2 Christmas Quilts Finished, screw the 3rd

I finished my tree quilts today YEAH!!! There was a 3rd winter-themed quilt in the making, but time isn't on my side. Hubby reminded me Friday night he would be gaming all day long, thus sewing machine time was quite limited. Andrea will have to be happy with her Bath and Body Works gift basket.

I am really happy on how they turned out...the pictures don't quite do them justice. I am still trying to figure out the best way to photograph my finished quilts, any suggestions? These guys were just hung to a wall with 2 tacks. Fancy, I know.






I got the pattern online. The pattern was supposed to be for a rag-quilt, not too sure what that even is, but it gave me the information I wanted, specifically how many squares to cut to make a tree. I added the star to make it more festive. The pattern had the tree on a white/daytime background. I decided to make one quilt with that background and the other with blue/nighttime background. I like the darker colored one better. Feels cozier plus the little stars create a nice effect (see close-up).

The darker one also has a nicer/more labor intensive border. I took the same fabric I used for the tree and cut it into strips. Like I said, it is a lot more work, but I think it looks more complete. Though I like the fabric and pattern of the dark one best, the quilting on the light one is my favorite. You can see in the close-up of the dark one I quilted 1/4th inch from the seams. This made the tree flat. On the light one I quilted "in-the-ditch" (aka the seam), resulting in a puffier tree. Speaking on in-the-ditch...this is something I learned making these quilts. Well, I learned, what I thought was in-the-ditch wasn't in the ditch. I also learned how to apply the binding properly and how to sew without the presser foot and feeding teeth on my machine...go me!

These were a joy to make. I can't wait to see my mom's and mother-in-law's faces when they receive them this week.

Halloween Costumes!!

Okay, so I know this post is a little late, but I thought you might like to see the dinosaur costumes I made the kids for Halloween. Dallan's tail came out really nice, if a bit long.

One quilt down, almost

OK it has taken me 3 weeks to get this far. Only thing left is for me to apply the binding...yeah!!!!!
I am proud of this pattern, because I came up with it on my own.

I only have 2 more quilts to finish before next Monday. Will the the crafting gods be with me? I hope so. The quilt tops are done at least. The reason for my decrease in productivity is because I have come down with a horrible case of toddleritis. I thought felinitis was bad, but boy do opposable thumbs make a difference and not in a good way.

Skill to aspire to

My mother made this sweater for my daughter. I'm not sure how much detail you can see in this picture, but it is just amazing. The little pink parts around the edges are actually ruffled. This thing looks like something that you would buy at Children's Place for $40.

More to come later today. My current project...Scarves!

See, this is what happens when you mess around

Detail from one of our homemade holiday cards. Limited editions, anyone want to buy a set?

Excuse me, I was promised there would be hats.

So far, since we moved here, I have made seven hats. Yes, seven. Scary, eh? It's good, because I need hats to wear over my hair at work, as opposed to always working the Aunt Jemima/ gang warfare look that is the bandana.

I've never really gotten the hang of bandanas, I have always felt.

Anyway, the small single skein crochet project that is the hat seems to work for me. I was even going to make seasonal ones if I can muster up appropriate yarn. I couldn't get candy corn colors that weren't acrylic (bastards!) but I still have hopes for an election day hat. Guy Fawkes day hat is a little much, though. I even have budget hats! I made this one with yarn from the dollar store and everyone loves it.

I've also started playing with stitch patterns and the like, with some successes and some weirdness. But honestly, for working, this green, floppy organic cotton one is probably my favorite.

It is really difficult to take a picture of yourself wearing a hat.

Too soon?

I decided that we're going to make our holiday cards this year. By "we" I mean, I get to do all the fun stuff, and then he gets to write something clever. Considering the kind of project it is, I consider this a fair distribution of labor.

I got some paper, and some stamps, and some notecards and stuff - man there is a lot out there as far as papercraft is concerned. I mean like, whoa. I don't usually do any of this type of craft soyeah, these cards will, in fact, cost more than our card usually do, but hey! Snowflake glitter!

Any of you scrapbooking types have any suggestions for websites, ideas, glues, that kind of thing?

I still have some modge podge.....

(also hey, if you want one, send me an email with an address, unless you know I've got it already.)

