Strawberry

                                               It's that most wonderful time of the year!

 There must be a fresh strawberry pie, made with strawberries we picked with our own little ol' hands for Father's Day.  We picked just this bowl full.  It's an exercise in self control to stop when we have enough but we go just about every other day to pick just what we need.

I don't make jam, I don't freeze them so we pick what we need for immediate pleasure eating. And pies.  I make a lot of strawberry pies and we indulge.  The season is short.

She Loved It!

 We celebrated Elizabeth's birthday

We went out for sushi and let me tell you, the owner of the restaurant pulled out ALL of the stops!  In addition to what we ordered, he brought out a huge piece of salmon, special sushi that were not on the menu, soups, drinks, and finally green tea ice cream.  It just kept coming.  What a meal!! And she loved and ate everything.  Even the sea urchin.  And eel.

After the cake, which none of us could eat because our tummies were absolutely stuffed it was time for her quilt.

She loved it!  We looked at each block and it's significance to her life

Here's a better photo in daylight.  Each square is about her and the year I spent working on this meant a year of really thinking about her.  I am really happy with how it turned out.  

She brought home a piece of this fabric from Williamsburg and asked if I could fit a piece of it into the quilt.  I did use it as the background on her initial square and fussy cut a few flowers but still had a good piece of it.  I decided a pillowcase.  But in the measuring there was really only enough for half of a pillowcase. I decided to try something I've never done with pillowcases before.

I made it reversible.  This fabric, too, came from Williamsburg but was one I purchased.  It worked great to make a two-sided pillowcase and it solves a problem for future ones!

So, after months of waiting to see it, it's done and gifted and it worked!

Grand Party

 Elizabeth is officially not a high schooler anymore.  Her graduation party was Sunday and oh, what a crowd and good time!  

I can't even believe I didn't get a photo of her and her parents and sister at the party but to be honest we were all flitting around like busy bees touching down for only a minute or two between the guests.  PH and I and our son and his family were all helping: reloading food, emptying trash, refilling drink dispensers, talking and laughing with the guests, I don't think any of us finished a sentence, certainly not two. 

So many of the cousins said it was so nice to be together at a time that didn't involve a casket.  I know distances are relative but we had people driving from 2-5 hours away and truly, around here, that's a miracle.  But we are at the age when we have one eye on the hour glass and are taking advantage of seeing each other in happy times if we can. 

These are photos our daughter took because, sorry to say, I took hardly none.

Centerpieces were all about Elizabeth.  She is a lover of old.  Books, bones, games.  The boxes held sand, mini shovels and scattered in the sand, archaeological finds.  She is going into archaeology, has said that since she was three years old and stuck to it, so mini digs on the tables was just her.  Also there were assorted growing up photos on the tables.

You all probably do this, too, but here because of weather possibilities tents are mandatory at grad parties.  You can plan till you turn blue but you can't control the weather.  The party we were at on Saturday had a sunny day but it was COLD and windy.  Sunday's event was absolutely perfect weather. But it could just as easily have not.  You just never know.

One thing I have to say about this family is that their dad has instilled in them the value of play.  They play.  And the girls and their friends are in the theater at school and play and pretend is an essential component of theater.  There was a table of props, with plenty of moustaches, hats, swords, goofy glasses, and play they did.

In the quiet after everyone left, Elizabeth's two most long and faithful friends since little girlhood still played. Quiet laughter, bubbles, smiles.  They will all be in different places come fall.  And I will miss these girls.  

 Did I say we laughed?  What is it called when you laugh so hard your eyes are closed?  Friends Sue and Marge and I have been friends for 60 years....maybe more if I do the math.

Grandson Mike (in navy blue) was just itching to play euchre with Grandpa.  He heard about Ceci playing with the old guys the day before and he was just itching.  When things started to quiet down and a table became available, PH, cousin Barney and four of the littles had a game.  I loved seeing this, it means there will always be a game going as the kids take up the torch. They are learning from the best.

Elizabeth gets her quilt tomorrow so there will finally be pictures. 

Euchre

 In PH's family, there is always a deck of cards, two quarters in the pockets and time for a game of Euchre.  Always. Always, always.  You will find the old guard who learned the game sitting on the laps of the ones now gone. They are good at it, they've played together their whole lives and they can read each other's and your mind. They can know from the first card played what everyone has and which way the hand will go. PH and our beloved Bob, now gone, were especially good at reading minds. But PH says Sandy, the one is the red sweater is the best in the family.  They are more than willing to teach and be patient with the learner but the learner has to do their part and learn.

They play for those quarters, pay up at the end and they mean business.

So yesterday at a graduation party it was so good to see Ceci say she will play. She's new at it and wants to be a better player.  The veterans are always willing to help a novice learn as Sue is here with Ceci.  

But apparently Ceci was doing well enough to hold her own. This is gratifying because the grey haired ones are all over 70 and some paving the way to 80 and no one wants to be at an event of any kind in the future without a table of Euchre happening.  It just wouldn't be a party.

We have Elizabeth's party today and there will be a deck of cards brought out of someone's pocket and quarters, too.  Because without it, it just wouldn't be a party.

Temperature Tree

Thoughts on the tree project: 

In the beginning of my hand work life, over 50 years ago, I started with cross stitch then moved on to needlepoint then quilting. As I progressed from one to the other, the previous activity was put aside. 

SO, it's been a very long time since I've done cross stitch. I 'forgot' how tedious it can be. My eyes are older and not so inclined to teeny anymore.  Neither is my patience. 

This tree would not stand the test of comparing it to the pattern. Certainly not the leaves.  But as I fiddle and struggle while stitching I am pretty much finding space for another leaf and sticking it in. I know nature is more perfect than this but I'm not.

Too late I realized I didn't really have to stick to the color chart and if I had been thinking logically for this hemisphere I would have for these warm green months made the leaves green, not the yellows the chart is using. I would have had some oranges and reds for the coming fall months.  I'd leave the blues for the winter but I'm not loving the yellow for now and looking at the color chart there isn't much room for change.  Maybe.  It IS only May. I could green up the summer maybe. Saying this, I understand it's a temperature chart so the temperatures are represented, not my esthetic desires. 

Maybe the yellows aren't making me happy because I used an oatmeal color for the background and they kind of disappear. 

And yes, there are still days left in May but our weather people are SO precise I can take the projected temps for the rest of the week and finish the month.

Yes, I will finish this, I've gotten almost through half the year and I am happy with my system of collecting temps for a couple of weeks and then stitching.  I could have and would have never made a temperature quilt so this is a good substitute. 

Graduation

 Last night our Elizabeth graduated from high school.  It was a proud evening for all of us. 

I think my fingers are holding onto her very tightly 

The ceremony was held in the football stadium (outdoors, COLD and very windy) and this procession of the graduates from the high school building down the hill to the football field was so impressive and beautiful and well, there could have been a tear or two.

Here it is, the moment. They can't take it away.  She worked hard for this.

After, we all went to a late dinner on the river and basked in her.  Notice mom hanging on tightly, too.

Well, that's two of the five fledged from the nest.  Sigh.

Decisions

 I am not a good passenger.  I get bored and I tend to backseat drive.  Ever since I was a child I would be carsick.  But about ten years ago I discovered I could do some hand work if I'm careful about the carsick thing.  

My latest take along project if we are going to be driving 2 hours or more is to stitch hexies together. I keep a small tightly packed tote of everything I need.  When we are leaving for anywhere, I grab the tote all packed and good to go.

They are scrappy, used up scraps of fabric, no rhyme or reason to placement except for trying not to put two reds or dark blues together. 

I put this box on my lap, the thread in the door handle pocket and when I take out the cardboard pieces they go in the bottom of the tote till we stop for gas somewhere. The box is thinning out and I need many more for the road trip

so last time I zoomed I cut fabric to fit the foundations and put everything in baggies.

