Pottering About

Last week during spring break, Kat, her mom (my daughter T) and I spent an afternoon at Paint, Glaze & Fire Ceramics and Coffee House.

The concept at Paint, Glaze & Fire is fun and simple.  Customers choose and pay for unfinished pottery pieces, then pay an additional small studio fee to paint them there in the shop while also enjoying hot or cold coffee drinks or tea.  The staff then glazes and fires the pieces and they're ready to pick up a few days later. 

I remember doing a little ceramic work as a Girl Scout when I was young, but this was the first time for Kat and T.

I chose a spoon rest to paint, largely because I broke my old ceramic spoon rest a few months ago and I needed a new one.  I think my sponge-painting technique leaves a lot of room for improvement, but the colors - a deep sea green, browns and tans -- are spot on for my kitchen.

Kat chose a couple of 5-inch tiles to do free-form coasters.  Doctor Who fans will recognize her rendition of the Tardis, and the muffin (if I'm not mistaken) represents some aspect of the My Little Pony cartoons and toys.

I liked T's oversized coffee mug the best.  The drizzle effect was another experimental technique that turned out great, in my opinion.  The colors chooses were shades of purple and teal on a cream colored background.

We had lots of fun that afternoon, and I plan on returning and trying something completely different next time.  The shop also features a comfortable lounge area and free wi-fi, as well as classes, parties and even a summer ceramics camp.  If you're local to the Kansas City area, you should check it out and have some creative fun!

Bi-Monthly Book Look - November/December

I did it, but barely.  I read the 26 books I set out to read this year. 

I was able to finish six books - five novels and one non-fiction -  in November and December:

The Flame Alphabet - Ben Marcus
My Rating: 1 out of 5.

I had high hopes of enjoying this book after reading the jacket flap.  Adults were becoming ill, sometimes fatally so, from the sounds of children's speech.  It seemed like such an interesting, if far-fetched premise, and the type of sci-fi/suspense story I could really get into.  Umm...not so much.  The plot was weak, and there was a Jewish sub-text that didn't seem to have any relevance to the story. I should have ditched this book early on, but I kept reading in hopes of find out why the adults were affected by communication with their children. Unfortunately, I felt as lost at the end as I did at the beginning.  

The Giver - Lois Lowry
My Rating: 4 out of 5.

Gathering Blue - Lois Lowry
My Rating: 4 out of 5.

Messenger - Lois Lowry
My Rating: 4 out of 5.

Son - Lois Lowry

My Rating:  4 out of 5.

I've read more young adult fiction this year than I have since I was a preteen.  This series of four novels was recommended by Kat's mom after I read the Hunger Games series. 

This series consists of three unrelated villages, the third being a haven for those who can escape the first two (as well as other) dystopian societies.  By the fourth novel, the connections between the characters from the different villages is made known.

Like Hunger Games, there are some disturbing premises in these stories.  Unlike Hunger Games, there is very little violence involved.  There are some supernatural elements involved, but if looked at symbolically rather than literally, they don't seem to detract from the plot.

The books, the first of which is a Newberry Medal winner, are well-written and suitable for 'tweens, teens and adults alike.

The Battle of Westport: Missouri's Great Confederate Raid - Paul Kirkman
My Rating: 2 out of 5

I am not a Civil War buff, but The Battle of Westport and surrounding events is of interest to me for its local history.  Unfortunately, this book was hard to follow.  The author seemed to be "all over the place", and I was often confused about who was fighting for the North, who for the South, whether they were in Missouri or Kansas at any given time, etc.  Many of the players' names were the same or similar, but the author would use full names here, only surnames there, until I couldn't decipher who was being written about at times.

I do think an account of this battle is worth my time to read, but I will first seek out a book that is less confusing.

Mystery Solved!

I was more than surprised to find this article about the Hay Ball when I did a Google search.  It and it's owner are from Portland, Maine, and are traveling across the country.  They had quite the visit in Kansas City this past weekend.

Here are links to the Facebook Page and the web site.  Enjoy!

Monday Miscellanea

We headed north on Saturday morning, dropping Kat off at her mom's and then checking out the Basswood Resort near Platte City, MO, to see if we might like to spend a weekend camping there. 

Platte City was also holding city wide garage sales, where we scored some good cheap and free stuff.  I found lots of tops for myself for 25¢ and 50¢ each.  When you're as messy as I am in the kitchen, you don't want to spend much on tops that will inevitable get grease spots on them.

Someone had an EdenPURE heater in the free pile with a note that says it "works, but heats slowly".  We grabbed that right up.  It may be just that they didn't understand how an infrared heater works, or it may need new elements.  If we have to replace elements, at $80-$100 it's still a bargain for this kind of heater. 

We drove by one home where several people were picking apples from their trees.  We pulled over and asked if they were selling their apples.  They told us they'd already picked and canned all they wanted and that we were welcome to pick as many as we wanted for free!  We picked about a bushel, but could have picked many, many, many more if we could have reached them.  They are very nice apples, both Granny Smith and a blush type, perhaps Gala.  We gave some away, we'll eat some out of hand, and I'll can the rest as pie filling.  I might make cider vinegar with the peels, too.

