Cheese Wafers with Basil

These are so completely awesome! They taste like Cheez-Its but they're homemade with basil from my garden and local butter, flour and cheese. The recipe is free online but I'm not giving this one away. Instead I'll bring them to every potluck with a dip or soup and everyone will love me the most!! Just kidding, the recipe is simple:
1/2 lb butter
1/2 lb sharp cheddar cheese (grated)
2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp salt
1tsp pepper 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp chopped basil

Cream the butter and cheese then mix in all other ingredients. Roll thin and cut to desired shape. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. This is the link of where I got the recipe:
Enjoy!

Foible Follow-up

So my last post...

Okay so I'm totally guilty of gross consumption as well. It was just the two different articles back to back.
The real point is we need to be mindful consumers. I had a great conversation with the owner of Canvas Works- a local yarn and fabric store in downtown Olympia about the China situation and industrial terrorism. Acrylic brought this up into our conversation and she told me that a yarn/fabric company only has to report where the material- wool, cotton, etc was produced as the materials origin rather than all the other stops it has made on the way. So an italian merino wool can be marketed as made in Italy but it spent ample time in China being dyed and spun! She said it makes it hard to track down where it's been. Some good companies are Brown Sheep and Green Mountain Spinnery- all made in the US alone. There are also great South American cooperatives like Aracuania. She also told me that a textile mill in South Carolina is supposed to open soon. They will be the only mill in the US once they open and they will offer workers a living wage.

And no, I didn't buy any yarn today.

Pass the Foible

Okay so I am usually pretty upbeat and maybe it's the heat that's getting me grouchy but man these two very different NYTimes articles just got me today.

So on one hand I'm reading about thousands of factory workers collapsing and being contaminated by toxic fumes from factories making acrylics, herbicides and rubber. It's awful and the government and big business are covering it up. Read the full article here.

Then I glance at the bottom of the page and lo and behold an article titled The New Antiquarians. All about the lavish decor preference of the 'modern rebels'- sisters Hollister and Porter. I was so annoyed. Headline should read: Trust fund kids in Brooklyn go old-timey! Oh and I really love the fencing gear.
I don't know, I'm being nasty but how can we be so asleep and so self-involved AND have the newspaper reporting on it? All in the same breath. A 34 year old collapses of a brain hemorrhage on factory floor, but meanwhile a 34 year old in NY thinks it's fun to play dress up. So salacious!

I've been boycotting acrylic and most chinese products. Well, until I'm totally broke (which needs to stop) but maybe the real 'antiquarian' to report on is someone who out of good conscience chooses to buy used because of human rights atrocities and only for necessities. I really think I can pass on the 78's and velvet loafers.

Email

Guess what- the president emailed me!! Oh yeah, it wasn't in response to my email. It was a lovely description of his proposed single-payer plan. I wrote him back:

Hello and thank you for sending me an email outlining your healthcare proposition now that you've taken office. I am glad that I am on an emailing list, as I believe communication is important, I have yet to receive an email response from your staff in regard to my request to keep Montsanto off of any global hunger proposition.

So what I want to know and many others- what's up with this health care plan? Single payer? Really?! That's not why we elected you. The right wing hates this plan and the left don't like it either. Corporate interests wants business as usual. So, if everyone is going to dislike the plan in Washington, why don't you go ahead with what you proposed while running for office? Go all out, the people will be in favor of it and it works great for the military. You can even run a campaign- Healthcare- bringing democracy to America or what about this one- We need to support all of our troops, even the ones at home OR we can't have a strong army without a strong nation. This would be great- something really jingoistic to get some backing! I know it's wishful thinking and no one ever reads these emails, but like Cornel West says "You've got to speak truth to power".
Best in all,

How Much is Too Much...

We have had the hottest weather EVER! Yesterday was adorable and I'll post the video later today or tomorrow of Justin, Ulysses and I utilizing the kiddie pool to the fullest! We made limeade, set up the pool and Justin even designated a foot bath to knock the grass off our feet before entering the pool. The dog loved it and we were all a little cooler in the process. Today is the climax with an expected high of anywhere between 99 and 106. I am going to keep knitting, watch Russian Ark and probably swim in our awesome pool. I am knitting lace for the second time- the first time I gave up after an hour of frustration. My new strategy to complete this beautiful scarf is to write out the chart directions. This way I can still daydream, watch movies or listen to a book on tape while I work away.

