[gardening] June Flowers: Irises

June is over and it was a busy month. When I had time and the weather was nice, I walked around the flower beds to take pictures (and pull weeds). 

Last month was all about irises. 

White:

And white-purple (this is in the same clump at the white):

Looks like a simple purple iris but the foliage is variegated and these smell sooooooo sweet:

Siberian irises (could probably be divided this September):

Yellow irises (another patch that needs to be divided) when they were first starting to bloom:

This one was given to me by a coworker before she left:

I absolutely adore the color of this one (taken from work when we redid the front flower bed):

Nice tall, dark purple:

These are from a bag of rhizomes that I got at Home Depot or Kmart years ago. They turned out to be really beautiful:

Same with these:

These came from my neighbor:

And this sweet little thing appeared in with my short spring purple irises. It was a nice little surprise and I wish I had grabbed it a separated it to give it it's only special spot. Maybe next year.

All the irises are just about done and the daylilies are sending up scapes and getting ready to take over the show.

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Had a good weekend. The month of June was so busy for me because of travel and teaching. I'm looking forward to a short week this week and long weekend. I need more R&R ahead of another week of teaching.

I did all of my favorite things this past weekend- gardening, cooking, crafting, avoiding house chores. 

I made pozole. This is one of Dollar's favorite meals and I'm trying to simplify the process. I brought to a boil some dried guajillo peppers (removed stem and seeds as best I could without getting super fussy about it) with onion, garlic and Mexican oregano with a little water. Then let it sit to plump up the peppers and then blended it all in my Vitamix.

What was my life like before this blender? I don't even remember. The Vitamix got the peppers so smooth, I didn't need to strain it. That was the problem with my old pozole- straining out the bits of peppers that didn't blend- trying to get a smooth base for the soup. This Vitamix is saving me time and frustration. This blender is literally extending my life and making it better. 

Anyway, that was it for the base of the soup. Pour it into a pot to cook a bit and reduce. Then add hominy, broth, shredded pork. At the end, I add greens (the CSA is in full swing and I have so many greens to use up) to make it a more well-rounded meal.

Every other month I do a big pork shoulder in the slow cooker to make a pile of shredded pork, which I freeze in smaller portions. Then I can pull out a container and let it defrost in the fridge for a week of: pulled pork quesadillas, burritos and now easy pozole.

[travel] Catching up...

It's been a little more than two weeks since my last post. Teaching, traveling, teaching. 

My travel was to Fort Worth, TX for a meeting. It was good to see colleagues whom I email frequently but only get to actually see once or twice a year. Fort Worth itself was... hot. Like, so hot. I wasn't ready for that kind of heat yet (real feel around 104F).

I was able to visit a nice local yarn shop: West 7th Wool



It was a lovely shop. I took a picture of this pattern because the pattern is Papillon / Butterfly by Marin Melchior (a Vermont designer). I bought the actual, recommended yarn (Urth Uneek and Harvest) for the pattern. It's going to be an expensive project overall but I'm certain it will be lovely.

I'm anxious to cast on for it, actually. I want to make it for the fair this fall. I've just got to wrap up the travel doily.

In Texas, I went to stay at my cousin's on my last night (she lives north of Dallas). And I finally got some delicious Texas pit BBQ:



I know it looks like a dessert there on the left- lumpy ice cream with a cherry on top- but it was coleslaw with some red peppers. That was great, too, but the ribs were stellar. This was the best dinner I had in Texas. I wouldn't have minded Ubering to reputable places during the week for dinner but my coworkers are all about staying within walking distance of the hotels- so our dining options were a little mediocre.

Apart from some FINE cocktails that we had at Acre Distillery in downtown:



Bloody Mary. In a boot. I need boot glasses in my life. And all the happy-hour mules I had before we great (a blackberry mule, a peach mule...). This place is a MUST VISIT if you're in Fort Worth.

