Unedible Cake!

Tomorrow is a baby shower for a friend of mine. I have seen these online and wanted to try one - it was SO much fun! I absolutely love how it turned out! It was fun to be shopping for a boy, not that I want to change my mind and find out!

Maternity Skirt and Belly Shots!

I have been studiously ignoring the fact that winter is coming in the hopes that it won't....it's not working! I have been trying to figure out what I am going to do for the winter for skirts and pants....most of my medium maternity pants are getting small, but the larges are too big. I grabbed this skirt at a used clothing store so that I could try and modify it for my ever growing belly. The zipper needed to be picked out so the scissors wouldn't cut into the teeth and break....so I picked it out and still managed to cut the zipper!



A rectangle of knit fabric was folded in half, then I measured it on my belly and cut it to size, serged the ends to make a tube, then sewed it onto the skirt.....5 minutes before we had to go to church! :) When we were at church, I realized that the knit stretched more than I thought and had to keep hiking it up! While Nate was out hunting later on that afternoon, I took it back apart, make the knit tube smaller and sewed it back on. It is SO comfy!
I will definitely be modifying more skirts and pants!

Baby Stuff!

Last Spring, right around the time I found out I was pregnant, I ordered a serger, so I could sew with knits and finish off my handwovens better. It has sat in the box, under my loom (which also hasn't been touched) for the whole summer! The other day I decided I needed to be creative, so I took a women's t-shirt and made these for the little one. I am hoping they are neutral enough that I could use them for a boy or girl, but looking at them in the pics, they are pretty girly. I do love how they turned out though! For the pants, I took a pair of 0-3 mo. pants and made a pattern out of them. The hat pattern I found here. The shoe pattern I found here and then downsized it 80% to fit a smaller foot. We'll see how long they fit. Normally they are made with quilting cotton, so it was interesting sewing so many layers together in such a small space, but I really love how they turned out!

Lots more projects coming soon! I have a messload of fabrics and patterns to make stuff with. It really was a blessing in disguise for the Salvation Army to leave town - now instead of seeing all these clothes and coming up with stuff I could make from them and bringing them home, I actually have to start making them and using up my stash!

Dilly Beans!

These are a favorite of ours. If I do no other canning, I do these. They are so great when I have a migraine because they have cayenne in them to dilate the blood vessels in the head or something! My brain isn't working very well today! :) They do have more color than shown in the pictures, however, they look pickled! I'm not sure if it's because they were processed a little longer than normal, or if it is a different type of green bean. We will see in a couple weeks when we test them!

Zucchini!

Our garden is doing really well, except for our tomatoes. We are pretty sure they have the late blight that is going around. :( Our sugar snap peas were great, but not too many made it into the house. They are my snack while working outside! The zucchini is growing like gangbusters! We have had a ton of rain, so they are thriving. So far, we have been marinating them in a balsamic viniagrette, then grilling them with our meat as well as making stuffed zucchini. It is so yummy! I'm starting to freeze up meals, so we have them when the baby is here, because there are less than 5 month left. Time is flying.....speaking of time.....I think I'm giving up Fairyland and FarmTown on Facebook. Both are fun, but are sucking my time horribly!

I'm Back!

Sorry guys! It's been over a month since I have posted anything here. I think everyone who reads this knows that I'm pregnant. :) I just hit 14 weeks Wednesday and am starting to get more energy. Wednesday was spent cleaning and catching up on laundry. (Finally!)

Psyche was driving me nuts yesterday. Nate had gotten into the shower and I was working on stuff at the computer. Numnuts decided to get up on the desk in between me and my computer and make me breathe cat hair. I got tired of it, picked her up, took her to the bathroom and threatened to put her in the shower. She ran off, and I got in the shower too. When he finished, he got out to dry off, and in a minute was back in the shower, washing himself off all over again. The little brat had peed on the towel! I had to laugh! She really can be spiteful!

We went for a walk yesterday, I was having a medium energy day, but Nate had to get out, so we went for a hike on the Fingerlakes Trail, a section we haven't been on yet. It was really interesting. It has been really rainy lately, so there was a ton of different types of fungus. There was also a swamp type place where the trail went over tree roots to keep you out of the mud, and in there was the biggest slug I have ever seen!





Take care, everyone! I will be posting more here, but I have also started another blog, that will probably focus more on family and let this one be more for my crafty stuff. I have lots of craft projects now that the baby is coming! (And a new serger! Yay!) I also need to finish my weaving on my downstairs loom, I think I might be trading the loom for my piano, which I have missed since I have gotten married. It will also give us a little more room. The other blog is set to private, but if you would like to see it, leave a comment with your email, or email me at silverstrandstudios@frontiernet.net and I will add you!

Our garden

I really love late Spring/early Summer! We have a little perennial bed out front and right about now is blooming really well. After this it looks pathetic for awhile, but then early fall looks wonderful again! Right now the lupine, bachelor buttons and chives are just finishing up, and the false indigo, rhododendron and columbine are looking great! We planted some red geraniums which are annuals up here because Nate wants to attract some hummingbirds. Nate also gave me a orange echinacea a couple of weeks ago that I love!