Autumn Color Week :: Yellow

These are two slightly-varying varieties of Asian pears from the trees in my parent's yard. My mom and I are planning on canning them later this week or next. I've been doing a lot of food preservation this year, but until now have been avoiding doing any canning. My freezer is full and I've done dehydrating, so it's time now for some canning.

With many of my Flickr friends, I'm playing along with Poppytalk's Autumn Colour Week. Play along with us! Or at least visit the Flickr pool for some beautiful fall inspiration.

My Birthday Hat

My friend Georgia gave me some beautiful handspun yarn for my birthday back in July. Here's what I created with it. I originally made this hat, but it was way too big on my head . So I re-knitted this simple little hat. This may just be one of my favorite knitted projects yet. It was super simple, I didn't really follow a pattern, and I was able to customize it to my small head. And the chunky yarn with big fat needles made the project go so fast. I finished this hat in only an hour or two, and I only used half of the skein. You gotta love bulky yarn just for that reason, such quick and satisfying results.

An Autumn Scarf

I finished this a couple weeks ago, it was a pretty quick knit. I used a simple fan and feather pattern available (for free!) here. The yarn is handspun BFL in "Shades of Earth" colorway from Spincycle Yarns. I've had it in my stash for sometime and have been waiting for the perfect project. This was it. I love the colors and the lightness of the finished scarf, I think it will be perfect for the upcoming autumn evenings. I'm not sure if I would use a variegated yarn again for this type of lace pattern, I think the medley of the colors somehow take away from the texture in the pattern. But I still think I'll be enjoying this scarf for a long time.

Welcoming August

Despite the heat, I always enjoy August, because it means Autumn is just around the corner. This weekend was spent doing various activities to welcome in this beautiful month.

::The start of an easy and (hopefully!) quick new project for Fall. Details to be revealed in their entirety soon.


::Full-body dips in the Pacific Ocean.


::Enjoying the first of our tomato harvest.


::Visiting a knitting garage sale. So. Fun.


::Finding new ways to prepare our zucchini. This roasted zucchini soup was loosely based on the curried zucchini soup recipe found in the Cafe Beaujolais Cook Book. Love these books! The soup was good, but I'll be tweaking it some more.


Welcome August!

Zucchini Harvest

Our zucchini yield this year is plentiful. I'm trying to use all of what we've grown by baking, cooking, freezing and preserving in any way that I can. My friend Susan Foster's Chocolate Zucchini Bread has been our favorite, although Burl would rather try to feed his to the dogs.

Chocolate Almond Zucchini Bread

3 eggs, 3 c. flour

2 c. sugar 1 tsp. salt

1 c. oil 1 tsp. cinnamon

2 squares unsweetened chocolate ¼ tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla 1 tsp. baking soda

2 c. grated/shredded zucchini 1 c. almonds, chopped

Mix eggs, sugar & oil. Melt chocolate over hot water & blend into egg mixture. Add vanilla and zucchini. Sift all dry ingredients together then add into zucchini mixture. Add almonds. Spray two bread pans & bake 1 hour at 350. Makes two large loaves.

Next on our list to make, Curried Zucchini soup, Zucchini muffins, and Zucchini Creole. And we still have plenty shredded and chopped in the freezer for use during this winter.

Propagating Hydrangeas

When I was younger, I saw a poster of a wall of hydrangeas with a vintage bicycle in front and immediately fell in love with the flowers. They also grow all over Mendocino and my love grew even more while I was living there.

By the way, this is my favorite B&B in Mendo.

For the past several years, I've had good luck propagating them. There are several tutorials on the web that I first followed, but now have my own system. I use a homemade organic root hormone. I'm anxiously awaiting honey from my dad's bees, but until then, I've been using Moon Valley Organic Honey. I have the best luck if I leave them in their original pots for a couple seasons to establish their roots before planting them in the ground during Springtime.

This little guy was from three years ago. He's doing pretty well, despite Burl's fascination with picking the flowers.

My 2007 plants did fantastic for the first year. But this past winter, the moss smothered them and most of them didn't make it. I didn't propagate any during 2008, since I had a newborn and was slightly overwhelmed with all that being a new mother brings. I'm hoping this 2009 planting will bring success.

An Afternoon Alone

With Alex home from work yesterday, and Burl napping, I found myself with a couple of rare hours to myself. So in the sweltering heat, without air conditioning and stuck in the thick of mid-day Seattle traffic without my little carpool buddy, I made my way down to Weaving Works. I've been researching spinning wheels for an upcoming purchase. I'm so, so very excited about learning to spin, because what I really need is just one more hobby :).


My next stop was the bookstore. Telling myself that I'd stay away from the children's isle, and after browsing the craft section and coming up empty handed, I found myself thumbing through board and picture books. The only things I came home with yesterday were a couple of new Dr. Sears books.

It's ironic, when he's fussy and being difficult, it's so easy to think "Ahhh! I wish I could just get away!" But when I am away from him, I long to be near him and can't wait to get home to squeeze him. Motherhood.