Too much socks & violets (Random Tuesday edition)

Because no good deed goes un-pun-nished. Yes, thank you for your groans. ;) I dedicate the title to Sherrie (Twenty-Two Pleasant) because she said one can never have too many puns!

I thought I'd write one longish post to share photos plus a few random thoughts before I take a leave of absence to spend quality time with my sister while she's visiting.

First up, photos. I hope my sister's friend, B, doesn't read my blog regularly because my sis commissioned me to knit B a pair of baby socks as a present for her baby shower. Cute, no?I also knitted a little hat but forgot to take photos today, so will show the socks that I'm making for me instead. Not as cute.This African violet (that I've posted a photo of previously) is still blooming like mad. The bottom of the plant is all wobbly and looks like it's about to die, but the top looks like this, as fresh as a daisy...or violet....
My numba one son is going to turn 14 in a week. Wow, where did the time go, and why does he look so much older when I look exactly the same as I did 14 years ago (ahem)? Here he is doing his biology lab.And what's he doing in his biology lab? Dissecting squids, among other things. I hope he'll go into medicine after all this stuff I have to put up with in my kitchen.We got the results back from his CAT-5 test for grade 10. He took the test for grade 7 back in June because he had just finished grade 7 (that was the grade he would have finished had he been in public school). Since he scored in the 90+ percentile in pretty much everything, I thought he should take the test for a few grades above his to see where he might be lacking. Weeeell, as it turn out, he's not lacking in a heckuva lot of areas. I think I'll have him take the grade 11 test this coming June. Surely, something in grade 11 or 12 may stump him. (No wonder he always acts like he's smarter than I am...)
Before I close up, here are a few random thoughts:

* There is such a thing as being too nice.

* I get a little tired of posting comments that disappear - either due to my own fault (because I turn off the computer without remembering that I was in the middle of commenting), the fault of cyber-gremlins that eat comments, or maybe the fault of the recipient.

* I think I would much rather be Patsy than Edina.

* Some people's friendship elevate me to a higher plane and make me a better person by association.

* Gretchen Rubin is right: do it for yourself; don't expect gold stars.

And finally:I may occasionally post something, and I will definitely continue to post regularly in my Project 365 blog, but for my own sanity, I need to feel like I don't have to blog regularly here.

By the way, I am loving my spec-fic writing course from the Gotham Writer's Workshop! I highly recommend them to anyone who wants a rigorous course in any writing genre.

Toodles, everyone, and stay warm...except for those of you lucky enough to live in CA! ;)

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Home, home(schooling) on the range...

...where we learn that in North America, we don't have antelope (they're pronghorn; antelopes are in Africa) or buffalo (they're bison; buffalo are in Asia).

I also learned that there is such a place called "Cornell College". I had always assumed that when I say "Cornell" (as in, ds#1 took a bird biology course from Cornell), or when I see "Cornell" (as in, Carl Sagan was a long-time professor at Cornell), that they mean the one and only Cornell University. Imagine my surprise to hear about Cornell College, which is in Iowa, not Ithaca, NY. Learn something new every day.

We're 2/3 of the way through the Prentice Hall Biology labs, which the teens seem to be enjoying so far. :) I swear the moms get more excited than the kids do, though, when an experiment works. We'll reconvene in mid-January, giving the kids a well-deserved break over the holidays.

On to more photos from 2004!

