elliemoon

NEW CHANGING PADS!!

i'm hoping those two exclamation points helped you get a little excited over changing pads. it's a stretch i know. really it's more about the fabric. i love these two new fabrics. my friend meghann has me hooked on this red and blue color combination. i may have to steal her living room design when the kids have grown out of drawing on the walls and defacing furniture. wonder when that will be::

little chicks! just finished another one of these that's going out to a special someone. i've got to get myself to the post office!

happy long weekend :) 

 

G BIV HEXIPUFFS

i finished knitting up my three skeins of hexipuff yarn::

around the same time i ordered those colors, i ordered some additional skeins from knit picks. i got a little more stroll hand painted sock yarn and also some stroll tonal, which is perfect for little pops of color. i've been knitting up hexipuffs all summer trying to get to that tonal. finally i was able to wind some up and start knitting. beginning at the end of the rainbow::

one year down and still a work in progress. i kind of forgot about the hexipuffs over the winter. this coming winter will be different. these are only three of about four more tonal colors and a couple more hand painted. i have the skeins positioned right in the front of my crafting cabinet to serve as motivation. so far it's been working. knit, knit, knit, etc.

 

STRAWBERRY SHERBET?

that's what i thought i was making. turns out the words "sherbet" and "sorbet" can look a lot alike after a 10 hour day of work and a slight case of insomnia. of course it wasn't the wine!::

a strawberry heart::

do you see it, or is it just the insomnia again? either or, moving right along::

at this point, as i was wrapping it to chill overnight, i was thinking "wow, that's all there is to sherbet? incredible! so easy, and so few ingredients, how did i miss this?" then the next morning i tasted the mix. interesting, tasted just like sorbet. maybe the real magic happens in the machine?::

turns out my machine can't turn sorbet into sherbet. however, this sorbet was very very delicious and fresh. next time i look for a sherbet recipe, i will do so in the morning, after a shower and a strong cup of coffee.

find the recipe for this delicious strawberry sorbet here. and yes, i had the printed out recipe in front of me, bold-faced title and all, during the entire process. 

 

THEY'RE NO JOKE

another house plant installment. big b found venus fly traps for the boys in new york and brought them home. the boys were elated and started distilling water and setting up designated light spots for them. we were pretty surprised when they both flowered::

such cool little plants. we wondered if the occasional house fly would be safe. then kai found a closed trap::

looks suspicious right? we put some light behind it and there it was::

a spider! it looks like a yellow sac spider to me. which we have plenty of. a few days after taking these pictures, kai's plant had caught three more! so crazy! and so entertaining. i've got to pick one up for the fruit flies in the kitchen. i'm getting a bit tired of the catch and release approach.

 

 

FROZEN DELIGHTS

a while back i wrote a post about freezing drop cookie dough. someone was nice enough to leave a suggestion and wherever you are laura, i thank you. many times over. i thank you!

here's the gist of it: bake some drop cookies and freeze a dozen or so just after they are baked. i always thought that this wouldn't work. that somehow they would get stale in the freezer and defrost into a crunchy rock. oh how wrong i was! twenty minutes on the counter and they are chewy and delicious and taste like you just pulled them out of the oven that morning! i tried first with the ultimate chocolate chip cookies and now i never make a batch without freezing three or four dozen. i put a little parchment in between and squeeze out as much air as possible. okay, i suck it out. vacuum sealing, it works!::

here's an additional tip, watch very closely::

now no one will ever know about your precious, secret cookies. they will be there when you need them. you know the days i'm talking about.

after realizing i could freeze my favorite chocolate chip cookies, i felt it was necessary to make sure it would work with all of my favorite drop cookies::

those are the oatmeal raisin cookies and oatmeal coconut cookies, respectively. and they both work just as well in the freezer. if you have enough empty gardenburger boxes, or used frozen vegetable bags, you can have a variety of homemade cookies with your coffee without really lifting a finger. it's the little things.

cookie baking has become that much more rewarding. i can usually freeze a few dozen without anyone even noticing they're missing. perfecto. in short, i love laura.

 

MAISY GIRL, FROM PUP TO NOT-SO-PUP

how quickly we have gone from this::

to this::

now she is loosing her puppy teeth and working through her training. and growing, growing, growing. big b says she's half way there. i guess he's right, because i can still pick her up, but i can't imagine her getting much bigger! this puppy stuff is passing in a heartbeat. no more little fluff ball! 

 

 

THE SUMMER OF BIRDIE SLINGS

i feel like i've been cutting and interfacing for birdie slings since june. i think i have been. and i still have two more in the works. i finished these two a little while ago, both gifts. in doing so, i realized i'm not so skilled when it comes to choosing fabric for others. it's a tough thing to do::

indy wanted in on the photography::

i think maybe the problem is that this is the first time i've sewn for someone other than a baby, a kiddo or myself. i'm much more comfortable with knitting gifts for the older crew. i think textures and colors are easier to pick out than patterns and prints. or maybe i just need more practice at it.

 

THE SWARMING

life has been busy as usual in the hives. our new hive is strong and ever growing, even with this season's poor nectar flow:: 

our old hive was going strong as well. so strong it decided to split itself up and start a second colony elsewhere. my first clue was a capped queen cup::

then a few strange days like this::

they always seemed to settle back down though, so i was hopeful. until i went out to the store and big b called to tell me the bee's were acting up. i assured him that they had done that a few times before and that they would eventually chill out and that was that. when i got home the hive seemed nice and quiet. "see?" i said. i was right! then i looked up::

there was no hope of capture here, as they chose a skinny branch, 20 feet off the ground and 12 inches from a power line. after a few days they took off to whatever spot they had scouted out. i was lucky enough to see them go and it was amazing. maybe not necessarily what a beekeeper hungry for honey wants to witness, but absolutely incredible. 

 

NAPPY BAG, FINISHED AND FILLED FOR UP NORTH

i finished the nappy bag i was working on. and then quickly stuffed it full of knitting projects and traveling trinkets for a road trip::

we brought maisy dog back to her home state and stayed a weekend at the bunker::

yay for a working kitchen. i think we've officially gone from "bunker" to "camp"!! :)

happy august!