Christmas isn’t even here yet and already I’m thinking of January birthday gifts! I just received this quilt in the mail (it only took a week!) for my Mom’s birthday. The three oldest kids in the fam are going in on buying it for her and we just know she’s going to die when she sees it!

Check out QuiltLover’s shop  for more absolutely amazing creations!

I am planning on wearing this for new years eve with black ankle boots and thick tights.

I really needed new winter boots, and these are really warm and comfortable. I think I might wear them tomorrow as it is quite cold here these days. It doesn’t beat Norway, but still very cold.

holidays.  high holy days.  whatever that happens to mean to you.

sorry i’ve been absent.  i’ve been busy being in love.

yes, i meant to write that.  it happens, i suppose.  love is an easy thing to be caught up in.  especially when you never expected to find it for real or be allowed to touch it.  it all started a year and a half ago.  to make a long story a wee bit shorter, i (and he) knew from the beginning where we should go when we met.  but we couldn’t then, and we couldn’t for a very long time.  i couldn’t help waiting though.  i had to know what would happen.

so for the past six months, we’ve been finding out the “what next” after we got our chance.  and for the past two months, we’ve been together, in the official sense of things.

i never thought i’d have this chance again…and i certainly didn’t expect to ever find love that wasn’t the unrequited variety.  and yet.  here i am.  how lovely and odd.

needless to say, i’m really very happy.  i wrote something a couple posts back about how it’s one thing to be tolerated and something else entirely to be enjoyed.  appreciated.  i’ve never had a relationship where my quirks and idiosyncrasies were valued rather than merely put up with.  and it’s not as if we’re in the realm of rose colored glasses — this is also new territory for me because we’ve known each other for a year and a half.  and i’m finding that i simply enjoy him.

i’m finding that after a year and a half of wondering, hoping, waiting, nail-biting, pacing, laughing, soaring, head-scratching — i’m finding that after all that, his cogs and my cogs fit together still and simply turn.  clockwork.

when i’m with him, i’m more me than i’ve ever been able to be with anyone.  no pretentiousness or hiding.  and he’s who he is.  and that’s what i love about us.  that we’re two whole people building something more.

i was talking to a friend today who is also very happily ensconced in love.  we decided that there are few better feelings than falling for a good, good man.  especially when there have been so many bad ones before.

so this holiday season i am celebrating life.  i’m celebrating the changes that have brought me to dc and teaching my children to the best of my ability.  celebrating love and good friends and the changing of the seasons.  being grateful for what i have and the ability to share.  wishing i could do more for this world.

2009 is winding to a close.  when it began, i looked it in the face and said, “you’re going to be a fantastic year to put 2008 to shame.”  i wasn’t wrong.  i’ve found so many things this year.  a place in this country i can call home, which i never thought would happen.  a job i can do well that makes a difference.  one of my students called me on thanksgiving to say hello — made my night.  said job also gives me approximately 3 months per year of time i can write and pursue those things close to my heart.  by the end of this i will be financially stable for the first time ever.  i’ve found love, in more ways than one.  i may be busy and stressed, but i’m building a good life for myself here.  and i cannot wait to see where it goes.

happy holidays, whatever you celebrate.

may your days this winter be full of warmth, joy, and peace.

love.
emmie

This is just a link to the one at Awkward Family Photos.  You have to read this if you know anyone that’s over-organized and just a little out of touch with reality.  AFP is a really entertaining site, too!

It’s genius, I tell you:

• The Thanksgiving Letter (back by popular demand)

This is just an excerpt…

Now, while I do have quite a sense of humor and joke around all the time, I COULD NOT BE MORE SERIOUS when I am providing you with your Thanksgiving instructions and orders. I am very particular, so please perform your task EXACTLY as I have requested and read your portion very carefully. If I ask you to bring your offering in a container that has a lid, bring your offering in a container WITH A LID, NOT ALUMINUM FOIL! If I ask you to bring a serving spoon for your dish, BRING A SERVING SPOON, NOT A SOUP SPOON! And please do not forget anything.

Genius.

The cold and chilly days continue recently.

Hi, I’m Aya. I really like listening to the music and drinking at home in such a cold evening.

Here is the new release from PIMP IT UP!

A series of warm leggings.
Three patterns such as Skull, dots and animal footprint.

Please try them with your mini skirts. It will surely bring ’in fashion’ feel to you. Let’s enjoy mixing and matching for yourself.

PIMP IT UP is here!
http://slurl.com/secondlife/adorable/177/113/25

PIMP IT UP Blog
http://pimpitup333.wordpress.com/

The cold and chilly days continue recently.

Hi, I’m Aya. I really like listening to the music and drinking at home in such a cold evening.

Here is the new release from PIMP IT UP!

A series of warm leggings.
Three patterns such as Skull, dots and animal footprint.

Please try them with your mini skirts. It will surely bring ’in fashion’ feel to you. Let’s enjoy mixing and matching for yourself.

PIMP IT UP is here!
http://slurl.com/secondlife/adorable/177/113/25

PIMP IT UP Blog
http://pimpitup333.wordpress.com/

I live in Canada,

There are no igloos (most places), and there used to be lots more snow but it is still freezing! I’m bundled up in fur, flannel and faux leather but I’m still shaking in my boots when I go outside and it’s under 5 degrees Celsius. Anyway, have any tips on staying warm this winter? Hot totties? Big dogs? Snuggies? How do you stay warm, and sane?

Another startling thing: the next time it’s warm enough to wear an off-the-shoulder tee, I will be finished my degree. OH MY HELLO REALITY.

(Ps. Check out these sweet videos me and some friends made for an intro to video class. Videos begin at 20 second mark. We are a little obsessed with white, pink, blue and cute.)

Warmth…
Cold afternoon.
…Cat purr

“Take my hand. It’s okay, don’t be scared.”

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere they can’t hurt us.”

“But I’ll hurt us…”

“You won’t.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because i trust you. And maybe i know you a little better than you do.”

Take my hand. It’s okay, don’t be scared. We’re going somewhere they can’t hurt us. We’re going somewhere warm. I know you hate the cold. Another thing we have in common. We’re going somewhere we’ll be alone. I know you hate people. So do i. Funny how we have so many in common. Coincidence? Doubt it. There’s no such thing.

I always hurt. Myself, you, everyone. I don’t want to.  I keep doing the same things over and over again. It’s like something is in my head, and it’s making me forget. I’m always so impulsive. I got that from my dad. I got his temperament too. I wish i could be more like my mom…

Did i tell you how perfect i think you are for me? I think you are more than perfect for me.

Keep me safe while i sleep. And I’ll keep you safe while you sleep. You look so peaceful when you sleep. And innocent. Just like a child. I love watching you sleep and cradling you in my arms. “And I’m wondering what you’re dreaming/ Wondering if it’s me you’re seeing”.

I wish i could be your heroine, just like you are my hero.

Today I went Christmas shopping with a friend. Luckily I wasn’t buying anything, all presents I have to get have already been bought. My dad’s getting Benny Hill DVDs and my mother is getting the Mama Mia box set so that’s all taken care of. Anyway, in Asda I saw the below product on special offer. Called ‘Snuggie’ it’s billed as a ‘blanket with sleeves’. I’m sure it’s a top quality product which does its intended job very well. However, I couldn’t help but think that it also makes those who wear it look like members of a religious cult. Thanks for reading.

I got my first ever batch of Velvia 100 photos back today. I was stunned at how good the slides look. The scans I got with the slides don’t look as good. I wonder what I can do to a similar quality scan. My first guess is spend more money. These photos have not been retouched.

The colours on all of the photos look washed out compared to the slides.  I think I might get some of these scanned and printed as Christmas gifts.

I found this cool line 80/20 and thought I should share this with people since I am currently living in Canada and this goes perfectly with the first snow fall today. Thanks for the warm boots 80/20.

Currently available at select retailers, here ia an extensive look at the 80%20Footwear collection, for the holiday’09 season.Filled with fun comfortable shoes and boots that fit perfectly into the cold weather season. A closer look on the next page, stockists here.

Warmth rushes down my throat as I take my first sip of hot tea. Something about it floods into my deeper than physical self too… and it seems to burn the darkness away. Such cold, such bitterness lurk in the hollows of my depth… squeezing every bit of tenderness and joy and peace and compassion and love out, out, OUT of me! Frigid insides, cold as death I am at times. Cold as someone who’s been hurt… who’s lonely.. who’s afraid.

Until the warmth…

Hot tea, you warm me back into feeling the feelings I tried to forget. Sympathies return to my heart and longings of rage fall aside.

It is time to grow up. It is time to tend to all of the sadness and sorrow felt. People so hungry they run away.

Oh, but I tire of tending the broken sometimes… the hearts ache relentlessly and I feel never ending bellows scourge me inside out… burn holes through me… and even take advantage. Lord, why? I have heard 20,000 sermons on why I should not ask why… but in my weakness I ask again… why, Lord?

Why do they hurt? Why do we hurt? What characteristic of you do I carry that causes my heart to wrench in sickness and carry the burdens of the broken ones. I am a broken one too. Yes. A broken one too, Jesus. What in me rises up toward injustice and weeps with the battered… even when I don’t want to. Lord, I need you. I want to be a giver, not merely a receiver of your love and grace to hoard them in selfishness.

