BlindCaveFish

More nursery updates

2009-11-10T18:55:00.001-07:00

Since today is my due date, and Darth Vader is not showing any signs of coming out tonight, I thought I'd post some of the updates that have been going on in the nursery.

here is the dresser decked out with the changing pad (aka sheepskin, I'll put a mat down when I'm actually changing). The shelf is vintage IKEA in its third paint colour. The plants were favors from my friend Megan's wedding, and there is a lovely painting of Renato to complete the vignette.

This is a mirror I took from mom, painted white and put a decal my friend Kurtis gave me. I haven't decided where to put it yet because Renato still hasn't decided where to paint some additional interest on the walls.

On the largest (blank) wall in the room I put one of my favorite vintage biology poster. I can't think of anything more appropriate for a baby room than embryos! I am sure some people may find this creepy or strange, but I think its awesome!

I've been working hard making curtains for the room (and other rooms in the house)

Its not easy when your sewing machine is broken, but it sure passes the time! The fabric is the exact same fabric that was used as table runners at our wedding. I have a lot of these left so you may see some more sewing projects in the same pattern. The fabric is from IKEA

Renato has been working very hard on the crib. Not that he is running out of time, Darth will be living in our room for the first few months of her life. The base is completely done. I think its oak. The slats are done too but have to be painted.

Last of all I am so excited Kristie has sent me this little sign for the car seat (among the billions of other things she has sent me and I am so grateful for!) Since its flu season I don't want Darth to be handled by every stranger that sees her, hopefully this will deter them a little!

fin

Corner shelves can look cool!

2009-11-06T16:08:00.000-07:00

Renato finished a new carpentry project! This is our fancy new corner shelf. I found the inspiration on apartment therapy and just a few days later he came home with it!

The pottery on the shelf is by Katrina Chaytor, a wonderful friend of ours. Someday soon we will paint the walls and get rid of the horizontal blinds, but all in good time!

Results from Harvest

2009-10-30T19:23:00.000-06:00

crabapple goodness

In a previous post I wrote about the harvest we got from our shared garden. Now I thought I'd talk about what was done with that food!

The most exciting thing done by far was canning. I made crabapple jelly, strawberry mint jam, applesauce and canned peaches (the peaches I bought from the farmers market). All are stored in our little basement storage room.

the dungeon has food!

For the first time I got to use a food dehydrator. I borrowed it from my neighbor Wendy, and now want one for my very own! We dried tomatoes (to make sun dried tomatoes) and strawberries (for cereal)

I also froze some food. this includes more crabapple. more peaches, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, zucchini and soon there will be butternut squash in there. We are lucky to have bought a small deep freeze with some of the gift money from our wedding. I think it was a good investment.

Theres a lot of food in there

Potatoes and beets were the last things to harvest, and we failed on the beet front (we took them out of the ground too late, they were soft =(. Luckily most of the potatoes were salvaged, and spent some time drying in the kitchen.

Dry damn you!

It was fun to bring a big bag of potatoes next door and keep a big bag for ourselves too!

I have also been freezing meals so when Darth Vader arrives it will be easy to cook food. Most of these meals are very meaty... but there are also some soups and curries in there. Its strange preparing for a time you won't be able to cook much. I have jars of pre-mixed bread ingredients waiting in the cupboard so they can be thrown into the bread machine.

Ready to go!

I've also made muffins, but I'm still trying to think of what else I could make. In any case... time is running out, so what I have in the end will have to do!

You can come out now!

2009-10-20T15:46:00.001-06:00

We are all ready for Darth Vader's arrival... because yesterday we bought the most important of big-ticket baby gear... the carseat!

It was probably the most relaxed time we've had at the baby store to date. Usually Renato and I walk into the store and slowly get more and more anxious with all the STUFF we could possibly buy. The store is set up kinda like IKEA: first you walk through clothing, then there are highchairs, carseats, strollers and safety stuff. Next there's a section with bedding and changing things (we have never actually looked through this section, its the easiest to avoid) followed by the massive furniture sets of different woods and finishes that match perfectly, and then before the counter there are the thousands of miscellaneous items your child obviously can't live without.

But we had a plan, we brought our stroller after all so there was only one thing to look at. I shouldn't bash this un-named store too much as it is pretty awesome in respects that its locally run and you can try out everything. We were able to both see what fit in our stroller the best and see if it fit in our car. I think we spent an hour staring at these things. Figuring out how they attach to the bases and how easy it is to remove, fit in stroller, remove. Some we never figured out, one the sales lady didn't even figure out. In the end we bought one (of course, not going through this again) and the sales lady said that it only came in this one colour and didn't match our stroller. I wondered if she thought I was going to burst out crying or storm out because of this. She even looked disappointed when I said 'meh, im glad its not pink' We then ran straight towards the cash register with our stroller carrying the gigantic box!

Behold the stroller, carseat, and diaper bag together in their full glory!

(I know, they don't match, we are gonna be such lame parents!)

Come this Thursday I'll be 9 months pregnant, so I think the Darth should just pop out now right?

PS. Carseat boxes make fantastic cat toys.

Big headed Kitty!

2009-10-19T13:16:00.000-06:00

It took me 4 days to make this thing. Much frustration, but totally worth it. I got the pattern for free off the Wee Wonderful website and it is for my sister (Kristie)/niece (Tessa). Kristie has been sending me loads of baby clothes, every time my niece grows out of a size I get a box in the mail. She has also supplied me with a full maternity wardrobe, one I would not have been able to afford on my own, so my sis is the bomb!

I sent this with some other things, but the kitty was a surprise, and matches her pink/brown nursery, from what I hear she likes it!

The final product

2009-10-08T15:15:00.000-06:00

This book represents 4 years. It's close to 300 pages long and full of some very nice scientific illustrations. If you read it, you will learn that the shape of the wishbone is very hard to link to any other aspect of a birds life, and it may nave no use.

