Sarahracha

CORKS

2012-02-10T12:10:00.000-08:00

It has been a busy winter. I have been happily working on my etsy shop, making orders and shipping them out as soon as possible. Thanksgiving came and went. We did a non traditional thanksgiving this year. We had a gathering of friends and family and we served appetizers and pie skipping the turkey and all the traditional trimmings. Of course we had tequila. It has become a tradition. Christmas also flew by. We had family and friends, homemade waffles, mimosas to start the day moving on to pots of soup and lots of appetizers along with tequila and cheep Chinese fireworks from chinatown. We played cards against humanity. We had a blast! My husband and I went to Maui for a week the end of January. I was thrilled to learn that they have banned the single use plastic bag from shops. I see a time coming along soon where I wont be able to weave baskets out of plastic bags. It is ok as my art comes from living in the moment. I have been very busy designing new items for my shop using recycled cork and moving on to recycled credit card and gift cards. I am very excited about this new direction and cant wait to get the items made, photographed and listed! I have been making necklaces, bracelets and earrings using cork and have some prototypes of necklaces I am making with my extensive stash of credit cards, gift cards and hotel key cards. I am in desperate need of corks though. I love personal collections more than the selections I get from local wineries because of the variety. If anyone has been saving their corks but don't know what to do with them I would gladly pay for shipping if you would like to donate them to me. Maybe we could work out a trade. I have lots of beads I am de stashing. If anyone is interested, Contact me at Sarahracha@gmail.com

here is one of my cork necklaces

One of my cork necklaces

Fall on the coast

2011-10-20T23:32:00.001-07:00

Took the dogs to Muir beach. Beautiful sunny fall weather

CORK DOORMAT

2011-10-07T13:48:00.000-07:00

Here is how I make a cork doormat.

I have a huge collection of corks. I ask for corks at wineries when we go wine tasting. Most places will save them and give them for free. For the last several years I have been making things with recycled corks and selling them on etsy. Cork wreaths, trivets, bulletin boards and doormats. Unlike most people who make trivets and bulletin boards with recycled cork, I don't hot glue my corks. I drill holes in them and wire them together like beads. I thought a doormat would look interesting so I worked on a few ideas and came up with one that reminds me of the doormats of years ago made from recycled tires. They are pretty durable. They have a basket weave pattern that allows debris to fall between the corks. I have one that has sat on my porch for two years now. That is actually longer than the last doormat I bought at target. The corks that get the most traffic are a bit darker from exposure to water but it still is beautiful. You could coat yours with a water sealer for wood products. It takes a lot of corks to make a doormat. The one I have listed on etsy uses 284 corks in 22 rows of 12 with a row of 10 on each edge. The key to making this doormat look even is to use a template to mark the drill holes. You need to look at the corks you have. Not all corks are the same size. Longer ones are better, save the short ones for the edges. Take an average sized cork, Mark its length on a piece of stiff paper, make a mark 1/4 inch from each edge. This will be your template. I drill the holes three corks at a time by placing three corks in my table vice. I find it is easiest to hold two in position, tighten the vice a bit, squeeze the third in and tighten! Make sure that you don't mark holes on any printed image on the cork you desire to see in the finished product. For many of us, corks can trigger memories of special occasions or travels.

I mark where the holes are to be drilled with a sharpie using my template. I use an electric drill and I can not tell you the size of the drill bit because the markings are so small I just cant read them but I would guess it is 1/8 of an inch.

If you have access to a drill press I am very jealous. The corks used for the edge I drill one hole right in the center. This makes them sit tight so the edges don't flip up.
After drilling all the holes...the most time consuming part, you then string them together one row at a time using galvanized wire. I find the 20 gauged wire to work the best. Any thinner and it bends too easy. I like to place grommets at the end of each row so when I make a loop in the wire with rounded needle nosed pliers it will sit tight without cutting into the cork. Small washers would also work.

It takes a patience to lace the corks onto the wire. Each row gets a single length of wire. After lacing an entire row, place grommet into hole at the end of the cork and make an eye in the wire with rounded nosed pliers. Then I measure where to cut the wire at the other end using one finger width. After cutting the wire I add a grommet and bend wire into an eye like on the other end.

I like to use cookie sheets to lay out a pattern. You could also just do a random pattern. After several hours, sometimes days, you will end up with a completed doormat

You can see above how the end row buts up right against the second row.
Here is a completed custom one I did.

Of course you may want to try something smaller first like a cork trivet.

I sell my cork doormats for $120.00 which is 100% labor. I can also make doormats using your collection of corks. Since the corks are free, the price is the same either way.

Key Necklaces

2011-03-20T12:12:00.001-07:00

Key Necklaces a photo by sarahracha on Flickr.

I have been playing with skeleton keys and buttons recently

Crocheted purse

2011-03-20T12:11:00.001-07:00

Crocheted purse a photo by sarahracha on Flickr.

I crocheted this purse using the plastic wrappers from a few cases of paper towels from costco. It has become the purse I use the most. I can easily find my keys or glasses in it. I hate purses because they are black holes. Drives me nuts. I was worried things would spill from this but it seems to stay closed even when it tips over. Going to make another one, once I figure out an inexpensive way to make handles

Key Necklaces

2011-03-20T12:06:00.001-07:00

Key Necklaces a photo by sarahracha on Flickr.

nice patina key i made int a necklace

SEE Turtles

2011-02-03T08:47:00.000-08:00

SEE Turtles

The Kings speech

2011-01-30T12:17:00.000-08:00

we finally went to see the kings speech last night. I love movies but hardly ever get to the theater to see them. I do most of my movie watching at home thanks to netflix. I wanted to see the kings speech from the moment I heard Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush were doing a movie together. Plus I love any movie about British Royalty. This one had a wonderful cast of some of the best actors I have ever seen. When I saw Helen Bonham Carter on the Craig Ferguson show and realized she had been cast as the young Queen mother I knew I just had to go and see it. Who knew I wasn't the only one? By the time we got into the theater all the seats were filled but the first three rows. Colin firth was amazing. His inability to get his thoughts out was painful but my absolutely favorite part was when he finally was to deliver the big war speech, when I heard the first notes of Beethoven's 7th I gasped! It is my favorite symphony. I was so enthralled with the beautiful match of the music to the speech I found myself holding my breath. Whoever thought of adding that piece with his speech is genius. When the last few notes faded off as the kings speech ended I wished I could rewind that scene and watch it again. I can't wait for it to come out on dvd! I will add that scene to my list of perfect scenes.

Organizing

2011-01-28T09:39:00.000-08:00

This was an email I wrote this morning to a friend frustrated with not being able to keep organized. liked it so decided to repost it here.

I do love having things neatly put away. I dont know if I have ever had everything in its place for more than a few minutes though. Our tiny 1950's garage is full of shelves and each shelf has containers with all the supplies we need for whatever project we can think of. Everything from staples, ribbon to rubber stamps and fabric. My main problem is My daughter, the art student, self employed Jewelry creator, still living at home NEVER puts the lids back on and most of the time she pulls the containers half off the shelf, or plops them on the work table, removes the lid and sets it where it disappears. She is the type of creative who when she gets an idea she is like a tornado, grabbing bits and pieces from different containers and scattering them as she collects materials. She cant put anything away until she has finished.
Most times she will layer several projects, materials and ideas on the horizontal surfaces of my home before my nagging gets to her and she cleans in a huff! I am really good at finishing projects I start. If I just cant wait to start something new I store the older project in a clear bag. Put it in my bedroom where it will Nag me until I just have to finish it. I sometimes follow a rule that I cant start something new until I finish the project I am working on. I hate it when I do that because my heart will not be in it. I also will put everything away when I am done working at the end of the day. Sure wish my daughter would pick up on that...lol I love figuring out where new items go. Like items with like items. Its like a game.
Sally the frustrated not quite all the way organized mom

--
Sally
sarahracha.etsy.com

Basket

2011-01-25T10:47:00.000-08:00

I finished another basket last night. This one took me 10 days. I weave my baskets only in the evening after dinner while watching tv. This most recent one I worked on almost every night for an hour or more. I dont keep track of how many hours each one takes but I know it is at least 10 hours. This one I made using a large plastic bag that black sunflower seed bird seed came in. I buy my wild bird seed in bulk and go through about 100 lbs a year. This bag has some very pretty colors in it. Lots of orange, black and yellow. I think when I make these baskets out of the more natural colors they are especially appealing. From a distance you wouldn't think it was made out of a plastic bag. This time I tried putting the plastic through the paper shredder. It didnt cut the plastic but it did perforate it so I had some guide lines to follow while cutting the bag into strips using scissors. It is pretty large. I can see this one sitting on someones coffee table, or as a center piece on a dinning room table. Once again I used dozens of single use plastic bags as the core of this basket,weaving the colored stronger plastic around this core by wrapping it in the coil method. I use a needle to poke the strips through the previous row of coils and pull it tight. To make the plastic bag rope core I use as the inside coil, I take dozens of single use plastic shopping bags, cut off the handles and cut off the bottom seam on the plastic bag. I save the strip from the bottom. I then take the loop of plastic that was the bag, open it up and using the cut off seam I tie these loops together. I have found that this makes the most consistent thickness for the core rope. I have tried many many other methods, looping them together like a rubber band, taping them end to end with scotch tape all of which made lumps at the connection. I do love the baskets I made that have these inconsistencies in them because they dont look like mass produced plastic Easter baskets which other people who make recycled plastic bag baskets seem to favor. It is easier to weave if the core is consistent. I want mine to look natural, primitive. The juxtaposition between an ancient craft humans all over the world throughout time have used and a non natural Plastic which humans will have to learn to live with due to it never decomposing makes for a fascinating object. I will take some photos today and add them after I have my coffee.

New year

2011-01-13T19:47:00.000-08:00

This last month has been real busy. I have had more sales in my etsy shop than any other one month period. My recycled cork objects and my recycled plastic baskets have been real popular. This sweet heart trivet has been the number one seller. I really love this one.

I sold the first recycled plastic bag basket I ever made. I have sold many others but this first one just sat there. It is made out of plastic bags from the Legion Of Honor/ De Young Museum shop bags which are stripped orange, turquoise and green bags. Bright colors but such an adorable basket. I will miss seeing it waiting on my shelf and sure hope it is happy in its new home.

I am having a sale on my scarves. I marked them all down 50% and would love to get them around some cold necks this winter. I toy with the idea of keeping them for myself but really I have to admit I have a scarf addiction. How many scarves can one woman living in a pretty mild climate truly need to own? Check them out and see if there is one you would like to help keep you warm this winter.

I wish you all the best 2011! lets hope it is a good one.

Photos of walk around east peak of Mt Tamalpias

2011-01-07T09:29:00.001-08:00

2011-01-07T09:26:00.000-08:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahracha/sets/72157625643822217/with/5332983661/

the Sartorialist

2011-01-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

I love his blog. People watching without leaving the house.

autistic girl comunicaites using a computer. Amazing potental for so many

2011-01-04T10:59:00.000-08:00

this is very interesting.

pangea day

2011-01-04T01:24:00.000-08:00

End Love with Nutcrackers

2011-01-03T13:30:00.000-08:00

PLASTIC STATE OF MIND - Black Friday Parody

2010-11-29T07:45:00.000-08:00

cork trivet

2010-11-08T14:52:00.000-08:00

Corks

2010-11-08T14:39:00.000-08:00

Corks!
I have a lot of corks. I have made Christmas wreaths, coasters, trivets, bulletin boards and doormats out of corks. My cat loves napping on the cork doormat we have on our front porch. My husband and I love to go wine tasting. We live in a town that has dubbed itself "The gateway to the wine country". We are just ten minutes away from the nearest winery. Recently I have been asking folks at wineries if I could have any corks they were planning on tossing out. Everyone says YES! I have tried several methods of putting corks together, not liking just gluing them, I wanted something a bit more in line with my weaving skills and finally discovered that by drilling holes in the corks I can treat them like beads and create all kinds of things. Here are a few I have posted on my etsy. Please check them out!

Dianna Cohen: Tough truths about plastic pollution | Video on TED.com

2010-10-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

Dianna Cohen: Tough truths about plastic pollution | Video on TED.com

Maui to ban plastic bags

2010-10-05T08:04:00.000-07:00

When I was visiting Maui in July I kept all plastic bags that came my way. I am making a basket out of my collection of bags from Maui. I just couldn't put them into the garbage on this paradise island. I figure if I don't throw them away at home why should I throw them away on Maui. On our adventures around the island we drove by the dump and there were hundreds of plastic bags blown by the wind into the trees that surround the dump. Really disgusting to think of how many of those bags were not caught and blew into the oceans where the beautiful green sea turtles and other sea life could easily mistake them for food. We were on top of Haleakala and a gust of wind blew a giant plastic bag out of a car. I ran after it grabbed it and was happy to see the woman who's car it had escaped from running up to me. She said I hate to see it blow into nature. I wish more people felt that way.

OK Go - White Knuckles - Official Video

2010-09-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

can life get any better? OKGO and DOGS!

The Majestic Plastic Bag - A Mockumentary

2010-09-20T07:26:00.000-07:00

Plastic bags

2010-04-02T09:21:00.000-07:00

How did I start collecting plastic bags?
I think it all started while I was on a trip to London. I bought a book at an impressionists collection that was showing in the national galleries and the shop keeper handed it to me in this beautiful plastic bag that had a painting by Renior on it. The bag actually matched the book I bought. As I travel, I try not to hang on to anything that can add bulk to my small carry on bag but there was something about this plastic bag that made me want to keep it. I thought I could make something out of it so I folded it up and stashed it in the suitcase. I had seen fused plastic made into wallets and thought i may use the bag to try something like that. I ended up making this small basket.

I started saving any plastic bags that I came across that were colorful.
My husband and I have always used cloth bags for grocery shopping. Every once in a while we would end up stopping at the market unplanned without our cloth bags and we would get those nasty plastic bags. Of course I saved them and reused them. Most shopping trips we don't bring home those plastic bags. That was until i figured out a way to incorporate them into my baskets by wrapping the white bags with strips of colored bags in the coil method to create baskets. Now every so often, when my stash is getting low I will do a grocery shopping trip to Safeway and not ask for paper or bring my own cloth bags.
The other colorful bags I save I don't seem to come across very often. I am not a big shopper. Most trips to stores I buy single items and refuse the bags. My biggest stash of bags right now is dog food bags, and the plastic packaging from things like costco paper products, like tp and paper towels. I do admit to being a bit of a museum store addict, especially books and I ended up with several bags from the legion of Honor, and de young museums in SanFrancisco. We are members and visit several tmes a year usually purchasing a book or two. Here is my museum shop basket

My first attempt to create anything with plastic bags was a purse I made out of a johnny cat kitty litter bag. I lined it with fabric and I thought for sure I would be able to sell it on etsy. After a month of no interest in it at all I removed it from my etsy shop and gave it to a friend, who is a self described crazy cat woman and she loved it!

I was finding the bags from the cheesecake factory beautiful and about as plentiful as their servings. I decided to try crocheting a purse out of the cheesecake factory bags but about half way through I got this idea to do coil baskets so I ripped the crochet out and started making a basket. It turned out great. I ended up gifting that basket to a friend who works in the cheesecake factory corporation.

It seems that when I travel I collect more. Maybe because I tend to buy stuff on vacation more than I do when I am home. We went to Disneyland for my 50th bday last November and I bought myself a pair of pjs. Always practical. I also bought my dogs some stuffed animals to kill... i mean play with. My daughter picked up some Alice in wonderland plates and I ended up with three very large beautiful Disneyland bags. I ended up making a mostly blue basket out of them.

When shopping and I am asked if I want a bag I say let me see it first...lol I have tried several ways to use the bags for the core of my baskets without wasting any. I think I have finally figured a great way to connect them without causing any bumps. Right now I am working on a basket made from bright green plastic bags a friend sent me. Every six months or so I get a package of her collection of bags in the mail. I am pretty sure this craft of mine wont last forever. There are already actions in motion to ban the plastic bag from the area I live and when that happens I am sure I will find something else to create with.

sold!

2010-01-31T13:55:00.001-08:00

sold!
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

I just received the best customer feedback on this basket. Sure made my day. I did love the way the card I sent along with the basket matched so well. Here is the feedback:

Brilliant piece, exactly as advertised, shipped promptly, packaged beautifully, and a handwritten note. Thanks!

really nice.

