Am I A Fraud? (also, how I cook snow peas)

 I might be a fraud because this is the ONLY thing I've quilted in June.  And I didn't make it.  This is a top that was gifted to the Binbrook Guild by Paul Leger for our donation program.

It was quilted the first week of June and it's been sitting patiently waiting for someone (ahem) to get the binding on.

I might be a fraud because I went to Quilt Canada and bought absolutely NO fabric.  Although I did buy a book.  But you can't quilt with a book.

I might be a fraud because I promised myself to give up my constant irritation with Donald Trump.  And yet:

Donny is mad at the mean Canadians because we want some tax money from what multi-billion dollar companies earn off of us.  Seriously. Everybody else who earns money has to pay tax.  Such a big baby!

Here's an explanation of the tax.  Which only kicks in after $20 million in revenue.

Does anyone SERIOUSLY think this is a harmful tax???

Take a look at who was in the Peanut Gallery when Trump was inaugurated.   Do ya think there might be a little bit of hands-in-pants going on?

So...this is The Universe pooping on MY head.

Yeah.  That's my kitchen tap.  Poor DH - I should probably have said that The Universe was pooping on HIS head.  He had just fixed the toilet that had decided to stop flushing, walked into the kitchen to turn on the tap, and the handle came off in his hand.  With my delicate sensibilities 😏 , I am glad I was not here when that happened.

The good news is MOEN is honouring their lifetime warranty and sending us a new tap, saving us a couple hundred dollars.  The bad news is this happened on Wednesday, they just sent it on Friday and now we have to wait for delivery, which will probably be at least this coming Wednesday.  Because of course these things happen over a weekend AND a national holiday when the post office does not work. Sigh.  No running water in the kitchen is not exactly fun!

Anyhow, that's a small problem in life.  This is what I picked today.  I will do my last pick of asparagus on Monday, and leave the plants to recouperate until next April.  It's been a great crop again this year.  Definitely a plant that keeps on giving.

I get a couple of strawberries every day.  

We got ZERO cherries once again.  Between the  raccoons, skunks and birds, the tree was completely denuded overnight.

Back in May I planted a row of green beans.  ONE bean sprouted.  Although, I think 🐰 was the real problem. 

No photo, but I pick a lettuce plant every few days too.  This year it's all been red romaine.  I'm a very lazy gardener(*) and let the lettuce (and cilantro, and dill) go to seed.  Those seeds overwinter and sprout in the spring.

* I am actually lazy at heart BUT I have so much garden stuff to take care of that I think I deserve a pass on this.  The garden is 20' x 40'.  DH will till the garden.  He plants and harvests the potatoes, and he waters the garden.  But that's pretty much it.  He does not weed or pick the garden.

HOW I COOK SNOW PEAS

• wash 'em
• nip off the stem with my thumbnail, and drag any string off with the stem
• cut them in half
• do a quick stir-fry... maybe 5 minutes? in a bit of olive oil, or a combo of olive oil & sesame oil
• eat - yum!

Here's a little health advice for you. Ha ha ha...

A Day In The Life (or five weeks worth of days)

I'm reading Her Turn by Katherine Ashenburg.  It's a good book, and I noticed that each chapter represents a week.  Since I haven't posted in quite a while I thought I'd borrow that format.

Feb 6 - 12

I started the week by giving myself another covid haircut.  I was due for a proper cut at the beginning of January, but it's not like anyone cares what I look like.  37 years married...if you get my drift.  Most of the time DH is happy if he notices that my shoes are still in the closet.  Coco is not settling in yet...some days she only has one pee, which freaks me out.  Everyone is stressed and she's still terrified of DH.  I talked to the rescue's dog trainer who had a few suggestions to improve her comfort level, we'll see how that goes.  

This week's treat was the spinach ravioli that DH brought home from Costco.

Feb 13 - 19

This week included both Superbowl Sunday when I make a wee quilt top, AND Valentines Day which often includes too much chocolate.  I'm burning off the chocolate by taking Coco for three walkies a day.  We are not letting her go out in the yard by herself because we're pretty sure she would not come back in.  Two seniors chasing a dog around the backyard, in the winter, trying to corral her is not something that appeals to us somehow.  So for now, I'm getting lots of exercise.  

