Modesto does not enjoy a reputation as a world class city. Based on the reactions of some of my acquaintances, you’d think I moved to the slums of Redneckville, USA. OK, OK, Modesto has it’s share of problems. But there…
Personalized KitchenTowels
When you work with teenage girls as long as I have, you get a whole lot of graduation and wedding announcements in the mail. The timing worked out just right so that in moving back here, we were able to…
Bear’s Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins
Bear has been like a kid in a candy store with all this fresh fruit around, and the thing he keeps coming back to is fresh blueberry muffins. It’s easy to see why. Talk about the biggest reward for the…
Canning, Round 1
I made a lot of mistakes this first time around, but overall, I’m pretty dang proud of myself. Over four days I managed to can: 6 pints of strawberry lemonade concentrate1 pint of limeade concentrate2 pints of nectarineade concentrate3 qts…
2010 Year of Pleasures #25
After I nearly died in the sun, look at what my sweet husband brought home for me. Oh my gosh, on the right kind of day there may not be a single thing better than a slurpee. Let’s try this…
My new garden
When I was whining about leaving my garden behind, my friend Tona asked me if there was a community garden that I could participate in so I could feed my gardening addiction. I really didn’t expect to find one. Around…
Strawberry Apricot Cobbler
So with all that fruit we’ve been bringing home, we have been learning the hard way that we have to use it up fast. Tree-ripened, farm stand fruit can not sit around for a week like the stuff you get…
Quilt in progress
So along with gallivanting through the countryside and embarking on complicated furniture builds, the other thing that kept me distracted from my typical blogging duties was this Mondrian quilt I finished designing last week. I can. Not. tear myself away…
2010 Year of Pleasures #24
I spent an entire day last week trying to track down lumber options to have my kitchen island custom built, and guess what we found this weekend? It was absolute serendipity. We were making plans to drive an hour a…
Cherry picking on the farm
Sorry for my sudden mini-hiatus. I’ve been overwhelmed with good things and no time to keep track of them. I have two weeks of fun to share with you, and that’s always a nice development heading in to summer. We’re…