All over the place ....

Not sure if it's the state of the world, but for the past two (2) weeks I have not been able to focus ... squirrel!  I seem to be all over the place, not knowing what to work on and continuously wanting to start a new project ... not to mention that I've been on social media (Instagram) way more than I would like.  I feel zoned out .... I'm numbing ..... Sigh! 

On the sourdough front, Bob the Blob is doing well. 

I baked my first loaf of bread.

My oven tends to run 25 degrees hotter and I adjusted the time but not the temperature. It's darker than I would like but tastes yummy.

The recipe that I used is from King Arthur and I had to substitute bread flour (had none on hand) for all purpose. It still turned out lovely. I did notice that their recipe calls for a bit of instant yeast. That is to reduce the bulk rise time. Traditional sourdough can take up to eight (8) hours of bulk rise. This recipe called for (two) hours maximum (always depending on the temperature of your room).

On the home front, I decided to embellish my back porch with flowers, and herbs. I needed more than ever the beauty of nature in my life ... create a little oasis .... 

I may add more .... haven't decided yet ... You'll know in two weeks! I would so love to own a little farm house with at least an acre of land for gardens, as well as chickens, but at this point in time it is not in the financial plan. This will have to do for now. I love daisies!

I do have one grape tomato plant. I have not had much success with vegetables in containers ... I'm hoping the grape tomato plant will be a success.

Well, that's it for now. Today, I'm working on my motivation. Perhaps I will go in my sewing studio and organize some stuff. 

Hope you have a wonderful day! Thanks for stopping by my little corner in cyberspace. Cheers1

Aerogarden

Last week, given that we were expecting lots of warm days, I decided it was time to transplant my Aerogarden plants outside, into containers. What I had not ever considered was the root growth size.  As you can see, it's a huge mess and I had already taken out a basil and parsley plant! 

The root base was much to large to fit through the plate base. I had to cut off quite a bit of the root system.

This is what I was left with once I had taken all of the plants out of the base.

It's been a little over a week since I have transplanted the basil, chive and parsley. For a while there it was touch and go, but I think they are going to make it!

Note to self, do not allow the plant to get this size before you decided to transplant ... it's a friggen tree!

I'm enjoying my Aerogarden. What I have learned so far is that not all plants do well in that system. Oregano, chives and tarragon do not thrive in that environment. Basil and parsley on the other hand are a hit.

Thanks for stopping by. Cheers!

Gardening

 Gosh, I'm really impressed with this new toy. Check it out!

I can actually enjoy some fresh basil today with some tomatoes for lunch today.

I had mentioned how scrawny my neighbour's plants were looking. I think it was because he had never fertilized them. Well, check them out now!

 

When I transplanted them, I seriously thought they were not going to make it. Hence why there are somewhat crowded. Heck, there's a tomato plant in the middle. That plant was barely 3 inches when I transplanted it back in mid July. The Thai basil (top) smells wonderful!

I'm loving my new aeroGarden toy! I can actually start seedlings for a future in-ground garden. How cool is that?!

Thanks for stopping by! Catch you all later!

Farmer's Market

 I have now switched to working from home. I had avoided this for quite some time. I figured, working at the office would get me out of the house. But, I will admit, I am enjoying working from home. 

Because I am such a home body (what can I say I'm comfortable in my home ... it's so peaceful and there's so much to do) I have to plan outings. So ... on Saturday, I went to the Farmer's Market. It was nice to get out ... it was such a gorgeous day. 

Bought lots of locally grown organic vegetables and treated myself to a bouquet of flowers from Mossbrook Roots Flower Farm. Who knew we had a flower farm in our area.

They included Thai Basil in the bouquet, it smells so lovely!

I do hope you are taking the time to enjoy the outdoors. We have had such a lovely summer here in way upstate NY.

Thanks for stopping by. Catch you all later.

Gardening!

Indoor that is. My next door neighbour gave me his AeroGarden - he obtained it early this year. He said it wasn't his thing ... his exact words, "I'm scared of it". Wow, sure I'll take it. 

I cleaned it out and ordered the Italian Herb Garden kit. I thought I'd start with something simple, herbs. 

Nine day's later, this is what the seedlings look like.

If you enjoy gardening, it's a neat gadget. It has an app that lets you know when to fertilized and when the water is low. I programmed the light to be on from 4am to 7pm. That schedule works for me.

He had started some plants back in January that were not doing so well. So, scrawny! I don't know if they'll make it. I decided to plant those outside, in a container. What do I have to loose? I'll keep you posted. 

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

Rain, Rain and more rain!

I don't know about where you live, but here in the way northeast, I can see Canada from my shoppe, it's been raining quite a bit. Check out how green everything is.

My irises are in full bloom!

Aren't they pretty?

On the quilting front, I am still plugging away at the flying geese quilt! Would you believe that I have 300 more flying geese to make and I'll be in a position to start piecing the top?

I have decided to keep track of the number of fabrics I am using in the quilt.

They will all be glued in my Scrappy Planner .... as they are part of the quilt's story.

I cannot wait to count the number of different fabrics in that quilt!

