This is where we share a drink related post on Tuesdays. Our hostess is Bleubeard and Elizabeth-find link in my right hand column-you are most welcome to join us at our T Party.
The weather this past week-sigh- still not a drop of rain. We are in a spot I guess where the rain is missing us. Hopefully with all of the rain coming in this week we will finally get some.
Still hot and humid but not as horrible as it was. Everything is dying here in the woods-acorns and nuts falling off the trees before they have matured, blackberries all burnt up, leaves turning to their fall colors and dropping.
I did get a nice surprise though when I watered the veggie area this morning-another nice bowl full of beans, several cucumbers, another yellow cayenne pepper, and the tomato plants looking beautiful-with some rain they may just produce for me.
These beans all went into the freezer
This past week, I finished spinning the baby alpaca fiber and am quite happy with it-still spinning singles but finally looking nicer.
This yarn is really soft.
When I finished up with the baby alpaca fiber I grabbed my bag of bison fiber. I have spun allot of skeins of bison fiber already and it is still quite bulky so am glad I took a break from it and spun a couple of other things. Now that I am back to it-I am thrilled that I am spinning this fiber thinner as well-that makes me happy. The bison fiber has very very short fibers so I was afraid to draft it out-but it's working for me without falling apart.
Cuteness arrived in the mail today-friend Barbara sent me a couple very sweet handmade items. One is stuffed and hand beaded, and the other is a knitted rabbit.
The rabbit really made me smile as a rabbit family has returned this year to live down near our home-so we see them often. They are always fun to watch.
I have a box full of nuts, and protein bars near my computer-so I stuck them in their on top-so cute-the face has so much personality. And the mini stuffed little "pillow" that is beaded has flowers and grasses on it-so these go together nicely.
Over the weekend, we invited our friends -that made the catfish dinner- over for a brat picnic. I grilled indoors do to the super dry grasses, and made sides of potato salad, cole slaw with carrot and crushed pineapple, baked beans in the slow cooker, and a angel food cake with fresh strawberries and blueberries.
I made a gluten free yellow angel food cake using my Grandma's recipe-just changed the flour-it turned out sooo good, no one would know it was gluten free-it even rose above the pan-so thrilled. I forgot to take a photo of the cake out of the pan though
We also had gluten free macaroni and cheese and deviled eggs, along with my own pickle relish, lots of different mustards to choose from too. I had ended up with too many brats and hot dogs in the freezer so that's why I decided to have this indoor picnic. I used toothpicks to tell the difference-cheese brats, polish, Italian, natural hot dogs, and angus beef hot dogs-so there were lots to choose from. I also picked up three different types of buns-one was Chicago style for my husband.
The biggest favorite was the crock pot beans-those had cooked all day long-some were my canned beans along with cans of pork and beans-I added molasses, maple syrup, a little mustard, a little ketchup
Of course I sent home with our guests lots of left overs but we still have lots of salads left.
and for dessert--so good
On another note entirely:
I looked online in search of another doctor group in hopes of an earlier appointment than November. I found a doctor with excellent credentials and 5 star reviews-but sigh today I learned she is closing her patient practice and only working at the hospital. Asking about someone else in the group-they are booked up through next January-wow is there that many people with thyroid issues or is this area just short on doctors?
So I guess I will need to be satisfied with the November appointment-in the meantime I continue to gain weight-which mentally I can not deal with it--I am close to going on a liquid diet for awhile. ok sorry finished with my rant-lol
For my beverage share: One really hot day this past week I decided to make a root beer float-hadn't had one in awhile-did use diet everything-no sugar added frozen vanilla yogurt and diet root beer. Yummy-one of my favorite treats for the summer.
Happy T Day everyone.
so glad you dropped by
My husband thinks it so funny i don't like floats Kathy...lol He cannot imagine someone not liking them... lol You sure do make it LOOK yummy ... now maybe if it was a milkshake.. :) All your food looks delish! Brats are a favorite around here.. with yummy mustard... I've found out i like the jalapeno ones with cheese... MMmmmmm....You are my cooking hero Kathy! What wonderful gifts you received from Barbara... A homemade gift is to be treasured for sure! Happy T day hugs! deb
ReplyDeleteCan you help me, please? I can't seem to leave Eileen a message. No matter what I try it won't take. Can you give her this message, please?
ReplyDelete______________________________________
Your painting is beautiful and she (your Chia girl) turned out great. That is a big painting.
I am always impressed with your calendar/planner pages. This one is so cute and clever. I like that it's in black and white.
CJ 's lovely handwriting is amazing, isn't it. She also graced you with lovely little goodies to use in your art. I think it all fits so well with your lemonade. That sounds so good in this heat.
Thanks for sharing your beautiful Chia girl, your calendar page, CJ's ATC and gift, and your lemonade with us for T this Tuesday.
______________________
I'm also sending this to Deb in hopes this message gets to Eileen one way or the other.