Now, I make more hexies to store for the big road trip we are planning this summer.  It's a long one and I will need lots.  It's porch work.

The decision?  As I recuperate from new hip surgery I have to decide whether to sit on the front porch or the back.  Front porch chairs are more comfortable and I can easily fall into a nap so not much might get done.  Back porch offers an aquarium of bird activity at the feeders, which is distracting to getting anything done.  But it's such a gorgeously beautiful day today I won't be inside.

Tinkering

 I've packed up the piles and put away the stuff for a bit because I'm going to have a new hip Thursday and won't be in the mood for messes.  Instead I've been tinkering with my ladies.

A few days ago Lou was going through old linens and wondering what to do with pieces that were stained and damaged by time and use.  I told her when I go to estate sales I head first to the bedrooms where the linens are stored. I want those pillow cases, table cloths, dresser runners, etc.  Some are very damaged and have holes or big stains.  And because of that I get them for pennies. Some are in good condition and useable.  Still very inexpensive.  

What I've done is cut the handwork off the damaged pieces and tucked them away for....I don't know, just another stash, I guess.

But then with Lou's post I thought "hmmm" and dug out the crochet trims that I saved from disintegrating pillow cases and they fit nicely as trims for my ladies.  The pattern I am using for inspiration for the ladies shows a pieced 'lace' around their faces.  This sure beats that!

There was a piece that was salvaged I turned into an apron for this one.

I really like the look, the crochet pieces - and I do mean pieces - that I saved are resurrected.

I am making up this project as I go along.  It's going to be very funky when I finally decide it's finished.

Books this week.  Probably the last week for me.  If not, then possibly just one or two more as I heal.

Another Holly Hobbie book.  This one from her own life.  

Holly's family lived in a thriving, busy, noisy neighborhood and suddenly her parents bought a run down old farm house out in the country with no indoor plumbing and no electricity in her bedroom. It was culture shock.  But Holly learned to love the animals of the country and their little farm.  But mostly she loved the horses the neighbors had and wished for a horse more than anything.  They had a barn, there was tacking hanging on the wall, she learned to draw horses, she even picked up 'road apples' from the neighbors' horses and put them in her barn.  

On her birthday her big present was in the barn and she ran her fastest to get there.  The kids and I had a good chat about that ending. 

I always save this book for the last book of the year.  Gum wasn't new.  The ancients chewed pine resin and other things. Chewing gum was good for you.  But what if you could make a gum that was able to hold a bubble?  And when you succeeded in that, make it a color but pink was the only thing available in the lab?  The kids LOVE this book.  Or is it because I bring in a big bag of bubble gum for them?  

We discussed that things don't just magically appear.  Someone has to think...."hmmm, what if?" and tinker and tinker and think and think to invent the things we have now.  

CIRCLES! and books

 I don't think I've ever been happier finishing a quilt top.  During covid Friend Barb and I started a circle quilt.  It was a way for me to appreciate the Liberty of London fabric I bought but was afraid to use

                                It's taken that long for me to finally get from this point Five years? 

To this.  I was so excited this morning when I whipped it out of the machine I didn't even iron it before hanging it for a photo.  So if it looks a little wonky, well, it is till it's ironed.   But that will have to wait till I'm ready to layer it and that won't be for another while.  But this far?  Ecstatic.

They are four inch white squares and the reason it took so long was because I got bored with sewing circle after circle after circle.  Barb?  She's made seven circle quilts. SEVEN.  We sew differently.  She uses her TV downtime in the evening on boring but that's my main sewing time and so there are other things to work on. 

This week's books were a little prehistoric-ish.  

