No, August isn't almost here!

I really do not care what the calender says!!!  I can say that I really don't remember last week.  Every time I THOUGHT I had a day at home, I didn't.  And somethings you have to leave the house, like grocery shopping.  I did get one project done.  Last year's Christmas present for my bestest friend ever.  I lost it after cutting out all the pieces, and for some reason kids thought it would be helpful to "put away."  Under D2's bed.  Not sure of the logic there, but we found it!  In July.  So after the chaos of camps, and getting S1 home from West Virginia, I got time with my sewing machine.  She hasn't seen it yet, and she may check today so she can.   But anyways, here it is.

I made it fully reversible, so the inside is yellow with a blue ruffle.  Her favorite color since we were 16 is cobalt blue, a rather difficult color to find in fabric.  The apron is all wrapped up and ready to give, we just need to work out a day for a visit.  She's only a 3 hours away, but catching the ferry in tourist season is, well, there are no polite words for it. (And that's just the ferry, it's worse when they start driving!!!GRRR!) (Can we tell I have an issue?)

I also started a new crochet project for D2's room.  A flower garland.  Right now I am still making the flowers.

It's one of those great little time fillers.  Waiting to leave? Make up a flower.  Waiting for someone to get home?  Make up a flower.  We have 11 out of 20 done, and then I'll crochet the ribbon they will hang from.

We also got a huge portion on our carport cleaned out, so I could finally get to the demolition work that needed to get done.  DH wasn't impressed.  He isn't ready for the thing to come down, and I've been waiting for YEARS!!! So the kids and I started with all the bits and pieces that had no purpose,  like the wood nailed to the frame, 6 inches thick,  to do what?  Be there?  5 HOURS later, we called it quits for the day.  The next day, I primed all the parts of the attached wall (for a different building!) I could get to.  Then came the cloudy weather.  But that's okay because I have tons of inside work to do as well. 

After yet another discussion about the carport, I think he has agreed I can take it down, however he wants nothing to do with it. Which I am really ok with, because the man has a tone of his own house projects to work on.  Which is what I've been telling him, but he thought I wanted *him* to take the stupid thing down.  Now, to learn about disconnecting electrical.

Who knows what this week will bring.  I am hoping dome more good weather, as well as a really short errand list!! 

colors of spring in my pantry

We had a busy week.  After church in Sunday, DH filled my gas tank on the way home.  We parked and stayed home the rest of the day. S1 was picked up by a friend to spend the day at their house, and as they were coming into the house, K said it smelled like fuel by the van.  We went out, and there was gas puddling under the van.  So I was without my van and DH was with out his car for the week.  Oh yeah.  Great fun.  I was getting up to drive DH to work at 4 am.  So I was kind of dragging all week.  I did get a couple of things done after driving him to work, since there wasn't enough time to go back to bed before getting the kids up.

First, some potato bags.  I really only wanted to make 2.  But the there was so much of the batting, that I decided I did NOT want it around the house.  So I made 6.  I gave 2 to a friend that cooks for as many as we do.  Anything to simplify dinner prep.  And 2 more will go into the Christmas box.  I still have some scraps of the batting left, and I'm not sure if I should make some little ones to hold small potatoes or not.  They might be good to make for the bazaar in November. 

  I really love the cooking words fabric.  And I would have preferred unbleached muslin for the lining, but we didn't have any, and I was trying to NOT spend money!

The next thing was peppermint extract.  It isn't done yet, but in another week or so.  S2 had done a cub scout meeting where they were planting seeds, and peppermint was one of them.  It took a while to get big enough to do anything with, and this pretty much used up all the leaves on the plant.  But it's a good start. 

This is one of those "so easy, why do we buy it" kinds of things.  Cut leaves, whack with a hammer, and cover with bottom-shelf vodka.  Put in cool, dark place and shake once in awhile. When strong enough, we'll strain and bottle it. Never buy peppermint flavoring again!! 

