boogaj

Seed Starting

I guess it might seem a little early to be starting seeds, but these are mostly petunias and impatiens which take forever to germinate.  I'm still searching through seed catalogs for my veggies seeds, and looking forward very much to getting those started in my new seed starting tower...

This set up, using some sturdy steel shelving, 4 shop lights and a powerstrip with an automatic timer was our weekend project.  As you can imagine, I'm itching to get more seeds started so I can fill these shelves!

Booga Bag KAL

We are doing a Booga Bag KAL over on Ravelry.  Stop by to check it out!

IKEA has the cutest cookie cutters...

We finally got around to making our "Christmas" sugar cookies.  I actually liked making them after the holidays, so perhaps this will be a new tradition.

My crafty child has a tutorial...

...on her blog!  So cute!

 

Marmalade

Recently I made marmalade for the first time ever and it was easy, but took quite a bit longer than berry jam.  I used the recipe for the citrus marmalade from an awesome cookbook -- Food in Jars. 

Of course, it would have been even easier if the power didn't go out just as I was about to start the canning part of the marmalade making.  Canning by candlelight was a bit stressful, but made me feel all old-timey.  And the marmalade came out fine in the end with all the jars sealing properly.  

I have to say that it is delicious on chocolate chip scones and I thought it was quite tasty on the jam thumbprint cookies I made this week.

A Real Christmas Tree

Maddie is 12 this year, and so is our artificial tree.  As you can imagine, it's looking a little scraggly.  I didn't really want to get another artificial tree -- they get kind of musty after a few years in the attic or basement and I don't really like the perfect look of them.  

We bought our tree at Bengston's Tree Farm -- a local-ish small farm which I am happy to support.  And from what I understand, a real tree is better for the enviroment (if only marginally).  

It was a lot of fun to walk around and look at all the trees, and cutting the tree down was a breeze as the saw they provided was well sharpened.  At the farm we visited, you cut the tree and they come around with a truck to pick it up and bring it back to your car for you after they shake it (to get out loose needles and any debris) and bail it.

The nearly 9 ft. tall tree actually fit in my Honda FIT (love my car!!), so we didn't have to worry about securing it to the roof.

I suppose we could have kept it in a bucket of water in the vestibule, which is unheated, until the next day, but we forged ahead.

Oops!  A little too tall, but I figured that top bit would have to come off.  This is a Caanan Fir, which is tall, somewhat narrow and more open -- perfect for hanging ornaments.  

After some lights, ornaments and old fashioned tinsel...

Our tree!

Gluten Free Spritz

Yum!  More on these at Going Gluten Free.

Homemade Irish Cream

I have a list -- a list of festive holiday things  -- and this week, since Pete is off work, we are planning on checking off a few of the items.  One item we checked off was homemade Irish Cream!

Pete and I both enjoy having a glass of Bailey's at the holidays, so I thought it might be fun to make some from scratch.  I found out that it was super easy and ridiculously delicious.  So much yummier than the premade stuff!

There are a bunch of recipes out there, but they are mostly all about the same.  Here's a recipe I cobbled together to create my own version:

Holiday Irish Cream Recipe

1 cup Jameson's Irish Whiskey

1 14 oz. can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 Tbsp. good quality Chocolate Syrup

2 tsp. Espresso Powder (I get mine from King Arthur Flour)

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

Blend everything except the whipping cream in a blender for about a minute.  Add the whipping cream and blend until combined (only a few seconds).

Pour into a pretty bottle or jar and refrigerate.  Shake before using.  Should keep for about 3-4 weeks.

 

Instagram Newbie

I've had the Instagram App on my iPhone for ages, but just started using it this month.  I love the nostalgic look for holiday photos.

If you want to check out my Instagram stream/profile thing, here's a link:

Just click on that little camera icon.

Any tips from Instagram users?  I kind of set up my profile and took a few photos, but that's the extent of my knowledge right now.  Can you add other filters?  I'm clueless.

