The Scoodie = Fun Fashion

Look what a cup of tea and early morning browsing will find ya.

Stuff

Puppy & Stash

Tank La Rue with Mission Falls 1824 Wool (100% wool superwash)



Bodhi Den

Bodhi likes the new garden. Well, he did until I put some river rock down. He loved digging up the fresh compost in the cool dark corner to survey the backyard. We did a BIG backyard project. We originally had a big dirt pit in the back of the house. All it needed was a rusted out car on blocks to complete the picture. Four years ago we had to put up a new retaining wall. Apparently the original pink cinder block wall did not have any rebar and had started leaning into the backyard. Before the wall came a-tumbling down we had to put in a new retaining wall. It was a feat of engineering with a price tag to match. After leaving the backyard to the dogs for the last four years we finally have a place for the humans. YAY! It is still a work in progress. Got to get some plants and fancify it up. But it's coming along. I did plant some Buddha's Belly Bamboo as you can see in the picture.


Thanksgiving Morning

My hubby is becoming quite the baker man. Here are 2 loaves of Sicilian Bread for dinner. I forgot to take a picture when it came out of the oven. Then we ate it all up. It was so good it eluded photo documentation.

There was a lot of baking going on this particular morning!

Here is one of my Sweet Potato Pies! It was soooo delicious. The pumpkin pie has been completely pushed out of the holidays in our family in favor of the Sweet Potato Pie. It even sounds good. Sweet. Potato. Pie. Say it out loud...Go on SAY it...Sweet Potato Pie. Sweet Potato Pie. Sweet Potato Pie.

So good you can almost taste it.

PR: Love it!

Project Runway is back with a whacky bunch of characters. Did you see Tim Gunn looking very perplexed as the ethereal Haiku dressmaker scrubbed, I mean infused, her silk chiffon with the essence of Bryant Park Grass? I am happy that the Haiku R2D2 (did you catch the sound effects coming out of her during her description?) will be around another week. Not only for the fashion (described by Heidi as a dress pooping material) but for the sound effects during the description.

Here's a little something else you should check out.
Project Dollway.
It is a fashion competition for 16" dolls. There is some amazing fashion happening in the world of dolls. Super glamazon divalicious frocks! Oh to be 16" high with grossly out of proportion bust to waist ratio and a sugar daddy! I really missed my Playboy Bunny window. Sorry Hugh.

Fast & Furious Knits

All my BKFs (Best Knitting Friends) know that I love BIG needles and FAT yarn!

I have been busting out some Fast berets on my 17's with a three yarn combo.
Here are two more...


These are a Malabrigo chunky, Kathmandu Aran, and mystery mohair from the stash combo.


Running out the door to the UCLA/ASU game I needed a quick project. I grabbed a bag of Rowan scraps and size 17 needles. Check it out the cute scarf I made.







This scarf is made from Rowan Big Wool and Biggy Print scraps. It took me a couple of days to make, which included the fringe and sewing in all the ends. I really need to figure out how to knit in those ends. I hate the finishing work but I LOVE this scarf. It's so fun and fashionably scrappy. It's full of homemade goodness and I worked through two bags of scrap yarn. I have a bag full of alpaca scraps that now have a future as a scarf. Love the fast knits. Love it!

Stitch 'n Witch '07

All I can say is I love the West Hollywood Stitch 'n Bitchers! This is a fun, creative, and spirited group of people. Please check out the photos in the post below.

The WINNERS for the 2007 Costume Contest

Most Original: The Yarn Pimp aka Crazy Aunt Purl aka published author aka Laurie Perry
Best Use of Yarn: The Dread Pirate Swatch - Denise
Dead of the Dead: La Calavera de la Catrina - Faith

They won festive tote bags filled with prizes.
A big THANK YOU to Ellen, who always helps me fill the totes with yarn and other goodies like DVDs and vintage knitting magazines.
And a BIG THANK YOU to Shannita and A Mano for contributing gift certificates for this year's prizes. Thank you Shannita! Thank you Ellen!

