Here are three bags I've recently made. I've made about a dozen bags now, total. I think I may be taking a break from bag-making, at least until I hear that some of them have sold :) Still, I do enjoy crocheting very much. I find it relaxing.
Here's a close-up of the middle bag, my favorite.
Julia has been begging for a hat. Then she saw some yarn I had -- this deep, rich aqua. I had a crocheted hat already in this same style, and she REALLY liked it, so this morning, I made her this:
I think she looks pretty sharp in it!

Relaxing on the Lake

Sunday afternoon, we attended an annual gathering at our friends' lake house property. The purpose is for various scattered members of our denomination (which tends to have small churches) in the area, to join together for fellowship and friendship. It's always fun, and the kids can run and jump off the pier into the lake as much as they want.

Here's a generation gap for you :) Our host visits with a young guest.
My friend Patty enjoys some lovin' from her granddaughter. As soon as she realized I was taking her picture, she gave me some warm eyes :) Penny the poodle enjoyed herself too.
In mid-afternoon the skies darkened, and wind whirled, and a few drops fell, but there was no storm -- only a lovely drop in temperature! It was an almost perfect afternoon. We ate hot dogs, chips, watermelon and dessert.

The lake:

Meet Wally and the Tomatoes:

Surprisingly, Julia was unaware of our watermelon in the garden until yesterday. The first thing she said was, "We should name him!"
So, meet Wally! Isn't he growing well?
Our tomato plants, not to be outdone, are producing lovely fruit. By the end of the week, I imagine I'll be canning a little.

Bonclarken

We spent all of last week at Bonclarken at our denomination's annual Music Conference. It's such a fun, thrilling, exhausting time. I've posted pics before of the Bonclarken property, the old Heidelberg Hotel, and some of the neat cabins. Here are some pics from this year:

Julia, all dressed up for the Friday evening concert. She's in middle school choir now. They did a gorgeous job on their songs -- beautiful pure, round sound.
There was a lot of friendly, competitive game-playing during the week. Here, Philip and Audra contend over the Monopoly board -- for 2 days!
Peter says it was the best year ever for just hanging with friends and enjoying the great social life among the Bonclarken teenagers. Here he is yapping with Addison.
This is where we spent LOTS of our time -- outside, lounging, recovering from too much singing, waiting for Adam to serve up the next delectable meal. This was a great year for fellowshiping.
Rebecca drove over for the concert, after which she and Philip headed off for various things -- a musical, a wedding, moving into her new apartment, etc. They'll have a busy week.
I think everyone in the group is exhausted now after the week, but we'll go back and do it all again next year if we can! Love that singing!

Ten on the Tenth

Okay, this is a strange idea I got from a friend's blog. Ten random things on the tenth of the month. Here goes:

1. Wednesday evening, driving back home from church, we saw a huge raccoon in the middle of the road eating something. In broad daylight. Raccoons are strange in this neck o' the woods.
2. I finally, finally, got all 27 of my azaleas bushes trimmed, along my front walk. A laborious task I do twice a year and dread beforehand.
3. I made 2 more crocheted bags. (One is blue and brown; the other is white with pastel highlights.) I now have 6 for sale at Hagedorn's, and 2 here at the house, and none of them have sold. Sniff.
4. I think I was in the pool every day this week. Did anyone notice it was HOT?
5. Our tomatoes are ripening. The watermelon is growing, but strangely, it is the only one on all 3 watermelon plants. What's up with that?
6. IT RAINED YESTERDAY. Yeah, that was a SHOCKER.
7. Adam has decided he needs more interesting toppings if he is to continue eating homemade pizza once a week. So, tonight, our "adult" pizza had: mushrooms, feta cheese, fresh roma tomatoes, parmesan cheese, a smattering of bacon and sausage, plus the obligatory colby and mozzarella. Fun enough for ya?
8. I bought a "Cambridge Old English Reader" in Oxford, England, 18 months ago. Never cracked it open. Because I'm so wild about Old English, you know. Actually, I am; I bought this text just at the time that my fervor for Old English was waning that year. Sigh. Anyway, last night I finally opened it. Thought you should know.
9. On Sunday, the search committee at a church that's considering Adam will meet. They'll choose one of the 3 men they're considering, and invite him to preach. We're hoping, hoping, hoping that it will be Adam. Praying too. It would be so nice to have permanent employment.
10. Tomorrow the Music Conference at Bonclarken begins! I'm so excited! Hopefully I'll be posting pictures for your enjoyment.

Just for me

This post will serve as a visual reminder to me of something I love: the view from the middle of my little pool. Over the past 4 summers, I've spent hundreds of hours floating in my 3-foot Easy Set Pool, gazing at the trees and sky, and unwinding the tense springs in my soul. I owe these trees a lot. These vistas have brought me peace.

This view looks generally south, toward Adam's brick oven. Above it is a small magnolia tree.
Next is a towering pine, with a cluster of hardwoods to the left.

