Half Pint Canning Jars and a tiny book review of The Homemade Pantry

I have a peculiar delight for mason jars. I often think of getting a flat of them at the wrong time of year. They are seasonal where I live, and this is their season, harvest time. So yay! I remembered this year.

I purchased 12 half pint wide mouths, and the mister gave me a look like what the heck?!

I'm not much of a canner, you see. I'm a bit frighten of poisoning myself. Improper home canning is the number one cause of botulism, and botulism is kinda deadly.

But the way I see it, little glass jars have other uses.

Years ago I read about making cake-in-a-jar on Angry Chicken's blog. I still follow her. She comes up with some fun stuff. Not every single day. And not too over-the-top Martha-like that I need to go out and buy cake decorating tips or something. She gets excited and shares.

So I went back to her archives and found the post I was looking for - Cake-in-a-Jar! I did some googling too. So I'm sure baking is in my future.

Another favorite blogger talked about salad-in-a-jar for lunches, and said she could make up a whole week's worth and they would stay fresh. I thought I might try this for work days. I've slowly switched my fridge containers from plastic to glass, and I have to say everything stays fresher in glass. So I'm intrigued.

A third use for these little containers came from a book I came across and purchased immediately. That book is called The Homemade Pantry. I highly recommend this book. Since I depend on a well-stock pantry to inspire me and pull together a "there's nothing to eat for dinner" day, I was blown away with all the cool stuff I could make and, yes, store in my jars.

Calling Cards!

I am a Cloud Junkie. This is a fact that I have come to accept as part of my whole being. Clouds make break out in song. Clouds make me look like fool as I jump out of vehicles to photograph them. Add a sunset and I'm likely to dance a jig too. So what's a happy girl to do.

Make calling cards of my cloud photos!

This is the word side covered up.

Name.

Phone number.

Email address.

with my icon!

Speaking of which, here he is with his stuff. Catnip and crackers. What a mess!

And I know I haven't really blogged about notebooks much or at all, considering this is Judy's Notebook. But I do collect them and fill them up with words and pictures and other things. I guess you could call me a "journaler." Personally I am so glad I did not call this blog, "Judy's Journal." But if I were to rename it what would you suggest?

On the left is Martha Stewart's newest line with Staples. Totally bringing out the office nerd in me with a selection of file folders and labels and notebooks. I told The Mister "Get me outta here before I spend money on one in every color!"

On the right is the fabulous cult Rhodia lined notebook. It even smells good.

And I just blogged these postcards on Judy's Bento Box. These are postcards that I had made by Moo. There are 20 different photos from my Flickr account and I did some bento, some food, some clouds, some Si. A real assortment.

Do you like to get mail from your postal person? Email me your mailing address and I'll send you a postcard.

Lunch at Giovanni's

With Spring at our fingertips and the promise of rain on Sunday, we spent a nice afternoon at Morro Bay on Saturday. On the list of things to do was lunch at Giovanni's Fish Market, gaze at the ocean, talk about all times we have gone sailing, drink Margaritas, and walk around town.

Halibut and chips, my friend. So delicious that I can't get over it. I just zoned out and stuffed my face.

I like little old towns that have little old theaters in them.

We also went to Mill's, one of the last old-fashioned stationary stores in the West. Well, I don't know that for a fact, but let's face it Staples and Office Max have pretty much squelched the competition.

I bought a notebook there - so clever of me, and we went on our merry way.

Which was next door to an antiques mall, but my heart wasn't in it, so we went for a drive and I named every wildflower I saw.

All gussied up

My Christmas tree for 2011. 

Christmas Tree Time

Currently it is really really windy here. I'm sure that is why the Christmas tree place ties these large trees to this merry-go-round device.

We bought two trees this year - a live one that is little tabletop size, and a smaller than our usual living room size - a five footer. Both are Nordman firs. I haven't photographed the smaller one yet. I think I might try to bonsai it. Most live trees don't make around here. It's too hot and too dry and the soil is too clayey too. And you think you can alter some of those things, but in the end you just watch the poor plant suffer.

