Saturday of Random Things

I've gone back to the quilting again (AND the same quilt that I posted about last time, no less).

And polishing silver that my grandmother found in an old house that she bought and gave to me (over 4 years ago but, hey, sometimes getting around to polishing a bunch of flatware takes some time!)

And getting to use my teakettle (finally — it took 3 weeks to get here after we shipped it back from Oklahoma).

And making use of one of my wonderful berry bowls I bought from Melissa!

And then, just because it doesn't fit in at all with anything else that I did today, I've been playing Thirteen with P while we watch Arrested Development. I don't think that it could have been a more random (or productive, really) Saturday so I'll just leave you with my set of pictures.

Where I Got This Habit

I see lately where I get my Unfinished Project Gene! In the world of Unfinished Projects, this one is a doozy. My mom swears that she didn't start these until shortly before I was born but the date on this special offer begs to differ (I guess I'm going to have to find my own frame for this one):

Up at the top there, it says "Prices effective through June 1,1975". Not that it has anything to do with the length of time this project has been waiting for completetion, but I also get a kick out of the line below that that reads, "Dear Sirs: Please send me the handsome hardwood frame as pictured on this package. . ." Now THAT'S marketing! I feel convinced that I must have this "handsome" frame! Too bad it's 30 years too late for it.

Isn't the embroidery the cutest though! And I love that my mom made it for me when I was a baby. Maybe it's a little late to be for baby me but I'm still going to enjoy it to it's fullest. And when I get around to getting a frame made for it, I'll even hang it on the wall. Surely it will take me less than 30 years to get it framed. But you never do know! Maybe by the time my mother finishes the other little girl that she started at the same time as this one, I will have managed to have the 2 frames made.

Swapping

On my to do list is to participate in some sort of craft swap. Well, this week I've found not merely one swap but two! They both still have a few days left to sign up so please join in if you feel like it. I'm very excited about them both!

Vintage Paper Swap at Abbey Goes Design Scouting
Art of the Note: Gocco Swap at cloth.paper.string

Casting On

It seems that, as it gets hotter, rather than stopping knitting like most knitters seem to be doing, I am just beginning a wave of casting on. This is how it works: I get excited about a yarn, I think of a potential project, I cast on the project, I knit a few rows, as the project becomes large enough to be a bit cumbersome, I decide that it's too darn hot to be knitting, I put the project away. Until another yarn in my ever-growing stash speaks to me!

This is (maybe) be my version of the Cashmere Cowl No. 2 from purlbee. It's being done with the Koigu Premium Merino (kpm). I hope I finish it because, as unlikely as it seems now, it will one day be cold again and I like the idea of having a cowl AND a scarf that match and I can wear together for the walk to work.

More People on Buildings

Here is another batch of crazy people and faces from the facades of buildings. This group makes me think of a possible original function to these sculptures. The horses on the front of what appears to have been a firehouse (on 38th near Lexington) may indicate that there were horses inside. But then, there weren't gargoyles in the building on 29th. . .

The three above are from a heavily ornamented building on 29th and Madison.

And this one is from a building near the same intersection.

Oklahoma!

I promise that I will soon stop putting up long posts about my trip to Oklahoma (we got back almost a week ago, already!) and I will stop making titles for these posts containing exclamation points. But I must do this post first. It is just NOT an option to leave this part of the trip out. Discoveryland! Rural Oklahoma! Rogers and Hammerstein! "Wild West" kitsch! And not to mention a great big fantastic dose of Judd, the surly farmhand. AND, on top of all of that, we got to go with some very good old friends. So I'll leave it at that and a series of photos. Please keep in mind that the whole show is outdoors and full of real horses and gunshot. Do not be alarmed!

The Trading Post at the top of the amphitheater

Judd's smokehouse

Curly the Singing Cowboy

Thank You!

Thanks to my mom and grandmother for helping me to make the jam that was so tasty with my leftover baguette this morning and thanks to Marichelle for putting my recent Rae Dunn purchase on her "shop + tell" feature on the wonderful blog, hearthandmade!

white space wednesday

As part of the trip to Houston / Oklahoma of last week, we got to go to Jessica's (Patrick's sister) wedding in Houston. It was lovely and I had a lot of fun photographing her beautiful flower arrangements.

Jammin'

I kept reading about various people making jam lately — especially strawberry-rhubarb jam. So I thought that it might be fun to get my mom to help me to make some when I was in Oklahoma as I remember her making grape jelly from our grapevines when I was little but I've never tried to can ANYTHING before. It was SO much more fun than I'd even hoped it might be. In the end, not only did my mother help, but also my grandmother, who was raised on a farm and had lots of helpful hints on the canning. We had a flat-out jam dance of it!

Although we couldn't get any strawberries or rhubarbs in Oklahoma (which makes sense, really — when my mother tried to grow strawberries in a whisky barrel in our backyard, they came out to be about 3/8-inch berries — the climate is just NOT right), we could get Stratford peaches, which are fantastic! If you're ever in the area, I recommend giving them a try. And I do love peaches so this all worked out well for me.

Beautiful peaches, waiting patiently on the counter.

My mom's collection of lids. From 1973. . .

Blanching the peaches beforehand (we left them in the hot water for about 1 minute and then dunked them in cold water).

Oklahoma honey too! I feel very local-farm-supporting. This seems to have come from down the street from my college.

The vintage lids out of their box.

I really liked the recipes (one spiced and one not) I used here. They seemed pretty simple to me and I LOVE the jam that resulted. I don't know yet how well it will keep but all of the little buttons on the jars popped down so we'll see. If anyone has any tips, please be sure to let me know!

Hello Again!

I've been away for the last week but I am back now and will have lots of posts to come. Meanwhile, I'll leave you with some photos from the plane, as the flight to Oklahoma was particularly pretty.