Kumquat Marmalade...Art Challenge Entry..and more..

So..last night I made some yummy "Kumquat Marmalade"

I took about 4 lbs of fresh sliced, de-seeded kumquats/with the stem end sliced off.

Added about 1 cup sugar per 1 lb. of fruit.Added juice of 1 fresh lemon.

Let it all cook down until the fruit starts having a transparent look on some of the peeling, and the sugary syrup starts to thicken.

I then put the hot mixture into my blender and lightly chopped it. Then back into the pot to cook about 8 minutes more. Then into clean hot jars. Yummy! So good on toast.(***you can actually do the same thing with navel oranges or other oranges....slice the fruit thin and include the juice of a lemon..no need to use pectin..the fruit is tart enough)

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I am joining in the art challenge over at "Mind Wide Open" again this month. (See left hand side bar)

And we were given an image of a ballerina ..and the theme of "Forever"

So..I created this covered box using a recycled peanut container that peanuts had come in at Christmas time.. I added several small copies of the image(created into decal stickers) to the side and plenty of lace and ribbon.

I like how it turned out.

Voting for the art creations starts on Jan.8th.

So..if you like my little creation..please stop by the site "Mind Wide Open" (link to site is on left hand side of my blog here) and vote for the art that you like.

Thanks!

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Well...the packing, cleaning,clearing out still continues here. I got a new set of curtains hung up in both the kitchen and the master bathroom..thanks to my seamstress daughter.(Thanks! N.) and they look nice. Bright sunshiney yellow in the kitchen, and a pale soft minty green in the maaster bathroom.

Then this evening I plan on going through a few of the "under the bed storage containers" that are up under the master bed..and going through what I have already packed in there, and determining if I can indeed thin out even more items from out of those.

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"Collin" dog is all clean and smelling pretty this afternoon too..it was so funny..he was a wee overdue for a bath..but isn't it funny when a dog gets smelly, and they know it is bathtime..they'd rather stay stinky than endure a bath it seems? Well..most times Collin just loves bath time, but I was a few days behind on it this time around and he was in definite need of a bath...and so off to the bathroom we headed and the minute he spied the bath tub this time around..he went into full skid mode..crouched down low and literally skid himself across the floor..it was so funny. So..yep..I had to pick him up and put him in the tub(23 lbs of mini schnauzer/wiggling being defiant mini schnauzer at that..ha)..but after he started getting clean he enjoyed it. His favorite time with bath time is afterwards when I hold him and he can burrow his nose into the towel..he is so silly.Most times he loves bath time..so I am going to definitely have to remember not to get a few days behind on bath time for him..ha.

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I am crossing, and double crossing my fingers here...I had several packets of old flower and melon seed up under my kitchen cabinet in a container. Well both packets of seed were 6 yrs old ,and I thought surely they would not grow being so out of date..one packet was "Collective Farm Woman" melon..so I put those seeds on a damp paper towel and set it all into a plastic ziplock bag.

Yes..they have all started to sprout! And I will be potting those up really soon.

~ Then I had a packet of a few seeds called poinciana/ "Pride of Barbados..the seeds were for a dwarf variety that blooms pink..well I thought surely those won't start to sprout because they had to be nicked and soaked..but I went ahead and nicked the seeds with a knife and set them into a cup to soak for about 3 days. I started noticing the outer layer starting to get softer on the outside of the seeds so I potted the seed into a moist soil, and set the containers in my windowsill and kept them watered. I actually was going to toss the seeds out yesterday because I had seen no change on the surface of the soil, but decided to poke my finger into the dirt and feel for the seeds when lo and behold there up under the soil was long pieces of tiny white plantlet starting to stick out of the seed..So I adjusted the seeds in the soil a little so that they could poke up through the soil..now..I am in the anxious waiting/hoping that they survive mode as this particular plant/tree is hard to come by here.(generally found in Miami, Bahamas, and Key West areas, and of course Barbados area).

So..I am really, really hoping that this particular plant will grow from seed well for me and actually survive. I was so tickled to see the seed had sprouted.

We shall see.

The thing about growing things from seed sometimes is it is so easy for seedlings to get dried out.

So...I am on pins and needles with this one.

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Well..that's all of the news here today.

Hope you all are having a lovely week thus far!

Thanks for stopping by!

~The Garden Goose~