News from the Nest, September 4

Good Morning, friends.

I’m enjoying the last morning of the gorgeous, cool weather ushered in by Idalia late last week. It was a wonderful late August treat! Throwing the windows and enjoying fresh air is very high on my list of Good and Great Things.

Mom came for dinner last night and we used the pasta maker she gave me for my birthday! What fun! It’s not something I’ll do every time Terry and I have pasta for dinner, but I will definitely use it for family dinners and small group entertaining. I need to hone my skills a bit, and then I’ll share the process. It’s really not hard. Fresh pasta is also on that Good and Great Things list!

While I don’t have much to show for it on the blog yet, I was very busy last week. In the next few weeks, I’ll have a new knit baby blanket to share, along with the most darling teeny tiny knit sweater ornaments and embroidered felt sweater ornaments. The life of a blogger necessitates me channeling holidays early, which also means I need to get a Christmas tree up for photos!

I did update the Podcast post for those of you who are podcast enthusiasts also! Now, it features over 40 podcasts for your consideration. I will be better about updating it as I go.

New on the Blog

I did sit down, 6 months later, and document the process for painting the exterior of our brick home using Benjamin Moore’s Revere Pewter.

From the Knit Studio

• This Broken Rib Stitch Blanket is a big chunky hug! With a jumbo yarn, you could easily knit this blanket up on a weekend.

• Check out this article about common knit errors and how to prevent or fix them!

From the Kitchen

• How’s your garden growing? If you were able to harvest more tomatoes than we were (thanks d@mned Mockingbirds!), you could easily roast some for later. I’m telling you, there is not much better than pulling some of these tomatoes roasted with garlic and olive oil from the freezer in the dead of of winter to top a bowl of your brothy beans! Another one of those Good and Great Things!

• Three Jams that Use Peppers. These jams can be canned for pantry storage, frozen or refrigerated.
  • I love mixing the red and yellow bell peppers and green jalapeño peppers for a stoplight pepper jelly.
  • Pureeing the red peppers in this Red Pepper Jelly gives it a gorgeous color and makes it naturally sweeter, even though we use a low sugar pectin.
  • This Jalapeño Jelly uses white wine for its base. It’s perfect topping a slice of cheese.

• Or, you could opt to preserve your bounty of Jalapeño Peppers in pickles!

• If you have someone in your home who needs to or wants to avoid tomato products, you can make your own ‘Nomato’ Sauce. It gets pretty darned close to the flavor of tomatoes, with the affects of nightshades.
• Lemon Ginger Cubes are a super easy way to make up a batch of these gut-healthy cubes to drop in your mug of hot water or tea each morning. Or, I add them to my ice water for a subtle flavor throughout the day.

• I think this Apple Cider Doughnut Cake probably needs to get baked this week! What do you think?

From the Arts + Crafts Studio

• We took an old door than was languishing in our attic and turned into my desk!

• If you have a Cricut, use it to cut leather to make these handy cordkeepers.

In the Garden

• Wasn’t it just last week we were thinking about our Spring and Summer Container gardens? Well, depending on where you live, you might want to start or start thinking about planting Fall Container gardens. Here are some ideas.

• Killing weeds is almost a year-round idea where we live! Still a believer in this homemade Weed Killing solution!

In the Home

• Perk up your saggy sofa cushions! It’s fun to look back; this room as completely changed of the past 4 years, with new fabric on the furniture. But the sofa cushion inserts sill remain!

• This kitchen drawer insert ‘tape’ makes organizing a drawer pretty darn easy!

A Few Fun Finds!

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• My SIL sent me this link last week, which showed AI-generated images based on paintings or sculptures that showed what they may have actually looked like! It’s fascinating!

• While we are still talking about AI, check out this MOMA exhibit! The artist/computer scientist trained a program to view the inventory of MOMA and share its interpretation of all the MOMA works. I could see becoming totally mesmerized by it.

• My mom loved the little rechargeable lamp I use in my ‘new’ bar cabinet. She likes that she could carry it out to her back porch for some nice light. I think these will make great Christmas gifts as they have many uses. I’m going to nab another one for my bookshelves.
• When our kiddos flew the nest, we bought them each one of these portable car battery chargers. In case of a dead battery, they won’t be waiting for someone or relying on a stranger for a jump. They also have bright LED lights and the ability to charge phones, etc… Just a little peace of mind. These are on sale right now.

Well friends, that’s all I have today!

Sadly, I think I’m going to have to shut the windows and turn the AC back on, but it was lovely while it lasted.

I wish for you a week full of everything you need to nourish your body and soul.

Hugs,

Thanks for making my day by SHARING!!