great back

Did this cool tree for a girl the other day. Beautiful on her. I thought it came out great and it was fun to do something so different. She loved it.

before and after

I am amazed, impressed, and happy. To look now at the before photo of my feet and what they were for so long, it is strange, and gross! I am so happy that I had the bunion surgery. I am 6 weeks from the first surgery, and three weeks from the second. My first foot is doing great, and the second one is getting there- still tender and not really flexing, but slowly but surely it is coming along.
I am looking forward to wearing some nice shoes, without having to compensate for ugly bunions- nice sandals, and more. I will be getting my ski boots tweaked alot to fix them for the new shape of my foot. Skiing should be alot less painful next winter. Yeah!!
I am certainly happy that I didn't get swayed by all of the horror stories of bunion surgeries! Great surgeons exist, and my physical therapist is really wonderful too. How nice to have a good base to stand on.

best friends

I am sad that Emmett will not be going back to his school next year. His best friend of the last three years will be sad too, but he doesn't know yet. His mom doesn't want to tell him yet, as she knows he will be devastated. They have been best friends for the last three years, and in their short lives, that is half of their time here, and most of their memories.

Emmett knows he will be going to the public school nearby, but I don't think it has occurred to him the impact that it will have of being away from his hard and fast bonds he has. He is also not happy about the prospect of having homework next year. I agree. First grade should not have homework. He needs time to be a child. He will get home at 4pm, and he heads up to start his bedtime routine (stories, etc) by about 6:30. That is not much time to play and just be a kid.

I have enough issues with the amount of homework that is given to his brother in 5th grade. I certainly have issues with homework in 1st grade! I think the whole schooling system in this country is not focused well, and there is far too much teaching to the testing. I don't really have any alternative where we live, so it is off to public school for my kids. I often hear people say, "oh, you have such good schools in your town"... I always respond with "what does 'good schools 'mean?... the test scores are good?" so what. Does that really mean that we have fully educated our kids? It doesn't mean the kids are well rounded or confident or able to express themselves on different levels. it just means that they have had certain things drilled into their heads, and can spit it back.
I also have issues with the fact that our school district teaches the "everyday math" program, which has been shown to be detrimental in the long run, as the kids don't really learn the breakdown of how and why they are doing things. And the other thing I have an issue with is that they have to learn cursive. To me this is archaic. As my older one said... "why do we need to learn a different font?" hmmm... doesn't that just sum it up a bit? More on that some other time.
In the meantime, I am glad that both of my boys got the good base in their early years. I am sad that it will no longer be part of their day. Things will change now on many levels.

little cozy ones

they like to all sleep together in a lump. Eli found them like this inside his comforter the other night when he was ready for bed. They really have been such good pets for the boys. So glad we didn't get hamsters!

These little ferrets have been more than entertaining for almost 2 years now. It is so good for kids to have a pet (or a few). I grew up with such a menagerie- cats, kittens galore, a dog, pet mice, guinea pigs, hamsters, and even my horse (although that isn't really a pet, but she was right out the door). There was always a plethora of four legged things at our house. I like having the boys learn to be kind and care for something that can't care for itself.

post-op

Four days post- op, this foot looks better than the other one did at the same time. Notice the left foot, which is now 3 1/2 weeks out, is looking pretty damn good! My physical therapist is encouraging, and says my left foot is making good progress. I have no pain in it, and can walk pretty well, with a slip on sneaker. My right foot however, is still quite multi-colored, and is painful. If I don't stay off of it, I need to take more pain killers, and it feels like there is alot of pressure in it, and it throbs... painfully. I have most of the sensation back in the first foot, but have not got much in the right toe at all.
overall, I am happy with the whole thing, but now going stir crazy with not being able to drive. I bagged using the crutches 2 yesterday. was just 'done'. I am still wearing the surgical shoe though. and still tired alot.
can't wait to have the second one feeling as good as the first one now does!

henna party

I did a fun party and hennaed about a dozen women. They chose really diverse patterns, and it was fun to be there for 3 1/2 hours.

3 weeks out

Looking pretty good after 3 weeks. These photos are just before leaving to go get the right foot done. I'm feeling really good about walking on the left one now, and have some great mule sneakers that I have been wearing for 3 days now! Yeah!!! but then will be out of commission for a few days again.
Hoping the progress for the second foot is equally as speedy as the first. My Physical Therapist says I am making really good progress and that the swelling has gone down a bunch since last week even.

inspired...

I was asked to join another henna artist at an event in a few weeks. I checked out her gallery and loved her work! I am inspired to practice some of the designs she has done. I also love that she photographs her work so well, and that I need to work on this aspect. She has beautiful backgrounds to set off her work. I would love to indulge in more silks and things to use as backdrops for photographing my work.

bunion surgery progress!!

okay, I am a week out from surgery, and must say... totally impressed! the swelling is almost gone, my foot is still a little discolored and bruised in a few places, but overall fine. I can hobble along pretty well no crutches, and can put weight on most of my foot- not on the bunion site though. I haven't needed pain meds for several days now, except for once 2 nights ago, and just a mild one. I am wearing a surgical "shoe" which is a black velcro-ed on shoe. It is shaped underneath to make me stand on my heel. I also have a little white pad that velcros around my foot to protect it. I will post a photo of that next time too.

here are the photos of my foot.

from day 5:

and now, day 7:

So glad I didn't pay attention to all of the horror stories I read on the internet, or to all of the people I asked and had heard about. I do think I may have had a different experience due to going to a foot surgeon, versus a podiatrist. The podiatrist I had gone to previously told me 4 years ago that I would be laid up for 6 weeks for each foot. ugh. happy I didn't have him do the surgery!

one down, one to go...

this was what they looked like on Friday morning.....and this on Monday afternoon.....

