A good Vibe

We have a new addition to the Evans fleet! Since our Dodge Neon has passed 213,000 miles and seems to have a perpetual affinity for flashing the 'check engine' light (for multiple reasons, some of which have been addressed and some of which still persist), we have been researching vehicles for over a year now. We finally found the right make, model, and price tag, so we drove to Birmingham to get our Pontiac Vibe yesterday.

It's had a trial by fire already (or should I say, trial by water?), as it was pouring rain as we navigated the rush hour traffic of Birmingham and the two hours home up and down the mountains on our trek north. It handled beautifully, with tight steering, responsive acceleration and braking, and great gas mileage. The Vibe is actually made by Toyota in a joint venture between it and GM, so it has all the Toyota reliability with the GM warranty and sticker price. I absolutely love the hatchback, rear glass independent opening, roof rack, cubby storage over the spare tire, removable headrests, and the fold-flat front passenger's seat, in addition to the backseats. It's also a pretty color, which is a nice bonus!

Jazzed for Jeff

More accolades for my dear husband! At the recent international conference he attended in San Antonio, Jeff was presented with the Keith J. Miller Young Investigator Award. It is given in recognition of past accomplishments and the potential for future contributions to the fatigue and fracture community. Nice job, Professor Evans!

Better the devil you know...

There is nothing better to make you appreciate what you have than to experience the opposite. I've heard it said that if everyone threw their problems into a pile to pick from, you would always choose your own back again after you saw the options.

I had that moment Friday when I rode a different horse in my morning training. Where Flame is light, sensitive, and hot-tempered, this horse is heavy, dense, and rather dull. Someone joked that he is a cross between a draft horse and a cow. It was an exhausting workout and I never could get him truly round and forward. But it was a good experience since I will now approach Flame with new appreciation and patience!

All that MAT-ters

Well, the faux fireplace mantle project is going to take two people to cut down because I don't have a table saw (hint, hint, dear husband of mine ;-). So, I'll have to wait until Jeff is back so I can have an assistant with the circular saw. In light of that, I moved on to some simpler cutting projects, making picture mats for some paintings I found.

I bought several oil paintings at a thrift store a few months ago. They were on unstretched canvas, and my original plan was to make stretcher bars and hang them as is with a gallery wrap style. But then I found a bunch of large picture frames at a thrift store and the wheels started turning. The frames were larger than the canvases, but with mats I could pull it off. It isn't standard to mat oils, but I love the look and for a couple of dollars a piece, it was cheaper and easier than stretching the canvases.

Since none of the art is standard size, I had to make custom mats. My new favorite tool is the Dexter Mat Cutter. It makes a gorgeous bevel with very little effort. I bought a vintage version on eBay for just a few bucks, and it even came with five unused blades!

So here's some of the newly matted, framed, and hung paintings. I still have about six left to do, but the depth and intricacy of the works adds a lot of warmth to every room!

Our favorite pair hung in the family room; I feel as though I could just step into the painting and explore the terrain


Our dining room is not Tuscan in theme, nor does it have any blue, but I tied in the mat color to the drapes and the formal living room wall color


A close-up of my corners; I love the Dexter!

Winter Weight

I think my new phrase when I'm starving will be "I'm so hungry I could eat like a horse"! I thought DaVinci could eat a bowl of dog food in record time, but I have never seen such eager and single-minded purpose as I did feeding Flame this morning.

Granted, with the onset of winter, there is no grazing available and the horses wait with baited breath every morning for hay. But since I needed to ride before the equine breakfast could be served to the herd, I gave Flame a few scoops of grain while I groomed and tacked him in the stall.

