Carpe Diem--trunc Presse Diem

I think that is latin for :seize the day then squeeze it.

I could be wrong but in any case..... the thought occurred to me yesterday as I did this very thing.

It started by being out in the back 2 watering all the fruit trees and admiring the recent growth on the raspberry vines (finally). I was beginning to be concerned but it is all due to the (very) (remarkably) early Spring we had this year that everything is out of whack.

I wanted to clean out the coop and spread the straw on the squash in the lower garden which is also finally beginning to show strength. All the tomatoes are going gangbusters and that is such a relief. The corn is struggling still and the black-eyed peas did nothing. Hmmmm so I think I will try my luck at a drying bean on that frame instead. Something like a pinto or such. I don't want to waste the effort of erecting the grow frame altogether...

So after the coop cleaning, I pulled half of the remaining carrots

and made room for our last 6 tomato plants which were waiting for space. Seeing then side by side with the ones I planted last month really shows the difference in sizes. I hope this will also provide a staggered harvest as well.

The peas are really coming in now but I think the ones that did germinate are not the English peas but the snow peas, of which you eat the pods rather than wait for actual peas...... oh well! So much for home-grown peas n carrots! I will try (harder) again next year to get it right.

So after all this, I fertilized everything with calcium and scraped weeds off and mulched. Before I knew it, it was 10:30..... So I went in and worked on an applique, Glory Garden.

Fuzzy. Well those are only a few of the blocks that go into the whole quilt.

On Friday, we drove across the lake to drop off 21 quilts which are destined for the GSQA quilt show in Slidell, LA. afterwards we had lunch at the Taj Mahal, an Indian buffet, which reminded me how much I enjoy eating ethnic foods. We made a pitstop at the International Market and I picked up some spice packets to make another Indian feast tonight. I intend to use the veg from the garden to whip up a nice variety of dishes.

Q has made progress on overcoming this licking fixation. The cream I have been applying to her ear has calmed her down to the extent that this morning, when Polo met her at the door, they touched noses and she let him walk past without turning into a hissing viper. She does sleep a

lot that this has me concerned.

I am off to Sam's this morning......

Great Sunday!

Yea!!!! The Oriental Leslie BOMb is finished!!!!! Okay, I still have to quilt it, true......

ANd the Red White and Blues is complete as well. Yes there is only the simple single border but really, there is enough going on with the color scheme, any border fabric would just scream.

I had fun finishing this silly project I bought to make as long ago as last year (or was it 2 years ago.....) The Stick Chicken!
too cute. I have already made the Cat Stick but have it at the shop as a sample.

Speaking of cute....
Q. Usually she hangs out in the sewing room, taking up space on the ironing board. Shasta beat her to it today.

Shasta has been trying to be helpful as well. Here she is scrambling a quilt-top I was attempting to pin a border on. Such a help.

And to top the day off nicely, I made a loaf of seeduction bread. Very close to the loaf you buy at Whole Foods. Except lighter.

Q

SOMEone Had A Rough Night!

Oh My Aching Head!

Hurrah for Spring!

We spent time planting the spring garden and hope to continue today. The wind has been breezy and the original plan of putting the tomatillos down in the back plot has changed.

Did you know: I think they have to be the Princesses of the garden. Good grief! They are so fragile! I broke 3 leaves on one seedling just carrying the box from the house to the beds! I thought there is no way they will survive out on the open plains in the back. So I plunked four of them in a raised a bed along with the Sweet 100s and 1 Black Beauty eggplant. There is still room in the bed for veg expansion.

And so it starts. I still cannot bend over so Kathyrn helped us plant the potatoes while I handed them to her. (I want to be a part of this in any degree.) We have put in apprx 70 potato seeds: 1 row of Adirondack Blues, 2 rows Yukon Golds and 4 rows of Red new potatoes. 3 rows of Silver Queen corn, 2 rows Kentucky Wonder green beans. Soon there will be blacked-eyed peas going in and louffa gourds, squashes, lots of tomatoes, jalapenos, eggplant (although I am not holding out alot of hope there, they seem sickly to me. I might try it again with straight seeds in the ground though).

It occurs to me, reading this, that I should explain the rows. We have approx 50' rows, 9 of them and we have separated them into 4 - 12' sections. So although we have 3 rows of corn, these rows cross only thru two sections (75' of planted corn). and the beans cover only one section., 2 rows in one section (25' of beans. Last year we had one 50' row of beans and I thought I was going to die trying to keep up with so many green beans!) The potatoes are all in one section across 7 rows. After they have been harvested, we will plant a cover crop in this section and allow it to rest til next year. This is our rotation.

We are still eating collards, brussel sprouts, carrots, mustard greens and I must say, they are so beautiful at the moment; they are in bloom and very fragrant and the bees are moving in. You can see the yellow flowers in this shot (look past Q)(I know that's tough as she is a very pretty cat, but try all the same)(very pretty and tends to pose in exactly the location I wish to take a picture of and then ignores my calls to turn around)(beautiful plumage!)


She is my constant companion out there, my monorail kitty

I feel certain there was something more I wanted to say, but I have become distracted by the essence of Q. I take my leave.

Coming Up Going Under (and not in Australia)

I have scheduled the ear surgery for next Wednesday. Soon I will know definitively whether or not my hearing loss is due to age or disease. yippee.

I had the pre-op appointment yesterday. The only real worry at this point, besides absolute knowledge, is anesthesia. That and the trachea tube. When one reads the list of possible complications, like broken teeth, one pauses and ponders...."is this a good idea?" I have been under once before but have no memory of the tube down the throat part so I rather doubt that occurred back then but it's gonna happen Wednesday. yea me! Thank God they put it in and take it out AFTER the gas takes effect.

So why am I doing this? Because not hearing is more unbearable than not knowing the future. I can't hear you. I CAN hear certain things but not murmurs and not the wind unless it is howling. I never realized how softly we speak in America until I found myself begging people to repeat themselves. Endlessly. That and please turn down background noise. It creates such a din with this added bonus of ringing and pinging in the ear. So much fun!

But enough about me.

We had a house full of people this past weekend with some notable exceptions and they were sorely missed. That DID leave more beer and shrimp for ME but.... I did miss having them with us as we tripped down the wormhole of reminiscing. And we played this fun Viking game called Kubb which the girls gave us for Christmas.
That's Cheri tossing a Pin at the guards... the idea is each team of 2 stands on either side of the field with 5 guards lined up and the King block in the middle. Once your team has knocked over the guards on the other side, you take dead aim on the King and it is NOT as easy as you might think.
Especially not easy when Q thinks she is part of the game and comes barreling in to "help". She's hiding now at the edge of the blueberry bush nursing hurt feelings because she kept getting yelled at.

Here is a wide shot that shows how far away the guards stand in the field.


I had to add this last one because you'd think Vickie was aiming for me. HAhahahahah.... hey! Wait a minute!

Friday and It Snowed Again

Why not sew if you are a human or sleep if you are a cat?

It's Not REALLY a Farm Until....

... you have rusting tractor implements lolling around the place.
Or a cat warming herself on the hood of a John Deere.
BTW. you can see who he loves more.... the tractor is under the carport. MY car is out under the elements. Hmph!

I guess we are officially "there".
I am spoiled beyond all reason and don't think for a minute that I don't know this. Spoiled rotten and loving every minute of my life.

Except possibly for that chicken out there, which may be a rooster. This is an area of concern, to be sure. If he is indeed a rooster, we have a big problem.

How do I kill him? I don't think I can do this. I really have bonded with that bird. Please don't be a rooster. Can I beg and plead my way on this?

Anyone out there want a beautiful chicken? That might be a rooster?

Ta-Da!!!! Not really

MILES to go before I quilt!

Here is the Victory quilt assembled, before the outer borders are added and all the swagging appliqued down. It's BIG! I think when all is done, it might just be our next bed quilt!

Q down at the bottom, keeping me company in the wee hours of the morning.

Oh My Aching Back!

I bought the Gypsy Sit Upon at the shop yesterday in great hopes that it will help me work on the ol' stomach muscles... it certainly doesn't hurt that it also alleviates back pain because it forces me to not slump towards the computer or sewing machine. It's an air-filled pillow that makes any shift in position cause another shift in center of gravity so the person sitting on it is in constant movement and rebalance. Pretty cool, really.

I am heroically attempting to get caught up with the BOMS the Sharp Needles began in the fall. I am actually making 6 simutaneously in different color schemes and have the Christmas and Swedish themes done thru the 4th month. Here are the two new sets:

If you compare the two sets you'll notice that the half-square triangles block are arranged differently. I think I like the Flying Dutchman better, but every time I convince myself of this, I change my mind...... they both work. I have four more to go so I will (probably) continue to make both blocks.

I have ripped out seams several times in the construction of the two on the right in order to make perfect points and I appreciate the accuracy all the more.

Linda Kay and I have begun our new series of Beginning Quilting classes and if nag the students to be as accurate as possible, it is only right that follow my own emphasis. True.

Now I have to show this:

Is that not the most whimsical pincushion ever?

Is this not sweetest cat? I think so!

Have a Great Day!

Adding to the List

I have made an additional two blocks for the BOM I posted last week. And I believe I will have more to come as well. It's addictive!

The quilt group has begun showing techniques to each other as a "theme" once a month; a way of branching out of the doldrums. Last week, Leslie demonstrated English Paper Piecing and has given me yet another addiction. I have been making these hexagons for a Grandmother's Garden quilt.
In an effort to pictorially explain how my brain functions, follow the photos below:

I started to lay out the hexs on the floor and Q moves in. She has this need to check out anything on the floor



So I think "How Cute!!" and proceed to try to get a good shot:


And after approximately 7 clicks where she manages to look away as the shutter opens, I finally get this:



where she looks possessed by an inner light
This one is only slighter better, She stills looks off to me. Notice her underdeveloped chin. She will always look like a kitten to me because of this feature.


Shasta watches from the presumed safety of the ottoman and I turn my attention towards her as she shies away. And why not? She is above all nonsense.



I leave with this: Delectable Mountain

Q


Polo


Q


Polo

Don't you wish YOU could be so relaxed?

Is It Any Wonder

!
I love them so much

Room and Board

Q just wants to be left in peace, to sleep curled up and quiet. I can't resist taking picures of her because she looks so cute to me.

This never makes her happy and she curls up even tighter, her little back feet looking more like a squirrel to me than anything. So I take more photos, of course.
Polo decides to join her on the ironing board and thinks about what he'd prefer to do next. A nap or an attack.

In the end, the nap wins out and there is harmony, albeit briefly. And Q covers her nose with her tail, signifying that she thinks he stinks. But as he's twice her size and half her age, she keeps her opinion to herself. And me. And now, you.

Barbara's Better By the Dozen

Two years back, Bright Hopes Quilting had a BOM I signed up for in named Celebrations from the book, Better By the Dozen. You all know how BOMs work: you get a new pattern and preselected fabrics each month and by the end of the calendar year you SHOULD have assembled a pretty good-sized quilt. No excuses.

Well, I am an impatient stitcher and like to knock out each month as soon as I get my grubby paws on the kit. But the book had lots of inspiring designs made up with the 12 featured blocks. The layout was what made them all so different from each other.

There are 3 shops in Baton Rouge, where my daughter is enrolled in college at LSU and as we were getting her set up in the dorm that first year, post Katrina, I would pop into the shops to see what they had.

(Understand, BR is NOT that far from here, but going there to shop with frequency wasn't in my schedule in those years. I saved splurge-shopping for the GSQA seminar held there each spring. )

But now !!!! hrr hrrr hrrr hrrr! I had an excuse to just stop by for a few minutes and browse. And there I saw a gorgeous piece of fabric. No idea what I would make... but that's never an issue when I see something indescribably different. You just take it. Lots of it. Well ok, I take what I hopefully expect to see me through a quilt. In this case, I believe I walked out with 2 yards. Maybe 2.5.

And it sat on the shelf, taunting me.

Katrina did massive damage to St. Tammany Parish, where I live and a good friend was badly hit. They lost alot and what the storm didn't take , the contractors did. Things, furniture, time. You name it (and I hate to say, she wasn't an isolated incident.)

My friend loves all things italian and this fabric was decidely venetian and I hit on just what I'd make. Using Better by the Dozen as the springboard, I made this qulit for Babara:

I had bought just enough to squeak this out, adding batiks to give it that sparkle and fussy-cutting the focal fabric for all the squares. I think it came out swell (if I say so myself!)

Barbara likes it too! and the Supervisor approves.

The Supervisor- Keeping Seams Straight for 5 Years

Don't you wish YOU had a supervisor?

This rascal came from a shelter in North Texas and has acclimated well to SE Louisiana. As a kitten, Q went to college with my eldest only to be discovered by the Dorm's RA and swiftly booted out in my general direction. After falling out of a pinetree and tearing ligaments off her entire back leg (don't ask what that cost to put back) the doctor patched her back as well as possible and she still makes tracks up trees! For a while, I called her our little Frankencat.

Then she was bitten by a moccasin snake and I thought we were going to lose her but she pulled through. I said I guess she'll stay away from snakes now and the good doctor said, "No,(shaking his head slowly and thoughtfully) I don't think so. She sure has a wonderful personality though!" Perhaps, but at this rate, she's blasting though her allotted lives.

She occasionally falls into a deep sleep and behaves strangely for several days but always perks up and plays her favorites games with us.

She hangs out in the sewing room while I quilt and curls up nearby to watch. Or sleep if I bore her. The ironing board is the usual perch as it tends to be warm. This makes for more difficult pressing, however.



And she never knows when someone may usurp her spot in her absence. This makes for interesting moments.



Notice how Shasta pretends to ignore Q. Oh, she knew she had company alright. Just after I snapped the moment, a fight broke out.

Squabbles don't last long but one cat usually walks away with wounded pride. Shasta is the more sulky of the two. She just wants to be left alone.

Shoulda named her Garbo.