Creations and Produce

This past week was quiet again with the oldest at camp until Saturday. The youngest also had a day camp each afternoon. She loved it. Her favorite part of the outdoorsy camp which included knife whittling and building a campfire on a crazy hot afternoon was swimming in the lake. The lake doesn't have a beach and the kids were only allowed in up to their waist. Something about it was so fun that she'd leave camp each day with a big grin on her face. Her buddy, a boy from the neighborhood, was fighting pneumonia the whole week and so had a hard time enjoying everything until Friday.

None of the above has to do with the picture though--other than the quiet part. I found a cool origami website here. I've always like making origami creations if I can follow the directions. This website has animation to help you. You can also print patterned paper. The bottom part of the house was hard, but the top came out perfectly.

Middle daughter got some fabric for her birthday last week to make Martha Stewart's Reversible Purse. The pattern wasn't exactly what she wanted, but it was a relatively easy project. I don't happen to have a picture of the finished product. I think I'll make one too. I saw some fabric with Japanese umbrellas that intrigued me.

I used the sewing machine also. I made this table runner. I thought it came out pretty well and I may make others for fall and for gifts.

Now we get to the produce part of the post. This is one of our first ripe cherry tomatoes. It looks big in the picture, doesn't it? Anyway, it was just so perfect that I felt the need to take a picture. We have several more that will be ready soon. The big tomatoes don't seem to be splitting and cracking like they do some years. I think this might be due to all the rain we had in June.

On Saturday we went with some friends to a really nice farm to pick raspberries. I wish I had more pictures. I haven't picked raspberries before. I didn't realize that you slide them off of a new raspberry that is forming underneath the red one. We picked about 3.5 pounds. Then, we drove to a nearby Culvers and had some on vanilla custard. Yum!

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with the raspberries. I made these Raspberry Chocolate Chip Muffins. They were really good especially when they were warm. This smoothie recipe was also a winner. In addition there are some mini muffins in the freezer and some bars on the counter. Can you turn into a raspberry if you eat a large quantity in a short period of time?

The younger two got an Amercian Girl Spa Book from the library. Yesterday they soaked their nails in a mixture of milk and lemon juice to make them whiter. I think someone is hamming it up for the camera! Next up is a face mask of oatmeal and yogurt.

I made this owl. It is cuter in person. I used a blanket stitch around the eyes and beak because I was a little leary of zigzagging around the curves and angles. The girls like it.

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We picked up the oldest after Culvers on Saturday. The house is back to normal which means a little more noise and some squabbling. Aside from a playdate or two, no one has any scheduled activities during the day this week! The evenings are a different matter. Until my next post!