I made all my flights home on time (with only a 20 min layover in Chicago) and it was nice to see Vermont again:



Actually, now that I think about it, I did have excellent Mexican food in Texas. Which put me in the mood for Mexican at home. It's nice to be cooking at home again- and it's all homemade refried beans and tacos and burritos since I've been back.

[knitting] Kitchen Towels

Using some Lion Brand Re-up cotton yarn to make kitchen towels:

The pattern is free on Ravelry and simply called "Kitchen Cloth in Mosaic Design". I think this is the first time I've mosaic knit before and I like it. You're only working one color at a time and slipping the stitches of the color you're not working on. There is also no purling.

It's a little loose- I think I used US 7 needles with this Re-up yarn but I plan on machine washing/drying these towels, which should shrink things a bit. This yarn is lighter than Lily Sugar 'n Cream.

I finished the pink one and started a yellow one:

This yarn is only $2 per ball at Michaels. It takes about two balls each of the natural and colored yarns (with some leftover), so it's $8 in supplies per towel. 

These were my Outlander knitting projects during my vacation. Seasons 1 and 2 appeared on Netflix and during the rainy days, it was knitting and watching Outlander. I'm almost done with Season 1.

Both towels are actually done- I just have to sew in ends. There are instructions for a crocheted lace trim, which I like, but I was having some trouble with the chart and I was worried about the trim making the bottom of the towel flare out. I think I'll give these towels a wash/dry and then add the trim.

[quilting] Old Windmill

I had the sewing machine out last week and worked on a quick quilt block:

All the original fat quarter fabric pieces for this quilt are dwindling- I've started randomly sewing together small pieces together and will continue to merge them. Then I can cut scrappy strips as needed. I should probably start laying out all the blocks and pieces that I have, to see how everything looks. And that should help motivate me to finish it.

[cooking] Matcha Swirl Bread

Vacation last week was just what I needed. I did a lot of gardening and sewing and knitting. Some cooking. I made a trip to Hmart with my mom and picked up a canister of culinary matcha powder. At home, I looked up some baking recipes and decided on a swirled loaf of bread:

It didn't rise as much as I would like liked but it's still tasty. I was unsure what to eat it with- normally I have matcha in the form of KitKats or ice cream. I toasted a slice and tried it with butter, jam and peanut butter. In the end, I broke down and bought a jar of nutella. With nutella is the way to eat this.

Still on the lookout for more matcha recipes...

[misc] Santana Update

Santana had her stroke in early April. It's been about a month and a half and she's back to normal:

Completely back to normal. She's still on meds- a quarter of a baby aspirin in her breakfast and some liquid antibiotics (for her bad teeth). But it's offset with lots of treats and kisses. She sleeps by my head every night. She hassles me in the kitchen- wanting handouts (which she usually gets because she needs to gain weight). She's my best good girl. Don't tell Penny.

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T-minus 3 days until my vacation starts. I'm trying not to mentally check out of work already- I have so much to do. The blog will be quiet for a week and a half (I'm travelling for work immediately after) but I'm going to be Instagramming the crap out of my days off. It's going to be all food and gardening and crafting. 

[knitting] Buffalo Plaid

New hat:

No pattern. Requires 3 colors- black, burgundy, red. Cast on 100 stitches with black; k2p2 until you have a fold-over brim.

The plaid squares are 5 stitches wide by 6 rows tall. When you're ready for colorwork, do 5 stitches black, 5 stitches burgundy around. After 6 rows, do 5 stitches burgundy, 5 stitches red around. Repeat these 12 rows for the main body of the hat. Decrease (quickly) in pattern and finish hat.

I like how this turned out- it does have a proper hunter's plaid look. My only gripe is that I caught floats in the middle of the squares, which kind of makes the squares' 3rd stitch pucker. Next time I'll just leave the floats 5 stitches wide. Blocking will sort out tension issues.

