Summer, finally…
June 12, 2009 at 9:11 pm | In baking, food, gardening, knitting | Leave a CommentMy last class for the summer was today – whew! It has been a whirlwind of classes… only grades left to assign and calculate.
We’ve gotten some green beans out of the garden and the squash are doing some serious blooming. The blackberries are formed their nice little green orbs. The CSA boxes are started to have more variety than just lettuces – I get tired of lettuce easily and have been looking forward to the changes.
CSA box: week 5 contained carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, eggs, sirloin steak, red romaine (or swiss chard?), radishes, butter lettuce, peas
We used everything but a bit of the butter lettuce which is still in the fridge. I made cabbage au gratin (new recipe) from the UK extension office using 1/2 head of cabbage and some green onions added in – this one is a keeper! We steamed the cauliflower and the peas. DH loved the peas. I gave away the radishes and we froze the steaks. I made a spinach provolone frittata (new recipe) from the Mixing Bowl site using several eggs. It was rated good by me, but not by DH. I also used some of the eggs to make a chocolate cheesecake for a friend’s birthday.
CSA box: week 6 contained peaches, radishes, green onions, white onion, basil, mint, dill, swiss chard (or red romaine?), eggs, chicken breast, peas, red potatoes, zucchini, yellow squash
I made a skillet fried chicken breast to use up the chicken (rating = ok). We steamed the peas (again a hit according to DH) tonight. I used the last carrot from the last box, along with the big onion, the basil, and our own oregano to make pasta prima vera tonight.
I have been working slowly on the sock from the Cookie A book. It is a nice, but complex pattern (Bex), but I modified it by going toe up and may leave the large diamond areas to just adorn the cuff/leg area.
Princess Tea Party and ‘blather’
April 2, 2009 at 9:30 pm | In Baby, family, gardening, knitting | Leave a CommentBug loves to dress up…
so when I saw a “princess” tea party advertised in Nana and Pappaw T.’s home town, I signed her up. Paducah has this thing called Paducah iList that is an email of all the happenings in Paducah each week. I wish we had one for Murfreesboro. Princess Bug went to the “Princess” tea party with her Nana T. We went to Paducah especially for it. It was a fundraiser for Easter Seals. Bug had a great time and wore herself out.
I’ve been trodging along working on bits and pieces of things. I finished the knitting part of the gradient scarf and just need to find the right masculine button for it (DH claimed it). I’m waiting to take pictures until it is done. The afgans are still in progress and being worked on, as well as the socks.
Spring and gardening are pulling at my mind.
I’ve been thinking of ordering a fig tree and some blueberry bushes for our yard. DH loves brown turkey figs and they will grow here. I signed us up for a CSA (community supported agriculture) at the Avalon Acres Farms. We will be getting a 1/2 share of veggies and a meat/eggs portion each Wednesday starting in May.
School is hectic with the last push of things (research posters and class research projects, etc) with which to deal. With the nice weather, I’ve been walking outside instead of going to the gym. Now, if it will only stop raining and flooding our yard….
Views galore
July 1, 2008 at 8:28 pm | In family, gardening, knitting | 1 CommentWednesday in Virginia was spent looking at the mountains. We traveled to the visitor center at the Peaks of Otter in Bedford County, Virginia (Blue Ridge Mountains) and had lunch at the lodge (slow service, but ok). We then rode the bus up the mountain and walked up to the observation area with the whole gang (minus Uncle T because he had to work).
This was the view from the bus drop off.
On the way up to the summit – a bit scary with toddlers. Z and C practically ran up, but Bug trudged along barely.
View of the top (LOTS of big rocks). Again, a bit scary with the toddlers and the open rock areas.
Views of the mountains from the top (FlatTop, Sharp Top, and Harkening Hill).
Here in TN, we picked a handful of blackberries and our first peach – MmmmmMMmmMMM! The corn socks are almost done (middle of the afterthought heel on the second sock!)
Growing
June 20, 2008 at 9:04 pm | In family, gardening, knitting, whining | Leave a CommentThe Bug and I will be taking off on Sunday to central Virginia to visit my sister’s family. We are driving and the maps/directions say we will have 8 hours in the car. Bug has always been a poor traveler, so I hope to make it in under 12 hours. Traveling these days makes me feel uncomfortable, sometimes even scared. Life just seems so fragile, while accidents seem so random and senseless. Nice and upbeat, no? 
