Saturday, April 27, 2013

Saturday's Shamless Commerce Division Plug

NOTICE!  This is a Shameless Commerce Division Plug for Tie Dyed Hippy Wear

(We'll talk about George's little digression tomorrow )


The Daddy over at The Katmip Lounge loves to wear tie dyed shirts and clothing - so much that it was eating into their budget to buy all those tie dyed shirts, so he started tie dying his own stuff.

He really loved doing that - as you can see, the colors and the infinite patterns appealed to his creative side, so much so, that their garage was starting to fill up with all the things he was making - so  - TA DA!  - an ETSY SHOP, TIE DYED HIPPY WEAR was born!


There are aprons, 

And TOTE BAGS (this one, however, is no longer for sale, as it is winging it's way to MY house - just the perfect thing to tuck a little crochet project in, don't ya think?)  But, not to worry, he's got more!    

There are GOLF TOWELS -

(I really like this pattern - I may have to talk to him about a "custom shirt" made in a "ahem" larger size - as most of the shirts he has made only come in an XL size - oops, not big enough..)




And LOTS, 

and LOTS
And LOTS


AND LOTS of shirts

So, show your Inner 70's and get over to TIE DYED HIPPY WEAR today!  You'll be the best dressed hippy in town! 


PS - no goods or products were exchanged for this shameless plug - just a whole lotta love.

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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Where's George?

Seriously, George, where have you gotten to this time?   The Shepherd said he thought he saw him when we got home from work, but he didn't come in for dinner - and hasn't been in to "check up on things" all evening which is very unusual.

I went out and called and whistled, and called -

Darn, I hate it when this happens. 

*******
UPDATE
*******
Well, as the old song goes, "The cat came back, the very next day"  George sauntered in this morning and gave The Shepherd a look like "So Dude, what's the big deal"  He is so grounded!!!! (Yeah, right) 

Monday, April 22, 2013

Happy Earth Day!

Excellent Earth Day Man by William W.       Thanks William! 

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Hey, it's Caturday!

 Hey, effurrybody and effurrykitty! 

It's me, Gracie, and It's Caturday!

And Mummy has been wandering around singing a song about Mem-Rees and corners in her mind (I thought you could only have corners if the thing was square) - that Mummy is W I E R D, don't cha think???

Actually, this flower isn't a Mem-ree - it's another "Yellow thing" to show you from The Shepherd's garden - I heard Mummy say it's called a "Pee-o-nee Too-lip" 









And there's lotsa them bloomin out under the tree. 



She also says she's been dreaming of sugerplums, what ever those are...

I thought these were balls of sheep furs...funny colored sheep, tho I might say...


What do you think?  Red sheeps?  
Getting back to the farm, the rhubarb (the three plants in the front here) is growing.  Mummy thinks there might be enough to make The Shepherd a pie for their anniversary on Tuesday.

They will have been married for 19 years!  That's a lot of time.  

More Mem-Rees here - only mem-rees of baby sheeps this year.  


More sugarplums - as you can see Mummy went crazy at the wool sale last week.  She has it all put away in her wool room so's we can't play with it, darn.  

The girl sheeps will go out into this front pasture tomorrow, sans the rug rats, as I said, no baby sheeps this year.

The neighbors are all disappointed.  They like to come watch them play.  


The weather next week is supposed to have blue skies like this - and this cherry tree should be in full bloom then too -  It will be nice to have some good big sun puddles to sleep in.

So no dreams of sugerplums here, I like dreamin of joocy mise & frogs -

It's me, Gracie, signing off, til next time.  


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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

What do you do...


When you have this many crochet hooks? 



Well, one can never have too many crochet hooks...







 So you get a couple more...
I traded this one (made from purple heart wood, with copper wire inlay) for some computer work and new business cards for Allen Berry, "The Spindle Smith"- He was one of the vendors at the wool sale. Allen makes beautiful drop spindles, carved wood buttons and these delightful crochet hooks. (sorry, I didn't get a chance to take a picture of his drop spindles and the gorgeous carved wooden buttons)




The top one is made from Mahogany, the middle one (see close up above) is made from teak, and again, the purple heart one.  $18.00 each - I thought that was a very goooood deal. 


Yes, we had a really good time at the Wool sale.  It is so much fun to get new toys!


Monday, April 15, 2013

Wonderful Woolies Farm Sale, 2013

What happens when you get about 13 farms & "fiber related vendors" together to sell fleece & fiber on a Saturday in April?

It rains.

It blows,

It SNOWS?





Yes, you know that's the day for the Wonderful Woolies Farm Sale!!!  


Destined to bring out the worst in the weather, but the best in fiber & fleeces - and I forgot to take a picture of the fleeces!  There were about 90 some CVM/Romeldale & llama fleeces outside the barn under a large tent.

But, as I told The Shepherd on our way there Saturday morning, rain, hail or snow - might stop the postman, but it won't stop a fiber addict when they know there  is a barn full of yummy stuff - yes, we even had people drive 90 miles up from Seattle, where there was 1 1/2 inches of snow on the freeway!



The sale is hosted by our friends Yvonne & Doug of Spnner's Eden Farm - Here is their display of CVM wool and mill spun yarn -  click on the picture to biggify and drool. 




And here is The Shepherd (our fleeces are behind him)  

There was mohair and mystery batts -



And my personal favorite - Kathy Green's Ferndale Fibers Potluck Roving.  (I'll show you later this week what I got!)



Other than the weather, it was a very worthwhile day.  We had to leave for a bit to go to a memorial service at our church, but others kept and eye on our stuff.

All in all - a great day. 

Sunday, April 07, 2013

Yellow things?

 Some "Yellow" things in life this week -

A yellow Pansy from the Easter bowl that we got each other.  I paid for the flowers and The Shepherd potted them up for the back porch.  They are so cheery looking! 

Believe it or not, these little daffodils are only about 4 inches tall.  I guess I should have put a quarter or something on the ground next to them- as that is only how big the little blossoms are.  


These three are not much bigger - only about 8 or 10 inches tall.  but they add a friendly "hello" to our driveway flower beds.  

Can you believe that for as long as I have been cooking and baking I have never made lemon bars? But I made some yesterday to take to church today and they were just delicious.  And Lemony - Just right lemony, too.  

It was a busy day at church for me today because not only did I have the service to do, but I had already scheduled us to do snacks and could not find anyone to trade with.  So I called in some "Kitchen Angels" - friends who had previously offered to help - The theme for my service was Humility - so, I got a couple of Willamette Valley Frozen Pies at the store last week, (humble pie, get it)  but wanted to take something "lemony" so I decided to make Lemon Bars.  (I also took 2# of sliced cheese, a pound of sliced ham, a loaf of bread, a box of BIG wheat thins and some other little snack crackers AND, 1/2 dozen oranges cut up,  The only thing left was these two lemon bars and a little sack of orange slices.  It was a hungry bunch.) 

I used Emeril Lagasse's recipe for Super Lemony Lemon Squares, but made a few changes to suit my tastes.  I like the tang and flavor that lemon zest gives to lemon things, but hate the grainy texture that it gives them.  So I zested all my lemons with my microplane zester - I ended up with about 4 teaspoons -- and put the zest with about 3 tablespoons of water in a little pan and heated it up on the stove enough to release the lemon oils then I put that water & zest in with the lemon juice and strained the whole thing.  Since I was using my stoneware baking pan, I didn't chill the crust either - putting a cold stoneware pan into a hot oven is a recipe for disaster.  it still came out tasty and flaky so I think that is a step you could skip from the recipe. 

Sort of Emerel's Super Lemony Lemon Squares Ingredients

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks), plus 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups flour
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for garnish
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon salt

4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice, strained
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup whole milk (i used cream, because that's what I had)

Directions
Lightly butter a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with 2 teaspoons of the butter and line with 1 sheet of parchment or waxed paper. Butter the top of this sheet of paper with 1 teaspoon of the remaining butter and then lay a second sheet of parchment or waxed paper crosswise over the first sheet. The parchment should be cut large enough so that the sides are even with the top of the baking dish; this extra paper will function as handles to help you remove the lemon squares from the pan later. Set pan aside. (I only used the bottom piece of parchment)

In a large bowl combine 1 3/4 cups of the flour, 2/3 cup of the confectioners' sugar, the cornstarch, and 3/4 teaspoon of the salt and mix thoroughly. Cut the remaining 12 tablespoons of butter into small pieces and add to the flour mixture. Using your hands, 2 forks, or a pastry blender, work the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer the butter-flour mixture to the prepared baking dish and press into an even 1/4-inch layer along the bottom and partly up the sides of the pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

While the crust is chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the crust until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.

While the crust is baking, assemble the filling by combining the eggs, granulated sugar, flour, and lemon zest in a medium bowl and whisking until smooth. Stir in lemon juice, milk, and pinch of salt and mix well.

When the crust is golden brown, remove it from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Stir the lemon mixture again, then pour onto the warm crust. Bake until the filling is set, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Grasp the waxed paper that lines the 2 longest sides of the baking dish and remove the bars from the pan by pulling up gently. The entire dessert should easily dislodge and come away from the pan. Transfer to a cutting board and, using a clean knife, cut into squares, wiping knife after each cut. Place a small amount of confectioners' sugar into a small sieve, and sprinkle the bars with the sugar. Serve immediately, or refrigerate, wrapped with plastic wrap, up to 2 days, until ready to serve.



The only "yellow" thing that was missing from my day was the sun - oh, well, it is spring in the Pacific NW.