Concrete Castings. Part One

My latest thing is casting concrete into stepping  stones and yard art.

No boy's that is not a Milk Bone!

 's

Paw Prints

Zen and the Art of Peace (A piece I donated to a fundraiser)
 

HOWL-LOWEEN IS NEAR!!!

That time of year to be creative and drive your dog nuts! HOWL-OWEEN! In a couple of days I will debut Romeo and Buddy's look for 2014, But until then, here are some of my favorite costumes for 2014 (Courtesy of Instructables.com) to tide you over!

CORN DOG

What better way to celebrate than turning your pooch into tasty food? By Doggie Stylish

 Chi Chi Chi Chia Pet

Kkittle shows hoe to turn your pooch into a living chia pet!

Dog. James Dog.

This James Bond Dog by HenryBasenji costume has many of the elements of Romeo and Buddy's Rocket Dog costume from last year:

Never fear, UNDERDOG is here!

Instuctable contributor, soccerqueen, shows how simple it is to make an UNDERDOG cape!

REPOST- How I Make Snow Cones

From June 24, 2009- With the weather getting hotter, seemed like a timely re-post for a refreshing summer treat.

Summer is here and time for a refreshing treat. To me summer means street fairs, and snowcones. I recently was playing around with my Cuisine Art and crushed some ice. And I had been watching a shaved ice vendor at the Burien Farmers' Market. I put two and two together , and came up with this recipe- You don’t need and Ice crusher or any other fancy gismos. All you need is a Cuisine Art or a blender and some syrup:


About 2 cups of Ice cubes
Some type of flavored syrup

Put ice cubes into a cuisine art or blender.
Pulse for about a minute.
Until Ice is crushed smooth



Scoop ice into a martini glass or cup or juice glass. I like to use martini glasses because, well I have them. 
Pour syrup (about 1 jigger or one ounce) over the top. Enjoy!

Note: I used TORIANI SUGAR FREE SYRUP (raspberry flavor), I would imagine you could use any flavored syrup. But using sugar free makes it a guilt free treat!
And please - no comments on the messy kitchen! (I have been in school all week and had no time for cleaning!

Make your own Jam Labels

Over at How about Orange, Ms. Jessica blogged about Andy Bigg's Beer Labelizer, a unique Label making application for your computer. Now Andy has come out with the Jam Labelizer The labels dont' have to be for just jam, you can make labels for boxes of cookies, homemade presents, bookplates, and more. Let your imagination guide you! I used the Beer Labelizer for my homemade ginger syrup, that I use to make ginger ale. And of course the jam labelizer for - jam. And if you don't have label paper, regular paper and a glue stick work just as well!

Arts-A-Glow!

Looking for something fun to do this Saturday?

A day of fun

We had our annual B-Patch Gardeners Day at our community garden Sunday and I thought I should share some pics (all pictures buy Rebecca Dare)
Yes, your favorite attention hog demonstrating the joys of hanging gutter gardens
Graham the Beet Master!
Catherine demonstrating paper starter pots
Cat loves her plot!
Graham reacting to my demo

Surely You Joust...

Photo: B-town Blog

Well what I don't do for bike racks. Last Friday was the inaugural Pie Joust in Burien- I was a participant- I didn't win unless you call getting pummeled in the kisser with a paper plate full of hand made whipped cream a win. An excuse for a messy fun event... I actually had two tries, The first resulted in a "Re-Joust" the second I dropped my pie and in the spirit of the rules rode on to get pummeled, so the Ref declared a duel- off the bikes, back to back, One step turn and Splat! Being short that was my downfall... LOL It took John"Da Organizer" Nelson 3 attempts to bring Captain Pie Hole down! It was put on by the B-Townies a group advocating and raising money for bike racks in Burien, something there is a serious lack of. Oh well... for a good cause...
From the B-town Blog "Splat Cam"

And from the Seattle Times:

Everybody Polka now

A bunch of nice looking Silkie Bantam chickens at the Hilo Sunday Market

What amazes me about these birds is the fact they are allowed to run around a farmers' Market place. And they are so friendly to look at. Who could not want one or two or three?

B-Town Bike Fair

Well another rainy Bike Fair in Burien. Romeo looked like a drowned rat, Some how I managed to stay dry until we started to break down the booths at the end... I forgot those canopies hold water. I even got to try out an E-Bike from Alki Bike and Board... and fell madly in love with it.

All in all though a very good turn out for our little town. Lots of kids did some obstacle courses. There was even a trike course for the littlest ones! And a whole lot of people got outfitted with free helmets, donated by local medical companies.

One of the most popular features was from Outdoors For All, a very cool organization that promotes outdoor recreation for the physically disabled, and their collection of handicapable bikes.

Of course the seven seater conference bike was popular as well!

One of the most popular items at the fair was the 7-Seattler "Conference Bike from the Dutch Bike Company in Seattle.

Of course the Unicyclists were popular as well as Local celebrity Manuela Horn , AGT's "Yodeling Dominatrix", who showed up on her "Austrian powered" buggy

I can has T-shirt?

It amazes me how some folks think! For the better I mean. I found this Instructable on Recycling Childrens Clothes. Into Doggy Clothes. I have to admit to putting poor Romeo through the indignity from time to time of having to wear T-shirts and jackets. Not neccesarily because he doesn't have enough fur to keep him warm, but rather it helps keep him clean, which for a dog as adamant as he is the bath water is evil, you would think would be a good thing. This instructable shows how to properly alter a childs T-shirt into a shirt for your pal. I am a fan.

Empty Bowls 2011

Click on pic to make larger

Empty Bowls

What's your Design Style???

