Gourdspirit

Signing Off for Now...

2012-01-05T09:24:00.000-05:00

I love reading blogs. I get inspiration from so many, and I learn so much! For me, right now, blogging just doesn't seem to something I can commit to doing regularly. Maybe when I retire in 18 months (fingers crossed) it will be. The precious time I've had since my last post I've been busy creating Christmas presents, making jewelry, winding fabric beads, doing a little gardening, and cooking, as always. Some day I hope to open an Etsy shop. I keep dreaming, and some day it will happen. Until then, blogging will have to wait. Thanks to all of you who have visited and read my posts. Keep creating!

Experimenting

2011-09-13T19:59:00.000-04:00

I recently bought one of the new GelliArts gel plates, and I decided to experiment by drawing these flowers on particle board with pencil, then using dimensional paint to trace the drawing so that the outlines would be raised above the surface of the board.

I used a brayer to spread Pebeo setacolor on the plate. First I tried the honeycomb pattern that came with the brayer. Next I tried my flowers, then some circles.

I nearly always pre-wash my fabrics, but I was so anxious to do this, this time I didn't pre-wash. I always check the remnants at Hobby Lobby, and this fabric is some muslin I picked up on my last visit. Next time I'll use pre-washed muslin (I have plenty, but it was downstairs in the basement) to see if it makes a difference.

I'm pretty happy with the way these turned out. Now I need to decide what to do with them.

I've been reading the Sketchbook Challenge blogs, and last week I decided it was time to try a little sketching of my own. I haven't done any free-hand drawing in 45 years, although as a teenager I did quite a bit of still life and portrait drawing. I didn't want to waste any "good" paper, so I used pages from one of the books we get at the office that come from Japan. I know there are many good uses for the pages from these books, but I have so many books, I figured why not?

I picked up a small bottle of herbal body lotion and my eyeglasses case and gave it a go. I'm learning not to be self-critical, so I'm ok with what I did. They say you should draw every day. Maybe.

Still Tomatoes

2011-08-31T19:44:00.000-04:00

One month later: No jars left, so now I'm dehydrating them! Five racks of fresh tomatoes equals one quart zip-lock baggie of dried tomatoes. Next I'm going to try drying okra. If you've done this before, let me know how it works!

I've registered for Martha Lever's online watercolor poppies class, but until the garden slows down, I'll be squeezing in a little drawing here and there when I can.

One of my friends is having a baby, and I was looking for a unique gift for the baby who will have everything. I have admired the lettering wizardry of Cloth Encounters for some time, and I decided to draw the baby's name and model it after her work. I was a little concerned about the idea of "copying," but since it was a gift and not for sale, I told myself it was ok. Her work is so unique, joyful, and amazing, I could never hope to duplicate it. Once I did the expected son's name Elijah, I realized that daughter Grace, who is four, would have to have a name, so I made a quick one for her, too. I'm out of the name drawing business, since I definitely don't feel as though it's my work. I hope this tribute will serve as a small payment for using her idea for these names. What do you think--did I cross a line? I work in publishing, and I am very aware of copyright, but somehow, since these were a gift, I told myself the line was a little fuzzy. Maybe not.

I've also been "doodling" some flowers using Sakura Metallic Gel Pens--love them! I'm going to use these as a model to create templates that I'll use with the new Gelli Printing Plate I ordered last month. More on this soon, I hope.

Salsa Anyone?

2011-07-31T20:47:00.000-04:00

Wish I could say I spent the weekend drawing and painting, but when the tomatoes are ready, I know it's time to make salsa! My husband, who is the safety manager at Chattanooga's main post office plant, entered a chili cook-off last year during the plant's annual safety inspection. Ten fire department inspectors inspected the Chattanooga plant, then agreed to serve as judges for the chili cook-off. The entries were completely anonymous, and my husband's chili won! I like to think it's because he uses a secret ingredient that no one else has--salsa I put up every year from the tomatoes in our garden. So far this year I've made several batches of fresh salsa, then this weekend I canned seven jars of tomatoes, six jars of salsa, and three quarts and one pint of tomato juice. There's more salsa in my future next weekend since the tomatoes just keep on producing. I also hope to can pear preserves from a pear tree in our sons backyard.

In the evenings after work I usually unwind by doodling and experimenting with my Tombow markers--nothing too involved, just enough to relax in front of the TV for a while.

Going Gluten Free

2011-07-19T19:39:00.002-04:00

I've had digestive issues most of my adult life. In my twenties, I realized that I couldn't eat cake mixes, pizza, or doughnuts from processed storefronts, so I made my own. Over the years, it seemed that I became sensitive to one thing after the other. In 2000, I decided to try eliminating bread from my diet for a couple weeks to see what happened. Guess what? I felt better! And no "digestive issues!" So for five years I didn't eat wheat in any form. Then one Friday evening, while dining with my daughter at an Italian restaurant known for excellent bread, I decided "What the heck?" I had my first bread in five years. I figured since it was Friday, if I had problems I'd be better by Monday morning, so why not go for it? Well, I didn't have any problems, and I continued to eat bread.

When I was diagnosed with kidney cancer this past February, the doctor said the cancer had been growing for about five years. That would have put it at shortly after the time I started eating bread again. When I did a search on "wheat" and "kidney cancer," there seemed to be a remote connection. I immediately stopped eating wheat, and I've been fine without it. Even if the connection is extremely remote, with one kidney, I just don't want to take any chances. But lately I've been missing bread.

Somewhere along the line I discovered The Gluten-Free Goddess, and began to study her recipes. I ordered many of the flours she uses, but I have no reason to be dairy free or vegan, so I really couldn't get into her esoteric recipes. I finally started seriously searching for recipes that I found interesting, and I FINALLY found something that works for me. The Gluten Free Cooking School seemed so much more down-to-earth, so last night, I gave it a try. I mixed up a batch of gluten-free baking mix and used the Gluten-Free setting on my Cuisinart bread machine for the first time.

I substituted white rice flour for the brown rice flour, and I used the sorghum flour option (instead of soy). I also replaced the Masa Harina with tapioca flour, although I had both on hand. The tapioca flour is similar to cornstarch, and I guess you could use that, too. I used this recipe, but I added an extra cup of the flour mix.

I kept an eye on the batch as it was mixing, and it seemed way too moist to me. I knew that without gluten it wouldn't look anything like regular bread dough, but this was way too wet. That's when I added another cup of the mix. As it was going through it's cycle and starting to bake, I watched it through the window. It seemed that the cooking time was too long, too, so I shortened that by about 30 minutes and voila! It worked! I now have some delicious bread I can toast in the morning. Maybe I'll even try some BLTs with our garden fresh tomatoes! Sure beats paying $6.00 for six brown rice English muffins!

The texture of wheat-free bread will never be like traditional bread you buy in the store, but for those of us who eat wheat free by choice or necessity, it's definitely better than the alternative!

A Treasure Trove of Royalty-Free Materials for Mixed Media and Graphic Artists!

2011-07-13T18:46:00.000-04:00

Brain Pickings is a newsletter I receive in my email every week, and today I learned about FromOldBooks.org. The site offers thousands of royalty-free high resolution images, typography, and calligraphy to stir your imagination. Enjoy!

Thoughts turn to the Weekend

2011-07-08T14:30:00.000-04:00

It's Friday afternoon, and having worked through lunch, my mind is turning to thoughts of the weekend. I'll spend most of my time doing yard work, but hopefully I'll get some tangling, color drop, lettering, or other creative time worked in somewhere. A few nights ago I tangled these little ditties while watching my favorite news programs. (I'm not much on network or reality TV, it seems.)

