Here We Grow Again

Time to start gardening again...even though it looks like this in the garden right now.

To get tomatoes ready to set out around April 1, it's time to start working inside where it's warm.  I've started three varieties of tomatoes this year:

I know, it's a little difficult to read my crappy writing under the potting soil.  lol.  I've planted 'Pruden's Purple', 'Heinz Classic Processor' and 'Black Cherry' for the barrel on the patio.  I also plan to purchase at least one 'Early Girl' so that I can be eating tomatoes soon(er).

Farewell to Superman

Over seven years ago, while Ben was gone to the National Boy Scout Jamboree, I painted his room.  After tons of research which included the purchase of several official Superman comic books, I picked the perfect Superman blue and painted the walls.

Along with some awesome posters sent by Grandma Brooks, I found a great deal on a show stopping Alex Ross super hero montage.  In short, it was a really great room for a teenage boy.  However, seven years later, it's showing its age.  The paint makes the room seem darker and smaller.  In short, time for a change!

I was totally willing to paint the whole shebang while Ben was enjoying the South Pacific on his mission, but I was advised by a wise previously returned-missionary son that most missionaries like to return to at least something familiar.  Since I'd already repainted (and carpeted) much of the house, I waited for Ben's return.

We had a few discussions about color and quickly realized that Ben is ready to be gone.  His recent move to Provo for school and work is not a temporary thing.  It's the first step to being on his own.  So, I picked a paint that will work for a soon-to-be guest room, too.

So, here's the process...

Going...

...going...

...gone!

I'm afraid the picture doesn't really capture the color truly.  It's, yep, another shade from the Lifou lagoon palette.  This one is greener than the one I used in the family room.  And it has that reflective quality that I love.  The walls seem to glow from within.  Another view...

So, now the painting is all done, but I'm far from finished.  I 'have' to make a new quilt for the bed!  The trusty red and blue pineapple quilt that Ben loves so much is just not going to cut it any more.  I'm thinking some tropical Bali batiks would be nice.

And, so far, Ben hasn't seen the change.  Hee hee!  The men in this family are going to learn eventually that it is always risky to go off and leave me to entertain myself!

A New Quilt

In the middle of all the canning, weeding, gardening and other fall outdoor activities, I finally managed to finish the quilt for the tv room.

The pattern is 'Two Block Hop'.  Pattern and fabric all came from Connecting Threads.  Love that place!

I'm still learning the free-form quilting technique.  I think I need to make a quilt a week so that I have lots of practice.  lol.  That's not going to happen.

In (And Out of) The Garden -- September 29

Although there is still much growing and going on in the garden this time of year, the real focus, for me, has been bringing it all in and processing it for future use. The truth? I'm getting pretty tired of chopping, canning and freezing, but I'm pretty sure that I'll be happy I did it all come January.

I've been so happy with the carrot crop this year! The variety of color has been so much fun and the taste is absolutely delightful. I've sliced, shredded and/or cooked over 25 pounds of carrot this year. The truly amazing part is...

..not how huge some of the carrots are, but that they are still so tasty even when they are  huge.  I am not a fan of enormous vegetables generally (ask Senor Gringo what happens to oversized zucchini around here), but these huge carrots are every bit as good as their skinny counterparts.  And the carrots were not the only veggie to get enormous in the garden this year.

The 'Big Bertha' peppers have really out done themselves this year.  I had planted them in the new garden bed along the fence.  I was worried that they might not get enough sun there, but it looks like they got everything that they needed.  lol.  There are still dozens of peppers left on the plants that we may have to pick still green if they don't hurry up!

Another big success this year has been the 'Pink Chintz' time that I planted last year between the stepping stones just off the patio.

Each plant has close to two square feet of ground coverage.  Pretty good spread for a plant with leaves less than 1/4 inch long.  I was so happy with the ones I planted last year that I added three more this fall.

Love that fall sale at Willard Bay Gardens!  I also found some ruffly new pansies that I'll get planted when it cools off a bit.

In The Garden - September 15

Although I've spent most of my time lately in the kitchen canning, the garden is still growing like crazy. I haven't had a lot of time to work out there, but I have taken a few pictures to remember what's going on this time of year.

I planted 'Only The Lonely' nicotiana again this year.  I only plant it every few years as it takes a long time to get growing, but I love how it looks!  This photo was taken as the first stalk began to bloom.

A close up of the flowers shows how long and tubular that they are.  Perfect, of course, for hummingbirds to visit.  We've had lots and lots of them in the yard lately.

Now there are many stalks, many blooms and much fragrance!

'Betty Boop' has looked extraordinarily lovely this year.  For several years after I first planted it, it only bloomed in the fall.  Then, for a couple of years, it bloomed in the spring and then again in the fall.  This year, it has bloomed all year.  Started in the spring, bloomed right through the heat of summer and now it's sparkling in the fall garden.  Love it!

The 'Sweet Autumn' clematis is stunning this year.  And it's humming, too.  No, really.  There are so many bees in there that the whole plant hums and vibrates.  lol. 

A close-up of the clematis flowers.  They smell lovely, too!

Class Quilt 2012

It's finished.  I've finished this year's Free Block Class quilt.  This year's theme was all things Japanese.  Although I've loved the colors since the beginning, I wasn't really fond of some of the blocks.  Due to their really strong geometric shapes, the blocks were hard to put together into a pleasing arrangement.  I finally came up with something fun...half the blocks had pale blue borders added, half had white borders with navy cornerstones.  Setting them all on point made room for the navy print.

I did run into difficulty while machine quilting.  This is the largest quilt that I have free-motion quilted in one piece.  Some times, I felt like I was wrestling a bear.  I need a LOT more practice with the free-motion technique, too. 

Next week we'll be starting 'Dusty Trails' blocks in class, Southwestern themed blocks and colors. Can't wait!

Life's a Peach

Whew!  I'm so glad that's over.  It all started with this...

This is the harvest from our big peach tree.  I even weighed them - over 200 pounds.  Pretty unbelievable, isn't it???  Factor in the fact that I thinned over 50 percent of the peaches off the tree when they were about the size of an olive.  One branch on the tree was completely unreachable, even with a ladder, so it didn't get thinned and yep, it broke under the weight of the peaches.  Oh, and I harvested about 30 additional pounds from the baby peach tree.  Yikes!  After convincing my children that they needed to eat some, I started processing.

Remember the empty freezer?  It's not so empty any more.  I sliced thirty oversize quarts worth of peaches to go into the formerly empty cavern.  (I usually process peaches into 5 cup 'quarts' as after the juice is drained, there's just enough peaches for most recipes.)

Then I fired up the canner.  First day, I made 'sploosh' for Ben...

He was a bit disappointed with the flavor, thought it was a bit weak compared to the apricot sploosh that he'd been drinking from past years.  So, I tweaked the recipe a bit.  On the next canning day, I went all out...

Ten quarts of sploosh and seven quarts of peach halves in extra light syrup.  Whew!  What a day!  Makes for a pretty picture, though, I think.  I hadn't canned peach halves in a long time, so I thought it was time to refresh my skills. 

I also made three peach pies, but forgot to get a picture before we ate one and put two into the freezer.  In addition, I've sliced up about three gallons of peaches that have gone into the fridge and then mysteriously disappeared.  Apparently Yehudi likes peaches.

After I rest a bit, I'll post about all the other goodies I've made lately.