Lovely leaves

The New Hampshire Troubadour, September 1950

No, of course it's not really foliage season up here yet.  We did see some colored leaves in the White Mountains last weekend, but only here and there in swampy areas.  The real foliage season is a month or so away. 

However, there are some lovely leaves here and there, and I found a couple of really different ones recently.

Here is a pretty poplar leaf I found at the beach on Tuesday.  I love the variety of colors!

See all the colors?  Brown, yellow, orange, red, green  -- all in one leaf!  If you look closely near the outer top edge, you can even see some bluish-lavender spots!

And I found this oak leaf yesterday, at the end of my own driveway.  It's so unusual ... almost looks handcrafted.  Which, in a sense, it is!

Isn't this unusual?  I love the faded, transparent-looking red and then the colored leaf tips -- some dark red and then the one bronzy greenish-brown. 

More, and prettier leaves, are sure to follow, but for now these harbingers of the season will whet my appetite for fall.

A finished vintage project

The cloth, folded.  The somewhat busy background is my little glass-topped crafting desk with some fall cards already in place under the glass.

 My crafting this summer has been sporadic and simple.  This little project is particularly simple, but I did enjoy working on it.

I've mentioned before how I've been cleaning out some of the storage areas at my dad's house.  Well, in the linen closet I came upon this homespun-type square cloth.  I think it was supposed to be a dishcloth -- I think I remember my mother possibly using something similar.  I did use it for a dishcloth for a few days before deciding it deserved a better fate than that.

It occurred to me that it might make a nice cloth to go under a centerpiece, sort of the way one would use a doily.  I decided to add a crocheted edging.  For a starting point on my edging, I used this tutorial: Sweet Crocheted Wash Cloth Edging from Linda at Prairie Flower Farm.  I used some lustrous ivory-colored perle cotton from a long-ago stash of my mother's.  (She didn't crochet, but years ago she had me make some crocheted trim for several dresses she sewed for herself.  I didn't realize just how much perle cotton she had stashed away until I found this!)  For a crochet hook, I needed something smallish but was in a huge hurry -- we were leaving for an overnight getaway -- and couldn't find my larger steel hooks.  So I used a hook of my great-grandmother's, which looks like ivory but I think is actually celluloid, so worn I can't read the size.  It worked fine with the perle cotton and made me feel very much as if I was carrying on a needleworking tradition.

Of course the cloth really looks nicer under a larger item.  But for a quick photo, I used this sweet green alabaster box that a dear friend gave me.

I was pleased with the finished project.  It goes well in my kitchen and dining area and I can see myself using it often -- even as part of Christmas decor.  It's currently on my kitchen island under a basket of apples!

Heavenly Filled Strawberries

Photo from Taste of Home

 Yes, I know.  Mid-to-late August is not really strawberry season.  But strawberries were on sale for $1.77 a box at our local supermarket this past week, so a strawberry dessert was indicated for Sunday's church potluck.  (Some of us joke that you can always tell what's on sale that week by what we bring to the potluck!)

Browsing a back issue of Country Woman magazine, I had come across this recipe for Heavenly Filled Strawberries.  So when I saw strawberries in the sale flyer for $1.77, I knew what I would make with them.  The berries have crosswise slits cut in the tips and are then filled with a simple cream cheese mixture -- I used 8 ounces cream cheese [the recipe calls for 11 ounces], a half cup of powdered sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract.  I would have liked to pipe the mixture into the berries but didn't have an icing bag.  I did the trick of putting the filling into a zip-top plastic bag and cutting off a corner, and filling the strawberries that way.  Also, I substituted chocolate sprinkles for the grated chocolate.  It looked very bit as nice and was easier and cheaper. 

These looked very impressive arranged on a square plate and they went over very well at the potluck dessert table.  If you happen to find a good price on strawberries and need a dessert for a summer event, I highly recommend these!

Pineapple Coconut Molded Salad

Photo from Taste of Home

Although I don't make them often,  every now and then it's sort of fun to make a nice molded salad.  This one, Pineapple and Coconut Molded Salad, which I made for our potluck lunch at church a few weeks ago, was different and delicious.   I found the recipe in an older issue of Country Woman magazine, where it was a winner in a contest for gelatin recipes.  Made with unflavored gelatin so the nice flavors of pineapple and coconut are really showcased, it was a hit.


I served this as a dessert and filled the center with a mixture of pineapple tidbits and mango cubes to add more color and tropical flavor.  If you also enjoy making a nice molded salad from time to time, this is a nice summery one to try!

Progress on the December sampler

I am hoping to post concerning my progress each month on the December cross-stitch sampler.  I think my first update was around June 22, so I had thought I'd post this one around July 22.  That didn't quite happen, but I think I last added a stitch or two to the sampler around July 27, so I'm not too far off.  I almost never just sit and stitch on this at home; I might do so very occasionally during a lengthy phone conversation.  Mostly any work on this sampler is done while riding in the car (not driving) or while waiting somewhere.

