Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Pork chops

We have a butcher near our house.  Well, not a butcher, a sausage kitchen.  Anyway, they sell meat.  Pork chops so thick that one probably would've been used to feed my whole family during parts of growing up.

So I'm lucky.  And I know bitching about finding a decent marinated porkchop recipe is really dumb, because making a soak of some sort is easy.  Really, maybe I'm just hooked on looking things up on the internet.

So I'm going to take these fancy porkchops, and soak them in beer and garlic.  Then tomorrow I will cook them until they are done, and eat half of one, pause, and guiltily eat the other half while wondering how many people have no pork chops.  I am pretty sure this makes me some kind of dickbag.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Multiplying house plants

 photo 2013-01-10_08-52-17_422.jpg 
Roots like it dark. 
These are just cuttings from a prayer plant that seemed like it wanted to be divided.
Making more plants with cutting is super easy. You just take a cutting, strip off any leaves from the lower two thirds or so, stick the bottom inch in some water, and wait.  Change the water every couple of days.  You can use rooting hormone if you want, but make sure you follow the warnings on the label.  You can also use a willow tree tisane.  (Is it a tisane if you don't drink it?)  I usually don't use either, but some of the harder to root plants might need it.  Prayer plant doesn't seem to be one of those difficult plants.  Neither is mint: mint is craaazy easy.  I'm propagating some in soil right now, and I've got a rosemary that seems to be doing well in soil.  It just put out buds, but I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

Anyway, yay plants!

Monday, January 21, 2013

Yule Presents 2013

Hey.

I'm trying to decide what to make for family and friends for Yule and birthdays throughout the year.

Lipbalms?  Here's a supplier of the stuff I need (it's brambleberry.com)

Hats?  I've already been told no more hats by one sister, and I haven't made hats for her husband in three years, and haven't made one for her in ... well, this year at least.  My mom and my grandma don't seem to be too fond of most hats either.  Definitely not hats.  Or scarfs. 

Bags?  What kind?

Seeds?

Wall art?  I haven't done this in years.  Since high school!  Maybe...

Of course, I'll do things specific to the person too.  I've just decided that it's nice to make a lot of one thing, and include them in everyone's boxes.

Bookmarks.  My people need to read more.

Sigh.

I'm kind of cranky.  The hat thing made me sad, the banishment of hats that haven't been given in years.  And my toddler thought it was a good idea to dump cereal on the ground repeatedly.   She was a very contrary beast this afternoon.

I really had to remind myself that toddlers are unreasonable.  It's their job to explore and test, and it's my job to not freak out.  It was challenging to maintain my cool.

We painted some plastic and clay animals we found at a thrift store today.   I need to make the kidlet some kind of art smock.  It was good to do something crafty together.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Man I am Sore

I am in my mid thirties, and my back and my shoulder are ... well, I need them to feel better than I do.  Maybe I'll go see a doctor :/

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Seeds, a list or two

Who doesn't love lists?   This is me being organized.

These are the ones I have, most being packed for 2011 or 2012.  Most earlier seeds I've marked with the year.

Nasturtiums, Empress of India and Black Velvet
Nasturtiums (orange/blood brick): saved from my yard
Sunflowers: Sunzilla + mamoth (saved)
Beans: blue lake pole (not a lot, will use them all), Hestia (a "bush runner bean"), Violet Podded Stringless
Beets: merlin
Broccoli: purple sprouting, and Breaking Physics (which may actually be a cauliflower, and I have to find the package)
Carrot: dragon
Chives: garlic
Corn: Quicky, Precocious, and a blue/black corn for meal
kale: redbor hybrid, improved dwarf siberian
Lavender: from my garden
Leek: Blue Solaize
Lettuce: merveille de Quatro Saisons
Lovage, 2008
Luffa: Lofty!
Mustard: Ruby Streaks, and I thought there was another...
Onions: flat of Italy 2010, Talon
Orach: Magenta
Peas: avalanche (snow pea)
Peppers: purple beauty 2008
Pumpkin: Jack O' Lantern and Ghosterella (what I'm calling the white fairytale one I saved seeds from)
Radish: purple plum
Spinach: Bordeaux Hybrid, and I thought I had another...
Squash: golden zukes, Cube of Butter hybrid
TOMATOESSSSSSSS::::: gold nugget, black plum



Proposed Territorial Seed order:
Flowers: Moon Shadow (sunflower)
Beans: painted lady runners, yin yang bush (Mr. Malarkey's request)
Carrot: purple sun and romance
Cukes: lemon
lettuce: valmaine romaine, victoria butterhead, italienischer (all Mr. Malarkey's request)
Peas: cascadia snap
Peppers: mini red bells
Radish: red head
Tomatoes: taxi and momotaro (BTW, I am starting tomatoes, and should have lots of plants of the 4 varieties I plan to have to share).
Covers: favas (haven't decided about large seeded or small), and clovers.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Freebird

So my kid dumped a half a cup of 1/2 water, 1/2 juice on our bed.  Right after coming home from a party, and right before her dad got home.  Then my phone rang, and I couldn't find the damn thing.  Then my partner said, "You look stressed," then basically told me to go have free time.

Yay.  My husband is a good one, and I've recently realized that sometimes I do need to just chill the fuck out.  I went out and had a pork sandwich, and it was good.  I picked up food for the fam too.  The time away just to have some quiet space to think was nice.

Gotta get the house in order, people are going to see it tomorrow!

This post brought to you by:
the power of Bar Carlo's pork sandwich and hot chocolate
and
Knits for Nerds / Charmed Knits which I read during my free time
and
cheap but sturdy and soft Vanna White yarn in stone gray
and
dpns from Knittn' Kitten
and
my incredible partner
and
the number sleep
zzzzzzzzzzzz
just kidding.  too early for sleeps.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Mama Malarkey's First Post

Hey.  I've been blogging on hybridhopes for years.  I wanted to start fresh.
Welcome to our voyage.
Our first post.
Maybe my voyage, my first post.  My ideas, although I'm part of something.  I'm a whole, but part of something. 
Aren't we all.

Anyway, I got tired of thinking my blogging should be filled with beautiful or cute pics illustrating each step of diy tutes.  I never really did a good job of that anyway, ever.

This blog will definitely have dirt under its nails, and piss and vinegar in its veins.  Occasional righteous anger, and probably not so righteous.

About me, or why you should keep reading:
I'm hopeful, I'm human, I'm into a lot of things, I'm stressed, I try not to be a douchebag and I try to "reduce my footprint" and make things better than when I came. 

I am currently watching HGTV's International House Hunters, and these fancies are buying a vacation home, and I am mad.  Is it because I'm a hater?  Maybe.  I'd love to move to Canada, or Finland, so my kid could have a good education.  We're getting by.  I work hard, and I make a lot of money, I think, definitely more than my mom did when she was supporting us herself.  It pisses me off that there are a lot of people making less than me that barely get by, that incur debt for necessities.  Then people like Mitt Romney who get their "entitlements" and feed off the government while criticizing folks like my mom who works and works and works and still isn't living the dream.  And by living the dream, I mean, being able to eat healthy food, pay her rent in a nice 1-2 bedroom place, visit her out of town kids once a year, and have decent solid transportation.

Anyway, this is more ranting than I meant to do for my first post.  I still want to have tutorials and other useful shit, and I want to give praise to things that I like (like the Multnomah library system). 

Peace out,
Mama Malarkey