inside the white picket fence

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

2009-05-13T13:31:00.000-07:00

I took the afternoon to make my first batch of Strawberry Rhubarb jam. I had picked up a bunch of rhubarb at the farmer's market on Saturday and after making a delicious Strawberry rhubarb crumble found here for Mother's Day I had just enough left for the jam. Grabbed a quart of berries this morning and got started. This was also my fist canning of the season...I'm very excited for more to come.

Spring Beginnings

2008-03-11T13:16:00.000-07:00

This is the start of a new project. I am going to attempt to spend the next year or so making things for myself and family instead of buying them . This applies to food, clothing, gifts. Basically anything that I could actually make. I sort of already do this. I knit and am learning to sew...although the clothing will be a new experience. I don't really buy much processed food, but I'm really going to make an effort to stop buying it all together. If I need a cake...I will make it from scratch, if I need a new skirt...I will buy the fabric and sew it. We will be starting a vegetable garden here very soon and I am excited.
You may have noticed that I changed the name of the blog to PoeMade. I think its clever...it sounds a bit like the word "homemade" and sums up what I'm trying to do.

Today's project was painting the new greenhouse/shed and planter box. I picked up some green paint from home depot called Asparagus, a good name for a garden paint color. I had already painted the sides of the shed white, this was going to be the trim color. The greenhouse will soon be home to some seedlings once it warms up a bit.

The planter box is for spinach. We are planning to build another for lettuce.
Thanks for reading and joining me again as I attempt this whole blog thing for the 4th time I think....but who's counting? I am looking forward to the new things I'll be trying and documenting here this year. Here we go!

Sprouts

2007-03-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I posted. I guess quite a lot has been going on. We found a house that we might like to buy and put and offer on it. It will be a great house to share with Ian and Jamie and it has great garden potential, a blank slate really. We are waiting to hear if the offer is accepted so...we'll see. This week we also celebrated the arrival of Ester Kirk with a baby shower. Chris and Natasha fixed an Ethiopian meal for everyone which was really good. They are going to be traveling to Ethiopia in about 2 weeks and then Ester will be home! You can see some pictures of the shower here.
Garden Update:
Last week I planted some spinach and lettuce seeds. Today they have sprouted! Its so exciting to see it actually work. Yes I know its very early on but its the beginnings of food! I can't wait. Yesterday I planted some heads of green tower lettuce. My hope is that we will be able to eat all these green veggies before we move. I think its doable!

and so it begins...

2007-03-20T13:27:00.000-07:00

Its warm outside and I'm tired of buying my vegetables at the grocery store. This can only mean one thing: we must garden. Today I got the soil ready for planting. Since our lease is up at the end of June I'm only going to plant spinach and lettuce here. I turned the soil and added compost to half the garden, I guess I'll just leave the other half as it is. It was much easier getting the garden ready this year as compared to last. The soil was still somewhat soft and diggable. I picked up some seeds at Roxbury this afternoon and am planning to plant them in the next day or so. I did not plant any spinach last year which is crazy because I love spinach so much. I'm looking forward to it. Also last year I planted Romaine from starter plants but I'm going to try it from seed and I may get some little plants when the farmer's market opens up. I'm pretty bummed about moving in the middle of the growing season. Especially because the trees that shaded the garden last summer have been cut out, the garden gets amble sun all day now...I could have had the best tomatoes on the block. I'm hoping we can get into a place mid to late May and then possibly I can get something started. This blog may become more about gardening during these warm months. I don't seem to get as much knitting done when its so nice outside.

GREEN

2007-03-19T13:15:00.000-07:00

Last nights dinner was green. All green. It was very good. Danica made a spinach pesto tortellini and caramel pie with green whipped cream. Jamie made broccoli, green rice crispy treats and guacamole. Natasha made spinach pizza and lime jello. Ryan and I made chicken skewers with zucchini and green peppers and I made a salad with green veggies and apples. All the green things were very tasty!
Join us next Sunday for dinner...it won't be green but it should be just as good!

