Crazy hot

 And yet, I'm still cooking!

Sunday night I roasted some veggies, Emily cooked up some hot italian sausage and we added penne pasta for dinner with some garlic bread. It is one of her favorite meals and we had not had it in a while. She was busy in the kitchen on Monday - and made Macaroons and back of the bag oatmeal bread from the king arthur flour website. Both were yummy. 

After work Monday, I had planned meatloaf for dinner but forgot to grab ground pork at the market on Sunday, so went to Publix to get that. I did ask if we needed anything. Nope. I walked back in the house and Emily looked at me with a guilty face.... we are out of Lactaid milk. Sigh, I use that in cooking so she can eat what we eat. She used the last of it in her baking. Arrrggghhh. It was HOT outside. Like feels like 110 + outside. I needed it, so went to Aldi this time since their milk is cheaper than Publix. Got home with the milk and proceeded to make meatloaf and baked potato. Unfortunately, it is a 90 minute bake so dinner was a wee bit later at closer to 6:30. It was yummy though, and the leftovers are vanishing fast. 

Tuesday we are headed to see Grandma and go out to dinner with her. She gave us Pig and Cattle or Outback as options. I told her it was a 2/2 tie she had to break. She went with Outback as we did Pig and Cattle last time. I've not seen her since before the trip, so it was nice to check in with her. This pretty monarch butterfly was hanging out on her lawn.

 I took chicken out of the freezer for Chicken Tikka Masala on Wednesday night. Alas, it did not thaw in time (we have the big freezer set to 0). I used one piece in a pan with greek seasonings instead, pulled a baggie of falafel out of the freezer and made some tzatziki and that was dinner with a salad.

I just prepped the rest of the chicken this morning for Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner this evening with rice. It was mostly thawed, and with it cut up in the yogurt sauce, it should be fine in time to cook it up tonight. 

I have spent way too much time scrolling on my phone and not stitching this week. The very little stitching was getting these two shoo fly blocks done. Here Peanut is 'helping' hold them down.

His brother Ollie decided to get up and help as well, although I think he just wanted petting!

The girls think it is hot outside! Their production has gone down a bit, but they are staying hydrated and get plenty of shade time and some roaming time in the back yard. We had a few days with only 1 egg, but I think I got 3 yesterday. 

We are waiting a bit to go see Tom. He tends to like to go to lunch at 11:30, so we will head over to visit about an hour after that. 

As it is the last day of July... and I have yet to finish a quilt this year I plan to actually roll the Arkansas Traveller onto the boards today and get that pin basted. I feel the need to see something get done, and that is the closes to the finish line at this point. So, that is my plan today. Play with that quilt and get it pressed, rolled and find the pins and get it pinned for machine quilting. I think the hold up is that I have no idea how to machine quilt it. Sigh. It will probably just be straight line outlining, as I am not good at free motion quilting. I'd better go get them pressed and rolled, before we head out.

Table Scrap Challenge.

 English country garden was the prompt. I did some internet searching and got a picture in my head of blurred flowers on the edge and a lighter walkway through the middle. I was thinking to add a butterfly or two to the top. Alas, the little experiment did not turn out like the photo in my head. Oh well, I did play with some scraps and came up with this 12x12 little quilt. The purple part - the backing was purple as was the binding. Maybe there was a little purple in the flowers in the fabrics here and there. 

The bag of Liberty of London fabrics were so happy to see the light of day and get some air. 

The finished piece.

The front from a different angle. I just used the walking foot for some improv quilting.

The back.

Linking up with Joy and the Table Scrap Challenge for July.

Sunday Slow Stitching

The dog was up bright and early this morning wanting his breakfast and a walk. He got that, then the pool got a clean and shocked, because I forgot to do it last night. The pool is in the shade in the morning so it should be fine. The chickens are roaming around the back yard, finding bugs. 

Some of the household has woken up around 9AM. I just put a batch of muffins in the oven to use up the extremely overripe 2 banana's on the counter. I've taste tested them, and they are a yummy muffin!  The F1 race is looking like a wash out, but we will see. 

I've been slowly hand stitching these flowering snowball and shoo fly blocks that I cut out with my Accuquilt. I have more cut out and marked for hand stitching. I'll be adding a shoo fly to the mix today with my slow stitching. I grabbed fabrics from the stash wall in blue, greens and purples with a single solid background of a Kona off the roll I got from Missouri Star Quilt Company. They had a deal on them a while ago, so I have a couple of lights and a navy in those. 

