homesteading, in the kitchen, Seasons

My Weekend

 , ,

I have a small problem with stubbornness. I plan to do something and by darn I’m going to do all of it. Even at the expense of, well, health and sanity. Which is why I spent Sunday stumbling around the house in a fog of exhaustion. Because apparently I don’t have the good sense to not start something at 5pm. Saturday: one batch of Pear+Ginger Preserves, one batch of Pear-Apple Sauce (using up the rest of the fruit from the backyard), freezing three bundles of spinach, and one batch of spicy Chinese Plum Sauce. It’s not Can-o-Rama by any measure. …

homesteading, in the kitchen, Seasons

Harvest Time

 , , , ,

These are not my tomatoes: Or rather, they are now. That is, I didn’t nurture these beauties. But my neighbors moved out and I rescued their tomatoes before the landscapers came through to ‘tidy up’. Isn’t it sad that productive vegetables aren’t considered a selling point in real estate? It’s harvest time in these parts. My tomatoes aren’t producing quite like these were, but I’m bring in a handful every couple of days. There are pumpkins on the vine and it looks like I might get a handful of green beans after all. (My garden is punishing me for going …

Caitlyn, homeschooling, Seasons

Summer Retrospective: Sword-Play

 , ,

Corrugated cardboard. Glue gun. Spray paint. Bling. Caitlyn and I have been (slowly) working our way through Craftsy‘s Costume Box class. I always seem to think we’ll have more time over the summer than we actually do. Fortunately, Craftsy’s classes don’t come with specific time limitations so we can watch the class lessons whenever we have time. At the rate we’re going, we’ll maybe get one more project done before Halloween. Starting with the sword was Caitlyn’s choice. Of course, she also wants wings, crowns, cloaks, wands, a fairy skirt, armor and boot covers. I expect she’ll try to wear …

Seasons

Off to the Races

 

It’s the first day of school here in Seattle. You can’t tell from this photo, but the crowd at our bus stop is even bigger than last year’s, flush with this year’s crop of kindergarteners, younger siblings and other new students. There’s a mix of apprehension and anticipation in the air. Caitlyn, of course, is all anticipation. And so it begins: old patterns, new routine, settling in, stepping out. Fall. Save

Seasons

To be sure of hitting the target

 ,

Shoot first, and call whatever you hit the target. I wasn’t slacking for all of August when it came to posting here, I was taking a break. Well, I didn’t realize I was “taking a break” until someone else posted that they were taking a break as part of a formal challenge. (I suppose it’s not the break-taking itself that is the challenge but the feeling-ok-about-the-break-taking.) August is gone, a break was taken, and here we are stepping into September, fall, second grade. I’ve a list of things to post about from the last month (blueberries, swords, our vacation, pears) …

quilts

Bee Blocks

 

Sew. Quilt. Give. made granny square blocks this month! I’ve been watching all sorts of quilted granny squares pop up all over Teh Interwebs since the beginning of the year, and this was such a nice way to get to know the block without committing to a whole quilt’s worth. Cutting out the squares for these two blocks wasn’t intimidating, although it’s probably a good thing I didn’t do the math until just now – if I’d known I was sitting down to cut 50 2.5 inch squares, I’m might have found it a lot less approachable! I knew I …