The kids were taking tennis in the summers. Here's ds#1 working on his back-hand:and ds#2 muddling through:
The Asian Culture Center at Indiana University offers half-day summer camps every year. The boys are hard at play making masks with the other campers:
More reading in their spare time:
There are many interesting limestone caves in our area; here we are at McCormick Creek State Park (I think; dh will correct me if I'm wrong).
On a field trip to the Indiana State Museum:
The boys peeling eggs for deviled eggs. Not sure why that's so amusing, but, apparently, it is.
Slave labor! The boys helping to harvest carrots and other things.
Playing with their best friends:
The guys with one of our watermelons that was bigger than their heads:
Marbleworks was one of their favorite games (before evil Wii came into our lives).
Carrie (Under the Willow Gifts) may recognize this place - Sidling Hill in western Maryland. We always pass by on our way to visit dh's relatives.
And speaking of relatives, here's one of our favorite aunts (always has a good toy to amuse the boys) from western MD:
Our friend C's mom has a little vineyard in her backyard. It may be little, but in a good year, it produces tons of fruits. 2004 was one of those bumper years. This was the crop we got after C and her family had already had their fill. The boys were helping us process them.
Here's my goofy son #1 with a couple of his creations, a wind-sock made from a plastic food tub and a puppet made with a paper towel tube, a toilet paper tube and chenille stems. I miss those days when that's all it took to make them smile like this. ;)
Next homeschooling post: more photos, and a look back on what they've learned and what else we need to do for the 2009-2010 homeschool year.

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Science, food, donations, and free samples...all good!

What a lovely day Thursday turned out to be!

For a change, our biology labs (courtesy of Meg, Get In Hang On) worked out great. It was very exciting to see lactobacillus (the stuff that makes your yogurt wonderful). ;)

Then, I made a Honey Pecan Pie because I had a pie crust in the fridge I forgot to use. This is one of my favorite recipes because it doesn't call for corn syrup (which I try to avoid), and it's super-duper easy.
Honey Pecan Pie
1 C honey (I used a jar of honey that our neighbors brought back for us from Croatia!)
1/2 C butter, melted
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 t vanilla extract
1/8 t salt
1 1/2 C chopped pecans
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

Combine first 5 ingredients; stir in pecans. Pour into unbaked pastry shell. Bake at 350F for 30 to 40 minutes.

I'd also like to mention that Carrie (Under the Willow Gift Shoppe) bought the little tea light holder that ds#2 had made and placed on Artfire, so, Carrie dear, I'll be making a donation...in your name!And speaking of Carrie, here's where the free samples come in: Carrie's looking to give away free samples of her fabulous (trust me as a customer on this one!) laundry detergent. Go get 'em!!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Food, kids, upcoming giveaways

It's officially Autumn - both climatologically and astronomically - and because the weather is cooling, I'm back to happily baking, starting with Coconut-Cranberry Chews (thanks to Abby for the recipe!)I'm making tiramisu today, using the sponge cake recipe from the King Arthur Flour cookbook, and Lavender Soap's mascarpone topping recipe.

Last week, our friend, Carol, gave us some concord grapes. The harvest wasn't great this year, but there was enough to attempt a juice recipe I saw in Mother Earth News. Since we'd run out of quart jars from canning 80+ jars of tomatoes, I had to make do with other jars we still had left. But, aren't they cuuute? Egassner might recognize the smaller jars as the ones she'd canned tuna in (very yummy tuna it was too!).Here's the recipe by Suzanne Mullins of Charlottesville, VA:
Measure 2 cups of whole stemmed grapes into a quart jar.
Add 1 cup of sugar (more or less to taste)
Fill the container with boiling water.
Process it for 10 minutes in a water-bath canner.
6 weeks later, strain out the liquid, dilute this concentrate by half with water, and you'll have 2 quarts of ready-to-drink grape juice.

Speaking of cuuute, here are the teens (ds#1 is the hunched one to the left...egads that kid has bad posture) doing the biology lab - thanks, Meg for passing along your lab stuff and your knowledge!!! - that I'm running for them this year.
On Friday when dh had a late day, I made anchovy pizzas for dinner (using the dough recipe from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day), and I also made bleu cheese dressing for the salad made with lettuces and greens from our garden. This is a bleu cheese dressing recipe from dh's mom that I've never tried before. It turned out really well! Here it is, in the little blue bowl that used to belong to my dear MIL, and the recipe in her own handwriting:As for the giveaway, the prize will be this handmade (by moi!) bone-motif ceramic bead. But, you'll have to come back mid-week for details. Yes, I'm a tease."I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams