Using Egg Shell to Catch Egg Shell Pieces

The other day when I was cracking eggs for breakfast, a tiny piece of shell splintered off into the bowl of cracked eggs. If you've ever tried to fish such a piece out with your finger or a spoon, you know that the harder you try, the more the tiny piece seems to squirt away! But, if you take one of the egg shell halves and use that to scoop out the wayward piece, it's much easier to catch.

For more kitchen tips, visit Tammy's Recipes.

This is my 100th post! I'm putting together some fun things for a BIG give-away, with something for everyone. I'll tell you that prizes include:
a homemade bathtub fishing game,
a homemade tag blanket,
a pair of baby leg warmers (can't believe I haven't told you about THOSE yet!),
a book on getting organized,
a household hints book,
a copy of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding,
a beautiful set of tins to organize craft stuff (or anything!),
a pair of fairy wings,
a vintage-ish cookbook, and
a vintage sewing/craft sort of book
- and MORE! So please check back - I'm all excited!

Link Roundup, MAMA MAMA MAMA Edition

Goose is such a great kid. But she's still two, and lately, once I get her put down for the night, I just want to collapse! She's been wanting to be held, but won't let me sit down to do it. This evening, she must have said MAMA a hundred times, just because. Lately she's been running off when it's time to do something like brush her teeth, and it's very important to me that she learn to obey - and at the first request. I feel that the first step in teaching her to obey God, who she can't see, is to obey us, who she can see.

Anyway. My garden is going great guns; I picked a dozen tomatoes and decent pile of green beans, and a cousin picked a bigger pile of beans today. (Note to self, check tomatoes tomorrow.) I think my onions are ready to come out - and I was remembering that in a Laura Ingalls Wilder book, they braided the tops. Wonder if that would work for me? I tried the pantyhose thing with a knot between each with some success, though I think my real problem is lack of a spot that is neither too warm nor too cool. Indian corn is looking good, potatoes are looking good, and gourds are taking over the block, still. Mercy!

Here are this week's finds:

DO
Funny how I'm not yet a huge believer in themed-birthday parties with lots of kids, but I can't help collecting birthday party ideas. This time, it's a circus party at Let's Explore.

When Cook's Illustrated speaks, I listen. This time, it's freezing fruit.

Melissa at Chasing Cheerios couldn't get her wedding rings off her swollen-from-pregnancy hands, and finally went to the doctor who did a modified version of this trick with a piece of slick string. Suggested by Meredith at Like Merchant Ships, no less.

I've heard of removing kids to their room during a tantrum, but not putting a timer on it! I know Goose sometimes seems to get worked up just for the sake of getting worked up . . . (@ The Toby Show)

MAKE
Hearing about the mess factor makes me a tiny bit skeptical, but the pull of make your own moon sand will likely overcome me eventually. (at Skip to my Lou)

This tutorial on make your own olive oil lamp at Down to Earth is interesting. I especially like how they float the oil on water so you don't need as much sitting out and getting rancid.

McCormick (the spice people) has a page where you can find the formula for different colors using food coloring. Of course, all that dye probably isn't the best thing for a person, but special times call for special measures.

File this under "can't believe I haven't linked to it before" - my friend Angela has a tutorial on making very cute hooded toddler bath towels. So cute and easy!

Thankfully Goose isn't in to makeup yet, but that day is coming! I LOVED this idea on using nail polish and old makeup containers to make pretend makeup at Parent Hacks.

I'm still not quite sure what exactly "oobleck" is, but it looks interesting. (Maybe it's related to the "gak" I have in my favorites somewhere?) Anyway, the mysteries of corn starch, water, and food coloring cannot be denied. (at Skip to My Lou)

Make alphabet block magnets at Plum Pudding. I might keep an eye out for garage sale blocks to do this!

We're not quite into "bling" yet, but this glittery gem dough at Frugal Family Fun Blog looks so funky!

OTHER
If you're wondering whether God really listens, go read A Boy, A Duck, and a Prayer at Catholic Exchange, by Patti Armstrong. I was laughing and crying by the end.

