Not just ’cause it makes ice cream. In fact I haven’t been using it to make ice cream…

It’s summer… and summer means fruits and veggies such as, cantaloupe!

I mentioned it before but I did it again last night. Slightly different recipe this time. My own concoction.

The first batch was Cantaloupe/Lime/Mint
1/2 Large Cantaloupe
6+ Tablespoons good lime juice
~1/4c chopped mint
1 1/4c Simple Syrup

This one was Cantaloupe/Cranberry/Lime different, but also very tasty. I’m so getting myself one of these when I have my own place. It’s awesome! And so healthy, just make simple syrup and after that everything just goes in the blender to taste and then the ice cream maker. So there’s about 3/4 of a cup of sugar in an entire batch of dessert. Not bad!

1/2 Large Cantaloupe
~1/2c Cranberry Juice (Cranberry, not cocktail, not with water)
~1/4c Lime
1c Simple Syrup

Nom nom

Also been making progress on weaving the scarf.

~The Gnome

Pullin’ weeds and pickin’ stones
We are made of dreams and bones
Need a place to call my own
‘Cause the time is close at hand…

We have two vegetable gardens this year. One at home, which has been repeatedly nommed by groundhogs, an insistent deer, bugs, and something else, but has still managed to keep growing and producing. And we have a second vegetable garden at the public gardens. The public gardens are new in this location and so are a little weedier than an established garden, but otherwise it’s been great. We’ve got lots of stuff growing and I’ve made a lot of stir fries and goulash sorts of things with the kohlrabi, chard, beets, peppers, and tomatoes.

A few nights ago, Mom and I made a batch of dill pickles (Grandma’s recipe!) and yesterday I picked this…

Our third cantaloupe of the season (two varieties, this is the less totally awesome one), some more cukes, the first carrots we’ve picked, a TON of cherry tomatoes, and a fair bunch of “normal” tomatoes.

So for dinner I made pasta capreze. Our tomatoes, our basil, our chives. In the old days it would have been my home made cheese too.

And for dessert… sorbet! Sorry, didn’t get a good photo of that.

Mmmm sorbet. Cantaloupe, mint, lime. Fantastalicious and refreshing. And a great use for a cantaloupe with really nice flavor but not as firm a texture as we like.

Ok, that’s it for now!

~The Gnome

Part of being an adult is being able to admit when you can’t.

I do not like this part of being an adult.

I do not like the word “can’t” very much at all. It makes me cranky and obstinate, rather like a donkey which will not go somewhere simply because you’re trying to lead him there.

But nonetheless, it is sometimes necessary, and right now, I can’t. ::sighs::

The balance has been lost. It needs to be regained, which may require a trip into Mordor, but it must be done.

So, shop updates will be a little less frequent. I will not be accepting any new commissions until the one I have, outstanding projects, agreements, and the trades that still aren’t done have been completed. At that point, things will be reevaluated, but I will also be writing my dissertation by that point, which means I will be applying for jobs and, hopefully, interviewing.

But anyway, I did get a little done.

I got these made… or rather, remade. It turned out one of the findings I had gotten was substandard and shed bits all over the place. So I remade these carnelian stitch markers. And because it took me so bloody long, I also made a pair of Leopardskin Jasper ones to go with them.

And these leopardskin ones as a bonus for a recent large order.

Also, for the shop…

Fire ripples and glows along the slowly burning wood, creating waves in the air as the heat warms your skin. The fire is burning long and low now, the colors deeper, richer, the coals glowing deceptively welcoming…

Into the Fire – 1oz – 50/50 Cashmere/Tussah Silk – Combed Top

Capturing the sheen and depth of this fiber is really hard in photographs.

I also have some silk and some merino/angora drying as we speak.

In other news… LOOM!

I actually got this loom on tuesday. But only just got it unloaded. My living room is exploding. I need to clean the bedroom so Ash can move in there. Also this guy needs some cleaning, and I put the beater bar on the wrong direction. Easily fixed.

It’s a 20″ Hammett counterbalance floor loom. 4 treadle, 4 harness. It’s quite lovely, just needs some cleaning and to be re-hung, which I think I can do. I do think that full love of it will have to wait a bit though, as I need to rehang things and get/make a ratchet advance lever for the front beam. And before that, I have other projects that need to be taken care of. No big deal. It’s pretty!

::grins::

Ok, back to working on this paper. Stupid yeast didn’t grow last night, making today paper day instead of tomorrow.

~The Gnome