suziebeezieland

team edward (sorry, christine p.!)

I finished Eclipse at 4 a.m. this morning.

I'm really glad there's only one more book, because I was not even this sleep deprived when Claire was a baby. No, really!

the new sheets

Before the vampires and werewolves got me, I meant to tell you that I like our new sheets. I grabbed my favorite Catherine Thursby pillow out of the living room and now it lives in the bedroom, because it makes me so happy to see it there on the bed.

I have some kind of claustrophia or something about bedrooms. I'm not sure what it is. I like them to be really, really spartan. It might be because we live in earthquake country, and I don't want anything to klonk me on the head when I'm sleeping. I'm not sure. I like the bed to be interesting, but then everything else to be plain. Our bedroom is actually too busy for me, but our house is small, and we don't have the luxury of having a room with just a bed in it, just because I have some weird no-clutter issue. :D

We didn't have art up on the walls until last year, when Bob mentioned it might be nice to look at something, and to hang up some of the art we had bought. (I tend to buy art without thinking about where it will go.) I kind of just liked having plain walls in there, but now I'm used to the art, too.

When we're in bed we look at this. (Except I do close that door to the front entry at night.) The medium is torn-up paper, and it's done by a San Diego artist. We bought it at an art fair a few years ago. It's very peaceful. That's just a little wooden shoe-putting-on bench underneath the art.

Then on Bob's side of the bed, this is the view. The window looks onto the front porch, and the painting is of a farm outside San Luis Obispo, done by a local artist there.

Then over on my side, we have our dressers. They match the bed that is in Claire's room, and have now been used in my family for four generations. The tall skinny one is (appropriately) Bob's, and the squattier one is mine. :D The set is more formal and dark than anything I would buy now on my own, but I love it more than any other furniture we own except the hope chest my dad built me.

I so desire to have things feel calm in the bedroom that about six years ago, when we used this same pale green in the bedroom of our last house, I painted the lamp bases the same color, so they would just disappear. Something is probably wrong with me, but I'm okay with that. :)

this week in the suziebeezieland facebook group

Go here to see the full list of topics available to discuss in the suziebeezieland Facebook group.

This week's new topics include new moms, kids' allowances, and summer reading lists.

Our Katy has also posted a new topic, encouraging anyone interested to discuss the first book (Twilight) in the Twilight series. I have no idea why she thinks this might be interesting to anyone. :D

If you aren't already a member of the suziebeezieland Facebook group and would like to be, you'll need to get yourself a Facebook account if you don't have one already. Then just request to join the group, and Facebook will let you know as soon as you can get in! :)

reading update

I just five minutes ago finished New Moon. Phew! I have gone through a very large range of emotions since 3:33 p.m. yesterday.

I am going to read the first chapter of Eclipse and then head for bed. Man, oh man.

ps Surprisingly, my house is clean and I had a full and fun family day that did not involve reading, until tonight, when everybody went to bed. (Maybe I read for just a few minutes when I was blowdrying my hair this morning.) And I am still awake, and have not seemed to suffer any side effects from my completely missed night of sleep. I think it's the adrenaline.

man, they weren't kidding. man, oh man.

11 p.m. last night:
Suzanne finishes cutting out paper circles for kindergarten graduation decor and finally sits down to read Twilight.

2 a.m.
Bob returns home and is surprised to find Suzanne in chair awake and reading Twilight.  Suzanne is shocked to discover it is 2 a.m.

7 a.m.
Bob wakes up and is surprised to find Suzanne in chair still reading. Where she has been. All. Night.

7:15 a.m.
Suzanne showers and dresses for church, wondering how her first day since 1989 without one minute of sleep will go.

12:30 p.m.
Suzanne returns from church, visits with family, and has lunch.

2:00 p.m.
Claire goes down for a nap.
Bob also goes down for a nap.
Suzanne sits down to read Twilight.

2:32 p.m.
Suzanne finishes Twilight.

2:33 p.m.
Suzanne apologetically wakes Bob from nap to tell him she is driving to mall to buy sequel to Twilight.

3:33 p.m.
Suzanne returns from mall with three sequels to Twilight. She would have gotten home sooner, but she read a bit in the mall parking lot while three people angrily waited for her parking space.