New Years Resolutions

2010-01-22T13:41:00.000-08:00

I remember reading when I was younger that January is the worse time of year to try to break old habits and create new ones.I dont make New Years resolutions. This year i did want to get back into an old habit. This new old habit was baking bread. I have baked bread many times in my life. I even had a bread machine that made baking bread so simple. I bought it 10 years ago when we lived in a drafty house that was very difficult to convince bread to rise in. I saved an article from a sunset magazine about baking the perfect sourdough bread. It had a recipe for sourdough starter that used yogurt. My goal, or some would say resolution was to get a sourdough starter going that I liked and that made great whole wheat sourdough bread and to start baking my own bread.

Day one: I dug up the recipe from sunset. it was simple. 1 cup low or non fat milk 3 tablespoons plain yogurt, 1 cup all purpose flour. you warm the milk to between 90 and 100 degrees. mix in the yogurt and then seal it up in a large mason jar, let stand in a warm area for a day. i put mine in the cupboard above the refrigerator.

Day 2: stir in flour and let sit for several days until it is nice and bubbly and has a pleasing sour smell. if it turns pink throw it away.

Sourdough Starter
Day 5:bake bread!
to make bread you use 1 cup sourdough starter,1 cup warm water 3 1/4 cups flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tsp salt and one packet yeast. I put it in my bread machine and it groaned and squeaked and didn't do a thing! The motor had ceased. I tried the old brook handle in the garbage disposal trick of Jimmie it to get it to become unstuck, of course I used a wooden spoon not a broom but I couldn't get it to budge. I took the mixture out and mixed it by hand, kneaded it, put it in a lightly oiled bowl, covered it with a tea towel and let it rise for 50 minutes. After it rose I kneaded it a bit more and made loaves. Let those rise for 50 minutes and then baked in the oven at 350 for 50 to 55 minutes. I also took my bread machine and put it in our pile of stuff to get rid of. We will either take it apart, try to fix it,or make a planter box out of it. Imagine how much more storage I have in my kitchen without it! We now live in a much less drafty house. I have made about 6 batches of bread with this starter. After each cup of starter is removed you feed it with 1 cup warm milk and 1 cup flour. I slowly changed my flour from white all purpose to whole wheat. It is so simple, using my kitchen aide mixer with its dough hook and the bread is wonderful especially this time of year when a nice bowl of soup and a chunk of crusty fresh buttered bread makes the perfect dinner.

ok go

2010-01-21T11:53:00.001-08:00

OK Go - This Too Shall Pass from OK Go on Vimeo.

Painting the hall

2009-12-21T20:47:00.000-08:00

About a month ago I got the idea to re paint my hallway. A friend had just done a remodel and she had a heck of a time deciding on paint colors. She asked me where she could dispose of all these paint samples and I said GIVE IT TO ME! I had all these tiny pots of paint in shades of green and blue and I decided that I could do some sort of mural in my hallway with it. I guess it was about 10 years ago when I last painted my hall. I had done a fantastic natural paint technique in my dinning room where I mixed cinnamon and curry powder with a left over white paint and painted my walls. It smelled so good ! They came out to be what was later called a Tuscan color and texture. I sponged it on, used a dry brush, and also used rags..I made a cute stencil of leaves and olives. This was way before everyone on earth was making and selling olive motifs . I still like my dinning room stencil. It is just one row of olive branches below the green chair rail on the Tuscan yellow walls. I used the same stencil to create cherries and cherry tree leaves all along my hall way. it was cute and I love the colors but it was time for a change.

this is the before.

I painted the wall and ceiling a nice blue. I used my friends paint samples and painted circles in a very random pattern all over the walls.
here is the after.

i also covered my switch plates with pages from magazines and packaging tape

new item

2009-10-18T01:19:00.000-07:00

I am working on some recycled Jewelery. I love making my baskets out of recycled plastic bags but feel like no one is ever going to buy a basket. They make a great subject in a gallery or art show and I have no trouble using them but I don't see them being something anyone ever would search out and buy on etsy. I do want to have some sort of income from my creativity. I have been working the same basket weaving techniques into some simple jewelery. Here is a photo of some bangles I made using PLASTIC. the core is made out of three different sized pieces of plastic needle point canvas arranged to make a pleasing shape. The outer layer is made from strips of plastic cut from last years Disney store Christmas bags. I think they look fantastic. I will work and rework this idea until I perfect this idea and come up with something that looks sleek and elegant. My idea is to make treasure out of garbage, not more garbage out of garbage.

yeah someone likes me!

2009-10-03T20:18:00.000-07:00

I listed my last two swirly boa scarves today. I tend to do one type of project for several weeks and then move on. I am either going to start working on some of my recycled plastic baskets or maybe I will sort through the materials I have gathered in the garden and start weaving baskets out of natural materials. I can make a basket out of natural materials much faster than the plastic recycled ones but then again my plastic stash is ridiculous and really should be tended too. I was surprised to see a contact on twitter mentioned they were going to talk about my baskets on their blog. Awesome! I really needed a lift. I did a search on etsy this morning for boa scarf and found many other people making what I thought was a unique scarf...lol although each of mine are made with several different yarns not just one. Still it sort of blew my idea of only listing things that I am unique in making. So when I saw the tweet from http://twitter.com/MyFreshPicks it really picked me up. Thanks so much for the shout out!
http://freshpickedshopping.blogspot.com/2009/10/recycled-plastic-baskets-by-sarahracha.html#more

cool colors scarf

2009-09-01T09:51:00.001-07:00

cool colors scarf
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

Autumn Scarf

2009-09-01T09:49:00.001-07:00

Autumn Scarf
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

Yarn balls

2009-09-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

Over the years I have acquired a giant storage box full of yarn. I spin my own wool , I knit, crochet and weave so anytime I see yarn at a rummage sale or a garage sale I grab it. I was looking through my box of yarn and started matching up colors. Fun to take four or five different yarns and crochet them together into a pleasing scarf that feels and looks like a feather boa. Everyone who sees them loves them so I figured why not add a few to my etsy shop and see if that generates any interest.

plastic basket

2009-06-10T13:36:00.001-07:00

plastic basket
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

plastic basket

2009-06-10T13:34:00.001-07:00

plastic basket
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

plastic bag basket

2009-06-10T12:57:00.001-07:00

plastic bag basket
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

this one is my biggest yet. it measures 4 inches deep and 12 inches wide. the core used over 100 plastic grocery bags and the otter wrap was made up of one plastic dog food bag cut into strips.

plastic bag basket

2009-06-10T12:53:00.001-07:00

plastic bag basket
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

finished another recycled bag basket. this one took me over a month

necklace

2009-04-24T13:05:00.000-07:00

sarahracha.etsy.com i have some new jewelry up on my etsy. I have been toying around with stringing beads as a necklace and then going back over the already strung beads with crochet. It looks amazing, is very strong and much more interesting than most just plainly strung necklaces. I think the thing I love the most is they are long enough to wrap around my neck several times and NO CLASP!!!!

Spring is always so busy

2009-04-24T12:56:00.000-07:00

I have been busy this spring, I spent a week in San Diego and a long weekend in Seattle. I have been busting my butt in the garden, seems like a real good year for the weeds. I am just getting to put my seedlings into the garden, crafting tons. Working on a basket and have been fooling around with crocheting necklaces. I just love the way they look.

march09 017

2009-03-04T15:34:00.001-08:00

march09 017
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

march09 024

2009-03-04T15:33:00.003-08:00

march09 024
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

march09 029

2009-03-04T15:33:00.001-08:00

march09 029
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

march09 035

2009-03-04T15:32:00.001-08:00

march09 035
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

feb09 063

2009-03-04T15:29:00.003-08:00

feb09 063
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

feb09 056

2009-03-04T15:29:00.001-08:00

feb09 056
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

feb09 052

2009-03-04T15:28:00.003-08:00

feb09 052
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

feb09 051

2009-03-04T15:28:00.001-08:00

feb09 051
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

drying

2009-03-04T15:23:00.001-08:00

drying
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

cooking

2009-03-04T15:22:00.001-08:00

cooking
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

my first attempt at dyeing wool with food coloring

green sea turtle flying in the palms

2009-03-03T19:14:00.001-08:00

green sea turtle flying in the palms
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

just back from 10 dayS in Hawaii. saw this wonderful flying turtle

jan09 260

2009-01-31T16:25:00.001-08:00

jan09 260
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

jan09 264

2009-01-31T16:23:00.001-08:00

jan09 264
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

beautiful rescued accidentally felted wool yarn

OBAMA

2009-01-20T11:00:00.000-08:00

. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and non-believers.

finally non believers have been included!

