belated J birthday

pineapple upside-down cake...made last year from scratch but this year i used a standard white cake box mix

and flowers...what birthday would be complete without flowers?

this morning...

this is t, our large black cat, napping in the sunshine.

...it was biscuits, sliced fresh strawberries and a cool cup of herbal tea to start the day. still the sky threatens rain; we've had so much more rain this year than last and i think we're on the verge of being out of 'drought' status! the flowers, herbs and veggie plants (and the abundant, verdant grass) are all so very thankful---so are we, the people. this means an end to water restrictions; not that i mean to just haphazardly use water in whatever amounts i feel like, but we can actually water the garden adequately and not worry about everyone else having enough water, too.

memorial day was spent with friends having a cookout at their house. we were introduced to their five-year-old's new pet, a rat named cinco. very cute, for a rat! we spent mother's day seeing my sister married and then driving to my in-law's house, so both mothers were visited and loved and hugged.

now our time is filled with some deep spring cleaning, gardening, a bit of landscaping and enjoying the transition from Spring into Summer. relaxing into a routine not ruled by a school schedule is very, very nice.

adventures in homemaking--thrift store decore

in the past two days, my beloved and i have visited two different towns and three thrift stores! the adventure began wednesday, when i announced i had a doctor's appointment in the small town 30 minutes to our west. becaus of the travel time, we decided to take the afternoon and go to two thrift stores there we have been wanting to visit. although i was still not feeling my best, we went to both and took our time looking around.



the first store had a good selection of furniture and building supplies and some other odds-n-ends. i found a lovely (from my point of view) sturdy chair that works well in our bedroom. it's nice to have a comfortable chair in the bedroom to use for putting on one's shoes or even just sitting and reading/knitting and having a cup of hot tea.

the second store had lots of clothes, but all we found was some fabric swatches i can use to weave rugs with. yesterday, we traveled to the big town 30 minutes to our east for another appointment. after that was done, we went to a larger thrift store and found severl things: a bamboo tray to use in the livingroom for drinks; an old painting that looks nice hung up by the floor lamp; a food press; two pairs of pants for my beloved; and an old tin recipie box from the 40s or 50s. all in all, lovely finds for low prices!

photo: the thrift store chair

adventures in homemaking--baking cookies

i baked about two dozen pumpkin chocolate chip cookies yesterday. of course, i had to modify the original recipie; instead of using a pre-spiced can of pumpkin pie filling, i used just plain canned pumpkin and added 2 3/4 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice. i added an extra teaspoon of the spice because the chocolate can overpower the pumpkin flavor. here is a picture of the cookies cooling.

here is my photo of the recipie. notice my lovely recipie cards! :)

here is the photo of the cookie batter; notice how orange it is. the batter is in my favorite mixing bowl.

i'm enjoying learning how to post pictures to this blog, so bear with me as i learn! i hope everyone has a wonderful Preparation Day for the Sabbath tomorrow!

adventures in homemaking-cinnamon rolls from scratch

i got up early this morning, since i had been lying awake in bed for a bit, and decided to make homemade cinnamon rolls (something i've been thinking about for a few days). now that the mornings are so cool (it was below 50 degrees F this morning!), i thought perhaps fresh, warm cinnamon rolls and a nice cup of kona coffee would be nice.

my parents, several years ago, gave me a wonderful bread machine as a birthday gift. i've tried my best to take good care of it so that it will last, and it has. the little booklet of bread recipes and baking hints also has a section for desserts and jams. the cinnamon roll recipe is quite good; i've tried it before and was delighted with not only the results, but the ease of the process and the sense of accomplishment and provision for my family. so i decided to bake another batch this morning.

while waiting for the dough to mix and rise (what a lovely gift, that bread machine!), i noticed our neighbor's chickens were outside the kitchen door, pecking somewhate dolefully in the not-very-warm morning sun. so i went outside and threw them a few handfuls of the birdseed i keep on the back porch by the small, portable greenhouse. the hen who was laying an egg each day on the front porch between the grey rockingchair's slats, as stopped and i wonder if that signals the approach of contiuous cooler (and cold) weather. either that or her owners wised up and began keeping the chickens more up at their coop. either way, we enjoyed receiving 13 eggs from her over the span of a week or so; and it was so convenient to step out onto the porch in the morning and gather (if i can use that verb for just one egg) the egg.

