Lucy's Tales From Home

The Orchard

Finished the binding last night and washed this morning. It reminds me of a little apple orchard, so thats what I called it.

I think I like the back better than the front.

I do love stitching by hand.

I can't wait to make another.  I got some fab fabric today from Randi at her Etsy shop Fresh Squeezed ! Lovely little shop and she is fast, friendly and fabulous! I also grabbed some goodies at Sew Mama Sew . Just have to get sewin and not swimmin now :)) I move pretty sloooow in this heat lately though. Hope you all are staying cool!

Crazy bus & some lovely mail

I will start with the good stuff. My bloggy friend, Gina, at Gingerbread, and I did a swap.  Sort of a sampling of where we live. Gina is in Tasmania Australia! Doesn't that just sound so exotic?  I have enjoyed getting to know her over the last year. She has many talents, besides being a great mum, she makes jewelry, cards, is a great cook and takes beautiful photos!

Packaged so pretty.

That BH&G is the Australian version, very cool! She made me a beautiful necklace, included a sachet of lavender from Tasmania,mmmm, made some really really cute gift cards for me to use and included several goodies for the girls. She also recorded 3 CD's full of wonderful music I have been listening to in the car, great stuff, some I have never heard before, wow!

Aren't these cards too cute!

She also sent me this lovely lovely T-Towel by an Australian artist.  I had my eye on this when she had a giveaway for her 100th post, I didn't get that one, but she is so sweet she sent me one!! Thats a little Wombat there with his nose in the cup:)  I love everything Gina and the girls are fighting me for the necklace.  Thank you so much, oh and by the way you have the most beautiful handwriting!

Ok, about the crazy bus.  Thats what we say around here when things get, well crazy.  (I am a full grown adult but on occasion I like to watch Arthur, that little cartoon is comforting to me for some reason) Things have been whirling this week, I have been getting up at 6:30 and going to bed at 2am every night. Ave has had VBS all week and I have been kid sitting plus trying to weed through Etsy so I can open my very own humble little shop soon.  I am a excited! Compared to all the talented women in this crafty on line community I have a very long way to go, but even if I never get there I sure am enjoying the ride.

heres a little peak at my shop name and homemade tags (oh I'm so nervous to show you)

How many times will it take

 

7 Reasons not to worry:

_{(from the NIV Life Application Bible)}

 

Matthew 6:25......The same God who created life in you can be trusted with the details of your life.

Matthew 6:26......Worrying about the future hampers your efforts for today.

Matthew 6:27.......Worrying is more harmful than helpful.

Matthew 6:28-30.......God does not ignore those who depend on him.

Matthew 6:31-32......Worry shows a lack of faith in and understanding of God.

Matthew 6:33......There are real challenges God wants us to pursue, and worrying keeps us from them.

Matthew 6:34.......Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I wonder how many times he will teach me this lesson....

I get caught up in the day to day. I try to handle every little thing myself. I try to make everything work out the way I want or think it should. So, sometimes I forget the utter and total peace that comes with a simple prayer. I lay my worries at His feet and ask Him to take them and then I rest in the fact that He has.  Its not always easy to give up control and let go of these tiring things that can eat up the Joy that could be in their place. But when I do give them over to Him, I am always amazed at how He works things out and how blessed and thankful I am to be His.

How many times will he teach me this lesson...

as many times as it takes.

 

This picture has no relevance to this post, just showing our crazy dog and the things we make her do, like balance her "little buddy" on her head before she can play with it. (plus I had to have a picture right)

 

Keeping busy bodies busy

I have been meaning to share a fun activity that we have been doing around here for a couple of years. A family newspaper. Avery's newspaper actually.  For the last couple of Summers, she has been taking pictures and keeping notes of the little and big things that happen around here to us and other members of our family and puts it all together in newspaper form, she calls it "Harbin Happenings".  She puts out 2 to 3 issues a Summer.  Here is a copy from last year.  Sort of like the ones everybody sends out at Christmas only this looks like a newspaper with different topics and articles.

