Knitting Madness!!! and other old lady news

Since winter 2010 seems to be never ending, I've recently picked up knitting to have something to do in my spare time. My boss's wife and her mother are knitting experts and were kind enough to have some knitting teaching parties for their friends. I've only learned basic knitting so far (casting on, basic knit, and casting off- for you knitters out there) but I've already accomplished quite a bit. I've made about a quarter of a very large scarf and one and a half dishcloths. The scarf is quite the task since I've made it so wide, so I figure I'll probably be able to actually wear it by next winter. The dishcloths, on the other hand, are nice and quick, not to mention useful. When Mr. Growbot and I got married, we received several knitted dishcloths as a wedding gift, and I use them all the time. They do a great job at scrubbing, yet they are soft and gentle on delicate items like glass. Hopefully I'll be churning them out quick enough to replace our old ones as they age.

In other news, the seedlings are starting to look like real plants and everything is doing pretty well. I will (hopefully) be planting some herb seeds and a few more broccoli seeds this weekend for the upcoming growing season. Last weekend the weather was great, so Mr. Growbot and I were able to get out and take care of the raised beds in our garden. The soil looks great and was full of fat, happy worms, which is always a good sign. I can't wait until growing season actually starts! Until next time...

-Mrs. Growbot

Lady Marmalade

It's been another blah-neverending winter-grey-colder than it should be week, so I decided to spice things up a bit and do some canning. I made Blood Orange Marmalade which turned out to be very blood-colored indeed. This is the first time I had ever made marmalade (as opposed to jams and jellies) and it certainly took a while to prepare all of the ingredients. A lot of people are unaware that marmalade has actual pieces of rind in it, I think mostly because it's cooked down to the point that it's no longer chewy and really very soft. In order to get rind that soft, you really have to boil it down- hence the long prep time. The one nice thing about marmalade however, is that it requires no extra pectin to make it gel. Apparently there is naturally enough in the fruit that all you have to do is boil it long enough and it makes instant jelly! Blood Orange marmalade was the definitely the highlight of my week.

In seedling news, the first true leaves are starting to show up on the tomatoes and my peppers finally sprouted! Just some late bloomers I guess. Everything is going well and I should be starting some herb seeds this coming week. Also, check out the cat grass- it's crazy! The cats have really enjoyed it so far. I now just leave it next to their food bowls and they munch on it as they please. Until next time...

-Mrs. Growbot

They're alive!...mostly.

It's been about a week since I started the seeds for our upcoming spring/summer garden. Everything has sprouted except for the peppers. I'm hoping that they will eventually sprout, even if we do keep the house temp at a cool 63 degrees. I put a heating pad underneath the box that they've been started in and it seems to keep things warm and steamy in seed-land. The cat grass was the first thing to really take off and I let Pants and Gizmo have it at this week. They seemed to really enjoy it, however, I think the grass needs to build a better root system because the cats were pulling it up when they tried to chew on it. I think it will be readier next week.

In other news, Knoxville got tons o' snow this past weekend (when I say tons, I mean about 4"!) and Mr. Growbot and I had a swell time. We played around in it a bit, including sledding on a piece of styrofoam insulation we found in the garage. We even made a Snowcat! They're forecasting for snow again this coming weekend, so who knows what kind of adventures we'll get into next. I'm thinking orange marmalade- more on that next week.

-Mrs. Growbot