Peach Muffins

 

A very nice friend went to visit her family in Michigan and shared three of the peaches she brought home.  Folks, these are nothing, nothing like the peaches in the grocery store.  My first taste reminded me of my first taste of kalamata olives - just that incredibly surprisingly good.

I decided to use two of them to make peach muffins and those are so good too.  I don't know when I last made muffins - they were probably blueberry.  These though, with those Michigan peaches, have to be better.

If you want to make some peach muffins, google "King Arthur peach muffins."  And don't forget to put the sugar on top like I did.

I did some embroidery today for the church 50th anniversary banner.  It took a long time, and in the end I wasn't exactly happy with the way the color for pastor names worked.  Just because it really, really needed to be right I asked a friend to proofread - and one of the names is spelled wrong.  And now you know what I'm going to be doing tomorrow.  Using different colors.

Celebrating

This Saturday I'm celebrating the first day without an eye doctor visit after nine days in a row.  That's a lot for this doctor phobe.  Maybe the Universe is presenting me with a kind of immersive therapy.  

But all is well, and the weather has been a treat, (although we're back to the 90's for the next week.)  And I hope you heard my governor speak at the convention.  

Following one of the appointments my daughter and I ended up in Hillsboro, Ohio, and we had lunch at a delightful restaurant called The Porch.  For the spaghetti squash they halved the squash and fluffed the "spaghetti" instead of removing it from the squash.  Then they topped it with a thick marinara and shaved parmesan. They said that since their squash were small that day, they gave me two halves instead of one.

I can't even tell you how good it was.  And now I'm going to have to plant spaghetti squash next summer.

Another Time Out

It's a time out for me again after another eye surgery yesterday.  The tube shunt put in this May just didn't do the job for me and it is gone now.  

I'm back to the routine of no bending, lifting, straining and have been for the past week.  Sitting around is not my usual routine.  I enjoy getting in my steps and doing my exercises plus doing the creative things I love.

Soon enough I'll start cooking, then doing some walking, etc.

In the meantime, Milo's tomato is growing and has reached the top ring of the tomato cage.  There are some yellow blossoms, same with the pumpkin vines, but no little tomatoes or pumpkins.  I would think that there are few pollinators here, but the squash set up fruit quite well.  I think that perhaps I need to cut back on the Miracle Grow.

Stars

 

You'll just have to trust me that the actual quilt is straight and that the edge stars extend to the light green borders.  O My Stars from Pat Sloan.

This was the next project in getting back to quilting.  The time out was just too long as I recovered from this and that.  But I have plans, I don't know what the next project will be but it will be more complicated.  More pieces and points.  And brighter colors, although the actual colors here are brighter greens than the picture shows.

I have a Corey Yoder book requested for my birthday a year ago.  And a Christmas layer cake.  I love doing the scrapy blocks, each a little different.  Maybe that will be next.

Precise and Lovely

 

As seen in on walk:  my neighbor's flower beds, so lovely and precise.  I can only sigh with just a little envy as I admire them.  In this one, even the little begonias area in rows, a nicely trimmed bush highlighting them.  I often see my neighbor outside in the early morning weeding to keep everything so pretty.

Mine can only be described as exuberant, not precise.   I like to think I'm going for a meadow kind of look, but even that may be more than a little generous description.

Inside my neighbor's house it's the same way, lovely, not a thing out of place.  Things are dusted and polished.  

And at my house the can of Pledge has been sitting hopefully on the table for weeks now.  Not that things are dusty, but they aren't polished either.

And upstairs in my sewing areas - I can't tell you how many projects are in progress or in hope of being in progress, and I don't want to count either.  

I wonder whether this is symbolic of a cluttered mind or of a creative mind.  I'm voting for a creative mind, of course, but who really knows how these things work.

At the End of the Street

 

At the park at the end of the street.  There has to be a story here

My story is getting to the park at the end of the street.

Seasoning

 

It's still hot but the evening temperatures are cooler and I want to season my neglected cast iron Dutch oven and corn stick mold.  For several evenings I'll do that, clean and dry, rub shortening inside and outside, put in 350 degree oven upside down for an hour, with foil to catch any drips.

I'm dreaming of artisan bread and corn bread sticks.  Soup maybe, but not for sure, I have another pot for soup.  It's all about the bread.

With the cooler temperatures there wasn't as much watering tonight and I walked up the long hill the next street over.  A few weeks ago an older man (that means my age) was outside watering his impatiens when I walked by and he said, "Just don't walk up the long hill."  And that was the challenge.  I've walked it several times since.

That doesn't mean I might not stop a time or two on my way, but I don't care.  I have memories of rehab when walking around my room twice was all I could do.

Red, White, and Blue

 

Thanks to Karen G for gifting me the kit for this little red, white, and blue quilt.  She sent it in plenty of time for Memorial Day decorating but my spring and summer have been a little wonky.  But here it is, and it isn't Labor Day yet so all is well.

And it's just the right size for the ottoman where I keep my laptop, planner, and notebook.

And thanks again to Sarah and Winnie for finding this ottoman and matching recliner  Once again, there were a lot of frogs kissed before the prince was found.

Porch Flowers

 Front porch flowers.  I feel happy every time I walk out the door.

Yesterday I cut up four small yellow squash for a casserole, sauteed them very lightly in just a little butter, and drained them.  Mixed together 1/2 cup sour cream, a beaten egg, and 5 ounces cheddar cheese, then added the squash.  Put a few cracker crumbs in the skillet and heated them, then put them on top of the casserole  Baked at 350 degrees for twenty-five minutes.

And it was the best squash casserole ever.  Regarding cooking and other things, I always say "you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince."  This recipe is the prince, but it took a lot of frogs to get here.  I think the secret is to saute the squash just until they just to soften, then drain.  Use minimal butter.  And then there's the egg.

I've heard that yesterday will be our last day of 90 degree temperature for the summer.  I don't know if that's true, but it sounds good.