Christmas on the Farm

Barn on Phoenix Hill Farm



Holly berries on a holly bush



Cows feeding on summer hay



Fireplace with stockings and a hand painted fire (by my dad)



Gingerbread houses made by the cousins.



Peach moonshine!

Conjoined Pumpkin-Head

I really love doing craft swaps – for those of you unaware of this super amazing thing, it is when you and a partner make a crafty object around a theme and personal interests.  There are set guidelines on how much time and money is spent on a project and how long you should take.  At the end of the crafting period you and your partner swap (usually by mail)!  It’s a good way to get a handcrafted, custom made item that you couldn't make yourself. 

Anyway, the theme for this swap was “Vintage/Retro Halloween” although in retrospect I went for a more antique-y look.  My craft partner really made it easy for me when she said she loved pumpkin heads and skeletons and physical anomalies.  It was like BAM! Conjoined Pumpkin-Head!



The Front

Wire armature with blue tape to fill it out a bit

My initial plan was to make a wire armature and cover it with paper mache, but the armature was a bit too small and slippery for paper mache (or I lacked the finesse) so I switched to covering the body with sculpy.  For the pumpkin heads I ended up ditching the wire armatures in favor of plain ol balled up newspaper.  After baking, I sanded them down a bit and painted it with acrylics. The heads were attached by a rod and E6000. I’m really pleased how it turned out, especially since my experience with sculpy is limited.



The back

I feel like a scientist...

Pests are a huge problem for a museum and employees are encouraged to be ever vigilant to keep an eye out for potential problems.  That was the case a couple weeks ago when Brian Brown, the Entomology curator, sent out an email to keep everyone on the lookout for a pest that keeps popping up, the Stout's Hardwood Borer.  As the name suggests, it is a beetle that has an affinity for eating up hardwoods such as oak, maple and eucalyptus and can cause a lot of structural damage as well as damaging artifacts.  Anyway, I took the email as an interesting anecdote to my job at a museum, but I didn't think I'd actually find one.

Photo Brian Brown sent out

But I did!!!  I spotted it on my way to lunch hanging out above the doorway to a stairwell.  I got really excited and started to panic (as I am wont to do when I'm excited).  I really wanted to capture it alive and give it to the Entomology people, but just as I grabbed a cup to capture it, someone tried to smash it!  Yes, it is a pest; yes, it should die, but it should be kept whole so it is easier to identify!  Luckily, the ham-fisted, would-be smasher missed and I caught it and promptly gave it to Giar-Ann Kung, Entomology Curatorial Assistant.

My little insect!

I thought that was that until Giar-Ann sent me a photo of my little Stout's Hardwood Borer all pretty and pinned in the Entomology collection!  It even has my name on it!  So. Proud.

Bees - My Totem

Honey Bees.  I really love honey bees.  If I were to have some sort of spirit animal or witch’s familiar I’m pretty sure it would be a honey bee.  Why?  I love how they all work cooperatively and so hard for their community, I love their symbiotic relationship with flowers, I love how beautiful they are, I love them as symbols of fertility, I love honey, I love how most of the hive is female, I love the hexagonal honeycomb, I love their translucent wings, I love how intent and focused they are on their task of collecting nectar and pollen, I love the sound they make, I love how they are producers of their own food and make wax.  I think they’re great.

Counting Layers of Moussaka - a Tribute to Jerry Nelson

One layer of Mou-ssa-ka!

Two layers of Mou-ssa-ka!

Three layers of Mou-ssa-ka!

Four layers of Mou-ssa-ka!

One, Two, Three, Four layers of Mou-ssa-ka! ha ha!

In case you missed it Jerry Nelson was the voice of Count the Count on Sesame Street.  He died last week at the age of 78.  In addition to Count the Count he performed as Mr. Snuffeupagus and Camilla the Chicken (Gonzo's girlfriend) and was also a puppeter and voice actor in Fraggle Rock.

But my post is funny right?  Right? .... anyone ....?



This is How I L.A... The Red Lion Tavern

The Red Lion Tavern is a great, long-standing German restaurant with a fantastic open air beer garden and is always the natural choice for Museum family get-togethers.

The Red Lion does have traditional restaurant style seating and service to accommodate families. With overstuffed booths and beefy tables it really feels like you've left the sleek modernism of L.A. and have been transported to - Germany? maybe not, but you've definitely left L.A.  I've never eaten  downstairs, but go up the stairs to the left and you'll find where the Red Lion really shines.  It's pretty dark and windy going, but follow the sound of revelry and good times being had to the beer garden! (Wait, did I just see a cigarette vending machine?!)

Why yes, yes I did.

We went pretty early (6 pm) on a Thursday and were able to snag a big table and a few smaller tables to push together.  Some may say that the decor is cheesy and the fact that the waitresses all wear some type of dirndl proves the point but, really, would you have it any other way?