After surviving a shipwreck a young boy finds himself on a remote island with a creature he has never seen anything the likes of before.  Hom is his name.  Hom is the last of his kind.  There are cave paintings of his family to prove it.  Hom shows our young boy what foods are safe to eat, how to live on a deserted island.  Our boy shows Hom his first wheel.  They play, become the best of friends.  After a note is put into a bottle telling civilization where he is, a ship does come and there is a silhouette that looks like it could be the boy's mother on board.  But boy also knows what will happen to Hom if he is found by the world. 

Can you remember what it was like to be dragged along with your mother on Errand Day?  But this day is different.  Instead of a balloon at the barber there is a dinosaur to take home.  And another from the bakery, the doctor, and every other place they stop.  Mom is furious.  What are we supposed to do with a real DINOSAUR?  Every kid in town is delighted, though. Dream come true!  

Instant Pot

 When we were kids occasionally our dad would hide a thimble around the living room and we kids would search for it.  I don't remember if there was a prize involved because it would be hidden several times per session. I just remember we would have fun looking for it.

Easter Sunday we had 23 here for dinner.  Daughter, SIL, grand girls, brother, SIL, nieces, nephews, cousins, second and third generation nieces nephews and new niece.  Close to the end of the day Elizabeth noticed little frogs hidden in the kitchen.  Hidden in plain sight.  She found three. I thought they were her cat's toys from when we pet sat a few weeks ago.  But no. 

Everyone went home.  PH and I started finding the little frogs tucked everywhere.  Still in plain sight, but tucked on the bookshelves, in the bathroom, in the spare bedroom, living room, peeking out from all sorts of places downstairs and up.

I asked the girls if they or their dad did it.  No, they said. But I didn't believe them because it's just the sort of thing they would do and giggle as they watched us find them. They insisted no.  I asked a niece and she said no for herself, her husband and four kids.  I thought for sure it was the husband.  Nope. 

Back to clues with the grands.  We narrowed it down to another niece and her son.  Nope.  But she laughed when I asked "then who?"  We were up to 23 of them!  They are everywhere!  She said to check my emails.  Well, I'm not an email saver.  I read 'em and delete 'em. But I scrolled trash and found the conversation from Sunday's planning and there was the thank you from my great-nephew thanking us for the day and signing off with 🐸. Ah ha!! That went right over my head when I read it.   Niece said there could be 28 so we have five to go if that's true.

This was so much fun for PH and I as we would call from somewhere in the house, "Another one!"  But SO puzzling as to who hid them.  And a nice way to continue Sunday's fun.

Yesterday I went to the garden center.  It's about 45 minutes from here if there are no detours for road repair so it took me an hour.  I go to this one because their prices are the best anywhere.  Anywhere. I can't buy the quantity I buy and pay the prices of the swankier greenhouses. I go for the potted geraniums.  They are in full bloom, good height, healthy, inexpensive and I simply tilt them out of the hanging pot and into my bigger porch pots.

From this

To this.  Instant Pot!  These bright reds are my primary purchase.  There are a few other things I get for specific pots but this is the reason I go and the flowers I love. 

     Today we planted them.  I know. I know.  There isn't a horticulturalist in the state of Michigan who would say it's ok to plant now. Not a single one.  But I have my own barometer and I've only been frozen once.  

    I watched the weather and determined it was ok to go purchase.  The forecast for the next ten days is FINALLY seasonable in the high 60's /low 70's.  Today we are going to hit 80.  And none of the nights will freeze. 

Geraniums can withstand those temperatures.  In fact, they prefer it. The pots are on the porch so way above the ground and freeze.  

   And I am running the clock on a new hip soon so the list of to-dos is long.  I am happy to cross this off. 

    

Last night I kind of sorted the circles into sort of light/darks/colors.  I am not going to put them on a design wall and play with placement - because I don't have a design wall, just a Thinking Bed.  These will be sewn together as is with random placement. It's going to be fine.

 And I'm going out onto the porch right now with my cranky machine to begin.  I think I'm going to do the 16 x 18 - one of the sizes Susan figured for me.  Can't let this beautiful day be spent in the house. 