Translation:

The shape of the wishbone and other chest bones in birds (excluding ostriches and their relatives)

The little gems in this book (in my opinion) are my illustrations. I took a scientific drawing course a couple years back and became determined that I would have good quality scientific drawings in my manuscript (especially since my photography was so crappy). So I drew all the bones, muscle placements, and comparison diagrams. The research in the book is good too, don't get me wrong, but being a bio thesis it's not the most exciting story ever told.

Starling sternum!

Budgie scapula!

Different wishbone shapes!!

Budgie muscles!

I'm very happy it's finished and final. There are things I wish I could have changed about the whole process, but hey, it's a degree, if I didn't learn anything then it wouldn't have been very educational! One of these copies is mine and the other is for Dad (Dad, if you actually read this I will be very impressed!).

Harvest

2009-10-05T16:07:00.000-06:00

This summer we worked together with our neighbors to make a bigger, more productive garden. Some things failed (onions and broccoli especially) but most plants impressed us incredibly. I good layer of sheep manure helped immensely.

Our garden in the early summer

I was able to harvest bags of crabapples, many many tomatoes, lettuce, peas, beets, carrots, corn, potatoes, and zucchinis, and... last night before the first frost hit we brought in the SQUASHES!

Yup, that's 2 pumpkins you see, and a lot of spaghetti squash. The little disc like ones are summer squash called scallopini and the long little yellow ones are also summer squash called yellow crookneck squash. We also found a forgotten zucchini last night and brought that in too.

I've been canning and preserving as much as possible. Will have to show off the results soon!

I like Psych experiments

2009-10-04T12:30:00.000-06:00

Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo.

My lovely belly

2009-10-02T13:25:00.000-06:00

I had the wonderful opportunity to have my belly painted by Shyra DeSouza using henna. It was a really great experience. We chatted for the 4 hours it took to apply the design. I had to protect the results overnight so I covered it with a black bellaband. A few days later, Shyra came over and did a second application (to only select areas). The second application gave the design an interesting dimension to it.

I can't say more about how having a painted belly increases one self esteem. I know having a big pregnant belly is beautiful, but sometimes you become very self contentious of it for no real reason other than the fact that it's SO obvious. Having a painting on it makes you want to show your belly off to the world (although I don't, its getting very cold outside) it gives you pride and so much happiness. I marvel at how the design changes when my little one shifts positions.

The bonus to it is that it makes you really take care of your belly. I've not put so much oil and moisturizer on my belly then these past few weeks. After all, you want it to last as long as possible.

My henna is now starting to fade away, this it's third week so its not unexpected. It still looks amazing tho. I recommend it to anyone who can afford it.

Understanding my Gdiapers (before the baby gets here)

2009-09-29T15:46:00.000-06:00

I decided early in the pregnancy to go the cloth diaper rout because:
a)I'm an earth muffin
b)My mom used them on me b/c I was allergic to disposables
c)budget income
d)access to a laundry room

After reviewing the literally HUNDREDS of types of cloth diapers out there, I decided to go with Gdiapers. Not only was there a great promotion going on their starter packs at the time, but I've seen them in action, and I like that I could switch to disposable liners if I am in dire need.

The promotion was a discount on their 6 pack, so I bought one pack each of smalls, mediums, and larges. I know I will need more later, but I figure its a good starting point.

The next step was to get some cloth liners for the things. There are a lot of ppl on Etsy and Ebay that sell hand made liners. and the company themselves sells cloth liners

Being on that budget I went an alternate route after finding a tutorial on how to make Gdiaper inserts at home (I've since found many more, but this seemed the most thorough and easiest). The writer recommended using microfiber cloths, but there is a fantastic online store called Wazoodle that sells fabric specifically for cloth diapers, so I ordered the most absorbent stuff you could get (ZORB!!!) and asked my mom to put them together for me (as an aside, I would have done it myself but my sewing machine is broken, and besides, she's so good at sewing!)

My mom quickly made a bunch in the small size and sent them to me in the mail. Here they are!

They look pretty big compared to the little diaper, but they fit very well. I'm very happy

Next I have to make some microfleece liners to put on top, so that poo can be quickly removed. I'm really hoping this system works out.

Starting to decorate the nursery

2009-09-26T15:52:00.003-06:00

Renato and I have thought a lot about how to make a cute room for our little girl on a BIG budget. We are very lucky in many ways tho, because Renato has woodworking skills and we have lots of friends that have helped out and given us some great things. We also have a great landlord that will let us paint the rooms of our apartment any colour as long as it goes back to primer when we leave.

The room will in no way match the in the way you can get custom bedding, curtains, accessories ect for a baby room. However, I'm trying to stay with a colour theme because I want bright bold colours but do not want it to get out of control. The inspiration I have decided upon comes from this fabric.

I bought it in a bundle of fat squares on Etsy, and fell in love with it when making a mobile for my niece. Since then I have ordered 2 yards of it. I don't know what to do with the fabric, but it will be exciting to use in any case.

I decided the walls of the little room will be the turquoise colour in the design. Renato was a little worried about that, but now that the walls are painted he loves the results (photos to come)

To add to this I am refinishing a dresser, which will be a changing table and dresser in the end.

I have lots of old picture frames and vintage Ikea stuff I've been gathering, they will be painted off-white. I also have some beautiful vintage biology posters to put up.

Finally Renato is building a crib, and a dollhouse, and will paint a mural on the wall in either off-white or red.

We have lots to do, and some is done, but I thought I would space out each part in a separate blog post for kicks.

Sweating out the hard times

2009-09-24T18:10:00.006-06:00

Its amazing how in one day, or a few days things can explode in ones little world, and you feel life is out to get you.

it was 33 degrees yesterday, 31 the day before. Everyone said 'you are so lucky the biggest part of your pregnancy will be in the fall! Fall? Isn't it supposed to be fall now?
I have a beautiful wool maternity coat I want to wear (from my most generous sister), and long sleeved shirts. Where are you fall? I wait for you, please come here.

also

The guy who lives in our basement (an apartment on its own) has been having a hard time getting a roommate. He finally got one, but this kid (I think he's 17, not that I have anything against 17 year olds) is turning out to be an idiot. He smokes a lot of pot and has recently lost his job. He wakes up in the evening and falls asleep in the morning. He broke the lock on the door connecting our two apartments this morning, and has his druggie friends over to... you know... smoke pot all night (and uses other substances, or so I just learned).

