Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Bonjour from sick land!


I have been sick for the past week or so. It has not been fun! But today it was raining cats and dogs so I decided it would be a good day for a blog update! I'm absolutely terrible at updating, grr. Well actually, it had stopped raining for a bit, but now has continued again!

I've been taking French for about 3 days now, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I don't grasp it as well as I did Spanish and Italian. To me, a lot of French words sound exactly the same. I can't figure out what they are until I read or see them to know how they're spelled. Only about half the letters in a French word get pronounced, and this has made it difficult! It doesn't help that I'm a very visual learner, so learning any kind of new language based solely on sound is really hard for me! But, having a cold has certainly helped me pronounce the nasally "un bon vin blanc" or "a good white wine!" I love hearing the professor speak French, but when I try and talk it doesn't sound nearly as pretty. Well it does when I'm alone practicing, but I seem to get stage fright in class because EVERYONE in my class has already had some French! Well uh, what are you doing in Elementary French 1! I keep wanting to pronounce things in the Italian way also. In Italian, every letter gets pronounced; in French, it seems like you just drop off half of the letters. Haha, oh well. I've done well on quizzes so far (we have one every day, ick!) but we have our first exam on Friday! I've labeled everything in my room in French! There are little sticky notes attached to all my things and clothing, telling me what they are in French. Eh, it sounds silly, but it certainly helps me!

Lately I've become enamored with thrift shopping. I go through little spurts where I'll want everything BRAND NEW, or I'll go through little bouts where I just love sifting through all the thrifty goodness at the thrift store! I've been to ours twice so far, and managed to pick up some old sheets, which are going to be refashioned into a quilt, some popsicle moulds, and some shirts! I'm now on the search for things for my apartment for the fall: cups, mugs, plates, etc. Ooh, and also things for my room, like a cute little lamp, light, pillows, shelves, anything!

So that brings me to trading! I've been trading a bit lately, and I think I maaay be addicted, haha! I joined a trading street team, but I thought I would mention it on my blog too! I have a box full of fabric that I'm trying to trade away. I just don't sew as much anymore. So if you're interested (you can take a look at my shop too if something there interests you!) send me a convo at the shop address. I'm interested in trading for vintage home items, hand made soap, and photographs/art/prints right now!

Alright everyone, that's bonsoir for now! The rain certainly has kicked up in the last couple of minutes, and I've got to get back to conugating verbs!

Monday, June 1, 2009

Hola!

Hello everyone! Just a super quick update, I don't really have much time today. Oh homework and school, you're ruining my life!

I am now offering hand spun yarns in my shop! Along the side of this post so you can see a few of my favorites, but don't forget to check out my store to see all of them! I particularly love (and am proud of) the one directly to the left, called Super Fun Yarn Explosion. It's spun from 5 different mini batts. I'm pretty proud because it's my first yarn spun from a batt. I have another beautiful, green batt waiting for me in my 'To Spin' box, but I simply haven't had time to draft it all out :(

So, I have an uncanny ability to kill all living plants around me. I don't do it on purpose, but I can't seem to keep any plant alive :( My poor, potted herbs. I was gone over the weekend, and I thought they'd be able to make it. I watered them right before I left, but they were pretty dry when I got back on Sunday.

So I watered them as soon as I could, but um, now there's some kind of white residue on the outside of my terra cotta pots. And there was a teeny bit of mold growing on the bottom of my pepper plant's pot (say that 5 times fast!). I figured that the white residue on my other pots was the same kind of mold or spore and was seeping through the terra cotta. Questions: will this kill my herbs/plants? Are they okay? How do I get rid of it?! Any help you guys can offer is much appreciated!

I'm also in the middle of an experiment with my plants. I'm document the stages of their growth. Out of the 13 plants on my windowsill (I have a large windowsill!), I've picked 4 plants to take pictures of as they grow. I'm fascinated by the way the plants change and their leaves get bigger and they get taller and bear fruit, etc. So I've taken pictures of these 4 plants every single day to show their growth. Towards the end of the summer/beginning of fall, I'm going to take all of the pictures and put them into a slide show in iMovie and the fastforward it, so you can see an entire summer of growth in a mere 5 minutes! It's going to be really cool, I'm sure :]
Any way, that's about all the time I have for now. I need to get busy reading my cultural ecology book, reading an online article, cleaning my room, finding a job, and rolling change! Oh, and a nap. I definitely need one of those!