Easter Traditions

I woke up to pounding rain this morning and my first thought was, "It's going to be an indoor Easter celebration!" I laid a while longer in the bed of my empty nest wondering what my boys are doing with and for their families this Easter Sunday. Then my mind wandered to the Easter traditions of my mom's family and the things we as a family adopted or invented.

My mama was all about the Easter dress and bonnet. We girls got new (no hand-me-downs!) dresses and bonnets every year. And we had professional pictures taken in those dresses and bonnets every spring. Sometimes we went to church, sometimes we didn't. It depended upon where we lived. We always colored boiled eggs the day before with food coloring and vinegar. Not the packages with the egg wands and coloring pills they have now. I still remember the smell of vinegar while dying eggs. There was always a new Easter basket hidden somewhere in the house. We didn't reuse baskets - probably because we moved so much it wasn't worth packing them up and moving them with us every time. Our baskets were filled with green plastic grass, jelly beans, and a solid chocolate bunny. We always nibbled the ears first. The colored eggs were usually hidden from us - in the house if it was raining, or outside if not - during breakfast. Then after breakfast came the egg hunt! I still wonder why it was so exciting, but it was. I didn't even like boiled eggs then. The constants for Easter dinner were always either turkey or ham with deviled eggs (must use up those hard-boiled eggs!) and the green jello. Not the orange Thanksgiving jello or the red Christmas jello.

Hubby and I had boys. No dress and bonnets to worry about, but we did have them dress up in slacks and button-down shirt if they had it, or nice polo if not. No professional pictures, but I was a snapping freak when they were young - I was always behind the camera and have the albums and boxes of loose pictures to prove it! Sometime in the days before Easter we would dye eggs. Sometimes with food coloring and vinegar, sometimes with the pills and wands, sometimes with "new" ways to dye eggs that always come up around Easter.

On Easter Sunday, we'd have breakfast and hide the eggs in the house if raining, outside if not. You have to be sure and count them so none are missed only to be found by the lawnmower later on. We'd hide the basket (with grass, candy, and solid chocolate bunny) somewhere in the house. The boys would find theirs and get to finding eggs! It was always a competition to see who would get more colored eggs, but, you know, I never saw them voluntarily peel an egg and eat it. Easter dinner was always ham at our house or turkey or ham at Sweetie's house. And, of course, deviled eggs. We dropped the green jello tradition.

As the boys got older, they got less and less excited about coloring and finding hard-boiled eggs. When they could read well, we'd put clues in plastic eggs - basically a treasure hunt to their Easter basket. One Easter we did the treasure hunt between Sweetie's and Hair That Flows' houses. They'd find a clue at Sweetie's that would lead them to Hair That Flows' (about a block away on the same street) and back and forth until they found their baskets. It was still a competition even though they each had their own clues - they RAN from clue to clue! They were so sweaty and when they finally found the baskets - but that's the Easter they still talk about.

I wonder what traditions my boys are adopting or creating. I'll have to give them a call tonight!

Garden Update: Little Green Shoots!

Tiny green things poking up in the garden!

Carrots

Bush Beans

Peas

Leaf Lettuce. Can you see them?

First asparagus spear of the season.

Artichokes coming on.

Cherry tomatoes in the greenhouse. We don't have enough heat for them to do much outside.

Now for an update on some older stuff:

This is one of three little trays of apples I started from seeds. They got a layer of mold on top of the dirt and most succumbed to damping off disease. It started as an experiment to see if I can get any apples produced from seed. Hopefully at least one of these little guys will make it to the tree stage!

The blackberry brambles started from cuttings. They were a little wilty for the first couple of days, but they're coming back strong.

Not sure if you can tell, but I added an oregano unibrow and soul patch from my herb bed. The garden entrance guy is starting to take shape. 

That's all folks!

DIY Cream of Mushroom Soup Mix

Pinterest, how is it that the four-pack of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and the can of Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup I bought at Winco together in a crockpot for four hours makes "Awesome Homemade Chicken and Mushrooms"? What's homemade about that, again? Is it that the crockpot is in my home?