I used Cascade 220 superwash and this pattern barely used any of the red and burgundy. I have plenty leftover for another hat. It would be fun to do color variations on this buffalo plaid- black, grey, white; black, evergreen, kelly green; etc.

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I started knitting a multi-directional scarf with a couple skeins of variegated Malabrigo worsted. I also pulled out a couple balls of cotton to try knitting a kitchen towel.

Still spinning; down to 3 oz of the lime green/blue fiber. I saw that Tour de Fleece starts up in July. I might pull a couple things to spin for that.

The Tunbridge Fair is in September and I'm starting to think about what to make for it.

I made some Vermont Curry for supper last night. And then I immediately texted my mom this morning like, "Heeeyyyy, want to make an Hmart run soon? Like, this weekend?" Because I used up the last of the roux last night. I am a Vermont Curry devotee now.

[knitting] Caron x Pantone Cowl

Another brioche cowl:

And the reverse side:

The yarn is two bundles of Caron x Pantone yarn that I got a Michael's for 50% off, which brings the total materials cost of this project to $8. This is such a nice, squishy cowl. Lots of ends to sew in (which is difficult to hide in brioche) but so worth it. This is getting tucked away until next fall.

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Great weekend. Made a lot of ramp pesto. I have several bulbs that I think I'll try roasting. I've done the Momofuku Shichimi Togarashi pickled bulbs, which is very tasty but still pungent. You basically can't go out after eating them. Or talk to anyone. Or breathe with your mouth open. I'm going to roast ramp bulbs in aluminum foil like a heads of garlic- to try to achieve a more mellow flavor.

It was so nice on Saturday- I visited the Hanover Garden Club plant sale on Saturday morning and picked up a lot of perennials. Stopped at the Foster Garden booth at the Sharon Trading Post and got lot of annuals. Back at home, I planted my wash tub with annuals, started my succulent garden in a whiskey barrel and finally cleaned up flowerbeds/cleared away dead stuff.

[gardening] Drumstick Primula

The only things blooming now are various primrose.

I love this hot pink Drumstick Primula:

I divided this last year but the new spots aren't too robust yet. 

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TGIF. Looking forward to the weekend. Plant sale. Ramp recipes. Knitting, crocheting, spinning... 

I've already started compiling a list of all the things I want to do during my vacation at the end of the month. Gardening (and power washing the back of the house) will be the main focus but when it's raining-

- sewing drawstring muslin bags for my bundt pans

- quilt sewing

- getting back to the Starfall sweater

- sashiko embroidery

- Bob Ross painting?

Speaking of painting, last year I did a lot of room painting. Maybe I'll do a bathroom or something small this year.

[cooking] Cooking with Ramps

It's been all ramps, all week. 

I made a pizza:

Ground beef, browned in a pan, drained and then sauteed a bit more with sliced ramps, to wilt the greens. I shaped the dough, used ramp pesto instead of tomato sauce, added mozzarella cheese, sliced bell pepper, then the beef/ramps. Baked on a pizza stone for 10 min.

Cheddar and ramp scones:

I used the 'cheddar and scallion' recipe from the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion cookbook and substituted minced ramps for scallions.

Last night, ramp pesto tarte soleil:

Okay, not the prettiest thing in the world but so tasty. I used Smitten Kitchen's Tarte Soleil recipe. Mine is rather small; I used a homemade single pie crust that I had in the fridge, divided in half for the top and bottom. And I think my sun has 16 rays instead of 32 written in the recipe. Next time I'll make it prettier- this would be a nice recipe to make for the Summer Solstice.

I also mixed up some ramp cream cheese, which has been making the most amazing bagels (I add lox and home grown alfalfa sprouts).

These all look like pretty carb-tastic recipes. We've had band practice at the house twice this week and thankfully they had the scones and tarte. 

Still have a pile of ramps in the fridge- will hopefully process them all this weekend.