I spent my three day weekend painting my studio. Finished the primer coat at 3 am on Saturday. Then I took this quiz i found via "How About Orange" on Stylish Home.com, It's a visual quiz that most matches your answers to a bunch of pictures. Here were my results

Results: You most resemble a "Modern Eclectic".
Details...
A leaning toward the austere require neatness and order in your home. Home cooked meals from a kitchen full of country. Your personal retreat includes a bed and little clutter. Art that definitely does not match the sofa. Lake Cabin table for your salads and seafood. Your 3rd coffee and just beginning to be productive. Pre-war, upper east side attitude. At the end of the day… you don't take things too seriously..
Suspected "Modern Eclectic"
- Andy Warhol- Scarlett Johannson- Philip Seymour Hoffman

I never would have thought that I had a style related to Warhol, Johannson or Hoffman. Anyway the quiz is short (less than a minute) and something to do while waiting for paint to dry.

What's your Design Style???

Empty Bowls 2011

Almost time again for one of my favorite events in Burien. The Empty Bowls. Great oppurtunity to eat some great soup, break bread with others and get a unique hand made bowl!!!

From the City of Burien Website:

"Moshier potters have teamed up with Discover Burien and Burien Parks and Recreation to host Empty Bowls 2011! Empty Bowls events can be found around the country raising money to combat hunger in our communities. Potters have donated bowls to be filled with soup at this fun event…all are invited!

Your donation will get you the opportunity to pick out a beautiful handmade bowl, as well as a simple but wonderful meal of soup, bread, drink and dessert donated by area businesses. Proceeds will go to the Highline Food Bank and White Center Food Bank."

NW FLOWER AND GARDEN SHOW IS COMING

Spring is coming a bit early this year!!! At least the Northwest Flower and Garden show is. Scheduled for February 23-27 at the Washington State Convention Center, it is one of the largest shows of it’s type in the nation.Besides the many great gardens that will be there, I will get to see some of my favorite Vendors like Beez Neez Apairy-who trade in Mason bee housing, materials and cocoons; Natures Fresh Start-(Garden stake trellis for garden and containers); Lee Valley Tools-(Garden hand tools and accessories); and By the Yard Oregon- that sells Maintenance Free outdoor furniture from recycled milk jugs And also get to see some great lecturers and attend some good seminars. I even have my question ready for Ciscoe Morris! So escape winter, even for an afternoon and come frolic in the gardens at the NW Flower and Garden Show. PS There is an online Discount if you buy your tickets early!

Why Most Dogs hate Halloween...

Romeo is joining with some other Canine ghouls and goblins Saturday for the Boo! in Burien Halloween pet costume parade/contest. He would join the Wiener dog races but they already said no-He is not a Wiener dog. Of course to which I answer He is kind of a wiener. Ever wonder why dogs hate Halloween? Well here are 10 examples-

Rain Barrel Art

Over at Greenopolis Blog, Writer Joe Laur is showing off some really interesting DIY Rain Barrel Art. These are obviously accomplished artists, but actually here is my favorite:
Recycle the Raindrops was part of events through Chicago all this year, from conferences to art fairs. Here are some of the artistic designs from the program.
Check out the rest of Rain Barrel art on Greenopolis

Craving, Doing,Thankful

Craving:

* Cigarettes
* Chocolate and sweets
* Time off from work
* A big old cup of coffee

Doing:

* Working
* Building a shed for my bike
* Dehydrating peppers
* Freezing carrots


Grateful

* My dog Romeo and cat, Sammy
* My little family (Martin, Mom)
* My large extended family- (Friends, aunts, uncles, and cousins)
* 16 years of sobriety

I am stealing passing this on from Wendy via Fleecenik Farm, I hope you can pass it on too:)

OK Go Video raises Money for ASPCA

This just brings a smile to my day.
Thanks to Ikeahacker I had an afternoon with 4 guys with a lot of Fniss. Seriously, if Ikea could sing, it would probably sound like OK Go. But it's not just the tune, the music video is charming (you can't go wrong with cute dogs) and the song is White Knuckles. My favorite part is near the begining the two dogs on the tables that appear to be closely watching something overhead... just too funny. Proceeds from the video will go towards the ASPCA and doggie rescue. You can read more about OK Go's canine cause here.

Kitchen Garden Day- August 22

Did you know that world's producers of chips, pretzels and fluorescent orange cheese doodles have rebranded February as "Snack Food Month?"
Well, the world's food gardeners and other healthy, delicious eaters are biting back. If they can claim a month, we can at least have a day: Kitchen Garden Day! And it will be celebrated on August 22 this year! Facebook users can show their support and solidarity with food gardeners and other healthy eaters around the world by "attending" our global event here: Kitchen Garden Day on facebook
Some Ideas to celebrate Kitchen Garden Day are:
-a walking tour of gardens in your area
-a kitchen garden or local agriculture potluck
-a kitchen garden taste-test
-a harvest or planting party
-a benefit for a local food/gardening charity
-a kitchen garden "teach in"
-a single food theme party
-an activity at a local farm
-etc

Now back to our regular program

Sorry about just disappearing the last few days. Been very busy here, we had a family reunion for the descendants of my grandparents, or rather my mom's family. Nearly 100 "Dahlens" convened on Chestnut park in Kent, WA. Divided by many tribes/clans and such, this was a normal thing in the days when my grandparents were alive. But as life goes on we all get separated and start our own families... it gets harder to put something like this on. But believe me it is well worth it.
My Uncle, Aunt and mom- of the eight kids of my grandparents 3 out of 4 still around. My Aunt is holding a picture of her sister in ND who couldn't make it out here.