I've gotta say I'm a fan of "easy" and "time-saving", but the above "recipe" doesn't scream "homemade" to me. (Is that enough quotes for you? I almost put quotes around "me" for fun but that just would've been wrong.) Especially when I consider the ingredient list of a can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup:

Water, Mushrooms, Modified Food Starch, Wheat Flour, Contains Less Than 2% of: Salt, Cream, Dried Whey, Monosodium Glutamate, Soy Protein Concentrate, Yeast Extract, Spice Extract, Dehydrated Garlic, Vegetable Oil: Corn, Cottonseed, Canola and, or Soybean oil

The list starts out well, but soon goes downhill. I still haven't found a good source for Soy Protein Concentrate, or Yeast- or Spice Extract. So, several years ago I went looking for homemade DIY substitutes for Campbell's Cream of Mushroom, Cream of Chicken, and Knorrs' Onion Soup mixes. These are the three I use a LOT in my recipes.


I tried to find the internet site I got the Cream of Mushroom mix recipe from, but had no luck. It was before I was aware of or invited to Pinterest. I'll just say that some smart and savvy blogger I happened to run across one day while checking stuff out on the computer has a great dry Cream of Mushroom Soup mix recipe. It makes a half-gallon of dry mix. If I can find the site later, I'll be sure to post it here.

Here are the ingredients:

4 Cups lowfat powdered milk
1 1/2 Cups cornstarch
1 Cup chopped dried mushrooms (I use a full ounce of dry mushrooms, which is about 2 Cups)
1/2 Cup beef bouillon granules
2 Tbsp thyme
2 Tbsp basil
1 Tbsp pepper
1/2 Tbsp parsley
1/2 Tbsp garlic powder

I keep all this stuff in bulk in my pantry - with the exception of dried mushrooms - , so it's easy to mix this up when I run out. The mushrooms I get in the Asian section of my local Winco. They might be in the bulk section of your store.

I roughly chop the mushrooms.

Add them to the rest of the ingredients in my mixing bowl, whisk to mix.

Dump in 1/2 gallon Cream of Mushroom Soup Mix jar.

To make some soup, you stir 1/3 Cup mix into 1 1/4 Cup boiling water in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until thickened. I turn off the heat and put a lid on the pot for about 2 minutes to plump the dried mushrooms. This can be added to any recipe in place of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup, or eaten as is.

The Cream of Chicken Soup Mix also makes 1/2 gallon of dry mix:

4 Cups lowfat powdered milk
1 1/2 Cups cornstarch
1/2 Cup chicken bouillon granules
1/3 Cup chopped dry onion
2 tsp italian herbs
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp red pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper

Again, to make, it's 1/3 cup mix to 1 1/4 cup boiling water, stir on low until thickened.

Onion Soup Mix is much easier. I use as much beef bouillon granules to as much dry chopped onions as looks right (probably about 3 Cups bouillon to 1 Cup dry onion. Remember, I'm a dumper by nature, not a measurer!). I use 3 Tbsp dry mix as a substitute for a packet of Knorr Onion Soup in recipes.

These dry mixes make me feel like I'm actually using my ultra-frugal ninja-chef skills to make something wholesome and homemade. Maybe it's a little healthier without the funky extras like modified food starch or monosodium glutamate. AND I get to feel slightly superior to the poor folks who have to run out and buy the chicken breast four-pack and can of mushroom soup to make homemade chicken!

Hey, you poor folks with the canned soup! You, too, can easily make frugal-ninja-chef dry soup mixes! Hope this helps. It sure helped me. If you make it, give a shout-out to the brilliant as-yet-unnamed blogger for the recipes (I hope to find her soon to give credit where it's due).

Best Homemade Baby Gift

When making gifts for a new mommy, I try to think back 20+ years ago to my early mommy days. What was the most useful, practical, baby-friendly, old-fashioned-but-still-relevant item I received? We cloth diapered and I received a couple dozen homemade pre-folds as gifts - and, boy were they useful! But diapers don't really say "love" to me. Plus, most new moms use disposable.

Then there's the hat and booties.

They're cute, but how many mommies really use these on a regular basis? I didn't. You know that when they're just a few months old the hat is the first thing the little blighters rip off - and the socks or booties are next. Youngest Son preferred hatless and barefoot. I was really lucky if I could get socks on him to leave the house - he wouldn't stand for them inside.

