OAK Boston

Cascade Lemonade is now available offline! At OAK ('One of A Kind') - a boutique in Boston that sells all handmade items. OAK is having a grand opening this Sunday, April 27, from 2-6 pm. It is located at 31 Gloucester Street (a block away from the shops and cafes of Newbury Street) - check out the OAK blog and OAK website for more information. We'll be there - probably on the early side so we don't throw Caden's afternoon nap schedule too off-whack. Also, if you look here on the OAK blog, you can see some of my items on the shelves - Mylarkey Lunch Bags on the top tier of one of the ladder shelves and Teensy Cases on the bureau. Hope to see anyone local then - just look for the 2-year old towhead!

Is this Mylarkey still on the shelf or has it been snapped up? I'll find out on Sunday!

Spring!

At the end of March, we headed out to California for 10 days of fieldwork and catching up with friends and family (who came down from Oregon). Once again, we were all sick, bringing Caden’s tally for the winter season up to 6 stomach bugs, 2 fevers (4th/5th/6th diseases? - these were how it started in October), 2 pink eye infections, pneumonia, 2 bouts of ear infections, and a chronic cold. When I threw my hands up at the doctor’s office this last week (she diagnosed Caden with more ear infections), she was completely unconcerned. Apparently, kids his age who go to daycare are expected to be sick 10 times a year. From checking blogs of our friends who have kids his age, it seems we are not alone. I still say, this is insane. Enough!!

Catching up on my thesis work, with Matt's help

Fortunately, we did enjoy a couple sunny and healthy days in CA (Easter being one of them), and we were excited to get news that a friend (a researcher at the lab there) is expecting a baby in September! I knew I’d packed my knitting needles and some baby yarn for a reason, so I made up these booties.

When we got back to Massachusetts last Tuesday, we found the first real sign of spring here in the northeast – a crocus blooming at the bottom of our front steps (look close!). We planted a few bulbs when we moved in last fall. We are looking forward to daffodils pretty soon.

I’m going to try to start adding more little posts, instead of saving up ideas for big ones (like I have been), then only finding the time for those once a month! For future posts, things on my mind are: healthy and green living: lunch containers (plastic? Metal?), natural and organic home and health products, where to get carbon credits, how to support renewable energy, and why are some calico fabrics now labeled as health hazards (CA prop 65)? If you’re wondering about some of the same things, stay tuned! I’ll sprinkle some of my thoughts and findings in future blog posts.

Happy spring, and here’s to the healthier season of the year!

BookMooch: the best thing since sliced bread

The website Bookmooch recently joined my personal list of favorite things, right in there with rhubarb, daphne, Jimmy Buffett, and my ultra-light backpacking stove. I discovered it a couple months ago. I had just finished reading ‘Secret Life of Bees’, which I enjoyed but didn’t feel the need to hang onto. Except for travel, reference, and science books, we pass most books on to friends and used bookstores. I said to myself ‘I wonder if there’s any sort of online book exchange’ and, voila, Google introduced me to BookMooch.

How BookMooch works
First, you open a BookMooch account. I feel very comfortable saying that BookMooch is totally legit, there will be no spamming. BookMooch works on a point system. The only money involved is the cost to ship your books to people who mooch from you. You decide whether you will ship internationally, or there’s an option to have potential moochers ‘check with you first’ if they’re not from your country. Second, you create an inventory (books you are willing to give away) and wishlist (books you would like to receive if/when they become available). You receive points by: listing books in your inventory (+0.1), sending a book within your country (+1), sending a book internationally (+3), and leaving feedback when you receive a book (+0.1). You use points to: mooch a book from someone in your country (-1) or from someone in a different country (-2) or to donate to charity (any amount). How does BookMooch itself subsist? It is linked to Amazon, so every time a purchase on Amazon involves access through a BookMooch link, BookMooch gets a kick-back.

