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.

Misfits

 When I finished piecing the Moda blocks earlier this spring,  three misfit blocks were left over - and one block was keft to do.  The one on the lower left.

In the interest of really finishing, and in getting the three misfit  blocks off the table, I pieced that fourth block and stitched the bocks together.

The blocks still look like misfits, but with some quilting they will make a pretty enough Christmas table topper.

When I was telling you about that lower left block, I was reminded about how long it took me as a child to learn right from left.  (That, and tying my shoes.  My mother dispaired.)  I'm pretty sure I was the last in my class to learn both

I remember sitting in the second grade classroom trying to puzzle out right vs. left, a concept that made no sense.  It was a combination second and third grade classroom and I'm sure I was supposed to be doing something else, but I was easily distracted.

I finally learned by looking to see on which hand women wore their wedding rings and translating that to other situations.  

To this day, I'm always happy for a work-around.  I think it's related to math appreciation.  There are different paths to the right answer.

Morning Glory and Unrelated Stupidity

 The back posch morning glories reseeded themselves, and - bonus - they are flowering much earlier than last year.  Their brightness cheers up each morning.

Now for the stupidity - A few weeeks ago I had my sewing machine serviced, and I'd used it a few times since then.  All was good, until I got really stupid.  I realized I hadn't engaged the dual feed foot and promptly did that.

The backstory is that that feature hooks up to only one of the many feet that come with the machine.  And I chose the wrong one.

I should have looked at the manual, just to be sure I had everything right.  But I didn't because I'd done it many times before.  And then I felt so, so stupid when I went to the dealer because things weren't working.

All the more so because I was an educator for that dealer for many years.

Catch Up - Plant Shopping

As a delayed Mother's Day gift, Sarah and Winnie and the dogs took me plant shopping at the huge nursery north of Cincinnati.

II'm easily impressed - they had complementary icy bottles of cold water.

It's the kind of place where customers stroll around just looking at plants of all kinds, knowledgable employees stroll around asking if they can help, and dog biscuits appear out of employee smock pockets.

I picked out this red cone flower and a bluebeard cryopteris.  I really wanted a milkweek plant but those were very picked over.  I guess that other people want a zoo certified pollenator garden.

Luckily, Winnie located a smaller nursery on the way to the brewery.  That nursery had lots of pollinator plants, inclluding a selection of milkweed - I may have to go back.

Catch Up - Birthday

The day after Aaron's high school graduation came Sarah's birthday.  We celebrated twice, but the celebration on her actual birthday was at MadTree Brewing.

We love the huge outdoor patio there.  Usually on a Saturday afternoon you'll find grown ups, small children, and dogs.  The rain held off on that rainy weekend and we had a good time.

Note that sitting beside me is Nora.  She turned 21 in December and  she joined the fun.

Who knew - for many years Nora had the long straight hair favored by the high school crowd.  Starting about a year ago she started getting it cut, a little shorter each time.  With the weight gone, her hair turned curly and then added layers meant added curls.

- Catch Up =Graduation

 It's June.  Graduation has come and gone.  I have no grands in high school.

Since the class was large, graduation was held in a college arena.  Even with all those graduates, each had a few moments on the jumbo tron   Parents were given a seating chart so they could spot their grad.

Once everyone had diplomas and tassels had been turned, the audotorium darkened and camera flashlights flickered on the floor and in the upper arena, like a field of fireflies.

Then the lights turned back on and confetti was showered over the graduates.  It was a moment.

Most touching for me was when band graduates joined the symphonic band for one more time.  One last song.

First Catch Up

 

First catch-up - the garden.

It's growing well and looks like the blooming garden of my dreams.  There are three new plants, including a new milkweed.  The spring rains have been kind.

If you look toward the right, you'll see the Pollenator Garden sign from the zoo.

The back yard - not so well.  But maybe there will soon be fewer weeds, starting today.  The morning glories on the back porch have reseeded, and better than last year.

It's June 1 - can you believe it?