A Crafty Yarn

A friend of mine is having a baby...I almost never go to baby showers and I've never thrown one... until yesterday!  It was so much fun getting everything ready! I didn't want there to be too much of a theme but I did want something really special for the invitations.  I made a booklet style invitation with a children's classic on each page and sewed the pages onto the back cardstock.     I never do "girly" things and I took this as an opportunity to use predominately feminine colors. There are white Christmas lights strung underneath the table and I LOVE how it turned out!         Mason jar glasses with a simple ribbon bow and a paper straw.       The curtain is white crepe paper streamers that I stuck fabric and paper flowers to. I had planned on getting a bit more elaborate with the food portion but wasn't able to because a minor injury caused a serious delay in my timeline! No one seemed to mind though!      

I'm sad to see her go but it's time to say goodbye to my beloved Ford Taurus.  I've had this car for 11 years... It's been with me through one marriage and two divorces.  The Taurus has been with me through 9 moves and countless trips.  When I was a doula, it was this car that delivered me to so many delivering mommies.  It towed a Uhaul trailer full of everything I own from Minnesota to Arkansas.  It's been loaded down with compost, manure, and plants more times than I can count. It's been my refuge when I just couldn't deal with real life and just needed some time driving down back roads... It lived through thousands of tears, much laughter, and oh so many badly sung songs.     

A recent gift of home grown grapes has really lit the fire under me to make sure I plant grapes next year!   These were beautiful, delicious, and made one heck of a good grape jam!

One of my all time favorite things to eat when the garden is full of tomatoes is Tomato Pie!  Delicious, divine, magical...I love it in a choose it over chocolate sort of way! Try it!  You'll love it...and if you don't...you can send it to me!  :-)     Ingredients:   1 (10 inch) deep dish pie crust 3 medium sized tomatoes , sliced (about 18 slices) Kosher salt 4 slices of bacon , cooked and crumbled 1 cup Vidalia or other sweet onion , quartered and sliced thin 3 cups of shredded mozzarella Freshly cracked black pepper , to taste Garlic powder , to taste 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil 1 cup of mayonnaise 2 teaspoons hot sauce (I use Sriracha) 2 Tbs.  chopped fresh parsley   Instructions: Bake pie crust in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until the crust is dry looking and just beginning to lightly brown. Set aside to cool completely. Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with two layers of paper towels. S

Behind my grandparent's house there was a big building that my grandma would fill with items that she had for sale.  She would find them at garage sales and auctions.  They would be sold at the local flea market or right there from what we called the Junk Shop.  Some of my favorite childhood memories are centered in that building.... digging through auction boxes to find new treasures.  Taking in the ever changing landscape of the Junk Shop is something that I've never grown out of.  Now that it belongs to my mom I still wander through it every time I'm back home.  I found some vintage windows on my most recent trip and I knew I needed to have them for my studio! I decided to put some batik and tie dyed fabric behind them and hang them on the wall behind the couch.  I attached picture hangers to the back of them and gave them a matte clear coat.  I then added the fabric by simply tacking it to the edge of the frame.  That way, if I want to do something different with th

The space in front of the chicken coop is kind of a problem area.  It's really steep so it's a pain to mow.  Also....it's just kind of ugly!   I recently went to Lowe's and picked out a bunch of different plants that would do well in part shade.  I spent the better part of the day landscaping the area and I'm really pleased with how it turned out!   All of those rocks were found right here on the property!  Some from digging those damn post holes!   

What do you do when you have an overabundance of eggs?   Make pickled eggs of course! Pickled eggs have always been a staple in my family.  They're a classic bar food and since that's always kind of been the family business... bar food is nostalgic and delicious!    I tried three different recipes.  Tavern Style, Alligator Eggs, and Sriracha!  Now we have to wait until they're ready...impatiently I might add!  

The ladies are not a fan of the new fallen snow and wouldn’t come out of the coop until I laid straw out...spoiled much?  :-)