My experience so far
I’ve sent out 3 books, to Illinois, the U.K., and (‘Secret Life of Bees’) to Trinidad & Tobago, and will send a fourth book to Japan on Monday! I’ve mooched 4 books: ‘Time Traveler’s Wife’ (an amazing book), ‘Inkheart’, ‘Cat’s Eye’, and ‘Dune’ (haven’t read it in ~15 years!). I’m still waiting on ‘The Blind Assassin’ and a travel guide to Oahu. I like that BookMooch sends me an email notification if a book on my wishlist becomes available, so I don’t have to check BookMooch regularly. It’s also possible to browse available books by subject, title, author, etc. Or you can browse a BookMooch members’ inventory and mooch multiple books at once to save on shipping. I’m completely sold! Now I wish I’d saved my books in the past so I could accumulate points. Because I never know when a copy of my great-grandmother’s biography (‘White Woman on the Congo’) might show up in Timbuktu! Check it out (see link on my blog), and mark me as a ‘friend’ so I can watch out for books on your wishlist, too.

Valentines and birthdays

This year's Valentines and birthday celebrations have been slowed down a bit by recurrent (daycare-acquired) illnesses chez nous, but hopefully we are all in recovery mode. Caden and I collaborated on making Valentines for his daycare class. He did the fingerpainting:


and I made some simple luggage or bag tags, then cut his paintings into little notes to slide in behind the vinyl window. They were a fun, colorful project and only took a couple evenings to put together.

The day before Valentines Day, I went into Boston for a graduate research presentation and reading discussion group on the Northeastern campus, then to see Jane Lubchenco give a seminar at Harvard. Despite the pouring rain, it was a really fun 'field trip', and I returned home to these 'tweats' (sensu Caden) that Caden and Dada had spent the evening preparing (note: the plate of brownies was initially full!).

The next day, Matt had to go to Boston for a faculty meeting, so I had time to finish his Valentine (a Swedish woven heart card like those below, with bracken fern and pinecone fabrics) and make some golden tassies tartlets with lemon curd and whipped cream. Alas, no pictures, but they were delicious!

That following weekend, I went to a baby shower for work friends expecting their second baby. I made this nylon-backed lawn blanket/play mat out of irregularly-shaped flannel Hawaiian prints I found at the Legacy last year. Once I added a coordinating navy border, I was happy with how it tied together! It was definitely my fastest quilting project yet, completed in just a weekend!

Finally, I'm excited about this pincushion Matt gave me for my birthday last week. It's from lamplightdesigns (on Etsy) and is extra big and weighted with lentils - I can't wait to use it!

Applique-que-que

I've enjoyed designing some applique projects over the last couple of weeks, many of them with a Valentines Day theme. I had fun letting the materials inspire me. As I was sifting through fabrics, I came across one with peachy pink waves that I picked up at the Legacy (my favorite all-donation craft store that supports a local senior center) last time I was in California. I'm sure I felt guilty about getting it because I didn't have a plan for it at the time. Well, once I saw it again, I started envisioning all the little appliques that could float along in that pink ocean - not hard for a marine biologist! I've only completed this one project with it so far - a Love Boat pouch that's up in the shop.



Last weekend, I tried making sewn greeting cards for the first time. I was immediately hooked! They are the quickest and most satisfying little project I've come up with in a long time. Four of these are still in the shop...but they will be on their way to my friends and family for Valentines Day soon...

I also tried out some fancy stitching around the edges, but it's tricky to make it look nice where the stitching joins at the end. Janae just featured this pink leopard card for her blog's Fabulous Finds Friday.

And here's the project that started my applique fest - a birthday bikini pouch for my sister, who's moving to Oahu this summer to work with Teach for America. It was inspired by the darling pouches made by Lori Marie of pretty lil things.

I came up with the pattern for the bikini top, and it took a few people a bit too long to understand what they were looking at, so I think I'll need to work on this if I ever make another one as a gift.
Back to working on a custom order lunch bag - with an appliqued monogram!

Better late or never: to-do list strategies

Over the past year or two, the wonderful realization that I don’t have to do everything on my ‘to do’ list has started to dawn on me.

