As you can see, there are many more to come. Bambino has been taking naps in front of our fan.
I made this recently for a gal who I met at a farmers market. I plan on making a similar one to use as a sample in my booth...I think having a visual will be good.
This is my 100th post...a landmark I reached much sooner than I would have predicted. Blogging has given me both a sense of accomplishment and anticipation. I look forward to documenting what I've done, made, grown...another benefit has been blogging giving me a way to show friends and family what I do "out there in the country". Blogging and reading other people's blogs has been inspiring...the connection I feel to other people who sew and garden keeps my ambitions feeling fresh.
I made sour kraut with the cabbage that grew in my garden...this was my first time attempting to can a vegetable, I've just tried fruits and chutneys at this point.
I used the sani-rinse cycle on my dishwasher...the alternative would be boiling the jars in a water bath.
Then I cut my cabbage into small pieces. To start, I had four large purple cabbage heads and two small green heads (I forgot to take a picture before this step - oops).
Once the cabbage was cut I put the lids into a kettle of water - the water doesn't need to be boiling, just hot.
This is also a good time to fill up the canning kettle and get it onto the stove, it's quite a bit of water so it will take a while to boil.
Then the cabbage was stuffed into the jars. I pushed it down to make sure it was tightly packed in.
The next step was to put a teaspoon of salt (I use sea salt) and a teaspoon of sugar into each jar. It is okay just to dump it on the top, it will dissolve in when the water is added.
After this, I put a teaspoon of vinegar into each jar - I used half each of white vinegar and apple cider vinegar, but using either one alone would work also.
An optional step is to put pickling spice into the jars as well - I happen to like it quite well. I also put about 5-7 peppercorns into each jar.
Water is the next step, pour hot water into each jar up to it's neck.
Place each lid on a jar then screw on the lid rings.
Put the jars into the canning kettle and boil with the lid on for 25 minutes (about 5 minutes longer if you live at a high elevation).
Remove the jars from the canning kettle and listen for the pop they make as each jar seals.
This sour kraut is supposed to sit for at least 8 weeks before it can be used to get a proper fermentation,...this should be just in time for Octoberfest! My inner German girl is definately excited!
Images of celebrating two years of marraige: Sunflowers for the vase in my kitchen, a single romantic rose for my bedside, red salt container from Le Crueset, blue dress with yellow shoes, linen on the husband, new music on the iPod, favorite Bellingham restaurant, rosemary lemonade and sunglasses at dinner time, the best damn pizza in the state of WA.
Remember how I shared that I'd learned that cilantro and corriander come from the same plant? Well, here are the first of the corriander seeds from one of my cilantro plants.
Our wedding was held on the beach in front of a house we'd rented in the small town of Hau'ula on the windward side of the island of Oahu. 
The last picture is from today, July 22nd.
My dear husband loves a good list, he is the type that feels like much more has been done when he's made a list. So here my dear, is a little gift for you, a list of places we've been together...I'm sure I've forgotton some places so I'll have to go back and edit the list as I remember (or as you point out what I've forgotton!)
Las Vegas, NV - November 2005
Whistler, BC - January 2006
Southern/Central Coast CA - January 2006
Washington DC - April 2006
New Orleans, LA - May 2006
Portland, OR - June 2006
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho - July 2006
Leavenworth, WA August 2006
Victoria, BC - August 2006
Las Vegas, NV - October 2006
Oahu, HI - November 2006
Whistler, BC - January 2007
Portland, OR - February 2007
Breckenridge, Colorado - February 2007
Oahu, HI - April 2007
Oahu, HI - July 2007
Whistler, BC - August 2007
Las Vegas, NV - October 2007
Whistler, BC - November 2007
Portland, OR - December 2007
Lake Chelan, WA - March 2008
Washington DC - April 2008
Oahu, HI - April 2008
Southern CA - May 2008
England, Italy, France, Germany - July 2008
Whistler, BC - 2008
Cancun, Mexico - November 2008
Whistler, BC - December 2008
Lake Tahoe, CA - December 2008
Park City, Utah - January 2009
Mammoth, CA - February 2009
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - April 2009
New York City - April 2009
Oahu, HI - June 2009
Our four years together have been busy! These years together have also been full of fun, lessons learned, many goals set and some of those goals met, new skills learned, bad habits broken, laughter, tears, family, friends, airports (!)...mostly these years together, especially the last two, have been years when I've felt more loved than ever before in my life. I never imagined that someone could love me so deeply, quirks and all, and that I'd feel that same kind of love for him.
I've never [successfully] grown peppers before...so understand that spotting this gorgeous peppers the other day brought me joy. I have seven different types of peppers growing in the garden right now, these are by far the furthest along. Can't wait until next month when it's time to start bringing everything inside!
From time to time the eaves of our house become the home to families of yellow jackets. When the weather warms up and we start spending more time outside, these little creatures become an issue and their homes have to be removed. Usually these evictions are taken care of by the husband. Once their nests are no longer inhabitated, I like checking them out. I guess the geometry teacher in me likes seeing natures examples of regular hexagons...just how do those little guys know exactly how to build such intricate nests? I suppose questions about the architectural abilities of yellow jackets are better left to a biology teacher to answer.
Today we have a family reunion taking place at our house for some of my husband's extended family. This will be my first time meeting many of the folks coming, though I have met a few over the past several years at different events and holidays. When they have had reunions before, they took place in Oregon with a different family member hosting. In years past they had a multi-generational baseball game. We decided to do things a little differently, the husband's idea was to make a 9-hole golf course over our field. We've collected old golf clubs and balls from nearby junk stores. For each hole we bought metal construction stakes and I sewed hole flags from felt. 
It was pretty easy, just two layers of felt sewn around some heavy interfacing. Each flag has a number sewn on. Originally I thought I'd do all of the flags in white with black numbers. But, I love color! 
I think they turned out quite nice!
The husband and stepson weren't home when I finished the flags, but they'd already set out the stakes...so I decided to suprise them by having the flags on when they returned.
Figaro decided to join me at the 3rd hole, he likes going for walks around the field with us. Bambino was out with me too, it didn't take long before the two of them were chasing around the field...the shot makes me laugh, that's pretty much an everyday sight around here. At least these days it's all in good fun for both of them, that wasn't always the case...
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