All the Usual Happy Things

When I came home, Adam was beside himself with happiness. We'd been apart for a week and a half, and we both are relieved to be together again. He decided I would need some spoilage when I got home, so he was ready! At the airport, he had a delicious, fresh salad from Harris Teeter in the car for me. (I hadn't eaten anything since a slice of banana bread at 6:00 a.m.) Then he took me for an ice cream cone. And when I got home:

 Flowers. And he made me a tray for the bathtub. We both love a good soak. He made it from slats from an old pallet. It has bracing boards underneath so it doesn't slide from side to side.

 He made me some bath salts with lavender oil and rose petals, so sweet! He bought a jar to put it in. Please note that WalMart, our own Proud-to-be-American store, sells jars with the U.S. flag on them, which is breaking the U.S. flag code and technically is dishonoring the flag. Hmm.

 

He bought some frankincense wands to burn. I love incense, but I've always avoided buying it or burning it at home because I somehow felt it was an old hippie/braless/Eastern mysticism thing, and as a good Christian girl ... I didn't do incense.

But Adam attended high church services years ago -- Episcopal and Greek Orthodox. So incense reminds him of church. So I said, "Hey! It's churchy! I love it!" It makes the house smell like a Renaissance Festival or a really nice tea shop. He made a quick tray for it.


And he bought me pumpkins too.

I went to the thrift store this morning because I find it calming and therapeutic after stress. I found the cutest twin bed quilt! $5.00! It's bright and cheerful. It needed washing, but now it's perfect:

I also found a fun tea towel with sailboats on it for 75 cents:

Plus, here's my chicken-lady skirt I made weeks ago. I think I forgot to show y'all:

 

I'm knitting a new scarf; love the rusty/red brown. The pattern is a *YO/K3/lift first K over next 2 K*. 

 

Before I went to Iowa I took Adam's homemade marmalade in hand. He made a lot, but it was all too runny, and he wouldn't eat it. So I cooked it down. Old marmalade on the left; new on the right:

 

It became darker when I cooked it down. I added a bit of pectin, but mostly I forgot about it until it boiled away for a bit. See how thick it is now?

We're having soup and salad for supper, and I picked some of the very last cherry tomatoes from our bush by the back door. It looks pathetic:

 

Oh, and my peaches ... well, actually Max and Anne's peaches. I finally thawed them out. I added tapioca and cooked them with a little pectin and lemon juice, and put them into jars. They are fabulous! I slather it on buttered toast. Mmmm.
That's all for now. Please do not think I do all this stuff in one day. I am not Wonder Woman! These are things I've been dabbling at for the past few weeks. I hope your autumn days are full of yarn and outdoor beauty and yummy foods and a bit of spoilage from your hubby, if you have one. These things smooth the rough bumps of life, don't they?