While She Was Sleeping

A Corduroy Skirt

2011-09-27T20:10:00.000-07:00

I love corduroy. I have many yards of it stashed away as I enjoy sewing with it, crafting with it and enjoy the way it launders. When I was little, the corduroy pants I wore to school each fall were my favorite. I loved the way they 'swished' when I walked if the fabric rubbed against itself. So, when the first cool whiff of autumn air blew threw Omaha this month, I whipped out some corduroy and made a new skirt.

I've been wanting to try this Lisette pattern from Simplicty for a while now and gave it a go. Corduroy was not listed as a suggested fabric on the pattern envelope, but this was Pinewale corduroy and I thought it'd work well considering its softness. If you try it, be sure to trim all the strings and finish the seams... corduroy is notorious for shedding fluff and stray threads but sews like a dream. The skirt was a success and I'd recommended the pattern to anyone beginning to sew and beyond. The techniques were easy and the ease built into the pattern wasn't overwhelming. I went down one size from my measurments and it was all good.

The only changes I made were to omit the kick-pleats in the back of the skirt. I didn't want them rumpling when standing after having sat for a while. The pattern was .99 cents, the corduroy was about $4 a yard on sale a few years ago. The buttons were from an old coat, the fabric in the kick-pleat was a scrap. I had to buy a zipper. Less than $8 was my total cost and about two hours of my time. Can't beat that!

And They're In!

2011-09-22T19:16:00.000-07:00

I started the seedlings in the greenhouse over the last week and finally took a photo. The full chart can be viewed here.

Square Foot Gardening

2011-09-20T13:58:00.000-07:00

So, I've mentioned it before... I've fallen in love with square foot gardening. Originally, I discovered it here was infatuated here, then went on to read Mel Bartholomew's official book Square Foot Gardening. Gardening has been with me all my life yet I was just never able to realize the garden of my dreams. I could never completely grasp the spacing, thinning, and rotating for a vegetable garden. Be it over location, time, space or climate a thriving vegetable and flower garden always eluded me. Anyway, when we moved into our house, I was finally able to get digging and stray from the well-worn container path. My grandmother had a beautiful flower garden I frequented as a child. I played there, daydreamed there... I always felt safe there. Here I go again. Gardens are special to me.

SOLD was the only way to describe my reaction to square foot gardening as I read more. It made complete sense to me... and it worked. I honestly never knew I could plant a crop of fall vegetables in mid-August so, I went for it in my first 4x4 square foot plot. The bed went together easy and with untreated wood so this made for cheap lumber. So far so good and I'll be posting progress pictures as the seeds grow. Madelyn loves the seedlings. Now she understands they are meant to stay in the soil - I had to replant the cauliflower - and she likes to visit her 'baby-eeds' as she calls them. The sowing chart for this particular photo can be viewed here.

The front rows are still empty. Square foot gardening focuses on growing only what you'll actually need and will eat. I couldn't make up my mind what to put there so I just left it for now. Come spring I think we'll add another bed or two, then we'll be set! One bed feeds one person in the family, so with three we'll do well. Two for Shawn, myself and little Maddels; a third for the larger things to grow with adequate space. Yep, I'm gonna grow watermelon vertically! I'm so excited. The gardens of Better Homes and Gardens no longer feel so beyond what I could ever accomplish! One thing I did learn - don't get the cheapest dirt at the garden center. At least get potting soil if you don't want to bother mixing stuff around. I'm going to re-do this dirt next spring. We've since trimmed the black plastic around the bed. There's even a video for square foot gardening if you're interested.(the little bird instead of the flower just means I've carried this post over from my garden journal)

My Matryoshka

2011-09-19T20:21:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I mentioned wanting to create my own Babushka doll for Madelyn. Well, I finally did it. The doll went together easy and is much smaller than other patterns for this sort of thing available on line. She's around eight inches tall and has a hand-stitched face as opposed to simple felt pieces for eyes and cheeks. I took lots of photos as I went and am in the midst of creating a free PDF to offer here on While She Was Sleeping. The pictures are all edited. It's just a matter of adding the instructional text now. The pattern pieces are done as well. This PDF is a bit different than my usual ones as I actually made the pattern pieces on the computer and didn't hand-draw them. Can someone say Hallelujah?! Let's acknowledge the elephant in the room... We all know I'm not scribble-gifted.

So, keep an eye out. I'll be posting the PDF very soon for anyone who'd like to stitch this little gal together for the holidays. She's certainly not perfect, but Madelyn treasures her imperfections and serves her tea alongside her favorite dolls. You'll notice some little hands and fingers in this PDF as Madelyn has taken to helping me sew. It's easier to just let her 'help' than to sew when she's in bed for the night and I'm exhausted already.

