No Stitching But Slow Stitching

It was a rare day of no sewing yesterday, and it was probably just as well. After spending hour after hour for the last three days quilting the Solstice quilt, it was good to take a day off. I'll get back to it today because my top priority and #1 on my to-do list is to get the binding sewn on by machine. After that, I'll pack it into the camper, and it'll be ready to journey across state lines for whatever fate awaits it there. Think of it as QT (Quilt Trafficking).

But a day never gets off to a good start without a little slow stitching, and so I started on the first of three blocks for the I Believe in Snowmen quilt.

There was grocery shopping to do, along with the whole long list of tasks to finish for the day, and so I stopped there. It was time to fill the bird feeders and take a tour of the garden. This purple hydrangea has been covered with flower buds, but somehow I couldn't quite believe they would all bloom together. The plant doesn't care what I believe. It just goes on blooming, and there it is. It's really quite magnificent.

It has the darkest purple flowers I've ever seen on a hydrangea.

It's neighbor to the right is the bluest of blues. The blue was planted by the previous owner of our home. It was a much larger plant at one time, but I got the bright idea to cut back some branches of a tree that shaded it, and it never really recovered. Hydrangeas are not full sun lovers, but prefer some shade during the day.

It's doing better this year than previously, however, and it seems to like the shade provided by the dappled willow we planted last year. The dappled willow has been very showy, and it has grown to about twice the size it started just a year ago.

Around the back side of the house, this hydrangea has flowers in three colors blooming on the same plant.

Pink,

lavender,

and blue. And how does it do that?

Its variegated pink neighbor to the right is also covered in flowers.

And I'm thrilled with the echinacea this year. I've had trouble getting these to go, but they seem to have finally taken off this year. The bees love them.

The cherry tomato has some tomatoes very close to ripe now. It shares its barrel with some volunteer pansies and strawberries. One might think the volunteers would affect the growth of the cherry tomato, but it just keeps humming along.

The pansies are prolific, and they've taken up residence in the pot with the marigolds too. They're so pretty, I just let them grow where they will.

I was expecting Matthew for dinner last night. Ever since I made the Banh Mi sandwiches a couple of weeks ago, I've been wanting to make them for him because it seems like something he would like. I warned him they probably wouldn't taste like authentic Banh Mi he's used to, but he liked them anyway. He suggested calling them "Mom Mi" sandwiches.

So, knowing my kiddo was coming for dinner, I figured I should make something for dessert. I'd been listening to a story about peaches on the radio. Apparently peaches are early this year, and the season will be here and gone before we know it. It had me thinking peach cobbler was a good idea, but the peaches were green here locally. Apple Crisp seemed like a good substitute, and so I adapted one of my crisp recipes for the 8-inch iron skillet acquired recently.

It worked out pretty well, but I think I'd turn the oven temperature down a little next time. This was baked in my toaster oven, and the topping burned just a little bit. It was still tasty, and we enjoyed it.

Okay, so, like I said, the binding comes first today. Then, I'm going to lay waste to some of our CSA carrots by making dilled carrots. It'll be my first canning of the season. If there's still time left in the day, I'll get after the housework I was planning to do yesterday. Our camping trip approaches, and it's looking like we'll have our boat back for that. We might have to drive down to get it on Monday, but it'll be worth it to have it with us at the lake. I'll say more about that in tomorrow's post. Also, my ninth blogiversary is tomorrow. I'll be celebrating with a giveaway, so check back tomorrow for all the news of that.