I'll need to cut out some more of each at some point to make it a wee bit bigger. I think I have 25 blocks cut out right now. I'll finish stitching all of these first and then find some more fabrics to add to the mix. 

I've been seeing all the cross stitch happening in the link up's. I have done that in the past but think I might dabble back in. I've had this little Christmas stitchery in the console of the car for ages, and think I might just stitch it up this week for a change of pace.

 

I did find another stitchery with this pretty cardinal.

I also have a half finished one that got stalled with a mistake in the counting and stitching. I might have to figure that out and unstitch so that can get moving along again. 

Linking up with Kathy and the other Slow Sunday Stitchers.

RSC catch up.

 I missed orange and most of purple so I'm playing catch up this week. I did a few 16 patch blocks. 2 in orange from last month and one in purple for this month. I should be able to get some sewing time in to work on the alternate blocks in both colors and do another 16 patch block in purple today or tomorrow. 

First, I need to finish playing with this bag of scraps I have had since I lived in Vermont....so 16 or 17 years? Liberty of London fabrics I grabbed from a quilt guild table. They were my inspiration for the English Country Garden prompt over at the Table Scrap Challenge. It might not be purple, but it will fit the scraps and garden feel. Now to get it finished and see if it matches the picture in my head.

Sorted into lights and darks. 

I had a busy start to the morning. Someone was whining and wanted his walk at 6:45. He got it about 20 minutes later... then I got a quick shower and headed to the school for a volunteer opportunity for Girl Scouts. We had a table at the community back pack give away. I was there from 9-1 and missed the marching band 'preview' for the parents they gave of what they have been working on this week at band camp. It was M-F 8-6PM! I'll check out the video's someone will post of it. Em is off to bowling with some friends from the band for a team bonding thing this afternoon. Aidan is off with his friends for a late lunch. Do I curl up with a book on the couch with the sleeping dog (he is napping and I am a pillow!), or rouse him and go sew a bit? We will see.....

Linking up with the RSC.

Wednesday

After picking up the car yesterday after work, I figured out dinner. I had made a list on a post it note and attached it to the fridge door back on Sunday. It has lessened the 'whats for dinner' questions.  I had enchiladas down last night, so used some of Emily's roaster chicken to make that with a can of green enchilada sauce. My recipe is just chicken (extra roaster chicken, or canned chicken is what I use), a can of cream of chicken soup and some sour cream - about 8 ounces. I add a good spoonful of refried beans (I made my own yesterday and need to work on that!), then some of the chicken mix and then some shredded cheddar. Roll up the big burrito and place in a 13x9 pan. Cover the top with the sauce and then some cheese. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. 

After dinner, I prepped things and did another batch of tomato's. I now have 21 pints of tomato in the pantry. Well, the last 7 will get washed off and placed in there later tonight closer to the 24 hour sit mark. The all sealed already. 

While that was processing, I finished the purple flowering snowball and did this blue one. I think I have a green shoo fly prepped for tonight.

Tonight I have lemon chicken and capers over pasta with a salad on the list. I have some snow peas that will get quick boiled and then smothered in butter and salt and pepper as a side. I'll run out to Aldi and grab chicken for that and some spinach and cheese for the quiches tomorrow night. I'll do a spinach, onion and cheese one and then a sausage and cheddar cheese one for Emily and Greg. They are picky!

I also need to make the dozen of hard boiled eggs from a couple of days ago into Deviled eggs. Once made up - they tend to disappear quickly.

Thursday is my day off.... so I'm thinking I need to really get a 'finish' in soon of my UFO's. That Arkansas Traveller quilt needs to get pinned and I need to play with the Table Scrap Challenge for Purple as well. A few 16 patches need to get made in orange and purple and some alternate blocks are needed as well. If I'd get off my phone games and work on some of that I might see some progress!

 

Rainy day

 We are in a rain and t-storm loop. No doggie walk this morning. 

I picked up a 25 pound box of tomatoes on Friday. They needed a little ripening, so I waited to process them a few days. I got 2 batches of them canned in pint jars last night. 14 so far. All sealed fine. I just do the ball canning for raw pack tomato like my mom did. I figured with the upcoming issues with fields not being picked,  I'd better get some staples canned. I had my first broken glass in the canner on the first batch, so 1 jar and contents got thrown out.

I've got some tomato left for another round today. Some might have been used for tomato sandwiches as well.

One last bit of stitching needed to finish off this flowering snowball block.

