Spring Things

We've had some glorious spring days; those days when one longs to be outside potting up pretty plants and flowers. We made our annual pilgrimage down east to our favorite nursery last week and brought home a carload of lush loveliness for that very purpose.

The weather cooperated and I accomplished much but, alas, I'll be covering everything up tonight as the temps are dipping dangerously close to freezing one more time! I'm always a bit over-eager. 😉

A few weeks back Lynnleigh helped me to gather up a big bag full of sticky balls from the Sweetgum trees. I had heard that they're a great chipmunk deterrent.

I've been told that a layer of these, just below the surface of the potting soil, in flower pots will cause the chipmunks to leave to potted flowers alone as their little paws are repelled by the spiky thorns. I was ready to try anything as they made such a mess last summer digging into everything that they could!

We'll see! 

Time will tell; the flower pots are all sufficiently "armed" with a layer of sticky balls now. Take that!

I had a sewing room visitor for a week or so. Buddy is our daughter's dog, he loves to hang out with me in the studio. It reminds me so much of how Hannes used to do this years ago when he could jump up. Hannes is doing fine, but at seventeen and 3/4 yrs. he spends his days sleeping in his cozy little bed on the floor in the family room; he's pretty much oblivious to what's going on in the rest of the house now.

Buddy enjoying the view on the way back to meet his family after his stay with us. 

What sounded like someone hammering in the back yard 

the other day turned out to be a Pileated Woodpecker. 

I have been keeping up with my block-of-the-month assignments. There's been plenty of activity in the sewing room but none that I can report on as a good deal of it has been customer quilts and secret sewing. The secret sewing is super-exciting;  you'll simply have to take my word for that right now!

We had a glorious Easter Sunday in every way. Our church service was beautiful, the lilies were lovely, the music was joyful and the pews were full! These three, plus our son, (who was doing dishes when this was taken!) joined us for Easter dinner on the porch in the afternoon. We had ham, potatoes romanoff, scalloped corn, broccoli salad, strawberry pretzel salad and deviled eggs for dinner with cupcakes for dessert; something for everyone! Mary from Country Threads had mentioned what she was having for Easter dinner and her readers all chimed in with their menus, I just loved that! How about you, what was on your Easter table this year?

The cupcakes in all their Easter finery. No, I didn't make them, Maddie did! 

Is it looking like spring yet where you are?

Life is Good!

Easter

Another Easter has come and gone; and, in this week following, spring has got a full grip on the weather, the pollen has begun to descend in thick, yellow waves, covering everything in its sight. We celebrated Jesus' Resurrection with worship in our new church last Sunday; there was a large crowd (highest attendance ever for our little mission church) of faithful folks in attendance, it was an incredibly joyful day! I had a dream, weeks ago, before we settled on purchasing the church, a dream were there were tulips EVERYWHERE, when we arrived for Easter Sunday service last week this sight greeted me! My heart was full. 

My contribution to the fellowship breakfast between the sunrise and traditional worship services were two pans of cinnamon rolls. They're always a crowd pleaser and not that fussy to make. Here's the recipe if you're interested in trying them.

Back home, later in the afternoon; the family enjoyed more sweet treats after a cookout, the weather was gorgeous. We celebrated Easter as a family with dinner and dessert out on the porch. 

Here's a "before" shot of the Easter cupcakes from a local bakery. They didn't last long! We missed our daughter and her family this year, they were unable to join us. We'll have to have them here another time to make up for it and get more cupcakes; gee, what a hardship! 🤣 These are just as yummy as they are cute!

What I thought was a "Thanksgiving Cactus" all these years got in on the Easter action, too. It hasn't ever bloomed at this time of year before. And, according to the chart below, it shouldn't be. 

So much for identification!

 

All too soon the day was over. It's been a busy, busy week since; more details in the next post.

Everyone's been busy this week! Easter fills the world with hope and promise.

Happy Easter!

Life is Good!

Hangin' with Harvey

There's a sameness to every day right now. Although I do try to keep to a normal (for me) schedule during these days-on-end of staying at home and quarantining- (getting up at 6, dressing for the day, morning walks, regular mealtimes, cleaning house on Fridays, ironing on Saturday mornings...) I dispensed with decorating the house for Easter this year. I can't remember ever NOT doing that before.  There were, however, a few exceptions... I did get out my bunny and chick salt and pepper shakers and an embroidered rabbit tea towel. 
And, I ordered a table runner pattern for NEXT Easter, it was just too cute to resist. It's from Up A Creek quilting if you're interested in the source. It will be added to my "to do" list for next year. There's great hope in looking forward!
But, for the most part, the sameness of each day- one. after. another. left me uninspired to decorate. But, of course, then there's Harvey! Harvey has been the large-as-life touchstone to this month of April for me. I greet him every morning when I enter the studio and blow him a kiss goodnight when I shut off the lights at day's end. He hangs proudly and faithfully on the door, performing sentry duty.