The Holidays Approach

I have a love/hate relationship with the Holidays.  As I get older, however, I seem to be learning to enjoy them more and more.  I especially love the planning -- heck, I love planning anything and everything (just ask my poor family!)  As you can see, I've pulled out the old holiday issues of Everyday Food.  (Did you hear that the magazine is shutting down/getting incorporated into Living?  I'm so sad!)  I'm making my holiday baking list, so expect more food posts in the coming days!

Christmas Lights Gauntlets

Finished the Elegant Gauntlets I was making with Sophie's Toes Christmas Lights.  Very fun knit and beautiful yarn.  My camera is blowing out the red, so I'm having a difficult time getting an accurate photo.  I have to say, this colorway really did remind me of Christmastime!

Now I'm contemplating my next project.  I'm thinking of pulling out the wheel and doing some spinning.  We'll see what the week brings.

We made it through another Halloween

Maddie dressed up as Princess Peach -- of Super Mario Bros. fame -- this year.  I think she has at least another year or two of trick-or-treating in her.  When do kids usually stop?  I know my nephew, who is only 6 months older was really not into it this year, but maybe boys are different?

My sisters & I all live quite close to one another, so Maddie gets to go trick-or-treating with her cousins.  Here she is with one of them as they go around my mom's neighborhood.

And don't worry about this gluten free girl -- even after giving away the candies with gluten, she still had a huge bowl left!  And as an added bonus, one of her loose teeth fell out while she was eating a tootsie roll, so she got a visit from the tooth fairy too.

Pumpkin Carving Contest

Every year my family gets together for the annual pumpkin carving contest.  My mom makes chili and my sisters, brother-in-laws, niece and nephews carve up some pumpkins.  It's a super fun family tradition for grown ups and kids.

After we carve up the pumpkins, we line them up and everyone votes on the best ones.  (No voting for yourself!)

This year's winner was Maddie's pumpkin!!  Not bad, considering this is only her second year carving and this year she did all the designing and carving on her own.

And I came in second!  Exciting stuff!

And here's Pete's pumpkin -- doesn't it remind you of Bert, as in Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street?

Color!

I love Sophie's Toes yarns and was happy to be able to pick up a couple of crazy colorful skeins last weekend at the Vogue Knitting Live event in Chicago.  One of these is already quickly becoming a new project -- photos soon, I hope!

This beautiful merino roving from Jill Draper Makes Stuff also came home with me.  I picked up the spindle again a couple of weeks ago, but I think this will get me to dust off the spinning wheel.  

Celebrating

Maddie turned 12 this week, so we've been busy celebrating.

Including an impromptu concert...

And some electrifying fun.

Good times!

And another finish...

Herbivore is blocked and I love it!  The shaping really makes this a functional piece.  It sits over the shoulder and is more well behaved than a simple triangular shawl.  

You can see what I'm talking about in this photo.  Those bent sections really do make a huge difference.  

This was my first Stephen West knit and I'm very happy with it.  So much so, that I imagine I will be making another of his designs very soon.  In fact, I already have his Spectra in my Ravelry queue, so I imagine that might be my next shawl.

More on this project at Ravelry.

A little holiday knitting

I knit up this quick and easy pumpkin dishcloth yesterday.  More details at Ravelry!

Unblocked

I finished Herbivore over a year ago as far as I can remember.  So why has it been sitting unblocked in my office all this time?  I have no idea.  Today I finally soaked it...

... and the yarn really bled.  Yikes!  When I rinsed it, it was a bit better, but I'm still a bit shocked since I used some fancy shmancy Malabrigo sock yarn.  I suppose that's a risk you take to get that beautiful variegation.

Finished photos soon?  I hope so.  And you can see more details on this project at Ravelry.

Knitting Weather!

Project created September 2009.  Yes, sadly that's what it says on Ravelry for this sad little sock.  I'm sure I have projectes that I started, and failed to complete, that are older than this... but it's just socks?!?!  3 years?  Really?  

I've been feeling the urge to knit more and more lately, so hopefully I'll mix in some of these old projects with some new things.  Now if I can just find some fun new patterns to try.

Reading YA -- I can't stop!

