In the midst of a bitterly cold past few days, I've been doing the best I can to stay warm. While the husbandy is gone to work, my current state of unemployment (thanks, Master's degree in the arts!) has me at home working away at my business. But I work very hard painting, sewing, designing costumes for indie projects, and exploring this new and strange thing known as "the modern housewife".

The art of domesticity has always been a fascination of mine, hence my penchant for collecting (and using) vintage cookbooks and housewares, and interior decor. And I really love to bake. So, yesterday's oven exploit was one of my favourites, oatmeal cookies. I was never the person to go for chocolate chip cookies. (which was always the cookie of choice with the rest of my family growing up) Nope, for me it was always the wonderful, grainy, granola-y goodness that is the oatmeal cookie. And really, what better cookie to love? It surely must be the healthiest. Right? It's pure fibre-y goodness. (we're just going to remain shsh about the butter content, okay?)

Sadly, none of my beloved vintage cookbooks had an oatmeal cookie recipe. Not one! After all, it was the 1950s. All one needs to do is view food section at (the highly wonderful and hilarious) http://www.lileks.com to be assured that people in the 1950s had a certain aversion to fibrous food. (jello, anyone?) So, lacking a modern cookbook, I resorted to the internet and then improvised. This is what I came up with.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Cookies

1 c. whole wheat ground flour (I use the grind-it-yourself variety from Whole Foods)

1 1/4 cup whole oats

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg (I might do 2 next time)

1/4 cup whole milk

1/2 cup raisins

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix together sugar and Combine dry ingredients. Cream sugar and butter in a separate bowl, adding in eggs and milk. Then combine all of ingredients together in the large bowl. Add raisins. Drop by teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes at 350 degrees.

This is what happened.

Patrick ate about 10 in one sitting.

I had company whilst I baked.

Amelie (above) and Klaus LOVE to sleep on the chairs underneath the table. They're not allowed on the table, so they decided to beat the system by claiming the chairs underneath the table. It's prime squirrel viewing territory, as well as the one place in the apartment that get optimal sunlight at sunset. It's like a little luxury kitty loft.

Afterwards I worked on a new painting which I am so very pleased with. I do think she is the perfect little regency lady.

A Very Jane Austen Lady - 5x7 Original acrylic on Canvas painting
(coming soon to http://kirby.etsy.com)

After a many months long hiatus, I've decided it is time to get this blog thing going again. I miss writing, and it's always a nice way to share my thoughts, my interests, and my art. In the past few months, I have...

Married my soul mate.

We DIY'd the entire thing. I made my Pre-Raphaelite inspired muslin dress, a friend catered our entirely vegetarian menu, another friend did the flowers, my friend played photographer, and we handmade all of the decorations. Woo! DIY weddings = fun insanity!

Moved into a delightful little apartment...

We love our little 1920s shoebox. Not much room for my explosion of vintage and fabric hoardings, sewing machine, and endless art supplies, but we like it. Kitchen is awesome.

Acquired two half-Russian Blue brother and sister kitties...

Naughty as can be (especially our little boy - at the top), but so darn cute! They're named Klaus and Amelie. Klaus after the bookish geeky Lemony Snicket character (whom ours really bears no intellectual resemblence to), and Amelie, after the pretty Parisian ingenue. They got fixed last week, but as far as I can tell, they are completely unaware of the fact that they got snipped and stitched. Hyper little buggers.

So that is a brief overview of the last few months in a nutshell. I've been churning out quite a bit of artwork and having too much fun with it. Most recently, my inspiration has come from my university fun and travels. Trips to Paris and Edinburgh, exciting tea parties, and hats. Lots of hats.

Lily and the Many Hats - 8x10 Original Print

Stay tuned. I've got a lot of ideas for the new few months, and I am looking forward to sharing them here with you!