Yesterday was the last straw for me, as I woke up in the morning to our apartment smelling and the lock. I told the landlord, and apparently a meeting of the 3 went well. The kid is leaving at the end of October! I hate to be a big bitch about all this. But Ren and I discussed and discussed, and we have more to worry about than just ourselves and our stuff. We now have the responsibility of a little being (and I don't mean the cats... although they are a responsibility too). I'm doing my best to have her developing body not come in contact with things that may harm her. And I've got a hell of a lot of other things to worry about outside of the apartment downstairs. What would the public health nurse think if she visited and there was a lingering pot smell in the air?

Oh, and one of our tires is flat. Must buy a new tire yay!!

The day is over now, hopefully this is the only bad day for a long time. I have something wonderful to show you soon, so worry not!

Getting back into blogging

2009-09-24T17:47:00.005-06:00

I haven't been on in months.. sigh... the last months have been crazy, but the craziness is going to get even crazier!

The biggest reason for not being on is that I defended and have a graduate degree. I actually have to pick up my bound thesis at the printers, but they told me they only take cash or cheque so I have to find some cash to do such things.

My ideals on what to do in my life have changed. I wanted to get my PhD, teach anatomy at a university or collage... but writing and defending the thesis has changed that. I don't hate acadaemia but do I love it? Unfortunately no. The things I love to do are teach others, dissect animals and work with live animals. After many discussions with many mentors I have decided to try (again) for veterinary school. I am now armed with an extra degree and a lot of experience, so it can only help right?Now that we live in Alberta there is a higher chance of getting in as well. But I have to live here a year and not be a full time student before I can apply (crazy rules!!)

To pass the time I got pregnant
Well, thats not the only reason, we had decided to get pregnant and the doctors said it could take a year or more for it to happen. We figured this would be a good time to start and see where it took us

Now I'm 8 months (and a week) pregnant!
The crappy thing is I'm unemployed. But hey, I have lots of free time.
We are extremely excited and of course nervous of the whole endeavor. I worry about the pain of labor, my ability to keep her alive (its a girl)but in the end I think we are quite able in all needed areas.

The biggest snag in the whole production is money. Since I can't get a job (what, you won't hire a pregnant lady?) and Renato works at a not-for-profit, its a very rewarding field but tough when providing for oneself and I and a soon-to-be offspring who needs all this stuff! We've figured out a lot. I'm all about cutting the cost of everything and buying a lot of second hand baby stuff, as thats all I can do. I'm sure it will work out

Here's the offspring, we call her Darth Vader right now.
Early

18 weeks

28 weeks

New things at my house

2009-03-17T15:30:00.004-06:00

I don't blog much anymore do I? Oh well. Here are some changes occurring at my place

Barbarella is now as big as (or larger than) Sal

I replaced some artwork (that the artist borrowed) with some other artwork. This is a print Renato did at school. I put an old frame Mom gave me around it to make it stand out more

I organized my towels!

And then there is the furniture I found. The university sometimes throws out perfectly good furniture! I am always tempted to take it. Renato gave in on this one, tho he does not find it too attractive. I love how it is low, and on casters. I may recover it someday

And THIS is my new credenza! I bought it at a university sale for $25. It is thick oak with a pleather top, and has some scratches. It needs a little work but it already looks fantastic! I may have to move some stuff around...

Star Wars, Retold!

2009-01-19T12:26:00.000-07:00

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

great video

2008-11-05T21:56:00.001-07:00

Summer is tough on the cats

2008-08-07T12:39:00.001-06:00

Its so hot all you can do is sleep

But THEN you have to do the laundry!

I finally uploaded some photos

2008-07-31T00:04:00.002-06:00

Sorry these are a bit late, I lost that cord that connects your camera to your computer

But! I borrowed a friends today so here are some from last month
STAMPEDE!
I didnt actually go to the stampede, but I live right above it, so we has fireworks every night and restricted access to our neighborhood, that was awesome
The downside was I couldnt walk through the stampede grounds to get to the C-train, which sucks

Fireworks!

Those crazy stampede drunks do the silliest things, like putting parking signs in the river...

silly silly

Great things for sale in Calgary

2008-07-29T20:43:00.002-06:00

I love looking up stuff up on Craigslist and Used Calgary. But right now I'm broke, so if you are in the market for finding some amazing antiques and vintage furnature (And you live in Calgary) you might wanna check out these

Antique vanity

Retro room divider

Classy chair

Obsessive?

2008-07-21T21:53:00.002-06:00

Yup, I'm still working on my thesis

2008-07-17T00:06:00.002-06:00

Not much to say, so here is one of my illustrations!

My big comfy guilty pleasure

2008-05-29T08:29:00.003-06:00

I splurged 2 weeks ago, big time! Even tho I am incredibly poor at the moment with wedding planning and summer pay (which is worse than regular grad student pay) when I saw this chair... I had to have it

There is an amazing antique store down the street from us...
This beauty is an original chair from the Banff Springs Hotel lobby. They recently renovated the hotel, and the chairs were cast fourth into the world

The fabric is a pale olive green with brown. I'm positive the wood is oak, and the springs and fabric are not warn at all

Inertia decided i bought the chair for her

What the World Eats

2008-05-27T14:16:00.002-06:00

A very interesting photo essay from Time here

Our newest Neighbor

2008-05-26T12:00:00.002-06:00

Ronen has already flown across the country and back, good thing hes a portable size

My silly silly foot

2008-04-14T18:19:00.002-06:00

6 days ago I had a bunionectomy, pretty much 'cause my foot was growing too wide to wear shoes. Painful the first 3 days, not bad now, I am told by my booklet that by day 10 I should be able to walk without crutches, yay!

