I love these days, long walks in the bright weather and there was even a pile of gold in the scruffy garden... So beautiful!

a batch of peaches

a batch of peaches
Originally uploaded by Svarrer.

I will celebrate the last batch of peaches for the freezer by tackling that big box of tomatoes waiting their turn.
On my way out to the storage shed to get the canning jars, I was sure I could already smell Fall. It's still deep August for heaven's sake...where did the usual "dog days" heat go this year? Normally we have at least two weeks of stupifying heat about this time of year. It's been hot, but it surely hasn't been "dog days" hot here.
Tomatoes!! Remind me to plant even more basil next year!!

Our daily bread.....

Our daily bread.....
Originally uploaded by Svarrer.

When I get time, I will write out my recipe. This makes really nice bread without taking all day to do it.
Tomorrow I have black grapes to put up! They were just a little tart for snacking on, so we'll have some very good jam. I would love to get more fresh tomatoes to put up as well, with basil, thyme and oregano from the herb garden. It's just so good!

Henhouse gossip

There is great wisdom to be found in the henhouse sometimes. And always take a flashlight if you are late gathering eggs. This is the male (we think, he's smaller than the female) kingsnake that keeps an eye on things in the chicken yard. We have no field mice in the feed bins, and far less poisonous snakes than we'd have without him and the big female snake. The hens don't mind the two snakes at all, and it's surprisingly comforting that the two snakes don't mind us humans either. They are amazingly trusting and allow us to carefully move them and drape them on whatever is nearby.


On the other hand, the fuzzyface predator that sometimes shows up has to be relocated to a more remote and safer area. Live traps are so nice!

Tour de Fleece Ravelry

Yep, I'm signing up for this! Every day the bicycle wheels are turning, I'll be spinning too.

Today was lovely, I spent it playing with yarn. I dyed a few bits with food coloring gel, just for fun. It's good for pastels.
I turned it into fluffs to spin...it's so..pettable! So far, I have one spool of singles done. Tomorrow the two littlest grandchildren will spend the day with us while their parents and siblings go to Six Flags, so there will be no spinning until this weekend, but I have 800 yards of Merino dyed a soft mango that wants to be a lacy thing. I can plan just which lacy thing!

I admit it...I have been in a daze of spinning, knitting and yarnish plotting. It's Spring and I'm recovering nicely from the Winter's cozy dreams. We put the herb garden goodies up..or out..or whichever it is. It's sort of raised bed style and I'll have room to stuff quite a lot of kitchen love in it. I have no idea why my Dear One insists on containing the herbs, left to my own methods, the herbs would be wildly expanding and exuberantly elbowing each other for the choicest spaces.

Well, maybe that's why he keeps confining it.

That aside, I want to make something worthy of entering in the Fall fair. That means presenting something to show by July. The problem I have is that I can't decide just what I want to make, but I'm pretty sure I'll know...by August when it's too late to enter. There's probably some psychological deep meaning to this conundrum.

My solution is just to knit and if I happen to create something I want to enter in the Fair, I guess I'll do that. I'm stumped for my next project tho. I want to do a man's vest in the lovely grey yarn in my stash...but there's only 3 skeins of it and I can't match it. I have a little of everything and not nearly enough of anything. I would spin something nice, but I want to make the vest washable and not pure wool this time.

I must think about this.

I did it…I finally did it. A lovely Ashford Traditional spinning wheel will be at my door just four days from now. I’m so excited, and a little apprehensive since I’ve never spun on a real wheel. We shall see, and I’m looking forward to making it totally mine with individual touches. I ordered the plain unfinished double tension style, so that I can do my own finish. I wonder what my wheel’s name is…

For these family outings, dogs are allowed | accessAtlanta

For these family outings, dogs are allowed  | accessAtlanta

You just have to go look...Jack is in the Atlanta Journal Constitution! He's so handsome!

Jack and Charlie!

IMG_1988
Originally uploaded by Svarrer.

