Estate Sale Goodies

I love a good estate sale, and there was a packed one about 6 blocks from our house. AND it had reasonable prices on EVERYTHING! Here are some of the highlights!

This lovely wastebasket for Miss E's room...


These refrigerator dishes with lids. I love to use these in my studio for holding things.


A couple of mid-50's issues of Redbook...


A pink chenille bedspread with silver "yarns" woven through it.

All the stains came out, so it was installed immediately on Miss E's bed... who is thrilled to have more pink in her room.

This is a double sided baby blanket...

It looked like they had dusted the house with it, but after a few trips through the washing machine, everything came out and it is soft and beautiful. So Mister e gets a little something too.

We went back two more times for other goodies. There was so much stuff! It was hard not to just back the car up and start loading!

Goodies and Projects

I love to knit in the fall. I don't know why... but it must be more pleasant to hold wool yarns in the cooler weather. I've been working on a luscious wrap for myself out of mohair/angora from the girls at Camano Made.



Of course, I was running out of yarn, so I desperately emailed them hoping they had more and... they did!!! When my package arrived, these goodies also came:



... three balls of beautiful novelty yarns and some samples of other yarns they spin. The front one is incredible! It is a robins egg blue wool twisted with a rust colored chenille. The combination looks so modern... I'm going to have to think about that one.

And then Fabric Depot was having it's monthly 40% off fabric sale. I couldn't miss that! So Miss E and I went and picked out some new fabrics.



The dark yellow one is from Heather Ross's new collection. It will be a button down shirt for Mister e. The others will eventually be skirts and dresses for Miss E.... hopefully in a timely manner.

Backpack with legs

Miss E started Kindergarten on Monday. She is thrilled to pieces and loves it. The school requested a full-size backpack as one of her supplies. Since she is such a little thing, she is all backpack...



She is so proud to wear it and tote it back and forth to school.

Squirrel Update

I checked on the box at 7pm, and the box was empty. The spouse saw the mother squirrel several hours earlier and heard some peeping at about the same time. We are assuming the two are reunited, since I couldn't find the little guy anywhere.

New Pyjamas for Miss E

Since it is fall and Miss E has outgrown much of her clothing, we thought we would make some new pyjamas. Here she is with the daunting task of selecting a fabric:



She finally decided on this pink (big surprise there) and purple Valorie Wells print that I bought a couple of years ago.



We added some purple trim to finish it off.

Squirrel 911

This little guy fell out of his tree early this morning...



Apparently the spouse and offspring heard some peeping this morning, and he was mis-identified as a bird. Around lunch time, we heard the peeping again, and I went out to take a look and found this little guy on the patio under the cedar tree- tired and dehydrated. We brought him in, gave him 1/2 cc of water, and warmed him up on a heating pad. He rested for a bit while I made a call to the Audubon Society and checked the web for some squirrel tips. Since he is a red squirrel and non-native he is not eligible for rehab. We were advised to put him in a box in the tree from which he fell and hope the mother squirrel comes back for him. So we installed a box in the tree, gave him 1cc of water, and I tucked him in my shirt and climbed up the ladder. When he was in my shirt, he burrowed in and got all comfy... boy those nails are sharp! He peeped a bit when I put him in the box. We will check in the morning. If he is still in the box, then we will finish raising him and release him when he is older. We are estimating that he is 6 weeks old and still nursing.

Pirate Sweater

The little Pirate Sweater is finished and fits the little wearer with some room to grow.



It turned out really well... I may have to make a pink and green or pink and black version for Miss E.



The yarns are so soft. It is 100% wool from Ami Ami.



I'm always a little nervous to order yarns online, but they sent me a set of sample cards. Their yarns are just gorgeous!

Cake Challenges Part II

The saga continued after my last post. I continued to "adjust" the wings throughout the afternoon, pulling them back into place every hour or so. 15 minutes before the guests arrived, I was giving them a final adjustment and pulled off the ENTIRE WING!! There laying in my hand was what appeared to be a very sticky, crumpled bug wing... not pretty and definitely not salavagable. So onto....

Wings Version 4- I thought I could whip up another batch of the syrup quickly with no problem, but would also reduce the amount of liquid so it wouldn't take so long. I also turned up the heat to speed things up a bit. When you are running out of time and need things to work... DO NOT DEVIATE FROM THE RECIPE. I created a bubbling mass of crystallized sugar that burbled and oozed as if it was alive. And then it prompty fused itself to the pot and took the spoon with it. It was unusable. By this time all the guests had arrived, I was running out of sugar and patience. So onto....

Wings Version 5-
I got out my heavy Calphalon pot and followed the recipe using the correct proportions which used up all my sugar leaving me with no back up. By this time all the guests new I was making wings, so I had to produce something. Everything went well and the result was better than any previous attempt. The heavy pot was key as it prevented the sugar from caramelizing resulting in nearly clear wings. Since things were going to well, I made them extra big...



So what have we learned from this extensive experience...
1. Follow the recipe, NO EXCEPTIONS
2. Use a heavy pot
3. Use a candy thermometer
4. If you have to touch it and adjust it, you are doing it wrong

I am going to spend the rest of the day recovering and trying to remove the sugar from my floor and table.

Cake Challenges

The wings were harder than I thought... but I persevered.
The cake baking part went well and I had much assistance from the birthday girl herself.





Since this cake is the skirt of the doll, I baked it in two mixing bowls...



Then the wing project began...

Wings Version 1: melting straight sugar in the pot... which took almost an hour of me standing at the stove stirring and waiting...



and resulted in these strange blobs that sort of look like phelgm...


not very winglike. So onto...
Wings Version 2 which was a different recipe using corn syrup and water along with the sugar. Unfortunately I over did it, and it turned this nasty brown...



Note to self- the hardcrack stage is not necessary. It did make beautiful fiberous glossy strands, so Mom and I spent an hour making hair-like bits all over the kitchen. They tasted terrible!!! Really burnt, and where it dripped on the table it took the paint off! I was going to make do with these and left them on the counter overnight only to find CAT HAIR stuck to them this morning!!!!... so mad!... so onto...
Wings Version 3...
This time I used less corn syrup...



However, I ran out of parchment paper and tried to use wax paper which the wings stuck to and wouldn't come off...



I was just about ready to freak out completely at this point. I tried everything to get them off the paper and no luck. I even tried again buttering the wax paper and they still stuck. So the spouse was dispatched to the store for more parchment paper... and it worked!



The wings are a little soft, so I have to reset them every hour or so.



I even made little things that attach to the skirt to tie in the wing design. If I did this again, I would use less corn syrup... just barely enough to make the long ribbons.
Miss E is thrilled to pieces... so it's a success.... and I'm exhausted.

Are those crickets chirping?

Yes... this blog has been waaaay too quiet. I have tons of flea market scores to photograph and post and a knitting project that is finished. Time seems to get filled with other things. This week is Miss E's 5th birthday so Nana and Papa are here for a few days visiting. It's a VERY exciting time for her.
Now I have to figure out how to make a fairy princess cake with a barbie doll stuck in it with fairy wings. Has anybody done any work with melted sugar? I'm going to need to do some research.

Mister Judy

My sister and I have a childrens' wear business called Mister Judy. We have been burning the midnight oil getting our website built and running. We have turned it on as of this morning: Mister Judy. We are so pleased with the results. We designed and built everything ourselves.

More work in the basement

After a four week break, we are back trying to finish up the studio. We have installed various shelving that is still in the process of being filled. Today we are finishing the trim and trim painting. Our stairwell finally has all its coats of paint with lots (and I mean lots) of touching up.



You can see the spouse's collection of paint-by-numbers at the landing. So good to have one area finished.

A little Cinderella for my little niece

My niece turned 3 on Sunday. I had purchased her a board game among her gifts. However, when I consulted with my sister, that very same board game was already owned by her brother. So onto Last Minute Plan B... I asked my sister if there was anything else she wanted. The little niece needed some dress up clothes, but not tutus and sparkly things. She really needed a Cinderella outfit.
I rummaged through my extensive stash of fabric and managed to locate a piece of blue satin about 3 yards long and only 20" wide. After a morning of elaborate cutting, seaming and "I'll make it work", I produced this 24 hours later....



