Jasper's lunch tote

I saw this cute idea for a lunch tote on thelongthread.com blog



and decided I wanted to make Jasper a lunch tote using the free online pattern. I am totally excited about the way it turned out!



It only took me a few hours to sew and was really easy. Now, I want to make one for Rob, Gid and myself!! I made a few changes- used oilcloth for the entire outer and inner lining and used two layers of batting for more insulation. I might try a zipper along the top for the next one... Anyway, great, free online pattern for lunch tote!!

Green Beans!

Hello green beans! We have them coming out our ears! Seriously, we have had an incredible crop of green beans this year. Tonight, I took about 5 pounds of green beans and got them stowed away for the winter.


Here are the beans, washed and ready for trimming


Trim the ends


Waiting for the pot of water to boil


Blanch for 3 minutes


Immediately plunge into a ice bath


Pack them in freezer bags (I suck the extra air out of the bag too!) Hooray! I have a freezer full of green beans! Now we eat them all winter long...

Nature School today

We had such a fun time today at nature school! We spent the morning picking blackberries and oregon grape berries. We also collected natural "paintbrushes"- flowers, grasses, leaves, sticks, etc. Then we squished the berries through some mesh, added some vinegar and salt, and made ourselves some pioneer ink. I had brought some okra to use as a stamp also and the kids went to town.

This is gideon's work:


This is jasper's:


This is mine:


We talked about seeds and pollination:


I believe the kids had the most fun doing this, though:

Thanks, Brad, for entertaining the kids!

Quilt for me (and Rob too)

I've had the fabric for this quilt for about 2 years. Cutting out the 200+ squares has been a slow going processes... I'm finally starting to piece it together which is exciting. It's a bunch of different greens and earthy prints in a half square triangle pattern. There are lots of trees, owls, mushrooms and birds in the fabrics I chose :)