Monthly Archives: June 2015
Sunday Market opens
I love it when the market opens and I can buy fresh foods that didn’t make it into my garden, which this year is many foods. There are a number of these booths with foods, flowers, and handicrafts.
We purchased some apricots, cherries, asparagus, apples and lettuce. It’s still early and there will be more items added weekly. Since most of these farmers are not certified organic, but use organic practices, I try to remember to ask if the seed is coated. Most commercial seeds are now coated with insecticides, so I try to find out about that. If they don’t know, I go shopping at another booth. Today, I only found two that knew their seeds were not coated. One man was vehement about not using those coated seeds. He said he farms the old way, with compost etc. And he will not change his prices. He says he knows the value. And because he has great produce, I buy from him.
Market is at the bus/train station, so the city has made it a nice place to go.
I worked some on the quilt. I was delighted the way the drumsticks turned out with the crinkled fabric. I also found that I did not make enough of that fabric, so made the rest of what I’ll need.
Today I made the “no-egg” salad. It was so good, we had it for lunch on bread and dinner on crackers. Not what I planned, but when I came to the kitchen to make dinner, I found DH was already eating this And now it is gone without a photo. The thing I would change in this recipe is the mustard which was a bit much for me. I think if pickles were added and a bit of the garbanzo juice, it would be a marvelous dressing for potato salad.
Did I mention the temperature was 86 today, so tomorrow we will be spending time watering. It was warm enough that the two dogs were in the pond as well as at least one sheep and the alpacas.
jk
Baby blanket progress
I’m remaking this blanket and now have a blanket 32″ wide. I have 8″ done, and would like it to be at least square, so I will be crocheting on it between other projects. It would be nice to get it done this month, but no hurry. I’m using a one pound skein of Paton’s baby sport yarn
I have 2 quilts to be done by the end of the month, then Mary and I can start our charity project for this year. The projects I’m looking at are:
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1 bolt of fleece made into purple baby hats for the hospital. (DH is crocheting hats)
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Dresses for African girls
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Shorts for African boys
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Sanitary pads for the African teen girls.
There may be other projects to consider, that haven’t come up yet. Do you have other ideas, we should consider? Would you be interested in helping with a project? I’d love to hear from you.
Texture Magic
Texture Magic comes in these smaller 7 x 10″ packages. The largest I’ve seen is about a yard, though it also comes in half a yard. It looks like it may be nylon. One hoops the fabric to be textured and pins this on the bottom of the hoop
Then sew some type of pattern all over the fabric to be textured. In my case, the pattern I am using came with it digitized for me. The more lines on the fabric, the more it shrinks, so you want the lines to go vertically and horizontally.
After you are satisfied with the lines you have, removed it from the hoop and steam it like crazy. The more steam, the more shrinkage. The package says it will shrink 30%. You can see it bubbling here.
When it is done, it will lie flat once again.
What happens is only the back (shown here) will shrink Your fashion fabric will not. That is what causes the texture. It can now be washed and dried without losing the texture. Just don’t iron it.
Yes, I said “in the hoop”, but that’s only one way it can be used. Without the hoop, you would want to stitch the Texture Magic to the fabric before you start so it doesn’t move while you are putting this stitching on it. I can see this as being fun in clothing as well as decorative items like pillows, even purses. I hope you’ll try it as it was fun and my pieces will become part of the quilt.
June 4 and summer?
I live in NW Washington state where summer usually starts near the end of July. I just looked at the forecast for the next 10 days. Instead of rain, we are to have temperatures of 79-84. What a pleasure that will be for some of us. There will be the usual people who will be complaining about the heat, but I intend to really enjoy the weather
I watched as these fellows really enjoyed the pond this morning. I think they are washing their own fiber. They have not been clipped, so they will probably be either in the shade or the water this coming week.
I finished the ice cream cones this afternoon and the slices of pie are next.
Trying crocheting again
We get our venison bones in these 50# boxes frozen. We then partially thaw them and bag them in these Ziploc bags and place them back into the freezer for individual servings.
Do you remember this baby blanket I made and then took apart because it wasn’t big enough? Today, I decided that since I’m still limping for a while, this will be a great project, so I have pulled it back out and started it again. When I crochet, I feel like I am working with several thumbs – no fingers. I just need to do much more practice. (The second photo is a more accurate color.)
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Ice Cream blocks
This is one of those days that it is better to just walk away and let it rest.
I’m working on the 5th block of 6 and have had various challenges, such as fabric getting stuck in the back, needles breaking, etc. Now I’m back with everything lined up, but just broke a needle AGAIN. So the best thing now to do, is walk away until tomorrow. It’s amazing how sometimes, when one walks away from a problem, sleeping on it solves it. So that is my plan
Picnic quilt blocks
This beautiful color has dried and now she looks like the photo on the right. She’s still cute.
I have all the hot dogs and corn done, I was going to start the ice cream cones, but had to get off the knee and ice it. so I’m planning to have at least some of those to show you tomorrow. They look like they will take about an hour a piece and there are 6 of them to do.
This twisted knee is getting in the way. I went to the doctor this morning and he thinks it is meniscus related. so rest it as much as possible for a couple weeks and see where we are. Sometimes doctors are so impractical! Do they think we have little fairies to feed the animals and water the hoop house? And no, the big garden just won’t be going in this summer.