Harvey is a Country Threads pattern. I made him up a year ago and he went together quickly and easily. If anyone would like this pattern he's still available for $10 and a SASE to: Country Threads, 2345 Palm Ave., Garner, IA 50438 (make sure you indicate "Harvey' on your check memo). Harvey and I have been great friends since he came to live here and I'm grateful for his presence on days that seemingly run together right now. He'll be replaced soon by Uncle Sam. Along with my VISION 2020 scrap quilts that I'm cranking out; this will also be the year of American flag quilts for me. I have two more flag patterns calling my name and a big box of curated red, white and blue fabrics set aside expressly for that purpose. 

This shirt has more meaning than ever this year!😉 I've been wearing it a LOT lately. 

You know what they say about how people come to look alike after spending loads of time together?

I suppose there's some truth to that, especially since I've been hangin' all day, every day, with Harvey!

Life is Good!

 

Which Way Now?

Which Way Now? ~ 57" X 57"

Here's my contribution to the growing library of Quarantine Quilts available. "Which Way Now?" grew from my desire to stick to my guiding word for 2020: "Vision" and that is defined, for me, as having the clarity to use up what I have accumulated right here at home. Scraps from leftover projects are in plentiful supply, available resources weren't a problem. The design, born of half-square triangles (HSTs), reflects the changing directions in policy and procedure as the global virus spread and took hold. The resulting pinwheels that occurred represent the wonderful and unexpected benefits that have occurred as the outcome of staying at home: *family (in my case- husband/wife) time, *increased dedication to creative pursuits, *opportunities to read more, *chances to become increasingly self-reliant, *freedom to slow down and enjoy those little things that are all too often overlooked and taken for granted. This quilt top is the happy result of time spent on this idea.

Not one speck of fabric was purchased and a variety of background fabrics were used (and exhausted!) from the stash.

I bought a wool pressing mat a few months ago and used it, a LOT, on this project. It worked to keep every block and section flat and square, I love that aspect of it; however, it did make the sewing space smell like bath time at the sheep farm! I don't know if that scent dissipates over time, with more usage, but I certainly can vouch for the effectiveness of the product as a pressing aid-- I'm a huge steam-freak anyway. Time will tell.  

Here's the 12" block layout if you want to give this one a try. The HSts all finish to 3". There are two 3" background squares in each block too; watch the direction and the layout to get the secondary pinwheels to occur at the block intersections. My quilt has 16 blocks set 4 X 4. I added a 1.5" (finished) inner "stop" border and a 3"(finished) outer border incorporating my leftover HSts. Nothing bought, nothing wasted! Win-win!

Pressed and ready to be added to the "to-be-quilted" queue-- whoever has time to leave home?

Yesterday was my Dad's 92nd birthday. He's doing well, stays as busy as he can in light of the current restrictions. I am blessed to still have both of my parents and miss the fact that I can't currently travel to spend time with them. In this picture I'm guessing he must have been four or five years old, it's a treasure! 💗 My sister said "it's a wonder that he ever sat still that long"- that's certainly the truth!

Adapting to an upside down🙃 world: Easter worship services were available anywhere and everywhere online this year. What a unique experience to have the opportunity to tune in and watch any number of pastors preaching messages of hope and promise! The best message, for me, was one where the pastor equated the empty sanctuary with the empty tomb and reminded us all that the resurrection had already happened, while it was still dark-- Christ is risen, we're all risen! Alleluia!! 

"For in this hope we were saved. 

Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?"  -Romans 8:24

Life is Good!

Up next: YAGOF

  

Easter 2020

“Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,  that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise."  Luke 24:5-7

 Christ is alive, keep hope alive within your heart!

Life is Good!

Signed, Sealed and Delivered!

The year was 1970, it was a Saturday morning, I was a junior in high school. My mother answered the door to receive an Easter floral arrangement from her employer at the time. After she closed the door she called to me from the kitchen and asked me if I knew the boy delivering flowers for the local florist shop. I glanced out the living room window and saw him walking back down our walkway toward the driveway where the delivery van was parked. I did know him, he was in my Chemistry class. "He was so polite" my mother said, in the background. I intently watched the delivery boy back out of our driveway. He had the driver's door opened and he leaned out, looking backward, as he maneuvered out of our driveway. I was impressed at his driving ability. Hey, I was 16; at that time I didn't even have a driver's license yet, this skill made an impression.  When I saw him on Monday at school he spoke first: "I was at your house on Saturday." We lived in a very small town, I had already figured that he knew where I lived after the delivery. I still recall my response: "you're a very good backer." He smiled at the compliment and I remember thinking that was the stupidest remark I could have made, I was embarrassed and thought of so many other replies that would have been so much better, so much more clever, but those remained forever in my head as he walked away.
Fast forward to 2020. The back of our car is filled with Easter lilies ordered for our Easter worship service tomorrow. That service that won't occur. The lilies were ordered before restrictions on gathering, before we understood how widespread the virus would be, before the world turned upside down. 🙃 We left the order standing with the small, family-run greenhouse, they need the business. What to do with the lilies though? They would be delivered to doorsteps, that's what! Mr. Goodneedle took to the streets early yesterday morning, one by one, the Easter lilies were delivered to homes for online Easter worship tomorrow morning. Yes, you guessed it, fifty years later that cute delivery boy with the impressive driving skills is doing the very same thing. Apparently he wasn't appalled at what I thought was a stupid reply regarding his ability to drive in reverse, he was flattered. Some days I still watch him through the window when he's working outside and wonder how I ever got so lucky. He has been a constant blessing in my life. It wasn't until years later that my mother told me that he had inquired of her, when he handed off the flowers, if I lived at that address too. She knew that he knew me, and that's what prompted her to ask me if I knew him as he was leaving. Five short years later I married that boy; I've never looked back.

It was true love-- signed sealed and delivered!

Life is Good!

 

Surprise!

This blossom just appeared, out of the blue, on my Christmas cactus in the dining room. Only one; bright and white. This occurrence almost made my heart stop. As we prepare for Easter, albeit so very differently this year, my mind has fast forwarded to Easter dinner. "We have to pick up a ham" I said to Mr. G.; "it's just us, though" he countered. Easter dinner has always been a BIG deal in our family. In fact, his mother made Easter weekend a BIG deal as far back as I can remember. When we were in high school, dating, one of the first times I ever visited his parent's home was on Saturday before Easter, I was invited to dye eggs and help to "get the table ready". It was at that time that I met Mr. Goodneedle's sister, brother, and his brother's wife and son for the first time. The Easter table was quite a production: the best china, crystal, linen and fresh flowers. Mom (as she became to me later) would always go to great lengths to find little Easter treats and keepsakes for each place setting. (I have boxes of them to this day, they're all special and precious.) As the years passed and our own children grew they always went to Grandma and Grandpa's on Easter Saturday to dye eggs and help to get the table ready, there was great excitement building for the next day. Depending on how many out of town family members might have been visiting sometimes two tables were set! These memories warm my heart and I'm certain they have the same effect on our grown children today. As the years passed and Mom couldn't put on the BIG deal Easter weekend event anymore it moved here. We were more than happy to host similar activities for the family, extended family and now for our own grandchildren. Until now. "It's just us, though," he said, or so it seems. No, we won't be hosting Easter dinner this year at a large table or two but, it's more than just us. This blossom, coming now, on a Christmas cactus inherited from my dear mother-in-law has bloomed; one single, white, bloom. Happy Easter, Mom! 🤍

Life is Good!

Spring Happenings

Spring happenings: It's been a busy, but joy-filled Easter weekend! The bluebirds have decided to start a substantially-sized family right here. Spring has taken hold.  Even though Easter Sunday was much later this year, it still was a bit chilly, surprisingly. We've had gloriously sunny days and then rain on Friday which washed the pollen from the air, albeit temporarily, and ushered in some cooler nights. Easter won't be this late again until 2030; I did learn that the latest that Easter can be possibly be celebrated is April 25, that will occur in 2038-- I'll be 85. 😲

I am including, below, a photo journal of the weekend's activities including some holiday breakfast baking, some house-cleaning and organizing, a scene from a Holy Week play, Easter Sunday church service and post-dinner posing from the youngest two grandchildren. No sewing, unless I count placing the final stitches in the binding of the Fuse, Fold and Stitch rug. Guess what's on the agenda for this week?

I cleaned out decades' worth of accumulated young-children's books and repurposed this guest room bookcase. 

Selected age-appropriate titles now reside in a basket for choosing by our youngest overnight guests. 

Happy Easter!

Life is Good!