You made a mountain of good food, everything looks great. Sorry you can't get your appointment sooner. Happy T Day, hugs, Valerie
ReplyDeleteYes I did make way too much food especially too much potato salad ha ha
DeleteI'm back now. Your spinning is getting better by the day. MOST impressive. Recalling your dyeing process, the other day when I was at JoAnn's I asked where the silk was. The lady said they only sold SILK BLENDS. I said that would never dye and she looked at me like I was a dufus. So much for buying real 100% silk in Wichita.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like your garden is putting out a lot of good food. But those brats are what made me sit up and take notice. Although I'm a vegetarian, I would NEVER turn down a good brat.
Sounds like you made some great sides, too. I add 1/2 a jar of liquid smoke to my beans. Just the smoke, a bit of mustard, a 1/4 cup of maple syrup, and about a pound of brown sugar to a 3 lb can of pork and beans. They cook about 12 hours and people rave over them. That is ONE thing I CAN make (grin).
I was thinking the other day about fixing a root beer float. Unfortunately, I only have the real root beer and not the diet. Right now, I probably don't need the added calories. Yours looks yummy!
Thanks for sharing your brat dinner, your spinning adventures, and your root beer float with us for T this Tuesday.
Elizabeth, same here. No 100% silk in our JoAnn’s superstore. I was incredulous. I think the thrift shops are the only choice, or online somewhere. Anyhow, that’s when I decided not to get into eco dyeing on fabric. For now, I’m staying with eco prints on paper.
Deletei should LEARN not to visit your blog when i´m hungry;)!!
ReplyDeletethis rabbit is so cute, what a great gift:)
have a nice week, kathy - and enjoy your AC (we seldom have air conditioned homes here, just in some offices i think...)
Kathy, your food is nothing short of gourmet, with as many choices as some restaurant menus! Anyone would gain weight in your house, but it would be fun. We eat so differently. I don’t like cooking, and my husband does, but he isn’t always in the mood to do it. So last night we had a salad “dinner” which was nothing but a green salad with added leftover chicken and ham. To lots of folks that would the first course. Lol. To us it was the whole meal. We just ate a lot of it. Then on the way home from walking I picked up a donut at WaWa for us to split. I’m glad you like the little pillow and bunny. I knew about your bunny family, thought he would fit in your home. You placed him in the second photo so that his personality really shows in his face. I haven't been able to knit again, yet, but hope to use my newly spun yarn to do that again someday. Btw, your yarn is wonderful! I especially like the baby alpaca.
ReplyDeleteThat's a nice plate of beans, always great to freeze our garden vegetables for the winter. I hope you get rain soon, our garden was dry for many weeks but at last the rains came and the garden loves it.
ReplyDeleteHad to smile at the present of a knitted rabbit, so lovely to get a hand-made gift and especially one as delightful as this.
Loved seeing your spun fibres and was fascinated to read of bison fibre, never heard of this.
Neither had I heard of a "brat picnic"???
Great post with all the photos of good food too.
Happy Tea Day!
I can't believe that your own doctor can't get you in before November. A messed up thyroid is serious. Is your doctor a specialist or your general practitioner? Nice mail too. That little bunny face peeking out is very cute. Your spinning is coming along nicely also. And your meal looks yummy. Good thing it is the morning otherwise It would make me very hungry.I hope you get some rain soon. I'd love to send you some of ours. Happy T day. Hugs-Erika
ReplyDeleteI know this wait time it totally ridiculous-he is our general doctor-we really like him and have had him since we moved here.he was nice to put it a different referral for me-but their wait time is past next year January-even more rididiculous
DeleteThank you we woke up to a few sprinkles this morning-at least it has cooled down Happy T
I am just hungry now Kathy! I love your fab spinning ! Hope you get rain for the garden soon! I love the little rabbit - so cute ! Bison fibre??? Wow! Always learning something new visiting you! Good luck with the thyroid - sorry you an appointment that late!
ReplyDeleteBig hugs, Susi
Happy T-Day!
Hi Susi, yes I was thrilled to find an affordable price for the bison-buffalo fiber-I really love it.
Deletethank you I need to get back to my spinning wheel now and see if I can master that better-hugs
Your meal looks so good - even at 6 in the morning, LOL. I'm impressed by people who can spin. I love to knit and the idea of knitting my own hand spun yarn sounds wonderful. I don't have time to take on a new skill at the moment though, I hear you about the thyroid issue, just had labs drawn yesterday.
ReplyDeleteWow, your brat picnic looks wonderful, I would love to join you! I showed my hubby and he would like some too please ...lol 😉. Those beans and brats look so delicious and your angel food cake with fruits would be perfect too - yum! I've just made mini pavlovas to serve with yoghurt, strawberries, peaches and cherries so I'm off to raid the kitchen in a minute ...lol 😉. Your yarn is amazing, I bet it is so soft and how lovely to get all those veggies from your garden too! Happy T Day and enjoy your week! J 😊 x
ReplyDeletewe have lots of left overs ha ha
Deleteyour pavlovas sound perfect to go with fruits and yogurt-yum
the alpaca is really soft and the bison-buffalo is also soft
Happy T wishes
it's almost lunch time so your brat picnic has me salivating. Everything looks so good especially the cake. Himself will be going on a keto diet (I guess that means I go on it, too. =^,.^=) so I'll be learning about different flours like almond flour for baking. Too bad you couldn't get an earlier appointment, but Nov. will be here before you know it.Your yarns look so pretty and soft. I want to reach out and pet them. The knitted bunny is adorable, too. We've been getting a lot of rain this week. Wish I could send it your way. Have a Happy T Day
ReplyDeleteHi Kathy,
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I received the loom from Barbara and am excited to start learning. Right now I am researching all those sources on the paper so that I can find a tutorial which will be easy to follow. So, Thank you!
