Crafting, Camping, Cooking and Life! (with RA!)

Spring is almost here in Ohio (The March Equinox is on the 20th!)! We went for a hike this afternoon as it was a balmy 62F today. These are my photos from Shallenberger State Nature Preserve. Below are the fungi that were out already, my apologies if I mistake any of them. "Orange" marks the loop we took, about a mile. This fungi was older and looked like it was dried. Hard to tell, but looks to be a type of polypore. Crest of the hill. Found that it's called Allen Knob. Not sure on this one. Guess a reason to take a mushroom identification class! I love the mossy rocks! It's been a long time since I've been to this park, but larger than I remember. Making our way up. Signs of ferns breaking through the old leaves. Another fungus. 1.8 miles of paths. Scarlet Cups Moss! Different angle of Allen Knob. Old fungus on logs. These were interesting. They have a wet appearance.

  Good morning all! It's a rainy Tuesday morning here. A little frustrated, looked at the weather for this week and showed little chance of rain today and tomorrow. I have soooo much I need to get done outside to prep for planting. We went to see my in-laws this past weekend (always good to go visit for a couple of days!). Stopped at Menards and picked up the 4 additional garden boxes I needed. Now, I just need to get the compost pile cleaned and put in the wheelbarrow and get the boxes set up. Also will need to get some more soil for the boxes too. When I get them all set up, I will measure to see how much hose I need for the watering system and the bubbler pegs as well. And I got seeds while I was there! They had a special price on them, plus the 11% rebate program going on, so was excited for that. I purchased Walla Walla onions, Dark Green zucchini, All Seasons cabbage, Pick-a-Bushel hybrid cucumbers and Iceberg lettuce, all Burpee brand. I've not done onions by seed nor h...

Good morning all! Yesterday was a bit crazy, so didn't have time to share. Plus, my hands still hurting from my wood carving attempt. Lesson learned to limit time on skills as such to about 15 minutes and break. My Ghirardelli brownies were super yummy, however, had left them in to back about 3-4 minutes too long. It's been hard to judge new recipes in baking in the Instant Omni oven, but didn't want the house warmed too much as the weather has been decent outside. Definitely worth it though. I tried a new recipe yesterday for cream horns. Miserable fail! The recipe I used for the pastry was a rough puff. I will take the hit on that one. Though the recipe didn't call for the dough to be refrigerated prior to baking, I still know better than that. The filling, ouch! I should have definitely read through it prior to attempting to make. The ratios were off a bit and seems a couple of ingredients were missing. Not sure I will remake today or not, but I will try again with a...

Good evening all! Long day, spent the morning cleaning. Swept and mopped kitchen and bathroom, cleaned bathroom, dishes, laundry and a little organizing. Really had fun finally playing with a Christmas present from my father. The BeaverCraft Wizard Carving kit! A lot of fun, purchased on Amazon and BeaverCraft sends you a link for a full tutorial for this. Comes with 3 pieces of wood, a knife, finger wrap, pencil, bandaids (thought this was funny! but not the brand Band-Aid) pattern and instructions. Struggled a bit, my fingers weren't very happy with holding everything and the grip on the blade but definitely fun. I like trying new crafts, you never know what resonates with you. Unfortunately, just realized I had a blister and it pulled open. So, will be a bit before I can pick it back up. The quilt guild I belong to has an annual Block of the Month. This year, it is just to make blocks based on the month/holiday. Really running behind. I have the February block cut out and the fa...