rainy+muffins

2007-03-16T12:35:00.000-07:00

Its a very rainy Friday here and Ryan and I are both home. This morning I decided to make some muffins. When we were in Auckland last spring we ate breakfast at this coffee shop by our hotel almost every morning. They had the best banana chocolate chip muffins, and we had a few to make sure that they were in fact the best. I tried to make them once before when we got home from the trip, to recreate the experience, but they weren't quite the same.
This morning I thought I would try again. I had three bananas to use up and enough chocolate chips to give it a go. They turned out great. I followed the banana nut muffin recipe in Joy of Cooking. Omitting the walnuts for the chocolate. Maybe its because its been almost a year since we had the New Zealand ones and I've forgotten the caliber I was aiming for or these were just good. The recipe said they are best served warm but I disagree. I am eating one cold right now and I think I like it better than this mornings.
I also have some granola in the oven right now. As some of you know I am on a quest for homemade granola that clusters...so I'm following the same recipe I made before just I'm baking it like its a bar (not stirring it at all and keeping it covered so it doesn't burn) and then I will crumble it when it cools. I hope this works.

Travels

2007-03-14T16:20:00.000-07:00

This weekend (Monday and Tuesday for me) I took a little tour of VA. Monday morning I set off for Lexington to visit my brother, Matthew. He works at a Young Life camp there. I had never been to Lexington before so I was excited to see the town. We had lunch at the Blue Sky Bakery. Now, since I work at a bakery/cafe I'm somewhat of a sandwich snob. I really only like Eileen's sandwiches..however we had a great lunch there. We both had the special called "Cool Hand Cuke" it had turkey, cucumbers, lettuce, tomato and onion with a creamy dill spread on fresh baked Focaccia Bread. It was quite tasty! Then Matthew showed me around town. We walked through the campuses of Washington and Lee University and VMI. I forgot to take my camera along...I would have liked some pictures. Then we went over to Buena Vista, or B.V. as Matt kept calling it, to see some cousins (Nancy, Robby, Melissa and her friend Wes). Nancy showed us around the house and shared her favorite pastime with us (looking at family pictures) then Melissa and Wes took us up to see their cabin, which (since I didn't take a picture) is exactly how you would imagine a cabin in the mountains to be. It was so peaceful and rustic! Hopefully Ryan and I can go down and spend the night sometime. Then we went back to town for dinner. We ate at an Italian place and there was a small Bluegrass concert going on. I know you're thinking that Italian and Bluegrass don't really go together but in Southwestern VA they do!
I stayed that night at Matt's friend Kari's house. It is out in almost the middle of nowhere, quietly nestled in the hills. The next morning I made my way to Harrisonburg. When I got there I had a nice cup of coffee with mom, visited with all of my Grandparents, stopped by to see Dad at work and then had lunch with an old friend! It was a JAM-packed morning.
It was nice to be able to drive just a short way and see my family! I look forward to doing it again soon. When I got home I realized I had a lot more in the back of the car than I did when I left. So since I did not take any pictures while away, I thought I would give you one of all the things I brought home.
From Left:

Tea and Chocolates(in front) from Mom and Dad for Ryan's birthday.
Treats for Brinks from Matthew purchased at Three Dog Bakery in Asheville, NC
Fair Trade Organic Ethiopian Coffee (best coffee ever) from Ten Thousand Villages in Harrisonburg, VA.
Yarn from Nancy and family purchased at the Maple Festival that weekend.
Fabric from Gran. 1 wool vest, 1 wool skirt and 1 corduroy dress to use for sewing projects that I have yet to dream up.

I was never a Girl Scout

2007-03-08T18:43:00.001-08:00

But oh how I love their cookies. Actually its just the Samoas. Each year when I buy my one box I always think to myself...how could I make these on my own? Its just a little shortbread with caramel, coconut and chocolate. So today I tried, I'm not sure how it turned out yet. I had this recipe from Joy of Cooking for a chocolate covered toffee bar so I thought I would adapt that to work for the samoas...it might have. I just have to get them cut out of the pan.

Oh yeah...today we celebrated Ryan's 24th birthday. I told him that 24 seemed so old. I feel like 24 is an age where you really aren't a kid anymore. Ryan and I have been leading mostly adult lives since we were 20 but I don't know if the rest of the world believes that, but I feel that at 24 we will really be grown up...its kind of crazy that I even think that.

Ta Da

2007-03-05T17:21:00.000-08:00

Here it is, the (almost) finished quilt. I just need to sew up the small part of the one side and then tie it in some spots. I'm pretty impressed with it and very happy with the way it turned out. Sorry it took a few days to post the picture. My favorite part of this picture might actually be Brinks peering out at the door! He looks so serious...
Here's another photo I just took.
Everything is about that dog, isn't it? He must be getting jealous that my crafts have been getting more blog time than him!