So today is my brother-in-laws birthday. This is a good thing and he is a nice guy. The bad part is that my husband never mails his family gifts. He's always late and we always have everything ready to go. I refuse to manage this part of his life because it would be a lot of nagging and I figure his people have known him a long enough time to know it's not a reflection on me!! However, I am off this summer and I think I need to take direct action.

Anniversary Gift in Kureyon

So this year Justin asked me what I wanted for an anniversary gift. I knew I couldn't afford anything lavish for him and that he really liked a sweater pattern in one of my Interweave Knits magazines. I've only made him a pair of socks and he really didn't like the texture of the knit on his feet, so when I heard I could make something for him I was really excited. Okay, so enough back story- for my anniversary gift I wanted Justin to go into the yarn shop with me (too adorable) and pick out yarn for a sweater I could make him for his anniversary gift. He is really good with color and he gravitated toward the Noro Kureyon which is what I used to make a cardigan this winter for myself. He wanted a lot of color and some funky contrasts- like one bright sleeve. This is weird because anyone who knows Justin knows he usually has on only gray, black or brown or navy. I think it'll help cheer him up in the winter (at least it will help us find him in a snow storm)!!

I finished this sweater on Sunday and did all the finishing yesterday. It fits him good and I think it will look really nice on him. This was a cute sentiment~maybe next year I can do it again!

Note contrasting arm and the top of the neckline

Comparison of the two sleeves

The yoke

Lastly the funny sleeve again!

Summer Bounty and the Beast!

Okay so last night I started thinking about how I neglect to eat leafy greens on a regular basis (daily). So I woke up this morning determined to hit up the Farmer's Market for some good stuff. I had a great time, I bought blueberries, Swiss chard and purslane and cool-robby (kohlrabi) as well as squash flowers.

Lo and behold, what gets cooked first? Stuffed squash flowers!! What a beast! I couldn't wait to get them home and stuff them with cream cheese, cheddar and chives and then fry those bad boys. They're really good though and I think Justin will like them.

Cate inspired me to eat radish sandwiches with butter, so I'll stuff that with the purslane and some cool-robby. That might be a bit healthier.

Seeds

This summer I've been reading Heaven, by Joni Eareckson Tada. My mom read this book while she was visiting Olympia awhile ago. In it Joni compares acorns being totally unable to fathom being a tall oak tree to what our earthly 'selves' will be to our heavenly bodies and yet still being totally ourselves (p.38).

The scripture she references is First Corinthians 15:42-44 "The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body." She highlights that the 'it' in this verse is still the same 'it'.

Since reading that I haven't been able to shake off that I'm just a seed of what God has in store for me. I like this comparison and I find it hopeful when I think about my flaws and weaknesses. We should be steadfast like little seeds moving onward to fulfill a greater purpose. It's just hard to see sometimes beyond all this stuff we invade our lives with.

New Regime

This is a lemon sponge cake I made from allrecipes.com. It tastes great and was super simple to make- however it's a little flat!

So to defeat the purpose of my workout regime I bake and cook and knit all day. I really want to finish Justin's sweater but I seriously can't watch another show on Lifetime.com. You have to get up every break to make it full screen (terrible) and the dog and cats are super needy. I think I'll need to get disciplined and just ignore them.
Oh yeah, the workout regime is going strong, but today was drizzling and I couldn't focus watching Justin standing in the rain with the dog this morning. So, I set up a full length mirror in the garage, brought my jump rope and danced/jump roped for 30 minutes. It was super fun and I think I prefer this to running. In fact, I know I do. This was a great start to the day!
Now if only I can keep out of the kitchen...

Random Postings

How many people does it take to change a baby?

This was a good botched together meal on Sunday. It's couscous, zucchinni and yellow squash, chopped roma tomatoes with a balsamic reduction over a bed of lettuce with mozzarella shavings on top. The zucchini, squash and lettuce is all from my garden.

Well, today is day 3 for summer task elimination. On the agenda is running and knitting- my goal is to finish Justin's sweater today or tomorrow. We didn't really do much this weekend which is nice because during the great house rush of '09 that was all we did every weekend.

One radical thing we did was go to a crust punk party. The hosts of the party, Justin and I were the oldest people there by far and instead of being my usual critical self I had a great time. Crust punk kids never change, they always look like crust punk kids- washed out black, future/apocalypse hair cuts and all the props- someone brought a dog! One of Justin's friends said they looked like extras from Waterworld!! It was fun though, they were cute and I really enjoyed the only band we stayed in the basement to watch. We had to evacuate because one of the crusties pushed in front of Justin and I and then farted (big time).

