Who knew??

This year's garden has been a bit of a bust... possibly strange weather pattern this summer, but mostly just from neglect.

Tomatoes are always my priority and I've got 7 or 8 plants... woefully unproductive. Just enough to keep me eating them... no bumper crop, no overflowing basket, and very sadly no roasted cherry tomato bruschetta! Or tomato bread salad. sniff.

Even the zucchini has been perfectly manageable!

I planted lettuce for the first time. It stayed healthy, but didn't exactly grow so I wasn't sure if I picked some of the leaves if/how it would keep growing. Then I forgot about it.

If you've ever wondered what happens... I totally cracked up when I turned the corner and saw these! Then I left them to see just exactly what would happen. They grew another 10 inches or so, flowered at the top, and then fell over. (I had also turned off their water supply as that seemed a bit irresponsible!). So not exactly my intention, but I was entertained!

(I do plan on trying lettuce again and WILL remember that I've planted it. Probably.)

Back to blogging...

Back to blogging... I've been contemplating this for a while, and clearly this is a case of the longer you wait, the easier it is to wait longer! But I love the blogosphere so here's the 'just do it' post.

Significant contribution to my loooonnnnng hiatus was a long battle with tendinitis in my left wrist... therefore no knitting and less computer time. Second contribution was switching to a Mac was a less-than-pleasant process and I still find anything to do with photos a challenge. But months of therapy and then surgery late 2010 solved the wrist problem, and I'm just adjusting to the Mac. So... I'm back!

And since this was originally a knitting blog... a summary of my pitiful

output of 2010 until the tendinitis hit... pics aren't the best, and the resolution of the mosaic-maker-tool-thingy is even worse, but it's about all these projects warrant!

I do love the little gnome guys, though... Alan Dart is brilliant designer of knit toys. I NEVER would have considered knitting toys until I saw some of his patterns... totally cute! I dare you to look at his patterns and resist. Some people pay CRAZY prices on eBay for out of print ones that can't be re-released because of copyright laws...

I obviously failed the "10 Shawls in 2010" Ravelry group challenge, but jumped right in for the "11 Shawls in 2011" and had those all completed several months ago (and then some!).

So I'll leave this blogging re-entry post with another mosaic of those shawls...

I've discovered a surprising affinity with some Stephen West's designs - brilliant in their simplicity and use of color. I love knitting lace, but for out & about and the office, his ClockWork (gray/cream stripe, and multi/cream stripe) are incredibly wearable!

Mosaics done with the the aptly named Mosaic Maker from Big Huge Labs using my flickr pics.

Enjoy the day!

- JavaNut

(phew! I did it!)

Bailey says: I'd rather be going somewhere...

brownies, and chips, and cookies, oh my!

Before turning this into a random food oriented blog (garden, prepared, and then today), I have had other things going on (sadly... still no knitting).

Garage sales have been a focus of recent weekends, and I've been partially successful on my hunt, along with a few unplanned treasures. This weekend was a good one!

First up - pair of lamps. These were a bargain for $5/pr and will be perfect in the guest bedroom after a good cleaning. Of course I have a different project-in-progress for lamps for that room, but I couldn't pass these up and the other ones might not actually come to fruition.

A fun game board... the top glass has checkers to cover the backgammon board, and the drawer includes dominoes and cribbage. I'll need to get more little bits to use for checkers pieces, but already have a good idea. I may paint and distress the wood box as it's certainly seen better days, but this is a good addition to the game cupboard!

And a $10 bread machine. My bread machine didn't survive the move-storage-move process, so I'll have fun with this one.

The major purchase of the weekend will appear in a make-over post one of these days...

But instead of installing shelves or working on the headboard, I make Pillow Cookies. Not an intuitive name in my opinion, but essentially a brownie surrounded by chocolate chip cookie. YUM!

If I were to make these again, I'd go for a thicker cookie dough. This was REALLY moist and soft, so chilling the dough was critical, but made for a flat cookie with a bulge where the brownie bite was. And as Bakerella says, you will need to cover the cookies for further cooking when the tops start to get brown.

And they are HUGE! This plate is 7 3/4" across!

For the full recipe and much more enticing pictures, click here.

Temptation on so many levels...

Happy, Happy -

JavaNut

grown-up "Mac 'n Cheese'

I enjoy cooking, but as a household of one, I rarely actually cook. Grocery shopping after work is torture so I often "assemble" instead of cook.

This is my stand by for 'the last resort' and I call it grown up's Mac 'n Cheese. I'm not sure the nutritional value compared to Kraft, but at least it's not neon orange!!

After a long, hot day it was definitely time for a meal of last resort. And tonight's add -ins were broccoli and sundried tomatoes...

Slowly growing...

I've been slowing making progress on various house projects... always slower and later than expected, but progress nonetheless. But none are in the state of completion, so a more interesting project for "in-progress" is the veggie garden!

I was very late in planting anything in my new raised beds... partly because of my crazy travel all spring, and partly because we had such icky weather. And I kept the garden to the basics since it's all an experiment for these boxes. They get some sun, but not a lot... although I think they get more than I realized. So we'll see how everything goes this year and I'll have a much better plan next year.

The tomatoes are growing... but just starting to see some little yellow flowers. I have some heirloom (large and cherry-size), some "sweet 100s" (my favorite cherry tomotoes) and some "regular" but I can't remember which variety.

A baby cuke!

And the first beans I've ever planted... bush beans that apparently don't need to be staked!

Bailey is more interested in barking at the neighbors' dog than what's growing!

Thrifting...

In my search for some 'bargains' for some new spaces, I've been hitting thrift stores and garage sales. The perfect piece of furniture has eluded me so far, but I have collected another 6 pair of jeans at about $1.50 each. My stash is about 17 pairs now... more than enough for the lap-quilts I have in mind. I may not have furniture yet, but I'm on my way with accessories!

I pulled out the ones I'd collected before - and all have been washed, bleached (color-safe!), dried and are ready for cutting up. Not sure when I'll actually get around to them, but they're ready!

MediLeaf

A new establishment I drive by on my way home every day...

Apologies for bad photo, but from iPhone (I was at a stoplight, not driving!)

MediLeaf

Medical Cannibas Cooperative