This aloe vera plant on the other hand loves this sunny window. 

Pay no attention to that cat in the background. 

This plant literally saved its own life. He was once in a different pot and sat on top of a six foot bookcase. Pretty much ignored, I dare say. He grew towards the light and one day became so heavy on the lit side that he fell out of his pot, roots and all.

I came home from work and saw all this dirt and plant on the floor. I asked The Mister just what the heck happened. He hadn't a clue, although he said he thought he heard something around noon.

Well, I repotted the aloe with fresh soil and a bigger pot and gave him the sunniest spot in the house. You can almost hear him say ahhhh!

Here's my Christmas tree at the lot. 

Obon Festival

I upgraded to Lion OS and I can't say I'm completely enamored. The scrolling is exactly the opposite of what I was used to with the magic mouse, and I often use Preview and the F3 button to look at all my pics at once to get the feel for the blog post storyline and now that doesn't work. I haven't figured a way around it yet. If you know, please share. I'm sorry if none of this makes sense too.

Anyways - I went to the Obon Festival in San Luis. By the way (PSA), San Luis is pronounced like San Loo-es, not San Loo-ee. And we had a real good time. They were doing a martial arts demonstration inside the building which made me laugh (shame on me) because essentially they were wearing helmets and face masks but they were whacking the dickens out of each other. Right over the head. Whack, whack, whack. Very rhythmical. I thought it was hilarious.

The vendors indoors were very rummage sale too. Except the book seller. All sorts of books on Japanese culture, history, food, novels. I went crazy!

Outside there was the food and fun. This bonsai demonstration was really interesting. The son explained what the father was doing. A typical juniper bush was being pruned in a very specific way, both plant and roots, to be a bonsai.    

I'm going to try this, you know I am. I've always wanted a bonsai.

This is the before picture. The plant was a standard shrub in a pot like something you would buy from a nursery.

This is the after shot. 

The father was putting 

the finishing touches 

on the tree.

The chicken dinner was really delicious
too.

Cheers to the Five Year Mark!

A Nice Sauternes and Salad

Here's to Judy's Notebook, a five-year old blog about nothing in particular. Here's to everyone who has followed this blog, which I consider an anchor to my other blogs, which are many. Here's to everyone who has unfollowed this blog, just to prove I'm not spiteful, even though I am, traders. Here's to being a columnist to 25,000 people per week, then becoming a blogger to a few people per month, ouch. Here's to starting then stopping then starting then stopping then starting this blog. Here's to not dying along the way. Here's to all you crazy Snapple Rain affectionados. Here's to Googling Snapple Rain and seeing my photos in the number one and two spots on the Google images. Here's to my favorites bloggers, listed on the left side, the list may have changed over the years but I still love you all. Here's to trying new things right here like GoodReads or starting a book club or Twitter or Tumblr, which I still love, and thank you, you know who you are, for introducing me to these fun activities. Here's to my first post, not much really, but has totally reminded me of my wood rat, so sad, and how much work it was to live out at the ranch. And finally here's to Silas, who should probably have his own fan club, his own limo, and his own personal chef, oh wait, he does have his own chef, that would be me.

xoxo
Judy

My Favorite Things

Si's eyes, 
Totoro bento, 
Weird clouds, 
Pinwheel lunches, 
and Purple flowers.


Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things

That Time of Year

        School's out! I'm free! Remember that feeling? All those wonderful possibilities await you. What should we do first? Go to the pool. Go to the river. Go to the beach.

        The last day of school was right up there with Christmas and your very own birthday. Nothing could replace that feeling of freedom, even today. Ah, the tragedy of being an adult. Say it out loud, "An Adult." Sounds like something to be avoided at all costs. Sounds like it costs. too.