Something's Got to Happen

Okay, so for the past two years- since I quit smoking, there has been a weird duo of emotions. My increasing weight and feeling really healthy and great have sort of been a superhero team that follow me around. These are their justifications to their positions.
Team Batman- the pros:
My weight is in a healthy BMI range- 22.3 and my doctor tells me there is nothing to be concerned about, the weight is good, the cholesterol is good and my blood pressure is good. I feel really great, I am skateboarding often and walking the dog daily. This is a lot more cardio than I ever got when I was a smoker. We eat so much healthier than two years ago when a lot of our food was convenience-type food.
Team Penguin- the cons:
I am soft! You know when you are a smoker, whether it's true or not you feel kind of edgy. It's true, most people hate your habit but some really back you up- it's like a little club. So I'm not edgy anymore and I weigh like ten pounds more than I did two years ago! So now I'm soft and fluffy! I also have a really weird perception of my physical stature, so if my husband glances at my stomach or my legs I automatically ask defensively what he's looking at. I perceive a huge neon sign pointing out my flaws above my head. This is the worst part, because I am self conscious about my weight it's with me everywhere. I feel guilty because I get hungry or because I want to eat at a certain restaurant for lunch. It's so stupid and I've got to get rid of the Penguin.

So the plan is to lose the ten pounds and hopefully some more weight, but I'm not going to smoke and I'm not going to starve. Instead I'll just do more, I heard smoking burns 200 calories a day. That's what I've got to do consistently. I am posting all this so I can better understand what's going on with my psyche and I'll feel a little more accountable. Tomorrow begins my running regime. There is a school by my house with a great track, so every morning I'll go running around it for 30 minutes. I know I won't be able to run the entire time, but I'll mix it up with some speed walking. We'll see what happens. I think if I'm confident with my weight it will make life nicer for myself and others. My poor husband is often the target of this behavior.
However, in accordance with this I am also declaring a freedom from being guilty about food. If I am hungry I am not going to be ashamed. This mean machine needs fuel!!

Okay, according to Health Status ( an internet calorie calculator)
Vigorous skateboarding for 30 minutes if you're 144lbs- like me burns 298 calories
Walking 3mph at 144lbs burns 166 calories
Running at the slowest option- 10mph at 144lbs for 30 minutes burns 587 calories
If I did all of this daily I'd burn 1051 calories. That is not going to realistically happen AND before I get my hopes up- you have to burn 30,000 calories to lose ONE pound. It's cool though- sleeping, breathing and sitting and muscle mass burn calories so I've got those secret weapons!!

This is rad. I'm not there yet with running. I did a run/walk combo with the dog that included a lap around the track- 1/4 mile and some incline. The dog is worn out which is a good indicator to me that we were moving.

A Huge Squirrel Thank You

Every morning I am honored to be able to put food in my two squirrel feeders. I do this before the day starts whether it's snowing, raining or gorgeous outside. I feed them either raw nuts, a squirrel/jay blend or black oil sunflower seeds. Every year I get a surprise in my garden- they have planted sunflowers! This is the first year I have a full size sunflower and not the little dwarf ones. Anyway, I like to think of this as a huge thank you from all my wonderful critters- squirrels, stellar jays, and scrub jays. Also the crows, chickadees and ducks (yes real ducks would fly in my yard during the spring). You're welcome little guys!

No Moss Grows Under Our Feet!

When I was a kid my mom would impulsively determine several times throughout the year that our furniture desperately needed to be rearranged. She would get going and move all of the living room furniture around. I always thought it was a little weird, but I notice that I get that way now, but instead of needing to move furniture I want to cook everything that I've been thinking about right then and there.
Today was like that. I made some lavender cookies, basil pesto and canned spiced honey as well as made mini pizzas from scratch- I topped them with caramelized onions (the ones from the farmer's market yesterday). It was a lot of fun and I got my fill of movement! Oh I also finished those socks.

This is spiced honey for adding to tea. You slice 1 lemon 5 times (six slices) and poke 2 cloves into each slice. Then you use 1 cinnamon stick for each jar and boil in the honey. It worked well, but I was hoping that the lemons and cinnamon stick wouldn't float at the top, but rather lay in the canning jars- well so far they're still floating!

