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It is bug-eaten and holey but damn it, it went from this:
to this:
I happily harvested it, quadruple washed it to get off all the bugs and then proceeded to ruin it. I used this recipe which is usually absolutely wonderful when I follow the recipe. When I don't follow the recipe and *wing it*, it turns into a vinegary mess. Luckily my husband has an iron stomach and ate it anyway. This is why I married him.
Bad photo I know but this is circa 1994 I think. I was a student at the University of Oregon and just getting to know my first husband's perfect little daughter Brandi.
Fast forward to just a couple weeks ago ~ SEVENTEEN YEARS LATER and we're at Brandi's graduation from the U of O. It was a wonderful day but it is a little unsettling when you realize how quickly she has grown up. I have no freakin' idea how the years fly by so fast.
It feels good to be outside...
Communing with nature...
Birds are chirping. Bees are pollinating...
But this?
This is just wrong on so many levels...
Isn't this lantern cool? I didn't realize how many spaghetti, peanut butter and pickle jars I had saved up hoarded in my basement but what do you do with them? I saw this post and knew I had the makings for a at least a few of them.
The garden is slowly coming along. The sun is finally coming out more often but I think it will still be a pretty short season. Hopefully I'll have at least a few ripe tomatoes.
It has been nice to finally dust off the BBQ and eat outdoors. I still have a lot of work to do in the back yard to get it ready for the season but it is coming along. We also dug this bad boy out of the basement, a gift from my dad last winter:
Which this brings us ever so much closer to this, my ultimate summer goal:
Isn't this the most dreamy idea! (If you want to drool even more over amazing outdoor living spaces go here.)
I have a friend/coworker who eats Maple and Brown Sugar instant oatmeal some mornings at work and it makes our office smell so brown sugar-y and maple-y and well, cozy. Instant oatmeal reminds me of my childhood.
So I made some Honey~Brown Sugar~Oatmeal Melt-and-Pour Soap in her honor. I used this recipe with a goat's milk base and I tweaked the recipe to use my own essential oils.
I love goat's milk soap, it is so rich and creamy and I've enjoyed mixing and matching fragrances to build my own favorites. If you're interested in learning more, I recommend this book which has some great recipes in it.
I was going to title this post Crap I've Made but then I remembered there is already a nifty blog titled Crap I've Made too... So I will title this is Random Crap I've Made Recently instead.
I made this patchwork camera strap last week because I was sick of the bright yellow advertisement for Nikon on my old one. Blah, blah, blah is much better...
I made this oil cloth composition notebook cover for my mom for Mother's Day...
We made chocolate covered bananas...
And crock pot granola.
What are you guys making these days?