4:00 p.m.
Bob and Claire go run errands and Suzanne continues New Moon.

5:21 p.m.
Suzanne reluctantly tears herself away from New Moon to think about making dinner and perhaps throwing a load of laundry in. She also wonders when the last time she brushed her teeth was.

She does not understand how she is still awake.

Bob suggests books have turned her into a vampire. :)

ottoman

I bought a big red ottoman at Ikea this week, and all of a sudden the mostly unused little blue chair in the corner of the living room has become the most popular seat in the house. It's a perfect reading nook. Very cozy.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I broke down and bought Twilight to see what all the hype was about, and now don't want to do anything but sit in my reading nook and read Twilight. Apparently, I am a 17-year-old girl.

Unfortunately, I can only justify about fifteen minutes a day of fun reading right now (I'm busy with kindergarten graduation stuff, which my sister and I and a crack team of mom volunteers are heading up), but have big plans when Claire goes to bed tonight. (Bob's off with friends, and I myself also need some downtime.)

Oh, Bella and Edward, what will happen next?*

*This is a rhetorical question. Please don't answer it, or you'll be banished.

help! i don't know where to begin! free workshop

Hey, Aby Garvey over at Simplify 101 is offering a free, one-week workshop called "Help! I don't know where to begin!"  Her online classes are great, and this one is free! You should try it. :) (It would be fun if several of us took it together! Let me know if you think you will!)

Here is a description from the website detailing what you'll learn if you take it.

During this one-week workshop you will:

• Find out the best place to start when getting organized!

• Get guidance from a professional organizer all week long! That’s right, for a full week professional organizer Aby Garvey will coach students on the workshop material via our private, online forum.

• Dive in and start clearing your clutter—creating real change in your home and life!

• Share your decluttering victories with fellow classmates, and be inspired by your classmates’ progress, too!

• Learn about the power of deadlines. This free workshop is open for seven full days—and you’ll be taking action and creating change each and every day. Come see how empowering a deadline can be! (But remember, when the workshop closes, it closes. So come ready to dig in and clear some clutter!)  

• Learn about the power of focus! During this workshop we’ll be concentrating on only one area—initiating the “clearing the decks” part of the organizing process. You’ll see how staying focused will help you create results!

• See your feelings gradually shift throughout the week—from stress to relief, and dare I say it, happiness!—as you begin taking action on your clutter!

this week & next week in the suziebeezieland facebook group

There are three (3) new discussion topics this week over in the suziebeezieland Facebook group:

• expecting (meet other expectant moms-to-be from suziebeezieland)
• summer fun & vacations (share your plans for this summer)
• tomatoes & zucchini (share your recipes that call for fresh tomatoes and/or zucchini)

Here are next week's topics, so you can be thinking about what to say. :) They will post in the suziebeezieland Facebook group on Monday, 5/25.

• new moms and/or new babies (meet other suziebeezieland moms with kids two years and younger)
• kids' allowances (do your kids get allowance? how much? how often? do they get allowances for chores, or just for being your kid?)
• summer reading lists (what would you like to read this summer?)
  

Simply go to the suziebeezieland Facebook group and click on any discussion topic (old or new . . . all topics are always active) to participate.

The group is closed, which means no one can see it except the people who belong to it. If you're not a member and would like to join, click on the "Join Group" link, and Facebook will notify me that you'd like to join. :)

hugo & hyacinth

I am sorry about this blurry photo, but I had to show it to you, anyway, because it is just not every day that you see a bunny stepping on a bunny. :)

In other news, Hugo and Hyacinth have become friends, and spend much pleasant time together. I've been trying to catch a few photos of their greeting ritual (they bump noses), but haven't yet. I'll keep trying.

when the morning stars sang together

{image: hubblesite.org}

Praise him, sun and moon
Praise him, all you shining stars! (Isaiah 148:3)

Did you know that 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy? It's the 400th anniversary of Galileo's use of a telescope to study the night sky.