Pure Corny Goodness

Spent today making Scrape Corn with my parents. Back in 1991 my father, whose favorite food was corn, cut off the cob with lots of buuter, was diagnosed with diverticulitis. As a result he can't eat corn, or nuts or seeds unless they are ground up or all small hard bits have been previously demolished. He could, I suppose, chew each bite until it reaches a complete paste but that removes some enjoyment of eating.

So, a couple years later, my mother dug up the recipe for Scrape Corn. It's NOT good for the cholesterol, nor is it really all that healthy...perhaps stick-to-your-ribs would be a better description.

Ingredients: Corn on the cob, uncooked
Butter/margerine
Time

Using a knife or razor blade, puncture every kernel on the corn. Then scrape the blade of a knife down the ear of corn in small portions into a bowl, until all the pieces of the kernel have been demolished and added to the bowl. Note: This is a messy process. Repeat until all the corn has been scraped.

Melt 2 Tbs butter/margerine in a large frying pan over med-low heat. Add scraped corn to fill the frying pan. Cook, over low-med-low heat, stirring often. Use a spatula to scrape the bottom of the pan. If it is sticking badly to the pan, add more butter. Cook for approximately 1 hour (or until most of the liquid has been cooked off). The final consistency should be like a thick pudding. Add salt to taste. This makes a very autumnal or nice winter side dish in small amounts. It's very rich and tastes like corn candy (not candy corn).

I would assume that this is a recipe of old New England, but I've never researched it. (Hmmm, I have a food historian coming to do a program at the CT Historical Society next month...maybe I should ask her?)

Enjoy.

Hippo Birdie Two Ewes

I got a glue gun. AND a staple/nail gun. I also made two hats. It is hard to take a picture of yourself wearing a hat.

Little things

This really is the only good use for that percolator. Also, I made a set of origami box lights for our stairs. Now if only we could be finished unpacking.

Also, I crocheted a hat, but haven't taken a picture yet.

Crafting home

Maybe it is a girl thing. It probably is, something to do with nesting. Although in the car, I wish I had a tape recorder, because HE said he wanted to really pull the house together, to not have anything in boxes, because we've come to far to live like kids in their first apartment. Or at least something like that, I'm paraphrasing.

We still have no furniture, it's on a truck somewhere, and yet, there is already things hanging on the wall. I bought a few plants and pots for the patio and we've discussed furniture placement. Oh, and the spongebob bathroom is mostly set. That came together first.

I have 652 other ideas for what to do here, with immediate finances being my major limiting factor. (Hello! Idiot! It is not cheap to move across country! Put down the awesome stone patio accessories!) Some of those ideas I know to be, well, a little quirky. This time, though, I'm giving myself permission to try them. They may not be things that most people would do in their houses (and some may be failures that I hate) but I'm going to try them anyway, because even though once again we find ourselves renting a space with beige carpet, white walls, and blinds, it's still supposed to be our home.

So maybe its time to live that way.

Attack of the Mutant Challah!

Here is a challah that I made from scratch over 4th of July weekend. I think it's pretty good for a first try. It grew weirdly on one end & looks like a mutated manatee. It tasted nice, if a little too sweet.

Cross country crafting

Does it make me completely crazy that I am considering gathering bags of dirt along the way to Oregon so I can make a series of dorodango when I get there?

I'm glad crochet takes up so little space. Planning at least one surly cake for the route.

The ghost in the machine

My sewing machine was my mother's, with all the baggage that you can imagine that brings. My sister and I both learned some of our craft skills from her, and a whole lot more on our own, after she died, when faced with the piles of her unfinished projects. The sewing machine is the only sewing machine I can remember, and the memories are not always happy. Trying to stay still while yet another stupid dress was pinned on me. Her critiquing over my shoulder when I tried to sew something. Fights that usually ended with me giving up, and her taking over to finish whatever it was I was working on.

This is why I give serious thought to my training methods at work.

I take these memories with me every time I lug the heavy thing out of its case and set it up on my dining room table. And the machine objects to me. I know it does. I don't understand it, don't understand why tensioning knobs don't work, how thread can get knotted up inside the bobbin, why I have to keep rethreading the needle at random intervals. It didn't used to act this way.

It hates me.

