Dear Mom,

 i've become bored, for the moment, with sewing and knitting, but shall resume soon, i assume.  i was in a cleaning mood today, so i did all the deep cleaning for which i had energy.  then we went grocery shopping and jon nicely carried in all the bags. here's the start to a baby washcloth i'm making:

will end up being approximately 6" x 6"

i think i want to knit or crochet a baby blanket too when we find out the gender, which i think will be in late may.  i want to find some fluffy, fuzzy, baby-touch-friendly yarns to make it though.  that might take some hunting. 


the birds (mostly sparrows and chickadees) are loving their vernal equinox feeder.  i will keep filling it all the way through fall.  it's too small for robins, but two females made a go at it one day.  i wonder if i should get them a feeder too.  if you look really closely, you can see one of the sparrows on the roof waiting for me to leave the balcony so he or she can get back to the food:

jon brought home sushi for dinner last night.  i'm not supposed to eat raw fish, so i got a caterpillar roll (rice, seaweed, eel, cucumber, tempura shrimp, lined with avocado on top, and unagi [eel] sauce).  it was so delicious:

jon got some gyoza (that puff pastry looking thing - filled with pork and veggies) and some salmon sashimi (individual slices of raw salmon - trust me, it's good - it tastes like velvet ocean) that he likes to dip in soy sauce.  this place near us called Oishi makes the best and least-expensive sushi:

here's margie begging for some of my food, but she didn't get any because it was so good i finished it all:

pat ramsey gave me some pussy willows - she grows them in her yard!  they look so nice on my table:

we got some torrential thunder and rain storms last night.  the grass sure is green today after the rain.  yesterday, before it rained, it got so stuffy in our apartment that i broke down and turned the air conditioner on for a few hours.  not even fans in the windows had been helping cool it down.  however, in no way am i complaining about the lovely march weather we've been having.  it's like early summer!  yay!


talk to you again soon.


your daughter.

Dear Mom,

 i haven't been able to eat much meat lately (pregnancy symptom), like, kind of not at all - it's turned me back into a vegetarian - but the other day i got a craving for a very Minnesotan meal - something i've seen you make a lot: Tuna fish Casserole:

it was delicious

in addition to making up my own recipe - while consulting online versions - i also discovered that i didn't have any cream soups.  my favorite in casseroles is always cream of mushroom or cream of celery... and i didn't have any mushrooms, but i had lots of celery, so i made my own cream of celery soup:

i had some leftover for chicken chop suey, your recipe

 
that Glisten you gave me sure did work!  notice the yellow/cream plate; that was the color of the dishwasher before Glisten, and after it was gleaming white, and got rid of all the hard water spots on my dishes and glasses, just like you promised:

Jon made a meal i requested on wednesday night.  usually i cook because he's tired after working all day, but it smells soooooooo much better when he does.  it's something Tim taught him, i think - penne, tomatoes, toasted walnuts, with a bleu cheese cream sauce.  it's supposed to have chicken in it, but i don't like meat lately, as i mentioned.  mmmmmm, it was so good:

and i ate all the leftover the next day for lunch

we ran out of bread yesterday, and i really wanted some, and neither jon nor i wanted to go shopping, so i just made some with what ingredients i had.  i didn't have any bread flour, but this "Crusty Cob" turned out okay with all-purpose.  i have this great book called "100 Great Breads" by paul hollywood, and he gives really interesting tips - one of which was: you don't always have to dissolve yeast in warm water, just throw it in ... and, the longer bread takes to rise (like when in a refrigerator), the more flavor it will have... etc., etc.:

i had so much fun making it, i don't think i'll even buy bread anymore!

this morning, i had some toast from the bread i made, with raspberry jam (with seeds).  it was pretty good, but i'm going to invest in a bunch of flours and yeast, etc. to make it right next time... and experiment with other breads.  wow, i'm really turning into dad.  pretty soon, i'll be making divinity and home-made tootsie rolls.  Margie got a little taste of my toast too, because i got full (the bread was dense):

breakfast on the balcony in warm spring is my favorite thing

 i'm knitting some baby washcloths, and making some maternity dresses for myself, but i will show you pictures when they're done.  i better go take a shower and then take margie for a walk in this nice weather!!!

Dear Mom ...

i made your Special K bars the other day. it was hard work cutting them. but the taste sure is worth it.  notice the traditional splash of flour on my face to show that i worked sufficiently hard:

i made myself some maternity pants.  they still need some work.  i'm going to add a stretchy Belly Band to the top (so i can easily slip them on and off), and finish the hems. i used my usual pattern - cutting a bigger version around pants i already had and making alterations as i go.  my sewing machine makes me mad, so i just hand-stitched these.  it's actually kind of relaxing to sit and stitch:

i bought my first piece of maternity clothing.  this is my belly at two months along.  (dear hips, please don't get any wider. same goes for you, chest).  i plan to use it as a template also for making other dresses.  i decided i want to wear more dresses.  watching Mary Tyler Moore made me think this.  she had such great dresses.   

all my life i have lived with a rope plant (hoya carnosa), but have never seen one bloom!  but here is mine blooming - i guess i finally have it in the right window and it likes Miracle Grow:

 i think homemade things are so much better and more loved than store bought things.  here are toys i'd like to make for my kid - rough ideas anyway:

How cute - the little monster fits in the big one!

weird snowman with long carrot nose

striped rabbit

woodland creatures

the end. for today.

Updates For My Mom, Who Is The Only One Who Reads This

My birthday present to Jon this year was telling him this:

I have almost survived the first trimester's gifts of debilitating nausea, headaches, exhaustion (i'm talking 3-4 hour naps, plus 10 hours of sleep at night), and achey-ness.

Phineas posed for a cute picture the other night:

 

...at the same time, Margie was taking a very cute nap on Jon's pillows:

African Violets that i bought at Festival a year ago are in bloom again:

My hair got way too long and stringy and damaged, so i got a haircut a couple days ago. It's just like the shag i had the summer after 5th grade:

I enjoy the many spam comments i get on this blog now - keep 'em coming!  you really know how to sell me crap!