We didn't come close to seeing all the garage sales, but we had a late lunch date with Kat, my daughter T. and my son-in-law M.  My daughter's birthday was on Labor Day, so this was a celebration of sorts.  T and M follow a vegan diet, so they chose Cafe Gratitude.  (They have a really neat concept; click through to read about it.)  Cafe Gratitude serves a vegan and mostly gluten-free menu that focuses on local and organic foods.  They make the most amazing homemade ginger ale and a wonderful coconut milk, almond butter and vanilla smoothie.  The food was very good -- and filling -- the atmosphere was fun, and place was busy but not overcrowded at that time of day.  We all had a great time.

M, T, and Kat.

Shane and me.  Our table was in what used to be a storefront display window.

My hand-rolled veggie tamale with black beans and Mexican coleslaw.

M's "nachos" made with cashew "cheese and sprouted grain crackers.

We also saw this from the restaurant window.  I have no explanation. I don't even have a logical guess.

Saturday afternoon my dad visited and spent the night.  It wasn't really a planned visit; he was in town for other reasons and needed a place to sleep, and left fairly early on Sunday morning to do his own thing. 

We stayed home on Sunday and did this and that around the house:  laundry, a fall planting of lettuce and radishes, housework, etc.  We had no real plan, we just looked around and did things that needed to be done.

This week promises to be busy.  I still have those peaches in the freezer to work up, and now apples.  Kat gets out of school early on Thursday, and we have a fun weekend with my sister next weekend to get ready for. 

How was your weekend?  And what do you have lined up for this week?

Another Quick Camping Trip

Shane and I decided to take the camper out again, just the two of us, while Kat was with her mom for the weekend.  It's been a few years since we camped without Kat, so we had a nice getaway as a couple.

An upscale housing development (Lakewood, for my local readers) was having community wide garage sales that we didn't want to miss.  We couldn't decide whether to camp or go to sales, so we figured out a way to do both, by camping just a mile away from Lakewood (at Blue Springs Lake).  That's right, we camped just 20-25 miles from home, and for all practical purposes, we were "in the city" the whole time, but as it turned out, this is one of nicest parks we camped in, and we had a very nice time.

A sight I won't often see -- the back of our camper while it's on the road.
Look how dark the sky looks.

Half an hour and 20 miles later, it's bright and clear!

Since we were sans Kat, our meals at camp were a little different this time around.  Any time we don't have her, we make a point of enjoying some of our favorite foods, flavors, and/or ingredients that she doesn't really like.  For example, Friday night we ate this Cajun Shrimp and Grits dish.  It was based on THIS RECIPE.  It doesn't look a thing like the original photo, but it was delicious and perfect for the cooler temperatures here that night.

We had THESE SANDWICHES for breakfast both Saturday and Sunday mornings, but instead of having the eggs on English muffins, we had them on bagel thins one morning and sandwich thins the next.

Our intent for Saturday was to run "home" to the camper for a quick lunch, then head back out for more garage sales, followed by a repeat of the same meal for supper.  What really happened was that we skipped lunch altogether, then had an extreme pig-out once we finally did get back to camp.  Pictured here (or just out of frame) are THIS DIP, along with some commercially-prepared hummus, a veggie tray and meat/cheese tray I put together, pita chips, woven wheat crackers, and sandwich thins.   There was just enough left over that we made a similar lunch yesterday when we came home.

To drink, we enjoyed water, iced tea, beer for Shane, some of the new Michelob Light Cider for me (meh...I was unimpressed), and each morning, coffee.

I tend to take too much food when we camp, but with each trip, I'm getting better at judging how much we will need.  I hope to be spot on by the end of summer.

That should be it for the camping posts for a while.  Our next camp out is reserved for July 4-8.  Unless, of course, we decide to go somewhere sooner.

A Special Preview of Legoland Discovery Center - Kansas City

Because Shane worked on the construction crew, we were able to attend the complimentary Contractor's Night sneak preview at Legoland Discovery Center last night.  The official opening is this Sunday.  Kansas City's Legoland is the newest of only four Legoland Discovery Centers in the US and eight around the world.

Kat is the real "legomaniac" in our family, but I have to say the entire attraction was better than I expected.  The center featured a "factory tour", a ride-through laser shooting gallery, a Duplo play area for the younger kids, a soft jungle-gym play area for the older kids, an amusement park type ride, kids' karaoke, a set of race tracks where kids (and adults) can build their own Lego cars to race, a Lego design workshop, a cinema with short films, a cafe and more. 

My favorite feature by far was the collection of replicas of Kansas City landmarks, all built with Legos, and depicted in alternating day and night scenes.  It was amazing. 

