Yesterday's Special & Off on a Camp-cation

Yesterday I lucked out at a local thrift shop and found some great
vintage patterns from the 50s & 60s.

An Excess of Eggs Leads to....

Homemade pudding.

 Homemade pudding leads to homemade banana pudding pie.

 And the left over egg whites will lead to meringues later, if the munchkin will go to bed on time tonight. If not, maybe an egg white omelet for breakfast.
I am starting to get caught up on some home food prep here, and that means eating healthily, at home, and incorporating as much of our own stuff as possible. We had an awesome pasta salad for dinner last night (I didn't make the pasta this time) with tons of fresh, chopped herbs and some chopped spinach and arugula from the garden. It vanished quickly. Is anyone else making anything special lately that incorporates fresh ingredients? I know you are! Do tell!
Also yesterday I found something fun for my sewing space at the thrift store:

Well, it's a beautiful day, and it's just me and the bunny today as my husband has gone to play trumpet with a wedding band. Have a good one, whatever you are doing.

The Salad Days, Strawberry Jam, and Farmhouse Garden for Betsey Johnson

My sweet little baby was sick for about a week and a half, and I have been far too tired a caregiver to post anything here. There is nothing worse than a sick bunny- here she is, sweet as can be, hugging her sick bunny at the dr.'s office.

Thankfully, the bunnies are feeling much better!

Looks like it's good I wasn't paying attention, as a lot of Blogger users had frustration with Blogger being down, and losing and getting back posts and such. I hope any of you who had trouble have gotten this all straightened out.

Around here, we have been enjoying what is starting to feel like summer- the garden is beginning to produce, and we have had amazing fresh salads several nights this past week.

There is nothing better than going outside to pick your fresh food,
and then eating it a few minutes later!

Our favorite farm stand, Osage Farms, has opened for the season, and we bought a gallon of strawberries last weekend for jam.

Prepping strawberries for jam

I love kitchen gadgets! This "Tomato Shark" made hulling the strawberries easy!

Canning helpers

More canning helpers... ;) 

Boiling strawberries and sugar

Exciting canning action shots taken by my husband

Found a great recipe in this book- strawberries and sugar :)

The jam came out really loose, as there was no added pectin. I like it this way; it is more like strawberry topping. I often use jam to flavor my yogurt, so this worked out perfectly for me.

In other farm news, the lightening bugs are back. I can't really begin to describe to you what that looks like here- I know most people have seen lightening bugs before, but I have never, ever seen them like this before. The low lying fields and trees are positively full of them, millions of them, and they sparkle and sparkle and sparkle. It is a sight to behold; the first time my husband and I saw them here, we were in the car and we stopped and just looked out the windows for a long time. Just the other day, Brian caught one in the house and took a photo before setting it free.

The chickens are really laying now that the days are longer...anyone need any eggs?

And finally, I had to get new storage for my fabric and pattern stash, because the old cabinet caved under pressure :) This was my Mother's Day gift, and I am very pleased with it. However, moving the stash made me realize that I have far too much stuff, and I think I am to the point where it is stifling my creativity because I don't know where to begin. So what did I do when my friend offered me some nice fabric on Wednesday? I took it home and crammed it in with the rest, of course. Some habits die hard. I did immediately put some of that fabric to use though, and yesterday I made myself a new sun hat for the summer using Butterick 3850 - a vintage Betsey Johnson accessories pattern circa early 1970s.

I have listed it for sale on eBay as part of my clean out. This is a neat pattern, and I have never seen it anywhere else. I need to get a good photo of the front for the Vintage Pattern Wiki. And here are a few too many pics of my finished hat!

My fabric was a little floppy, but I kinda like it that way, and I plan on starching the hell out of the brim to make it just a little less so. It is called a "fireman style" and is perfect for really keeping the sun off. And I love this fabric with the bees, citrus, and checks- it is all summer!

Well , now that I am back in the swing, I have a lot of blog reading to catch up on too! I hope the weekend is treating you well!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope you are feeling loved in your part of the world. Seeing my
daughter toddle into my room with a rose and a card started my day off
right, and Da's French toast sealed the deal! I am a lucky lady.