Excitement

I'm excited to be working on a quilt.  It's been so long.  I let quilting start to feel like a chore.  Must finish this, must finish that.  And, I'm pretty happy that it's my niece's quilt that I got excited about.  I'm excited to be doing something original again, and hope it turns out okay.  

We went to the fabric store on Saturday for mauve/pink fabrics.  I also needed the background for the appliqué and a quilt back and batting.  The background fabric is white with what looks like pale pink paint strokes across it in one direction.  I was talking about the directionality on the drive home and how I wasn't sure how I'd use that and mentioned that I could cut it into squares and piece it to look like a basket weave.  Rob got so excited that I knew that was the right idea...what's the point of having a design consultant if you don't listen to him?  

I also started making petals.  And realized how many petals there are to make.  When I had the background pieced, I started laying petals on it.  I can't get the camera to pick up how pink the quilt really is.  It seems to bring out the orange and gold.  I showed pics to Rob yesterday, but when he saw it in person, he commented that it was a lot more pink than it looks.  But, you can get an idea of where I'm starting.  I plan to bring the smaller flowers in a little closer to the center, especially the corner one.  And, I haven't started making the leaves that will help me fill in a little.  

I have a couple of daylilies that have decided to bloom.  First, there's this peach one.  This was an "extra" probably pulled out of the ground when I was pulling dead fronds and put in a pot.  I lost track of what it was.  I had several of those and put them in the ground this year and they all bloomed, so now I know what they are and which ones I want to keep and which I want to let go.  

And, this one.  This is such a surprise.  This is not the time of year we get daylilies.  I'm thinking it must have something to do with all the rain we've been getting.  We've had an unexpected amount of rain this year, almost like when I started gardening.  It's meant we haven't had to water, and that's been a VERY good thing.  

My sentinel standing guard at the window.  She wants to bark threateningly at everyone that goes by, but she's learning that's not appreciated, so she'll let out a little yip, then look at me to see if it's okay to be a threat...all 12 pounds of her.  She has come through her spay very well.  We started taking her on short walks over the weekend.  It's a little earlier than her discharge instructions said, but she's a bundle of energy and walking her is about the only way to burn that off.  If we don't, she gets into trouble...like stealing my glasses and chewing up the arms.  She's the Dottie.

So, politics, huh?  Lots of change there.  Kamala wouldn't have been my first choice.  I don't think she's serious enough.  What I didn't consider was how that might throw trump off his game.  I like what she's saying, tho.  "...to see what can be, unburdened by what has been."  And, if she can unite the party, I'm all for it.  I am learning to say her name this time.  Kamala (Comma-la).  I hear her step daughters call her Mamala.  And, maybe a Mamala is what our country needs.  Someone to bring in some humor and some light, to hug our country until it feels better, and to put bandaids on our wounds and tell us to "stop fighting with your friends."  If she could heal that rift, that would be better than trying to balance the budget, in my opinion.  

I am liking the excitement I'm seeing, but not losing track of the fact this is a long and painful road where nasty people will say nasty things.  And, we're going to have to endure.  This is the way.

Everybody have a great week!  Do something you enjoy.  Find some excitement in every day.  

Lane

Designing a quilt

I forgot that I was going to be driving all day last Monday.  The trip to Dallas went well.  I was very outgoing.  Both dinners were struggles for me.  I did my usual thing where I sit with the uncool kids, which was fine, but neither table filled, so there weren't many people to engage in conversation, which meant I had to carry more of the conversation.  And, I did it.  Both nights.  Keeping the conversation moving and keeping the awkward pauses short.  And, I participated in the meetings during the day and was chauffeur to a teammate and to my boss's boss.  That was weird, but I did it with confidence and when I missed a couple turns, they never knew it and I didn't tell.  Mapping software is great!

After two days of meetings, I headed to my Dad's for the weekend.  That was a wonderful time to relax.  He is so laid back.  He hasn't been sleeping, but while I was there, he was able to get some good rest.  Maybe he just needed someone else in the house.  Anyway, that left me time to relax and rest.  We had lunch together and dinner with my sisters and their families.  We talked in the mornings napped away the afternoons and had coffee together.  It was a very nice getaway and I think we both enjoyed it.  

I had lunch with my niece and her husband while I was in Fort Worth and we talked about a quilt.  We talked about colors and themes and she shared some crib sheets she'd chosen that I could pick colors from.  

Saturday, I designed the quilt.  I knew the sheets had flowers on them, so I looked for flowery quilt patterns.  

