He will be missed.

It's Free Coffee Day

I hope everyone took advantage of getting their free coffee, only happens every four years...actually, I hope everyone voted, and felt great doing it. Paul and I stood in a line for over an hour today and then we voted. I almost did not have time for a shower, but so what, we have such a beautiful diverse neighborhood, it was fun just people watching, and the hour flew by.
Then I went to the city where Starbucks line the streets and got my free coffee.
Happy Election Day 2008!

Saturday

It was a beautiful day yesterday, actually it has been beautiful for as long as I can remember, there may have been some rain at intervals, but what is sticking out the most for me is needing long sleeves in the evening, August evening, crazy. Paul and I went for a bike ride, we saw the waterfalls in Dumbo. Then we decided to take some photos.

Paul got a haircut. Funny, he wanted a flattop and the guy misunderstood the request for 1 1/2 inches of hair left on top. But I think he looks handsome. Maybe I'm biased.

Once a year there is a "car show (off)" underneath the BQE, right next to where Paul used to live, classic cars, tattoos and black leather. Fun to look at. Especially this Elvis car.

Too Long Between Posts

I know, I know, why haven't I been posting since I usually have so much to say? Hee, hee...anyways, this past week has been a doozie I had a cold and had to go home early on Tuesday. It may have had something to do with going to Cooperstown over the weekend. Leaving after work on Friday, getting to camp around 11:00pm and then waking up and going to a Belgian Beer Festival at Ommegang then camping overnight and just relaxing back at camp Sunday and Monday. Or could it have to do with Paul having a cold and just passing it on to me?
While at camp I discovered some beautiful quilts, hand quilted quilts in the closet (yes I'm a snoop). Pictured below is my favorite quilt that I found. It looks like a mixture of clothing and some store bought cottons. Does anyone know who made this?

I am inspired to hand quilt a block just like this, I love the strips and plaids with the red and turquise. Fun.

I was extra excited to discover some puzzles and proceeded to put together this one which if you enlarge or look really closely are cool antique-y buttons. I recently surrendered to a Simpson's puzzle at home, it was just too hard :(

And on the home front...garden is still going good. We have had about 3 zucchini that have gotten this large, which makes about two loaves of bread. The tomatoes are going berzerker so we are saving up for sauce. Having a garden is pretty awesome. I highly recommend it.

Still Relishing a Fun Weekend

Some highlights of last weekend:We found this newly painted mural on the side of Tilly's on our way to the Brooklyn Flea on Sunday. Pretty. We found some nice things at the Flea, some shirts for Paul, some fabric for Gina (the weekend theme for both of us) and most happily of all, Red Hook soccer taco's which we tried to find in Red Hook (of all places, gah)but to no avail. We had huarache's (not the shoe), but a cheese-less quesadilla, which is what Paul had. Delicious!Happy Birthday Quilt for Gina, it's a bookshelf. She liked it. But now we have to see if the post office will get it to her.

What would one of my posts be with out Erwin looking cute and Gertie in a box, lookin' cute?

On Monday we perfected the photography of our pencil cases, setting up lights and using props. How professional of us, so now Gina just has to go and buy a digital SLR to get the same effect.

Visiting New York

Gina came to visit us for a long weekend. She arrived on Thursday and I think might still be in the air right now on her way home. We went to fabric stores, ate good food and crafted. What fun! Here are some images from the barbecue, which was delicious. It was worth the hour and a half wait. We split four entrees and eight sides.

Yum

It Came Down to Five

Paul fixed a really good breakfast this morning, eggs with cheese, fake sausage and toast. So naturally with a full belly I want to tune into my favorite sport of all time, the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.
They changed the rules this year, instead of 12 minutes of eating they shortened it to 10, making the contest much more intense. Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut were the favorites for this year. Kobayashi (because of an arthritic jaw) lost last year to Joey Chestnut after six years of reigning champion, so this year it was all about the rematch and Kobayashi's jaw.
And what happened? The first tie ever in Nathan's history, it came down to five hot dogs. Winner by one bite: Joey Chestnut.
Paul and I then participated in a blood eating contest when we went to weed the garden. We have a mosquito infestation, but we also have some tasty green beans.
Happy 4th of July!

David Byrne' Sound Installation

Saturday was nice, Becky and I met up at 10 South St. to see David Byrne's latest art piece. As you can see below an organ has all of these tubes and lines attached to it and when you play the building groans, clangs, and whirls. We had to sign a waiver before entering, I think because the building is so old. There were fears when I looked above with my gawking mouth that lead filled paint chips might fall in. Luckily that did not occur. The building is amazing, and old which really lends itself to the eeriness of the sounds.

