Beach Bag

I know, I know summer is almost over, but not quite yet!!!! This is a beach bag I just finished making for my friend, Jen.

At the beginning of the summer I made this one (below) and Jen said she would love a bag like mine. Well, it took me all summer but I finally finished the second beach bag. I like making things for other people. Especially bags, because for some reason that is what I make the most of and they just end up in a pile. So this way it is not ending up in a pile. Someone may actually enjoy it!

I made the new one a little different, I can't decide which one I like better. Both originals. The first one is round on the bottom and the second is more rectangle, easier to make the insert in the rectangle. And more "Beach Bag" looking.

This one has a zipper. I like it a lot, it is a little small to fit towels and also zip up. I love to think of the possibilities. I like that I did something different with this bag because now I can figure out what my next project will be. How will I change it, what will I keep the same?

I like this pattern with the fabric behind the mesh. It is a little tedious but I like the finished product.

Off to the next project....

It's All About the Food

Many, many beans.... I finally got around to freezing some! And saved a few for roasting tonight, yum!

Tomatillo's, this is our first year of growing these. Super neat, I went to check them out yesterday and they had popped. Meaning when a tomatillo is ripe the papers pop open. So I gathered a few and....

Salsa Verde! So yummy, we had nachos last night for dinner!

Basil anyone?! I had a lot of help picking basil today.

I ended up having to make the pesto on my own.

There is an abundance of food in the garden right now. I cannot believe we will be gone next week. Hopefully everything will be patiently waiting for us when we get home!

My Babes Can Sew!

Kyra's new game is to play restaurant. She was taking orders and serving all of us the other day. She even asked me how to spell "closed" so that she could make a sign saying the kitchen is closed. It was very cute. The sign was temporary and starting to rip. So, I thought we could come up with something made for wear and tear. This is Kyra's first real sewing project, we have made a few things together, but I did all the sewing. After minimal instructions she was on her way! Here you see her sewing, yep sewing! I am so excited and very proud of her!

And of course Mae had to have her turn, we did it together. She pulled the needle through for me and put it back in...sometimes. We started and Kyra finished, she loved it.

We finished in our PJ's but what an accomplishment for her. I told her how proud I was and she got this smile...

and said "take more pictures!"

I have a feeling we will have a few sewing projects in the near future!

summertime....

It is truly summer when we have BLT's for dinner. This is the first true garden BLT of our summer. Tomatoes have been scarce due to blight this year. We still have plenty of lettuce but I picked up my CSA share today and received a bag of Arugula, yes Arugula. Bliss on a BLT, oh do I love arugula! Believe me when I say this has been a savored meal. Who knows how many BLT's we will have this summer, hopefully many more! And the cucumber salad, it reminds me of my Grandma Deike. who always had Cucumber Salad in the summer, I will include the recipe. Every summer we would go to the Duck Lake cabin, no scratch that, every chance we got we would go to Grandma Deike's cabin. So many memories, so many memories. Cucumber Salad is just one of them...

My meal of weakness. BLT, Cucumber Salad and of course Potato Chips. I say over and over I would probably be a vegetarian if it weren't for bacon, and mostly this dinner! Did I mention weakness?! I have a follower...

Kyra definitely gets a badge for the "Clean Plate Club" tonight!

And what would summer be without a plate of tomatoes to just to have!!!

Is it possible to be nostalgic for summer already?!

Cucumber Salad

4 cups Cucumbers sliced thin

3 teaspoons coarse salt

1/2 cup sour cream

1 Tablespoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1 1/2 Tablespoon chopped fresh dill

fresh ground pepper to taste

Toss sliced cucumbers and salt in colander, let strain for 30 to 60 minutes.

In small bowl mix remaining ingredients.

Combine cucumbers and sour cream mix and serve.

A Quilt to Remember

I have been very excited to get these pictures posted! I have completed my first quilt. My first post on this blog was a quilt that I had started, well that has turned into a gift to be made. And I figured I better make sure I could do this before I make a gift. So here is this process of a quilt for us...

Any little bit the girls could help they did! I think they are just as excited as I am. This seems like it should be a winter project but first of all I was so excited about it I just couldn't stop. And second it was so hot and humid here last week I couldn't stand to be outside. So, playing inside it was, fun for all!

I wanted to make a throw for the living room. We lack color in there and we are going to need something to cozy up with this winter. When I started I was just going to do 12 inch squares (which I did) but they turned into diamonds, a little more design I guess. Figuring out the size was another issue because once I got started Stephen and I discussed why not make it a queen so that it can be multi purposed. Yeah, why not :) So, it was a lot to work with, but fun at the same time. Also the size was an issue because I used an old sheet for the backing. So, it turned out a bit smaller than I would like, but I still love it!

Here it is in the living room, but doesn't it look great on the bed?!

From Garden to Table

I feel like our garden is a little neglected these days. When I walk out there it feels like there is nothing much I can do. I feel like we are still waiting for "the big harvest." We have been harvesting pretty consistantly but I was still feeling the lack of sustanibility until the other night. I made a great dinner right from the garden. Okay, so I added a few necessary items from the cupboard, but ooooh it was all so good together!

Today's Garden Pasta:
1 lb pasta of your choice (I had some tortellini and macroni)
1 tomato
3 cups basil
1 small zuchinni
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
olive oil
salt
pepper
Cut up all ingredients, place in bowl sprinkle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss. Serve.
We also had a lot of leftovers, it made a great cold pasta salad. I couldn't get enough!

I don't know why, but I didn't take a picture of the final product. Guess I'll have to do it again :)
Still putting zuchinni in everything and....
Tomatoes are coming!!!

Little Helping Hands

Saving seeds is so much fun in so many ways!
I thought I would sit down, save some seeds and watch the girls play. They thought what I was doing looked like more fun than what they were doing. So I had a few helping hands, and A LOT of Kale seeds to show for it. Next....arugula seeds!

Handmade Gifts

Gifts, gifts and more gifts....
I am now able to post a couple handmade gifts we finally gave away!

A gift is the most fun thing to make because it is for someone else. I seem to finish most of my projects that are being made for someone else. Plus, then I get the pleasure of watching them open their handmade gift. Above, I gave our girls art bags for our recent airplane ride to Minnesota. They knew about the bags, just not what was in them, and they had to wait to open them until we got on the plane. Fun for ALL! The"Art-On-The-Go-Bag" idea is from Amanda Blake Soule's Book "The Creative Family." The fabric is from Anna Maria Horner's Good Folks collection. Beautiful fabric that is finding it's way into many projects.

This octopus was made for our nephew's First birthday gift. For a beginner at crocheting it was fairly simple, a fun project for any crocheter. The pattern came from the July/Aug. 2008 Crochet Today! I hope it holds up for him.

Lastly this is the bag I made for my sister's birthday. The girls helped me pick out the fabric, because they know how much their Aunt likes purple. Fun and also simple bag to make. This pattern "I'll Have One of Everything Bag" came from Anna Maria Horner's "Seams to Me." This is my new favorite sewing book.

So, now on to the projects I am working on for myself, again why do they seem to take so much longer?

Hometown Fun

This weekend was our local Summer Festival. Carnival rides, crafts and lots of junk food!!!

I am not a big fan of fairs and rides, but from a child's point of view it must be one of the best things in the world. This was a lot of fun for them, and thier daddy, so in the end it was fun for me too!