Ahhhh a day off

Today is my day off.

All alone in the house.  Me.  By myself.  (Well Me & the dogs.)

Now don't get me wrong.  I love hanging with Steve but I rarely get a day to myself.  And with our spring/summer season right around the corner I won't be getting a day off for about 6 months.

I cherish days like today.  Getting little tasks done:  kitchen cleaned, bathrooms cleaned, caught up on laundry.  Oh yeah.  And I may even take a nap!  

In my happy little world I wouldn't leave the house today but I'm returning clothes, looking for Spanx & have to mail off some photos. Plus tonight I work the box office at the theater.

This will be a good day!

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Food prep

My kitchen counter looks like this every morning.  Big bags of veggies, plastic containers for lunch and figuring out what to eat during the day.  See the big bag on the right?  That's spinach. I'll go thru 2 of those big bags a week.  Next to it is broccoli crowns. A bag of those a week isn't a big deal for us.

This morning I was im'ing with a friend and she said she rarely eats veggies. She was surprised that I have veggies in my eggs.  

The only veggies I'm not a fan of is boiled or creamed.  We either eat them sauteed, roasted, raw, steamed or stir fried.  I love raw spinach.  I have at least 2 servings a day.

See my knife?  That's the secret to having a good kitchen.  I love that knife.  I travel with it. My Mom said that I was a gourmet because of that knife.  I bought it at a restaurant supply store for $35.  It's balanced, heavy blade and feels good to use.  I get it professionally sharpened about once a year.  The rest of the time I have a steel that I use. 

Invest in a good knife.  Don't get those ones that you see at the home shows with the "never needs sharpening" blade.  I've got a few of those and honestly I think they're going to the thrift store next time I clean out my drawers.

Hold the knife in your hand.  Feel the balance.  

I've got "name brand" knives.  Heinkel, Calphalon, Chef Works and none compare to the one I bought at the restaurant supply store.  

One more knife tip:  When scraping food off the cutting board turn your knife over so the blade isn't doing the scraping.  It dulls the blade.

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BOOTS!

Remember the other day when I was talking about my boot fetish?

Here's one of my pairs.

These are custom made.  I designed the flames and how I wanted them to look.  The shoe maker did the rest.  You can't see it but on the back heel is the Burning Man logo.

These are made from 4 different hides:  buffalo, elk, cow & goat.  

The buttons are made from elk horns and blown glass  buttons.

There's a 2" platform on the bottom and the insole is lined with sheep skin.  

Since they were made custom for me they are the most comfortable shoes I own.  

They were pricey.  Let's just say I'm not getting any b'day, christmas, valentines or anniversary presents for a couple of years and leave it at that.

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12:12 Tuesday

Working on my Sister's necklace.

As I've said in previous posts my oldest Niece is getting married on April 4th.  My Sister got a beautiful crystal necklace from our Mom that used to belong to our Nana.

Sister is wearing it with her dress at the wedding.  She's asked me to restring it and make a pair of earrings to match. 

I think these crystals are over 100 years old or close to it.

Nana was born in 1881.  It's now 2009.  

As I was working on the necklace I kept this in mind:  "These will probably be passed on to one of my Sister's grandchildren.  I am part of a legacy by making this necklace."

Even as I write this I'm crying.  

It's an honor to be making this necklace that was part of my past and will be used as part of my Nieces future.