Not supposed to be this way

I did not plan on this being quilt folding weekend.  I did not plan to open my closet to put away quilts and end up pulling out all my quilts.  I did not plan. 

But, then when I came up with a plan I thought was brilliant I couldn't wait to implement it.  

Rob said it looked like my quilt closet exploded when he came round the corner and saw it.  

I was putting away the Christmas quilts and noted how hard it had been for us to find wintery quilts to hang.  I was basically pawing through everything trying to find blues and grays.  And, then I thought, why not store all my quilts by season instead of by size.  The clouds broke open, the sun shone down upon me, and four angels sang "Ahhhh."  And, I was off to the races.  I pulled, I refolded, I sorted and I took all but three quilts off the pool noodles they were rolled on.  I found this quilt that I'd forgotten I'd made.  If I remember right, this started as a bag of brightly colored hexie flowers that I bought at a quilt show boutique.  The background quilting is stunning, if I may say so myself.  

And, when I was done, the closet looked like this.  I can quickly grab a brightly colored spring quilt or a bold summer or muted autumn quilt to display.  And, the table toppers are stored with the quilts so everything is handy.  

I was putting plants in the greenhouse yesterday.  I have a large snake plant that I needed to lift.  I very carefully held my face so there was no chance of getting one of those spiky points in my eye.  And, just as I got it at eye level, one of those spikes let go and whipped around and the sharp edge caught me in the eye.  So, now I have a scratch that's not so much painful as annoying because my eye won't stop watering.  So much for being careful.  

I can get books at Goodwill for $2-$3.  I buy something that strikes my fancy once in a while, but mostly, I shop for cookbooks.  Oddly, they've gotten kind of hard to find lately and I wonder if someone isn't buying them up to resell.  I ended up with 5 recently; four easy meal cookbooks and a baking book.  I've set the goal of finding and making a recipe from each of the four cookbooks over the next four weeks.  One night I was up with Bella and started reading the baking book and got really intrigued and decided to make something from it.  The first chapter is cookies and when I was reading recipes, I realized they're all to make a couple dozen cookies, which is much better for us than recipes that make 4-6 dozen.  (Don't tell anybody but I ate four dozen peanut butter cookies in a week and a half by myself and I just don't need that kind of temptation around the house.). I made oatmeal, raisin, dark chocolate chip cookies yesterday and they are fantastic!  Slightly chewy, not too sweet.  The author said to let them sit in the fridge for a half hour before baking so the liquids could permeate and soften the oatmeal, and it worked.  They've very chewy, without the oatmeal being hard.  

I'd never heard of Rose Beranbaum.  I don't know if she's regionally known or I've just lost track of who's writing cookbooks over the years.  Apparently she's written several.  I like the way it's set up and the tips and tricks she includes.  And, I'm looking forward to making other recipes from this cookbook.  

I was definitely on a cooking roll yesterday.  I made an egg casserole, beef and veggie casserole, meatloaf, chicken stew and a batch of cookies.  It was a good day, but I spent nearly the whole day in the kitchen.  

If lying was McDonald's the president would look like Violet Beauregard after she turned into a blueberry.  If he turns to the side, he looks like he's getting close.  Really, y'all.  I know I keep tapping my fingers waiting for the turning point.  It feels like it's getting closer.  

Everybody have a great week!  Lane