Hair Barrette

  I've become rather enamored with the type of hair barrettes that use a hair stick and a piece of metal or fabric to hold your hair back. Right now I am trying to make my own with knitting. I have three versions in mind - I don't have the yarn for one right now, but I hope to remedy that soon.- I have the prototype for the 'original' done and have finished alpha testing it.

  The hair sticks are holding me up. I tried to dye them by soaking them in green food dye, water, and vinegar; thinking it wouldn't rub off that way, and that it would be easy to dye a bunch at once. But while it did dye them and the dye was a beautiful shade of green, the sticks are little weird looking. The are a lot paler in person then in the photo. I'm not sure if I want to go with it or not. 


P.S. I finished the shorts. They are a little long. But I only plan on wearing them around the house. Not bad considering I didn't have a pattern. Next I will be making pairs out of some fabric I bought. (The shorts I showed you were made from some fabric my grandmother gave me.)  But I won't be using a invisible hem for the others. Such a pain!    
 

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Nothing Much

   I don't have that much to talk about today. I wish I had some new product to tell you about, but I've working on a lot of things instead of foucusing on one and finshing it. Everything has to be done in the garden right now or it be too hot for anything to grow. I'm making a pair of shorts and a hair barret prototype. I haven't been able to work on that blanket I told you about. And my engravings have hit a snag.

  I started out with a large resin bead to engrave, but unlike glass a resin engraving doesn't stand out against the rest of the bead so I'm looking into ways to make it stand out, paint and a sealant? A different color of resin? This calls for a trip to the craft store.

  I'm using a blind hem on the shorts; I've never tried it before, but then I've never had a machine that could make it before. So I thought I'd give it a go. I hemmed one leg last night and I'm not sure how study it'll be. I guess we'll just have to see. It also seems like a lot more trouble then it's worth.



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Sourdough Bread Bowl

    This is my favorite recipe using sourdough hands down. That's why I saved it for last in my sourdough count down. (There are recipes for sourdough pancakes and rolls, but I haven't made either in years.) It's so good Mom and I had it for New Year's Eve, her birthday, and mine. It was inspired by the Red Lobster appetizer, but only loosely. Like most of our made-up recipes the amounts are all estimates and you should feel free to add or subtract anything to suit your tastes. This is really just a rough idea of how to make it. We never make it the same way twice, but it's always delicious.   

  First make your sourdough, recipe here: http://batsbizarre.blogspot.com/2014/03/make-your-own-sourdough-bread.html, but after the second raise place one loaf in a round pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray instead of a loaf pan.

   While that is baking you can make your sauce.  

   Sauté chopped garlic, onions, and fresh mushrooms, if using, in a pan with butter for a minute or two. Add 1 cup cubed, peeled and deveined shrimp. Once the onions and garlic soften add about a tablespoon of flour and cook until the flour no longer tastes raw. Add enough milk to make a thin gravy, salt, pepper, a dash of hot sauce, kale, and or spinach. Stir. Test your seasonings and add your cheese,  Monterey Jack and processed cheese loaf together are great in this, add caned mushrooms, if using, one can of crabmeat, and squid. If you are adding fish now would be a good time. Cook until the cheese melts and your seafood is cooked; if the sauce gets too thick add some water or milk.

   Once the bread is done cut the loaf in half and hallow out the halves with a fork. Toast the innards you removed in a toaster oven or on broil for a second or two in the oven. (Watch it carefully if using the oven.) Spoon the sauce into the pie and enjoy. (If you make enough sauce you can fill both the top and the bottom and get two meals out of it.)        

              

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I Guess It's Finally Spring

  

    I guess it's finally spring here. Or at least I hope so because we've got a lot of veggies in the garden and I would hate to lose them to a late frost. All we need is some crookneck and pan-patty squash, cucumbers, and for the tai peppers seeds to finally sprout. I still have some herbs and flowers to plant and a couple of plants that need to be transplanted. but for the most part we're on track.

  So far this has been a very strange year, most of the country is still frozen, normally this far south we've had plants in the ground for at least a month, but not this year. It was too cold for seeds to sprout in the green house.

   After two years some of my Dutch Irises finally bloomed! And they bloomed double! They are so pretty, no idea if the white ones died or are late bloomers but so far six of them are blue with yellow spots. Here is a picture of the first four to bloom. They are in pots on the porch so I have a very good view of them. The Hummingbirds love them.
 The Grapefruit is covered in blooms, but that last late frost killed the apple's blossoms. It was covered. We're horrified, but at least a couple stayed. And my Gladiolas are reluctantly pushing above the surface. 

                        Thank you for reading Bats Bizarre's offical blog. Have a bat-tastic day!