Goodwill Hunting: Tiger, $8.00

Oh, Padonia Road Goodwill; you always do me right. I found this beautiful portrait in chalks (a pastel, if you will) of a tiger there today, along with some great yoga clothes. Why do I mention the yoga gear? Well, over the past four months I've become obsessed with Bikram yoga and it sort of involves tigers.

Part of the Bikram instruction encourages you to use your "Bengal tiger strength" and I've always loved the way those words create an image in my mind and, in turn, a renewed sense of my ability to flex or point, hold or breathe. You are usually told to summon your Bengal tiger strength in the Standing Head-to-Knee asana: ugh, so hard! Having this handsome tiger hanging on my wall is a visual reminder of the power and grace I hope to someday muster in such a pose.

There is an artist's signature in the bottom right corner of the pastel: L.D. Harvey. Not surprisingly, I couldn't track down any information about Mr/Ms Harvey. What I do know is that he or she gave this tiger a sense of vulnerability: the eyes look a little concerned, or curious. The chalk gives the tiger a sense of softness that makes me want to reach out and pet his chin or his tiny ears. Based on my experience with the "tiger" (pictured below) that lives in my apartment, I'd probably regret doing that.

Massive

Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins.

This time of year is filled with pumpkins. So I am dedicating this post to all things pumpkin. I hope you get some inspiration/ideas/enjoyment out of this post!

One thing I really look forward to this time of year is pumpkin pie. Or pumpkin cheesecake. Or pumpkin soup. A quick search for pumpkin recipes brings up hundreds of ideas. Check out these from Allrecipes.com. The roast pumpkin and feta risotto sounds delish. But back to pumpkin pie. It's a must have seasonal treat. Pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg -- fall rolled into one dish. Here's a recipe that I like. I've always used canned pumpkin, more so because it is super easy (and still tasty). Here is a photog of a pumpkin pie my dad made yesterday:

Another well known thing to do with pumpkins during the fall is carving or decorating them. Growing up we used to carve pumpkins every year. My least favorite bit was the initial cleaning out of all the pumpkin goo. Although I loved roasting pumpkin seeds! When we were younger, my dad would help us do the carving with a handmade drawing. But as we got older, we used those pumpkin carving kits - the ones with the designs, pokers and little saws. I don't know how many of those little saws I broke...

Carving is super fun -- but I'm a total believer in painting them too! The cool thing about pumpkin painting is that you can have a fun pumpkin decoration for the entire month of October -- instead of just a week around Halloween! That's a plus. Here are some neat pumpkin painting ideas I've seen recently...

I'm a big fan of the plaid ones and the zigzag pattern. Who would have thought about puffy paint on pumpkins!? Pumpkin painting is also fun to do with younger kids before they are really old enough to carve! 

And now for our last pumpkin themed topic for the night...

PUNKIN CHUNKIN

Punkin chunkin is a Delaware specialty -- it has been since replicated in other places. But Delaware has the hold on the biggest event for sure. In about 35 days, the world championship punkin chunkin competition will begin. What is punkin chunkin?!? Well basically, it is throwing pumpkins! Teams build large catapults and try their best to out throw their competition. The Discovery Channel airs a whole show on it...so make sure to tune in!

Regardless of whether you like to eat, decorate or throw (or all three) your pumpkins, enjoy this month of pumpkin goodness! 

Super Easy Freestyle Apple Pie

Below are directions and picture to this super easy apple pie.

What you need 

3 - Apples, thinly sliced

1 - ready-to-use refrigerated crust

2 tsp of flour

1/4 cup of sugar

Directions

1. Heat over at 450 degrees. Line pie plate with crust

2. Toss apples with sugar and flour and spoon apples over crust

3. Fold crust and partially cover apples

4. Bake for 25 minutes

My husband dug into the pie before I had a chance to take a picture of it out of the oven :)


Enjoy!

A Photo Essay: Walking around Looking on a Saturday...Dream Houses (Part 2)

Last week I shared photos from my walk around Guilford that focused on art and nature...today, dream houses! As an architecture lover, walking around looking at eclectic architecture is like going through an outdoor museum!

Gorgeous House # 1

(Starting with the view of the street before turning left onto the street)

Gorgeous House # 2

Gorgeous House # 3

Gorgeous House # 4

(Love that chimney!)

Gorgeous Houses # 5 and #6 

(I can't tell you how many times I walked by these babies in college longingly...)

Gorgeous House # 7

(Had to do this one in pieces!)

Gorgeous House # 8

(I just love the approach when walking from the south across the street!)

Gorgeous House # 9

Gorgeous House # 10

Gorgeous House # 11

And a bonus from right where Charles and St. Paul split...

In conclusion, walking around looking at gorgeous houses in beautiful weather is definitely on my top 5 list for an afternoon well spent with beauty and inspiration!

That's all for today, friends!

--Lael

Cars, cars, cars!

Last weekend, I went to the Hagley car show at Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington, Delaware. In general, I am not a big car person but I love old things. This year was the 17th annual car show, featuring pick up trucks! How fantastic. Here's a little history off the Hagley website:

"Legend has it that the inspiration for the pickup truck came from Down Under when an Australian farmer wrote to the head of Ford Australia in 1932 asking them to create a vehicle that could "take her family to church on Sunday and the pigs to market on Monday." Though that request did lead to the design of a utility vehicle with an enclosed cab and a utility bed, the reality is that earliest vehicles resembling today’s pickup trucks were produced for the military during World War I and that both Chevy and Dodge were producing pickup trucks for the public by 1918. This year’s feature section of the show field will include examples of these earliest American pickup trucks." 

In addition to pickup trucks, there were over 600 cars on display, a jukebox display inside and fun music from the mid-twentieth century. A feast for the eyes (and ears)!

We also met  Tow Mater (from Disney's Cars):

Beyond the show itself, Hagley is a beautiful place to see! Situated along the banks of the Brandywine River, it is the site of the gunpowder mills founded by E. I du Pont in 1802. 

Check out this intro video on youtube.

Here are a few photographs of the rest of the property that I took a few days ago. I know it will be gorgeous in the fall!

 They have a craft show coming in October. I'll be there!

Scrapbooking Portable Storage

There are some lucky people that have the room in their house to have a designated area in their house for crafts and scrap booking. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people. I have all my scrap booking items in a bag that I pull out when I'm ready to do some scrap booking. It is very useful and does not take up a lot of space.

I had received this bag as a Christmas present from my husband. He knew that I have lots of scrap booking tools and stationary and no where to keep it all together. With this bag its easy for me to just pull it out when I have time. All I need to do is clear off my dining room table and get to work.

Another way to keep things organized within your bag is to get plastic envelopes or dividers. Most people use these to organize coupons but the use them to organize stickers, old invitations, announcements, etc.

These totes are also great to take on vacation or a weekend away. All your tools are available when you get that itch to scrapbook.

Below are some options of bag similar to the one I have. Prices vary depending on size. They could also be found at your local craft stores and super centers.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Olympia-Rolling-Shopper-Polka-Dot-Tote/19688385

http://www.walmart.com/ip/American-Tourister-Atmosphera-Black-Rolling-Tote/20469675

http://www.creativememories.com/Content/Shop/Product.aspx?pr=InspectOffering&s=642765&dpr=BrowseCategory&ds=/Hierarchy/Paper%20Scrapbooking/Organizers