signs of spring (finally!)

I think this might be the latest springtime I can ever remember!  One of the big spring events in this state is the opening of fishing season, usually on Mother's Day weekend.  I did learn that it isn't required that it happens on that weekend and leave a bunch of fishing widows behind on their special holiday.  It actually is scheduled according to a certain Saturday after some phase of the moon or something like that, but it does seem to interfere with either our wedding anniversary (5/16) or Mother's Day every year.  Anyway, this year a good number of the lakes were still iced over, so many plans of those dedicated fisherpeople were altered.

But today I had a chance to walk outside with my camera while the sun was shining, and was so happy to see things actually growing again!

apple tree

wild grape vine

hosta that haven't been eaten yet!

old-fashioned bleeding hearts

another variety of bleeding hearts

wild plum tree, I think

Such a welcome relief from the cold and snow! 

I have wanted to share some info on books I have recently read/listened to.  First, a series of 4 books by Richard Paul Evans.  The first in the series is The Walk, and I don't have the other 3 pictured in the correct order but you can find that out easily.  I got all of them from the library on CD's, and they were read by the author.  It is the story of a young man's journey on foot across the country, with many valuable lessons learned along the way.  It is fiction, but seemed like it could be real.  I heard about them from my brother-in-lay, John, so I thank him for pointing me in the right direction.

While I was searching the library files for The Walk, the book below also came up in the search.  It is just about the opposite of the heart-warming stories by Richard Paul Evans!

I used to read Stephen King novels regularly, but stopped at some point.  But I thought I would give this a try.  I nearly didn't finish it, because it was so grim and creepy!  A huge contrast in novels!  I wouldn't recommend it unless you are prepared for a typical Stephen King gruesome fest.

So there's some summer reading for you!

it's official!

 A mere 7 weeks after the first day of spring on the calendar, we are finally getting in the swing of things here!  It has been a long, drawn-out end to winter, with a few glimpses of sun and warmth to tease us along through an unusually cold period.  Late snows and ice only added to the frustration.  But now the leaves are getting cleared from the garden, the asparagus is poking through the earth and my rhubarb is thriving!

So today I am having the annual ceremony of putting away my winter head, neck and hand wear!  Some stuff gets used a lot, some only occasionally, depending on the mood.  So now it can all move back to the storage closet!  Yay!

I just had a nice visit with my parents--

don't they look good?!

We were getting ready to snap a picture of mom's most recent quilt project, which I will show you in a couple of weeks after it is properly gifted.  She spent all winter hand quilting it, listening to a large collection of books on tape to help pass the time.

I started on another project using the English paper piecing method.  These are little tumbler pieces, 

1 1/2" tall.  I have enough cut and prepared for 3 more rows.  I had a little pre-cut pack of Moda fabrics so they all go together nicely.  It was Moda's "candy bar" size, 2 1/2" x 5".  I could fit 2 little tumbler pieces from each of the fabrics in the pack.  Stitching them up is easy, just sewing them side-to-side to make a row and then joining the straight edge to the next row.  All I have to really concentrate on is getting the colors well dispersed.  I will either cut the right and left edges off straight and sew on border strips, or I could applique the piece with the zig-zag edges to a background.  Not sure yet!  What would you do?

ready for spring

A few shoots of green are gracing our landscape--I especially like the deeply textured and colorful rhubarb plant. I have already pulled out my rhubarb cookbook, the better to plan for the upcoming harvest of this wonderful plant. I am so lucky to live in a part of the world that grows rhubarb!

Last spring I was all about this 'Big Twister' plant that I found at a local nursery. I actually found 3 of them, and they were a fun addition to the patio. They grew well there, and the biggest one earned a spot inside the house for the winter. It must be a very resilient plant, because it has survived my benign neglect to live another summeron the patio!

Much more sparse than it looked last summer, but still clinging to life and hopefully ready to flourish once again over the next few months. We have had about 1 day where it was decent enough to leave it outdoors, but surely by the 4th of July it will be warm enough to leave it outside for an extended period of time!

I have developed a new (to me) quilting design, an adaptation of the usual medium sized meander with some curly-q's thrown in for good measure. Here's the front and back of a quilt sporting this style:

I am christening it the Funky Monkey, since the curls remind me of a monkey tail!

Getting ready to celebrate The Wedding with The Royals in my spare time. This is the look I am going for--

I am amazed that this woman has such a good reproduction of the hat I will be wearing! I hope we don't both show up at the same parties!

Ta-ta for now!!

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!