Honda said the car is ready for pickup.  I took it in for the recall maintenance. The also did a car check and the tech said it is one of the nicest he has seen from carvana! Yea!

Sunday

Sunday and a migraine. Sigh. I went back to bed after about 30 minutes and slept until after noon. A bit better. No, I am stubborn and have not taken the meds for it. I will though, as I'd like it gone and I normally have multiple days once I get one. Mine tends to be behind the right eye, but thankfully light and sound don't bother me too much. 

I did get a new to me car yesterday! We got it through Carvana and traded in the 2016 Kia. I now have a 2018 Honda CRV EX-L. It's got about 45K miles on it and drives well. I'm happy to be back in a CRV. They delivered it to our door and everything!

 Aidan is driving my 2014 Crv. Emily has Greg's 2013 Tacoma truck. It got stripped down and painted over the summer and looks like a brand new vehicle for her. She has been driving it to horses on Saturdays and will be driving to school this week for marching band practice. They are doing one week instead of 2 this year, so it is a long day for them. 8-6. The teacher is pregnant and due the end of November, so she is very organized this year! 

I did a little hand stitching in between things yesterday. I just need to sew the rows together on the shoo fly block. Then move onto the curvy parts of the flowering snowball. I had just a wee bit of thread left, so added that yellow square with it yesterday. I think it is around a one inch square, so just a few stitches and it was attached. This is my current hand piecing project. 

I'll also work on crocheting the grey around the last 6 granny blocks this week before I figure out how to assemble the box of them into an afghan. 

I'd also like to get these last two teal blocks finished this month. I have 14 of the 16 string of beads blocks completed.  These are needle turned applique. They need a press, as the travel bag got them a bit wrinkled. I drew on the peel placement with pencil. My two teal colors and the outer dark green peels are marked and ready to go.

 This is the first 12 of them. The orange ones did not make it into that photo, but they are completed.

Plenty to keep me busy and out of trouble this week! Linking up with Kathy and the other slow Sunday Stitchers. 

Seeing the results of Kathy's unpicking on that pretty bird cross stitch, I might have to revisit the January cross stitch design that has been at a standstill for too many years due to a counting mistake. It might be time to figure out where I went wrong and unpick so I can get that one moving along again. 

Erin's Butterfly blocks

I had good intentions to press and load a quilt top and backing onto the boards for pinning yesterday. That would have involved clearing off my sewing table. The backing blocks and the parts for Erin's Butterfly were sitting on my cutting mat. I had zigzag stitched the pink and a light blue one earlier this year. Instead of moving them..... I decided to cut the fusible to attach to the wings, pressed them on then placed onto the background and machine stitched them down. All eight are ready for the body to be attached by hand, (the pink was done) and then they need embroidery for the antenna. I do need one more of these made... so I think that will be the next step in the sewing room. Dark green I think - I'll steal from the greens I got for the Christmas tree quilt I have yet to make for those wings. Julierose - this one making progress should make you happy! I know you've been rooting for this one to be moved along for a while now.

I hand stitched this purple shoo fly block yesterday as well. 

I'll link up on Saturday with the RSC for progress on some purple sewing this month!

The blah's

 I've had zero motivation to do much of anything the last few days. I'm calling it vacation overload? 

Tuesday I had scheduled the kids cleaning at the dentist. It had been since 2023! Busy kids. They did say I could just send the kids and not be there. Aidan paid attention when we got there and when I told the receptionist their names and then sat down, he said 'that it?'. Yup, I just pay outright for their dentist so no forms. Clean bill of health for both! 

Wednesday, I got my eyes checked. It has been since March 2023. I guess I completely missed everything in 2024! I noticed the close up is getting worse. Seems the distance got slightly better, and instead of the dime store readers of a 1.0, I should switch to the 1.5. Not bad for age 52 I guess! I've had glasses for distance since age 16. Something about headaches every day after school by sitting in the back in math class. Good thing I was good at math and didn't need to see the board. The poor teacher..... he knew if my hand went up, he had to fix something on the board he wrote wrong in Algebra. 

Did I mention the Kia's issues lately? Before the trip there was a shimmy that we had it in for twice. $1,200+. Well, it was not fixed 100% and still happened occasionally on the trip up and back. On the way home, the oil light came on occasionally when pressing the brake. I did check the oil level, and it was ok. I did an oil change this week and the little light came on again after. Sigh. We have been looking at Carvana for the past week, and I found a 2018 Honda CRV that is being delivered to us on Saturday. They will take the Kia as a trade in. I guess a bunch of time has been reviewing cars online this week. I need to clear out the Kia today of all the stuff. Greg will head to the DMV today and get the title. It appears Florida doesn't give it out when you own or transfer the vehicle unless you ask for it. We need it for the trade in. 

