Belated Belated

This is a super belated sharing of Gretchen's super belated Birthday gift. I started this project after her birthday, which is six days after mine in November. I don't think I got it in the mail to her until early February. I hand dyed some ombre yarn, which was a cool technique to learn. I knit it in endless stockinette and I'm a slow knitter anyways. It is just a big triangular scarf. I like the way it turned out.

I love the stippling effect that the dye created.

I intended this doo-dad to be a brooch but I thought it came out too big, so it is just a thing-a-ma-bob to look at. I embroidered on felt and stuffed it with polyfil.

I always enjoy making things for friends, sometimes I'm just a little late doing so.

Crack Pie for Robin

Robin wanted Pie for her birthday instead of cake. I used that opportunity to try a new recipe, "Crack Pie" from Momofuku Milk Bar. I still don't have the cookbook but have already made the Blueberry and Cream Cookies multiple times and they are a favorite. The Crack Pie recipe makes enough for two pies but I made it in one big casserole dish. Like the Blueberry cookies, this recipe calls for unusual ingredients and multiple steps. Also like that recipe, this one is worth the trouble!

It wasn't a very pretty dessert, but it sure was yummy. It tasted like a caramel pie.

The odd ingredient here was Freeze dried corn powder. After doing some research I figured out that you can make your own by grinding Freeze dried corn, easy peasy.

The additional step is first making An Oat Cookie Crumb. You mix and bake it in one big cookie and then crumble that. The crumbles get mixed into the cookie crust. I felt like the crust sort of melded into the pie, and I'm not sure if that is how it is supposed to be. Either way it was delicious.

I found the recipe over at Scarletta Bakes.

R for Robin

Goodness, going through my photos and organizing them makes me realize I haven't been a very good or consistent blogger lately. I have so much to share, but work and everything else tend to get in the way. I'll start with the most recent thing that I want to share with you.

Our good friend Robin had a birthday last week and we came up with such a personal and lovely gift. We know her pretty well and knew she would love this, and she does. I saw this idea on Pinterest, so I can't take full credit. Robin told me that she wanted a cool succulent planter like we gave her last year. When we got to Lowes they had a ton of varieties of succulents and I was literally jumping up and down with excitement!
 

We found the perfect hollow metal R at Hobby Lobby.
 

See, I still do metal work. We had to get the top off so that we could plant the succulents in the R.

It took a little while but we got it done and spray painted the R orange.

Here it is all planted up with the succulents. Isn't that clever?! I want an A for my backyard.

We had so much fun with this project, Frank and I really enjoyed the process and it came out great. I love it when things work out.

So I did it!

I ran the 10K last Saturday. It was awesome! I was cold but did start to warm up about half way through, shedding layers little by little. I ran the whole stinking way and was so proud of myself! I finished in 1:04:22 and thought that was great for my first try. I was exhausted after and sore for a couple of days, but oh so proud of myself.

Here is a picture of me after the race. I was hoping to find some pics on the race website, but my bib number was on the back of my jacket, which I took off during the race, so there are no pics to be found.
 

 I loved the experience. I had on headphones and took them off at one point to take off my neckwarmer. I was blown away by the sound of everyone's feet hitting the pavement. The other thing that stuck with me is a snapshot in my mind of the race. As we turned East onto the Trinity Trail and the sun was rising in front of us, there was a sea of people running and you could see the breath rising from the crowd. I don't think that image will ever leave my mind. Such a cool memory! I'm planning on running the Capitol 10K in Austin next month. It is the day after my dad's birthday and I got that weekend off.

 I have lots of crafty things to share like baking, cooking, sewing, knitting and gardening. I hope to get around to that soon. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
xoxo
Ashley

Map Love

I love maps and globes. I love the colors, the graphics and I suppose I love what they represent. I don't get to travel much but I do dream of traveling the world. Mom got us this school map at the Fredricksburg flea market in the Fall. We finally got it hung in our living room and I'm loving it!

The 10K is Saturday, yikes! I'm more worried about the cold than the running. It starts at 7am and it will be in the mid 40's. I ran Saturday morning when the sun was out and it was in the 50s and my hands and feet were numb for the first 20 minutes. I'm a wimp! We have been lucky to have a mild winter, though I probably won't consider it lucky come summer. I have been able to run through January and February, not as much as in the Fall, but I'm still proud. A customer at work told me that there is only one hill and it is in the beginning of the race. I have run up that hill and it isn't bad at all. Wish me luck!

Feeling the love

This is the extent of my valentines enthusiasm this year. A red carnation that my boss gave me to wear in my hair at work and a pink ruffly dress that I sent to Karlie. I also made the best chocolate chip cookies and sent most of them to my family.

My sister in law texted me yesterday that Karlie had worn the Christmas dress that I made her to school. I felt a little bad that I hadn't mailed this sooner so that she could have worn it yesterday, but I'm glad she likes the other one so much. This is the same pattern with ruffle knit added to the bottom, so she ought to love this one even more.

Work was hectic and the holidays there kind of ruin them for me personally. It is just so busy and exhausting that you have no energy left to do anything unless you have planned in advance and I'm not good at that. Last year I was working in floral on Valentines, so I saw it from a different perspective this time.  It was so funny to see all the men gathering around looking dazed and confused.  I was lucky to open yesterday and was able to enjoy the lovely sunshine with a cup of tea and my new Saveur Magazine in the backyard after work.

Happy belated Valentine's day!
I'm off today, recovering and getting stuff done around the house and errands run.

ps, I got this picture of Karlie wearing her dress to a birthday party.

Plant Life

Part of my Year of the Home New Years declaration has been sprucing up the house by bringing in more house plants. They really make me happy and give a more finished look to a room. Instant upgrade! I'm not usually good with houseplants, but do much better with my gardens. I'm trying to become a better caretaker to my indoor plants since they bring so much joy to my life.


I have been reminding myself of my PawPaw with my plants. He never met a plant that he didn't try to divide and multiply. I only do that with the easy ones, like succulents. I have my little pot full of succulent rootings by the window and check on their progress regularly. I love to see them grow!