No Jeans Queen

It's the best kind of stay-at-home day. There's absolutely nothing on my agenda except quilting from this point on. That reference to "no jeans" simply means I'm spending the day in my most comfy sweats. Some days I feel obligated to at least get dressed, but some days I just don't give a rip. Today is one of those days.

My housework is done for the day. I was supposed to do laundry, but Mike did me a favor by not remembering to carry the laundry hamper downstairs before he left. Oh freaking well. I guess that means I can't do laundry. It can wait until tomorrow. And tomorrow I have to take little Smithers Man to the vet for his annual check-up. Last time he was in, he earned the name of "Popcorn" when they gave him a shot and he jumped out of their arms almost clear to the ceiling. I think he's grown up a little since then, but one never knows. But today...nothing except sewing.

This morning I worked a little on my cheater project. What's a "cheater project?" you ask. Ordinarily, my embroidery consists of working on quilt blocks, but sometimes a smaller project sneaks its way into the line-up and I work on two projects at once. I've been working on the latest Quilted Snow Ladies block, but a cheater project found its way into the line-up. It's a gift for a friend, and so I can only give you a peak for now, but I'm close to having it finished. For the past few days, it's been getting all of my attention.

Also this morning, I took the pictures off the Birdcam and got a few more images of the Flicker. This first one was taken early in the morning, and sadly, the lens was covered in dew. I was able to rescue it with photoshop, but it's not the best image.

Then, this morning, he gave me this view of himself. I think he's protesting the empty suet feeder. Of course, I hurried right out and filled it again. Maybe he'll give me a picture of his beautiful face.

Yesterday the kids moved into their new house, but sadly, they couldn't sleep there last night because they had no water. Mae said they had been warned to activate their water account. She tried to do it online, but wasn't able to, and then she forgot to call them. They'll be able to get that turned on today and then I expect they'll sleep there for the first time tonight. So exciting for them. I don't envy them all the unpacking and rearranging they have to do, but the worst of the move has been accomplished.

As I said yesterday, I tried a new recipe for a German Winter Stew. I actually liked the recipe for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was its quick start and neglectibility (I just now made up that word). You just cut up a pork shoulder roast, throw it in the pot, brown it, add some diced onions and chicken broth, and then put the lid on and ignore it for three hours. That gave me lots of time to quilt. In the final hour, you add some apples, cabbage, and some noodles. It's a one-dish meal, but we had some store-bought rolls for dunking. Next time, however, I would do a few things differently.

For one thing, it needed twice as much broth. I checked it hourly and kept adding broth to it. You'll want to keep the meat submerged in broth. I use low-sodium chicken broth, and so that meant tasting it and adding a little more salt occasionally. (A little white wine would be a good choice, but don't overdo it.) Also, I would use half as much cabbage next time around. There was way more cabbage than would fit in the pot, and it would have been fine with half the amount. Finally, the recipe calls for "cooked" noodles, but I added them straight to the pot uncooked in the last 20 minutes. They cooked in the broth just fine. 

I can definitely recommend the recipe to you, and my family, famished as they were, lapped it up as if it were the best thing they'd ever tasted. Ravenous hunger will do that to a person. Oh and one more thing: the recipe wants you to make a mustard "sauce" to drizzle over the top. We just added stone-ground mustard straight from the bottle, and it was delicious. Sour cream was also a good topping.

The mornings have been chilly lately, although the days have been lovely. That means my little cat has been spending more time hanging out in my lap in the morning. Also, he's been taking more afternoon naps in his bed on my desk.

He's looking a little sleepy right now. 

So with that, I think I'll move on to the quilting part of the day. I was able to get a lot done yesterday and I should easily finish the blocks today. Hopefully, I'll get a good start on the borders too.

Have a good Monday. Do lots of sewing!