I must be so alone. Who else knows my longing for Your presence? Who else knows the  depth of Your great Love to me? You God, are all I need. You Lord, are more than capable of guiding me. You Jesus, have made me with fear and wonder, because I can choose whether or not I represent You well.

I want to represent You well.

Hot tea, you have warmed me… warmed my insides softer and softer still.

I am open to your movements God. Show me where you want me. I will go.

THE COOLING EARTH

Nowadays it is fashionable to talk and write about global warming; so much so that it may sound like blasphemy if I say that the Earth is cooling. But it is a simple fact that all members of the solar system except the Sun are in fact cooling off continuously from the time of inception. Any hot body will shed its heat until its temperature corresponds to the temperature of its environment. If we consider the Earth as a whole, including its atmosphere, the temperature may be roughly 250 degree C more than the outer space. It’s inevitable that the earth must cool off, for a considerable time to come.

 Heat received by the Earth from the Sun is neglible, beyond 55 degree north and 55 degree south latitude. The slanting sunrays will not produce any worthwhile heat. Again, the heat received in the middle region up to 8 am and after 5 pm can be ignored. Whatever heat is absorbed between 8 am and 5 pm is lost during the night! All this is in summer. In winter sunlight has no effect at all.

 “But we have striking and sufficient evidence that the superficial shell of the globe is not only heated above that of the ambient air, by the action of its own deep-seated fires”  (Physical Geography by Thomas Milner)

 How does the earth remain warm? We must look inwards for an answer. The interior of the earth is very hot (The reasons have been explained in the article below on Gravity). The temperature may be thousands of degrees C. Slowly this heat seeps outwards. As we go down the earth it becomes extremely hot. Heat may be transferred from the interior to the surface of the earth by the process of conduction. Heat is also transferred by water molecules. If there is no water in the oceans, the ocean beds would be extremely hot. But actually the temperature of the water in ocean beds may be of the order of 3 degree C. This is because of convection currents caused by the ice caps in the Polar Regions and the hot cauldron of sea bed below. This can be proved by a simple experiment.

 A drum filled with water may be heated from below and cooled by a block of ice floating above. If you measure the temperature, you may find the water slightly warmer below the ice block than the water at the bottom of the drum. Water molecules, absorbing heat at the bottom, travel up and ice cooled water from the top comes down. In the same way hot water from the sea bed goes up and water (at 0 degree C) below the polar ice cap travels down towards the sea bed. This way heat from the interior of the earth is slowly transferred to the sea water. Eventually this heat is transmitted to outer space.

 There is another less known mechanism of heat transfer, from the interior of the earth. Water molecules are driven towards the ocean beds under tremendous pressure. We know how it is, if it rains continuously for a few days! What if it rains for 365 days? Or imagine a water tank constructed in a field (bottom being earth without water) the height of the tank being 6kms. Well, this is how the ocean bed is! The constant pounding of the ocean bed by the pressure of up to 1000 atmospheres, makes the earth pulpy and water infiltrates down. Marine geologists tell us that the terrain below the ocean is not much different from the terrain of the continents. When the surface temperature of the earth was higher than 100 degree C, there was no water in the seas. There was no difference between land and sea. It was all land. The sea bed was normal height of the plain. The continents are merely plains of greater height like Tibetan plateau we are familiar with. There are mountains and valleys in the ocean beds also. Tunnels and caves we find in the continent are there in the sea beds too. These will get filled with water; under high temperature, acquired from geo-thermal energy and high pressure, the water becomes super heated steam. Water goes down but steam presses up and ultimately finds its way to the ocean. There are about 30 thousand volcanoes and any number of hot springs in the ocean through which heat continuously comes out. This may, perhaps, be the source of hot currents in the ocean.

 The oceans can never be heated from above. The warm layer of water formed by sun rays cannot travel down and will become cool before the next day break. The ice cold water from the Polar region will sink to the ocean bed, never to rise up, unless heated by the earth. Ultimately, the whole ocean will become a block of ice if the earth is heated only from above by the Sun.

 Let us now look at a strange thing about the Earth. The Arctic Circle is comparatively well populated with Eskimo’s etc living permanently there. The corresponding region in the Antarctic Circle is extremely cold and inhospitable. Man makes his presence felt in this region only in the southern summer. The reasons are obvious. The Arctic region being land locked, there are any number of hot springs there, (see my article on Saraswati ) warming the atmosphere. On the other hand the Antarctica is surrounded by deep oceans : the Pacific ocean on one side and the Indian ocean on the opposite side. There must be hot springs in this region also; but being too deep the warm waters get cooled.\

From the above discussion one thing is clear – the earth is kept warm by geo thermal energy, and not by the heat from the Sun. Today life forms depend very much on sunlight; but the bottom of the sea too contains even developed life forms. Tomorrow if the sun suddenly disappears, I am sure mother Earth will continue to nurture her children, giving the warmth from her own bosom.