I like that they had to put a 'X' to make sure they were doing the right foot

Best Cat video ever

2008-04-13T19:11:00.002-06:00

Some youtube videos are made in heaven (by engineers), this is one of them.

More from the love bucket

2008-03-24T12:27:00.003-06:00

I can't resist posting more love bucket photos... I take one every few days actually

I also bought some tulips this weekend. Good thing I did to, as it snowed today and that made me sad

Chuck Norris

2008-03-22T19:50:00.002-06:00

A jackrabbit has been living in our back yard

He lives under the camper

I named him Chuck Norris

I Made Fish Cakes

2008-03-20T00:51:00.003-06:00

And they were surprisingly good!
The recipe is salmon cakes with garlic-spinach sauté an I found the recipe off of Splatgirl Creates which happens to be one of my favorite house design blogs (her house is amazing!)

So Fish cakes can be quite good! Who knew?

Mom Made Me Socks

2008-03-17T11:43:00.003-06:00

I love new Socks!

In other news, Inertia really digs the new couch

Sal still really digs Barbarella

All is good

Backyard wildlife

2008-03-15T01:50:00.002-06:00

I'm completely in love with the wildlife that wonders into our new backyard. I will try to get some good photos of everything I see. The other day this Northern flicker (Colaptes auratus) danced around our bird feeder. Looking up the species, its a male western red-shafted flicker

Here is our new couch! Its an IKEA leather couch that I bought off of craigslist, I couldn't be happier 'cause its in perfect condition and theres no way I could afford a leather couch otherwise

Sorry for not posting!

2008-02-27T17:33:00.003-07:00

Here are some photos of Sal and Barbarella to make up for the lost time!

Walking to work

2008-02-05T09:16:00.000-07:00

The other day I took my camara when I walked to school
The walk from our new place is really nice, you see the whole city skyline

Lots of stairs to go down

Then across the river to the Stampede grounds

Barbarella's Second Week

2008-01-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

Week 1 went by really well... week 2 went even better! Barbarella now stays out with Sal and Inertia when we are at work. Sal has definitely fallen in love with her. If she holds still long enough he'll give her a grooming, but for now he just licks her face whenever he can.

He likes to sleep in her room with her too!

Inertia does not beat Barbaarella up when she walks by, this is a very good sign

Barbarella likes to be near me when I'm working at my desk, which can be a problem when im trying to type. When she sleeps it melts your heart tho

Another day with the kitten

2008-01-22T15:33:00.000-07:00

Barbarella spent today outside of her room

Shes been spending time up on my desk, mostly typing for me

But sometimes she sleeps in her kitty bed, which includes right now

I also frosted some cupcakes I made yesterday. Not bad for using a vegie bag from safeway

of course the top photo is of the best one, after a while new holes started to appear in the bag, and I got sloppy. Still they are tasty!

Barbarella

2008-01-21T21:52:00.000-07:00

Our new kitten is Barbarella

We adopted her from the Meow Foundation

I havent gotten a photo of it yet, but she really does love rolling around on a shag carpet

It can only get better from here

Its Here!!!!

2008-01-20T16:36:00.000-07:00

Pay Attention To ME

Theres something strange going on in this house

Its making Inertia Twitchy

Theres something hidden behind this door, I know there is...

Its in my carrier

On my fleece!!!!

oh the mystery!

More New House Photos..... The calm before the storm...

2008-01-19T14:37:00.000-07:00

More things about our place

Retro lamps in the hallways

Another phone nook!

A bathtub the colour of toothpaste!!!!!

The cat run is great, but too cold and snowy today

Sal prefers sleeping on my new throw

But doesn't want to be photographed

I took the best photo of Inertia tho, soo intense

Oh Moving!

2008-01-15T11:00:00.001-07:00

Moving has been hectic and tiring, but we are now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Here are some photos of the progress

We found out 3 days before we had to leave that the landlords wanted us to paint the kitchen back to grey. It was really annoying, not only because fo the short time span but the landlords didnt know what the origonal colour was and we had to buy the paint!

The end product is nice and bland. Even Sal hates the colour

Our last night in the place had us living in the living room, trying to keep everything else clean

Sal loves the new apartment, especially his new kitty bed!

The new living room is enormous, we didnt realize that until our landlords moved out, 'cause they have a lot of stuff. We realized we would need some new furnature to fill the place a bit

The kitchen was where things started out in, then they slowly were unpacked, you see why im still not done yet?

Our living room has all of it furnature, no paint, and seems kinda empty. It echos still. Notice the new chair, Inertia sleeps in it all day.

What I need to do after painting is put some blinds over those flowery windows, maybe put a painting over that big permanant mirror, and get a little rug to tie it all together. Any ideas on what colour the living room should be? I don't have a clue

The walls in the hall will stay white because they have a beautiful inlay in them. I'm not sure if its carved out of the drywall or what but it looks origonal

Now the kitchen is the most done of the rooms. I havent painted it yet, but most things are in their place and we even had friends over for dinner the other night. Around the oven it especially looks pleasing

Renato got a magnet bar for our keys, I like that idea a lot. I want to put castors on the trunk

THis is my new desk Renato made, the legs are from IKEA and he made the top out of birch plywood. I have to sand it and put a coat of lacquer on it but it fits perfectly into the space.

And finally we bought some shelving units from IKEA, this one is in the living room. I love the legs on it and I'm trying to arrange the books by colour.

My Advisor on TV

2008-01-09T15:25:00.000-07:00

Here's the link to my advisor getting interviewed on TV. He studies Geckos feet!

Christmas with the Burkes

2008-01-01T15:29:00.000-07:00

We've been very busy moving and traveling the last few weeks! We spent christmas with Kristie and Andrew in their new house in Seattle. It was awesome to play video games and lounge in the hot tub for a week! Kristie was taking care of 2 dogs for a friend, so there were 6 dogs in the house, including 2 puppies. If you want to see some puppy photos check out Kristies Blog. Every night sweet Rocko slept with us, he liked sicking my forehead when I was asleep

One of the greatest events we went to was Snowflake Lane in Belleview
They get people to dress us as toy soldiers and play christmas music while flashing lights, then... after you think you cant take it any more... they spray fake snow foam on the crowd. It was christmas eve and the street was packed!