Next week I'm taking a day off work to attend the American Quilter's Society show in Knoxville. I'm signed up for a full day of Zentangle and a morning with Laura Wasilowski to get some hands-on experience fusing art quilts.

In Memory, and Flower Garden

2011-06-29T19:55:00.002-04:00

I just received word of the passing of Dyan Mai Peterson, one of the gourd artists who greatly influenced and inspired my gourd art. I met her in 2002 when I lived in Johnson City, TN. Once a month I traveled to the Western Carolina Gourd Society meeting in Asheville, and she often taught classes. She wrote The Decorated Gourd in 2003. We were so fortunate to have such a talented artist who shared her skills and talents with us. May she rest in peace.

Flower Garden

This evening I took a stroll around the garden and took pictures of some of our flowers in full bloom! Most of these were planted about three years ago, and they are just now getting into their prime.

Still Practicing...

2011-06-22T10:07:00.000-04:00

Here's the father's day card I made for my sweet husband Frank. I made another for my son-in-law, but didn't get a picture of it, and a birthday card on the same day for my sweet step-daughter, Becky! I love doing this!

Beyond the Milky Way

2011-06-19T20:42:00.001-04:00

Before and After

Last summer I dyed some fabrics outdoors using Pebeo Setacolors from Dharma Trading Co. I especially loved the way this fabric turned out with the orange, purple, and shocking pink--it had a ethereal quality that really spoke to me. It took me a while to decide what to do with it next. I had some Cedar Canyon Paintstiks on hand, and I really felt this piece needed iridescent colors. I used silver and copper with a circular rubbing plate and was beginning to get the effect I was looking for. Next I added silver dimensional paint to make some of the circles pop.

I am a novice at free motion machine quilting, and machine quilting those circles terrified me, so I decided to hand stitch them. Between the hand stitching and sewing on the beads, it's taken me nearly a year to finish this piece. I decided to add the knobby yarn for a little more texture. I think I'll try my hand at some more fabric dying this summer. I'll let you know what I come up with!

Art Heals

2011-06-13T08:09:00.002-04:00

My son is going to Iowa State University in Ames, and I talked to him on Saturday. He's been sick, and when he went to the doctor they told him he had a throat infection that was NOT strep, then put him on some strong antibiotics. I decided to practice my new color drop flowers and Calligra-fun skills to make him this little get-well ditty. Hopefully by the time he gets in the the mail he will feel as good as new!

Mutt and Jeff Fix Dinner

2011-06-12T19:06:00.000-04:00

We met our daughter and family for lunch at the local Chinese restaurant today, so for dinner we decided to each make our own dinner. I bought some fresh mozzarella to take advantage of the basil and Japanese cucumbers from our garden, so I reduced some Balsamic vinegar and drizzled it over the cheese, sliced tomato, cucumber, and thinly sliced Vidalia onion. (Had I known I would be taking a picture of it, I would have made it much more presentable!) Not to be outdone, my husband decided to make a fancy presentation of his dinner choice. He sliced his bologna, drizzled sauce from his can of pork and beans, and decorated the corners of his plate with Fritos "scoops!" We both had a good laugh, and I decided a picture is worth a thousand words.
After dinner we took our usual evening stroll in the garden. These days it's been pretty frustrating. Some critter(s) are munching down on our beautiful tomatoes and beans, and the picture below of the beans may be the only ones we get this season. We're tried to outsmart the critter(s) with peppermint scented granules and a bird net--with no luck.

At least they aren't interested in our flowers! What a beautiful show this year!

Calligra-Fun First Try

2011-06-07T07:50:00.000-04:00

I love creating these letterforms! It was a bit of touch and go at first, and I wondered if I'd really be able to do this. Now I'm dreaming about lettering. I have one more online lesson from Martha Lever's Calligra-Fun class. This opens a whole new world of opportunities to create! I am so grateful to have found this wonderful art form and to learn to use watercolor. The world is my oyster!

Saturday Morning Harvest

2011-06-04T16:46:00.000-04:00

We started at 8 am, and by noon we had dug all the potatoes in our garden! With temps getting into the upper 90s today, we had to work fast--before the sun hit us full tilt, but we still managed to rest every so often. We had a great system. The potatoes went into the cart; the plants went into the wheel barrow. Frank would run the plants over to the compost when the cart got full. When we were finished, I got to play in the water and run the hose over them to rinse them off while he ran to McDonalds for lunch. (The only time we go is when we're working too hard in the garden to bother about cooking, but HAVE to have some more fuel to keep going.) Can't wait to fix them with our first green beans tonight! Frank didn't waste any time tilling up the spot to plant okra and peas. He always plants by the moon signs according to the Almanac, and June 4 is the LAST day to plant okra.

I've been having so much fun with my Color Drop Watercolor class that I enrolled in Martha Lever's Calligra-Fun class at Creative Workshops. I even think I might be good at it! If you had told me a year ago that I would be interested in calligraphy, I would have denied the possibility, but now I'm loving it, and even thinking about creative journaling. NEVER say never.

Grilled Pineapple

2011-05-31T07:50:00.001-04:00

Wow! We grilled pineapple for the first time this weekend, and it is so much better than I could have imagined!

I get recipes in my email from All Recipes.com every day, and when I saw this, I really didn't think too much about it, but on a trip to the grocery store this weekend, the cored pineapple jumped out at me, and I decided to try it. I had already planned to marinate shrimp and grill them with veggies, and I thought this would be a great accompaniment. Frank usually doesn't like "sweet" foods for dinner, but he just raved about this dish!

I used cored, peeled, unsliced pineapple and then sliced them one inch thick, like the recipe recommends. They are easy to flip on the grill. I marinated them for a couple hours (the recipe recommends overnight if possible), and they were delicious. This one's a keeper! (The picture above is from the recipe site. I didn't even THINK to take a picture of our grilled pineapple--never suspecting that it would be good enough to mention here!)

Color Drop Flowers (and a Purse)

2011-05-25T08:27:00.000-04:00

I've been having so much fun creating my little color drop flowers! I'm practicing every day. Here are my first attempts:

One thing leads to another, and I've become fascinated with the possibilities of decorative lettering. I would call it calligraphy, but like watercolors, I had steered clear of calligraphy my whole life. The staid old-style lettering that I thought of as calligraphy just didn't appeal to me, but the new lettering styles (at least new to me) I find engaging and exciting. It seems that many of the creative doors I kept closed I am now willing open just a teeny bit. I'm even preparing to carve my own stamps. Whew!

Here's the purse I made while I was recovering from the surgery. I had so much fun making it, and I absolutely adore the colors! I also installed grommets for the very first time in my life! The grommets give such a the finished look, but I should never take photos without my reading glasses on. I missed what I think is the cleverest design element of the purse--the diagonal corners! I got the purse pattern free online from Quilting Arts TV. I love to sew, but with time limitations, the instant gratification of watercolor is filling my need to create art that I can see immediately.

After uploading these images, I see that I need some practice with photography, too.!

Healing Quickly!

2011-05-19T12:19:00.000-04:00

Surgery to remove my left kidney was on March 29, and I have healed more quickly--both mentally and physically--than I ever thought possible! The surgeon gave me a "100%" chance of survival, and you can't get better than that. I am so fortunate that the cancer was found just in the nick of time, and without the need for either chemotherapy or radiation treatment. It is truly a blessing!