No, the homemade gift items I treasured most were the baby blankets.  Just by looking at them I could see the amount of work and love that went into them. Being tactile little creatures, babies seem to enjoy the silky or soft ones. Of the several I received I had my favorites, of course - and I got two particular blankets I used ALL the time. Both were flannel receiving blankets. SO USEFUL! They were in use just as soon as we were out of the hospital to wrap baby up burrito-style, as a light cover,  for a cover in the carseat, tucked into a closed car window to shade baby on long trips, anywhere as an emergency changing station, as a barrier between baby and floor for tummy time, as a nursing cover, as a burp cloth, as an emergency cloth diaper. I got some real mileage out of those two receiving blankets! And when they were holey and frayed, I cut them up for spill rags and dusting cloths.

So, I've been a real fan of the flannel receiving blanket for a while. But then, when I was way past the young mommy stage, I went to a friends' from church who was whipping up the most amazing things on her sewing machine. Doubled flannel receiving blankets! Who'd've thunk it? She used three yards folded in half. Perfect. They're heavier, but still light enough to do all the things listed above (with the exception of emergency diaper - they're a little bulky for that), plus they last longer. Long enough for toddlers and walkers to love them, grab them for comfort or at nap time or to watch 'toons or for peek-a-boo, or just for snuggling with on mommy or daddy's lap.

We have a new baby coming into the family. A lovely (if her ultra-sound pics are any indication) girl-child. I'm not even the grandma of this one and I immediately went into flannel blanket mode. And I think I've one-upped my church friend. With crocheted lace.

Come home as soon as you're ready, baby girl. We're waiting!

The Speed of Commerce, Medicine, Government

Hubby lost his wallet last weekend. He wasn't carrying a lot of cash, so that was good, but he DID have that annoying chore of canceling and replacing many of his cards.

The credit cards should be in the mail in 3-7 days.

The medical card should be in the mail within 30 days.

The drivers license should be in the mail within 90 days.

Really, DMV? 90 days? Well, I can't say I'm surprised.

Camping with Children

We're campers. Many people aren't. In fact, an old co-worker of mine told me once that she couldn't understand camping. She said the whole principle was based on taking all the nice clean stuff out of your house, packing it in the car, driving a long ways, and throwing it in the dirt.

For us, camping was one of the most important elements in our child-rearing bag o' tricks. It was also a frugal way to get the family out of the house.

We're lucky enough to live in an area with streams, rivers, lagoons, Pacific ocean, mountains . . . any and all the places you could want to camp. Here, I'll show you. Day-before-yesterday we went for a drive along the Trinity River and stopped at a likely camping spot:

With a pit toilet,

And a picnic table and fire pit,

And a bald eagle in a tree across the river. These are the types of places we went.

We still keep a tent, sleeping bags, a couple of coolers, and a kitchen box even though our days of camping "in the dirt" are just about behind us. The kitchen box has camping stove and fuel, lantern and fuel, a pot, a cast-iron pan, cooking utensils, plates, napkins, forks, etc., matches, dish- and regular soap, a hatchet and machete, a plastic table cover, citronella candles, bug spray. We always took enough wood from home for camp and cooking fires and only rarely used the camping stove. This is the stuff that helped build our boys. And the stuff that uncounted memories are made of.

Like the time we camped at the lagoon and built a shelter out of driftwood and everything was all good until Middle Son took a fishhook in the cheek. Or the time we named a favorite spot the P.O.S.H. place (poison oak swimming hole) as we were applying Calamine at home. Or the time #1 Son, then 13, drove our stick-shift all the way home because Hubby hurt his back and couldn't move, I wasn't there, and they didn't have a phone. Or the time we watched the twin baby bears who'd been kicked out early by mama silently sneak into our camp and take all the paper plates into the woods to shred. What a mess that was! Or the time our old Shepherd ran ahead in the trail and killed a rattlesnake, saving Youngest Son from a nasty bite. Those were hairy times, but they're also some of the times the boys talk about most. There were also good times. Great times.