Heres a movie to show off the snow

The mall in belleview had some great glass sculptures in it too

After the event we went to the Melting Pot for some christmas eve fondu! Christmas day was awesome and the whole trip was great fun. I'm so thankfut Kristie and Andrew invited us for christmas. It took our minds off the stress of moving

Entertainment while packing

2007-12-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

I've been sick the past few days, so I've been working at home and packing at the same time
Inertia has seen my boredom and decided to entertain me!
Thanks Inertia

I've also noticed that Inertia has more friends on facebook than Sal. I guess its because of her awesome name, but it makes Sal sad.

Hadrosaur Mummy

2007-12-03T18:59:00.000-07:00

How awesome it is they found a Hadrosaur with fossilized muscles, skin, and ligaments!

Dino Mummy
There is a statement in the article I found a little strange

"The findings from Dakota may cause museums to rethink their dinosaur displays. Most dinosaur skeletons in museums, for example, show the vertebrae right next to one another. The researchers looking at Dakota found a gap of about a centimetre between each one.

That indicates there may have been a disk or other material between them, allowing more flexibility and meaning the animals may actually be longer than shown in museums."

So they didn't think dinosaurs had intervertebral discs? Even tho other vertebrates have them? Curious
I do like that they are CT scanning the thing tho and not ripping it apart

TAIMA

2007-11-16T15:36:00.001-07:00

I have a new favorite song
I hope the link works
INUUSIVUNGA

More Time Spent in Banff

2007-11-14T17:20:00.000-07:00

I really can't get enough of Banff. The last weekend Renato was on his residency we walked the hoodoo trail. It was a cold day but the trail wasn't that tough, mostly boardwalks

This cute little whiskeyjack was eating......
...... good lord what is that?

It was an amazing view. What you don't see in this photo is that I waited atop while Renato walked down to the base of the hoodoos. I did not go because I did not want to die, luckally he did not die either

Pretty

more pretty

This weekend was also the opening of the Alberta Biannual, where artists from Alberta are picked to show their art in a huge show that goes to both Edmonton and Banff. Our friend Kay had a piece in the show, here it is! its very cool, in a simplified nutshell, it translates video into low frequency sound, that you feel from the boxes they are standing on. Left: Kay, Right: Renato

Mom and Dad's Visit

2007-11-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Mom and Dad visited for a week! We did a lot of shopping and eating. On the weekend we went to Banff to visit Renato (he was doing a residency there) and went for a walk on the Old Banff Hot Springs Trail. Its where the natural springs are, and it empties into a marsh. Very pretty!

The old pool was filled with rocks, probably so no one would jump in for fun

Fishes lived in the water with all of the algae, I bet they were nice and warm

Mom couldn't go up to the top so Renato stayed with her

Isn't that awesome looking! It smells bad tho, like sulfur

Those little blobs are the endangered snails in the hot springs, if you go in the springs you will be fined for potentially harming this species, Its a hefty fine indeed.

This guy followed us around and screamed at us a lot, but he was cute

Handmade Christmas!

2007-11-04T00:30:00.000-06:00

Its pretty early to think about christmas... I know. But I love buying gifts so I've already started. Even tho there are 1 or 2 gifts i'm buying that are not going to be handmade, most of them will be! Its so nice to shop online on places like Etsy and have the presents sent to you!

A video to cheer you up!

2007-10-26T10:29:00.000-06:00

Nothing cheers me up more than a cockatoo dancing to Backstreet Boys

We're Moving!

2007-10-25T17:09:00.000-06:00

We weren't expecting to find a great appartment in an amazing part of town, but thanks for dear Wendy's sharp eyes, we will be moving on January 1st! The unexpected-ness means we have to find a new tennent for this appartment, but since housing is so hard to find in Calgary I 'Hope' it won't be too hard

The house is on the other side of the downtown, further away from the university (my work) and closer to Renato's work. BUT its very close to the C-train (monorail) and that goes straight to the university, so really we are in a better position

The area is called Inglewood, it was once the bad part of town but is becomming the hip part of town. Our place is in a residential area up on a hill, You can see the Saddledome from the view

There are so many good things about this place i'm gushing

First... It's PEACH!

I admit this is a bad photo of the place, but we get the whole top floor

Also It has a secret cat area (cats only) outside!

It is illegal to let cats out in Calgary, so this will be so nice for Sal and Inertia. There is a cat door in one of the bedroom windows

Other highlights: huge kitchen, all hardwood floors, no shared utilities with other tennents, rain barrels outside, a real backyard, a neighborhood pigeon to take care of

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2007-10-09T19:34:00.000-06:00

Sorry I'm a day late.
I went to Banff, and had Turkey with Renato and all other artists at his program.
I like Turkey Buffets a LOT

Mr Turkey says Happy Turkey Day to you too!

Reading...

2007-10-05T11:03:00.000-06:00

a great book, if your interested in morphology!

Why No Posts? + Bread

2007-09-24T10:21:00.000-06:00

Hello, Sorry I have not posted in a little while. The big reason behind this is that Ren has taken the camera to Banff, he is doing a 7 week residency at the Banff center of the Arts and needs to document his work.

I'll try to improvise...

Last week our lab had a BBQ, I decided to make some bruscetta on home made bread. It turned out fantastically! I used the no-knee-bread recipe, which has never failed for me yet, and Wendy gave me a tonne of fresh tomatoes from their garden. I don't have any photos of the bruscetta but here is the bread, and the recipe is here!

This is my new pot to bake bread in. Its a ceramic 'rice pot' I got at safeway for $16! I was very excited when I saw thin in the rice isle

Earrings

2007-09-15T15:52:00.000-06:00

Sterling silver and etched copper

Amazing!

