Cats

 

New foster cats.  Fluffy Blur, and Hiding Under a Chair All Evening.  All the cat toys foster cats #1,#2, and #3 didn't play with, Fluffy Blur has played with.  He is six months old, I wonder what age not amused by everything that moves begins with cats.  

Kitchen Fun Sunday

Mango salsa.  Not enough mango, too much cilantro (I didn't put very much in there...) otherwise yum.  
 

Honey bread.  My bread machine makes 2 lb loaves minimum, but often small loaves end up weird and wonky due to the two paddles.  My bread machine cookbook makes 2 lb loaves maximum.  This is a 1 lb loaf + a 2 lb loaf (math...) and turned out perfect :)  

Photo Catch Up Day

 

Apparently, the new Mac book is named after one of my guinea pigs.  

The garden is started.  Still deciding what to put in those last five pots...  

Scrapbook Stuff

 I am finally back to finishing up the last 22 pages of my Washington DC trip scrapbook.  We went in June 2025, and I haven't worked on the album in months because journaling is hard.  Today at work one of the teacher's had on a t-shirt that said 'words are hard,' so so true!  So is embellishing scrapbook pages, but at least the words are on there.   

Take My Money, Garden Store...

Yesterday. I took the 19-year-old to buy plants since she has decided she's going to make our yard look nice.  Unfortunately, this place must put something in the air to make you forget things cost money.  I will have to go back for something, or somethings at least 3-4 more times before garden season is over...

 

Series Tracker

Yesterday, I updated my series tracker.  This is where when I am reading a series, I keep track of how many books I've read or have left.  I haven't been emphasizing series book reading this year (green), but in years' past this was a reminder to pick up that second book...  The ones with pencil on the final boxes are series that are complete because the author finished them, or died.  

As you can see, I like to start series and not read the next book...

  Last year I finished three series and caught up on one (no longer the case) so I was able to take three off list.  

I think I can finish three more series this year:  Right now the 'can finish' list is Ashes, Simple Wild (the library does not have a physical copy of book #2 though) and Diary of a Wimpy Kid (my son is bugging me to finish this one) which I listen to on audio.

Do you read series books?  Do you finish them?  I need to know!    

 

Taco Tuesday

 

I don't take a lot of photos at work because I don't have my phone near me, but today there was a slow few minutes...     

Do Re Mi

 Last weekend we moved the keyboard (circa 2002)  from upstairs in one of the kids bedrooms to the living room, scoured the house for all the parts to the stand, and set it up.  I am excited to attempt to teach myself piano again.  

The only issue is I think one of my children, who shall remain nameless but likes to recycle things she isn't using, donated or recycled some of my lesson books... either that or they are in my house and hidden very very well...  

 

Sunday

 

Sunrise on the way to the airport.  

Let's Go to Japan

 We played Let's Go to Japan, which is a board game where you plan a trip to Japan and can't do everything on your agenda.  

Friday Photos

For once, I actually got to use a parking space in the actual parking lot at work.  Usually, I park across the street and don't even bother looking for a space.  

 Took two kids to go see Project Hail Mary, which is one of my favorite books ever.  The movie was a great adaption, no complaints.  Tha image on the screen is an ad, I wanted a photo before anyone's head was in my way.  

Concert

 Last night was the middle school orchestra concert.  My kid was in the back, so I didn't get any good photos of him anyway.  Here's the stage before anyone was on it.  It's a new orchestra teacher this year, so the concerts are short, sweet, and entertaining.  

Happy Friday!

Wednesday

My son (12) has a science test today on plate tectonics.  

 We played A Place for all my Books with the oldest.  Books and introverting are her raisons d'etre, so of course she loved it.  The game has to go back to the library soon, but I could see it being added to our collection.  

Catching Up

 

Every year my son, currently 12, makes a leprechaun trap for St Patrick's Day.  He spent about 30 seconds on it this year, is this the last year?  

And yesterday, my mother unearthed this photo of me I've never seen before and texted it to me.  I'm guessing it was taken in the early 2000s. I have no idea what I was doing in Ramona Quimby's neighborhood though.  

Also, guessing from this blogs 26 views yesterday, from all over the world, the bots have found me.  Yay...

The Fish Book

 

Behold, the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, or as it's known in our house The Fish Cookbook because there are fish on the cover... 

 This is at least my 3rd copy since about 2001.  They are used, abused, and fall apart, not to mention the pages get all gunky.  I actually have a new copy sitting here, but since I ordered it used it's not the same age.  The one pictured is from 2017, the "new one" is from 1993.  I think they're pretty much the same, but not 100% sure.  

I should just laminate the recipes I actually use, but those are the gross ones that have food stuck to them, or got wet...Also, once I laminate something, or stick it in a page protector I tend to not actually use it. 

Sigh, it is probably time to crack open Fish Cookbook #4...

My Gyro

 Gyro from my favorite Greek take-out place.  There's a new Greek place opening closer to my house, so we'll see if it stays my favorite.  Current gyro place is next to a donut store.  New gyro place will be next to a donut store AND a bagel place, throw in a yarn, scrapbook or bookstore and I would never need to leave the parking lot.  