Coming Soon

2007-03-01T14:31:00.000-08:00

To a park, picnic or beach near you....the first Poe family t-shirt quilt!
I pieced most of the quilt together today so I'm giving you a sneak peak. This is my first "big" sewing project made from our old t-shirts and some other blocks of a swirly, Spirograph like fabric. I'm planning to use this as our picnic/park blanket since Ryan tells me that we need to have a use for the things I make...and we already have a blanket on our bed and the sofa. Hopefully I will have the finished project to show tomorrow.
I'm not the most perfect seamstress but I do really enjoy sewing. Just like with knitting it's so cool to see something come together. I'm always amazed when I knit something and it becomes fabric...wow...and with sewing, I've made a two pieces of fabric into one...wow. Well I'll just let you enjoy the peak at the quilt for now!
Sip and Stitch tonight at Hyperion! See you there!

Growing

2007-02-27T07:35:00.000-08:00

I feel the need to challenge myself, to grow in my knitting abilities. I am inspired by this little tulip growing out front. It has actually been growing since December when thanks to global warming, we all, including the tulip, thought it was spring. But this little tulip has stuck it out through ice, snow, and sleet this past month and keeps growing.
Thus the time has come to tackle a real garment. Not another scarf, hat, blanket or any other large rectangle. (I'm not leaving this genre for good though!) That's right, I am going to knit a sweater. The sweater pictured above on the dashing gentlemen is from Vintage Knits from Rowan. Ryan bought me this book for my birthday last year. Let me remind you folks that last year I was no where near knitting a sweater, but sweet husband found one in it that he liked while shopping for the birthday gift and thought maybe if he bought it he'd receive said sweater. However I was not as confident. It's been about 6 months now of him asking for a sweater, instead he has received a hat, a dread band (which I accidentally felted) and a scarf. But now the time has come. I really do need to stretch and grow myself a bit so here goes.
I will probably be making this with a hemp/wool blend yarn, although I would prefer a lovely tweed wool as shown. But you have to keep the hippie happy, he is the one that funds the yarn stash. We were thinking a chocolate brown would be nice, but may decide to go with a natural.
The only real problem could be global warming, what if next winter it doesn't even get cold enough for Ryan to wear the sweater?! I am confident that he will wear it...with shorts if he has to! So now I will begin my search for the perfect yarn..seems I should have already done this but we have to start somewhere. I'll keep you posted! Have a great day, its going to be a good one here!

Finished Project

2007-02-26T14:01:00.000-08:00

This afternoon I finished the blanket for Baby Kirk. It's downstairs blocking right now. This project was a first for me in many ways. First project for a baby, first blanket, first time blocking, first time buying really nice yarn...and I can't wait to wrap the sweet baby up in it!
We had a fun weekend. We awoke Sunday morning to a snow covered town, a bit of a surprise. I had been expected some gross rain/sleet for the day, so the snow was great. I made us some french toast with Brioche Bread from Eileen's. This had come recommended from several customers but I had yet to try it for myself. It was delicious, I will definitely be making it again. Then I began baking some Chocolate Chip Cookies for dessert that night when Ryan called downstairs, "Ashley, what are you doing right now?" "Well," I replied, "baking cookies." "When will they be done?" (I was excited that Ryan was so eager to eat my freshly baked goods so I yelled back, "There are some warm right now, you want one?" To my dismay he did not respond with an excited "yes please!" Instead he said, "How much longer till you're done? We're going sledding!" It would be some time till I was "done", I had doubled the recipe and only the second of who knows how many pans was in the oven. But the thought of playing in fresh snow and anticipating the excitement from Brinks when he learned he'd be coming along was worth more than staying by the oven another hour. I pulled the pan out of the oven, put the rest of the dough in the fridge and got my snow clothes on.
Some time later, after having driven almost to the hill and realizing that if the Camry made it in, it might not make it out, turning around, meeting the rest of the Poe's at 7-11 and stopping to try and help a lady out of the ditch we made it to the hill, a perfect sledding spot.
Honestly, I'm not much of a sledder. I went down the hill twice. I like going down, for the most part, but I really don't like walking back up. So I stayed at the top of the hill, watching Brinks as he ran until we couldn't see him and then he ran back. It was one of the best days of his life I'm sure, he was free and there was snow to be free in...it doesn't get any better for a dog like Brinks.
We headed home and got back to the tasks of the day. I finished the cookies, did some laundry, got the house straightened up for dinner that night, Ryan went back to work on a video project and I found time for a nap which I don't normally take. But it was Sunday afternoon and Ryan had the race on in his office. I was trained well as a young girl to take naps during races...my dad is the best at this.
Tomorrow I plan to work on my t-shirt quilt, we'll see how it goes.
Click here for sledding photos.

