100 projects, #7

Well, there's not too terribly much I can share about project #7 because it's a gift for some coworkers that is based on an inside joke from work that would be far too complicated to explain and by that point it's not funny anyway, but so long story short two very lovely people I work with got engaged and they just bought a house, so I made them a housewarming present featuring a common expletive/derogatory phrase from our localized work vernacular.

So... yep!

100 Projects, #6

Project number five was my first attempt at actual canning. I've been doing a lot of experimenting with refrigerator pickles, and I've been flirting with the idea of canning, and finally I just decided to go ahead and try it.

I made some strawberry jam!

Macerating the strawberries.

I ended up having some leftover strawberries so I made some muffins with them! Yummmm.

Trying to cook the jam. I only kind of know what I'm doing.

Et voila! At first I was really bummed because I thought none of the jars had sealed properly because they didn't look like it and I could hear them pinging and such, but they all came out okay! The jam is a lot more like preserves, but is still tasty. I also made some spicy dilly beans and tried canning those. I wish the jars had been more filled, but all my beans were really tiny.

Canning is pretty cool, but is also really intense! I don't know if I'll do a whole lot of it, and I will probably always stick to small batches, but it's nice to have a new tool in my toolbelt.

100 projects, #4

Sorry about the radio silence around here - August is proving to be a very very very busy month. We are moving to a new apartment, both hosting bachelor/bachelorette parties for friends and then attending said friends' wedding, there are two derby events this month (a bout and a fundraiser), etc etc etc. Crazy busy!

Anyway, as I mentioned in my last post, my fourth project was a gift that I couldn't reveal yet. Well, now it has been given and here it is!

I stitched this up as a birthday/housewarming present for one of my friends who refs for the league under the name Biggie Calls.

In other news, yesterday some friends and I went up to Erie to enjoy the beach, where we...

... saw this dumb bird standing around with its mouth open. Frig off, bird!

... swam in this water but couldn't climb on these rocks (jerks).

... ate some diner food.

... and enjoyed a sunset!