 

Its funny to read her take on the things that happen. She goes around with pen and paper taking notes and asking questions. Sometimes she will call a family member and interview by phone to get the story straight.  This is a great way for kids to keep using their spelling, writing and computer skills over the Summer, not to mention a little imagination. Almost every desktop publishing software has a template for a newsletter. Depending on the age of the child, they may need a little help getting started, but not much. Avery has learned a lot of pc skills and getting around in different computer programs at school, she has taught me a few shortcuts!

 

This is the inside. She uses "guest" columnists too. On the back cover of this issue there was a poem about my Grandmother, written by my Mother. Its fun for everyone to get involved. Who doesn't like to see their name in print. On the back page she gives the date the next issue will come out and the deadline to have contributions submitted.  When she is finished with a volume, she prints them out and mails them off to the family and a few friends. All together maybe about 5 or 6 copies. Maybe she will be a Journalist. A Veterinarian/Baker/Journalist, yep!

Salmon Beach

We went off for a quickie family 24 hour getaway. To Salmon Beach . This is the place I spent my newlywed years......the first 5, before kids. It was such a cool place, with such wonderful friends and memories. Of course there are draw backs but at 20 years old who cares. To get to this wonderful little sanctuary you have to go down 7 flights of stairs totaling 215 stairs . You must park your vehicle in this sort of scary parking lot "on top of the hill" as we call it and then pack your groceries or whatever you are "bringing down the hill" in your back pack.  I would always bring the perishables and leave the rest to Glen who would bring it all down in his pack when he came home from work. Plus on the other side of that you have to also bring your garbage "up the hill". Obviously all the organic matter would go into the Bay for the fish:)  When you move in or out or get something really big like a washing machine it has to be brought round by boat to your deck at high tide. 

G, packing up all of our gear to go "down the hill".

Salmon Beach parking lot, you are lucky if you have a garage or know someone that does. We had a garage when we lived there, but my 66 Mustang with Pony interior still got stolen :(((

Away we go....

The top of the "stairs".

The first flight.....

Feels like you are in a tree house

Thats the Tacoma Narrows Bridge off in the distance

finally getting down to the "boardwalk". The stairs end at about cabin #16, we need to walk down to #3 where our friend, merchant seaman Dennis is off to Alaska and has left us his cabin this weekend. Thanks Dennis!!!  There are about 65 cabins # from 1 to 104.  We lived in # 5 .

Dennis's cabin, #3

 

Pretty beach houses all in a row.

 

Pretty boats going by all the time

Lucy, happy on the picnic table on the deck

"The Bridge"  So pretty at night all lit up.

This is #1, "Joan's" house, our old landlady. She is so wonderful, she came over and ate dinner with us Friday night. It was good to see her again.

Her house in so gorgeous. She has soooooo many flowers.

Off the side of the deck at #1

Joan remodeled her cabin since the last time we were here, this is her new spice rack, isn't is cute. All the rocks for the back splash there are hand picked by her from the beach. 

We had a totally grilled dinner,of steak, shrimp, veggies and bread, mmmmmmmm

Avery did a lot of this   

We had a walk on the beach in the morning that ended with wonderful treasures.

Well thats just a few of the 103 photos I took this weekend, wow. 

I hope all of you had a memorable 4th with the ones you luv!

 

Grilled Pizza

 

This is my contribution this month to the Recipe Box Swap , over at Randi's blog I have to say. This time I was more prepared, I was really happy she chose BBQ too!  This is such a great crust recipe, and a unique fun way to make pizza if you havn't tried it before. I have been making this crust for about 8 years, its my go to dough even if I don't grill the pizza.  I originally downloaded the recipe from FoodNetwork, its a crust made by Al Forno, who I guess has a bunch of famous restaurants.

Anyway, this is the best crust if you like crispy, its also a bit of a time consuming pizza, so its a good one to do if you are home all day.