So, what are you working on?

Thank you for stopping by my little corner in cyberspace! Catch you later! Cheers!

Zuccs up the wazooo ....!

After a 12 hour day of baking, I'm exhausted!  What a mess my kitchen was, and I'm a clean as I go cook!

After two hours of cleaning, this is what my kitchen now looks like!

Love me a clean kitchen!  Don't you dare touch anything! lol

I tried two different zucchini bread recipes.  This one is from King Arthur Flour and is called Whole Wheat Zucchini Nut Bread.

It's quite dark and that's due to my using molasses as oppose to honey.  They gave me a choice and I went for black strap molasses, which is high in iron!  The bread is good and certainly healthy!  I like this recipe but not DD.

Another bread recipe is from the website Family Food and Travel and is called The Best Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread.

This has become a favourite with DD!  I modified the recipe and added 1/2 cup of chopped walnut.... gotta love that food processor!  I have made several batches of this bread and plan on freezing it.  Of course I will send some home with whom ever comes to visit me!  ;o) Let's not forget the muffins too!

Would you be surprised if I told you that I am stuffed from tasting all of these various recipes?  I need a zucchini break!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Zucchini/ Yellow Squash Baking fest .....!

Our garden this year is doing wonderfully, especially the yellow squash and zucchini.

Most "normal" households will plant one of each .... but not this year!  After we had acquired and planted our standard one plant of each, DH was given 4 extra plants!!!!! Not just of zuccs but yellow squash!!!! This is an insane amount for a large family of 20 let alone 3!

If you miss the daily zucchini patrol, this is what you get.

Huge zucchinis!  Great for baking (I remove the center seeds as I find them too large) and not that great for stir fry!

With the over abundant harvest, we have been sharing with many of our neighbours and co-workers etc .... Hum, for some unknown reason, every one seems to be avoiding us as of late!  Could it be they have it up to their zucchinis with us?

Aside from roasting up a couple of pans a day for the girls (read chickens), which they just love, I needed to come up with some recipes I could bake.  So today is mega baking day!

My first recipe for the day is from the King Arthur Flour site and is called Zucchini Lemon Muffins.

Love this recipe!  The muffins are not too sweet, which is what I like.  Great breakfast muffin.  I did make some alteration by adding 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of white flour.  I also omitted the raisins.  I'm just not a raisin fan!  This recipe is a keeper!  I plan on making a few more batches and freezing them.

The next one is also from King Arthur Flour site and is called Zucchini Coconut Muffins.

Not crazy about this one.  It does have a glaze, but given my lack of enthusiasm, I am not about to run to the grocery store and pick up some coconut milk!

I should note that all of these recipes are whole grain!  I'm a fan of whole grain recipes!

A word of advice for those working with shredded zucchini.  This might be obvious to some, but it wasn't to me, that is, until I had baked my first batch.  Shredding brings out the water in the zuccs, so this is how I deal with it.

I just let it drain!  Yes, this is another batch that will go into baking!  I will be freezing some in packs of 2 cups, but there's only so much frozen zuccs a family of 3 can handle.

So ... Watch out everyone, I'm coming over with baked zucchini goods!

Catch you later with another zuck post! ;o)

The beauty of it all......!

It is hard to believe that fall is quickly approaching! The leaves on some of the trees have already started to turn their magnificent colours.

Here last week we had the most amazing sight!


The picture does not do it justice! The colours were so vibrant!
I hadn't seen a double rainbow since I don't know when! I cannot say, "since I was a kid" because, well I don't think I've grown up yet. lol

Adulthood is so over rated, who needs it! ;o)

I love nature!

Speaking of nature, our vegetable garden has been quite productive this year.

Last year, the tomato blite claimed most of our potential harvest. Thankfully this year it has not been the case. There is nothing like a fresh home grown tomato! Beats store bought anytime!

Hubby has been busy drying, as our supply of garden fresh sun dried tomatos has been exhausted.

On the quilting front, you will be astonished at the amount of quilting I have been doing! It's always a great feeling when you have completed a project!

Tah dah!

Machine quilted and all! Yes, I've been enjoying play dates with Penelope!

The pattern is called Park Avenue by 3 Sisters. It's a free pattern on the Moda site under the Fun Stuff heading. You can access the pattern here.

There's something to be said for a quilt that does not have borders. It's probably psychological, but it feels like a quick finish! ;o)

It will make a nice sample for the shoppe!

Thanks for stopping by! Keep well!

A rainy day!

What have I been doing this weekend you might ask? No school work that's for sure and I don't even feel guilty!

Our guild, The Champlain Valley Quilter's Guild of New York, is having a show on October 6-7, 2007 and I have decided to enter some of my quilts. Of course Pat really made it easy for all of us by taking pictures during show and tell and handing members a copy of the submission form with a photo of the quilts we presented! So there are 3 (three) quilts that I will be entering that the guild has seen and another 3 (three) that they have not! This involves getting labels done and putting on sleeves. So that's how I've spent my Saturday.

I know I'm repeating myself but I really love my Bernina Designer Plus software. I have been experimenting and creating labels left right and center!

