I Like Big Bundts
Today is National Bundt Day. Stacie pinned The Food Librarian's celebration of the bundt cake recently and since I love a bundt cake (delicious cake, little to no frosting, perfect for unfancy days without a lot of fuss), I decided I need to join in.
I baked the blueberry lemon bundt from martha stewart and it's delicious, although the lemon flavor is perhaps a little more subtle than I'd like. I suppose I could solve that with a lemon glaze or by adding more zest or some lemon extract though.
Of Gnomes and Doctors
I do not profess to be either good or speedy at cross-stitch. I generally leave the cross-stitch pieces to my mother (who is very good, and far speedier than I am) but not too long ago I came across some great, simple pieces on etsy that have called out to me. One of these is currently in progress, the other is finished and sent off to a swap partner.
First, the finished. I cannot resist a fat-bellied gnome, and this one from sewingseed is particularly glorious. I happen to have a great deal of natural colored linen fabric that I trimmed from the bottom of some IKEA drapes; I believe I cut about 18" off the bottom of each panel which left far more fabric than I felt comfortable throwing away! I used a small piece of this fabric to stitch the gnome on. Once it was done I gave it a quick wash and press and turned it into a wee fat-bellied gnome sachet:
I stuffed it with some lavender that I've kept stored in an air-tight container; I harvested and dried it the first summer we lived here, when we discovered that I'm horribly allergic to it. Very short bursts of exposure don't bother me too much so I threw the buds inside, sewed it closed and tucked it straight into the mail. The sewing was super quick and easy, but the stitching took me about 6 hours because I might just be the slowest stitcher ever.
My work in-progress is for my husband. We're both big fans of Doctor Who so when I came across this Pixel People lineup of all 11 Doctors by weelittlestitches I knew that it was something that he had to have for his very own. I'm a little bit further along than this image:
I've since stitched the 8th doctor in too, so I have 7 doctors left before I can wash, press and frame it. My one regret is that two of the doctors have a fair bit of un-outlined white and I chose white 14-count aida cloth to stitch it on so I might have to figure out how to help those doctors stand out from the background a little bit better.
A note about some great service I received getting set up to start these projects. I bought most of my initial supplies at Mindy's Needlepoint here in Eugene where I was treated with great respect despite my lack of knowledge about what I was buying. I was given a recommendation about what needle size was correct for what I was doing and got some great help in finding all of my floss colors. Two thumbs up.
Power Washing
Surprisingly hard work. We're about halfway done, then it dries for 48 hours and then we put on a new coat of stain/sealant. It needs it.
Three.
Three years ago I married my best friend, my unwavering support, my biggest cheerleader. Each day I wake up to find that the impossible has happened and I love him even more today than yesterday, and know there's no one on this earth that I would rather share my life with.
Happy anniversary, my love. I love you more than cheese.
On Growth and Seedlings
It's been raining fit to drown us all here lately, and my peas and my broccoli raab seem to be drinking it up quite happily. At the same time, I'm seeing some progress with my indoor seedlings. This is not the first time I've helped with indoor seedlings (we had a huge garden growing up), but it is the first time I've been wholly responsible for their care and I am really enjoying watching the little plant babies grow.
My sprouting set up is a 4' shop light hanging from the closet rod over a table in our office closet. It's working really well thus far, although next year we're expanding which means the closet is a 2010 location only.
The first to appear in my tray were the San Marzano tomato seedlings. Today, they're all sporting their real leaves and growing steadily. I also have two other kinds of tomatoes, three kinds of peppers, eggplant and marigolds started, with a few more things to follow. Other things will be sown directly in the ground and I'm sure I'll be tempted by an interesting seedling or two at the Lane County Farmer's Market (which starts tomorrow!)