Editing

2009-01-14T12:30:00.000-08:00

Life is all about editing.... every day I run a list of things to do through my head, it is a long list. I edit it down to the basics for survival. food, shelter,water. I add in things I want to do,reading, playing, learning, and things that need to be done, cleaning, gardening,gathering, organizing. It is all about editing. We have had several beautiful rare sunny January days which draws me outside where I see so many tasks begging my attention. January is rose pruning month in Northern California. This is not something that I can wait on. It needs to be done NOW. I edit my list, move prune roses to the top. After getting all 33 bushes trimmed. I notice Bermuda grass sitting around in my garden under the freshly trimmed rose bushes. It is trying to blend. I move that towards the top of my list. I sit in the sun, reading the seeds of change catalog. that is the top of my list for this moment. garden porn they should call it.....each page as another new to me photo of some beautifully exotic plant I must have.........I edit. My list for seeds gets longer and longer. I edit it down to what I know we eat,what I have grown successfully and what we buy at the grocery store. I have a small garden. I cant grow everything we eat. Vegetables and flowers have to earn a spot in my well edited garden.........editing...I edit my words, make it simple, make it true. I have thrown words onto my screen and gone back to edit, pruning and sniping until only a few words are left. does it make sense? did I leave in all the important words? did I remove all the misleading ones.

inaugural invite.....I KNOW!

2009-01-08T14:32:00.001-08:00

inaugural invite.....I KNOW!
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

wine foil garland

2009-01-08T12:14:00.001-08:00

wine foil garland
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

wine foil garland hanging on chandelier

2009-01-08T12:13:00.001-08:00

jan09 029
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

wine foil garland

2009-01-08T11:56:00.001-08:00

wine foil garland
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

we have been saving the tops of wine foils for a few years. this year I decided to make a garland out of them. i spaced them with red wooden beads. I used gold thread. I love the look and the colors

ligjt shade

2008-12-17T09:39:00.001-08:00

ligjt shade
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

with the light on

light shade

2008-12-17T09:38:00.001-08:00

light shade
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

who dosent hate those ugly glass shades for ceiling fixtures? this is my solution. it is a votive candle holder from pier one that I enlarged by adding two more rings, making paper mache Capri shells and chaining them together.

paper bowl

2008-12-17T09:35:00.001-08:00

paper bowl
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

paper mache bowl

wool knit Socks

2008-12-17T09:34:00.001-08:00

wool knit Socks
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

this was my first pair of socks. thin enough to wear in my boots. My quest now is thin thin wool yarn.

tiny basket on my laptop

2008-12-17T09:32:00.001-08:00

tiny basket on my laptop
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

i made this several years ago out of day lilly leaves and embroidery thread...it's tiny

recycled plastic cheesecake factory bags basket

2008-12-08T11:29:00.001-08:00

recycled plastic cheesecake factory bags basket
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

i love the way this one turned out, I have run out of plastic grocery bags and am thinking of stealing them from the stores recycling bin...lol

recycled plastic bag baskets

2008-12-08T11:13:00.001-08:00

recycled plastic bag baskets
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

persimmon

2008-12-05T19:19:00.001-08:00

persimmon
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

the one and only this year

rose hips

2008-12-05T19:18:00.001-08:00

rose hips
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

rose hip collected from wild rose in my garden

dec08 009

2008-12-05T19:17:00.001-08:00

dec08 009
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

leaf final painting

woven paper box ornament

2008-11-07T14:37:00.001-08:00

woven paper box ornament
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

i made this simple but complicated looking woven box out of 8 magazine pages from the Hawaiian air magazine

leaf bird bath

2008-11-06T08:46:00.001-08:00

leaf bird bath
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

2008-11-05T23:29:00.000-08:00

Morning Glory Basket

2008-11-05T23:12:00.001-08:00

Morning Glory Basket
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

Basket made in Oct 08

plastic basket

2008-11-01T12:34:00.001-07:00

plastic basket
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

inside of basket

2008-11-01T12:33:00.001-07:00

OCT 026
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

recycled plastic bag basket

2008-11-01T12:32:00.001-07:00

OCT 027
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

baskets baskets baskets

2008-11-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

I dont know when I first started to weave baskets. I do know as a kid playing in the hills we often would try to make stuff with the grasses and other plants that grew around here. I have always been fascinated with the Miwok indians who lived here and the baskets they made that were tight enough to hold water, some were even used to cook in! I have read bits and pieces about gathering materials and curing them to use in basket weaving. I have learned several basket weaving techniques. Some are like magic, like making the ends of the materials disappear into the weave. Most of the time I make tiny baskets that can be finished in one sitting, some of the larger ones I have never finished. They become trivets or coasters. I was lucky enough to be in a fiber arts class where I got to learn all kinds of different methods of creating with unusual materials. Now after years of trial and error, reading books, watching others I have acquired lots of techniques. Its just the gathering of materials that has held me back. Being scottish (cheep) and suffering from sticker shock at the prices of materials I just knew I could use recycled or free from my garden materials . I have tried several times over the years to collect my own materieals and weave with all kinds of odd things. I use what i can find. I have used paper coils, strips of fabric, coil baskets with large rope and twine, tiny baskets out of day lilly leaves and agapanthus, never taking the time to really prepare the materials and ending up with odd looking baskets. I just finished a nice sized basket I made using plastic grocery bags that I had been saving and some brightly colored plastic bags I had saved from the museum store at the legion of honor and the de young museum in san francisco. I should have counted but I am pretty sure I used about 50 plastic grocery bags for the inside coil of this basket and about 10 of the museum bags, cut into strips to coil around the core of the grocery bags.The end result is a very tightly woven brightly colored dense basket that is 9 inches wide and 3 inches deep. I just love it and hope to sell it. I have it listed on my etsy and although it took me several days to make I am only charging 35 dollars.
About a month ago I was removing morning glory vines from my garden and once again thought there has to be a way for me to make something with these. my daughter wove a basket using the green vines, I made a few simple ones too but as the vines were green as they dried the baskets became loose. they are ok as ornaments, filled with dried flowers. I gathered tons of these vines, stripped the leaves off, coiled them loosely and let them dry outdoors for several weeks. After soaking they become pliable and strong enough to weave the tightest of coil baskets. I really like the way they look.

morning glory basket with dried Hydrangeas

2008-10-19T08:51:00.001-07:00

morning glory basket with dried Hydrangeas
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

another example of my tiny baskets

creating stuff

2008-10-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

I have over the years accumulated lots of "crafting" supplies. I am now trying to make stuff without having to buy more stuff. I think this forces me to be more creative. I have a friend who owns a nursery and she sells Christmas ornaments in her garden shop so I thought why not make garden theme ornaments that she can sell. I could also try and sell some on etsy. First thing I made was ornaments using these teeny tiny flowerpots that I picked up at a garage sale years ago.I got out my dried flowers, moss and my silk flowers. of course I am out of hot glue so I had to use elmers which I think is better anyway as it doesnt string. I laced ribbon through the hole in the bottom of the flower pots to create a loop to hang it with with a bow or knot under the flower pot stuffed moss inside them and then did arrangements with lavender, status and silk flowers glueing them in as I went along. I am thinking of redoing them all with hydrangeas instead because I just love the pale lime green and pink colors in a christmas tree. The second thing I made was baskets out of morning glory vines. I have been weaving baskets my whole life. I know several basket making techniques and these little guys are turning out wonderfully. they are small about 4 inches across and extremely light weight and the colors of the hydrangeas in them are just yummy.

death panther

2008-10-16T19:27:00.001-07:00

death panther
Originally uploaded by sarahracha

this band has been in the studio for years!