Thank you everyone for bringing yuumy treats, being madly creative & making Halloween so much damned fun!

Check out my Slide Show!

Beret Parade

Berets are the hot fashion accessory for Fall. I was a knitting machine this past week. I made three berets this past weekend with a Floppy Hat Pattern from the Stitch Cafe and I also knit up Lé Slouch by Knit and Tonic.




This floppy hat pattern is FAST. You knit it up on size 17 needles. You know how I love me some BIG needles.



The yarn for this hat is Vintage 2006 Bulky in Natural (100% Alpaca), Kathmandu Aran in 122 (85% Merino, 10% Silk, 5% Cashmere), and Glimmer (95% Baby Alpaca, 5% polyester). I doubled stranded the bulky yarn! The pattern is free at the Stitch Cafe! However I purchased the yarn for these hats at Itza Knitterie. I started this hat two weekends ago and had to go back on Saturday to get more yarn to finish up the hat. I also bought more yarn for the next two hats. Oh yeah and two more hats to come!




Vintage 2006 Bulky in Grey (100% Alpaca), Kathmandu DK in 414 (85% Merino, 10% Silk, 5% Cashmere), and Grignasco Top Print in 076 (100% Alpaca).




Vintage 2006 Bulky in Fawn (100% Alpaca), Kathmandu DK in 418 (85% merino, 10% silk, 5% Cashmere), and Grignasco Top Print in 412 (100% alpaca).


Here's Lé Slouch.

Knit Picks Andean Treasure in Sunset (100% Baby Alpaca). This was also double stranded and knit up in a week! Guess what everyone is getting for Christmas!

Itza Knitterie

There is a new knit shop on the block. It's called Itza Knitterie. It's located on the cutest street in Kenneth Village on the border of Glendale and Burbank. Darcy discovered the shop and we made a date to meet on Saturday for some knit time. Lori joined us too. The owner's name is Maritza. She was really friendly. She has a nice selection of yarn (loads of Berroco) and some serious knitting skills. She was working up the cutest, lacy baby dress. All the cotton yarns were on sale. The street the shop is located on harkens back to an earlier era. It's a block long neighborhood street with mom and pop shops lining both sides. The old timey corner gas station is a florist and the old body shop is now a yoga studio. There is a French Bakery, a little market, an Italian restaurant, a pet store, a small coffee house that serves food, a cute clothing store, and a mortuary to name some of the businesses. The closest major cross streets are Glenoak and Western.

Kenneth Village is having a Fall Festival (3-6pm for families) and a Rockabilly Bash (8-11pm for adults) next Saturday October 20. Knitting, a parade, and a rocking bash to boot. Woohoo sounds like fun!

Lori is busy finishing up her Library Science Degree this semester. Hopefully when she is finished we will be seeing and reading more about her in the New Year. Gads...that's fast approaching.

For Carla

Who never met a sewing machine that she didn't like.

Dreaming of Breakfast

This is Ricotta & Dark Chocolate gelati on brioche. This is the Sicilian breakfast. This is my perfect breakfast...a dream breakfast. I will have to keep dreaming until next time I am in Sicilia.

Do you see the sugar crystals topping the brioche?



First bite = Pure BLISS



This is the American Apple Pie I made in Todi.

Isn't she purty?

This is what the table looked like every morning for breakfast.


Usually I had cookies and tea for breakfast, but this particular morning I had apple pie.

YUM!

Welcome Home

There is nothing like being on vacation. Italy has many wonderful things. I would live there in a hot minute. But the beds and the bathrooms...well...the showers are small and the beds are not so good. Traveling for an extended period of time leaves you longing for your own bed and your own shower. My bedroom in Todi was totally cute. Loved it. The twin bed, however, was more of a hammock.

Here is my room.





Small but lovely. And here is my terrace...


It faces the Porta Romana and the Porta Romana faces Roma. The house was just outside the ancient city walls.

And this is the art in my room.



I was definitely in the right place.

But this is about coming home. All good things come to an end and so did my vacation. I was looking forward to seeing all my furry ones. I was missing them.

