And then Magic Happens

My mom's beloved tea pot.  I was talking with my cousin Monica about tea cups and mom's tea pot came up. I'm not sure if it's a Royal whatever or not, I just know that it was very well loved.

And she loved crows as well...

Then the wheels have started churning.  More later from the design studio...

ETA:  I found the pattern name it's Royal Alberts Forget me Not Rose pattern and was part of their flower of the month collection.  There appears to be two tea pot styles with this pattern and this is the later, and probably less expensive, style/shape.  The gold trim is in rough shape on this one due to too many trips through the dishwasher.

Rabbitbrush and Sage Dyed Wool

 

Rabbitbrush and sage dyed wool, 2007, in an iron pot.

Dried rabbitbrush from western Nebraska eastern Wyoming area.

Sage in bloom from western Nebraska.

Rabbitbrush and Sage

Rabbitbrush and Sage in a cast iron pot ~ 2007

I have studio visitors coming May 7th, the designer wants to learn how to dye with natural dyes and see some of my natural dyed fabrics.  My plans are to show her some of the dyestuffs that are native to the plains states.

Indigo Fermentation Vats

My 150 gallon stainless steel vat, yes it is possible to keep a vat going for years even decades.  Learn more about dyeing with indigo in my Introduction to Indigo Dyeing Class at The Natural Surface!

My 30 gallon stainless steel indigo vat.  Both vats came from a defunct dairy farm.

Pear Tree Dye Project

The wind took out my beloved pear tree last week, so this week we will be cutting it up into managable pieces, the leaves, bark, and smaller limbs will be used for dyeing fabric and yarn.  Am thinking of breaking out the large cast iron cauldron and making up a large dye vat.

Studio Update 021212

Waiting on one of the large shelves to finish drying before I start putting heavy items on it, waiting for paint to dry/cure can be torturous!  The two floral teapots on the top shelf belonged to my mother, they really pop against the verdant green color.

Pasta Salad

Made pasta salad for John's holiday party at work, hope they like it.

Front Porch

All I have to do now is wash the porch and the furniture later this evening, sometime this summer the ceiling will be scraped, sanded, and then painted sky blue.  Then I'll paint the south facing wall, the wall with the oval window, Copper Pot (Sherwin Williams) and then finally the porch floor. I'll paint the columns a ruby red color and the porch rails, after they are repaired, will be various shades of sage green.

It all sounds weird I know but when all is said and done the house will be about 16 different colors, it already has 12 colors on it, and will look like classic Painted Lady.

Pasties or Hot Pockets

I used the left over veggie and chicken mixture, and pie crust, to make two hot pockets tonight or if your Welsh then pasties.  This is my first attempt EVER at making hot pockets.  It took about 30 minutes for them to bake, the bottoms are not burnt though the sides are rather brown.

Home Made Chicken Pot Pie

Made chicken pot pie for John tonight, he was in heaven!

1 pint chicken - dark meat
1 pound frozen mixed veggies thawed
4 medium sized potatoes peeled and cubed
celery salt
salt
black pepper ground
garlic powder

Mix the meat and veggies in a sauce pan if the meat isn't juicey add about a half cup of water.  Heat to a boil and boil about three minutes, put a lid on the pan to keep the steam in.  Season, to taste, with the spices a pinch of each will do.

If the mixture is super runny add a bit of corn or potato starch to a couple of tablespoons of water stir until well blended and then add to the veggie meat mix.  Heat until it thickens.

To make the crust brown I coat it with some milk before baking using a pastry brush.

Put into your prepared pie crust cover the mixture with a pie crust round, crimp the sides.  Bake at 375F for about 45 minutes or until bubbling.

Pulled Pork and Tree Trimming

Today's garden update: tied up 2/3's of the tomatoes before I got so hot I had to quit. I have baby roma's they are the size of golf balls.

We trimmed our trees out front tonight, lots of dead branches, esp. on the redbud and on the red oak tree. I knew the redbud was dyeing, I'd give it two more years tops before we have to take it down, but I was horrified to discover our 10 year old red oak, which is now a magnificent 30 feet in height, has heart rot!!! I'll call the arborist on Monday but there's not a whole lot they can do for the tree I love this tree I get wonderful shade on my house in the summer, esp. my studio, so it's not so hot and I don't have to run the air so often.

Dinner for tomorrow is in the crock pot roasting away it's a boston butt roast, I'll season it before I go to bed tonight and we will have pulled pork tomorrow.

Chicken Pot Pie

Plated up, no parsley for garnish but that's ok the fiestaware is pretty enough on its own don't you think!

The grand reveal! The biscuits were perfectly crisp.

Chicken Pot Pie

Fresh out of the oven, the sauce was coming up around the edges of the biscuits.

Before the bisquits were added I made the rue added the broth to make the sauce and then added the vegetables and cooked for about 10 minutes, the time it took dh to make the biscuit topping.

I used potatoes instead of boiled eggs in the recipe AND I added chopped onion, a half cups worth.

This seemed to be the right time to try our newly canned chicken and chicken broth. Let me tell you it was INCREDIBLE! Instead of using several dishes to make the pie I used my cast iron dutch oven.

Well it sorta started out that way anyway. I found the recipe this morning at Self-Reliant Yuppies but decided to wait until dh got home from work to start the pie, and I'm glad I did! Lets just say his idea of gourmet is NOT cheddar cheese filled pie crust, and he agreed with me the hard boiled eggs seemed a bit over the top so I used potato instead.