Not long ago, I was struck by unexpected inspiration: I needed to make a cross stitch piece featuring house hippos.
If you're a Canadian of a certain age, house hippos are a cultural touchstone; if you're not, you might be a little confused. House hippos were born in 1999:
En francais:
Cute, right? The lesson may not have stuck, but house hippos sure did. Without a house hippo pattern available (at least, not one I could find), I came up with my vision. Then I went looking for patterns to put together.
I didn't really record the details (sorry). I got a hoop that I thought would be a good size, grabbed the aida cloth that seemed like the right one, picked thread colours that seemed appropriate, and found patterns that worked with what I had.
The hippo took longer than I expected. It's a pretty simple design, but there's a surprising amount of detail in it.
The lettering really scared me; I was so worried about it being off center. It's not perfect, but I'm happy with how it turned out.
The red I used for "Caution!" caused me some consternation. I thought I already had the right shade on hand, but it turned out I didn't. It needed a special trip to the store to get the perfect shade of Canadian flag red (DMC 321), and it's not even showing up properly in the picture! This is what it really looks like (or as close as you can get on a screen):
And now for the real stress. The French writing.
The French lines involved longer words/phrases and several wide letters to try to fit in. Paranoid about running out of space, I narrowed the writing on "Attention!" I probably should've left it alone, but by the time I realized that, it was too late to change it.
My original plan was to put a maple leaf on either side of the hippo. Then I realized the French and English parts are equal-- it made no sense to have two large maple leaves and one small fleur de lys. As proud as I was of my freehand mini fleur de lys, it had to go.
For a second I thought about adding a tiny maple leaf to balance out the tiny fleur de lys, but I didn't want it getting too busy.
The final design! I'm happy with how it turned out, especially the fleur de lys, which not only ended up the right size, but is also a pretty good representation in both colour and style of Quebec's fleur de lys (my home province).
I also like to sign my needlepoints. It's always in a hidden spot, but I choose to believe some future needlework enthusiast will notice one of them and start an epic journey to find all the pieces of the mysterious "ASB."
This was actually my first time backing an embroidery hoop with felt. I used this video for the instructions. You can see in the picture above that my "fringe" of aida cloth looks messy and is also too wide. I ended up re-doing it, because it really shows through on the front.
I think that's better (at least there's less excess fabric). By the way, I know people pride themselves on the neatness of the backs of their embroidery pieces. That's great for them, but I can't be bothered. I do needlework to relax and for the love of creating-- I don't need the stress of making sure the back (that no one will see!) looks as good as the front.
I really enjoyed sewing the felt into place. I also enjoy sewing knit/crochet parts together too, which a lot of people seem to hate, so I think I just enjoy hand stitching. The felt isn't completely flat, because (despite my best efforts) it was a tiny bit too big. But it's not so bad that I needed to re-do it.
All done!
Now to get some mini hippos to leave around the house...
As a bonus, I had enough aida left to make a bookmark!
Anyone familiar with A Series of Unfortunate Events should recognize the quote :)
(Links take you to all available stores. Love Lies Bleeding and Bleeding Heart are also available in paperback.)
What projects are you working on lately? If you do needlepoint, do you care what the backs look like? Did you grow up with house hippos? Share in the comments...
I don’t think it’s too much to hope for a better year in 2022, so I’m sending you all my best wishes for good things ahead!
There are a few different New Year’s traditions in my family that
come from our Greek culture. The one I’ll be indulging in tomorrow is
making Loukoumades, or Greek doughnuts. These were a highlight of the
holidays growing up, and I thought I’d share my mom’s recipe. Enjoy!
Loukoumades (Greek Doughnuts)
This recipe makes enough for at least 6 people. Feel free to halve the amounts to make less.
Like with clouds, it can be fun to try to figure out what the different shapes remind you of
(Apologies for the lack of precise measurements– my mom was one of
those cooks who just knew how to make things. Luckily the recipe doesn’t
need to be too precise.)
