Tea and Toast

The weather has been lovely lately, sunny and 70s every day. Sigh. Back to watering.





I finished Number 2's quilt. The handquilting took weeks; the binding took a day. I promptly hauled out my scrap bags and started another quilt. Number 1 will need a quilt for a big kid bed at some point, and I have too many scraps left over as it is.

We spent the day today watering, riding the tricycle, collecting twigs, reading board books, and arguing about whether or not it is appropriate to climb on the counter.





A while ago, I made ciabatta bread from scratch, and it wasn't right. It didn't ciabatta; it was just a loaf of white bread. Wah. On the other hand, my husband made s'mores, which were delicious.

I'm full of plans and lists for the impending months of not-being-able-to-get-to-anything. Not sure I'll get it all done, but every little bit helps.

Is it reasonable to talk about the holidays a month later? The little one was buried in gifts of toys, board books, clothes, and more toys. He actually got bored of opening packages. Well, we will do better next Christmas. Although there will be another one next time. I don't think I've mentioned it before, but we are having a second boy sometime around June.

It's been all about coziness around here of late. Many of the holiday presents were made of yarn.








My husband made potato skins at one point, I think because we needed the insides for mashed potatoes. Or at least that was the excuse. And I made six hour bread. I want to make more. It's always amazing, especially in the first few hours. I may have eaten a bunch of it before he even got home that day. Toasted with butter and jam, it also makes a good treat for breakfast. Alas, I don't know where I found the recipe online or I'd link it.






This warm molasses milk from Joy the Baker is yummy, too. I still have the link for that seeing as I just made it tonight.

I finished a hand-pieced hexagon quilting project, months after starting it. It's machine quilted, because the other day I came to my senses and pulled out the tiny amount of hand quilting I'd managed so I could Finish A Project. Projects that languish for too long unfinished run the risk of being given up on entirely, and that would have been a shame after all the hand sewing I'd done to put the shapes together. I need to make more executive decisions like that.







Since we found out the gender for Number Two (as I've been calling him) I've started a baby quilt, an afghan, and a vest for him, and have also been trying to finish a bunch of old projects, since the sewing desk is going away to make room for a bed or crib. (We haven't figured out yet whether we're ready to upgrade Number One to big kid status or if we should just have two cribs for a while.) So I'm currently finishing a scrap quilt of creams and browns. It's a lap quilt size, made entirely from fabric in my stash. I have enough little fabric scraps left to make at least another quilt, possibly two. That's not counting scraps of fabric big enough to bother folding. These things are fractal.

So it's all blankets and hot toddies around here. We had rain. The hills have turned green. There was frost on the grass the other day, and the snow on the farthest-away mountains lasted an entire week. I could see it from my kitchen window.

Oh, hullo. I've been busy. There has been a baby around here, and a novel, and handmade Christmas presents. I don't remember if I mentioned before, but I won't be sharing pictures of the little guy. I'm not comfortable putting his face out there on the internet; better safe than sorry. You'll just have to take my word for it that's he's adorable and hilarious (he is, though).



( Follow Malcolm the cat's tail to the usual mix of knitting, gardening, and cooking )

Where to begin? The summer has slipped away, or I'd like to think it has. Children have gone back to school, discussions of holiday gatherings have begun, sweaters are being sorted for the new season, but it was 100 degrees outside yesterday and I keep skipping the farmer's market because it is TOO HOT on the asphalt.



( Where have we been? )

Our farmer's market haul for last week. I'm a week behind. I already went this week. Anyway. The light that comes in our kitchen window is so lovely, it makes everything look beautiful. I didn't get to the purple carrots yet, but I'm thinking I'll put them in this chicken pot pie. They're orange on the inside, and anyway it's the taste that counts, right?

( Last week )

Those cookies?



( Mission accomplished )

Lots to talk about. That's what happens when you forget to update.

I like baking. Have I mentioned? It gets hot -- really hot -- later in the year so I've been using every excuse to do baking now, while the weather is still nice and we can run the oven without feeling guilty.



Foccacia (cheese required, per my husband) can be made when you're getting dinner ready and you realize there isn't nearly enough time to make bread but you still would like some. Fresh and homemade and fluffy, it's quite tasty.

( baking, sandwiches, embroidery, and yarnery )

It's nearly Thanksgiving. I was thankful today without any great intentions to be. I went out in the garden after work to water, and was able to pick some of the lettuce we're growing. I had a moment of "Wow! I put stuff in the dirt and got food out of it! That's amazing!" Because it is.



( also cranberries! )

It was chilly and foggy for a couple days... and I thought it might be... but no. Fall is still like a month and a half off. Usually the heat gives up around Halloween.

This little bird... hit our sliding glass door. The poor thing spent a good hour afterward, blinking slowly and panting right outside, before it recovered and flew away. I was just glad it was okay.


( Garden and Food )

Fine Cooking struck again. I cut this recipe out because of their full page picture of golden knotted dinner rolls, sprinkled with seeds. So pretty! They looked like celtic knots. So complex, yet the descriptions of the process seemed simple enough.



( baking since it's been such a pleasant summer, not hot )