We need to Remember What

         Ok so u know how everyone is partying cause Bin Laden is dead? Why is coverage lasting for weeks? And people are joking about it like he was just some stupid person to idolize. The more things named after  a person that causes death the longer they will be in the news. The longer they are in the news, the more people looking for a spotlight will want to be like them. Recently there was even a Columbine bomb threat again, and where do you think he got the idea? And that was only in the news for a week. The longer bad things are in the news, the more jokes, the more idiots are going to want to be just like them.

     Why is it that some idiot that decides to go shoot a bunch of people makes the news for over 6 months yet no one remembers who he even shot for much longer then a week. I'm frustrated, sad, and pissed off all at the same time. And the fact that people don't seem to even think about what they are doing and saying, and then they'll deny it when confronted with what and how they are influencing people, pisses me off even more. People need to think about how there celebrations will effect the future before they do it. I'm not suggesting that everyone get depressed. I'm just saying don't celebrate the asshole that deserves nine circles of hell "Ground Hog Day" style.

    I am instead preying for those people he killed over the past several years. 

So stop partying because they are already talking about a new asshole to replace the dead one.

    At the beginning of that year there was a mass shootout in my city and it's still in the news here. The creep is actually smiling in his mug shot, and his picture creeps me out. They say God does everything for a reason but I have yet to see any reason for any of these people to get shot. We had a debate about this in class after it happened and they said everything happens for a reason and eventually something good will come out of it.  From what I see as of yet,that's either not true or He just doesn't care. They even made a Law and Order TV episode about it. He's famous now and that's rewarding him for the shooting. In case you wanted to read about this shooting, (if you haven't already heard or read about it) here are many links about it, http://www.itoolz.info/url/3049/

 A photo I took at one of the few temporary memorial Tucson, Arizona.

      And just a question, if a suicide bomber blows themselves to smithereens and a reporter isn't around to tell anyone about it, is he just an idiot with a bomb? If this is true then shouldn't these not be in the news?

       I would also like to say thank you to all of the  Armed Forces, and Emergency crews that put their lives on the line for all of us every day in the past and future.

Writings referenced in this blog are... "Inferno (Dante)"  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferno_%28Dante%29 & "Ground Hog Day" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_yDWQsrajA

Not your norrmal Easter agg Salad

So we all know it's fun to decorate those eggs right. I know my dad was the only one to really eat them in every form. But wouldn't touch them cause they didn't ever look to appetizing. Well today I offer a colorful solution. Drum Roll Please... ... ...

Easter Egg Salad

What you will need

• Pot of boiling water
• 1 Easter Egg dyeing kit
• see box for dyeing ingredients
• Sharp knife & cutting board
• Salt
• Pepper
• 12 raw eggs This allows someone to swipe 2 Hahaha
• Celery

•  

1. Bring large pot of water.

1. Carefully place eggs in boiling water (You don't want egg drop soup.)

1.  
2. Boil till your sure your they are hard boiled.
1. I thought they were suppose to cook till I found tonight this might not b true because mine never floated and I cooked them for a around 1/2 hour.
3. When sure the eggs are hard boiled remove them place in bowl in fridge till cool.

1.  
4. Peel eggs without hurting the egg.
5. Dye them. If you include vinegar the color will stay strong.

1. Follow kit instructions.
6. Return to fridge.
1. The colder the egg the better it will hold shape.
7. Chop eggs and celery the size of the pieces is personal preference.

1.  
8. Add mayo, salt, and pepper to taste.
9. Mix
10. Enjoy or refrigerate till eaten. Mine is going into the fridge till Easter dinner at a friends house.
 
So eat enjoy, get together with friends and family, and HAPPY EASTER!

Night out

Last Thursday night I went out to see a play with my mom. I had a wonderful time we went to a restaurant called Miss Saigon. We ate fired Cornish hen over red rice, the chicken was good and the rice was tasteless. Then went went to catch the play was Irma Vep. http://www.arizonatheatre.org/our-shows/the-mystery-of-irma-vep The play was fun, and we had a great time.

 This is what I wore, my shoes and toes.

A paper mache horse hanging from ceiling, you can see them but there are suspenders attached So some one can wear it.

The lounge we had a lemon square before the show. This is one of the many hats they had hanging from My Fair Lady hanging from the ceiling.

This is the theater. I am not including any photos of the actual play for oblivious reasons.

Thank you Mom I had a wonderful night.

Spring in Sonoran Desert

Hi everyone,

 This entry is going to be about spring in Tucson, and Southern Arizona. A beginners guide to where I live for those that live elsewhere. This is not a research site but, I can say that what I know is because I have lived here most of my life. Well lets first start with the climate. Southern Arizona is located in the Sonoran Desert. Which is southwestern America and northwestern Mexico. It is a beautiful location.

 

Plants start to turn green and come out of hibernation. This is when the weather starts to get hot again. It is a dry heat here which means that we do not have the humidity that the rest of the country has most of the summer. It does get humid here but that's during monsoon season and a different blog entry.

We have plants here that are nowhere else on the planet. The Sonoran desert is the home of the Saguaro cactus, Prickly Pear cactus, Cholla cactus, Mesquite trees, and Palo Verde trees. Leaves in the desert are either nonexistent or very small here as to allow the plant to be able to save as much water as possible because water is so rare here. A few of our plants here also depend on each other to live, existing in a symbiont relationship.

The Saguaro cactus is actually classified as a tree. When it first starts growing it needs to grow in the shade of what is called a nurse tree, this tree is normally a Mesquite Tree. The Saguaro will easily out live this tree. As this tree gets older it attracts most wild life and humans, for food and a home. Birds will start holes in the side of the Saguaro looking for bugs. Then these will grow into large holes and animals start to live in them. Fruit bats migrate up from Mexico to drink the Saguaros nectar. Hohokam Indians, one of the many Native American tribes that lived in the Tucson basin. They still use  and pick the fruit from cacti in the area.

 Prickly Pear Fruit

These Prickly Pear cactus are used by both human and animals to eat both the fruit and the pads. Javelinas, looks a little like an extremely large pig, eat them with the stickers and thorns still on the plant. The flower colors on this plant depends on the amount and type of minerals in the ground where they live. If a piece of this cactus does fall on the ground, as with many cacti, it will grow into a completely new plant, but only if it gets water soon enough.

These are some of the various types of Cholla cactus. The kinda of fluffy is called affectionally called Teddy Bear Jumping Cholla, and is no fun walking past. It is called a "Jumping Cholla" because when something gets close enough to the plant it will appear to jump on and stick you. I recommend staying at least a foot away from this plant when possible. It looks pretty and cute but on the end of those thorns is a substance that will irritate your skin.

These trees come in many types but the long flower version above grows wild here, in addition they also come with various thorn sizes from none, that you can climb, to extremely dangerous, that you don't want to go near. Spring  through summer is the blooming season. This is personally one of my favorite smells. The Hohokam collect these seeds to eat and grind into a type of baking flour. The seed pods can be used for a quick way to smoke, cook with for flavor, your meat when you barbecue. The wood can also be used  in campfires and for cooking.

This is a tree called the Palo Verde Tree. For those of you who don't remember your Sesame Street days palo verde translates to wood green from Spanish. This tree is called wood green because the bark on this tree is green. A lot of the things here are named with Spanish and Native American influence. Unlike the mesquite, this tree is not edible at all, but the yellow flowers are pretty,  In addition they don't offer good solid shade like the mesquite. When they bloom the blossoms will appear to turn the tree yellow.

http://arizona.sierraclub.org/trail_guide/MAINNDX.HTM 

 That link is a link to a page listing many hiking trails around town and southern Arizona encase you would ever like to take a holiday.

And finally don't forget to carry and drink water no matter the season. If your thirsty, you are already starting to dehydrate!

Coissant Calzones

Ingredients

• 1 tube Big Croissants
• Small can Tomato Sauce
• Pepperoni
• Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• Garlic Powder
• Ground Basil
• Toppings are optional they are changeable but remember less is better.

Steps

1. Preheat Oven to 350 F
2. Open and unroll croissants

1.  
3. Lightly sprinkle with basil, garlic powder, and/or pizza seasonings.

1.  
4. 3 Pepperonis per croissants

1.  
5. About a teaspoon of sauce per croissant

1.  
6. About tablespoon cheese per croissant

1.  
7. Wrap as to not let sauce out, small holes at corners are ok. That will let steam out.


1.  
8. Place on ungreased cookie sheet
9. Lightly sprinkle basil, and garlic powder again.
10. Cook 13 -14 min.s or until lightly browned
11. Remove from oven sprinkle with cheese
12. Cook and additional 2-3 min.s till or until melted
13. Let cool for 5 min.s
14. Enjoy!

1.  

Curtains Continued... or are they?

Hello Everyone,

So when I left off with the last post we were sorting blocks into strips. For the next steps I'm going to start at 1.

1. After you have your blocks sorted into the design that you wish, use straight pins to pin the blocks into strips.  A strip looks like the following picture, a strip can be two or more blocks long. Place one pin for ever two squares as shown.
1. 
2.  
2. Sew the blocks together. The closer you get your corners the better the quilt will look. This is kind of like color in the lines,  pirate law is that it's more like a guide line. Do not sew the pins! Of course if you were to hit a pin your needle will, in the best of circumstances, just bend and not break. Worst circumstance is your needle breaks and now you need to  take the needle out and replace it!
3. Now match match the strips in the order you want them to go. You do not need pins for this step.
4. When you are done sewing the strips together you have what is called a panel. This is one of my panels. This is when my husband saw them and decided that he wants a blanket instead. So I smiled and said OK :) <--- Happy he decided this before I did the next step, but at the same time aggravated because I now have to go seam rip 3 strips off.

5. When seam ripping you want to be sure not to tare the fabric. Use your seam ripper along the seam cutting the thread in between blocks. If you do it is not a big deal, you  can patch it, but if you can help it you do not want to do this.
6. When patching use a piece of fabric about a 1/2 in larger then the hole in all directions. Sew the patch all around the hole. Then use a wide short zig-zag stitch, go over the hole.
7. Ok now that you rearrange you blocks/strips so it makes more of a blanket shape you want to iron the panel.
8. Now go back to the store to get batting, the middle fluffy stuff, and fabric for you backing, quilt back. You are going to buy enough of each to go over the edges about at least an inch and a half. Consider how thick you'll want it to be. The thicker the batting the warmer the quilt of course.
9. When you get home the first thing you do is wash, dry, and iron your fabric.
10. Trim your frayed edges. Sew the back panel so it is a little larger then the front panel. You can trim excess fabric, remember save your scraps you can use them later.
11. Now you want to find a large empty flat space you be able to spread your quilt out on. Decide how you would like to do your main outer binding edge. The one I will be doing is folding and hemming the back up to the top.
12. Now depending on how you want to bind the outer edge you layer your panels and batting if your doing it like me, lay all layers out like a blanket you would normally use. Make sure every layer is flat before the next layer is down.
1. Back panel on the bottom
2. batting
3. top panel
13. Now use either quilting safety pins or straight pins. The quilting safety pins are like normal safety pins only bent so that they can be used to pin a quilt, they also hurt less if you accidentally bump while sewing the center binding. You want to pin every block. Remember this is holding everything together till you sew in the ditches, bar-tacks in corners, or tie corners with yarn, depending on how you plan on doing that. You do not want any of these binding options to be more then one block a part, ask the quilt fabric shop how far apart they recommend because this depends on your batting.
1. Stitch in the ditch means to sew along a seam of the quilt.
2. Bar-tacking is when you sew about 4 stitches forward and a backwards stitch on the corners of your blocks.
3. Yarn ties are when you use yarn to hold all the layers together, tie this in a square knot.
14. Complete your stitching in the ditch, bar-tacking, or tying now always working from the center out. This is one of the pirate rules that I have been taught. The following picture is the result of my stitch in the ditch. You can also see how it is layered.

 The back will end up looking something similar to this...

1.  
15. The edging I am folding and pinning it up and in like in the picture.


1.  
16. And Congratulations! You have created a quilt and I am sure it is Beautiful. See I told you, YOU CAN DO IT!

1.