’s pesto, after all — so why not?

It makes a seriously large pot of pasta, so there’s lots for a big dinner for 4 at least. There’s just the 2 of us, so we have a big feed and have tons left over which we freeze for lunches.

August 19th, 2008 Posted by CinnamonOpus | Everyday Life Stuff, Craftiness | 4 comments

Bounty

My garden is thriving. Mostly.

For the first year ever, my tomatoes are not overtaking the garden, which kind of saddens me, because I have only just mastered the art of tomato sauce. And also, for the first year ever, I have green peppers and red peppers. Despite years of trying, I have never been able to grow peppers. Sure, I have grown beautiful, healthy, gorgeous pepper PLANTS, all completely devoid of fruit. (Possibly gay. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) But I have yet to actually get peppers until this summer.

Potatoes, squash, herbs — they all seem to be doing well.

So today, I decided it was time for pesto. My basil plants are flowering, and in past years due to procrastination and/or neglect I have actually not had as big a crop as I should have because I let the plants go to seed or get nipped by frost. But not this year — oh no. We love our pesto around here, and since it’s readily frozen, it’s perfect for us and our budding family, which will need quick dinners while we settle in with our daughter.

So last week I bought about $20 worth of parmesan. Two decent-sized chunks. And two piddly bags of pine nuts for about $12. One of the downfalls of making pesto is the cost — but it doesn’t take much to make a meal, and with the basil coming from the garden for free, you actually get decent value for your money.

I went out this morning with scissors and my colander. I needed 4 cups of packed leaves, so I thought I will start trimming off full branches, bring them in and wash them, and come back and get more as I need them.

I have about 10 basil plants, all nice and healthy, so I was pretty confident I’d get a couple of batches of pesto this year from our garden. Normally I can get two, maybe 3 batches a year, if I trim judiciously and allow more branches and leaves to sprout as the summer winds down. I started with the plant closest to the sun, which was the tallest, and began trimming, leaving young branches and leaves to get more sun.

I came in with this (click any photo to embiggen):

Note the sous chef:

(He’s VERY helpful.)

I started trimming off the leaves into a sink full of cold water, to wash the leaves off. And ended up with well over 8 CUPS of leaves.

Eight cups. EIGHT. From one single, solitary plant. And we have something like 10 plants out there.

Good doG. We’re going to have enough fresh basil for… well, I have no reasonable estimation, because I have no idea how we are ever going to use that much basil.

Pesto is not a big yield cooking day. Two hours and a fair few dirty dishes later, my house smells like an Italian restaurant. And I ended up with more than 4 cups of pesto. That’s 8 huge pots of chicken pesto pasta, or 8 meals for the two of us and a crazy number of lunches from the leftovers.

But those will be some delicious meals. There’s nothing like the taste of fresh pesto, especially from your own garden.

August 18th, 2008 Posted by CinnamonOpus | Everyday Life Stuff, Craftiness | 10 comments

100 Good Wishes Quilt

Inspired by the ever-awesome Shannon (with the coolest-named blogs in the world!), who is no end of talented and crafty, we’ve decided to start a 100 Good Wishes Quilt for our daughter. And because Shannon introduced the idea to me, I am going to borrow her words to describe it:

There is a Chinese tradition when a child is born called “Bai Jia Bei”, otherwise known as a “100 Good Wishes Quilt”.

It is custom to invite 100 family and friends to donate a piece of fabric to the child’s mother. The 100 pieces are then sewn together into a quilt that is said to contain the luck, energy, and good wishes from all the family and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation.

Now, I live in Mennonite country, so quilts are a big thing around here. I’ve always wanted one, and so I thought this would be a fantastic keepsake for our daughter to have — not only is it a lovely gift for her, but it will be something that carries with it all the hopes, dreams and good wishes of those around her who love and care for her.

I love the idea that my daughter can wrap herself in a blanket of love and good wishes.

We would love any and all of you to participate, if you want to, as well as anyone who may not be reading along on our adventures but might still want to send along their good wishes and hopes to our daughter. Individuals, families, “virtual” friends, whatever! You’ve all been a part of this journey with us, and it would be lovely for her to able to have a keepsake from all of you, who have been so wonderful in your support and good wishes from the beginning.

