Whats going on?? Why no posts?

Well I have been extremely busy and my focus has been on work, school and become super healthy! So I have not had a lot of time for sewing. I guess I could cut out sleeping but I really really like sleep. So I thought it might be easier to post about what I am doing rather than just projects I have going.

So I wanted to show you how crazy my life! This is a picture of my desk today. I know crazy, but thankfully school is almost over for the semester. Summer is on its way and maybe I can turn back into the beach bum I have always been!

I have been working hard to finish my first graduate class at East Carolina University. I have taken other classes since I graduated from College APP State '10, but this one is the start of my graduate program, MS Family and Consumer Sciences Secondary Education. I will take the GRE this summer and apply for grad school in March. Wish me luck! I am powering through this literary review with muller! Non-fat yogurt with caramelized almonds! So good, but it is 200 calories as my fitness pal reminds me. Naked Protein granola and coffee are of course important to keep me focused. 

I am back at it! Running and workout got me through college, but as an adult I have found little time to do anything other than eat, sleep, or work. I have been working through this and I will be posting some workout/nutrition stuff, because thats whats going on with me right now. My sewing machine is feeling a little neglected. Maybe I can pull it out durning the summer?

As summer approaches I have been spending a lot of time with family. Mainly because I live at the beach, my family loves the beach, and they just need a reason to come down as often as they want. I constantly remind them that it get cold here too! This is us on the newish Jennette's Research Pier. It is so cool to see the wind turbines, and other sources of wave energy they have been able to harness. This pier was built by the aquarium so it has several huge tanks with fish in them!

Hope you enjoy some of the new stuff I post! 

-Liv

How does your garden grow?

My little potted garden on the porch has grown so good this summer. I think the rain water is what it really likes.

I have had a wonderful crop so far this summer and the plants still are not finished producing fruit. Next year we are going to try for more plants and see what happens. I think I am going to try to grow greens and strawberries in the spring. Maybe I will look for some things that can grow in the fall too. I love growing stuff.

My herb garden is doing good indoors too! I use the herbs in everything. I would love to grow lemon balm and mint. But I think they would do better outside. I am still learn but I think for my first growing season I did good. We can try again next year.

Rain catching

I had this wonderful ideas that I would buy a rain barrel, but I do not have gutters so filling up this 50 gallon bucket is not an easy task!

I love my collapsible rain barrel because I live in an apartment and I rent so it is a lot easier to travel. I also love how the top of it is so big so I can catch more rain. That was the main selling point. You can build your own. But you have to find a large barrel first. If you find one let me know I want to make a compost bin in one.

This publication gives the most info about rain barrels!

http://fli.hws.edu/pdf/how_to_build_a_rain_barrel.pdf

I put these guys on the front porch to catch more water. I need more buckets are gutters. Then as they fill I run them to the rain barrel on the back deck. I'm only half full now. Hopefully I'll get a few more good rains before summer.

My new window herb garden loves my rain water! I found this basket to put them in at Hot Line. They look so good. They taste wonderful too. I have dill, time, oregano, and lavender in this window sill. It smells so good over there.

I keep a little rain water inside so that I always remember to water my house plants with it too. It also gives me a good use for all the half gallon jars I found in the old house. They are no longer safe for canning and I am not sure where I would find a canner big enough to put them in. I know I will never make that much juice! As you saw from how I made jelly making juice is hard. 

These guys like the rain water too! Its only May and look how big my tomato plants are. The pepper plant is working on it. I think it just takes longer for them to grow. 

My rose bush is finally growing! I had two in there but i successfully killed the one that was on the left side. Poor thing. Hopefully I will have a huge rose bush growing over the side of the railing soon. Or maybe that is wishful thinking for this year. 

Yogurt making

I don't know where these wild ideas come from! I think I was reading a blog about urban homesteading or something like that and I saw them making their own yogurt and I eat yogurt everyday. So clearly I should try to make my own yogurt. I tried in the oven first because that is cheapest, but I had to leave my oven at 110 degrees all night. It made me a little nervous and then my yogurt was very runny and i did not add any sugar so it was super tart. It was still good with granola and honey. If milk freaks you out you should not do this because you do have to boil the milk. And it's not too pretty.

