I'm here, sort of

I've been a bad blogger lately; I'm sorry. You know how when you firt enter blogging, one of the repeated bits of advice is to not get so caught up in blogging ABOUT your life that you don't actually LIVE it? Well, that's been me, except I haven't been blogging. Wait, I know that makes no sense.... It's just that I've become obsessed with a couple of things and have been doing so much research on the internet, and it's sucking all my time, so I just haven't had anything to say, because, well, I'm not doing these activities yet!! Argh! I so want to make a quilt. I've been staring at archive after archive of quilt patterns and just can't wait to get my hands on some fabric and try it. I also am itching to get my garden started, though I'm not sure how practical that is since I'll be uber-pregnant and busy with a newborn come harvest time! However, it would still be such an accomplishment to feed my family in part from my own backyard, so I've been researching Texas-friendly varieties, planting seasons, etc.
So.. the most boring post in the history of blogs, but I felt like I had to say something!! Kinda like my dog ate my homework or something...
But I promise, I'll live life and blog... soon!!

Works in progress

Besides peach-preserving, I have a few other things on my plate. For one, I have the intention of attempting to potty-train Bear before his 2nd birthday, which is looming very near! Hunny has some exciting work possibilities that are cropping up, more on those when we learn something a little more definite.
In the meantime, I am continuing to pursue domestic crafts, such as Helen's baby sweater, even though I am going much slower than I'd like due to a HUGE mistake in the lace pattern that I've had to frog and re-do. I HATE frogging!!!
I also went to an estate sale this weekend just to browse around, and I found some quilt fronts that have been pieced but not batted or quilted, so I thought I'd finally apply what Meg taught me and see if I can quilt these, that I did not painstakingly piece only to ruin if I mess up (is that terrible?). One is very simple and pretty, with a green and pink checkerboard flower pattern. It's not very big, so perhaps it can be a baby blanket?

The second one is kind of dizzying as it's a hodge-podge of shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns! But I like it precisely for its unpredictability and haphazardness. I'm sure it's a scrap quilt front, which makes me wonder at all the other blankets that must have been made over the years. (Which makes me think of how sad estate sales are... I felt mildly awkward rifling through this person's house with little stickers on everything denoting its presumed worth, yet the children must want or need this stuff gone or else there wouldn't have been a sale, right? Does anyone else think like this?) Anyway, here is the Krazy Quilt

I will show pictures of Helen's sweater when I get past the blasted lace part!
As for gardening, I'm delighted to say that I have one tomato almost ready to be picked. It's been red since the weekend; I'm just waiting for it to soften just a tad as we will eat it as soon as it's off the vine! I think Hunny is fantasizing over that tomato sandwich! My cherry tomatoes have not fared so well as I was trying to fix the stake and knocked two little bitty tomatoes off, then today I was showing Bear how exciting plants are, and he reached out and grabbed one of the only other tomatoes off! Pele ate it, so we only have one small tomato left! And my 3rd tomato plant has millions of flowers (which it has for a while), so I have no idea if it will produce fruit or not! My bell pepper also has one pepper still in the dark green, smallish stage, and I'm waiting for my chili peppers-I want salsa!!
Oh, and I almost forgot-I submitted a cake recipe to a Paula Deen Recipe Roundup cooking contest! I have no idea what kinds of things they are looking for in a recipe, but I'm pretty excited about the one I submitted. Funny thing is, I've never technically made this cake! I combined 4 components from 4 different (but favorite) cakes that I love, and added a few embellishments of my own. I called it a Sour Cream Marmalade Cake with Almond Cream Cheese Frosting (that's a mouthful, huh?). I can't post the recipe here as I signed an agreement that it's never been published before and I want to keep it that way; however, if you think you might like the cake, I'd be happy to email it to you if you leave me a comment! I am making the cake this weekend for a welcome-home party for a friend who's been overseas for a while, so I'll take pictures of it then and let you know how the flavor actually turned out!!

How many words for a thousand pictures?

Ahh, this post is going to be chock-full of pictures of things that make me happy! Mostly creative endeavors on my part, and forgive the lighting and such on some of these. I'm still a bit behind the times and using our phone camera! This is the walnut-basil pesto I made. I liked our other batch so much (not to mention gave away the rest of it's rather large volume), I tried one of the variations in my cookbook!