This is Julia's "reading tree" and actually the largest tree by far in the yard (although it doesn't seem so in this photo). Its leaves flutter and quiver.
Here's the dominant pine tree in the yard, a central figure. I've studied its gnarled lower branches many times over. It had ivy climbing its trunk but I cut it off. It's really a beauty.
Moving right, and toward the northeast, you begin to see our roof, and the shock of pussy willow and Lady Banks rose, planted together next to our carport, and leaning heavily over the rusted monkey bars. The pool cover is draped over the end of the bars. This rose bush is a shower of yellow sunshine early each summer.
Turning north, looking at the house, we see the pecan tree. This tree gives us lots of shade on the bedroom end of the house. The trunk looks terrible; it's been pocked with hundreds of holes by a woodpecker. We've seen him a few times when he returns to the tree to check his pantry for any handy bugs who've decided to take up residence in his holes. The tree itself it actually healthy.
It's hard to see, but this is the gorgeous tree in our neighbors' yard. It blends with the pecan and in the spring it has huge pink pom-pom blossoms. I'd say it is a Canadiam Plum (we have one in our front yard) but the blooms are not similar. Active, chirping cardinals live in the tree, and in fact we have many pairs in our yard.

Here are the pair of hollies, a male and female. The female is heavy with green berries this summer. They used to have branches all the way to the ground, like HUGE bushes, but I pruned them severely so we could walk under them and clear the soil. I like them so much better this way. They are very close to the pool. This view looks east.
I rescued this dogwood tree last year. It had a large holly growing up in the middle of it, competing for soil and sun. I removed the holly (um, with a bit of manly help...) and now the dogwood is looking better. I love the shape of its leaves and the color of them in the fall.
Now I'll turn my attention to the sky. Here are the tall trees above the brick oven.
I LOVE this chunk of sky above the two pine trees.
This is the largest piece of sky, over our neighbors' house to the west, above the Lady Banks rose.
I thought last summer would be my last one in this house. I'm rather surprised and so thankful to still be here, still enjoying my home and my yard. We will likely move -- somewhere, who knows where? -- in the coming year, so I doubt I'll have another summer to have my soul calmed and my spirit quickened by these simple views. They're not mountains or seaside, nor are they gasp-inspiring treasures. But they are mine. I love them for that.

Doughnuts To Die For:

This is Martha Stewart's recipe. I first made these about 15 years ago. This recipe is neither fast nor easy. But it is SO worth it! I'll give you the ingredients first:
3/4 cup milk
1 pkg dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
3 cups + 2 Tbl flour
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1 stick butter
1 vanilla bean (I didn't have one this time.)
1 Tbl. vanilla extract
2 quarts of peanut oil (or any oil good for deep frying)

Warm milk in a saucepan or microwave -- NOT too hot!! Place yeast in bowl of mixer. Add warm milk. (If it's too hot, it'll kill the yeast.) Sprinkle 2 3/4 cups flour over milk and let stand 20 minutes.

In another bowl, whisk lightly the egg yolks and sugar. Add salt & 1/4 cup flour.

Melt butter in saucepan. Scrape vanilla bean seeds into butter & add pod. Simmer until butter foams and smells nutty. Don't burn. Remove pod. Pour butter over egg mixture. I had to temper the butter (which was rather hot) with some of the egg, and whisk it firmly, before adding it all. Stir in vanilla.

Add butter mixture to yeast mixture. Mix at low speed 1 min. Add 2 Tbl. flour and mix 1 min. (Y'know, I forgot to do this step today, and it made no difference :) Dough will be sticky - very. Lightly oil large bowl. (Okay, this is now bowl #3, and this is perhaps why I avoid this recipe. Too many dishes!) Turn dough onto lightly floured surface, form a ball, and place in oiled bowl. Cover with plastic and allow to rise for 1 1/2 hours, until doubled.

It was at this point this morning that I decided, "Hey -- this would make a blog post! I'd better take some pictures!" Here's the dough after the first rise.
You turn it again, push it down and let it rise another 30 minutes. This pic shows how sticky it is, even after having been on a floured surface.
Here's the finished dough. It is very yellow from the egg yolks.
Here's the set-up. Ignore the bananas. You see the dough, the doughnut cutter (SO helpful!), the hot oil in cast iron, the yummy glaze, and the wire rack.
Let me give you the glaze recipe while we're at it:
1 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream (okay, you could use half/half or milk, but it won't be as good!)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
Whisk together in a double boiler over low heat. Enlist a handy 10 year old to help.

Cutting out the doughnuts:
This is the part I hate -- the oil is very hot -- 375 degrees. Don't let it smoke. These babies brown SO fast that I over-cook quite a few. You need a long-handled slotted spoon to turn them gently and lift them out. Make sure you have everything assembled before you start slinging them in the oil. See those holes that are too brown? Sigh. (They're great anyway.)
Scoop them out and place them on the rack to cool for a couple of minutes.
Your handy assistant will dip them gracefully in the glaze, turn them, and lay them back on the rack. Here are a few choice specimens:
And they were gone in a FLASH!!
Julia's pretty handy with a spoon.
My family BEGS for these.

THEY ARE JUST AS GOOD AS KRISPY KREME. (If you're a Dunkies fan, please just eat a piece of day-old cake, and you'll be fine.)

Today I had no excuse, and besides Rebecca is here. These doughnuts just don't last very long. You might really want to consider making a double batch, because once you go to all the trouble, you might as well have LOTS of doughnuts to show for it! We're trying very hard -- very hard -- to be disciplined enough to save a few (just a few) for Peter, since he's gone till tonight. I don't know if we'll be able to withstand the temptation though.