2007-09-14T10:03:00.000-06:00

This is an amazing presentation I lifted off of another blog.
Enjoy!

Going Places!

2007-09-13T13:03:00.000-06:00

Today some of the jewelry I sell on ETSY was featured on the blog Ulixis Crafts by Amanda. How sweet is that? Amanda said some pretty nice stuff about my jewelry. Her Etsy store is pretty dang nice too. I like her leafy journals.

It seems ETSY is taking off in a big way. I love that I can list my jewelry there with no hassle: the storefront is already made for you and you just list your materials, description, and photos and off you go!! I also like that is for handmade items only... some try to sneek mass produced items in, but ETSYers keep an eye out for those. I hope it stays that way, and no one sells things like 'the oldest lizard claw' on it

Oldest Claw, yours at only $30,000.00!!!!

2007-09-12T11:13:00.000-06:00

This got sent to me today
OMG the oldest claw in amber!!!! over 100 million years old!!!!

but wait... vertebrates existed before 100 million years ago, vertebrates with claws. I've never heard of a claw described as 'dinosaur like' either.... hmmmm
Buy it here!
But maybe I should buy it, after all, I could easily write a MAJOR scientific paper paper about it

Too bad I don't have that much money in my 'dinosaur like' bank account

Too funny

Very Big Toggle

2007-09-10T00:13:00.000-06:00

This is a toggle i have been working on for a long time. I wanted to incorperate silver and etched copper... I think it turned out really nicely! Here is the front:

And here is the back

I put it up on ETSY although I doubt anyone will buy it, the cost is high, but its because of all of the work I put into it. I figure if I put it there at least others will see it

New at Etsy

2007-09-07T10:51:00.000-06:00

I haven't been making a lot new findings for Etsy because I've been working hard at school. Yesterday I finished some tho, and they turned out really nice.

Congrats Tamara!

2007-09-05T09:55:00.000-06:00

Tamara is in Chatelaine Magazine! Of course her beautiful jewelry gets rave reviews, its amazing stuff!

New Plate Shelf

2007-09-01T11:11:00.000-06:00

Renato made me a plate shelf! Its made out of 4 types of mouldings (I think) and its for the plates Tamara made and gave us a long time ago. They are my favorite plates. I am going to hang the extra ones around the shelf along with some framed photos

Art Class Show

2007-08-30T17:34:00.000-06:00

The Biology drawing class I took had a show in August. It was fun to put up our work, attach lables, and make all of our friends come and see (we made lots of food for the opening too!) Renato gave me a boquet of flowers at the opening which was super nice. I can't say I like ALL of my drawings. But I did learn a lot in this class and I will keep practicing
Here is what I submitted:
(You can click on them to make them bigger)
Wild Strawberry

Chicken Pelvis

Giraffe Vertebra

Cowbird - Adaptation Presentation

Cowbird - Detail of Nest

Cowbird - Detail of Specimen

Stag Beetle

Back to real life!

2007-08-27T13:37:00.000-06:00

Since I've gotten back from Paris, I've been trying to really get some work done. Up until last week I had a volunteer working for me all summer helping dissect birds. Shes the best and I will miss her a lot. So now I have to process those birds, measure, photograph, as well as finish other measurements off of images, and write the whole thesis thing

I am also going to start teaching a brand new subject this fall.... Embryology! Its a tough course but has some nice benifits for the TA. No marking or out of class consoling. Lots of prep work (I've been doing the labs myself for the past 3 weeks and have just 3 more to finish) The big perk is my own little office! Its small and has now windows, but it is for me! (At least for 4 months)

Here is the teaching lab

My desk

Refridgerator for my lunch!

I also got a haircut... look fringe!! I had so much fun at the hairdressers, I wish I could go every week!

More photos of Paris

2007-08-26T14:18:00.000-06:00

Did I mention we took over 600 photos on our trip? Here are a few more:

Starting with Photos of Paris

2007-07-27T12:08:00.000-06:00

I have a lot of photos so its going to take me a while to get through them. BE WARNED!

The trip overall was fantastic. We flew out (standby) from Calgary to Detroit to Washington to Paris. First class most of the way! The first night we spent in a hotel by the airport, as we did not get our appartment until the second day. We sharred the appartment with Pat, Wendy, and Athena.

Pat, Wendy, Athena and I in front of the appartment

Athena

Renato

Wendy, we're waiting for our pub food

This was the gardens by our appartment

The Seine

Inside our appartment

Out the window

The Louvre gardens, did I mention our appartment was 1 block away from the Louvre?

Mmmmmmm!

Renato was pretty tired after aour first 2 days...

More to come!

I'm in Paris!

2007-07-15T07:26:00.000-06:00

Weee!
I'll post some photos soon!!!!

Dog Setting!

2007-07-04T09:40:00.000-06:00

We have been taking care of our Favorite Giant dogs - Clara and Lilly for the past week and will be doing it until monday. These 2 are a lot of work, but well worth it!

Lilly says: Throw that ball for me!

Clara says: Rub my belly!

Slowly My Garden Grows

2007-07-01T21:18:00.000-06:00

My garden has been recovering nicely from the hail storm. Here is some of it:

My new window basket has some herbs in it (parsley, basil, and Vietnamese taragon) as well as some snapdragons and pansies.

Renato made this little garden box out of ceader. it has a thich row of sweatpeas and snappeas in the back, and in the front some flowers.

The garden proper is still in a recovary mode. The Squashes have been killed completely, as well as the spinach, so we planted some new as well as some cabages, they are little but will get bigger over time

Today I ate the first strawberry from my one little plant. I would have taken a photo but... who can't eat their first strawberry right away?

2 weeks ago

2007-06-21T12:17:00.000-06:00

We had some hail

Most of my plants were desroyed by the pummeling. Luckally the car was not dented

Two days later it rained

...and flooded. the rest of my plants were drowned.

last weekend Ren and I went to the garden center and bought more plants to restock: Photos tomorrow!