A brat party sounds like so much fun! I love brats and all those varieties sound amazing. I have never tried a cheese brat before. I love how you centered a party around it. All the food looked delicious but especially that GF angel food cake. YUM!
Your alpaca yarn looks beautiful and oh so soft! I love the color. What will you make with this?
I am sorry to hear that you are having difficulty finding a DR. I must have missed it in a previous post but you mentioned your thyroid. I have Autoimmune hypothyroid (Hashimoto's) and I searched for years for a knowledgeable Dr. that didn't just push medication. I finally found one and 2 years later she moved. It has been so difficult and I still haven't found a new Dr. But thankfully I had her for a short time and she gave me enough information to change my lifestyle which has impacted my thyroid health in a good way. I hope you find some answers!
Happy Tea Day,
Kate
So much yumminess here...from gorgeous handspun yarn to picnic treats! it all looks wonderful. Hope you don't really have thyroid issues, but I take one tiny pill a day for mine, so not too bad. Losing weight is definitely a challenge, but can be done. Hope you do get some rain for your garden...even in Ohio the rain fall has been very spotty. Pours in one spot but a mile down the road, nothing. Thanks for letting me know about my blog link...there was an extra 'l' on the end of the html at the end! have a great week!
ReplyDeleteThank you for contacting Eileen, dear. I appreciate it. If I find time (between hosting AJJ and making art every day) I may try to do a bit of eco dyeing with fabric this month.
ReplyDeleteWow, that meal looks so good! I’m hungry now! ( and it’s not meal time).
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of brats but I gather they are a type of sausage.
I’m glad your gluten free cake turned out so well. You have the right to be proud.
I’m sorry you have to wait so long for your appointment. Please don’t feel bad. No use getting all uptight about the weight gain, because when your thyroid is properly adjusted it will come off again. You’ll see.
Happy T Day,
Lisca
We're not getting rain either, tho it seems to be happening all around us. Deviled eggs, and those beans! Delicious! It's frustrating when you have to wait so long for a doctor appointment, especially when you're gaining weight waiting for it. I hope the doc can settle that situation.
ReplyDeleteHappy T Tuesday!
Wow, all that food looks scrumptious. You're an amazing and inventive cook, Kathy. My best cake, that all the family loved, was an angel food mocha cream tunnel cake. Sadly I can't make it anymore because of our altitude (5000 ft.) Believe me, I've tried all the recommended adjustments.
ReplyDeleteYour alpaca and bison yarns look terrific. So even and soft looking.
Sorry to hear you can't find a doctor who can see you sooner. That's such a shame. You live an incredibly healthy lifestyle! it must be very upsetting to put on weight "undeservedly" ;-(
Happy T-day! Hugs, Eileen
Hello Eileen, yes the putting on weight for me is not good for my mental health at all-I can not deal with being over weight--soon I can start my walks again too.
Deleteyes some things are just really difficult in a high altitude-
Happy T wishes
Wow, that was a delicious looking feast you prepared for your friends. I'm sure they would enjoy every dish you made..
ReplyDeleteI was sorry to read you couldn't get a close Dr's appointment, the waiting hopefully will soon pass.
The wool yarn looks beautiful and so soft. You must spend a while to get it to the stage we saw in the photos.
Happy T day wishes Kathy and I hope you get some rain soon.
Yvonne xx
I made way too much food-that's for sure ha ha but I sent them home with allot of food too-and we still are eating left overs.
DeleteI am bummed about my appt but I did all I could do-just need to wait it out now.
the alpaca is really soft and the bison is soft too.
today (wednesday) we finally got rain-so needed hugs
I love root beer floats, never thought of doing it with frozen yogurt. Whatever happened to TBYC? We used to love to go there for frozen yogurt. Now when we go to Georgia, we go to Five Spot. Wish they had one here. Ok, side tracked, sorry! Your angora yarn looks so soft.
ReplyDeleteHappy Tea Day, late. I am last to the tea party!
Hi Sharon-never late to the T party-so glad you dropped by--we used to have really nice custard place here-it was sooo delicious but they closed down-they had a good business but they wanted to retire. I just make our own treats now
DeleteYour indoor picnic looks great! Glad you got some veggies too! I love seeing your spinning! When we visited the Country Show they had Alpaca wool for sale and some made up scarves - I looked at the price tag and nearly fainted - £90 for one woven scarf - and not a sign of any gold thread woven in!!!!
ReplyDeleteHave great week! Belated Happy T Day! Chrisx