The H Report: Vol. 10

All of the things filling my heart, head, hands, and home lately.

This week’s report is all about the summertime blues, getting creative with kitchen scraps, and stuffed mushrooms - but not the edible kind.

- ❤︎ -

Day 1 of Summer Break:

Days 2-6: I’m so bored, there’s nothing to do. When can we go to the pool? Can you see if my friends are around? Can we go shopping? I don’t want to just sit around the house all day looooooong. Can we go to the pool? The UV index is 9 today, so we have to go to the pool. Oh, it’s only 2 now, we can go home. Can we do a craft project? No, not that one. This one that we have to go by all the supplies for and then I’ll be bored with the second we get home. Can we go to the pool? I want to go to the animal shelter to pet dogs. Why can’t we do anything????

Le sigh.

- 𓁹 -

I’m really struggling with the lack of routine and predictability in my days now that the kids are out of school. I tried to bring back the Summer Schedule where we have different themes for each day of the week, but that’s gone over like a lead balloon with The Big and she’s basically vetoed everything we came up with already.

Which, fair enough.

But also, c’mon man.

I definitely need to find a way to do the things both kids want to do, while also making sure that the things I want (and need) to do are also taken into account. I can already feel the overwhelm and overstimulation setting in as an result, and it’s been less than a week.

Change is hard, man. Even the good kind.

- ✌︎︎ -

I think I may have overestimated my ability to carve out time for myself now that the kids are out of school. It’s been less than a week and not only have I not been able to sit down to sew anything, I’ve barely been able to sit down at all.

So for now, I’m going to have to set my sights on completing one project for the entire month, instead of one per week like I had hoped to be able to do. It’s definitely getting me down and making me not want to even bother at all, because the reality of what I can accomplish is so different from the vision I had in my head.

Yes, I know the point of this project isn’t how much I can “produce” each month, it’s about exploring different kinds of crafts and trying new things.

And yes, I’m pushing through those feelings of disappointment and frustration and doing it anyway.

I’m focusing my creative time on sewing up some Mushies (the Forest Family pattern from Lucy Ward from Simply Sewing Magazine, Issue 105). If you’re interested in checking it out, I accessed it through the Libby app for free!

The Forest Family in question:

I have a few different fabrics picked out for the mushroom tops since there’s a baby, mama, and papa. I also have the pattern pieces printed out and ready to go. I think once I get started I’ll be able to whip through them all.

Fingers crossed I get to share at least one finished mushroom with you next week. 🤞

- 𖠿 -

We’ve been busy working through our freezer since it’s still chock full of meals.

Three things I made this week:

• Spicy Pineapple Chicken from All Nutritious - I’ve been enjoying this for lunch all week with some sautéed veggies and jasmine rice. It’s been so great to have it already portioned out and ready to enjoy.

• French Toast Bake - I make this one about once a month from our bread ends that I save and store in the fridge in a gallon zip-top bag. Once the bag is full I know it’s time to whip up a batch.

• Blueberry-Lemon Scones - We have a stockpile of blueberries in the fridge and lemons that have been sitting on the counter for ages. In an attempt for things to not go to waste, I brought out an old favorite and made a batch of blueberry-lemon scones. Everyone was quite thrilled with this development and enjoyed devouring them all week long.

I also got to play around a bit in the kitchen and found new ways to put our scraps to use:

• I made a syrup with our strawberry tops based on this video from Trisha Turner and am in the process of making a strawberry top vinegar as well. I plan to use the vinegar for fruit salsa and salad dressing, so stay tuned for updates there.

• And since I had some leftover lemon scraps from the blueberry-lemon scones, I thought I’d make a lemon syrup as well. It took a little longer than the strawberry syrup to liquify but it turned out delightfully well. I am now planning to add it to the next batch of lemon scones I make. Or tea. Because that would also be yummy.

Looking for more ways to use up kitchen scraps? Here are 5 Delicious Things To Make With Your Kitchen Scraps.

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And there you have it. All of the things that have been filling my heart (❤︎), head (𓁹), hands (✌︎︎), and home (𖠿) lately.

Hope your week is filled with quality time with your people and the things that make you smile.

X+O,

Emily

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