Like the time the two older boys learned to build fires safely and we had six campfires that night - each with leaves and needles carefully swept away and a ring of rocks. Building and racing pontoon boats made of found soda bottles, fishing line, and sticks. Holding big rocks as we walked into the river so we could stay on the bottom and watch the fish awhile before dropping them and heading up to the surface. Our Samoyed/Retriever towing us  across the river with her tail so we (and she!) could dive off the rocks. Teaching friends to swim. Or the time Older Cousin came out of the dark woods with his sleeping bag around his shoulders and Younger Cousin leaped on BILs head (almost turban-like) screaming, "Bear, bear!"  :)    Body surfing the rapids. Bowling for elk in the mist with a box of apples (OK, rolling apples to the elk). Oldest boy playing GI Joe Commando and trying to sneak as close to us as he could before we said, "We can see you!" That time we camped at an oxbow in the river and caught the pollywogs with legs in the slow warm water. Cooking s'mores. Reading Indian in the Cupboard aloud by lantern light, swatting at moths and mosquitos, because we were so close to the end and couldn't put it down. Whittling with a pocket knife. Chopping at the wood pile with a hatchet. Playing cribbage until the flashlight batteries went out. Silently sitting around, poking the campfire with sticks. Counting falling stars and satellites.

Those were some of the best times. Even if nothing happened. No phones, TV, Playstation, XBox, or electronics of any kind. No distractions. Just a family hanging out. And I wouldn't trade all the mosquito bites, itchy patches of poison oak rash, or long nights on the hard ground for any amount of luxury hotel stays. Believe it. It's true.

I love you, boys.

Rock Painting

Sometimes I just get a wild hair and want to paint something. Not like a canvas or something "normal". More like something off-the-wall or unusual or something from nature.

Here are a couple of rocks I painted that were intended to be doorstops, but I don't know what their jobs are since they were gifted.

Sweetie told me they look aboriginal. For some reason that made me feel good. :)  I like the high contrast of black and white. Like black and white photos. Sister shoots hauntingly beautiful black and white photos that make me want to step into them and sit awhile. I don't have that talent. But I like to paint.  I like primitive. I like simple. I like art from nature. I should, like, paint more rocks.

Propagating Blackberries From Cuttings

I understand blackberries  - and all brambles - are some of the easiest plants to propagate from cuttings. They'll supposedly root from all the little "elbows" that're in contact with dirt. The same spots that leaf and branch. It looks pretty easy, because when some of my vines bend down and touch the ground, the tips will root.

So there's this wild strip in my yard. It used to be the chicken moat I had around the garden. The idea was that no bugs would make it to my garden veggies because the chickens would eat 'em before they even got close. Well, it mostly worked until too many weeds and volunteers grew in the moat. Now the chickens eye it like it's the Congo or something. Only the adrenalin junkies go in there. The rest of them  content themselves with the compost heap.

Anyway, in amongst the volunteer lemon balm and sunchokes and little redwood tree we keep hacking back and wild blackberry brambles and weeds are a few thornless blackberry vines that are poking out. A bird (probably a chicken) pooed some seeds back there sometime in the past and they've taken root.

I cut off a few of the longer ones.

And brought them into the greenhouse.

I need to know which end is up and which is down, so I cut these into pieces about 8 inches long with the bottom cut at an angle and the top cut straight across. The cuts are made just about halfway between the "elbows" or leafing-out spots. Then I strip all but the top two elbows of leaves. Because these brambles are thornless, I just ran my loosely fisted hand down the vine to knock off the lower leaves. Otherwise, I'd snip them with my garden shears.

These guys are ready to plant.

I prepared some pots by sticking a coffee filter in the bottom and adding compost. I don't have any potting soil right now, so we'll make do.

Since I want these brambles to have plenty of opportunities to root, I stuck them in the pots deeply so several elbows were in contact with the soil. Then they got watered in good, and the leaves got misted as well just to make sure they wouldn't get thirsty. I'll need to check them daily so they don't wilt or dry out.

There they are, the little beauties! If you think about it in the next few days, send out a little rooting prayer or good juju wish if you please! I'll let you know how they do.

Best Toy For Retrievers

Period. The end.

Just kidding! My dog, True loves toys. She knows the names of all of them and treasures each one individually.

True snuggling with Panda and Pinkie

I used to think she'd be a frisbee dog. True will go after frisbees and is crazy for the air-time, but Frizz almost didn't make it. His cousins definitely didn't make it. 