So if you are interested, here’s how it works (again, thanks to Shannon):

1. Leave us a comment that you are interested — or email us, if you prefer — so that I can email you our daughter’s name so you can personalize the wish, and our mailing address.
2. Choose a piece of 100% cotton fabric that you like or has special meaning to you.
3. Pre-wash it to prevent shrinkage and cut an 8×8 inch square from the fabric to be used for the quilt.
4. On a piece of card stock or paper (acid-free is best for preservation purposes), attach a small piece of the same fabric on the note (so we will remember which fabric goes with which wish). On this paper is where you write your wish, your name and where you are from. Your wish can be anything - your hopes for her, a poem, quote, verse, favorite saying, advice or anything meaningful to you.

We’ll take a picture of each square and wish and place the photo, along with your wish, in a life book for our daughter. The squares will be made into a quilt, and both the quilt and the book will be keepsakes that tell the story of her journey to us and all the people who were with us and brought us such support, comfort and friendship.

I will also post your wish and the photo on our 100 Good Wishes Quilt page, so you can follow along as we create this keepsake.

Thanks so much in advance to everyone who wants to participate!

July 24th, 2008 Posted by CinnamonOpus | Adoption, Craftiness | 18 comments

In the Garden

The rain has stopped, and the humidity has broken… so it’s a good day to get out in the garden!

Okay, so the mosquitoes are pretty bad. And my arms are breaking out in hives because I am allergic to grass and other such greenery, which — if you are going to pull weeds — you have to get up to your elbows in. And I am really feeling my hamstrings right now from bending over.

But still… gardening!

There’s a bit of a break in the rain and the humidity today, so I am taking the opportunity while the ground is soft to yank out a bunch of weeds. Then, if I am feeling organized and ambitious, I am putting in some of my vegetable garden: tomatoes, basil, a single butternut squash plant, and potatoes. That’s all I was able to grow from seed.

After that, I can start finding places to put my flowers. I have some poppies and blanketflowers, both perennials, that will go in along the back fence where it’s hot and weedy. Some gerbera daisies I am not sure what to do with yet, but I’ll think about it. And then there are a bunch of various annuals that I grew from seed that I’ll have to use to fill in the blanks. And I want to toss in a bunch of flax seeds and get a mess of flax somewhere — I just don’t know where yet.

I had to grow most of my plants from seed this year, because we’re watching our expenses, and gardening can be pricey. So a bunch of the seeds I started way back in the winter are ready to go in. But there are a few things I still must buy, because the seeds didn’t work out. I have to go to the local nursery and buy some green onions for the garden, and maybe something else too… Peppers perhaps? I have such terrible luck with peppers. And I want to get some portulaca for the front garden, because it’s hardy but so cheerful.

So I’ll put some peanuts out for the birds, spray on a bunch more bug spray, and if anyone needs me, I’ll be the one in the shabby shorts and t-shirt, feet in crocs but still covered in dirt, moaning and groaning… and having a nice time.

And next year at this time… we’ll have to find a spot for Mystery Baby Girl to dig in the dirt. I already bought her some little tools.

June 11th, 2008 Posted by CinnamonOpus | Everyday Life Stuff, Craftiness | one comment

Gardening, Of Sorts

Today is The Day. Yes. I know you have been waiting for it all year, and it is finally here.

It is the day I plant my seeds for this year’s gardens!

Can you feel the excitement? I thought so.

Yesterday we ran some errands and BDH and I had to stop in at Canadian Tire. I mean, it was 15 degrees outside. It was sunny. Who wouldn’t want to start the gardening? So we searched high and low throughout the store until we found a tray of seed starters. We looked at packets of seeds to see what inspired us. (Nothing, really. We were searching for roma tomato seeds and there were NONE to be found.) And I decided today would be The Day.

So, seed starters on the table, I mapped out this year’s vegetable garden. I always overplant. The problem is, you always have to plant more seeds than you actually want in plants, in case some don’t make it. And when you buy already-established seedlings, you get flats of 4 or 6 or whatever. And I cannot bear to throw away a perfectly healthy seedling — so I end up finding space for them all. But there has been a decree of absolute certainty handed down from BDH this year: Only FOUR tomato plants. (HA. He’s got a hope!) Other than that, it’s up to me.