        As a kid, my summer vacation wasn't always a free for all. For at least part of it, I had to work and go to summer school, which I thought was fun until the reality set in.

        But hours and hours of sunlight and good friends in the neighborhood made for many happy memories.

        And then there were expeditions. When my family went to the beach, a one-hour drive, you would think we were going for six days, not six hours.

        The station wagon would be full with every possible beach accoutrements, plus four kids and an anxious dog.

        My father would insist on leaving at 7 a.m. to beat the traffic, so when we got to the beach, we would be the only ones there.

        It was like "pick a spot, any spot." We got the whole darn foggy beach to ourselves. And the next five hours, the people would start to pour in. By noon, it was wall-to-wall blankets and umbrellas.

        An hour or so after noon, we would pack and leave. It was the best time of the day, and we would be headed out "to beat the traffic."

        Well, it didn't matter a whole lot to me. I'd spend the whole time in the ocean getting thrown around in the waves.

        A regular fish, my Dad would say.

        One time the waves were huge and I had accumulated several thousand grains of sand in my swimsuit, so I dragged myself back to the beach towel.

        That night the evening news said the waves were a record size, and many people had to be rescued from the dangerous conditions. Thank goodness I hit the towel when I did, but I learned the power of water at an early age.

        I had a near drowning experience when I was around 5 years old.

        Mom's friend had a pool, so every once in a while during summer vacation we would get invited to swim for an afternoon. Back in those days little kids who didn't know how to swim wore Styrofoam bubbles on their backs to keep them afloat.

        Well, I was sunning myself and got a little hot, so I jumped into the pool forgetting to put on the bubble and sank like a stone.

        I still remember looking up at the surface of water. It was so beautiful and so far away. Then I realized how badly I needed air. I pushed off the bottom of the pool with my feet and lunged for the steps.

        Boy, when I crawled out of that pool, my heart was racing.

        I took swimming lessons at the Y shortly thereafter and graduated by swimming 50 continuous yards.

        Not too shabby for a regular fish, my Dad would say.

{story first published in The Tribune on June 19, 2003}
{I think I was seven in the photo. Oak Creek, Cottonwood, Arizona}

Your Life 2.0 Via Your Blog Book

At first I was cynical about this whole idea of turning your blog into a book. I'm such a snob really, but vanity press for only $14.95. Pbbt. Who cares about your blog that much.

Then I got to thinking...hey this might be a cute way to scrapbook, in a yearbook kind of way. Or what if your relatives would like week-by-week progress and photo of your new baby.

Or maybe you just like books. It's something tangible that you can hold in your hands and page through.

I heard with the invention of Kindle, Nook, and iPad that many people think it's just a matter of time that books will become extinct. So maybe this Blog2Print is a good thing...

I do think it's funny that you can add the comments you get on your blog in your book, as well as delete whatever you want, comments or blog posts.

Your life can be perfect. In print.

Five things I've accomplished on my vacation

1. I figured out how to transfer my vinyl album music (much of it is classical) to my iPod using my new Crosley turntable. Love their retro stuff. 
2. I received Hammacher Schlemmer sound oasis for my birthday, and it's my new favorite thing. The ocean or the forest, I'm there, baby. 
3. I changed the part in my hair. I've had an always and forever over-my-right-eye side part. Well, just for kicks, I changed it to my widow's peak, which has been white since I was 25 years old. Yep I hid the "gray." Now I'm flaunting it! Sort of. I still have a dot of white in the middle of head that I hide. I've had that from birth. When hairdresser people point it out, I tell them it's where the aliens probed me as a baby. (And I believe it too.)
4. I tried (and failed miserably) to make a multi-color felt dodecahedron pincushion. I will try again.
5. Redecorated the bedroom, I did, and it looks very modern harem. I used a Moroccan-like pattern in cool blues and greens, just right for the hot weather ahead. And the bathroom had mini-makeover as well.