Still, I manage to turn out some ok looking things. Maybe it has personal pride at stake? I don't know. I made this Japanese style knot bag because I hate a purse but like having something for my wallet and phone on a plane. Not bad, right? It's good you can't see in between the two fabric layers. And it isn't exactly reversible the way the pattern is supposed to be. (Hey, props for taking a picture of my own arm!) But passable enough that I'll use it.

A couple of parts of the machine broke off recently. Kinda important parts like the thing that holds on the foot. I went to Jo-Ann to ask about the existence of replacement parts. A lovely woman called Viking for me after we discovered no such listing for the model in the parts book. New parts, they said, are just not available anymore, even to those who would be able to service it, if I could find someone. The lady at Jo-Ann broke the news. "You're going to have to start looking for a new machine."

I know this will help my sewing. A new machine and I could become at least understanding if not outright friendly. But I'll admit it, I'm not ready for a new machine just yet.

Need Advice

OK I am working on another idea of something to sell and give as gifts. The new item is a Church Dolls aka prayer dolls aka baptism dolls aka plantation doll (I have found lots of names for these little dolls). They originally were made from men's handkerchiefs, then again, I have read they are made from "grandma's hanky", which make me suspicious of the true history of the doll.

Their purpose though is always the same. A simple doll for little girls to play with in church, 0r anywhere else, that you want to keep the child quietly occupied. Above are modern examples of the dolls, I have yet to find a picture of one from the colonial days when they supposedly originated. Another reason why I am suspicious of it's history.

Below is my prototype. Please disregard the wrinkles and unfinished edges, when making this I was more concerned about getting the design correct. Tell me if it looks too creepy. I wanted to use smaller black buttons for the eyes, but I didn't have any on hand. Also I am going to sew the bonnet higher on the head so there will not be such a gap. Thankfully my daughter recognized it as a doll.

I look forward to get every one's input.

Gnomenclature

This unfinished project has caused no end of trouble. Not the project itself, which is done with needle punch embroidery (a quick way to smile according to the French on the packaging) and allows me to stab something repeatedly with a sharp object. That part is great. I haven't even stabbed my leg yet and only have to finish that one mushroom.

The problem is the design, which I stole from someplace online. The free pattern listed itself as being a gnome. This is not how my beloved sees gnomes. I can see his point, but I know of gnomes like this. Then, we fight. So it is a battle ground gnome/man's land in my house. My sweetheart is such a troublemaker. Don't get him started on Santa's not-really-elves, either.


I think it's going to be a little pillow when it is done.

Gardening with a toddler

After weeks spent intermittently turning a piece of lawn into a garden (without the assistance of a roto-tiller) I finally got to planting today. We were out shopping for other things when I asked the 2-year old if she wanted to go home or buy flowers and plants. Then we spent the next 15 minutes of the drive with her saying "flowers" every 2 minutes.

Red and green bell peppers, pole beans, zucchini, cucumbers, basil, lemon thyme and regular and heirloom plum tomatoes. The little one was extremely excited with the bean seeds (another phrase she repeated 100 times or so for the rest of the afternoon). Hopefully they'll come up and keep her interest in the garden, and mine. Since we don't have a fence up yet, my other great hope is that the neighborhood bunnies don't attack overnight.

E enjoyed planting the seeds, and then was impatiently demanding "next" every time I stopped to do something silly like cover a plant with soil. Picking the flats of plants up by the leaves, walking without looking through the garden, sitting down on top of pepper plants. She was scolded numerous times this afternoon with absolutely no effect and probably still has no idea why. Any suggestions to train a little one on watching where she walks?

Projects Completed

Does hanging a pre-made curtain count as a craft? It did involve tools and I had been putting if off for only a year and 2 months. Of course I bought the curtain on clearance without actually measuring the window first. As you can see it is too small...I need another one, but I figure it took me over a year to hang this guy, obviously this window is a low priority in my home decor.

I DID actually craft this week. I have been trying to come up with something I could make and sell at craft fairs and such...drum roll please...tooth fairy pillows!

I am really pleased at how these out. My 1st two pillows (LSU ones) were a little too big, so I shrunk my pattern down an inch and they are now perfect.

1st first photo (disregarding the curtain one) is of my wool felt teeth after they have been bowed, smiled and eyed. Everything is sewn on but the jiggly eyes.

2nd photo is a close-up of a finished pillow.