This is a rad lavender shortbread made from mint and lavender grown in my garden. There is also 1 teaspoon lemon zest added. I thought it would be weird with mint, but it actually tastes great. I included a picture of the owl cut-out for D.L.
The recipe can be found at this website

Finally this is my basil pesto. This is the portion that didn't fit into my ice cube trays. I used basil, olive oil and almonds and a little salt and 4 cloves of garlic. I pretty much just eyeball it. The basil was from my garden, but I don't want to harvest my garlic just yet.
The best tip I ever got was to freeze pesto into ice cube trays and then pop them out into a plastic freezer bag. When it's time to use it you've got small sizes to work with.

Freedom!!!

These are a few more pictures of Ulysses at Lake Cushman- took me forever to post!

So we backed out of the 'Dream House 2' and that feels great! It's a really nice home and if we were going to buy one, that would definitely meet the criteria. However, Justin and I decided we want to save up some money beforehand. We would like to have 20% (J says so no PMI) but we'll see if we can get there in a year.
Upstate New York is calling our names, well it always is in the plan but we never do it. I think this savings will keep up going through with the plan of a real mini-farm outside of Rochester. I'm excited and I'm not going to look at one more house this year!

Good Salmon Blueberry Salad

I made the raddest cold salmon salad today for lunch. It was super random but I bet it's healthy! I apologize for no picture, I was on the phone with my Dad when I finished the creation and I was really hungry!

Okay so the ingredients were:
1 can of salmon- local, wild and good
1 spring onion- a small red one from the farmer's market
A squeeze of lemon
A dab of Wasabi
1 chopped Roma tomato

I then threw in about six blueberries and put a pinch of celtic sea salt on top

It was SO good. Try it while everything is in season! Oh and D. L.- you could totally make it with Tuna since you're not a friend of the salmon!!

Day 2- Mission Kind of Accomplished

Well, I finished one and a half baby socks during my time allotted to self-less knitting! There were a couple interruptions though- old students calling and the best...I bought Ulysses a swimming pool!! Only the best for my dog- I got him a 5' plastic one with a slide!! Okay, the pool is 5' in diameter, it's only like 8" deep. In retrospect I should've passed on the slide so he had more area to swim in, but it is cool. I really enjoy it as well, until he mucks it up with all the jumping in and jumping out.


This is Tank again, see I told you he is really suffering. Poor, poor noble kitty. He's always been like this though (pre-dog). Justin and I used to want to dress him up like a Vietnam Vet in front of a P.O.W. flag for our Christmas cards. He is a tortured soul...

Last Nights Dinner

So this isn't very sustainable and the only things local are the chives and fried tofu. However all ingredients were purchased from the co-op or the local asian market (that's how I justify it).




Okay so I made miso soup and avocado and cucumber sushi rolls. I use red mellow miso and begin by sauteing a little onion and garlic in the sauce pan. I then add the bokchoy and soften it up awhile. When it's ready (5-8 minutes) the miso paste, water and tofu are added. Lastly, I add green onion once it's in the serving bowls. My buddy Steven taught me how to make miso soup when I just fell off the turnip truck and had no idea what vegan was or Food Not Bombs or Cap'n Jazz. I love Steven, every time I make this dinner Justin and I end up talking about how wonderful he is and all of his Olympia adventures.
The sushi is super simple. I just buy the seaweed, sushi rice and my veggies- only one avocado and one cucumber make 5 rolls! I just spread a strip of rice on the seaweed put some chopped veggies on and roll it up. This is a good summer meal because there's not a lot of heat. Sushi doesn't really remind me of anyone, except maybe my dad or Cate when we ate sushi from Trader Joe's in the car while going to LA, but I'm not sure what we were doing. With my buddy Cate there are so many other funny foods that we've enjoyed, like STINKY SHRIMP, abscess soup, tons of weird spinach stories and flying fish sandwiches. So I guess sushi brings on quite a wide range of conversational topics!

Day 1- Mission Accomplished!

Day 1 task accomplished with the Rasta style, I'm looking a little bizarre but I don't like knit wear glamour shots.

Slouchy Rasta style profile

More conservative bottom rolled up style- this is good for keeping the ears super warm!