I went ahead and added a link for anyone who has established sewing skills and would just need pattern pieces to assemble this doll. They can be downloaded HERE until the full PDF is available. The photo doll is the very first one I made... on the dolls that followed I stitched the face onto the BODY FRONT before sewing the body together and didn't use that extra felt behind it. The one in this photo is glued on - don't make the same mistake. There was also more care in shaping the the head while stuffing the new dolls. (smile) I did a simple running stitch around the outer edge of the face and hair with full embroidery floss when attaching it. Nothing fancy, just lovely to live with.

What's in a Mold?

2011-09-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

Do you recognize these? Perhaps your grandmother had one. Well, maybe your great grandmother too. Butter molds are a lost charm of the greater domestic era and a very pretty one at that. I knew nothing of them until my cousin, Danielle, shared a story with me after visiting with her now ex-boyfriend's grandmother (got that?) in north Florida years ago. She was a quaint and charming older lady who never entered her kitchen without an apron and could work the butter mold magic with ease. Her's was a lifestyle and kitchen which made even the most modern college girl wonder if the 'olden days' were indeed better. Danielle has loved butter molds ever since.

It's a fairly simple concept and makes a sweet inpression on guests when molded butter is served. I learned butter molds have quite a long history and out of all their stages, the victorian-style glass molds are my favorite. They come in all shapes and colors and some will dare fashion your butter into animal silouettes!

The first butter mold I ever saw was in an antique store with Danielle, here in Omaha, this past spring. There were several to pick from and I settled on the clear, smallest and simplest one for sale. It was $15 (you'll find them vastly over-priced here-and-there if you shop online) and has since shattered and broken after just a week. It was incredibly delicate (I'm suspecting a cheaper model) and just a tap on my porcelain sink dispersed it. After this incident I noticed them in almost every thrift store and antique store I frequented. The ones in the photos each cost me less than $3 a piece. They're around and are fairly easy to find. Here's how to use this piece of domesticity...

Allow your butter to sit out and reach room temperature. Depending on the size of

your mold's cover you may have to cut the butter in half or into thirds. I already

got started in this photo. Check out the next one.

The basic technique will take you back to making mud pie as a child.

Just mush the butter into the lid (I used the butter wrapper to save clean-up)

and fill it just enough so the butter will fit within the 'ridge' (if your mold base

has one) in the bottom part of the mold.

I stopped within 1/2" so the butter was not flush with the rim.

Place the lid on the base and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or until serving.

Now, there are two ways to work this. You can run the lid under HOT water before

pressing in the butter then, working quickly, invert it over the base and tap lightly

to release the butter. I'm not for tapping antique glass any longer. (smile)

So, I place the lid over the base,

chill it and run the upright mold under warm water.

Just long enough to release the chilled butter upon a shake or two

or you'll get a tell-tail ring of 'melt' 'round your little butter dome.

If you're adventurous,you can shape the softened butter by hand

in the base as the talented little grandmother in north Florida does.

I didn't dare try.

Good luck with that. (smile)

Charming isn't it?

Does something special for your counter too.

Happy Butter Mold Hunting... you know you want one now.

Locket-Worthy

2011-09-12T21:26:00.000-07:00

'Tenting It Together'

I know. It's not a recipe, gardening or sewing post... It's none of those.

What it is: a moment I will never forget. This is locket-worthy.

see more dog here

A Long-Awaited Greenhouse

2011-09-09T23:03:00.000-07:00

Well, it is suddenly Fall here in Omaha, Nebraska. The air was crisp, lovely all day long and a soft steady breeze wafted through all my open windows. This is our first Autumn in our home - last year we moved in just before Thanksgiving and there was already snow on the ground. There's a small scattering of leaves on my front lawn as of this evening... we've only just begun. I don't know if I've ever mentioned we've not one, nor two but three 50+ year old Oak trees on our 1/4 acre. They tower majestically and are breathtaking eye-candy but my are they messy. I've counted at least five sets of different shedding from them since spring and was shocked the other day when I was caught in a 'shower' from the trees. I was sitting admiring our greenhouse when a breeze shook the limbs of the tree above me. Dozens of these weird, little, hard nut-like things fell down all around me. No squirrel will starve in my yard!

At any rate, we've ventured into greenhouse gardening. Well, I have. (smile) I thought to write up a post on it before we're head-on into late Fall and snow covers much of the garden. It's quite small right now with just two tomato plants and some herbs but I have great plans for spring. It took Shawn about a week to get the greenhouse together with a little time here-and-there in the mornings before work, but it's up and I'm deliriously happy. I'll post about it again in another week or so when there's more to show. We've yet to build some simple beds before I can get things going in there and caulk the paneling for winter. I'll share whatever we accomplish.

