kit and caboodle

Early Fall Harvest

Got out in the yard on Sunday and harvested what must surely be the last of the late summer/early fall fruit and veg.  A glut of little tomatoes ready to eat and some big 'uns needing to ripen on the windowsill. Oh, and a whopping cabbage which I thought I'd use as the base of colcannon.  I washed all the leaves pretty carefully (having had more than a few 'organic' experiences with resident insect populations in the past), but obviously didn't do it as well as I thought - we now have a shoebox containing a handful of sleepy caterpillars. They're munching on the choicest leaves from the cabbage, of course, courtesy of the kids. 

And the leaves are finally beginning to fall from the trees whilst the air is constantly chilly. Makes for an invigorating run.  There's a great shot of the angry clouds over Green Lake this afternoon here. 

Art Dolls

Some new faces for upcoming art doll kits. Made from air hardening modeling clay and nearly ready for acrylic paint.

Listening to A Prayer for Owen Meany from Audible which is ranking among my favorite audiobooks - highly recommended. 

Headed here this weekend for our annual visit:

The kids look forward to making little wooden boats, fishing for trout and eating salmon. It's always a fun event.

And about to subscribe to this season of plays. A great package this year - we're blessed with a range of fine theater for every taste here in Seattle.

And it's still sunny, sunny, sunny.

Dog Days

We found the perfect baking activity for two enthusiastic eight-year-olds - making dog treats!  The girls were closely supervised by Woodydog Wilson who cleaned up all the bits of dough, cheese, peanut butter and spinach which ended up on the floor (a fair amount!). 

We checked this book out of the library and made 'it's a formal affair' peanut butter snacks and 'pupeyes' spinach and parmesan cheese. 

This is the end result, sampled by Woody and young J, my 11 year old son.  He said they were 'chewy yet tasty'.  

 

On the basis of this positive feedback, we gifted a few bags to our neighborhood dog friends.  A bit like Girl Scout cookies, but in a furry and gobbly way.

Speaking of homemade canine chow, we discovered Darwin's Dog Food this weekend.  I'm always a bit suspicious of what goes into the dodgy-looking pellet food we've been buying, but have stopped short of serving the dog a portion of what we eat. So we'll give this a try - love the free home delivery!