WHY?!

I know it has been an incredibly long time since I have blogged, so you may be wondering what on earth could possibly motivate her to such crazy lengths as blogging? Well, let me tell you...

Around 5:00am I was roused from a semi deep sleep by noxious fumes permeating the house...now when you have had a house burn down, you ignore no odor, no matter how tired you may be. So of course I woke Ryan for him to investigate...He turned the heater off thinking it must be that, it's the only thing running at 5am. However the smell was getting worse! Then we noticed the back door had been blown open by the wind, and the dog was gone...we both came to the same realization at the same moment...SKUNK!

I called out for Olive and she came prancing back in, but hadn't been sprayed fortunately. We looked all over the house, but nothing. The only thing we could think was Olive ran out, the skunk ran in then left, leaving us a horrific smell to contend with...so we googled, then ran to Walmart to get the proper skunk de-scenting materials (hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and vinegar, in case you ever find yourself in a similar situation)!

This unfortunately is not the end of our story...we pull up to the house, glance over and through the front window, see Mr. Skunk flitting back and forth across our couch! Ryan, brave and brilliant, runs to the front door, props it open, then runs to the back door grabs Olives dog food and lures it out with one piece at a time.

I know it's not a great photo, but at the very bottom to the left hand corner, 
you can see the skunk escaping to it's next dasterdly deed.

Thanks to the flu we had these handy masks, a few
drops of theives and you can hardly smell anything
(that is a bit of an exageration)
That look in my eyes is the daze of 5am awakening
 creeping up on me.

Needless to say, we have spend the last four hours cleaning, diffusing and gaging...so I ask WHY? The only answer I have is that these are the types of things that happen to the Austins.

Vegan Pancakes

I decided to make pancakes this morning and share the recipe that I have developed. I like pancakes that have lots of stuff in them and that I can eat one and be full for a long time. So here is my recipe:


2 Cups Whole Wheat Four 
1 Cup Rolled Oats               
1/2 Cup Flax Seed Meal    
5 teaspoons Baking Powder  
dash of Salt                           
2 Tablespoons Egg Replacer 
1 teaspoon Cinnamon           
1/2 teaspoons Nutmeg          
1/2 Cup Oil ( I like to use light olive oil) 
3-4 Cups Non Dairy Milk ( I use almond milk) use more milk if you desire thinner pancakes 
Fresh or Frozen Fruit   
Nuts   
Here are some ideas for mixtures: Blueberries, lemon extract, slivered almonds, or Bananas, vanilla extract and pecans, or Stawberries, almond extract and slivered almonds.                               
                

I hope you enjoy!

Finally!

This is a two fold finally...First, "I am FINALLY sitting down to blog!" and "I FINALLY finished my quilt!!"

But before I show it to you...there are these little tags you can purchase to attach to your homemade item which express what you have put into this project for the fortunate recipient. Like this one:

this one you can purchase at www.zazzle.com



My tag for this quilt would have to say a bit more than that...like: made for you through a huge range of emotions, blood, tears, a little food was probably spilled on this, and I am not sure how much love actually went into it, however there was I am sure much frustration. I am not sure how happy that would make you if you received a gift with a tag like that, but I think it is a bit more accurate than just made with love!

There it is, this quilt took me about 2 years to complete, which those of you who know me well, realize that is a LONG time...I usually become myopic when I start a project and cannot do anything until it is complete, my family looses weight and goes through every piece of clothing they own until I am done.  However, this project was different...

It was more of an emotional journey so to speak, bear with me and I will try not to get too irritating. This was the first project that I started after the house fire. I started it mostly because I didn't know what else to do, and felt like it would be comforting to do something familiar...needless to say, it became more of a drudgery...but I kept going a little here and a little there because I knew that eventually I would enjoy it, or at least I would have a quilt...it worked! about a month ago, after two years of hating this quilt, I actually started to like quilting again! I really didn't think it would take that long, and so this quilt will be staying here with me, no tag explaining what went into it, because that is something no one else really wants to inherit!

I am starting to like the quilt now, I like to put little unique aspects into my quilts like this stripe on the back. And I think I am at the point where I can start to snuggle under it. I have even started a new project...I found some quilt tops at an antique shop for less that 8 dollars, so am quilting those.

I hope I haven't depressed you too much, I feel much better getting that out. And I am happy to say I have been neglecting too much in order to speed through the next quilt.



Mmmm...

Okay, so I am now addicted to breakfast burritos. Since I went vegan, I have had to actually think of what I want to eat, instead of just going to my 'go to' fast food (and I don't mean Fast Food, I mean quick to make) in the morning. So here is the new breakfast burrito...

