Farmer's Market Wednesday

Did any of you try to see the Leonid Meteor shower this week?  I thought I saw some but it's hard to tell with my eyes...lol.  I went to the Farmer's Market today and each week it gets bigger with more vendors....LOVE!!!  I bought a peck of beans to blanch and freeze tomorrow.

Some itsy bitsy cherry tomatoes..actually they're the normal size.  I've only had one from my plant so far...I got a late start planting.

Some wildflower honey...........

A melon...Arkansas is pretty famous for it's melons...around here anyway.  Probably loves the sandy soil.

Farm fresh eggs that I found out I will be able to get from right here in town all year long! Hallelujah!

I got more eggplant, a light green zuchini and a couple summer squash.  The eggs are just peeled hard boiled that I sat there after rinsing.  I've found organic eggs are harder to peel and I read somewhere how to make it easier but dang if I can remember what it was.  Refrigerate before peeling?  Does anyone know? 

I'm making egg salad for supper and this is from my celery plant.  Remember I planted it last year?  Just take the bottom of your celery that you buy at the store when you're done and plant it in a pot and you have celery whenever you need it.  It is thinner than the big stalks but it's plenty for me and has a great flavor.  It's easier for salads as I don't have to splice it down the middle like I do when the stalks are so big.

I put it outside for the summer and it's doing great.  This is a picture after I cut what I needed.   You might need more than one plant depending on how many are in your family and how much you use celery.

My tomatoes are late but then so was I in planting them.

When my daughter came down she brought me some great Iowa sweet corn and rhubarb from her garden.  We blanched and cut the corn off the cob and froze a bunch and then I chopped and froze rhubarb.  I freeze amounts based on the recipes I use them for usually; like my Mediterranean Salad which gets 2 ears of corn off the cob and my rhubarb cake which gets 1 1/2 cups of rhubarb. 

 My daughter taught me a trick when she was here.....she single bags all the corn and uses a drinking straw to suck the air out of the corner and then seals it completely (we used the zip lock type bags) and then each one is labeled with the date, amount and what it is.  When they're all done (I like to double bag to prevent any freezer burn) she puts all the smaller bags into one big zip lock (gallon size) and then not only is it double bagged but all your corn is together and all your rhubarb or whatever.  Who said you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

The larder is filling up and I'm like a squirrel collecting nuts.  I have this feeling that we are going to have an early Fall and Winter.  I've already seen a few sassafras leaves turning and they are one of the first to show signs of Fall.  

I hope you are having a good week and Happy Trails!

YOP Week #5

(Whoops!  It's week #6....I missed a week...you all didn't..lol)
 Humor me please while I show a few pictures of the "grand boys"....breakfast is WAY too early for me but I managed to rustle up oatmeal for these growing youngsters...........

unfortunately this is what happens when you feed them! LOL! 

They have way more energy than Grandma but occasionally they slept....LOL!

They're actually very well behaved and we had a great time but it will take me a few days to recover...ha! ha!
I was surprised that I got any knitting/crocheting done but in the afternoon my daughter took the older one to the pool and to the beach while the little one napped and I babysat.  It was too hot for me and I don't do water much (except baths).
Before they arrived I had finished my first sock.........and a BIG shout out to Minding My Own Stitches who gave me some advice about the length and caught me just in time.  I followed her advice (my sock guru) and it worked out perfectly and fits like a dream!  Thank you SO much as it would have been too big if I had followed the original instructions.  If you want to know her measuring technique for length just check out her comment on last weeks YOP post. 

I have not weighed the sock and the remaining yarn to see if I have enough for the second sock....it's a "nail biter" that you will have to tune in next week to find out.  Meanwhile everyone please say a prayer that I have enough!
My yarn arrived that I ordered from Knit Picks.  I should have taken a picture of it all in the box but I was so excited I forgot.  This is just some of the Dishie washcloth cotton yarn.  This is my favorite and pretty much the only one I use for cloths anymore.

 I started Kay's Tess D'Uberville   shawl and what fun shawls are to knit.  Now I know why you all are always knitting shawls and I'm pretty sure I will be too from now on.  I'm using a Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in I forget what color but I will update my project page today with all the info.  LOVE!!!!

The older grandson (just turned 7) wanted me to teach him how to knit so I thought I would start him with the spool knitting like I had as a child but he quickly lost interest but by that time Grandma was "hooked"!  This is what I should have used for my chair pad I-cord....so much easier on the hands and I am using a worsted weight and getting the same size as I did using needles and bulky yarn..go figure?  Secretly, I'm glad he lost interest otherwise I would have had to go back and buy another one for myself. LOL!

I also managed to get my #2 size preemie hat done for the first week of August....so far I'm staying on schedule.

Lat night I started one of 3 dish cloths for my son's house warming present. I'm using this pattern and each cloth is a different pattern and a different color.

I frogged my earlier rug start up as it was more place mat size.  I was able to get the same dye lot in some additional yarn and made it twice as wide as the first one.  Grace is watching (see her little paws in the picture?).  She's learned not to bother my yarn although I can tell she is VERY tempted! Ha! Ha!  This is not an easy or fun project as you have to manually place each stitch over the very large P size hook.  It's not that it's too tight either but you go in the back loop of each stitch and the yarn is soft.  If you went through both sides of the stitch like you would normally maybe it would be easier but that's not what the pattern calls for.  Do any of you have an easy pattern for making a rug?  If it was enjoyable I would make lots of them as I need them myself but at this rate this may be the only one I ever make.

Well, that's all for this week but I should have 2 more new projects cast on next week as I have all this yarn....I just can't help myself!  I've missed you all this past week and can't wait to catch up with everyone.  I hope you are all "fine and dandy".
Happy Trails!