5/24/18

A Day in the Life

Now that the [mostly] good weather has arrived here at the Three Cats Ranch, mornings start pretty much the same every day...with kitties sitting at the glass door saying, "Open, open, open." We don't let them out until there's some activity outdoors.


They've worked out a pretty good routine for themselves. Out the door around 8:00 a.m., in for the day at around 1:30 p.m. They could stay out longer, but they usually come in for naps. After that, we shut the door. We don't want them heading out again after their naps, or we'll have trouble getting them in later in the day. At first, they whined about the early end to their day. Now, they seem almost relieved when it's time to come in.

Once the door is open, it's cats on a mission! They always head first to where the RV is parked. That's where most of the squirrels reside. So far this summer, neither has caught a squirrel, but it isn't for lack of trying.


Yesterday morning, I filled my hoop and then moved it to the next position.


When I'm ready to move it again, it will be very nearly finished.


Then, I went for a walk around. The purple iris are blooming now.


Mike got the drip irrigation set up for the tomatoes yesterday. It's always a relief when I can stop worrying about keeping them watered.


The poppies are going great guns. They're still a little too small to plant outside, but soon enough I'll be moving them.


We've cleared out a space in one of the whiskey barrels for them. They'll have all new dirt. We're going to make some sort of "cage" for the top of the whiskey barrel until they're well-established. I'm afraid the squirrels will dig them up. Also, two cats think this would make a lovely litter box.


The lettuce had a puny showing this year. I planted 15 seeds in 3 varieties, 5 seeds each. Only three seeds of two varieties came up. One variety was a complete bust. My seeds are several years old. It's probably time for some new ones.


On the other hand, we get a lot of lettuce in our CSA share. Possibly, we don't need much lettuce. I'm still deciding.

Here's my wimpy basil plant. It would be larger except I keep cutting things off of it.


The squirrels have thoughtfully planted sunflowers next to the catnip. This has potential. I'm going to let these grow.


Whatever ate the top of the cherry tomato plant didn't succeed in killing it. It seems to be making a comeback, and it's put out a lot of new leaves.


The new hanging cherry tomato has two tomatoes on it! This thrilled me beyond measure.


After my tour of the garden, I made a tour of the grocery store. With Mike at home, I can have him pick up little items on his many trips to the hardware or auto parts stores. It means I'm making fewer trips. Which also means the trips I take tend to be big ones, and yesterday's trip took most of the morning. When I got home, we had lunch, and then naps. Then it was time to get sewing.

The Quiltmaker's Garden has me dragging my feet. I'm really so tired of working on it. Getting it quilted and bound is my May OMG, but my commitment is waning. Possibly it won't get finished until June. It's supposed to be fun, right? Yesterday's quilting was rather uninspired. I'm at the top of the gazebo, and I've struggled with ideas about how to quilt it. For this section, I did some insy-outsy, swoopty-doopty things. (These are technical quilting terms, so try to keep up.)


Then I went for the low-hanging fruit. I've already done most of these little yellow-centered flowers, and so I continued with what I've done before.


Here's how it looks from the back.


I quilted feathers into the butterfly wings, as I did with the other butterfly. Then I tried this sort of braided leaf thing on one of the gazebo cross beams. It isn't very even, and I'm considering taking it out and trying again.


The idea of taking it out makes me feel even less like working on it, if such a thing is even possible. Here's how it looks from the back. I'm going to quilt all around it and then see how I feel about it. It's possible, this less-than-perfect motif will just get lost in the quilting shuffle.


So, yeah...as I've been writing this post, I've been thinking I'll forget about it as the May OMG and recommit in June. There are other things I'd rather work on, and I'll probably do a better job if I take a break from it.

This morning Sue and I are walking the Fanno Creek Trail. It's been many moons since we've walked there, and so I'm looking forward to seeing how things are growing. Usually, we see ducklings along the trail, but it might be too soon for them. It's time to eat breakfast and be on my way. Oh yes, and we're celebrating 43 years of wedded bliss today! This might surprise you, but I wasn't even born when we got married! Mike literally robbed the cradle. We're having dinner out tonight. The month of May is murder on our diets.

21 comments:

Anne Kirby said...

Oh my, god bless you both on your anniversary, I'm the first, yay!! Have a good time out and don't think of your diets tonight. As far as the quilt goes, it looks fine, not bad enough to pick out at all. Leave it, finish it and go on to the next thing. It's coming out beautiful!!! Be proud of it!

gpc said...

