I have a post to put up about some yummy ice cream. But first I need to take a picture of said ice cream, which would mean I would be eating ice cream right now. I’m editing some Ribbon Jar pics for my mom instead. Has anyone out there ever done product photography before? Holy moly it’s a whole different ballgame and a ton of work! Here’s some almost edible ribbon I’ve been photographing.
Velvet
Silk
Organdy
Herringbone. Seriously everyone should have a pile of herringbone. This ribbon/trim is great for everything. I love stamping on it to make little tags, put it over hems, using it for little straps. Love, love, love.
I don’t have seamless paper, so I don’t have a really great way to do this (these were too fabric covered foam boards, and I took the seam out after the fact, but the white is still not white white consistently in the background, ugh!). Our set up was a bit of a mess, we were holding up lights over each other and I was shooting with one hand, not ideal, but quite funny. So I’m having to do a bunch of work in post production (Photoshop), which I never do. Ya, even for baby shoots I tend to try and get it as right in the camera as I can, so this is way out of my league. Has anyone tried this? Is there a good course out there? A book? Tips or tricks? Or if you have product to sell do you farm out this part?
The day I cooked.
I have been having trouble eating much of anything. Not a lot of appetite, nothing sounds good, running out of room. A bunch of reasons why the kitchen has not been my favorite place. Now with a few fresher ingredients at my fingertips I’m trying to get in there more. I spent a day getting back into the groove. Tuesday and I cooked all morning and were in our jammies until one. Oops!
First up granola. My mom gifted me Power Foods a while ago and it has a granola recipe in it that I happened to have all the ingredients for on hand. Tuesday went from not wanting granola to suddenly loving it since she made this (and got to do some serious nut smashing). Extra bonus? It only takes egg whites… so I guess I’ll have to make some ice cream up with my yolks. Oh darn.
It made quite a bit and the cook book said I could keep it on hand for two weeks or freeze it for three months, so I did a bit of both. I made up a second batch late at night after picking up some pistachios and dried cherries. I froze that whole batch. I’m obsessed with filling up my freezer right now.
Next up Tuesday and I made coconut popsicles from Perfect Pops. I have quite a few cold treat type books and I’m on the fence about this one. This pop was not my favorite, though Tuesday did like it (Creamy Coconut Pop). I think it might have to do with the kind of canned coconut milk I used. But I don’t care because the other thing I’m obsessed with is using up the random stuff in my cupboard/freezer/fridge. Coconut milk used up, check!
Bj and I finished off this “applesauce ice cream”. I served it to him and he looked at me like, “dude this isn’t ice cream.” I know, I know. It’s just frozen peach applesauce from before I got up the nerve to can it. Tuesday wouldn’t eat it, so I started calling it applesauce ice cream. Boom, gone!
I even made dinner (what? who am I?!?!). My mom has a great recipe for pasta salad. That I said I didn’t like and wouldn’t try. So she made me some and I ate all of it and begged her for the recipe. I’ll write it out to you as she told me.
The Easy Anything Pasta Salad
Use penne pasta, cook al dente
While you are cooking the pasta clean and chop veggies (any). Try green beans, tomatoes, pesto, basil, olives, etc.
Toss with olive oil and white wine vinegar or lime juice. Or maybe some mustard and honey. Add salt and pepper.
You can use chicken.
For the cold salads we like pepperoncinis (with navy beans). But you can also serve hot.
Keeps for three or four days.
Ya, she’s a wing it type of chef. I think she might do this to keep herself on my speed dial… This is actually the second batch (well a stretched first batch). The first bit that we ate for dinner had more tomatoes. Tuesday and I had a little freak out moment at the farmer’s market when we saw tomatoes. There as a little basket of tiny tomatoes in all those perfect colors and Tuesday goes, “Ohhh!!!!” Oh indeed, a while since we’ve had yummy fresh tomatoes! Of course I had to get them. And the bunch of basil.
After cleaning up the second batch of granola and another pop experiment (results pending, must wait for them to freeze) I made myself a little treat with some of the left overs sitting around.
Greek yogurt (the nice yummy full fat kind), plus raspberries and blueberries. And some of my cherry pistachio granola mixed in. I ate this while finishing up my meal plan for the week. I might share that with you, if you want.
Banner Day (60 degree)
I have a ton of great inspiration up on my Kid’s Clothes pinterest board, but this weekend it looked like the banner day skirt would be the most fun to make. And my scrap bin was over flowing so I went for it.
The added bonus was getting to use my new 60 degree triangle template from my friend Jill. She makes the best templates ever (etsy shop here)! And is in my quilt guild; which I am sure has more than it’s share of genius.
So my measurements are a bit different than the Moda version (free tutorial here), because I didn’t print their template. I’m glad I played with the 60 degree triangle though before starting a quilt with it (I want to so badly!), because I took me a minute (or ten) to remember how to get triangles together and preserve the points. With this back view you can see where the chevron pattern came together on the seam, it’s a little weird, but I don’t think that noticeable when she’s running around.