One Roman taxi, Two AirFrance flights, and one LA taxi later we finally arrive home. YAY HOME! My critters. My own bed. YAY! Where are the kitters? We walk into the bedroom and there was a nice present of poo on top of the bed. Welcome Home! Nothing like a fresh one on the bed to say I love you, I missed you. Wiggs was the culprit. He has a history of bad behavior. And where is the smell of cat piss coming from? Stripped the bed, scowled at the cats, and plopped on the couch. We didn't figure out where the cat piss smell was coming from until five hours later when jet lagged tired we decide to go to bed. Yes...the bed...the cats had been using the bed as a litterbox for who knows how long. There was a two feet in diameter circle of cat pee on the mattress. I am not joking. It was a big ole puddle of cat pee. The mystery of the stench was solved. We spent the first night home on separate couches.

The next morning we bought a brand new tempurpedic bed and it was delivered the same day. Can you believe it?! (If you need a mattress, see Andrew at the Mattress Gallery on Melrose and La Cienaga. He gave us the best customer service. Such a rarity in this day and age. Andrew was awesome and got us our bed the same day.) According to Andrew, they get customers at least once a month due to cats peeing on the bed. Hell hath no fury like a cat and Wiggs is my hellcat. My newest bed accessory is a blue tarp. Yes, the kind you use for camping. We have had no further incidents on our new bed, but Wiggs did pee on the dog bed. Bodhi has had to rough it on the carpet since then. Did I say I missed my critters? I was thinking they might become coyote chow, but we have made a peace. Purrs and snores...We are all sleeping very well on our new bed.

Gelati per Colazione

You scream.
I scream.
We all scream for ice cream!

Imagine a lighter than air, sugar topped, brioche. A thing of perfection in itself. Cut the brioche in half and add a scoop of ricotta gelato and a scoop of dark chocolate gelato inside. You have the best ice cream sandwish you could ever dream up. Italy is the place of dreams and these dreams taste soooo good.

We also enjoyed the best dinner I have ever had in Italy. Exquisite. Our first night in Sicilia was in Ragusa Ibla. Ragusa Ibla is located in the South-East part of the island. We stayed at the Locanda Don Serafina, which was an absolute gem of a hotel. The restaurant is part of the hotel but is located a short walk away through two beautiful piazzas. The restaurant had three tasting menus: for food, for wine, and for olive oil. We weren't feeling really hungry so we didn't opt for any of the tasting menus. But the olive oil they serve for dinner is from Ragusa and has been voted best in the world for 5 years. It was light, fruity, and remarkably bright. A collection of 6 different types of breads were served along side the olive oil.

First the chef sent out a tiny slice of ricotta in a tomato emulsion with a hint of basil and a little peeled cherry tomato. Then I had the most amazing starter. It was grilled vegetables (eggplant, radicchio, potato, zucchini, tomato, and onion) in balsamic vinegar. The vegetables were stacked precisely on top of ricotta cheese and embraced by a parmesan cheese wafer. They called it a waffle in the description but it was thin and crisp and bursting with flavor. If I could eat a vegatable dish this good every night I would be a vegetarian.

Hubby started with a Sicilian specialty, which is spaghetti with cuttle fish ink and clams or something like a clam. He thought it was superb. For me, it is not my cup of tea. I had the pasta with shrimp and salted ricotta and basil. It was very good. The shrimp were so sweet it was closer to lobster in flavor. Hubby also had the involtini of quail with apples and peppers. Very good.

Dessert was heaven. It was ricotta mousse with pralined almonds. WOW! It was the kind of dessert that brings an instant smile to the face and a dreamy sigh. While I had ricotta in every dish for dinner, none of the ricotta was the same in taste or consistency.

To find this type of restaurant in a remote part of Sicily and off the tourist path was very special. The chef came out and introduced himself. He was young and, in my mind, a food genius! After dinner we had a tour of the wine cellar. They have a very extensive wine list and impressive wine cellar. They serve dinner in the cellar. However, it being a beautiful summer night, we ate dinner at a sidewalk table by candle light with ancient walls around us.

