Fried Dinner

Why is a vegetarian taking photos of fried fish and posting them on her blog? Because it is fried mushrooms that look and taste similar to fried fish except there are NO BONES!

The mushrooms were oyster mushrooms foraged by my dad in rural Wisconsin and delivered to our door today. Thanks, Dad!

Paul came up with the brilliant idea of breading and frying them. He also concocted some delicious mashed potatoes and made a side of the remaining asparagus from my grandma's garden and a bit of lima beans. Add to that a smattering of herbs from our potted herb garden and you get a totally delicious dinner. It was unlike any vegetarian meal I have ate recently.

One Year at Home

One year ago today Paul and I closed on our house. It has been an eventful year during which time we have done concrete work, had our stove poop out on us, had professional tree work done, established our garden, painted, reaped the benefits of the raspberries the last owner planted, stained the deck and countless other experiences. It has been amazing to own a piece of land and a house of our very own. I love that we are still in the city and that we now have this little bit of it that we can develop and nurture and let our roots settle into.

It feels amazing (and a little bit scary) to have complete responsibility for this home of ours. The learning curve has been steep with each thing our little old house has needed, but so far we are getting along swimmingly. Tonight we celebrated the occasion in our usual manner: with a home cooked dinner and a nice bottle of wine. The dinner just happened to include basil from our herb garden that needed thinning.

Stay tuned for a full-on, start of the season, state of the garden report.

Up North for Native Plants

Since this was both a long weekend and the week of my dad's birthday, Paul, Jack, Tchazo and I piled into the car and went up north for an overnight at my dad's house. Paul and my dad worked on getting lumber measured and cut so that we can build pea trellises in our garden. The dogs frolicked and ran and peed and foraged. I was busy digging up native plants that I intend to transplant into our yard.

These columbines are $6 each at the garden store, but the grow like crazy all over my dad's property. I took a few of these, since I really like them.

I also dug up some ferns, lily of the valley, snow on the mountain and even got a few plants from the neighbors, too! They gave us hens and chicks, coral bells and a mystery plant they call everlasting.

The dogs were a bit crowded on the way home. Luckily they were so exhausted they didn't put up too much of a fuss.

TrinKnitty on Etsy is born!

Well, folks. I finally did it! I have an Etsy store. Here is a link.

Paul says my banner looks like steak. It was actually cropped from the photo above, but now that he said that, I can see steak, too. What do you think: steak or wood?

I am really excited to finally have an Etsy store. This has been a long time coming. Creating things for money has always been an odd thing for me, but I've finally found the right venue at the right time. I love that I can make things as inspiration and time allow. So, please, head over and take a look. As promised, there are stitch marker necklaces, resin necklaces and assorted wrapped and strung necklaces. I have a lot more up my sleeve, including earrings. I'll post here to let you know when the next big shop update happens.

And, a huge thank you to my sister Jessy for modeling my jewelry! You can see many, many pictures of her neck in my shop.

Belated Mother's Day

Yesterday I gave my mom her belated Mother's Day gift. We collaborated on an earring display for her. She liked the concept of my burlap holders, but wanted hers to be a little fancier and a little bit lacy. This one is made from an 8"x10" picture frame, a sheet of fancy scrapbooking paper, some double stick tape and a panel of seafoam lace out of Buckingham (a lush blend of alpaca and silk) by Bristol Yarn Company.

Since she knew what she was getting, I also threw in a pair of earrings so she had a little bit of surprise, too.

This display can be used propped up like a picture or hung from the wall. Although I didn't follow it, there is a similar pattern here.