2008-10-16T09:08:00.001-07:00

what a life

2008-10-16T08:18:00.001-07:00

How do you know when you get to that place you have always wanted to get to. I am pretty sure I am there. My life is full, brimming over with things I love. These last six months since I last updated : ) I have been busy enjoying life. Everything I like to do I have done. I have heard lots of live music. Live music is something that fills my soul. NIN, the police, elvis costello, the b 52's, cyndi lauper, alkaline trio, the fratillis,elvin bishop, america, war, los lobos,and many many others and most recently "David Byrne....full to the brim and overflowing I am. I have also been traveling,I have seen the most beautiful place on earth Kauai. this time we did a helicopter tour. just gob-smacked! I went to PAX in Seattle with my two kids and their friends in aug and got to be a part of the geek world. funny how well I fit in there...lol I won a copy of the maw which really was the only game that looked to me to be MY kind of game.I also won a statue of the maw. Hubby and I did a cruise to Mexico in sept/oct.I feel like we drank our way south and back...lol We did some snorkeling trips, which I loved. We won a bunch of art and other prizes from the art auction, plus of cours we bought some more art too...I know what was I thinking? I also have been to my share of Live theater these last few months, sigh it is another thing that fills me. Darren Bridgett, who performs locally OFTEN was amazing in much ado about nothing. What a joy. We saw amadaus, a winters tale, the drowsy chaperone, franky and Johnny and then the best of all Spring awakening finally. I knew I would love it. music, entertainment, family and friends to fill me up. We had a party for my husbands 50th birthday. So much fun with all our friends,lots of laughs. My netflix have been gathering dust.too busy to watch movies. My garden has been happy too. We have had some wonderful tomatoes this summer. Having a vegetable garden sure helps me be a good cook. Life is good. David Byrne is even better. We saw him in SanFrancisco. What a night. His music is the score for my generation. At first the audience sat politely in the very nice davies symphony hall but at the end of houses in motion most people were up on their feet. I absolutely loved his dancers, and the back up singers and rest of the band joining in the choreography was Brilliant. His encore was over the top with the extra action marching band (who I keep on calling the easy access marching band...lol)Yoshi took a video and put it up on youtube...we saw him again in Santa Rosa. We joked about how he seems to enjoy doing things on the road and we bet he was going to go hiking in Marin... I mean how can you NOT. I was happy to read in his blog that he did indeed go hiking in marin,along with bike riding and eating at my favorite spot the pelican inn. I have been continuing along with my photography,spending hours organizing and uploading to flickr. We have had many people visit us this summer.Lots of evenings sitting in the garden drinking good wine eating good homegrown food. Now if we can just get through this election, and past this market slump, things will continue to be good. I already voted. I HOPE this election brings CHANGE : )

David Byrne

2008-10-16T08:14:00.000-07:00

vole

2008-05-13T08:19:00.000-07:00

My garden has a vole, most likely more than one. How do I know? I had one run up my arm! My lill terrier Jack saw something in a brush pile. Wanting his life to be full of adventure, I grabbed hold of one of the larger branches at the base of this pile and gave it a little jiggle enticing Jack into frenzied excitement as he burrowed deep under this brush pile, barking and whining. I guess the joke was on me. I was squatting there, laughing at jack and encouraging him to "get it " when this little brown thing ran out of the pile, using the branch that I was holding onto as his lill super highway , he ran right up my arm. YIKES I stood up, spun around causing it to just run right off me, and I uttered some sound like ohhwahh. It was so fast I couldnt even really see it. It was dark brown and didnt have a tail like a mouse or rat. Late last night I googled "vole", just on a hunch and omg thats what this was. Now I have to figure a way to convince this guy and his most likely rapidly increasing family to move out of my garden or die. My folks are in town so we will go have lunch somewhere nice and just visit. No vole hunting today. In my google quest I learned about the kind of damage these guys can do, none of which I have seen yet. No burrows, no chewing of bark on trees but I have had a few dahlias disappear and they were right in line with the pond and this brush pile. My dogs have been acting like there is something around the fish pond which is in a direct line with this brush pile, which believe me will be turned into wood chips asap. I have naked ladies all around the greenhouse (amyrillis belladonna) and they lay over creating a perfect tunnel for these voles to get into my garden.the next bed has daylillies which also make perfect tunnels for these guys to run through. My plan is to clear away these leaves that hang, making their hidden tunnel visible so my dogs who are terriers and hunters can eradicate these critters for me.

Dusty

2008-03-28T23:57:00.001-07:00

outting 121
Originally uploaded by Random42

her last visit to the beach

the Beatles

2008-03-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

I was born at the end of 1959. My sisters, five and six years older than me loved the beatles and listened to their music. It was a part of my life. I remember the stacks of albums,and looking at the art and photography, soaking in every detail trying to figure out who the people on the cover of sergeant peppers lonely hearts club band were, I knew Shirley temple and marylin monroe, . I played lots of hooky from school often Mom would need to run errands and I would get to be alone at home and my alone time would turn into music time, We could stack several albums onto the turntable and lay under the piano where the stereo was perfect. A beatles album or two would always get played along with anything else that caught my eye. My parents didnt listen to rock and roll. Mom is a classically trained pianist so their music collection was quite straight. Dad Loved vicki Car, they did like dixie land jazz, herb albert, and of course broadway musicals .. The beatles to me were so cool, why dont we do it in the road had to be the nastiest thing I had ever heard and I remember one my sisters yeling along as she listened to it. It was liberating. The beatles broke up when I was 10. Later on I bought my own albums,starting with Elton Johns goodbye yellow brick road, and moving on to my all time favorite, Pink Floyd. The beatles were gone. John Lennin was killed the year I got married. I dont think I understood him at all then. I really didnt know anything more than what my young mind imagined from looking at the album art as a kid. There has been something in the air these last few years. another beatle mania of sorts. Last fall we were in Las Vegas. I love to see shows, and after doing a bit of research I decided the best show in vegas was LOVE the Cirque du Soleil show.. Well it was amazing. It was that acid flashback I had been waiting for all my adult life. Of course over the years I have sung along to all the beatles music, the words were always easy to hear but i dont know if I really thought about all the meanings or how beautifully the music was written. Walking out of that theater, they play all you need is love and everyone sings along. It hit me pretty hard, this music is part of humanity. Here we are among hundreds of people from all over the world and they are all singing along. A few weeks later we saw across the universe, a beautiful movie by Julia Taymor. The movie was perfection, Beatles music, beautifully sung and glowingly illustrated to tell a story in this fantastic movie. So beautiful. It made me want more. I just finished watching the beatles anthology. It was fascinating. made me ache, made me smile. made me miss George Harrison, and John Lennin. Made me want to listen to more music. Such a privilege to see these old interviews, to see a time line of the beatles and to see them being creative. but most of all I was struck by how much good music they made and so happy that I can still listen to it.

Food

2008-03-12T11:13:00.000-07:00

Recently a friend started a food blog. She talks about nutrition and actually takes photos of what she eats and posts them every day. She has gone on to lose 12 lbs in the last few months. When I first heard of this blog I thought wow how brave to photo everything she eats and post it, imagining 20 pictures of a binge eating weekend full of images of small groups of gummy bears adding up to a five lb bag. But my friend hasnt had any slips. She ate a chocolate truffle at a garden show and I think that is the only treat she has allowed. I struggle with my weight... actually physically I struggle. tying shoes can be a bitch. I am not a couch potato. I am active. I hike and I garden. I eat healthy foods,I love vegies and grow them year round. use 2 % milk in my coffee,(blecch) I regularly start my day with fat free plain yogurt and fresh berries. I dont eat fried foods or refined carbs, I dont eat candy (unless you count the box of sees I hid in the linen closet last week) My biggest problem is I dont like to be hungry and I dont want to deprive myself of food that tastes good. I want to be able to eat like a skinny person, believe me I have watched how those bitchs eat. " I dont have to worry about getting fat, I can eat whatever I want" meanwhile I am eating my fresh veggies fruits and whole grains, lean meats/fish and non or low fat dairy.....When we were in hawaii a few weeks ago,I was going to act like it was a SPA vacation.... I gained 4 pounds... I ate non fat plain yogurt with berries and banana for breakfast every day, had a salad for lunch every day and had grilled or raw fish for dinner with veggies every night. I avoided the macadamia nuts, coconut anything, bread in any form including the banana bread and i didnt have any desert. I guess I should have avoided the mai tais too. I believe I am healthy. My dr says I am not. I feel stronger and physically more capable now than I did in my 20s when I weighed what my dr would say is a healthy weight for someone of my height. I can climb hills without needing to stop to catch my breath like I used to when I was skinny. I have never let my weight stop me from living my life. I am not ashamed to wear a bathing suit in public. I know I feel better about myself than most skinny women who see endless flaws in themselves. but damn it,,,, i want a smaller number to show up on that scale.

