Keeping Up With Life

Photo

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 19:36:03 -0400

Photo

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 16:42:58 -0400

First fresh watermelon of the season.

Mon, 27 May 2013 19:58:53 -0400

First fresh watermelon of the season.

Will and Kate’s royal wedding… in yarn. (Found on...

Thu, 23 May 2013 07:27:00 -0400

Will and Kate’s royal wedding… in yarn. (Found on Twitter—click through to see the original tweet.)

Miss Independence

Sun, 19 May 2013 09:04:15 -0400

My five-year-old daughter, newly graduated from kindergarten, is cleaning the kitchen sink. She took on the task voluntarily and is utterly absorbed in it. She’s been at this five-minute task for half an hour; the sink has never been cleaner, but she’s too fascinated with it to leave off now.

I have laundry to take care of and need to take a bathroom break in any case. I have a habit of giving her a heads-up when I leave the room because if I don’t she’ll soon come looking for me.

“I’ll be right back, honey.”
“Okay! I bet I won’t need you!”

I smile. She is still often adorable, but she’s growing into more than that. She is growing up. She is smart and capable, when she wants to be. She makes a big show of clinging to adults sometimes, and she usually knows her own limitations, but when she forgets that she’s a “little kid” she can become this wonderfully independent person.

Sometimes. I mean, she’s still five. And independence means deciding to wash the sink and doing a pretty good job with it, but it also means developing some serious Attitude sometimes about what she wants and the way things should happen. I’m not sure I would use the word “wonderfully” in those situations.

All in all, though… She amazes me.

Today’s project: Apricot Jam with Vanilla Bean.

Sat, 18 May 2013 17:52:55 -0400

Today’s project: Apricot Jam with Vanilla Bean.

Wait, Really?

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:26:33 -0400

All I have to do is make sure the cable is a multiple of 4 stitches wide, and then knit it in 1x1 rib? And it’s magically reversible? Seriously?

Lemonade Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting And a cherry on top. ...

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:01:12 -0400

Lemonade Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

And a cherry on top. I don’t know why. These were for my daughter’s Daisy Scout troop, and she wanted to put cherries on top, and I said, “…eh, why not?”

When I mentioned we would be making these, I got a few “oooh, are you going to make that from scratch?” That’s not sarcasm I’m trying to transcribe, it’s genuine awe. Yes, I made them from scratch — but I think the massive number of cake mixes available has fooled people into thinking that making cupcakes from scratch is some really difficult, mystical thing. It’s not. It took me a little longer than a mix would have, and probably cost a little bit more in ingredients — but not much of either. And there aren’t weird magic ingredients, either; the only thing in these cupcakes that isn’t also in a chocolate chip cookie is the lemon.

I should mention that my batch of batter, made as directed, would have made more like 3 dozen if I hadn’t decided 2 dozen was already ridiculously overdoing it for a troop of probably about half a dozen girls and just stopped scooping batter when I got to 2 dozen.

underthecarolinamoon: Start ‘em young.

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:16:30 -0400

underthecarolinamoon:

Start ‘em young.

First quilter in space: NASA astronaut plans to turn orbital rags to stitches

Wed, 15 May 2013 07:35:35 -0400

First quilter in space: NASA astronaut plans to turn orbital rags to stitches:

When astronaut Karen Nyberg is launched to the International Space Station, she’ll bring something entirely new to the space frontier: the art of quilting.

“I enjoy sewing and quilting,” she explained during a televised interview from Moscow. “I am bringing some fabric with me, and thread. I’m hoping to create something. I don’t know what yet it will be — that’s part of creativity. It comes with the feeling of the day. So I have the supplies at my hands to create, if I get the opportunity and the creative notion to do so.”

Photo

Tue, 14 May 2013 13:57:59 -0400

not just a girl...

Tue, 14 May 2013 08:12:20 -0400

not just a girl...:

(These are wonderful photos, but I’m choosing to share as a link rather than as a photo post in order to respect Moore’s copyright.)