Okay so here is my completed project for day 1 of the knitting machine!! My mom said it's like a sweatshop- until I reminded her I get an hour for lunch!!
I took 2 serious photos of the hat to show it's versatility- one way for dorky snow wear and one way for when rocking the dreads! Just kidding I think it's super cute and I can't wait to see who gets it for a gift. This is radical yarn- it's Patagonia nature cotton, hand-dyed and earth friendly. Whoever gets it is going to luck out, it's 100% cotton so it's soft, light weight and not scratchy.

Meaningful Beauty

So first day of summer break I got sucked in to an infomercial for Cindy Crawford's Meaningful Beauty line. I don't know why, I totally didn't buy into the whole melon thing and I usually only use natural products or when I can't afford to I use nothing. Maybe it was the price, for only $30 a month I got cleanser, toner, serum, day and night moisturizers and a face mask. It was a ton of stuff and I was totally into it. I bought it and read awful reviews online about the product and Guthy-Renker. I felt stupid but I forged onward relentless in my quest for dewy skin.

The first couple days after it's arrival I was in heaven! It smelt really strong, but I used it anyway and the day lotion with SPF didn't sting my eyes and everything just was great. However after about four days of using the product my skin got patchy red and started peeling. I tried to use one product at a time per day (just toner no lotion, or just serum no cleanser) because I thought maybe it was too much goop for my skin. This didn't help either, so sadly to say Meaningful Beauty wasn't going to cut it.

The reason for this blog entry- which is pretty boring, is that online I read all these horror stories about Guthy-Renker not giving refunds and continuing to charge bank accounts. In my case this couldn't be more opposite of my experience. They were nice, they refunded all of my money and closed my account and didn't even make me send the product back in. It was quick and easy. They only weird thing was that they asked my age and weight...maybe I just don't add up to Cindy's standards!

Summer Task Eliminating Machine

Summer vacation is always cool as a teacher. You get paychecks and you sit at home contemplating all sorts of things- moving, haircuts, and all the plans for what should get done and never seem to. I swore this summer I'd train my dog to come when I called him, empty the litter box twice a week and cook culinary masterpieces each night and finish all my knitting projects and then some AND I'd especially resist noontime hour long baths which are really great in the summer!

Well so far I've had a lot of fun, enjoyed my time and kept relatively busy. However, after being off of work for a month this Friday I feel like I need to be more scheduled to get it all done.
My plan is to roughly follow my work schedule on the days Justin works. My primary focus is on knitting small simple items that I can gift for others, donate or sell. I take an hour for lunch to clean, play with the dog and do whatever else I need. This really helps with curbing all my eating throughout the day as well.

Today is day #1 and so far I am nearly finished with a beanie (sp) that is a Jenny Watson design form left over yarn from a sweater. It looks good and will be done tonight.

Tomorrow I plan to knit as many pairs of baby socks that I can. I have tons of sock yarn left over.
Friday I'll knit a great baby sweater that I've made three times so far this year for gifts. It's the pebble yoke cardigan from Green Mountain Spinnery and the image is on my post 'What I've Knit So Far' (I think).
I'll post pictures of the beanie from today- tomorrow and continue that pattern with what I'm working on. I'd like to see how much I can get done with all the left over yarn sitting in the garage.
My quasi-work days are Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Vive Carpal Tunnel!!

Cats 'exploit' humans by purring, by Victoria Gill

Below is a copied version of an interesting BBC News article (see title):

Cat owners may have suspected as much, but it seems our feline friends have found a way to manipulate us humans.

Researchers at the University of Sussex have discovered that cats use a "soliciting purr" to overpower their owners and garner attention and food.

Unlike regular purring, this sound incorporates a "cry", with a similar frequency to a human baby's.

The team said cats have "tapped into" a human bias - producing a sound that humans find very difficult to ignore.

Dr Karen McComb, the lead author of the study that was published in the journal Current Biology, said the research was inspired by her own cat, Pepo.

"He would wake me up in the morning with this insistent purr that was really rather annoying," Dr McComb told BBC News.

Impossible to resist: cats use sounds that humans are "highly sensitive" to

"After a little bit of investigation, I discovered that there are other cat owners who are similarly bombarded early in the morning."

While meowing might get a cat expelled from the bedroom, Dr McComb said that this pestering purr often convinced beleaguered pet lovers to get up and fill their cat's bowl.

To find out why, her team had to train cat owners to make recordings of their own cats' vocal tactics - recording both their "soliciting purrs" and regular, "non-soliciting" purrs.

