What's been bugging me

In my last post, I was talking about amazement, and asked the question "What amazes you lately?" My friend Aqeela from Remembering the Days..., commented:

"I am always amazed by the amount of creatures in our garden, hoverflies, shield bugs and bees are the most common at this time of year. Do you get lots in your garden? Enjoy them or not so keen?"

Thanks, Aqeela, you inspired me to write about something that I've been meaning to share for awhile. It falls under the "not so keen".

Last summer I kept finding fragments of beautiful butterfly wings on our deck. Every morning, there they would be. My first thought was that our cats were catching and killing them, leaving their remains by the door like they would do with a mouse. Until one day, while sitting outside, I witnessed something strange and horrible. A beautiful swallowtail landed in a hanging basket of flowers above my head. It lit on a petal, then began to spin wildly. It was so strange. The next things I saw were two butterfly wings minus their middle floating to the ground. Minutes later, another butterfly landed. I grabbed my camera, climbed up on a chair, and watched.


Can you see it - the creepy, leering, nasty praying mantis just above the sweet, innocent, fairy-like butterfly about to become its victim [gag, shudder]? I despise praying mantises. I've loathed them since I was five years old when one clung pinchingly to my baby finger. I screamed so loud that my dad came running. "Kill it, kill it!" I cried. "No," he said, lifting it off my finger. "See how its arms are bent like it's praying? You shouldn't kill them." Praying, my eye. Preying - more like it. I hate them still. And watching it grasp the butterfly and eat it head first all the way down to the end was the stuff of nightmares. Uggghh.


Our next buggy problem was my fault, really. At the end of summer when the nectar run slows down, it is recommended to feed your bees a sugar syrup to supplement. I got the bright idea to put the sugar water in a bottle near the hive. Turns out it wasn't such a bright idea, as it attracted wasps. My guy, coming in from the backyard, said "We've got trouble in River City". "What?" "The hive, it's in trouble." We ran out to see our honeybees in an epic battle with these huge black and white wasps. The wasps were trying to enter the hive--a situation known to beekeepers as robbing. Anyway, there we were joining in to save our friends the bees. We were able to dispatch some of those nasty villains, swatting them with whatever we could find. Not very smart, probably. But still, we love our honeybees, so into the fray we went. "You know, we're kind of like Legolas and Gimli," my husband said. "I know, right?...Hey, wait a minute...which one of us is Gimli?" Humph!

Now, you might think I'm telling a tall tale here.


But here's the proof. We found the wasps' nest a little ways away from the hive among some bushes in our yard. I have to admit it is a thing of beauty.


And speaking of beauty, I saved some of the painted wings and pressed them in one of my sketch books, along with some tree bark I had found. Seeing them side by side makes me want to create something with them. Ideas, anyone?

Growing amazement

Do any of you out there remember the 70's TV Show "Kung Fu"? You do? Good. Remember the part where David Carradine's character Kwai Chang Caine has to carry a scalding hot cauldron from one pedestal in the temple to another using his forearms? He's rewarded with some rad dragon tattoos that get burnt into his skin for his efforts. I always think of that scene when I carry my hot canning pot from one spot to another in my kitchen. I have to use my forearms, too. The only reward I get is not dropping the pot on my feet, because my RA fingers are too weak to hold the handles. *Sigh* Good thinking, grasshopper. I hope there are some boomers who know what the heck I'm talking about. Anyone?

Anyway, I've been canning for days, and all the steam has made my brain a bit foggy, so prepare yourself for a rambly post with pictures.



Okay, so who gets excited about a muddy panful of potatoes? *Points thumbs to self* This gal! We planted potatoes for the first time this year, and it worked. Some of you seasoned potato planters might be laughing right about now, but I am truly amazed. I'm always amazed when we plant something and it actually grows and makes food. I don't know why. I just find it shocking when I head outdoors and am able to gather what we worked and hoped for.

We bought a bag of seed potatoes to plant in the spring, and then life got in the way, and I nearly forgot about them. When I finally remembered, they were extremely shriveled and covered with mold. I planted them anyway, not wanting to waste the seeds. By jiggety, the spuds were born in spite of my forgetfulness. Some plant, some water, and God makes it grow. :)


Guess what else? The new chickies, Pepper-Ann and Natasha, have grown up and are now starting to lay. I'm pretty certain the egg on the left of my palm belongs to one of them. It's smaller and browner than the others. How thrilling!


Oh, and I've been wanting to post this picture, but haven't been able to fit it in until now. It's an antique photo I found in New Zealand. It's kind of hard to see in the image, but the two little children are sitting in a vegetable patch, holding some veggies they must've just picked. I think it's cool.


We've also had a successful pumpkin patch this year. The variety is called Sugar Baby, and they're meant for making pies, but we've been roasting them with olive oil and eating them like sqaush. So good.


Next in the long line of never-grown-until-this-year items are these speckled lima beans, which we'll attempt to dry and save for winter soup making.


Aren't they purty?


Our cat Nuit is not on my good side right now. When he knows that his behavior has caused vexation, he tries to make up for it by being helpful. He wouldn't leave my side while I was picking rhubarb, and even pretended to hold the basket the whole time. It didn't work Nuit; I'm still mad.


That should do it for today


Come on in! Let's make an arrangement of the rag-tag flowers and herbs that are left in the late summer garden.


There we go! Thanks for visting.

How about you? What's been amazing you lately?