The bit of blue plastic that used to be Frizz no longer flies as well as it did before True trimmed the edges up a bit. She seemed to realize that Frizz was on the verge of disappearing and broke the nibbling habit. If I give it a toss, she will still retrieve it.

But the Chuck-it!, now that's the toy for a retriever! True will literally retrieve tennis balls ALL DAY without stopping unless it's hot out. Then she might lay in the shade for a minute or two before bringing the ball back.

These are the reasons I (and True) like Chuck-It!:

1. If you buy the green one, regular tennis balls can fit in it and you don't have to buy the Chuck-It! balls. This can save some money if you don't  have good aim and your throws end up in the bushes or on roofs or over fences.

2. It really saves my arm. This dog could wear through a rotator cuff in nothing flat.

3. It's a kid magnet. If kids are around, they'll beg to throw for your dog. But, again, they sometimes throw wonky so you may want to bring extra balls. I've started giving kids one chance only. If they blow it and throw over a fence or in the bushes, their turn is over. 

4. It throws FAR! Much further than my puny arm can do.

5. I don't have to touch nasty, dog-slobbered tennis balls. I just push the receiver end over the ball that's on the ground and it clicks into place.

6. I can load the Chuck-It! without bending.

7. If I release the ball so it goes high into the air, it'll bounce pretty tall and True can get air-time jumping after it (solving the frisbee dilemma).

I so recommend the Chuck-It! for all those OCD Retrievers out there. And for their owners. And for their owners' arms.

Garden Whimsy

I've never done anything with the garden entry. When we took the gate out, the entry area looked a little shaggy to me. I started thinking about what to do to tame it.

First, the garden weed mat had to be pulled back because water sits there. So Hubby did that for me and I set to filling in some spaces, digging out others - even outside the chicken fence - and generally making a better gazoutta for water.

Then I weeded, and then I weeded some more. I've used that old, dead shopvac case as my rolling weed holder for several years. It's served me well. It's a much better rolling garbage can that it ever was as a shopvac!

I added a couple of bricks and some stepping stones we've made with leftover cement, a few succulents on the edges and - viola! - garden entry tamed.

It looks a little like a face to me. I have some oregano in the garden and I think I'm gonna take some plugs of that and add a beard and maybe a unibrow.

I was still feeling a little whimsical and creative, so I planted a faerie garden in a stainless tray. Of course, after I finished it, I found an aluminum dishpan with holes in it that would've served much better, so I'll be moving the planting to it at some point in the near future.

I checked out my jar of found yard toys to add some elements to my faerie garden, but I didn't think quadriplegic GI Joes or the three-legged horse or Matchbox car parts did much for it, so I left the garden as is.

Altogether a nice day putzing around. Today, the dentist, then burning slash at the spread.

Using Less Paper

I made a decision a few years ago to attempt to use fewer paper products in our home. I figured it was the next step along the frugality path. I didn't do so well in the paper area. This is what we use and why we can't do without it.

1. The all-important TP. It's a must. Period.

2. Feminine hygiene. I've researched a device called The Keeper and looked at making cloth pads, but while store-bought feminine hygiene products are available to me I'll keep purchasing them. I figure if the end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it happens and money is worthless and store shelves are empty, I'll use cloth pads. But I'm really hoping my moon-tides will be behind me by then.

3. Facial tissue. This is one area where I'm happy with my progress. We don't buy it. I have a couple of hankies (one my grandma made) I keep in my night-stand because I have this night-time runny nose thing. Hubby rarely blows his nose (usually only when he has a cold) and will grab TP if needed.

These are straight off the clothesline. I think they're pretty. Just so you know how far off the mark I've gotten, I was so excited about these hankies, that I had decided to make some with crocheted lace for my DILs for their young children's noses. When I told Sister, she looked at me in shock then turned her head away and shuddered. Actually shuddered! Hankies gross her out. Of her top 10 shudder-causing memories is Dad's enthusiastic schnoz-tootin' into his blue or red hanky. AND THEN FOLDING IT UP AND PUTTING IT INTO HIS POCKET! Hmmm. It could be that I'm the only one who's excited about this.

4. Paper towels. I have rags in the kitchen and use them where I can - for spills and such. We use paper towels pretty much just for covering plates in the microwave. Oh, and for cleaning cast iron when we're in the hills, but I could use rags for that. I get the Viva Choose-a-Size so we technically only use 1/2 a paper towel at a time.

