The Little Red Hen

Back Yard Smores

Yesterday was another beautiful day. We weeded in the overgrown vegetable garden and harvested LOTS of peas and a few beets.
For dinner we fixed a pasta dish that included peas and beet greens and served it with cooked beets. Delicious.
After dinner we baked graham crackers from the dough D made earlier in the day. The crackers turned out great.

We had a happy end to a busy day. B came home from Maine in time for dinner and we all enjoyed smores from our homemade graham crackers and the marshmallows we made earlier in the week. 

Thoughtful Sunday

"Aren't they beautiful?" the girl asked, as she breathed in the spicy scent of the bright flowers.

"I suppose so," answered the Scarecrow. "When I have brains, I shall probably like them better."

"If I only had a heart, I should love them," added the Tin Woodman.

"I always did like flowers," said the Lion. "They seem so helpless and frail. But there are none in the forest so bright as these."

The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum, 1900.

Renovations

We have been working on renovating our old farm house since we moved here more than twenty years ago. It is a slow process. We try to fit in the house projects as we go along with the rest of our lives, but when the weather is nice we do spend much more time outside working in the yard and gardens. Sometimes, we feel a sense of urgency and can get through a project more quickly.
D has taken on one of those projects this summer. We noticed in the spring that the outhouse was leaning much more than it used to. Should we let it continue to lean and then fall over or should we take action? What would we use it for? Why do we need an old outhouse? 
Not wanting to watch it fall, we decided to take action. It would make a fun playhouse for P but we need to get it fixed up quickly so that she can use it before she gets too old to be interested.

D spent the day yesterday shoveling out sand and straw from the inside and jacking up the low side so it is mostly level.
We will have to give it a foundation and a floor, reverse the door to swing out, spruce it up with paint, and make it cheery inside. I think maybe some pink curtains will be in order. It is nice to see enthusiasm for this project!
M and I were busy in the yard yesterday too. We were renovating in the gardens-dividing plants and weeding.
After a full day of hard work we rewarded ourselves with a quick stop at the A & W drive-in for floats and then went to the lake to cool off.

It was a great day.

Summer Break Recharge

We have been enjoying summer break for two weeks now.  We like having some time with no deadlines and not much scheduled. Summer is a time for recharging. Each of us can do his or her own thing.

We have time to do things at a slow pace and choose our own agenda. D has refurbished the bike he bought for M at the rummage sale and now they can both ride at the same time. D uses my old (30+ years) bike on the left.

B has been at a two week woodworking class in Maine. I am eager to see the project he has been working on. The rest of us have been sleeping in and recharging our batteries.
We have been playing a lot of games too. Badminton, rummikub, cards, anagrams, matchbox cars, soap bubbles, swings, coloring...

We have also been working a bit to recharge the freezer.

P has really been enjoying the green peas. She pretty much eats them as fast as she can shell them.
So far, the basement freezer contains 15 strawberry rhubarb pie fillings, 7 jars of strawberry jam, 8 bags of green peas, and 3 bags of strawberry sauce for shortcake. I think that is a good start on food preservation for next winter.

I am still trying to find a little time for some needlework.

What do you do to recharge?

Marshmallows

Ever since I got my copy of Jane Brocket's The Gentle Art of Domesticity I have been wanting to make marshmallows. Don't you love that pan of pink marshmallow on the cover?
Yesterday we tried the recipe from the smitten kitchen. We followed her directions carefully and ended up with light fluffy marshmallows. They were easier than I thought they would be and taste great.

Now I'll be searching the web for graham cracker recipes.

Thoughtful Sunday

"You spotted snakes with double tongue,
Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen;
Newts and blind-worms, do no wrong,
Come not near our fairy queen."

A Midsummer Night's Dream, William Shakespeare, 159?

The Official Start of Summer - or The Mother of All Rummage Sales

June brings great things each year such as summer vacation, fresh local strawberries, three family birthdays, bare foot weather, new baby chicks, and the highly anticipated Mother of all Rummage Sales.  I kid you not; this sale is HUGE! We have learned to attend this sale with a wish list. We plan out which "department" to visit first based on the priority of the items on the list.  When the boys come along we can divide and conquer.
I am not sure what I am going to do with these orange crates but I had to have them.

Look at the labels!

Here are a few of the books I found.

The sewing supplies table had a few boxes of patterns. These are my favorites of the twenty or so that I purchased.

I also found some old quilt blocks - hand applique butterflies on feedsacks.  I love the way the seamstress placed the fabric in that upper left butterfly.

There are quite a few plaid, stripe, and check fabrics.

These are P's favorites, of course.

Other finds of the day were a nice flower pot, a set of vintage floral sheets, shiny blue glass Christmas balls still in their box, a bike for M, and two old suitcases which I have used in my sewing room tidy up project. I have eliminated two big plastic tubs and replaced them with fun, vintage suitcases!

Now we can say that summer has officially started!

Chicken Friday

We are still having fun with the new chicks. It has been rainy, though, and they haven't had much outside time. We took them out during a dry part of the day today.

We are easily amused.

The big girls come around to see what the excitement is about. They come up on the porch where they are not welcome, and knock things over just to get a better view. 

P chose two different pink flowers on different trips to The Potting Shed in town. D planted them in the same pot for her today. She really enjoys watering them.  She also thinks it is very funny that those large pink flowers are petunias, as that is her internet code name!!! She never knew she shared a name with a flower!

Getting Back in the Swing

I have finally found a little time at my sewing machine and worked on Lisa's 8two8 swap blocks. Lisa chose black and white colors and quilters choice for the blocks. For some reason I found the black and white to be more challenging than the others so far. For the first block I was trying for an Amish Bars look. It is not quite what I envisioned but I still like it.

I tried something completely different for the next block. I made some bias strips and appliqued them down in a swirl and then just let the black and white fabric speak for itself.

I really like the way the swirly applique turned out. I have been wanting to try this on a project for some time. This is the same technique used for the handles on these baskets.

It feels good to get a little sewing done.

Now, I am off to pick some peas...

Pink Means Nightie

The birthday girl and graduate got some lovely handmade gifts and cards so I thought I'd share a taste.
P got this adorable little mushroom house from my sister Millie. She used the pattern from The Little House by the Sea.  The house is the perfect neighbor to this house all of the little woodland creatures and fairies will be quite at home!

My other sister sent her the most perfectly pink card! and a little quilt that P has squirreled away in her room somewhere for one of her little friends. And that little beaded bracelet was made by Tracy, B's sister. Pink and perfect!

D got some creative handmade cards for his graduation. My sister, Glenell,  made the card on the left along with some hand stitched thank you notes that he has in his room.  The paper cut card on the right was made by my friend besomom. She also made P this cute bookmark which is currently being used as a blanket for a little princess doll.

We love all the hand made goodies that remind us of their makers.