Picking (almost) blue berries. We can’t wait! And with this horrible lack of sun (seriously next to none this summer so far) we are having to. I need to stake up a bunch of things that are getting way water logged from the late rain. Oh and pick weeds ( times 1,000). There is not a lot of incentive for me to be out there right now, I have to admit. Sewing seems like much more fun at the moment.
Tuesday likes this skirt (though these pictures were hard won). She thinks it should be longer. I think it could be shorter. I like that the lined banned on the bottom kind of makes the skirt stay “poofed out”. I think with some new elastic in a year or two she could still be wearing the skirt (we’ll see how well the white holds up).
An almost ripe marionberry! I love these in baked goods and am so happy to have my own… though I think the vines might get the better of me. They are quite vigorous. I would show you a shot of ripe raspberries but we eat them as soon as, or slightly before, they are ripe. It’s a favorite morning activity. Best done in pjs of course.
My lettuce won’t complain about the late start to summer. I guess it deserves it considering a few of those starts I left in tiny containers for three weeks (!!!) and they still are taking off. This week I’m going to teach myself to make some homemade dressing.
Back to the skirt. I have a little stash of this state capital fabric left, but I think this is my last Salem (where we live). Pretty awesome right? Ignore the background. I’m trying to meal plan. I realized we have next to NO FOOD (dramatic emphasis mine) for when the baby comes. Ok so we have a ton of stuff I canned and froze, but my lovely husband completely ignores it (lest you think we’re prefect eaters he just bought a jar of HFCS Smuckers for crying out loud). So I have to make up meals with it and then have those ready to go in order to utilize all the good stuff. I’m sure I have weeks to go anyway so I should have plenty of time.
This Moment
(thanks to Sarah for the photo after an iPhone back up snafu)
Joining in on Amanda’s this moment project. A moment from the last week. A slice of life.
The name game
(she dresses herself but we picked the crazy name)
A recent conversation between Tuesday and a new friend.
friend: “Is your name really Tuesday?”
Tuesday: “Yes.”
friend: “But your name is really Tuesday, like Tuesday?”
Tuesday: “Yes, it is.”
friend has a puzzled look and kind of laughs
Tuesday: “What is your name?”
friend “Alex.”
Tuesday, “well, why?”
I was so glad I got to hear this conversation. Certainly the new friend was not being mean, more curious and they were chatting amicably, but I thought it a pretty good retort. I wonder what Tuesday will think of her name. I always liked my name. I do think it’s annoying that the younger generation of Ambers seem to be stereotyped to be trashy/uneducated (well, I guess it’s not such a stereotype, as I read in this article and a book by Malcolm Gladwell – can’t remember which one). And having the exact same name as my college freshman roommate was a weird.
We don’t have any names picked out for new baby, I just don’t get that “this is it!” feeling and I want to see what little baby will be like (and if it’s a boy or girl, I’m so excited to find out!). Plus I think I must be extra picky or paranoid or something. I suppose I have a while, but I’m betting we go without naming for a while, like with Tuesday. It was just easier that way.
Have you named anyone? How did you pick it?
Baby on the Belly
Well this was a fun bonus from my midwife that I didn’t get to experience last time.
At my last appointment my midwife used water color crayons to draw out little baby on my belly. Of course it’s not exact since this little baby is quite the mover. Seriously the baby moves all over all day long.
But it’s such a cool visual! Her apprentice commented that it’s one thing to talk about a short torso, and quite another to see it this way. So true. Where are my other organs right now? Crammed up who knows where giving me super heartburn! I can’t wait until my stomach has room. I’m going to eat for five days straight I swear!
Tuesday was quite amused as well. She picked out the green color for the baby. Glad she picked a dark color, we can just pretend that I don’t have mass amounts of brand new stretch marks, yay!
Have you or your partner had this done? I had never heard of this before and I really love it. I told my midwife (another homeschooling mom) that it would be so cool to do organs on a little kid. Tuesday loves this lift the flap body book we have and I think would really get a kick out of looking at her body like that. I only have about 197 water color crayons from college (monotype printmaker) so I think we could do something really cool. I’ll save that project idea for the someday when I have more energy category. So if you try it let me know how it goes.
When I Was a Baby
I keep forgetting to share this little book I made for Tuesday on Shutterfly. I had an idea for a little book that would show Tuesday what it was like when she was a baby so that she could get a better idea of what it would be like when the new little baby comes. I came up with this.
I decided to just go with photos from her first year.
Some of the spreads:
Talking about Tuesday in the belly, and how we delivered her at home.
I talked about Tuesday meeting lots of people for the first time, in preparation for lots of people wanting to meet the new baby.
Talking about how she couldn’t sit up, or ride forward in the car. I also have a page that talks about her being carried everywhere because she couldn’t walk.
Cloth diapers. When I pulled them out of storage she knew what they were right away from this book (even though she almost never wore this pre-fold style).
How babies communicate and what they want all the time… mama milk! I have a few more pages that talk about how papa’s funny faces and cuddling made her feel better. And about how she liked to swing and bounce too.
I was being generous here… instead of sleep much I should have said, “AT ALL” but thought that might be a little harsh. I think I worded it in a way that when she looks at this as an adult, she’ll know what was up.