I'm not sure whether to equate him to an industrial vacuum or a whirlwind tornado. It was one of the messiest, most inefficient techniques I have witnessed, as he dove headfirst into the feed bucket, scattering oats and pellets pell-mell and dropping feed from his open, chewing mouth. After he inhaled the contents of the bucket, he proceeded to try to recover every escaped piece with grasping, mobile horse lips that roamed over the feed ledge, window sill, ground, me, and anything else he could reach like a metal detector gone berserk. In another instance of God's creation pointing us to the Bible, it made me think of John 6:12 (in a humorous way)!

...Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do...

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did. - Newt Gingrich

Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there. - Josh Billings

Fall seven times, stand up eight. - Japanese Proverb

Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second. - William James

How long should you try? Until. - Jim Rohn

Why do we pursue the thing we do? I was asking myself that this weekend as I hobbled around with a painful blister (from my riding boots), a twisted knee (from being thrown), and a bit of a sunburn (from the unexpectedly warm weather during my ride). Aren't hobbies suppose to be enjoyable?

I have reached several points in my riding where I felt like quitting. Maybe it was no longer fun, or it consumed so much time, or it was just plain hard work. Maybe I plateaued and wasn't making any progress. But I've tried to stick with it and come out the other side.

I think one strong motivator for me is that I always regret giving up gymnastics when I was 12. I had taken lessons for years, but I had reached the point of needing to commit more to it (to move into competition level). For whatever childish reasons, I preferred to quit and spend time playing with the neighborhood kids instead. Of course, I quickly lost my flexibility and upper body strength, and by the time I realized I wanted to get back to gymnastics, it was too late to regain lost ground.

Perhaps I learned a lesson of childhood in spite of myself. Teaching dedication, perseverance, and tenacity in the face of difficulty is one of the chief aims of parents, teachers, and coaches. Maybe someone could have encouraged or pushed me to continue my training. But no one did, so when the regret of quitting hit, I realized I would have to be self-motivated in the future. So when I fall off the horse, I get back on. Not because someone is making me, but because I don't want to ever regret not giving it my all. Not because I want to be a great equestrian one day, but because I want to be the best Sarah I can be.

Super-Easy Husband-Pleaser

I made one of Jeff's favorite recipes the other night, Brandied Candied Sweet Potatoes. It's perfect for a chilly fall night or the upcoming Thanksgiving meal. I served it along side lemon pepper tilapia, herbed couscous, and zucchini Italiano, but it is equally at home with a chicken, beef, or lamb entree.

Brandied Candied Sweet Potatoes

1 lb sweet potatoes
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp brandy

Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into 1 inch chunks. In medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter and stir in brown sugar and salt until dissolved. Add the sweet potatoes and stir until well coated. Increase heat to medium, cover and cook 12-14 minutes, stirring occasionally, until almost tender. Remove lid and stir in brandy. Increase heat and stir until liquid has evaporated and sweet potatoes are tender and glazed. Serves 3-4.

Can't beat free

I've been searching Craigslist, antique stores, garage sales, etc. for a mantel for over a year now. I want to make a faux fireplace in the master bedroom, since there is a long blank wall that really needs a focal point. I wanted something fairly small and simple so as not to overwhelm the room, but finding the right piece at the right price has been difficult.

Until earlier this week, that is, when I stopped by one of my favorite thrift stores to drop of some donations. On my way out, I saw a large pile of furniture, televisions, and other miscellaneous; laying on top was a box mantel for a free-standing fireplace unit. I asked the donation staff if these items would be priced and placed in the store for sale, and he said it was all trash he was taking to the dump. When he saw I was interested in the mantle, he said I could have it for free, and even offered to help load it! I only had the Dodge Neon, but after some disassembly and maneuvering, we got that puppy in the car and now it sits in my garage awaiting some revisions and a paint job. Hurray for free!

Work in Progress

I think it's pretty clear that one principle holds true in training any living thing: ask once, then correct if obedience does not follow. We used the technique to the best of our ability in training DaVinci, the dog, and we've had good fruits in all areas where we were diligent.

