More Misc

 

Comforter binding.  I just realized, now that it's finished, that I didn't do my usual 1/4" seam around the edge before I started the binding.  It worked just fine, but I do want to remember next time.  Just in case.

My high school graduating grand girl has just one more day of classes.  Graduation isn't for a couple more weeks, at the end of the school year, but seniors finish first.  

I just made my first container of Miracle Grow for the season.  The little seedlings on the back porch are growing well.  Cucumbers, basil, marigolds.  Mostly marigolds.

I've just started reading Demon Copperhead.  I hadn't planned to read it, but now that Barbara Kingsolver has a Pulitzer for the book, I want to give it a try.

Behind

 

Mending, alterations, I'm way behind.  It seems like that's the way it's going in my life right now.

Yeserday, I did hem a pair of pants.  And altered Nora's pretty brown prom suit.  For the pants, took them in at the waist, norrowed the legs, re-hemmed, anchored the buttons.  I never mind grand kid sewing.

At retreat several weeks ago I cut out squares for a comforter and figured out a layout.  I wish I'd taken a picture because now I can't remember that layout.  The fabric came in a bag from Mennonite Central Committee, pieces of donated fabric that someone put together.  Mostly greens and yellows.  It needs some purple.  That's ok, I have purple.

My older friend, the one I've been getting groceries for and taking out on Fridays, has been in the hospital.  Now in a nice rehab facility.  I've tried to visit often, but this weekend, not at all.  And I feel bad about that.  Last time I went she was sitting up in a wheelchair, looking outside at the trees and the birds, so much nicer than the hospital view of another part of the building, seen from her bed.  There was talk of bingo the next day.

The thing is, now that I'm not doing our combined grocery order, I've been putting off getting groceries.  Just dashing into the smaller store for a few things or ordering carry out.    

More Knotting

 

More comforter knotting yesterday in the church basement.  Seven of us knotted three comforters.  It's fun to think about where they might end up.  First, though, they need bindings.  And I'm behind on binding from a previous knotting session.

I find it so soothing to knot with a group of friends.  Random chatting.  A quiet space.  An easy kind of volunteering.

Landscaping trucks have been appearing in my neighborhood, with workers cleaning yards and spreading mulch.  Soon new plantings will be showing up.

Sarah came last weekend and did a lot of weeding and trimming.  That big rose bush - wasn't totally dead.  Once she got to the center there were lots of new shoots.  My neighbor wasn't as lucky - it looks like he lost an anchor tree and a couple of bushes from the front of his house.  We had such a mild winter with one short cold snap.  I guess that was enough.

A new Italian restaurant opened in my neighborhood during the pandemic, carry out only.  They are now open for inside dining as well with an expanded menu.  It's a dream come true, easy pick up with good choices, lots of parking,  It's easy to find something for dinner as well as a great salad for lunch the next day.  Amazing bread.  Reasonable pricing.     

Finished

 

One of the charm pack challenge wall hangings is quilted and washed to bring out the quilting.  In other words, finished.

My decluttering had pretty much stalled.  I'm not unhappy about that, I made great progress  and moved on to kitchen cleaning.  Now, though, I want to move on again.

I found a tub of mysterious fabrics in the basement.  I know I didn't buy any of them, they just aren't at all what I would gravitate toward.  At all.  I picked out a few possibilities for my stash, the others will leave my house today.  And it will remain a mystery.

I've been trimming back the big rose bush in my back yard, but now that things are leafing out I have to admit that the rose bush is dead.  Another mystery.  I'm not upset in the least - something prettier will take its place.

   

As I Remembered

The red beet eggs were as pretty as I remembered.  The grands didn't eat any, but they admired them, and that was all I wanted.  I ate one, though, and they tasted as good as I remembered.  With horseradish.

I may, and may not, make them again next year.  Maybe just two or three.

It was fun at church to see a few children dressed up and to see pictures of pretty Easter dresses on facebook.  I don't remember ever having one of those fancy dresses, but I always enjoy seeing them.

It looks like one of those magic spring weeks ahead, with temperatures warm enough to turn off the heat but not so hot that I consider air conditioning.  I can open the windows, work in the yard a little.  Sew upstairs in the mornings.

Happy Easter!

 

Happy Easter, everyone!

I hope you have lots of sunshine, some good food, pleasant memories, and a few eggs, chocolate or otherwise.

Red Beet Eggs

I really wanted to make these this Easter.  I want my two grandkids to see this part of my history.  I don't expect the grands to enjoy these eggs.  I don't even expect them to eat them.  I just want them to see them.  I'll cut them in half so they can admire the pretty pink with the yellows of the yokes.

Some time before Easter my uncle would have the job of grating a horseradish root, sitting on my grandmother's back porch step.  He said it was an awful job, the smell of the root was so strong.  My cousin and I would dare each other to stick our noses in a jar of fresh horseradish with vinegar, knowing that we would feel the pain deep in our sinuses.

That horseradish was a part of enjoying the eggs at Easter dinner.

I've read that we can buy horseradish root at Whole Foods, although I've never looked for it.  I'm sure my uncle would have loved having a small food processor to replace using a hand grater.