Epic Family Reunion

I didn't hardly get any pictures!  What with that trip to the ER and all, and it just went by so fast.

Here's what I did get... Pre-accident:

And a few after the accident:

Back from Lake of the Ozarks.

We went to what is being described as the "Epic Family Reunion: 2013".  We've got the mugs to prove it! 

Anywho, besides those mugs, the only souvenir we got was a (first) trip to the ER.  Ms. S had a run in with a set of stone steps trying to keep up with the bigger kids. 

She'll be fine.  They cleaned it out and glued it back together.  These are the shots in the car on the way back from the ER.   It's a bit more bruised these last few days, but much less than I anticipated! 

 

I won! I won!

I entered a contest over at LoadaLove and I won this sweet little fairy set! 

We decided to keep the little food set for our dollhouse (it was the perfect scale) and put the table and chairs outside for the fairies.  When the children got up the next morning the fairies had left a beautiful shell and a hosta flower in appreciation. 

Gooseberries, crafting, and this kitty

We picked some gooseberries!  The Chair of my department has a hobby farm and he told us to come pick our fill.  Yay!

We made pie!!!  It was good, but not as tart as the pies my Grandma makes.  We had enough left over to throw some in the freezer and I have visions of mulberry-gooseberry wine. 


Next up are my current craft projects:
I've got one Christmas gift bag sewn.  Whoopie.  I've only got, like, a gazillion more.
I have started on the little man's birthday quilt... again, a long way to go!
I'm in a Play Kitchen themed swap.  I'm making bacon and eggs (okay, egg).  All the pieces are cut, except I'm waiting on a piece of felt I ordered for the yolks.  Please get here soon!
I figured out how to make tattered roses and whipped up some headbands for S and I:

Then there's the slippers for the sweet baby next door who was born this last Wednesday. 
I have to get all my crafting in before school starts back up next month.  I think I'll be teaching a class, in addition to taking two graduate level classes.  I should know more soon. 



I changed out the sensory bin:

Finally, a little kitty love...

 Fang loves everyone here, but he especially loves Bella's bed.  She tolerates him. 



Kombucha - second brew

My mother had a baby (SCOBY, that is) and it brewed a batch of fabulous kombucha.  It has an amazing zingy-vinegar flavor.  But it could really use a second ferment with fruit added.  I saw some cherries in the grocery store and knew what I had to do. 

After removing the pits and "muddling" (well, not so much "muddling" as squishing between my fingers), I added the fermented kombucha to the fruit.  Then I covered again and am letting it sit for 2 days or so.  I have to tell you, it's hard.  It smells amazing.  I have sampled it twice already.

Next step is to bottle it and let the bottles sit for 2-4 days (my book says depending on the temp), this creates the fizzy carbonation that makes kombucha so much fun.  Once it's done carbonating, you put it in the fridge. 

Our bar is beginning to look like fermentation-station (oh boy, that could be a new School House Rock song!). 

So, on the left is the next batch of first ferment kombucha.  The right is the "second brew" with the cherries added.  The little jar in the middle is a carbonation test (how many days to get the right about of fizz). 

Kombucha!

I got my SCOBY in the mail and I am brewing (fermenting?) my first batch of Kombucha! 

The first ferment takes a week.  Then there is a second ferment that includes fruit.  I'll update when we're ready for that!

SCOBY: Free ( a friend in MI sent me a baby)
Jar: Already had (it's a canister I wasn't using)
Tea: $5 (Black tea ordered from Etsy - includes shipping, I probably won't use it again as I'll order through our food co-op)
Water: boiled tap (boiled for 15 mins to declorinate)
Sugar: minimal cost