the dogwood tree in the back pasture is in the middle of changing its leaves; because of the drought, the leaf color should be rather spectacular this Autumn! how i'm looking forward to that; i always enjoy gathering and pressing leaves to use for cards and other decorating / embellishing ideas. there is a gingko tree not far from the cottage that i want to visit to get some of its astonishing yellow leaves. and along with leaf changing, there is also the fall baking to look forward to, of which the cinnamon rolls are the forerunner! i'm thinking of the spices i need to restock-cinnamon, pumpkin spice, nutmeg, cloves and of the hot beverages i want to begin serving-wassail (non-alcoholic), cider, hot chocolate, hot herbal teas (with sourwood honey)!

the cats have also been friskier-than-normal, which means i have to be extra vigilant about papers lying about (V enjoys running through any paper pile, scattering it and then chewing on selected ones). i'm also hoping that they will again keep catching mice through the colder months, as that is a great help in keeping the mice out of our cottage.

after the dough was done, i turned it out of the machine onto a lightly floured surface to begin rolling it out into a rectangle. once satisfied with its shape, i spread butter on the side facing up and sprinkled liberal amounts of cinnamon and sugar onto it. next, beginning at one of the long sides, i rolled the dough making certain to pinch the ends shut. next i cut it into (fairly) even pieces, placing these in a pre-greased baking dish. then i waited for the rolls to double in size and then popped them into the oven (375 for ~ 25 minutes). i also made the 'frosting', from combingin one cup of powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp of vanilla and 2 tbsp of water. i'm hoping they'll be done baking soon, as i am excited to see how they turn out!

adventures in homemaking-gardening

we've been doing quite a bit of gardening lately, as the last frost date has finally past. after clearing the plot of weeds, we hoed it out due to not having a tiller. we've planted four tomato seedlings, two straight neck sqash seedlings and have sweet pepper and cantalope (muskmelon, mushmelon) seedlings to plant as well. i'm going to try to plant some more bee balm, as the bee balm trying to grow at the moment is really struggling (i think it took some hard hits with frost earlier on).

i also have planted a kitchen herb garden in containers for the back porch, which is just off the kitchen. thyme, oregano, sage, chives, marjoram, basil, mint, lavender and dill will hopefully begin to thrive soon. i've also a small rosemary shrub in my favorite decorative pot. i'm looking forward to making my own seasoning combinations from fresh herbs. two cookbooks are also helping my excitement over the kitchen herb "garden": the home cook book, a canadian classic cookbook from 1877 and artisan bread in five minutes a day; the first one i own and the second one i checked out from the library recently.

planting, weeding, watering, aerating the soil are just some of the tasks that will keep us busy for the rest of the growing season. guarding the garden from the mowers will also be a weekly task; our landlord has a local lawn service come and mow, which is very nice so that we don't have to worry about it. however, the mowers seem intent on hunting down and mowing over EVERY piece of green in their reach, including in the garden bed and flower beds. so, we've also been working on a very clear delineation between the garden and yard, with stakes around the edges and a decorative fence of white painted wrought iron with suncatchers in the center. hopefully these implements will keep our tender seedlings and lovely flowers and flowering shrubs safe.

adventures in homemaking-laundry soap

i made my first batch of homemade laundry soap today. those that know me know that i enjoy experimenting; for example, when i was learning to dye yarn, i "invented" several "new" colors, such as "dead elephant grey." well, the laundry soap making was no different. when it came time to add the baking soda/washing soda, i unthinkingly poured the entire amount, all at once, into a rather hot, frothing pot of soapy water. nearly immediately, the soap volcano began, as proto-laundry soap foamed its way out of the very large (did i mention it was really hot?) pot and all over the kitchen floor, counter and both sides of the sink. (oh, and my right hand, too; i've got three blisters on my fingers.) thankfully, the foaming subsided and i was able to begin environmental remediation, the result of which is a very clean kitchen floor and very shiny kitchen sink. i was also able to salvage the mixture and finish the soap making process; it wasn't a total loss and provided some valuable instructions to insert into the recipe directions for next time.