Rearranging and tweaking

So I'm trying ever so desperately to get my blog to look exactly as I want it. I've been wanting to do this ever since I decided to start blogging again but I just didn't have the know-how to do it properly. But after some niffty Google searches I came up with exactly what I wanted. But now comes the tedious part where I have to add every little bit and tweak here and there and blah blah. So bear with me as I get everything in order. I suspect that it will take a couple of days as I want to edit pretty much everything and make this look like a neat place to look around.

I'm currently working on some projects for my sister in law's newest addition to the family. I thought of posting pictures of the unfinished product but I think I'll wait till it's all done. I'll try to keep an update on my work in progresses on the right panel there. Sometimes they'll be linked to if I have images and sometimes not. I've also thought up some handbag designs and I would like to get them done in the next coming weeks but we'll see how that goes. I'm in quilt mode right now and all I can really think about is making and designing them. I ordered some Amy Butler fat quarters from Pink Post and I absolutely can't wait for them to arrive. It's right up my alley in terms of color scheme for the summer. I have no idea what I want to do with them as yet but I'm sure a quilt or 2 will come out of it and maybe the patchwork handbag from In Stitches if I'm lucky.

A fresh start

So many new things have been happening in my life that I don't even know where to start. It's almost time to go back to work and I'm not looking forward to that. So in the meantime I'm trying to immerse myself in all things crafty. I finally finished Ayla's quilt today and I also made her a smock type dress the other day as well. I just love the way they both turned out. I'm also in knitting mode and have been trying to finish up another dish cloth that I started a few days ago. I have quilt on the brain lately and have been dreaming of making a quilt from a book I got for Christmas for Alex's sister who's having her baby today of all days. I haven't really been crafting at all since Christmas, I think I posted this in my last post back in February but I just don't know how I had the time back then to make all the things I ended up making. Ayla doesn't give me a moment's break and so I can't seem to get much done before she's demanding my attention.

I should mention I got a new camera! The Canon Rebel XTi. It's a lovely camera and I'll definitely be experimenting this summer with it. I've taken dozens of photos of Ayla already but I haven't really been experimenting with it as yet. We also plan on going camping and so I suspect I'll be getting some really nice shots.

Here are some pictures of what's been keeping me busy these last few days:

We got a new bunny but she didn't last very long. I felt as if I had had another child and it was just too much! I still want a pet but maybe when Ayla is a little bit older. We named her Sara for the short time that she was with us.

Ayla's quilt all washed and folded up. I love the way it got all crinkled after being washed. Sorry about the first photo, it's kind of dark I'll have to take another picture of it properly one day. I have to say quilting wasn't very easy and as you can see from the first picture that it's all puckery in all the wrong places. I'm thinking my tension was off while sewing but I didn't notice till it was all pieced together. So I'll have to figure that out for my next one.

Ayla's smock type dress after just coming out of the wash. I contemplated ironing it before the photo op but I kinda like the crinkled look. I like the flower detail but I'm thinking of making it more elaborate, maybe. I added the button because I wasn't into dealing with the whole zipper thing.

And my princess with a pout and a tear for the camera. Mwahh!

Perhaps this is the look of being sorry for ransacking the house. Evidence in background ;)

Long overdue

I know I should have posted way before this but I just haven't been in the mood. I've just been reading many books and websites on stuff related to veganism, the meat industry and what not. And basically plaguing my mom with a bunch of facts and statistics. I almost felt vindicated when the U.S. beef recall happened except it was so bittersweet. It's just so terrible to see animals treated that way and all because of our own gluttonous appetite for their flesh. People actually think that that's an isolated incident and that it doesn't happen that exact way each and every time a cow goes down. I just wish that half the people that ate meat would actually look into what's going on their plate and not adopt the 'I don't want to know' attitude. The whole meat industry is corrupted and white washed and I'm almost 99.9% sure that a lot of the meat that people are eating these days are infected with mad cow. I just really hope that I stopped eating it in time because unlike those people that say 'well we have to die from something someday' I really don't want to go out that way. To make matters even more scary just this past December another cow was found in Alberta to have mad cow. Scientists say that the occurrence of BSE ( bovine spongiform encephalopathy) also known as mad cow, occurs naturally in cattle one in a million times per year. Canada kills 3 million cattle every year. Yet they, like the U.S. are still standing by their claim that they have no mad cow in any of their herds. If you do the math then really 3 cows should have BSE every year in Canada. The fact that they haven't found that many is really scary. According to Wikipedia:

"It is believed, but not proven, that the disease [BSE] may be transmitted to human beings who eat infected carcasses. In humans, it is known as new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD or nvCJD), and by June 2007, it had killed 165 people in Britain, and six elsewhere with the number expected to rise because of the disease's long incubation period."

