Child Moon

Child Moon
THE CHILD’S wonder
At the old moon
Comes back nightly.
She points her finger
To the far silent yellow thing
Shining through the branches
Filtering on the leaves a golden sand,
Crying with her little tongue, “See the moon!”
And in her bed fading to sleep
With babblings of the moon on her little mouth.

Carl Sandburg (1878–1967). Chicago Poems. 1916.



This is the little moon that the Man-Cub and I saw while we were out with Jack before bedtime Saturday evening - it was hazy and very pretty - and it reminded me of Sandburg's poems about the Moon - so we came in and looked this one up before bed.

Later some bad storms blew in - I thought about getting up and trying to get a picture of some lightening - but turned over and went back to sleep instead...

Oh No

Look what I found - a hole - and a big one - in my TKD socks - I've been wearing them quite a bit - but I didn't think they would get a hole in them so quickly. I know I said the same thing about the Sacha slippers - but they were just thin and were easy to patch - this is an actual hole - ARGH! I know I have a darning egg somewhere.

New Swimsuit Top

I made a new top to my swimsuit - it has a longer waist and I made the armholes a little longer too. I'm a lot more happy with it now...


shown here with "skimpy suit" version one...

Flowers

I FINALLY have some flower pictures to post - although these are probably nothing to brag about...

These are my few tulips leaning out to catch the last of the sun's rays - already it's "good and daylight" until about 9:30 at night up here. This photo was taken about 8:30 PM.


... related to yesterday's blog - I went to the grocery store and as I was checking out the clerk kept looking at me funny - I didn't have a bandage, but I had put an antibiotic salve on my abraded face - so I mentionned that I had fallen and how it had happened and she looked at me (pitifully) like I was an abused child who had just told her that I had fallen from a swing. So I showed her my bruised wrists and almost showed her my shoulder as I don't think those are typical injuries from a beating (I could be wrong here) - I'll have to tell the Man about it as everyone in town knows who I am...

I spent a restless night and I don't think I'll run with Jack today...

...and we had a GREAT FALL...

Jack and I that is...

You probably already know that I run with Jack - our Parson Russell Terrier - usually about a mile a day. Normally, he's a leash-length in front of me - probably wishing that he was even further in front - judging by the way he pulls on the leash. I had never really thought I was in any danger running this way - Now I know differently...

Somehow he crossed in front of me and we got tangled up and I fell - I was running and I fell hard on the pavement - and because of the way I was holding the leash I don't think that I was able to break my fall properly and my face came into contact with the pavement. I managed to hobble home and take some pics -

Gruesome pictures follow...




The Man says it will be worse tomorrow...
I'm off to take some aspirin...

The Almost Birthday

When we lived in SC, the Man-Cub went to a private school and they celebrated 1/2 birthdays for children whose birthdays fell during the summer months. So the Man-Cub's half birthday was in December - right before Christmas - a hectic time...

Here - they celebrate the June Birthdays in May - so today was the Man-Cub's Almost Birthday. He shares the day with another boy in his class - so we put both names on everything. It was a camouflage birthday party. I tried to round up a couple of canteens to pour the "punch" (invisible Koolaid) out of - but no luck - we don't have a camping supply store here - it really did look just like water. We don't have Koolaid often, but if we did I'd probably always get the invisible kind - no dyes = no stains = a good thing...



The Birthday Boys blow out their candles...

The Making of a Swimsuit

For some reason I can never find a swimsuit that I like...

So I decided to make one this year. I was a little bit daunted by the stretchy lycra fabric as I had never sewn with it before, but I read the directions, picked a pattern and bought exactly the sky blue lycra that I wanted. I nervously cut the fabric - there's something exciting about cutting fabric - you can't go back - it's almost a leap of faith - it's a little creative rush that you don't really get from knitting because you can always frog and redo.

I also didn't follow the cutting layout - I had no designs to match and it is 4 way stretch - so I folded over only enough material to cut on the fold and saved quite a bit of material that way. A trick I learned from my Mom...

These are the three pieces ready to be sewn together.

The finished suit. I still have to trim the loose threads.


It's a good thing I had extra material - because I'm going to make a longer top - this one does meet the bottom - but I want it to come down over the waist a couple of inches. I should have thought of it before I cut...

