The feeling of autumn is solidified for me by fruits and vegetables. This is the seas0on when pumpkins, squash, and a new favorite, persimmons become available.

At a nearby orchard, we were able to pick a couple of pounds of Fuyu Asian Persimmons. Not having picked persimmons before, I was surprised that they couldn’t be pulled off of the tree, but had to be cut from the branch.

These have a deep orange color and are about the size of a small apple. The taste is sweeter than I expected it to be and they have a smooth texture that reminds me of a soft pear. Some were baked into gluten free oatmeal scones and turned out to be delicious.

It’s been really hot in this part of Texas and hasn’t rained very much. Wednesday was the 38th day that it has been over 100 degrees. The record is 51 days set back in 1998. As for rain, the tally ended at 56 days on July 20th and we haven’t had much since then. Because of this I am surprised that our little garden is still producing.

There are squash babies still growing and here are some that we have brought to the table. The little one loves tending to the garden, especially watering it.

In addition to the yellow squash, there are bell peppers, cucumbers, melon, and butternut squash. There’s another 10′ X 10′ square that we are in the process of preparing for our fall garden.

Basmati Rice is a new scent we have been waiting anxiously to try out. It is reminiscent (such an appropriate word here) of rice pudding with spices like cinnamon, vanilla, cardamom, and a dash of rose water. The molds for these bars are recycled containers. We are very please with how they turned out.

These bars were made using the cold process method. This method uses sodium hydroxide (lye) to saponify the oils. In this bar, the oils are olive, sweet almond, coconut, and avocado. The natural glycerin is retained so skin is cleaned and left moisturized and soft instead of dried out.

The “Topography” colorway is made up of a light yellow-tinged green, bright red, black, purple, sea water blue, and earthy brown. Licorice Twist makes up the base yarn. It is a 4-ply wool yarn in which one ply will absorb more pigment than the other three, creating a twist effect when dyed. This skein is available at Tiny Lady Cooperative today. The colors really show up nicely on the twist.

The colors were inspired by a topographic map of a more rural area.

A color key of a topographic map would show:

Brown – topographic contours (there is no scale on the map above, but the contours are widely spaced so the terrain is relatively flat).

Green – vegetation, such as grasses and trees.

Blue – hydrographic features, such as lakes, ditches, creeks, and streams.

Red – imporatant roads and land grids.

Black – roads, boundaries, railroads, and cultural features.

Purple – shows revision changes, but is being phased out of new maps.

When my Spotted Box arrived I wasn’t able to immediately go through it. Waiting was so difficult! It is packed full of wonderful items. A recent change the box has undergone is less packaging and I like this. The goodies in my box included a tooth pillow, toddler girl’s applique shirt, cappuccino lip balm (which I am loving!), rosewood bathsalts, watermelon foot soak, wool wash, chocolate milk bath, hair clip with a bow, ice pop finger savers, cranberry pecan granola, bracelet, activities for little one’s, photo note card, 2 bookmarks (these are going to replace the receipts I’ve been using), heart applique, bird applique, a variety of trinkets, wool blend felt, angel earrings, an unpaper towel, play clay (it’s gluten free! great since the little one follows a gfcf diet) and a gift certificate. So many good things to try out. Exciting!

The little one immediately grabbed the play clay and formed a wind turbine. He love’s them! Smell is a big factor for him and he likes the lemongrass scent. It’s a hit!

]]> http://jujubebaby.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/goodies-in-the-spotted-box/feed/ 1 jujubebaby My Spotted Box 1 My Spotted Box Play Clay turbine http://jujubebaby.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/dragon-fruit/ http://jujubebaby.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/dragon-fruit/#comments Tue, 21 Jul 2009 02:40:01 +0000 jujubebaby http://jujubebaby.wordpress.com/?p=43 ]]>

We picked up the dragon fruit at the local produce market. They have a beautifully striking exterior and it would provide a fun opportunity for the little one to guess what the inside looked like.

Most of the fruit we’ve encountered has a similar interior. Like oranges, peaches, and cherries, the inside is basically a gradation of color. A darker rind/skin paired with a lighter inside. After the dragon fruit was cut in half, he was surprised.

The contrast of the white meat with the tiny black seeds scattered throughout and edged in hot pink is amazing. We scooped the flesh out of it’s hot pink skin and cut it into pieces. The little one didn’t want to touch or eat any of the fruit after seeing the seeds all over due to sensory issues. It has a sweet flavor and the texture reminds me of a kiwi.

We are excited to join other handmade crafter’s for this month’s the Spotted Box. Samples are eco-friendly and family-oriented. They are available on the 15th of every month on Hyena Cart and Etsy.

Here are the sample’s we are contributing. There are 2 two varieties of mini-skeins. “Topography” on Licorice Twist and “Sapsarilla” on BFL.

There is also a new item we are offering, mini-puffs and small-puffs. The mini’s are great for applying facial toner, ointment, or anythings else that disposable cotton balls would be used for. Instead of throwing them away, simply machine wash, dry and then re-use. The small’s are larger than the mini’s and good to use when a larger area needs to covered.

Here they are all packaged and ready to go!

This little tooth was sewn up out of hand dyed velour and stuffed with a fiber-fill. When the little one lost his first tooth, the tooth was placed in a cup beside his bed rather than under his pillow. There was a fear that the tooth fairy not being able to find the tooth if it was hidden under the pillow. Now, the little one is confident that the tooth fairy will be able to find the next tooth he loses and use it to build her castle. He is hoping that he gets a glimpse of her

There’s a small pocket on the back of the pillow to hold onto the tooth until the fairy is able to come and take it away.

I’ve been playing with some appliques of a fish in a bag.  The bag portion I like, but figuring out how to make the goldfish look good with fancy fins in a small space, is proving to be very difficult.

First, I cut out a fish that resembles “Spooky” from the HR Lightening Bugs fabric.  Since I am already a fan of animals named Spooky, that was the fishy to go with.  With a 1″X1″ piece of orange fabric getting the fin detail of Spooky is hard.  Here’s the cutout:

So, I cutout another goldfish to try in another bag.  Overall, I am not satisfied with the fins.  The tail fins should have a bit of a space between them and the lower fins should be a bit bigger.  However, I do like the snap for an eye.  They look as if they are bulging, much like the telescope goldfish.

Tweaked the design of the fish and arrived to the final.  Here it is…

The orange is just as vibrant as the first 2 photo’s, but it’s was cloudy the moment I shot it.

Here’s some more bamboo/oc velour fabric that was hand-dyed using the LWI method.

It has colors of magenta, sapphire blue, and kelly green.  I like where the colors combined to form a deep wine color.  The fabric was then cut up to make some fitted diapers for the end of the month stocking at Tiny Lady Cooperative.

The medium:

The large: