Samantha’s Garden

I decided to have a MidSummer’s Eve party.  It’s a party/art show for my kids.  They love to draw and create- this way they can show off their work and we all can enjoy some nibbles and a beautiful night.  It’s been in the low 80*s recently after a spate of 100*+ days, so it will be perfect.

I’d love to say I thunk it up all by myself, but I didn’t.  I found the art show idea here.  I was researching summer projects for kids.  Isn’t that great?  Although instead of kids coming over and doing the art, I decided to just have my kids do it.  School JUST let out, and most people are coping with the new schedule.

 What am I serving?  Glad you asked!  I plan to have decorated cut-out butter cookies; a sort of bean dip with black beans, brown rice, lentils, peppers, onion, tomatoes, cilantro, etc. (with tortilla chips); cheese and crackers; curried chickpeas;  strawberries and grapes, and baby new potatoes.  And then I’ll have a variety of drinks like lavender lemonade, sangria, blackcurrant juice and fizzy water, etc.  Sounds good, doesn’t it??  Not very Scandinavian, but that doesn’t matter.

Well, the chickpeas are finished baking and my laundry is done, so I should get some shut-eye.

OH!!! One last project- I started this Martha purse- and I will finish it and make another one. 

I didn’t think it was hard- I only have the stitching on the handles yet to do.  I DO suggest clipping and pressing the seams open- something they fail to do.  I mean, with all the curves- DUH!!!  And the outer and inner fabrics don’t lay together right if you don’t. The handles are a bit wonky- you can’t clip the seams, so the curves aren’t exactly smooth.  But it’s quite easy and looks cute.

Bye!

Where have I been?  Where have YOU been?!?!?

I’ve been……..busy.  Like one-armed paper hanger busy. I had 2 jobs for a while, in addition to my job as chief bottle washer and meal maker. (This is where I do my bad imitation of the Jamaican family on In Living Color- remember that??)

But, now it’s Summer, and rug-rats are out of school…….whooo HOOO!!!  At least I don’t have to pack lunchboxes or get up at 6:30 a.m. for a while.  But, I will be constantly surrounded by the kids.

I’ll give an update on other stuff later (isn’t that the death-knell for me?  hopefully I’ll do it).  I’m working on the Father’s Day meal. The typical ribs, macaroni salad, spinach, coconut cake, etc. DH and the kids are out canoeing and I’m ALONE!!!! Happy MOTHER’S Day!!!!

Here is something funny:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 145 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

 

It even gives one stats about your given and surname!

Here’s my maiden name:

HowManyOfMe.com

There is 1 person with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

I SO want to know who she is!!! 

I made these refrigerator pickles yesterday- pretty good.  I added pickling spices and an extra 1/2 c. of vinegar- and i used 1c. white vinegar, 1/2 c. apple cider.

If you are a former 80s teenager, this video will bring back lots of memories.

And lastly, if you like utterly stupid humor, watch this. Hilarious! At least the first time you see it……..

I’m off to cook and do a little cleaning.

P.S.- I’m still doing my photo-a-day project! Half done, 6 months to go.

Even though I said I was going to cut back on all the “stuff” I agree to do, it hasn’t helped. I guess it’s Lent and all that- it’s always a bust time at church.  Potluck every week, more services, etc.  There has been a rash of funerals at church too, and I of course offered to help with those.  How can one NOT help??

This Sunday is Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week- very busy.  But I love it.  Yes, it’s depressing and all, but it’s like a sling shot- the further you pull back, the farther you fly into the happiness of Easter when you let go.  One needs to be in touch with the reality of Christ’s sacrifice- all the pain and suffering- to understand and appreciate Him and His love for us all.  Can we ever repay Him?- no, but we can certainly honor and love Him by acknowledging Him,  living God’s word and fulfilling our place in the Body of Christ- however big or small.

OK!

I haven’t been doing many crafts of sewing but I have found a bunch of cool links- check out the new additions to my “Lovely Places”.  There are a handful of great tutorial pages- enough to fulfill all your Christmas and birthday needs.

I need to go meet a good friend for lunch- Thai food!! I’m off my head with joy!!!!!!!!

Bye……………..

Just a quick note- the soup swap was a success today!  We had five people come to the gathering, and two who left soup to be swapped by proxy.  After some munchies and chit-chat we started drawing numbers and picking our soups!  There were many to choose from- Italian Wedding Soup, Chicken Corn Chowder, Mushroom Soup with Sherry, Vegetable Beef, Thai Curry Butternut Squash Soup, Black Bean and Salsa, White Chicken Chili, Uptown Beef Vegetable and Chili. Hot DOG!!

I brough the Butternut and Black Bean soups.  The Thai Butternut is to die for- just use Thai curry paste.  The Black Bean soup is good with changes- I doubled the recipe and added a half a lime’s worth of juice, a handful of cilantro, probably 3x the cumin, about a tablespoon of jarred jalapeno slices……. I think that’s it.

I’m having fun doing my photo-a-day project!!  Sometimes I forget to take my camera “everywhere I go,” but I haven’t forgotten to do a day altogether. The above is one of my first day photos.