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I'm on the lookout for quick and easy knitting projects. Mostly my evenings have been sewing in ends on tiny granny squares for a cat afghan. So boring but I think the finished afghan will be so cute. Just have to figure out how I'll join all the squares.

The Hanover Garden Club Plant sale is this Saturday, 9am to noon. After the snow earlier this week, sheesh, I'm hardly thinking about gardening at all. But I'll go and see what's there. At this time last year, I had already visited several plants sales over Mother's Day weekend.

[crochet] Play food

My niece's birthday was yesterday and I was able to give her all the play food that I've been making...

A sandwich:

The bread is from the Tasty Crochet book but the cheese, lettuce and tomatoes are from this free playtime sandwich pattern. (Thank you, Ellen!)

In total: four slices of bread, two slices of Swiss cheese, three tomato slices, one lettuce leaf. Combined with the eggs and bacon from a couple weeks ago, you can make one vegetable sandwich and one bacon, eggs and cheese breakfast sandwich.

Also, a variety of cookies:



The cream-filled cookies are this free pattern (I did vanilla and chocolate); the chocolate chip cookies are from Tasty Crochet.

And knit strawberries, all packaged up in a proper berry pint container:



I didn't get to a lot of patterns that I wanted to, so I think I'll just continue making things and save them all for Christmas.

Speaking of making things...

[vermont] Mid-May Weather

Woke up this morning and though I was hallucinating:

It's May 14 and this is the latest I can remember getting snow since we moved up here. We are up at a bit of elevation (about 1100 ft) and there was no snow by the time I drove down to river level.

My poor azalea bushed were drooping under the heavy snow:

Before I left for work, I had to take a rake and go knock the snow off. 

We'll see if anything is negatively impacted. I'm relieved I didn't do much cleaning up of the flowerbeds (laziness ftw)- my hydrangeas are pretty sensitive to frost/cold and I'm glad I haven't cut them back or cleared away old foliage from the bottom.

At this time last year, I had irises blooming. Now the lower flowerbed looks like:

So... I'm taking the last week of May off for my annual staycation/week of gardening at home. I had the hammock out last year and was enjoying that. I reeeeaaaaalllllly hope I get to use the hammock at the end of the month this year...

[vermont] Foraging for Ramps

My annual ramp foraging was made insanely easy this year. My uncle was camping nearby for the weekend- he stopped by with his new ATV on Saturday around noon and asked if I wanted a ride. I said I wouldn't say no to a ride up the hill to pick ramps. I grabbed my basket and off we went. I felt so incredibly lazy for not hiking up but it's so steep and I'm also sorrynotsorry.

Up at the top- he had no idea what ramps were and I was like, "Wait until you see. Everything is brown but once we get to the patch- it's a sea of emerald green." 

This is just a small area where we picked- the ramp patch extends so far.

My uncle helped me pick and we were done quickly. 

And then I got a ride back down. It totally spoiled me and I'm pretty sure I'm going to call him up next year and from now on and ask for a ride.

Another reason I'm not sorry is because it takes about three hours to clean them all. Normally I'd pick on a Saturday, keep the dirty ramps in the garage overnight and wash them on Sunday. It's takes many changes of water and time to strip the slimy outside skin off the bulb, then bundle them all up pretty. I saved so much time from the ride up/down that I cleaned them all as soon as I got home.

So beautiful! Bundles have already gone to my uncle (his reward for the ride and helping me pick!), my mom, sister, mother in law, sister in law... More will go to Wool band member at the next house practice.

During the washing up, I set aside the "seconds"- the lone leaves, broken bulbs, runty-sized ramps. These I keep for me:

Which I'll turn into pesto and compound butter. I'm thinking about pickling bulbs, dehydrating leaves. I have a block of cream cheese I'll mix some into (I can't wait- I'm buying bagels just for this). And a quick chimichurri last night to go with London broil steak:

It's a decidedly Vermont chimichurri- because of the ramps and I used cider vinegar instead of red wine vinegar. It's so good with steak.