Ok, for some reason, Blogger isn't letting me rearrange these pictures, so they're not going to make any layout/chronological sense (sorry!). This is my sweet (and 6 months old-wow) Bunkin and his BFF Phineas. Every time I nurse, Phinny comes out of the woodwork to RUN to Bunkin and lie on him. SO cute!
Last weekend I went to my friend Amy's house where a few ladies from our Bible study got together for hang out time and to meet Brownie's new little one, Helen. I saw a scrumptious-looking strawberry cake in the latest Paula Deen magazine, and begged Hunny to let me bake it for Bear's 2nd birthday party coming up, to which he promptly said "No, it's PINK!" So, just having to bake it, I brought it to our get together. Mind you, I'm an excellent baker, but my results usually taste waaaay better than they look.

The funny thing, though, is that after I'd baked the cake and was waiting on it to cool, I was tending to Bunkin and the house in general, and I realized that I hadn't heard anything from Bear in a while. You know what that means, right? Quiet kid = something is up! Sure enough, I walk into the kitchen to find one very proud little kid standing on the shelf in the bottom cabinets and reaching to the counter where this was the end result:

He isn't called Cookie Monster in our house for nothing. :) And, as you can see from the iced picture, someone just got a dollop more of frosting, and no one was the wiser (til I blabbed, of course!).

I'm finally seeing tomatoes!! WOOHOO! My hand is for perspective; the fruit isn't very big yet (these are my "sandwich-sized" plants), but they are there! I cannot wait to eat that first ripe yummy tomato! The supermarkets are still stocking "safe" and uncontaminated tomatoes, but to be on the safe side, we haven't bought any, so it will be a real treat!

This post is supposed to be about things that make me happy, and let me tell you, bright orange flowers like these truly make me happy. I'm not sure what they are, because I did not plant them, but they are hardy and very low-maintenance!

Another flower that made me happy as long as they lasted, which in Memphis heat was a pitiable week, were the gardenias right in front of my porch. Oh, the smell! It was heaven for that week.

I'm not sure why I'm adding Pele to the mix, but isn't she cute?

And last, but not least, was my first attempt at homemade Rosemary Focaccia. Hunny was slightly dubious (I think he said something to the effect of not liking rosemary), but the results were so yummy, we ate two huge slices before I was able to take a picture! This bread was surprisingly simple, and felt kinda healthy as I used my own ground whole wheat. I felt like a domestic diva making this bread: picking my own herbs, grinding my own wheat, kneading the bread instead of letting the dough hook take care of it... not that I'm bragging or anything!!

Well, I know this is the most picture-heavy post, ever, on my blog, but I hope they made you happy, too!!

Simple living

I'm reading Janet Luhrs's Guide to Simple Living and here are some quotes that I love:
Simple living is about living deliberately.
Living deeply means living consciously...being fully present, fully aware.
Living deeply means living intimately...closely tied to the people, places, and things in your life.
(this next quote really hits home with me)
It is much easier to stay busy and frantic than it is to love and know ourselves and others deeply. We're busy because we want to be busy. Staying busy appears to give our lives meaning, and staying busy is safe.

I don't want to be safe; I wan to live life fully and fearlessly, and teach my sons to love others and choose to be still when there is a time to be quiet and choose to have a few simple relationships so they can love deeply.

Anyway, so far, I'm enjoying this book and am eagerly looking forward to exploring how my faith fits into this, as well as moments of practical application as I protect and nurture my home and raise my sons.

On a side note, we ate from the products of my efforts last night! I made a delicious (if a tad garlic-y) pesto served over pasta-so simple and so yummy! It was truly fascinating to pick basil from my garden and produce a delightfully fresh sauce! This is dangerous ground: I might actually want a huge garden next year!! I am also enjoying some gorgeous flowers as my hydrangeas and gardenias are blooming. The gardenia is scenting my entire house w/ the cuttings I gathered this morning, and it is wonderful.
Still working on my banner pole; I promise pictures very soon!