I am so comfortable with this software that it's getting scary! No I won't digitize my picture and send you a bag with my face one it! lol

My friend Cheryl from Oz even suggested jokingly that I digitize Leanne's hand embroidery blocks from a Quilter's Journey and have my machine do it for me. ROFL

Hey, of course NOT!!!! But you get an idea how comfortable I am with it! lol

And for those of you who are curious as to how our cherry tomato plant on steroids is doing

Stephen just thinks the plant is insane. It doesn't seem to know when to stop. Unless we get the big, and I do mean big ladder out, there's no way we can get to those cherry tomatoes!

Just this morning DD was saying how she can pick tomatoes from her bedroom window! I don't know, are we beating a record or what? I have to admit it is the first year that it's been that prolific! Even the tomato plant on the right is doing extremely well!

The amount of fresh tomatoes we have this year is phenomenal! Stephen is presently making a big batch of chili with fresh tomatoes.

I hope you are having a wonderful quilty day. I'm off to get more labels designed for my quilts!

Have a great day every one!

Life and Cherry Tomatoes on Steriods!

Well I don't have much to blog on! Watch, I say this and this will be a long post! lol Don't you just love Murphy's law?

Tuesday, Jennifer from Tilted Mountains, came over for a bite and some conversation. Oh alright, I had to bribe her with a cold Corona and lime! lol Just kidding!

I had an opportunity to talk with her one on one, something I had not had the occasion to do. We finished our get together in my sewing room chatting away about quilting, quilt shops, what works and what doesn't. Sometimes I think I would like to own a quilt shop! One day I'll know what I want to do when I grow up! Focus Carole, focus!

Sharon has been lamenting about her tomato plants and how they are not performing as she anticipated. So I thought I'd show off my 1 (one) cherry tomato plant. As you can see it is more than 7 (seven) feet tall. It has already started to produce lots of delicious tomatoes.

So Sharon, I think you do need to get yourself a pair of those farmer overalls, billy boots and a pitch fork. That may do the trick!

On a serious note, I wish I could tell you what we do to get the plant that way every year. We have no clue. All we know is that they love that spot. Even our regular tomato plants are doing much better there than in our garden.

On the quilting front. I have been working away at the Pine Grove quilt. All because I'm too lazy at the moment to change the thread on my machine! lol

I'm testing the Essential Thread - Connecting Thread on this quilt. I'm really not impressed with it for piecing. But, I do want to finish the quilt using the same type of thread. Accuracy is difficult enough without introducing another variable. All I have left to do is 2 (two) more borders and it's sandwich time!

Have a great day every one!

What's up!

Well, since Harry' visit, not much quilting has been going on. I did manage to finish the book in record time. Of course, you know what that means....... Yes, I ignored my blog and my family! I did find out that I'm still not ready to burn the midnight oil! I haven't recuperated from the visit. Oh.... but it was all so worth it. Such a great book! I'll miss Harry!

I did make an attempt Tuesday to work on that 2,112 piece puzzle, the corn and bean block, but had to stop due to fatigue. I'm hoping to pick that one back up again soon. It would be nice to have all the blocks done. I did make the missing pieces and now have the right number of blocks.
Since some of you have been blogging about their garden, I thought I would share my garden with you. Unfortunately, it's sort of being neglected due to the barn. It seems that every year we ignore our vegetable garden due to a project.

The large bush to the left of the chimney are we call our cherry tomatoes on steroids. Dh suggested that I wait until mid August to take a picture, but I think you get the idea. There's something about that spot that just makes the plant grow to enormous size. We actually need a ladder to pick the cherry tomatoes. They are so good and sweet!

The bushes on the right of the chimney are regular tomatoes. Even they are much larger than the ones we have planted in our garden. Dh says that he read some where about the red brick wall being a factor in the growth rate.

They say you shouldn't plant tomatoes in the same spot every year, but is doesn't seem to be a bother. We've been planting cherry tomatoes in that spot for the past five (5) years and we always have an amazing crop.

Here is a picture of our vegetable garden. I wanted you to be able to compare the two. As you can see, the tomato plants are not as huge as the one next to the house, which were all planted at the same time. We planted some sugar snap peas, which I am so looking forward to nibble on. Our broccoli is not doing as well this year. We should have a huge crop of cucumbers. I hope our neighbors like fresh vegetables!

As you can see from my garden, I do not have a decorating gene in me. Oh.... how I love the way Melanie from Covered Porches decorates her garden.

Today I decided to go for some quilting therapy and bought myself a little treat. What a great book it is!

It has some beautiful table toppers that are a combination of cotton fabric and wool applique. Others are made of wool only. I love the one on the cover, which is cotton with wool applique! I thought they would be great projects to work on in September. With school starting, I wanted projects that were not too time consuming, offering somewhat of a quick gratification.

I did buy some other stuff but I cannot show you. It's a surprise! lol

Well, I shall let you go to take a dip in the pool! It's a hot one today! There's nothing like water to cool you off!

Have a great day every one! Keep Kool!