I remember first realizing this when I was almost at the top of an uphill hike: I didn’t have to go all the way to the top if I didn’t want to, and not reaching the summit didn’t have to leave me feeling disappointed in the hike or myself. I knew I could make it to the top, and that I might be missing out on a view, but that in some cases forcing myself to keep going wasn’t necessary and could even detract from the experience. Not to say that there haven’t been times I’ve pushed myself beyond the ‘fun’ point and then had it all be worth it for the view and satisfaction, but knowing there are alternatives now leaves ‘going on’ or ‘turning back’ both as viable options.

Sometimes it’s better to do ‘to do’ things later or, even, never! A friend’s postdoc advisor suggests making 2 ‘to do’ lists: one of ‘must dos’ and the other of ‘maybe dos’. Since I am a huge list-maker, I’ve found one method that works for me is to fold a piece of paper into quarters, then use the 4 quadrants to make lists of things ‘to do’ (1) today, (2) this week, (3) this month, and (4) at some point. In a quick web search, it looks like ‘to do list strategies’ is a popular New Year’s topic, and that the most common suggestion is to prioritize and start with the highest priority. This strategy works best for me as far as grad school. In contrast, when it comes to sewing for the shop and custom orders, I always start with the smallest, easiest projects, because remaining tasks feel less daunting when I’m done with the easy ones. Finally, one great suggestion I read is to identify your most and least productive times of day and plan tasks to match your focus level. For me, this means reading papers first thing in the morning and doing any web database searches after lunch and in the afternoon.

Last month, just before Christmas, I was overwhelmed by keeping up with custom Cascade Lemonade orders, preparing for a meeting with my advisor in California, and other family holiday activities. I ended up leaving several ‘to do’ items for later or never, including making many gifts and a wreath for our front door. This weekend, I finally got around to making the wreath, from greenery and dried flowers clipped from our yard, so now it’s a Valentine’s Day wreath!

Crazy and upside-down cakes

Here are a couple of my favorite quick cake recipes, both picked up during my time with the Whitman College marine biology class at Friday Harbor Labs. I think this may be the only class I know where the teaching assistants not only set up labs and advise projects, they also plan and prepare 3 meals a day for a week. Hence, the super quick, easy, and tasty recipes. The Crazy Cake comes from Mandy, who TA-ed with me, and the Peach Upside-Down Cake comes from my TA the previous year (who was also a white-water rafting guide), Ben. Enjoy!

Crazy Cake

We just made this with Caden’s help – his first experience baking a real cake! It’s perfect for baking with kids because it’s vegan, so no raw eggs to worry about. And once Caden tasted the batter, there was no keeping him from it! The lack of eggs also means it would be great for camping – just mix the dry and wet ingredients and carry in a Ziplock bag and small plastic container, respectively. Bake in a dutch over or foil packets? If it doesn’t bake through, you can just eat it as ‘molten’ chocolate cake! Finally, it’s cholesterol free when made with canola oil.

Ingredients
3 c. flour
6 T. baking cocoa
2 c. white sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
¾ c. oil
2 T. vinegar (we just used white wine, but any white or red would work)
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. cold water

Directions
Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients in 2 separate bowls. Combine. Bake in a 9x13 pan (no greasing required) at 350 F for 30-35 minutes. Delicious when served warm.

Peach Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients
Store-bought cake mix (yellow or white)
Ingredients called for on the mix box (eggs, oil)
Can of sliced peaches in juice (‘regular’ size for a square pan, ‘family’ size for a 9x13 pan)
Brown sugar (optional)

Directions
Grease a 9x9 or 9x13 pan. Drain peaches into a liquid measuring cup, and reserve juice. Sprinkle brown sugar in the pan if a crunchy topping is desired. Arrange peaches in the bottom of the pan. Prepare cake mix as directed (on the box) *except* use the peach juice in place of water (adding extra water, if there’s not enough juice). Pour batter over peaches, and bake as directed. Cake will take extra time to bake due to the added juiciness of the peaches, especially in a 9x9 square pan (up to an hour). When a toothpick comes out clean, let cake cool a bit, then either serve straight from the pan or invert onto a serving dish. Fabulous when served warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

If anyone tries any variations on these, please share! Bon appetit!