Lately I've been on a YA kick, reading one after another voraciously.  If you miss my book reviews, please check me out on Goodreads.  After several attempts, I have finally started keeping track of my reading list over there.

Autumn has Arrived

Can you guess where we were?  If you said Hogwarts, you would be correct!  Well, okay, it was Orlando at Universal Islands of Adventure, but they did a pretty good job, don't you think?

While we were gone, Summer disappeared and Autumn arrived.  The temperatures are a good 10-15 degrees cooler and the air just smells different.  I have a strong urge to knit and bake something with pumpkin in it -- or maybe apples.

Hurrah!  My favorite season has arrived!

Do you know about Sweet Paul Magazine?

Do you know about Sweet Paul Magazine?  Maybe you already do, but I thought I'd mention it just in case.  It's online and free, and I think each issue is better than the last.  Lots of yummy looking recipes.  I don't remember how I stumbled upon it the first time, but I'm glad I did!

Quilt Progress

I finished up the squares for my latest quilt... well, almost finished.  I think that square in the lower righthand corner stands out a bit too much, so I'll probably trash it and make a new one.

In other news, we have started our school year -- 9th grade!  We're using the iPad a lot this year -- especially iBooks textbooks, which are interactive and include quizzes and reviews.  Very nice and much less expensive than a print textbook.  

I'm still looking for my next knitting project.  Time to go search Ravelry!

A Much Better Week

Maddie took this photo of Navy Pier from the car yesterday as we were driving up to Lincoln Park Zoo.  I thought it looked like it could have come from the early 1900's, so I did a little vintag-y editing.  

We had an awesome time at the zoo.  Well, really in the general area of the zoo.  This time we actually spent a lot of time walking around the newer paths to the south, which are quite nice, and then up past the greenhouse.  So much more than just an isolated zoo.  

And of course we had to stop for some treats -- gluten free cupcakes from Swirlz.  So tasty!

I'm very glad to put the first half of August behind me, this week has been much more to my liking.  We're easing into school, working on the garden and I even made a few more jars of jam -- mixed berry this time.  I'm looking forward to Autumn and a general slow down after the Summer craziness.

 

Well, this sucks.

Yesterday -- which happened to be the anniversary of my dad's death -- my sweet bug-a-boo started having seizures.  They continued through the night and this morning we said out goodbyes to this amazing old lady.  I mean, what cat lives to be 19, right?

She's been my companion since before I had a husband or daughter -- back when I was just a kid myself.  Just me and her -- two ladies on our own.  I miss her already and I'll miss her forever.

I hate August.

Granny-ing Along

I'm finding the Great Granny Along blocks to be addictive.  After sewing 12 of them, I'm more than happy to continue making more.  At this point I'm thinking 24 (for a 4X6 arrangement) or 25 (for a nice square quilt) is where I'll stop.

In other news, only one of the many sunflower seed I planted was nice enough to germinate.  I'm blaming it on the ridiculously dry weather.  I'm happy though becasue the one that did grow is gorgeous and appears to have quite a few buds.  Crazy drought.

Quilt Along

So, I stared another quilt and joined the Great Granny Along.  I've only finished one block, but I'm really having a lot of fun with it.  I love the scrappy feel and I'm trying to using a ton of different fabrics to mix things up.  I love the look of the quilt so much, that I actually dug into my stash of Flea Market Fancy fabrics.  Photos soon!

Out with the Barberry

Before...

Okay, this isn't really the "before" photo because only a few weeks ago there were unruly barberry bushes and weeds in this lovely, mulched bed.  I ripped them out because I hate them.  Barberry is ubiquitous around here, and I guess their reddish foliage is kind of pretty, but they are a thorny nightmare in my opinion.  I always had to have Pete pull a bunch of splinters out of my hands after I trimmed them -- even when I wore gloves. 

After...

And now we have some lovely roses, some new daylilies and some old daylilies that needed a new home. We have a local nursery that specializes in daylilies and has probably about 30 or so varieties, so we picked up some with unusual coloring.