I had one bunion done. I had a chevron bunionectomy. So far, so good! Totally happy with and impressed with my doctor. The time was right. I have known for years that I will need to do this surgery. I found this doctor a few years ago, and he was highly recommended. Now I found out that he is retiring from surgery in 2 months. yikes! so I just needed to go do it. He says I will be in running shoes in 2 weeks, and then I will be doing the other foot in 2 weeks from now so I will finally have decent feet! yeah!
Partly I am posting this on here, since I had such a hard time when I hunted for things on the internet about bunion surgeries, and people's experiences with them. But mostly I found the bad stories. So hopefully here will be a good one, which is what I am feeling. :)
I went in on Friday and had the surgery, and yes, took lots of pain meds over the weekend. But I woke up this morning with it feeling much better. I had taken it really easy for three days, and had been really good keeping it elevated. It paid off. Today was great.

emmett with me at the post-op visit this morning....

Dad turns 85!!

we went out to lunch with him....

me, Dave, Dad, Sue, Sandy

Dave, Sue, me, Sandy

(ugh! not wearing that sweater again! I look 20 pounds heavier!)

this is all of us from 2 summers ago... (Adam wasn't there)

back: Sue and John, Eli, Mom and Dad, Sandy, Kate, Robby, Dave
front: Emmett, me, Charlie, Grace, Janey, Vicki, Jack

A reuben to remember....

I started thinking about a reuben about a week ago. Then, I started obsessing about having one. Having a really good one is just worth the time and effort to find all of the right ingredients. You need to have just the right... everything.. to make it really memorable. I don't eat them very often, but when I do, I want it to be a kick butt sandwich. Grilled just right, on good rye, with good homemade Thousand Island dressing, and tasty ingredients.

So, I set about it yesterday, and I must say, it hit the spot. At the deli, I got good corned beef, and some great tasting swiss cheese. I like it on well-made seedless rye with just enough sauerkraut.

I like to put swiss on both sides of the bread, spread one side with some dressing, then layer a few slices of corned beef, the sauerkraut and then another slice of swiss. Put the sandwich in a cast iron frying pan, and slowly cook it until the bread is just toasted, the cheese is melted and the meat is warm. Serve it with some extra dressing to dip, and yum! It is best with some warm potato salad. I didn't have the time to do that yesterday, so I guess I will be having another in a few days.

Reuben Sandwich

Ingredients:
2 slices rye bread (I use seedless)
butter
swiss cheese (sliced)
corned beef (sliced)
sauerkraut (drained)
Thousand Island dressing (see recipe below)

1. Lightly butter the bread.
2. Place the swiss cheese on one slice of bread. Spread some dressing on it, then lay some slices of corned beef on top of that. Follow this with some sauerkraut, another slice of swiss cheese, and the second slice of bread.
3. Grill the sandwich in a pan until the bread is golden brown and the cheese has melted.
4. Serve with additional dressing on the side.

Thousand Island dressing:
2 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon horseradish
1 tsp relish
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Swiss Easter Cake

in a shop window

at the Schweizerhof Hotel cafe in Lucerne

my easter cake

I want to make this fabulous easter cake again. I made it a few years ago when I got back from visiting friends in Switzerland. These 'cakes' (more like tarts) were ubiquitous and only available at Easter. I indulged in them several times in the week that I was there. Always a good experience. I made sure to get the recipe from my friend there.

Here is the recipe from her mom with measures in both metric and US

Swiss Easter Cake
Elsbeth's recipe book identifies the following under the title:
"Osterkuchen"-"Gâteau de Pâques"

SWEET DOUGH (like for fruit pies):
250 gr flour
100-150gr butter
to be blended by hand until smooth
add:

60 gr sugar
1 egg
1 pinch of salt
1-2 spoons of water
to be stored at cool temperature and rolled out to line the cake tin (mold)

FILLING:
60 gr semolina or 100 gr rice (1/4 c. semolina or 1/2 c. rice)
0.6 liters of milk ( 2 1/3 cups)
1 pinch of salt
to be cooked over low heat until soft, then to let cool down

prepare seperately:
50-80 gr butter (5 Tbsp)
70 gr sugar (1/3 cup)
1/2 peel of lemon
3 egg-yolks
to be beaten to become light and foamy, and then mixed with the cold semolina- or rice-mush

add to this mixture:
50 gr sultana(golden) raisins (1/3 cup)
50 gr minced or sliced almonds (1/3 cup)

add and mix-in:
3 egg-whites beaten until stiff

bake with good lower heat (325-ish) about 30 minutes to become golden-yellow.
After it has cooled, use powder-sugar to cover the top.
(and try powdering it with a cutout of a bunny on it, as is the custom!)

PS: 1 gr (gram) is equivalent to .035 ounces/ 1 liter is 1.057 quarts

busy during yoga

What happens when you bring a little one to your yoga class and you let him play quietly in the prop room while you take your class?......

he had with him some crayons, paper, my laptop with a movie in it, and my camera.
I heard something tumble down, then heard a little voice say "I'm okay". When I went to see what was up... I grabbed the camera, as he rebuilt what he had made and stood back up on the blocks.



Then I went back into the studio, while he kept taking photos of his creations.....
(can't seem to rotate this...) it's a robot:


a robot