There was no piece of satin left that was over 6" wide. The skirt is extremely full, so if she wears one of her tutus under it, the effect should be most Cinderella-like.
During the entire construction process, Miss E kept asking if it was for her. (Miss E announced last year that she will be Cinderella for this Halloween.) And when she found out that it wasn't, she requested one "exactly like this one". "It needs to be the exact same fabric", and then "when are you going to make mine? today too?". Thankfully Halloween is a few months off, but I need to start shopping for some blue satin soon.

Pottering About

Yes... I am a huge Harry Potter fan. As is my sister. We have spent many hours theorizing and re-reading the books to try and figure out the ending. So last Friday night, I was there at the midnight release of Book 7.
I did not wear a costume myself (as I had just flown back from LA that evening and drove straight from the airport to Barnes and Noble).
There were witches...



... a Dumbledore...



... and a Rita Skeeter...


... what was quite hilarious and usually in character as she moved around and directed us into our lines. She was an employee as well.

It was so wonderful to see an entire room of excited, smiling people when they announced at midnight that it was time to start selling. The age range of people was amazing- from the very young to the very old and from all walks of life! Now I just have to make sure I get some sleep at night rather than staying up the entire night reading....

A Yard Sale and the Antique Expo

We had a yard sale two weeks ago with the neighbors. We sold some things but not enough of the bulky, awkward to store items. BUT I scored this AWESOME fabric from our neighbor...



$3.00 for the whole 25 yard bolt!!! I'm going to make some pillows for the wicker set and some chair pads for the table chairs.

Then we took all the money we made and went to the giant Antique Expo at the expo center. You see the most interesting stuff there. Who doesn't need a giant rooster?



... or an oversize camera?



This horse brings back memories. We had a similar one when I was a kid.



I love these beaded bags. They were so hot a few years ago and the price went through the ceiling. Now the prices are coming down and they are relatively easy to find.



And this lovely hand made yet overprice horse...



We spent all the money from the yard sale at the expo. I'll have to post those goodies soon.

Garden Visitor

Yesterday, I was mass pruning my cutting garden and trying to bring it back under control when I discovered this little guy...



I have never seen this type of snail in my garden before. His shell was about 2" across.



He moved fast for a snail. His stalk eyes were moving all around taking everything in. And then he was gone...

Has it been two weeks!?!?

Where has the time gone?!?!? Some of it has been taken up with house projects and freelancing, and I was gone last week teaching the last week of my summer class at the University of Idaho. We stayed at my parents farm and enjoyed a wonderful 4th of July with my family. I did manage to take a few pictures...



It was hot, hot, hot while we were there, so we tried to do any walking in the early morning. But some mornings it was just too hot, so I stayed near the house and took pictures of the hummers...



Mom and Dad feed an army of about twenty hummingbirds. After the eggs hatch there will be closer to forty. They eat out of two feeders and consume a quart of sugar water a day. If it is really hot, Mom has to fill the feeders in the morning and again in the evening. You do have to be a little careful when standing under the feeders as you might get speared by a fiesty hummingbird zipping by.

Since our farm is close to a Reservation, there are many wonderful and illegal fireworks to choose from. The spouse loves this availability, so he and my sister drove down and bought $50 worth of exploding activities while I was working. We started off with the sparklers...



... and then had to move to an area away from the house and any fuel tanks for the big stuff. All the kids enjoyed it, but Mister Ewan was asleep after a few fountains so missed the aerial display... ah well... there's always next year. I posted the rest of my pictures on Flickr.

Pie

There is nothing better than pie. It is the one dessert item that announces summer's arrival and makes me happy, happy, happy.
This is rhubarb....



... and this is some lovely pastry made with lots of butter... which is the only way to make a really good pie crust.







In the oven for a little baking....



Ta Da!



There are only two pieces left today. Strawberry-Rhubarb is an excellent combination and disappears quickly. Will have to make more pie soon.