We had a new greenhouse all picked out from Harbor Freight and wound up snagging this lightly used one on Craig's List instead. The couple selling it literally lived two blocks away. It's better quality with thicker paneling - which is good for our sometimes -25 weather. Wow, what we saved this way not only in cash but in assembly time! The frame was assembled and just needed to be constructed at major points and the paneling slipped right in. For what we saved, a few worn part labels and so-so instructions were a small price to pay. I learned later how greenhouse kit instructions are notoriously wicked. We hosed it down well and you'd never know the greenhouse spent the first part of its life on a farm in Minnesota. Now it's nestled perfectly in my yard with new life, its long side facing south for perfect sunlight, its door just beyond my kitchen garden.

I'm so looking forward to fresh tomatoes in the dead of winter. Deliriously happy is the understatement of my summer and wrapping it up with a greenhouse. It was Christmas in August. What a dream come true. I've begun a garden journal, searched out ideas for paper journals and settled on keeping track of things on line for now. It's progressing a little at a time and I'll make a pretty paper journal over the winter while I'm snowed in and have more time. Gardening is a living and breathing part of my life - it's only fair I grant it a post or two here-and-there. More on my square-foot gardening adventures for our Fall crop coming soon. It's fabulous and I doubt I'll ever go back to traditional gardening again. I've also got a few canning recipes to share from all the summer produce, Bing Cherry and Green Grape preserves among them. Lord, have I been busy...

Safe In Christ

2011-09-02T08:54:00.000-07:00

Psalm 4:8 - In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety.

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

~Melissa

The Path

2011-08-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

Psalm 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

Have a great weekend everyone!

~Melissa

Angel Food Candy

2011-08-25T15:45:00.000-07:00

Ever-elusive. Since I was in my early teens, this accurately describes successful candy-making for me. I realized today, when I gave Angel Food Candy a shot, I simply didn't have the right tools and equipment back then. I also had my mother and grandmother hovering constantly for fear I'd burn myself. No pressure there. (smile) We turned a page in our home a few hours ago though and made some candy. Shawn and I have been planning to do this together on a weekend for several months now - today was the day.

If you've ever had a 'Crunchie' candy bar, it's distinctly European (sold in Canada), you'll recognize Angel Food Candy immediately as the deliciously hard but chewy center. My husband grew up eating these bars in Winnipeg, Manitoba and has yet to find an American store selling them consistently to quench his thirst for Angel Food. I should also mention - these bars are NOT cheaply imported. My jaw dropped in shock one day about a year ago when a large 20lb box came to my door while he was at work... full of Crunchie bars. He divided them into bags by count, zipped them up and stashed them away in his closet. They lasted less than a month. I think I had one and by had I mean asked politely and was granted one solitary taste of his childhood.

So, thank goodness for smallish miracles - we found a recipe. We'd have gone broke. Angel Food candy is very easy to make. The keys to keeping candy-making simple are a working candy thermometer, six quart pot, long handled whisk and spoon and to pre-measure your ingredients. Homemade candy is uncomplicated and with clear counters and the right tools will delight you to your fingertips when you're successful. This batch of Angel Food Candy took about 15 minutes to prepare then was cool and ready for cutting in less than 30 minutes. We didn't have photos to use like in this post and it still came out wonderfully. Shawn was thrilled and downed a hunk with a glass of milk. I was thrilled too - no more shocker-boxes of candy showing up on my doorstep. (smile)

Garden Tomato Sauce

2011-08-19T14:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm still writing about tomatoes. I'm also still picking them, canning them, cooking them and eating them as my garden's become a tomato factory. Today, I thought to share a fantastic fresh tomato sauce recipe with you. I've been on the hunt for a good one over the last month or so - I had to do something with all the tomatoes! One of my cousins in Florida, Tommy, shares my passion for fresh tomatoes and fresh, homemade pasta sauce. I'll tell you this; once you've gone fresh with tomato sauce you'll never go back to canned stuff. I kid you not.

Round #3 Ripening From the Garden, or is it Round #4...!?

Normally, I don't do a full photo tutorial for recipes. With Tommy in mind, I added more photos to this post - he likes a lot of pictures. (smile) You'll get to see him this holiday season when I share my recipe for Thomas Cookies. I created them almost seven years ago and he lost it over those cookies - so I named them after him. At any rate, here's how you can make fresh sauce with tomatoes from your garden or local farm-stand. Yield is about 3 cups of sauce with this recipe and it cooks up fast, no simmering for hours. I'm not sure why it works so quickly time-wise but everything changes when cooking with fresh ingredients. You can have fresh sauce on your table in 30 minutes, pasta and all. There's a million-and-one ways to do it - this is what works for us...