This is a radiator that one of the tubes attached to making a clanking noise.

David Byrne has a wonderful website, great for people who love him like me,
www.davidbyrne.com

Cats in the Garden

Paul convinced me to let the cats outside, thanks to their constant complaining when we are outside and they are in, and partly due to his love for Erwin.So, we let them out and they looked around... ate some plants...

and Erwin threw up...

twice...

So, I am wondering, should we really let the cats out?

No cats got really sick in the making of this blog. Also, Gertrude (not pictured here) does have pictures of herself, but they are beauty shots, and I wasn't looking for glamour.

A Garden Grows in Brooklyn

I haven't posted in so long, I added all the photos in the wrong order, so I will tell the story upside down...

This is PaulThis is Paul's Garden (photos taken today)

This is the garden on May 26, 2008. All grown from seed (zucchini, beets,carrots, chard, tomatoes (those were plants) rosemary, cilantro, basil, thyme. All weeded by hand, grass grown, composted, watered all by Paul and he's a nice guy cause he lets me enjoy it too.
Thanks.

Cherry Blossom Day

Its that time of year, the Cherry Blossoms are in bloom. Here are some cliche filled photos taken today at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.

This one is for DeeAnne.

Ladder Series

This wonderful ladder was left in the apartment when we moved in. Gertrude loves to climb up the ladder, but has some trouble getting back down. I am dedicating this series of baby quilts to her. I spent a bit of Monday timing myself making this quilt top, the back (not pictured here) is actually pretty cute. I love the little iguanas. My plan is to make this for our Etsy shop because I was supposed to put something on there Sunday.

The Ladder Series. To be cont...

Happy Earth Day

Shouldn't everyday be Earth day? (cue the patchouli and mood rings), but no seriously, I try to be conscientious about how I am using my space on this planet, and it might be a bit easier for me because I don't have a car, but I am still wasteful. So...

I don't normally show off my underwear, especially when my dad is reading this blog... but when I made them myself using one t-shirt, who can argue with such a great earthy, idea? I took a class on Saturday at Etsy Labs and all I had to bring was a t-shirt, it was fun, and informative, and I got to use a serger for the first time, awesome, I want one.
About a year ago, shortly after I turned 29, I tried to go for a year not buying any new clothes, with the exception of socks and underwear, but now that I can make my own? I think I should start knitting socks too.
Paul gave me this t-shirt cause he felt guilty, I think it said, "For every animal you don't eat, I'm gonna eat 3"...cruel

I learned with this pair that you almost want the same shirt size that your butt is, in other words, do not use a small shirt if your butt is medium.

Sunday Night Roller Derby

When Paul invited me out for some late night roller derby, I said yes. Who can't resist roller skating babes in short pants and fishnets? It was the New Jersey Dirty Dames vs River City Rollergirls and believe it or not we were rooting for River City. They hail from Richmond, Virginia and put on a good bout, the ladies should be proud (even though the final score was not in their favor).

Some of my favorite roller girl names: Maliciously Delicious, Don't Care Bear, Jheri Kill,
Sue-age Spill

Behind Paul you can see a home made roller skate wheel sign. I love roller skating rinks and if I had time I would travel across country with my 4x5 photographing these relics before they go away like they did here in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx (I don't know about Queens or Staten Island...I can only guess that Long Island has some rinks, it's a bit more sprawling there).

Erwin's in the Spotlight

I don't really have much to write about today cause I worked while Paul stayed at home and lived out some drama with the landlord. Here are some recent photos of Erwin, the non featured cat, who surprisingly loves to be photographed.

Erwin likes to help out with my crafting as well.

Erwin dominates.

Sunday, Monday Happy Days...

Sunday is a work day for me. My commute is sometimes delayed by the weekend subway changes, this weekend the 2 was running on the 5 train line, but then stopping at Atlantic Station, in all my confusion I found an N train and made my way to Union Square. To my surprise, Broadway, the street I normally walk up to get to work was closed for a fair? Street vendor event? I don't know what they are called, but this is one of the tell tale signs that spring is here, when these booths are set up selling sheets, socks, sweaters, earrings, at wholesale discount prices. Its actually kind of nice to walk down the middle of Broadway on a Sunday morning.


Monday I worked my first shift at the Co-op. On my way back I passed the Brooklyn Museum, and I thought this was a nice sign of spring. I have been dreaming of spring.
When I got home I had some of Paul's homemade seltzer water. It is so good. Some of the first experiments didn't work out so well, cause the water from our taps tasted bad, but he is now filtering the sediments and the chlorine, and it is tasty.