3rd photo shows all of the pillows I was able to complete in 2 days!! I could have done a couple of more, but my sewing machine flaked on me. OK that isn't the truth. I thought my machine was acting up, turns out I hadn't changed out my quilting needle to a normal needle. Apparently quilting needles are not only sharper, they are also longer. Now we all know :) Unfortunately it took me 2 hours to figure this out. :P

I also designed and made "Official Tooth Fairy Tooth Transaction Logs" to go with the pillows. The card contains: a tooth chart so kids can color in which tooth was lost; a log to note the date of the tooth loss (I even threw in a bow for the tooth fairy to check off she received the tooh) , a pocket to hold a tooth, a reminder that healthy teeth are more valuable so brush and floss and finally instructions.

First Baby Quilt for 2008! Only 3 Months Late.

For the record I had finished the top of the quilt before the baby shower in February. I just was unable to layer it together, quilt and finish the binding.

I truly enjoyed making this quilt. I made it for the baby girl of my close friends Marty and Chappell. I have known Marty since he and my little brother became friends in middle school! (I am very close to my little brother, so we actually share some friends.) Regardless I wanted this quilt to be extra special.
I chose colors and traditional patterned fabric to match the look of the nursery. I would have used toile, but couldn't find any at Joann's. I know I should have looked online, I just wasn't thinking in that mode. Selecting fabric has always been a hands-on thing for me. I do have to put a shout out to a great online store, Quilt Taffy, that I have recently discovered. I can not wait to start buying from this gal.

I have another quilt to make soon. My little brother is expecting his first born June 5th. They don't know the sex so I am waiting to the little bundle is born before I begin.

taking my lemonness to new levels

I made pie. Lemon pie. It uses the whole lemon. No meringue. I totally dig it. Also, I have sprouts of oregano, chives and basil, but the picture was blurry.

I am totally domesticated. Wait, is that what I mean?

Zucchini anyone?

Rather than crash in front of a movie or with a book tonight after the baby went to bed I decided to bake. This is something I often want to do until I go downstairs after the bed time ritual and decide that I don't have the patience, energy or desire to spend time in the kitchen.

Tonight however I was determined to use the zucchini I bought a few days ago and turn it into something my little girl will eat! She's not a fan of vegetables as vegetables...or fruit as fruit come to think of it. We keep trying, every day, but this is a method that works for us, at least once in a while. I tried Jessica Seinfeld's approach and decided that the subtitle of "easy" was a complete lie. Plus the 2 recipes I tried were disgusting, to adults and child alike. So, it's back to squash muffins and zucchini chocolate chip cookies. The muffins are yummy and far more successful for me lately than zucchini bread - which has been repeatedly raw in the middle, despite lengthier cooking times and a flawless oven. The recipe is made by the walnuts, but since we haven't really introduced nuts to the little girl's diet yet, they only go in the half destined for grown-ups. The cookies are a new venture. Barbara Kingsolver used these in Animal Vegetable Miracle and they sounded intriguing. Lousy cook that I am, I didn't try one as they came out of the oven. We'll try then on a child and maybe on colleagues tomorrow.

Hopefully the whole lot will be better than the very sour sourdough I made the other day that didn't really rise.

HOLY CRAFT!

Note to self: Stenciling with room temperature butter is never a good idea.

I've wanted to do this a while now and only I've just gotten around to it. I have older stencils tacked up on the wall in my office and they stare down, yelling at me to use them on a daily basis. I've become a Jedi master at blocking their demands out. However, today it was impossible to silence them. So I made a car decal.



It didn't turn out how I wanted it to. The contact paper I was using was like cutting through room temperature butter. Joining two cuts and or trying to make a round cut was close to impossible. At first I was optomistic and wanted to do the whole thing. After cutting part of the body out, I had to change my plan. What I started out doing is completely different than my end game... and I'm actually quite thrilled about it.



I was sitting there cutting out Shauns body thinking, "When I get to the face it's going to be beyond difficult." So, I stopped. I had an arm, a cricket bat and part of a body.

I stared at it.

I called it a few bad names.

Then it struck me. Cut out the tie!

I cut it out and laid what I had before me. I LOVED IT. Not only is it a slightly obscure movie, what I had was a wildly obscure decal.



I don't care if no one gets it. What I care about is making the 4 people who live in this town who've seen the movie, smile.

i smile when i look at it

Total Fluke

I needed to not cook tonight. I decided this after making my dinner, while I had my favorite rhubarb dessert soup on the stove. Yeah, what can I say, I'm really good at making definitive decisions. Phblt.