Music

2008-03-10T10:40:00.000-07:00

I am about half way through the beatles anthology. I am enjoying going back through time, listening to music of my youth, bemoaning the fact that I dont own all the music I once did. I have abby road and the white album on my itunes. and thats it! I have lots of lennon and the mcCarthy stuff that was released to itunes... contemplating going out and buying cds (ugh)to complete my library or even downloading them illegally reasoning that I have already bought the record albums, 8 tracks, cassettes, over the years....and what do I find? this morning I found this article http://gizmodo.com/365630/paul-mccartney-signs-400-million-itunes-deal-for-the-beatles woot...now I just have to waIT A LITTLE LONGER AND RUBBER SOUL WILL BE MINE,...AGAIN Been a wonderful few months, did a week in mexico, and another in Maui...we were flooded once again, and survived. I am working in the garden starting veggie seeds and pulling weeds. Saw George Carlin last week and sometime last month we saw MIKA who was so much fun here is a lill bit of hawaii http://youtube.com/watch?v=IbBInitjfzk

Catching up

2007-12-06T09:50:00.001-08:00

I never thought I would go so long without having to vent here, isnt that what a blog is for? Venting? Lets see, I last blogged about our trip to vegas, dont think I got to the best part of that trip, the drive through death valley and bristle cone, mono lake Bodie and Yosemite. We even spent a night at the ehwahanee.I think Every Californian needs to visit all those places every so often. Bodie is my favorite place to take pictures. I would love to be there for sunset just once. I always seem to be there at the height of sunlight, not the best light for interesting pictures. After we got home, I continued to drive Yoshi to school and hike in the mmwd. I am trying to cover all the trails on mt tam. I have found some beautiful places, some very steep climbs. hasnt done anything to kick my weight loss dream into reality but I do know I can climb hills and it feels good.
I took my daughter to see HIM and the band bleading through opened. they were a very typical headbanging metal ( I guess) screaming band. I did get a kick out of them though because in our game of thinking up wacky band names, One of my favorites it bloody gauze and bleeding through would make a great opening act for them...lol I have a new band name, "wool socks and birkenstocks" lol came to me because I have been knitting wool socks and discovered how freaking awesome they are paired with birkenstocks. I wear my wool socks all day long, makes the wood floor feel warm. Oh seeing Him was fun, My daughters friends are not fans and she figured I like him so I should take her. He is good, the band was tight, he didnt play every song we love but he did sing beautifully. I just wish he would knock off the smoking, he went through a whole pack in his act... makes my lungs hurt!. I had Thanksgiving here at my house this year and I am very proud of how well I did. It went off without a hitch! We had a willie bird which was fantastic, never going to cook anything but willie bird. Scott got it from work, I guess George Lucas knows how to treat his employees. The kids brought over rockband which is so much fun we played it for 8 hours and had a gas. I was a week into a cold and couldn't sing, which sucks still getting over this cold. been sick for almost a month...argh, I have done all my christmas shopping thanks to amazon.com I do not understand people shopping on black friday...what the hey Jim and I are heading to Mexico in a few weeks, I asked my friends if they would like to help us donate some school supplies to a school near where we are staying and only one of them responded. They are all a bunch of raciest a holes who hate "mexicans" they think EVERY spanish speaker in the usa is Mexican, illegal and aiming to take over our country. pisses me off so much.... cant they see that if someone, a business offers spanish for its spanish speaking customers, it isnt because the spanish speakers are too lazy to learn english it is because the business wants to make more money. it reminds me of how the jews were targeted before ww2 in Germany, propaganda made them into the cause of anything bad, we are doing the same thing to mexicans and all other spanish speaking peoples. I used to work doing esl and I never met anyone who spoke spanish who didnt want to learn english, I also have never met a lazy "mexican" I know so many young families who have come here and made businesses for themselves worked their butts off and have been able to buy homes so many of the white trash kids I went to school with are still living in apartments...anyway I dont want to get too pissed today.... just hate stupid people who are paranoid and unkind. We saw Kathy Griffin last week. she was a riot, loved her and her new doo, back to natural curly hair, so much better for her face to have soft hair. ok thats enough cant wait for sweeny todd

2007-10-09T10:11:00.000-07:00

Argh vegas… lets just say that I enjoyed myself while Jim was at his conference. I saw a Picasso ceramics exhibit and visited the Guggenheim at the Venetian. I also saw the titanic exhibit. We saw LOVE the cirque de sole based on the Beatles music. It was wonderful, I felt like that flash back I was warned about finally kicked in. Octopus garden was fantastic, We had great seats. It was Jims Birthday and he made reservations for peter and inger to join us for dinner even though they didn’t want to pay the ticket prices to see the show afterwards. The next night we saw momma mia with peter and inger and then we went to the house of blues for a late dinner which was real fun. The third night I had bought tickets to see the producers but the show was canceled justminutes before curtain time…argh!!! Jim and I did have a great dinner ALONE at Paris. One of the major differences between Jim and I is he needs LOTS of attention and I don’t need any. He prefers having lots of people around and I prefer to be alone. I am not anti social or rude, I know how to have fun but there are times when a nice quiet dinner in a good place should be enjoyed by just two. Our last night there we made dinner reservations at areole we decided to do the tasting menu and I regret that I didn’t go for the wine paring. Jim ordered a Riesling. The food was wonderful, the wine, was not my choice. Worst thing that happened in Vegas, I was hit as I made a left turn on a green arrow by a woman coming the other direction who turned right on a red light… my first accident. sigh

Palm Desert

2007-10-09T09:40:00.000-07:00

Sept 23
Last night we went out to dinner at moms fav place, black angus, it was alright but the drinks were sweet. Mom and dad crack me up in restaurants. I don’t think Mom reads the menu she justs asks for whatever it was she had the last time and then she asks the waitress if she has a coupon in her pocket they can use, Jim pulled out a 20and said here’s your coupon..lol I ate a salad with beef again…lol it was good but the tomatoes were not real, they were those fake things we are forced to eat in winter. We came home and hit the sack. I was tired

This morning Jim and I had to go meet greg the leasing agent. The meeting went well, he is a nice guy, can see doing work with him for the next few years. We then went on a hunt for jamba juice and finally found a juice place the drink was a bit sweet… but still it was breakfast, Jim dropped me off at the top of the cove in La Quinta and I hiked up and over and then down, I went way too far, past where I was going to meet him so he had to drive around and find me,,lol it was my first time hiking up there but if we ever move here, I plan on hiking up there every day. We came home and I went out shopping with mom, I scored big time, went to steinmart, such fun! I also bought Jim some fricking awesome b day gifts. I have always loved shopping down here. After we got home Jim and I went to the pool and swam, sure felt good to swim and lay in the sun. I fell asleep. Oh last night I drempt that Yoshi met a guy named zach who was fun, cute and piratey…he ended up spending the night with her…too funny

start of road trip

2007-10-04T17:03:00.000-07:00

Sat, sept 22
We spent the night at harris ranch last night, When we got back from dinner I had to check and see if there was wi fi, and there was so I quickly got on line and read my email, there were 20 e mails after not getting more than 5 in a day for the last week I managed to get 20 in just 3 hours. So I started reading, Jim climbed into bed and all of a sudden I remembered Ross Mathews was going to be on the tonight show so I quickly grabbed the remote control and turned on the tv that part is easy but then it gave me a menu, so I clicked on guide and was given all kinds of options like video games, movies, tv on demand OMG I just wanted regular tv and NOW damn it! Finally I see in tiny print to acces regular tv press the arrow keys which I did and did and did and then I looked at the remote and found another set of arrow keys…argh!! It was 11:48 and I figured he would be on early in the show, I finally get it on and there he is!!! OMG and the segment is half way done!!! OMG I missed it, Jim grumbled but I just stood right in front of the tv and watched,,, can I just say that Ross Mathews is the funniest, quickest witted guy ever and adorable to boot! I just laughed my head off. After it was over I turned off the tv and tried to sleep, it was hard with the overwhelming smell in the room, we couldn’t quite figure out what the smell was, like the carpets had been cleaned or something, turns out the room is furnished with all new furniture and that’s where the smell is coming from.
We get on the road, and follow my route (you have no idea how happy that makes me) I used the new google map travel thingie which is great. We went down 5 and climbed the grapevine and it started to rain, we took a left at Gorman and drove to yucca city. I love this way and we flew. It was raining pretty hard when we went over the pass matter of fact we could hardly see the road, I was so glad I wasn’t driving. driving through LA that way so we only nicked san Bernardino is the fastest way to get through that mess. I don’t have wi fi here at mom and dads although there are several airports that show up but they all need a password, hate that even though I do it too now. I wouldn’t mind but my neighbor was stealing my bandwidth and there are too many computers in my house to share with some idiot who actually named their computer fuck you, if they had a nicer name maybe I wouldn’t have made my wifi password restricted, Jim has gone to meet the new tenets at both places.