Jen at Conversion Diary has a great post that sums up why I love the universality of the Catholic Church. A very well-traveled friend once told me that the rhythm of the Our Father is the same in nearly every language, too.

Also over at Conversion Diary, Jen posted on how choosing patience helped her to grow. Good stuff.

Happy surfing!

Bathtub Fingerpaint and Crayons - Frugal Flop

Always try it out before giving it as a gift. These words rang in my ears a few months ago. I intended to make bathtub finger paint and crayons for Goose for Easter this year. We ended up getting invited to a cousin's first birthday party around the same time, so I thought I'd just make extra of Goose's stuff and give it away.

To be honest, I now can't find the links to the recipes that I used. Probably just as well. As I remember, I grated a bunch of Ivory soap, and added hot water and food coloring and mixed. Even though I added WAY more food coloring than indicated (I used gel), the color didn't show up on the tub. We even tried it on paper, and it didn't show up there, either! But, look how prettily I packaged it for the birthday boy:I wrapped them in waxed paper and printed labels in different colors to stick down the ends. I then stacked three crayons and tied a ribbon around them. The card reads "One little candle on the cake, One first birthday wish to make!"

The finger paint was baby wash, cornstarch, and food coloring, as I recall. It didn't really work on the tub, though we've not yet tried it on paper. I used baby-food jars to store it and made labels for them, then wrapped them in a cleaned-out cereal bag.
So, it was a bummer that it didn't work out. But I learned a lesson about trying things out first! Thankfully Goose and the birthday boy are both too little to really notice or care. For some frugal ideas that actually work, visit Life As Mom.

And for those of you coming over from Frugal Fridays, please visit my post on keeping toddlers occupied in the car (from last week) and give any suggestions you might have! I've updated the list a bit, though I need to take a few pictures of the things I've finished since then.

Stacking Plastic Storage Containers (Tupperware, etc.)

My kitchen tip for today is how to stack plastic storage containers like Tupperware, Rubbermaid, etc. The natural tendency is to put the smaller containers in the bigger ones. But, if they are the same diameter (size across), they actually stack better if you put the taller containers inside the shorter ones!

I keep these in a drawer, and I can always tell when the toddler has rearranged them or someone else has put them away because the drawer won't close. With these containers, I can then put the stacked smaller ones inside the stacked larger ones, and my drawer will still close.

For more kitchen tips, visit Tammy's Recipes. And for those of you who came over from Tammy's, I'd love it if you'd visit my post on keeping toddlers occupied in the car and give me any ideas you have. I've compiled a lot, but it's going to be a looong trip. Thanks!

Link Roundup - Mosquitoes in the Tent Edition

Poor Goose. We went to a family get-together on Saturday (with swimming!) and then we camped that night. She didn't take a nap in the car on the way there like I hoped - I'd see an enormous yawn, and then a minute later I'd see her stuffed animals flying around. She did reasonably well, though there were a few minor meltdowns. I even gave her some Benadryl to help her sleep that night, but it didn't help much. She threw a significant fit for probably around half an hour before finally giving up the ghost - and I think her papa was asleep before she was, so there wasn't even any sitting around the campfire and hanging out for me!

I figured I'd just as well go to bed too, and that was when I found out we had mosquitoes. The bug repellent was in the car, and I was pretty sure if I went to get it, I'd wake Goose up. When she got up in the morning, she had somewhere around two dozen bites. I think they're bothering her pretty badly - she was up at 5:30 this morning but thankfully went back to sleep after a bit of Tylenol. My mom has used a very, very, very diluted bleach solution on my nieces, and I think I'm going to have to get the "recipe". It burns for a bit but gives them relief for quite a while. She even got bit through her PJs in several spots. Bummer.

No garden update yet, since I have no idea what's going on in my garden. I need to see if there are any tomatoes ready . . . and I need to keep a sharp eye on the green beans because I think once they start, I'll have to pick pretty much every day. (Or I should, anyway.) Let's get down to business, shall we?

MAKE
The Idea Room has a recipe for making glow in the dark slime.

