Olallieberry

Sweet Relief

Man oh man, are we enjoying this air conditioning! I've been wallowing in all the activities I love to do that in the past had to be set aside for more appropriate weather. Things like seeking relief inside after a hot workout in the garden (see the lemon thyme I planted from seed), knitting to my heart's content (kitty slippers, more on this later), and baking.

Imagine baking in the dead of summer! What a life changing concept, I'm completely ruined. Anyway, as promised here is the recipe for the scratch cinnamon buns from the last post. I really like these buns because they are not too sweet but rather exactly right for my taste. This is a mixed blessing because although they do taste terrific, you never really get sick of them so you end up eating a whole lot more than you probably should...

 

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Scratch Cinnamon Buns

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 Yield: 12 buns

Total time: 1.5 hrs

 

Ingredients

2 cups white flour, plus 1 cup

2 1/2 tsp instant yeast

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp oil

1 1/4 cups warm water

 

Filling 

3 tbsp soft butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

 

Let's Bake!

In a medium bowl, mix 2 cups flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Add water and oil, and stir well. Dough should be wet. Add more flour, a little at a time, until dough is just barely dry but very soft. Heavily flour a board and turn out dough. Knead for a few minutes while adding flour if needed. The dough should be very soft, but dry. Oil the bowl and place the dough inside. Squish the dough down and turn it over. Let the dough rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375F. Punch down the dough and press it out into a rectangle onto a your board, approximately 14" x 11". Spread with 2 - 3 tablespoons of soft butter to within 1" of the edge. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon, and spread evenly over the dough. Roll the dough up tightly and cut evenly into 12 buns with a serrated knife. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper ensuring good spacing. Bake at 375F for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan while still warm. Serve with cream cheese icing or extra butter.

xoxox

After Rain

More rain (thank goodness, the heat is hard to take), we're having air conditioning installed as I write this (yes, we are shamefully weak), I baked cinnamon buns from scratch (old family recipe I'll share soon), and I got stung during a garden visit today (my own fault for inadvertently leaning my arm... right on top of a bee... and squishing it).

P.S. - Thank you all so very much for sharing your knowledge and suggestions on the little sewing/sizing problem, I'm now officially on the hunt for a Citronelle pattern! Will be stopping by your spaces very soon, have a great week :)

In the Garden

Just a few "bee" shots from the garden over the past week now that the sun has decided to make a very welcomed and timely appearance. I love how lush and moist everything is--a nice respite from the typical dry, unbearable heat we normally experience in summer. The bees response to the sunshine is to immediately get busy. Here they are working the chive patch, see the one in the third picture with her little tongue sipping nectar from the flower?

As for me, this very moment I am officially on vacation... whoohoo!

I'm iching to dig into some good projects and a few ideas I've been kicking around. I know I keep saying this, but I really really mean it and I can't help but think that saying it will surely make it so! My time here has been so limited the past while; I can't wait to be spending more time in this space. 

P.S. - Thank you for your very lovely comments recently, you are the best!

Sweet Summer

Summer has arrived so late this year; I can't believe the lilacs are still in bloom! I remember the year we got married the lilacs were blooming well in time for our mid-May wedding. It was a perfect day with just a few fluffy white clouds floating in a clear blue sky, and a light breeze barely rustling the spring leaves. This year it's just been rain, rain, and more rain. And cold. Did I mention the cold? I'm getting a bit worried about the bees, they really do need some warm, dry weather so they can get bustling. They really want to-- get bustling that is-- but the inclement weather has held them fast and firm.

School is out next week and then everyone starts summer vacation. I'm taking a bit of time off work too, then a bit more during the latter part of summer. It's been a very busy year with lots and lots of changes, and I'm about ready to collapse into some cozy, homey, 'round-the-house puttering just to recharge. Maybe I can finally get at more of those unfinished projects that have been piling up since last year. And cook something barbequed. And then there are deck plans... oooh I hope the weather cooperates!

Rain

Lots of rain always makes for good gardens, good baking, good projects, good reading, and...

...very grumpy kittens.

Spring

It's been rainy and overcast all week long. We really needed the moisture though--spring has been very late in coming and everything in the garden is waaaay behind. The bees have been foraging furiously at every pause in the rain. Yesterday the sun peeked out for a couple of hours and they immediately went into overdrive trying to catch up on lost time. Every moment counts toward building up their food stores and increasing their chance at surviving our long, cold, Canadian winter.

As for me, the rain has provided an opportunity to catch up on some of my unfinished projects, namely this little quilt. Being my very first attempt at stipple quilting and, since the thread I'm using is the same colour as the quilt top, all of the loopy goof ups and skipped stitches should go relatively unnoticed. In theory at least. Anyway, this is going to be a great summer quilt, perfect for lazy afternoon naps and leisurely outdoor reading sessions. The Mr is finally making deck plans, and I'm following suit with deck furniture. I'm thinking something loungy and poufy, something to curl up on and enjoy the summer breezes, a place to drift back and forth, in and out of reality. I am so looking forward to summer.

Thank you all so much for sharing your wonderful bee stories! I had no idea so many of you had bee interests and experiences, either personally or through someone you know. We are closer than we think :) Have a wonderful week!

xox

The Girls

Spring arrived late this year. We finally got the yard cleanup done other than the lawn maintenance which we've put off until the very last, and wouldn't you know it, that's exactly when the much-needed rain decided to make an appearance. I'll tell you what I haven't been doing, and that is finishing the tealeaves cardigan. There's just been too much excitement around here over our new guests... our little sister bees!

The girls seem to have settled in nicely. I've been diligently following the schedule provided by our local beekeeping association to make sure everything is on track. There are eggs, larva, and capped brood in the hive - right on schedule. In fact if I were to check inside today, I would expect to see the first baby bees chewing their way out of their little wax covered cells to totter around a bit before taking their places and pitching in toward the goal of the colony, which is soley to reproduce enough worker bees to be able to gather enough honey stores to survive the winter. They literally work themselves to death to this end (sad). I don't expect to harvest any honey this year; this is a brand new hive, and I want to make sure the colony has enough stores built up for itself. 

Oh the fascination of watching these little creatures organize and work so incredibly hard. I can literally spend hours sitting at the hive entrance watching their comings and goings, their little pollen pouches bursting with precious wares collected from miles around. They are oblivious to my intrusion in their single-minded focus. They are beautiful.

 

"Go to the bee and learn how diligent she is,

and what a noble work she produces,

whose labours kings and private men use for 

their use, she is desired and honoured by all,

and though weak in strength, she

values wisdom and prevails."

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Proverbs 6:8 (Septuagint)