I'm finding my limits with Flame, the horse, though. Though a beautiful animal, he is too smart for his own good; or, at least, for my good. He spends far too much time and energy figuring out ways to avoid work and difficult situations instead of just cooperating as most horses do.

Dressage and hunter/jumper disciplines are dependent on using the body to communicate with the horse, rarely the voice. So I have to rely on my calves, thighs, seat, upper body, and hands to ask/tell him what to do. Trying to get all those parts doing the right thing at the right time without sending confusing or contradictory signals is quite a challenge, especially then flying along at rather swift speeds around and over obstacles. So, if Flame doesn't do the right thing, is it him or me? Is he being disobedient or did I not ask clearly? Do I correct his mistake or apologize for mine? In the end, we always finish on a good note (even if it's only minor) and then he gets his sugars, but it's all the exercises leading up to the happy ending that stretch us both.

Through all of this, though, I am learning to see how an obedient spirit and a willing heart, even one that makes many mistakes, would be priceless. That is the attitude that can be shaped into anything, molded with unlimited potential.

That must be the mount Shakespeare's King Richard III was desperate for when he exclaimed "A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!"

S'More of that, please

It's been edging down into the low thirties at night here occasionally, so Jeff prepped the gas insert in our fireplace this weekend. With the discovery of a bag of kosher marshmallows in an obscure corner of my pantry, and the knowledge that I had half a box of cinnamon graham crackers and bars of bittersweet baking chocolate in the kitchen cupboards, I proposed s'mores last night for dessert. Jeff found a coat hanger we had previously straightened for some long-forgotten purpose, and we were all set!

Setting the stage

The main players

Everybody warm and content post S'Mores

I Could Have Danced All Night

Jeff and I had a wonderful time Saturday night! The private Cotillion Ballroom Dance Club had the theme of Sparkle! Glamour! and Razzle-Dazzle! for this particular dance, and it was quite lovely. We met and had wonderful conversation with the new friends at our table; enjoyed a very satisfying meal of chicken Marsala, Greek salad, roasted red potatoes, Italian zucchini, and carrot cake for dessert; and danced the night away to the most popular dance band in the Southeast region.

There were a little over 50 couples, including members and guests, and we were by far the youngest (I guess dancing is a generational thing in part, as we are quite frequently the "babies" of the group in any class, practice party, or social dancing venue). It was so impressive to see middle-aged, older, and just plain elderly people out on the floor every dance having a great time, and demonstrating a great deal of talent to boot.

We waltzed, foxtrotted, tangoed, cha-chaed, swung (West Coast, East Coast triple, and single), and rumbaed our way through the evening to three sets of some great tunes. We just need to add bolero and samba to our repertoire and we'd never have to sit out a song!

Photo montage of the evening

Floral Fun

Here was my last floral arrangement for church for the month of October. It was a pleasant challenge creating something new each week. This one will work on the dining table for a few weeks, until I disassemble it to begin again. It illustrates my attraction to orange (see previous post)!

My new favorite shade

I've had a variety of favorite colors in my three decades. My first was blue, which persisted for many years and slowly transitioned into aqua, turquoise, and finally settled on greens. To my knowledge, I was never a fan of pink or purple or other "girly" colors. Now, I'm finding that I am really attracted to the many shades of orange, particularly the brown and red based ones! Anything cinnamon, russet, deep pumpkin, rust, copper, terra cotta, etc. They just make me feel happy and cozy. I love that it is autumn, as these shades are really popular and readily available in this season.

Tailor Made

Jeff and I have been invited to an "exclusive" ball this coming Saturday evening, so I'm working on what to wear. It's a formal cotillion with dinner and a live band on a great wooden floor, so the focus is on the dancing. I have several formals, but not one I can foxtrot in!

Thankfully, I recalled stashing something away several years ago as a sewing project. It's a beautiful gown I found for a few dollars at a discount place. It's a couple sizes too big and quite long, but I think I can work with it. I'll post some photos when I get the alterations done!