A Bit of a Break...

My art studio has been the "toss it in there" room over the last year while I was busy getting ready for a new baby, and cleaning out our "storage" (bed)room for her.I'm afraid that my poor art room has been abused to it's max, and needs a bit of love.

I'll be taking a bit of a break from my blog until my studio starts to look like itself again. Or at least, until I can see the floor. I've decided that I simply cannot function any longer until this is finished!

Hopefully, I'll be back soon!

Reality Check

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal

into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our

past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

~Melody Beattie

In the name of gratitude and truthfulness I’ve decided to post a little piece of reality here once a week. Likely just a single picture.

My sweet little, not yet 6 month old baby girl has discovered an escape route from getting her diaper changed-the hand towel bar in our bathroom. I can't believe she's standing (with assistance) already. I knew that time would fly by and that she'd grow so fast, but even in knowing it, I still can't believe it.
I suppose this week's reality check is two-fold. Not only is she growing insanely fast, but she's been picking on that ugly wall paper that I swore would be the first to go when we moved into this house. My, how priorities change.

Joining Rachel in this week's reality check.

Mawesome Weekending

I know, I know, my title is pure fromage. I apologize...but not really.

I'm such a sucker for mossy covered ground ground, trees, fences, and any thing else that Moss happens to be growing on.  Including bathmats...

I'd absolutely love to have one of these, but Mark would probably have me committed. 

I've been known to make my children go out to the sidewalks and alleyways with paper bags and pick the green wonder out of sidewalk cracks and bring it home for reward money. 

I've also done this with acorns and maple keys... I have issues.

While out on our most recent walk, it took everything in my power to not pilfer just a little morsel of these beautiful growths that were bursting out on and between everything. But alas, we were in a conservation area where everything is "look but don't touch". That-and I had nothing to take any of it home with anyway.

I fully intend on taking the boys out for a walk in the woods after church tomorrow, weather permitting, and putting them to work.
I've been wanting to mossify (ok, now i'm just making things up) an area in our back yard, and our fence. (speaking of fences, click here for yet another super-duper idea.)

I've found several recipes, but the two that stick out the most are this one, and simply using yogurt pureed with some moss. I think i'll try both and see which one works better.

 

I can't wait to try this on my back fence that faces the alley-I'm just trying to think of something clever to write.

I don't have too many fantastic pictures of our weekend just yet, but hopefully after tomorrow I will. 

I'll leave you with this though. She just loves her evening baths in my old tupperware cake carrier.

{This Moment}

. . . . . . . .

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

                                                                           . . . . . . . . 

Yarn Along

While my book from last week is finished, I regret to tell you that the scarf is not. That, however is to be expected.  I really didn't think that I'd have it finished yet, I give it at least another month, at the rate that I've been knitting lately. I held it up to my Dad last weekend and I think I still have about a third left.

  Charlotte has been helping out with the knitting around here, pulling strings when ever she can, tangling her sweet pudgy little fingers up in whatever falls into her sweaty grasp.

Why are baby hands always so sweaty inside? And why does baby sweat smell so delicious? Sometimes I like to pry open her tiny little hands just to sniff her palms.

I even caught her helping Daddy this week.

I'm so thrilled that I got a picture of Mark actually sitting down and making I-cord. I think he's more enthralled with the little machine (Embellish Knit) than the craftiness of it.

Zeke was also a little miffed that something that once took him ages to knit on his little corker, now takes a completely unskilled-in-crafts Daddy and brother only seconds. 

I will say, that it does make beautiful I-cord, very quickly. It's a touch finicky if you make it go too fast though- It can create messes that will give you nightmares.

Hopefully next week I'll have more of this scarf done, and have found another book that's worth reading!

....

joining Ginny in this week's yarn along

Reality Check

Joining Rachel again this week with a Reality check of our own...

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal

into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our

past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

~Melody Beattie

In the name of gratitude and truthfulness I’ve decided to post a little piece of reality here once a week. Likely just a single picture. 

Someone around here is getting to be quite the master of disaster with her great rolling abilities. She managed to flip herself right onto her little noggin, earning a decent sized goose egg, and a lot of kisses from sympathetic brothers.

Spring Creamy Dill Asparagus Soup

Aside from grilling it, this is by far, my favorite way to eat Asparagus. Not that I'd ever complain about eating Asparagus at all-it's one of my favorite vegetables. But in a creamy soup, paired with some tangy dill and black pepper,  you just can't go wrong.

This Recipe serves 8 pretty generously, but between Zeke and I,  it's gone in no time. We'll eat it over the course of a couple of days until it's gone...and then we'll make more.

Spring Creamy Dill Asparagus Soup

2 slivered shallots

5 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup butter

4 whole sage leaves

8 tbsp of flour

1 tbsp ground black pepper

4 cups chicken (or vegetable) stock

6 cups whole milk (Keep 1/2 cup aside)

4 cups chopped asparagus

4 tbsp dill, plus extra for garnish

Sea salt, to taste.

Melt butter over medium heat, and add shallots, garlic and sage,  and increase the heat. Let the shallots and garlic fry, while stirring continuously. Allow them to brown until they're almost crispy. Add in black pepper.
Reduce the heat, and slowly stir in 4 of the tbsp of butter, until  you have a creamy paste.

Once you have a flour paste with an even consistency, slowly stir in 5.5 cups of milk.

 I like to use a whisk at this point to avoid lumps. Once your milk is mixed thoroughly with the butter paste, add the stock and bring to a low boil. Add the asparagus and the dill and let cook approximately 5 minutes (or to whatever point YOU want the asparagus at. I like to leave mine a touch crunchy.) 

Whisk together the remaining half cup of milk with the remaining 4 tbsp of flour in a separate bowl until smooth. Then slowly add to the rest of the soup while stirring.
Keep it over a medium heat for another couple of minutes while it thickens.
Season with salt to taste and you're all set.

Garnish with dill, (and sour cream too, if you're feeling extra fancy) and serve it with some good,  crusty bread.

Enjoy!

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