2 highball glasses/tall drinking glasses of warm water
3 soup spoons yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 soup spoons vegetable oil (or olive oil, if you want to be authentic)
2 to 3 highball glasses/tall drinking glasses all-purpose flour
Mix together water, yeast, salt, and oil in a large bowl. Add flour,
mixing in thoroughly. Batter should have a similar consistency to
pancake batter (not too thick nor runny). Cover the bowl with a clean
tea towel and let sit until mixture has doubled in bulk.
Once the batter is ready, pour vegetable oil several inches deep into
a saucepan (don’t fill the pan more than halfway). Heat oil over high
heat. To test if it’s hot enough, carefully drop a small amount of
batter in; if the batter floats and oil bubbles around, you’re ready to
start making the loukoumades. (If the batter immediately turn brown, the
oil is too hot. Turn it down and test again in a few minutes.)
Lower heat to medium-low. Carefully drop in scant tablespoons of
batter (the loukoumades puff up, so you don’t want to make them too
big). Don’t crowd the pan. Fry loukoumades, turning them until they are
lightly golden and crispy. Remove them with a slotted spoon and place
them in a bowl or large dish lined with paper towels. Continue until
you’re out of batter, adding more oil to the pan, if necessary.
SYRUP
2 cups unpasteurized honey
3/4 cup to 1 cup water (depends on whether you prefer a thicker or thinner syrup)
Simmer water and honey together in a small saucepan for 3 to 4 minutes. Lower heat to minimum and keep warm.
TO SERVE:
If you prefer crispy loukoumades like I do, pour some syrup into an
individual bowl, sprinkle with ground cinnamon, and dip loukoumades into
the syrup as you’re eating them.
If you prefer softer/sweeter loukoumades, place them in a serving
bowl. Pour the syrup over them and sprinkle with cinnamon. Eat while
still warm.
You can also reheat loukoumades in the oven at 350F (175C) for about 15 minutes. Loukoumades are best eaten the same day.
Happy Canada Day to all Canadians, no matter where they find themselves on 1 July!
Did you know that Canada Day is not our independence day? It's Canada's birthday (happy 152nd!) July 1st marks the anniversary of Confederation, or the day the first four provinces officially joined to create the Dominion of Canada.
Long weekends are also the perfect time to catch up on your reading (how else are you going to digest all that BBQ?) Take advantage of Smashword's sale and get my novel Love Lies Bleedingfor half price (and Blood Magic, as always, is free). Stop by my official website and say hi too! Support Canadian indie writers and have a good day 🍁
If you want to learn more about Canada, watch this short video by a couple of resident experts:
I'm not one to gush over actors or celebrities--nothing against them; I just don't generally care about what they get up to offscreen. Occasionally, however, one of them piques my interest and I go looking for more info. That's how I found out about Misha Collins.
For anyone unfamiliar, Misha Collins is an actor--you might know him as the angel Castiel on Supernatural. I'm not really a fan of Supernatural (I'm missing the "Super" in the Superwholock fandom, alas), but I do like a few of the characters, particularly Castiel. Over time I found out through the internet grapevine that Misha is kind of a wacky guy on social media, so I started following him. I wasn't disappointed (it turns out he's a genuinely good person, as well as funny). From there I decided to check out his imdb profile and what I found out about him kind of blew my mind.
Misha Collins:
-Is a published poet (published in respected journals, such as the Columbia Poetry Review). You can watch him sharing one of his poems here:
-Has co-founded an amazing charity organization, Random Acts, which does things like building schools and orphanages, while also encouraging people worldwide to do good on their own. Random Acts has also started a crisis support centre, along with the "You Are Not Alone" initiative, to help Supernatural fans cope with all sorts of mental health issues they may be facing. [Update: As of 2025, the Initiative seems to be gone, but there is an excellent Random Acts Support Network for anyone in need.]