Comfort Canning

"You know what I love about cooking?"
"What's that?"
"I love that after a day when nothing is sure, and when I say "nothing" I mean nothing, you can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate
and sugar and milk, it will get thick. It's such a comfort." --Julie & Julia





Sometimes life is crazy, and things can be scary to the point where they work your last nerve. Seasons can be "not sure." God is sure. Praise Him. So I'm leaning deep into that daily bread, and making some cherry jam.

The two books pictured above are quite fun. I highly recommend them.

A Little Dinner Music

We've been making our own tomato sauce (gravy) for years out of the stuff we grow in the garden. Mike and I have always wanted to try and make homemade pasta to go with it. Gnocchis seemed the least difficult since you don't need any fancy kitchen tools. Now, I want to apologize to any real Italians who make their own pasta and might be reading this(Joan). Please be kind; it was a first attempt. The gnocchis weren't pretty, and we were afraid they would be so dense and heavy that after eating, we wouldn't be able to swim for, like, a year. The cooking fairies must've been smiling on us though, because it worked! They were light and fluffy and comforting. Since our youngest is still recovering from her knee injury, some comfort food was just the thing. So, without further ado, here's a silly little film Bron and I made to celebrate our family's culinary experiment, with homage to Rosemary Clooney:



Alla fine

Ewe win and where I've been

Ewe as in YOU - get it??? Corny, I know.

I just finished up a second week of camp, and this little wooly cutie was peeking out from the field as I was walking up the path to the farmhouse.


Meanwhile, back at the ranch we've been busy waiting hand and foot on our sweetie Bron. Last week at work she was minding her own busness, when all of a sudden she heard a loud snap and down she fell. Seems her kneecap, unprovoked, decided to dislocate itself. Our girl earned herself an ambulance ride to the emergency room, and is now sporting a brace and crutches. We have an appointment with an ortho doc this week. Prayers would be appreciated. Thanks, pals.

So here she is recuperating, happily surrounded by bouquets of flowers sent by loving siblings and kind co-workers. There's nothing more cheery than a florist knocking at your door. Except perhaps a PACKAGE from the mailman. Which leads us back to the main reason for this post--announcing the winner of the giveaway.


The ever-couragous Bronwyn did not let an injury deter her from the annual duty of picking the winning name from the hat. So without further ado, this years winner is:

Aqeela of Remembering the Days... blog.Congratulations! Let me know via e-mail where to send it, dearie dear.

Dear everyone else, thank you for playing. As always, I wish I could give everyone a present, 'cause I love you all heaps.

Un, deux, trois - giveaway

It's Curious Acorn's 3rd Birthday!

Continuing in the hobbit tradition - it's my blog's birthday, you get the present. The things I give away are a bit random. Not unlike my blog. They represent the spirit of Curious Acorn and what you'll find when you visit here.

My most favorite thing about blogging is the friendships that I have made. My love languages are gifts and words of affirmation. You've probably guessed that by now. So this is my way of saying thank you for all that you have given.


The lucky winner will receive a blackboard wall sticker and retro "tea revives you" coasters brought back from my trip to New Zealand, a box of old school blackboard chalk from Germany, a tin of black currant tea, a box of black currant candies from Australia...hmmm - are you noticing a theme here? Also a lovely cup from which to sip your tea, and last but not least, my favorite lip balm--Smith's Rosebud salve. I dig the olde time pharmacy graphic on its tin. Oops, I almost forgot - the antique French postcard pictured above will also be included.


I popped in this picture of my own blackboard sticker on my kitchen wall to show you that it can indeed be written on with chalk


To get your name in the hat, all you'll need to do is leave a comment. If you're a lurker who has never commented before, introduce yourself for goodness sakes! Deadline is this coming Friday, July 20th at 8:00PM EST. I'll mail the prize anywhere - it's a small world after all.

A C-ment pond for birds

I don't know if it's the same where you live, but here it's been hot as hades. The man and I thought it would be nice to craft another little bird bath for the winged lovelies that visit our yard.

I was retro-meandering the first time I talked about homemade cement birdbaths. Click the highlight if you'd like to see the original post. It's one of those projects that didn't take long to make but twenty years have gone by, and it still holds water.


We used the inside of a trash can lid for a form. The handle of the lid has an indentation which would leave a bump on the bottom of the casting. So we covered it with a piece of cardboard. This gives the birdbath a flat bottom on which to rest.

Next, we covered the lid with a trash bag. This bag will make it easier for the finished product to pop out of the lid, albeit with a little wiggling.

We cut a piece of chicken wire that fits inside the form. This will be used to reinforce the cement to keep it from cracking.

The decorating part is totally your own taste. You can use just about anything to embellish. The first time we used polished rocks. This time we used pieces of colored glass.

We bought a bag of concrete and mixed according to the directions on the bag. It took about half of an 80 pound bag.

Since the trash can lid has a handle, it will not sit flat. So we set it on top of another plastic trash can to use as a base on which to work. We filled the can most of the way with water to stiffen it to support the lid's weight. Then we scooped wet concrete into the lined lid to about half its depth.

Pressing the piece of chicken wire onto the surface of the wet concrete.

We mixed a second batch...

...and added a half inch to cover the chicken wire reinforcement.

We wanted a similar shape to make an impression. To create it, we covered the lid of a picnic cooler with a plastic bag and placed it in the concrete, pressing it in slightly. Then we shoveled in the rest of the concrete to fill the sides, and smoothed with a trowel.

After that we pressed pieces of colored glass into the still-wet cement. We let it set for about an hour, then removed the cooler lid.

In two days, it was completely dry, set, and ready to use. Now that's what I call trash to treasure--literally.

I have in mind to make another one and decorate it with broken china pieces.