What Knots?

Did I say I was going to put Celtic knots in the corners of my Irish door quilt? Surely I was mistaken. I spent nearly the whole day on those yesterday all for naught...or, if you're in a mood for homonyms...all for knot. (Oh my gosh, I am so punny in my old age.) So that idea has been scrapped. Literally. I've decided to just continue the chains of the Irish chain up into the corners and call it good. Hopefully, I'll have it all sewn together today.

But before I get on with sewing, I want to tell you about the rest of the day yesterday. It was a perfect day from start to finish. Smitty demonstrated the best way for starting any day with his morning nap in the sunshine. He has the advantage of a window seat.

While I was observing the demonstration, a text message rolled in from my friend Sue, wishing me a not-so-sunny happy birthday. We were above the clouds at that moment, which always makes me feel oh-so-superior. I could see the valley was indeed in clouds. The sun didn't last all day, however. We got quite a few nice soaking rain showers, which was a good thing too. My new sunflowers and herb plantings no doubt benefited from the moisture.

As I said, I spent most of the day on those Celtic knots. I was working with tiny little pieces. The pattern was supposed to be paper-pieced, and I suppose paper-piecing would have gotten me the results I wanted. Nevertheless, I absolutely hate paper-piecing, as I've said many times. I tried doing it the old-fashioned way, and my cutting and piecing accuracy simply isn't up to the challenge. How do people make those little minis anyway? Some of them are simply amazing, and I've come away from those Celtic knots with an even greater appreciation for the folks who can get the job done. If you are one of them, my hat is off to you. I salute you. In fact, I kneel at your feet for your quilting superiority. Honestly. I'm not kidding. And at my age, kneeling is quite a chore, but for you, I'd do it anyway.

Celtic knots didn't ruin my day, however. A day spent sewing is always a good day even if things don't turn out just right. I was listening to an audio book--a good one entitled, All the Light We Cannot See--and that was worth it even if the sewing was not.

Mike and I went out for dinner last night at the Portland Charthouse, which has to have one of the best views of the city in all of Portland. Here is the view from our window table.

Dinner was delicious, as it always is. I started with the roasted beet salad. Yum. It had two colors of roasted beets, Mandarin oranges, pickled red onions, bacon, and other yummy stuff.

Mike started with the lobster bisque. I've had this before, and it is delicious as well. It's also very filling, which is why I chose a salad.

For our main courses, I chose the "Shimp Tour" with crunchy coconut shrimp on the right, crab-stuffed shrimp in the middle, and another kind of shrimp smothered in a kind of corn relish. The pyramid stack in the back is black forbidden rice. This all came with accompanying dipping sauces. 

Mike chose the mahi-mahi with a peanut dipping sauce and smothered in a relish made from mango, yellow bell pepper, and some other stuff. That's a mashed purple sweet potato on the left. There's also some baby bok choy on the plate.

As you might guess, we were both clean platers. That didn't stop us from devouring our dessert of hot cocolate lava cake. You have to order the hot chocolate lava cake when you order your main courses because it takes half an hour to prepare. It's doused in chocolate both inside and out. Those are little hunks of toffee scattered over the top. Dee. Licious. Truly.

Then, we asked for a wagon to roll us out of the place. Good grief. So much delicious food. 

Tomorrow is Mike's birthday, and I've promised him Eggs Benedict for breakfast tomorrow. I need to make a quick trip to the grocery store to get some things I need. Aside from that I have a few housekeeping chores to do today, but I'm really hoping to finish my Irish quilt as well. I know what to do in place of the Celtic knots, and it's going to be fine.

Today is giveaway day, so don't forget to stop off at my giveaway page. I have a nice prize for some lucky winner.