Anyway, we’ve been outside quite a bit lately and the weather today was incredibly nice (80s). So we played with sidewalk chalk that she loves. Her request this morning was Spongebob. I didn’t have time, so I drew one on the blacktop before picking her up this afternoon as a surprise.
Everything here is growing and the peaches have even turned color (not ripe yet, though).
The corn socks for DH are coming along – into the ribbing portion and then the after-thought heel. That is the only progress for now. Wish us luck on Sunday!
Making up for last year
June 17, 2008 at 8:41 pm | In baking, gardening | Leave a CommentThe blackberries are going gang-busters! Last year the late freeze left us with about 5-6 blackberries total. This year there are more on a single site than that. Look at this…
A couple have a hint of blush – so it won’t be long!
I bought some blackberries at the Nashville farmer’s market last Saturday and made a cobbler for MIL, who loves cobbler. This was an awesome recipe from ‘Country Baking’ (perhaps this book?) found at All about Food - the blackberry mixture is thick and stays separate from the dough which remains on the top. We used 1/2 splenda because FIL is diabetic. The recipe is below – I forgot to take a picture 
, but is was YUMMY!
* Exported from MasterCook *
Blackberry Cobbler
Recipe By : COUNTRY BAKING
Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
4 cups fresh blackberries or raspberries
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine -- melted
1 egg
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spread blackberries in ungreased 2
qt casserole. Reserve 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Mix remaining
sugar, the cornstarch and lemon juice.
Drizzle cornstarch mixture over blackberries; stir gently.
Mix flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl.
Stir in milk, margarine and egg.
Spread batter evenly over blackberries, sealing edge.
Sprinkle with reserved sugar
Bake 30-35 minutes or until topping is golden brown
. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
Onward…
May 18, 2008 at 9:23 pm | In Baby, crochet, gardening, knitting, work | Leave a CommentWe’ve been very busy this week – 5 “weeks” of a course jammed into 5 days of class. A whirlwind to say the least, but we’re surviving. I remind myself each year that I taught this course one time while 9 months pregnant with a sprained ankle (I can do ANYTHING!). Bug was born the day of the final exam for this course nearly 3 years ago now… I can’t believe it. Time has certainly flown…
Someone recently asked her what she wanted for her birthday. She said cheesecake – we have made several of these in the last few months for other people. She likes to hold the eggs and eat some of the chocolate chips.
In the last few days she has added that she wants presents – I asked her ‘what’ presents. Her answer: blue presents.
We’ve made some progress on all fronts – the garden is enjoying the rain, but aches for some seasonably warmer weather than we’ve been having. I’ve made progress on three projects: the stained glass crochet scarf
and the corn socks for DH
but messed up the lattice scarf and had to rip back past the “progress” I had made.
I like Lixie’s slogan for these days… Keep calm and carry on…
Spring is here, I hope…
March 10, 2008 at 9:16 pm | In Baby, SP11, family, gardening, knitting | Leave a CommentThe daffodils are blooming and some of the flowering cherries are, too! There is daylight to play in after we get home from work/school and grill in for dinner! I trimmed the blackberry thicket while the pork chops were on the grill. I also came home from spring break to find a wonderful surprise from my pal from SP11 (Barbara of Coffee Yarn). She sent me some “bare” yarn and some brown dye even though SP11 is long over. I had mentioned that I wanted to dye some brown and actually had found her blog when I was looking for “dyeing with coffee” instructions. She is such a thoughtful person!
The last week has been full of adventure… we visited Nana and Pappaw S in Ohio. We went to the aquarium in Newport, KY (near Cincinnati) and came home to snow here in TN. Bug threw snowballs at me for an hour on Saturday morning – the snow was nearly gone by Saturday afternoon.
I finished the second pair of alpaca fetching fingerless gloves and gave them to my mom – sorry, no picture of the finished item. They turned out nice. I made them a bit longer by adding an extra cable repeat and a longer thumb.
I “heart” kool-aid!
July 29, 2007 at 10:08 pm | In Baby, crochet, family, gardening, knitting | Leave a CommentBug and I traveled to visit Nana and Pappaw S. for the beginning of this week. Sister and her boys are here from VA as well. The trip went well and Bug enjoyed her own decaf Frappacino, especially licking the whipped cream off the top.
