Wedding Wedding Wedding

I am thrilled to have been asked to create bridal and wedding party jewellery for an event on the 31st of July of this year. I am particularly thrilled because I get to keep one set for myself since I am the sister of the bride! Congrats to Micha and Rob! 


In our earliest discussions, we've talked about doing an identical style for all 5 girls (4 bridesmaids and a soloist) but with different stones in them according to each girl's taste. I've also mentioned picking one stone and having 5 slightly differing styles to suit each girl. I figured that way I could really maximise the quality of the strands of stones I was using without having to necessarily buy a lot of stones to make it! I don't want to charge her up the wazzoo for it: she is my sister after all! However, since Micha is giving these as gifts to her attendants, I want something that each girl will wear forever as a reminder of her friendship with Micha and of the day...

More on this story as it develops, but meantime...thoughts? Opinions?  If you were in the wedding party would you prefer a piece of jewellery in your favourite stone, or in a stone you maybe hadn't had a chance to wear before in a style that suited you???

Inquiring minds want to know!!!

Giveaway!

My dear friend Auntie Di of the Tempting Tart, Auntie Di's De-Lites, et al, is having a great giveaway on her blog! Check it out here:http://auntiedis.blogspot.com/2010/03/life-is-too-short-for-mediocre-candles.html

Another Monday, Another Feature!

I'm the featured Etsian in another great blog! Check this out! http://auntiedis.blogspot.com/2010/02/wildheather-beat-monday-blahs-give-away.html

Lazy Sunday: WildWildlife

I have a section of my Etsy shop that is reserved for one of my other big passions: wildlife photography. I feel blessed to call one of the most beaufiful places in the world my home:  British Columbia. I haven't been lucky enough to visit the whole province yet, but I am confident that in all its vast biodiversity, there are visually stunning landscapes to be found in its every corner! Today, I'd like to share with you one of my favourite places and one of my favourite species to photograph. Again, I feel blessed to be able to see these so abundantly in the wild that, around here, people take them for granted, when there are places in the US and Canada where people have only seen them in sanctuaries and zoos. I am talking of course of the incredible majesty that is a bald eagle.

The resident bald eagle population in BC is thought to number about 20,000. During the winter months, this swells when some of the Alaska population comes south to breed. Although bald eagles are naturally opportunistic feeders*, they are classed as a sea eagle, so their preferred habitat is close to the ocean. This location fits the bill nicely. It's an abandoned Canadian Forces Base located in Boundary Bay BC. It is home to a number of species of birds year round, as well as to several family groups of eagles. Yesterday morning, we ventured out to see how many we could see. We were very well rewarded, spotting no fewer than (and possibly more than) a dozen individuals. In fact, when we first arrived, we were greeted by a sentry at the entrance to the base. It was a very large mature individual in full immaculate plumage; probably a big female (Interesting fact: bald eagles are sexually dimorphic: the mature females are 25% larger than the males.)

Isn't she stunning? She sat there all morning long, completely unconcerned about any of us with our cameras, barely even deigning to look down upon us. My dogs she ignored completely, dismissing them as too big to bother with. This spot is very popular with local dog owners, and owners of small dogs have told me that they are keeping their dogs closer than usual, as the sight of a smaller dog will often put the birds up in the air to circle overhead; opportunistic feeders indeed? Why wait for a wily young rabbit to flush when you can snack on  a nice juicy Chihuahua instead? 

At another point we saw a pair of young juveniles in a tree. They appear to be first year juveniles; their plumage is still all dark, as are their eyes, but the cere of the beak is yellow already, as are their feet. 

It continually amazes me that I can walk almost up under them, until they decide they have had enough. Then, if you are REALLY fortunate, you get a shot like this...

This print, entitled TAKEOFF, will be available for purchase in a limited edition 8 x 10 metallic black & white print,suitable for framing, in my Etsy shop. It will sell for $35 plus shipping, and $7 from every purchase will go to Delta Orphaned Wildlife. You can also enter to win a limited edition colour 5x7 print by visiting Auntie Di's blog, here....http://auntiedis.blogspot.com/2010/02/purdythings-beat-monday-blahs-give-away.html where I will be this week's Beat the Monday Blahs featured guest!

Other things...

So, besides jewellery, and cooking, I love to knit. Specifically, I love knitting scarves and shawls, because they're easy and uncomplicated, and I find the repetition very soothing. Almost meditative. Since I've been off work, I have knit myself 3 scarves and a 'prayer shawl' that I love (but Mr. Wild* calls me "Granny" when I wear it outside the house) plus one scarf for my sister in law. I've knit all but one scarf in Lion Brand Homespun, because I love the feel and texture of it, and that it's machine washable and dryer safe. I also love the 29 or so colourways that it's available in. In fact I love it so much that all 4 (and the 2 unfinished/ongoing) finished projects have been in different colours!

A scarf is one skein, the shawl is 3 (though the pattern says 4, I disagree). The latest scarf is done in a colourway called Waterfall, and in seed stitch. It is cast on in an uneven number of stitches, and then knit1 purl 1 every row until it's the length you want. Add a fringe, and presto!

Clearly, Willie approves.

*NOT his real name, clearly, However, using his real name to 'talk about him on the Internet' is verboten.

What's for Dinner, Wild? (In which I channel my inner Alton Brown...)

I thought I might change things up a little and include a recipe post, since all the cool kids do it! I really enjoy cooking, but with just the Mr. and me, I don’t get too fancy too often. This isn’t fancy either, just a favourite dinner that combines simple ingredients in a really yummy way. It’s made even simpler with help from your local Costco. Without further ado, I present: Garlic Pepper Chicken and Brazilian Rice, with step by step pictures, yet!!!


Here’s what you need to start:

Brazilian Rice:

1 cup long rain white rice*

25 ml (1/8 cup) vegetable oil (Plain old canola works just fine: tart it up with EVOO if you wanna)

about 2/3 of a medium onion, diced

½ tsp minced pure garlic (I don't mince my own: I use a 100% pure minced garlic product)

Coarse ground black pepper to taste

Better than Bouillon paste, Chicken Flavour

2 cups hot water

(Lovely food stylist shot here...)

Directions:

Heat oil in a medium saucepan with a tight-fitting lid.

Combine onions, garlic, and black pepper. (You could also throw in just a pinch of kosher salt here, but I forgot today)

(I admit...I don't like onions. Never have, never will. HOWEVER, I double the amount the recipe calls for, and chop them coarser, because I like the flavour they give the rice.

 Yes,  it's contradictory: have you MET me?

A tip to start:  wash your rice. I know, you stopped washing rice a long time ago, right? Me too.

(Washed rice in my lovely big Pampered Chef Measure and Pour!)

DON’T!! Washing rice helps break down the starches and gives you a much fluffier finished product. Plus it’s fun! Just fill a bigger bowl than you need with warm water and rub the rice together between your palms until the water looks more like milk! (Also, I have to say, I think the rice water is good for softening my hands. More research required.) Drain carefully.

Brown in hot oil until golden (or until it smells right! HA!) Then, pour in your washed rice and let it pick up the lovely flavours of the browned onion garlic mixture.

(A tad more browned than usual, due to a wicked headcold...)

Now. About this here bouillon paste.

(Happily accepting endorsements, should any be forthcoming...)

I like the flavour of this better than any other bouillon around. It comes in Chicken, Beef, Pork, Vegetable and Turkey flavours. This is my personal spin on the original recipe, true, but I’ll never buy anything else but this again. Add a generous half teaspoon to your hot water.

Pour over hot rice mixture and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20-25 minutes until all water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork. Serve immediately as a side dish. This is portioned for 4 servings, but I swear I could eat the whole thing myself.

Costco Garlic Pepper Chicken

This comes oven-ready, so it's not really a recipe as much as it is a pointer. If you haven't had it before, I highly recommend it! It is a really nice blend of chili, garlic and other spices, marinating nice thick split chicken breasts with the backs removed. Because it's Costco, it comes 5 breasts to a package, so I either split it into packages of 3 and 2, or I cook it all and make really yummy flavourful sandwiches the next day with the leftovers. They would be really yummy thrown into leftover Indian food.

(Once again, happy to endorse...)

Here are my tips: Cook it in a Pyrex baking dish. It's relatively easy to clean and you get even heat, whether your oven is predictable or not (mine is not!)

Cook it about 350 degrees (more if you have a 'slow' oven. Again, mine is not. It's fast. In other words, the heat isn't accurate and if I don't want my meals to burn I either have to adjust temperature or timing or both) for about 50 minutes.

(Rest well, little chickens...)

Then, pull it out of the oven and let it sit, foil covered, while you put the meal together. I think I read this tip on Mrs. B's blog, and I am following it from now on. To this, let me add...never EVER cook your chicken breasts with the skin OFF. Ever. Give it to your hubby to eat, or the cat, or the dog, or throw it away if you must, but cooking chicken breasts with the skin on makes 'em taste better and keeps them more moist!

So...there you have it, and here's how it looked all plated up.

(Yummo, indeed!)

Don't you wish you'd been here?


Enjoy!

Brag just a little

I am so impressed with how this ring turned out!!

Remember this garnet?

Very pretty, but not too impressive on its own. It had nice colour and clarity, but little did I know what it would look like after I set it.

I'm not going to say too much about how I made the ring shank. I will say that I really like the shape of it and will strive to duplicate it for many future projects! It was hammer textured and then brush finished before it was tumbled. I had to set it into a premade bezel cup, but future rings will feature handmade bezels. Here's the finished ring:

This picture was taken with the ring sitting on my bench anvil! It would have been nice if I had remembered to polish the stone quickly first. The white reflection is my full spectrum magnifying light overhead, mimicking natural daylight.

A closeup view so you can see the texture in the band. In this view it's possible to see a little bit of the E6000 jewellery adhesive I used on the back of the cabochon, because it wasn't fully set yet. Now that it has had time to cure, you can't see it anymore.

And finally,

How it looks on my finger! Because that's what's most important, right? I am really quite taken with this ring, I must say, especially now that I have wiped the shmutz off of it! :-D

And what did you do today?