Anyway, I wanted to do something that didn't involve food, and I am really glad that I did. I realized just how long it had been since I played with my crochet hook when I picked it up and could not remember how to start. Yeah, bad. So then I went in search of a project that was small enough to finish easily this evening and not food. This is what I ended up with:



Meet Blimey, the nearly blind whale! I know, you're saying, "Nearly Blind? That eyeball is a gazillion times bigger than it would be really!" I know, I know. But it took 6 tries before I found a needle small enough to fit through the hole in the back so I could sew the eyes on. Hence, nearly blind. Glad I found one. The eyes make a big difference. That and the tail. I got a little crazy with the tail....

yes i know whale is edible. shut up.

Is this a Sign of the Apocalypse?

While in toys r us last week I saw this doll. Now I enjoy scrapbooking, don't get me wrong, but I find this doll disturbing and it brought a lot of questions to mind.
Are they mocking us scrappers?
Are they trying to brain wash young girls into scrapbooking at a very early age?
Is the infant doll suppose to scrapbook? They recommend girls 3 and up play with this little doll. Are 3 year olds suppose to pretend their baby is scrapbooking or are they suppose to scrapbook about their relationship with their fake baby?
Is the baby wearing a Headband of Creativity?

Tailoring advice, please!

It is time, after years of chocolate, raspberry puree, passion fruit coulis, chlorine bleach and other assorted products, for me to start replacing my chef coats. The ones I have, I love. They are short sleeved so they are great in the summer and when reaching in to scrape out 40 quart bowls of cheesecake batter. They are a women's cut so I don't look like I have on my big brother's shirt and weigh another 30 pounds. They also are no longer being produced, although when they were, they were like a hundred dollars a pop. No thank you!

So I found a short sleeved jacket for twenty dollars. The problem is, it fits in the shoulders and chest, and everywhere else is just not right. Lame! I think, maybe, I could tailor it myself. I know, it's sewing, but I can hem up the sleeves and bottom of the jacket, and I think I could take in the sides a bit. But I'm not sure. Should I even try? Just take it to a professional? Whatchall think?

Food Porn!!

After recently purchasing "Fix, Freeze, Feast" I went on a quest to make the best use of my kitchen time by making lots of meals in advance. I'm not particularly fond of cooking, so if I'm going to spend an hour+ in the kitchen, I'd like more to show for my effort than just one lousy meal that my son won't eat, my daughter will inhale, and my husband will pick at & go "meh".

My first attempt was Chicken Curry. I didn't take a picture of it, but suffice to say, it was little chicken chunks with a yellow sauce over rice. Again, won't eat, inhale, "meh". At least I have lots more of it in the freezer.

Then I tried these mexican stuffed red peppers. Mmmmmm. They were mighty good & I have 3 more gallon bags of the stuffing in my freezer!

Well, no, we don't NEED a third one...

but could you turn away such a happy face?

Superior help for hard working hands

Here's a useful little thingy.

My hands are wrecked this week. Completely. It started with a peeler gouge while I was making 250 poached pears. It went on to include some fabulously ugly blistered burns from tuna oil from the guy next to me on the line (Harumph! Indeed!) and some innumerable bumps, dings, cracks and overall dryness all thanks to what one of the sous chefs refers to as "the worst week every year" - and that's counting December. Now, I wouldn't lay claim to any vanity where my hands are concerned, but well, I am a girl. So this is one of my favorite fixes.

In a bowl mix a couple spoonfuls of plain yogurt or cream and a spoonful of honey. Add some ground almonds and a bit of rosewater if you've got it. Slather that on your hands, especially the backs of them, and throw on a pair of powder-free latex gloves. Go about your business for about ten minutes. Toss the gloves, rinse the hands in cool water. You could go all out at this point and moisturize your nails with almond oil and stuff like that but that's all up to you.

It really really helps and is way cheaper than some schmancy hand cream. Also, it tastes good. Don't look at me like that, it does.

When did thread get so expensive? It should be 75 cents.

I have already discussed my feelings on sewing. Hemming is almost worse than sewing, because hemming is something I have to do, rather than something I am doing by choice.

