Wordless Wednesday: Babies ARE Cute, No Matter the Species

Okay, so I mislead you. I am going to say 2 short things about today's pictures, so it's not "Wordless Wednesday" after all. Sorry about that.

• The baby grasshoppers cover the top of both sides of this fence post.
• They each measured about 1/4 inch long, though I did not have a ruler with me to measure them.

Mushrooms, Anyone?

Our family loves mushrooms in any shape or form. No, we don't grow them ourselves, or forage for them in the woods, but they are tasty when obtained from reputable sources. Well, we have a local mushroom farm, near the worm farm we frequent. I purchased some mushrooms from them at wholesale price and made some marinated mushrooms. This was a new undertaking for me, since it entailed canning of sorts. I think I did it right because all the lids are sunken down, not popping up if pressed on with a finger. It was a little time consuming to make them up, but not difficult. The first batch I made produced 5 quart jars full. I bought 10 lbs. of mushrooms for the batch. After giving away a couple jars, and snarfing down the rest, I had to make more. The second time, I purchased 20 lbs. of mushrooms wholesale, and got 10 quart jars. Yes, a little math lesson for you kiddos reading along.

Here is a picture of the first batch before it disappeared overnight. And I have to tell you: the second batch turned out much better than the first. I tweaked the recipe. Now, if only, I can replicate it again when need be. Why do I always do that? I am forever changing a recipe and then forgetting what I did to make it better.

If there is any interest, I will post the recipe. For all you locals, email me behind the scenes, and I will give you the low-down on obtaining the mushrooms at wholesale pricing. It is a mite tricky, but not illegal. I don't want you to be frustrated. And I don't think you want to buy 10# of mushrooms at full-price. It's expensive!

Now I'm off to sneak a few mushrooms under the cover of darkness. I have to take the fly swatter to the sneaky hands of my hubby and kids, or they'll eat them all up in a day or two.

Daughter's Quilt: Ready to Sandwich

I've got my little girl's quilt ready to go to the next level. Pinning the layers is my least favorite part of quilting, but it must be done. Here is the front of it.

I believe the colors look much nicer in person, but here it is. She loves it, which is what counts anyway! In fact, she picked much of the fabric, and then I had to find a few to go with it all. That's why it's a little corny. I will be trying to get this finished within the next couple weeks before her 5th birthday. She knows I'm working on it, so it won't be a surprise, but it would still be nice to have it ready by then. I did something different on the back. I pieced fabrics together from the leftovers, rather than buy new fabric for it. I even had several blocks extra, so they are on the back also. I guess I didn't get a picture of the back.

Silver Lining in the Clouds

I am always hearing about silver linings in the clouds, and a couple days ago, I snapped this picture. It's the view from the front of our house. It was so beautiful. I really needed a panoramic or wide angle camera to get the whole thing.


I am trying to remember to snap a picture of a beautiful sunset also. I see them all the time, but forget to document it.

All Torn Apart

Another old post---

Here's my computer, all torn apart. Not to pat myself on the back or anything, but I saw parts and touched pieces of the insides of my computer that no self-respecting woman should *have* to see. (Some of you may choose to do so, but I didn't have that option!) I was quite nervous about the whole thing, but it's done. I didn't even break it beyond repair! Here's a picture of it.

Mother's Day in Review

I had a lovely Mother's Day. My family remembered! That's major progress, I can assure you. They got me a huge greeting card, and a red rose.

But that's not all. Hubby blessed me with a brand new sewing machine, of which I don't know how I was even quilting without it. I had to do my own legwork to find the machine I wanted, which took a couple weeks, but it was all worth it.

You local ladies are welcome to come over and take a gander at it. You know the invitation's open!

"Did You Miss Me?" My Daughter's Answer....

Well, it's been a while, I know. Busy? Yes. Planting blueberries? Yes. Quilting? Yes. Bit of the blues? Yes, again. (Stuff I can talk about? No. I guess that's why I haven't been blogging.)

I've been searching high and low for some quilting buddies. I went to a quilting club meeting for the first time, in a neighboring town. I had no idea what to expect. It was somewhat disorganized, and definitely intimidating to be around such experts, but totally fun. It is probably good for me to step out of my comfort zone now and then. I showed them all my completed Spring Quilt and they loved it. (We were going to reveal our Spring Quilts to the homeschool lady's quilting group on June 1st, but I think it's been postponed for a while. I guess there won't be any pictures posted until then. :)

Anyway, I got back home, and there I found my 3 kids, all gathered around me, asking me lots of questions about what I did, what I saw, and where I went. They have never been so interested in me! I guess I should go off on my own more often. It felt real nice to come back to such a nice welcome home. I tried to dole out the hugs, each of them wanting more than I could humanly give in just a few minutes. I'm not an octopus.

I asked my 4 yr. old if she missed me. "Yep. I missed you SO much I thought about missing you the WHOLE time! My brain was just filled up with missing you real bad." (emphasis was hers.) I had to write it down really fast, so I wouldn't forget what she said. It brought tears to my eyes.