Colors of the Season

I've continued to walk by those poppies, morning and night to milk, as well as a myriad of other reasons, to wander by and gaze upon these unbelievably luscious flowers. I truly think that this year is their best display ever; I suspect that it is proabably thanks to all of the rains that we've had up until now.

I'm so mesmerized that I had to bring them into the house and put them up on the mantle. I'm not sure how long they'll last, but OH, they are beautiful! And with the 4th of July holiday almost upon us, I think that the red, white and blue colors, (okay, yes, really it's a hot-pink, not red), are especially appropriate.

Poppies

Doesn't everyone grow hot-pink poppies in their vegetable gardens?

I keep thinking that we really need to move them, but then they re-seed themselves for the following year and we just don't have the heart to pull up what we know will be THE most spectaular blooms in the garden!!

Little Things

I finally feel that now I am ready for little Miss Kicky-Feet to arrive (not that I have any say in the matter!) I had one more tiny project to make, one of those things that only a very small, sweet baby can use. First the little project had to be sewn. I made it in swiss flannel, a lovely light weight twill-woven cotton cloth, perfect for these warm summer days and cool nights. Then, the finish work began....

Little sleeves were smocked (I always love the way smocking acts as 'elastic', lovely gathering but lots of stretch!)

and the neckline was smocked in gradiated shades of lavender.

Buttons were added, a wash in lavender water, a good pressing, and now we have a pretty little day gown for an already loved little grandbaby.

I can, just barely, wait to meet her!

On a side note, when my VVDH knew I was going to be doing smocking and heard me lamenting about having to hand-gather all of those little marks on the fabric, he suggested I just go ahead and buy a pleater. And so I did, a Super Amanda Smocking Pleater! It works beautifully and is so well-made that I know I will be able to enjoy it for a long, long time. I probably would have done more smocking when my own girls were little, if I'd had this machine back then....

The Sun Shines

I enjoy the whole process of hanging clothes on the line: handling and snapping the freshly washed laundry, pegging them on the line, and then folding the crispy, clean clothes into the basket. I even like to iron!!!

Normally, I don't use the clothes dryer from about the middle of April until well into October; my being home most of the time allows me to adapt to the weather here and there. However, this year there has been NO adapting. It has rained, rained, and then rained some more.

I know that people think that it rains a lot in Seattle, and it does in the fall and winter months, but the late spring into fall can be unbelieveably dry (and incredibly beautiful). So dry that it is weeks on end between sprinklings of rain. So, today, when the sun is finally out (but is due to be absent again starting tomorrow), I pegged the most important of the 'sun needed' laundry on the line - my kitchen towels, dishcloths, and still in the wash, our Hudson Bay wool blanket needing to be lovingly wrapped and stored for the winter (I sent it once to a dry cleaner as recommended, never again, but that is quite another post.)

And then, I stopped and smelled the roses!

A Ladies Tea

Lexie and her 'almost here' little girl were honored Saturday evening with a Ladies Tea! A number of Lexie's close friends attended and she had a wonderful time just sitting back and visiting the evening away, without the interruptions of the dear wee ones or the also dear husbands.

It was an evening for tables dripping with starched white linens overlayed with embroidered linens and flower arrangements at the center of each of the tables.

We served baskets of fresh croissants, cheese platters (including our Wild Rabbit Farm goat cheese!), meat platters, fresh fruit bowls, deviled eggs (thank you chicken girls for the luscious orange yolks!), Welsh currant scones, and of course, several delicious teas.

And not to be forgotten - a beautiful and delicious custom cake from the bakery (chocolate with a chocolate ganache layer - yum!!) Almost as beautiful as my girls!

It was such a girlie night!

Little Romper

Little Miss Kicky-Feet is due to arrive in less than one month; I can hardly wait to meet this lively little girl!

I had been working on a hand-embroidered shadow work collar for a little romper. The collar was recently finished so then it was on to the sewing: lots of little pleats front and back, rick rack on the collar, sleeves and legs, and little buttons up the front.

So, what do you think - won't she look precious?

Weekend Away

I love to tent camp, especially in the woods. We (as in the VVDH and myself) decided that it would be wonderful to share this with little Peanut who is 2 1/2 now. We considered carefully: not being gone too long, a campsite that was well surrounded with vegetation so that we wouldn't have too much 'exploring' going on, and a beach to do some really fun castle building at.

We headed up to Deception Pass State Park, Whidbey Island, on early Friday afternoon. We discovered that Peanut excels at stake hammering, distributing air in the blow up mattress, and 'gardening' with his shovel and bucket. He enjoyed running away from the waves along the Strait of Juan de Fuca, but most of all, Peanut is a master castle maker and just loves to play in the sand! It was all about the beach.....

Sunday arrived with the rains. There is nothing quite like a 2 1/2 year old telling you he is 'awake now' at 6:00 in the morning and then becoming more insistent, and louder, when your eyelids refuse to open. In consideration of our fellow campers still trying to sleep, and recognizing that the beautiful weather was behind us, we packed up in record time and made it back home for a late breakfast! It was a fun weekend, and what a treat to share it with this lovely little boy.

Oh Yum

And here it is, that lovely, lovely cheese! Mixed with a bit of French herbs and garlic, it is sure to be delicious.

I'm off to have a mid-morning snack :-))))

Season's First Cheese

OH YES - We're in the cheese (sung happily to music)!

We finally have enough milk, now that Babette is milking twice a day, to both drink it and make chevre - oh happy day!

The rennet has done 'its thing' to the milk producing a lovely curd after 24 hours

The curd is next drained through cheesecloth for 24 hours
and tomorrow - CHEESE!!!!!