In other news, our mama robin has had her babies.  She's up there feeding them in this photo.  We (or maybe just I) have been so worried about her with the wild storm we had about a week ago and the crazy heat wave last week.  I heard the babies starting to squawk a little bit today though, so all appears to be well!

Cathrineholm Orange Lotus Lidded Pot

So, Pete found out that our local auctioneer was having a multi-estate auction in an air-conditioned space today and we decided to check it out.  While there were a few items and lots that I wanted to bid on, there was one in particular that I knew I had to have.  It was an unassuming box full of pretty nasty, beat up pots and pans, but hidden in one corner was this beautiful Cathrineholm pot.  

Now if you know me, you know that I absolutely love the color orange!  I also love Danish Modern -- so I really wanted this.  If anyone else at the auction knew anything about Cathrineholm, I figured I wouldn't get it since I've seen these same pots listed on etsy for over $100.  Luck must have been on my side because I got the box for $12.50!  (I'll be selling the other things in the lot at our yard sale, so I might almost break even.)

I was worried because the previous owner had written her initials on the pan and lid with a black marker, but a light cleaning with BonAmi (love the stuff!) took it right off.

Yeah!

Time flies...

I've been so busy with Summer that I completely forgot to post for about a month.  So what have I been doing?  Watering the garden -- a lot.  We're in the middle of a drought here, and while we never water the lawn, I do try to keep the veggies from wilting. (Heh!  I call it a lawn but it is primarily what some might call weeds.  But heck, the weeds are greener than everyone elses grass!)

I also went berry picking again -- raspberries this time -- and made some raspberry jam and raspberry sauce which was excellent on ice cream!

We also went to my mother-in-law's for the annual family picnic and had a great time playing bocce ball and ladder ball.

I had an awesome garage sale find -- an Epiphone Les Paul guitar!!  So now I'm learning to play, which is fun and a little intimidating (especially since Maddie, who is only 11 is already a very good guitar player).

And of course there was the 4th of July which we celebrated yesterday with some good food, fireworks and a visit to my Mom's place on the river for an afternoon boat ride.

I've also been reading, but I need to do an entire post to get all that logged.  And I'm looking for a new knitting project -- something fun and easy with a enough going to to keep my interest.  Any thoughts fellow knitters?  I'm thinking of doing the Stephen West mystery shawl kal, but don't have suitable yarn in the stash.  Perhaps it's time to enhance the stash.

The Strawberry Infused Vodka is Awesome!

I used that strawberry infused vodka that I made a few weeks ago in a vodka tonic and you can really taste the strawberries!  This will definitely become an annual tradition.

How Many Ways Can You Use Strawberries?

I'm not sure, but I'm doing my best to try everything.  I've made...

• Strawberry Jam
• Strawberry Sauce
• Strawberry Smoothies
• Strawberry Slushies
• Strawberry Infused Vodka
• Strawberry Popsicles
• Strawberry Shortcakes

In addition to the super small batch strawberry jam I made last week, I spent the weekend putting up a whole bunch of Strawberry Vanilla Jam and some Strawberry Margarita Jam too.  

I'm still getting loads of berries from my strawberry plants, but I'm ready for raspberries now.  Too bad our little canes won't produce until the autumn.

Jam from My Own Strawberries!

I totally made strawberry jam -- from my own homegrown strawberries! This is a first, as I've never had enough ripe berries at the same time to make it a possibility.  The last few days though I've been getting about 3/4 lb. of berries every day, so I decided to make a small batch of jam.

Small batch jam takes very little time to bring up to temperature, plus there is less hassle since you aren't getting all that canning stuff out and sterilized and such.  I had just enough to fill my cute little LeCreuset jam pot a little over half full. 

 

Really Small Batch Strawberry Jam Recipe

3/4 lb. of berries (weight before removing tops)

1 cup sugar

Juice and zest of one small lemon

1 tsp pectin (I used the Ball low sugar pectin)

Trim and quarter your garden fresh berries and throw them in a heavy bottomed pan with the sugar, lemon juice and zest.  Cook over medium heat, stirring now and then until the mixture reaches 220º or appears to be gelling.  Add 1 tsp. of pectin -- sprinkling over top of jam -- and stir well while continuing to cook for about a minute.

