not a lot to report

I don't have much to tell about lately it seems.  Just keeping up with the day-to-day stuff fills up my time.  Bob's surgical recovery is coming along nicely, much less pain and now he is back to work for half days, which is great!  There are still a lot of things that he is restricted from doing, but he is finding ways to pitch in and help with a lot of stuff.  Last night I had to purchase water softener salt, and carried those awful heavy bags to the basement for maybe the first time ever!  No need to lift weights when we have the joy of softener salt to deal with!  I have been working on pulling a lot of weeds from flower beds, they seem to be very healthy.  The weeds, that is!  I have been transplanting some things and moving some hostas and perennials to more suitable spaces.  But that doesn't make for very interesting pictures!

Not a whole lot of sewing or quilting or knitting going on, either.  But I do have one thing to share--

A handy dandy little tote bag, a real nice size that is bigger than a book bag but smaller than a grocery bag.  This is the picture from the pattern, Merry Berry Tote by Cut Loose Press--

This one was made from vinyl but I used decorator weight fabric.  There will probably be a vinyl one coming soon!

I did read another book, an actual paper and ink book for a change.  It is a story about an 18 year old golfer who took a year to travel with the goal of playing golf in every state (except Hawaii and Alaska).

Although I admit I did skim over some of the golfy parts about bunkers and course layout and clubs, etc., I did enjoy his account of traveling alone, sleeping in his car, and living on the cheap.  I don't know whether to credit him or his editor, but it was well-written for an 18-year-old.

I will try to put together some more pictures to share, maybe even pulled weeds and sandburs!

Spring has sprung

I know that in many places in this fine land you presently have leafy trees, mowed lawns and colorful flowerbeds. Not so much here in the tundra. But there is progress aplenty here, once again assuring that the cycle of seasons never ends. Yesterday morning I awoke to rain and dreariness, which was not a good omen for Bob's golf league kick-off. But by midday, when I emerged from my quilting in the basement, the sun was blazing and I could open windows, stroll around the house, poke in the dead stuff, and snap these pictures for you. A blossoming tree in the front yard--

Raindrops still puddled on the tiny bleeding hearts---

emerging hostas that are amazingly purple--

Sunny and windy for golf for Bob, and perfect conditions for me to join him on the 19th hole!

Last weekend at my quilt retreat, I shared my homemade granola with the people who wanted something other than the usual camp breakfast. Had some requests for the recipe, and I thought I had posted it here before but couldn't find it, so here it is.

These are my ingredients:

1/2 cup honey, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/3 cup veg. oil, 2 Tbsp. water, 1 tsp. apple pie spice, 1/2 tsp. cardamom. Mix these together in a microwaveable bowl or pan, cook in microwave a couple minutes to heat and mix everything but watch out that it doesn't boil over. In a big bowl mix these: 4 cups regular old-fashioned oatmeal (not quick-cooking), 1 cup toasted soybeans, 1/4 cup flaxseeds, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 cup chopped nuts. Pour the hot liquid mixture over all these dry ingredients and stir it up. Spread this out on a sheet cake pan/cookie sheet/jelly roll pan, mine is about 12" x 17" with 1" sides that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 275 degrees for 30 minutes. Stir it up and add 1 cup craisins, bake 15 minutes more.

This combination can be varied according to your likes and what you have on hand. The apple pie spice is something I purchase at Weaver's Country Store in Fall Creek, WI, an Amish general store. It is a combo of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and allspice, but I don't know proportions. I change the nuts and fruit each time, sometimes pecans, walnuts, peanuts, cashews, almonds, cherries, mixed berries, blueberries or any combination of the above. This makes a hearty, crunchy cereal, my serving size is 1/3 cup with a carton of silk yogurt or a little soymilk, and it fills me up!

Thank you Leisl!