Zucchini Bread and Flowers

I'm back with a quick post - here's the zucchini bread recipe from the 3rd grade cookbook:

ZUCCHINI BREAD

1/2 cup flax seed goo
2 c. sugar
2 c. grated zucchini
3 tsp. vanilla
1 c. oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
3 c. flour
2 tsp. cinnamon

Mix flax seed goo and sugar, then add all the other ingredients. Divide into two bread pans which have been sprayed with cooking spray - or lined with parchment paper. Bake 50 to 60 minutes at 350 degrees.

Here are the trimmed Mother's Day flowers...

Happy Mother's Day

I really am the luckiest Mom. The Youth Choir sang a sweet song at church this morning and I am spoiled with all kinds of goodies today - cards, candy and flowers - what more could a Mom want.




All the loot - Endangered Species Chocolate Mint and Panda Raspberry licorice - Score!
The Man-Cub's class put together a Third Grade Cookbook - so sweet! - His recipe contribution - my zucchini bread recipe (now I know why he asked for that...) - A sweet card a funny card and a handmade card - And a bouquet of Purple Flowers...

The ever crafty Man-Cub made a purple (my favorite color) key ring for me...

The "funny" card - hehe...

The untrimmed bouquet - I'll trim it up and make it prettier later - now I'm off to knit and laze around all day...

A Day at the Lake

We spent a relaxing day at the lake! - 'nuff said.

Spring Marathon

The Man-Cub's school does a Fall Marathon - http://affectioknit.blogspot.com/2006/10/marathon-day-today-was-fall-marathon.html - and a Spring Marathon - hoping to promote fitness. I left work early and went to his school for the Marathon today - I ran with him - (a lap is 1/4 mile) - we ran 10 laps or 2 1/2 miles - YAY! I normally run a mile with Jack - so 2 1/2 is pushing it for me. The kids seemed not to have any trouble with it 'though.

Pizza Night

Every couple of weeks we have a build-your-own pizza night. I make the dough and pat it into 3 circles - here's the neat part - I don't know why I never thought of it before - I used parchment paper to line the pans - and Voila - perfect crust. I already knew that parchment paper was the secret to perfectly browned crispy cookies - but I had just never thought to use it for pizza. This is my pizza with some of the vegan parmesan my sweet sister sent me - thanks - it's very good.


This is a closeup of the perfect crust...

Repaired Sacha Slippers - Again

I spent about an hour patching the slippers again - I knew when I patched the heels that the pad would have to be patched eventually - and since a stitch in time saves a lot more than nine - I decided not to wait any longer...

Sorry this is so dark - but it does show the patch pretty well.

Monday: Wash Day
Tuesday: Ironing Day
Wednesday: Sewing Day
Thursday: Market Day
Friday: Cleaning Day
Saturday: Baking Day
Sunday: Day of Rest

No wonder ladies used to have a whole day that they set aside for mending...

Watercolors

The Man-Cub loves to paint. I have a beach watercolor that he painted hanging over my desk so that I can always see the beach...

At our den meeting we did one of the electives - paint your favorite outdoor location. They only had the three primary colors on their paper plate palates.

The Man-Cub's favorite outdoor location - the Appalachian Mountains...

All the cub's pictures will be displayed at the next pack meeting.

Nephew's Afghan

I made this afghan out of yarn that my older brother purchased when we were backpacking together in High School - so, needless to say it is very old. The afghan was made before my nephew was born and was used when he was a baby. I can remember holding him (as a baby) wrapped in the blanket on the rust and blue colored patchwork sofa that the afghan matched so well - ah those were the days....

My brother put it in a plastic grocery bag and gave it back to me because it needed some repair.. Sadly, I have had it in the plastic grocery bag since I moved (2 years ago) and always intended to repair it. I also always intended to give my nephew an afghan when he went away to college, but I missed that date. So for his birthday this year - I got the afghan out and repaired it. I treated the stains and washed it a couple of times and boxed it up and sent it to him at his college address. I also sent a card with all the history of the blanket. I hope he enjoys it - again.

As good as new - well almost...

