New Refashion Project

After about two months mostly focused on food preservation I thought I would show you a small project I recently completed. I found another Goodwill dress that was too big and too 80's, but I did like the fabric pattern. I cut off the sleeves, cut the neckline down and shortened it. I have a couple of caveats with this post. The before is ugly and I don't just mean the dress. I tried to do my hair curly and ended up looking frumpy and old. The second thing I wanted to mention is that I don't have a photo of the finished project by itself. I've been working on losing weight and did not feel the photos were flattering, so you'll have to just use your imagination. Lastly, I'm putting the after photo first as I hate having an ugly picture be the one people see when they are notified of a new post. That said, here ya go.

Thanks for stopping by,
Tonya

It's Officially Fall!

Today was the first day of fall. I love everything about fall, the cool crisp air, the sweet smell of turning leaves, pumpkins, apples, and layered clothing. Fall has arrived here in Oregon. The nights are getting colder, the leaves are beginning to turn and pumpkins are now available from the local farms. I'm still waiting for my tomatoes to ripen. I don't think it will happen, but we have had some sunshine in the afternoons. I planted heirloom tomatoes and the few that have ripened were so good. I haven't decided if I will use them green or wait for them to ripen on my counter. It seemed like a waste of such wonderful flavor to use them green, but we'll see. I decided to plant a fall garden as well. I've never done this before so we'll see how it turns out.

I keep checking on my garden every morning, either to check for slugs, or hoping I'll find magically ripened tomatoes or a big pumpkin. I went out a few days ago to check for slugs as they are coming out again with the rainy cool weather. I was excited to see rain drops on the large spider web with the sun shining through. I probably should have grabbed my tripod, but the sun was quickly going behind the clouds.

Thanks for stopping by,
Tonya

My Little Helper

I know it's been a while since I posted. I've been pretty busy lately with school, work and some more canning. I made three kinds of salsa/hot sauce in the past two weeks. Anyways, my busy schedule has also led to putting off some household chores till later. My little cat Princie follows me around the house and has to be in the middle of whatever I'm doing, so I've should have known that if I left some laundry to be folded later that they would end up with cat hair all over them.

Thanks for stopping by,
Tonya

Watch your step!!

Here in the northwest spiders seem to come out in droves during late summer and fall. In the summer they stay outside, but if hiking you have to watch so you don't walk through a spider's web. In the fall the spiders tend to seek warmer areas such as my house. Today I was tending to my garden (hoping my tomatoes will ripen before fall arrives) when I nearly ran into this large spider.

                                                                         mmm tasty!
Thanks for stopping by,

Tonya

First Heirloom

This year I found five heirloom tomato plants at my local grocery store (I love you New Seasons). After a cool, wet spring my tomatoes are finally starting to really grow. Hopefully they will have time to ripen before the cooler weather hits, or I should say stays as the next seven days are suppose to be in the low 70's. I finally picked my first tomatoes of the year.

Paul Robeson and Yellow Pear tomatoes

I wanted to enjoy the flavor of the tomatoes so I made a simple salad by slicing these tomatoes. I added a few lemon basil leaves from my garden and drizzled olive oil and balsamic vinegar. These have so much flavor. I must say after eating these its hard to buy grocery store tomatoes.

Thanks for stopping by,
Tonya

Preserving Summer's Bounty

I've had the past month off of school and had wanted to do a lot of sewing during this "break", but I've found myself working on other projects instead. Earlier this summer I picked local strawberries and made homemade jam. It was my first time canning as an adult and I couldn't get any of my jars to seal. I purchased canning supplies also hoping to make some pickles as well. However my interest, and LeMont would say obsession, has gone beyond strawberry jam and pickles to many other canning projects. I love the idea of eating something I've preserved myself. Equally important to me is knowing when my food came from, especially in our current food system. The egg recall has only increased my desire for healthy, local food. Plus its great to know that  by using reusable canning jars it also limits the amount of resources I'm using.

Over the past month I've made dried peaches, peach jam, kiwi jam, dried kiwis (very sour, I may not keep them), dried blueberries, pickled green beans, pickles, cucumber relish, spicy pickled carrots, blueberry lemon jam, blueberry lime jam, and blueberry meyer lemon marmalade. I've filled up a whole shelf in my pantry with preserved goods.
Here's a few pictures of what I've been doing.

I would love to hear what you've been working on lately.

Thanks for stopping by,
Tonya

Crater Lake National Park

I know I've been absent for a while. I've been a little stressed with my school projects. I've also been working on some fun projects as well that I will post soon. Tonight I'm spending my evening with my fiance BBQ-ing and watching Whale Wars. My kind of Friday night! LeMont and I have been dreaming of a vacation but haven't been able to make it work this summer, but I thought I would post pictures of a trip we took in 2008 for my birthday. We went camping at Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon. It is so incredibly beautiful. I would definitely recommend it.

                         If you ever visit, definitely hike up the mountain to see the amazing view.

                                                        Take some silly pictures of yourself.

 Hike through still melting snow (in August no less).

 Hike down the the water edge. 

                      And be sure to take the boat trip around the lake. (Look how clear that water is.)

Man I need I vacation.
Thanks for stopping by,
Tonya