Here's where we started.  This is Sweet Pink Daisies from Quilt magazine, sorry I don't know which issue.  Before I got too far, I figured out it's over 400 appliqué pieces.  So, I needed a little redesign.  

And, what I decided was to make the flowers larger.  A 24" square center with an 18" daisy, 4 x 12" daisies in the corners and 8 x 9" daisies between them.  I drafted that out on paper and cut the plastic templates to make it easier to trace the pattern pieces onto freezer paper.

And, then I did the math and it was still over 200 pieces.  So, I decided to halve the number of pieces by making 8 petals per flower instead of 16.  You can see the larger pieces drawn into the picture above.  I'm pretty happy with that.  

Then, the sheets got here.  While the description is pink and orange (what a combo), it's not your average pink.  It's a mauve/peach pink.  And, orange and two greens.  Here's my initial fabric pull.  But, I don't think I have it yet.  It's too orange.  I need more mauve colored fabrics.  

It's cool, tho.  I haven't been to a fabric store in a long time.  

Last week, we had Dottie spayed.  Here she is in her pink onesie that I did NOT make.  She'll need to wear it a few days, but she's doing great at not bothering the incision.  We are struggling to keep her still and quiet because she is a bundle of energy.  

Today, after about 6 weeks, they're supposed to come fix the air conditioner.  It's been working, but it's only been able to keep the house cool if we limit what we do in the hot part of the day, so no cooking big meals and no doing laundry in the afternoon, things like that.  It hasn't been too bad, but we've worried the whole time that something else would go wrong and we'd be without a/c in July in Texas.  It will be nice to be able to relax.  

Everybody have a great week!  Enjoy what you do and do what you enjoy!

Lane

Whether the weather

Whether the weather be fine,

Or whether the weather be not, 

Whether the weather be cold, 

Or whether the weather be hot.

We'll weather the weather

Whatever the weather

Whether you like it or not!

Do that one five times fast.

It's been all about the weather around here.  It's July, so we are getting ready for satan's blast furnace to open up.  We got a really, really good rain Saturday night and today, I'm going to put up the umbrellas so I can keep as much of it in the ground as possible...you may not remember the umbrellas and I can't find a picture, but I have a bunch of broken and cheap umbrellas that I can put in the garden to provide some removable shade.  They just have to be picked up on watering day and then put back.  They did a great job last year of taking the stress off of some of the plants that bloomed so well this year.  Not sure those two things are related, but not willing to test it.  

I've also spent the weekend tracking hurricane beryl.  And, unfortunately, it looks like it might be a strong storm year for us.  We were so sure Beryl was coming in south of us, which would have meant we'd get a lot of rain.  But, it came in east of us and we aren't forecast to get anything.  We could have used it.  

How about some puppy pictures.  We got Dottie when she was 8 weeks old and now she's about to be 6 months.  

And, no, that terrified look on her face isn't because she was being held against her will.  It's because Rob started talking and she thought there might be a treat in it for her.

She is a handful!  We're pretty sure she's got a good bit of Jack Russell Terrier in her and she's smarter than both of us.  She wants to be good, but for heaven's sake, don't let her get bored.  To tire her, Rob walks her a mile, then I walk her a mile and then we walk both dogs several blocks.  And, then she runs around the back yard at full tilt for a while.  And, then she's ready for a nap.  And, then she does it all again.  

Random photo of our 4th of July cake.   I used the same butter and powdered sugar frosting I use all the time, but it was so sweet it made our teeth tingle and kept Rob awake part of the night.  But, damn was it good!  Orange with orange curd filling and a little orange curd cut into the frosting.  Mmmmm!

Random picture of the neighborhood hawk.  I know, I know what she's hunting.  But, she's magnificent.  This photo makes her look small, but she's about 15" from tip to tail.  (at least I think this is the female.  the male is much bigger.)

Rob heard me practice the ukulele yesterday and complimented me on my progress.  I practice every day.  I'm taking a '10-day' class, but I'm only progressing about a class per week.  At the end of lesson 4, the instructor said I needed to have 4-5 songs down and able to play them without looking at my hands.  I'm working on that now.  First I had to find 5 songs I knew all the words to.  It's been a while since I tried to learn more than the chorus of anything.  

I saw this the other day and it cracked me up!  This truly is what being gay is like anymore.  

Okay, that's about it for me today.  I want to make sure I didn't give anyone the wrong impression last week.  I don't believe President Biden should be running for a second term.  But, if he's the candidate, he'll definitely get my vote.  No offense against the president, but I'd vote for a small dog's turd before I'd vote for trump.  There's more than one kind of strong.

Everybody have a great week!  I'll be out of town.  I'm headed to Dallas for business, then tagging a trip to my Dad's at the end of that.  Drive safely!

Lane

Pink season

My garden changes color over the season.  Most of the flowers up to now have been orange, red and yellow.  But now that it's hot as the fires of Hades out there, the main colors change to pink and purple.  It wasn't on purpose.  I'm not sure how my hottest weather plants ended up being these colors.  It just sort of happened by picking up first one and then another plant that could take the heat without paying attention to the colors.  

Last week was a sick week.  Whatever Rob brought home was a nasty bug.  We tested negative for Covid but had coughs and sniffles and chills and even lost our sense of taste for a short time.  I was sick enough that I just laid around.  I couldn't even focus on handwork.  I was recovered by Thursday and Rob the day before, but it made for a long week.  

The swamp lily is blooming.  This plant gets huge.  I've divided it a couple times.  It likes a part sunny spot and the green sword like leaves get 4' long and lie down and crack along the fold lines.  It grows from huge bulbs that can get the size of a softball, or maybe larger if given the opportunity.  In a hard freeze, it does to the ground and makes a watery mess that has to be dealt with quickly before it gets messy.  I wish this plant had a prettier name to go with those pretty flowers.  

All the crepe myrtles are blooming.  I have three.   This very pale pink, a more magenta pink that's just getting started, and a dark purple that hasn't started yet.  This was a potted plant that came from a neighbor when they moved into an apartment.  To the right are some of the purple phlox, still going strong.  

This plant is ruellia, according to my plant identifier.  It grows as a lawn weed here and this picture is from an overgrown lawn up the street.  Rob keeps ours cut, so they don't bloom often.  This is so hardy, growing in the full sun.  It doesn't get very tall.  I'm thinking about taking some and putting it in a pot and trying to grow it.  I'd never plant it in my flower bed for fear it would take over, but maybe I can control it better in a pot.  It grows a pretty flower.  

Okay, not everything in my garden is pink right now.  The spider lily is also in bloom.  This came from a neighbor when she passed and her house was sold.  I took just one bulb and put it in the yard last year.  It's not in the best spot for it.  It's going to get moved into a slightly shadier spot this fall, but it's got a couple of babies coming in around the base, so it must be okay.  The new neighbor must have had hers pulled out and replaced them with gladiolus.  If only she'd asked for a second opinion about that.  

I bought myself an orchid yesterday.  I do love the unusual colors, like green and brown.  This one is tan.  

The week before, when I was feeling icky, I mused whether I should sacrifice an orchid (bring it home and overcare it to death).  Rob shared this, which was PERFECT!

We went antiquing on Saturday after chores were done.  We were going to Luling, but they were having their annual festival (the Watermelon Thump) and we decided that was a lot of people to be shopping around, so we went to our other haunt in Geronimo, TX.  We had lunch at the Grain Bin.  We love their simple and delicious home cooking.  This time, we each had a grilled sandwich and fries.  The turkey and ham had been grilled, but then the sandwiches were grilled and smashed down, the way my Mom used to make grilled cheese.  And, the fries had been dredged in flour before frying, so they had an extra crispiness.  It was not good for us, but it was DELICIOUS food.  We don't eat that way that often, so it's okay.  As my doctor said last week, "Everything in moderation, even moderation."  

Anyway, we didn't buy much.  I think the antique store we were frequenting is having trouble keeping vendors.  They seem to have changed hands and it doesn't seem to be going so well for them.  It's okay.  We had a good run there and brought home way too many things.  I bought a new cookbook.  This is a picture of one just like it because I left mine on the sofa on Saturday and the puppy ate the cover.  She's training us to be much more careful about what we leave lying about.  

It's a really good cookbook.  The manufacturer recipes on cans usually are good.  They just need a little..."moderation".  But, cutting back on the calories and fat in most of these should be really easy.  I've found that a little chicken stock, a little fat free cream, a little flour and some fresh mushrooms make a great substitute for cream of mushroom soup.  

I saw this tea towel in a shop we were in and thought it summed up a lot of crazy very nicely.  If it hadn't been so dang expensive, I'd have bought myself one.  

And, an inspirational thought for the day.  No, really, an inspirational one...I know you're not used to that from me 😂

I don't know what the dems are gonna do after last week, but it sure feels like staying the course is the wrong choice.  I'm not sure Biden is up to governing in a difficult and changing environment.  Nothing against the man.  He's made many great contributions to our country and our democracy.  But, if he can't respond to Trump, how's he going to defeat his next coup attempt?  

Everybody have a great week!  

Lane