Photographer Jamie Moore recreates portraits of five famous women with her just-turned-five-year-old daughter. From jamiemoorephotography.com:

It started me thinking about all the REAL women for my daughter to know about and look up too, REAL women who without ever meeting Emma have changed her life for the better. My daughter wasn’t born into royalty, but she was born into a country where she can now vote, become a doctor, a pilot, an astronaut, or even President if she wants and that’s what REALLY matters. I wanted her to know the value of these amazing women who had gone against everything so she can now have everything. We chose 5 women (five amazing and strong women), as it was her 5th birthday but there are thousands of unbelievable women (and girls) who have beat the odds and fought (and still fight) for their equal rights all over the world……..so let’s set aside the Barbie Dolls and the Disney Princesses for just a moment, and let’s show our girls the REAL women they can be.

I think my favorite of the series has got to be either Coco Chanel or Amelia Earhart—not sure which I like better.

Potato Pierogi (I didn’t do the sauce to go with) This was...

Wed, 08 May 2013 19:48:50 -0400

Potato Pierogi (I didn’t do the sauce to go with)

This was dinner last night. They were more work than I’d realized they would be (largely because I didn’t read the recipe closely enough), didn’t make as many as the recipe claimed (but 30 instead of 48, so still quite a bit), and man was that ever a humongous mess in my kitchen. Also, my daughter loved the edges, but thought the filling tasted “funny”.

I’m glad I made them. I think they turned out rather well, and I’ve got enough in the freezer for four more servings even if I am the only one eating them. But I don’t know if I’ll make them again.

An Apple for Teacher I knitted this a couple of weeks ago. Today...

Tue, 07 May 2013 10:22:58 -0400

An Apple for Teacher

I knitted this a couple of weeks ago. Today it went off to school with my daughter, a present for her teacher on Teacher Appreciation Day.

Since when were science toys just for boys?

Mon, 06 May 2013 16:51:35 -0400

Since when were science toys just for boys?:

Every time a girl sees a shelf of science-related toys under a sign that says “boys”, she is being told that the world thinks science is not for her.

Neil Gaiman’s Advice to Aspiring Artists

Sun, 05 May 2013 16:25:04 -0400

Neil Gaiman’s Advice to Aspiring Artists

Fermented Foods: Results

Thu, 02 May 2013 12:55:35 -0400

The round-up:

Preserved Lemons: Haven’t actually tried them yet; I’ll put them into a recipe next week. They smell good, though.

Beets: Had to throw out the red ones because I couldn’t get all the scum skimmed off and didn’t trust them. Which was a shame because they were so pretty. But the yellow and pink ones seem to have come out OK. They’re not the most impressive thing ever, but they’ll do.

Pickles: OH HELL YES I NEED MORE CUCUMBERS.

Onions: …Eh? I haven’t thrown them out yet, but think I might. They taste… yeasty. Not great. My stomach is telling me very loudly “do not eat this”, and though my tiny sample bites seem to have done me no harm yet, I’m thinking of trusting my stomach and just pitching them. I might, maybe, try again with the lovely sweet Vidalias that have just shown up instead of red onions. But maybe not.

All in all, I think we’re go for trying sauerkraut, if only on the basis of the pickle success. It would seem that if I get the right recipe, and do it right, I can produce successful results with this. So… let’s try, yes? Bring on the cabbage!

Savory Onion Jam I did a half-batch, and decided the best way to...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 19:40:02 -0400

Savory Onion Jam

I did a half-batch, and decided the best way to get the relatively small amount of fresh rosemary and thyme at this time of year was to buy one of those little clamshell packages labeled “Poultry Rub”. Which worked out just fine, but then I had a lot of thyme and a little rosemary left over, and of course there was the sage that I didn’t need at all.

So I figured I’d try making infused vinegar. I stuffed the herbs I didn’t need into a quart jar, brought a bunch of plain white vinegar up to boiling, and then poured the vinegar into the jar. Once cool, I stuck a lid on it, and now I’ll let it sit a couple of weeks and see how it turns out.

This little guy was hiding when I took the last photo…

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 12:13:55 -0400

This little guy was hiding when I took the last photo…

Just arrived: one shipment of yumminess.

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 12:08:04 -0400

Just arrived: one shipment of yumminess.