Weekending

 
Building.




Decorating.
 

Feasting. (This recipe, except really, you only need a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Perfect way to turn those half-ripe end-of-season tomatoes into something delicious.)
 

Failing. (Thought I would use up some of my leftover food coloring to try to make corn muffins that look like candy corn. Alas, this was as close as I got--natural yellow food coloring is not at all impressive. Will have to try again next year.)




Carving.



Costuming.

Weekending

School carnival:

 (Harmonograph drawing: 2 tickets)

Sick:


(I think I have an ear infection. It is not pleasant. Cranky toddlers of the world, I greet you with newfound understanding.)

Pumpkin patch:



(We do this every year, and every year I think: oh man, this is totally why people have kids.)

While I was away

My girl made a "quilt" out of perler beads. I'm told it was totally her idea and execution, and I think it is awfully clever. Anyway, I was more than 2,500 miles away, I couldn't have put her up to it.

Weekending

I'm working on a post about pie (and cake). It's kind of a monster...a delicious monster. In the meantime:

Productive afternoon. SMQG FTW! (And Jenny, they don't bite! :-) You're coming with me next time for sure.)



So. many. tomatoes.



African-American Quilts from the Collection of Corinne Riley. Normally we think of quilts as getting their visual impact from repetition, and yet what makes quilts like this one so stunning to me is the deviations from repetition: those variations in the color of the blue fabric around the stars, the various shades of orange and red in the stars (with their seemingly random and yet somehow perfect placement), those two orange diamonds in one of the pink stars. These quilts were also made in a way that is very different from how a lot of the people around me who are into patchwork (including myself, really) work: pieced from materials on hand, leftovers, worn-out clothing and bedsheets. And yet somehow the visual impact is even greater to me than a lot of quilts made from fabric specifically bought for quilting. I'm not sure how to explain this without making it sound like I'm romanticizing poverty. But I look at this quilt and I think: I wish I could make something that looked like that someday.



Post-art refueling.



Harvest feast. Lasagna with mushrooms, summer squash*, and tomato* sauce; basil* pesto flatbread; salad of lettuce*, carrot, and cherry tomato* with walnut-balsamic dressing.

* = all grown by us!