Embroidery 101 - Part Two

I have begun a new embroidery. This little cherry is about 1.5 centimetres across. I realized when I finished it, that you really DO get the hang of it quickly. My curved lines were very bad at first. 

There was a bit of a learning curve doing my first embroidery in about 45 years. I took out more than one section to redo. In fact one of these teacups was resewn three times. You learn to sew by sewing. I was surprised at how quickly it came back and how I could almost hear my grandmother walking me through it. There are a few things I would have done differently...but all and all, I'm pretty happy with it!!

Okay and get your self a good embroidery hoop. So worth it. 

How on earth do you get an injury from Coconut Oil?

Look at this beautiful gallon of Coconut Oil I bought. We go through a lot of it now, so I thought I'd go big or go home. The lid was a bugger to get off. I mean it. My husband and I worked together trying to pry the lid off. We used a bottle opener, a towel and a screw driver. I was holding the bucket and Allan jammed the screwdriver up under the lid. It was lifting off the counter a bit even with me holding it down. It was unbelievably stuck. He gave it the old college try and really jammed the screwdriver up under the lid, container slammed down. Pinching the skin on my baby finger under the sharp bottom edge. Two days later this is what it looks like. You know when Buddy says in the movie Elf "I can feel my heart beat". Yeah that kind of hurt.

I just had to post a picture of the breakfast Allan made for us. This is his beautiful French Toast with butter and maple syrup.

Kombucha and Scoby Hotel

You know I love Kombucha. I thought I would share a picture of my latest bottling with you. On the right is my latest bottle with Black Cherry. 

On the left is my Scoby Hotel. I don't keep it on the window ledge, it was just easier to see. A Scoby hotel is a jar or bottle of Kombucha that you just leave on the counter. Every now and then something goes wrong with a batch of Kombucha. Like my two batches with mold last year. The entire batch including the Scoby must be thrown out, so if you don't have a Scoby somewhere, you are back to square one. I was lucky in that I just got to start fresh again. One also likes to share a Scoby with a friend now and then.

Look at all the little bubbles in my freshly poured bottle. How beautiful is that. 

Brought out my copy of the Year-Round Vegetable Gardener to inspire myself

This book is amazing. I took it with me on vacation once to read at the urging of a friend in Nova Scotia. The author lives in Nova Scotia, and if they grow greens etc. all winter, we on the west coast certainly can! 

I have seen the odd mention of Mâché but never really knew anything about it. I certainly did not realize that it is a reliable and perfect salad green for the winter months. I used the book to build my hoop house over the garden bed. Thank you Niki. I can tell already that there is no reason at all, with all this information, that I couldn't grow vegetables all year round. Especially living in zone 9a. I have no excuse. Although, a little excuse could be the vegetable clear cutting techniques of the west coast slug. They are a total pain.

A landmark for a little blog.

It was just a few short years ago that I started this little blog. It has been more fun than I can say. Today we passed 50,000 views. I never thought anyone other than my family and a few friends would read it. I was wrong.

Next landmark!! This is post number 400!!!!!

I look forward to blogging for a long time to come....and thank you for honouring me with your presence here.