Summer doldrums

 We are in that part of year when we just don't do much.  Our big outing for the weekend was a trip to a different Goodwill and lunch at a diner we both remember from the 80's that's still where it's always been, and was doing a booming Sunday lunch.  It was very nostalgic.  But, it was hot and I've never appreciated Rob's ability to remote start his truck more than now.  All we bought was shirts...which we basically take on a rent and return basis since we wear them til we're tired of them and then send them back for someone else to rent a while.  

The baby quilt moved forward again...mostly because I can do that in the air conditioning.  When I laid the fabrics next to it, the choice was obvious.  It's the right colors and it's the right level of "busyness" and draws the eye outward from the simple central focus to the busy outer edges.  I haven't mitered the corners yet, but that's the last step before I pin baste it and get started quilting.  I think I have a really pretty pink back that should have gone nicely with the quilt, but when I tried to use it as a border, it was the wrong pink, so I may need to take the top somewhere to get another back.  

I meant to talk about how I made the flower centers last week.  I took three sheets of freezer paper and ironed them each to the ironing board cover to "size" them.  I've read that freezer paper shrinks when it gets hot, so I generally do this step, plus it makes it lay flat.  Then, I stacked the freezer paper and ironed it to itself, which made something really thick and heavy.  Then, I needed to draw the circles.  All my cheap elementary school compasses failed me in my hour of need and all of them went into the trash.  Then, I took my ruler to the kitchen and started looking for things that were the right diameter and I traced them, cut out the circles and ironed them to the back of my fabrics.  It gave me a nice thick edge to fold the fabric over, which gave me near perfect circles.  I think one sheet of freezer paper would have been more difficult because the edge sometimes rolls when I'm folding and ironing the fabric over it.  

Then, I bought new compasses.  Better compasses.  

Anyway, I hope to be quilting by my next post.  And, I've got to ask my sister what the baby's middle name is since I plan to quilt her full name in a circle around the central flower.  There won't be a lot of quilting.  I want to quilt around all the shapes and give the leaves some veins and the flower petals a little dimension.  The rest will be a little echo quilting and maybe a chain of flowers in the border, something loose and soft.  I still have two months before the baby is due and I should make that deadline, no problem.  

And, yet I'm always somehow cutting it right at the edge, aren't I?

Last week, we had an in-office day.  They are the opposite of team builders.  Every month, someone ends up mad.  Last week, I didn't get mad, but I was incredulous.  The managers don't schedule the in-office days on days that are good for them, so we end up with lunch at like 10:30a or 2pm.  This time, it was 11, and when we weren't ready to go at 10:45 because we were in a meeting, they left us (non-managers) behind.  When we got there, all they talked about was kids sports, and when we got back, we all wrapped things up and went home.  We talked about it on the drive back and we all felt disregarded.  Instead of creating one team, they've created two.  But, I think our team is happier than theirs.  And, closer.  

This is the super blue moon from early last week.  I was going to crop the picture to take out the neighborhood, but that's most of the coolness of the picture.  Without it, it's just a picture of a bright light in the sky.  

Okay, I'm looking for cold dinners.  We recently discovered Chinese chicken salad (inspired by The Great American Recipe on PBS) and we're loving it!  I also made a half recipe of a Grits Casserole from that TV show and it made a TON and I ate on that all week.  One night last week, I was inspired to make old fashioned fried chicken, using less oil than deep frying and it came out GREAT!  I used olive oil and couldn't tell the difference.  

No matter who ran for president against the big baby, we knew ugly things were going to be said.  but it's one thing to say ugly things about someone the country is unsure of, and it's quite another to say ugly things about someone the country is excited about.  The meanness and hateful grab for power are much more obvious and the hateful intent is more clear.   But, I am ready for Kamala to take a different approach on policy.  She needs to take over the narrative and explain how inflation really works and explain how the economy is really doing and explain how much of our financial stability is based on immigration (capitalism requires a source of cheap labor) and show how most of us are better off now than we were 4 years ago, even though covid kind of makes that comparison moot.  Every time she takes over the narrative, people seem to respond to it well, so I think that ought to be her campaign focus from now until Election Day.  But, she also needs to be honest about the difficulties ahead in getting the election certified and she needs to be making a plan for how to ensure that goes smoothly.  After all, her party holds the White House this time.  And, she needs to be encouraging us to be brave in the face of what might happen.  We can't glaze over all that with good vibes.  The threat is real.  And, not talking about it isn't going to make it go away.  We need a plan.  

Gus Walz is a super hero with super powers.  And the greatest of these is love.  

Be well!  Have a great week!  Love someone so much it sometimes makes you cry.  

Lane