I love knitting and creating but I’m IN LOVE with my husband. He is my friend, soulmate, and true love!
Happy 6th anniversary!!
My True Love
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Tag Archives: Family
Summer is Here!!
Spending last weekend in my hometown meant a trip to the family garden! Growing up my Grandparents grew a HUGE garden every year. My Grandparents raised four teenage boys in the 60s and 70s and took up gardening to protect their grocery bill! We had beans, potatoes, corn, onions, asparagus, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, rhubarb, gooseberries, tomatoes, peppers, cherries, apples, and more I have probably forgotten. I never knew what frozen or store bought canned goods were until I went to college, lol.
Look at all the green goodness! Thanks to a mild spring and lots of rain the garden is in excellent shape. I couldn’t help snap a few pictures as I wandered the property. It was a beautiful day full of blue skies and sunshine. It was a perfect way to relax and meditate.
My Grandfather has passed and my Grandma is 80, so this garden is largely tended by my father and my uncle. I try to pitch in when I am home because that’s only fair if I share in the bounty. My plans for summer garden goodies are as follows:
- Make and can homemade tomato sauce to store for the year. I use tomato sauce in so many recipes it would be nice to have healthy homemade in stock in my pantry.
- Make and can Jalapeno jam/jelly for Christmas and housewarming gifts
- Make and restock my homemade cherry/berry jam stock. I only have two jars left!!
On my visit I dug some new potatoes for an old family tradition of New Potatoes and Peas. I also snagged some sweet spring onions!
I plan to clean up a couple of these and dice into some stir fry tonight for dinner!
Happy Thursday!!
Partners
The husband and I make pretty good partners. We hit furniture store abd Lowes over the weekend and picked up some essentials. In the past two days we:
1) assembled three book shelves
2) trimmed over grown trees in the yard
3) took all empty boxes to recycling center
4) put up some of our wall decor
(Formal living room fireplace)
(Wall in living room with calendar made by my Dad)
And they one I’m most in love with…
My gorgeous new wine rack in the dining room!! It was my one splurge at the furniture store.
The husband and I really worked well together. A few squabbles here and there but we are partners…so we work it out. We worked hard and now I’m pooped…so I’m going to plop my butt on the couch and work on my other vacation to-do list!
Happy Monday!
New House Day!!!
Today’s the day!!!!
The hubs and I are about to sign documents to purchase our first ever home. At 11 am we will be homeowners and have a boatload of debt….oh wait, we already have student loans!
This whole process has been fraught with ups and downs. Buying a home in this economy is not easy. And I will freely admit I cried several times…
I cannot wait to show you guys photos as we get set up in our new home!!
Stay tuned…..
Sunday Meditations
I have a strong cup of coffee, knitting in my lap, Castle on DVD, and a sleepy pup next to me. This is what Sundays are for!!
Happy Knitting!
Spring in Kansas
I forgot to share the photos I snapped last weekend when I got snowed in at my parents!! While it was aggravating losing half a days pay at work, the snow was so beautiful!
In March in Kansas you never know what to expect, 70 degrees and sunny can quickly turn into 30 degrees and blowing snow!
Happy Saturday to everyone!
Best Laid Plans
Hey! My name is Bella. I see that you are trying to knit. I think that’s really cool. Can I smell it?! Can I sit my butt directly on top of it and wiggle non stop!? Can I climb all over you so that you make sure to love on me?
Here is my buddy Barley. He would very much like to use your legs as a pillow and take up 75% of the couch. He would also appreciate if you didn’t move around a lot. He weighs 100 lbs so I doubt you will be able to move anyway.
We are so glad you came to visit!! Can we take a nap now? Oh…wait someone crinkled cellophane in the kitchen. We must investigate!!!!!
(This is pretty much what happened every time I sat on the couch to knit this past weekend. I love my mom’s dogs but needless to say I did not finish my zig zag blanket. No worries I have made progress since then and I have 1 1/2 pattern repeats and the border to complete!)
Ps. I had a wonderful time with the family celebrating Grandma’s 80th back home this past weekend. Food, wine, and fun! I even have the extra 5lbs to prove it….
Progress Update
Plugging along on Stashbustin’ #6!
My Zig Zag Blanket is coming along nicely. The baby for this one isn’t due until June so I’m on a good pace. I’d say I am about half done? I’ve used two skeins and have 2-3 more to go. I’ve had a lot of time to work on this blanket for a very sad reason.
My grandmother passed last week and the hubs and I hopped into the car and spent the weekend with the family at the funeral. Grandma had been very sick for a very long time. She was 90 years old and had battled five different types of cancer. She was an amazing special lady and I’m glad she is pain free and at peace.
She was a crafter herself! I can remember working on everything from blankets to paper projects. We would bake, play dress up, and spend a lot of time in the sand box outside. She will be greatly missed but not forgotten!
On to happier news! I have a couple new WIPs to show this week, progress on my second chevron blanket, and hopefully a finished test balaclava!
Happy Knitting!
Family Photos
The Mathews household was short on funds this year for the holiday season so we decided to take an alternative approach. A dear friend of mine is an amazing photographer and he agreed to help us out. So on a very cold October day we tromped around a local park to take a few photos. There was a wedding in the same park and at least two photography clubs running around. The dogs were so wound up by all this activity that they were spectacularly uncooperative. We managed to at least get two good family shots, which were then turned into Christmas cards and framed photos for Christmas gifts.
Not so bad right? The family really loved them as gifts and it was nice to give gifts from the heart (and save a little money)!
We had few minutes of good light left and so I had the photographer snap a few new head shots for my work/linkedin profile/facebook/etc. I haven’t had a head shot taken since I was 18 years old, lol.
Now I’m off to some knitting and cleaning. I am attending my first meeting of a local crochet/knitting guild and I want to choose some items to donate to their knitting for charity baskets! I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow afternoon!
Happy Knitting!!!
Scandinavian Rice Pudding and The New Year
One of my favorite holiday dishes is something my family simply calls “rice”. It’s simple rice pudding with four ingredients:
– white rice
– milk
– sugar
– cinnamon
(Raisins if you are so bold, I am not!)
Scandinavian tradition holds that families make this rice on the new year and if the rice is thick the new year will be blessed. If the rice turns thin then gird your loins for a rough year. I didn’t get to spend New Years with my family so I made a batch of rice to make myself feel better.
Step one: steamed white rice in my rice cooker.
Step two: add milk and sugar (I don’t measure, just use my best judgment and taste until its delicious!)
Step three: simmer until thick and wonderful
Step four: serve warm with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top and a cup of cold milk for dipping (not pictured)
There are a thousand ways to make this dish, just google it and you’ll see what I mean! And it varies from country to country and family to family. I just wanted to give you a peak into mine. It’s a simple dish and not terribly fancy but on a cold snowy winter day…..it makes me feel closer to my family and heritage. Plus, my rice was thick and creamy so I’m looking forward to a good year!
I’m off to enjoy the snow! Happy New Year to all!!!!
My Tangled Yarn Knitting Adventures 