Friday Photo

 Oldest child is home for a week for spring break!  Photo was taken at 3:30pm.  I swear moss should be the state flower...

Chicken!

I forgot to post a photo yesterday (and forgot to take any...) but here's a scrapbook page I finished this week about the time we found a chicken on our front porch.  

Chicken paper is from Carta Bella Country Kitchen, and the stripe is from Carta Bella something else.  The gingham is from a Simple Stories Simple Vintage line.  The stickers are from Echo Park or Simple Stories. Tab punch is from EK Tools. I used a sketch from Scrapbook Generation One page sketches volume 1 to start the page but made some changes to make it work for me.  

Happy belated Thursday!  

Rainy Wednesday

 I went to take this photo and the cat decided I saw something interesting out the window and photobombed me.  I'm not showing his face, so if this counts as posting on social media, then I'll take it down.  

I don't think my photo properly expresses how gray, dark and depressing the weather is today...

   

School Days

 

Today's creativity: scrapbooking a page about me.  

Cat Toys

 We have a foster cat.  I'm not supposed to post his photo on social media because he belongs to someone.  I'm not sure if blogs count as social media... they (at least mine) seem to be missing the social part.  The cat has been here since February 1st, and is staying at least the rest of this week.  Here is evidence a cat exists.  

I didn't post a photo yesterday.  Daylight Savings and guinea pig surgery (she's doing great) were not very photogenic...  

Butt-Testing Couches

 

We've been thinking of replacing our non-matching 25-year old couch and 12-year old loveseat with a sectional, but our living room has an awkward layout... so we've pretty much talked ourselves out of one.  This one was pretty comfortable but that corner seat is pretty useless.  It comes in two parts plus you can order an extra piece for an actual 5th place to sit for more $. It only comes in this color.  

The husband is in love with this couch-love seat combo but the dealbreaker for me is cupholders.  I'm sure 'no drinks in the living room' is going to last about 30 seconds, and they will be gross and sticky and full of crumbs in a few days.  I don't really want recliners either, but I could compromise there, but not on cupholders.  Also, that material, the husband is calling fleather...I'm not sure if I like it or not... 

And I liked the comfort level of these, the color, and even though they also recline I could compromise. They're not the most stylish things in the world though.  

Making a decision you're going to have to live with for at least 20 years is not easy.  If anyone happens to actually be reading this and can make up my mind for me, I'd greatly appreciate it!    

Old School Scrapping

 See kids, back when I met your mother, we had these things called mag-a-zines...  Anyone else a How I Met Your Mother fan?  Anyone?  

Anyway... last year I acquired this pile of magazines from my aunt, via my mom.  I put them in a secure location and then forgot to look at them, until today.  

History lesson: I didn't really get into scrapbooking until 2008, so I missed the early days and all the local scrapbook store fun (all the stores here were closed by 2008) and the trends.  

Things I noticed: people in 2003-2004 (at least people who got published in scrapbook magazines) typed their journaling.  No handwriting anywhere.  

People scrapbooking in 2003-2004 filled the entire page, no borders.   

People scrapbooking in 2003-2004 put some weird crap stuff, on their layouts.  Shells, wire, sea glass... I wonder how that holds up over time...

Also, as my daughter brought up, most of the kids in those scrapbook layouts are at least 25 years old now.  Yikes. 

It was fun taking a trip down memory lane, even I took a different route...

Photo-a-day 3/5

 

Today, we took Midnight the guinea pig to the vet for what we thought would just be a prescription for antibiotics, but is going to be antibiotics and surgery this weekend.  Just a plot twist kind of a Thursday I guess.  

February '26 Reads, March to-Reads

 

My reading stats in February, courtesy of The Storygraph.  I have made an effort this year to read every day, and to read mostly physical books. 

I'm also reading books recommended by other people/places this year which might be why my average rating is higher than usual...  

Books read after being recommended by others (not all showing up on my little graph) are: 

The Women by Kristin Hannah which I thought was from the adult books most checked out last year from the Multnomah County Library list, I am trying to read all of them (the print and ebook lists) but it's not on there.  Well, someone recommended it...

 The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb, and The Appeal by Janice Hallett--Books and Jams top #10 of 2025 list

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney--recommended by Sarah's Nighstand.

Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez--recommended by Laura via the 'recommended by your local librarians' shelf at my library. 

March Reading Plans

Love That Split the World, by Emily Henry (owned)

Recommendations: 

The Day the World Came to Town (Books and Jams top 10 list)-- waiting for my hold at the library, and waiting, and waiting... it was due a week ago.  

Shady Hollow, Black (Books and Jams)--hold list but I'm #2 in line... apparently the library has to buy a new copy of the book.

Sarah’s Nightstand: Inside the O’Briens, Genova

Scrapbook message board: The Castaways, Clarke--on hold...

