A New Undertaking

I used to be a plant killer. Not intentionally, I just had a seriously black thumb for some reason. Shortly after we moved to Vermont though, Gabe's mom gave me a clipping from a Christmas Cactus, which has now become this great big plant that hangs over my kitchen sink, and blooms year round.

Last summer, I tried a tomato plant - my first foray into edible gardening. Last year was also the year of the tomato blight. Need I say more? It was very discouraging.

I decided to try again this year though, and to do it from the beginning, starting my own seeds and everything.

Top to Bottom: Cucumbers, Peas, Banana Peppers and Cherry Tomatoes. I garnered some information from the lovely internet to get me started - planting multiple seeds in each "cell" and thinning when you replant, keeping the soil moist and warm, and somewhere sunny. This is the amazing "greenhouse" I concocted:


Clear Rubbermaid storage container that we had in the basement, plus saran wrap and duct tape. Plus an un-pictured spray bottle to keep it all moist.

Amazingly, it all seems to be working pretty well! The cucumbers especially are coming up gangbusters. The top picture was taken 2 days after I planted the seeds, and you can already see sprouts. They're doing even better now, the only thing that hasn't sprouted are the banana peppers - maybe it's not warm enough for them?

So far, this whole venture has cost me about $7 for the seeds. Everything else was stuff we had around the house (even the dirt was left over MooDoo from last year). I plan on replanting into recycled containers (milk jugs, juice bottles, etc.), so other than needing more dirt, the future expenses should be limited. This coupled with our CSA membership this year should keep us well fed for the summer. :)

Oatmeal Raisin White Chocolate Chip Cookies

These could very well be the best cookie in the entire world. I don't make them too often, because when I do make them, I have a hard time not eating them all. Notice how the picture is only of one cookie? I wasn't trying to be artsy. By the time I realized that I should take a picture, there were very few of these bad boys left.

I just use this recipe, and add in a cup of white chocolate chips.

You should go make some right now. :)

Inspiration & Sewing

I started sewing, sort of, when I was little. I used to take old scraps of fabric my mom had and hand sew little crude dresses for my dolls. Then in high school, I took a sewing class, and used a machine for the first time, making pillows, pajama pants, easy stuff like that. In college, I used a friend's machine occasionally, and made myself a couple of very simple skirts. I always really liked sewing, but for some reason never jumped head-long into it.

Then, this past fall, I bought myself a sewing machine. It sat in my craft room for a long time, untouched. I think it intimidated me. I recently felt motivated though, by this:


It's a quilt that was made by the woman who lived across the street from me growing up, and given to me (and Ben) for my baby shower. It means so much to me, and I realized that I want to create more things like this, both for Ben and to give to other people.

I'm not quite bold enough to start with a quilt (soon though, perhaps, as I'm sick of the one we have in the master bedroom)... I went over to a friend's house about a week ago, and she was able to help me with three projects - pajama shorts for my neighbor's daughters birthday, and two pairs of pajama "Capri pants" for Ben (note to self, buy more fabric next time).







And yes, I did paint the shirts to match. I love freezer paper stenciling! I'll post on that soon.

There will definitely be more sewing projects in the future, especially since I have a dedicated crafting space in our basement now.

Craft Motivation

I have a crafting motivation problem. I love to think up ideas of crafts to make. I have been sitting at my desk all day (I'm at work and it's a holiday, therefore, no phone calls!), looking at great websites and making a list of things I want to make, as well as a list of stuff to get on my trip to the craftstore this week.

Yet at home I have a great, fairly organized cabinet of all my craft supplies - which sit untouched too much of the time. Unless I have something that I really need to make, as in, oh no, it's so and so's birthday this weekend, and he/she needs a present, I lack the motivation. I come home from work, any time between 5 and 8:30 at night. Most nights I have to make dinner, feed the little guy, give him a bath and get him to bed, and then clean up the house. By the time I am done with all of this, I am ready to just flop on the couch for a bit, watch some TV or read, and then go to sleep.

I am going to challenge myself to do one crafty thing a day from now until Christmas. Whether it's something as simple as a pair of earrings, or more complicated like a wreath or appliqued onesie, I will do SOMETHING everyday.