Harris Ranch

2007-09-21T22:28:00.000-07:00

evening folks, we just drove for a bit over 3 hours to get to harris ranch. We love staying here, the rooms are big clean and fancy. this time I drove almost all the way from Novato. We had bumper to bumper traffic in San Rafael and once again in Oakland I couldnt fucking believe it, Jim always does all the driving and this time I said no I am going to drive so I drove all the way to the rest stop nearest Harris ranch. The drive was ok except it fucking RAINED what the fuck it is sept and it is raining??? I just cant take it I want summer summer summer not rain, argh! we also saw a few flashes of lightning. We checked into our room and then we went to dinner, Harris ranch has two restaurants, one is the country kitchen and the other has a BAR! we were told the bar/steak house was closed for the night so when we walked by we asked ands they said come on in we are still serving! yeah so we ordered a few beers som cocktails for me and had a fantastic dinner. Harris Ranch is known for its beef it is the best. I had a salad that was beefsteak tomatoes, tri trip, blue cheese onions and lettuce, just fantastic. Jim had mashed potatoes a ten ounce new york strip and veggies. While we were sitting in the restaurant i said the music is a bit loud isnt it? and then I noticed it was live..lol ad there were three couples right out of central casting dancing, the men all were wearing jeans plaid shirts and cowboy hats, they were two stepping. I said I wish we had some europeans with us, they live this stuff...lol
they were hooting and hollering, and dancing, was real fun. Live music no matter what it is always is so much fun. We are back in the room, which smells like carpet cleaner and dust so we have the door to the balcony open trying to air the place out. Anyway we survived the first leg of our trip, rainiy roads, truckers and me driving 80 miles an hour...YIKES!

new york city

2007-09-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

We were in New York city 2 weeks ago. Our first trip ever. We stayed at the hilton times square which was probably the most comfortable hotel room I have ever stayed in. the sheets were so soft, the room was large, a corner room with two large windows so we could look down on times square. New york is very warm colored, brick buildings, wooden water tanks on the rooftops, We saw curtains, staring david hyde pierce, what fun! the music was very reminiscent of the music man, very well done, bought the cd. We also saw chicago, the movie was very well done. Chicago wasnt my first choice but Jim bought the tickets and there really wasnt too much we haven't already seen or have tickets to see this season in sf. I love going over the list of shows and saying seen it seen it going to see it...lol We had a wonderful time, I took tons of pics http:www.flickr,com/sarahracha. After three nights in New York city where we were only able to see the Guggenheim, so we need to go back..lol we drove to Philadelphia where we met my sister and saw the king tut exhibit. fantastic, the artistry just blows my mind. Then we drove on to Maryland where we stayed for two nights, We visited Harpers Ferry, and Baltimore where we saw the american visonary museum loved it.We also saw my brother in laws show at the delplane gallery in Fredrick. I really like his work. this is my condenced blog, I am not good at going back over things I did two weeks ago.

New York

2007-09-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

Jim and I went to New York Labor day week. This was the first trip to New York for both of us. The reason for the trip began when a friend who lives "upstate" was talking in e mail about her new garden center. Her husband quit his job to help her with her dream and things sounded like they were coming along and she said she wished everyone could visit. Everyone meaning the 25 or so of us in the email group we call echat. we talk to each other every day sharing life stories, gardening woes etc. Jim was pestering me with ideas for a vacation and so I said lets do New York. I was able to get one other couple to come along too.Kath and Jerry from Ohio. We have been in this group for 10 years and some of us have met, some of us havent. Our trip began with a stay in Hyde park in a cute b&b run by students from the CIA. We flew the red eye,slept a bit but it seems to me the flight attendents area bit sadistic, offering beverages when you are just hitting rem. I had a chatty patty sitting in front of me and no matter how deeply I pushed my ear plugs into my skull, I could still hear him yammering away,also he was waving his arms in the spot light he needed on and it created a flickering light show that made me wish I had brought along one of those sets of eye covers. Still I do think I slept, I am getting better at sleeping on planes. We checked in to our b and b sat by the lake enjoyed the sun, freshened up and then headed to Victoria gardens in Rosendale.Vicky is a wonderful relaxed warm comfortable person who is so much more articulate than her communications by email. Some people dont write like they speak. The shop looked beautiful and I took lots of pictures. Jim and I headed off to lunch at this cute funky place called the birds nest. When we came back Kath and Jerry showed up. We hung out at the shop for a bit, did some shopping and then we went to a farm stand for corn and then on to Vickys house where we met her husband Wayne .The men hit it off instantly and there were lots of laughs. We ate a wonderful grilled dinner drank LOTS of wine, had a wonderful night. We drove back to our b and b and fell into bed.The next morning we met at a farmers market where I was shamed by the size of the tomatoes, I thought California grew the largest tomatoes.After the farmers market we went to brunch and then wandered around a flea market. Vicky ahd Wayne had a wedding to go to and Kath Jerry Jim and I went off to the hooley on the hudson where we hung out for the rest of the day and night drinking beer. It was fun to just hang out, hearing bag pipes, watching people. The next day we met for lunch at the birds nest where I discovered sea breezes, wow nummy .then we headed to New York ccity

lazy days of summer

2007-08-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

Morning,I am still in bed, drinking an iced coffee and playing on my laptop. I have been in a lazy hazy mood these last few days. I really shouldn't be,my folks are coming for a visit, horizontal surfaces are in need of clearing, dinning room table has a sewing machine and a very large oil painting with all the accouterments. I have been clearing and tilling an area for my rose garden that I will plant in the winter. Been planing this for a while and now have an area, have removed several plants and a layer of bermuda grass, tilling it and raking it up. Apples continue to fall and I dry as many as I can, juiced up a container and I have made a few pies. I haver accepted that I will not use every apple that falls from this tree, although there is a very small ocd part of me that wants to use every single one, I cant keep up. Hundreds drop every day and I may use 12 or so.The weather is nice, I have the windows open and get nice cool breezes every so often. I just feel lazy and when I feel lazy all I want to do is eat junk food like ice cream and cake. I have been hoeing the poppies and weeds that have come up in the last few months..i go out and work in the garden for ten minutees and then come back to my laptop. Jim and I head out to New York in a few weeks, I am excited but also guarded. We have never been to New York before and we have no idea what we are going to do. I think over planning can kill a trip. I am most worried about HUMIDITY living in Northern california where there is no such thing it always takes me a few days to acclimate and I HATE IT....oh well I do want to go to the moma and the Guggenheim, I think my first step in visiting any city is checking out their best art museums. Jim thought it would be fun to rent a paddle boat in central park, I love that idea. we were going to see if we could get tickets to a broadway play, Pissed that grey gardens is ending before we get there. I was all gung hoe to see spring awakening but it will be coming to SF so we dont need to....I guess curtains is my next pick. we were going to go and see about cheep tickets and just take what we can get. We have seen almost everything that is on broadway right now. We figure we have been to many other large cities in the world and loved every one of them that odds are in our favor that we will love new york city too. I ran into a former student the other night and asked her what she has been up to, turns out she is moving to New York city to be a line chef at the hilton times square, hmmmm thats odd that where we will be staying....I will try to hook up maybe have a drink with her...Love seeing my students actually reaching their goals, I guess I did reach my goals, they were easy to get to....waiting for the next stage, the one where we have an empty nest, I think it will be a good stage. ghad this is so boring

ohhh last weekend I saw stardust, beautiful but of course there were a few things that were left out of the movie that I thought would have made it much better. I wish the line about the star giving her heart to tristin so the witch couldnt cut it out was left in, such a beautiful sentiment. We saw Avenue Q , had our usual good seats but had some fucking idiotic people next to us, the man who sat next to Jim couldn't sit still and his wife stuck her stinking foot on the balcony railing......I felt like such a snob but really you dont go to a broadway show and put your feet up...didnt help that I have this gag aversion to feet...lol I mean it makes me sick to my stomach to see people touch their feet and then touch their faces....ewwww and she kept moving them and she wasn't keeping beat she was just cracked out.....blech disgusting....Poor Jim was closest to them....When we went to see stardust I was so happy to be in a crowd of people who know how to be in an audience. It was a screening for Lucas employees and they all stayed for all the credits, Man I just loved that and no one spoke through the whole movie except mandy and Yoshi but they were so quiet sitting next to them I couldn't hear them just knew they were commenting on their favorite book...lazy day today.... tomorrow we go to a winery for a private party, always like those.we still have two more Shakespeare plays to see this summer...I have some odd netflix, sweeny todd and rent...lol how in the heck did that happen? I harvested a shitload of Anaheim peppers and made the best chili rellenos ever...and the extra egg whites I made a soufflé with peppers and jack cheese OMFG it was heaven...some a hole is doing LOUD yard work....fucking leaf blower....i hate weekends when all the other people in the neighborhood come out and disturb my oasis where is my ipod? OHHH john lennon's stuff is on itunes, had to buy a bunch...someday maybe the beatles stuff will be there, I am missing several albums....yawn,,,,,still in bed.....the dogs love it when I stay in bed all day. Jimis on callso he has to stay around the house, makes for a nice relaxing day.