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!” (1 Chronicles 16:31)

The photos and music in this CNN slideshow of Hubble telescope photos gave me goosebumps. I have watched it about ten times. :) Maybe fifteen. It gave me a quick and powerful dose of humility.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him? (Psalm 8:3)

And it made my heart worship the mighty and sovereign God of the universe.

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Dress for action like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.
Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (Job 38:1-7)

panini

As soon as the weather gets hot and produce starts going on sale, I've noticed I start dragging out all my Ina Garten cookbooks. Most of her recipes revolve around fresh produce and herbs, which I love. And they're simple, which I love even more. :)

Tonight we're having Chicken Salad Veronique, which I mentioned last April.  And earlier this week, on a night Bob had to work late, Claire and I had her tomato, mozzarella, and pesto panini.  Here's the recipe. (I replace the butter with olive oil because I like panini to have that olive oil taste.)

• 2 large ripe beefsteak tomatoes
• 1 (16-ounce) ball fresh mozzarella
• 12 slices bakery white bread, sliced 1/2-inch thick
• about 1 cup prepared pesto
• kosher salt
• unsalted butter, at room temperature

Preheat a panini grill machine.

Core the tomatoes and slice the tomatoes and mozzarella 1/4-inch thick.

Place the bread slices on a work surface.  Spread each slice evenly with pesto.

Place a layer of mozzarella (about 2 slices) on half of the bread and cover with a layer of tomato. (If the tomatoes are large, it will only be one slice.)

Sprinkle the tomato with salt.

Place the remaining slices of bread, pesto side down, on top.

Spread the top and bottom of each sandwich with softened butter.

Grill the sandwiches in batches on the panini grill for 2 to 3 minutes, until the mozzarella starts to ooze.

Cut each sandwich in half, and serve warm.

here's a little song I wrote.you might want to sing it note for note.don't worry.be happy.

the single girl quilt

Have any of you noticed the quilt Denise Schmidt designed for Pottery Barn? I've been thinking about it for a couple months. I think it's so cute that she named the pattern "Single Girl." It's a modern take on the traditional "Wedding Ring" pattern.

The Euro Sham has a coordinating cute orange floral on it.

I would like a sleeping porch with three single beds lined up like this, would you?

{all three images: Pottery Barn}

i ♥ corrugated iron

We stopped by Firestone Walker's taproom restaurant in Buellton on our way home from vacation a few weeks ago. (Bob is a pale ale fan.)

It looks like the architect was going for a stylized, cleaned-up take on the classic Australian outback pub. Or even a sheep station or shearing shed. I like this!  I've noticed that my architectural preferences now really favor my childhood in Australia. I was there at the age when I first really started paying attention to details and design.

When you walk in, there is a foyer with this bar, and then restaurant seating through doors on either side.

But back to the exterior! Corrugated tin roofs (officially, "corrugated galvanised iron", or "CGI") are part of the Australian vernacular!  It is the most common roofing material in Australia. Even The Koala Brothers have a corrugated iron roof. :)

{image: www.koalabrothers.com}

Here's an old manual corrugated iron roller.  (This is in the Kapunda Museum in South Australia.)

{image: Wikimedia Commons}

Here's some information about the roofing from an article here:

The use of metal roofing in Australia increased when British manufacturers realized that iron rolled into a series of regular corrugations was stronger, weight for weight, than flat iron sheets. This offered considerable savings in the quantity of metal required, and in the framing of the roofs.

Solving the problem of corrosion was the arrival of galvanized corrugated iron. It made its way to Australia around 1850 and rapidly became the most widely used roofing material. It was easily and swiftly applied (even by unskilled labor), light, compact, inexpensive, fireproof and immune from insect attack. Enough iron to cover the roof of a cottage fitted easily onto a dray or cart, making a load that was light enough to be dragged over bumpy roads to almost any bush building site.

Roofing iron used in Australia during the 19th century carried the names of British firms that became familiar to generations of Australians who saw the brand names on the undersides of their verandah roofs: Gospel Oak, Phoenix, Lysaght and others. Australian manufacturing of corrugated galvanized steel roofing began at the John Lysaght Works at Newcastle, New South Wales, on April 4, 1921.

