4/17/20

Sunday Drive on a Thursday

There was no machine sewing yesterday. It was the first day I'd missed in about a month. The weather was too lovely to spend down in my basement sewing room. We had some things to do...grocery shopping, for one, which went off without a hitch. We were in and out pretty quickly. We visited the garden section of our local megamart while there, and found it well stocked with annuals and tomato cages. I needed the tomato cages for the peonies since I'm not a staking kind of gal. Now I'm kind of excited to get out and plant the annuals. It wasn't a sure thing I'd find any this year.


While I was out, I set the tomato cages over the peonies. I'm glad I didn't wait any longer because the largest ones were big enough it made this a little bit difficult to do without breaking anything. Looks like the one on the right needs a little straightening.


There are a couple of more tulips growing in the whiskey barrel with the mint. If memory serves, these will be yellow ones.


And happy, happy, joy, joy! There's a bud on the red Irish poppy. (The poppy isn't Irish, but it came from Ireland.) I've been looking at this every day and I hadn't seen anything until yesterday. Possibly the wind blew the leaves away from it and uncovered it. Now I'm wondering if there will be more. I kind of remember having about eight flowers last year.


If all goes well, it will open to look like this one from last year.


Also, we have plenty of these guys growing. It wouldn't be spring without them, would it?


Back inside, I finished hand sewing the binding on the Pansy Mosaic. That makes this a finish. It ends up at 34 x 47 inches.


This was my April OMG, and so I'll link up at the month-end party.


Of course, it was subjected to Smitty's critical eye.


He was looking so sober and serious, I decided to tell him a joke:

Riddle: How did the millionaire gardener get rich so quick?

Answer: He was running a huge pansy scheme.

Oh my gosh...that gave him a good LOL.


Here's how the quilt looks from the back.


Okay, so we had some lunch and then went out for a drive. Mike is feeling pretty much back to normal, and we felt like mole people getting out into the bright sunshine. Everything is so green and lush right now.


With so few people out, the air is clear too. In the image below, you can see the tippy top of Mt. Hood over the tree tops.


We passed by lots of barns, but I didn't take a lot of pictures.



Back home, a miracle happened. Smitty actually allowed Sadie to share Mike's lap with him. He gave her the stink-eye when she jumped up, but then was apparently too lazy to fight it.


Of course, they practiced appropriate social distancing. Kitties must stay a tail's length apart.


It was also a good vantage point to watch this little sh*t of a squirrel eating all the new growth off our Dwarf Japanese Maple tree. Yeah...I ran outside and chased him off.


So it's another lovely day. I'm for sure going to get out and plant the annuals. The culinary herb garden still needs weeding and cleaning up, but I expect that will get put off another day. This afternoon, I'll probably get back to my sewing room and finish off the Half Square Affair. There are probably two more quilts before I've done away with all the HST's, and so I'll just keep going until they're finished.

12 comments:

Julierose said...

Pansy finished up so beautifully--nice work. Tired day today--every once in a while we both get so draggy (and thom being sick it's expected) ...so perhaps a resting afternoon..nice to see sunshine even though it is still pretty chilly...
Take care and stay safe ~ ~ ~ waving Julierose

Cathy said...

I enjoyed your newsy post. It’s definitely time to check out our yard to see what’s blooming, but I do know there are some tulips, daffodils and some of those little yellow felines (dandy lions). Your Pansy (scheme) Mosaic turned out great. The borders set it off perfectly. And that Smitty is such a card!

kc said...

Yup, your pansy mosaic has turned out to be my favorite one ever. Ansmd Smitty's reaction to your joke was as funny as the joke itself (I laughed out loud, then realized I might want to pipe down... It's 4:30 am, and currently stereo snoring...)

I guess the tailspread separation has to be measured by Smitty's long one, eh? If you used Sadie's, they'd be butt to butt, nose to nose, or some other combination!

Woohoo on your Poppy's budding. We had a light pink one on our VA farm, and I babies that thing all winter, looking forward to its summertime display. They always look so fragile, but the flowers stood up to rain and heat better than a lot of others.

P. S.. Mike is looking real good

piecefulwendy said...

Things are definitely looking up if you can get plants and be out in the yard. We're supposed to be in the 60s later this afternoon, so might have to get out a bit today too. Pansy is a good finish; so pretty. You are really cracking along with sewing projects, so that's fun to see! And two kitties on Mike's lap - good to see they are following those social distancing rules!

Linda said...

I just love Pansy Mosaic, and it turned out bigger than I realized. Looks like the kitties will provide Mike any last bit he needs to get well.

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

The pansy quilt is pretty. A nice drive in the country is always a good thing. We did it last Friday.

QuiltGranma said...

I cackled at your joke, good one! Enjoying the sunshine here, listening to the little birds feasting on some freshly scattered birdseed, and appreciating blue skies here. Yesterday we HAD to turn on the A/C! Eastern Oregon is heating up! Love the pictures of kitties getting along on Mike's lap! There is room to share for both of them.

quiltzyx said...

The right side of your Peony bed must be for a Pisa Peony, ya think?

Yay for the buds! Looking forward to seeing them exploding out in colors.

I chortled at the joke you told Smitty - nobody even commented at work at my noisiness! The Pansy looks ABFAB finished!

I like the looks on Mike's face with both cats on his lap - they will definitely help him stay well, won't they?!




Karen's Korner said...

Pansy Mosaic is gorgeous. It is nice to be able to get outside and enjoy the sunshine and garden. Glad to see the kittys keeping a safe distance.

Frédérique - Quilting Patchwork Appliqué said...

Wow, Pansy Mosaic quilt is a beauty! Beautiful garden, and cat too ;)

Patty said...

Gorgeous! Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and congrats on your finish.

Janis said...

Great finish on your pansy quilt, it’s lovely.