A full plate

My emotional and otherwise plate has been very full these last few weeks, and I've run out of steam in so many ways. I'm reading a book that is challenging me on a deep-heart level; I've been decluttering my house (nice procrastination on decluttering my heart) little by little, and while immensely rewarding, it's also hard work when Bunkin has been positively attatched to me non-stop the last couple of days; all in all, I've just been busy being busy, and I'm ready to be still and know.
Oooh, speaking of knowing, tho... Hunny and I had a huge answer to prayer tonight: we recovered the rent money we lost!! Thank you!
Back to being still... I have a few projects that I've been mentally working on but not physically. There is still Baby Helen's sweater, which is only an inch or so along, but I'm glad to say that Helen made her appearance in the world on May 23 in perfect condition (Yay, Brownie!). Next in my project queue is my "Banner Pole of Remembrance." I've already started this project years ago, but I want to re-vamp it. It's basically like the Israelites erecting the stones to remember what God had done for them (verse/reference to come later). I am so bad at remembering how God has provided for me, so this is to help out. More details and pictures to come.
On the home front, Hunny and I are officially vegetarian again and already I feel better. I'm more determined than ever to lose weight, so that is occupying my mind a lot. My little Bear will be 2 in two months so I'm gearing up for that as well as beginning to think about potty training, as scared of it as I am. Oh, and my garden is thriving: too well, I think! I gave away a bunch of herbs to my neighbor in an attempt to be friendly, but I still have quite a handful. Still waiting for the tomatoes to say hi--I'm ready to eat some fresh salsa!
I'm also elated to say that I've been Freecycling like crazy, and have been clearing clutter left and right, most notably from the basement, the junky corner, and all the tops of surfaces of my living room. Slowly but surely I'm simplifying my family's home, and it feels good to be free of clutter!
So pretty much I'm just cleaning a lot, thinking a lot, trying to process and continue to remember He is good. But I'm tired!! That's not a complaint, just a fact. I'm looking forward to taking a break and getting some work done.

Some photos and projects!

Well, I've finally bribed my Hunny to upload pics from the camera phone to the computer, and so I can share a few of the things I've been working on! Remember when I said Meg came in town? While she was here, she helped me to get a garden started, and we planted tomatoes, chili peppers, bell peppers, and herbs. I'm so excited to have my first stint at gardening, and so far I've stayed motivated enough to actually weed and everything!! Anyway, here is a picture of my herbs (I have rosemary, cilantro, thyme, and basil).
I can't share pics of the tomatoes (not much to see anyway, just yet) because the lighting was never good enough. I hope that does not bode ill for my cool plants!
Next, I am knitting again! I am working on Helen's baby sweater (meet Mama here), and it feels so good to be knitting again-I'd gotten into a bit of a funk from inactivity I think! Anyway, I bought a lovely sagey/mossy green yarn (Rowan 4ply cotton) as seen here:
(Brownie, look away if you want the design of the sweater to be a surprise!) The pattern comes from a vintage Coats and Clark pattern for Red Heart Yarns, and it looks just sunny!
Last, but not least, I met Melissa on Ravelry, but she lives right here, and was lovely enough to loan me the use of her kiln to fire some projects that were WAAAY overdue (um, Christmas 2003!). Actually, she did the firing, too, but I did the slabwork and glazing myself. These leaf bowls were a project that my Montessori directress and I worked on for our students; this one was a prototype, and meant to be a gift for Meg. Basically, we gathered leaves with the kids (and found their names so that we could incorporate science into art!) and then pressed them into thinly rolled out clay. The other leaves were extras, so I made them into ornaments, hoping I could make a windchime out of them. However, I think I like them as is, so don't know what to do with them besides add them to my so-called "nature shelf."

So, there are a few of the things I've been doing when I haven't been trolling blogland and playing with the kiddos!! Speaking of, we finally went to the Pedi, and both boys are in good health, and just lil' monsters! Bear is a whopping 32 pounds and 32 inches, and Bunkin is just under 19 pounds and 26 inches! They both got each other today--Bunkin grabbed Bear's face and scratched him, and Bear bit back--on Bunkin's face! Yikes! Hunny tells me this is only a glimpse of what is to come. I also have to say how blessed I am by Hunny--not only has me been responsible for the house staying clean, I came home to a stunning bouquet of flowers and a mini-cake just because he loves me! What more can a girl ask for?