I can't get over that last microwave hump. I don't want to have to clean the pops and sizzles out of the mic every time I heat something up, but I haven't come up with anything else to take the place of paper towels. I need to look for some kind of cover that's not plastic and is microwave safe and lightweight and fits over a plate or bowl (and is cheap!). Still workin' on it.

5. Paper napkins, plates, plastic cups, utensils. We use cloth napkins. We have a box of paper plates, napkins and plastic cups, utensils that are left over from Cub- and Boy Scouts. Yeah. We've had them a while - maybe ten years or more. Sometimes we break them out when we're having a big BBQ or picnic or something, but we only use them once or twice a year. Other than that, I'm OK with washing real plates and cloth napkins.

So there you have it. We're doing better in the paper category, but I fear this is as far as we're gonna go.  Unless, of course, TSHTF. If it happens, we'll hammer out the paper thing then.

Homelessness In Our Area

In this area of the Pacific Coast, it rarely hits much over 75 degrees or below 40 degrees, though it can spike up to 80 and hit lows of 32 occasionally. I love our mild climate here. I don't miss the snow - it's nice not to HAVE TO drive in it, or shovel the driveway, or purchase the gear, etc.

It looks like lots of other folks feel the same.

This guy was catching a snooze in front of a local restaurant.

Partially because of the weather, I think, we have a HUGE homeless population here. So huge that at one point, the city took out all the park benches because people were using them for beds and setting up camps around them. The city eventually put new benches in, but they have iron armrests in the middle, so now up to two people can sit (not lay!) on them. Problem solved. Not.

Near our home is a small bridge over the slough (tidal creek) under which a man has a small, tidy camp. I wouldn't have known he was there, but his tent is yellow and it caught my eye one day. There's also a large second-growth redwood forest not too far away where several homeless folks live.

I was out throwing the ball for True at the school down the street one morning when two people emerged from the bushes along one side of the ball field and began packing belongings into backpacks. They then produced water bottles to wash their faces and brush their teeth. It was all very efficient. So efficient that I concluded those bushes must be a frequent stop. I checked it out after they left. It was very clean, no trash that I normally associate with homeless camps. They'd broken a bunch of branches to make it comfy in there, but other than that and some packed earth, there was no other sign they'd spent the night.

During my 20+ years at Social Services, I've encountered a lot of homeless people. Many doing their best to become homed. Others enjoying the homeless lifestyle. I've had several people tell me they are "houseless" not "homeless". I guess saying they choose the forest or the beach or the bushes over four walls.

I think it's fine to choose to be "houseless" if:

1. The person is self-supporting.
2. The person doesn't trash the beautiful countryside
3. The person doesn't beg. Kinda goes with #1, but panhandling or begging is epidemic in this area - don't know about yours. I used to be sympathetic and give money, or food, or supplies like soap or toothbrushes. Now I don't go out of my way to do that. Sometimes I'll buy a sandwich for someone begging in front of a fast-food place, but I don't give money any more.

Something that bothers me about homelessness almost as much as the hopelessness and the trash and the begging is the pets. It looks to me like for every three homeless people there's at least one un-neutered, un-spayed, un-vetted pit bull-cross puppy being dragged along with them by a rope.

I don't have any answers. I'm sure there's not just one.

DIY Oregon Chai Recipe

I love love love Oregon Chai. It's perfect EXCEPT it's just a tad too sweet - and a tad too expensive - for me. The last time I bought some, it was $3-plus change for their little box which made 4ish (depending upon how much milk I added) of my big coffee cups full. That's good when you consider it cost $3 for a single grande chai at Starbucks at that time.

I began a homemade Oregon Chai knockoff quest. Here's a pic of my partners in crime:

I reuse random containers, so we aren't really going to use McCormick Salad Toppings in our chai. There's bulk whole cloves in there. Here's the recipe.