I really like the 3-D paint stamps over at Mel's Own Place. Easy & cheap - my favorite kind of craft!

Have to admit that I had to watch the video before I really got the concept, but Zakka Life has good, simple directions on how to make yo-yo balloons.

Craftzine has a neat car craft caddy, though it's mostly for knit/crochet. I can see this being easily customized, although I don't think I could narrow down my crafting to just one type. :>)

EAT
I'm trying not to make these rice crispie cookies from Amber's Delectable Delights. They look TOO GOOD. I also doubt I'd be able to wait for them too cool before eating as recommended for best flavor. Mmmm.

Another fake sushi recipe - peanut butter and fruit this time, at The Kitchn.

Amy at Finer Things has an interesting recipe for Summer Chili, though I have to admit I'd probably choose Fritos or tortilla chips over chow mein noodles.

DO
Stephmodo has an interesting take on organizing the playroom. I like the concept a lot. We had a designated playroom when I was a kid that was pretty generally a mess, but it was contained. And it was a lot of fun!

All Hands on Deck points out that it's the 41st anniversary of Humanae Vitae (On Human Life), Pope Paul VI's encyclical that reaffirmed the Catholic Church's stance against contraception. (Read the full text of Humanae Vitae here.) It's heavy reading, but it so beautifully explains why God created us male and female. The All Hands on Deck post points out:
------------------------------------------
However, looking out at the cultural wreckage and family dysfunction of our society, Pope Paul has been proven right in the end. He predicted widespread use of artificial contraception would lead to:
1. "...Increased marital infidelity..."
2. "...General lowering of moral standards.."
3. "...a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and... reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires..."

Can anyone deny that all these predictions have come true? What have been the "fruits" of artificial contraception?

* Half of marriages end in divorce
* almost half of today's babies are born out of wedlock
* 50 million abortions have been procured in the US alone over the last 30 years
* The rampant spread of sexual disease is rampant
* "hooking up" and "friends with benefits" have replaced romance and courtship
* a popular culture rooted in the debasement, objectification, and sexual exploitation of women (have you looked at the magazines in the checkout line lately)?

This cultural wreckage is the real legacy of the widespread use of artificial
contraception.

Yet, the proponents artificial birth control ridicule abstinence and argue that even more birth control is the solution to all these problems.
------------------------------------------
(HTML is giving me fits - I tried to use the quote feature on that.)
Yup, that's our society all right. I encourage you to go read the rest of the post here. (With thanks to The Narrow Gate for linking to it first.)

Keeping Toddlers Occupied in the Car

For those of you joining me from Frugal Fridays, we are planning to attend my cousin's wedding in three weeks. It's about a 9.5 hour drive straight through, one way. We have a two-year-old. Yikes.

After doing some searching and thinking, here is what I've come up with so far. I won't be doing everything on the list, and I'm sticking to things that I can put together for cheap and/or free.

Things to Make:
* Color and Shape Cloth Book - You can see all the images here. I made it in a similar fashion to Goose's ABC cloth book, though the pages are cut a bit smaller. To make the pattern for the shapes, I used Microsoft Word and then sized them about the same (I think no bigger than 4x4"). I printed them, cut them out, then used fabric scraps. Like last time, I used Wonder Under to fuse them to the page and sewed around them with a zig-zag stitch. Instead of using fabric for the words, this time I used a fabric pen borrowed from my mother-in-law. Much easier! :>)

* Lacing Cards - I cut some stiff cardboard into shapes and punched holes around the edges. I bought a thick pink shoelace for her to use. She preferred to just play with them - calling the yellow pony-tailed girl "Papa", the green bed "tractor" and the red house "barn". Who am I to correct her?

* Finger Puppets - Ended up not making any. I planned to use some felt and fabric scraps that I have on hand . . . maybe when she gets a bit older.

* Photo Magnets - I printed some photos of family and cats, and used a big pile of freebie refrigerator magnets that I've been collecting forever just in case I had a use for them. And now I do! I used plain old Tacky Glue, and the photos stuck pretty well. I brought a rimmed cookie sheet that I plan to bring for Goose to use as a lap board for this and a number of other activities.