On the list:
Tulle tutu (for me, for Halloween!)
Decorated magnet clothespins to hold stuff on the fridge
Cookie sheet magnet calendar for the kitchen
Halloween wreath
Halloween tree with ornaments
Paint window shade in little guy's room
DHARMA tshirt for little guy (I have the stencil all cut out, I just have to paint!)
Halloween terrariums
bat and moon cutouts for windows
giant spiderweb for front yard
Ghosts to hang from tree in front yard
Foam gravestones for front yard (I love to decorate for halloween!)
Headboard for master bedroom
3 crinkly baby ribbon blankets
3 towel bibs
3 tie appliqued onesies (Gabe's cousin had twin boys, and I have a friend who is having a baby boy soon!)
necklace pendants (since I can't wear dangly earrings anymore)
cards (I love making cards!)
fabric covered shoes
painted wooden Christmas village
christmas garlands (holiday gifts for the inlaws)
punched tin can luminaries

that's like 30 things, and I am excited about them all, so I have no idea what's holding me back!

Halloween Inspirations

Charley's Web... and other audiobooks

I spend over an hour in the car everyday, driving to and from work. A few months ago, I got sick of listening to the same songs and the same stupid talk radio shows, and decided to try some audiobooks. I had tried them a few years ago, when I was driving from Western Mass to Long Island every week for training for a job, but the amount of concentration required to drive through the amount of traffic I had to deal with was just too much, and 5 minutes would go by before I realized I hadn't heard anything the reader was saying. Now I am lucky to have a very easy commute (rural Vermont is nice that way), and audiobooks are a perfect solution to my boredom. Thankfully my local library has a pretty good selection, so they are all free!

Charley's Web is an ok story; probably not a book I would've picked up, but a decent listen. 3.5 stars.




Other Audiobooks I have enjoyed over the past few months:



Amazingly read, moving, excellent story. 5 stars



Light, "beach read". Didn't make me want to punch myself in the face, but wasn't really anything special. 2 stars



Not a waste of time, but not an amazing literary classic either. Kind of suspenseful, and very frustrating at some points. 3 stars



Another book that I never would have read on my own, since Frey's writing style is so odd. An easy listen though, even though there was all the controversy about how a lot of the info was made up. Whatever. 4 stars

I'll Never Be Long Gone

I picked this book up at the library because I was hungry and the food on the cover looked delicious (better than going to the grocery store hungry, I suppose!). After reading the inside cover, it sounded like a good read. It sat on my bedside table for a couple weeks, and I finally picked it up 2 nights ago, after finishing another book I'd been reading. I read the inside cover blurb again, and, truthfully, was not that excited about it. Maybe because I wasn't hungry then, but the book just didn't jump at me like it did before. I am glad I started reading it anyways though, as it is wonderful. Greene appeals to all the senses with his words - sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound. While the characters are not as deep as they could be, I am still enjoying the story, and will probably finish it off before bed tonight!

From Publishers Weekly
The rugged, rain-lashed landscape of Eden, Vt., becomes a palpably biblical backdrop for a moving generational tale in Greene's second novel (after Mirror Lake). The Bender brothers—Charlie, 18, and Owen, 17—find their lives reshaped by the will of their formidable late father. To Charlie goes the family restaurant, Charlotte's; to Owen goes $10,000 and a directive to find himself. Greene flashes to years when Charles Sr. pitted son against son in Iron Chef–like matches—picking his successor, it's now clear. Charles's will also bequeaths his wife the freedom to return to city life, which she promptly does. Working himself to the bone in the kitchen, Charlie seeks an assistant chef, and Owen's high school girlfriend, Claire Apple, resurfaces with impeccable timing, having acquired both beauty and culinary savvy in her time away from Eden. The two fall in love, marry and have a son, Jonah, setting the stage for a smoldering Cain-and-Abel conflict when Owen returns after years of adventures. Greene's evocative descriptions of nature, food and love infuse this novel with sensuality and a nostalgia-tinged melancholy. And if Greene's reach for scriptural allegory feels presumptive, the book is redeemed by its careful consideration of the burden, and blessing, of legacy.