Garden Tomato Sauce Tutorial

Start with about 2 lbs of Plum Tomatoes (oblong). These have less juice than slicing tomatoes and will give you thicker sauce. You'll use between 12 and 15 tomatoes for this depending on their size. Bigger isn't always better either if you're buying at the supermarket. Often crops are well-watered before harvesting and fill with excess water - not what you want for your tomato sauce. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. This part is the time drain, waiting for the water to boil, so busy yourself with some other steps in the meantime. While you're waiting on the water, rinse your tomatoes, place them on a cutting board and prep them for the pot. Here's how...

Slice a fairly shallow 'X' in the bottom of each tomato. This will help with removing the skins after boiling and only takes a few minutes. It doesn't have to be perfect, just enable you to peel the skin back once they've cooled.

Also remove any remaining stems. You'll most likely only have this step to deal with if the tomatoes are straight from your garden. Also, fill a clean side of your sink with cold water and ice. You'll be dropping the tomatoes in here after boiling. If you've no ice, no worries. Get the water as cold as possible and float something frozen in there to keep it chilly.

Once the waters boiling strong, drop those babies in and let em go! Put a lid on the pot for the first 2 minutes of boiling then, remove the lid and work quickly. The idea is to remove the tomatoes as you see the skin starting to split slightly and blister. This can take up to 3 minutes maximum before they'll have boiled too long and become a bit water-logged. As you remove them with a slotted spoon immediately drop them in the cold water you prepared in the sink.

Here's my tomatoes enjoying a cold sink-bath. I was out of ice so yay, for frozen Simply Potatoes. (smile) Let the tomatoes cool until you can handle them comfortably. Also, keep that pot of water cooking at a slow simmer, you can use it for your pasta in just a few minutes. Get your blender out, plug it in and if you're kids pick about anything but smooth sauce, get your finer mesh strainer out as well. Cool beans, let's dice the onions.

I used to break into a sweat at the thought of dicing onions... because I was soooo horrible at it. I discovered a dicing method in a William's Sonoma cookbook though and it solved all my problems. First, cut the onion in half as shown in the photo. Next, remove the outer layer of skin, taking a layer of onion flesh with it or you'll be standing there forever picking onion skin.

Cut off the top.

Turn the onion toward you and make vertical cuts as shown. Take care NOT to cut completely into the root or it will fall apart.

Now, turn the onion, roots to the side and slice vertically again. You'll have fairly small, evenly-cut pieces. Easier no? Different strokes for different folks but this is how I dice my onions. Now, if you don't want soft little onion pieces in your sauce or just don't want to dice period, there's another option. Just make the initial 'half' cut with the onion, peel it, simmer and cook it face-down in the recipe. You'll get the same effect with less effort. We like pieces of onion in our sauce, so I leave them. Also whack and peel your garlic.(In our sauce, I leave the garlic in large pieces so I can fish it out.) I keep extra loosened cloves in a ziplock bag in my fridge. Get your onions sauteing per the recipe NOW.

Peel the tomatoes. Some peels will come off with one hand, some will need two. Use the 'X' you made earlier in each tomato to get a head start with a loose end and work from there. The peels that slip right off were timed perfectly, the ones needing a little more work could have sat a few seconds longer in the boiling water. Now you know for next time and will get better with each batch. Also, try a new brand of plum tomatoes each time you make sauce, you'll soon develop a favorite. Then, search out seeds or transplants for that particular type and get your garden growing.

Blend the tomatoes well. Strain any unwanted seeds at this point or leave them. When the onions are ready in the pan, see recipe, add the pureed tomatoes as they are ready in batches. Follow the recipe from here out and you're on your way to fresh, homemade Garden Tomato Sauce. Oddly, I just remembered something... Tommy and his wife, Nilette, gave Shawn and I this blender about seven years ago as a shower gift. Thanks again guys, it's still going strong.

Garden Bruschetta

2011-08-12T16:35:00.000-07:00

I have tomatoes coming out of my ears. (smile) This isn't a brag post, or even a complaint post but a wonder post. It's amazing to me, just how many tomatoes ONE plant will produce with a cage, one dose of fertilizer, water and sunshine. Such things cause me to stop and consider the mind of God in creating something so complex, a living, food-bearing plant yet so simple for us to navigate. I suppose it all comes down to consistency and maintenance on our part, love on His.

This Bruschetta recipe is very simple and is one of those dishes we can't get enough of when tomatoes are in season, at least in my home. I buy a two-pack of French Baguettes at Sam's Club and get to work slicing the bread as soon as I get home. The 1/4 - 1/2" slices then live in a gallon-size ziplock bag so they're ready when the craving strikes.

