Happy Veteran's Day

Thank you to all of the veterans who have faithfully protected the helpless, promoted justice and fought to bring freedom around the world.

He Hideth my Soul

I transplanted these hens and chicks into our rockery at the end of the summer, hoping that they would create a more refined look than the dead grass and blackberry sprouts that were growing there at the time. They have established well, although it is probably too early to expect them to spread. I have high hopes for future rocky elegance, though.

Tendrils

Desert Bloom

It has been a year of babies for friends and relatives.
These were made for my college roommate who recently gave birth to her little desert flower in Arizona.

Saguaro

Barrel Cactus

Asters

Poppies

Legacy

My grandmother recently moved into an adult family home, necessitating a downsize from her apartment. As the embroiderer and tea-lover in the family, I chose a few handmade linens and the Japanese teapot that my grandfather brought back from occupied Japan.
I also chose her recipe box.


It is everything that a recipe box should be--well used and well worn. Cards that are grease-spotted, wrinkled, both typed and hand written. Recipes copied from magazines and cookbooks and gifts from friends. Glimpses of the church and neighbor communities within the directions for upsizing for potlucks and notes on baby showers. A lifetime of friends and family sharing food, raising families and celebrating.


An appalling number of the recipes contain some variety of flavored gelatin. Some of them are clearly dated with their emphasis on canned or prepackaged ingredients and references to an obscure substance called spry (a brand of shortening that was sold in the 1930's to 1950's). A number of them reflect her Scandinavian background with names like Fattimunda, others simply reflect the times (Lemon Fluff, anyone?).


Her Danish Brown Sugar cookies have been a fixture in my holiday baking ever since I was able to make sense of a recipe that called for the ingredients in pounds. This year I may have to add Delia's zucchini bread and Minnie's (my great-grandmother) Spanish Cake.

I am well into creating my own lifetime recipe box even though I have moved the cards into a notebook for easier access. There are cards from friends and family, made-up recipes too good to let fall into oblivion and experimental recipes from online cookbooks--a truly contemporary twist on recipe-sharing. The things that I collect will change over time--from exotic treats to plain and frugal family meals to Fifty Ways to Use the Forty Pounds of Blueberries that we just picked.
I hope that I can also incorporate not only some of my grandmother's recipes into my cooking routine but also some of her love and dedication to serving those under her care.

Doing the Puyallup

Swallowtail

Lest it appear that I only take trips and visit friends, let me present my interpretation of one of the more popular patterns from Ravelry--the Swallowtail shawl. Knitting isn't as high on my list of interests as some other things, however, when I saw a book of lace shawl patterns, I decided that they were incredibly beautiful. And besides, I had to prove to myself that I could do something like that--especially after hearing how difficult lace knitting can be. As it turns out, it does have its challenges, but I was pretty happy with my first attempt.

The yarn was a 100% rayon weaving fiber from the Weaving Works. I picked it out initially because I loved the color. It didn't have the give to it that wool does, but it also didn't get fuzzy with repeated pulling in and out of my bag so I was able to more easily see the stitches and pattern definition.

This photo is the whole shawl pinned for blocking. This one was taken without a flash and gives a much better idea of the color. Yes, there is still an end or two to be worked in. I added several repeats of the center pattern in order to make it just a bit bigger. I wasn't sure how much it would stretch when blocked and wanted it to generously cover my shoulders.

A closeup of the tip pattern:

Along the side: