Pants

I finally made a well fitting pair of pants for Henry. I had tried a couple of times a few months ago but they never fit quite right. Usually I underestimated the huge rise you need for the bum with a diaper (and it looks expecially huge when the legs are so short).

I copied some size 9 months pants that are fitting him well right now but still have growing room as well. And I even made a paper pattern so now I can do some more and know that they should turn out well. I've already collected some old sweaters from the basement.

These ones were made from an old T-shirt of mine and I like how the wide band at the bottom looks.

A morning in the garden

Henry and I spent some time in the garden this morning. I picked some tomatoes and lettuce for a salad for lunch, we already have some garden cucumber in the fridge. I also picked some mint to dry for tea. We have also been eating plenty of zucchini, potatoes, and green beans from the garden. And Henry tasted the grass, he seemed to think it tasted just about as disgusting as the squash I fed him yesterday.

Henry's first meal

Henry had his first meal yesterday. We gave him some baked delicata squash from the garden. We mushed it with some milk to make it nice and runny. The squash was ready but it was still a bit early so it wasn't sweet at all. At first he seemed to like it but by the end it was clear that he thought it tasted horrible! I saved a little more in the fridge to let him try it again tonight.

Here he is foraging for his dinner

Posing with his catch

And here he is eating it, still seeming like he might enjoy it
And here where it is clear he hates it

Henry Sits!

Henry's sitting skills have really improved this week. He still can't pull himself up on his own but he can stay sitting for a long time. He only occasionally falls. Now I can take such good pictures of him - just have him sit in front of any background. These are pictures I took in the backyard.

Harvest time

The garden is very full right now. Very very full in fact since all week it's been either too wet or too hot and humid to go out work on it. We have tomatoes, zucchini, lettuce, spinach, and I'm sure we have enough potatoes that I could sneak some out next time we want some for dinner.

Here is what I collected for dinner last night. We had pasta with roasted vegetables and sundried tomatoes from last year and salad with lots of arugula and nasturtium that had seeded itself from last year.

A week away

We spent a week at a cottage in Quebec with Kevin's family. It was really nice - big strawbale cottage, nice small warm lake, and lots of relaxing.
This is where we stayed:
www.solisterra.ca

Kimchi

I tried my first recipe from the book Wild Fermentation (http://www.amazon.ca/Wild-Fermentation-Flavor-Nutrition-Lve-Culture/dp/1931498237/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279897882&sr=8-1). It's kimchi, a Korean pickled brine-fermented vegetable dish flavoured with ginger, garlic, and hot pepper. I used bok choy, daikon radish, and carrot.

I started it last week, tasted it every day and decided it was fermented the right amount yesterday. It's pretty good. Except both Kevin and I preferred the taste last week before it was fermented.

We ate it with a hot and sour soup (don't have a recipe to reccommend because we didn't really like it) and steamed buns. I just used my usual bread dough and steamed it for 15 minutes which turned out alright but didn't have the right taste. It was pretty cool so I think I will try steamed buns again but will use a recipe for the right dough.

Another stegasaurus friend

Henry is so into playing with toys right now that I wanted to make him just one more. This one has crinkly sound, a bell, and tags. He threw up all over it last night - I think that means he likes it.

Kitty Slippers for Henry

Finished these kitty slippers for Henry last night. I think they will be the right size for him this fall and winter. Will have to sew on non slip bottoms if he starts walking!

The pattern:
http://www.knittingdaily.com/media/p/31791.aspx

A chef's hat

A chef's hat for my 3 year old neice in LA. I hope she likes it.
I used the excellent instructions here:
http://www.ikatbag.com/2008/09/how-to-make-adjustable-chefs-hat-for.html

In the garden...

The garden is in full bloom but we are not eating too much from it right now. Everything is a much slower start than last year. We are eating the last of the peas and the raspberries and I have one zucchini waiting for me, should be loads more soon.


And we are very patiently waiting for the tomatoes to ripen.

In the brewery...

Kevin and I have been doing lots more brewing. Right now on the go we have raspberry and red currant wine using fruits from the garden (just one bottle because it uses a lot of berries!), a wine from pineapple and orange juice, clove and ginger wine, and in the big 5 gallon jug a ginger champagne. Of course we have to wait and wait and wait to try them.

We are drinking the cocoa vanilla stout and it is good but we are still hoping it will get better in another month or so. And we have tried some flat cider that we made and it was very good. So far we are fans of home brewing. And it lets us make use of our humungous laundry room, nowo laundry room/brewery.