bee creative

#30 resiliency

6:36 PM, just before sunset.

#29 research (tomatillo sauce)

Following links I found this recipe for tomatillo sauce.  I decided to give it a try, but not process it as I didn't have many tomatillos and was making a very small batch.

 

Onion and peppers from my mother's garden.  Tomatillos from mine. I used lime juice, salt and cumin.  Plus a bit of olive oil and water (to rinse out the jar I blended the sauce in).

It's so good I'm hoping there will still be tomatillos at the farmer's market so that I can make a bigger batch and process it (leaving out the olive oil and extra water). 

At the very least, I know what I'll be doing with the tomatillos I froze. 

#28 prepare

I've been inside most of the day. Knitting, reading, thinking, napping, cooking.  Cleaning house. 

Enough rain for a flood watch, enough wind for a high wind warning.  I'm posting a mud puddle in front of the gate warning. 

The knitting:

The next row of the blanket, multi-colored.  Big enough to be a warm layer now as I knit. 

Cooking:

The last two peaches for the year were better cooked.  Peach clafoutis (the idea from The French Market Cookbook by Clotilde Dusoulier, but the recipe from Cooking at Home on Rue Tatin by Susan Herrmann Loomis as I didn't have almond flour and I knew I liked this version). It was so good I had to remind myself that I like it better cold.

 

Garden and reading:

I had a gift certificate for my favorite book store.  A good choice.  I don't really consider myself a "beginner," and it still had some new things I want to try. 

The quince is from the garden.  I dashed out to pick them between rain showers.  My best crop yet. About 20 pounds.  The cores of quince (with the pips-the seeds) can be cooked down for a syrup for sore throats.  Something I learned from Deborah Madison's book Local Flavors.

This spring I decided to try coneflower one more time.  Instead of putting it directly in the ground, I planted it in a clay pot with the intention of putting it in the ground this fall. Did the same thing with some small lavenders and rosemary too. 

Hoping that next weekend is drier so I can plant. 

Thinking about resiliency as being prepared for whatever storms come our way. 

#27 a good night of sleep

This spring I made myself a few new pillows with a wool and cotton stuffing (found here if you want to know).  It's beautiful stuffing to work with. 

Last weekend I made a new pillow case. 

This project involves compromise. 

Organic but not local. 

Local but not organic. 

#26 skills

The seat on my swing finally gave out so I am weaving a seat across the metal frame.  A skill left over from weaving ring nets (ring nets are used to catch dungeness crab around here). Something I did through my teen years and through college during vacations. 

I will sew a cushion to go across the top of the seat.  Something easy to bring in and out depending on the weather.

Thinking about how a variety of skills are a part of being resilient. 

hardiness

This summer I've been growing lemon eucalyptus.

It will come inside along with my small bay tree.  Neither are hardy enough to make it through the winter if it gets very cold. 

I want to try dyeing fabric with this.  I also want to make an infused oil and then try it as a decongestant. 

6:18 PM Partly sunny, 58 degrees F, Winds SSW 3 MPH, forecast low for tonight 44 degrees F. 

Sunrise: 7:01 and Sunset: 7:02, an almost balanced day. 

Need to go harvest the last of the basil. 

#24 caregiving

Today one of my coworkers spent several hours struggling with a project.  She loves pumpkin lattes so I decide a little treat was in order for tomorrow and made a batch of pumpkin syrup. Pumpkin from my garden. And of course, it needed to be sampled...

Spicy good.

 

#23 blankets

I have three blankets that I use the most, the amount depends on how cold it is.  Plus one blanket for each dog.  I sleep better now that they each have their own blanket. 

Felted wool holds up the best to nest making.

Still making heart patches to cover the blanket I named "mending heart."  The more red I add, the happier I become.

Maybe this is a sling-shot heart?

 

#22 know when to stop

Transformed from shirt to vest. 

The shoulders just weren't working, so I cut the sleeves off. It's time to face the reality that the pattern is too big for me as a shirt.  I've sewn seam binding to the arm holes and will turn it under. 

Much better. 

#21 celebrate

One more sunny day.

Flowers from the garden.

A gift from a friend.