Puttering Around the House

From freak hail storms that came magically come out of thin air about two weeks ago, we've suddenly snapped into 95 degree weather!!! Whoa! With the extreme heat and longer light at night, we've been cooking dinner much later and eating out on the patio long after the sun has set. Well, talented gourmet chef hubby has been cooking :) As most people know, I'm cooking challenged unless it's sugary baked goods :) Here's a recipe he created!Hot Ginger Soba Noodles
3 carrots
3 yellow squash
3 zucchini
6-8 spring onions
1 bag pea pods (about 4 cups)
1 white onion
9 oz. organic soba nooodles (we use Hakubaku noodles from Japan)
4 grated or very finely chopped tablespoons ginger (hubby didn't measure - but he thinks about 4 grated tablespoons - it's enough when you can smell ginger in the air when frying)
soy sauce

Chop all vegetables except pea pods. Stir fry vegetables and ginger until soft. Boil soba noodles for 3 minutes. Add well-strained boiled noodles straight to stir fry pan. Stir in soy sauce to taste. Serve hot.

While I was watching him cook, I was reflecting on our last lonely Happy Kitty bowl. We had bought two several years ago but one broke and the remaining kitty just hasn't seemed as happy since that day.

The inside of a Happy Kitty bowl. Isn't it cute?? I love Japanese contemporary pottery design!

So, thoughts of the Happy Kitty bowl were fresh in my mind when I went shopping in downtown Portland. And look what I found at the store Three Monkeys!!! It was a little bigger and a lot more expensive, but yes, it definitely was ... a Happy Kitty bowl!! Now what are the odds of that??? Of course I had to get it and the lone Happy Kitty is now happy again with it's sister bowl :)

The back of a Happy Kitty bowl.

Puttering around the house, I also realized that it was finally time to paint. Our children were young Monet's and expressed themselves on the walls but now that they are beyond that phase it's time! I have spent many years pondering and plastering paint chips to the walls in anticipation of this moment and I've finally settled on the color. The new color will be .... pumpkin!! I just got the new Martha Stewart magazine and a dyed paper lamp like this would look *fabulous* with my soon-to-be pumpkin walls!

Photo from Martha Stewart.

So, the family will be painting this week and maybe next week too! We've never painted walls before so wish us luck and an aesthetically pleasing finished product! Next blog post when we are done :) Can't wait to show you the cool new jewelry lines I've been working on!!!