The third thing I finished was a batch of berry-rhubarb jam. Blueberries, blackberries, marionberries, strawberries, and rhubarb.

The recipe was for Strawberry-Rhubarb, but I didn't have enough. And there were a bunch of containers of various berries in the freezer, so we just used them up.  DH said it was so good I had better write that one down.

Friday we picked up my van.  So life is back to normal.  Sort of.  We are hosting some college students for a church function this weekend, as well as helping a friend make her grandsons baptismal gown for the baptism this Sunday.  My goals include finishing another quilt, this one for D2, using the leftover backing to finish a few smaller projects, and maybe finishing my crochet bathmat.  The one knit 4 or 5 years ago is finally falling apart.  Although, with 6 people in the house, it probably gets above average wear and tear.  Oh, and I want to transplant my herbs.  Since we grew the peppermint from seed, we are trying thyme, oregano, and basil this year.  I had wanted to try bay, but I can't find seeds or plants ANYWHERE.

Life just got a little bit easier!

Last week DH got the remaining pieces cut for the closet, only to have the last three ONE QUARTER inch too short!!  He isn't sure what happened, but he was able to fix it, but I had to wait until yesterday when he had a day off.  So my lining isn't all the way in like I wanted, but we are still making progress.  I think he left me pieces to seal today, which I'll do when it warms up a little. 

Also, S1 has been doing his schoolwork wherever he plants himself for the day, which has not been helping him actually getting it done.  So yesterday morning my dad called to see if we wanted a roll top desk.  S1 said he would love to have a nice desk to work at, so we had to rearrange the whole living room yesterday before Daddy got here, so they could just walk it in and set it down.  It looks amazing, and hold all of the homeschool books and supplies. 

I finished all of the canning as of last night, although blackberries are just coming in.  But all of zucchini relish is finished and they will be put away tonight.  WOO HOO!  I get my kitchen back!! Actually, I would rather can than cook any day, but we have a really small galley kitchen, so anything we do completely takes over.  And for some reason, the after canning clean up leaves my kitchen extra sparkly clean. 

I didn't get any sewing done, since I spent most of my time either in the kitchen, or working on the closet.  We'll see what this week brings.  I have a few things I would like to get sewn up, as well as putting things away after moving the desk in.

And lastly......

 this is a picture DH took last week while walking to the corner grocery.  This is a CORNSTALK growing out of the gutter drain.  It's taller this week.  We are wondering how long it will last before the wind knocks it down or the street sweepers get it.  It makes us smile every time we drive past it!

School starts!!!!

My list was pretty short.  Get everyone ready for school to start.  Now, for some reason, my hubby seems to think it's like getting ready for grocery shopping. You get in and go.  But it takes a lot more than that!  Between school shopping, pep talks, getting back on schedule, all the paper work that must be done, it feels as if I need to get ready for the getting ready.  But off they went today, and came home happy! 

I didn't get any sewing done last week. Instead I spent my time in the kitchen and canned!  I love canning, but only when I have adequate help!  otherwise Things burn, break, and generally go sour fast.  We received zucchini from a friend and made several jars of zuke relish.  I think 18?  And I have more to do.  And we have 13 jars of plum conserve from the neighbors' plum tree. And I have more of that do do.  We didn't get quite enough strawberries this year, but I may make a batch of mixed berry jam.  YUM!  The kids aren't quite sure how they feel about the dried plums. No, they aren't prunes.  Those are a different kind of plum!  There are no pictures, since my hands were full, but maybe after I get everything moved to the pantry.  Hubby did get me a journal to keep track of what and how much I can after I over- and under-estimated how much we use.  So this year will be the first time I know how much is going into the pantry.  Then next year I can see how much we have left and adjust how much I need to make (or keep!).  I thought it was a great idea and very thoughtful of him!!

This week has more canning as well as a small home improvement project. I've been putting it off for a couple of years, but NOW is the time!! I am hoping to have it done by next weekend.  This weekend would be awesome, but unlikely!