MCL: Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer (owned)

Middle Grade March: 

Name in the Title:  Tum Tum & Nutmeg, Emily Bearn (owned) 

Books on Cover:  Zia Erases the World, Barton

Historical Fiction : Julie of the Wolves, George (owned)

Siblings Featured :Land of Forgotten Girls, Kelly (owned)

BIPOC Author: Amari and the Night Brothers, Allston (owned, currently reading)

Happy reading!

Underwhelming Wednesday

 

The weather prediction for the next 10 days. I don't know, do you think it's going to rain?

Filling up at the gas station ($4.10/gallon about the same as it was two weeks ago).  I've owned only cars with the gas tank on the driver's side since 2005.  We rented a car in January for a few days that had a passenger side gas tank, and now whenever I go to buy gas, I get in the wrong lane, including this morning.  Fortunately, at 7:45 am it wasn't busy so it was easy to fix my mistake, but I wish I'd stop doing that!   Thirty days to start a new habit apparently does not apply to me and gas tanks.  

And a rainbow over my neighborhood on the way home from taking my son to get a haircut.  At least the rainy gray weather is good for something :)  

Killing Three Birds...

 ...Not that I would ever murder birds.  I used to think they were kind of creepy, but now that I'm old and decrepit, I think they are kind of cool, especially crows.  

Anyway... the title of this post.  With this scrapbook layout you can see 1) my messy craft corner 2) my knitting project before I frog it and start over, or as the journaling says, give it to someone with an XL head, and 3) an example of my scrapbooking.  The scrapbook page was part of a 28-day challenge, for February, I have two more to go.

And here's a larger photo of my craft area because it's kind of hard to see all the messy details on the scrapbook layout.  Creative chaos.  My happy place.  A totally craftastic mess.  

Happy whatever day it is.  

Monday Mayhem

 

It might be a coincidence or maybe it was the false spring we had last week, but once it gets sunny for more than one day in a row this time of year, all I want to eat is salad.  My preferred combination is lettuce, cheddar cheese, grape tomatoes, cucumber (English so I don't have to peel it), croutons, sunflower seeds and ranch.  

During the fall and winter, I make soup once a week and during spring and summer it's some kind of salad every week.  When it's back and forth weather (like this week) I have Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck competing in my head:  "It's soup season!" "No, it's salad season!" and try to have both and then we have some extra warm day where we're eating soup for dinner and that's just wrong.  

Last week, the soup was tortellini and kale.  I forgot to take a picutre but here's the recipe.  Three things I do differently, one add the sausage at the end so my vegetarian child can eat, and I don't have to make two separate pots.  I almost always use vegetable stock, not chicken for the same reason, and I use dried tortellini and put it in the soup earlier than the recipe says to.  

While NCR (not craft related) this post is part of my take a photo everyday in March personal challenge.  

Happy soup salad season.  

Board Game: A Place for All My Books

If you're a book nerd like me, and like board games, you might enjoy this newer board game by Smirk and Dagger. The point of the game is to gather and organize your book collection, recharge your social battery so you can go to town to buy more books, and bring them home and figure out where to put them.  It's like my life, the board game.     

I played this with my husband and two sons (16 and 12) who didn't exactly get the point of the game (going to town too often ends the game quicker) but I only lost by two points...

There are two stages of the game: one is organizing your piles of books at home in specific ways (so you can complete goals for points) which charges your social battery and going to town to trade, buy, check out, and gather more books which depletes your social battery.  

While I only played this once, there is a solo mode which I'm planning on trying a few times before this game needs to be returned to the library.  I have never wanted to play a game in solo mode before so that must mean something... If I like it in solo-mode it might be worth buying my own copy.  

I give this game 8 3/4 stars.  The only thing I found annoying is how fast your social battery depletes, and with four players, you can visit the town about twice before the end of the game.  

If you like games, books, or organizing book shaped tokens this might be the game for you :)  

Here I Go Again

Hi random people on the internet!

I've decided to start another blog. No, this is not my first blog, it's not even my second blog, or fifth I've lost count over the years... I didn't leave adoring fans all over the internet, no one read them. Yet, I keep trying, hoping this is the one.

I have this weird fascination with starting a book YouTube channel, but since I have too many other interests, the other things I do for fun and amusement would feel left out. I also don't like watching myself on video... What’s a shy multi-hobbied person supposed to do?

So, Totally Craftastic is my attempt to take more photos, write, and to spice up my creativity without putting my face on the internet. I'm already behind, but the plan is to post a photo a day in March to start things off.

A short snippet about me in case you needed to know these things before telling the world about this totally craftastic blog you found.

Age: upper 40s.

Family: one husband. four kids, two guinea pigs, and one foster cat.

Location: Pacific NW

Profession: lunch lady with aspirations of becoming a blog sensation…

Hobbies (besides starting blogs): scrapbooking, card making, reading, taking photos, gardening, board gaming, novel writing, genealogy, knitting, crochet, baking… not necessarily in that order and I'm probably forgetting a few.

That's it, time to edit this a hundred times and post it. One post down, many more to go.