Having a potentially life-threatening illness DOES give you a new outlook on life. I have always been appreciative of my life, but somehow now everything has a deeper meaning for me. My connection with God is deeper, and my intention to make the most of whatever time I have is grounded in knowing that anything can change at any time. I am humbled and grateful.

Besides my wonderful husband and family, the things that are most important to me are my garden and developing my creative outlets. During my recuperation period, I was determined to make use of the time I was given on leave from work, and as I was able, I began to sew! Soon I will post the adorable purse I made. I'd love to make oodles more of them, but this thing called "time" is a challenge. Now that I'm back at work, I have less of it!

Synchronicity is an amazing thing (like finding a tumor in an MRI when you're looking at something else), and by chance, I happened upon a blog that has (drum roll please) "changed my creative life." I started taking a watercolor class online, and a story I shared with the teacher and the class is repeated below. The lovely blog that is changing my creative life is called Art Ju Jour by Martha Lever (the instructor). I'll post my "homework" soon. Meanwhile, we have a very important birthday party to attend this weekend--my little granddaughter, Aleah, turns three!

***
Nearly ten years ago, I met a very talented artist. I especially admired her watercolors, but never thought I could do anything nearly as good. I asked her for private lessons. After the first lesson, I was SURE I could never do anything as good as she did, and I stopped the lessons (we remained friends!). This past Christmas, I asked my husband for watercolor pencils, thinking maybe that was the way for me to ease my way into watercolors. I still wasn't sure, though. Then one day, by chance, I landed on Martha's blog, coincidentally just a few days before the beginning of this class. I absolutely loved the technique, and I couldn't wait to register. Now, just three days later, I am creating color drop flowers, and my fear of watercolors has disappeared! I guess there IS a time and a place for everything. I just had to wait ten years for this time! Thank you so much, Martha!
***

Sayonara

2011-03-21T12:33:00.000-04:00

With so much coming up in the foreseeable future, I have decided to retire my blog and concentrate on getting well, gardening, and looking forward to retirement in a couple years. Thanks to those of you who have stayed on as "followers." I appreciate your support. I do intend to keep reading my favorite blogs and learning from all of you!

Turn of Events

2011-03-03T11:20:00.000-05:00

Posting to this blog has sometimes been difficult, especially since I prefer to be out of the "limelight," and I'm not especially chatty, anyway. Even after working full time and commuting a hour a day, though, I still feel compelled to create, and this blog is a great motivator!

After having a total knee replacement last summer, and feeling so much better about my mobility since then, I've discovered a new challenge on the horizon. Last week I learned that I have a malignant tumor my left kidney, and the kidney must be removed (the tumor is too large to save it). Thank God it was discovered in time. I had gone for an unrelated MRI when they found something that needed to be investigated further. Most kidney cancers are not discovered until they have gotten into the lymph system or the lungs. Thankfully, mine is completely contained, and my only adjustment will be learning to get along with one kidney, which I hear is completely do-able.

After the shock wore off, one of my first creative thoughts was to do a Zentangle in the shape of a kidney to commemorate my impending loss. I may still, but I felt compelled to share the news first.

I think being an optimist is a pre-requisite for being a gardener, and I have plenty of optimism! Last evening after work we worked in the garden removing weeds and preparing the soil. I plan to get lettuce and peas planted before the surgery. It should be ready to pick by the time I'm healed--definitely something to look forward to!

Thanks for listening.

This and That

2011-02-01T08:14:00.000-05:00

Tote bags consumed my life for months, it seems. Now they are all done, and one of the first bags I made is being donated to a fund raising auction for the Chattanooga/Hamilton County Medical Society where my son-in-law is the Public Relations Director.

I've been playing with Zentangle, too, but I prefer to use color, and I've really had fun drawing on fabric. I had some "white-on-white" in my stash, and drew the designs with a black fabric pen, then painted them with Pebeo Setacolors.

I drew the goat scene on watercolor paper and used watercolor pencils--I'm exploring every medium right now to find my favorite.

There are definitely things I would do differently on these projects. I haven't done any drawing for nearly 40 years, and without any formal training, I'm sort of winging it. I think I need to work on being more precise, but I'm having fun learning.

I've discovered Zentangling

2010-12-01T12:45:00.000-05:00

I don't remember where I first saw this, but when I did, I knew I was hooked. A few good drawing pens later, I started tangling myself! My latest venture is to draw on fabric and paint with Pebeo Setacolor transparent paints, but both projects are Christmas presents, so I'll post them after the first of the year. So far, here's what I've got:

Little Granddaughter Purse

2010-08-11T09:39:00.000-04:00

I've been having so much fun making tote bags, I decided to try a MUCH smaller version for my little granddaughter. I had a blast making this cutie! Thanks to Melody Johnson for the idea to create the top trim for the side pockets with the pocket lining. I'm already working on a couple more totes and I'll use it again.

One of the things I learned from the original tote pattern was how to make the gusset that squares off the bottom. Once you know the techniques, you can use them to re-interpret in other designs. I was a little nervous about not following the original tote pattern exactly, but I trusted my instincts and it worked out fine.

Polka dot lining!

I got three colors of decorative satin trim (aqua, shocking pink, and lime green) and braided them for the straps and the loop for the button. I can't wait to give it to her on my weekly Thursday after work visit!

Photo Album Cover

2010-08-11T09:24:00.001-04:00

I'm just about out of the commercial fabric combination I used to make this photo album cover for our granddaughter. Her daughter, Lilly, recently turned one, and there was a big birthday bash last weekend. It turned out so well I hoping to make another for my daughter.

I just love this pink flower!

Toddler Backpack

2010-08-05T11:54:00.003-04:00

My two-year-old granddaughter had been asking for a backpack, but they're pretty hard to find, so I searched online for a pattern and found one here. I've accumulated so much commercial fabric over the years, visiting my stash is almost as good as going to a fabric store. Knowing I would be having knee replacement surgery in June, I moved my stash upstairs to the garage, where it would be easier to get to, since I knew I wouldn't be going to the basement easily or often. Now that the fabric is closer, it only encourages me. So I chose the fabrics and got the pattern ready to go.

It's been such a long time since I've done much sewing, but it's coming back to me, and this cute little bag came together easily!

Kids being kids, once I gave it to my granddaughter, we could hardly get her to put it on, much less stand still to get a picture of her wearing it. I added a couple embellishments to make the strap adjustable and give her a little pocket on the outside. What a fun project!

During my recuperation from surgery, I got the notion to try out a bag pattern that I saw on Quilting Arts TV called the Winslow Market Tote. I can't seem to make enough of these! (More reasons to visit my stash of commercial fabrics!)

I made this one for a lady at work who has been helping with a couple projects during my absence:

I've made one for myself (no picture yet), and have the beginnings of one (below) in the making. In-between bag making and working at home part-time, I've also made a photo album cover as a birthday present for another granddaughter's first birthday (photo soon). I adore these fabrics together--so much so that I used what I had left for the photo album:

I am embellishing this one a bit more by doing some simple machine quilting and adding pockets to the interior of the bag. I see more embellishments in future bags.

During my six-week hiatus from the office, I've realized what I suspected all along, with a little time to let the imagination run free--it will! Now that I've got my sewing workspace much more accessible, I know I'll keep at it--even if I DO have to go to work!!!

This and That

2010-06-20T11:08:00.001-04:00

Thanks so much to our friends Dick and Ginny, who live outside Asheville, NC. A couple years ago they gave us a house-warming present--a currant bush from their garden. Neither Frank nor I had ever eaten currants before, and we are so excited about our first crop--they are delicious! Here's hoping for an abundant crop next year. Maybe by then I'll figure out what to do with them; this year we'll much on them one by one!