Lots of cooking to do this week to process it all but then I can keep a lot of it in my freezer and cupboards to enjoy until next Spring.

[gardening] Azaleas

My two front azalea shrubs have started to bloom:

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Got home from work last night at 6pm and spent the rest of the night cooking and doing dishes. The dishes were piling up and there were more because I was cleaning old stuff out of the fridge. 

I made a double pie crust and used half for a quiche (ham, swiss, asparagus). The other half I'll use for a maple chiffon pie next week. I also whipped up some chocolate chip cookies (band practice at our house)- I baked off 12 and froze the rest of the dough. And I started some milk in the instant pot for homemade yogurt.

I took some meat out of the freezer for this weekend- a london broil steak, bacon, ground hamburger. We were in Claremont a couple weeks ago and I got a bag of mixed meats for $38 from Liberal Beef. Oh my god- if you're from the area, get one of their mixed bags of meat. It's a pretty amazing assortment. 

By the time I was done with everything, it was 9 pm and I was out like a light.

[knitting] Lush Brioche Cowl

My finished brioche ribbed cowl:

I finished this a while ago and I've been wearing it ever since. The house is still cool- we almost had a frost last night. High today in the 50s and another possible frost tonight.

I used acrylic Caron yarns for this- not wanting to splurge and use nice yarn from the stash for my first ever brioche project. Acrylic yarn be damned, this is my favorite knit thing right now. It's soooo sqwooshable. I love this texture. I cast on for another cowl right after this one- which is also complete, I just have to finish sewing in ends.

[gardening] Spring wild flowers

Some woodland flowers are starting to bloom...

Clotsfoot, which seems to thrive right at the road's edge, is a nice pop of color along the drive home:



In the woods, I saw trillium here and there:



I think the deer tend to eat it when they come across it, so I was happy to see it in several spots.

Lastly, my favorite spring woodland flower, bloodroot:



They are so pretty, so delicate, so ephemeral. There are a couple nice, large patches down by the brook.

[knitting] Strawberries

My trip home from Virginia yesterday was exactly 6 strawberries long...

The pattern is free and in the notes of this Flickr picture. I used misc leftover dk-weight yarn from my stash.

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Maryland Sheep and Wool was great, if a little (I mean a lot and very) hot and muggy. Going from a week of high's in the 40's and 50's at home to 80's and humidity wasn't fun. I got a couple modest bags of fiber, bars of homemade soap, lotion, buttons... no yarn.

All my bars of soap got my bag flagged at the airport and searched. I asked the TSA agent what it was about the soap- they said it looks like "dense material" on the x-ray. I told Dollar and he said, "Ha ha, it looked like plastic explosives..."

Will be busy this week teaching. I saw some fiddleheads when I went to take pictures of flowers down by the brook yesterday- might pick them after work to sautee for supper. I'm hoping the ramps at the top of the hill aren't too old to pick this weekend- I just haven't had a chance (or nice weather) to hike up yet.

[crochet] Lots of Little Doilies

I was on a small-doily-spree for a couple weeks. I pulled out my copy of 99 Little Doilies by Patricia Kristoffersen and made several; they're small enough to do from start to finish in one evening.

I used crochet thread for most of these- Aunt Lydia Fashion 3, which is a little heavier than normal crochet 10 thread. It just means my doilies ended up a little bigger, which I wanted.

Pattern #28:

Pattern #2:

Pattern #10:

Pattern #16:

Pattern #24:

And this one is a random cotton from my stash- not crochet thread...

Pattern #30:

I'm planning to give a few away as a gift. I am tempted to tackle a larger, more intricate pattern to enter into the fair this fall.

[crochet] Breakfast

Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey:

Eggs and bacon from the book Tasty Crochet. It's sooooo cute.

I'm hoping to amass a large quantity of play food for my niece's birthday later this month.