progress on the quilt

I was so happy to see the sun finally out again yesterday...and warmer temperatures.
We have been freezing in the house because we had the gas turned off for the summer, to save paying the base fee for those months (our furnace is the only thing that uses gas).

The cooler temperature hasn't stopped the grass from growing!   While I was waiting for the sun to dry things up outside so I could mow, I cut the first border for the quilt and sewed it on. 

Next will be the parallelogram border - which I worked on this week, on quilt group day. I still need to iron the strips and trim the dog ears off, then sew both strips together.

It probably seems like I'm showing the same photos of this quilt over and over, but I really am making progress!

Also, in the afternoon, I planted the new Damson Plum tree, and a small Sycamore tree that had grown from a seed that just happened to land in a flower pot at the Sasquatch's house.

Then, I dug up an area in the back field to plant the offshoots of the Nandina that Chopper brought over. I surrounded those with some daylillies that I had thinned out from another flower bed.

The dirt is not very good back there. We'll see how they do.

what's been blooming

The ants have been busy doing whatever it is they do that helps the peonies bloom.

Nice big blooms this year!

I only have these white ones but I might eventually add some more. They seem to do well here and don't need a lot of attention.

Next up....Salvia...white and purple...

The Clematis, up close....

Now from farther away.  I had taken this photo as the sun was going down (it's a little washed out).

Then again a bit later as it was getting dark...The Clematis and the purple Iris looked like they were glowing...

I make an exception to my "nothing with thorns" policy for these miniature roses. They are a perfect yellow.
That's Artemisia growing low in the back.

The shade bed is filing in nicely...

The only blooms there are some tiny Coral Bells (Heuchera)

Uh-oh, these two below are nearly the same color. Someone will have to move. Probably the Heuchera, the Japanese fern will stay.  

Well they both can stay until I get everything else done!

This Sedum by the pool edge is really plumped up with all the rain we've had.  I am really happy with it. I like the contrast of the lime green Sedum with the blue of the pool.

I have some different Sedum around the back edge of the pool...but I think I will move that somewhere else and spread this kind all the way around.

That is, after I get everything else done!

hoarding tuna

When I was at the grocery a few days ago, I found (and bought) a lot of things marked down that had been part of Kroger's "Taste of Spain" promotion.

Jars of premium tuna, jars of spicy red sauce, bottles of gazpacho, packages of chorizo, , and Spanish cupcakes!

The tuna was the best deal...$2.49 for big seven ounce jars.  I hadn't tried it but the Sasquatch had bought a jar of it after it went on sale at his Kroger...and he said it was really good.

Nice big fillets of tuna inside!   We tried it and it is good - not fishy tasting either. 

Original price was $9.99 per jar!

I bought a lot - but see how much my Kroger receipt says I saved...

  Plus, I get the fuel points, and I get 6% cash back on groceries purchased with my credit card.

Whew!   I better go buy something with all this money I've saved!

Maybe I'll go back and buy the rest of the tuna.

Sweet and Spicy Couscous Salad

This salad isn't a dish that appeals to everyone. It has a unique combination of ingredients and spices that creates a taste unlike anything else I have ever tried. It's light tasting and full of healthy fruits and nuts.

Chopper and I both like it, but Lonnie and the Sasquatch do not...so I don't make it very often.
When making this it's better to stick with the recipe closely - I have tried in the past just eyeballing instead of measuring and didn't get as good of results.

Sweet and Spicy Couscous Salad
2 cups chicken stock ( I use chicken base paste dissolved min water)
1 1/2 cups instant couscous
1 cup sliced grapes
1/2 cup toasted chopped almonds
1/2 cup diced dried apricots
1/2 sliced green onions
2 Tbsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice

Bring chicken stock to a boil in a medium pan. Remove pan from heat and stir in dry couscous, cover and let stand until cool...then fluff with a fork into a large bowl.

Add grapes, almonds, apricots, and green onions. 

Prepare the dressing in a separate bowl... whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, salt, black pepper, cinnamon and cayenne pepper.

Pour dressing over couscous mixture...

