Pumpkin Surprise!

Last Fall I purchased a cool looking pumpkin from the Lawrence Garden Club's plant sale/auction. It  was orange with dark green splattered along its bottom half, and had a bumpy texture all around it. I wanted  to save the seeds - but I'm a lazy seed saver so basically, I left it out all winter behind our garage. After the snow melted I discovered it had decomposed, and there were the seeds waiting for me to harvest! But, at least one was left behind, because a few weeks later this pumpkin plant began to grow, and grow, and grow......

It was covered with beautiful blossoms.  The blossoms fell and fruit began to form, but those pesky ground squirrels ate them! 

Luckily one survived and we're giving it much love and care in hopes of it becoming just as beautiful as its "mother."

Cycling 🚴‍♀️

Got back to cycling this year after a four year hiatus. Life became busy, and we put off riding, but kept up our walking schedule. It takes extra effort to gear up to ride, checking tire pressure, doing stretches to limber up, etc. Best time is early morning 9 - 9:30 am to beat the heat and traffic. We ride out 1/2 hour and back 1/2 hour usually covering 15 miles or so. This includes lots of hills on 44th Avenue and CR 215, along with 48th Avenue heading west, and the killer hill on the way back on 44th "Larry's hill" as we refer to it. It feels so good when we're done!

Peddling Partners

Bike Storage

Mode of transportation!

An added bonus this year includes passing a couple of Amish farms on 48th Avenue. One family was picking up hay bales using a steam engine tractor pulling a trailer. At the second farm we are greeted by 2 very young children, jumping and waving, saying "hi" as we pass. They're adorable!

House Block Party

Sorry, not really a party, but I had a lot of fun finishing this block! First time finishing a one block item for a client. Gave me a chance to "play" a bit and hone my skills.

Custom quilting: micro-stippling in background, scalloped shingles on roof, piano keys on outside boarder. Free form and ruler work.

Don’t you hate when that happens?

You search for the perfect backpack-not too big, not too small, just right - with the right amount of pockets in all the right places, not too heavy, or too wide, and zippers that are easy to open and close. You find it and USE it - over and over and over..........UNTIL - AAACK - it falls apart:

Fear not, it can be repaired with help from Geralyn Creates! Old gray fabric replaced around the zipper opening and made a little wider to accommodate more packing. Patched and sealed around the handle to stop additional fabric fraying. 

Another satisfied customer: "Thank you so much it looks fantastic. I am so impressed!" Ms. S

Yummy goodness

I’d been wanting to try a recipe that appeared in my mailbox about 2 months ago -“Tofu Lasagna”
Last week we had all the ingredients, so it was time! It turned out great and was a nice addition to our regular eating regime.  Definitely make it again for ourselves and family gatherings.

Served with fresh Michigan grown asparagus bought at the South Haven Farmer's Market.

Also went well accompanied by fresh picked summer squash from Ed's garden baked in the sun oven!

The whole wheat noodles fell apart a bit while precooking, but didn't ruin the taste.

Bake in a 9" X 13" pan @ 350 degrees for 45 - 50 minutes, or until thoroughly heated.  

TOFU - SPINACH LASAGNA

1/2 lb lasagna noodles - cooked

2 - 10 oz pkgs frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained

4 cups tomato sauce

Mix together in blender or food processor:

1 lb soft tofu

1 lb firm tofu

1 Tbsp sugar

1/4 cup soy milk (I used almond milk)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 Tbsp lemon juice (I used lime juice)

3 tsp minced fresh basil

(I also added dried thyme and oregano-1 tsp each)

2 tsp salt

After blended, stir in spinach.

Layer in the pan:

sauce

noodles

tofu filling

-as many times as it takes to use up the ingredients finishing with a layer of noodles and sauce on the top!

Bake and enjoy!

Luvin’ this sunshine!

What glorious weather we’ve been having! Finally a long stretch of sun-filled days without all that humidity. Can't think of a better way to celebrate than cooking in the sun ovens!!!!

Beautiful baby summer squash smothered with onions, sprinkled with fresh ground black pepper, dried thyme, basil, and oregano, and last but not least smoked paprika! (There's also a chunk of the ginormous zucchini we found at Ed's garden in this pan).

The large zucchini cut and seeds taken out before baking.

This is what the sun ovens look like baking away! Oven temps reached 350 degrees and it took about an hour to cook the zucchini. Lots more sun time so we also cooked brown rice, and cauliflower (from Ed's garden) seasoned with sweet tasting brown rice miso, smoked paprika, basil, and salt.

Everything turned out well. We ate all day long....fresh baked.....kissed by the sun.....fresh from the garden.

Come sail away.......

Many moons (maybe three years), ago my brother Marty asked if I would make new covers for the cushions on his sailboat ⛵️. I had never done this before but was up for the challenge. I watched a few Sailrite videos and felt confident about completing the task. We already owned a heavy duty machine (Can you believe it? What luck!) and decided to purchase the heat blade cutter to seal cut the Sunbrella fabric. Marty brought over his small air compressor and picked up an air powered staple gun (Harbor Freight). I was in business!

Some of the cushions had wooden backing so the fabric was stapled on. Others had zipper closures. Never having seen the placement of the cushions, I tried to follow the grain of the old fabric in order to get the direction for the stripes. Looks like I got it right!

I also learned a lot about matching stripes, repeats, and getting those big pieces of foam into the new covers! Whew!

I was asked to join a sail date a couple years ago, but we had already scheduled a family vacation. Marty sent me these pictures a couple months ago. Maybe someday I'll get to see these cushions again in person. 😊