Regardless the atmosphere really complements the type of food they serve (liquid and otherwise).  Don't miss the Sausage Platter that has three types of wurst and is served with pickles, pickled peppers and some FANTASTIC mustard.  Also ordered was a GIANT soft pretzel with more mustard and potato pancakes served with sour cream, apple and cranberry sauces.  So happy!

Look at it, you know you want it.

But what about the beer?!  No worries, there was a lot of beer - I started with the Franziskaner Hefeweizen, because when it doubt Hef-it.  If you're uncomfortable with a German beer list a Hefe will always serve you well - fruity, lightly carbonated, pairs excellent with food.  But the overwhelming favorite with the Museum crowd is the Spaten Optimator a full-flavored dark beer that reminds me of raisins.  I think it's really good, but I suspect the real reason people love it so much is the high alcohol content (7.2%). 

But in the end it's all about the company you keep.  In my opinion sharing food and drinks really is the highest expression of friendship -- If you can't sit down and eat and drink with someone for hours on end, you really aren't friends.



Here's to you guys!

Butterflies Get All the Glory

Look at these beautiful moths! 

Regal Walnut Moth - Source

White Moth - Source

Pink Star Moth - Source

I prefer moths over butterflies. There is a delicate subtle beauty to them, like they belong more in nature than butterflies do... I think I feel that way because their colors are more nature colored and their habits seem more reasonable for nature -- quite unlike butterflies with their daytime gallivanting, irreverently flashing around their unnatural hues!



Wavy-lined Heterocampa - Source

Moths also beat out butterflies in the cuddle-factor department.  Their modified scales give them a cute furry apperance... just look at them!  They're almost like flying hamsters!  Last I checked, hamsters are generally more cuddly than arthropods (which I love too!  Just not for cuddling.)

Flannel Moth - Source

Undulating Fjord - a Moving Panorama

I wanted to make a present for JW but was having trouble getting some inspiration, so I texted him asking what his five favorite words were.  A couple mintues later he texted me back and in the mix gave me these two beauties: Undulate & Fjord.

Putting the two together wasn't that hard conceptually.  What undulates in and around fjords?  Water.  So I made a moving panorama!  Pull the tab and the water undulates!  How exciting!

The entire thing, from the frame to the individual layers, are constructed out of bristol board colored with my trusy Prismacolor colored pensils and inked out with a quill pen.  There are four land layers (not including the background) and three water layers running between them.  It was really fun to make!



This is How I L.A... The Pie Hole

To celebrate birthdays our office goes out and takes luxurious lunches at various hotspots around Los Angeles. A coworker mentioned a place called The Pie Hole located in the Art District. Pie crust is probably in my top ten favorite foods of all time and I can double that up with sweet and savory pie – you know I was a done deal!

And bonus, the Art District in itself is pretty cool, it’s nestled in a still functioning industrial area but it also hosts really eclectic shops and restaurants.  There are also thousands of creatively minded people living and working there too!  When it’s all mixed together you get a very visual treat!

An old industrial building given new life!

You instantly know you're there when you see particularly artistic murals covering entire buildings are around every corner. Nothing shouts out “You’re in LA!” quite like all the hand-painted murals, signs, and graffiti covering it’s walls.  Even in the parking lot I spotted this fantastic volcano rising from the asphalt! 

This was just in the parking lot!

I quickly snapped these pictures before getting down to business at The Pie Hole! And what a cute little place! They base their menus on what's in season locally -- which in California means it never lacks for variety!  A savory pie was the first course and we chose between the Meat Pie or the Chicken Pot Pie.   I got the Meat Pie because nothing compares to my mom's chicken pot pie and it was so good -- Ground beef chuck, mashed potatoes and a few veggies thrown in a buttery, flakey crust. It was wrapped up neat like an empendada so it could even be eaten on the run.  (I did see a theatre across the street - on another day I could throw a Meat Pie in my purse and catch a show!) 

But it’s all about the sweet pie isn’t it? It’s a good day when one of the hardest decisions I had to make was which sweet pie I wanted to have. Blueberry? Strawberry? Peach? Mexican Chocolate? Well of course I wanted to try them all so I waited to see what everyone else ordered —to share a taste!—and ordered something nobody else got: they Key Lime Pie (which I was leaning towards anyway).

 And oh my goodness! the filling had so much citrus flavor and was perfectly balanced with the graham crust and a lovely, fluffy layer of meringue.  It really brightened up my whole self -- a perfect summer day treat! Everyone made sure to eat very slowly to savor every minute!

Now we are counting down the days to our next office outing in October and it could not come any sooner!

Visit! http://thepieholela.com/index.html