i have to say...

pinteresting things...

***It's time to start eating salads.  Yeah!

***Texty Churn Dash?  Yes!

***Cute hair.

***True words.

***Cute and curvy pinwheels.

***Funny.

***Pamper your hands.

Have a great day!

pinteresting stuff!

*I am loving the look of these quilts with color as the solid--rather than white!

*My kids love waffles.  Need this mix!

*No I don't!

*Loving these colors.

*I do love this picture.  Nice hexies and colors!

*I want to paint my living room!  And buy  new furniture.  And accessories...:)

Have a great day!

playing with marmalade

Oh goodness, I just love Marmalade!  The fabric line, that is!

These prints are just so sweet and fun to play with.

Some friends and I got together to make spaghetti sauce on Friday and while each batch simmered for 2 hours, we sewed.

So we came away with 32 quarts of sauce and a little pile of hourglasses.

Honestly, I don't know what these will become (a wallhanging or table runner, maybe), but I hope to sew some progress soon.  Also, I will be back with a finish on Wednesday.

A finish.  Can you believe it?

What about you?

Are you working on anything these days?

PS---The complete Marmalade Collection is listed in my shop.  Bundles coming soon!

who doesn't love muffins?

My boys love muffins!

Of course they do, since teenagers pretty much live on carbs, isn't that right?  Carbs and peanut butter.  And a little bit of candy thrown in for good measure.

When I make a batch of muffins, I have to hide them.  Or they get eaten too quickly.

Here is one of our favorites:

Raspberry Muffins:

Mix together in a bowl: 1 egg, 1 cup milk, 1/4 cup oil, 2/3 cup sugar

Mix together in another bowl: 2 cups flour, 3 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. salt

Mix together the contents of both bowls until well blended.

Add: one cup of frozen or fresh raspberries.  Stir until combined.

Pour batter into a greased muffin pan and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Serve and enjoy! 

12 buckets o' tomatoes

A friend and I went crazy in a tomato field on Saturday.

Not really, but you would have though that's what we were doing.  

We picked 264 pounds of these lovelies and brought them home to be processed.  Along with 50 pounds of onions.

Throughout the picking process we pondered whether or not the spaghetti sauce was really necessary, or whether a winter without tomato soup would be that bad.

But we persevered.  And stuck with it.  And picked 'em all!

All 12 buckets.

Now all we need to do is process them.

No big task, right?

Hmmm...wrong.

But still fun.

Progress pictures coming soon!

Have a great Monday!

more for the pantry

A few jars of Pickled Green Beans now reside in the pantry.  Not sure how these taste yet since they need some curing time for the flavors to come together, but I have high hopes.

I used a recipe very similar to this one.

Are you canning anything this year?

tis the season...

...to can things!

My canning-friend and I made some canning plans yesterday.

We won't really get going for a couple of weeks, but pretty soon we will be up to our ears in tomatoes and onions and all manner of produce.

Part of the fun of canning is the visiting part.

It's a time when you can accomplish something AND solve the world's problems, all on the same day.

Doing stuff like this is better than therapy!

Have a happy day!

things of pinterest

*Amber made this beautiful quilt top!

*Masala Roasted Potatoes.  Sounds great!

*I love this Wonky Pinwheel Tutorial.  Such a great block!

*If you need to spice up your blog pics, click here.

*Rita's Seaside Quilt Top is just great!

Have a wonderful day! 

47 quarts of pickles

Yes, my friends and I made 47 quarts of pickles yesterday!  

Crazy, I know!

We split the the jars between us so I came home with 20.  It's the perfect number to get our family through the whole year.  I don't actually water-bath mine since we like them crisp (like Claussen), so we have a refrigerator in the garage pretty much devoted to pickles.

The pickle-fridge is now stocked!

This is the first of this year's canning adventures.  Next up is tomato soup, veggie soup and salsa. The soups are especially nice to eat in the middle of winter when fresh produce is in short supply.

I love that fall is coming, but it's sad to say goodbye to summer.  It's been a fun one, but I sure look forward to leaves changing colors and cooler days.  Fresh-picked apples are something to look forward to also!

I wish you the loveliest of days!

 

i climbed 2,744 stairs!

I can finally say that I have climbed the Manitou Incline (Click on the link to see great pics of the incline.  My camera phone just didn't catch how things really looked)!

The incline is almost one mile long, it gains 2,000 feet in elevation, and there are 2,744 steps to take to the top!

Actually, there is a "false summit" at the 2,122nd step, and I admit to having to sit down and make a readjustment to my thoughts.  All I could think was that I had known I could make it here----but totally surprising, there were over 500 steep steps left.  Giving up was NOT an option, but I had to sit there until my mind got on board with the plan.

Isn't it funny how life is just so much about the way we think?

I kept thinking that "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me" all the way to the top!

And I did it.

And did I mention that I ran all the way down the trail (it's about 4 miles long!).

Let me say that on Saturday and Sunday my legs were killing me.  Advil was my ever-present friend!

But I will also say that there are fewer things that feel physically impossible to me now. If I can climb the incline, then maybe I can run a 1/2 marathon...or maybe even a full one!

Sheesh! I love how a little bit of success just creates the drive for more!

Have a wonderful day!