Animal Rescue at the Farm Market

Well, I have a new addition to my family. I went to the market today to sell, but ended up bringing home a kitten.

About half way through the market, we noticed a little kitten wandering around under the cars. It was obviously frightened and lost. We were afraid it would get hit by a passing vehicle, but we couldn't get a hold of it. Eventually we lost sight of it, but could still hear it crying. We ended up finding that it had crawled into the metal work under one of the trucks. We offered it some meat and cheese samples and it finally decided to come out for those and we were able to grab it.

As I already have four cats (all strays), another vendor offered to take it at first (she named it Meatball, since it was chowing down on the raw meat samples). But then she realized her parents might not be happy if she brought it home, so yup, I ended up with it. It was either that or leave it to wander feral and probably get hit by a car in the parking lot, and I couldn't let that happen, so I brought it home. Yes, my family and I are total suckers when it comes to taking in animals. If there's an animal that needs a home, we usually end up with it. Pretty much all our animals have been strays or from a situation where someone had to give up the animal.

So here is the new (and absolutely adorable) addition to the family: 

Meatball the Market Kitty

How to Make a Lavender Bottle

The lavender is in full bloom, so it's time to make some lavender bottles! I always make a few to hang off my bed's headboard because the relaxing aroma of lavender is good for insomnia. It also helps with headaches. Lavender bottles are a pretty way to keep that lovely fragrence in the house all year long. And if they're kept in a clothing drawer, they give all the clothes a nice, lavendery scent.

The Good, The Bad, and The Crazy

The Good: The good is that Sunday it rained two and a half inches here. Yippie!

The Bad: The bad is that the two and a half inches might have come too late. I went out to the most recent flower patch I planted (recent being a relative term as the planting occurred three or four weeks ago now) and while there were some of the flowers coming up at last, they were few and far between. I'm thinking either crows or chipmunks devoured them since they sat in the ground for several weeks with no germination. Still, it's only been two days, so I'm hopeful more will pop later this week.

The Crazy: The crazy is of course the quilt. The benefit of always taking something with me to sew as I sit at the market is that I'm now half way through my crazy quilt. And somebody at the market had a great idea. Instead of giving the crazy quilt to the Ugly Quilt foundation, I should sell the crazy quilt and use the proceeds to buy multiple blankets for the Ugly Quilt foundation. That way several people get to benefit. Sounds like a plan.

No Elf-esteem

I won't be posting any elf-esteem videos for the next two weeks. Taking a much needed to two-week break to tackle my mile-long summer to do list, but will be back to my weekly video postings on July 26 with a lavender bottle weaving tutorial. (They're great for treating insomnia and headaches)

Hallelujah! It Rained!

It started to rain pretty good at the Canandaigua Market today, and I think every one of us farmers under that roof was whooping it up in celebration. The clouds looked like they were heading south toward my house and when I got home, sure enough, there had been rain. YES! It was definitely less than I was hoping for (only got a quarter inch), but at this point I'll take anything in the line of rain. It might be enough to make my 4th batch of flowers pop at least (I'm currently cutting batch one, and batch 2 and 3 are stunted from the draught). The poor flowers have had a heck of a time of it this year, between frost and hail, and now draught. It's amazing there are any out there at all. Hopefully this rain will help some grow, a few of the field are starting to look like pretty crispy critters.

How to Make a Catnip Toy

There aren't too many cats that don't love the smell of catnip. It's basically like a feline drug that makes even older cats seem like they're crazy high. I usually have a lot of excess material lying around from old sewing projects, and usually extra peices of small quilt batting which are much too tiny to be used for anything else. Catnip sachets get two birds with one stone; they're a quick and easy way to recycle my extra material and batting, and they make my cat love me even more (or maybe that's just the catnip talking). I've also heard that catnip is good for insomnia. So if you don't have a cat, make one for yourself to put under your pillow. (If you start meowing, you'll know you've gone too far!)

Slutty Brownies

Ok, I didn't name this recipe. I know it sounds more like something out of a movie kids shouldn't watch than a delicious dessert, but trust me, this is one of the richest, most decadent chocolate treats you'll ever make. I found this recipe online and knew I had to try it. It's pretty simple. Use your favorite recipe to whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough (I find the good old Nestle Tollhouse recipe works pretty well) and fill a 9x13 pan about a 3rd of the way up. Next cover the cookie dough with a layer of Oreo cookies. And finally, stir up a batch of brownie batter (go ahead make it easy with a boxed mix). Cover the Oreo cookie layer with the brownie batter. Cook as you normally would a pan of brownies, testing with a toothpick when done. These are great any way you eat 'em, but when you get 'em still warm, it's especially excellent. Enjoy!