An after dinner grappa and off to bed.

CIBO

Where to start? It has been difficult to get on the internet living with two teenage girls in the house. I had to leave Todi and go to Venezia to get on the internet.

Let's talk about food.

You have to love a country that eats cookies (biscotti) for breakfast (colazione). Every morning I had cookies and tea for breakfast. It was the best. Then I walked up a very steep hill to school. I cannot wait to get to Sicilia because for colazione they eat brioche with gelato! Ice cream for breakfast. Some people have really got things figured out.

I stayed with the Ciliani family in Todi. Fiorenza, Riccardo, Miriam, and Daniela. Miriam is 18 and Daniela is 15. They swooned when they heard I live in Hollywood. They wanted to know if I knew Chad Michael Someboy-or-other from One Tree Hill. I don't, but did catch part of an episode in Italian and I can now be on the lookout for Chad. Miriam likes sweets so she asked me if we could make an apple cake. We made an old fashioned American apple pie. I was a little worried because in Italy they do their measurements by weight and not cups. We decided to wing it. Good thing I know my way around the kitchen because I eyeballed the measurements from a coffee mug. They do not have shortening, so we used butter. They also don't have brown sugar, but sugar is sugar, right? It turned out delicious. Riccardo, the papa, loves all apples desserts. We got his approval. The next morning I had a slice of apple pie for breakfast. Um, Um, Good!

I also made mojitos for Riccardo and Fiorenza. They don't have limes until Christmas time. I had to use lemon but they were delicious. Also we had to bust out the ice cube tray to make ice. We don't realize the abundance we live in with ice cube makers and limes all year round. We can enjoy a proper mojito all year long! They really have to wait until Christmas for a proper mojito. But wait...Does mint grow in the winter?

For lunch I ate pizza almost everyday at Pomodoro Rosso with my classmates. We'd chat in Italian and eat our pizza and sometimes do homework. On the walk home I would often stop at Pianegiani for gelato. The best gelato in town. I am partial to Bacio and pistachio. On my last night in town I tried the torrone. Torrone is nougat made with pistachio and almonds. Whoa! It was very good. I never tried the house specialty which was made with pine nuts. I guess I better plan my return trip.

Fiorenza made dinner every night. I ate very well. Always pasta first, then meat with vegatables and salad. This was follwed by fruit for dessert. However, if there was cake or pie, we had fruit first than dessert. I was fed very well every night. Oh and there was usually cheese somewhere in there too. They eat like this every night! When I told them that we didn't eat pasta every day they almost perished at the thought!

Last night we went out to dinner with friends in Venice. I ate pig fat! It was called Lardo somethingini and is a regional specialty. I thought what the hell, I will try it. When the thin strips of white pig fat surrounded by crostini arrived in front of me I was having some doubts about my order. It was very white food. Not very pretty. But it was delicious, people! I am not kidding. I ate every bit of my pig fat and totally enjoyed it. Who would think that pig fat could be so complex in taste?...salty, but smoky and creamy at the same time.

Last night we went to the reputably best gelato in Venice. It had nothing on Pianegiani. Today wandering around the streets we found a cioccolateria. Exquisite chocolates. I was called VizioVirtu. If you are in Venice find this place!

Next stop Sicilia and ice cream for breakfast!

L'arte della commedia

Last night I went to the Teatro Commune (the local theater). This is a beautiful little theater. It has boxes and is painted with gorgeous frescos and gold trim all around. It was a little opera house. Really pretty. I went with Fiorenza ( the mother of the Italian family I am staying with) and her sister Anna Maria.

When we arrived I thought some disaster had happened because there were a lot of Red Cross workers milling around and an ambulance. Come to find out that the concert was sponsored by the local Red Cross. The music was spirituals and gospel. The singers were both from Chicago. They sang a couple of songs from Porgy and Bess and Westside Story and some others. The gospel portion was gospel but the entire show was sung very operatic. No down home, earth shaking, rivers breaking soul happening. They did try and get the audience up and going with a finally rousing finale of "When the Saints go Marching In." The audience seemed confused but started clapping with a little singing. The male singer was fantastic but the women was not as good. I know the words, it was in Enligh for gods sake, but I could not understand anything she was singing. She was singing operatically with marbles in her mouth. The show was nice. It was even better to get out and see the town at night. I am usually home having dinner with the family, doing homework and watching television.

