I Am A Horrible Blogger

It’s about time that I blogged.  I knew when I created this blog that I would be horrible at this because, except for brushing my teeth and washing my face at bedtime, there are very few things that I do *every single day.*  For all my good qualities, I am not a consistent person.

This summer has been flying past. We’ve been so busy. My camera’s been quiet most of the summer, although I have taken a few pictures out in the garden. (Some are on Etsy right now. Others coming soon.)

We haven’t been camping much, either, though we did try a great campground in Big Prairie, Ohio, over Memorial Day weekend.  There was lots to do and lots of great sightseeing nearby.  If you go, drive slowly – this is right in the heart of Ohio Amish country. If we saw one buggy, we saw 30.  (Tom called it the Amish Superhighway.)

We tried a new pizza joint this week, too.  Have you tried Amato’s Woodfired Pizza here in Delaware?  It’s on South Sandusky Street.  The pizza’s cheap but delicious. (Try #19 without the jalapenos.)

Spring has Sprung!

August Garden Update

Until mid July the garden was looking pretty puny.  But somehow, in the middle of a heatwave and with ungodly amounts of watering, it all took off and now we have plants aplenty. 

Impatiens and coleus did fine at the edge of the driveway where the house gave them a little shelter, but in the front beds it was really, really hot for them.

On the other side of the drive, the alyssum and dianthus got full sun all day long (and less water than everything else since the hose doesn’t like to stretch that far!), and they really stood up to the heat and full sun. 

The petunias in the front and the black eyed susan vine devouring the shepherd’s hook were both started from seed in my kitchen this spring.

The front curve of the garden never really did fill out.  Next year I’ll plant something bushier through here.

Japanese beetles really hit the roses hard, but the zinnias behind them bloomed like crazy.

This little corner on the side of the house gets just a little afternoon shade, but it was enough to keep the coleus and impatiens happy.

Now that I know what grows well in our garden, I’ll do things a little differently next year.  Here are some things I don’t want to forget when it’s time to start shopping for plants this spring…

• Salvia attracts lots of moths, butterflies – and bees. These were like giant bushes and there were always a lot of critters buzzing around them.
• Endless Summer hydrangeas bloom on new wood AND old wood… this winter I’ll leave the sticks so there will be plenty of blooms next year.
• Vinca really takes the heat and sun and never droops.
• Impatients and coleus don’t take the sun… they need to be in the little beds beside the driveway and on the north side of the house.
• Our soil stinks!  Before the mulch, we’ll lay down a thick layer of manure to give the garden a kick in the spring. (It’ll still stink but at least the flowers will get going before July.)

Brea Bag

Fall’s coming!  This probably isn’t big news to you but it’s a big deal to me. (Summer isn’t my favorite time of year.) I’ve been putting the finishing touches on some bags for fall.  Here’s the Brea Bag, a free pattern from the Berroco web site, which I made in my favorite olive-y green Ultra Alpaca.  It’s lined with a wild print and I sewed in a zipper a few weekends ago, so except for a handle it’s ready to go.  Anybody know any leatherworkers here in Central Ohio? I need to find someone to make a nice brown leather strap for it… with antique brass D-rings and with my initials stamped into the strap.  So far the closest leather craft store I can find is in Mount Vernon, Ohio.  If anybody knows someone closer I’d really appreciate the help!

Here’s a close-up of the wild lining:

Socks for Me!

I’ve been knitting adult socks in worsted weight and baby socks in fingering weight for some time now, but I finally bit the bullet and made myself a pair of socks using fingering weight sock yarn.  It took some doing… I adapted my favorite pattern from worsted weight on 7’s to fingering weight on 2’s.  The yarn is called OnLine Supersocke 100 in the color “tropic.”  It’s from Knitter’s Mercantile in Columbus.  One 100-gram ball made both socks with plenty of yarn leftover to do baby socks or hats.  It’s superwash wool blended with 25% synthetic.  They wash up beautifully (the label says “heiss waschbar waschmaschinenfest” which I think means safe for hot water machine wash) and come out SO SOFT!  Nothing feels better on the feet than handmade socks.

New Favorite: McDonalds Iced Coffee

I’m not sure what Micky D’s puts in their new Iced Coffee, but that stuff is fabulous!  They offer three flavors – regular, hazelnut, and I think vanilla. I’ve only tried the regular and probably won’t try the others since I’m not a big fan of really sweet coffee.  The regular iced coffee is only slightly sweet with a nice, strong coffee flavor, just milky enough to cut the bitterness, and super refreshing!  A medium has 160 calories and is $1.69 – about half of what you’d pay for practically anything at Starbucks.

This new iced coffee addiction got me looking for a cheaper alternative I could make at home.  Here’s my concoction, which is just as good as the McD’s version but super cheap and free of 17-syllable ingredients:

Heaping half cup of ground coffee (mine was Folger’s)

Quarter cup of sugar

Boiling water

Ice

Large ceramic pitcher

2% organic milk (you could use regular – we only drink Horizon organic because it tastes so darn good and is free of all the hormones, antibiotics and other junk that milk isn’t supposed to have!)

Put the sugar in the bottom of the pitcher, and brew half a pitcher of extra-strong coffee into it.  Stir to dissolve sugar. Add ice to fill the pitcher and cool the brew. Then chill (the coffee).  When you’re ready to drink it, fill your glass with ice, pour the barely sweet coffee over, and top it off with milk to taste.  It’s outstanding!  Just as good as McD’s, super cheap and deeee-licious.

At the end of the day, it’s all about having great hair

After much deep-soul contemplation, I got a new “do” recently.  This web site took the fear out of the cut. You upload a picture of yourself and try on up to 6,000 new hair styles and colors before you make the commitment. It even lets you print out pictures to take to the hairstylist so you won’t have to do your usual description. Like so (with arms flailing around your head): “I’d like it kind of shortish up here but not too short, with layers through the side to, I dunno, here. And, color wise, how about a lightish reddish darkish brownish auburn color?”  Because, that method has only one inevitable result: heartache.  Seriously, try the web site. It’s the best.

Looking for Stuff to Do in Delaware OH?

Check out my friend Toby’s blog. He always has the latest happenings in and about Delaware.

I hate lipstick, but I love…

Maybelline Moisture Extreme lipcolor

My new favorite cosmetic product!