#10 qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq moxie typed that

2007-08-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

Friday day at sea slept in until after 10:00missed breakfast, so we headed to the photo gallery and picked up some photos, tossed tons into the bin. Its ok we got some real cutes ones. We then went and had lunch. After lunch we shopped, I bought pashimas and necklaces, we went back to our state room and read and napped until it was time to see the show put on by the crew, it was tons of fun the second in command did the whole joke about the wait staff tying strings to their penises so they don’t have to clean their hands after they pee…lol and he actually had a string going in his zipper..omg and he had the spoons you know the joke the waiters have extra spoons for customers and they use these spoons to put their penises back in their pants after they pee…they also did this real funny thing called fountains sorta like the fountains at the bellagio but this was a bunch of the crew, came out in togas, and were holding canisters of water they all took a sip and then spit onto the next person…lol one at a time, it was really funny they did the Grecian urn thing all spitting water. After that we headed out to the back deck to enjoy some sun, I had a cookie and some tea and then we walked through the buffet and I saw some Indian lentils and some other Indian food that I have been wanting to try, seeing as it was after 5 and dinner is at 9 I stopped and had some spicy vegetarian foods and we ate with the guys from Malaysia Jim met on the fishing trip. It was a nice lunch. Now I am trying to catch up and get this all typed up before I forget.

#9 Davidson glacier

2007-08-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

Next morning we woke up in Skagway. We woke up late because our excursion was later in the day. We walked to town and bought some souvenirs for everyone. I am trying to get things that are useful like socks for the girls and boxers for Scott. Jim found some nice hematite necklaces for his co workers. I bought some salt water taffy from this area. We went to a jewelry store and Jim bough me a turquoise necklace and earring set along with a silver chain and a turquoise pendant and a rose quartz pendent. My jewels for this trip. We came back to the cruise ship and off loaded our stuff and then we met the bus for our excursion, it was a funky old school bus, the driver was this young cool fun girl who reminded me of a sebetoski. She said is everyone here who is supposed to be? Alright lets roll and she drove real fast and said you guys are real lucky, this helicopter is going to lift a bunch of stuff right here from the road in front of us, it is stuff they bring up to the top of a glacier for a picnic, or the dog sled ride. It was six 55 gal drum barrels in groups of three and the helicopter lifted it up and flew right over us, our bus driver had let us out to take pics because as she said this is pretty cool and not everyone gets to see it. Off we went to the catamaran which was driven by captain Dan and we were introduced to Boris who was very personable and knowledgeable and we rode for 45 minutes to the Davidson glacier. We got out of the catamaran and met up with Linda who single handedly rolled the gang way down the rocky beach to the catamaran, dumping it over onto its side..lol which she was laughing about. We got off the boat, on a beautiful beach covered with strawberry plants and fireweed and blue berries and wild roses, OMG just beautiful. We got into more school buses drove for a minute or two.We were given rubber boots and life vests. We next hiked a short walk through the woods, the young woods as this area was under a glacier not too long ago, we reached a grey shoreline, the water was grey due to the glacier flour that is in the water. Glacier flour is the result of the weight of the glacier pushing, rubbing on the rock as it slowly moves and crushes the stone into powder. We were told how to get into the canoes and we went and got in and then we paddled out into this river and into a lake at the base of Davidson glacier. It was fantastic to get as close as we did the blues were so beautiful, we saw baby seagulls, and some mountain climber s who looked like tiny ants. We paddled around the lake and got lots of pictures of the glacier. Our canoe had a pair of Canadian’s, a pair of Scotts, a pair of Irish a pair of English and us the pair of Americans. What a great group! We had a wonderful time and it was sunny and warm even when we were being blasted by the winds from the glacier. We rode home, had dinner in the main restaurant hit the casino where Jim was selected by the manager and a winner of a tee shirt that says I am a winner ast the casino in the seas…lol actually I am the one who is the winner.

#8 Juneau

2007-08-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

Juneau, well first last night we had sushi for dinner, it was ok and then we went to the casino and played the penny slots so much fun this morning we woke up in Juneau. We had omelets for breakfast and we went off the ship rode a bus to the center of town there is a tram that goes up to the top of the mountains, we bought our first decent cup of coffee this whole trip. We then found our tour group and we rode on a bus around juneau and took bunches of pictures then we went to mendehal glacier took more pictures and then we went to a chapel that had a great view, great place for a wedding. We just made it back on the ship and went to the 7 seas for lunch I had chocolate soufflé for desert and it was yummy. We came back to our room I napped and then we had anniversary cake and champagne for our anniversary. It was fun after cake we booged it up to the front of the ship where we stood for three hours as we rode up a fiord to see saywers glacier, it was really fantastic so beautiful but it was cold. We kept thinking we were going to see the glacier any time and we just kept on going up the fiord, winding left and right. There was somuch ice broke off the glacier that we didnt get right up to it was it still was fascinating to see the end of the fiord and this giant glacier wrapping around this mountain, we could see both ends of the glacier. Now we are getting ready for dinner it is our anniverasy and we are going to the French bistro. I need to get dressed.
We had a wonderful trip to sawyers glacier up tracy arm. For our anniversary dinner we went to the French Bistro, it was the richest food we have had so far. When we first went to sit down I noticed the plates, chargers, OMG they were my favorite china on earth! The verssachi plates we saw in Germany. I said to Jim would it be rude of me to lift this plate up to see if for sure it is the versacci plates that I love? He said no. Dinner was excelant, I had a scallop and shrimp martini, escargot which the waiter said isn’t ordered very often (OMG they were the best I have ever had) my entrée was a shrimp encrusted salmon wth some kind of creamy rich French sauce, It was the first meal I have had that made me feel over full. We had a bottle of champagne and after dinner we were given a free bottle of wine which we still have in our fridge. While we were eating we were still going back down the tracy arm so we were seeing ice bergs and Jim actually saw a whale breach in our wake. We went to the casino and once again we did real well on those penny slots. I just love them! This casino is the best casino I have ever been to on a cruise ship.

#7 Ketchikan

2007-08-06T11:17:00.000-07:00

Ketchikan, woke up at about 4:00 am and got out of bed to take a picture of the pink sky and the mountains. Went back to sleep but Jim was up at 5:00 or 5:30. I kept sleeping knowing I had to be out at the dock in Ketchikan at 6:50 Jim had to be out by 6:00 for his fishing trip. I ordered room service the night before and it arrived 25 minutes early! Who hoo, non fat plain yogurt cantaloupe, pineapple and green melon, coffee, just right. Jim left for his excursion and I took pics and cleaned up, I left for my excursion, which was Totem bight, clan house, the totem heritage center and fish hatchery. The weather , sunny and warm. Totem Bight was a bit out of town, beautiful rainforest, and there was a clan house native built out of cedar western red cedar and it smelled so good! The totem poles were interesting and the style of art was so beautiful Hmmm after walking around this beautiful flower surrounded park with the totem poles where we were told many fables of the natives and stories represented in the totems, we went to the fish hatchery where I was able to take some pictures of bald eagles before my camera batteries ran out. My back ups were on the bus. The hatchery is in the woods and just beautiful they care for injured bald eagles and we were able to get up close and personal. There were 30 old totem poles at this museum. The paint had been aged off. And the grain of the wood was more visible. The natives would make the paint by chewing up salmon eggs and mixing it with ground up pigment. It was so sunny and warm, I came back to the ship and had lunch, I found Jim and we met up with one of his fishing partners and we sat in the bar as the ship left Ketchikan. John Butler and his wife and their 17 year old son. We chatted a bunch and I discovered their son is a giant dr who fan. He also just loves harry potter and has read the books over and over. It is beautiful here and it has been warmer than we thought it would. I actually look like I got some sun. Jim caught with his group of three fishermen 14 fish! And he sent five of them home!