mock polaroid

Okay folks, which one do you like better? The card without the scrawl on the bottom or the one with the memory written on the bottom? Let me know in the comments section.


I'm planning to sell these as a pack in our store.

drupaceous

My mom very generously agreed to pick up Michigan peaches for me (she was going to get some for herself anyway) and then I suggested we work on canning them together! So she came over for an afternoon and we proceeded to pop the ripe ones into jars (several are still green, which is great, as it took 4 hours to do 24 pints). And these are just in a light syrup, so I'm excited to try other recipes with the rest.



In other peach news, Chip and I had 8 peaches on our tree this year! We were excited to have the possibility to actually make something from them, rather than just eat them, as we usually just get two or three.

Imagine our dismay when we pulled the first one off to find:

ANTS.

And every single one was like that, except for the one that was full of... another bug. I can't even go there--I'm shuddering right now remembering. ewewewewewewewwewewew

Anyway, we were able to salvage enough to make peach shortcakes--roughly one and a half for each of us. I enjoyed mine on the porch with coffee!

I look forward to peaches this winter!

Book recommendation: The Compound by S.A. Bodeen
Recipe recommendation: Spiced Peach Shortcake
Wine recommendation: McManis Viognier

upcoming

Yea! It's finally here!

man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man

I learned of this book on Smitten Kitchen's blog.

lacy days

Hey, I'm able to do the two birds with one stone thing here! It's been a while since I participated, but the sketch over at Prairie Paper & Ink jumped out at me this time (click on the link to see the sketch), so I used it in conjunction with the Daring Cardmaker's dare: lace.

Two things I have to admit: 1. I stretched part of the sketch to accommodate the photo and 2. I really wanted to try the part 4 suggestion of the dare, but couldn't come up with anything that would be laced foodwise. So I feel like I took the easy way out here... oh well.

assortment

So I posted a fun thing on Facebook (FB):

5 potentially random things. Emphasis on the "random."

I'll pick 5 random people from those who reply to this and send you something random. I know others have said the first 5, but I'm going to make it even more unpredictable and will give everyone the feeling they have a chance.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations so please read carefully:

- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
- What I create will be just for you.
- It'll be done this year (2009).
- You have no clue what it's going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber. It may be a mixed CD. It may be a poem. I may draw or paint something. I might bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
I got several entreaties and can finally show you the first random gift I've sent out. And there's still time to get in on the gig! Just make sure you leave a comment, either here or on FB. You also may want to include your mailing address... or email it to me.

My friend/business partner moved to Idaho (I know--IDAHO) because her hubby got an awesome job offer and I wanted to send a fun care package to her. She is like me when it comes to teas, so I put together a tea party in a box.

It includes homemade ginger mint tea, chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, a cornbread to bake in a can mix and mixed berry jam.

Blatant self promotion: wanna send a fun care package to someone far away? Let me know and we can discuss if you want to fill the box up yourself or have me do it.

flip flop

The challenge over at the Daring Cardmakers this week is to make a flip item. Now, this can be interpreted however you like, though the team provided some templates. I decided to make one piece of the front of my card be two-sided, rather than mess with folding and cutting the center of the card:


I dolled up the inside a little, too, as the strings don't look fabulous on their own. In fact, when I make this again, I'll probably cover them up completely with another length of paper, rather than have them show at all.

The other thought I had was to track down elastic cord and try that... maybe just punch holes in the top and bottom, rather than have it run the length of the card.

I really can't remember where I saw the paper on the back of a button idea, and I wish I could give proper credit. But I didn't come up with the idea myself. What I do know is I need more clear buttons now!

heritage

So the last 'big' family reunion that I have record of is the Wilson side of the family and that's about all I can tell you ... I think it's 1979? Sorry for the blurriness--photos of the photos and all that.


We've had several smaller reunions at Christmas time in recent years, but those, too, fell by the wayside as folks got older and busier. We all wanted to continue, so a new venue was explored and the date, time and place was set for another reunion.

This past weekend was the Pittman side of the family (my mom's mom) and it was the first in 50 years! We congregated in the Valparaiso, IN area, as part of the original Wilson family farm is now a park, which lends itself beautifully for large groups, picnics and games.

There was a lot of conversation, food and small children.

We also had a sharing time Sunday morning at church, and it was neat to hear the history of Christianity within this family, starting with great-greats (yeah, yeah--throw in a few more) in England, who essentially came to America to be missionaries. It rather makes my 'uninteresting' conversion story a little more compelling and is inspiring to continue the faith tradition.

We'll have another one of these in three years!

Book recommendation: the red necklace by Sally Gardner
Recipe recommendation: Chocolate Ancho Chile and Orange Cake
Restaurant recommendation: Tapas Barcelona