Sunday, October 9, 2011

A Month of Knitting

 Knitting for my granddaughters, a three and a half year old and two weeks old!  I love knitting for little ones!

Sister bunny hats, a diaper cover and a sleep sack for little sister ......



... sister peapod hats, diaper cover, peapod and peas....




And finally a sleep sack for little sister and matching big sister sweater...



I had so much fun! (All the patterns are linked on my Ravelry account.)  Now on to Christmas presents!!!

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Butterfly Weekend

It started when I noticed these strange little caterpillars munching on my dill and fennel in the garden. 
So I bought this.

Olivia and I caught them and played with them and put them in the net.  I continued to feed them dill and fennel until they spun their cocoons.



And then last Saturday morning, just a mere two weeks later, we found these lovely butterflies in our net!  We were thrilled!





We spent the afternoon watching as our one butterfly was joined by three more.  We released four beautiful black swallowtails that afternoon!


Now when we see them under our apple tree we are just sure they are our little friends :)

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Romesco and Midnight in Paris

After reading this article in the NY Times,  Food & wine Allure of romesco sauce spreads far beyond Spain Seattle Times Newspaper I was inspired to have a tapas birthday party for our son.  But the ingredients in the recipe from the article sounded too difficult to find in a small Kansas town. So I did more research.  This recipe was so easy and delicious! It will definitely become a regular.
6 roma (plum) tomatoes, halved
1 large red bell pepper, quartered
12 cloves garlic
2/3 cup olive oil
kosher salt to taste
1 slice bread
1/2 cup toasted whole almonds
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Spanish paprika
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
Directions:
1.Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2.Place the tomatoes, bell pepper, and garlic cloves onto the prepared baking sheet. Brush the
vegetables with some of the olive oil, then sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake in the preheated oven
until the garlic has turned golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, and allow to
cool for 10 minutes. While the vegetables are cooling, bake the bread slice on one of the oven
racks until golden brown. Remove and allow to cool.
3.Scrape the vegetables and any juices from the pan into a food processor or blender. Break the
bread into pieces, and add to the food processor along with the toasted almonds, vinegar,
paprika, and red pepper flakes. Puree until finely ground, then drizzle in the remaining olive oil with
the machine running. Season to taste with additional salt if necessary.
originally printed here: allrecipes.com/recipe/romesco-sauce/detail.aspx


and.....

A couple of weeks ago I saw Midnight in Paris with my daughter.  We've both been researching books, art and music ever since.  I love it when a movie/book inspires me to research.  I found this article today,
Hemingway Said What? A Cultural Cheat Sheet for 'Midnight In Paris' - The Atlantic  Great music, great inspiration, fun movie!


midnight in paris top post.jpg


Ingredients:

Friday, July 22, 2011

Monday, July 18, 2011

Escaping the heat at the Nelson Atkins


No photos allowed in the Monet exhibit.







Unless, of course, you're doing hot yoga!  :)

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Look who came for breakfast!

I think she likes our apples!










What a wonderful way to start the day!

Friday, July 1, 2011

Repurposed Birdhouse To Dollhouse

When I was a girl, my babysitter made me a dollhouse out of a cardboard box and magazine photos.  I loved it and played with it until it was in tatters.  I came across this birdhouse sometime ago and thought it could easily be turned into a dollhouse for Olivia using the same method.



I gave its interior a fresh coat of grey paint and started going through my magazines.  Mostly the photos are from British Country Living and Anthropology and Toast's catalogues.  The beauty is, you can have anything you want, as long as you find find a glossy.




The living room has a front door, hearth, and plenty of seating.




The kitchen has a back door and stairway leading up.




The bedroom has lots of beds for all ages, a lovely view, and a tiny door leading to a secret place.




This lovely bath has three tubs, plus lovely artwork and a fireplace!



Yes, this country home has everything, including chickens!  Now it needs a nice family to move in and then Olivia and I will have lots of fun coming up with stories for them!

Happy Friday!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

City Market, Kansas City

Since we had to have our youngest at the airport by six a.m. we couldn't resist an early morning trip to the city market.......


With one granddaughter and another on the way, plus plenty of acreage, wouldn't this be fun!
A close up for grandpa:).......






These pots were lovely.....


As were these brass and bead bell chimes.  I might try to make my own.....


One of the things I love about Kansas City is all of the different neighborhoods.  While searching for an antique place we ended up traveling through several......and spotted this sign....

Outside of a dog, man's best friend is a book.  Inside of a dog....it's too dark to read.

I loved this tree with it's roots growing on top of the sidewalk.....





and what every church needs......





it's own credit union next door. 


We never found the antique shop.......