I'm still hoping to finish this by December, but we shall see!

Lemon Blueberry Tart

Photo by Taste of Home

It's blueberry time here in northern New England, and both wild and cultivated berries are ripe for the picking.  I tried a new recipe this weekend for the church potluck lunch, and made 2 of these tarts.  Here's the recipe: Lemon Blueberry Tart. 

I made the crust differently, tweaking my gluten free pie crust recipe and just making the tarts in regular 9-inch pie plates.  For one tart, the slices came out of the pan easily and the other crust really stuck.  I'm not sure what made the difference between the two.  I do know that I will hunt for more of a shortbread type gluten free crust recipe for the next time.  The flavor of these tarts was great and the slices that came out intact were very attractive, so I will definitely try this again.  The only other thing I did differently was to use 2 whole eggs in the filling, rather than 4 egg yolks.  I only take time to separate eggs and find another use for the whites if it's really necessary to the success of a recipe, which in this case it was not. 

These tarts went over well and got great reviews at yesterday's potluck.  If you're looking for a sweet taste of midsummer blueberries, you will want to give this recipe a try!

August Goals

Vintage advertisement from my collection ~ doesn't that iced tea look refreshing?

 August already!  I'm not sure where the summer has gone, but it has flown by sooooo fast.  Here are some goals for August:
AUGUST  GOALS:
* Read through the August portion of the One-Year Devotional Bible.
* Finish questions for summer Bible study from Good Morning Girls -- I've already finished the daily Bible study, just need to finish answering the questions
*  Read 4 chapters in The Power of a Godly Grandparent
* Continue to implement some of the ideas from the above book
* Finish re-reading Say Goodbye to Survival Mode
* Begin to implement some of the ideas and strategies from the above book
* Memorize at least 4 Bible verses and review some older ones.
* Add 4 pages to my "What Do I Know About My God?" Scripture notebook
* Keep up with my Sunday School study -- The Heart of a Woman Who Prays
* Exercise or walk at least 20 times.
* Get to bed by 9:45 pm each night.
* Limit sugar.
* Drink enough water each day.
* Keep up with Kelly's missions in homemaking zones of the week.
* Take an overnight getaway with my husband
* Post in both of my blogs as often as possible
* Reduce grocery bill by $5 per week consistently
* Spend several hours updating my A-store.
* Do research for setting up an Etsy shop (I've already joined Etsy)
* Make at least a dozen items for sale at craft fairs.
* Write at least 4 encouraging notes to friends and family.
* Get together with old friends visiting from out of state
* Hopefully purchase a new computer
* Clean church and set up for potluck meal
* Make gift tags from last year's Christmas cards.
* Plan and complete several handcrafted gifts for August-September birthdays.
* Sort out and declutter my dad's basement
* Get my eyes tested

AUGUST'S HEALTHY HABIT:  Limit sugar

WORD FOR 2014: BALANCE


And here is how July went:
JULY GOALS:
* Read through the July portion of the One-Year Devotional Bible -- DONE!
* Complete summer Bible study from Good Morning Girls -- DONE!  (all but the questions)
*  Read 4 chapters in The Power of a Godly Grandparent -- not done
* Continue to implement some of the ideas from the above book -- not done
* Finish re-reading Say Goodbye to Survival Mode -- not done
* Begin to implement some of the ideas and strategies from the above book -- not done
* Memorize at least 4 Bible verses and review some older ones -- DONE!
* Add 4 pages to my "What Do I Know About My God?" Scripture notebook -- not done; this was intended to be my weekend project for Bible study, since the study from GMG only covered the weekdays.  But I ended up using the weekends to work on the weekly questions for each lesson.
* Keep up with my Sunday School study -- The Heart of a Woman Who Prays -- DONE!
* Exercise or walk at least 20 times -- not done; think I managed 10 or 12 times
* Get to bed by 9:45 pm each night -- not done; it was more like 10 pm each night
* Limit sugar -- done somewhat
* Drink enough water each day -- DONE!
* Keep up with Kelly's missions in homemaking zones of the week -- not done consistently
* Take an overnight getaway with my husband -- by the time you read this it will be -- DONE!
* Post in my regular blog as often as possible -- didn't manage this too often
* Celebrate Christmas in July on my Christmas blog -- DONE!
* Reduce grocery bill by $5 per week consistently -- not done
* Spend several hours updating my A-store -- not done
* Do research for setting up an Etsy shop (I've already joined Etsy)-- not done
* Make at least a dozen items for sale at craft fairs -- not done
* Write at least 4 encouraging notes to friends and family -- DONE!
* Clean church and set up for potluck meal -- DONE!
* Make gift tags from last year's Christmas cards -- not done
* Plan and complete several handcrafted gifts for August-September birthdays -- not done
* Sort out and declutter the main floor at my dad's house -- DONE! (but not completed -- I will have to make several more passes through each floor, but a lot has been accomplished!)

JULY'S HEALTHY HABIT:  Exercise -- started out the month great, exercising every day.  That changed as things got busier.