My little granddaughter has a bluebird family that files back and forth across her back yard. She just turned two, but she's already noticed them, and I promised her that I would make her a bluebird for her bedroom wall. Her mom gave her the options of where to hang it, and she chose right above her light switch--a very important place, since she can reach the switch from her bed!

Most of the fabric used for this little ditty is commercial, but the orange breast and feet are hand-dyed fabric. The pattern for the bird was adapted from Geninne's Art Blog Free Embroidery Pattern.

A few weeks ago I decided it was time to play with some Pebeo Setacolor dyes I have had on hand for nearly five years. Last year I took a class on fabric dying using Procion dyes from Melody Johnson, and it was interesting to note the difference in texture and feel between the Pebeo dyes that sit on the surface of the fiber--causing a rougher hand and stiffer fabric, and the fine feel of the Procion dye where the fibers in the fabric completely absorb the dye and become one with it. I'll have a use for the Pebeo dyed fabric, but I'm definitely in the Procion dye camp. One of my favorites from my most recent venture is the piece below. Toward the end of my experiment--all done outside on a hot, dry day--I painted the dye onto fabric that I had pinned to a board. Then I lightly sprinkled salt to disburse some of the dye. Some day I'll do a whole cloth cosmic universe art quilt. In the meantime, I keep it lying over a chair in the living room--totally my favorite!

I had several fabric types I've been saving over the years. In hindsight, I wish I had used higher quality fabric with a tighter weave, but since I was experimenting, I didn't want to use my best fabric. This batch came from sample fabric I got in a class I took five years ago--from a mill somewhere here in Chattanooga. The fabric I used in Melody's class has the best "hand," and it was a muslin from Dharma Trading.

I've also been playing with a black and white theme, using a technique I saw on Carmen Rose Prose: Jacob's Ladder Series. First I fused the fabrics, quilted them, stretched it across an inexpensive canvas, then stapled it in back. The black and white fabric in the frame started out as a bandanna. I cut it this way and that, stitched it, cut it up again, and voila! The flowers are from commercial fabric.

Meanwhile, our garden is growing! The corn is now about eight feet high, has tassels, and is putting on ears. We have a bumper crop of everything. The rain has been steady and the temps cooperated, but today we're supposed to set a record--97 degrees, tomorrow, 98!

And tomorrow, I will be at Parkridge Hospital for knee replacement surgery. The doc said I'll be there about three days--home on Thursday, hopefully. He said I'll be walking stairs before I leave. Frank will be home with me for two weeks, thank goodness. I'll probably be out from work for about four weeks, but I'll try to start working half-days from home by the second week in July.

Holupki (Stuffed Cabbage)

2010-06-06T11:52:00.000-04:00

The weather has blessed our garden this year with (mostly) cooler weather, and we have a bumper crop of cabbage (18 heads!)! Yesterday I picked three, planning to make Holupki for the freezer. I was the family cook growing up, and I started making stuffed cabbage in my teens. There are lots of different recipes, and one even has sauerkraut in it, but the one I make has simple ingredients: V-8 juice (large can), petite diced tomatoes, cabbage leaves (from two cabbages), 2 lbs. ground beef, 1/2 lbs. ground pork, chopped onion and garlic, cooked rice, 3 bay leaves, salt and pepper. I cooked the rice in chicken broth and let it cool before adding it to the other ingredients.

I removed the outer leaves from the cabbage, then cut the core out of the middle. This makes removing the leaves easy.

Next, I filled a large pot with water, brought it to a boil, and inserted one head of cabbage at a time into the water. As the outer leaves began to cook, I carefully removed them with a large spoon and placed them in a large bowl to cool.

I pulled away the outer leaves until they got too small to easily wrap the stuffing, then added the second cabbage to the hot water and repeated the process of pulling the leaves as they cooked. While the rice and cabbage were cooling, I mixed the stuffing, then stuffed about 25 cabbage leaves.

Roll up a small amount of the meat mixture, and place it at the base of the cabbage leaf--it's sort of like rolling a burrito. Then fold in the outer part of the leaf and continue rolling.

I stick a toothpick through the rolled leaf just to make sure it doesn't come unrolled while it's cooking in the tomato broth.

Bring all the ingredients to a gentle simmer and cook for about 45 minutes to an hour. Serve with a crusty bread and a fruit salad. Voila! A yummy Saturday evening meal.

I froze three large batches so that Frank will be able to pull them out to heat and serve. An easy meal when I'm recuperating from knee replacement surgery--in two weeks.

In Memory of Little Missy

2010-05-22T19:47:00.002-04:00

Little Miss hadn't been with us long. She came into our lives for a week in May 2009, then for good in February. Her family could no longer take care of her, and they asked us to take her in. We did so gladly. When she came to us the second time, her health was poor, but with good food and a loving home, she was thriving.

Missy was always at my side. This evening I was weeding a flower bed in the back yard, and she had just been next to me. Who knows how much time had passed--two minutes, ten minutes? But in what seemed like just seconds, Frank was calling for me. Missy had gotten under the fence, and the three large dogs next door killed her in an instant. By the time I got up to run to the fence, they had finished the job and were playing with her dead body.

We didn't dare try to retrieve her, since the three dogs were standing over her and protecting her. Frank feared they may try to attack him if he went to get her. Our poor little Missy.

When Frank went next door to tell the neighbors, they weren't home, so we had to leave her over there. It was gut wrenching to see her over there, and not be able to get her. At last they came home, and of course they were extremely apologetic. Apparently the same dogs had killed their cocker spaniel a while back.

Frank took over a black plastic bag, and our neighbor, Billy, went in to get Missy and wrapped her up. Then he and his son brought her to our back yard, and they dug the hole to bury her.

It's amazing how much a part of our lives she had become. Even though we've had our schnauzer, Gretta, for years, Missy moved right in and pretty much took over--and we let her! We were happy to bring her back to health and happiness. And we did, if only for a while. Rest in peace, little Miss. We love you.

There’s a tractor in the house!

2010-05-05T10:36:00.004-04:00

There's never a dull moment in the Creswell household on Collins Lane! Over a year ago, when Frank's daughter closed her floral shop, she stored her floral display cooler in our basement. She's been wanting to sell it, but hadn't been able to find a buyer.

What are the chances that one of Frank's friends from work, Monkey (her real name), and her husband would stop by one day for a visit and make an offer to buy it?

Monkey positioning the tractor under the cooler.

Frank Supervising

It turns out that Monkey's mother-in-law, who lives near Staunton, Virginia, has a floral shop. Her floral display cooler just died. Of all the basements in all of Soddy Daisy, what are the chances that Monkey and Kevin would show up in the one basement that has a floral display cooler for sale? They say there are no coincidences, and I believe it!

The cooler was nearly impossible to move into the basement. It took four men, and they barely made it that time. How in the world were we going to get that thing out of the basement?

Monkey and Kevin had a solution. They are a couple of the most creative problem solvers I've ever met. They have a small (three acre) farm in Red Bank, they raise goats, and Kevin has a John Deer tractor.

Kevin welded a lift to the tractor, drove the tractor into our basement through the garage door (missing my newly-planted blueberries, beautiful Clematis, and my beloved porch swing by two feet!), got the cooler onto the lift, backed out of the basement, and planted the cooler on their trailer bed (along with the tractor)!

Kevin backing out of the garage

Monkey and Roger helping

Voila! On the trailer and ready to roll! (Whew!)

Here are the Clematis Kevin missed:

And hosta and fern that look so much better their second year in the ground!