* Magnetic Puzzles - I printed pictures on cardstock (did searches for "coloring pages" on the images I wanted - cow, chicken, cat, pig), colored them in with markers, cut them apart, and attached magnets on the back for use on the cookie sheet.

* Play-Dough - perhaps Cardamom's Pod's recipe - though I wouldn't hand it to Goose to play with in the car. This would have been more of an in-the-hotel sort of thing. Had I done it. :>) Instead, I brought one of Goose's favorite toys from home, her Little People Nativity Set. She LOVES playing with her "baby Jesus toys".

* Geometric Insert Puzzles - I traced 3x3" shapes onto foam sheets, using shapes in Microsoft Word for the patterns. To make it easier for little fingers to grasp, I stitched a bead above the magnet on each piece so Goose can grasp that to pull the piece out. Unfortunately, the adhesive on the magnets didn't stick as well to the foam as the magnent stuck to the cookie sheet, so I glued them on. While she isn't all that exact with colors OR shapes, Goose enjoyed saying "blue, yellow, green" and "circle, triangle, square" as I handed her pieces. And the beads really helped, I thought.

* Sound Bottles - this is a Montessori thing - you paint several bottles so you can't see what's inside, then fill them with things that makes noise, two for each thing (i.e. uncooked rice or beans, etc.). The little one has to match the sounds and pick which ones have the same thing. They can check their work by looking at the bottoms, where you paint colored circles. Then again, this might not be the best thing to do in the car. :>) (Based on two posts at Chasing Cheerios.) I didn't do this. :>)


* Mini Felt Boards - I made one with a number of squares in several different colors, and one that is basically a felt Mr. Potato Head. I did some searching online to get ideas of what to put on the spud, then free-handed eyes, noses, mouths, glasses, ears, and feet. I was going to do arms, but then they just seemed too small to bother. The shape matching idea came from the list of activity bags for preschoolers at The Sunny Patch. I actually ended up not giving her these as I forgot to bring magnets to help hold the heavy background felt to the cookie sheet. We'll play with them at home instead.

* Busy Board - I collected various "fasteners" - large button, buckle, belt, velcro, tie, clip, zipper, etc. I made a pillowcase of sorts for the cookie sheet we took, and she can practice doing and undoing the different things. Inside the zipper is a pocket that held a small cat and dog, which she really enjoyed. Idea is from Teaching Montessori in the Home: Pre-School Years. Actually, I ended up adjusting the "case" since I decided to bring a larger cookie sheet, so I just opened the seam and stitched in a couple extra pieces of fabric along the top . . . then I ended up bringing the small cookie sheet, too, because I wasn't sure if Goose would think the big sheet was too awkward. She was fine with both, of course.

* I-Spy Bottle or Bag (Here is the one mentioned in a recent link roundup, though I saw another post recently about using an empty water bottle.) (Didn't get to this.)

* Magnetic "Paper" Dolls - This is credited to my mother-in-law. She found some fabric with a paper doll print. We cut around the dolls, and fused them to card stock with a metal washer between the fabric and the paper. We then fused the clothes to cardstock and glued magnets on the back. (again, magnet is stronger than adhesive - so we needed glue.) They are VERY CUTE! Goose preferred a magnet on the doll, too, so she didn't have to worry about it sliding. My aunt actually talked some of the fabric off my MIL and made some for her granddaughter, my cousin's little girl. She really enjoyed them, too!

Things to Put Together:
* Sorting Colors and Shapes - inspired by Sarah's Musing's preschool inspiration post. (I guess it WAS inspiring!) Like Sarah, I bought some reusable ice cubes - I think there are four colors and two shapes. I thought we might work on sorting them by color and by shape, but Goose isn't into that yet. Kind of a shift on that idea, though, was a package of brightly colored pom poms in three sizes. Goose enjoyed saying the different colors and "big" or "tiny" as I passed them to her, and she sorted them into a small tackle box, courtesy of her grandpa.