You can see my pics so far or in the future right here- on the right is “Project 365.” I can’t post every day’s photos yet- I’m going to run out of my monthly allotment of memory- at least until I figure out how to make my photos smaller!

Besides that I’m just back-to-basics- doing what I need to do, no frills or extras.  It’s kinda nice.  I’m not crafting but I am reading- Thomas Lynch’s The Undertaking.  Not exactly peppy, but it is very good and positive.

I need to go work on dinner- the basics!

I haven’t done much today (kids are still out of school), but I did get dressed and right now I’m making granola from a Mommy Coddle recipe. DH needs easy pick-up food for work lunches, and the kids are always game for a snack.  It’s in the oven- I’m just waiting and stirring, and waiting and stirring……

I halved the recipe- I don’t have bowls big enough for 5 pounds of oats!- and I added golden raisins, some plumped-up dates (they seemed too hard), walnuts and pecans. Oh!  And some soy powder for added protein.  I’ll let you know if it turns out.  Has promise to be a good gift.

I also decided today that I’m going to try a Project 365: Photo a Day. Yup, take a picture a day for a whole year. A worthy goal I think, especially considering I finally bought my birthday/anniversary camera. Hopefully I will learn how to use my Canon EOS Rebel XTI to boot!

Where have I been?!?!

Yes, it’s been a LONG time since I wrote.  Once Autumn hit I bit off more than I could chew (2 craft shows, working PT, in addition to my family), and it was terrible.  I thought I was going to lose my mind.  TOO MUCH!!

So in 2008 I’m going to say “no” a LOT more, I’m going to only do what I want and what I need to do.

Christmas was great- we went out of town, and I pretty much sat on my butt for a week.  I took no crafts, no sewing, so knitting- no projects what-so-ever.

School for the kids doesn’t start until next week, so we are just hanging out until then.  I’m going to start making plans, but nothing too taxing for the moment.

But I AM going to plan a soup swap for January. I think it will be great fun and not too hard for people.  I know some moms with under-12-mo.-old babies, and I’d like them to attend.

See you later, but not too much later!

 P.S.- Did you see the Holiday Craft blog over at Sew, Mama, Sew! ??? It’s been absolute heaven…… I’m going to use a bunch of the ideas for next year…..ooops! I guess it’s now this year!

It’s late, but I’m up doing some last minute things before we leave tomorrow on vacation.  I’m really a pack-and-have-everything-ready-before-you-go-to-sleep person, but I asked DH to help me carry some heavy things to the car, and he convinced me to wait until early in the morning.  I’m not comfortable with that, but I’ll do it.  I like going to sleep with a clear “conscience” or whatever the word is, that everything is finished.

I’ve been going to the Farmer’s Market on Saturdays- I’m happy to say my daughter told me she likes beets better than potatoes!!!  We’ve been buying little beets and roasting them whole in the oven.  They look like baby rats- seriously!!- with the tails and everything.  I’ll post a picture when DH downloads it off his camera.

I also picked blueberries alone Saturday morning- more berry therapy after VBS!!!!  I can’t wait till I can make my blueberry cherry jam- it reminds me of Michigan.

Tomorrow we are off for MI- with a stop at a friend’s house in Ohio, so no non-stop 14+ hour trip.

I’ll write if I can- I know I can go to the tiny little town library and use the computer.  I’m taking some sewing projects to work on up there.  I hope to make a skirt out of old jeans- see directions in the book Alternacrafts or here.

I guess I should try to get some sleep.  Bye!

-S

Where is my summer??  I’m tired.  Dog tired. 

I went to the 400th anniversary of Jamestown and the Anglican church in the New World Eucharist in June- cool.  Then I had my high school reunion the following weekend in PA- awesome to see everyone and re-connect.  Took the 5 hour+ train ride up and back (fun!). 

But am I done? No…….

We have Vacation Bible School this week at church and I am in charge of the acting portion.  I DID get someone to act on 2 of the 5 days, but I do the other three.  AND like a dingy I said SURE!! I can do a separate program for the preschoolers!! 

It really isn’t that bad- it just takes up a whole week and it’s…….tiring.

Last night I finally got around to dealing with the cherries I bought 2 weeks ago.  They are in remarkable good condition with only a few bad ones.   I still don’t have time to make my jam (see above) and besides I haven’t picked blueberries yet, so I dried some of the cherries.  Considering dried cherries cost about $8 a pound, this is a bargain.

I don’t have a cherry pitter, so I used the old paper clip pitting trick.  It works, kinda.  Faster than with just a knife, but still not as pretty as the pictures.  Maybe it’s because my paper clip is cheap and the cherries are not overly-ripe (meaning soft).

I’m going to take a nap- I’m a bit cranky- a gallon of milk and the pineapple rolled out of my car when I popped the hatch after I got home.  I had to deal with spewing milk and a dented pineapple- B-E-A-U-tiful.

As soon as VBS is over I need to plan and prepare and pack for the annual family trip to the farm in MI- 14 hour drive.

Where’s my pillow……..

Even though school is out I’m still going a million miles an hour.  I’ll post about some of it soon- just not today.

Ok- silly diversion website-  I Can Has Cheezburger- it has all sorts of silly pictures like the one above.

Talk to you again very soon!

-S