Friday Finish

It was a morning for walking with Sue, and so I was up bright and early. There was just a little bit left to hand stitch on the binding for the Rubber Duckies quilt, and I was anxious to get it finished. It took about half an hour, and it was all done.

Here's a close-up of the quilting:

Here's how it looks from the back:

And here's another close-up:

The baby is due next month, and I won't be able to finish the label until then. My friends would like the baby's name and birth date on the label. I can't remember if they wanted the weight or not. So this morning, I created this little draft image for it. I like this image, but I think I want the wording to look a little different.

The font looks a little pixelated for some reason. I'll probably choose something different. Of course, no quilt is finished until it's been kitty tested and approved.

So, whaddaya say?

After that, I went walking with Sue. The wild iris were blooming like crazy along the trail this morning.

It was a beautiful morning for a walk, and we enjoyed it. When I got home, I filled the bird feeders and then walked around to see what's blooming at home. For having all my tulips devoured, there are actually quite a few blooming in the whiskey barrels this year. These are at the front door.

These are at the back deck along the walkway that leads to the greenhouse.

The wisteria is covered with open blossoms now. This is one of those flowers that makes the front porch look as if it has snowed when it starts to drop its petals.

We weren't sure about planting this here at the front door, but I love the way it frames the porch.

The lilac continues to threaten to bloom. It has a few more flowers this year over last year, but they are still just starting to open. We have several warm days ahead, and so I'm hoping that will convince it to put on a show.

I checked the greenhouse again this morning. With warm weather coming, I wanted to make sure to uncover the germinating lettuce. They'll boil in their own juices if I don't. I was happy to see that the third container now has sprouted.

And about half of the sunflowers are also germinating.

I like it when I see them with their seed still attached.

When I went into town yesterday, I picked up a couple of trays of dianthus. One of you correctly pointed out that the "dianthus" I planted the other day was actually lobelia, and mislabeled. If I'd been thinking right I would have realized that, but thank you. Anyway...I picked up these trays of dianthus, and I'll plant those with the lobelia. Also, I picked up two more different kinds of thyme and some English lavender.

Mike will be spraying the weeds this weekend, and after I wait a bit for that to do its work, I'll be ready to do the rest of the planting in the herb garden.

So I've iced my knee, which I've started doing every time I walk. My knee feels better for it, and so it's a good to take a few minutes, get off my feet, drink some water, and take care of my joints.

In my ongoing quest to use all of the new bakeware I purchased along with the Dessert for Two cookbook, today I'm going to bake a Lemon Cake with White Chocolate Mousse Frosting. The recipe contains buttermilk, and there is an open container in my refrigerator. And you gotta love a recipe that contains the words "cake" AND "chocolate mousse" in it. I checked Christina Lane's website to see if perhaps she'd published the recipe there. She did not. For that, you'll have to buy the book. It did give me an opportunity to see all the recipes on her blog that are NOT contained in the book, however. That was certainly worth a visit.

Anyway...I'll be using that little 6-inch cake pan in the lower left corner for today's baking adventure. If it turns out, I'll take a picture and show it to you in tomorrow's post.

And with that, I'm off to do my sweet, sweet work. The weekend is looking good.