Tuesday has this book completely memorized. From the monitor one day I heard her (at rest time) reading to her Birdy, “I ate apples, beets, bananas, and more!” If you ask her what she ate as a baby this is what she says (word for word).
I really wanted to show that we didn’t just leave her home as a baby but took her everywhere we went. Hopefully I can point to this when/if she asks why the baby has to come with us everywhere (obviously hoping she doesn’t ask this!).
On the back cover I wrote: “All about Tuesday Lee Garrison’s first year, 2009. With love from Mama & Papa March 2012”.
Some thoughts on the book itself. The Shutterfly process could not be easier. And the price was right (I had a free coupon, then just had to pay a little extra for a few extra pages and shipping). I think the quality is pretty good, I mean it works great as a kids book. That’s where we keep it, with all the other books in her room.
And does she like it? Oh my goodness yes. This book was a HUGE hit. Tuesday has a lot of books so she usually rotates through them pretty well, but this one comes up a lot. And she likes reading it to herself all the time. I imagine it will get more play after the baby comes as well. I may end up doing these for each year, not sure.
This really makes me want to get my blog into a hard copy format. I have 7 years to deal with though and I haven’t found a program that lets me do it in any kind of way that sounds fun to me right now. I’d love to look through it in this way though. Has anyone else tried a blog to book thing?
Dusty, but not Rusty
Oh hey, remember when I used to spin? No, no, not on a stationary bike, but with my lovely wheel. Ah those were good times. I even spun a bunch while Tuesday was a newborn. You know, while she nursed for three hours at a time (the new baby won’t do that right? it will sleep right? because you can only have one newborn that doesn’t take naps, right? RIGHT?). Well I took a long break from the hobby. I would like to blame Tuesday, and say she got into the wheel, but that’s not really true. I’m not sure why I didn’t do it. Partly I was overwhelmed by the amount of fiber I got into the house in the last few years. I was in a couple fiber clubs and just kept collecting fiber. Then it was stored away behind the stuff we wanted to sell for the garage sale. It wasn’t until we finally had our sale (a few weekends ago), that the stash was revealed once more. Instead of getting overwhelmed I got excited and pulled some fiber out to see how getting back into it would go.
(the first thing back on the wheel, not too bad!)
(some thick and thin for my mom’s birthday last week)
My blog friend Stacey used to spin a lot too and she posted a few months ago about either getting back into it or selling the wheel. I was having the same feelings as her, it wasn’t right to have so much beautiful stuff, and not using any of it! I’m glad I decided to get it back out. I don’t know how long this phase will last, but it certainly is nice to have a real mellow craft to do. I can’t seem to sit all the way still, but this is probably as close as I’ll get. And Bj says the sound of the wheel is very relaxing, I’d have to agree! Do you have any crafts that are gathering dust? I have to admit this isn’t my only one…
Sunny with a Side of Rain
It has been a fairly mild summer thus far. Not too hot. And not too sunny. I’ve been asked, “Aren’t you glad it’s not hot?” since I’m noticeably pregnant. I said I didn’t mind one way or the other, but then we did have one hot day and I was like, “OH NO, this is NO GOOD!” So I must say, yes, I am enjoying this very mild late spring/early summer. I am still upset that I was never able to find a maternity rain jacket despite being willing to pay just about any price for one through our very rainy winter/spring. I do not understand how there is no market for a true maternity rain jacket, surely every pregnant person doesn’t just stay inside? I digress. Our backyard with a very strong side of rain:
More rough around the edges than we’d like (I need to weed badly!). But the front yard has really taken the brunt of my neglect. Leaving flowers on stems past their prime and adding in a lot of rain makes for a pretty pathetic entrance. Plus I’ve got some kind of mildew on a few things. And we almost lost a rose tree thing because it had so many blooms and the ground got so soggy, it’s all staked up now, but a few other things have succumbed to all the wet and are weeping over. Luckily the very strong and lovely smell of our lavender with roses thrown in the mix seem to overwhelm everyone’s senses and most people just exclaim over the wonderful smells coming up our walk. Either that or they are just being nice to me. I think the odds of me weeding right now are pretty much zero. Well if you do see me out there you can bet it’s a month from now and I am trying everything to get the baby out! ha! Think good thoughts I don’t get another 42 weeker…
Tuesday’s Lens
I took Tuesday’s camera and downloaded the photos for the first time in months. There was a lot of this:
And other “gems” but she got a few fun shots in there.
(she’s addicted to her flash, and figured out how to turn it on even when I turn it off so pretty much everything is super blown out). Trains, always trains.
Getting a shot of the outdoor cutting table at Fabric Depot. Watch out, you never know when she’ll snap you!
Me and my grandma from lunch today. We had a nice conversation that went in an endless loop about how her great grandma is my grandma, and my mom is her grandma… I think I need to make her a chart because she could NOT wrap her head around this one.
Because her camera was out I grabbed it and got this of Tuesday. We tried the tent in the room last night. Good call from papa, as we were going to try outside first. She ended up going to sleep in her bed, but moved to the tent midway through the night. Bj ended up sneaking in and grabbing his pillow in leu of a sleeping on the floor. I never had a pillow in there… I’m pregnant not crazy!