My latest gift to myself

I love collecting unusual handmade books...I found this on Etsy...

Cindy, usefulbooks...if you want to treat yourself.

You just have to love the pages she added

Yummmy.....

Joy...........................always

A guest in my own kitchen..

So I'm not the kind of gal that likes to spend long hours in the kitchen preparing family meals, baking bread or family treats. Lucky for my children I married a man who loves cookbooks of all kinds and is never afraid to explore regional cuisine. As a matter of fact for his retirement gift I signed him up for a class at Johnson and Wales. I'm not sure that it wasn't a family gift as we still are enjoying his to die for pizza.

so here is where the guest part comes in. My friend's mom makes the best bread and butter pickles.She had me over for a tutorial years ago. I found myself with an abundance of cucumbers,what to do? OK, finally I will get out the canning equipment she sent home with me, dust off the recipe and get cooking. While I am at it I might as well attack that abundance of tomatoes as well. It ended up very enjoyable. My daughter Ivy spent the time in the kitchen talking to me. She takes after her father and enjoys cooking.


It is magical when the cucumbers turn from cucs to pickles!
Blanched and ready to be skinned!
Herbs fresh picked from the garden...good thing I love to garden!
A nice hot bath....
fruits of my labor...
treats of my daughter's labor...so while we chit chatted in the kitchen I introduced to her a blog that I have been following more years than I can remember, Smitten Kitchen.When I started following her I barley knew what a blog was. It was her wit that caught my attention first, after all it is a cooking blog...remember the title of this post...a guest in my own kitchen! Well, dear daughter found herself engulfed in the recipes. She asked if I would buy her the ingredients to make the coconut milk fudge, and I agreed. She made the fudge and then went on to make yeast bread and banana bread. Glad we have two people in our home that like the kitchen....it is not that I don't like the kitchen....I just like to be a guest!



Joy..................................all ways!


PS the bread and butter recipe I followed happens to also be the one Deb of Smitten Kitchen has on her blog.

You can't make me!

My sweet guy does not have quite the artist spirit that dwells within me...in other words...he is always trying to get me to throw away things that I see have a future in my art heart.

This is what I see.....and this, a paper rose made from unwinding the bag handle.....

This is what he sees.....trash!
No, all it needs is a bit of paint....and a few hours of me time ....then it cane be a journal cover...or....

This is the other side of the bag awaiting its ME time!
I finally have the vintage trouble lights installed. They come in handy to light up the project I am working on.

This sweet new addition came from my neighbor...he picked it up for me on his vacation!!! I had invited him up while the studio was in process. After, I thought...OK, I just showed him how very weird I am!!! But now I think.....He gets me!!!


More trash......sewn into the cutest of bunting...catching the wee bit of breeze in the studio....I am off to make another bunting of silhouettes and vintage book pages....have the best of weekends!

Finished!


Joy................................all ways

Is she ready?

A painting I was working on this weekend. I think I am going to put her up for sale in my antique space. I think?

Joy..........always