Well, I hope I'm not preaching to the choir but if I can get at least one meat eating person to look into what's really going on their plate then I'll be happy. I think it's very irresponsible for someone to just say 'I don't want to know' when it comes to their food. I for one want to know exactly where my food is coming from, I want to know that it's been grown in healthy soil and and hasn't been sprayed with a crap load of pesticides and insecticides and that I'll be getting the best nutrient rich produce that my money can buy. In the words of Howard Lyman "If you don't want to know where your food is coming from then maybe you shouldn't be putting it in your mouth." On that note, I'll leave you with pics of some of the great foods I've been cooking up these last few weeks.


And Ayla, sleeping not so peacefully. Note the knitted brows. I wonder what she's dreaming about.

Vegan Freak Podcasts and food

Alex and I have been steadily going thru the Vegan Freak podcasts for the last few days. We're no where near finished but it's been a lot of fun and very enlightening at the same time. If you want to go vegan I definitely recommend you tune in. They're very entertaining. My ipod has definitely gotten a lot of great use and I'm so glad I got it. So usually while I'm listening I try to think of what we should eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. While I don't have pictures for all of these things I have been enjoying making and eating it all.

This morning I made some multi-grain pancakes and waffles from Vegan Visitor, a new blog I happened to stumble upon. Actually I found a ton of recipes that I want to make from that blog and have them all bookmarked.

For lunch the other day I made the Lemon Basil Pesto in Eat, Drink and Be Vegan (ED&BV). No picture either but it turned out really really good. I'm actually wanting to make a spinach and basil pesto to put on some pizza I've been craving for the last few days. So more on that in the future. I also made the Black bean and Orange Hummus which is so good. I figured it would be good as a veggie dip or just spreading on the only vegan bread we can find in this city, a rye bread that is actually very good.

Tonight we had the Orange Sesame Tofu and some leftover Coconut Basmati Rice all from ED&BV. With a spinach salad I threw together with some green apples, green onions, cucumbers and walnuts and a homemade vinaigrette that Alex's mom actually showed me how to make. In all it turned out wonderful.

And for dessert, I decided to make the Basic Chocolate Cupcake from Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World. I contemplated making a buttercream but decided we had enough sweets for the day so I just topped it with some powdered sugar. Still very yummy.

Table for two

Dinner over the last 3 days. All new recipes that were very welcome and very tasty. Although, we did decide that we're not big fans of seitan. I have yet to find a recipe that I love. I'll keep trying though in hopes that it's out there. Well I know it's out there since eating at Buddha's Veggie in Calgary but I have yet to figure out how they actually make it. I actually ordered a vegan Chinese cookbook so hopefully there will be some ideas in there. More updates on that when I actually receive it.

Olive Oyl Pasta with Walnut-Pecan balls from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan by Dreena Burton. The Walnut-Pecan balls are actually from the Food Network Canada website. Dreena now has a selection of completely vegan recipes that can be found at foodtv.ca. I'm so mad this came out blurry but really it was so amazing I can't say enough good things about this dish. It was divine.

Sautéed Seitan with Mushrooms and Spinach from Veganomicon by Isa and Terry with a side of baked potato.

Green Pea and Lemon Risotto with Roasted Red Peppers from Veganomicon. I actually used edamame instead of the green peas because I wanted to up the protein content without having to make an entirely separate dish.

Vegan and proud

For the last couple of months I've been writing primarily about crafts. And although that is one side of why I started this blog I feel I should start giving some equally important time to the other side as well.

Yesterday, I watched the movie Earthlings. To quote Veg-TV, "EARTHLINGS is a feature length documentary about humanity's absolute dependence on animals (for pets, food, clothing, entertainment, and scientific research) but also illustrates our complete disrespect for these so-called "non-human providers.""

