And Duster Makes Three

I’ve added a new pattern to the Patterns page: the Biffer Duster Wig.  This rounds out my Cotton Cleaners collection.  I’ve been a little slow getting that one up, but I hope you enjoy it!  As with the other patterns I have listed there, please let me know if you find any boo-boos, I’ve tried to make everything as clear as possible but new eyes see new things…

Biffer Duster Wig

Speaking of new things, as we drove up into our courtyard after some running around in the really-really-too-hot-to-be-outside weather, the sugar daddy looked out his window and under the lime tree and exclaimed, “Oh!  It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever SEEN!!  Little poo-poos with their little pee-pees!!”.  I’m pretty sure he was pretending to be all THAT “squee” about it…but after seeing what all the fuss was about myself, I really went over the top with all the gooshy exclamations of my own.  Look for yourself:

Oh.  MY.  I don’t think I can convey to you the true extent of the sugary sweetness that POURED out of my mouth when I saw these little darlings.  There were eight of them and they were no more than an inch high.  They scurried just as fast as their little legs would take them, stumbling and tripping and falling over onto their sides.  Oh!  It was just more preciousness than my heart could possibly stand.  Really.  ReallyReally. 

How I talk to my kitty, Bella, had NOTHING on this…

ETA:  ooo, in all my gushy-mushy-smoopsy-woopsy blabberings I didn’t even mention what those little pookies are!  Thanks for the question, Stacey, they are quail.  :)

Off the vine…

One vine’s worth of grapes (well, what we picked off after the birds had a wonderful time with them):

The sugar daddy spent quite some time squeezing all of these by hand, and the juice ended up being about a bottle and a half’s worth…and who knows how much it would end up being after the whole, dare I say it, FERMENTING process.  Have I mentioned that all of my food comes from a store?  Yes, I do admit, I am more than a little uneasy about “creating” these kinds of products within my own home.  Meat?  Yogurt?  Cheese?  Wine?  All of these things come to me in neat and tidy packages, with no indication of how long they stood at room temperature coagulating, or “aging”, or whathaveyou.  No sir, God created it with his mighty hand and lovingly packaged it in bright labels and cling wrap.  I beg you not to try to burst my bubble.

Anyway, a new respect for the wine-making process was born.  Mostly with my husband as, you may imagine based upon the last paragraph, I was not around when all this squeezing and sloppiness was going on.  We have six vines in the yard, and this WAS the first year they were allowed to fruit, so maybe we can look forward to a somewhat respectable wine yield from our suburban vineyard further in the future.  :)

The Bucket Overfloweth

We’re pushing to get the backyard done, with a little help from Uncle Sam.  Remember that good ol’ Economic Stimulus Plan?  Yep, well it’s playing a large part in the upgrade.

A few pics of what’s going on back there:

Remember these?  they are darkening up quite nicely!

Society Garlic.  So called because you are supposed to be able to eat it and still be a non-offensive member of society.  well, smell-wise anyway…it makes no claims on your personality.  ;-)

My lemon tree, which I love

 I sure hope these do well!

I’ve got big plans for all the lavender plants!

If you don’t hear from me before then, have a wonderful 4th of July weekend!  :)

Mwah!

Happy Huggy-Huggy-Kissy-Smoochy-Lovey-Goopy-Snuggle-Mushy-Gushy Day.

*wretch*

anyway… i’m REALLY here to give you a cookie recipe…

Egg and Dairy Free Lemon Sugar Cookies
adapted from this recipe on allrecipes
makes about three dozen 2″ heart cut outs (YMMV)

Ingredients:
10 TB softened vegetarian margarine
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c white sugar (replace all the sugar with 3/4 raw sugar if desired)
1 1/2 TB flax meal
1/4 c warm water
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp lemon extract
2 c AP flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c 10x sugar
3-4 teaspoons lemon juice

Directions:

1. Place flax meal in the warm water and let it sit for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Cream margarine and sugar together. Beat in the flax mixture, lemon zest, and lemon extract.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl, then stir into the wet ingredients. Cover and chill for at least an hour.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll dough out on parchment paper (it helps to sandwich the dough between two sheets) and cut out desired shapes.
5. Place shapes 1″ apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment and bake 6-8 minutes.
6. Cool completely. Then drizzle with icing made from 1 c 10x sugar and a few teaspoons of lemon juice.

enjoy! possibly with your Poopsie-Moopsie-Boo-Boo-Bear?? bleah.

Whaddaya know…

hey everybody, today is my anniversary (well, you know, brad’s too); we’ve been married NINE years today. :)

The Great Suburban Showdown

some pics from my suburban life.

brad’s bday cakes:

an angel food cake (on my new cakestand, yay!)and a yellow sponge cake to use up all the yolks from making the angel food cake
verdict: angel food cake = yum!; yellow sponge cake = ick! the sponge cake fell in the center…that is the first time that has ever happened to me. i kind of didn’t believe that actually happened, but there it was.

new storage boxes for the craft room:

and the steadily growing yarn collection (the sweaters you see in there are waiting to be deconstructed and their yarn recycled into other items):
of course, sometimes i actually use some of the yarn. like this kitty placemat made with cotton yarn:

and i also made a cotton dish “sponge”. the nice thing about this is that you can just toss it in the washing machine with the dishtowels and voila, a fresh sponge! look jamie, i made something that reduces landfill waste!

and here is a praying mantis that adopted us for a few weeks. i kept seeing him around different areas in the backyard.
sorry for the absence…i’ll try to do better in the future. :)

Happy Fourth of July everyone!