More of July

 Well, it's official - I updated once in July and never again. But I did take pictures. So, why not give you a window into my soul? Or at least into my home life?

For starters, remember when I started a blanket to use up scraps when my husbean had surgery? Well, I've used up a lot of scraps. near the end of July, it looked like this ---->
Some people think it's hideous, others think it's cool. I'm just happy to be clearing out space from my stash and turning it into something I can use as soon as the weather changes.  I probably have at least this much again left, so now it's looking like I may make another blanket and sew them together. Spring cleaning?

 And the rest of this post will be foodie pics because, you know, that's how I roll. To the left, here, are cupcakes. Duh, right? Well these happen to have been made by a friend of mine and were delicious. I thought I'd take a picture because I was so  impressed with her sugar-work (the heart) and the frosting flowers. There are times I watch the food network and wish for the ability and time to do things this lovely, not to mention the drive..... Pretty damn impressive! (And did I mention delicious?)

Last up is the pizza I made for dinner last night. Nothing too special about this except to note that another oen of my super-talented friends made the crust. I need her recipe. I topped it with cajun sausage, basil from the garden, fancy left-over cheeses (I go through 3 expensive-ish cheese blocks for my Friday night potlucks so I'm always looking for what to do with the left-overs), and tomato-goo. The tomato goo is basically sliced tomatoes baked in the oven in olive oil, salt, and oregano. I made about 5 jars-worth of the stuff the other night to use more of my garden tomatoes which were going bad before I'd normally use them up.I'd already fed 20+ people off of home-made sauce and didn't want to do a sauce again. I wanted something that could be spread on bread and used as a snack/appetiser. This was a great substitution for the pizza because it was really flavorful and gave texture. I need to officially stop by the store so I can make more of it and perhaps properly can it for winter.

Olympian recaps!

 Alright, it has been a BUSY BUSY month. I will do my Olympics/Ravellenic Games recap, but first just a little bit of random housekeeping.

First off, tomatoes! My tomato jungle is producing like crazy right now. Below is what I picked in one day. I generally pick one day a week - typically this ends up being Saturday right after my workout. For the past three weeks, this is the amount of tomatoes I've picked. This is only the ripe ones - and the rotten or slug-attacked or splitting open ones get thrown down into the beds to (hopefully) spring up as voluntaries next year. How crazy is this? I think the best part is that I go through most of these in a week. It's no secret that I love tomatoes.....but this is a lot to get through even for me. So far I think I may have given away about 10 tomatoes. I can only hope that this bounty continues every year. I feel so fortunate to have so many good tomatoes to eat without having to hit the store for months.

And just because I can:  a closeup of the beauties!

Next up we have a picture of  my new sparkly copper heels. Aren't the fab? I know I know, this isn't a show blog, but seriously, how can people harbor anything but happiness in their hearts when shoes like this exist? 

 And now, time to get down to some serious Olympic business: The Ravellenic Games! So, most people who read this will know that the Ravellenic Games (previously the Knitting Olympics until the US Olympic peeps got mad and claimed copyright infringement) runs concurrently to the Olypmics. It's a chance for knitters and spinners, and other crafters, to support their teams by watching the events while practicing their craft. It's also the thing that's gotten me back into the Olympics, which I hadn't had any interest in for years. New favorite sport is gymnastics - the uneven bars are AMAZING! 

The lovely fiber you see to the left was my goal to spin during the Olypmics. I had a total of 73 oz, 18 of which I had already spun. That left 55 to finish during the Games. Each bobbin you see here hold 2 oz (except for 2 that have 4). I finished this goal early - by at least 4 days! I couldn't believe that I spun a full 55 oz in just over a week. I am, officially, a spinning machine. I also have officially hurt my left ankle doing it (re-injured an old running injury)
 But, looking at the picture, totally worth it. Now I just need to let it rest until my ankle calms down and I can ply it. 73 oz should make a good sweater! I award myself with the Gold for this portion of my goal.

Lastly, the Icarus shawl, from Interweave 2006. I, sadly, only get the Silver on this one. I think Silver is fair, and here's why:

I got through all the way to the 3rd row out of 5 total edging rows. That's right, finished all charts, and only stopped 2.5 rows short of finishing. The reason I didn't finish was simple: I ran out of yarn - and that's after I went the yarn store for more yarn mid-week. I still had time on Sunday and went back to the yarn store for my second yarn infusion and the store was closed. I then looked in my stash. No luck. So, although I had time and enough brain to do this on time, it was only lack of yarn that stopped me. I would have given myself the Bronze, but I think I bumped it up to silver by the 2nd yarn store trip + stash search. I'm looking forward to fully finishing this next weekend after I get the chance to hit the yarn store during open hours.

All in all, it was a very productive Olympics for me. I even managed to watch more of them than I have in years. I can't wait for the next challenge.