Early January Cabin Fever

The temperatures this month have been very low and with winter winds blowing strong, the wind chill has hardly been above zero.  Snow piles around town continuously grow without any warmth in-between snowfalls to keep their height checked.  We have all felt a little trapped this past week...

But we have tried to the best with what has been dished up, including moving Jared's drawing table into the nursery (we aren't using the room anyway) and Timmy has been joining in.  Jared has a goal of drawing one picture a month...

He has also discovered the joy of warm feet and conquered his fear of putting his feet into slippers.  This is quite a feat when we think about the past and how he would just gag when his feet were on weird textures or his hands were put into mittens...

"Mom, take a picture of me with daddy"...

Jared's aunt Kim sent me a couple of pictures of the table runner I made her for Christmas, so you can see it finished!  Thanks Kim!  It looks lovely on your table, I am so pleased that you love it...

Last minute finish

I got the binding on just in time to count this as my final finish of 2014!  My normal quilt holder is gone for the day, so you get the draped-quilt-on-the-couch shot.  Combined with the bright sun bouncing off of the snow, it makes for a less than ideal photo, but you'll get the idea.

I quilted it in wavy sections across the quilt.  The swirls are the newest pattern that I have been working on and they are getting better, although the hardest part was quilting them on top of fabric that is really busy...it made it harder to see and so my spacing got off in some places.  Jared doesn't seem to mind (or really care) as he is curled up with it, so I am not going to let them bother me.  :)

Jared's Fishing Quilt

50" x 75"

Produce coming in

I grabbed my camera the other night and took some closeups of what is going on in our garden...

Granddad's Dill 

Jared's cucumber trellis is working out well! 

Onions are starting to pop out of the ground 

New patch of beans have popped! 

The surviving cabbage is coming nicely 

Our spaghetti squash plant is going CRAZY!  We have only one plant of this variety, but it has stretched the entire length of our 18 foot garden.

Sunflowers are going to be coming soon!  (probably while we are gone camping haha) 

Our bush beans that decided to vine, so we quick through some tomato cages in to support them.   Tomato plants are LOADED.  I can taste them already... 

Berry crop is done!  I have raspberry, blueberry, and strawberry jams, all sweetened with honey, done and ready for the year.  Hopefully I'll catch the peach truck and add a few more jars, but we should be good for the year on jams.  

I tried a new jar...these are Weck jars, which are apparently made in and are popular in Europe.  I happened to win a case of 12 of these puppies.  They worked awesome!  They have a glass lid, a rubber gasket, and some little clips you use while they are in the canner.  I'll have to replace the rubbers every year, but they are cheaper than buying boxes of lids for the normal jars.   I have some larger half litter jars to try, too, I just need to figure out what to put in them...

New recipe of the year was rhubarb butter.  Sweet and tart, this is a keeper, even if did bubble and sputter rhubarb all over my stove, counter, cupboards, fridge, microwave, floor, and ceiling.  Messy is an understatement.  Jared volunteered to keep it stirred and had to use oven mitts to protect himself from the burning hot projectiles it was sending out.  :)  Hopefully next year I'll be better about getting the air bubbles out, too.

His first lesson

Early Summer Garden 2014

Garden: First Week of June 

(aka how many times can Timothy get in front of the camera)  

:)

The peony is about to explode in all of its glory.

The garden and the accompanying weeds are growing well.  We have harvested broccoli and lettuce so far and Jared built a trellis for the cucumbers.  The weeding is getting done between the rain showers and the garden is slowly being covered in newspaper and grass clippings as the lawn gets mowed.

Apparently Timothy thought he needed two mowers to get the lawn done.

And then promptly ditched one because he could hardly push the one!  We keep the lawn mowed, but it is difficult to keep it short with all of the rain we have had.  A blessing for our area for sure!

Corn on the cob...yay!

Jared finished a picture!  One of my favorite memories from our trip last fall - a wonderful afternoon on the shores of Lake Huron - done in pencil.  I love that I get to decorate our walls with art from the artist in residence.  :)

October Thus Far

This month is moving way too fast...here are the highlights, or at least things I have gotten a picture of. :)

Football with popcorn and daddy while the weather is crummy...

and some special pictures too.  :)  Jared has his iphone setup where I get all of his pictures on our photostream.  And I find special treats like the following...

Craft time with tissue paper and contact paper...

Superhero in training...
and with no pants on because he is also potty training...

We have been doing lots of baking which Timothy helps whenever I dare to bake when he is awake :)

Anyone see a mini Jared in this one?

It is nice to see Jared back at work too...

My first craft show is coming up next weekend, so I'll post some pics as I finish up my stockpile.  I am keeping my fingers cross that I get some of it sold...the profits are going towards the adoption fund.  We have another $6,000 to go before everything is paid for.  No news on the adoption yet, but the time is okay right now as we continue to stash what we can away.  Our goal is to pay for it without borrowing, and we have done it so far.  It is amazing to know that we have just 1/3 of the cost left!

A Garden Tour: Flower Edition (Mostly Roses)

I had the camera outside today, and here is what is happening in our yard this week:  flowers.  And lots of them!  There are many more, but here are the few I took pictures of:

The Swedish Rose Bushes

I love these beautiful roses - they smell so sweet and have layers upon layers of petals.  These flowers take awhile to fully open and are loaded with buds of varying maturity, so I am looking forward to enjoying these for the next several weeks.

Raspberries!  Not flowers, I know, but I couldn't resist...Jared and I were drooling over them.  :)

Sweet Peas

Miniature pumpkin

Don't know the name for this one...but pretty!

Really dark pink roses - a gift from our youth group in honor of Evelyn - 

I have never seen so many buds on one bush...

Until I looked at the rose bush next to it!  

You can hardly see them, but they will be a bright pink next week I think.  

Another lovely gift from members in honor of Evelyn. 

(I guess our congregation knows we like to garden)

A new rose bush we planted this spring in the front of the house...I think it is happy!
This one is more of a shrub type of rose and planted right underneath our bedroom window;
I am excited for when it gets a taller and we can smell it from inside.

 So I realized tonight that all 5 of our rose bushes are pink.  Not a bad thing, just pointing it out.  :)
Another picture of the Swedish rose.

If you needed something less floral, here is a picture for you:  (Jared's first hand-tied fly!)  :)