This 'n That

 Did you know that there is such a thing as Glow in the Dark Bubbles? I sure didn't, but the Grandgirls did. And man, did they love them! (BTW, there are 4 bubble-coated girls in this shot).

 The quilt is coming along really well. I'm amazed at how quickly the stars are quilting up.

 Constellations everywhere!

 I mowed for the first time this morning (it was about 39 degrees, I wore a hat and gloves), and was thrilled to see that Bee Girl's bare root Crab Apple tree survived the winter. Go Tree!

Did I mention that a group on Ravelry is doing a KAL (knit along) of the Prairie Earth and Sky cardigan from Fearless Fair Isle Knitting? They're graciously allowing me to post pictures of their progress. Above are the swatches (they're doing the sweater as a class). Aren't those colors marvelous? I am absolutely tickled (and honored) that they chose my pattern.

And finally, a young writer who is near and dear to my heart has started a blog for movie reviews. The two reviews posted so far are pretty darn good, if I say so myself.

Chokin' and Crabbin'

It was much cooler and less humid yesterday, so we picked 18lbs of chokecherries, and shook 85lbs of crabapples off the tree (the poor thing looked like it was going to crack from the weight). I spent 4 hours cooking the chokecherries down to 13 cups of juice for future jelly, which I froze. The pulp was added to berries that my husband picked while I was at the summit, for future wine. And the blue hands will come in handy when I dye yarn for my SAFF workshop samples later today.

I'll chop and juice some of the crab apples today as well(boy, do I wish I had a fruit press), and save a bunch for wine. But we're going to eat some of them- they're surprisingly tasty for crab apples, not dry and quite sweet, and large for crabs. And the rest, we'll give away. There's no way I can use 85lbs of apples (which doesn't take into consideration the hundreds of pounds still on the tree).

I think I'm going to experiment with hot pepper jellies. The fruit/pepper jellies I bought in Oregon on the family vacation were wonderful. But mostly, I just hope that the jellies actually jell. I'm going to double up on the pectin, just to make sure, since last year's crabapple jelly is still as liquid as when it went into the jar. It's going down the drain very soon...