Another Quilt for Lutheran World Relief

http://www.lwr.org/parish/quilts.asp


This one uses more of the black check and another brighter colored plaid that we had a lot of - the entire back is the greenish plaid as well. The colored squares were already cut - so I had to cut some checked squares to go in between. The Man-Cub helps me a lot with this project - he likes to use the measuring tape - the quilts are supposed to be 60X80 - but mine are always a little bit bigger.

We met at the church today to tie all the quilts. We completed nine today and we'll meet again Wednesday evening to finish up. I wish I had gotten another one done for this year's shipment which leaves on May 15, but I'm sure I won't have time. I'll just start on next year's batch.

Caramel Cake

The Man's Mom used to work for the Elementary School Cafeteria when the Man and I were dating (way back in "the day"). When we married (long, long ago) she had all of the ladies in the Caf' write out their favorite recipes on 4x6 index cards and she put them all in a green plastic recipe box - which of course I still have - with all of the original cards.


One that I've used many times is this Golden Layer Cake recipe - veganized version to follow...

Vegan - Golden Layer Cake
2 Layer Cake
½ cup Vegan Margarine
1 ½ cup sugar
Equivalent to 2 eggs
1 ½ t vanilla
2 ¼ cup self rising flour (I used White Lily)
1 cup soy milk

3 Layer Cake
¾ cup vegan margarine
2 ¼ cup sugar
Equivalent to 2 eggs
2 ¼ t vanilla
3 ½ cup self rising flour
1 ½ cup soy milk

Mix in order given, beating well after each addition
Bake in 2 or 3 pans at 350˚ for 30 minutes.

So, the Man asked me to make a Caramel Cake like his Mom used to make - I made the Golden Layer cake and a cooked Caramel Icing like this one from Peta http://www.peta2.com/STUFF/s-recipesweets.asp:


Caramel Frosting:

2 Tbsp. vegan margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup soy milk
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
• Melt the margarine in a saucepan.
• Add the brown sugar, salt, and soy milk.
• Bring to a boil over low heat and boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Remove from the heat and let cool.
• Add the powdered sugar and the vanilla.
• Beat with an electric handheld mixer for about 3 minutes, until smooth.

YUMMY!

Spring Training

The Man-Cub had his first day of training with the High School team yesterday. I love baseball photos. Everything is starting to turn green now and it was a gorgeous windy day. They divided the boys up and took them through several training stations.

The Pop-Fly:

The Pitch:


Fielding:

Batter - swing:

The Catch:

Prayer Shawl Ministry

WELCA met last night and they have started a Prayer Shawl Ministry - this first one will go to a lady at our church who was recently diagnosed with ALS - what a horrible sentence that is...

We are passing this one around - I have it until tonight - then I take it to another little old lady and she'll pass it on to her neighbor - then Thursday pick it up from that little old lady and take it to another little old lady - we hope to have it finished by Sunday so that it can be blessed before her trip to Johns Hopkins. It's a really easy pattern - Chain 54 - 1 row of single crochet and 3 rows of double - one of the ladies at WELCA decided that we should crochet only in the back loops to make the ridged pattern - it's fine with me.

I forgot to mention that the Spring Music Program went really well. The Man-Cub said his lines perfectly and his costume was great!

Flour Tortillas

We made Flour Tortillas - they were easy and fun fun fun...

Ingredients:
3 cups unbleached flour
4 Tbsp. Earth Balance
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
about 1 1/4 cups warm water

Instructions:

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Cut margarine in with a fork, or pastry cutter.



Next, add warm water a little at a time until dough is soft and not sticky.

Knead the dough for a few minutes.

Pull off pieces of dough to form about a dozen balls. Let them rest for at least 10 minutes.

Heat the skillet - I used one of my cast iron skillets - no oil - at medium/high heat.

Roll out the dough. Dust each ball with a little flour. I tried it both ways with a little flour and also between two sheets of Saran - I think the flour was better.

Lay the tortilla on the hot skillet. It just takes a few seconds to cook. Flip to the other side. When it's done it should have brown speckles. Place them in a
towel. This is remarkably like making lefse - I'll post some pictures of that this fall.

The little Morningstar Farms steak strips are pretty good, and the mayonnaise is Bryanna's http://veganfeastkitchen.blogspot.com/2006/09/modern-vegan-blt-sandwich-heaven.html and it's very good too.