hugglets videeeooooo

it's official. i have pre-hugglets jitters! i always get nervous-excited before a bear show and this looks to be the biggest show ever! what do i see there... balcony seating?? only 4 days left to sew (inhale, exhaaaallle....) everything is gonna be alright...

new bears at abracadabra UK!

three new one-of-a-kind bears have arrived at abracadabra UK shop! a tie-dyed bearded buddha bear "seabert" and his 2 wee bear side kick gals "green tee" and "poppy"... the gals each have a tiny embroidered tooth :)

just a little over a week from now i will be arriving in the UK too. countdown to Hugglets has begun!

can the can

i have a whole crop of cherry-sized tomatoes that were supposed to be romas... like double the size. what happened guys? at least there are lots of them, so i'm still doing what i can to can, as planned.

have a great weekend!

sock monkey SALE! 2 Days only

special announcement!!

we're heading to the UK for Hugglets festival in just 2.5 weeks! I need to make room in my suitcases so I can't bring all the monkeys (and who knows... they may need passports, or quarantine). So lucky you!!~ we're having a crazy 25% OFF SALE for 2 days only on my web site! sale prices are marked in red.SALE ENDS FRIDAY AUGUST 19 @ 9PM CENTRAL at peng-peng.com

(an early christmas gift, birthday gift, i-deserve-to-treat-myself-gift, i-always-wanted-one-of-those-and-now's-the-time gift, etc, etc... :)

etsy treasury catch up

golly gee! thanks for the etsy love :) epatterns available in my etsy shop.

pet peeve

it may be the season for bug bites, but how about dog bites? last night while rob and i were taking an evening stroll i was bit by an unleashed dog on my calf. it's illegal in chicago to have unleashed dogs but people do it anyway and cops rarely enforce it. the kid who to was trying to train his dog (rather poorly) was just agitating it with confusing commands. he let it off the leash and it came running right to my legs and bit my calf leaving a fat nail head puncture. rob went over to ask if the dog had rabies shots but the kids mother who was also walking a different dog, didn't speak english. the kid was off running after his loose dog so we couldn't ask him anything.

so to be on the safe side and at the advice of 911, i ended up going to ER for tetanus shot and $150 co-pay. the doctor said rabies in chicago from dog bites is rare now and more common in the suburbs from bat bites. i was way overdue for tetanus shot anyhow. the funny thing is, my doctor walks in and she has dreadlocks (see previous post). then the nurse who dressed my wound is a big biker type guy that had a huge dog paw print tattoo covering his whole bicep. and finally, the woman who gave me the tetanus shot was wearing a dog print smock with "bow wow's" printed all over it. gotta see the humor in that!

i love animals, i don't blame the dog. it's the humans that are at fault. there are good animal guardians and bad ones (i say "guardian" cos i don't like the concept of owning a living creature). sometimes i think that people need to pass a written exam to adopt an animal. there should be some serious consideration before taking on that responsibility.

please pass this on to friends: keep dogs on leashes for the dogs safety and ours.

more dreadlock love

if i had a daughter it would be her! this 15 year old california surfer vegan is just adorable! well, i've begun my dreadlock journey almost 2 weeks ago going the natural route. i'm shampooing with dr. bronner's soap and stopped brushing. it's that simple! my hair is beginning to separate itself and looking tangled, but patience is the key. contrary to popular belief, dreads are created over time with clean hair and will lock up on its own if you stop brushing it. that's the healthiest way to go for the hair, rather than backcombing/ teasing it (as this girl did, but they look great). i'm feeling kinda liberated by letting my hair do what it wants. speaking of hair... i've got a dye pot of mohair ready for the rinse! talk soon! xoxo

passion plum

meet my PFATT Marketplace offering for august: Passion Plum (another PP! i didn't plan that, lol). click here to see her listing. she is a special little lady made of hand tie dyed luscious purple and white mohair. to adopt send me an email: peng(at)peng-peng(dot)com.
hope you enjoy little miss Passion Plum. oh yes, she is one of a kind :) SOLD

urban homesteading

thought i'd share with you a little about our urban homestead in case any of you are curious! here's the organic veggie bed in early-summer. this year we laid down the square foot grid and it's a lot more organized and productive. we planted a variety of salad greens, kale, scallions, herbs, broccoli, mustard greens, and peppers... all in this one raised bed! this year we also built a second raised veggie bed for zucchini, tomatoes and whatever else. we potted 17 or so tomato plants to free up space in the beds.

veggie garden in july. cool weather-loving salad greens are all gone and peppers (carnival mix, red/green bell, jalepeno) are starting to produce. the little strawberry plant (below the veg bed) had only one strawberry which a squirrel ate.

yum. basil basil basil.

turned it into nut-free pesto. easy recipe here.

the pesto is great on pizza. i make our own pizza dough (whole wheat) and love my pizza stone. i bake bread and baked potato wedges on it. it changed my life! every kitchen needs one of these.

whole grain bread made in cast iron loaf pan.

same recipe baked on pizza stone. i amend the recipe by using all whole wheat flour and adding 2 TBSP of wheat gluten, sometimes adding ground flax meal, raisins, sunflower and sesame seeds, what have you. my studio is a few feet away from the kitchen so i can hear the oven timer go off :) and that about does it cos it's time for me to make dinner! have a great night. xoxo