I can freely admit that some parts of this movie made me cry and realize how cruel we humans really are. I felt like I needed to cleanse myself afterwards. It was shocking to believe the things we do to animals all for the sake of taste and enjoyment. When people would ask me 'Why are you a vegan?' I felt really good about saying that I chose this path for health reasons and that no I wasn't one of those save the animal nutters although I did believe that animals had a right to live their lives out in peace. After watching this movie, even Alex who I've never pressured into becoming vegan or vegetarian because I truly believe that we all have to make this decision on our own for the right reasons. In any case, even he honestly considered the possibility of making the transition to veganism. But that's neither here nor there. I truly felt shamed to call myself a part of a species that could be so heartless. And it made me wonder about those omnis who say they care about animals. Because when it really comes down to it you can't pick and choose what animal to care about more. You either care or you don't. And if you eat meat you don't care. That's the short and simple of it. What makes a cow, a chicken or a pig any less worthy of consideration than the panda or the polar bear? Which animals should we selectively care about so that we can go on consuming the ones we find so delicious? It makes me sick. And don't get me started about seafood because at the rate that we're depleting the oceans we'll be lucky if there isn't a fish left to be consumed or otherwise in the next 50 years. Not to mention the amount of pollution found in all fish the world over. Just another indication of human kind's complete disregard for the planet and those within it.

It's interesting how this movie came out in 2005 and I'm only just hearing of it. Actually, I've read this elsewhere online. And after watching it and knowing it's content. It's not hard to realize why. Why would mainstream media want to give a film about our blatant disregard for other species air time? An Incovenient Truth, the documentary by Al Gore, was talked about incessantly when it came out. Why? Because it's much easier to talk about and confront global warming than it is to talk about our very own consumption habits with regard to food. It's like the elephant in the room that no one wants to acknowledge. Just today I was watching Oprah and they were talking about how 60% of Americans are obese and the other 30% are over weight. And if you think that's only an American epidemic then you're wrong. According to Statistics Canada, Canadians (children and adults) are fighting the same fight with obesity. The numbers are rising everyday and so are the death tolls of animals.

I've always said that I'm not the type of person to confront anyone on the way they choose to live their life. I never say anything when my omni friends eat meat or dairy in front of me, wear leather or just generally go on about the animals they love consuming. I'm just that non-confrontational, but really it does bother me and deep down inside I want to say 'Stop!' because really how many animals have to die and suffer for your meal? For your belt? Your shoes?

I feel like this rant has been a long time coming. I have so much more to say on the topic but I'm already sounding like the angry vegan right now so I think I'll stop while I'm ahead. Because when it's all said and done, I don't think we'll ever live in a vegan society where not even one animal has to suffer or die for us to say we've accomplished something at the end of the day. I can only say that I'm glad to call myself a vegan and know that I'll be one for the rest of my life. And the next time someone asks me 'Why are you vegan?' I will proudly say that it's because I don't believe even one animal has to die in order for me to survive.

To anyone who wants to watch the movie, I've linked to it above, you just have to click on the name. It streams for free online. You can also download it to watch at a later date.

Seize the day!

That's my new motto for 2008. I've been vegging out lately. Well basically since I got back from vacation. All the handmade gifts went over better than I could have hoped. Everyone loved everything and it makes me feel good because maybe this will become a habit in all my future gift giving endeavors. Speaking of which, I know about four people who are having babies in the upcoming months so the next few crafts will be all about babies and baby things. Luckily I got a couple of great crafting books for Christmas that deal with just that very thing so I can't wait to get started.

In my laziness I haven't been doing much cooking either. I check up on my regular vegan blogs daily and sometimes steal recipes or meal ideas from there but that's about it. I don't know what's gotten into me this month but I just don't have the drive to do anything. I've been sitting on my butt in front of the t.v. for hours everyday just wasting the time away then eating crap for dinner. Hopefully this will all change in the next couple of days. Plus I don't want Ayla watching t.v. and I'm sorry to admit she's gotten her fair share lately.

On another note, I can't say that I've been 100% idle. When we got back from Montreal I discovered to my horror that all those cute diapers it took me ages to complete (and still have not fully completed) do not fit my little angel any more! Ugh! So basically I told Alex that by the next baby we should have this cloth diapering down pat. In any case I've spent a couple of days making some new diaper covers because I've gone the lazy route (naturally) and decided not to make full diapers but just covers because they're faster to make and let's just face it she's growing too fast and I don't want to waste hours on it or any money. Because for me cloth diapering is not only about the environment but also about saving my hard earned mat leave money.

I leave you with a better late than never Christmas photo of Ayla all dressed up as Miss Mini Claus =)