"When we played the recordings to human volunteers, even those people with no experience of cats found the soliciting purrs more urgent and less pleasant," said Dr McComb.

How annoying?

She and her team also asked the volunteers to rate the different purrs - giving them a score based on how urgent and pleasant they perceived them to be.

"We could then relate the scores back to the specific purrs," explained Dr McComb. "The key thing (that made the purrs more unpleasant and difficult to ignore) was the relative level of this embedded high-frequency sound."

They learn how to do this, and then they do it quite deliberately Karen McComb University of Sussex

"When an animal vocalises, the vocal folds (or cords) held across the stream of air snap shut at a particular frequency," explained Dr McComb. The perceived pitch of that sound depends on the size, length and tension of the vocal folds.

"But cats are able to produce a low frequency purr by activating the muscles of their vocal folds - stimulating them to vibrate," explained Dr McComb.

Since each of these sounds is produced by a different mechanism, cats are able to embed a high-pitched cry in an otherwise relaxing purr.

"How urgent and unpleasant the purr is seems to depend on how much energy the cat puts into producing that cry," said Dr McComb.

Previous studies have found similarities between a domestic cat's cry and the cry of a human baby - a sound that humans are highly sensitive to.

Dr McComb said that the cry occurs at a low level in cats' normal purring. "But we think that (they) learn to dramatically exaggerate it when it proves effective in generating a response from humans."

She added that the trait seemed to most often develop in cats that have a one-on-one relationship with their owners.

"Obviously we don't know what's going on inside their minds," said Dr McComb. "But they learn how to do this, and then they do it quite deliberately."

So how does Dr McComb feel about Pepo now she knows he has been manipulating her all these years?

"He's been the inspiration for this whole study, so I'll forgive him - credit where credit's due."

Dream Home #2

We put an offer in on this one today. We are really freaked out though and it's quite a commitment. I was too excited to remember to take interior shots, but here's the outside.
Enjoy

Grapes in the enclosed garden area

The raspberry patch

Two shots of the home ( you can see part of the rad greenhouse)

The overgrown enclosed garden area complete with apple and cherry trees!


There is a ton not pictured. I didn't want to post so many, but these are the few items at the home that I totally love.

First Time Home Buyer

Buying a new home is hard work. Today I looked at two very different homes. One is livable and in town. It's the safe bet and ready for someone to live in it. I hesitate to put an offer on it because it's giving up the dream. It has a normal in town lot (much less than 1/4 acre) and it is close to the freeway. In fact I recorded the yard so you can hear it and see it.




The second home I saw is the wild card. It's outside of Yelm (40 minutes to my work taking the nonlocal route) and on a gravel road. It's 6.8 acres, very secluded and on gorgeous land with a creek. It's got a well and is on septic and has power and septic for another home to be built on the property. HOWEVER it is a manufactured home that is very gnarly. It's cosmetic but way gross. The roof was replaced 3 years ago but they did nothing to repair the ceiling, which is sagging popcorn. There are no doors on the master bedroom and the realtor assured me they were going to repair the third bathroom (no toilet seat and a brown tub). This one needs work or a new home built on it, but it more closely resembles the dream.


I have one more to look at tomorrow. It's a short sale with 2.5 acres and 1500+ square feet. This one is further from Justin's work so it has to be great to get him on board with it. We'll see what happens!!

Lastly- the pets and I

What I always look like, seriously- this expression is always on my face!!

Ibis- needs to see a dentist

Tank- needs to see a therapist (PTSD since the arrival of the dog)

Ulysses- needs more human hands to eat

Garden

I took some pictures of my garden because the corn is coming in and it's miraculous. I'm telling you- Victory Seed Company is the way to go. The dwarf corn is so cute. The tallest plant I have is about 18" and they are all producing ears of corn. The rest isn't too impressive, but this is my hands-off gardening in action via tomatoes, potatoes and hydrangeas with a pH! There is a lot left out, I'll post more as the summer progresses.

Cherries Shmerries!

At this point picking cherries is about being sticky and spiders! I am so sick of them I can't even bring myself to eat them. Here's pictures of the latest picking session. This time I am just going to freeze them for making pie and turn overs in the winter.
All you need to do to freeze fresh cherries is wash them well, dry thoroughly and place them on a cookie sheet and freeze until hard. Once they get hard you can put them in a plastic storage bag and keep frozen for a year. Just until you have to do it again!