Now, let us discuss chef pants. Chef pants are designed 1. for men, 2. to be washed and worn a gazillion times until they fall apart, 3. out of enough fabric so that in the event they catch fire, the actual pant is nowhere near skin and finally 4. for men. Given these factors every pair of pants I get for work I need to hem. Lots.

I got two new pairs of pants this week to replace ones with holes that were potentially against the company's HR policies. So now, I must hem.

Can you tell I'm trying to delay?

I hate hemming.

Happy Easter and Vitamin C

When I asked if anyone planning to be at Easter dinner has any problems with lemon I'm not sure the message really got across. We'll see, in a few hours, how the uninitiated make out with Bon Appetit's Gingered Lemon Meringue Pie. It's tart...I mean, REALLY tart (and I tone it down and make it sweeter than the recipe calls). Kathy introduced us to this recipe along with the sour-puss faces that it draws many years ago. It's a once in a while treat.

Maybe the lemon juice will get rid of the cold holding the whole family hostage, me with laryngitis.

Does my desire to celebrate a mathematical constant make me a nerd?

So tomorrow is pi day (March 14th, get it? celebrate at 1:59?), and, not being the imaginative sort, I like to celebrate pi day with pie. Last year I made pie for every meal, but I am just not feeling that ambitious this year, so I settled on making two pies and bringing them into work. I decided on an old school mixed berry pie (read: I couldn't pick between cherry and blueberry, so I just threw both in there, and some blackberries to make it seem intentional), cornstarch thickened, and crust from scratch (of course, adoxograph would never forgive me if I did otherwise. For that matter, I would never forgive myself if I did otherwise, so it kind of works out).

That pie happened like this:

First came crust assembly, following a recipe adoxograph gave me about a gazillion months ago. I always have trouble with pie crusts because I have hot hands, and the butter wants to go all melty. It probably doesn't help that I am impatient.
While I was letting the dough rest (have to give the starches time to hydrate, man!), I prepped the filling, which was just frozen fruit, a little butter, a little salt, about a quarter cup of sugar, almond extract, and that corn starch I mentioned earlier.Oh yeah. And there's a graham cracker crust back there. Ignore that for now.

Once the filling was prepped, I rolled out and blind baked the bottom crust. While the blind baking happened, I rolled out the top crust. Then the blind baking was done, and I filled the pie...
...then placed the top crust and cut the thematically appropriate vent. SYMBOLIC!
That went into the oven, allowing me to focus on the other pie.

Oh, the other pie!

See, a few weeks ago, I had an idea, which is always a dangerous thing. And not just any idea, mind. A pie idea. Or piedea, I suppose. And it was a majestic piedea. See, it's Easter, and Easter means Peeps. Peeps are marshmallows, right? And if you'll recall from my thingaday posts, I'd been making toaster oven s'mores. Do you see where I am going with this?

Yeah, that's right. It's an Easter S'more Peep Massacre pie.

So you already saw the graham cracker crust resting idly alongside the berry filling, but here's another shot of that, for fun. I also made a chocolate custard while the dough for the other pie hydrated (no action shots on that; haven't yet worked out how to stir constantly and take a photo simultaneously). That cooled while the berry pie was baking, and then I proceeded to fill the graham cracker crust with the custard. Then came the Peeps. I bought four colors, and arranged them on top of the custard in the pie (oh, and check the completed berry pie. NICE).They look so innocent.
I started wondering whether they knew what was about to happen next. It was about at this point when I started laughing hysterically.
See, here's the thing: it's not a s'more if the marshmallow isn't toasted.

Thank goodness my dear friend was willing to loan me his kitchen torch.Note: Peeps do catch fire, just as you'd expect. Also those freaky brown dot eyeballs are not nearly as sturdy as I thought they would be.I have to say, I feel a little bad for melting their tiny faces off. But it had to be done. For science.

Scooped you again, Catch

Yeah, that was so a goal for this year.

At least it's an excellent template if I do decide to go and do it in granny square.

Hey, when did this whole March thing happen?

I hate daylight savings time. I predict that everything I make this week will be surly. And that makes me happy. Yes, that is my second pink surly shrinky cake. The first one broke and I can't find it. But hey, rubber stamps and shrinky dinks? Way cool...

If I had an accent...

...I'd have been doing those Geico commercials.

Oh well, even platyhippos need love: