I reveal my inner 15-year old

Yes, yes, she's always lurking close to the surface, I'm afraid :) In this instance, she's over the moon-- no pun intended-- about the fact that Eclipse is only 8 days away from being in the bookstores! Eclipse is book three in the ongoing series by Stephenie Meyer, authoress extraordinaire, about Bella and Edward, mortal and vampire.

Stop. I know what you're thinking (oh, and cut out the eye-rolling while you're at it!).

These books are so much fun! Dark, yes, and a teensy bit melodramatic, but such a good read. I've always liked vampire books, but never cared for Anne Rice or that woman who writes the Anita Blake series. Well, ok, I did like the Anita Blake books at first, but eventually they devolved into endless rounds of meaningless sex and bloodbaths-- ick. The Twilight Series (named for the first book) is different, and oh, so enjoyable. You can read more about Twilight and see an interview with Stephenie Meyer about Eclipse here.

My inner 15-year old is now through speaking :)

In other news, I came back home today after a fun few days with my parents. I was very glad to see Chris and the menagerie, as you might well imagine. To celebrate the rain (and, ok, because there was very little food in the house!), I made a pot of my friend Cindy's lentil soup. Here's the recipe, modified a bit to suit my mood and the lack of certain ingredients:

Ingredients

• 2 small or 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cups lentils (I used 1 cup yellow, and 1 cup orange, but whatever)
• 2 palm-sized potatoes, cooked
• 1 large carrot, or half a bag baby carrots, grated
• several fresh basil leaves-- if you don't like basil, leave it out; if you love it, use a lot ;)
• 4 medium, fresh tomatoes (I substituted these for 2 cups of tomato juice)
• salt to taste

Directions

• Fill a good-sized cooking pot 3/4 of the way full, and add the lentils. Cook for about an hour and 15 minutes, or until they're done
• Chop your potatoes into cubes, and set them to boiling. Reduce heat to low/medium and cook until done, but not mushy
• Grate the carrots and set aside
• Chop the tomatoes and set aside
• Chop and saute the onions in olive oil until they're translucent, and set aside
• When the lentils are done, add the tomatoes and carrots and let them cook for a bit
• Add the potatoes, onions, and basil and bring the soup to boiling. Let it boil for about 3 minutes, and reduce heat to low.
• Dish up the soup, and add grated cheese (I used shaved parmesan)
• Enjoy!

I also hung the cord cover on the dining room chandelier and it looks fabulous, if I do say so myself ;) Chris really likes it, too, and confessed that he's never liked that naked cord, lol. At first I thought that I had overestimated and only needed one of the covers, but it turns out that there was plenty of room for both and that having two instead of one made it extra ruffledy. Huzzah, so nice when a plan comes together! I'm also feeling quite smug that it looks nicer (in my humble opinion) than the ones I found selling on the Internet for $39.99.

Tomorrow I'm off to Home Depot for "Provence blue" paint for the fence project. I had an idea for the gate opposite it, and it involves using different shades of yellow that I already have so at least I'm saving some money there. Hopefully I'll get the fence done, and the newly painted plant holders hung there.

My time at home is rapidly running out :( Soon I'll be back at work, and while I really enjoy it, having time to let my domestic diva rule is soooo much fun!

What's your domestic diva up to?
Kimberley

One more project off the list!

So, with the bathroom ceiling project finished (again, huzzah!), I've moved on to some smaller, but, in their own way, no less important things that I've had on my list for a while now. I'm visiting my parents this week-- wanna talk amazing DIY-ers?? Meet my parents!-- and my mom is an amazing seamstress, so I've shanghaied her into helping me.

Note about my mom's skillzz: When I was a little girl, I thought that store-bought clothes were some sort of punishment and would cry if my mom tried to buy me them! Yes, I had a princess's wardrobe of lovely, full-skirted dresses in a rainbow of colours all made by my mom. Spoiled me, yes, I know (now that I'm "all grown up" and basically wear nothing but black, my mom wants to know what happened ;) )

So, on the project list for about a year now has been making a cover for my dining room chandelier cord. I really detest naked cords, not sure why, but I do. I found some incredibly soft black velvet at one of the fabric places in the warehouse district and got enough to make it for only $5.00! One of the ladies who worked there told me that that particular fabric went for $70/yard originally! Knowing that I wasn't going to want to go through taking down the chandelier to put the cover on, I decided to use velcro. I couldn't find the thin stuff, so I ended up buying regular size and then cutting each piece in half. But I'm getting ahead of myself: I brought the velvet up with me yesterday and we sewed it today. The remnant wasn't long enough for the cover (knowing that it has to be twice the length of the cord), so we just made two separate covers and I'll put one up top and one below. We had to trim the fabric, hem it, and then sew up the sides. They really are nice looking and I can't wait to put them on when I get home.

I'd also brought up this fabric that I found on the same day of the velvet, and with which I'm completely in love: butterflies in various shades of sea-greens, on a cream background *swoon* I already measured off enough to reupholster my dressing table's bench in it, and the rest will be pillows for the bed. Well, being in a hurry to get on the road (SOMEONE didn't do her packing the night before!), I walked out with our existing pillows, duh. I'd planned to bring them and then just make the butterfly fabric into covers-- I mean, really, have you SEEN how much they charged for pillow forms?? And I don't want to just stuff these with batting. So, we'll have to leave this project for another time.

Currently, my mom is in there making me a tea cozy out of a Laura Ashley quilted pillow sham she's had for ages (still in the package). I had no idea how to even begin, but my mom just waded in with the shears and started cutting seemingly random pieces of fabric and stitched away. This project was brought on by my incessant whining about how I'm tried of wrapping my teapots up in tea towels to keep them warm, and how tea cozies are just too bloomin' expensive. Anyhoo, I just went in there to see it and its great: blue and white gingham, and she somehow managed to get the blue cording all the way around it. Mom, thank you. I stand in awe of your awesomeness :)

I'm still waiting for a third posting for my Pay It Forward giveaway *hint, hint* If you're interested, see the preceding post and leave me a comment.

Have a great week!