I felt the earth move under my feet

Ah, my dear daughter, who can not stand still for 5 seconds. Thank goodness I don't want to put pictures of your face on this blog, as I don't think there was a single picture in the whole batch of you just looking at me (please stop crossing your eyes).

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I bought the material months ago, but have only just got around to replacing my daughter's outgrown peasant top (less than a year later and her belly shows when she wears it - how is that possible?). And then we had a 4.7 earthquake (definitely felt it this time). The last time I made her a peasant top it was a 5.4 quake. Do I dare put together the one that is cut out and waiting to be sewn? Should I contact Cal Tech's seismology department before I make any peasant tops and let them know that a seismic event may be about to occur?

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Aside from their earthquake-triggering properties, these tops are great. So quick to sew and they look good in busy (read 'stain-concealing') prints. I was even able to use the template I put together last year, as she's been growing upward not outwards. I've been seeing lots of similar ones on blogs lately, so I think that there's plenty of patterns about.

The next one is in a less practical fabric. I'm just not sure if I should risk another quake.

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Translation of the Day

UK English: Gordon Bennett! = an exclamation of surprise, anger or disbelief in US English.

It can be used as a more publicly acceptable replacement for several swear words or 'Oh My God!' although the latter seems to be used these days for every little thing here in California, while Gordon Bennett is reserved for the more emotional occasions.

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For instance, when your house starts shaking around you, it is a good time to say "Gordon Bennett!"

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I think the phrase "OMG! that is so, like, adorable, you should totally, like, get that" is unlikely to ever be rephrased using Gordon Bennett.

Apple bookmark

Just a quickie:
It's Teacher Appreciation Week this week, so my son is doing little things for his teacher each day. Monday is 'hug your teacher day', Tuesday he's taking in a thank you note, Wednesday a flower, Thursday some English sweets, Friday is 'whatever you would like to do for your teacher day'.
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When I saw the link to these wire bookmarks on Crafty Crow this morning, I decided that I might add a little wire apple bookmark to Friday's offering. A bit of bending wire and hammering later and here's my apple:

Is it recognisable as an apple?

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The end of the school year is really sneaking up on me. It's about time that I started making the end of year gifts for the kids' teachers. I wish my son could stay in Kindergarten forever - I could not have asked for a nicer teacher than the one he has now.

Ok, got to run. Take care all.

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Edit: I used 19 gauge annealed wire, as that was the only wire I had in the house. Pliers were used to bend the stalk and the end of the leaf, but the rest I just shaped by hand. I hammered it on a metal surface, until it was flat. I have no clue if this is the 'proper' method.

ladybird, ladybird fly away home

I didn't think that I would be gone for so long. Our flying visit to Sacramento went well - thank you for your suggestions for things to do. Old Town Sacramento didn't seem to wake up until 11am, so we ended up spending the most time at the Capital building.
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If anyone was wondering about that little heat wave that hit Southern California a week or so back, that was because the electric company had switched our power off while they were installing a new pole. I was stuck at home with not even a fan to keep me cool, but at least that meant that I did not miss it when hundreds of these ladybirds (ladybugs) stopped by for a brief visit.
Then we were ill. Not the swine 'flu. My husband, of course, was convinced that he might be at death's door. Men.

I finally finished the baby blanket for my friend. Same pattern, same yarn again.

Then another of my babies turned a year older. Yes, someone had nicked 3 chocolate buttons off the cake. The investigation is ongoing, but 2 suspects have been identified and taken in for questioning.

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Which reminds me:

A lot of people here seem to use cake mixes, which do produce lovely fluffy moist cakes, but I don't have much luck with them and I prefer the taste of cakes made from scratch. Yet, while the cakes that I've made from scratch usually taste ok, they just don't seem to have turned out as well as the ones I used to make back home.

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I'm not a great cook, so I put that down to my poor culinary skills. Then I finally read an article about how American flours, sugars, baking powder etc. differ slightly from English ones, so the same recipe will turn out much different. Ok, my poor culinary skills might still be a contributing factor, but let's ignore that for a moment.

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So, as I have the American ingredients at my disposal, the solution must be to find an American recipe to use instead of my British ones. I'm trying to find an American equivalent of the basic sponge cake recipe (the British 6-6-6-3 recipe). I skim read a couple of local cookbooks, but they didn't seem to have something similar. Can anyone help?

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Translation of the day:

UK English: nick (verb) = to steal in US English

UK English: nick (verb) = to arrest in US English

As in, my offspring risked getting nicked by the fuzz by nicking chocolate buttons off the birthday cake.