An angel came to my house yesterday, her name is Leisl! She came to do the finishing work on the what has become known in our house as the Great Tablerunner Adventure. So now there are 15 completed runners ready for their trip to Plumpjack in Squaw Valley. Accompanying them will be the mother of all tablerunners, which is near the finishing line. These 15 will grace the round tables at the reception, they measure 14" x 82" (or thereabouts). The mama runner measures 7 yards (yes, that's 21 feet) by 21" and will cover the center of the very large head table. The brown color doesn't show up very truly in these pictures, but it is much like a Hershey bar! They are all wholecloth, in other words, one continuous strip of fabric with a wandering quilting design sewn edge-to-edge. I quilted the brown fabric to a layer of thermore, a thin poly batting and a layer of muslin. Then Leisl sewed them all to a piece of the plain brown fabric, right sides together, stitched all around the perimeter except for a turning hole. Then she turned them right side out, pressed the seamed edge straight and flat, and closed up the hole. Then topstitched all around the outside edge. She used my Juki machine and I swear I have never known it could go so fast! She saved me a lot of time but more importantly saved me some worry about getting these all done! Here's a little closeup of the stitching:

And one more item of importance, Bob's golf game has earned him an award:

I am so glad that Bob enjoys getting out with his golf league every week (or more often) to have some fun with his buddies.

Done!

What a great 4-letter word!

Finished up this Marilee quilt this morning, and I love these fabrics! Batiks are always nice to work with, and these rich colors make it a double delight! The pattern is Between Friends from the Terry Atkinson book Happy Hour. The quilting design is a pantogram called Splash from Willow Leaf Studio. Now my next quilt to do is coincidentally the same pattern on a smaller scale! And Christmas fabrics:

Otherwise, the update here this morning is that it isn't raining! The sun is shining, so I got my 3 mile walk/run done, picked the garden, and am working on packing up stuff for a weekend away at Bob and Debbie's cabin in WI. We have been trying all summer to find a time when we could go there, and here it is the end of August and this is the first chance we've had. And we always have such a fun time there, so we didn't want to let the opportunity escape even though there were challenges to working it out! We do need to get back in time for Bob to make his scheduled round of golf Sunday afternoon, it had to be postponed due to bad weather this week. Bob sure loves his golfing, he is in a weekly league and rarely misses those nights. This particular game will be the finals of the league match play, which started out with 64 golfers competing and now down to 2! Maybe I should go along to caddy for him! With my lack of golfing skill and knowledge, I'm afraid I would be more of a hindrance than a help. But I can definitely show up for the celebration when he wins!

I'm his #1 fan!

Just got done listening to my amazing son, Dan, speaking on Sirius radio! He was interviewed by a talkshow radio host on the Martha Stewart radio network during a segment about festivals. Each Friday they talk to someone around the country about a local festival, and Dan was promoting the Mammoth Festival that is happening this weekend. I have to say that I think he did a good job of thinking on the fly to come up with the best responses to the host's questions in an accurate and understandable way. I don't normally listen to Sirius but Dan tipped me that I could get a free trial so I signed up for that in order to catch his talkshow experience. Now I just wish I could go to the festival! Wine, food, music, art and mountains--how good can it get?!

As I'm listening, I'm cooking berries and it smells delicious! I am preparing them for the sangria that I will be serving tomorrow at the bridal shower brunch for Brita, a very special event for us! Brita and Ben are "home" this weekend for golf and girlfriends. Ben is enjoying an annual tournament of friends, 24 golfers from all around the country that flock back to St. Paul/Minneapolis to enjoy the heat and humidity. Since Tiger Woods and other greats are also in the area for the PGA tournament, maybe they should plan a little get-together? Sounds like Ben had a good showing yesterday, maybe he could pass along a few tips to Tiger to help him get his game on! As for the girlfriends part of the weekend, Brita is going to be the recipient of showers of happiness followed by a night out on the town with her bridesmaids-to-be. Molly, marvelous maid of honor, is hosting the brunch at her cute house in St. Paul. I am trying to help out by bringing an adult beverage, a concoction that I have been developing. This stems from a white wine sangria I tasted last spring which has now been modified and named the Minnesota Mixer. Want to sample it for yourself? Here's what you do:

Mix 3 parts chardonnay, 1 part gin, 1 part mixed berry puree, 1 part 7up or sprite, and 1/2 part simple syrup. Pour over ice and enjoy! I am using the frozen assorted berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc.) and cooking them a little to get them softened. Then I puree them in the food processor and then through a strainer to eliminate the seeds. A little bit of work, but worth not having seeds stuck in my teeth!

Hope you are enjoying this fine summer day! I would like to be quilting but need to finish up these berries, take my car to the mechanic to see if they can tell me why the carpet is soaking wet, and then take Bob shopping for new dress-up clothes. Maybe tomorrow I'll get back to the witches!