the sky is pink

Tomorrow is Mason's birthday and party. We have been busy beavers getting ready for his first "friends" party. (Poor guy, with a birthday right before school starts, it is always too hectic to pull together a real party. But this year I promised him. And, as crazy as it is in my house, I am so happy that I kept my promise.) He's having an old-fashioned birthday celebration. Details are forthcoming. "So much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it." (Anyone recognize that famous quote?)

In the spring I planted six jalapeno plants. One was promptly eaten by a critter, which left me with five. I guarded those plants with my life. That is, if you include the cut hair from my boys' head as being part of my life, which I totally do because I gave them life. Anyway .... Our plants are literally popping with jalapenos and I'm in heaven. I picked a colander full just this morning to pickle. I have at least this many jalapenos still on the plants. And I'm drying a few. I tossed in a few cayenne peppers, too. (A lot of our cayennes are still green.) My house is filling with pepper fumes and sometimes I can feel it in my throat and it makes me cough. * Ooh! And notice the yellow pear tomatoes? They were a garden surprise. Over near our mint patch (which is now also a strawberry patch), I noticed a few volunteer tomato plants. Two were yellow pears and two or three are cherry tomatoes. I just love how Mother Nature works with the artful calculation of plants re-...

So much yummy stuff is coming from the garden these days. These are the days that I love. Love, love, love . I often eat roasted veggies for lunch and as a side for dinner. And sometimes on the same day. This day I had cherry tomatoes, sweet yellow peppers, potatoes, onions and jalapenos. I can't simply get enough tomatoes or tomato sandwiches in my system. I love tomatoes on toasted bread with salt and mayonnaise. I don't use mayonnaise often, but it's almost a necessity on tomato sandwiches. However, that being said, have you ever tried it with homemade pesto? Wow. I don't know which I love more. Some days I wish my belly could hold more. Last week (in the midst of our family room remodel) I roasted bunches of tomatoes both cherries and romas . I turned some into roasted tomato sauce that will be used in soups and such this winter. I just roasted them and ran them through my food mill. (One of the food mills I used to make baby food.) And homemade pesto and mar...

Nearly two years ago I mentioned I wanted to get new sofas for our family room. I was waiting until the last of the children (Sawyer) was potty-trained. And then I waited until we had some extra money and well, here we are. With new furniture. Getting new furniture isn't about only getting new furniture. It means new paint, new curtains, new pillows and throw blankets (those might be awhile), and everything else. Because surely you can't put new furniture in a room that has been lived in by six children. It would be sacrilege. So, the four big boys were off to camp, again , this past week. (My mother jokingly says that I am trying to find every way to get rid of my children this summer, which is not true, but it seems to have worked out that way.) We wanted to surprise them with new furniture, so we ordered it and had it delivered while they were away. We made pinky promises with Spenser and Sawyer that they wouldn't tell the surprise to the boys when we picked them up on...

I bought a pack of men's white undershirts a while back with the idea of repurposing them. One of the first things I made was a cover-up/dress for Spenser. It's very similar to the bandanna shirt I showed last week, except it's longer. I used the original hem of the shirt for the hem of the dress and serged all exposed raw edges. The first day she wore it, she belted it. All on her own. (I just love her style.) Sadly, I made her go change her clothes because we were going berry-picking and I knew how it could end. (And, sadly, after she wore it, it was misplaced for several weeks. It was later found with some of my white tees.)

Since my serger and I are friends, again , I decided I should spend some more time with her. I was looking for a quick and easy project. My sewing time has been limited this summer with all the kids home. (My house is a constant mess even though I am constantly tidying. You seriously do not want to use my bathrooms if you come to visit. There are too many boys here full-time right now and I can't keep up ... The week they were all at camp was the week my house was at its cleanest this summer.) Anyway, I had some assorted bandannas lurking around my sewing area from past projects of skirts and shorts . I grabbed two pink ones and got to work. I did a rolled hem around all the exposed edges and then sewed it together at the shoulder and side seams. I left the bottom untouched. I added a pink vintage button with a bit of velvet ribbon and it was complete. I found her a few days later wearing it with a set of wings. I love that girl.

