Everything Nice

Sugar and spice and everything nice. It's been going through my head with all the canning and cooking...and the stitching. Yesterday I made my way across the top of the Pumpkin Pie embroidery block.

The tendril on the pumpkin is done in a tiny chain stitch, and this is quickly becoming my most dreaded thing to see on the stitching legend. It isn't a difficult stitch, but it is tedious and it takes virtually forEVER to make any progress. It took me two sittings to finish up that tendril.

The Sundress quilt has a lot of tiny chain stitching as well, and one wonders why Meg Hawkey seems so intent on using it. Of course, I could always switch to a stem stitch, which is quicker to do, and gives essentially the same effect. On the other hand, it would be a little like cheating, and so I keep following the instructions. I'm not a person who colors outside the lines much. (You can blame my many years studying classical piano. One does not take liberties with Bach or Chopin.)

So I've moved my hoop to the lower left, and the top half is mostly done. I expect to finish this up while we're at the beach...especially now that the tiny chain stitch is finished.

After that, I got to work making the Carrot Cake Jam. It's so good. Of all the jams and jellies I've made so far, this one is my favorite. It's so good spread on a toasted slice of homemade sourdough slathered in butta. Yeah...now I really feel in the mood for some bread. Yesterday's yield was nine half-pints, which should be plenty to get us through the year.

This is the recipe I'm using:

The original recipe was tweaked just a little. When I made this the first time, the recipe called for 1-3/4 cups of canned crushed pineapple. When I measured out 1-3/4 cups, there was just a little bit left in the can, and so I just dumped that into the mix too. Also, I added 1 tablespoon of bottled lemon juice for a total of 1/4 cup. While I was waiting for that to cook and process, I had enough time to put together the Lemon Cheesecake Mousse(s). We'll take those with us for dessert while we're away. They're so nice a light...not light on calories, mind you, but they are small.

From there I made a quick trip to the grocery store and then back home again. The tomatoes have been harvested. There are probably about three pounds there, but they haven't been weighed. Some are a little on the green side, but I didn't want them falling on the ground while we are gone. There are still plenty more coming.

Since I expect to finish up my embroidery piece, I traced out the next quilt shop names for the Shop Hop quilt, and I'll get a start on this before we get back.

While I was putting away my light box, I happened to glance at the clock it was already past 5:00 p.m. It was a busy day, and the time flew by.

This morning I need to water the annuals, and then we'll get our clothes packed up and take off fairly early. We can check into the RV park at noon, and so we'll try to get there about then. All the food fit so nicely in the new RV. I'm afraid clothes might be a little trickier. There is plenty of closet space, but less drawer space in the bathroom and the bedroom. Every RV has its little challenges, and it takes a little practice and experimentation to find the best way to contain things.

We're taking the laptop. It has a permanent home in the new RV, and so I'll always have it along when we travel. The question is always whether we'll have wi-fi or cell phone coverage, and so I don't know yet whether I'll blog while we're gone. It's as much a mystery to me as it is to you. Either way, I'll be back here on Saturday to tell you what happened. The air has turned smoky again. We're hoping for better air quality on the coast.