I 'kinda' cooked this week. Sunday, Aidan was at Grandma's and Emily tends to make her own stuff, so I made the hamburger tater tot dish for Greg and I. She did take some! Monday, I tried a new dish with lentils. I did not have the red lentils it called for so used the brown I had. It was a red lentil curry. I think the red lentils would have been better for texture, but it was yummy. I used a little chicken broth I had made from the Sam's roaster chicken I had in the crock pot Sunday night. Tuesday, the kids had Pub subs for lunch so were not hungry. I did some wings and roasted potato and veggies later that night. Wednesday, I cooked up the beef fajita meat I got at Sams last week with onions and peppers, some fresh salsa, guac and black beans. I'll do something with chicken and veggies tonight. 

I did finish the shoo fly block and pieced a light purple flowering snowball block on Sunday.

This one has been coming out to snuggle in the living room in the evenings. Well, the dog sensed it 2 nights ago and chased him back to the master bedroom. Poor guy has not come out since! This is Ollie, my standoffish one. He is not the cuddle bug so him being on my lap for pets is very out of his nature. I guess he missed me!

I went through my 'to go' bag to see the status of the crochet granny squares. I have 10 dark blue with their surround on. I found a rogue light blue with a surround on it. Then 6 that need the grey added. 4 dark blue, 1 light and 1 medium.  I'll have to start playing with them to see how many I have and what might work for putting them together. 

The dog got walked and is back in bed with Emily sleeping. Time to wander into the sewing room and see if I can get a top and backing pressed and rolled onto the boards for pinning. I really would like to get a quilt finished this month.

Slowing down on a Sunday

 Every week Kathy reminds us to slow down, breathe and relax with some slow stitching. I did a little prep work yesterday and marked the hand stitching line on about 7 blocks (flowering snowball and shoo fly - cut by my Accuquilt to finish at 12 inches.). I plan to slowly add some stitches each day and build this new quilt the old fashioned way. I'm calling my version of this 'Flying Snowballs'. I pulled blues, purples and greens from my stash for the colors.

I did stitch up the purple flowering snowball block yesterday and just need to stitch the 2 rows together for the shoo fly block. Needle and thread. Fabric and some nice relaxing stitches.

Linking up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers.

It sounds like one kid is headed to Grandma's house today and will go watch the F1 movie in the theater. The other one has not decided if she is going or not. I plan to press and roll the Arkansas Traveller top and it's pieced backing onto boards so it is ready to pin for machine quilting. Some pool time might also happen!

RSC in purple

 I should get a little sewing area time later today to see what purples I have.

I do know my next hand pieced block will be in purple. I did a shoo fly block in blue last night while listening to an audio book - No Mallets Intended - Book 3 I think of a Victoria Hamilton cozy mystery series.

I'll be marking this one with it's 1/4 inch stitching line today on this Flowering snowball block. I was thinking of names for this quilt while driving home to Florida from Vermont. I'm thinking Flying Snowballs? The two blocks are Shoo Fly and Flowering Snowballs. Any other good name ideas?

Linking up with the RSC.

Time to go drop off the car for an oil change and to see why the oil light keeps coming on and off. It started happening on the drive home Monday afternoon. I pulled over right off and checked the oil level and it was fine. The intermittent shaking, that I thought was fixed with 2 stays at the car place before we left, was still happening on and off. I might be looking for a different vehicle now. It is just shy of 70K miles and a 2016 Kia Sorento. Time to go back to a Honda, I think. That has been my go to vehicle - as I had 3 honda civics, then after kids I got a dodge caravan. When that got totaled, I got a Honda CRV in 2014. That is currently Aidan's vehicle to drive now. Emily is very happy, we picked up the 2013 Tacoma truck that was getting a new paint job while we were gone. It looks like new (the old white paint was all peeling from the sun down here) and she is a happy camper with 'her' vehicle. Looks like Mom and Dad get to share a vehicle. It is a good thing I work from home and Greg is pretty much retired at home at this point. 

Made it home last night around 8PM.

 Lots of rain driving on the last day, but we made it home safely with 2 Buc ees stops! Lunch and early dinner to go.

We left Vermont on Monday morning and stopped in Bennington for the monument. The elevator was out, but we got to look in the little museum at the bottom. The views from the top would have been beautiful.