Transfer strawberry jam to a suitable container and refrigerate once it cools a bit.  

Strawberry Infused Vodka

It's going to be very difficult to wait two weeks before cracking open the strawberry vodka I've got brewing in the pantry.  

We've been getting about a pint of strawberries from the garden every day, which is awesome, so when I skipped Monday (our super busy day here), I was in for a good harvest on Tuesday.  In fact, I had enough for the strawberry vodka with plenty left for snacking.

I've seen numerous posts around the blogs concerning strawberry infused vodka and it appears that all you have to do is cut up some berries and add the liquor.  I did just that, filling a clean pint jar 3/4 full of cut berries and then filling the jar with my favorite vodka.  (Yes, it's a giant bottle -- but it was on sale at Binny's for nearly the same price as the regular size.)

I'm seriously looking forward to a strawberry vodka tonic and perhaps a sparkling strawberry vodka lemonade.  Yum!

More Garden Stuff

Potatoes!  Onions!  (And peonies too!)  More and more of our yard is being taken over by edible plants.  This back bed was filled with random perennials, some scraggly yews and weeds when we bought the house back in 2004.  Today most of that was been ripped out to make way for our newest farming project -- potatoes.  They seem to be taking well to this old planting bed, although the ones growing in the shade of the fence are taking longer to get established.

The strawberries are producing well this spring and I think I found the secret to keeping the squirrels from eating/damaging them -- different birdseed in the feeders.  The safflower and thistle are safe because the squirrels don't like them and stay away from our yard.  

And in the other end of the main raised bed, peppers and tomatoes.  I bought them from several different sources this year (and didn't even attempt starting seeds), so things were planted pretty randomly.  I did discover that the best place to purchase veggie plants in our area is Keller's Farmstand.  We went to their location in Naperville, but they also sell plants at their Oswego location.  That beautiful, hearty looking pepper you see in the corner is from Keller's.  They grow them locally, so I don't think they suffer from shock like some of the other things I've purchased.

The raspberries are coming along nicely -- you can see the new bed in the photo above -- it's to the east of the main bed.  And the secondary strawberry patch, although a weedy mess, is also producing quite well this year.  

I'm really enjoying gardening this year and looking forward to harvesting lots of veggies, and hopefully some raspberries, this summer.

Weeding, Pruning, Planting, Harvesting

A serious amount of my time has been spent in the garden recently.  We don't use any weed killer (or any chemicals, for that matter) in the yard & garden, so there are *always* weeds to pull.  I'll never be able to keep up with them, but I make an attempt pretty much daily.

There is a pay off for all of this work.  Despite the fact that it is only May, we've already eaten several salads from the garden.  I just threw an old packet of seeds into an old flower box with some fresh potting soil and it went crazy!  The seeds were at least two years old, so I wasn't even sure they would germinate -- ha!

Today I picked the first few ripe strawberries -- the first of many.  There are too many green and pink berries to count, and I think I may even have enough to make jam next week.

So, that's were I've been.  

Just a Tribble

I've been looking for a knitting project that would get me excited about knitting again, but I haven't really seen anything new and different out there.  Any suggestions on a fun and interesting knitting project?

In the mean time, I knit a Tribble for fun.  It's such and easy project that it took me almost no time at all and I'm already using it in the kitchen.  Perhaps not very exciting, but that's the state of my recent crafting endeavors.

I've been baking too -- making Maddie's favorite which is banana bread based on this recipe.  Of course, I make it gluten free, subbing 210 gr of my GF flour blend for the flour.  I also like to use brown sugar for half the sugar, add a bit extra vanilla extract, and top it (in this case) or mix in some toasted pecan pieces and semi-sweet chocolate.  So delicious!!

