Canning Stage 1

In my to do list for this Summer was canning. I rolled my sleeves up got busy with my kids! I thought I have successfully finished canning but I ended up with canning a sweet blueberry syrup. Yes, it did not work for me. I was heart broken but I learned a lesson. It is super necessary to measure all your ingredients for canning. I was relying on my kids for measuring and I decided to do double the batches. I don’t think it was a great idea. 

We will be canning again this summer for one last time but we are not going to double the batches next time and we will do a better job in measuring. We are happy to use our blueberry syrup with pancakes it was yummy. 

My leisure readings

I have few books that I would like to reading this Summer. Which means somedays we have to give up swimming because it could take a nice chunk of the day. On the other hand it is the time that little Nicolette gets to play with me in the pool. I know she deeply enjoys it. Because, at times she refuses to go for her lessons but rather hang out with me in the pool.

These are few of my Summer fun picks.

I love this book Stitch Savvy by Deborah Moebes, there are few projects that I would love to do. 

Simple Sustainable Style by Randy Florke with Nancy J Becker is another that I enjoy lovely way to make your house a home.  

There is a few more I have and I will share later. Some related to work and few are for pleasure!

Swimming Lessons...

 

Little Nicolette has been busy this Summer taking swimming lessons. She is so adamant to swim just like the rest of the family. Her little observations on swimming make my heart swell in pride. I have been taking her to the pool and she enjoys showing of her strides. 

I know deep inside her she wants to get rid of the noodle and swim on her own. She was so afraid to jump I cannot even believe what she has accomplished from these lessons. 

When I asked her can I sign her up for another class she was so happy. She is taking another class which will be Pike 2. We will see how she is going to take her swimming skills to the next level. Her last lesson was fun to watch! 

Knitting

I have collected yarn and I have been housing a yarn stash. I guess we crafters like to collect, at least I do when it comes to fabric and yarn. But, I wanted to use my stash. I am knitting a cowl for little Nicolette. Because, here the New England weather could get pretty cold during winter months. However, this yarn is not very giving. In other words not very stretchy. 

It is a Lion brand, Suede, and the color is named as Fuchsia. I used my hat patterns and totally made this up. I want to say this is so soft and hope it will keep her warm at play outside. She will be a kindergartner next year. I am excited for her!

Our Garden under a heat stroke...

We have had couple of thunderstorms with a sprinkle of rain. We have had not  received a good rain for a while it not like very New England weather that I know during my time here. However, the garden is going through a heat stroke and we have had few bugs munching leaves and flowers. I am very reluctant to use any pesticides. 

I guess I have to take a trip to a nursery to find out whats happening to some of the plants. I was able to snap few pictures before the rain which has been forecasted during this week we will see when it comes down. Watering has been a priority in our household since we have replanted few of our evergreen trees due to our new fence. 

Lamb Curry...

This is something we often had growing up in Sri Lanka. However in Sri Lanka we would have mutton. Sunday lunch is something special at our home. I did not like much of that due to the heavy use of spices. I created some of these for my extended family and friends and they love and crave these, which was our Sunday dishes. I would like to call.

I have never seek out to buy mutton in US. However I would substitute it with lamb. I do not eat meat any more but do cook them for friends. So when we were invited for a friends dinner. I simply offered to make this dish for them. 

As you can see it has many spices, cooked in tomato, and in a yogurt bath. 

Blueberry Picking...

 I took the kids for blueberry picking. I was surprised that my older one did not mind joining this. It was really a hot day for easterners but we still decided to work on this. To be honest, it was my very first attempt in blueberry picking. Now that I like it, I am all in to planting a blueberry tree in my yard. I do not know how this is going to work but worth giving a try. 

Little Nicolette was elated when I explain that she can eat the blueberries while she is picking. So the first couple of minutes she was eating them while I was filling her basket. Meanwhile the older one vanished I knew he is going to be close by as I asked him not wonder too far.

I had fun picking the berries as well. They were so yummy and looks beautiful and we were tired and head inside the farm stand. While I was there I picked few things. Like baskets, I have to come up a way to use them.

Front yard is in bloom

Finally things are taking its shape. Some of the flowers have bloomed. I hid some of my container plants along the border of the front plant beds add some color in between the leaves. 

This includes burying some containers in the dirt but it all works in harmony see the waves of not overwhelming blooms. The impatience are doing great this year despite the call from the nursery to destroy them plants. Geraniums are happy at the steps while Hydrangea bush is cascading with its heavy blooms. It is truly inviting when it is watered on a regular basis. 

We took a Class...

This is how this story goes... I took a class on how to make tomato sauce at home. Since, we have planted many tomato plants. I would really like to save some for the cold winter months. I had to take the kids with me. However the 15 year old could have watched the 4 year old for 45 min.

