Your handmade life continues

The marshmallow. Fluffy and white. Indulgent and simple. People take for granted that jet-puffed perfectly cylindrical store-bought version is the only option. If you've never had a homemade marshmallow then you're certainly missing out. If you've got a little bit of time, an empty kitchen, and a stand-mixer then you can easily "whip" up a batch of fresh hot chocolate accessories. (pun INTENDED!!)  :-)  

I've used this fail/fool-proof recipe for years. Love me some Alton Brown just FYI.
Homemade Marshmallows

The cool thing about this recipe is if you spread them out on a sheet pan to set up, you can use cookie cutters to make fun shapes. I prefer snowflakes in my hot chocolate. I've even added a little peppermint oil and red food coloring in the last few seconds of mixing to make a swirly pink and white peppermint marshmallow. Put them on a sucker stick and dip them in chocolate and sprinkles. Cut them into squares and roll them in colored sprinkles. Heat them in a pan with a little butter and make the best rice crispy treats in the tri-state area!! Want me to keep going? One last word...S'mores. 

This post is dedicated to a new and dear friend in my life. 

Romancing the leaf

Go ahead. You know want to. Blush. Turn a little shade of red for me. Maybe some orange, golden yellow, deep purple. You look so good when you do.

I'm at my best when there is a chill in the air. Seductive. Darker. Almost demented from the anticipation. I spend most of the year in a lovely blue/gray/green airy wonderment. The softness of those colors bring a lightheartedness to my emotions. The pale sea green in my kitchen billows around me and makes me happy when I walk in. But there is a  point in the year where my eyes turn towards the cynical, darker, cloudier days with glee. I welcome Fall with a sly grin and an open door like a secret new lover. For weeks I have been feeling the change. The slightly cooler nights. The extra dewy mornings. I miss my little pumpkin patch from my old house. I will always have a childish fantasy of living in Hagrid's hut from the Harry Potter series. There is an amazing scene where all you see is giant dusty orange pumpkins and fog. I close my eyes and imagine looking out my kitchen window at my garden full of Jarrahdales, Cushaws, Hooligans, Luminas, the edges lined with Babyboos and Jack-Be-Littles and in the middle of it all, one GIANT pumpkin, tipping the scales at a little over 500 lbs. Its not record-breaking, but its big enough for me to hide behind with a knitted shawl from my Momma and a good book. Fall is where I get my groove back. Refresh my soul. End my year long quest for zest, zeal, sparkle. Enjoy the harvest and be thankful for life. Its all in the Fall for me. And he is here, now. Welcome Fall. Come on in and stay awhile. I need your sparkle.

Oh how I miss thee

Blogger, oh blogger, how do I love thee....let me count the ways. Venting and planning. Troubleshooting and victories. Sharing and caring. Its getting to be my favorite time of year. I love pumpkins and Fall colors. I love hot cider and yarn. Oh the yarn. I could roll around in yarn like a cat when its cold outside. Nothing feels better in my hands than a nice worsted weight wool or alpaca blend. I've been so busy with this new house that I have barely knitted all Summer. I'm ready for a short break from remodeling to get back to my favorite Fall activities. Knitting and GARDEN PLANNING!!!  Planning my garden through the Fall and Winter months is almost as exciting as my first shovel of fresh dirt in the Spring. This next year is going to be a whopper of a chore though. I am starting from scratch. We have started clearing out the yard of the half acre of DITCH LILIES!! This yard is ridiculously overgrown with lilies and other wild plants. I'm hoping that by December I will have a blank canvas and a few raised beds started. Who knows, with the way the weather has been, I may just go ahead and start my Spring planting!  I don't think Winter showed up but maybe for a week or two last year. I tell you what though, the SECOND a seed catalog shows up in my mailbox, there will be seeds. Beautiful packets of seeds. Hidden about the house in random places. Stashed like a shoe addict hides a recent binge purchases from Broadway Shoes. I was so terrible last year, that as I was packing to move I found a few extras that were somehow forgotten. I'll be smarter this year...

                                                                                                            I is gonna make meself a map.

Whoa.

October was the last time that I posted on here. Much as happened. Much is still happening. I am so ready to get off this ride that I'm about to barf...too many corn dogs and cotton candy while riding the Gravitron at Harvest Homecoming style. It all started with my return to work after having baby Emmaline. WEEKS of sobbing before the actual day I returned, just at the thought of leaving that little snugly bundle. I don't remember how I handled it with Sophia, possibly my shorter work schedule aided the transition. By the time I went back to work though, it wasn't any better. Every time I thought of her little face, I cried. I was still nursing her, so I had to pump at work. Where I pumped added to my misery...a dirty little broom closet that had a drain hole that the maintenance men frequently dumped bleach down and hung wet mops to dry. I would sit there with hot tears filling my eyes to the brim, staring at a little picture of Emmaline nursing and looking up at me. Sometimes Hubby would send me pictures of the girls at home, Emmaline after a bath because of a diapee blow-out or something of similar comical significance. I returned to work at the worst time of year as well...the dreaded Peak Season at UPS. Where our package count sky-rockets as well as the required hours to work. My management team was very supportive of me and worked around me the best that they could. My heart raced to get home everyday to my girls and my exhausted Hubby. He was working nights and staying up with the girls, then going to bed when I got home. This was a grueling cycle and getting us no where. The drive to become a SAHM or at least working from home was pressing. So much so that Hubby actually said that it would be possible if we could start to pay off some of our debt. All systems go. Pay off debts. Can do. We started paying down and paying off, old credit cards, the car, student loans. Then it hits us...Sophia starts kindergarten this year. Sophia, our brighter than average, curious, thoughtful, little sponge. There is no doubt in my mind that she would not do well in a regular school. She is an oddball in a wonderful way and is anything but traditional when it comes to learning. The school system in Louisville leaves much to be desired. For the heck of it, we started looking for houses in other neighborhoods. Then, for some strange reason, Hubby suggests we look in Indiana for a house. This is music to my ears and I get right on it! I have been waiting 11 years to move back to Indiana. Closer to my friends and family. LOVE IT. I break the news to my bestie...see you soon Bestie. Of course, every house I look at I invite Bestie along and she reports immediately the distance and time that it takes to travel to my new digs. I found an amazing old Victorian farmhouse that was literally my dream house. Dream turned nightmare house with repairs beyond the conceivable realm of possible. Plan B...a house that had been on my list but looked atrocious in the pictures so I hadn't ventured into it yet. My "last resort house" quickly turned into my new dream house. It needs a little work and GOOD LORD some paint, but its got space and its in a great neighborhood. I never saw myself in a neighborhood like this, but this house is for Hubby and the girls. Hubby will be so much happier here. All of the sacrifices he has made for me... I will gladly make this move to suit him. I can be happy anywhere as long as he is there too. Sounds cliche but that man is happiness to me.

So fast forward a bit, moving day is getting closer. I have not started my garden for the first time in 7 years. I. Am. Going. Crazy. There is already an area for veggie gardeness at the new house, but I can't get my hands in the dirt there yet. I gave away my chickens and the coop. This house has no character without the yardbirds. It makes me sad to pull in the driveway and not see the coop. I will have them again soon enough. And my garden. And my knitting.