I've also been working in the yard -- pulling weeds, planting potatoes, and other things.  Pete spent the better part of yesterday building a new raised bed for the raspberry plants that just arrived.  So that's strawberries, herbs, onions, potatoes, lettuces, blueberries and raspberries, so far.  The pepper & tomato plants should arrive soon and I really have to get the carrot seeds in the ground.  I'm pretty excited about the garden this year.

 

Making Mozzarella

Stretching the cheese

I've had cheese making on my food project list for quite a while now, and this weekend when I mentioned that I was bored, Pete told me to make some cheese.  I didn't think I could find the supplies in town, but it turns out that there is a Brew & Grow not far from us and they had the 30 Minute Mozzarella kits in stock.

The kit -- you can get one at cheesemaking.com

As it turns out, making mozzarella is super easy!  From what I can gather, the one problem that can mess up your final product is over-processed milk.  Milk producers are now overheating their milk, even milk that is not labeled as ultra-pasteurized, so they can keep it on the shelf longer.  (Well, there is a lot more to it, but suffice it to say, this is yet another byproduct of the dysfunctional food system in this country.)  This messes up the proteins in the milk somehow which can cause your cheese to refuse to firm up. 

Finished cheese in an ice bath

If you are from the Chicago area, Oberweis milk is safe for cheese making -- that's what we used and it worked beautifully.  As you can see, my cheese set up, although I need a lot of practice with shaping  :)

Slices of our finished cheese -- yum!

One gallon of milk makes quite a bit of cheese, although I forgot to weigh the final product.  We've been eating it straight up, tossed with pasta and tonight Maddie and I are making homemade pizza.  It was a fun project and I'll definitely be making more cheese in the future.

So we get a little hot weather...

... and apparently I forget how to feed the blog.

What I've been doing:

• Brushing up on my coding skillz @ codecademy.  Maddie's been doing it too, so that makes it even more fun.
• Learning a bit more about CSS @ w3schools.
• Thinking about the garden and getting motivated by watching Food Inc.
• Playing Draw Something.  (My username is BoogaJ if you want to play!)
• Reading (and reading, and reading) Neal Stephenson's Reamde.  It's a long book, but a good one.
• Going to Target way too many times for various reasons.
• Researching natural egg dyes.

Today we shop for a mattress at IKEA.  We had one years ago when we bought and had to furnish our first home and loved it.  When it was time to replace it, we bought a regular pillowtop mattress and I hate it.  So, back to IKEA we go.  Hopefully we'll find one we like!

 

The New Winter

Technically it's still winter, but with high temps in the low 80's the last couple of days, and forecasted high temps in the 70's and 80's for at least the next 10 days, I feel like I've fallen into Summer.  I just could not wrap my mind around this bizarre weather for the last few days and continued to wear jeans and even wore a jacket once, but now I'm embracing the June-esque temps and wearing shorts.  After all, at this rate, it will probably be in the 100's all summer.  Guess I better enjoy it while I can.

Oh, and one more thing... what do I do with the garden???  We did some yard work last weekend and I trimmed back and cleaned out my herb garden.  Today I looked and the flat leaf parsley, rosemary and thyme are all thriving.  Nothing really died over the "Winter" except for the basil.  I'm half tempted to plant some basil seed and see what happens.  After all, it may not freeze overnight again this year.  Crazy!

Of Birthdays and Car Crashes and Chiropractors

So, one day after my last post I turned 42 -- not that that has anything to do with my lack of posting except tangentially.  See, I messed up my back (old age affliction?  perhaps.)  Add that to my usual, chronic neck and shoulder pain, and I haven't felt like doing much. Then, on my way to the chiropractor for an adjustment and massage this week, a guy pulled out in front of me (he had a stop sign, I didn't) and hit me sort of crooked/head on-ish. 

So, I've been sitting with a heating pad on my back, taking Advil and waiting for this to pass.

Framing Needlework

I haven't had any needle work framed in years -- over a decade, most likely, and when I did have it done, I remember it being very expensive.  So when I stitched up this little project a few weeks ago, I decided to try tackling the framing on my own.

I have to say that I'm super happy with how it turned out and the it was pretty much free since I already had the supplies I needed.

First I ironed my needlework -- face down, on a plush towel, using steam.  Thank goodness nothing bled -- a serious concern when using hand dyed threads.  Next I had Pete cut me a piece of acid-free mat board to size.  I already had a frame from IKEA that I had bought at some time in the past with another project in mind.  The frame already had a mat, but since it had a hole in the middle, that wasn't going to work.  (Pete has a mat cutter, which I highly recommend if you are cutting this stuff since it's super hard to get through with scissors or even an exacto.)

After that, I centered the piece and started threading back and forth across the back.  Since I used a scrap pf fabric, I didn't have a lot of extra, so this part was a lot harder than it needed to be.  Once everything was tight, but not so tight that the board was bulging, I tied off my threads and popped it into the frame. 

Now I just have to find the right size frames for a few other completed projects -- I'm all about this framing stuff.

Magic and Terror

So, last time I posted about books, I had just started Lev Grossman's The Magicians.  I liked it so much, that after finishing it, I read the sequel -- The Magician King.  If you have read Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling -- check out these books.  They reference the authors I just mentioned in fun ways and are reminiscent of their works.  We warned -- these are not for young children.  There is lots of drinking, some sex and other grown up things.  I'm eagerly awaiting the 3rd book in this trilogy(?). 

After that, I stuck with the magic theme and read The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  This was an absolutely wonderful book -- a sort of magical love story set primarily in a unusual circus (more sideshow-esque really). 

Having seen my first trailer for the Hunger Games movie which is coming out quite soon, I quickly re-read the entire Hunger Games Trilogy.  Just as good as the first time.  I love these books for their lack of black and white.  I think they would be a great read for teens (keep in mind, these have a lot of death in them) -- much better than the Twilight books, which I have also read and found to be anti-feminist in a disturbing way.

Room by Emma Donoghue was next as my library *finally* had it on the shelf.  You may have heard about this book which is about a woman who is kidnapped and forced to live (and be a sex slave, basically) in a shed.  She has a son during her confinement and it is him -- at 5 years of age -- that narrates the story.  This voice was off-putting at first, but I quickly became so enggaed in the story, that I didn't even notice it.  Excellent book.

And now, I've started Swamplandia!  Which I had hoped would suck me in as Room had, but I'm feeling lukewarm about it after reading about 1/4 of it. 

More than Just Eating Cake

Besides making delicious Hummingbird cake, I've been doing a little of this and a little of that.  I think I mentioned that I finished Maddie's quilt -- my first log cabin style quilt.  She was sick the day I finished it, and was very eager to wrap herself up in it, but I managed to snap a few photos. 

Here you can see the backing I found, and also see the simple quilting pattern I chose.  I've found that this size quilt is manageable on my little Pfaff, but anything bigger and the quilting becomes a serious chore.  If I stick with this quilting thing -- and it appears that it is rapidly becoming my creative outlet of choice -- I may need to look into a larger machine or something.

I've also been reading -- *a lot* -- so I need to do a post soon on the books I've read in the last few weeks before I forget them.  I have found that that blog has been my best source for keep track of my reading habits.  I've joined every book reading site (goodreads and such), tried a written journal, and even tried keeping a spreadsheet, but the blog seems to be the only place I religiously keep updated. 

Here's my little sickie, now nearly recovered, sitting on the warm radiator, wrapped in her new quilt.  It's always satisfying when a recipient of your crafty endeavors loves what you have made for them.

Hummingbird Cake

Over the weekend Maddie was sick, I was feeling stir crazy, and I got the urge to bake a cake.  So I did.

This is a Hummingbird Cake (recipe here, but apparently from Southern Living mag originally), which I had not heard of until recently.  Just in case you haven't heard of it either -- it's like a rich banana bread with a bit of crushed pineapple, pecans and cream cheese frosting.  Like banana bread, it works well with a gluten free flour blend.  Absolutely delicious!

Mistakes

Did you ever continue working on something, knowing it just wasn't right, but hoping that it would be okay in the end?  That's exactly what I did with the binding on this quilt. 