It's a Beautiful Morning

2007-02-21T07:10:00.000-08:00

What a loving day. Its so nice to feel a slight change in season. Its invigorating, inspiring, encouraging. Brinks and I are back from our walk and about to do a little audio book listening and knitting. Brinks will mostly be sleeping or squeaking his toy. I'm not really for comparing your pet to your own human behaviors but this morning I noticed a uncanny familiarity about Brinks. Parts of the sidewalks are still snow/ice covered and for some reason Brinks feels its necessary to walk on those slippery parts. I don't understand this. I also don't understand why Ryan feels its necessary to drive on the snowy/icy parts of the road. He claims that he needs to break it up, for the other drivers out there....perhaps Brinks has the same philosophy when it comes to the sidewalk...I don't know. I'm sticking to the clear and dry paths.
Today I'll be working on Baby Kirk Blanket, it is still 3/4 of the way done and time is running short. Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone.

*Today's photo is of my orchid in our bedroom. This is my first orchid plant and its doing fairly well in our dry room. There are new blooms on the way! This is so exciting!

Tuesday

2007-02-20T12:14:00.000-08:00

Laundry day makes Brinks tired too.

Actually it was probably the long walk we took this morning. It was so nice to go out without 18 layers of clothes on, so we walked for almost an hour. He has spent the rest of the day sleeping. I think he gets frustrated that I won't just sit down in one place for a while. For some reason he does not like to be left in a room alone. So even if he's dead tired he will follow me around the house. I try and tell him that I'm just running downstairs for a minute but he always gets up slowly, like he's inconvenienced and follows me down the steps. He's a funny dog...
Speaking of funny dogs, I just picked up Marley and Me from the library. I got the audio book and I'm looking forward to getting some knitting done while I listen. I've heard good things about this book so I'm very excited about listening to it.
I've got a new sewing project about to get started. I'm making a t-shirt quilt with some of Ryan and my old shirts. They are pretty much all shirts that we've collected together since we've been dating/married. I'll post pictures as I work on it. This is my biggest project yet, which isn't saying much since its only my third project and the first two were napkins...but it should be a great learning experience.

Operation Eulatide Ornament 2007

2007-02-16T07:47:00.000-08:00

This Christmas my family has the honor of hosting the ?? annual Eulatide. Many of you are asking "What the heck is a Eulatide?" Well allow me to explain. This is a yearly gathering of the descendants of James Webb and Eula Midyette. It began as a celebration of Eula's birthday which is December 20th and became the yearly Christmas reunion after she passed. Eula is my great grandmother. I never met her but her spunky spirit fills each family gathering. Somewhere along the way some crazy member of the family started making ornaments to give each member of the family as a favor.

The ornaments are usually handmade, although this tradition has been slightly fudged on some occasions. Actually one year its was literally fudge...in a cookie cutter ornament. In years past I have helped make ornaments, gluing pasta on little noodle angels and carefully printing the year on the back. But this year, I am embarking on this task on my own, with very little help from my Gran, aunt, uncle, mother or brother. Here is the progress so far.
When I saw these ornaments in Melanie Fallick's Handknit Holidays I knew they'd be the perfect edition to the Eulatide collection. I was very excited to be able to share something I hand knit with each person in my extended and ever growing family. I think I need to make 38 and then there's always the possibility that someone falls in love in the next 10 months and then I'll be making more...but I am very excited about this and can't wait for them all to receive their ornament.
The encouraging part...I can knit one in a hour. This time does not include stuffing, and embroidering the year on it. My goal is one a week...so far I've been playing catch-up.

Brinks helped me work on them this week. He mostly just napped, but you could say he kept the balls of yarn from rolling off the bed.

Sleet Day

2007-02-14T10:25:00.000-08:00

This morning we woke up to what I thought was an inch or so of snow but it was actually an inch or so of sleet. From a distance it looks very pretty but its actually quite wet and slippery. But it was a good excuse for Ryan to stay home from work and get somethings done. We enjoyed a good breakfast of homemade granola and bananas and then set off to do some things.

