Taking The Long Way Home

I have a lot to do today, so rather than chit chat, I'll just get right to it and post some beads for you. I have 6 ready to go today. I'll keep doing it this way until it no longer works. These are numbered from left to right. To buy them, send an email to kim@kimmiles.com. Tell me which ones you want, and how many in total. I'll do my best to give you your first picks, but I insist on being super fair about this, so whoever gets their email to me first gets the beads. As soon as I post these, I'm going to the studio, and will not bring my computer with me. If you're one of the lucky ones, I'll send you a PayPal invoice later this afternoon. If not, I'll drop a quick email letting you know. It's sort of like the old Secret Bead Club, only much smaller and simpler. These beads are all encased CZ Flowers, and range from 15 to 18 mm across. Just right for wearing one or more simply on a chain, or incorporating into a fabulous design of your own. And now....

Now that Oprah's gone, my hopes for a fabulous makeover are gone along with her. Fortunately, I have a blog and a website to play with, and I'm learning my way around Photoshop. Whenever I feel the need for a New Look, I can just change up my online image, even if my own personal face stays the same. That's what I did today. I was tweaking one little thing on my website, and before I knew it, I'd given it an entire facelift. Come see . It's really pretty! While you're there, take a peek at the Alchemy Jewelry and Taos Light Works pages. I'm about to close them down, so now is the time to get your glowing candles and fearless bling!

I have to admit, I was surprised -- and quite pleased -- at the response to the return of the flower beads yesterday. I also have to admit that selling my work is the best encouragement to make more. I've spent the last several months doing a lot of things for nothing but Love. Don't get me wrong, I love Love! I also love to eat and pay my bills. You know how that goes. I woke up this morning humming the Talking Heads song, " Nothing But Flowers ." I took it as a personal message from the beads themselves, and possibly from the Universe. Nothing but flowers? Really? Well, OK, I guess I can do that for a while. My gift to the Universe. Inspired by the Bead Love, I spent yesterday afternoon in my studio, and made 7 more sweet little flower beads, which you'll see below, and can purchase if you like. They may be my gift to the Universe, but unfortunately, everybody else has to pay... These are numbered from left to right, 1, 2, 3, 4... ...and 5, 6, 7. They...

I am not a gardener. Somehow, that particular skill was not passed along in my family. The only gardening activity I remember was my sisters and me sitting on the front lawn with our parents on hot summer evenings, pulling weeds, with the promise of a trip to 31 Flavors keeping us motivated. Later, as teenagers, we sometimes shoved the old push mower around that same lawn, but that was about it. There were flowers and trees and shrubs all over the place, but darned if I recall how they stayed looking nice. Mom probably did it, but she never shared her secrets. Last weekend I planted some herbs in a big pot outside the front door. This was my big leap into gardening. I figure I can handle a pot of herbs, and if I keep them alive, I get to cook with them. So far so good. I've always kind of thought if I was going to grow something, it might as well be something I can eat. Then my neighbor gave me three little baggies of flower seeds. Morning glories, zinnias, and cosmos. There went...

I did not believe for one moment that The Rapture would come on Saturday, although I thought it was a nice idea for certain people to be lifted off the planet. But any excuse for a party will do, so I looked into my magic refrigerator, and came up with a decadent snack that fairly screams of celebration, while making use of only things I already had on hand in the kitchen. After all, where's the sense in buying more food the day before the world ends? The name, Frabjous Day Fritters , comes from the poem, Jabberwocky , and just sounds like more fun to me than the word "rapture", which always reminds me of "rupture." Anyway, if you're still here, as I imagine you are, celebrate that today, and fry up some fritters for you and your friends. Frabjous Day Fritters You will need: 2 red potatoes 2 carrots 1/2 onion 1 cup rice flour (or any other flour you like) 3 T arrowroot 1 T baking powder 1 cup frozen corn 1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut ...

I thought it was going to be a long time before I could "come out" with what I'm about to tell you. But something I'm constantly reminded of is we have no real control over life and situations, especially when there are other people involved. And there are almost always other people involved. All we can do individually is make our own best choices, and then take responsibility for what happens from there. What's happening here is out of my hands. How I respond to it is totally up to me. So here's the scoop. Back in February, Rick's daughter Julia came from California to Taos to live with us and have her baby. She was fleeing an abusive relationship, and because of the violent nature of the baby-daddy, we all felt the only thing we could do was hide her here. At that point I went off the radar here on my blog, as well as on Facebook, never daring to post anything "real" for fear that baby-daddy might find Julia. Due to decisions I didn'...

I had planned to spend yesterday afternoon in the studio, for the first time in weeks, just to see if there were any sparks left, or if anything would stick if I threw it against the wall. Then Deborah suggested lunch, and I was out the door in a flash, no looking back. The studio has been waiting all this time, it will wait a little longer. We headed to the opposite end of town, to Arroyo Seco, our destination, that-place-that-changes-owners-about-every-other-week. Last time I was there, well, a couple of years ago, it was called Gypsy 360. I used to get the Buddha Bowl, with brown rice, veggies, tofu, and peanut sauce. Mmmm. Or maybe I should say, Ommm . But when we got to the door and I saw the name is now Hunter Tom's, I was a little bit worried. One of the many nice things about being vegan is I don't have to read entire menus. Since it was a special occasion -- Tuesday afternoon, and I was out of my house -- we started with a big beer, which we shared. It was really go...

I don't have a car, and Rick has the bigass truck all day, most days, for work, so I don't get out much. I do my own so-called work here at home, and I cook a lot, so I'm busy enough, all things considered. The trouble is, I'm always at home. This is not good for a gypsy's state of mind. I've begun to daydream about going to school... in New York, or Paris, or Milan. I imagine where I would go each morning, if I had a car... grocery shopping maybe... in Denver... or Mexico. I look at the bike that's a fairly permanent fixture in the studio, and imagine how far I could get if the blasted wind would ever stop blowing. I am a wanderer in chains, and I am not happy about it. Recognizing the deranged look in my eyes, Rick took the day off yesterday, and we went on a little field trip to Santa Fe. We did some shopping, and had plans to have a nice lunch at the Tree House . We wanted a Food Adventure, in a restaurant we'd never been to. I had seen this place ...

I lied. I'm not going to write a book. Not a cookbook, or any other kind of book. Well, maybe I didn't lie exactly, but I did overestimate my dedication, time, and abilities. I don't have the slightest idea how to make a bunch of thoughts and words into an actual book. It's too big a project, given everything else I have going on right now. (And I'm sorry I still can't tell you about the rest of it, but please trust me when I say it's all good. Someday I'll be able to talk again.) Besides, I recently read somewhere that about 3% of published authors make enough money at it to make it worth the effort financially. I still live in a world where I need to get paid for my work, which is pretty funny, considering all the things I'm doing these days for no money at all. Turns out, sometimes we do what we do for the love of the doing, or the love of someone else. Sometimes we get paid in a currency other than cash. I'm OK with that... for now. But wh...

I got a nice note from an e-friend this morning, who also happens to be named Kim Miles, and who's husband is also named Rick. How weird is that? She tried out my tamale pie recipe, and customized it to suit their tastes, which is great! I want to share her words with you here, in hopes that it will inspire even more of you to try something new. Quinoa is awesome . And just so you know, it's packed with complete protein, so if you're thinking of adding meat to the recipe just to add protein, there's really no need. I understand that some of you like meat... I'll be patient with you. :o) " Hi Kim, I tried your Tamale Pie recipe the other night and it was WONDERFUL!!!  I have been wanting to try quinoa and had no clue how to use it.  I might have cooked it a little too long because it all but disappeared in the bottom layer but the flavor it added was really good.  My Rick is not a vegetarian by any means and does need his meat for dinner so I added two chic...

I had a request for a main dish using quinoa, and a few days later, this appeared in my kitchen. It's a lot like the traditional tamale pie my mom used to make with ground beef, only without the meat, of course.  Quinoa is a super-protein grain, and works really well in this dish. It was so good, we're looking forward to eating the leftovers tonight. Quinoa Tamale Pie These amounts will fill a 9X13 baking dish. Mine is a bit smaller, so I had a some left over quinoa and filling, which I'll use for something else. Rinse and cook 2 cups of quinoa . Leave it in the cooking pan while you make the filling. Filling: Chop and saute one small onion in a little olive oil . Add 3 T chili powder and cook with the onions for 2-3 minutes. This gives the chili a wonderful deep richness. Don't skip this step! Stir in 1 T cumin and 1/2 tsp cinnamon . Add 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with the juice, 1 (15 oz) can black beans , rinsed, 1 (6.5 oz) can sliced black olives...