spring quilts

I am keeping busy and managed to finished another quilt last night. Our weather is like a roller coaster, rain one day, sun another.  That gives me time to work on my crafts ;)

Dalsi dokoncena deka. Pocasi jak na houpacce, jeden den prsi, druhy den slunicko ale celkove zatim opravdu nic moc. Takze je stale cas na tvoreni :)

© Monika Opatril 2014

My Beautiful Pregnant Daughter

My daughter asked me to take some photos of her while she is pregnant. We had a great time doing this photo shoot Friday afternoon and I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did :))  She wanted to do it on a sunny day which is not the best choice  without  proper equipment.  You can see the difference the sun ( and shadows) makes on the face and spot the pics taken in the shade.  

Dcera me pozadala, jestli bych ji nenafotila tehotenske fotky a tak  jsme v patek vyrazily.  Bylo to moc krasne odpoledne a ja doufam, ze si to uzila stejne jako ja :)) Bohuzel si nenechala vysvetlit, ze fotit za plneho slunce neni ta nejlepsi volba, pokud nemate patricne vybaveni. Na fotkach je krasne videt, jak ostre slunce vytvari nezadouci stiny v obliceji a jiste poznate na kterych fotkach byla zady k slunci ci ve stinu.

  © Monika Opatril 2014

new quilt 2

Last night I finished my baby/toddler quilt. It was such a joy to work on it this past week and even though I was trill when it was done a was a bit sad too. Sometimes I  get attached to  the pieces I work on and it feels like finishing a good book. You just want to keep on reading ;)  Today, my head is full of ideas for the next one........

Vcera vnoci jsem dokoncila detskou deku. Byl to super projekt a kdyz jsem  byla hotova, bylo  mi to skoro lito. Neco jako kdyz doctete dobrou knizku a chteli byste cist dal a dal.....

 Choosing the pattern, practicing and making sure the tread tension is right is part of the process.

Vybirani vzorku, cvicne siti a sestelovani stroje, to je vse soucast tohoto procesu.

All done,  not perfect, but that is part of what makes handmade project "hand made". 

Prositi je dokoncene, ne uplne stoprocentni ale to je soucast "rucni vyroby"

I chose this fabric for the binding.  My daughter didn't like it, she advised me to use shade of pink, but I followed my feeling. She calls it "candy cane" and at the end she loves it too.

Na olemovani jsem zvolila tuto latku i kdyz dcera doporucovala nejaky odstin ruzove. Nasledovala jsem mou intuici a i ji se nakonec finalni "vyrobek" libil i kdyz rika ze to vypada jako "candy cane"




One side stitched on by the machine,
Jedna strana strojem....

the other one by hand.  The last few stitches, shortly after midnight and......
druha rucne. A tohle jsou uz posledni stehy.....

 tada!
a je hotovo!

 And because as usual I have more things going on at once, I also completed the crochet baby blanket for my daughter ❣

A protoze, jako vzdy, mam rozdelane ruzne projekty, dokoncila jsem pred par dny i tuto baby hackovanou deku pro dceru ❣

new quilt

Working on a new quilt last few days. A little preview.....
Poslednich par dnu pracuji na nove dece. Tady je mala "ochutnavka"..... 

Water and Milk Kefir

I am making kefir from milk kefir grains for years now and  you may remember my posts about brewing kombucha tea as well. Lately  I started  experimenting with lacto fermentation and also making sodas from water kefir grains. You can buy them or you can actually convert your milk kefir grains into water kefir grains. Sounds crazy I know, but it is true. You can read about the process here.  I don't drink juices or pop much, but my son, like most teenagers and adults ( and sadly kids) would drink pop all the time if I let him. So I decided to start making the healthy, natural, fizzy soda at home and now we are all hooked.
Benefits of Kefir:
The resulting hard work by both types of kefir produces a nutrient-rich drink full of beneficial acids and microorganisms. There is a high concentration of enzymes, vitamins A, B2, B12, K, D, phosphorus, nitrogen, and more. Kefir drinks are known to help cleanse the system and aid digestion, and may help with a long list of conditions including psoriasis, gastritis and arthritis.

These two jars of water kefir  are ready to be strain. They were "brewing" two days and ate all the sugar.

Kefir z Tibetske houby delam uz leta a mozna si pamatujete, ze jsem tady psala i o hoube Kombucha. Pred nedavnem jsem se zacala vice zajimat o prirodni kvaseni, hlavne mlecne ale take o vyrobu napoje z Tibetskych krystalu. Ty se daji koupit, nebo si je muzete "preskolit" z tech mlecnych.  Trva to asi osm dnu, nez si zvyknou na nove  prostredi a pak uz je nikdy nemuzete pouzivat do mleka ale zase si muzete zacit doma vyrabet napoje z prirodni karbonaci. Spoustu informaci naleznete zde.

Tyhle dve sklenice Tibetskych krystalu  ( jinak take nazivane vodnim kefirem)  jsou prichystane  na zcezeni. Ja je nechavam "pracovat" dva dny.

 You can see the little bubbles around the fruit.
Muzete videt bublinky a susene ovoce, z ktereho "snedly" vsechen cukr.

 Looking at the jars reminds me of the lava lamp. The grains are rising to the surface and falling to the bottom continuously, they are "alive" and it is very hypnotizing to watch .......

Pozorovani sklenic me pripomina lavovou lampu. Krystalky pomalu stoupaji vzhuru a pak klesaji zpatky ke dnu. Jsou "zive",  je to fascinujici, hybnoticka podivana......

I strain the grains
Takze precedit

 and  use the liquid to make the soda.
a  voda se pouzije na napoj.

 The grains are wash and ready to be fed to start a new ferment.
Proplachla zrna se znovu nakrmi a dalsi fermentace muze zacit.

 This time I made grape soda. This is all the juice you need, you top the bottle with your brew, tightly close it and let it sit at room temperature for another few days to let the "magic" happen. By that time your soda should be fizzy. To stop it from further fermentation (and possible explosion) you put it in the fridge or cold place.

No a my se pustime do napoje.  Ja pouzivam bio dzusy. Tenhle je z hroznoveho vina a tohle mnozstvi uplne staci. Zbytek dolejeme nasi precezenou tekutinou, zazatkujem a nechame dalsi dva, tri dny na teplem miste. Ted probehne tzv. druha fermentace. Ta prave vytvari ty bublinky. Pozor, po par dnech (dvou, trech) ulozte lahve do chladu, jinak by vam take mohly vybuchnout.

 I also made orange/mango.
Dalsi  je z pomerancovo mangoveho dzusu.

 And in the little green bottle my new experiment. Ginger, kefir and kombucha kombo. I tell you, they are fantastic, healthy ( I do use all organic stuff ) and refreshing. You can read more about the health benefits and "how to" here . You can also visit  my pinterest page  and get inspired there :))

V zelene lahvi je muj "experiment". Cerstve nasekany koren zazvoru ( asi lzice) a pul na pul tekutina z kombuchy a Tybetskych krystalu.  Na ochuceni muzete pouzivat i cerstve ovoce a stavy a bylinky podle vasi chute.

 I also made new batch of mustard, this time lacto fermented. I used whey from yogurt  instead of the brine, horseradish, hot pepper and onions. My horseradish started to sprout. I dug it out in the fall and it survived in the fridge till now! After I was done with it, I planted it in the pot.  Mustard taste beter when aged, so after about 5-7 days I will blend it to the creamy consistency and store it in the fridge for up to 6 months before eating it.

Dale jsem se pustila do vyroby horcice fermentovane v sirovatce. Tu jsem si zcedila z jogurtu, pridala cibuli, kren ( ten v lednici zacal rust a tak jsem zbytek zasadila znovu do hliny) feferonku a uzavrela kvasnou zatkou. Po peti az sedmi dnech se to rozmixuje a horcice ulozi do chladu. Mela by se nechat rozlezet a to treba i sest mesicu. Ja  jsem jednu delala uz vloni a je opravdu lepsi nez kdyz se konzumuje hned.

 You can buy lids with airlock , but Neil made mine from regular caning jar lid and airlock. It works great!
Kvasne zatky se daji koupit. Neil me ale udelal otvor do zavarovaciho vicka a ja jen nasadila vodni uzaver.

I hope you enjoy your visit, have a great weekend!
Dekuji za navstevu a  preji vam vsem krasny vikend.

not so Lazy Days :0)

More snow and rain kept us inside, so I was working on  projects that needed to be done, which is great. I crocheted this little cotton basket.

Stale je "nasnezeno" a tak se drzime vic doma a ja mam alespon cas na me resty.  Konecne jsem si uhackovala bavlnenou misku.

Refinished this table. Actually it was a pair and they already sold.
Zrenovovala tenhle stolek. Tedy vlastne dva ( byl to par) a uz jsou prodane.

Also I just finished and listed this wooden settee yesterday. Update: The bench is sold :)
Vcera jsem dodelala tuhle lavici a dnes prodala :)

I started working on this baby blanket. This is the color theme my daughter is going for in the nursery this time . It is fun to crochet, I am making it from three strands of yarn, so it is (will be) very chunky and cozy :)

Take jsem zacala hackovat deku pro mimco v barvach, v kterych Tereza tentokrat dekoruje baby pokoj. Pouzila jsem trojitou prizi, takze prace rychle pribyva a deka je (tedy bude) krasne tlusta, mekounka no zkratka "jen se zachumlat" :)