Riley and Mattie

2007-06-19T16:51:00.000-06:00

Now that the pup is at home with Mom she can spend her time getting used to Mom's older dog, Mattie. Right now, It's hard to tell if they will ever get along...

Mom's New Pup

2007-06-18T12:38:00.000-06:00

Puppy goes home today, Mom has already done some bonding on previous visits

So cute!

3 Days in Kananaskis

2007-06-17T11:17:00.000-06:00

On June the 5th my art class went to the Kananaskis Research Station for 3 days, 2 nights. I fell in love with this place and wish I could move out there for the rest of my degree! The lodging was super clean, there were cooks who made food for you, good food, and the views were spectacular!
My only sadness is that I didn't explore outside of the station grounds, mostly because of the intense drawing I was doing inside. I will visit again to be sure
Here is the station:

I fell in love with the Richardson's ground squirrels and Barn swallows

Here are some things I was drawing, you can see a sketch of the nest behind it a little. I drew a lot more. I hope to figure out how to photograph them soon

The Past Week

2007-05-21T15:41:00.001-06:00

Has been pretty hectic! I just started taking a 'drawing for biologists' course. Its hard, but exremely useful. Here is a bird I shetched as an exercise. Tweet!

I also started teaching a first year library lab. Going good! But now no free time. other good news- crack addict in the basement left, and the landlords are now reparing his damages. I am a little fearful tho because they're new asking rent for the place is $50 more per month than our current rent. I hope SO MUCH I don't get a rent increase.

I also need a new paper shreader, what do you think of this one?

Kristie and Andrew Visit

2007-05-13T17:38:00.000-06:00

I didn't take a lot of photo's when Kris and Andrew visited, because Kris had a much more portable little camera. You can see more photos on Andrews website(http://www.3dburke.com/), and probably Kris will have some up too
These photos are from our hike up Grassi Mountain, just outside of Canmore. Its a beautiful trail, and we had a perfect day to hike

This is not the trail we took

I was excited to see this birdsnest, but my camera decided not to focus on it

There was still snow on the mountain. Kristie's ears were cold

but it was worth it because the lake was so pretty

Mom's Pup

2007-05-10T09:29:00.000-06:00

Mom is getting a puppy soon. They are not very old yet and seem to be in their slug stage but one of these is going to be hers... which one will it be...

If you're in Halifax this weekend..

2007-05-02T11:47:00.000-06:00

Go to Tamara's Show!

If I was there I would

Poor Sal, Again!

2007-05-01T23:01:00.000-06:00

One of the reasons I have been away from posting lately is Sal

Poor guy is allergic to his food. Its making his skin itchy and he is licking his fur off! Sals once voluminous pantaloons are now short shorts

The tough thing is that he can't stop eating the food. Its the only food that prevents the crystals he forms in his bladder. So instead he got a shot of cortisone and hopefully he will be relieved for a while. I will have to keep an eye on him to see when he needs his next shot

The other thing that prevents me from writing is that Kristie and Andrew are going to be visiting this Thursday and I'm turning the studio into its guest-room-mode. THis weekend is gonna rock!

Green Garnet Necklace

2007-04-24T12:20:00.000-06:00

I've finished the necklace I've been dreaming of making to go with the copper inlay toggle. Its 17" long, green garnets and bali silver strung on black silk.

The necklace is quite heavy, but thanks to its short length, it doesn't pull you down! I especially like it when the clasp is in the front and this piece reminds me that I MUST get a neck form because photographing it is almost impossible.

So... more photos of it later when I have better equipment

Saturday = Ikea day!

2007-04-23T10:44:00.000-06:00

We spent another fun saturday at Ikea. This time it was rather rushed, because Ren had a meeting soon after, and the place was very very crowded (due to the nasty snow outsude)
We still got everything we wanted and more:
I got a couple of SLOM jars to store some jewlery making chemicals

We got one of these super-cool hangers for Rens good pants

and a rolling, self watering planter for out tomatoes
(no photo found :( )
Ren got a desk for work. they needed it to be tiny and induatrial looking:

And finally our new VÄTTERN under the sink shelf is so needed in our appartment, as there is 0 storage in the bathroom. I 'm thrilled there is no longer a pile of bottles on top of the toilet tank

the only problems is that these CAPITA legs we got for it make the cabinet too tall. I'm particularly bummed because they are pretty chrome, so now I have to find shorter chrome legs to fit under the thing, any suggestions?

Overall, very good trip

Toggles gone right

2007-04-20T11:22:00.000-06:00

I've been working on some new techniques with toggles, these are 2 that actually turned out!

This one will be in a necklace i've been dreaming of making for quite some time: Copper with silver solder inlay and silver bar

Brass toggle #1! I like working with the brass more than I thought. Its because I have some brass solder. If only I could find some copper solder!

For anyone interested

2007-04-11T12:26:00.000-06:00

In the Evolution/Creationist debate, this is an excellent website

http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/list.html

Happy Birthday Kristie!

2007-04-09T10:41:00.000-06:00

Renato Made a Ring

2007-04-08T12:53:00.000-06:00

Cool No?

Scrabble with Lori and Mojo

2007-04-08T11:53:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we went to Lori's house for some BBQ and Scrabble
BBQ was awesome, despite the thick layer of snow covering everyhting

Mojo is much bigger than the last time we saw him. He is so cute tho! 8 months old, very big on chewing everything!

Mojo is a Shiba Inu

After the BBQ we played some Scrabble, Renato kicked Lori and my asses. Thats why we don't look very amused

Even more Toggles

2007-04-05T19:01:00.000-06:00

I'm on a roll!

New Hair Colour

2007-04-05T12:47:00.000-06:00

I've needed to do this for a long time...

Not perminant, but closer to my natural colour than before. Someday soon I'll have it completely back to the natural colour. Next thing on the agenda... a badly needed haircut!

"My best friend said...

