masterpiece

The beginnings of a good homemade pie start in a blackberry patch. Where else? Today our berries were just becoming soft and ripened so I thought I’d make a pie. Once you pick four or five cups of berries you can go straight to the kitchen and wash your harvest for the sweetening process. Half a cup of sugar, some water, a little cornstarch; you don’t need much to make it taste good. Dump the berries into a pie crust, stick it in the oven and you’ve got dessert for tonight---all finished in a couple of hours.

(My top crust tends to be a little patchy looking at times, but it just makes it look artistic.)

 PIE (with fresh berries):

4-5 cups of berries (for 9 inch pie plate)

Mix in:

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2/3-1 cup sugar (I used ½ a cup)

Let fruit sit for 15 minutes before pouring into pie plate. Cover with crust. Bake at 450 degrees F. for

10 minutes before reducing temperature to 350 and baking for 40 -45 minutes.

church camp

I know I haven’t written on my blog in a long time but this time with good reason! Last week I went to 2012 NEOLA CYF Conference (in other words, church camp for youth).

Beginning on Monday, 58 campers gathered together for the full camp experience including zip lining,  making new friends, games of gaga (a game with which we were slightly obsessed), late nights out, talent show, dancing, bug bites, cold showers, and many more small things which make up the fond memories everybody has of camp. But because it was a Christian church camp, we also had Bible studies, worship every night, prayer partners and key-point scriptures. Despite how little sleep I got, I came away from camp rejuvenated and ready to become a witness of God.

It was sad (naturally) to leave camp, but I am looking forward to next year—even more so than usual because I signed up for council. That means I get to meet up with other council members and help plan the week of next year’s camp. It’s like being a camper and a leader at the same time!

So in conclusion to this rambling blog post I would like to say that camp was an amazing experience for me. The Bible studies taught me much about our Savior, and worship was especially personal and meaningful to me. I will continue on through the year using camp as an example to hold up for others and remembering sincerely the large step forward which I took in my spiritual journey.

sewing up a storm

     It's not often that I have the time to lay my hands on a good craft/sewing project, but since today was unofficially a day of rest in our household, I decided to finish some projects and see what I could find to work on. Not that I'm a terribly great seamstress or anything, but sewing is something I like to do, so at least there are good intentions and love (if not craftsmanship) thrown into each undertaking.
Firstly, I found (in my deep dank closet) a baby afghan that I had started for my niece Amelia.
Today I finished it off, though I only hope
that the middle isn't too noticeably bulgy.
The next one will be better I promise!

     Next, I found (in our overflowing fabric box) some quilt blocks left over from a quilt Mom had made many years ago. It was a lot of fun designing the pinwheel design and sewing the blocks together to create a small quilt top. It was quite easy considering that the piecing had already been done for me:)

      And yes, that is my fantastic sewing machine that I won at the sewing expo in Kansas City! It's wonderful to work with, and (with the assistance of a built in touch screen) does small embroidery projects for me.

     My final sewing venture of the morning consisted of nearly finishing a baby quilt for my nephew, Ian. (It's awful hard keeping up with these nieces and nephews:) It really has been a joint project between me and Clara, but today I took the bit in my mouth and worked on it some. I tied the back and the front together, and sewed the binding on (though it still needs a little more work.) It doesn't look half bad, if I do say so myself.

     I especially love the little gangster dogs and cats that we put in it!

      All in all, it was a hard day's work and it was nice to have the feeling of accomplishment. Now, for hemming my brother's pants!