New Washer

 The washer I'd been using came with this house, and I've lived here for nineteen years. I didn't really use it all those years, I'd brought a washer with me that I used for about eight years.

The washer that came with the house - was made in Ohio, around 1990.  It was made to last, as these things were back then.

A couple of month ago, it stopped spinning out quite all the water.  There was a work-around, I love work-arounds, and I could just turn the dial for a few extra minutes of spinning.

But earlier this week it started leaking water, and that was the end.  If parts were still available I'd have fixed it, but not even ebay could help me out with what I needed. 

So today the truck pulled up with a new washer,with nice warranties and a projected life of twenty-five years.  My projected life isn't twenty-five years, so I'm hopeful that I won't be buying another washer.

It isn't especially beautiful and it doesn't do many tricks, but I'm in love.  It's so, so quiet.

For My Daughter

 My daughter wanted a gray wall hanging for her hallway. 

And I was luckky enough to score a scrap bag at the local quilt shop.  Inside were gray and gray-green fabrics, with several half square tringles already made.  Those triangles wwere pretty precise, more than mine would have been, and mine are pretty precise.

From there it was easy to piece together the wall hanging.  I realize sit-down quilter was happy to get a bit of a work out, so that was a bonus.  I realize that many quilters take their quilt tops to be quilted by someone else on a long arm with digital stitch patterns, but I like my own stitches.

My sit-down quilter has a stitch regulator that evens out the stitches, but it's still in its package.  Maybe some day I'll try it, for now, once again, I like my own stitches"..

Size is 28" x 28".

Love This Place

 

There is a restaurant in the Northside community of Cincinnati that I love.  Ruth's Parkside Cafe.  If I lived closer I'd be there every week or two.

The building looks like nicely renovated industrial, definitely a casual vite.  There are sweet little lamps, art work, and awesome food otions for me.. Lots of the menu is plant based with protein that can be added for folks who want that, but there are plenty of meat options too.

Yesterday I had a "sandwich" with sauted vegetables served over whole wheat bread and topped with Swiss cheese.  The portion was gigantic and I had the leftovers for lunch today, with my own artisan bread.

The staff is so friendly.  When I was there on a recent Saturday afternoon there were two couples playing cribbage.  No one asked them repeated if they wanted anything else, n an effort to move them along, just left them to their game during an uncrowded time.

On raccoon news, no littl squeaks yesterday or today.  Of course I don't hang around long listening.

Fireflies

 This year for the first time in ages there are so many fireflies in the front yard garden and even some in the back yard.  Apparently they like pollenator plants.

So much nicer than raccoons.  It really is a treat watching their tiny flashes.

They remind me of the years we saw the synchronized fireflies at Elkmont in the Smokies.  Their show would happen for just a couple of weeks in June.

Eventually they got to be sso popular that we stopped going, but they are probably still flashing.

Not Happy

Apparently I have a raccoon living in my chimney, and I'm not happy.

My new neighbor told me that he's seen it crawling in and out.  I don't  have a fireplace but the chimney was used for the original heating system ventelation.

This has turned into a neighborhood project.  The original plan was to trap the raccoon and relocate her, but it turns out that if I go behind the furnace I can hear babies squeaking.  Mama gets a reprieve until the babies leave.

Surprise Iris

 

This pretty iris appeared today.  Sarah said she planted it last year, beside the front porch so I could easily water it.  She said it needs a lot of water.

In fact it has received next to none.  It's surrounded by day lilies, which get minimal water from me.  I'll be more diligent going forward.  It's such a lovely flower on a long stalk.

The small local nursery has no milkweed.  The nice man sitting in a chair just outside the door said he had tried three or four suppliers without any luck.  He said that seems to happen every three or four years.

There has been gentle thunder rumbling for the past hour.  Somewhere, it is raining, just not here.

False Indigo

 

Joanne mentioned the plant false indigo in a reent post.  She inspsired me to admire mine, very big this year.  You can see both leaves and seed pods.

Sometimes called baptisia, these plants are drought tolerant, good pollenators, and (drum roll) deer resistant.  And, they're pretty.

Because I'd read that they are self seeding I tried to start my own from seeds in the refrigerator rolled up in a damp paper towel.  It didn't work.