Kristentopia

Grown up…

Dec 4th, 2009 by Kristen

While the kids were young, I spent quite a bit of time in the laundry room rescuing (attempting to rescure?) clothing and other things handled by two loving to live, school age kids.

This laundry was well, functional, and a bit drab in the decorating department. White wall, white appliances, dull garbage can.

This also meant tons of homework, art and projects that didn’t fit on the fridge.

Enter push pins, artwork, and the laundry room. My new art gallery featuring the work of Boy and Girrl.

As they grew, the art changed, evolved, matured and diminished.

Now I get my fix of artwork from Boy in the interwebs and see Girrl’s work live at her concerts.

The laundry room art gallery is looking a bit tired. Some artwork didn’t survive the daily/weekly walk past or the antics of kittens jumping to pull off a cut out cat tail blowing from the vent.

It’s time to salvage the work, take it down, and secure it away to share with their kids whenever that might be.

But this leaves me once again with a rather dull laundry room. Somehow I don’t think I can talk Retro Man into putting a high definition TV in there.

Tags: Retro Man

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Goosebumps

Dec 2nd, 2009 by Kristen

Driving along the road, taking Girrl to school, see the moon, the fog, the beauty of it all.

Hearing tubas and euphoniums play Sleigh Ride.

Hearing My Girl, a capella, and realizing Boy can really sing.

Salvation is Created, done purely with trombones.

Feeling the goosebumps bump/pound/resonate while the Percussion Ensemble does Mas Fuerte only to to have the chills/goosebumps when they start Skating (6 vibes, 1 drum and ton of memories of Charlie Brown).

What gives you goosebumps?

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Lacking creativity…

Dec 1st, 2009 by Kristen

At least for a blog.

I dance around it. Stare at and then off I go to find trouble elsewhere.

And do I find trouble.

Painting.

Building.

Decorating.

Arranging. Continue Reading »

Tags: cat, dog, pictures

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No matter how often it’s seen…

Jul 31st, 2009 by Kristen

it still puts a smile on my face….

But there’s more.

While watching again, a link appeared near the end. Curiosity drove me to check it out.

Why not check out their response to their fabulous wedding entrance?

Other news from the coop:
Survived painting with only a quarter gallon of paint on the body, the floor, the cat, the bed and
the Girl. She’s pleased with the color and yes, there are pictures as soon as I recover from bent
neck-itis.

Any weekend plans in your coop? Hardwood floor times ahead. I think I might need a drink.

Oh yeah.

Happy Friday!

Posted in Life | 6 Comments »

Since it’s hot….

Jul 30th, 2009 by Kristen

again, or is that still, I think I’ll paint Girl’s bedroom.

Yes painting fever has launched it’s fiendly paws into my restlessness and it’s on.

Well, it will be once Girl gets a few things down in her room and off the bare floor.

Yes, bare flooring.

After paint, hardwood flooring for her.

It’s a sickness, I say. Just like hens.

Also up, 30 days of (blank) ( think that’s what I read, damn momshiemers) will be starting on
08-01-09.

I might actually be more excited about that idea than painting.

Odd.

What’s up in your coop lately? Redecorating or just enjoying a nice summer day?

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Busy in the coop

Jun 16th, 2009 by Kristen

I know I’ve been remiss in not posting but…..end of school year, Boy graduating, having a birthday and just omg, it’s time to do a serious spring cleanign hit all at once.

By the time I sat down to write something up, not a thought flowed other than Zzzzzz.

What’s been happening around the coop? Girl being chicken wrangler extreme. The new chicks (not called breakfast, lunch, and dinner) decided to take a walkabout in the back yard. Two-toes could not care less about chicks walking around but Alien Love Child was ready to leap from my arms and have herself a feather or more.

Girl dashed out after realizing when I said babies were out did not mean the Trio of Trouble kittens.

Around the tree goes girl chasing chicken babies. Then around their temporary coop. I had to laugh and only wished I’d had video of girl being outwitted, out played by three 2 month old chickens. LMAO and then some.

Oh yeah, she’s slapping and pshawing me right now. Some love from my child. Right?

There’s another story about chickens that I’ll share another day but the timer just went off and that means dinner needs to be finished or chaos will ensue.

Like me going nom nom nom since eating lunch was not on the to do list. Talk about a messed up agenda today.

What’s happening in your local coop this week?

Tags: chickens, end of school, laughter

Posted in Chicken Coop, Life | 2 Comments »

Dancing with chaos…

Jun 11th, 2009 by Kristen

still. Maybe after the wind up of end of school dance is done I’ll be back with a brain. That’s’ if the god of Chaos will stop signing my dance card.

Until then…..

Tags: chaos, gaming

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Rush, rush…

Jun 3rd, 2009 by Kristen

The ingredients flew from the cupboards like a strong wind stirring up trouble. I pulled down the bowls, selected a size and started assembling.

In went flour, baking powder, and salt measured by hand. From the fridge, out came butter and milk; from the drawer a fork and a spoon.

Unwrap the butter after measuring what is needed, grab the paring knife and slice, slice and slice into the flour combonation. Hands oily, mind racing. No calm to be baking but what the hell. All speed ahead. What can it hurt?

Use the fork, smash the butter and flour into a messy look. Slop in milk, remove fork, in go hands and growl, smash, mangle, work the dough.

Flour stove top, dump dough, grab rolling pin and steamroll the dough as if it’s the answer, or the cause of all potholes.

Clean hands, grab butter again, slap on dough. Scrub hands of slippery slimy feel before looking for brown sugar. Toss on and give it the hmm, is that enough or more look. Away goes the brown sugar, back into the black hole of my baking past. It screams neglect. I don’t listen and shut the door.

Cinnamon, where is it? I grab paprika and move it and shove chili powder and cumin around until I shove the oil out of the way. Damn cinanmon is not where it’s supposed to be. The spice cupboard is jumbled, a mess, a place of haphazard who gives a crap organization. Locating the damn spice, I sprinkle it on the dough.

Biscuit dough gets rolled, sliced with the buttery paring knife and for once I had the baking pan ready to go. Except for the baking spray I totally forgot to use.

Into a preheated oven, 15 minutes later out come godzilla’s revenge. They aren’t pretty and the aroma through the house is amazing. I can’t wait to chomp, the inhale and enjoy something so tasty.

And the biscuit could qualify for a puck. A hockey puck. A stone. A masterpiece of overworked dough that should never have seen the inside of an oven.

Obviously I’ve forgotten a gentle hand is key to making a nice dough/biscuit.

Maybe I’ll try again today as a nice treat for Boy. It’s his last day of high school.

Where in the hell did the years go? I know, they ran off with my baking skills.

Happy Wednesday!

Tags: baking

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Sunny days…

Jun 1st, 2009 by Kristen

The wind is gentle in the trees beyond my back fence.

The long grass that didn’t get whacked by Girl bends and waves. It beckons to the dogs. Expect urps later?

The Girls, the two Dutch Bantam chickens, wander through their run, soft talk from one, from both as they hunt bugs and scratch.

Rogue sunbeam hit a few cats. Sprawled in warmth, they twitch and dream with feet and whiskers dancing to music they only hear.

Big dogs wait for Minions to come home. Sad faces, sad eyes, no wait, it’s just the way they are. See the tails wag when spoken too? They have the lazies and who can blame them when sun is toasting their toes?

Alien Love Child, the papillion puppy, is curled up in her bed, still but for the soft rise and fall of her chest as she sleeps. The sedatives kick her small ass when her focus is not strong. Dreams and sighs of what she thinks she is doing. I know those dreams. Ears upright, tail flagged straight, she’s running with the grace of her breed as she heads to the Girls. Or around the Boys lazing in the sunny grass issuing come get me as she slows before them.

All that is needed is a nice glider/rocker for the back porch, a bit of shade and no damn mosquitoes trying to drain me.

Ah, yes, sunny days when the urge to be lazy outside only equals the size of welts later that night.

Who took my bug repellent?

Tags: furbots, lazy days, mosquitoes, sun

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