Then I bought this nifty thing. It incubates my yogurt and has a timer that shuts off after you have set it for the right time based on the milk fat content. Usually 8 hours, but last time I did 10 and it was really tart. The yogurt maker came with these cute little glass jars. You can put the expiration date on the top of them. Homemade yogurt is only good for 19 days.

I take 42oz of milk which fills all my containers. I bring the milk to 120 degrees in a double boiler and add about 3/4 a cup of powdered milk. Then I bring the milk to a boil for 1 to 2 minutes. That is 180 degrees if you use a thermometer. The milk needs to climb the sides. Then I let it cool to 120 and you can add sugar or honey, but only a little like 5 tablespoons or so. But I usually wait until I am going to eat it to sweeten it. Once the milk has cooled to 110 degrees I add my starter; which can be plain sugar free yogurt or freez dried yogurt culture. If the milk it too hot the bacteria in the yogurt will die and yogurt cannot form. Then you have to incubate the yogurt. However you would like to keep the yogurt between 108 and 112 degrees. Yogurt temperature should not drop below 100 degrees.

Once the incubation process is over I let it rest for at least 3 hours before I eat it. And hot yogurt is not very good.

It's pretty easy! No preservatives, added sugar or artificial flavorings. I actually use my jam to flavor the yogurt. It is really good and totally homemade.

Yogurt puls homemade granola.

After my Jams and Jellies class!

We used my granddad's apples to make this really pretty pink apple jelly. After making the juice you just add sugar. My jelly did not set up as well because I could not choose from ripe and unripe apples. The perfect ration would be 3/4 ripe and 1/4 unripe so there is enough pectin in the skin and core. Pectin and sugar are what cause the jelly to gel. The combination has to be just right to achieve the proper consistency. I read that powdered pectin might set up better than liquid. I'll have to experiment with that!

These are beautiful!! I tasted it before I canned it and it was great! I have not opened it yet because I am not ready to eat it. They look beautiful in my cabinet. I also printed labels from the computer so those who took my class could put their name on the top.

We also made raspberry jam. Jam I'd made from crushed berries rather than from the fruit juice which is how you make jelly. It is very easy if you have planed your own fruit. Usually you have to have double the amount needed because you will crust them down. Which if you are buying can be rather expensive. But the result is beautiful! The jam set up really well because we added pectin which I bought at Walmart, but can also be found at your local hardware store. Both were put in a boiling water bath for less than 15 minutes so the jars have to sterilize the jars. I just put them in the dishwasher.

If you are interested in canning you can do some research in both of these books! The USDA has the Complete Guide to Home Canning on their website so check that out for free. The Ball Bule Book is good too. They are a little over $6.00.

Making jelly

I am making apple juice from my grandaddy's apple straight from his orchard! The juice I am making will be used to flavor the jelly I will be making tomorrow in my canning class.

Here is how my juice is looking so far. I took the apples and simmered them in a little bit of water -1 cup of water for every heaping quart. Then you pour the apples and water through cheese cloth. I took the cheese cloth and pulled it up around the apples.

There is the bag hanging from the cabinet. After this drips or at least until bed time I have to bring it to 190 degrees to pasteurize it with heat. This will kill any E coli O157 H:7. I will let you know how the jelly turns out!

Chicks at the office

Look at how cute these guys are. They showed up at our office after the schools hatched them. The Cooperative Extension 4-H program provides classrooms with an incubator, and eggs to teach students about embryology. I think it is so cool and one day I will be taking on of these guys home. 

This guy is really cut, but cute comes with poop! Almost all the pictures have poop in them! It is just like any animal. I don't think they poop nearly as much as the rabbits I once had. Oh and I am going to have a rabbit again one day. You know there poop is really good fertilizer for the garden. 

It is so hard to work when theses guys are around.

Wood burning

I have always wanted to try wood burning. So I have these super cool wood burning tools....

I know I don't have a stand so I put the hot one on a shot glass. I made the cutes little sign out of beach fence. I found it washed up on the beach so that makes even cooler looking. Don't judge me too harshly it was my first experience.

Now I have to find some ore wood to burn! I could come up some cute ideas for organization and burnt wood signs. I'll get back to you on that one.