Flooding at the Opryland Hotel

2010-05-04T10:33:00.003-04:00

This is unbelievable, and so sad! I remember dining in the atrium area they show here about three years ago! (Notice the food still sitting on the tables.) My daughter and her family were planning on visiting the hotel next week. Guess that will have to wait a while...

Garden Tour

2010-04-26T11:43:00.010-04:00

What a beautiful spring we're having in SE Tennessee! We planted about 15 azalea bushes in the front yard last spring and early spring this year, and they are blooming beautifully--along with the blue phlox.

When I lived in Iowa I remember daydreaming about Azaleas. They are truly one of nature's most glorious expressions!

We moved into this house two years ago this month. I had ordered Spirea from an online mail order catalog, and 12-inch twigs arrived. I had no idea what to expect, and now they are one of my springtime favorites. This spirea (little white flowers in the foreground) is thriving, right between a Japanese maple and some hydrangea (not pictured--no blooms yet!). It's so dainty and feminine, and when the blooms are spent, the little leaves are light and airy. I love this bush!

Our Clematis is new, too. This pink variety is an early bird, but close behind is a purple variety that I hope to post later this week. The pink is right where we plan to install a water feature this summer. We're hoping we won't have to disturb this happy plant!

Sunday morning I was picking our first broccoli harvest (we almost waited too late on this batch).
I put the bowl of broccoli down to move on to the lettuce, and when I turned back around, our schnauzer, Gretta, snatched a broccoli stalk out of the bowl and was happily munching away. She ate the whole thing! She loves vegetables. Last year she ate all the parts of the collard plants we didn't use, and turnips and radishes are some of her favorites!

(wish this wasn't so blurry)

Catching Up

2010-04-09T09:57:00.009-04:00

I've been promising to post my first quilt, and here it is! I've been working on this for my granddaughter for 18 months! In the meantime, other (gardening) projects came up, then my sewing machine needed to be serviced (three weeks lost). Recently, I realized that what I really need is an extension table for my Elna Quilter's Dream 6003Q. I ordered it, but it hasn't arrived yet. I can't wait to try it on my next quilt! Many moons ago, when I made all my own clothes, I used a New Home (Janome) that was built into a large desk. I felt something wasn't right when I was doing the free-motion quilting, then I realized extension tables were available. I think it will make a HUGE difference the next time!

I made matching pillows to go with her quilt:
Now that this project is DONE, I can't wait to start the next one! I think it will be a quilt for the coffee table.

This is the second year for our garden, and we're off to a much easier start. Our cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, collards, and Romaine lettuce have been in for a few weeks and are growing like gangbusters!
Frank gardens by the Almanac, and last weekend was the time to plant root crops, so we got in our turnips, radishes, and onions. Starting April 14 it will be time to put in above ground crops. That gives us a free weekend (?) Well, not really free...we'll take advantage of the sunny days predicted for the next week and paint the deck--we're anxious to get it all "decked" out with the outdoor rug, table and chairs, and awning so we can drink our morning coffee and watch the birds. Bluebirds started nesting about a week ago!

Little Aleah hunted for Easter Eggs on Sunday, and I fixed a completely southern meal--fried chicken, mashed potatoes with milk gravy, green beans, asparagus (to celebrate spring), and banana pudding for dessert. None of us needed it, but it sure was delicious!

Introducing the Newest Family Member

Little Missy first came to us about a year ago. She showed up in the neighborhood, and no one knew who she belonged to, so we took her in. As coincidence would have it, about a week later I took our schnauzer, Gretta, to the vet for her annual check-up. There, on the counter, was a picture of Missy, and the owner pleading for her return. I called them right away to say we found her. She had traveled over a mile to our neighborhood. When we took her back to her owner, we saw that the family's situation wasn't the best--the very young mother was pregnant with her second child and it looked as though they were struggling financially. So it popped out of my mouth that "if they ever find they can't take care of Missy, please let us know." Almost a year later, she called to ask if we would take her.

The owner told me she got Missy when she was in fifth grade, and that she was now 21--so Missy is 11 years old. The second baby had been born, the father has been unemployed, and they could no longer take care of her. It was worse than I could have imagined when we picked her up. She was so skinny. As you can see, though, she is filling out nicely and she has a happy new home!

Scarf Model

2010-02-05T08:46:00.003-05:00

Here is my friend Peggy modeling the scarf I crocheted for her for Christmas. Peggy and I are "hall mates" at work (she is a higher education professor), and we refer to each other as either "the Peggy down the hall" or "the other Peggy." I was so pleased when she wore this to work--it's so well coordinated with her jacket. She looks great! Thanks, Peggy!

Finally, Canvas

2010-02-01T17:01:00.003-05:00

I once remarked to Melody Johnson that I was "afraid" of canvas. It seems like a silly statement, but as an artist wannabe with no formal training, I was drawn to gourds as my canvas. Somehow they seemed less threatening. To attempt canvas seemed somehow to mean that I wanted to be taken seriously. No one takes a gourd seriously, do they? (Of course they do!)
Well, I finally got the courage to work with canvas, so I ordered several from Dick Blick. I remember reading a while ago that canvas should be treated with gesso, but in my zeal to get started, I forgot that on my first painting of the nuthatch, below.
My inspiration:

The gesso made a huge difference for the next two in the way the acrylics clung to the canvas. I used Delta Ceramcoat acrylics for these, even though I have several tubes of (another brand I can't remember) "professional" acrylics on hand. I guess I'm saving them for when I get serious--these are just practice.

Little Ponchos

2010-01-12T13:13:00.006-05:00

The Granny stitch is one of the easiest to learn and great for beginners who are learning to crochet. I'm surprising myself with my new-found interest--I even bought a couple how-to books and actually understand them! After years of trying to learn, I am finally able to understand the directions: ch78, sc3, turn and dc in 2nd sc... you know what I mean. I owe it all to twj1963 on YouTube, who says she's teaching the world to crochet, one stitch at a time. If I can learn it, anyone can. Guess you have to be ready to learn. This is my teachable moment! These little ponchos are nothing fancy at all, but I am so proud of myself because I totally guessed the size on both of them, and my guesses were right!

Meanwhile I'm clearing the decks of other projects. The last one is my granddaughter's quilt. All it needs is the binding and I'm done! Progress marches ever forward...

New Camera from Santa!

2010-01-04T09:11:00.002-05:00

Santa brought me a camera for Christmas, and I hope to start out the New Year being a better blog poster! On a whim I decided it was time to learn how to crochet a poncho. I'm a visual learner, and YouTube is a huge help! I started out small with a little poncho for my granddaughter. For Christmas we gave her her first little doll--just right for a 19-month-old, and I am crocheting a little poncho for her doll, too! I hope to post pics later this week, but here's a link to the ever-so-helpful YouTube video that got me through it:

I am totally "hooked" on crochet! Can't wait to do more!

Happy New Year!

So much to show, still no way to get the pictures!

2009-11-17T07:32:00.004-05:00

The latest saga in the camera fiasco: We bought an external USB drive to connect the camera card to the PC. Great promises from the folks at Wolff Camera, but as luck would have it, the PC doesn't recognize the device! The guy at the camera shop said this is our last ditch effort, and even if it worked, the camera is so old they don't sell the memory cards anymore. Oh well. Maybe a new camera in our future?

In the meantime, I have lots of great pics, including my latest foray into crocheting a cool (but easy!) ruffled scarf. I got the easy pattern from Lion Brand Yarn's Web site.

I've also been on a jewelry-making rush. Seems to be my nesting instinct to make jewelry this time of year. A couple of the pieces have turned out well--one to go with an eclectic quilted vest I've never had a proper necklace to go with.

And then there's the garden! Frank made his famous chili and used the last of the chili peppers from the garden. They're gone until next year! We pulled up everything to plant all varieties of greens--turnip, mustard, kale, collard. Last night, near dusk, we were planting garlic. It'll be ready to harvest early next summer. We even hired some young boys in the neighborhood to lug the mushroom compost from the front yard to the garden. It was loaded with worms!

I really need a camera!

Cabin in the Woods

2009-10-20T11:30:00.004-04:00

We stayed at an adorable cabin at Shenandoah Crossings Resort in Gordonsville, VA last week. The countryside was simply beautiful, and we had lots of good days for sightseeing. We visited the downtown Charlottesville pedestrian mall on our first day there. On Monday (a federal holiday) we visited Frank's daughter and her family in Fredricksburg, VA. It turned out to be about an hours' drive from where we were staying. Tuesday we went to Michie Tavern and Carter Orchards to pick apples. (I plan to make apple butter this weekend.)

One of our favorite outings was the trip to Culpeper, VA. We loved the little shop called The Cameleer in the main downtown shopping district. We bought an unusual Talavera piece from Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato. I visited the town in person several years ago and bought a beautiful crackled fruit bowl (hand-carried on the flight back!) and a tissue box cover. Since the "home" camera is still out of commission, I don't have a picture yet, and I've looked everywhere online with no luck finding one that looks like it. It's shaped like a half-bowl, and it can sit on a flat surface or be mounted on the wall.

The lady who helped us pick out the piece highly recommended the restaurant across the street It's about Thyme, and she was so right. It was the most delicious meal either of us have had in who knows when.

I had pork with scalloped potatoes, sauerkraut, and a roasted red pepper (out of this world!), and Frank had grilled chicken, fries, and a Greek salad. The aroma of spices wafted through the air from the moment we opened the door--rosemary, thyme, roasted red pepper--all used in their own baked bread. It was a truly gastronomic experience!

Rain was forecast for Thursday, and Frank wanted to make sure he at least got to dip his fishing pole into the lake. It was a gorgeous, warm evening, and we got to chat with lots of folks who came down to the pier just to enjoy.
We had such a wonderful time! And when we got back home, the turnip greens were ready to pick! I put four bags in the freezer and saved one batch for dinner last night. Yummy!

Wedding Photo Collage

2009-10-07T09:27:00.002-04:00

Our Wedding Day-October 3, 2009

2009-10-05T12:45:00.006-04:00

Nearly thirty family members joined us for our wedding at Covenant Church in Soddy Daisy on Saturday, October 3, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. The ceremony was so beautiful, and our daughters created a gorgeous reception.

We leave for our honeymoon on Saturday for a small resort near Charlottesville, Virginia, where we hope to take in Skyline Drive, Monticello, and apple picking!

Six Days!

2009-09-27T16:25:00.002-04:00

... until our wedding. Family is coming in from Michigan and Virginia, and we are all getting so excited! This is the first church wedding for both me and Frank ... very special. And here's something special that seems to fit right in with a book I'm reading now called The Biology of Belief. The book is written by a scientist who talks about how we are all (man, animal, plant) meant to cooperate, not compete, and that cooperation is the key to survival of our planet. This video about the Orangutan and the Hound Dog is amazing.

It's going to be a busy week!

Our Wedding is Less than Two Weeks Away!

2009-09-21T09:35:00.005-04:00

Frank and I have been together for four years, and we are getting married on Saturday, October 3! Two months ago we announced that we were going to have a VERY SMALL wedding--just eight people attending the ceremony in our living room. Two weeks ago, we decided that we would move to the church across the street. Frank's granddaughter is married to the assistant preacher, and the preacher is his father. They are all dear friends, and that will make the occasion even that much sweeter. And now we have nearly 30 people attending! And we hired a photographer. My son-in-law was going to do it, but we went to a wedding Friday night at the same church and met a photographer who is available. Now our son-in-law can enjoy the festivities with the rest of us!

Here's a tip for those of you who may plan a wedding in the future and want to keep down costs. Don't tell the baker you want a wedding cake! That will nearly triple the cost! I shouldn't name names of stores, but our newest neighborhood grocery store has a wonderful bakery with delicious cakes. When I changed my story from a wedding cake to a "special occasion" cake, the price went from $150 to $44. Our cake will look something like this only without the red. Frank's daughter is a florist, so she will do a small fresh arrangement in the center with my wedding colors, and the cake will be 14" in diameter (photos after October 3!)

They say that the two months that are the busiest in Chattanooga for weddings are May and October, and thankfully Hobby Lobby had a 50% off sale on wedding supplies that expired on Saturday. We lucked into the sale late on Saturday afternoon. So now we've gone from a very small wedding, to one with a flower girl (my cutie granddaughter)and a ring bearer.

And what about this rain??? I have no idea what our current accumulation amounts to now, it must be over ten inches with no end in sight. They are predicting rain through next Tuesday! Here's a great pic from a couple local fast food joints (borrowed from The Chattanoogan):

Drat

2009-09-15T12:46:00.004-04:00

I've been searching high and low for my missing camera cable that connects the camera to my computer. My computer is over five years old (camera is six years old!), but I bought a very high-end computer (and camera), so they still holds their own, but I don't have a slot for my camera's disc in the PC.

I went to the Web site for my camera, only to find out that the cable is "out of stock." I may have hesitated anyway, because the replacement is $40.00!!! My printer does have a slot, so I guess I need to figure out how to get to the printer drive from my PC. It's got me stymied, but I'll figure it out eventually!

Cow Peas

2009-09-09T08:51:00.008-04:00

Little did we know when we ordered a bag of cowpea seeds last spring from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds what a treasure we got! These versatile little peas are delicious, and they have been producing peas in our garden since mid-July. Now, in nearly mid-September, they are still blooming! And the beauty of them is that the pods we leave to dry on the vine can be planted next year. We've already witnessed the beauty of these seeds--pods that dried have dropped peas and re-seeded themselves in one season!

These are the seeds that our grandparents grew, long before genetic manipulation, or hybridization, of plants began. Heirloom seeds are not hybridized. That means there has been no genetic manipulation of the plant DNA. Most seeds that you buy "off the shelf" in a retail store are hybrids--seeds that you save and plant next year may not be true to their original.

Frank always consults the Farmer's Almanac before planting seeds. The garden is ready for fall planting, and the Almanac recommended planting tubers on September 5 in the south, so that's what he did. He planted radish and turnip seeds on the 5th, and yesterday afternoon--September 8--when we got home from work, low and behold, those seeds had sprouted and one-inch plants appeared! The Almanac recommends planting above-ground fall crops on September 25, so that's when we'll get in collard greens and mustard. Last year our greens produced all winter. Amazing!

Summer Vacation

2009-08-28T10:15:00.008-04:00

We spent two weeks in July in Iowa and Wisconsin. Since I haven't faced the monster of potential viruses on our personal camera, here are some photos my daughter and son-in-law took on the Wisconsin Dells part of our trip. The Dells has lots to do, especially if you like amusement parks, but my favorite part was just hanging out with family!

One day we visited The House on the Rock near Spring Green, Wisconsin. It's an experience. I won't spoil it for you, but you should know going in that the tour takes at least three hours. Here's a photo taken from the Infinity Room. I'm a wimp when it comes to heights and wobbly floors jutting too many feet out from the foundation, but braver souls than I ventured to the point and took this photo of the bucolic Wisconsin countryside.
On the way back from the House, we stopped for lunch at a cute little place called the Spring Green General Store.

The weather was beautiful for most of our time in Wisconsin, and one day we visited the Country Bumpkin Market, right down the road from where we stayed, to pick raspberries. Here's my adorable granddaughter getting ready to help.

Back at the Bumpkin store, she decided to get the wagon. Let's fill it with goodies (my words, not hers)!

Here's my GD relaxing on the curb with her mom.

Right in our back yard!

2009-08-24T07:51:00.005-04:00

Who knew the treasures in our backyard in East Tennessee? The Museum of Appalachia, just slightly northwest of Knoxville, has something for everyone--folk art, quilts, a restaurant with real down-home cooking, and more!

The museum entered my radar screen when a very nice gentleman, Bob Angel, wrote about it on his blog, Mobile Studio Travels of the Japan Considered Project. Japan Considered is the brainchild of Bob. He created the resource while on faculty at the University of South Carolina (now retired), and I have had the pleasure of working with him over the 2+ years I've been managing editor for the educational journal Education About Asia. The Museum of Appalachia is now definitely on our "to do" list!

Speaking of backyards . . . we just discovered that on the other side of our glorious 60-foot tall row of Leyland Cypress that runs the length of the back of our property lies a monstrous vine--kudzu!!! We almost never travel that portion of the road behind the trees, since the turn-off for our house doesn't take us that way very often. Last night we were enjoying the wonderfully cool breezes on the deck, and as the setting sun shone through the cypress, we noticed a vine crawling through the branches. The kudzu had already reached about 50 feet high! Once we knew what to look for, we spotted it all through the back side of the trees. Looks like we've got our work cut out for us. That stuff is just about impossible to eradicate.

Just about like computer viruses, I guess. About two weeks ago we discovered that our computer was overrun with viruses. We had to take it into the shop, and quite a chunk of change later, we are virus-free. We've been warned that any peripheral we used with the computer prior to the virus check will probably also have the virus, and now I am leery of plugging my camera in to get the vacation pictures we took (hence the long absence from posting).

Meanwhile the garden runneth over, and we've been picking and putting up--mostly peppers. We have a bumper crop of okra. It's one of Frank's favorites, but I have to admit that I have successfully avoided cooking it all these years. I finally gave in and decided it was time to face the monster.

Like most everyone else, I had decided that I didn't like okra--not because I had ever tried it--but because of it's slimy reputation. I tried a couple ways to prepare it (fried, of course), and didn't particularly care for either, although I have to admit that it tasted much better than I thought it would. On the third try, I found it! This is by far the best way to cook okra:

Slice three-inch pods into 1/2 inch pieces. Soak them in buttermilk, then roll in cornmeal. Cook in a deep fryer until done. Absolutely out of this world. I am a convert!

We're back!

2009-08-13T15:13:00.002-04:00

We got back from our two week vacation over a week ago. Things have been so hectic, but they are finally settling down. I have pictures! Coming soon... Picnicking on a pontoon boat in Iowa, picking raspberries, feeding deer at Wisconsin Dells, and more canning--this time peppers! It's good to be home!

Getting Ready to Get Out of Dodge (er, Soddy Daisy)

2009-07-14T14:05:00.013-04:00

Well, it was zucchini again, and tomatoes, and pickles! Our garden is in the height of production, and not having any idea that we would have SO MUCH produce, we planned our vacation for the last two weeks in July. So all weekend, and every evening after work, we've been picking vegetables from the garden and I've been "putting them up" into whatever I can think of! We have so many zucchinis that sometimes we miss a few, and they grow into the "Zucchini that Ate Manhattan." Nothing else to do with them but make bread and freeze it, so that's what I did.

I found the best zucchini bread recipe ever from Paula Deen here. I've made this recipe twice in the last two weeks, doubling it and adding variations along the way. This time I made half the batch using the regular recipe, then for the last half, I added Hershey's European Style cocoa. Delicious!

I've given some away and frozen some. I also decided to try shredding the zukes, then adding some freshly-squeezed lemon juice, and freezing it for fresh bread in the winter. We'll see what happens...

Salsa Next

I've never canned salsa, and if I had it to do over again, I would add tomato paste to make it thicker, but the taste is fantastic! I just put a little of this and a little of that, depending on what sounded good from all the recipes I investigated. I love cilantro, so I definitely included it. Now we've got nine pint jars, and maybe more to can when we get back.

Then Bread and Butter Pickles

11 pints!

I did these last night after work. I'm usually pretty energetic on Monday evenings--probably because I'm still rested up (?!?!?) from the weekend. We listened to them seal, one by one, until a little after 10 last night. All the recipes I read said to let them sit for six to eight weeks for best flavor. Tonight it's Cowpeas!

Blackberry Jam!

2009-07-04T10:18:00.012-04:00

Frank and I got up early yesterday morning and headed out to Cracker Barrel for a yummy breakfast before going to Crabtree Farms to pick blackberries.Crabtree Farms is a research and educational project that promotes sustainable agriculture, and it's just a few short miles from downtown Chattanooga. We've been waiting all year to do this. We went two years ago, but had to miss last year since we had just moved into our new house. We picked two gallons of berries in less than an hour, then had a nice visit with one of the people who works there. He was so helpful and gave us lots of good info on how to successfully grow cabbage, brussels sprouts, and broccoli without using pesticides. Hope we can set it up this fall--we should be able to harvest all winter!

I got to work as soon as we got home, and from picking the berries by 10 a.m. to having all the jars packed took about three hours! Whew. It was hard work, but so much fun! First I washed the berries, then separated them into two bunches. One recipe was for sugar free jam (for my diabetic friends) and the other was the good old sugared variety. I strained about a third of the berries to cut down on how many seeds would be in the jam.

I made sure to the kind of Sure Jell especially for sugar-free recipes, and it seemed to work great. The instructions are the same as for the sugared kind, no problem.
I learned to can from my former mother-in-law, and I have many happy memories of the hours we spent putting food up. It's been over twenty years since I've done any canning, but one of my treasured possessions is the glass *thingamajig* (for the life of me, I can't remember what it's called) that you use to pour the prepared food into the jars for processing. Most of these nowadays are metal, I think. This one is an oldy, but definitely a goody:

Now I'm committed to canning, since after all these years I invested in a water-bath canner. It's just for fruit, pickles, and tomatoes, since those have either enough sugar, salt, or acid for them to be safe canned this way. I'm just not ready to commit to a pressure cooker. Yet. We'll see.

In the end, I had fifteen pint jars of jam. I saved some of the blackberries for cobbler when company comes on Sunday. And after having jam on our toast with breakfast this morning, we're even talking about going back to get more. I hope to get some peach preserves made to take to my Iowa family before our two-week vacation in a couple weeks.

Then Zucchini Bread

We have GOBS of zucchini (naturally), and some of them we just don't see until they get way too big. I made up my mind during the week that come h*ll or high water, I was going to make zucchini bread this weekend, and since today is working outside in the garden day, I knew it had to be Friday. So that's what I did. Ten loaves of zucchini bread. And then, to top things off, I made a delicious spaghetti dinner, and added fresh-picked basil and tomatoes from the garden to the sauce.

By the time it was all over, I crashed...

My Dyeing Experience

2009-06-30T15:16:00.015-04:00

I decided that Saturday was the day to dye the ten yards of white muslin I had ordered from Dharma Trading and the odds and ends of whites on whites I had picked up in the bargain bin at Hobby Lobby. The weather promised to be hot and sunny. I thought that was a good thing, but I didn't consider what the wind might do to my nifty set-up (and what the blistering 95 degree heat might do to me!). Here's where I started--in the kitchen mixing the dyes. I had everything all laid out, ready to label, ready to go!

After the dyes were mixed, I moved outside and started to prepare my outdoor dying get-up. I placed a 4 x 8, 3/4-inch piece of foam core across two plastic shelves.

I stepped away for a couple minutes to get the dyes, and by the time I got back, the foam and fabric had blown off the shelves, and one of the shelves had blown over. Oh well. I moved the foam and fabric to the ground.

I placed the fabric I didn't stretch out in the sun into the square Glad plastic containers, like I learned in Melody Johnson's dying class in May, but with the heat and wind, it didn't take any time for the fabric to completely dry and blow off the foam boards. Eventually I took every piece of fabric out of their plastic container and laid them out on the boards. I started at about 11:30 a.m. and was completely done, with every piece dry as a bone, by about 2:30 p.m.

But wait. I tried something else, too.

About four years ago (I've been preparing for this for a LONG time), I bought some water resist from Dharma. I even had a small applicator bottle that I wanted to use to apply the resist as thinly as possible.

So I started applying the resist in what I thought would be thin swirly circles. Maybe it was the heat, but the lines of resist ran together. Luckily I started in a corner. As I went I tried to adjust the thickness of the resist lines and the distance between the lines to prevent them from running into each other. Since I was just learning and experimenting, I experimented further by making squiggly line swirls. I put that out in the sun to dry, too, since the resist had to dry before I could apply the dye. Here's what it looked like before:

Here's what it looks like after applying the dye, letting it dry, then washing it to remove the water resist:

By this time I had already run out of most of the dyes, so I used every drib and drab I had left over the resist.

I won't say I am ecstatically happy about the way the fabrics turned out. If I had it to do over again, I would do a series of solid colors. That's what I WILL do next time. But I had fun and learned in the process. Here are the fabrics that started out as white muslin:

and here are the fabrics that started out white on white:

A Pair of Pears?

2009-06-22T08:35:00.004-04:00

Nope. A pair of gourds! When I approach a gourd for the first time to get a feel for what to make of it, I listen to what the gourd says... hoping that it shouts "make me something exciting and fun!" With this pair, though, no matter what, they wanted to be what they really are, PEARS! I am still amazed at how they really do LOOK like pears. I used a new technique for these--ink dyes. Ink dyes don't fade, are wonderfully transparent, and lend themselves to blending and layering. Now all I need is figure to out what to do with these beauties.

Backyard Bluebird Habitat

2009-06-17T10:01:00.003-04:00

Of all the landscaping we've done, this is our favorite. The bluebirds are working on their third brood! Now, if only we can keep the blue jays and mockingbirds from eating the mealworms we set out for the bluebirds every evening!

Quilts So Far

2009-06-15T10:18:00.005-04:00

I started thinking about quilting in 2003. I had no idea what I was doing, and at that time, I don't think I'd ever heard of the term "art quilt."

I bought some how-to books that looked interesting, but I wasn't ready to actually invest in fabric. So I went to the local Hobby Lobby in Johnson City, Tennessee, and bought several cool-looking bandana scarves that had batik-looking prints. I held on to them for a while, looking at them from time to time. They sat in my hobby room for weeks or months. Then I had a rough asthma flare-up, and the doctor put me on prednisone. I was so hyper that for nearly a week I got two or three hours of sleep per night and never noticed the difference. I decided this was the time to face the quilt. So I just started doing something. I worked until about three or four in the morning and got up for work at 7 am. Here's what I came up with. My very first quilt.

Some time in 2005, after I moved to Chattanooga, I did a search on Art Quilt, and I found Melody Johnson's blog. Her work has been an inspiration, and I was fortunate to be able to attend her fabric dying class at Stone Light Studio in Soddy Daisy, TN in May 2009.

Here are a couple other quilts I put together back in '03, but eventually, I went back to gourds in a big way. That's it, so far.

What's next? Who knows, but until the quilt muse strikes, I'm learning everything I can about art quilts and techniques.

Flattened Corn

2009-06-12T08:01:00.006-04:00

Wish I thought to take a picture of how the strong storm flattened our corn stalks yesterday. Storms that moved through the area yesterday left half the corn standing and the other half completely flattened down! Thankfully, none of of the stalks actually broke, so we were able to stand them back up and give them support, so the storms we're expecting today don't do the same thing (hopefully!). I'm just getting the hang of this blogging stuff, and pictures really are worth so much more than words! My daughter suggested that the stalks may have been flattened by a microburst. I'm not an expert, but this picture sure would explain how a microburst could flatten one half of the row and not the rest:

Most of the gourds I've done over the years have sold, but here's one that I'd love to do again. This is the time of year to do it, too--it's so much easier to weave the wet reed outside. One of these days I'll get my studio space fixed up and I can do it there. I plan to take lots of pictures of lots of things this weekend--including the MESSY spot in the basement that will some day become my beautiful (or at least neat) studio.

Happy Weekend!

Full Bloom

2009-06-10T11:41:00.005-04:00

What a surprise to find lilies, Japanese anemone, and Easter Lilies in full bloom when we got home from work yesterday! I HAD to pick the Easter Lilies for a bouquet, and added some Shasta daisies, tickseed, and Rudbeckia to go with. The anemone bloom doesn't last long...but it will last forever with this picture!

Bird Buffet

2009-06-09T11:53:00.012-04:00

Watching the birds feed in the evening is a regular event at our place. We sit here every evening after we feed the bluebirds their mealworms, then watch the show. They are working on their second brood this season. The first brood (five babies, we think) flew the coop about a month ago, but they still come to feed. Daddy bluebird is beginning to chase them away in preparation for training the new brood to feed there. Now we're seeing both mommy and daddy bluebird carrying away pieces of eggshell. The current babies are probably getting so big they need the extra room!

Frank makes a weekly visit to Wild Birds Unlimited to buy the mealworms (a small fortune), but how can we resist? During the day the birdies eat from the general sunflower seed tray. It looks like three babies munching down here. Daddy bluebird talks with his wings. He looks like a traffic cop and really flaps when he's got something important to say! We have a pesky family of mockingbirds that try to raid the mealworms, and daddy has to fend them off. Sometimes they have air fights, but they always part before any harm comes to either one of them.

Potatoes!

2009-06-08T20:41:00.000-04:00

Our very first potatoes! Yipee! Frank and I were like kids in a candy shop--neither of us had ever planted and harvested our own potatoes. We even have some early peas and we just found green beans that are ready to harvest. There's nothing better than very fresh potatoes!

Little Aleah

2009-06-08T19:48:00.002-04:00

Aleah turned one a couple weeks ago. While daddy was out of town (in NYC) for a meeting, she and her mom came over for lunch and a visit. PawPaw got her a swing for her birthday--she loves to swing!

Garden Delights!

2009-06-08T19:43:00.009-04:00

We're entering the height of gardening season. The peppers are blooming, we picked our first tomato, our first hot banana peppers, and the zucchini and yellow squash are next. Green beans will be ready in a week or so!

Look at the nifty watering device Frank created! He pounded a fence post into the ground at the north end of the garden, then attached a sprinkler. The garden is about 60 feet long, and the water reaches all the way to the other side!

The big leaves in the middle are collards (of all things). Neither one of us have ever grown them, but I learned how to prepare them on Dave's Garden Web site.

Some scenes from our garden on Saturday, June 6.

New Slideshow!

2009-06-03T07:40:00.000-04:00