Jiggety-Jig

Certain things in life return me to my earliest memories of my mother reciting little verses and rhymes to me. Always when we return home, I can't help hearing these words in my mother's voice.

To market, to market to buy a fat pig;

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig.

We didn't go to the market, but we are home again.

On the way into town, I spied a new-to-me quilt block on the Quilt Barn Trail of Washington County. I've noticed this one before, but never been ready to take a picture of it.

The Quilt Barn Trail of Washington County is the culmination of years of effort by some industrious women in my former guild. When they originally approached folks about starting a quilt barn trail, they learned of some sort of fee that had to be paid to erect signs in the county (and I'm probably getting this all wrong because the actual story escapes me now). They had to work with the county commissioners to make an exception for these "art works." After several years of effort, they were able to get the rule changed, and the quilt barn trail was born.

If you click on that link I've given you above the image, you can see all of the blocks on the trail. Their last post indicates there are now 50 blocks. The one in the image above was #22 on the trail, so it's been there for several years. And good for the members of my former guild for being persistent and getting this worthwhile project off the ground.

When we arrived home, we grabbed a week's worth of mail out of the mailbox. We were only gone for three days, but we hadn't checked the mail for longer. While we were driving to the coast on Tuesday, I happened to see an idea about a way to store canning rings using bungee cords. Mine were in a too-small bin, and they were constantly falling on the floor. It was a mess. Well, the bungee cord idea got me all excited, and so I sat in the car and ordered two 36-inch cords from Amazon. (Have I said lately how much I ♥ Amazon Prime?) When we picked up the mail, the cords were already there. So what could I do but put those cords to work right away. Check this out.

Wide mouth rings on the left. Regular mouth on the right. Nifty, huh? And that emptied my little bin so that I could put old and new lids inside. I don't reuse my lids, but if I'm trying a new recipe, I re-use one old lid on one of the jars because I know I'm going to pop one open right away for a taste. No sense using a new lid, right?

So my next job was to get outside and water the annuals. I've shown you pictures of the squirrels perched on the whiskey barrel where the poppies are planted.

A few of you thought he was playing a teeny-tiny harmonica, but no. Now I have the proof. He's been stealing sunflower seeds from the birdfeeders, cracking them open, eating them, and then spitting his shells out right here. Littering little buggers, aren't they?

Before we left, I noticed the plums were turning purple, and so my next task was to run over to the plum tree to see if they were ripe. Not quite, but they are just days away. I tried one just before we left, and it was still unpalatably tart. When I tried one yesterday, it was still too tart, but it was edible.

Then I checked the echinacea. The buds on the third plant have opened now, and they are pink, as I suspected. I was hoping the orange/yellow one had survived the winter, but apparently not. I'll have to plant more next year and hope they make it this time.

The larger plant is doing great, and it's always a haven for bumblebees.

Today I have unpacking to do. It shouldn't take long because I've been going out to the trailer for one item at a time. By now, I think I have the job half done. As I was heading back inside yesterday from one of my trailer trips, I noticed the afternoon sun shining through the seed pods that have accumulated on one of the Japanese maple trees.

They were bright red and so pretty.

Today I have to unpack the trailer, yes, but it shouldn't take more than about half an hour. Before that, I'll do some more work on the Pumpkin Pie stitchery. And then I'm going to use the tomatoes I've harvested from our own plants to make some salsa. I have 60 pounds of tomatoes coming from our farmers next week, but the salsa cannot wait. We are Jonesing for salsa here. Yesterday I went through my canning books looking for a small-batch salsa, and found a recipe I could make without going to the grocery store. On it!! If there's still time in the day, I want to get back in the sewing room. I've been too long away from sewing, and it's time to get back to it.