1 gallon water
1/3 cup whole cloves
5 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp dried ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup loose black tea (or 10 teabags)
2 cups honey
2 tsp vanilla

I reuse a gallon milk jug to measure out the water into my big lidded pot and to hold my chai later. Put the cinnamon sticks, ginger, and nutmeg in there. Then I put the cloves in my awesome Williams Sonoma garnee ball. This garnee ball is so great, it was worth the Williams Sonoma price. I use it a LOT. When I first started making chai, I used some doubled-up cheesecloth tied closed with thread to hold my cloves. Then I got a cheapo garnee ball that kept opening up and dumping all those little cloves out into my chai. Grrrrr. It was back to cheesecloth until I found my little ball of perfectness. Ummmm . . . what was I . . . .oh yeah, back to the recipe.

Do all the above, put the lid on your pot, and simmer for 12 hours. Chaimaking is a good holiday activity. It makes your house smell just like Christmas. When it's good and simmered, turn off the heat, fish out the cinnamon sticks and your garnee ball. Dump the cloves into the compost pile and add the loose tea to your garnee ball or cheesecloth, or tie your 10 teabags together and add them to your liquid. Steep 10 minutes. Remove tea from liquid and add the honey and vanilla.

Vanilla's not in the picture because I make it with bottom-shelf vodka and vanilla beans. I thought including a vodka bottle AND McCormick Salad Toppings with these ingredients would be just too confusing.

The gallon of chai never lasts longer that a week or so in the fridge because I drink it up before then, so I'll say it lasts about a week in the fridge.

To make a cup, I get my tall coffee cup, fill it a little over 2/3 of the way with chai, add a bloop of milk and nuke it for one minute. Not only does it smell like Christmas, it's like drinking Christmas!

Grow Your Own Avocado Seedling

Remember this guy? He apparently didn't mind the acupuncture because:

After about a month, he became this long, lanky guy.

And now he's found a new home.

I seem to vaguely recall saying something to the effect that I am not a person to baby a tropical plant in a greenhouse. Well I changed my mind. I am that person. This little avocado and his poor struggling half-brother, a compost volunteer, both moved into the greenhouse. I hope they love it. I think I'll wait to tell them I'm gonna possibly eat their possible progeny. Yeah, they should be stronger first.

Needle Books

I like to do little handcrafts when sitting watching TV or just resting. It's something tangible I can point to so I don't feel so guilty about sitting on my butt. Sometimes they make good gifts. Sometimes I just enjoy having pretty things around me that are embellished by needlework.

Here are a couple of felt needle books I've made:

That last one is mine. I made it so I'd have something to do while waiting for Sweetie to come out of surgery. I like bright. I like primitive. I like that I got all my needles from bits of paper or fabric, pincushions, tops of thread spools - you wouldn't believe all the places I stuck these suckers - into one place. I also like that it's one of the first things I see when I open my Mama's old sewing box (now mine).

:) Good stuff.

Greenhouse Makeover

Hubby and a friend made my greenhouse out of free windows we'd gathered. It was built around a central 4' x 8' raised bed. It was an unsatisfactory set-up, but last summer we just left it as-is and planted  all my old tomato seeds (2 to 8 years old!) in the bed and watched to see what came up. We got lots of grape tomatoes as well as a couple of volunteer hubbard squash and baby avocado trees from the compost we'd used.

This year, we decided to revamp the greenhouse. Hubby disassembled and I dug out the raised bed and we created a new bed in the corner of the  garden. To do that we had to first tear out the strawberry tower. The strawberries weren't doing so great anyway, so it wasn't a big loss. Plus I'll replant the few that look vigorous enough to actually produce something this year.

Yes, I realize the corrugated roofing looks funky, but it keeps the chickens from pulling the edibles through the garden fence and also keeps the wild blackberries from making inroads quite so quickly. We do what we can with what we've got.

With the greenhouse floor down to bare dirt, Hubby skirted it with weed matting. This is from the door to the back.

And this is from the back to the door.

In that central alley, I dug in some mosaiced stepping stones I'd made with a friend a couple years ago and planted Irish moss in the spaces between. Then I added the little cafe table and chairs that's been rusting away in the man-yard for the last year or so. Hubby built some planting "counters" and we set those in around the glass walls.

So, that's the newly configured greenhouse. And a shot of the garden from gate to greenhouse - you can see the poor remaining strawberry plants where I laid them in the bottom center of this picture:

And from greenhouse to gate:

So, ten raised beds of different shapes and sizes, mostly 4' x 8', an artichoke bed, a rearranged greenhouse . . . let the planting begin!