I have no idea what to do this year. Tomatoes, obviously. Roma, oxheart (the best for sandwiches!) and some sort of cherry tomato variety. Also, basil is a must, because I make pesto and we love to have garden-fresh pesto all year round. And we like green onions, and they take up little space, so that’s easy. I tried onions last year, but harvesting and storing them was an absolute disaster, so I don’t think we’ll do them again this year. And potatoes are usually easy, so maybe a few potatoes. But the rest? No idea.

I’ve also got to get my flowers started. I have wildflower mixes, and I like to get some of the flower seeds from out of the mix and plant them specifically if I can. Like calendula — the first couple of seasons I had the most glorious big orange and yellow calendula. I harvested the seeds, but forgot to label them. So now I have to search the internet to try to find pictures of the seeds. Also, there are things — insidious plants that take over the garden — that, while pretty, I definitely do NOT want in my wildflower mix, like cornflowers (also known as bachelors buttons), so I have to “weed” those seeds out. And coreopsis. I’ve had a buttload of coreopsis in years past and I want something else.

And we mustmustmust have cockscomb and cape daisies (the ever-gorgeous osteospermum — BDH likes the purple ones) and gazanias. In fact, any sort of daisy works. And of course, pansies are one of my favourites.

I also have to try to remember plant names from years past. Two years back, I had a planter that contained a flower whose name always escapes me. But it loves the sunshine, and it’s bright and multi-coloured, and kind of like a succulent — I love it. Anyway, I just left the planter alone over the winter, and last spring, I noticed that this particular flower had re-seeded itself. I was In. Heaven. So I got a bunch of the seedlings and transplanted them to the front garden. They were fantastic. But now, if they don’t re-seed again this year, I have to remember what it’s called so I can go find it again. (ED: I found it! It’s portulaca!)

I really need to start writing stuff down. Don’t you think?

So today, since BDH is away with friends Defending The World From The Forces Of Evil, I have the house to myself. It’s quiet and sunny. It’s the perfect day for starting my gardens.

But first, to the internet! I have research to do.

April 6th, 2008 Posted by CinnamonOpus | Everyday Life Stuff, Craftiness | 2 comments

Homesick

As I am feeling somewhat better today, I decided to tackle some sewing and mending. And, to keep me company while I work, I opened up my iTunes and put on a podcast.

I download some podcasts from the BBC on a regular basis. I’d become a fan of the BBC World Service many years ago, as my father shared his love of radios — specifically shortwave — with me as a child and through my teenage years. We’d work together on some project, like finishing the basement, and he’d put on his old shortwave radio. We’d see what faraway places and mysterious foreign voices we could tune in to, and when we found one, we’d record the location on the dial on a two-by-four we had as a doorframe in the laundry room.

So as the dulcet tones of some BBC presenter told me of what’s happening in the world, I set about my sewing. I am hemming some drapes, so I stood over an ironing board and pressed and pinned.

And it occurred to me, that it was not so long ago — or rather, it WAS so long ago, and it only felt like a short time — that I was in my apartment in Japan, listening to the World Service and sewing.

I learned to sew in Japan, because I could not buy clothes to fit without a whole lot of searching. And fabric was cheap. So I had my father ship my sewing machine over to me. And I would spend some of my weekends creating some very badly made outfits to wear.

I had a shortwave radio as well as cable radio in my apartment, so I listened almost exclusively to the World Service. It helped me feel connected to the world, to other people alone in countries not their own, and it kept me company.

So as I pressed my hem here in my living room, I was suddenly overcome with homesickness. I missed my life in Japan.

I miss something about Japan on a regular basis. Maybe it’s the food. Maybe it’s a picture of a place I used to visit or wanted to visit and never got to. I miss the trains.

Japan is a wonderful place. There’s a lot to miss. So these pangs happen fairly regularly.

