K: 2008

last week i found a schwinn collegiate 5 speed next to a dumpster and other trash. both wheels were bent and tires flat and cracking. it was an obviously free (no way friends can tell me im stealing) bicycle.

it was kind of painted a little black and kind of a little orange, but mostly it was scraped up and rusty poop brown color (like my eyes).

the chain was hella rusty and all jammed up and the cables were old and rusting with pokey frayed edges. it had that gross foamy tubing on the handlebars that was all cut up and old.

the chain guard was all bent up, it would hit the crank when pedaling.

the front drop outs were funny (look at the further back one) they were very narrow and then opened up. my wheel axel wouldnt fit. i bought a metal file and filed it out so that it came straight forward (look at the closer one). this took longer than i expected. about 30 minutes on each fork end.

i ripped off most of the icky handlebar foam. i sanded the frame down. i primed part of one side of it and the chain guard, and painted the top of it hot pink. it was a very homely bicycle for 2 days. when it comes to brakes, i get a D or an F. corin came over and helped me adjust my brake and put in a new brake cable, in funny red cable housing. i changed the pedals. i also bought a hacksaw and took off the nubby parts of the cable stays, then filed them down. soon, i will get some dremel bits and dremel them down flat.

it had a nice decal of a bike saying schwinn hopkins and some other stuff.

here she is. the lighter parts are kind of the color of mint chocolate chip ice cream. i got some black handle bar tape.

i used contact paper to mask off the edges, but it didnt work that well. later this week i am going to clean up the edges with a teeny tiny brush and then varnish the not black parts because it is not shiny enough and it will chip really easily.

i have some funny plaid leather and i think i might make it a seat cover with that. im not sure what i want to do with the schwinn logo on the front. i have been being a hermit and working on projects. it got kind of messy for a little bit. i mopped tonight, my floor is so shiny!

i have been having fun with face masks. look at me, im ol'gregg! (if you dont know who that is, you should).

sunday caffetto craft fair

today caffetto had a craft fair. corin, matthew and i sat at a table with corins bike cozies, jessicas little guys and bags that i made. it was overcast all day with nice breezes. perfect weather to be outside all day.

corin setting up the cozies!
if you dont know about corins bike cozies, they are amazing. you snap it on the part of your frame where you lock up, and then your lock and polls dont scratch the paint. plus they are cute. they are felt lined and the snaps are real sturdy. if its a little wet out they soak up the spray from your tire and act as a fender, if it gets dirty, you just wash it. they are knit out of wool and/or acrylic yarn, in any color. you probably need one.

our table. this picture was taken right after my strap broke on my dress!!! matthew was my hero with a needle and thread mending. also a hero with an wonderful egg spinach fish sandwich.

tom didnt get nearly as excited as i had hoped about mini muffins! today i had two mini foods. a mini donut and mini muffin!

my garden

this is my garden. all it it is now is some kale and a whole lot of cucumbers. there are a few stray beans, but i dont think they will last much longer.

here is sadie next to my biggest radish plant, and maybe smallest radish.

it is nearly as tall as i am.

my cucumber mustache. next year i will have a cucumber only garden, and a regular garden. it will be amazing.

tuesday

today i took matthew alley shopping with me.

i found some fabric. a man started following us and asked if we wanted to take whatever we wanted from his storage closet, he said he was going to be throwing it all away anyways. we went with him. it was in angies old building. we saw his apartment first! there was a giant stuffed toy tiger sprawled in front of his big tv. it was a really interesting apartment. the basement was neat. the fire door was so cool, with a weight still on it. ive never seen one like that. the walls in the storage hallway were beautiful beadboard. the doors were pretty old wood too. all stained dark and not scuffed up. matthew got some work gloves. we each got a christmas paddle ball. i got some "super spheres" christmas light balls. they have the little light burst star cover things, my favorite kind of christmas lights. i just need to dismantle the spheres. i also got a peugeot pepper grinder and some gold picture frames.

here are some of the lights that i freed them from their wiffle ball. it is turning out to be a much tougher task than i had hoped. hopefully they will be in string form by fall.

i have been wanting a pepper grinder, perfect timing. it is cute too. like a chess piece.

we walked by where the other day yasmine almost stepped on the bird... another bird fell and someone didnt have a friend to tell them to watch out.

flat like a pancake. damn. birdcake. or would it be sidewalk cake because its made on a sidewalk? pancake made in a pan, not a flourmilkeggscake.

chicken, continued

here are the ingredients...

whole chicken
fresh garlic
celery
new potatoes
poultry mix of fresh herbs
magic seasoning
pearl onions
white wine

i watched a tutorial online of how to truss a chicken and i did a much better job this time than i did the last time. look, the bow is tied around the neck. fancy. the chicken is stuffed with pearl onions and garlic.

