Thursday, February 21, 2008

Nothing Much

Well, I have nothing much to talk about today. I have been sewing, but for birthday gifts for Not Quite Grown and MIL. Until I know they received them, no pictures for you!! (They read they blog too, ya know!)

The vegetable seedlings are sprouting right along. The dogs are happy, Stud Muffin is hard at work, and the dust bunnies have formed a union and are demanding more benefits and days off!

Since I know you like food, here is a picture of a low-fat chocolate swirl cheesecake I made from an italian cookbook I borrowed from our teeny, tiny local library. It is made with low fat cottage and reduced fat cream cheese (no, not the library, you silly!!) and was actually very good!! I ate some, and froze the rest to enjoy another time. Can't remember the name of the book, and there is no clue on the pages that I copied, but it was something like Light and Luscious Italian cooking.

Yummy with a cup of hot coffee!

And since I have been spending time in my studio and it's cold, I have been using my little Reliant wood stove to heat the room.



See the unhung pictures stacked up behind it?? And my trusty Winnie the Pooh tea kettle filled with water for a little humidity?

Have you ever tried to photograph fire?? It won't stay still and pose pretty for the camera!



I spent a good part of the day work on my tractor, Kubota Jane. I took her down to the lower field that I mowed this summer, and dragged the box blade with the tines lowered to try to dig up some of the grass and tree stumps.

Me and Kubota Jane last summer. Notice the bright sunshine that we don't have today!!

I'm not too good with the box blade, and haven't quite learned how to *gently* float the box to disperse the built up dirt nicely, but it was a good first try. I think I might want to plant some corn there this summer, if I can clean the area up a bit better! I also think I need some aspirin for my neck. I had to look over my left shoulder to see what I was doing for about 3 hours today!

See, I told you this was a boring post! Dinner will be homemade chicken tenders with a squeeze of lemon, white rice, and salad. You never know, I might defrost the rest of that cheesecake and settle in for the night!

{This just in: MIL received her package, which contained some shopping bags and this apron!



The apron is made from a thrifted pillowcase and fingertip towel, and I included a matching shopping bag.}

8 comments:

sewtakeahike said...

I'm SO jealous, you have a stove in your craft room AND a tractor out back. How cool is that???

Lisa said...

It is way cool, if I do say so myself, but I'm glad you said it first! I finally got my farm and studio, so I figured I better do it right!!

Celticspirit said...

That cheesecake looks yummy and it's lowfat? Wow that's awesome. That is one of the cutest aprons I've ever seen and I love the towel connected to it. I'll be looking forward to seeing the other gifts you made as soon as you are able to put them on here.

Lisa said...

I love that apron. My friend has a vintage one just like it that she found at a thrift store and we were trying to figure out how to make one just like it because having a towel attached is so handy. Do you use a pattern or did you make it up?

Lisa said...

Lisa~ I actually have an apron that I got at a church sale that has a towel attached, so I copied that one. All I did was cut off one end with the fringe, loosely pleated the towel, and sewed it in when I attached the waistband. The cut-off fringe part trims the pocket. Next time, I might trim the pocket with the fringe a bit differently. It was a bit bulky folded over the top.

Thimbleanna said...

Gosh that apron is cool! I'm always reaching for a towel to wipe my hands when I'm cooking -- I Love that idea!

Stephanie ODea said...

what a neat apron!
that cheesecake looks amazing and totally full-of-fat. I'd love the recipe.
-steph

Walter Jeffries said...

I don't know how Kabota Jane feels about stump jumping but our John Deere isn't fond of it as it puts a lot of stress on the tractor.

On the other hand, the pigs absolutely love digging up the stumps and roots. We have a field that had grown in smaller and smaller. We cut the trees back to the original stone walls and then turned it into pasture. The stumps put up suckers and rejen (saplings) sprouted up between them. The pigs and the sheep both love the brush and the pigs dig out the roots. At this point most of the field is lush pasture - although covered in snow at the moment since it is still winter. Sunny though!