 If you look at the map of the world, you will find that the whole of the hemisphere on the Pacific side and 90 % of the southern hemisphere is water. Comparatively few points of the continent comprise of urban areas. Industrial activity in these urban centers can contribute but a miniscule percentage to global warming, which has been going on much before industrialization. (see para on CO₂)

 Therefore, all this hullabaloo about global warming may be unwarranted.

According to one theory, ‘Ice Age’ occurs every 18,000 years or so. The warming earth melts the polar ice cap, and the ice cold water comes down to northern Canada, Europe and northern Siberia. This will cause severe winter and the whole area will be covered with ice ushering in another ‘Ice Age’. The cycle repeats itself.

BLUE ROSE Wedding or Special Occasions Felted Bolero

Available at my Etsy shop:
Magic Laboratory of Fashion
All designs are © Tatiana Agapcheva, please do not copy my work.

Is it just the CY team to notice the distinct drop in temperature today? We’ve been spoilt up until now with a fairly mild November but finally Winter has kicked in! We can’t wait for log fires, wooly blankets and wrapping up warm with our winter wardrobe!

As we’re feeling the chill, we thought it appropriate to add a recipe that not only keeps you warm but gives you a nice little buzz too! Mulled wine! Originally invented to prevent wine from going off, those from yesteryear would add spices and honey to make it drinkable again. There are no boundaries with this recipe – add more/less what you like. This recipe makes enough Mulled Wine for at least 20 people:

Ingredients

4 x 75cl full-bodied red wine

1.7 ltrs/3 pts water

20 cloves wrapped in a j cloth or muslin

3 sliced oranges

3 sliced lemons

8oz granulated sugar (may need to add more according to taste)

2 cinnamon sticks

(Optional) Few tbsp of Cointreau for more alcoholic taste

Procedure:

1) Put all ingredients in a pan and dissolve sugar over a gentle heat.

2) Bring to simmering point & keep warm for at least 15mins before serving!

Simple as that! Remember DO NOT boil as the alcohol will evaporate and don’t be put off by water – it makes the drink less sickly & rich!

Hope you all stay warm!

Colonel Yum x

Here’s a good secret for Thanksgiving dinner or the next meal you cook. I learned this during a cooking class from the experts:

Never serve hot food on a cold plate!

Have you ever sat on a bench when it’s cold outside? Your butt gets cold almost instantly! The same thing happens to your really hot food when you put it on a (comparatively) cold plate.

When you’re at a restaurant, what does the server say whenever they bring your food? “Watch this plate, it’s extremely hot.” They’re not trying to burn you, they just want your food to stay hot while you eat it.

Even buffets respect the warm plate. You know the hole at the end of the buffet that the plates magically rise from (see photo)? That’s not there for ergonomics, that’s a plate warmer.

So, if you’re not doing it already, here is a list of ways to get your plates warm.

1. Buy a plate warmer ($35 and up).
2. Many ovens have a warming drawer underneath.  No, that isn’t a cookie-sheet graveyard.
3. Set your cook-top on low heat and lay the plates on top.
4. Rinse the plates in really hot water, then dry them.
5. Some dishwashers have a plate warmer function, otherwise run the rinse cycle on high heat with a heated dry cycle.
6. Put them in the microwave for a short time.

I should also say that the opposite is true, don’t serve cold food on hot plates.  For example, when you go to a buffet and they have hot bowls for your “hard” ice cream.

Happy Thanksgiving to my US readers!

Disclaimer: some dishes may not be suitable for some of these methods.  Check with the manufacturer to be sure.

Photo Credit: LexnGer (flickr/creative commons/attribution)

BrokenSecrets.com

Waarom vind je het zo erg als je doornat bent?
Die zalige gedachte aan een heerlijk warme douche of bad nadien, maakt toch zo hard alles goed?

En als je dan in de regen staat, fietst, ligt… en je denkt aan die douche,
begin dan gewoonweg luidop het volgende nummer te zingen:

Baby-Lammfell-Schühchen, die richtige Antwort auf schlechtes und winterliches Wetter, sind wieder eingetroffen.

Mit mollig warmem Lammfell gefüttert und mit Klettverschluss ausgestattet, sind sie ab sofort wieder bei uns im Geschäft zu haben.

Größen: 18-19, 20-21, 22-23

NUR 8,90 €!