that's a wrap!

 Still hot and dry.

The heat, though, means that the garden is still producing.  I'm getting a ton of tomatoes...and the flowers look great!

ageratum

celosia

cosmos

zinnias

Where there are flowers, there are insects.  

leaf-footed bug

katydid

milkweed bugs, adult

milkweed bug, juvenile

planthopper

Still spiders about...

orb weaver

...and butterflies!

silver checkspot butterfly

A lacewing larva, nearly hidden beneath a camouflaging pile of fluff.

A mantis, drawn by our many moths, has been hanging around by our front door.  I am not a fan.

Check out those formidable weapons!

Other creatures are still creeping, too.

fowler's toad

I'd been seeing caterpillars everywhere, but they vanished in the last week.  Just a few tussock caterpillars still hanging around.  

I've been trying to get into the fall spirit despite the high temps.  I'm baking more...

apple fritter bread

...and knitting again.

not quite half of a wrap

I haven't had too much free time, but I try to take 15 minutes at least a few times a week to work on a puzzle.  Here is my setup:

real drafting table covered in felt, so I don't have to hunch over a table that's parallel to the floor!

I've usually got a puzzle going at any given time.  I've got a lot to choose from!  I pick them up at thrift stores pretty regularly, and occasionally buy them new, if I see one that I really like.  

There are two rows of stacks on the floor, and the three stacks in the center are puzzles that I haven't gotten to yet.  These are next in line to be completed.  I finally got this mess organized and pulled out a ton to donate last week!  More will be on the chopping block...I really need to thin this down.

Pepita is doing well!  She's got a new cat-filled territory...

...the kitchen and the living room!  It's gone a lot smoother than expected.  No territory beefs.  If all goes well, she'll get a hallway and another room next week.  I think we'll be more excited, because we've been hassling with baby gates all over and we can finally get rid of them!  

She has just graduated to thirty minute daily walks...

Waiting to be released!

Puppies have developing joints, so you have to slo-o-o-owly extend their walking times, 5 minutes per month of age.  She'll be able to walk for a full hour by April, just in time for our long spring hikes!  We just have to work up to it.

In other news, I was reading about a really beautiful sea slug last week...and this week, I spotted a shirt at the thrift store that looked almost exactly like it!  Of course I had to buy it.

The sea slug (called a nudibranch) is a little more turquoise.  I am 100% knitting a sweater in these colors sometime.  

Cooler temps should be coming soon!  I can't wait.  Have a great week!  

 

Needs More Cow [Bird]

When I heard a week or so ago that a friend was pregnant, I immediately started knitting.  I made these teeny tiny baby socks - aren't they cute?

I also baked her a batch of cookies.  I didn't have the time - or the skill - to do any elaborate decorating, so I decided to do a batch of half chocolate/half chocolate chip cookies (recipe here).  I didn't have any illusions about the success of the cookies.  No matter what I've tried...melted butter, softened butter, chilling, no chilling, 2 - 3 minutes of mixing, barely mixing, long bake time at low heat, quick bake at high heat...my cookies taste great, but they spread.  I never seemed to achieve that chunky, bakery-style look, and I'd given up.  I lumped the two doughs together with no care to proper size or shape...

To my surprise, they baked up beautifully...thick, chewy, and pretty much perfect.

Did I mention they were huge?  Here's one with a quarter for scale.

Next time I'll add chocolate chips to the chocolate dough, but otherwise...perfection!

Alas, for every kitchen victory, there's a crushing defeat.  I wanted to make little cookie "hamburgers" for April Fool's Day.  Despite the fact that I was absolutely swamped with work, I cleared a few hours for the task.  I discarded the idea of using a vanilla cupcake sliced in half for the "buns" and decided to make vanilla whoopie pies.  I used a new recipe, and they spread like crazy.  Argh!!  I used a cookie cutter to get the smaller, tidier shape, but of course the edges were rough.

I baked a batch of brownies for the "hamburger" portion, but was distracted by work and ended up baking them a bit too long.  They were a little too cake-y for my taste.  They were so fluffy, in fact, that I had to slice them in half through their middles to get the right height.  It was a mess.

Finally, I was nearly out of the red food coloring needed to turn the vanilla frosting into "ketchup."  I ended up using an old bottle that was well past its prime.  The frosting was flesh-colored, not red, and had a terrible taste.  Sandwiched together, it did not really resemble a hamburger.

The leftovers were tasty, though!

In my free time, I finished not one but TWO 2,000 piece puzzles.  I can lose myself for hours in a puzzle, but I keep one set up at all times so I can pick at it when I have a few minutes.

I also finished a pair of socks.  I've made these before, for a friend, but these are for me.  I love the scales.  If you look close, you can see the glitter!  There's a strand of glitter thread running through the yarn, so it's subtly sparkly.

Meanwhile, I'm still enjoying the azaleas...

...and photographing the birds.

I'm reading a book about the history of birding, and I thought I'd tally up the birds I could identify, off the top of my head, seen here at our house.  I counted 39 birds on my list, which was pretty exciting!  Just yesterday I counted a new bird.  "Large, glossy, blue body, brown head, seed eater, medium-sized..."  Out came the field guides.  It was a Brown-Headed Cowbird, lunching with two Southern Grey-Headed Sparrows. 

As I watched (half-hidden in an azalea bush), the Cowbird shook and fluffed his feathers aggressively...

...and chased off the Sparrows.

Cowbirds are clever and resourceful.  They don't make their own nests, but sneak into the nests of other birds to lay their eggs (sometimes several dozen a season!).  The unsuspecting nest owners feed and raise the young cowbirds as their own!   Pretty smart!

Have a great week!

Ginger-snap to it!

The freakish cold spell we've had recently has killed the open camillas and kept us inside on the weekends.  Todd has been busy with our new table saw.  He's built shelves in three closets, in the laundry room, and three series of large-scale shelf-like structures for some of his larger collectible items.  I've never thought much about closets before, but I have to admit that adding shelves (and a coat of paint) has really maximized the space.

Before (a dull yellow):

Todd adding some wire shelving to the wooden supports he'd built:

The final product:

There are also shallow shelves for DVDS going all the way up the left wall.  Amazing!

Meanwhile, since I've been doing daily to-do lists, I've discovered endless small projects.  I've done a massive clothing sort, preparing 6 garbage bags-full for Goodwill.  Found:  some moth-eaten hand-knit gloves.

 Drat!

I've tidied up my sewing machine area and threaded the bobbin, which allowed me to complete a large stack of sewing projects.  I've spring-cleaned the house.  I sorted through 20 magazines, taking articles of interest from each one...

...to be filed into my craft binders.

All kitchen baking supplies have been separated into separate plastic binders and labeled.  All candles have been separated out by type, boxed up in clear plastic shoe boxes, and labeled.  All fabric and kitchen linens have been sorted and labeled.  Holiday boxes have been sorted and organized.  I tell you, to-do lists are amazing!

I did find time to complete a puzzle...

...or two.

I've been buying fresh flowers for my favorite new Emma Bridgewater vase:

...and forcing hyacinths, which I love to do in January.

I've also been baking - a lot.  Unfortunately a corrupted memory card means that I can't show you the chocolate fudge brownies with chocolate chip cookie dough frosting and drizzled chocolate, but I did save the much healthier pumpkin gingerbread tart.  It was delicious - so much better than traditional pumpkin pie.  This recipe is a mix of several other recipes, and a lot of the measurements are "eyeballed".  Here goes!

No-Bake Pumpkin Gingerbread Tart
(heavily adapted from Ezra Pound Cake)

Filling Ingredients
1 cup pumpkin puree
8 oz reduced-fat cream cheese
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of cardamon
1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 - 3/4 cup powdered sugar

Crust Ingredients
3/4 - 1 cup gingersnap crumbs
2 - 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  The pie is not baked, but the crust is.

First, crush your gingersnaps.  I used one whole package of Anna's Ginger Thins, but any type would work.  Add your melted butter and mix with a fork until it holds together and can be pressed down.  Then, add the mixture to your 9" tart pan and press evenly across the bottom and around the sides.

Bake at 400 degrees for 6 - 8 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool. 

Meanwhile, toss all but the sugar into your mixer bowl and beat until smooth.  Slowly add your sugar.  When everything is combined, spoon into your cooled crust.

Smooth it all out, and refrigerate it for several hours.  You're done! 

 I think it's a lovely dessert.

 I found this clearance glass cake stand at a thrift store for $5.  A perfect excuse to use it!

I used the full 3/4 cup powdered sugar in this one, and I calculated 10 servings at 230 calories per serving.  Not bad at all, although I may have - ahem - cut rather generous portions when I served this.  Anyway, I hope you'll give it a try...it's a nice, spicy treat.

Have a great week!