Olive Oil
Onion
Peppers
Baby Portabella mushrooms
Summer squash
First, I saute these in a pan with a little salt and pepper.

Then I added some left over potatoes I cooked up the night before. I used yellow, red, and purple potatoes and just roasted in the oven with olive oil and salt and pepper. When I make them, I just make some extra so I have them for breakfasts.  Since you may not have those laying around you could add anything you like...I add some firm tofu sometimes. If I am feeling like an asian flare, I will add some tamari and hoisin sauce with the tofu/veggies.

I also added some black beans...but I tend to get carried away and then I am not able to stuff it into a tortilla or finish it! So then I have some for the next morning. I am all about leftovers lately.  I had some leftover guacamole from the night before and added a bit of hot sauce. There you go, yummy and filling.

Enjoy! Let me know if you like it or have something I should try.

Petrified Forest

I can't believe I have lived in Arizona for 16 years now! That's like half my life...ok less than half. I do get antsy to leave once in awhile, so I spend time looking for villas in Italy...or more productively we go for a hike or one of those Arizona type things.

Recently Jessica came out and we went to the Petrified Forest, here is a little taste of what we saw...



Arizona, I do love you...but I can't promise I won't leave you for Italy.

Who Am I?

Okay, so it started with this...

Averey got it for me at a yard sale for a quarter...and I was hooked.  I guess I never thought I would be going down this road.  Or should I say dusty trail.  Yes, I too have become a belt buckle wearer.  Ryan also jumped on the wagon...

And somehow, one isn't enough...pretty soon you find yourself eyeing other buckles around...dare I say coveting?  Making it a point to look in all the antique shops to find that unique piece...

Oh yes, I found it an owl buckle, embracing my two recently discovered loves, owls and buckles...how could you go wrong with that?  Now if only I could get a sloth buckle, ahhhh that would be Divine.

Here are a few unique ones I saw on the Internet, in case you would like indulge your inner cowgirl/cowboy...

Okay, not cow boyish, and I certainly wouldn't describe myself that way either...but it is interesting how a quarter can change your life.

Instant Gratification

We have become impatient people.  I came to this realization the other day...Ryan and I went up to Jerome on a stormy morning to take pictures. I brought my new 'vintage' camera, and my iPod with Hipstamatic.

Isn't it beautiful? This is the first chance I have had to use the Argus. Using it seemed anti-climactic...I would take a picture, and then wonder how it is going to look.  It wasn't that long ago that a manual camera was all that I used...yet here I am impatient thinking I have to use this roll up so I can get them developed.

And yet it's not just me. I don't even know where to take the film when I am done...because everyone is impatient, and photo labs have been replaced with a little girl that shows you how to use the complicated printing machine (well for me anyway). And to prove this not opinionated thought just take a picture of a little child...the first thing they do is grab the camera to see what their picture looks like...and when it is a manual camera, they get confused and can't figure out where the picture is.

So now would you like to see my pictures? Well, I am not done with the roll, and I wouldn't even know how to put them on the computer anyway.  So, when they are in my hands, come on over and we can have some coffee and look at my pictures.

Oh, I guess I can show you the ones I took on my iPod...

I am such a hypocrite.

Hello Again!

We haven't hung out lately, it's my fault, I just got so busy I didn't make time for you...and frankly, I just ran out of things to say...I know, that doesn't seem possible, but a one ended conversation like a blog leaves you hanging...

 Are you there? Are you interested at all in what I am saying, or do you have that glassy eyed bored look on your face and I should step up the excitement to keep you here.

 I suppose that more people stop by to read when I am actually writing as opposed to when I don't write, bored or not, so here you go:

We have been enjoying Cottonwood and the surrounding areas, recently we have been able to do some hiking. These are on top of Mingus Mountain after the infamous (at least in these parts) cowboy breakfast.

                             Leaves changing.                                        

                                            

  Then we hiked up some more to see the hang gliders

                           run off a concrete platform to an 8,000 foot drop...                           

We also had the opportunity to spend some time in Sedona when family came out to visit. We went to slide rock and hiked around a bit...

World's smallest fire hydrant...maybe for

tiny dogs.

The apple picking shed.

Chloe and Knowle taking a break.

Antique futuristic tractors.

Knowle in front of a huge tractor tire, little did

we know we would be seeing a man hoola hoop

one later that very evening.

Chloe took this one while laying on a rock resting.

 More fall colors.

That's a little of what we have been doing lately.  Sorry there were so many pictures, I actually took much more, but had to edit them down so be thankful for that!