* Stringing Empty Thread Spools - So I'm a big geek about saving random things that you never know you might need. Kind of like Valerie at Frugal Family Fun Blog's invention kit. Anyway, I thought these spools would be easy for Goose to string on a piece of yarn (or shoelace), especially if I added a pipe cleaner "needle" as shown here on Chasing Cheerios. I ended up doubling the shoelace over (with a spool tied in what was the middle that became the end as a stopper) and used scotch tape to tape one end of the shoelace just below the other end, to make the "needle" part a bit longer. Goose LOVED this, and loved wearing it, too! You can see her modeling it as she was talking to my mom while we were waiting for Old Faithful here.

* Sewing - Valerie at Frugal Family Fun Blog posted several months ago about beginning sewing. I have some plastic blunt embroidery needles that I picked up at the thrift store, some embroidery floss, some cross-stitch fabric (very open weave) and a Goose-sized embroidery hoop. However, when I test-drove it, I realized the needle was still too big for it to pass through easily. So, we'll give it a run when I can find a better fabric for it.

* Bubble Wrap & Tin Foil I didn't give Goose the tin foil, but she enjoyed the bubble wrap!

* Crayons & Paper - always a hit, though she tends to request *I* draw things for her (such as our cats, and Papa), so it's not exactly something she does herself. :>)

* Yarn on Sandpaper - idea is from the list of activity bags for preschoolers at The Sunny Patch. Goose liked it pretty much right away!

* Chalk & Black Paper - Not only did I finally find the chalk I knew I had stashed away, I found another box at Goodwill for 50 cents. I also found the black paper I'd bought for cheap at the thrift shop a while back! Goose liked scribbling with it, though one or two colors were messier than the others, so I just wiped her hands with a baby wipe when she was done.

* Pipe Cleaners - can't remember where I saw this, but they can just bend and dink around with them. I'm thinking I'll roll the edges down a bit so they aren't sharp. Didn't use them.



* Open & Close containers - pictured here at Chasing Cheerios. I found a daily pill box and washed it out, a few small plastic containers, and a small wooden container. I didn't give it to her in the car because I knew if she dropped any lids, she'd get mad. She has enjoyed it at home, though.


* Sort In Compartments - pictured here at Chasing Cheerios. (I asked my dad for an old small tackle box. :>)) We mostly did this with the pom poms, except without any method to the sorting. :>)

* Match Color Paint Strips - based on matching colors using clothes pins at Chasing Cheerios. I plan to get paint strips and just use the darkest color on each for now. Though I watched Goose operate a spring clothespin yesterday, she doesn't really have the colors down at all. Didn't do it, but will sometime.

* White board and markers - At the thrift store, I found a small white board that is in a zippered case, there is also a pocket for markers. Like the play-dough, this one will need to be closely supervised. I didn't end up finding markers that were a balance between easy to wash off and shows up on the board. But I'll keep looking.

Things to Buy
* Little Books - I have kept my eyes peeled at the thrift shop and picked up a handful of new-to-us board books, plus ones that I've put away for Goose since books are 1) to be read and 2) to be pulled off the shelves in their entirety. One thing I wish I did was read the new ones to her once or twice so she'd have been familiar with them. Though I know she'd have wanted to read them over and over and over anyway . . .

* Travel Games (though I really didn't find any really for toddlers)

* Small New Toys - don't think I'm going to bother since I have so many other things planned.

* I considered getting Goose a magnifying glass, but decided to wait a while. I can see her accidentally setting fire to something in the backseat . . . (update - found one at the thrift store, but not for the trip. She and Papa can look at bugs or something with it.)

And for when the going gets really rough, I planned to borrow my parents' small TV/VCR, and we could also play DVDs on the laptop. We ended up not taking the TV and never did play anything for her on the laptop. She did quite well with all the other stuff!

Anything to add? Any tips? To make things extra exciting, I was planning to potty training her, until the stomach bug hit. Now she isn't very interested, and we have about three weeks before the trip. It looks like we're going to wait.