And these two fellas are our family additions. Our sweet Cookie passed away a couple months ago and it took a while before we could even think about a pet again. Finally we chose our two from the Atlanta Pet Rescue. They were rescued together and we decided to keep them together with us. We're very, very happy with them and thankful for the great people that save these little ones and help them find the right families!

Yummies!

IMG_1981
Originally uploaded by Svarrer.

Nice fat blackberries became a few jars of jam and one jar of juice concentrate for sauces and fruit drinks this winter.

So Far..

A sunny little shawlette for the shoulders, and a comfy cushion cover. That's about all I finished in the last couple of weeks. I've been wandering through the sunny days like a child in a daydream!

Almost Summer

IMG_1745B
Originally uploaded by Svarrer.

I've been playing with the camera again...
We planted three peach trees and as spindly and young as they are, they are full of peaches trying to ripen. The deer managed to eat one of the young pear trees, but three of those are doing well.

My Love
Whispers on winds;
Sails softly the
Deep pools
of Serenity.

Untouched,
Lies a round
White stone.
In the depths
Of this dark pool
It waits
Patiently.

A violet
Smiles at the Sun,
The willows tree
sighs knowingly,
Its fingers
Trailing in the Stream.
A tiny leaf
Drops, and

My Love
Whispers on Winds;
Sails softly the
Deep pools
of Serenity.

2-30-1969
A.Maurmann

Leo's Treadmill?

Leo's Treadmill?
Originally uploaded by Svarrer.

The treadmill arrived yesterday and Leo immediately began his exercise program...
Embers on the other hand, went up the chimney and threatened to remain there. She's safely down now, after I panicked, said things I don't normally say and waved my hand helplessly up the flue. She dropped down on the insert stove as though wondering what the fuss was.
Leo never left his Zen state.

A contest!

I was catching up on my favorite blogs this morning, and saw that Thistle Cove Farms has a contest for a waffle iron! I definitely entered, and you should too! I grew up loving my mom's waffles, especially the pecan waffles on special days. We all went to church on Sunday mornings, full of maple syrup and waffles, and to this day, Sunday doesn't feel real without them.

At any rate, to quote from Thistle Cove Farms

"Would you like the opportunity to win the Chef's Choice International WafflePro Taste/Texture Select Classic Belgian Waffle maker?"

Snow Day!

IMG_1629
Originally uploaded by Svarrer.

It's lovely outdoors and I am delighting in the snow! Lots of sunshine..sometimes that leads to ice, which is the downside of snow down south.
Meantime, hot chocolate by the fireplace and my knitting!

Yummy!

Yummy!
Originally uploaded by Svarrer.

It's raining again! That's a perfect excuse to make butterfly cupcakes!
The kids love them and they are all homemade and less sugary than the usual and oooooh, so good!

Tomato

That enormous green heap is a Sweet 100 tomato plant. So far it's over 6 feet tall and loaded. I haven't fed it anything, but I did throw a few handfuls of oyster shells in the garden to add a bit of calcium since we've had so much rain lately. It's the same oyster shell stuff I put out for our hens, I couldn't remember what prevents bloom end rot from wet weather. (No, the hens are normal sized..

So on my daily ramble (it can hardly be called a walk, because I stop for ladybugs and grasshoppers) I met one of the "Ladies" that visit often.  "Visit" might not be the right word, I've been startled several times in my knitting corner by the window at night when I looked out to see faces up against the window watching tv avidly.  I would never have guessed deer might have a tv fixation, but they do, at least around here.  They are also the reason our garden is crammed into a fenced back yard instead of gloriously flourishing on the rest of the 20 acres.

I think what annoys me about them is that they don't even consider me enough of a threat to flag their tails in concern.  They merely gaze at me for a moment and return to munching the field.  That would be the field we're trying to build up a bit by planting red clover and fallowing it.  Red clover..that scrumptious stuff we had before the Ladies decided it was their personal buffet.  You may notice there is no sign of clover in the field now...