2007-04-04T16:43:00.000-06:00

...that if you were a few years younger he'd date you" - Student
"Uh... thanks! I think?" - Hollie

Flowers on Brass

2007-04-04T11:27:00.000-06:00

Don't know what I will do with this yet, but it turned out great!

More Toggles

2007-03-30T10:45:00.000-06:00

New Toggles are finally at my Etsy store:

I should have a few more comming soon too, and perhaps a new shape!

Saturday = Dinner Party

2007-03-26T10:24:00.000-06:00

This Saturday we had the awesomest dinner party to date

The Challenge: One Vegetarian and One Nut Allergy

The Solution: marthstewart.com

I should have taken some photos of the food, but didn't so you will have to use your imaginations
I made Broccoli Calzones, fried chickpeas, and lentil green curry with tofu
Renato made vegetable and chicken (separately) skewers with sweet sauce
Dessert was a banana tart, which I've made before but thought would go perfectly

Erin and Jason brought over a beautiful bunch of flowers which I just had to take photos of. Inertia especially loved this bunch of flowers, making it a little difficult to photograph them in the sun.

Dotty Setting

2007-03-25T11:14:00.000-06:00

On Friday we spent the night with out friends dog Dotty, she was alone for the night and needed some company

Dotty doesn't like having her photo taken much, but she does like belly rubs!

Taxes

2007-03-23T09:56:00.000-06:00

Renato and I went to get out taxes done yesterday at the H&R

We were planning on having to pay back probably $2000, because Renato's last job did not pay into taxes... so we had saved up.
However, we also started a small joint buisness last year. What a great idea that was! In the end both Ren and I got a *little* bit of cash back. The saved up $$ can go onto student loans and nasty credit, yay!!!

I tried to hug the tax lady, she did not let me complete the gesture.

Another Wacky Spot

2007-03-22T11:59:00.000-06:00

This comming Wednesday, Ikea's big sale will be on the MARKÖR TV storage unit, Regularly $399, on sale for $199!!

It's beautiful, but even with the $200 markdown, it is out of my price range. I am hoping one of these Wednesdays there will be a nice area rug on sale, because mine's not looking so hot anymore

I did it

2007-03-19T13:23:00.000-06:00

I finally got up enough courage to propose to Renato
I did it this Sunday, in the park, it was snowy and cold but I even did it standing on a nice little footbridge
Here is the ring I gave him (the one on the top)

its made from the wood of a wine barel, made by Craftsman (craftsman.etsy.com)
And... He said YES! So I'm engaged
Yay!!

Hollie Buys Stuff

2007-03-15T12:29:00.000-06:00

I don't usually buy a lot of stuff most of the time. Yesterday was an exception. It was Wacky Wednesday at IKEA, so one item was at a CRAZY low price. This time it was a TOVIK wadrobe: Normally $269 - Yesterday $69!!!

Renato is going to turn it into a Jewelry bench, it will take some time, and hopefully I can post some progress photos, but it should turn out awesome
Renato put it together yesterday so we could get an idea of what we are working with. Nailing made a lot of noise and guy downstairs got a little miffed. Ne said some not so nice things while banging on the celing. OOPS! He's probably more pissed bacause I asked him not to smoke in the building.

I also bought some pillows so that I could finally use the pillow covers Julie and Natalie gave us for Christmas, they are a beautiful creamsicle colour!

Did you see what they got Sal and Inertia for christmas? Sweet!

I also came home to find 2 books I ordered on Amazon 2 weeks ago had already arrived! I am very excited to look through both of them, it'll take some tim tho... they are both HUGE!

Happy Pi Day!!

2007-03-14T12:56:00.000-06:00

March 14th is Pi day!

Time to go celibrate the area of a circle, and other great things you can figure out from Pi

Yay Pi

Sunday at the Truck

2007-03-11T20:44:00.000-06:00

I finally have some photos of the Truck
Here's the building

Renato loves those doors!

This is the door to the gallery proper, We found out today it is all copper! Ren wants to shine it up, I think it'll look great!

This is the Entry way

This is the gallery proper

The flash makes the gallery look a bit strange, and there is more around the corner.

Let me talk about my hair...

2007-03-07T17:44:00.000-07:00

I don't normally talk about products on my blog, but why the heck not?
Yesterday I bought Dove Deep Conditioning Treatment because I need a really good conditioner (due to the dry Calgary) and it was on sale. Today I have decided I very much love this product, as I cannot stop running my fingers through my hair. This you might think could be destracting at work, but today I marked midterms and read papers, so it was not very distracting for me or my co-workers (As far as I can tell)

In other news... The crack addict below me has not paid this months utilities, surprise! It was a week overdue Sunday, so I put a nice note on his door. The notes will become increasingly rude as the days progress. The landlord is going to take over the utility bills and just charge us on a month-to-month basis. but changing accounts is a very hard thing for the Calgary electricity and gas companies to do, so it will take them 2 months to process.

The lab is starting to smell like cirtus... but not in a good way... I think I will go home now

Toodles!

Announcing...

2007-03-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

Renato is now officially the new director of the Truck Contemporary Art Gallery in Calgary!

I could not find any photos of the gallery itself online so I will have to go and take some. Its a really wonderful space

Instead I found these fun logos and animations

My New Hat

2007-02-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

I just made one fantastic trade today. It was with knittles (p://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5040064) Who are located here in Calgary! Olga traded this hat for my Crazy O necklace, a piece I really wanted to go to a good home. The hat is made of beautiful wool and matches my red coat perfectly!! Thank you Olga and Mavis for the awesome trade!

One More Reason Why I Want To Be David Attenborough When I Grow Up

2007-02-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

http://throwawayyourtv.com/2006/08/lyrebird-unbelievable-jungle-bird.html

When people ask me what I'm going to do with my degree, I often say I want the PhD, but in the end, I want to become the next David Attenboroug. I love how he talks about birds, and then they magically appear beside him. Its true, I'm not an old british dude, so I can't have the accent. I will have to have another gimick... Hopefully it will come clear with my increasing knowledge of birds
Thank you Bob for this link