We made it to PA that evening. Day 2 was for Harpers Ferry and then Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah Valley. We all walked on part of the Appalachian Trail, and wandered around the town. Aidan described it like an old west town, but with old brick buildings. It was a nice stop, and the deli restaurant down in a basement had wonderful food... and had AC. It was hot out that day. We got back to the car right before the rain started and headed to Skyline Drive. It was rainy and overcast at parts, but beautiful. It is a 105 mile windy road through the mountains with great vista views and lots of wildlife. The speed limit is 35 and lower in some places. Aidan's 3 hours.... was more like 6 with stops!

Just a few photo's I took through there.

Our tally, 1 black bear, 1 bunny and 11 deer. Aidan drove the last 40 miles of this and got us down to Rocky Mount, NC driving through Richmond,VA during a downpour. He did good. It was a late arrival in NC - after 11PM.

The last day was the long drive home with a couple of Buc ees stops for gas. We arrived home around 8PM last night. 

I could not remember if I had today off or not. Normally I do, but logged into work for about an hour to weed through my e-mails. Looks like I am off today, so time to restock the fridge and get back to the daily grind. We will also go check in on my FIL today. He seems to be adjusting well to the new facility, which is good. Eating 3 meals a day and the staff love him. He is not a complainer.

Summer UFO 2025

I had no finishes in the Spring 2025 quarter. I'm hoping to get sewing time in this quarter. Both kids will have vehicles this year for school, so no pick up's needed! my FIL is now in Assisted Living, so hopefully no more ER trips, hospital stays and rehab stints 40-60 minutes away from us. I'm hoping for a calmer quarter this time!

 The list of UFO's - I pared it down this quarter.

 1.) I know I have at least one more cut somewhere to fill that open spot for a 7x6 setting. *** found the parts in a baggie!  These are hand pieced.... and might need a little fixing along the way on some of those middle joins. Just ordered some kona solids for an alternate block for these to become a quilt. From Inklingo lemoyne stars. Might need to order more since I am using that bolt for a few things! The blocks are 4.5 inches.

 

2.)  I think it's a 6.5 inch cut center of greys and 2.5 inch strips. Finishes 10 inches. 

3.) Midget Applique quilt from Sentimental Stitches. I need to add more flowers and leaves and the vines... and the last border. Hand pieced and hand appliqued. Started January 2015 as a car line project. One block a week.

4.) Midget block collection - I started these in Vermont in 2010! I have a light blue for sashing.

5.) Birds in the Air block collection - counted and needed 27 more blocks made for the size I wanted. All blocks are completed. Ready for assembly for 15x15 and a 90x90 quilt.

6.) Erin's Butterfly - I made the wings in 2021.  Need to add one more set of wings... thinking 9 is a nice number?

7.) mostly cut out and some 9 patches are made. Hehe... from the first quilting book I had and made a quilt from. Introduction to Quilting 101 - the basics by Sharon Hultgren. I think this was Sunrise Surprise! The four patch from this book is at my Mom's hanging over a crib still!

8.) Quilters Patch. A sew along that I completely did not meet my goals on in 2022. One block is done.

9.) Happy Village using my Accuquilt. Flowering Snowball and my 8 inch cube - shape 1+3 for the Shoo Fly block. Free pattern from Accuquilt. I am hand piecing this one.

10) Brimfield Awakening EPP. I did start this and have the first fabric thread basted in purple!

11.) Bonnie Hunter Mystery - On Ringo Lake - maybe step #2?

12) Bonnie Hunter Mystery - Grassy Creek (2020) Think I am on step #4.

13.) 30's log cabin tulip quilt.

Quilt Tops: 

 14) Ella Maria Deacon Blocks. Hand pieced, machine stitched together into a top. Patterns from Sentimental Stitches.

 I need to measure and see if it is happy with it's size or now. All my quilts seem to have a mind of their own!

15.) 1857 Quilt Along Top - This one is in the hoop for hand quilting as of December 2024.

16.) Triple Irish Chain - green. 80x80 I think. I did find both fabrics extra with it... Might need a green or cream border first or both... Made in the early 2000's. circular feathers in open spaces.

17.) Harmony - hand pieced project started March 2021-

2/5/24 it is a top!

18.) Hexagon flowers on a black background. These are a stack of blocks I hand pieced a few years ago then hand appliqued to the black background a couple years after that!  

19.) 2024 RSC - Arkansas Traveller Quilt.

Progressed to a top in the winter quarter 2025.