Wild Oats

I found a big bag of oats. I mean big. 50 pounds big. And it was less than $20. I had my husband with me and asked him to grab it for us. He looked puzzled, got a little crook in his smile and said "What are we, horses?" He's seen big bags of oats like that were indeed, for horses. It's all right. He'll appreciate these oats. We will use them often not only for oatmeal but for a couple of our regular recipes: Magic Meatloaf and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. I'll share the recipes later. Now I'll share how I handled this big bag of wild oats.

Yes, that's right. I tamed those oats into Ziploc bags and they are patiently waiting in our pantry to be eaten. I'm looking forward to it.

Making the Most of a Pumpkin

In the spirit of Halloween, we went to a local pumpkin patch. I'm talking about an actual pumpkin patch that is just a big field of pumpkins. We tromped through the plants to find a couple of our favorites. We ended out with two that had already been picked.

We got one large orange pumpkin and one medium white pumpkin. The owner of the patch was so nice. She sent us home with two brown bags of mini pumpkins that didn't have stems so she wasn't going to sell them. I was so happy! We spent an evening carving and having a wonderful time together. We only had one carving tool so when it wasn't my turn, I toasted the seeds and boiled the parts of the pumpkin we cut off. So we ended out with these:

and toasted pumpkin seeds

and pureed pumpkin

that will be frozen and eventually turned into something delicious and the inside goop and outsides

 will be turned into compost. Oh, and I saved a few seeds from each of the pumpkins to plant in the spring.

I'm not sure what else a can be expected of a couple of pumpkins.

Have a happy Halloween!

Carrot Harvest

I've been digging up (and wishing the soil wasn't quite so hard in some places) carrots. I got a couple buckets of these beautiful Scarlet Nantes. They only grow to be about 5" and I was glad I didn't have to try to unlodge anything longer. I'll keep amending the soil and it'll get easier but for this season, I am thankful for these little guys.

Unconsume

I read an interesting blog post called Noted: What it Means to Unconsume. It's short and I think using what you have as long as you can just makes sense.
From that blog post, went to the Unconsumption tumblr and found these

Vintage Suitcase Drawers

by James Plumb

that made me swoon.


I like the challenge of using what I have to make what I need. It's a great way to get my creativity fix. I always loved those times in school when the teacher would hand you a pile of junk and tell you to make a bridge or your name out of it. I always just thought it was fun. I had no idea it would also become useful.

Something to think about.

Applesauce

A neighbor gave me a big box of Red Delicious apples that either had worm holes or the birds had tasted so they couldn't be stored. I kind of helped my sister make and bottle applesauce before so I decided I wanted to try. Eight hours laster, four calls to my sister and some help from my husband, I had almost eleven quarts of applesauce. Next time will got smoother because I will know what to do with the tools I have. All ten jars sealed so I am calling it a success.

Girl Style

I love doing my daughter's hair. It's a creative outlet that doesn't leave a mess or a bunch of finished products to clutter up my house. In fact, it makes the world just a little bit more beautiful (most of the time). Sometimes my daughter wants to see what I've done back there so we quickly snap a photo of the back of her head before she heads off to school. I might as well share.

Apron Skirt

My great grandma made this fantastic apron.

I was given some yellow gingham and decided see if I could make a skirt stlyed after the apron.



(Why does Blogger insist that this photo must remain sideways?)

Art Carrier

This art carrier was a gift for a girl turning six years old. My daughter wanted to give her something Polly Pocket. I wanted to give her something handmade. I think this was a nice marriage of the ideas.

I used this tutorial as a starting point. Thanks Geta!

Cowl Neck Shirt

I used a shirt I already owned to create a pattern for this shirt.

I also promptly added a grease stain to the shirt right after this photo. *sigh*

Falls Leaves Napkins

I just put a new set of napkins in the shop. Just right for autumn.