Garden Newcomers

Everything needed watering yesterday morning, and so I spent some time outside before leaving to drive downtown. The first flowers are appearing on the butterfly bush, and they are just beginning to open.

Two more flowers have appeared on the zucchini. Of the three plants, only this one has bloomed so far. I'm hoping the other two will get with the program soon.

And look who finally opened! It's the star lily. This poor thing has been in a pot, neglected for at least three years. Anything that can take that kind of neglect and come back punching deserves a spot in our garden...indeed, has earned a spot in the garden. And so, here it is, planted in soil, and blooming. What a tough little fighter it is.

The real object of my curiosity was the cherry trees. Are there still cherries on the trees? Yes! The ripest ones are way up high...out of our reach, even with a ladder.

The ones we can reach are still green, but they're coming along.

Searching, I found a ripe one I could actually reach, and so I picked it and popped it into my mouth. It's one of the Bings and oh, so sweet. That's one the raccoons won't get.

My sun dappled cat was with me on this outing.

I'm keeping an eye out for those pesky raccoons for you, Mom. Now how about some treats as a reward for my hard work?

So ended our walk outside. We headed inside to do some housework, and then I needed to leave for my appointment downtown. On the way home I picked up some bird seed, and so it was around 3:30 by the time I got into the sewing room yesterday. Looking more closely at the block I'd left off with the day before, I realized I'd forgotten to give it a flange. Yes, as a matter of fact, that is my seam ripper on the right.

Okay, so I fixed that. Do not mess with me, Minnesota. I have a seam ripper and I know how to use it.

After that, I had time to make three more blocks. This one from a shop in Pendleton, Oregon. Sadly, the internet informs me that this shop is "permanently closed." Too bad, because this was a nice little shop. And we revere salmon here in the Pacific Northwest, so this was a nice find for my regional print. As for the shop, you can read my blog post about it right here.

Next up was this one from Stitch 'N Snip in Garden Valley, Idaho. You can read my blog post about it right here. Garden Valley, Idaho, is a tiny little town along the Payette River on the road to Stanley, Idaho. It's population during the 2010 census was just 394, and so it's amazing such a small community can support a quilt shop like this one. The internet tells me it is still open, with a web presence right here.

We got into quite a pickle with our fifth wheel when the transmission on our truck failed at this stop, and we ended up back in Boise before we were able to move along on our way to Stanley. I might have chosen a different fabric had I known a drama was about to unfold in the parking lot. Instead, ignorance was bliss for the moment, and I chose this one in honor of being along the river where anglers congregate, fishing for bull trout. Do they use fishing lures? I don't know, not being a fisher person, but this fabric seemed perfect to me at the time.

There was time for just one more, and the next one on my list was this shop in Jefferson, Louisiana, which happens to be right next door to New Orleans. It came highly recommended by several people, and so we made the drive to see it. It was worth it. You can read my post about it right here. Although we weren't there for Mardi Gras (in fact, we actively avoided it), our visit was just before the tricentennial celebration and so this Mardi Gras print was a must. You can see some great photos of the Mardi Gras celebration right here. The Quilted Owl is still in business. Its website is right here.

There are still two more blocks to make for this third row of the quilt. When those are finished, I'll sew the row together and then sew the whole row to the quilt. I'm hoping it'll look like something with the addition of the third row.

As for today, I'm continuing on my appointment streak. Today I'm getting my annual eye exam, and I expect I'll need new glasses. I'm having to take more time to focus on my embroidery in the morning, and that just seems to be the way of things for now. My appointment is this morning, and so there should be some more time for sewing this afternoon...although, who knows if I'll be able to see anything after my exam. The weather has turned kind of overcast. Some rain would be nice. What self-respecting Oregonian asks for rain? That is the question.