And, my 100th post will be coming up in the next couple of weeks. I'm putting together a number of random items to give away and I'd love it if you'd come back and enter - the more, the merrier! It's like a phobia of having a party and no one coming . . . I would be so sad to have a give-away and no one enter it . . . :>)

For more frugal ideas, visit Life as Mom.

7 Quick Takes, Chicken Fried Steak Edition

---1---
I made Amy @ Finer Things's chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and cream gravy for lunch today. I do not fry well, but I think Hubs appreciated the effort. Well, maybe not entirely. An hour and forty-five minutes to prepare, then a solid hour of clean-up. No wonder I don't do this every day, and God bless my grandmothers who did. I'm not gonna lie, there was ice cream involved in getting me through it.

---2---
Much of my time this week has been spent putting together activity bags and the like for Goose as we are looking at attending a cousin's wedding that is around 9.5 hours away - and that's just getting there straight through. Head over to my post on occupying toddlers in the car to see what I have planned, and let me know if you have any suggestions!

---3---
For anyone who prayed for my special intentions a while back, thank you! One of them came to pass - I went to confession this weekend. I had been trying for a while to get an appointment, but I kept running into brick walls. (Even after leaving my priest a message saying "I'd like an appointment for confession. I can meet you X, Y, and Z times. Please call me back and let me know which of these will work for you.") I am looking forward to going much more regularly now and seeing how God's graces through this sacrament will help me draw closer to Him. I still have a couple of intentions pending, so if you'd send up another quick prayer, I'd appreciate it.

---4---
Goose seems to be over her stomach bug and I have to admit, it wasn't nearly as bad as I feared it might be. Sure, I had to clean up plenty of accidents and do plenty of laundry, but once I let go of fear, turned everything over to God and asked for His grace, He gave it to me! Of course, it was up to me to *accept* that grace and *implement* it - and then *be thankful* for it. God is so good. Though now I seem to have a bit of the stomach bug myself, but it's not too bad.

---5---
Speaking of letting go of fear, Hubs wants to go camping this weekend. Goose has never been camping, and she's always been a pretty poor sleeper. (Sounds like a combo for some good times, eh?) We have made arrangements to borrow a 2-person tent, which will give us enough room for the pack-and-play and the air mattress. It's going to be interesting . . . and a lot of fun, I think. Once I let go of that fear.

---6---
I've been meaning to share this for a while - I get an e-mail each day with a bit of Scripture and a quote from a saint or other holy person. (you can subscribe here) Here is a bit of a paraphrase of what it was a few months ago:

Lead a life worthy of the vocation to which you have been called. (Eph 4:1)
Be humble, be simple, and bring joy to others. St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, 19th century

Pretty simple but strong words as I strive to be the kind of wife and mother that God wants me to be.

---7---
Potty training was completely put on hold for Goose's stomach bug. Now she doesn't want much to do with it. Do I push on, knowing we have a BIG car trip coming up in three weeks, or do I wait until we get home? And is there a good way of protecting a car seat cover that is safe?

And, my 100th post will be coming up in the next couple of weeks. I'm putting together a number of random items to give away and I'd love it if you'd come back and enter - the more, the merrier! It's like a phobia of having a party and no one coming . . . I would be so sad to have a give-away and no one enter it . . . :>)

For more quick takes, visit Jen at Conversion Diary.

Amy's Chocolate Pudding Zucchini Muffins

I've been eyeing the recipe Amy posted a while back for chocolate pudding zucchini muffins. As noted, I received a large zucchini this week, and turned it into muffins today.

A couple of quick question, which you veteran zucchini people are going to laugh at, but that's OK: 1) do you peel zucchini before shredding? 2) do you squeeze out the water after shredding? 3) if you use a food processor, what do you do about the end pieces that just won't go through? Today, I peeled, I squeezed, and I minced the leftovers as small as possible and threw them in.

