Pasta Zucchini Lunch

My wonderful neighbors sent me home with some fresh veggies from their garden in South Bend.  Just a few moments after slicing some zucchini, I noticed how pretty it looked, with water droplets forming along the cut edge.  Sunlight hit the droplets and made such a pretty sight.  The zucchini itself seemed blog-worthy, but here's the whole meal!  This dish is very healthy and can easily be made vegetarian by leaving out the bacon that I put in for little extra taste. If you also leave off the cheese that Daniel sprinkled on at the end, it is a tasty vegan dish.

Vegetable Medley

1 large zucchini
2 tomatoes
1 clove garlic
1 small onion
1 green pepper
seasoning to taste
    -basil, parsley, ground ginger, ground mustard
pasta
8 oz garbanzo beans

optional:
bacon for taste (I used 4 slices of turkey bacon.)
mozzarella and/or parmesan cheese for the table.
If you decide to uncooked meat, it goes in the skillet first to get a head start.

Zucchini

Slice the zucchini. Chop everything else except the pasta and ground spices. Throw everything but the pasta in a covered skillet and heat it to medium.  Stir occasionally and cook until the zucchini and onions are soft.

 Prepare the pasta.  Serve vegetable medley on top of the pasta and sprinkle on the cheese for a festive, healthy, and tasty summer meal!

Final serving!

Refurbishing a Family Photo

This photo hangs in my grandmother Wanda's guest room with the missing piece taped in. Yesterday, I took the liberty of sprucing it up for her.  It took several hours, but the progress shows!

 Of course, all of these images have been greatly reduced for showing on this blog, but you can still click on the image and zoom in.  The black and white photo has the names of each person listed along the bottom, right on the image.  I did my best to decipher Bertha's handwriting on the back on the photo to record the names.

If you are family and would like a copy of these images, leave a comment and I'll get you the full-sized version! I can send the BW version with or without the text.

Original Photo
Note: Part of image is torn out.
Image is faded and has significant water damage.
Water spots are on each face.

Refurbished Photo
Note: Fading from side-to-side is balanced.
Water spots are removed from faces.
Major water damage removed from context.
Contrast and vitality repaired.

Refurbished in Black and White
Note:  The sepia image lost some tonal integrity to damages.
This BW image removes all traces of lost color integrity.
Names are included along the bottom of the image.

Label on Back
Note:  Written by Bertha, the small child in white on the left.

Liberty Snips: A Sketch

Liberty Snips
Sketch MAG, 2012

These liberty snips were given to me long ago as a gift by a dear neighbor, Polly.  She and her husband Dave have family in England, and whenever they visited, they brought me back a sweet little gift. This particular gift has become a favorite of my sewing tools.

There is an oriental-looking lady attached by a sea-colored ribbon. Her skirt holds potpourri and the tag reads:

"LIBERTY"

"Since 1875 Liberty has been synonymous with the creation of original and unique designs. Famous the world over, Liberty of Regent Street, in the heart of London is a veritable treasure trove of inspiring and exciting products housed in Liberty's historic Tudor building.  Liberty provides an unparalleled shopping experience."

 I decided to practice sketching today, and thus the snips are memorialized!  After sketching, I took a quick picture of the subject.  Here are the snips in realistic detail:

Big City?

Moving to Indy seemed like a daunting change at first.  I would never describe myself as a big city girl, and I knew that moving to Indianapolis would require some changes, but I wasn't quite sure what they'd be.

Will sirens blare all night, racing through the streets and waking everyone up?  Will there be a monthly burglar on the doorstep trying to decide which window to break?  Or worse, will the burglars stand there to decide on a window while loading a gun?  Are there enough trees that the air won't be as stale and gritty as it is in NYC?  Will it even feel like home?

A very large portion of my extended family lives in Indianapolis, so I knew that I'd love this city, but I loved it much more than I thought I would!

Yes, I have heard of many burglaries and traumatic armed break-ins.  I've heard the sirens.  My door is locked even when I'm inside, which is a big change!  

But, somehow it still has a small-town feeling!

My neighbors are great!  Their kids are out of school and home between soccer games and practices, so we see them around frequently.  While washing dishes in the sink today, a TRACTOR pulled down the alley!  That is certainly not a big-town occurrence!  I took a picture. (Tried upload it and it corrupted!)

They saw me taking a picture and directed me to a neighbors yard, where they had a pen of chickens. So, chickens and tractors helped me feel more at home in Indianapolis.  I love this town... I mean, big city.

Bustle Dress: Collar

I made my own pattern for the collar, based on what Rachel McAdam's dress had in the movie.  Her collar has a rounded edge, with a very elegant trim along the top.  As mentioned in the prototype post, I already tried out the collar shape, but this time I'm adding the trim and bringing a zipper all the way up the center back.

The Trim / Embellishment

This method is very precise, but takes too much time.
If I were entering a competition, I'd have done this the whole way.

The previous method got fired.
I started pinching the fabric before it got to the presser foot.
Slightly less precise, but MUCH more fun!

Then the trim gets basted to the reinforced collar panel,
which means we begin to see it really come together!

The collar is now ready to be attached to the bodice with a zipper through it.  Looking forward to finishing the bodice. The sleeves will be the last part of getting the bodice together.