i cooked it at about 375 until i got a reading of 180 in the thickest part of the thigh. i am still skeptical of my ability to cook meat so i cut it open too, to check the color and make sure the juice was clear.

i meant to put carrots in there too. as you can see, they are still in my carrot dish under my eggies.

so i can cook a chicken by myself now too.
these things i am cooking are good, but they dont taste like something i cook. they taste like something i eat at someone elses house. someones aunts house. now i need to figure out how to cook them so that they taste like i want them to be. they just taste kind of boring. good, but boring.

monday evening!

i got off work early. i got some pearl onions in the cull bin, and that meant that i had to come up with a new unsupervised meat cooking project that i could use them in. i decided on a whole chicken, its the cheapest and i can have chicken all week, and share!
on my way home i found a mirror, an old and pretty one. well, i broke the bottom off in my buildings doorway, so back to the alley it went, a man hanging out was real excited for it to be his mirror, he has a glass cutter and can cut off my broken part. i wonder how many years bad luck i will get if i find the mirror i broke a new life.
i went to ace and bought a window fan, mine disappeared at the old house before moving. now i can bake and hopefully keep the apartment cooler than it would have been otherwise. my ceiling fan is better now too, smartypants matthew switched a secret switch on it that changes the blade direction and makes things cooler. i had no idea that switches like that even existed!
a word of wisdom: dont buy the pieceofshit schwinn patch kits from target. they blow. really. literally.

time to prep the chicken...

friendster

i forgot about friendster, then i remembered and looked to see if my profile was still there. it was. the pictures were all at least 3 years old. i didnt have these pictures anymore so it was kind of exciting.

look at how long my hair was! i want that hair again! beautiful ponytails all the time.

one day cait and i got 40s and biked to the creek. we sat in a secret woods fort that belonged to some boys and they rode cute old bikes, their grandmas cruisers.

then i decided i hated my hair and wanted short hair. this is part of the hair pile.

kirk drew us. it was a fun night.

from my last weeks free clip art sampler.

i dont know if you like clip art, but i love it (you knew that). you can sign up for free at the dover website and get free samplers each week. none of it is copywritten and there are some really neat pictures.

watching oprah wednesday night, late

here are the 2 plants together in one pot. i hope it works.

this is my bruise-y gross arm.

my favorite candies from macys in the basement.

wednesday!

today i had a work meeting on my day off, boo. i went to steeple people and got some garters and cookie cutters. after work i met up with yasmine and we walked lily the dog.

we found a dead baby bird, yasmine alsmost stepped on it. that would have been terrible.

it was so tiny and cute and dead. it looked like it fell from a nest 3 stories up that was under the roof edge.

i picked it up with a napkin that was also on the sidewalk. yasmine said i should throw it in the storm drain, so i did. it was so light, like an air bird.

i found a wooden box. i put 2 of my hawaiian scheffleras in it. they are a very top heavy plant, i knock them over weekly. hopefully the box will keep them weighted and my floor clean.

i got some wheatgrass in the cull bin at work. i am going to try to plant it with another hawaiian schefflera in a big pot. i hope that works.

today was the 5th official ponytail. i bought some eyemakeup remover so now i can wear all the mascara i want.

this is my bathroom light. the knickknacks never end. i thought i would paint the walls pink, but now im not sure.

taylor is my hero today. he got my tire back on the rim. thank you taylor.

these are questions i like to ask myself and others...

today what was...
...the cutest thing?
silas showing off his karate moves at movies in the park.
...the sadest thing?
dead baby bird
...the happiest thing?
lily the dog exploring my apartment

morning sun.

my windows face east and the morning light is so beautiful. it starts to fade away near eleven, it keeps the same light after that all day long.

the floors are such a pretty color when the sun hits it. that picture doesnt do it justice.

this is my new favorite pillow case and pillow. i cannot sleep very well with feather pillows. they make me sneeze. i woke up around 8 and for some reason stared at my door lock thinking it would open. about ten minutes later someone pounded on my door. i said "hello" and a girl said "hi. im having an emergency." she sounded really panic-y and so i opened the door. there was a girl in her robe and she explained how she doesnt live here, her boyfriend does and he is out of town and a pipe burst and she has no idea what the number is to call. i invited her in and found the number for her. she said my apartment was cute and left saying the sink was flooding and thank you so much.

these are some newly planted in dirt plant babies. the little ones.

some other newly planted plant babies. with a plant cat from jessica.

from my kitchen. i tried to make breakfast twice. the first one something went wrong with the eggs and i hated them, instead of crying i just started over.