The Beach Girls are scheduled to arrive for Winterruption soon, and I'm trying to clean up a lot of crap.  Several years ago my brother & nephew & DH installed built in speakers in the living room.  The old Technics speakers went in the office, and have been collecting dust ever since - but it is time for them to go.  I flipped them down on to a sheet and hauled them out into my workroom (friggin' heavy bastards!) where I vacuumed and wiped them down, then took photos and listed them for free on facebook marketplace.  Holy Sh*t - my devices immediately blew up.  Who knew they were a collectors item???  

More Coco walkies stories include stopping at the neighbour's, where she refuses to take a treat; turning her head away in that "I can't see you" move.  In the past two weeks we've stopped at their place twice for little outside visits.  Coco seems to think that's enough of that, and now turns around just before we get to their driveway.  Ha ha ha...Yah, uh, NO dog.

The Binbrook guild will be meeting in person again at the end of the month, so I've started working on a small quilt as a sample of a 3-patch block.  Flying Geese blocks make an excellent chevron design.

Feb 20 - 23

Continuing with the sh*t-shovelling before Winterruption, I'm purging old paperwork.  The idea of names, address, account numbers, etc going in the garbage freaks me out a bit.  Well, ok - maybe more than a bit.  I don't want a Nest thermostat, or security camera, or Alexa...all of which can SPY ON ME.  1-800-LUKE just shakes his head and smiles.  For paperwork disposal, I tear off the personal information and burn it then put the rest of the stuff in the recycle bin.  

Guest speakers for the Binbrook guild for April and May have been confirmed... yay!! 

 Neighbour Sophie gave me some focaccia bread, so I've been having runny eggs on bread.  Mmm, mmm, mmm.

Feb. 22 get a real haircut!  The biggest housecleaning chore before Winterruption is cleaning the office, where one of the girls will be sleeping on a blow-up bed.  All the storage totes, file boxes, travel bags, piles of photos, etc, etc, have been moved down to the basement.  I vacuumed within an inch of my life and then got out the Murphy's Oil Soap.  I washed the baseboards and both desks.  Really, I should probably do that more often (she says rolling her eyes).

Feb. 24 - 27 the girls are here.  Thursday afternoon and evening was catch-up time.  This past year we implemented Video Cocktail Hour on Friday afternoons, and it's been great but it sure doesn't take the place of a real hug. We spent Friday at the Van Gogh exhibit, then headed out to Waterford for lunch & Quilt Junction & the antique mall (where I picked up a cute little gift for Margaret's birthday).  Saturday was spent in my workroom talking shop and doing quilty-things.  Sunday morning breakfast of Eggs Benedict (my birthday!), then they packed and headed off for home.  Coco was pretty good with them but mostly tried to follow me around while staying out of their way.

Feb 27 - Mar 5

Much of my birthday was spent cleaning up after the girls left, then the rest of the day I finished the prep for the 3-patch block presentation I'll do on the 28th.  

Coco has had a breakthrough and is coming downstairs in the morning all by herself, without prompting.  She's still really freaky and prancing around the house, but at least she's willingly coming for walkies.  

A birthday lunch out with a friend included a couple stops at quilt shops and more word fabric in my shopping cart.  I also got some anti-anxiety dog treats that were recommended by the dog trainer, hopefully they will help.   I booked an appointment with a dog groomer who comes to the house for nail trims.  I'm pretty ticked at her...she got lost on her way here, and now will not return my messages to rebook an appointment.  WTH.  It's not MY fault she got lost.  sigh.

Mar 6 - Mar 12

I'm in charge of the Red Hat outing in March, so I made the arrangements for that.  We're going to the movies for the first time in two years.  For an afternoon matinee the cinema should be empty (and post-outing I can report that it WAS empty).  I felt like such an ass though, one of our gals was not on my email list so I neglected to invite her.  I definitely owe her a little something by way of apology.

I had my blood pressure checked at the doctor's office and it's good.  Normal.  Within a tolerable range.  Thank God.  After my appointment I took a drive in to town, with the back of the car filled with two years worth of booze empties.  A couple people have organized a bottle drive with proceeds being donated to the Red Cross in support of Ukraine.  I was crying in a restaurant this week over the atrocities taking place in Europe right now.  Giving away my empties won't make much of a difference, but every little bit helps.  Here is a link to the Red Cross if you want to make a financial contribution.

Back in January I was up late scrolling through the Costco website, and in a weak moment ordered new bedroom furniture.  I was 15 years old when Mom bought my current bedroom set.  I just turned 66.  I will not be living with the new stuff as long as I did the old stuff.  Anyhow, the new stuff was delivered on Saturday.  I was really worried about how different things can look in real life, as compared to online photos, but I'm very happy with the real stuff.  Yay!  Please, let this motivate me to finish the bedroom drapes that have been lounging on my pressing table for (omg, embarassing...) a few years now.