Bruschetta is easy (don't let Olive Garden fool you) and, in a real pinch, you can substitute dried basil for fresh. I know, I know the purists will howl but you make it with what you can right? I toast the bread slices on 350 (it's summer people or I'd write 375) in my toaster oven for small batches. Before toasting I drizzle them with olive oil, salt and restaurant pepper, then toast until the edges begin to brown. Honestly, these are good this way with nothing else and I've eaten them straight out of the oven in all their lightly-seasoned goodness.

About tomatoes, any kind will do, they are diced and tossed with salt, restaurant pepper, olive oil and shredded fresh basil. I average about one cup of Bruschetta per large slicing tomato and sometimes I'll let the mix sit for a few minutes so the flavors blend. You'll need one clove of garlic, smashed and peeled. Rub the exposed inside of the garlic on one side of the warm, toasted Baguette slices. This gives the perfect amount of garlic flavor without putting it into the Brucschetta itself. Then top your slices with the tomato mix and you're ready to indulge. I do all this by eye and tasting - so have fun with this recipe. A little juiciness is grand and a little seasoning goes a long way. Measure with your heart and your palate.

PS: If you're out of Baguettes (we don't all have them up our sleeve) use a cookie cutter, cut rounds from regular bread slices and go from there. I'm doing this tonight - I forgot to buy more Baguettes today when I was out! Bread that's going stale is great for this.

Pretty, Little, Hot Things

2011-08-09T21:16:00.000-07:00

So, I finally sewed up a few new potholders and cooling mats. The heat in our home has been exhausting over the last week and today the entire a/c unit was finally replaced. Whew! I finished up these pretty, little, hot things this afternoon as the internal house temperature was falling into the mid 80's. It's now 68 degrees in my home and I feel sane again. (smile) Isn't it amazing how the heat can wear us out? It will do the same thing for counter and tabletops if there are no trivets and cooling mats for those gorgeous casseroles. Well, my old potholders were wearing my eyes weary. They were too bulky and stiff. I'd used several layers of felt as opposed to Insul-Bright. What an amazing heat protectant fabric to use in sewing projects - and well-priced too. It launders fabulously and my potholders have got to be washable. Total expense was less than $10 for my new little kitchen entourage.

I didn't use a tutorial for this project... I just made the things, but here is a great one from Christina at 2 Little Holligans. I skipped the batting and used just two layers of Insul-Bright between my outter cotton for each piece in the photo and they worked great on a 375 degree casserole. I also did way less top-stitching and went with a simply stitched corner. The smaller squares work well as potholders for me. While the blue-and-white squares work well for my husband's larger hands and as trivets. I use the larger one in the back as a cooling mat. These are literally 10-minute projects, are so easy to throw together and what a great way to personalize your kitchen without over-spending on hours and dollars. Here's to the worn and now retired ones I've had for years... they're down in the garage and in my husband's keeping. We're saving them for when we have to move furniture around on the basement flooring. This project also put a dent in my fabric stash - I can never go wrong there. Yay, for Pretty, Little Hot Things! As always, they're not perfect... just lovely to live with.

Garden Caprese Salad

2011-08-07T12:43:00.000-07:00

You know, nothing beats cheese and tomatoes. There's something in how the two ingredients knit together, no matter what the recipe. I'd just bought some fresh mozzarella cheese over the past week and decided to put a homegrown Caprese salad together. It was great, with our air conditioner down for the day in the hot weather. I don't know about everyone else but heavy food doesn't rest well with me in the heat. I had this for dinner and after slicing the cheese and tomato, dressed it with just salt, pepper and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar (post photo). You can also use olive oil and red wine vinegar. Anything would probably taste good on fresh cheese and home-grown garden tomatoes.

Ever wondered why the simplest food often tastes best? I guess fewer ingredients allow the main component to shine. So pick the best and let it sing! As far as the basil goes, you can leave the leaves whole and slice them as you go, or julienned as on the front cheese in the photo. Also, I've taken to storing the extra cheese in water. The Bel Gioioso brand I buy comes with two one-pound hunks. Just fill a ziplock or tupperware with enough water to cover the cheese and seal for the fridge. It stays fresher longer and won't dry out while you're waiting for another tomato to ripen. Here's a photo of round two from my garden - which is small this year. Every tomato you've seen thus far came from two plants pumping out fruit at the rate of a speeding train. I've got a few more summer garden recipes to share through August. Now's my chance - Autumn is just around the corner...

Peace of God

2011-08-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

Phil 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Have a great weekend!