Of course there is always some nut in the theater. After intermission a woman sat down in front of us. She was half humming and half singing all the gospels while conducting her own orchestra. People were turning around in their seats and looking at her. She was that loud, but dirty looks did nothing to quiet her. She was a little crazy. It reminded me of the time I saw the Three Tenors at Dodger Stadium. (Go in Peace Pavorotti! Arrivederci!) The tickets cost a fortune but my hubby then boyfriend got a pair. I think he had to eat macs 'n cheese for the rest of the month. In front of us was a woman who sang every aria. I kid you not. She was drunk and her friend tried to get her to shut up because everyone was getting upset. She became belligerent and kept on singing. So we saw the Three Tenors and a Wino. Last night was Spirituali e Gospel con una pazza. Spirituals and Gospel with one crazy woman. You have got to love the theater. Everyone wants to be in on the act.

There is the most disgusting and hysterical commercial (pubblicita) on television. It is an animated commercial and begins showing a forest fire. Then a cute little squirrel watching the fire from a pine tree. The squirrel springs into action and grabs a pack of gum, takes a piece, and starts chewing. The gum is sooooooo cool and minty that he preceeds to FART enthusiastically ( yes fart) a cool and refreshing mist that creates a shower of snow that covers everything and puts out the forest fire. The commercial makes me laugh but I don't really want to chew a gum that gives me cool and refershing farts with the possibility of shooting snow out my ass.

Ciao a Todi, Italia

Hello from Todi, Italy!

I am in Todi which is in Umbria. I am doing a language immersion for two weeks before my hubby meets up with me and we drive off to Venezia and fly down to Sicilia. I have been here almost a week. I am LOVING it!

Todi is the most beautiful town. It is an ancient town that goes beyond the Romans to the Etruscans. The town is on a hill and still has the medieval walls around it. This is the place where fairytales are written. Beautiful rolling hills with small cities rising out of the tops. Cathedrals and towers reaching for the sky full of puffy white clouds. Spread over the rolling hills are a patchwork of fields full of olives and grapevines. My words do not do justice to the beauty of this place.

Language immersion is difficult but worth it. I keep wondering why I have never done this before. I LOVE it! I had studied Italian as an undergraduate many moons ago. I have not travelled to Italy in 15 years. that should tell you something. I thought I might see some other parts of the world, but my heart resides in Italy. I am rusty to say the least but it is a joy when you can understand what someone is saying and a happiness I can't describe when the words come out of my mouth easily. This does not often happen...yet. Espero. I hope.

I really recommend going somewhere and learning the language. Anywhere. Don't be practical. Really how practical is Italian? It is for the love of the langauge and the sound of the words. Italian is lyrical, like a song. It is interesting to try and express yourself with a limited vocabulary, but I am trying to sing my song! In class today we sang Italian songs. Il Sole Mio, of course, was one of them.

The weather in this part of the country is usually very warm this part of the year but unseasonably cold weather rolled in. I didn't even bring a jacket that's how warm it should be. But it's been raining with a cold wind blowing through. So yesterday I found the shop with the yarn. I did bring the Lady Eleanor (entralac shawl) project with me, but I am using a yarn with linen and silk. I needed some wool and fast! I bought some yarn called Medusa. Love that name. I also learned that a jellyfish is called a medusa. The little old couple in the shop were so nice. Knitting needle is not one of my vocabulary words but I made myself understood. I have learned how to say to knit, which is fare a maglia o lavorare a maglia. This translates to to make a stitch or to work a stitch. As things would happen today was warmer but I will keep on working on my scarf (sciarpa). I am going to a concert tonight. I will bring my knitting but the Italians are serious about their music. I may be required to pay attention.