The terms “corrugated iron” and “galvanized iron” became misnomers after about 1915 when steel began to replace iron in the manufacturing process. The change went unnoticed by the general public, which continued to refer to “corrugated iron” and “galvanized iron.” Today, however, the increasing use of Zincalume, an alloy of zinc and aluminum, to coat the corrugated steel roofing means the old terms are fading.

I thought this was interesting. But I'm weird like that. :) In 1848 and 1849, during the California goldrush, prefab "kit" housing made entirely of corrugated iron went up fast, fast, fast in California. (You can still see a lot of corrugated iron in San Francisco.) Right as that market for this quick housing was drying up, gold was found in New South Wales and Victoria in Australia, so corrugated iron homes went up there, too.  This one is in South Melbourne:

You can find this in a neat book called Corrugated Iron: Building on the Frontier. (You can go here to see an extensive preview of this book, and look at more photos.)

Here's a farmhouse roof in Tolga, Queensland:

{image: RaeA at flickr.com, used with permission under terms of Creative Commons license}

Here's a building in Tingha, New South Wales, with a couple different styles of corrugated iron going on. And look at that lovely clapboard with the chippy paint. I love that!

{image: Powerhouse Museum at flickr.com, used with permission under terms of Creative Commons license}

Here's a cottage in Sydney. See the wooden fretwork? That's also iconic in Australia.

{image: image: Dawson-Foremans at flickr.com, used with permission under terms of Creative Commons license)

The basic shapes of the colonial Australian housing evolved into a style known as "Queenslander" houses. The Queensland Museum features an entire section on the Queensland house.  According to their website, here are the elements that best define a Queensland house:

• construction of timber with a corrugated-iron roof;
• highset on timber stumps;
• single-skin cladding for partitions and sometimes external walls;
• verandahs front and back, and perhaps at the sides;
• decorative features which screen the sun or ventilate the interior; and
• a garden setting with a picket fence, palm trees and tropical fruit trees.

They explain why iron roofs were popular with this style of house:

Iron roofs are also a signature of Queensland housing. Iron could be transported long distances throughout the colonies, and only minimal framing was needed for building. Furthermore it was durable enough to withstand tropical storms better than tiles.

Here are some neat drawings of different styles of Queenslanders.  I think this is what many of us envisage when we think about Australian architecture . . . I think "corrugated iron roof, wood siding, verandas." I would like a house like this one day. :)

Finally, I leave you who with Corrugated Irony, a website that shudders to "imagine an Australia without corrugated iron," and quotes Tom Winton: "One of the greatest visual treasures we have is corrugated iron."

I'm excited to see if our Jodi or our Mel have anything to say about this. :)

meet hugo, our newest family member

flair

Here is my Flair over at Facebook. :) (If you click on it, you can see a larger and clearer version.) Some of you might not know this, because it's a newish feature: if you add the Flair tab to your Profile, and then click on View Board, you can see your corkboard in its full big size, rather than that little puny one you get if you just have a Flair box on your Boxes tab.

I like how many small opportunities there are in life to be creative. Even with stuff like this. :D

chicken salad with melon

Here is a salad I've been making for about ten years. I serve it frequently once the weather gets hot, because it is cool and refreshing.  It's from The Woman's Day Cookbook, circa 1995.  I serve it with French bread.

Note: It's not the recipe in the photo above. That's something else. But I don't always remember to photograph my food, because sometimes I'm hungry and want to eat it. So here are two kitchen photos that really have nothing to do with this recipe other than "kitchen." :D

Chicken Salad with Melon (serves 4)

for the tarragon dressing:
1/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt
1/4 cup reduced-fat or nonfat mayonnaise
2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon, or 3/4 teaspoon dried tarragon leaves, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups 1-inch chunks ripe cantaloupe (from 1-pound melon)
1 medium-size English (seedless) cucumber, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch pieces (2 cups)
4 grilled chicken breast halves, cut into thin strips (or sometimes I just tear up a deli chicken, which is more flavorful)

1. Make the dressing: In a large serving bowl, whisk the yogurt, mayonnaise, tarragon, and salt until well blended.
2. Add the melon, cucumber, and chicken. Toss gently to mix and coat. Serve right away.