We've had a few busy weeks. Taylor and Carter went to Boy Scout camp one week. The following week Jackson attended Cub Scout Day Camp all week and Taylor and Carter volunteered all week. The next week all four big boys went to summer camp . All four boys. (Thanks to Operation Purple.) Then we went on vacation. It's been wild and crazy this summer, but so, so much fun. In the past week we've hiked several times, including a mountainous five-mile hike. Sawyer never complained until the last half-mile or so. His poor little legs and feet were tired, but he was a trooper. We geocached, as we hiked, in the mountains and by the lake. The kids swam and played in the lake. We took the troop canoeing twice. Spenser found a seashell fossil in the lake. We kept telling her she wouldn't find any shells and she proudly found this "shell." After a quick inspection, I realized it was a fossil and she felt like a rock star and impressed her brothers. We set out to take th...

I love skirts. But that's not new news. (I think I need to count the skirts in my closet again. It's been awhile. Thanks for the reminder, Jessi .) I have been thinking a lot about knit skirts lately. I see them often on other people, but with my long legs, it's always difficult finding anything to fit the lower half of my body that is long enough. That goes for pants and skirts. No one really wants to see any one's butt hanging out of a skirt. I just wish more people realized that. I ran into the fabric store to buy a zipper for a dress I want to sew and came out with some knit fabric. It was seriously on sale. Like $3.49-3.99 a yard. I thought it was the perfect price to experiment. I used my serger, ballpoint needles and not really any pattern. It's a basic A-line skirt with a waistband. (No, I'm not pregnant. I am trying to awkwardly take the photo myself.) And, had my serger not been acting up again, it would have taken only minutes for each one. But if...

Yes. I still sew. I hadn't sewn in awhile because my serger and I had a falling out. I said some things I shouldn't have and she wasn't very happy with me. I decided it was best that we both part our ways and take a breather from each other. And it was the right thing to do because now we're friends again. Last Saturday we were invited to my aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary party. It was a casual afternoon luncheon at a local Irish Pub/Restaurant. (My cousin's wife is the manager there.) Just the night before I decided I should wear a new skirt. I guess it's hard to see, but it's made from a vintage sheet . The skirt is a basic A-line with a tie waistband and zipper. I think I did a rolled-hem along the bottom. (I can't remember.) I wore it Saturday to the luncheon, Sunday to church, and Monday for a town meeting.

So a friend stopped by yesterday while I was making a batch of strawberry-rhubarb jam . I was trying to convince her how fun and easy it is to can your own fruits, veggies and jam. I know I was a little distracted while I was working, because I was trying to carry on an adult conversation at the same time. So, when I noticed some random rhubarb floating around the water bath just seconds after dunking the jars, I wasn't worried. I assumed I was too distracted to remember to put a ring on one of the jars. When I pulled the jars out of the water, they all looked fine ... from the top. I dunked the jars again and I saw more rhubarb floating about. I pulled the jars back out and discovered that one of the jars had broken. It was a clean break. Well, clean as is no miscellaneous shards of glass to contend with. Not clean as in a whole pint of strawberry-rhubarb jam floating around a pot of boiling water ... I'm not sure if I convinced her how fun and easy canning is. I did tell h...

So yesterday I decided to make a strawberry-rhubarb pie. (I actually went to the produce market and bought more rhubarb . I tell you, my obsession runs deep .) Anyway, all was well and fine while I was baking the pie. With only ten minutes left of baking, I removed the foil from the edges of the crust. I came back in a few minutes later and removed the pie from the oven. It had bubbled over in the oven. I was annoyed about the mess, because in May the same thing had happened right after I had cleaned the oven and I really loathe dirty ovens. (And microwaves! Don't get me started on that one.) I had a "rustic raspberry pie/tart" in the oven on a small baking sheet, but it needed a little more time, so I turned on the timer and walked away. When I came back in, the inside of my oven was on fire. At first the flame was small, like a candle. Then it grew to about 10-12." Smoke was billowing out of the oven. I was freaked out a bit and freaked the little ones out a bit...

Last week was a regular old jam-week at our house. We've been finding great deals on fruit, either very inexpensive or free. We started with apricot jam. Apricots at the produce market were 99 cents a pound. I bought a bag and made jam. It was such a hit at the house, I bought another bag and made a second batch. (When I made the second batch, I invited two of my nieces over to help/watch the process. One niece is working on her Knowledge Value Project for church. Last fall I taught her how to draft an A-line skirt pattern and sew it. And last winter I taught her how to make soap w hen I was making it for Christmas .) And then we made raspberry jam with all the raspberries we picked for free . The kids loved doing a toast/bread sampler testing both varieties at the same time. Then, while at the store, I noticed bing cherries were $1.99/pound, which is really cheap for bing cherries. So I picked up two big bags. Joe loves cherries and we can only afford to buy them when they a...