August 4

Bad cat has been found. Missing the entire day outside, Mr. Thomas finally emerged from the forest and has promptly collapsed on the floor.

For August Break, 2011

August 3

for August Break, 2011

August 2

For August Break, 2011

August 1

for August Break, 2011

my Mother's bench now resides in my own yard. She would have liked the spot.

The August Break 2011

No, I'm not getting a month-long vacation. I spotted this project on The Curious Pug's blog and it sounds like a fun idea. There are no rules, really, you just try to post a photograph a day. There will be no blog police to verify your compliance, it's completely informal, so why not? You can even start mid-month if you want to. I'm not making any promises, except that I'll do my best. The originator is Susannah Conway and you can find it on her blog, sign up, and get started. It's August 1st today. The hardest part will be choosing what to post.

In season

It is my opinion that one should eat as many blueberries as possible during the season. Today, we made our second blueberry pie. We should be on our fifth by now at least, so we are definitely behind schedule. I keep buying the fresh berries from one of the at least 10 places that grow them within two miles of my house, but we have been eating them directly. I did manage to make blueberry scones, but it wasn't worth mentioning here.

This year we are making our blueberry pie according to the Cook's Illustrated Blueberry Pie recipe and using their Foolproof crust. This is the single best crust I have ever made, or consumed, for that matter. You have to try it. It's worth following every instruction to the detail in the Cook's recipe, including using vodka alongside the normal water. You can read about the science behind using the vodka in the magazine, but I don't see it anywhere on this link. This is one of the reasons I love Cook's Illustrated so much...they really get into the science behind their reasoning, and explain the methods of testing they used to get to the final version.

Christmas in July on Etsy

It's Christmas in July starting today through July 24, in my shop! Please use the coupon "JULYSALE" to enjoy 10% off anything in the shop. Don't forget that I donate 10% of all my profits from btaylorquilts to the American Cancer Society.