Howdy,
I've been meaning to play a little catch up here on the blog. By that I mean listing off some of the things I have mentioned earlier and never revisited.
Here it goes...
Remember when I posted about ready-to-bake frozen cookies? Well, I used to freeze them in a jar (still do sometimes) but one of you suggested I make the dough into a log, freeze, and then slice off how many cookies I want instead. What a nice idea and a space-saver too. I formed the log using parchment paper and then wrapped it up and placed it in a freezer bag. Easy peasy and so dang good when you need a couple, or five, warm cookies!
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Remember when I posted about making homemade upside down gardening bags for tomato plants? First, I have to say that gardening with a newborn is pretty laughable, at least for us anyway. We managed okay, but this year our garden was certainly nothing to write home about. The basil and beans were by far the easiest, everything else was kind of a pain. Keep in mind that we had record heat in Philly this summer and couldn't pry ourselves away from oohing and awwing over Felix to do much of anything.
The tomato bag experiment started out just fine, but somewhere along the way things took a turn, and I had to transplant the plant into a pot. It was the saddest looking upside down tomato plant after being repotted -- it didn't know which way was up and really never got its barrings. Overall, I think the bag was a decent idea but it needed some tweaking -- like, better drainage, room for more soil (a bigger bag next time), and as far as aesthetics go, using a white bag was not the best idea. After a few waterings, the bag looked unsightly next to all my pretty terracotta and ceramic pots. All good things to consider next summer.
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A while back I asked if getting a slow cooker was a good idea and many of you commented a big ol' YES. Thanks for always chiming in when I ask questions. I really do listen to you guys.
A slow cooker was purchased and has been used a handful of times with some decent and not-so-decent results. I'm still trying to find my slow cooker mojo. Recently I checked this book out from the library and have plans to try a couple of recipes this weekend. Thanks again for all the slow cooker advice. Much appreciated.
Okay, that should do it for now.
Oh, one more thing. Maybe some of you can relate. Lately, I have been a little sad, and after thinking about it, I realized my sadness has everything to do with not having any time to create. I already knew this, but it has been nice to acknowledge how much I enjoy sewing and making and when I'm not doing anything in that realm I tend to miss it terribly...which leads to my feeling blue. After brainstorming a bit and coming to terms with the reality that I'm just too damn busy to sew (for the time being -- this will change!) I started trying to think of projects I could do that wouldn't require me to drag out so much stuff, AND (this is important) projects that could be taken on the go.
Wanna take a guess at what I came up with? Did you guess knitting? If you did, you're a smarty pants. I have tried to learn to knit once before and it was a disaster. Seriously. After that, I just decided that I must not be a "knitter" and went back to sewing.
I'm excited to say I'm going to give knitting another whirl. I have a hour-long lesson scheduled this weekend (thank you, Stephanie!) and we'll see what happens. Can you tell how excited I am? Wish me luck.
Have fun out there,
Leya
Oh these are wonderful! I seriously heart my grocery tote baggu bags and would organize myself with these!
Posted by: Amanda
If you are Amanda, please send me your address and prepare to be organized!
Thanks everyone. That was fun.
Fondly,
Leya