Mom said not to play with your food but. . .

A friend of mine at work sent me this link about Bento boxes http://fiveprime.org/hivemind/Tags/bento I just think this is the coolest thing. All of the pictures below are from this link. I've been thinking a lot about Bento boxes because....I've got a few pounds to lose (could that be cousin Keith why there are no new pictures of me on this site.) I was thinking how it could help with portion control and make eating fun. Well, now I'm hooked so sorry Mom but I think it is time to play with my food.

I collect Eiffel Towers so this is one of my favorite. This was done by a true artist Sakurako Kitsa check out her site http://sakurakokitsa.blogspot.com/

Green Eggs & Ham - I'm not so sure I would want to eat this but how cute is that!

Snoopy - On our instant message at work I usually have a Snoopy or an Anime Character from Gintama for my picture. I'll tell you a story about meeting Charles Schulz one day. He was my Hero!

This one is for Jeanine - she loves Halloween.

Wouldn't your Star Wars fan love to have this for lunch??

Now this is art people - too beautiful to eat

Look at the bananas - this is actually a container to hold sauces. The little monkey also holds sauces. And look at the tiny Monkey head that is a food pick (in case you were wondering.)

And this one is for my friend Kris - who loves Hello Kitty.

Hello Kitty and a Panda

Now wouldn't that make you smile getting this for your Birthday lunch?

Now the bunny on the left is a boiled egg which has been put into a mold (we will get to that later.)

Breakfast Bento Boxes

Yes you can even take breakfast all packed up - I know I do sometimes.

This looks like one my husband would have made.

This little monkey is a sauce pots - isn't it cute. I bet it holds syrup.

Regular Lunch Bentos for the Regular folks like us

So I know what your thinking that all that stuff is cute but lets get real. Well here are some everyday type bento boxes for us regular folks.

Now this doesn't look that difficult to make but think of how it would bring a smile to the face of who ever opened their lunch box to this.

Little bear is also a sauce pot. I could see giving this one to my husband.

Or even this one.

These little hot dogs are great!

Look at the little bottles these are sauces bottles. Yes, I know that you are thinking that I know way too much about this stuff.

Cheetos - see you can put anything in there.

Websites of Knowledge

The website http://lunchinabox.net/ has lots of great information about Bento building such as shaping rice into shapes.

They also have information about how to freeze the rice shapes for faster Bento building.

Tools of the Trade

Lunch in a box has great links for purchasing your tools for the trade. I really enjoyed J-List which I will be purchasing supplies from soon. http://www.jbox.com/

Now this is one box I would love to own.

Food picks.

Sauce containers.

Plastic food cups - to keep foods separated.

Not very green but disposable food cups.

Egg & Food Molds

More sauce containers.

And look at all these tools for Bento

Now this is my sort of organization. I want a box full of stuff like this!

Until Next Time

Kathleen

Bandon Fence

Just a quick post to show the fence Damian built out at Bandon Eventually the carport and garage will be torn down and the fence will go all the way back to the alley way. We have a vacant lot on this side of the house. There use to be an old abandoned house but the city made the owner tear it down. The fence is a nice block of the vacant lot and the street.

Another view of how it looks next to the house.

I've got lots to do this weekend with painting projects. Which will give me more pictures to post. I can't wait to have the chair complete to take to Bandon next weekend.

Until Next Time. . . .

Kathleen

Bandon Living Room

Here are some pictures in the Bandon Living Room.

I believe this Star Fish garland was my first Star Fish purchase for the cottage. I'd made the wreath years ago and had it in my bathroom in California. For some reason the way I took the photo makes it look off center but I know I measured just right and it is centered on the wall. Anyway, I hoped the garland would be a nice touch for under the wreath. It is one of my favorite pieces in the cottage.

This is on the opposite side of the living room wall from the Star Fish Garland. This little shelf I intend to fill it with jars of sea shells. I always wanted to get a big sail boat to put there but I haven't found one yet I can afford. I'm sure I'll come across one in my shopping at some point (one that I can afford.)

Another view this time you can see that the doorway goes into the kitchen.

This is a picture of the ceiling after it was covered with the knotty pine. We actually have lights installed where the yellow wires are now. They point straight up so it makes the ceiling glow at night.

A picture of the ceiling before the knotty pine went up. I weathered a very big storm one weekend during this stage. I knew if the roof blew off there would be nothing to buffer the wind and rain from outside. Of course, the roof held and I'm left with the memory of that stormy night. You could hear all kinds of things blowing around in the storm. One of my neighbors storm windows blew pass the house.

Another view. The front door is right behind Damian. I'll get more pictures to show you what it looks like today.

This is a picture of the front door area before we changed doors and took down the ceiling (you can see a bit up in the left hand corner of the picture.) Also, you can see part of the old floor. It was beautiful wood but we were not able to save enough of it to keep it all in tact.

These windows are were the bay window is now. You can see a bit more of the old ceiling. I'm trying to get a picture of what it looked like even before this. Damian had already replaced the dry wall here and then decided to rip it all out after seeing a neighbors house where they went all the way to the rafters. I thought he was nuts after all the worked he had already done. This ceiling had many water marks from leaks when we purchased this house. Well, I'm glad Damian replaced it because the knotty pine just really opens up the room.

I'm working on furniture now. I'm hoping to have it done by my next trip to the coast. Some chairs which I'm redoing the upholstery and painting some of the wood work. I should have some photos for you soon.

Until Next Time. . . .

Kathleen

Bandon Kitchen

Here are some photos of the Bandon Kitchen This photo was taken after the new. . .well everything. New floor, new cabinets, new appliances etc.... This photo even shows my silver tray above the stove. A Feng Shui piece. When the stove and the sink are right across from each other you are suppose to use something reflective. This prevents accidents etc. Well, I use to burn myself on the stove all the time and I don't now so maybe there is something to the Feng Shui thing.

This is where my new shelf hangs. The door way goes into the living room.

The bank of cabinets by the sink

The old cabinets. The only photo I have of the old kitchen from its original state when we purchased the house. My dear old beloved cat Vincent wet all over a stack of photographs (he was 18 years old and just loosing it.) I really wanted to keep these old cabinets but we had five plumbing leaks so we had to replace a large piece of the flooring and everything. My drawers turned out to be old veggie and fruit crates. I saved them. I'm not sure what to do with them but I'll figure out something.

Here is with the cabinets and counter tops in but the old floor and old stove are still there.

The Laundry room how it looks today. I still have a few odds and ends to fix before I'm done with it.

A sort of before shot. Well the tile hasn't been laid etc. But this area wasn't really here in the "old" house. Damian moved a few things around to create this space.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the "little" tour. I've got living room photos to show this week. Also, progress on the old claw foot tub, the fence and outside and other bits and pieces.

Until Next Time. . . . .

Kathleen