Away for 2 months

I will be away for two months. See you when I get back. Until then...spring is here...let your days be filled with sunshine.

Homage to dogs

10 Easter stumbles

Here are some fun ways to get ready for the upcoming holiday weekend. Enjoy!

Pysanky: How to make Ukrainian Easter eggs

Free, printable vintage Easter cards

Free pattern to make teeny, tiny, knitted bunnies

Free Easter desktop wallpaper

Free pattern to make a bounding bunny pin

How to make face cloth bunnies & chicks

Punched paper Easter egg craft

How to make Peter Rabbit puppets with the kids

The Rabbit's House desktop wallpaper by Vladstudio

Bunny ear treat bags

Updated: March 22, 2013

L: Real Time

It caught my fancy.

Real Time with Bill Maher tonight. His guests and panels provide food for hungry brains. What fun to hear a cogent point of view that doesn't necessarily coincide with my own. He gathers the pertinent people drifting in and out of our collective consciousness. Not necessarily the media magnets but high achievers known for their chosen fields.

Tonight Bill Bradley chatted with Bill Maher after the monologue, Mos Def and Salman Rushdie were the panelists, and Christopher Hitchens joined them later on. Quite a think tank. Mos Def ran rings around them all, masterfully communicating flashes of genius. But, then again, I usually come away feeling that way about the guests.

Just when I think I've got Maher figured out, he surprises me. Sometimes he's a little more self-satisfied than I find palateable but he has a fine, nimble mind that easily cuts through the cow pies.

Geometric origami

Are there any origami fans out there? The origami shapes by Cecila Cotton are different than the usual. And...she provides tutorials so they can be duplicated. I'll be keeping myself occupied occasionally playing with little bits paper!

Kay Stahler - artist

Oh my goodness! I stumbled across the cutest little pieces of art that I have seen in a very, long time. Kay Stahler's felted dogs are exquisite and amazing. This artist creates minature, needle felted replicas of owner's pets. If you would like to see more of her work or commission a miniature of your own pet, be sure to visit her web site at http://www.kaysk9s.com/

10 how to stumbles

Got some extra time on your hands and want to learn how to do something that can be mastered in one sitting? Here are some stumbles that might fit the bill:

How to Tie a Tie

DIY Shrinky Dinks

Make Your Own Lip Balm

Candle & Soap Making Techniques

30 Different Ways You Can Tie Your Shoe Laces

DIY Project: Window Films

Things to Make

Scarf Tying Guide

11 Ways to Wrap Gifts without Wrapping Paper

Hand Stitching Guide

Snookiedooks

In our home, when I was young, Snookiedooks took all the blame.

10 Irish stumbles

Did you ever hear the Irish song called The Orange and the Green? Well, that's story in our home. I am orange and my hubby is green.

Regardless of the division, we both celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Hubby's sister sent us some lovely flocked, stick-on shamrocks to wear for the day.

Since I was on vacation and didn't make up a Sunday stumble list, I thought I would do one for Saint Patrick's Day instead.

The History Channel: Saint Patrick's Day

Celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day With These 19 Wonderful Recipes

Irish Literature, Mythology, Folklore and Drama

Gaeilge: Irish language,alphabet and pronunciation

The Irish Times

U2

Irish Geneology

Irish Citizenship by Descent

Irish Embassies around the World

Saint Patrick's Day Parades & Events Worldwide

Bella

My husband & I went to Ottawa on Wednesday for a short vacation and, while visiting a friend, we ended up adding a new dog to our family. Our other dog Fluffy likes her very much. The cats aren't as enthusiastic.

Bella is a 7-month old Bassett Hound that needed a new home. Isn't she a pretty girl?

On vacation

See you all next week.

Alkaline foods

I came across an article about Alkaline Foods from a blog that I subscribe to that really piqued my interest. It explained the health benefits of keeping a balanced PH level in the blood by offsetting the ingestion of acidic and alkaline foods.

I've never heard of this before but I thought I would try it and see if I derive any health benefits from it.

In order to display the foods in table form to print for reference ease in the kitchen, I made up a PDF file, which you might like, too. I have made it available for downloading here.

The original article: Alkaline Foods
By: Debra Hallum
URL: http://www.divinecaroline.com/article/22177/68745-alkaline-foods

10 random list stumbles

There are so many lists out there on what to do, where to find things, how to do things, etc. Here's my random list of interesting lists. I hope some of them will prove to be interesting and helpful to you, too.

10 Awesome Fantasy Series That Are Not Potter or LoTR

13 Things You Must Balance in Your Life

22 Most Useful Free Applications for Your PC

50 Ways to Help the Planet

16 Prestigious Schools that Offer Free Online Classes

Top 10 Toys You Wish Your Mother Never Threw Away

10 Easy Steps To Advanced Photography Skills

Who Knows What About You? 25 Free Tools to Find Out

100+ Language Learning Websites

8 Ways to Kill Clutter in 5 Minutes

Oye como va

Short and sweet

While stumbling, I came across a perfectly lovely, illustrated story. It is called The Saddest Bear of All by David Guy. It will only take up a minute of your time.

I encourage you to read it and hope that you enjoy it.

My balcony

Apartment Therapy Chicago posted my question on how to decorate my balcony.

I'm overwhelmed by the responses, which you can find at http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/good-questions/good-questions-ideas-for-decorating-the-balcony-077903

Everyone's ideas were brilliant. The exercycle is history and I will lose the storage area behind the tomato plant (wood divider). The idea of the roll-down blind instead of the umbrella is inspired.

You KNOW a bench/love seat will be residing on that deck as soon as it warms up. It's such an obvious choice!

I'm also going to work in as many of the other suggestions as possible. I'm a lousy gardener so I can't vouch on the safety of more plants :)

Picked by slaves

Put down that winter tomato. It was probably picked by slaves!

Gourmet Magazine online has an article online written by Barry Estabrook called Politics of the Plate: The Price of Tomatoes that is a must-read.

Keep an eye on where your produce comes from and when it is showing up in the grocery store. I live in Ontario, Canada so, when I see hothouse tomatoes grown that are a product of Canada, I'm pretty sure no slave labour was involved in the harvesting of them.

10 vegetarian stumbles

YIKES! My husband and I made the switch. I don't know what you would officially call us but we've decided we won't eat anything with a face.

A few weeks ago, I received the current National Geographic magazine. There was a picture of a turtle being held by someone and it seemed to me that the turtle was screaming. Underneath was a caption about the probable destination as turtle soup. The initial impact of that photograph was startling. It continued to haunt me for weeks while I kept noticing what I was consuming. I talked to my husband about it and he thought it was a good idea for both of us to discontinue eating meat.

We are experimenting with vegetarian products and recipes. Here are some of the internet resources we have come across while bumbling through our new lifestyle:

Mayo Clinic: Vegetarian Diet - how to get the best nutrition

American Heart Association: Vegetarian Diets

American Dietetic Association: A New Food Guide for North American Vegetarians

Better Health Channel: Vegetarian Eating

Foodbuzz: Vegetarian Recipes - submitted by members

Nibbledish: Vegetarian Recipes - submitted by members

Allrecipes: Vegetarian

GoVeg

Vegetarian Times

Fat-Free Vegan Recipes

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I think this is hilarious!