I finally got Ryan to do some work around here...usually I'm the one that shovels the sidewalk. I did a little but then I got to sit back and watch him to the work.

Brinks watched longingly until it was time for him to come out for his walk.
I'm looking forward to the rest of the afternoon. Perhaps I will see if Jamie wants to do some knitting together and then tonight we will watch the new LOST episode...days don't get much better than this!!

Enjoy everyone!

Valentine

2007-02-13T16:33:00.000-08:00

Ryan and I exchanged non-Valentines today, Feb 13th. He brought me these lovely tulips and I gave him some organic dark chocolate.
I have had the house to myself the last few days. The Kirks went to Philadelphia to celebrate their third anniversary and Ryan, of course, has been working. I've mostly been cleaning around the house and getting some laundry done. I've accomplished very little knitting...none to be exact. But the house is clean and so are our clothes. Speaking of cleaning...I am very excited to be receiving some samples of Mrs. Meyer's Laundry detergent in the next few days. I could not decide on a scent in the store so I emailed them and asked if they'd send me some to try before I bought a whole thing...and they are! I'll let you know how I like it!

On a sewing note:

Here are some photos of the napkins I made a few weeks back. I tried to set the table like they did in the book and I think the photos turned out pretty good.

knitting in progress

2007-02-10T12:50:00.000-08:00

As promised here are my current knitting projects:

Baby Blanket for Baby Kirk

I am knitting this with Kiogu PPPM...but I forget the name of this colorway. But its beautiful and I really love all the colors in it. The pattern is from Stitch N Bitch.

It is 3/4 of the way done and I need to hurry up and finish it!!

Felted New Zealand Bag

This bag is about 9 months in the making. I purchased 3 skiens of Ashford Tekapo yarn when Ryan and I traveled to New Zealand last may. He got a tattoo, I got yarn. Both equally life altering purchases. Anyway, the colors are named aloe, sea green and camel. I decided to make a bag and felt it. This will be my first felted project and I am not following a pattern. I am slightly nervous that I will run out of yarn.

The yarn is 100% pure New Zealand wool. Its great yarn and it was so fun buying yarn in New Zealand. Also it was crazy cheap...as compared to what I would have paid for this here in the US.

About

2007-02-08T07:42:00.000-08:00

I thought in an attempt to just post something, I would do a little about me post. I am 23 years old and live in Fredericksburg VA. I have been married to Ryan Poe for almost 4 years (May 24).
We have one overweight dog named Brinks. He is the best dog I've probably ever had even though at times he's annoying.
I work part time at Eileen's at the Chimneys. Its a bakery downtown with some of the best food in town. The owners have taught me so much about food and really expanded my palette. I really like working there and it allows me to do some other things with my time. Lucky for me I have a very sweet husband that, although pokes fun at how little money I make, doesn't seem to mind that I only work a few hours a day...some days.
I spend my time off walking my dog...he's supposed to walk for 20 minutes twice a day...the second walk does not always happen. I like to knit and I am learning to sew...so far I've only made cloth napkins but you've got to start somewhere. I also enjoy learning to bake, gardening when its a bit warmer and I also do a little laundry and house cleaning here and there. I guess you could call me a house wife....maybe.
This summer Ryan and I are planning a trip out west to see his Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and cousins. Our crazy plan consists of flying to San Francisco, purchasing a VW Bus and driving it back across the country. Ryan knows how to keep life interesting. We've joked about trying to get pregnant on this trip...just because it be an awesome story to say that our first born was conceived in the back of a VW Bus...but we'll see...
I'm thinking about making this blog be a craft + baking + life in general blog. However, I don't know how to get pictures on here, which is kind of the fun part of a craft blog. Ryan is supposed to teach me soon I hope.
I think that may be all I have time for right now. Hopefully I can show you some of my knitting projects soon!

Also, Sip n Stitch tonight at Hyperion at 7...come knit with us!!

new things new year

2007-01-11T15:09:00.000-08:00

So I have a few goals in mind for the new year that I'd like to try and acheive. So far I'm off to a pretty good start. I wanted to learn to crochet, for emergency situations where I only had a hook and some yarn. I acomplished this last week. I made a scarf using the single crochet stitch.
I also would like to learn to sew. I picked up Amy Butler's In Stitches and made the dinner napkins she designed. They were pretty easy to make and a great first project. Hopefully if Ryan helps me I can get some pictures up here to show you. The other new goal is to bake something from scratch on my days off from work. This week I made some Chocolate Oatmeal Bars and Zucchini Bread. Both turned out very well. One other goal might become to post on my blog more, or just to start posting again in general...but we'll give that one a little time still.

