I have officially become an old lady. On top of the knitting and embroidery, I have learned how to make jam and marmalade.
It is awesome and I'm not sorry.
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| Blood Orange Marmalade. Hell YES. |
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| Pickles! |
I highly recommend it, even though I can't quite get the cooking temperature just right. My strawberry jam and blood orange marmalade were a bit too solid and hard to spread since I was having trouble getting the temperature to 220 degrees Fahrenheit, but my raspberry jam rocks.
Why would you buy this when you can make it? Yum!
The raspberry jam wasn't very hard.
My husband is a beer maker, so I used his giant stock pot to sterilize my jars.
Then boil my blood orange goodness
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| My delicious raspberry jam |
The raspberry jam wasn't very hard.
My husband is a beer maker, so I used his giant stock pot to sterilize my jars.
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| Hooray candy thermometers! |
Then pour into your sterilized jars
You have to process the jars so that they seal shut, but then you are done! Tadaa!
So, yeah. Anyway, I also finished painting our house and making curtains with fabric that I've had for a couple of years now. Hooray for getting crap done! Woohoo!
Here's our studio bathroom:
This is the bathroom where Jess does his zombie makeup. My cat very generously decided to leave a nice, smelly poop in the litter box when I was in the middle of painting this room.
And here's our bathroom - the one in our bedroom:
I still have some decorating to finish in here, so I will just show the wall color for now.
I decided to make crocheted curtains for this room since the windows are so high. You don't really need privacy but my plant needs sunlight.
I only made one panel so far, and need more yarn so I can add a border to it.
I have had this fabric for years:
This is for our spare room, so it wasn't that urgent to get them done. And then I had a kid and for some reason got really busy...
Lastly, I wanted to make curtains for our kitchen even though it's not necessary since it looks in on our sun room instead of outside, but I found this cute bird fabric and thought it would look really pretty in my orange kitchen.
I know what you're thinking, orange? But I like it.
So that is what I have been doing instead of preparing for my son's second birthday party. But I don't have nearly as much money to spend on it as I did last year, so it's been more difficult planning this one.
I have to admit, I have been having a hard time lately. I think that's why I was so determined to finish all these projects because it has kept my mind off of things. But after I finished, it was kind of like "Now what do I do?"
I value time with my family so much anymore. Not only do my parents give me a break with Sam, I just feel better when I see them, like I've been recharged. Does that make sense?
It was extremely noticeable this last week because my parents are both sick and I didn't get to see them. Sam and I were both sad and he kept asking for them. Jesse had been working extra overtime and I kind of had a nervous breakdown because I hadn't really had a break. Luckily, I had enough sense to wait until Jess was home to lose it so he was able to take care of Sam for me.
I am extremely broke and have to have Jess pay for everything. Drives me crazy. I can't even run to the grocery store when we need diapers like I used to. I hate to admit this, but I think it helps explain my stress.
Before when Sam and I needed to get out of the house, we could just go to the park or go to the store and do a little shopping and grab food. Now I can't do any of those things. It's too cold to go to the park and I have no money to spend. It's a worry that's constantly on my mind, especially when friends want to go do something.
But now that I've calmed down a bit and had Sam give me a big hug and kiss, I am trying to pull things together. I really need to buckle down and work on my store. I sold a voodoo doll pin cushion the other day and it gives me hope.
Running my own business would be a dream come true and I am not ready to give up on it yet. Thanks to all of you wonderful people who support me and have purchased things from me, you keep me going. And, of course, do Sam and Jess. I don't know what I would do without them.
Life is so freaking hard sometimes.
I am a pretty private person for the most part and don't usually share such personal things with anyone, but this is something I felt like I needed to get off my chest. I lose it more often than I care to admit, it just usually happens when I am alone. And I am usually pretty good about pulling myself back together again. Usually.
The point being, please bear with me as I try not to lose it and start chucking crocheted bananas at random people's heads or chopping all my hair off to make a sweater since I have no money to pay for yarn.
I will try to stay upbeat and keep on creating.
Keep your heads up, friends, and escape into your own little world as much as possible.
In the immortal words of Calvin, “It’s not denial. I’m selective about the reality I accept."
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| Sorry, blurry picture. It was midnight, give me a break |
Here's our studio bathroom:
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| There's no natural light in there, so it's hard to get a good picture |
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| Thanks a lot, jerk cat |
I decided to make crocheted curtains for this room since the windows are so high. You don't really need privacy but my plant needs sunlight.
I only made one panel so far, and need more yarn so I can add a border to it.
I have had this fabric for years:
Lastly, I wanted to make curtains for our kitchen even though it's not necessary since it looks in on our sun room instead of outside, but I found this cute bird fabric and thought it would look really pretty in my orange kitchen.
So that is what I have been doing instead of preparing for my son's second birthday party. But I don't have nearly as much money to spend on it as I did last year, so it's been more difficult planning this one.
I have to admit, I have been having a hard time lately. I think that's why I was so determined to finish all these projects because it has kept my mind off of things. But after I finished, it was kind of like "Now what do I do?"
I value time with my family so much anymore. Not only do my parents give me a break with Sam, I just feel better when I see them, like I've been recharged. Does that make sense?
It was extremely noticeable this last week because my parents are both sick and I didn't get to see them. Sam and I were both sad and he kept asking for them. Jesse had been working extra overtime and I kind of had a nervous breakdown because I hadn't really had a break. Luckily, I had enough sense to wait until Jess was home to lose it so he was able to take care of Sam for me.
I am extremely broke and have to have Jess pay for everything. Drives me crazy. I can't even run to the grocery store when we need diapers like I used to. I hate to admit this, but I think it helps explain my stress.
Before when Sam and I needed to get out of the house, we could just go to the park or go to the store and do a little shopping and grab food. Now I can't do any of those things. It's too cold to go to the park and I have no money to spend. It's a worry that's constantly on my mind, especially when friends want to go do something.
But now that I've calmed down a bit and had Sam give me a big hug and kiss, I am trying to pull things together. I really need to buckle down and work on my store. I sold a voodoo doll pin cushion the other day and it gives me hope.
Running my own business would be a dream come true and I am not ready to give up on it yet. Thanks to all of you wonderful people who support me and have purchased things from me, you keep me going. And, of course, do Sam and Jess. I don't know what I would do without them.
Life is so freaking hard sometimes.
I am a pretty private person for the most part and don't usually share such personal things with anyone, but this is something I felt like I needed to get off my chest. I lose it more often than I care to admit, it just usually happens when I am alone. And I am usually pretty good about pulling myself back together again. Usually.
The point being, please bear with me as I try not to lose it and start chucking crocheted bananas at random people's heads or chopping all my hair off to make a sweater since I have no money to pay for yarn.
I will try to stay upbeat and keep on creating.
Keep your heads up, friends, and escape into your own little world as much as possible.
In the immortal words of Calvin, “It’s not denial. I’m selective about the reality I accept."