Pizza Crust

1 envelope (2 1/2 tsps) active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

pinch sugar

2 1/4 tsps kosher salt ( I always think this is too much salt so I end up using less, like 1 1/2 tsps)

1/4 cup cornmeal

3 TBS whole wheat flour

1 TBS olive oil

2 1/2 to 3/1/2 cups unbleached white flour

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water with the sugar. After 5 minutes stir in the salt, cornmeal, whole wheat flour and oil.  Gradually add the whilte flour until a stiff dough is formed.  Place dough on a floured surface and knead for several minutes, adding only enough flour to keep the dough from sticking.  When the dough is smooth and shiny, transfer to a bowl that has been brushed with olive oil, rub a little olive oil to the top of dough too.  Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place till doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, (it never takes that long, maybe an hour)

Punch down the dough and knead once more. Let the dough rise again for about 40 minutes.  Punch down the dough. If sticky, knead in a bit more flour.

Divide into four balls.  Cover the balls with plastic wrap and allow to rise at room temp for about 45 minutes. (This dough does have a lot of rise time it seems, but it is worth it.  I usually double the dough and save half in the fridge a few days and then make Calzones or something with it)

Ok, this is where I changed the recipe a bit. You are sappose to prepare your coals now, but I use the good old gas grill. But you can get your toppings ready if you havn't already. We put everything but the kitchen sink on ours, cuz everybody likes something different, then we just share anyway. This pizza dough feeds about 4 people, if you double it, a lot more!

I get the toppings ready (this isn't even all of them!) on trays so that I can take them outside and set by the grill.  (Once you flip your crust over you need to hurry to get the toppings on because you want the cheese to melt before the crust gets too done)

Topping Suggestions

Grilled chicken sliced

Fresh Mozzarella

Fresh Basil

Sliced Tomatoes

Fontina Cheese

Pepperoncinis

Toasted chopped Cashews

Artichoke hearts, chopped

Parmesan

Carmelized Onions

Pizza Sauce

You can use about 1 cup of tomato sauce or paste, depending on how thick you like your sauce.

2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp Oregano or Basil or both

I usually don't add salt to the sauce cuz its already has salt in it.

Stir together and let set for a while in fridge to let flavors mingle.

OKAY, told you this was complicated.  Your little dough balls have risen, your grill is hot, (I use both sides of the grill by the way) all the toppings are ready to go outside, now you can roll!  Get a couple of cookie sheets turn them upside down and coat with a touch of olive oil.  Roll out 2 of the balls, it doesn't have to be round, any shape is fine! Don't worry about tears either, makes it look rustic.  I roll out to about 1/4 " or a bit thinner. Pick up the dough and and place on cookie sheets. I take 2 doughs to grill at once. Make sure the grill is hot.  Brush the dough with olive oil and slap that side on the grill. After a minute or so it will be Puff Up:

  Brush the side that is up with olive oil, once the dough is puffed, you should easily be able to move and flip it with a pair of tongs, but don't try it before as it will stick. Now should have nice grill marks on the cooked side, turn down the grill to between low and med. Brush with a bit more olive oil, add sauce and whatever toppings you like, close the lid for a few minutes so the cheese gets all melty, but don't let it burn. (You need to be fast with adding the toppings so you can close the lid allowing enough time for cheese to melt, but not burning the bottom of pizza)

This is what it looks like after adding toppings before putting the lid down.

Whew, if the cheese is melted they are done!  Now you can eat and cook the rest of the pizzas while you do it or whip em all up at once and then eat. Either way its fun to take your time and enjoy the whole process, thats what grilling is all about right?

Making me smile...

I got up early today, 5:00 am!  Couldn't sleep,  too many things floating around my head that I want to do today. Its pretty nice in the hood that early, just me and the birds. I finally got around to ordering more vitamins for all of us, putting more books on hold at the Library, ordering some new tunes from iTunes and paying bills. Plus I regorganized my "to do" list, again.  Anyway, I thought I would do a quickie on some things that are making me smile and quite happy these last few beautiful "really" Summer days.

My new $20 dress from Target. No, I didn't take it outside to take a picture, it was drying :)

My yellow rose that after 2 years is finally happy and giving me beautiful presents.

I love Jazz, I really like NPR, but sometimes I just don't want to hear the news. My big girl turned me onto this,Jazz24.org.  Its great, no talking.

