Monday, August 09, 2010

Meet 'Mander'


Scout has a new critter...
...meet 'Mander' - he's Scout's new Tiger Salamander...

...he bought the habitat months ago - before our trip down south - and he's been saving for a while to get the Salamander to go in the habitat - that boy has a one track mind sometimes - love that...

...right now Mander is doing a lot of hiding - but I'll get a better picture of him soon - after he's had some time to adjust to his new home...

...one of our fellow scouts took the Reptile Merit Badge class at camp a couple of weeks ago - and to finish the requiements, he has to care for a reptile for a month - guess who he's 'borrowing' a reptile from...

Sunday, August 08, 2010

Risk - the longest game EVER!

...I remembered the Man playing Risk with his suitemates in college...and I remembered that the games sometimes went on for days...

...so when I saw this brand new game at a Church Basement Sale last fall for $1.00 - I snatched it up...

...we had not spent the time to read all of the instructions...and so it had languished in the game closet for quite a while...

...but we finally got the game out the other night and read the instructions and started playing...

...then on day 3 we moved it upstairs so that we could play for a few minutes whenever we felt like it...

...we're now on day 5 and it looks like we may never finish this game - territories go back and forth from one play to the next - we keep battling for the same territories - Scout has the awesome 'Airfield' (which adds a point to his score with each roll) - as well as the extra defense die...

...Scout loves this game!

Saturday, August 07, 2010

Pool Time


...Scout spent another afternoon at the pool with some friends...

...the slide was a lot of fun...

...for some reason - it's always colder than the pool - I guess they can't cover it at night to keep in any heat...

...I'm just sitting (in the shade), reading (No Impact Man), and knitting (the white socks that I started at camp)...

Friday, August 06, 2010

Tomato Update


...Just a quick update on the tomatoes...

...theyr'e doing nicely (for ND) - I keep saying that I'm going to make some fried green tomatoes (love those) and the Man keeps telling me to wait until they ripen - that I should only make fried green tomatoes in September right before the frost - at this rate we may only get green tomatoes - Ha!...

...the little row of beets in front of the tomatoes is doing nicely too...

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Clafouti aux Mûres - at the Vegan Version


...I made a delicious Clafouti - a peasant tart...
...all the details are at The Vegan Version

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

MawMaw's Salt Jar


...My great-grandmother kept salt in a jar just like this one...

...and my sweet boys got me one just like MawMaw's for my birthday...My Mom has the original one...

...and mine came without a lid - just like Mom's - and taking a clue from her - I just topped it with the white lid from my china coffee pot - it looks OK...

...but this is what it looks like at the antique shop ...

...the original lid was somewhat tiered and had three rings of colour and a finial...

...so Scout and I went to the local antique store and found this sugar bowl with a similar lid...

...don't worry - the base will become a planter for my aloe plant when he outgrows his current pot and needs to be divided...again...
...then we bought some Fusion paint - specifically for painting plastic and glass...

...and spray painted the lid to match the jar...

...then I very carefully, with a very thin brush, painted the rings on...

...I'm quite happy with the way it turned out...

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

A Clothesline...Finally

...Thanks so much for all the Birthday Love - I really appreciate it...
...remember I said there was more birthday goodness to come and this is what I was talking about...

...I had been wanting a clothesline so very badly...
...so the Man got together with one of our parishoners who welds and made these posts and set them up in the backyard...
...and I'm so happy that I have a clothesline...
...it's had clothes drying on it every day since...

...Scout snapped photo of me painting it with primer...that's all I've gotten done so far - but I'm going to paint it grey and red - the colours of our old Ford 8N tractor...

Monday, August 02, 2010

Birthday Bounty

...Hot on the heels of our scout camping trip - we celebrated my Birthday!


...Birthdays are always a lot of fun around here and this one was no exception - there were lots of cards...

...and lovely flowers...

...and cake...

...and candles...lots of them...

...finally opening a present that we toted back from our NC visit...

...it's a lovely sweater from my sister Karen...

...she has such good taste...

...then there was just one huge bag (I'm sure there's a picture of it somewhere) - stuffed to the brim with tissue wrapped presents - apparently the boys weren't up for all that present wrapping...
...Out of the bag came a lovely new set of dish towels - I needed those - I continue to use my dish towels when they are beyond presentability...

...an adorable pair of gardening shoes...

...those went right on my feet - they are so comfy and cute - they may just stay there the rest of the summer...

...then there were some books from my 'list'...Like Water for Chocolate - I had seen the movie but never read the book - and it came up in conversation one day - as I was making some soymilk hot chocolate - that they don't use milk for their chocolate in Mexico - but water - hence the saying 'Like Water for Chocolate' - it means someone is boiling mad - because the water has to boil in order to be able to melt the chocolate...mmmm...that reminds me of the Mexican Hot Chocolate bars that Daddy used to bring back with him from trips to Juarez...with just a hint of cinnamon...mmmm...oh well, I digress - I'm really looking forward to reading this book...

...next out of the big bag was No Impact Man - I've been wanting to read this one too - Colin Beavan is my hero...

...I grabbed another parcel - and it's another book - My Year of Living Biblically - I want to read all three of these books right now!

...a gorgeous Nordic Ware Bundt Cake Pan came out next...

...then we switched gears and opened a package (packed to the brim) from my Mom...

...inside were so many lovely things - a couple of valances - not for hanging - but for use in the Lutheran World Relief Quilts - a pretty navy calico - I'll take them apart and cut them into squares and pair them with some plain navy - they'll make a lovely quilt...

...Sshhhh...a few of the big candy canes that I can't find up here - Santa always puts one in Scout's stocking at Christmas...

...a lovely selections of teas - believe it or not - I've never tried Yerba Mate - so I'm looking forward to that...and some different types of almonds - I love those...

...some of Scout's baby clothes that Mom 'found' still at her house 12 years later - a cute onsie that Karen brought back from Osh Kosh for him and one of his little cotton hats...so sweet...such memories - they'll go into his box of keepsakes...

...and several of Nanny's crocheted doilies - I'll get them washed and soaking in some brightener - and then we'll see - maybe applied to some pillows - or bags - or just used as doilies...

...and this old program from my childhood - I recognize all of the names in it - and the amazing thing is all these covers were hand coloured - there were no colour printers then - amazing...

...the inside sheet was printed with a mimeograph - ahhh - I still remember that smell...
...I'm so glad my Mom kept all these things for me...
You've actually already seen this bowl here - I got to use it early - because I needed it to whip the 'cream'...

...another gorgeous yellow pyrex bowl...

...I love this bowl so much...

...it matches the pyrex loaf pan - but you've seen it before...

...see a perfect pair...

...a couple more little milk glass bowls - I had one already - now we each have one - I'm hoping everyone is still on the lookout for a few more of these precious little bowls - already filled with salted almonds...yum!

...and finally in the bottom of the bag - a couple more kitchen-y items to help in our purge of all things plastic - a set of bamboo spoons...


...and a fine mesh stainless steel strainer...

...I know this post if very long and there's still more yet - I'll share a couple more special presents in the next couple of days too...

Sunday, August 01, 2010

Wonder Twin Powers - Activate

...Thank y'all so much for putting up with all of the camping talk and photos - I love sharing part of our life here with you...

...so what do you think I did as soon as I got home...
........well, obviously, I couldn't wait to package up the sweaters and get them off to my sister...

...first, though, I wanted to try and fix the old grey sweater and at least make it wearable again...
........so I re-knit - like picking up dropped stitches - all of the places that had come unraveled, and tied the ends and wove those in...

...then I took some grey sewing thread and went around all of the edges to reinforce them a little bit - like you sometimes add a thread to the heel of a sock while you're knitting it...
........here's hoping she'll love the new one as much as the old one...