But today, I remembered days sitting in my apartment — I didn’t have an ironing board that I can recall, so I would have been sitting and ironing on the floor — doing just the same as today. Listening to the Beeb, drinking coffee, and sewing.

The difference, though, is that now I have a wonderful husband and a mob of cats, so I am sometimes alone but never lonely. And I have a home with stairs, which let me tell you, is something you miss in a one-room apartment.

And I have an ironing board.  Luxury.

So, although I am homesick, I am definitely not unhappy.

Well, except for this hem, which is causing me no end of fuss and bother.

March 19th, 2008 Posted by CinnamonOpus | Everyday Life Stuff, Craftiness | 2 comments

Objectivity

I’m thinking of entering some pictures in a photo contest. The magazine I read is doing a Pet Photo contest, and goodness knows I take enough photos of mine. So I thought I’d enter.

The thing is, how do you choose which ones to enter?

It’s hard to be objective about pictures. Every photo I have of the cats is because they were doing something cute or funny or whatever, so I took some pictures. I think they’re cute. I think they’re charming. But I know, from looking at other people’s photos of their pets or their babies or their kids, that beauty is quite often most definitely in the eye of the beholder. Painfully so, in some cases.

Cute just doesn’t translate well in many cases if you don’t know the subject intimately. I mean, I love my cats, so everything they do is cute in my eyes.

The same thing goes for pictures of people. We are usually very harsh on ourselves when it comes to personal photos. Personally, I absolutely hate getting my photo taken. I avoid it like the plague. And that is because I am unfortunately really, really not photogenic. Not. At. All. Or maybe it’s that I am really that unattractive in real life and it’s only in photos that I actually am faced with it. Either way, there are precious few photos of me around. And I am horrified to the point of panic at the thought that others might have pictures of me in their possession. Seriously. It really upsets me.

So when it comes to choosing a photo based on the merits of “cute” or “attractive”, it’s hard to say what is and what is not.

Then I thought maybe I could choose something that is a nice photograph. You know, where there’s good light or the subject is framed well or whatever. But the problem is, I don’t know sweet Fanny Adams about photography. I realized in looking at all these pictures that I wouldn’t know a well-framed shot if it jumped up and bit me. I have no idea what it means to have good composition. I know when I see a photo in a magazine or a book that there are certain things that catch my attention, and that certain pictures are pretty, but I could not tell you WHY. And I certainly couldn’t say if any of my own pictures have those qualities.

So in the end I’m just going to choose some that I like best, and send them in. Because it’s just for the fun of it.

Besides, I don’t ever win any sorts of contests I enter — no winning lottery tickets, no shouts of “BINGO!”, no big stuffed teddy bears at the fall fair. Not. One.

So why enter at all?

Well, it’s simple. If YOU owned the cutest pets in existence, wouldn’t YOU want to spread the joy of seeing them around??

Uh oh. There’s that objectivity thing I was talking about…

February 12th, 2008 Posted by CinnamonOpus | Everyday Life Stuff, Cats, Craftiness | 2 comments

Hat Couture

Okay, so maybe I went a LITTLE crazy. But it was fun.

It all started with a hat for my little nephew:

No. That is NOT him in the hat. But it IS the famous Umbilical Cord Hat of song and story and Stitch & Bitch books.

Then, I thought, well… I have all this red yarn. Like, for 10 years I’ve had this yarn. And, I have all this green yarn — for almost 20 years it’s been sitting in the closet, waiting to be used. And then I thought… hey! The Ethiopian flag is red, yellow and green. So I came up with this:

So then I thought, maybe a different pattern:

Note the jaunty angle. He’s a happening sort of bear.

And then, I went with a more Canadian take on the hat with Ethiopian colours:

Of course, the bear gave us a little runway spin to get the full effect of the hat. And the pompom.

So. A whole bunch of hats for a baby that we don’t even know who it is yet. But they were fun to make, and hey, I must have had that yarn hanging around for some reason, right?

I’ll probably make more. Maybe a blankie too. If I feel inspired.

Thanks to Mr. Ted E. Bear for being such a fab model.

January 20th, 2008 Posted by CinnamonOpus | Everyday Life Stuff, Adoption, Craftiness | 13 comments