I ran out of batteries in my camera before I was able to get all the pictures I wanted, but here are several.  They will be most meaningful to readers familiar with Kansas City, but hopefully are of some interest to everyone.

Almost twins.

Factory tour.

Factory tour.

Factory tour.

She weighs the equivalent of 28,000 Legos!

Factory tour.

 A Lego tour of Kansas City:

Our new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

KC Power & Light Building, One Kansas City Place, Town Pavilion,
Sprint Center and in foreground, Union Station.

Liberty Memorial in foreground, with Union Station just behind it,
the Western Auto building to the right and the KC skyline in the background.

Crown Center fountains by night.

Crown Center fountains and Legoland!  Can you believe we're actually inside there?

Arrowhead Stadium (Chiefs) and Kauffman Stadium (Royals).  Some of the tiny fans
are waving banners, eating turkey legs, and drinking beer.

Country Club Plaza by night...

and again by day!

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, complete with shuttlecock on front lawn.

Starlight Theater by night...

and again by day!

Harry S. Truman home.




And, of course, a tribute to The Wizard of Oz:

Here comes the cyclone!
(complete with sound and wind effects)

and there goes the little house...

to fall on the Wicked Witch with the ruby red slippers.

Follow the yellow brick road!

until you finally reach the Emerald City!

Pleasant Weekend and Our First "International Meal"

We had a very pleasant weekend and enjoyed the last couple of days of really nice weather.  Rain is in the forecast for most of this week, with daytime temps back into the 60s.  That's still very nice for this time of year in these parts, but after last week, it will seem a just a little on the cool side.

Saturday saw us dropping Kat off at her mom's house for the weekend, then heading to the City Market.  It's early in the year for many of the local farmers to be there, but we thought that we might find one or two of them set up with some bedding plants for sale.  That we did, along with a couple of vendors selling homemade breads and tropical plants, but we didn't find anything we wanted.  We also checked out the "permanent vendors", which are mostly produce importers and ethnic grocers.  Didn't find anything we wanted there, either. 

These pictures aren't from this weekend, but from all the way back in July of 2007.  The market looks about the same, but Kat looks very different.  She was just 4 years old here.

We did buy a couple of items at one of the Asian markets in the same general area, then we were off to take a look at all the weird stuff at Weird Stuff. Weird Stuff is a junk store/antique shop of sorts that specializes in the odd-ball and off the wall.  Saturday the proprietor was dressed in a clown suit and had his fur-covered Cadillac pulled up out front.  That's not always the case, so we felt we'd been treated.  Anyway, we were there to look at a guitar they'd listed on their website.  As it turned out, it wasn't what Shane thought it was, so he didn't buy it.  He needs another stringed instrument like he needs a hole in his head.

We stopped for lunch at a dive called LC's Barbecue.  It's near our sports stadiums and has been in business, like, forever...but I'd never tried it.  (There are so many barbecue joints in KC that it's probably impossible to try them all.)  In my opinion, it was just ok.  The meat was smoked well, but didn't have a lot flavor.  The portions were big, I'll say that for them.  But the place really is a dive.  They had a recent food inspection certificate on display, but I couldn't help but wonder how they earned it...LOL.  Lucky for them, that kind of thing doesn't bother us much and we stuffed ourselves silly on pig and french fries.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol pulled into LC's right behind us, but not because we did anything wrong.  The Troopers just wanted some sandwiches.  Hauling this around is hungry work, I guess.  They'd had the 1959 Dodge cruiser in town for the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

The rest of the day was less eventful for us.  No more Troopers, clowns or fur-covered cars to be seen, so we came home and had a very nice supper of grilled salmon, grilled asparagus and pasta salad.  Some of the asparagus actually came from our garden!

Yesterday was fairly calm.  Shane worked in the back yard, building more raised beds, moving more topsoil from the big pile out front, and generally doing whatever needed to be done before the rain moves in.  Here's a quick pic of what's going on outside.  I can't get it all in one shot, but I plan on posting more garden pictures later in the week.

While Shane gardened, I hung a couple loads of laundry and did some cooking.  As I mentioned in my last post, Kat suggested that we cook an international meal every now and then, choosing a different country's food each time.  Since she was gone on Saturday, we decided to have our Irish/St. Pat's meal yesterday.

I used my friend Alea's recipe for corned beef, potatoes and cabbage cooked in the pressure cooker.  It turned out great, and was an excellent reminder that I should use my pressure cooker more often.  You can find her recipe HERE.  Trust me, you'll want to bookmark it and try it next March.  Or maybe even this week, if your local store puts their excess corned beef on sale. 

When Kat got home, we enjoyed our meal and played a couple of games afterward.  I don't think she was very pleased about spring break being over, or that she had to go to bed on time so she could get up early for school today.

So, tell me...how was your weekend?  Did any of you celebrate St. Pat's Day in a big way, or did you keep it low-key like we did (I didn't even drink a beer this weekend).  And what's in store for your week ahead.  Me?  I'm off to pay some bills this morning, but beyond that, I have no clue!