Wishing you the happiest of days! Your hand stitching is, as always, just lovely. As for quilting, for goodness sakes, leave it! Nobody likes a perfect quilt. Of course you will take that for what it's worth since you already know that I am a slacker. I am so jealous of your plantings, and I plan to be doubly jealous of your poppies -- my chives are just starting to form buds, but I know that before I blink twice their bloom will be over. I love this time of year. :)

Dorothy said...

Congratulations on 43 !!!!

Quilting Babcia said...

Happy Anniversary!! I'd be tickled pink if my FMQ looked that good, but I completely understand how you can be royally tired of a project, especially when they've been dragging on for more than a year (or two or three).

Linda said...

Happy Anniversary. :) We have you beat by 6 years in October.
I love looking at your FMQ and appreciate that you show the backside. Although I think it looks wonderful, I understand wanting things more perfect.
There is not a whole lot more excitement in my life than seeing the first tomato on a plant - yay!

Terri said...

Happy anniversary and congratulations!!!

Lyndsey said...

Happy anniversary to you both. I've only been reading your blog for a few of your 43 years but I love hearing about all the activities you and Mike get up to. You sure have a fabulous and loving relationship (even if Mike did rob the cradle)

HouseDragon said...

Aloha from Kaua`i. Happy wonderful anniversary to you both. We're at 53 ~ OMG! How did that happen?! I've been reading your blog first thing for years: MAHALO for getting my mornings off to a good start. Your faraway cyber-friend, Liz.

WoolenSails said...

I am sure the kitties are happy to be back on their turf. I really need to get more landscaping down in my yard and might put in a few started plants, miss fresh tomatoes. You really have a lot of projects going and all are coming along beautifully.

Debbie

piecefulwendy said...

Happy Anniversary to you and Mike! You're garden and landscaping are looking lovely. Fun to see the kitties out on the prowl! I think you're wise in giving the Garden Dreamer quilt a break; you'll probably like working on it better after it's had a rest. Enjoy the weekend, Barbara!

Ioleen said...

Happy anniversary to you and Mike. Enjoy your night out.

Californianativedaughter said...

Happy Anniversary! We just celebrated 45 years together-OMG! where did the time go? During our first experience with cats, there were squirrels in the neighborhood that taunted the cats by running and then doing cart-wheels and back flips just out of reach. Finally, i guess they ganged up and taught the squirrels a lesson. Now are cats are only indoors. Ben, our second orange tabby sits beside me on the bed every morning as I go through my email.
Tried growing basil a few summers ago, but I guess it wasn't hot enough as the plant didn't survive. So anytime I want basil to make pesto, I go to the Farmer's Market.

Rosemary

Judy1522 said...

Happy Anniversary!

Susan said...

Happy Anniversary.

allthingzsewn said...

Happy anniversary, we celebrated our 38th two days ago. Glad to see everyone is well. I have been gone do to heart issues and was so tired I didn't do much at all. Now we know what is wrong meds are helping at the moment. Praise God, it could have been so much worse. Heart is a little weak, praying this can be helped with cardio exercise. Will know in a few weeks. I really want off these meds. Miss Maggie Cat is doing well and Hubby is doing better.
So all in all we are doing well too.
your garden is further along than ours, I need to get some pics too. Thanks for the idea and motivation.
Quilt is looking great, I agree take a break. It will wait for you and less of a chance of messing up and needing a redo.
Enjoy all of your day.

Quilter Kathy said...

Happy Anniversary! Enjoyed reading your post, especially learning the "technical terms"!
Enjoy your stitching.... lovely to see your flowers... the stitched ones and the nature ones!

Ivani said...

Happy Anniversary !
I love your embroidery, you are making a great stitching, and I loved also your cats and your garden. Very interesting you have cherry tomatoes on vases.

Suzanne said...

I like your stitchery...who is the pattern designer? I planted Alpine poppy's around our mailbox. Happiest of Anniversaries to you and your Sweetheart.

Kate said...

Happy anniversary (just a little late)!!!

Deb said...

First Happy Anniversary, love the hand embroidery piece you stitching is so lovely. On your basil plant pinch off some of those little bits growing on the stems, I also pinch off a few of the tops for a fuller plant.

quiltzyx said...

The mighty hunters on the prowl! Geez, naps sound really good to me too. But I still have another hour to go before I go home. Today was an 8 am to 8 pm day, working job 1 & job 2. That's OK, gives me a chance to catch up on my Cat Patches reading. :)