More Books

 This week's books were about the littles.  Many years ago I saw a quote that said, "If you think you are too small to be effective you've never been in bed with a mosquito" and I've used that quote for years with the kids I've read to.  Jut because you're little doesn't mean you're not important. And in the political climate we are living in I am, sadly, not heeding my own advice. Exhaustion has taken over.

But no one feels more insignificant than a 6 year old so I brought these books to remind them how important little can be.

The King of Little Things understood the importance of little things and was kind and generous to all of his little subjects.  Things like buttons and nails and snails and cups and pencils all have important jobs.  Little things.  His subjects loved him and were loyal to him.  But King Normous wanted all of it.  Everything.  All the kingdoms and all subjects loyal to just him (sound familiar?)  He vanquishes all the lands and peoples and believes he has it all until one of his nervous servants tells him about the King of Little Things.  So King Normous captures and imprisons him.  But the little things love their king and won't cooperate with King Normous.  The keys won't lock, the nails won't hold the dungeon door, the ants and bees come in to feed him, etc.  King Normous loses his buttons and his pants fall down.  Admitting defeat to the importance of little things he gives up.  Next time you use a paper clip think about the big job that little thing does.

Millie and her mother move to Garden Glen where every house and yard is the same.  Same lawn, same curtains in the windows, same roses, same same same. Millie, though, is eager to replant her old garden and make their new home feel like old home.  Well, her garden is filled with peculiar plants with very strange names and habits.  She is immediately dealt with by the Homeowners Association telling her this is not acceptable.  But Millie has a plan.  She invites her class to her garden and they come! And she gives cuttings and snips and soon, Garden Glen is interesting.  Just a small thing a little can do.

 None of the plants in Millie's garden are actually poisonous but have interesting names and faces and it's good storytelling.  Inspiration for the book came from the Poison Garden at Alnwick Garden, England where in 1997 one hundred varieties of poisonous plants were introduced. 

Our weather has turned, we are officially in spring. I went to the garden center today and bought my ten geranium baskets and some other things. I get planted hanging baskets and take them out, put them in my porch pots for instant size and color.  I was happy to fill the car with some sunshine. 

Leaves are Changing

After the prep, planning, cooking and partying Sunday, I spent yesterday doing absolutely nothing.  I couldn't even get up the gumption to think about my nothing choices.  The path of least resistance was to put on a movie and work on April's temperature tree.  The colors are changing and it's a welcome change. Then I took a nap. 

Easter

 Another successful Easter day!  We had 23 plus two babes here for dinner and egg games.  We are lucky and we know it, there was plenty of food, everyone was healthy and the family is growing (thus the two little ones) and even though some of the third generation are off on their own they still come for the day.

After dinner PH takes over the day with his egg games.  Everyone takes part, and there are prizes!

He is giving instructions for the egg roll down the driveway.  Even though we've done this for several years, this year the driveway is new and smooth as a baby's butt so while the game was the same the playing field was very different. 

Our two year old started us off. We all thought, "aw, how cute!" but his egg rolled all the way down to the street and as it kept going and going and going we all started to say, "Oh no!"

This is the big difference.  Our driveway is very long and curves and this year it's new and smooth.  Those eggs just kept on a goin' down to the street.  In the past we had divots and pot holes and gravelly pieces to stop them.  Not this year.  They just kept on a goin'   In an attempt to divert I tossed a couple of sticks on the surface.  Ha. Nice try.

The winner won by mere inches as they puddled at the bottom right at the street's edge.  That yellow one was the winner. Inches.

The raw egg toss was next.  I had to swallow hard as I stood on the porch taking pictures and watched a dozen eggs smashed to the ground.  This year they aren't cheap (cheep!)

It's serious stuff.  We discovered years ago, with each step back, the farther away you are for your catch your rings can tunk just enough to break the egg.

                                                     Thus the aprons.  There was splash.

                                                                        The scorecard. 

We had fun, toddlers to teenagers to seniors we all ate, laughed and played games. Who could ask for more?