Melissa w/

I Love A Cop

2011-08-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

Surprise, surprise if you didn't already know. Yes, my husband is a police officer. When friends or new acquaintances learn of my husband's profession I usually receive one of three responses; 'oooh, that must be nice!', 'boy, that must be tough,' or 'wow, how's that working for you?' My conditioned response, and I've responded many times, is love is love no-matter who it is. As far as the job is concerned, you just have to go with it. And that's how we roll.

Shawn and I met in 2002 before he deployed to Iraq at the start of the war with the infantry. Each sent the other a letter every single day for fourteen months until he returned. We were engaged a month after he stepped off the plane and married eight months later. Seven years and counting, we're still smiling. I guess we're doing something right.

What I will tell you is being a law-enforcement family is different. Love is most certainly love and love is work - never let anyone tell you otherwise. But something changes on the inside when you kiss your husband so-long at the door and watch him walk to his car - with a gun on his side and a bullet-proof vest over his heart. The change stems from a choice to walk in fear or run in faith that your spouse will come home at the end of each shift. After the first year of making myself miserable, I chose faith. One will make you stronger and keep your love alive, the other will make your life crumble from the inside-out. There is strength in believing each kiss is the promise of another not potentially the last.

'Are the hours long or lonely?' Yes. 'Do you miss events, parties and family stuff?' Sure. "I'll bet the pay is great!" Yep, but can you ever pay someone enough to risk their life for another? "Did you fight?" Are you kidding, of course we did. "Is it really worth it?' For my husband yes, he has a God-given, insatiable desire to serve his city, see justice done and protect the innocent. 'But is it worth it to you?' Yes... because when he comes home from doing a job he loves - he smiles. If I were to write one thing that's kept us together, happy and actually in-love it would be this simple fact: God is able. We fail Him, we fail each other, we fail others we love who love us back... but God picks up the slack when we've truly done our best. We work to avoid laziness in loving each other - and we work to avoid it when loving Him. Anyway, when its all said and done, I still melt when this man winks at me. Gotta love that uniform...

Ephesians 3:16-20

Meeting 'Awesomesoap'

2011-07-31T22:19:00.000-07:00

I think the light in heaven's kitchen must shine like this while the dishes are being washed. Perhaps angels just flutter their wings and plates are instantly scrubbed and neatly stacked away? I don't know, maybe there's no need for dinnerware in the heavens at all. (smile) One thing's for sure, the sun was glorious in my kitchen the other day when I turned on my new portable dishwasher.

Things were getting along fine without one, so was I. It really wasn't that bad. When push came to shove though with making labels, yanking spent lollipop sticks off the carpet, wiping fingerprints off walls in the oddest places and reading bedtime stories... I decided to let my husband purchase the dishwasher he offered. I'd have been nuts to say no to the swap of thirty minutes spent sink-side each day and five at the door of a machine.

Lately, I'm convinced Craig's List is the next wonder of the world. If it's not hey, don't tell me. Our kitchen was large enough to accommodate and I didn't want to surrender cabinet space - so we went with a Craig's List portable. It still had the factory plastic on the front! Is this a silly post - maybe. Love me love my quirks - but it's a definitely a thankful post... I believe God cares about the little things. This was small for Him - but huge for me. I own a dishwasher. She's grand. Seriously, you just wheel her over and she goes. Men name their guns, I name my appliances. Awesomesoap. Yep, you read correctly. Meet 'Awesomesoap' the new wonder in my world.

My Kitchen Garden

2011-07-28T23:13:00.000-07:00

I'm not a heat-lover. Years back when we received word Shawn had been transferred, I couldn't wait to leave the heat and sand of central Florida in the dust. I do however, love to garden and I'll roast in the sun to do so. One of many things I yearned for in my mid-teens after relocating from the Northeast to the Southeast was my childhood garden... the one with rich, dark soil as opposed to sand. The Southeastern climate is a killer for those pretty, delicate plants and they can't hack the dry ground. Well, the Midwest has plenty of real dirt. After settling into our first home after eleven years of apartment living I gardened with glee this spring - with NO pots. Did I mention I used no pots? Everything went right into the ground and I gardened sans gloves just so I could feel the dirt in my fingers. Wow what a difference dirt makes! Potting soil: I'm not answering your calls.

Next spring, I'll post a full journey while I set up my first large vegetable garden, I've already been discussing plans with my dear friend Christina. This year's Kitchen Garden was a test to get my feet wet as I hadn't really gardened like this since I was twelve... I'm now thirty-six. (Shh, that's privileged information.) So, I put in three tomato plants, no. 3 didn't make it and broke Madelyn's fall in the garden one day. I don't know, she was pretending to be a bunny and just fell over. The tomatoes in the top photo (don't mind my old switch plates - they're on my to-do list) are the first to ripen on these plants. There are so many more. Anybody got a good fresh sauce recipe?