Prairie Points & Mug/Rug Swap

This is another one of those quilts where I hoped the maker would not come and pick it up after quilting.  Sadly, that didn't happen and it has gone back home.  The name of the block is Granny's Stars.

Prairie Points are definitely a challenge.  Once it's loaded on the longarm, flip the points OUT, baste one inch inside the base of the points, and leave the basting in.  Don't quilt anything beyond that - the maker will be turning the backing under and needs that space to work in.

The yoyo's added another bit of a challenge.  I outlined around the applique and the yoyo's, then modified the pantograph pattern which I used in the body of the quilt, and added freemotion quilting to fill the background.

Fresh, springy, and girly.

So pretty.

At one of my guilds the December meeting included a Mug and Rug swap.  It was done on a "make one, take one" basis, so if you didn't want to participate you didn't have to.  Here's my contribution.

And here's what I brought home.

I've been on vacation (or whatever it's called when you stay home and do chores?) for two weeks.  Sadie got clipped so she looks like a dog again, instead of a Wookiee.  All the upstairs windows (23 panes) and screens (11) have been scrubbed & shined.  My workroom has been defuzzed (you'll never find someone with MORE dust than me) and several hours has been spent on bookkeeping.  The house has been vacuumed and dusted.  I finished a UFO and quilted TWO of my own quilts - one needs hand stitching on the binding, but the other one is destined for the donation pile so it got machine binding.  I'll post pics of those later, but it makes my TFUQ list and UFO list look a little better. 😁  However, unfortunately while I was cleaning and defuzzing the workroom, I found ANOTHER UFO in a bag.  The blocks are all made and squared up, since 2008.  Geez Louise.
Now, I think I need a vacation from my vacation.

Two Quilts, a Top, and WHY WHY WHY??? Oh yeah - zucchini report too.

This is a cute Yellow Brick Road quilt.

Love that panto pattern:  Ba Da Boom from Urban Elementz.

This intrigued me.

It's a block I've never seen before, so I had to examine it closely.

Oh and here's THE TOP.  Yeah, I can be a real idiot.  One of the guild members brought this top and put it on a give-away table, hoping someone would decide to take it home and give it some love.  Apparently (!) that someone was me.  Aaand, now I have another UFO.

Most of it is very wonky but ... it just has something that appeals to me.   It's a fair size, around 75 x 100.  I won't "fix" anything except a couple of seams that I notice have popped open.

WHY WHY WHY???
Stupid basement.  Actually, stupid washing machine, which walked itself across the floor because the load was not balanced.  And then it pulled the drain hose out of the laundry tub.  Grrr.

PITIFUL ZUCCHINI REPORT
Picked last two weeks:   5
Picked YTD:                 22

Beautiful Double Wedding Ring, updated to-do, and blah, blah, blah

As you may or may not know, I have been working on a double wedding ring quilt for several years.  I complete one row per year when I'm on retreat up in Tobermory with the Beach Girls.  Every once in a while the Universe teases me, and has a customer bring one for quilting.

This is so pretty.  I just love these quilts and look forward to someday completing my own.

Nice plain back that shows off the quilting. 💗

When I posted my to-do list last week, one of the items on the list was to "Marie Kondo" my corner of the living room.  OMG, look at the piles of mess on my table and in the bookshelves.

BEFORE

DH and I were heading out for Chinese food and I told him that I'd been working on Marie Kondo-ing my corner.  He had no idea what the hell I was talking about, so I had to tell him all about Marie Kondo.  If you've ever seen HIS corner of the living room (or his garage, or the shed, or his truck, or...) you would know that she is not his kind of girl. 😛

AFTER

I kept a small collection of magazines that I still need to go through before I decide their fate.  And that little pile of remaining junk will be dealt with today.  The Quilts Japan magazines will go upstairs where I have saved every issue I've ever purchased.  I may take them to the crematorium with me when I die. 😄

This is the pile that I'll plow through to see what stays and what goes to the guild for redistribution.  There are lots of Modern Quilting magazines and Machine Quilting magazines and a few random quilt magazines in here.  And my seed catalogue.

Here's the to-do list as it currently stands.

It has been a wonderful long Easter weekend for working on stupid chores.  We had no plans for a fancy Easter dinner, and it has been pouring rain for three days straight.