... and toss gently until thoroughly mixed

We had this for Sunday dinner with grilled hamburgers and cheeseburgers, Bush's baked beans with added onions and ham bits, spicy baked sweet potato fries and store bought onion rings. 

Yes, that's a lot of burgers. I like to have enough to send a few leftovers home with my bachelor sons every week!

Later, we had "Nutritious Cookies".  

I guess they are named that because they have oatmeal, walnuts and peanut butter in them...but I'm pretty sure there are other not-so-nutritious ingredients in there too!

oops, wrong

Lonnie and I were expecting a visit Friday, from his brother who lives in Florida.
Charlie had emailed to say he was traveling up this way for a wedding and wanted to stop in and see us while he was in the area.

So we got busy Friday morning. Lonnie went to the store for meat to cook on the grill, and then cleaned up the screen porch and swept all the "helicopters" off the back porch.

I vacuumed and dusted inside, cleaned the bathrooms and stuffed the closet with a bunch of random stuff that was laying around.

Then we waited.

Late afternoon and still no word from Charlie...so Lonnie gave him a call...

Oh, that's next Friday that he will be here.   He felt awful about the miscommunication...but we  laughed it off and made firm plans for next week.

Lonnie and I took advantage of a lovely evening in our neat and tidy screen porch and he grilled a couple of the steaks for us.
We agreed that there is nothing like thinking that company is coming, to set us into motion and get things done!


And this...Have you ever had a baked potato to explode in the oven?

This was the first time ever for me, but I did do things a little differently. I had them cooking at a lower temperature, then turned it up to 400 degrees to finish them up.
A couple of minutes later I heard a big POUF!

Nearly the whole inside of one of the potatoes was blown out all over the oven.

The potatoes were done and I just turned off the oven and let the mess dry out in there. Later it swept out easily with a wet paper towel.

my little garden is planted

Most of my garden was planted earlier this week - Monday I think - the one day that it didn't rain.

I still had to buy zucchini seeds, which I stuck down in the soggy dirt yesterday.

It looks like I am growing Amazon boxes!

I had put the cardboard over the raised bed earlier this spring to smother out weeds. I thought I might as well leave it in the space around the plants...to hold in moisture and attract worms.
We'll see how that works.

I planted yellow squash seeds and zucchini seeds...trying for two plants of each.

The rest are bedding plants. I'm going international, with Armenian cucumbers and Japanese Ichiban eggplants.

Also, two kinds of cherry tomatoes...one plant of each.

I also bought a basil plant, but I am going to keep it in a pot on the back porch. Last year, I was lazy about picking the leaves while they were young and tender. Maybe I'll be reminded if I have to walk past the plant every day.

My husband is usually in charge of choosing and planting our full size tomatoes, but he hasn't had a chance to turn his attention to it yet this year.  I think he needs a little nagging encouragement to get him going!

While I was out by the garden I noticed so many of these wild strawberries. Maybe the overspray from watering the garden beds the last couple of years have helped them propegate.

Box turtles like to eat them and so do birds and other animals...so I don't mind them growing here.  

Looking at this photo makes me wish I had picked this one and ate it!

Lots of shiny little brown toadstools too. Not tempted to eat those!

I hope all this rain helps out the garden as much as it's helping the weeds grow like crazy!

still working on the quilt

Remember how I asked for opinions on whether I should use blue or brown for the sashing strips in this quilt?
Some said they liked the brown, and about the same number said they liked the blue...plus I got a lot of suggestions on ways to use both.

I tried to look for clues about what colors the recipient might like...

Aha! I spotted these blue shoes of his!    But wait , there is also a brown pair behind them (or they might be gray).

Oh, he is definitely wearing a brown shirt!  But wait!  That's a blue tee shirt peeking out at the neck!

That settles it...I will use some combination of blue and brown.

But first, I have to cut and sew about a million of these parallelograms for the fancy border.

Here is one layout possibility...blue inner border, fancy parallelogram border, then brown outer border framing everything up.  

Hmmm, how many more times will I change my mind?

That's part of the fun of quilting though, trying different things!