commonplace

"She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue." -Proverbs 31:26

"Hasty action is the father of failure, and failure in turn begets severe penalties. But much good comes from restraint, and even if one may not think so at the moment, he will discover, in time, that it is so." -Herodotus' Histories

"Slander is a most terrible crime, one in which two people commit the injustice and a third is the victim of it. The one who slanders commits an injustice against the one who is not present, while the person who listens to him does wrong by believing him before learning if his claims are accurate. And the man who is absent from their talk is wronged, being slandered by the one and assumed to be bad by the other." -ibid

"Good sense is every bit as valuable as the willingness to heed someone's good advise." -ibid

Long over due

I've been meaning to post pictures of our garden this summer/fall, but life has been very busy since I took the pictures that I have not had the time until now amongst study, sleep, and meals (all very important parts of my day). Mom and the boys (and Curtis when he was home), were the main caretakers of the garden this year. God blessed us with an abundance of produce; enough to share. The boys kept the weeds under control for the most part up until we went on our two week trip, we came back to find the weeds had exploded without permission. ;) But, without further delay; the pictures....

Green beans (only part of them)
Momma picking from the green bean trellis
Part of Curtis' raspberries (we consider them his because he has put the most work into them and were it not for his care and interest in them, we would have them as we do now. He's very generous to share. ;)
A loaded branch. This fall, as they really started their mass production, we had to pick almost every two days! Now its slowed down to just weekends, but this may be our last week for them.
Right of the vine

Good thing we froze some =)

Even though we ate a number of raspberries and were able to share some, we have two buckets full in the freezer. (There are a couple black berries on top here).

We got a couple strawberries from my plants, but most of the time the bugs enjoyed them before they were quite ripe enough for our tastes.

We have loads of onion this year, some of which I believe is still from last fall. Mom hopes to dehydrate several to have on hand.

Tomatoes

A variety of yellow squash

Lettuce

Granny smith apples

Rome apples. After working around spots and worm holes, Momma made apple sauce with homegrown apples. Enough to put a couple containers in the freezer. Some sweet friends picked up some Dixon apples when they went last week, and we are hoping to process them this week.

God has certain blessed us greatly with delicious food and produce from our own garden. We are also so thankful that we have peaches, green chile, and soon apple sauce put up for the next several months. We'll see how long the raspberries last when Curtis gets home. ;)

Till next time.

Marissa

gifts for two splendid ladies!

I actually made this one for Marissa's birthday back in June.

this is the diana apron

I couldn't get pictures of the recipient modeling, so my ever-accommodating sister acquiesced =)

this is a spin-off the Ashleigh apron

family funnies

Scott shopping at Walmart and asked Marissa: "Why do they sell used jeans?" (referring to ripped, faded and distressed jeans)

Russell at breakfast: "Anyone want to split me?" (split a biscuit)

Late-night, last-night I walk into our room and crawl into bed. You have to know that Marissa likes to go to bed around 9:30 whereas I prefer to stay up (somewhere between 10:30 and 12:00) and get more things done at night. That being said: Marissa sits up in bed, stretches, and rubs her eyes (she has recently started talking and moving in her sleep. So far these happenings have only occurred twice: she sat up in bed and watched me putting things away and then flopped on the bed, and the other time had a most interesting conversation with me...she has no recollection of either) so I just had to check. =p

me: "Rissie are you awake?"

M: "mhmm yeah."

me: "good-morning!" (totally kidding)

M: "good-morning." *waking up*

me: *getting worried*

M: "I would have thought my alarm would have gone off."

me: "it's still dark Rissie..."

M: *moving towards her alarm (at the foot of her bed) "I know, what time is it?"

me: "uh...11:00..."

my newest lunch idea:

alopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhy

potrimmatosilphioparaomelitokatakechymenokich

lepokossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptekephal

liokigklopeleiolagoiosiraiobaphetraganopteryg

on

(yes, that's actually a word--it means "a goulash composed of all the leftovers from the meals of the leftovers from the meals of the last two weeks." or "leftover soup") anyone want to come over for lunch?? =D

commonplace

"I hope I will possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all title, the character of an honest man," - George Washington

"Words my show a man's wit, actions his meaning." - Benjamin Franklin

"friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art...it has no survival value, rather it is one of those things that give value to survival." - C.S. Lewis

marginalia

compurgation- acquittal of a charge or accusation, obtained by statements of innocents given by witnesses under oath

nonpareil- having no match or equal; unrivaled

jettison- throw or drop (something) from an aircraft or ship

prolix- (of speech or writing) using or containing too many words; tediously lengthy

erudite- having or showing great knowledge or learning

the ashleigh apron

my latest project:

I have decided to name my apron patterns. As the title says, this one is the ashleigh. The previous flower/ruffle apron is the ellie.

if you're interested...

I have started a new blog! Don't worry I will still maintain this one as well and I plan to continue posting at the same rate and with the same content here. www.thegreatbooks-caitynmarissa.blogspot.com will be where Rissie and I post our lit and english assignments (possibly thoughts on the school-assigned books aswell). Mostly just so we can read each other's writings, but if you would stop by and comment we would be thrilled.

apron 1

The week before school started, Marissa and I took Mom by Anthropologie, in the ABQ Uptown shopping center (we stumbled upon it earlier this summer while we were killing time). Anthropologie has everything from clothes to bedding to perfume to cookbooks-- and their inventory changes all the time! The only downside is the outrageous prices...but it make a place of inspiration for my creations. One great find was an apron made of lots of different fabrics that was also very feminine. Today I didn't have much homework, so I was in the sewing room--of course, trying to replicate the apron! Here's my take on it:

For all our dear friends who love to wear aprons, I will hopefully be adding to (and replacing!!) our collection in the coming days and weeks =)

commonplace

"To write beautifully is to inscribe thoughts on paper in a flowing, imaginative way. With aspirations to intrigue and inform; its truly an art on paper, filled with emotion and thought ina smooth aesthetically brilliant way." - Paul Acquasanta

"If you want to lead, you must read." -Theodore Roosevelt

*note* I have decided to divide my marginalia post into two different posts: marginalia will the words and definitions that I come across and my thoughts on what I'm reading; the other being commonplace where I will post the notable extracts from the books that I am reading.

nineteen!

As most of you all know, my birthday was the 29th, so I thought I'd share some pics with you. Saturday we spent the day together and ate lunch at my favorite BBQ place in town- Rudy's! Then Marissa (who was in charge of dessert) and Mom took us by Cake Fetish, a cupcake shop. We all picked out a speciality flavors and took them home to enjoy with some ice cream. =)

the flavors: Inside-out German Chocolate, Cherry Cheesecake, Sleepless in Albuquerque (chocolate mocha), Nutter Butter, Pucker Up, Shuffle Truffle (chocolate raspberry), and Grasshopper

it's that time again

Time to process peaches! Our family has picked/bought peaches every summer since I can remember. It's always a great time in the kitchen with everyone working, talking, and enjoying themselves. One of my favorite memories is driving down to Las Cruces and staying with Nana and Grandad for a couple days. During our stay we would pick peaches at an orchard (sometimes with cousins too!) and process them all in Nana's kitchen--I always get to skin the fruit in the ice water, it's tradition. =) This year was a bit different, though: Curtis wasn't here--we miss you! Mother Dear, Marissa and I were able to boil, skin, slice, sweeten, and bag half of the juicy goodness last night. Two bushels left for tonight.