So, I used ~~cheater~~ starter plants for the tomatoes as well as Oregano, Sweet Basil, Thyme and Rosemary. A few small Marigolds went in to ward off those nasty tomato bugs and became work-horses in my garden. Shocker: Marigolds will grow very large if you remove the dead blooms fairly often... who knew? And I know, there's a bunch of rocks in my garden. We'll get the rest of those out in the fall - it was a former rock bed. You wouldn't believe how many my husband removed for me. Yep, he did it all, I just put the plants in and watched them grow. How small the plants were in this photo... they look so awkward and scrawny, no?

This first harvest including mounds of fresh parsley, covered the cost of starter plants. From here-on-out it's free home-grown herbs and vegetables. Evidently, free bugs too. Isn't that nasty thing to the left a beast!!?? I mean, which end is the head? My husband took care of that too. Anyway, I call this slice of green jungle my Kitchen Garden as it rests at the foot of my kitchen door, just a few steps down. When I'm cooking during the summer and autumn months I simply open the side door, wander down for some fresh herbs, snip them, rinse them and throw them in with my recipe. It makes me feel so efficient and vintage-domestic. (smile) At any rate, the large vegetable garden will grow in the back of the yard next year. Maybe I'll even start with seeds *looks away uneasily*. What I do know: the Kitchen Garden will stay right where it is - very close to my heart. All it takes is a little water and sunshine...

Wee French Bags

2011-07-26T16:32:00.000-07:00

I've always struggled with little bags. Not sewing them- just having them around and on-hand. I recently made my Super Hero Bag and was doing the big switch. You know, where your dump everything from one bag into the other. This is usually a rush job for me on the way out the door to match a particular bag with a particular outfit. God forbid, you know, my bag and my outfit do not match. Anyway, on the inside of all my pretty bags, you'd typically find an ugly ziplock bag or two stuffed to capacity with random, miscellaneous whatever. It was time for a change. Enter my Wee French Bags

I found the images for these bags over at the Graphics Fairy. If you look in the Search area of her blog you'll find a "French" category with a wealth of lovely rights-free images. I adore these bags. The little one is perfect for change or lipsticks, the other fit all my zip-lock items. I printed them on washable fabric sheets made for my printer. You can purchase these at JoAnn's and Michaels both. Follow the directions on the packaging and you'll be able to print images on these sheets that will wash and wear.

Below is a full tutorial for you - the bags are super easy to make and take no more than a 1/4 yard of fabric for lining and a zipper. I use 10" zippers for these bags. They're too big but I like extra to work with so I've less chance of a pull slipping off a trimmed zipper end. (smile) You can download the pattern I created here. Be sure to set your printer to borderless when printing these images or it may omit the cutting lines. What adorable 10-minute gifts these make. Vite! Coudre des sacs petit chéri!

Wee French Bag Tutorial

(click images to enlarge)

Quickly! Sew some darling little bags!

Funky Junk Interiors

The Classic Wall Card

2011-07-23T22:11:00.000-07:00

So, we had a birthday this month and I've always been one to go out and spend $3 - $5 on a card. I'm still one to spend $3 - $5 on a card and I feel justified... We eventually flush a cup of coffee we spend the same on. A card we can save forever. Though, if you're a coffee lover you may beg to disagree! (smile) At any rate, my husband's birthday rolled around and I thought a Classic Wall Card would be the perfect way for Madelyn to get involved. I've mentioned in other posts how she LOVES to color. I hated coloring as a child so it's a new bend in the road for me. The Wall Card fit the bill on this occasion in more ways than one. All it took was some scotch tape, printer paper and balloons. There were other decorations but you know how it goes. I was caught up in this moment and didn't snap much else save presents the next morning.

To get things started, I surprised her with a new set of coloring supplies as her other crayons were worn down to nubs. She enjoyed the challenge of 'staying on the paper' while doing her thing, reveled in knowing she was 'coloring for Daddy's special day' and I delighted in her markers and crayons being washable. The project filled her afternoon with excitement and the balloons kept her smiling until she went to bed later. Getting to stand on the white table was definitely the icing on her little mental cake. Shawn loved the card. I think what he treasured most was her joy in presenting it to him. Often, the simplest things make a birthday or any holiday memorable. When we slow down we allow time to discover them.

