While in Minneapolis this past week, my friend Amy and I ran to Mall of America to check out the Sanrio store and we both walked out with shiny new bentos! This is mine! I just love little Cinnamoroll and what could be cuter than a little puppy on a merry-go-round made out of candy, whipped cream, and fruit!? This was lunch today.. quite simple and grain free.. it included a corn cobette, cucumber sakura blossom and slices, cherry tomatoes, tempeh on top of shiritaki noodle alfredo (vegan chicken alfredo) with a red pepper flower.

THE PLANTING OF THE APPLE-TREE.

Come, let us plant the apple-tree. Cleave the tough greensward with the spade; Wide let its hollow bed be made; There gently lay the roots, and there

Sift the dark mould with kindly care, And press it o’er them tenderly, As round the sleeping infant’s feet We softly fold the cradle sheet; So plant we the apple-tree.

What plant we in this apple-tree?
Buds, which the breath of summer days
Shall lengthen into leafy sprays;
Boughs where the thrush, with crimson breast,
Shall haunt, and sing, and hide her nest;
We plant, upon the sunny lea,
A shadow for the noontide hour,
A shelter from the summer shower,
When we plant the apple-tree.

What plant we in this apple-tree?
Sweets for a hundred flowery springs,
To load the May wind’s restless wings,
When, from the orchard row, he pours
Its fragrance through our open doors;
A world of blossoms for the bee,
Flowers for the sick girl’s silent room,
For the glad infant sprigs of bloom,
We plant with the apple-tree.

What plant we in this apple-tree?
Fruits that shall swell in sunny June,
And redden in the August noon,
And drop, when gentle airs come by,
That fan the blue September sky,
While children come, with cries of glee,
And seek them where the fragrant grass
Betrays their bed to those who pass,
At the foot of the apple-tree.

And when, above this apple-tree,
The winter stars are quivering bright,
The winds go howling through the night,
Girls, whose eyes o’erflow with mirth,
Shall peel its fruit by cottage hearth,
And guests in prouder homes shall see,
Heaped with the grape of Cintra’s vine,
And golden orange of the line,
The fruit of the apple-tree.

The fruitage of this apple-tree,
Winds and our flag of stripe and star
Shall bear to coasts that lie afar,
Where men shall wonder at the view,
And ask in what fair groves they grew;
And sojourners beyond the sea
Shall think of childhood’s careless day,
And long, long hours of summer play,
In the shade of the apple-tree.

Each year shall give this apple-tree
A broader flush of roseate bloom,
A deeper maze of verdurous gloom,
And loosen, when the frost-clouds lower,
The crisp brown leaves in thicker shower.
The years shall come and pass, but we
Shall hear no longer, where we lie,
The summer’s songs, the autumn’s sigh,
In the boughs of the apple-tree.

And time shall waste this apple-tree.
Oh, when its aged branches throw
Thin shadows on the ground below,
Shall fraud and force and iron will
Oppress the weak and helpless still!
What shall the tasks of mercy be,
Amid the toils, the strifes, the tears
Of those who live when length of years
Is wasting this apple-tree?

“Who planted this old apple-tree?”
The children of that distant day
Thus to some aged man shall say;
And, gazing on its mossy stem,
The gray-haired man shall answer them:
“A poet of the land was he,
Born in the rude but good old times;
‘Tis said he made some quaint old rhymes
On planting the apple-tree.”

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.

“The Planting of the Apple-Tree” has become a favourite for “Arbour
Day” exercises. The planting of trees as against their destruction is a
vital point in our political and national welfare. William Cullen
Bryant (1794-1878).

This is an AMAZING recipe. Imagine for a minute those delicious garlic breads that the pizza joints give you with marinara dipping sauce… now imagine them as both the crust of your pizza and on top of your pizza! Then imagine for a minute that there is a beautiful blend of cheese, peppers, and pepperoni.. only imagine that it tasted the same but no animals were used or killed.. mouthwatering right?! Well this pizza is exactly that!

This is another tester recipe for Celine & Joni’s upcoming book called Hearty Vegan. The book is not diet friendly but the foods inside are pretty darn incredible! This one was no exception.. I probably would buy the cookbook just for this recipe alone! The longest prep time for this recipe was making the bread.. everything else was just a dump and cover method. I don’t usually like thick crusted pizza (I am not a chicago pizza fan!) but this one was purely amazing… everything about it!

I wish I had taken the time to make the top of my pizza look really pretty but I didn’t think I would be photographing it or blogging about it.. I mean I knew it would be good but I didn’t think it would be so delicious that I couldn’t wait to blog about it!! The recipe says it serves 8 but in our house it serves more like 10.. with 8 servings that brings your calories to 671 or 10 servings at 537 calories. That’s not really too bad considering its a huge pizza pie topped with garlic bread sticks and the worst thing in it, is the healthy oils! Win-win!

Here’s a little sample for you to see what I am working with and what my colors are coming out like! This week I will be testing out some natural dyes.. The rovings photographed here are just plain wool combed tops.. nothing at all fancy about them except their newly found colors! I can’t wait to spin up this first one! and the first 2 skeins of yarn you see are planned to be used in a scarf while the bottom skein I am thinking to knit some simple socks.

You would think that would be impossible with socks as awesome as these, right?! No. I often say that I am an ADD knitter and get distracted by shiny new projects all the time so this was nothing new to me… but during the month of August I have been trying to finish up some of my long-time works in progress (wip’s) and these were at the top of my list. The need to wear them came back with a vengeance and I couldn’t wait to cast them off! Only, I found that they were not so forgiving.. like Bellatrix Le Strange, they were temperamental, cunning, and deceitful. I knit to the toe and started the decreases as usual, only to find I needed to work 1 pattern repeat more! I had to rip them back and reknit the toe before I could bind off.

Let me just tell you…. these are absolutely without a doubt my most favorite socks ever. Period. End of story. No socks were ever more awesome, never fit better, or felt better on. For all of you yarn/knitting geeks, you can read the details below… for everyone else, I promise more photos later!

Pattern: Bellatrix by Monkey Toes
Needles: US 3 – 3.25 mm (used to cast on), US 2 – 2.75 mm (used to knit the rib), US 1½ – 2.5 mm (used to knit the sock)
Yarn: Yarn Lust Soft n Sturdy Sock in Custom Colorway
Date Started: November 17, 2008
Date Complete: August 20, 2010
On Ravelry.

Now that the baby shower is over and the mom-to-be has this quilt in hand, I can finally share pics with you! Mom-to-be had a really hard time over the last couple years and I thought I would do something special and make a memory quilt for her and her little boy.. something they could touch and cherish for years to come. I asked her family to donate special items that could be used in the quilt top and asked for the colors to be kept to red, white, and blue.. I heard rumors that, that was the colors they were using in the nursery.

Many of the family donated jeans, a couple work shirts from the family business that just recently closed, pj bottoms, a blouse, and a few other things were all used to make the quilt top.. I then found a red and blue star backing and a matching blue and red plaid fabric that has little silver threads for the binding. I used a light loft batting because the denim fabrics in the top are quite heavy and I wanted to make it light enough for a toddler to carry around. It’s still quite warm, which is good because the baby is due in October!

P.S. Nursery in the photos is not the actual nursery of the Mom-to-be, just one used to show the size of the finished quilt.

I was really not loving all the barber poling while I was plying, it started to look too much like Christmas yarn but after it was skeined up I could tell that, that wasn’t so. Its a beautiful mix of aqua blue, green, cream, and red. I have no current plans for it but I am really interested to see how it knits up!

I am following a pretty strict diet lately, no bread carbs 4 days per week with a limited calorie in take.. when you’re a Vegan and you don’t get carbs…. what exactly do you eat?! I’ve been playing around with some raw foods this week and so far I am really liking them. I also like that most recipes I am finding are smaller servings which is great because I am the only one in my house who eats this way!

I am trying to stick with the motto “eat the rainbow” too so I can make sure I am getting all the nutrition I need. The large bento contains spicy cashew broccoli stir-”fry” from this recipe.. the smaller cup contains 1/2 of a protein bar.. and in the cup just plain ice water! I am not eating raw all the time, just to clear that up! I am just using raw recipes to help balance my diet.

This happens to be my 3rd Noro striped scarf and a project that has been at the bottom of my knitting bag for quite some time! It really is beautiful so I am not sure why I wasn’t motivated to finish it earlier but I couldn’t be more thrilled that it’s done now! It resembles my previous scarf but is quite different. The rainbow colors really blend beautifully with the transitioning red stripe and I am really looking forward to wearing it this fall! You may have noticed that I like my winter knits to carry some bright colors .. I think that is because Michigan is so gray in the winter that I need that splash of color or I’ll blend in with the snow!

Do you remember my dragon that looked like a .. well… you know.. ? Well here he is all finished and looking like a dragon! I knit the egg to go along with him and the blue yarn sparkles.. I figured every ice dragon needs to hatch from a shiny icy egg, right? He’s a good size for a dragon and currently resides on my fireplace mantle.. I am still looking for the perfect place for him to live in our home.. so meanwhile, he sits where I can keep an eye on him.. as they say.. you can never really trust dragons!

Since we spent most of July in Greece, Prague, & Belarus I didn’t have a lot of time to do much knitting but I managed to finish this cute little pixie hat! I had bought the yarn online and while the color says “petite peach” it is in reality a very rose-pink color. I am a little sad that little boys won’t be able to wear it… I am planning to knit up a few more in different colors but I have no desire to knit this again in the very near future… I have way too many other exciting projects coming up that I cannot wait to share!! So for now, only moms of little girls 3mos and under can enjoy this hat in my studio.

I can’t believe I forgot to share this with you!!! In the last post about newborn props.. I finished this adorable giraffe set at the same time! The flower is totally removable (as you can tell from the pixie hat) so little boys can use it as well! This would be an adorable newborn Halloween costume if you’re looking for ideas! The sack knits up quite quickly and tightly so it will keep your baby feeling safe and secure!

As always, all projects can be found on my Ravelry page.