We visited the Ohio River today on the Maysville side. The kids had a ball throwing rocks and sand into the river and seeing a train.
On the crafting/gardening front…
The passion flowers are blooming back home.
The ipod carrier knitting part is done, but I’ve decided to make a crochet border and cord to carry it around my neck. I’ll post pictures later in the week. The kool-aid yarn is AWESOME to work with… pretty and smells nice. I started a scarf with the other kool-aid dyed yarn – an alternating moss stitch/stockinette stripey deal (at least for now). I’ll take some pictures tomorrow when I can use the natural light to get the colors right. I “heart” koolaid!
Fingers on fire!
July 15, 2007 at 9:11 pm | In Baby, crochet, family, gardening, knitting | 2 CommentsWe traveled to Paducah to visit Nana and Pappaw T. Bug had fun, especially on Saturday. We rode in a horse-drawn carriage in downtown Paducah, saw the train, and Bug danced to some of the music they had on their Downtown Saturday Evening Festival-type thing. Although, today she was under the weather (read cranky, perhaps also sick).
DH and I went to the Farmer’s Market and the coffee shop while Nana and Pappaw had fun with Bug. It was very relaxing not to have to chase a 2 year old around or be on the lookout for what she is getting herself into… There was a lady selling heirloom tomatoes, which were just beautiful!
It is about a 3 hour drive and DH drove both ways, so knitting/crocheting in the car was very productive.
I visited the LYS (With Ewe in Mind) in Paducah on Saturday. The ladies there are super-nice. I also found a GREAT crochet book: Hooked Bags. I bought it and some nice cotton and started on the Shells and Tunisian Crochet Bag. I inherited some Tunisian crochet hooks, but never knew what they were until just a few weeks ago. So, it is nice to learn (yet another) new technique. This bags uses the technique, but the number of stitches done in Tunisian is only about 6, so I can use a regular hook. I had forgotten how good it feels to work with soft cotton….
I turned the heel on DH’s second sock (my first pair!). I can see why socks are such a draw… they are so practical, but can get whimsical as well.
I have also started on a project that I will try to felt. It is a coin purse that is knit as a rectangle then sewed together. It is a free pattern from Lion. I hadn’t really ever been intrigued by felting (I know, you are GASPING in surprise) until I saw this little purse…
We arrived back home to a bounty of sunflowers, including the first blossom of the deep orange Mexican sunflower!
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….. finally Friday!
July 6, 2007 at 9:13 pm | In Baby, baking, crochet, gardening, knitting | Leave a CommentThis week has seemed particularly long. I don’t know if it is because:
- I am recovering from last week’s vacation
- I am still not feeling well (sore throat, coughing, etc)
- the 4th of July holiday on Wednesday made one week seem like 2 “mini” weeks of 2 days each…
Anyway, we spent the holiday at a friend’s pool, cooked burgers, and made homemade ice cream. Bug enjoyed herself immensely.
We took fruit pizza to share (sans the plastic salamander at the right).
I worked on my bag/purse for Yarn Thing/She-Knits Summer KAL-CAL. It is in Sugar and Cream Cotton (2 balls of country sage ombre and 1 ball ecru) usinga Lion Brand pattern (free) as the inspiration. I used a size H hook.
Bug thinks it makes a good hat, too!
I’ve started the other “giant” toe up sock for DH and have gotten past the toe increases. I also am trying to do a pair of socks on one long circular for me. I have cast on and have a row or 2 on those (a smaller Opal yarn with purples and yellows).
I also started my first knit lace project – the Town and Country scarf (Elizabeth I pattern series by JoLene M. Treace) in 100% baby alpaca from KnitPicks in iris heather color. My first impressions of this project are…
- Man, oh man, that is some teeeeeeny yarn (and I learned to crochet lace as my first yarn experience!)
- This yarn smells funny…. the ladies at knitting group think it is the dye.
- This is going to take forever!
As for the garden, the blackberries (all 6 of them) were part of tonight’s dinner and we’ve harvested about 4 yellow squash. That is all, except for the beautiful sunflowers that have brought the birds for us to enjoy. They stand on top of the flower and bend over to pick out the seeds. Even the hummingbirds come to the sunflowers!
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