Speed Trials

I’ve been going a little granola crazy lately. I make a pretty mean batch of no-oil granola (from La Dolce Vegan) but I was looking to make some bars to meet my granola-on-the-go needs.

My friend Bev has a wonderful recipe, and whenever she brings a batch in to work, I always catch myself hovering around her desk, subtly hinting (aka drooling and begging) for yet another piece.

It’s a super easy recipe, and calls for condensed milk as the binder. I made a batch and was super excited when it came out of the oven…

Mmm… I could practically taste the crunchy goodness…

Oh boy!!

But when I cut into the bars, I was SO SADDENED to see that it had not cooked the way I wanted… The bars weren’t crunchy, the oats hadn’t taken on that granola texture. They just… cooked. I had oatmeal bars on my hands…

After eating one and trying to convince myself that they weren’t so bad, and failing, I decided that something had to be done. I turned my granola bar FAIL into an oatmeal muffin success!!

I stuck the bars into the food processor, hit the On switch and watched it whir. I added a squirt of honey, and two single-serving containers of applesauce to the batter. Poured into a muffin tin, and topped with more granola bars.

What came out were delicious, moist, crumble topped muffins:

Mmm. They are very filling (on account of being made out of granola!) and the apple/cranberry combo makes them kind of tart, but still sweet from the honey. And because they stick to your ribs, eating one is definitely enough!

What a weekend! While Angelo was away in NYC playing in the Bench Minor Bike Polo Tournament, I was at home, being domestic.

I always take the opportunity when Angelo is away to really focus on the apartment, and make it just a little homier. This weekend I didn’t have time to take on any full blown projects, even though I had quite a few in mind, so I decided to do a straight up spring clean.

Now, I definitely get a little OCD when it comes to cleaning, and spring cleaning is something that takes even more forethought and preparation. I may have gone a little overboard compiling this detailed list of everything that I wanted to do:
This is only the first page of the list. It ended up being 4 pages long!

As it turns out, due to other engagements this weekend (a birthday dinner, breakfast with my mom and brother, baby shower) I was unable to get the whole thing done, but I did make a good dent in the cleaning.

Since you always see pictures of my living room and kitchen, I thought I’d show you the more “intimate” wing of the apartment.

The bedroom is quite minimal and doesn’t photograph super well. The walls are white, the duvet is white, the art on the walls is white. There’s very little furniture in it. When we first moved in, I wanted to have ONLY the bed and night tables in there. Nothing else. Keep it really minimalist and zen. But the workshop ended up a little crowded, so my dresser found its way into our bedroom…

This is a close up of my earrings. They were totally overcrowding my jewelry box, so I hung a lace ribbon and now they’re a cute little showpiece in the room.

The bathroom is great, and a good size for an apartment.

Check out this sweet bath mat we snagged at Value Village:

And this cabinet we bought at Habitat for Humanity. It’s perfect and holds a lot of stuff!!

Lots of decluttering went on this weekend:

And this is our hallway:

This is what connects the “living” part of our home (living room, kitchen, workshop) to the “private” part (bathroom and bedroom). I like that this apartment has that sort of separation. If ever one of us wants to party, the other one can go to bed and not be bothered too much by noise and ruckus.

This blue lady was pa
inted by our friend Leslie. And we bought this plant from a store that was going out of business. It’s huge, and really thriving.

I also gave the kitchen and living room a deep clean, and the apartment feels great, and smells like lemons! The only room left is the workshop, which could take a full weekend all its own… But at least this much is done!

I only started wearing bike helmets last year. It’s true. I was one of those riders who just didn’t think it was necessary. I mean, I didn’t really wear one when I was a kid, certainly didn’t wear one as a teenager, briefly wore one when I lived in Montréal, but upon my return to Ottawa, I just sort of let it go by the wayside. My rationale was that in Montréal it was necessary – the streets are narrower, cars go faster, hills are steeper, and there’s just MORE of everything (people, cars, bikes, etc). I thought that with Ottawa’s extensive bike paths, slower traffic and my familiarity with the roads here (I did grow up in west centretown, after all) I could certainly go without a helmet.

Then I met Angelo and started riding a fixed gear bike. I immediately loved riding it, but I never really mastered the quick stop, or skid, that most of the messengers can do. So there were a couple of times, in the beginning, where I found myself in a situation unable to stop short, and had to do some pretty haywire maneuvering to avoiding colliding with a vehicle (sometimes it was my fault, sometimes it was the driver’s). It wasn’t long before riding a fixed gear sharpened all of my senses on the road. I started looking out for traffic lights two, three, or four blocks down, and I started to get a sense of what the vehicles around me were likely to do. I could tell when someone was going to blast ahead on the green, or make a quick left turn in front of me, or stop and pull over and cut me off. Basically, I learned to be a serious defensive rider.

It’s funny, it was only as I gained confidence in my ability to maneuver through traffic that I started to seriously consider wearing a helmet. Maybe it’s because I finally understood just how dangerous riding in traffic can be. And I wasn’t proving anything to anyone by riding bare. Now, I know that helmets are not safe-guards against all traffic injuries, but they sure don’t hurt, either!

But what helmet to get??? Remember Vélo Vogue Fashion Show last spring? We were each given a Nutcase Helmet to wear, and I thought they were so stylish and so fun. Knowing that I could get a helmet like that, rather than a traditional aerodynamic bike helmet, made the decision to protect the old noggin a lot easier.

I wanted something that would “go” with the Louis Garneau, but not “match” it. So I chose the checker flag design. I like it a lot – I think it’s just sleek enough, with a touch of badass. It’s great.

Last week I pulled the Nutcase off the wall and headed out the door on Ange’s road bike. At first I was a little rusty with the brakes and gear shifters, but I got the hang of it soon enough. It’s actually pretty fun to coast and drop down to an easier gear when going up a hill. I’ve been taking it to work most days, and my knee has been just fine.

With this small success in my recovery, I’m getting pretty stoked at the prospect of another full season of biking and helmet-wearing!!

Oh, I’m sorry, you haven’t been formally introduced…

World, meet Enzo. Enzo, meet the big bad world!

Angelo and I bought Enzo from the SPCA in mid February, and we have really fallen for him. We were totally gun shy about getting a kitty, on account of our experience with Boyboy, so we approached the adoption with trepidation. Once there, we were a torn between Enzo and Dylan, terribly cute little kitten who was rambunctious and feisty and who could have easily been our pick. But there was something about Enzo. He was so affectionate right from the start (he practically threw himself at the bars of his cage to get pets from us). And because he wasn’t a kitten, we felt he’d have a harder time getting adopted. In the end, HE really picked US, and not the other way around.

Enzo was really great in the beginning, and has adapted to the apartment very well. We really didn’t have anything to worry about.

The first couple of days he spent sniffing around, checking out corners and hiding spots.

He also slept A LOT in those first few days.

The next couple of days he settled in to his new home. He claimed a pillow as his own, and as his comfort level increased inside the apartment, he started to hang around the windows, yearning to go outside.

So this weekend, we felt it was time for our little man to go out into the big, big world. He had a great time, and he’s met and made friends with the two orange tabbies from downstairs (hi Marcus and Mason!) and he’s shown us that he can do just fine on his own.

He doesn’t eat too much, drinks TONS of water, and cuddles like the best of them.

We’ve had some good bonding sessions too. Some nights he stretches out across my lap in such funny, contorted ways that I can’t help but giggle. And two nights ago, I was upset about something, and he absolutely KNEW something was wrong. He followed me around like a maniac, meowing and purring and rubbing up against my legs. And when I sat down, he plopped himself right at my feet to watch guard. It was so amazing having a little guy there to offer protection and comfort.

I really wanted to spend some time with the sewing machine this weekend, but whenever I would think of that darn blouse, I’d get all depressed about it and not even want to go near the sewing room. (side note: it has sleeves now, but no cuffs… sigh.)

I had bought it from the discount bin at Fabricland; the discount bin usually has all kinds of scraps and end-of-roll pieces at half price. When I had seen the fabric, I had thought it would make a great skirt, with the black portion at the bottom, and the white portion at the waist. But when I brought it home, I realized just how long and narrow it was. No way would it be wide enough to make a skirt. But maybe I could squeeze an apron out of it…

I had made this apron with Butterick Pattern 6567 a long time ago for a craft swap, and had been really pleased with the results. So I thought I’d give it another try, this time with a spring feel.

The kitty came right over and “helped” with the instructions:

Here are all the cut pieces (I used the same fabric as last time for the ruffle. I really liked how it draped, and it goes well with the black/white/yellow fabric.):

Enzo finally relinquished the directions, and I got to work (I made pattern number D):

The pockets are by far the cutest part!! I love them! From the leftover bits of the fabric, I was able to salvage two identical flowers, and used them for the pockets:

Here is the finished apron:

My idea was to have more of a gradation up to the plain white portion, but the apron pattern wasn’t long enough. As a result, the white waistband is a little stark by comparison, but I love the way the crisp white ties look in the back:

All and all, I’m very happy with the apron, and it felt great sewing something from start to finish in the same day!!

If anyone is looking to get into sewing, I would highly recommend this pattern. It is VERY easy to understand, simple, without too many pieces, but still challenging enough to keep you interested. Plus, it teaches you how to do gathers, basting, and topstitching. And if you start it in the afternoon, you’ll be done in time to wear it to make dinner that evening!