But, I asked the instructor if I can kids of course the answer was Yes, this way they can try the sauce too. Nicolette did surprise me by attending the class and being a great listener. She loved the sauce and was happy to taste it. So we will be making sauce at home this Summer!

Our Visit to the Cape...

During our visit to Cape Iran into this small shop. What caught my eye was the large wooden fish which was displayed outside. After admiring the fish from outside I headed inside and had a small talk with very friendly shop owner. She was a local and she explained that she uses the wooden spools in which the telephone wires comes in. They are kind of industrial. They get a second life through her work. I loved that idea. The name of the shop is called studio. I hope I am doing a better job explaining this. 

She was just playing with the idea and it was the birth of this wonderful store. She really has a niche for painting and does a terrific job in that. I loved her work. This is a little bit of Cape I wanted to share with you...

Rice Noodles with Vegetables part 1

 

We consume rice noodle in few ways. One is sautéed it with vegetables. Almost like panfried noodles but with less fat of course. Some of the staple vegetables we add to our noodles are carrots, white cabbage, leeks white and green parts. I add eggs and salted fried fish (sound kind of funny right, but it is part of Malaysian infusion of panfried noodles). If you are not a huge fan of fish you may add any meat you like. 

What you need
A small piece of Ginger skinned and finely chopped
3-4 garlic cloves skinned and finely chopped
1 onion skinned and chopped
2-3 carrots skinned and thinly sliced to sticks
1 cup of sliced cabbage
1 leek green and white part thinly sliced as match sticks
salted cod fish (cut into small pieces and fried) 
3-4 eggs made into an omelet and sliced 
Cook the noodles according to the package directions
3 table spoons of light soy sauce
Freshly ground black pepper to serve

First add 2-3 tablespoons of butter and sauté garlic and ginger, add the onions. When the onions are translucent add the vegetables start with carrots, cabbage, white part of the leeks. Cook them for about 30 seconds in high heat now add the cooked rice noodles ( I usually cook them and leave them in the water and add it with a little bit of water from the noodles). This will keep the noodle moist. Next mix in the omelet, fried cod.  Add the green parts of the leeks and drizzle the soy sauce on top and mix them well keep it in heat for 30 more seconds and serve it while it is hot and don’t forget to add freshly ground black pepper to it!

Simple and easy!

A new fence

 

 

 

We are getting a new fence. This is something we wanted for many reasons. Mainly for privacy, building the garden, and to enjoy the yard more often with kids. 

Since our house is very old we inherited many windows. With that comes the issue of privacy. I can see my neighbors yard and her neighbors yard from my bathroom.  We can use a little privacy in our tiny house. 

Gardening is something I have always enjoyed since I was a very young kid. I felt I could not enjoy it and build as much as I want to without a back splash which would be in this case the fence. Because the house is white we decided to build it white and keep it low maintenance to us and to the neighbors as well. As you can see how excited I am running around and snapping pictures. We had to move our evergreen trees twice hopefully they will take off. We had few showers since the move. Rose garden is officially moved to one side of the garden which I am not very thrilled. 

I cannot wait to add the Hammock, to our yard. I am thinking of a small fire pit to burn the branches we collect during the year and we can spend more time in the yard till the end of Fall. 

Meanwhile the raise beds are doing great, However the turnips did not do much as I anticipated. We dug them out and thinking of Garlic we can add to that bed this Fall!

Containers

 

I like to have flower pots by our doorway, even though we do not have much space at the door. I received a petunia plant from school as a gift from parents and I was kind of thinking a way to add that to create something fun. Few trips to the nursery always catches my eye with interesting plants.  Hopefully no more trips to the nursery until Fall. 

I found a flowerpot that I have acquired long time ago and I created a mix that would compliment what I had received from parents. I was happy with the end product. Then I got more creative when I was at the craft store, since they have done markdowns on bigger planters.

I decided to go for a wider mouth, glazed, and a sage green flower pot. I did mix in a dark potato type plant, red coleus, verbena, and a basil. Like I said I was all into experimenting. Not much of a bloomer but seems to be happy at the front doorway.  

My Shop

I have learned over time, from my little shop, it is best to use what I have left from sewing. I meant of course fabric because I go through bolts! I have been using some of left over fabrics to make drawstring bags for Montessori Toys. 

I have treasured little Nicolette's toys. I meant her infant toys in drawstring bags. This might be a little crazy but I have treasured  few of the items I have made for her. There is something in us that we like to hold on to little sentimental from our childhood. Perhaps it is the mother in all of us. 

These are the little drawstring bags that I am making to store the little bell in the ribbon. I personally think it is a very important / significant toy during infancy. That the infant gets to interact with its environment first hand. 

Enjoy the Summer!