The Bee Hive: August 2010

HALLOWEEN MIXED MEDIA ASSEMBLAGE

I'd been working on this for a few days, and finally finished it today. It's made from a smallish candy box with part of the top cut out.

ANASAZI BEANS

I've noticed varieties of beans in our supermarket over the past couple of months that I have not seen before. These are Anasazi Beans, milled in Colorado. To quote from the back of the bag,"Anasazi Beans were one of the few crops cultivated by the Anasazi Indians. "Anasazi" is a Navajo word meaning "ancient ones". The Anasazi Indians are best identified for their architechtural achievements known today as cliff dwellings, and inhabitated these structures as early as 130A.D. Today these structures can be seen at areas such as Mesa Verde National Park, located in Southwestern Colorado. Anasazi Beans are faster cooking, with a sweeter flavor, and can be used for all bean dishes such as chile, baked, soups and Mexican foods."

They really were quicker cooking. I didn't pre-soak them, and I didn't time them, but they were done long before I expected them to be done. I added bacon and rough cut garlic cloves to them. Usually I saute the bacon, but this time I didn't. Although I don't think anyone would really notice the difference from pinto beans, if you didn't call it to their attention, they had a very slight, occassional cinnamon taste to me. I also cooked some cornbread muffins to go with them.
Although we probably won't have them again, since they are quite a bit more expensive than pinto beans, it was fun to try them.

LAST ONE FOR AWHILE...

This zentangle was 5"x7" before I cut it into fourths to make ATCs out of it for a swap. I still have 2 zentangles-in-progress, but have been spending the last two days on other projects - a Halloween assemblage and a small mixed media thing on stretched canvas. When those are finished, I will probably start on a Halloween mixed media box for another swap.
I feel really crappy today. I've been staying up way, way too late (like all night) and still getting up early for the past few days, and it is catching up with me, with a vengence. I may try to take a nap today if I can, even though I hate naps.
It will be time to begin religious education classes again very soon, so I need to get letters written and registration forms sent out to parents as soon as possible. But something tells me I had better not try to compose a coherent letter today.

MY TO-BE-READ STACK

I'm taking a short break from the neverending zentangles to change gears for a moment. I am currently reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and am really enjoying it. I wanted to read it ahead of seeing the movie, which will come out August 13th, I think. I thoroughly enjoyed Italy with Liz and so far, I think I am enjoying India with her even more. Indonesia is still to come, and I am interested in her take on that country, since I lived there for a short time.
I started reading Anne Rice's, Christ the Lord, some time ago, but kind of let it fall by the wayside. Why, I don't really know. I just can't keep my interest in it high enough to keep at it daily. Then I started Eat, Pray, Love and that it taking up all my reading time. I do plan to finish it though.
But probably not until after The Russian Debutante's Handbook by Gary Shteyngart. It is the book club discussion book for August, at the library. So I need to read it next, even though that will be cutting it very close. The meeting is in the last week of the month. I hope I like it. If not, I probably won't worry about finishing it or going to the meeting. I am more interested in reading Anne Tyler's Digging to American and Ursula Hegi's Hotel of the Saints.