how does your garden grow?

We have had a small vegetable garden in our yard since we built our house and moved here in 1988. In the beginning, it was mostly my deal, as were the flower beds that developed all around the house and lot. I do like the feel of some good black dirt and the pleasure of watching little things grow. Now Bob has become more interested in the vegie garden, so I make a willing assistant. We have warded off rabbits, deer and even a rogue woodchuck. Last year the deer had an especially fine time with Bob's garden plants, and he resorted to MacGyvering a taller fence out of stuff he could find in the garage. It served the purpose of keeping the deer away, but wasn't so much to look at, sort of a ramshackle look. Not quaint or folksy, just plain trashy! Yesterday he installed some new fenceposts and wire fencing that will be a much nicer barrier. However, he hasn't yet quite figured out how to close off the end of the garden near the patio. He positioned these 2 chairs to partially block it off, but I think they actually make a good spot to collect an admission fee from the animals as they enter Bob's Old Country Garden Buffet! It's still a work in progress!

I always have a stack of "charity quilts" to be completed, and Thursday it occurred to me that I hadn't quilted one since February. So this quilt had been languishing the longest, and I am happy to say that it now is done (except for stitching down the binding). It was made from blocks that were donated by customers of Bear Patch and might be found in our next Breast Cancer Awareness display and auction.

Feeling very domestic on this fine Saturday morning, baking brownies and monster cookies. Wish I could share them with you! Even without my goodies, I hope you will have an excellent weekend!

Things done

I was very productive the last 2 days and have moved a couple things off the ToDo list.

Some little invisible machine applique wall hangings, samples for the store, patterns from When Quilts Fly. I used the applique fiber that this particular designer has developed for her patterns. This is being offered as a class at the store on Tuesday 10/27.

A new sample of my own pattern, Solitaire Bear, using batiks and rather detailed quilting, at least in my world! I kind of enjoyed the challenge of trying to do some very small-scale quilting on this but can't imagine doing it on anything very much bigger! This little tabletopper is my limit for tolerance of tiny stitches!

A new little baby-sized quilt using Texture Magic in alternating blocks. This is a very fun product that shrinks when steamed, and causes the quilting fabric to bubble up and become textured. I made up a new quilting design (new to me) for the non-textured blocks and a similar shape in the border, I like it so much when I get to experiment with something like this and it even turns out well! This might become the newest Emmaline Design pattern!

Lest you think that all I ever do around here is sewing/quilting, let me share with you a good recipe that isn't new at all, but not something that I had stirred up for a long time. Now that I made a batch I am hopelessly hooked on them again.

Monster Cookies

1/2 cup flour

1 tablespoon baking soda

pinch of salt

5 cups oatmeal (quick cooking type, or old-fashioned oats that have been chopped in the food processor)

3/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

5 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups creamy peanut butter

your choice of 2 - 3 cups of added ingredients, things like chocolate chips, M&M's, chopped nuts, butterscotch chips, toffee bits, coconut, etc.

Cream butter and sugars in a large bowl, use a mixer if you have one. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well. Add the vanilla and peanut butter and mix until smooth. Add the flour, salt, soda and oats gradually. Fold in the goodies and refrigerate at least 5 hours or overnight. Make large clumps (1-2 tablespoons) on parchment paper covered cookie sheets, bake for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees. Leave them on the cookie sheet about 10 minutes before even trying to move them to the cooling rack. You can make the cookies bigger, but adjust the baking time so they are just barely browned. This makes a large batch.