The Grillmaster

You may be wondering why I refer to my fabulous husband of three years as "the grillmaster." I thought I'd take this opportunity on our anniversary to document some of the reasons why I've given him this blog name.
This is where it all began: Tunnel park in Holland Michigan. It was August 25, 2006 - our rehearsal dinner. The Grillmaster earned his name that evening. We had pork chops and chicken breasts and celebrated with family and close friends.


Rosa Parks Green park in Holland, Michigan. The summer of 2008. Our church spent four Sunday nights during the month of July gathering in this park. The Grillmaster valiantly grilled any and all items that were contributed. Even the frozen ones. Even the french fries...
Burgers and dogs on the DeVries family Lost Lodge Adventure in Somerset, Kentucky. We discovered a love for swiss cheese on burgers (we both thought we didn't like swiss cheese).
Manning the grill at our home in Holland, Michigan. We had good friends, good food, and good fun. Not sure why we don't do this more often...

And most recently, the first annual Manna church picnic at Kollen Park, in Holland, Michigan. Once again, the grillmaster grilled for a large number of people.

Here's to many more grilling opportunities, my love!

Michigan Fiber Festival

Today I went to my first fiber festival. The Michigan Fiber Festival is always at the Allegan County Fairgrounds in August. We loaded into Kirsten's van and headed out after church. My mom, Karin, Kirsten, her boys, and I ate lunch in the van and found our way to the fair.

Of course, I forgot to bring my camera (it was still in my purse, where it stayed during the entire church picnic last night). Mom took some pictures of the sheep herding demonstration with her phone, but the fence kind of got in the way.

The two goals I had were to find some sock yarn and buy some multi-colored roving, preferably in a fiber I haven't experienced yet. After walking through all the vendors a couple of times, I found some items that wanted to come home with me.

This beauty is called "Grapennies" and is a blend of 50% Merino, 25% Bamboo, and 25% Tussah - 4 oz. I haven't spun any blends yet - only pure Merino and pure Coopworth. I can't wait to try it!

Sock yarn? Check. This is Sock-Luck from Studio June Yarn in the Moonlit Kiss colorway. My picture is not very accurate on the color - but I don't really know how to fix things like that :) This yarn is 75% Superwash Merino and 25% Nylon in fingering weight. I'll be searching for a sock pattern later tonight!

So these two only sort of fit in with my goals for purchasing today. They are 2-oz balls of Merino Top in a soft periwinkle and a grapey purple. My thought was, I have some bright, almost neon, green and some charcoal merino that I got last Christmas. I can ply these with the colors I already have and see how they look!

Softball

Summer in our house means Church League Softball. The Grillmaster has been playing for more years than I've known him. Tonight is the last night for the co-ed team. Maybe I should bring the camera and take some pictures!

Sadly, this also means summer is winding down. "Rocky" mentioned something about a "month from now" today at work, and I thought a month from now I'll be cooped up inside! I love my job, but it is always a reality check to have to spend my days indoors again.

On a related note, I told the Grillmaster the other night that I've started praying that all my students will be potty trained before they start school this fall! The bathroom is not as close to my new room as it was in my old room.

Blueberry muffins

So, I had some fresh blueberries (thanks Aunt Shari!). I looked through ALL of my cookbooks...but none of them had any recipes for blueberry muffins. Next step: Recipezaar.





Here's the recipe I tried: Blueberry Muffins

And here's what they look like. I did not make the crumb topping - instead I sprinkled a little bit of cinnamon sugar on top. My muffin tins must be smaller than the author of the recipe, because I made 34 muffins rather than 24! A care package of these are headed to the new mommy and daddy in the family later tonight.

Why I like my job.

During the summer I work at Windmill Island Gardens. I took my camera to work the other day and captured some of the reasons I love going there. Enjoy!

How do they do it?

So, I like to read blogs. What I'm wondering is, how do they do it? They (the bloggers) take pictures, upload them, and write anecdotes - seemingly daily. I've been trying to take more pictures...and they're all still on the camera. I've been blogging in my head...but I haven't made it here to actually post.

I may need to make myself a schedule. Or upload pictures right after I take them. Or quit blogging in my head and just actually blog. We'll see how it goes.

A beautiful Sunday

After a blisteringly hot week, we got some relief from the heat over the weekend. Sunday afternoon we turned off the t.v. and went outside. The Grillmaster read a book and I got to spin! I'm working on some light brown Coopworth roving I got at City Knitting on my birthday. When it's done I'm supposed to make a pair of "felted clogs" for The Grillmaster. I have to get the pattern...