UPDATE 11/23/08: My shop is currently inactive until I can spend more time on making it a real “business”. I will keep you posted.

I finally opened my very own ETSY shop. I created a special dog shampoo bar after extensive research. I use it on Mulder and it works great. He smells fresh but not overly fragrant and squeaky-clean.
I’m still trying to work up a business plan but to start with, I will experiment with different products. Francis, my youngest brother designed the banner. Check it out!

We celebrated my birthday with a trip to Lost Lake. We hiked the 3-mile trail around it with Mulder. It was a beautiful day.

The Harvest Festival was going on so we stopped for some freshly-picked apples and pears. All of the above goodies for around $9! The pears were especially delightful

Lunch was at Hae Rim Korean BBQ recommended by a friend from work. It was a no frills, authentic kind of place with excellent food!

Marcel also created an image gallery.

Check out the new CALENDAR page! I will try to update it with all our activities and events. I’m excited about growing this site even though right now, there is nobody reading it. I also opened a shop at ETSY which is linked through the SHOP page. ‘Hopefully will have some stuff there soon.

Finally, I just learned  how to back up my SQL databases using phpMyAdmin. Check out these instructions. I also activated the K2 sidebar which allows me to customize the content

I have read so much about the No-Knead Bread that started from a NY Times article so I decided to try it myself. However, months passed and I just could not get myself to do it. One day, JD of Get Rich Slowly, published their version of the bread. GRS has inspired me not only to take control of my finances but to try out new things such as growing a vegetable garden, making jam and now making bread. I followed this recipe with only 2 substitutions – Salt was 1tsp instead of 1 1/2 and the Beer I used was Hefe-Weizen. What can I say? This just might be the absolute BEST thing that came out of my oven in my entire baking life! I was very pleased. Thanks JD!

Despite the late arrival of summer, we managed to have a good harvest of cherry, roma and early girl tomatoes, anaheim and jalapeno peppers and even cantaloupe and watermelon. Not bad for first-time gardeners. Next year, we plan to try square-foot gardening. We might even start indoors to extend the season.