After reading the rave reviews from Amy's house, I decided to do some tweaks from the get-go. I figure if I make them just a bit healthier to begin with, we won't know what we're missing. So here's my version of the recipe:

Lenetta's Tweaks of Amy's
Chocolate Pudding Zucchini Muffins

3 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. cooking oil
1/2 c. applesauce
1 c. sugar (I ran out of white so I used 1/3 c white and 2/3 c brown sugar)
1 package chocolate instant pudding (not sure what the different sizes are - mine was 4 servings)
2 c. grated zucchini
2 tsp. vanilla
3 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

Beat eggs, oil, sugar, pudding mix, vanilla and zucchini together. Blend dry ingredients and add to zucchini mixture; mix well. Scoop into paper-lined muffin tins. Bake 17-20 minutes at 350°.

I only have two muffin tins so I made 2 dozen muffins. As I put them in the oven, I worried I was going to pull out a running-over-the-sides mess, but they came out fine. I've had one and it's pretty darn good! I'll see what Goose and Hubs say - they have the most say in what recipes get made again around here.

Sunday Garden Update, Week 12

I spent some time yesterday weeding and am feeling a little overwhelmed at the amount of produce that is about to start showing up! To refresh memory, here's what my garden looked like seven short weeks ago:

And here is what it looks like now:
Starting in the front of the picture, my volunteer sunflowers are still going strong - even the one that blew over during a storm. I'm sure glad that I didn't pull it out right away - it's been fun to watch.

The peas were a huge dud. I didn't even bother picking any. Bummer.

My carrots are doing pretty well. I pulled a few more today and put them in grilled potatoes though as I typed this, I remembered that I left them on the grill. For about two and a half hours. You see, Hubs isn't feeling well, but it didn't come on until after I had started cutting up potatoes (using my chop wizard) and thawing hamburger, so I went ahead and cooked it all up. But the potatoes weren't done by the time the hamburgers were done, so I left them out there. Let's just say they're plenty tender!

The tomatoes are frightening me a bit. My plants are ENORMOUS. And there are a whole lot of green tomatoes in there - so many that I'm afraid I'm going to have some rot because I'm not going to be able to *find* them all!

My onions are doing fine, although as I've mentioned before, I need to plant them deeper because they end up growing above ground. That can't be good.

I saw ONE lone green bell pepper, and no jalapenos. I have some blooms, though, so maybe they're just setting on crazy late? Not sure.

The potatoes appear to be doing quite well. As are the volunteer potatoes that are in with the corn. We should have LOTS of them - yum!

My green beans are starting to bend the fences because they're so thick! I really should have thinned them out . . . hindsight, I guess. The good news is we'll have plenty to share.

The Indian corn is looking good, too. I have a bit of volunteer in a few places, though it took a thumping in a recent windstorm. I love to use corn stalks to decorate my porch in the fall and will hopefully be able to use these this year. We didn't plant any Indian corn last year so I didn't get to decorate much. Hubs is a little busy that time of year. :>)

And last but not least at all, the gourds are taking over. It's going to be interesting - Hubs doesn't think I can get them all picked and we'll have tons of volunteer ones until the end of time. I see that as a challenge!

Hope your gardens are all doing well - what have you been eating out of them?

Addendum to Laundry Piles Link Roundup

It never fails - as soon as I get my link roundup done, Tipnut goes and posts their monthly neat-o projects to make. So.

Have to admit I just about died of cuteness over these cupcake purses at Paper and String. Even *I* can handle that zipper!

A nudge to keep practicing my knitting: little knit fish at Instructables.

If we didn't have my old play kitchen, I would be extra-loving this kitchen play mat, especially for the roll-up-and-get-out-of-the-way properties, at Balancing Everything. (There's also a link to a no-sew tablecloth version.)

Not sure why I'm such a sucker for outdoor lighting (since we don't spend a lot of time outdoors in the evening these days) but here is a lighted paper pendant garland at Once Wed.

Along those lines, outdoor flower fairy lights at Notebook: Magazine.

Here are some very cute repurposed tins for storage at Crafting a Green World. I dig the idea for craft bits storage, though I think I'd need more of a designated crafting space (or at least craft storage space!) first.

This doodle purse/satchel has a pocket for the paper as well - very important! (at MaKC Creations)