Fall Garden Update

There's still some things going in my garden!  I'm pretty pleased with how things went with the garden this year.  Here's the update (and notes for things I need to remember next year):

I bought 3 strawberry plants this year and they took over an entire raised bed.  From what I understand we will have lots of strawberries next year; we only got a few this year.  

These are my banana peppers, still oddly going strong, though the nights are very cool.  I've been picking these to chop and freeze for cooking with this winter.

These are my nasturiums, which have gone crazy!  They are exploding out of the raised bed on the side of the stairs.  I grew these because the flowers are edible, but we really haven't eaten any.  We'll definitely grow these again next year.

And here's the lettuce, my second batch.  It's doing very well, like the lettuce did earlier this year too.  My spinach did not make it for this second planting, which is strange because it did so well this spring.

This picture was taken back at the end of August when I pulled out the last of the tomato bushes.  As I've said before, these really exploded, growing way out of the raised bed.  While the growth was exponential, the amount of tomatoes I got to harvest was less so.  We ate several, and I made a couple batches of tomato sauce, and pizza sauce, but for some reason a lot of the tomatoes didn't ripen well, or rotted quickly, even though I was checking them every day.

I was disappointed that I didn't get any pumpkins, but I'll try again next year.  I don't have a picture, but our zinnias have been pretty too, so we'll plant them next year as well.

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama, {this moment} is a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Crunchy Peanut Butter Cups

I was thisclose to buying Reese's peanut butter cups in the Halloween section at Walmart today.  Then I remembered looking at this recipe for peanut butter cups from Blue-Eyed Bakers and decided we would make them instead.  Go check out the recipe - you'll be glad you did!

I'm so glad we did!  As Cadence said, "They are peanut butter-y, graham cracker-y, and chocolate-y."  Besides getting the oil changed in the car, they are also the only thing I accomplished today.  Scratch that  - I did some laundry too.

I did make two changes to healthy up their recipe a little.  I used 1/4 cup powder stevia instead of the sugar called for, and I made 12 instead of 8.  So a serving is a little smaller, but there are more of them.  Win-win.  The comments said that some people had trouble getting the chocolate the set up, so I used less milk too - maybe 1/6 cup?  I just filled my 1/4 measuring cup  about 3/4 cup full.  (Also?  We don't keep sea salt in the house.  So I sprinkled kosher salt on top.)  Next time, I will try switching at least half the butter for coconut oil.

The revolutionary thing about these is all the ingredients are stuff we keep in our house ALL THE TIME.  Butter, peanut butter, graham crackers, chocolate chips, milk, sweetener, salt?  Check, check, check, check, check, check, check.

Don't you love this look?  Hanging out in a princess tiara and cheetah print dress on our front porch - that's how we roll!

Linking up to Tatertots and Jello.

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama, {this moment} is a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

First Day - October

roof leak! eek!

3/4 sleeve cardigans

I was hanging up a load of laundry the other day and noticed this:

In case it's not clear to you from the photo, that is nine 3/4 sleeve cardigans.  Two black, two grey, two yellow, one white, one purple, one blue.  I'm ashamed to say that there are at least five more in my closet - another grey, another white, a beige flowered, a beige argyle, and a blue beaded.  

I might have a problem.

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama, {this moment} is a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Apple Picking

Last Friday, we went apple picking at a nearby orchard with some friends.  We've eaten a few of the huge bag of apples we got, made a batch of applesauce, and I'm planning a sour cream apple pie this weekend.

{this moment}

Inspired by SouleMama, {this moment} is a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Weekend project: Fabric Crib Rail Cover

I discovered last week that Piper had been quietly standing up in her crib and chewing up the rails!  When Cadence started doing this same thing, we bought some clear rubbery plastic guards that fit on the front rail, and that solved the problem.  But with Piper, she likes to chew on the sides...anyway, it was time for me to make these fabric crib rail guards.  Inspired by this project.

I found a variety of fabric scraps that go with the colors in her room.  I didn't have time to get anything new for this project, so I cut up an old crib mattress pad that had lost its elastic to make the lining underneath the pretty fabric. Bonus: it's waterproof if she does continue to chew.

I sewed on some thin white grosgrain ribbon for the ties.  I found just the perfect amount in my ribbon box.

Here's the longview.  Hm.  All the handmade stuff seems to have ended up in this corner of her room.  See the details on the fabric bird art here and the ribbon mobile here.

 

 Linking up to: A Glimpse Inside, Friday Favs at Nap Time Crafters, Five Days...Five Ways, Ladybird Ln, and Tatertots and Jello