-Runs the world's largest scavenger hunt, GISHWHES: the Greatest
International Scavenger Hunt The World Has Ever Seen, which has helped
him break five (!) Guinness World Records.
-Does an online cooking show with his son (I think his daughter might have also joined in more recently):
-Is a certified EMT
-Goes on Buddhist meditation retreats at monasteries around the world.
-Did I mention he built his own house, including cabinets and most of the furniture in it? The pictures here aren't great but you get the idea, and it doesn't suck. [Most of the photos seem to be inaccessible now, but this is a great article with photos about Misha's wood working and crafting.]
Bonus: Was the inspiration for "Mishapocalypse" on 1 April 2013, when Tumblr users switched their user (and other) pics to pictures of Misha.
I'm sure further research would uncover more worth sharing, but I'll leave it for another time. And why am I sharing this, anyway? Because awesomeness needs to be shared, so it can inspire and beget more awesomeness. Don't you feel better knowing people like this exist in the world? Actually, the more I found out about Misha Collins, the more I started thinking he wasn't quite your standard human. Which led me to the conclusion that, much like Leeloo in The Fifth Element (a movie you should probably go watch if you haven't already, even though it's Misha free), Misha Collins is at least a, if not the, Fifth Element, which is to say...
2025 Update: Somewhere along the line I did become a Supernatural fan, and now I even review the episodes on The Junkyard (see a list of my reviews here). I also wrote a short bio of Misha. He continues to be good people.
[Edited to update links and info. Follow me on my official site: AspasiaSBissas.com]
Well, not really my home--but that of Anthony Pisano. I was interested in the home that looked like an antiques shop but what really intrigued me once I started watching was the spirit and outlook of Mr. Pisano. Come to think of it, he's not unlike Maude from Harold and Maude. Here is a person who truly embraces life and his fellow humans. As an introvert and a product of a generation that always lock their doors I can only envy Mr. Pisano's easy openness. But maybe I'll be able to take the headphones off one of these days and connect with a stranger or two. Not a bad idea for all of us to attempt. Thank you, Mr. Pisano--the world needs more of you.
[Edited to add photo. Follow me on my official site: AspasiaSBissas.com]
I used to love watching a show called Weird Homes (you can guess what it was about). Unfortunately I don't think it airs anymore in Canada. But it was so much fun to see how creative people could get with their homes.
I don't like weird for the sake of weird but I love fun locations, imaginative designs, unique features, creative materials, and--most of all--when spaces intended for one purpose are converted into homes (like the bank below). I'm particularly partial to the idea of converting an old church, but I've seen some fantastic renos of barns, schoolhouses, railroad cars, boats, lighthouses--even an old water tower. It really makes you look at buildings and their surroundings in a different way.
I find the idea of a home built into a hill cozy and appealing (and not just because they remind me of hobbits):
A little on the precarious side for me but they'll never have to worry about flooding!
On the other hand, if you're a fan of water...
Bank turned home. Apparently the vault is now a guest bedroom:
One way to recycle all those empty bottles:
This is actually an ancient cave house in Italy:
It looks like it simply grew out of the earth:
Bonus points for being creative and pretty:
Homes like this make sense in mountainous regions. They also seem like they'd be a lot of fun to live in!
Love the seashell design:
Underground houses somehow seem extra safe and cozy. And they're environmentally friendly too!
This one is just lovely and elegant:
If you have the money and space why not build yourself a castle (although I think I'd rather live in a real one for the inherent history)?
Another seashell, this one with a colourful stained glass window:
Right out of a nursery rhyme--how could you not love it?
Do not adjust your screens--this is really how this building looks:
Whoever came up with this is a mad genius:
And an interior shot to bring the post to a conclusion. I don't know how practical this is to live in but it definitely looks cozy:
[Edited to remove dead links and inaccurate info, and for formatting. Follow me on my official site: AspasiaSBissas.com]