Speaking of music, I like all kinds really, but I tend to be drawn to Jazz more than anything, maybe cuz its soothes me, anyway I finally figured out I like Latin Jazz, a lot. You know the kind they play in the background of old 1960's movies.

 

I found this one last night. I love it. Its perfect to do this by

on the back deck under my new

umbrella that I am loving. I finally got rid of the one that my dad gave me from Walmart with ugly pastel flowers on it that I painted red, blech, I'm sure the neighbors are glad too.

lastly the best nectarines I have had in years,mmmmmmmmmmmm

Hope you all have things making you smile a lot too this week!

 

I have made a new friend & he's my brother....

Well, not really my Brother, my Sister's Brother, sewing machine that is. My sewing machine bit the dust last Summer when I gave it away to the Gospel Mission. I'm sure it had some good stitches left but I just couldn't bear to look at it any more, know?  Kind of like when you loose a few pounds and you can finally burn/rip to shreads those jeans you have had to wear for weeks upon end.

 

I met this Brother last Fall.  My Sister has been in limbo building a house and didn't need her machine, sooooo, I took it.  I have hated it. It seems really old to me, used and abused, plus I am sewing in the dark, there is no manual, so a lot of the things I have done I have used the "Force".

But the other day I noticed something, it was HUMMING. I'm not kidding, the thing was making this quiet little purrrring noise as I was pushing the pedal to the floor. It took me a few days to realize that I think we have become friends. It LIKES me!   No more bobbin stuggles, no more thread tension fights, no more puckers, (well only when its my fault). We have really enjoyed each others company the last week or so. I guess he decided his new foster home wasn't so bad.

Top done.

Binding done.

Oops, no batting. Off to the store.

 

 

Fiesta Salad

This is my version of my favorite salad at Red Robin.  I thought my Arugula and lettuce were so pretty I tried to be all food networky and make a pretty ingredient picture, of course I left out some stuff.

To make the salad:

2 Chicken breasts:  Place in a bowl with about 2 Tbs of chopped garlic, salt, pepper, few sprinkles of Oregano and 2 Tbs of olive oil.  Mix and coat chicken all over with oil mixture, let set in fridge for about 30 minutes. Then I grill chicken breast and let REST, then slice into strips.

Lettuce (Romaine works best, but I didn't have any so I used Butter and some Arugula)

Red, Yellow or Orange peppers

Red Onion

Cucumber

Tomato

Peperoncinis (diced)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup or so of corn (I used last years frozen corn from the garden, but you can use canned or cut right off the cob, just drain it)

1 cup or more of shredded Pepper Jack cheese ( I used cheddar cuz I didn't have Jack)

Assemble salad. Use each of the above ingredients in the amounts that you like

Take about 2 large tortillas, (you can make things more festive with green and red tortillas), fold them up and slice into strips. Then I place them in my cast iron skillet with a bit of olive oil and salt, fry them until golden and toasty. Set aside on paper towel.

Dressing:

1 cup or so of no or low fat sour cream

3 Tbs mayo (optional)

1/4 cup or so of your favorite salsa, (if your salsa is mild add a few drops of hot sauce, you want the dressing to be a little zingy)

1 Tbs of powdered Ranch dressing mix (optional)

2 Tbs of grated Romano (this makes it really yummy)

Mix all together and taste, you may need to add a little more sour cream or salsa etc. to your liking.

Mix salad, add dressing, top with sliced chicken and sprinkle with tortilla strips!

Just poppin in...

Just poppin in to say hello. I have not had much to sharehere lately. I will blame in on finding and settling into our Summer groove. I did lighten the surroundings around here for a more Summery feel.  I have tried to go all white several times, but I always go back to some sort of color, we will see how long it lasts.  I do like nothaving to match the background of pics with the blog background though. 

I finally learned how to crop my pic corners too. Oh, the little joys :P Here is a peek at a current project. One of the least favorite things about sewing to me is the cutting out. I will be enjoying the fun part today and that of course is the sewing and watching the progress of all those little pieces coming together.

Stay tuned tomorrow for another Summer salad recipe.  Hope you have some sunshine in your little neck today!