Oh man...I've got to check on my laundry so I will post more later.
Ciao tutti!

Much Love and Gratitude

The Yogathon is tomorrow and I am very excited.

I want to extend some serious love and thanks to...

Andree - a SnB sister. We have a great group!
Susan & Sudi - my fun friends
Jill & Tyler - My incredibly cute nephew and his incredibly cute mom
Mary - my awesome next door neighbor
Michele & Jeff - great friends who live just a little too far away for everyday play.
and
Carla - one of my great supports in all my hare-brained schemes and plans I lay in this life.

I thank you all for your generosity of heart.
To everyone - You make my spirit soar!

I will do my best to document the yogathon in all my upside downward dog head stand twisting with a camera in hand that I can.

Shanti
Shanti
Shanti

Eat More Cupcakes

It was my friend Jen's birthday and she likes cupcakes. This was my chance to delve into Oneskein by Leigh Radford and whip up a quick cupcake or two. It was fast and easy and turned out so cute. The proto-cupcake is the one with the pink top. In the pattern it says to knit the sides until the piece measures 2 1/4". From the proto-cake I found that this was too high and the proportion was wrong for my cupcake. Too much cake and not enough frosting. Even in a non-edible, I want to know that I have a good ratio of cake to icing. The directions also said to whip-stitch the icing top to the cake bottom. However by doing this I didn't achieve the lovely overhang of icing on my cupcake. My remedy for this was to crochet the top to the bottom.



Here's my second cupcake. It turned out much more yummier than my first one. I also put some lavender in the center of the stuffing so that it smelled just as pretty as it looked. The lavender touch was also special to Jen who just launched her new company Ocean Lavender, which specializes in 100% organic lavender products. Lavender is a natural moth repellent so I keep hinting she needs to make something special for all the yarnoholics out there. I know there are bins and bins of yarn just waiting for a lovely lavender sachet.

For some amazing pictures of edible, yet knitty cupcakes check out this website called Veganyumyum.
Carla sent me the link last night. WOW! That's some impressive cupcaking.

I recently stumbled upon a new place for a sugar fix called Big Sugar Bakeshop. The shop is located on the south side of Ventura Blvd, just west of Laurel Cyn. My hubby and I split an ice cream sandwich. Vanilla ice cream nestled between two chocolate chip cookies. Whoa. They were even nice enough to cut it in half so there was no fighting over who got more yumminess. Remember... we almost came to blows over the strawberry pie at Pie 'n Burger? We are like feral cats when it comes to anything delicious.

We also bought a dozen cupcakes for a father's day bbq at my nephew's house. I got an assortment but only tried one. It was chocolate cake with chocolate ganache swirled on top with a cream filling. It was truly a great cupcake. The cake was rich but not too sweet. So, too, was the cream filling. Light and fluffy as opposed to sugary and heavy. The ganache gave me the right amount of sweet smooth taste to my bite of cake. All around a delightful cupcake.

I want to send a big THANK YOU to Mary Jo for her donation to the yogathon and Habitat for Humanity!


Ooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmm....

Here's the break down of the 24 hours of Yogathon.

Saturday June 30
8-10 am
Asana: Standing Poses & Inversions

10-12 pm
Asana: Arm Balances & Backbends

12-2 pm
Pranayama & Meditation

2-4 pm
Chanting

4-6 pm
Asana: Hip Openers & Forward Bends

6-8 pm
Restorative Yoga

8-10 pm
Partner Thai Yoga

10-12 am
Chanting with Wah! Public Invited. $20 donation. Come on down!!!

Sunday July 1
12-2 am
Restorative Yoga

2-4 am
Pranayama & Meditation

4-6 am
Asana: Sun Salutations

6-8 am
Chanting & Dancing!

8-8:30 am
Go home. Have a snack. Take a shower. Crawl into bed. Sleep.......

8:30 - ???
Do Not Disturb

The Sponsors Keep Rolling In

Thank you Mom!
& Thank you Jean (Mom-in-law)!
I love my family and knowing that they are behind me.

Thank you Jen & Tom and Storky!
Your support and friendship means the world to me.

So far I have 16 sponsors for the yogathon and have raised $750. WOOHOO!

I have met the minumum goal of $500!
I have gotten a sponsor from India - thanks honey and everyone at Inventurus!

City Yoga is having fun prizes for things like the most family member donations, and the donation from the furthest away, and the grand prize will go to the person who collects the largest amount in donations. Fun stuff. So I think I have a good chance for the donation from the furthest away!

It feels good to be involved and helpful and active. It feels good to have the support of loved ones. It feels good to do something for others. I have really enjoyed the experience so far. The yogathon is 10 days away. It's so exciting. I can't wait.

Good Times in Texas

These are my friends Charissa (with Pix and Brat)



and Joe (with Pixie)



They live in College Station, TX




Home of Texas A&M

Yes this is a my branded dinner.
Fan-cy!
Joe is a professor at TXAM. He is one smart cookie!

Fact: The university has a meat sale after they teach slaughter house 101.


Charissa and Joe are the proud parents of Pixie (shown above)
and
Bratwurst

and
Archie


and Folly (shy) and Wyatt (not pictured due to his ninja skills).

They were my first sponsors for the yogathon.
Thank you. You are awesome!!!

On my recent visit, Charissa and I went in search of an alpaca farm


It took us two hours of driving east and west across the great state of Texas before we realized we needed to be driving south. Oops.

We finally arrived and I was promptly spit in the face by Pandora, a very feisty alpaca.


Yes I was there all of three minutes before I took a big alpaca raspberry in the face. Apparently I was very lucky it wasn't a real cudder from deep within the third stomach and I had sunglasses on, but I really smelt of alpaca for the rest of the day. The alpaca aroma is a mix of fresh farm, green and grassy with a hint of musk and dung and a dash of Delmer the dog!

Fact: During hunting season the alpacas have to wear orange hunting vests so as to avoid getting their fuzzy butts shot off.

There is always something fun to do in Texas. Next time I am going to visit the miniature pony farm. I'll be sure to wear long pants in case they are spitters too!

The movies...

The matinee cost $3.50!!!! I almost fell over folks.
Regular admission is only $5.oo!!!!
All I can say is WOW, LA is a distorted place. Knowing the price of admission was so low made watching Spiderman 3 almost bearable.


Here is a funny picture of Pixie and me. She is the newest addition to the family and she is a love bug. She came from the Central Texas Dachshund Rescue. It took every ounce of decency not to smuggle her home with me.

Random Thoughts

Peonies

Trader Joe's has peonies for $6.99.
They are the most gorgeous of flowers and the scent is heavenly. I have bought them for the last two weeks and enjoyed every fragrant moment.


Here's a giftie I whipped up for my good friend Carla for her birthday last month.
It's a needle holder for her embroidery endeavors.





Tito's Tacos. All I can say is it's Ellen's fault for this trip to Tito's.

Yes, they are as good as they look.


Here is a picture of puppy happiness.

This is Pixie and her rawhide chew.
This is one cute doxy.

And last but not least...
Thanks to Ashwini & Sachin - NY, NY
for their donation to H4H & their support.

So far I have had donations from NY, NC, and TX as well as here at home.
My hubby is bringing back rupee donations from India.
Love and support from all over the world. This is absolutely awesome.

Memorable Memorial Fare

Pie 'n Burger
That pretty much says it all. My hubby and I went to check it out over Memorial day weekend. It's located in Pasadena on California at Lake. Let me tell you...it was good! Real good.




This place is old timey with a fabulously long counter to sidle up to. When I ordered my coke it was two squirts of syrup and a shot of soda. Love it! It looks like they make a mean malt too.


In spite of the sign we ordered burgers first.
Look at these burgers. Burger perfection.

and a side of potato salad.

and then...

Fresh Strawberry Pie. YUM!


My hubby and I fought over almost every bite. It was that good. I suggest when you go order your own slice to prevent any brawling at the counter. The burgers were very tasty and did you see that side of potato salad. It was huge. This is a diner well worth discovering.