Tonite is sip and stitch at Hyperion so if you're downtown and you have some yarn, needles, crochet hooks or just want some coffee...stop in!

Stitching

2005-11-04T04:35:00.000-08:00

Last night's stitching group was great fun! Jessica came and it was great to see her, I hadn't seen her in several months and it was great to catch up. She had also just completed a beautiful bag that really inspired Jamie and I. When you see Jessica with her bag give her a round of applause! She did a great job!

The house is quiet now. Its so funny how just a week ago it was full of people, well 5 of us and now with just Ryan and I...an Brinks its so strange, and a bit lonely at times. Luckily the other night Ian stopped by and ate crab legs with us. We really enjoyed the company. I am enjoying the time with Ryan but it is kinda funny how 6 months ago the idea of living with 3 other people in one house seemed so odd and now that they are gone...I can't wait to move back in with them!

The Charles house is wonderful...maybe thats why I can't wait to move! I'm really excited about what God is going to do in our lives and in others in that house! I'm looking forward to many dinners and parties and all kinds of things. We are still praying for our house to sell, theres going to be a big ad in todays paper so hopefully that will bring some people through!

Well I think thats all I've got for now, this isn't the most exciting post but I just woke up so...its all I got! Have a good day!

Mystery

2005-10-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

I finished reading Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller this morning. This stood out to me..

I think the most important thing that happens within Christian spirituality is when a person falls in love with Jesus. Sometimes when I go forward at church to take Communion, to take the bread and dip it in the wine, the thought of Jesus comes to me, the red of His blood or the smell of His humanity, and I eat the bread and I wonder at the mystery of what I am doing, that somehow I am one with Christ, that I get my very life from Him, my spiritual life comes from Him working inside me, being inside me.

This is what I strive for. I don't think I'm there. Sometimes I feel that I haven't fully fallen in love with Jesus, but maybe thats because I haven't fully accepted His love for me. I think that the mystery of Christ in me is amazing and I long to experience it and to live it on a constant basis. Maybe, well I'm almost sure of this...the way to fall in love with Jesus is to see Him in others, meaning not being so self absorbed...which I am pretty much all of the time.
So anyway, I've just been thinking today about what it would be like to live with Christ as the very thing that makes me alive...not food, clothes, sleep, or anything...but Christ. And being in tuned with Him so that daily I am changed and shaped and made alive!

For Sale

2005-10-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

Well the house is for sale and has been for almost 48 hours. The house is very clean! (Well done housemates!) I'm not really a big fan of having the house on the market...its stressful and people are invading your space which doesn't even really look like your space when its all cleaned up. But we'll just keep praying that someone buys it quickly so we can move into the The Charles House!

I took my mom and Brinks to the house yesterday. They both liked it! I'm sure that Brinks is really going to like living downtown. He had the best time walking there yesterday. He sat outside of Caroline St Cafe with my mom while I ordered our lunch and made lots of friends.

I realized today that I really enjoy my job. I left the house this morning not feeling very well and not really looking forward to the day but when I left work I realized that I felt completely different. I really enjoy meeting new people and developing friendships with people that come in every day! Its so fun and different from jobs I've done before!!

Ok now I'm going to learn the purl stitch so I can make my brothers Christmas present and then Brinks and I will head out to get Ryan from the train!

A few things

2005-10-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

Well its been a while so I have a few things to say!
First....I would like to be the first person to announce to the world that Ryan has trimmed his beard! however, I'm not sure that he's very happy about it so he's blaming me for it.

Second, I have finished knitting my first scarf of the season. Jamie has let me borrow a book about knitting and it has inspired me to start a knitting group in the Fredericksburg area. I know that somewhere out there in this crazy town there are lots of young people who enjoy knitting and spending time with others that enjoy knitting so therefore..I would like to knit with you! I'm thinking of getting together one night a week say around 7pm at Hyperion Espresso downtown and stitching...I say stitching because I would like this group to include crocheters as well as knitters...this way Jamie can come!!!

Third, we spent a wonderful day a Grave's Mountain Lodge with the Hypes' and Poe's enjoying the apple festival. I just had my first apple from there dipped in peanut butter. Here is a picture from the day!

Nice Day

2005-09-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

As my day comes to a close I can say that it was a nice day. Work was good...busy but good. The Pecan Round Abouts (which I named) are selling well, which is exciting! Ryan and I spent some time at his parents house this evening enjoying a fine home cooked meal of sloppy joes, prepared with love by Grandma Rowett! Laura went to a birthday party so we didn't get to see her much. I was noticing how much older she seemed tonight and then I remembered that she is in 5th grade now...which makes her a lot older than she was just a few weeks ago!
Then we went downtown to Hyperion and enjoyed a good mocha...Ryan had tea...and we had good conversation outside on the bench...luckily we had the coffee to keep us warm...and each other I guess...!! Now I'm ready for sleep and I'm looking forward to tomorrow morning when Ryan and I get to sleep in a bit together...anything is later than 4:15am...
so good night!

This makes for 5 posts on my blog...please be on the lookout for a link to appear on Ryan's blog!!

Brinks' First Bath

2005-09-28T11:03:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I gave Brinks his first bath. This should make his grandparents and housemates very happy...its not that he really smelled bad but I think his "itchy" dry skin may have actually been a flea problem...so hopefully the bath helped. He just finished his rawhide treat that was meant to distract him from being so wet and it worked...now that he's done I with it...I'm pretty sure that he is rolling around on our bed upstairs in an attempt to get all the "wet" off of him!! If I had a camera and knew how to get a picture on here I would put one on of this...its a funny sight!

I would just like to take this time to let Ryan know that the time is quickly aproaching when he will have to give my blog a coveted link on his blog!! This is very exciting for me!

The Great House Hunt...almost done?

2005-09-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

So we finally got in to see this house on Charles St. today, pretty much in the heart of historic downtown, well maybe the outer wall of the heart. Its right across the street from the Mary Washington house, theres nothing like living in history!! Anyway, it was very cool and the good thing is that we don't have to leave Brinks out on the street. I think it will continue to be a stretch giving up privacy in pursuit of a simpler life but it will be a good stretch.

Now we will once again prepare to get our house on the market..I still have one room to paint, luckily its the second smallest room in the house so it shouldn't take too long, however I am sick of painting. And then there is the garage to tackle...I might leave that one to the boys since I have no clue whats out there... So if anyone is interested in a house please let us know...we have one for you!!

untill next time...

trying to understand

2005-09-20T10:53:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to understand something lately in light of some recent events in my own life and in the life of my family. How is it that a church can become so consumed and desire such control over their mission that the have little to no support for someone carrying out a similar mission somewhere else. Are we as followers of Christ not here to love others and share the Good news? I believe that God has called each of us in some way or another to do this but in each of our lives it looks different. So then who are we to say that someone's calling is not right or to be unsupportive of it. If what God has called them to do is spreading His Word and loving others why not join together in it. Why not be about the Kingdom of God more so than about the walls of a building.

This has really been on my heart lately. I just find it sad that as the Church we can't all be about the same thing even if it doesn't look the same or have the same name or whatever. If we are all about the mission of the Kingdom then how can we say that one is doing it wrong or disagree with it. One person/church can't reach every person or community so why not be supportive of what another community of faith is doing in a different community.

Perhaps this is the way its always been and I'm just waking up to reality. Or maybe I just don't understand the bureaucracy of a church. But I hope that I can be more about loving God and loving those in my community and more concerned about the Kingdom of God then about one building and one way of thinking. Please feel free to comment and let me know where I may have missed something...I'm open to your thoughts!

Attemt 3

2005-09-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this is my third attempt to post on my blog. I think that I finally found a template that I like although I think its the same one that my father-in-law uses on his Phlog, but thats ok.
Today is my day off from work at Eileen's at the Chimneys, an amazing bakery in downtown Fredericksburg that you should visit if you have not already. So far today I have finished painting the doors to our bedroom, vacumned and done some laundry. I most likely do not have the most exciting life that you might read about on a blog but none the less its mine.
Tonight we are going to look at some houses downtown, hopefully some that will be good candidates for the nameless church house. Its somewhat insane that is will be my third house since Ryan and I got married almost 2.5 years ago but I guess that keeps things exciting. I'm also thinking about pursure a career in real estate and may be taking the liscinsing class this spring.
I am most certainly rambling on here but this being my first official post and all, I'm not quite sure what exactly to post about. I think maybe we'll leave it at this for now and hopefully there will be more to come!