Over a week later, the card is still up and it's okay. Madelyn will carry the white table from its place in front of the love seat and set up shop card-side. Each day she adds some finishing touches and waits for her father to notice - and he always does. I'm thinking of setting up an art wall of sorts for her with larger paper or perhaps getting her an easel. Maybe I should dedicate an entire wall in her room to her 'creativity.' (smile) I'm sure she'd be agreeable! It's interesting watching her embrace a pastime I despised and still do not enjoy.

This scribbled wall card leaves all the ready-mades to stand alone in the shadow of its shining star. Through it all, I'm discovering a world of markers and tools of the drawing trade I never knew existed due to her fascination with ink of any sort. In this way - though opposite - we are much alike. I use ink to pour the stories in my mind onto paper while writing. I realized the other day, she's doing exactly the same...

The Thirsty Soul

2011-07-22T08:20:00.000-07:00

Psalm 107:9 - For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, and the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.

Hope everyone has a splendid weekend!

~Melissa

Saving 'Old Faithful'

2011-07-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

If you have a little girl... Well, there are lots of ways to finish this sentence. I'll go with 'you know how it goes down when they want to wear what they want to wear.' My daughter outgrew one of her favorite sundresses from last Spring. I was quickly informed there was no way we were going shopping without THIS dress on her sprightly self last week. It squeaked by as a tunic with a pair of cute white shorts... but let me tell you. Two hours into grocery shopping and running errands - on a hot summer day - is not the time for an already annoyed toddler to find her dress is rubbing her little armpits raw. Long sentence, an even longer trip. Yikes, in more ways than one!

So, once we were home and she was settled in for a short summer's nap, I went to work and morphed her too short, too tight sundress into a skirt she 'oohed' and 'aahed' over. Below is the tutorial for this 10-minute re-purpose job and wardrobe builder. I'm proud to say this sundress got a full year's worth of wear and am certain I'll find another use for it once this pretty skirt is too short. If I do, I'll share with a link to this original post. Anyway, here's the 8-step skinny on the 'new' outfit. Have fun saving some 'Old Faithfuls.'

Re-Purposed Sundress Tutorial

(click photos to enlarge)

Funky Junk Interiors

Brown Sugar Banana Bread

2011-07-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

Banana bread first crossed my pallet when I was in my late teens. We were visiting family in the hospital and had dinner in the cafeteria on the lower level. Yikes, I know. It was good though and over the years I was always in search of banana bread with good balance. The sampling from the hospital as well as all the rest I've had were always either too dry, too moist, had too many nuts or screamed a violent death with too much of one spice. So, I'm picky. (smile)

Since I stared baking for Beat Until Fluffy I've experimented with several recipe(s) . A few fell like the Grand Canyon every single time, others had some of the problems I listed above. Last month I decided to throw a few different recipes together and see what happened... I'll tell you what happened - I finally baked a banana bread I'll stand by forever. It came out just right on each occasion my bananas were over-ripening on my counter and is balanced in flavor, moisture and crumb. It also boasts the perfect amount of 'sticky' on it's top crust. So, don't throw away your brown bananas... mix up this piece of fabulous instead.

Do Not Worry

2011-07-15T19:18:00.000-07:00

Matthew 6:25 - "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink: nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?"

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

~Melissa w/Bright Eyes Photography

Spot-Stealer

2011-07-13T22:25:00.000-07:00

Did you miss her? I did. There must have been ten trips throughout the house while cleaning up one evening after Madelyn had gone to bed. I called her - nothing. I offered treats - nothing. I'd lost her in my own home. Tell me, would you have given yourself away while in a forbidden puff of comfort?

Probably not. This is the look she wears upon discovery.

On blatant occasions, she'll remove each pillow carefully with her front teeth and toss them to the floor. I've watched her while peering around the kitchen wall and once asked if she thought they were puppies.

Our dog is most politely defiant in the early mornings.

The sun is at its best here about then.

Or, when you've left a spot warm upon vacating it.

She was first. She knows it. She's now second - she knows that too.

But we cherish her - I guess that's why she's never complained.

We came through on our 6 year promise for a yard

as opposed to a small spot under a distant tree with a leash.

She grazes there, adventures there, learns there and guards little blue bags there.

She's the muse,

The Beggar,

The Stalker.

She's the Photo Bomber,

The Photo Maker,

The Confidant...

The Thief

And the only one willing to play in the curtains.

She sleeps through A LOT

and has been blamed for more.

She's an underpaid, over-used babysitter;

She's seen every episode of Curious George through her eyelids.

Her Mistress calls her 'Shewie.' We've called her that... among many other things.

Yet, the given name of the irreplaceable...is Portland.

More appropriately the ~~small horse~~ Weimaraner
who has stolen our hearts forever.

One thing I am quite certain of - a dog can never lie about love.

Understandably, we can't help but love her back.