This quilt was claimed by Maddie before I even finished the sewing, so I figured I'd save a lot of time and do a machine sewn binding.  While I do like the look of a hand sewn binding, I'm not that patient, and neither is Maddie.  I think last time I must have made my binding wider, or used a small seam allowance when sewing it to the front of the quilt.  I don't remember having any problems like I did this time. 

So, I sat and riiiiiipped the entire thing out, started over and this time I sewed the binding with the front of the quilt facing up.  Much better.

More photos of the completed quilt soon!

Scrubbies & The Grand

So, Norma got me hooked on The Grand, which I've been watching on Netflix (think Downton Abbey, but with sex, betrayal, murder and more).  Since I can't possibly sit and watch without doing something, I've been knitting up a pile of new dish scrubbies.  Good thing because I have a bunch that need to be retired.  

If you want to make some, just check out the Super Simple Dish Scrubbie page ot Ravelry or take a look at my dish scrubbie blog post.

Jo-Ann Fabrics is a Scary Place on a Saturday Afternoon

We were out and about on Saturday, so I decided to stop at Jo-Ann Fabrics to see if they had the new Denyse Schmidt fabrics in stock.  They did, and at 30% off too!  I spent some time making my selections and had Pete carry them over the the cutting table.  I was shocked to see that there was quite a long line, but at this point I decided to stick it out and I got in line. 

There was one teenaged boy working the counter, and he didn't seem to be in a hurry.  The people around me in line were all in the same boat and everything was fairly civilized... until the nasty lady arrived.  See, we were all waiting in line like well behaved citizens -- they had a little "take a number" machine, but apparently the guy working the counter wasn't using it.  After all, there was a line and that was working out okay (although slowly). 

This woman comes up after we had been in line for about 30 minutes, takes a number and demands to be taken care of before all of us.  Seriously?!?!  She is going on and on -- making a big fuss.  Talking about systems being in place and how they must be used.  Good lord!  You almost had to feel sorry for her, she was so horrid.  In fact, it was getting very uncomfortable and those of us who had been in line for so long were just trying to ignore her for the most part. 

Eventually I got my fabric cut (not before the guy's price scanner/printer went dead -- it was quite an ordeal).  I love the colors in her new line, and am planning some sort of zig zag quilt which I will hopefully start soon. 

And next time, I think I'll buy my fabrics from Jo-Ann's online.  I don't think I can hack the intensity at the store!

Finished Stitching

So, I finished up that needlework project I started a couple of weeks ago.  It's from the Blackbird Designs book "Thank you, Sarah Tobias" but done in colors of my own choosing and on an old piece of linen I had in my stash.  Fun to work on while watching Downton Abbey (I'm so hooked).

After I attempt to frame this, I need to get to work backing & quilting my current quilt project, and after that, who knows.  I have a few ideas brewing...

January is for Reading

Once the holiday has passed and the cold weather settles in, more of my time seems to be spent snuggled up under a blanket in our old drafty house clutching a good book. This January has been no different, although my choice of reading material is unusual for me -- a bit of non-fiction.

Life, on the Line by Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas was a great read -- very inspiring. Achatz, a famous chef and owner of Alinea and Next in Chicago, grew up in the restaurant business and it seems he has spent nearly every moment of his life striving for perfection as a chef. The book includes parts written by his business partner and friend, Nick Kokonas, which is an interesting twist.

Most of the book recounts Achatz's years as a rising star in the culinary world -- which was interesting enough -- but the later part of the book tells how he survived cancer.  Since his cancer was mostly in his tongue, he was unable to taste anything for a very long time -- crazy for anyone, but especially for a chef.  

Meanwhile, I was finishing up Mieville's Perdido Street Station, which is another of his Bas-Lag books. And while I found the universe quite engaging, and the story moved along nicely, I wasn't able to get lost in it as thoroughly as I did while reading The Scar. Perhaps I could better relate to the female main character in the later book. At any rate, the book was wild and interesting and a good read.

Now I'm on to Lev Grossman's The Magicians which will be ending all too soon for me. Thanks goodness the sequel is already out.