My quilting machine is broken and I can't do anything about it until I talk to Nolting on either Monday or Tuesday - whenever they are back to work.  Why is it that stuff always decides to break just before a long weekend?

In my forced down time I decided to join up with  #The100DayProject.  I have chosen a combination of two things, which doesn't seem to be against any rules.  I will either do some personal stitching OR I will do yoga.  The commitment is 5 - 10 minutes every day for 100 days.  The official start date for 2019 was April 1, but again, starting when I did is not against any rules.  If you follow me on Instagram or on Facebook I'm planning to post my activity there most days.  But don't expect to see any pics of my arse up in the air as I'm doing a Downward Facing Dog.

This is the stitching project I've been working on.  It's a Bonnie Hunter design Nine In The Middle from one of her books.  Today when I go and stitch for 10 minutes I will actually be PRESSING for 10 minutes.  If you check out that link to her site, scroll down to the quilt with the light blue background fabric and the red border...that's what I'm making.  Mine is in reds/greens/yellow-browns.  It will be for guests when I make up the sofa-bed in our upstairs tv room.  It should look nice with the room decor.

I Love Polka Dots and I Hate Winter

Oooh, get a load of those bright grunge polka dots.

Quilted with a "modern" pantograph, oddly enough called Mid Century.  The backing was pieced, using preprinted Stack 'n Whack fabric and more of the grunge polka dots.

THE STORY OF I HATE WINTER

Last week I showed you a pic of my kitchen door covered in ice.  This is the same door, THIS week.  Fresh ice. This was Tuesday morning.

Here's the back yard Tuesday night.

Here's the front yard Wednesday morning.  Now we've got snow on TOP of the ice.  Guild meeting tonight is cancelled.  This makes three in a row - one for each guild I belong to.

Next, it warmed up overnight and melted much of the snow. Then it froze again.
Thursday morning.  Yeah.  Happy Valentines to you too Mother Nature.  Geez.  Poor Sadie is risking life and limb every time she needs to go for a pee.

Thurday morning front yard.  Can you see my driveway over there?  That is a massive sheet of ice.

It is Sunday morning now and the driveway is still a sheet of ice.  There's a crust of ice on top of the snow, so even going over the LAWN to get to the road is slipperier'n hell.

DH and I did manage to get out and run a couple of errands.  I hit the sale rack in the produce section and bought a bag of half price apples.  I cut up the whole bag for Apple Betty and used a 9 x 13 pan.  Yes - sugar is the only thing keeping me sane these days.  At least I leave the skin on the apples.

My Red Hat group got into a discussion once about buying produce off the sale rack (I think this was during the $7.00 cauliflower period), and whether we did or didn't.  Until then I'd never even thought about looking there, but if I'm baking or canning or cooking veggies for soup...why not?

This is as close as I can get to a giggle.

Vintage Double Wedding Ring & Gettin' There...

Sigh.  The Universe was teasing me by putting this on my work calendar as soon as I came home from Tobermory, where I'd been working on my own D.W.R.

There was a fascinating story that came with this quilt.  The gal who brought it related that when she was a child the quilt was made by a woman who was invited to live with her family in the mid '40s because she had nowhere else to go.  She stayed with them until she passed away in 1955. When my customer got the quilt top out of the closet it needed to be washed.  Since it was all hand pieced, some of the seams frayed to the point where I needed to make a few repairs.

Love vintage fabrics.

Some of the fabrics were worn so badly I did a bit more repair work, using my stash of '30s reproduction prints.

You can see the quilting beautifully on the back.

FIREPLACE UPDATE
Almost finished.  The brick is painted a lighter shade of the wall colour.  The concrete hearth & mantle are painted the same as the wall colour.  All I need now is some 1/4 round trim down the sides where the brick meets the wall.

And why is it, whenever I put on my painting duds, someone unexpected comes to the door? That day (in the link) it was a customer, but this year - one day it was the internet guy, and another day it was the neighbour. I have been wearing that same oh-my-God-what-was-she-thinking outfit for painting for...20 years?  I have to do the pants up with a safety pin now because the elastic is no longer elastic.  If it's warm weather I might switch out the old shirt for an old t-shirt.  Still, not attractive. 😝

When it comes to jobs like this I don't always listen to "the experts".  Several people (and The Internet) told me I had to wash all this brick with a scrub brush & TSP, then I had to prime it, and THEN I could paint it.  Yeah, um, no.  I vacuumed it.  Then I painted it.  One watered-down coat on the brick, two watery coats on the cement.  In six months maybe I'll have to do it again - time will tell.