This and That

My day was filled with a bunch of different activities yesterday. I first finished off the Appalachian Memories block. This is the "Spinning Star" block.

It's the 9th of 12 blocks. Here are all the blocks I have for this quilt so far.

When that was finished, Smitty and I got out for a walk. We chattered at a few birds and squirrels and ate some grass. He was also nibbling at some dandelion greens. They're very nutritious, and you should always eat your greens.

While we were out, we checked on the peonies. They're all doing well. This is the largest so far.

Also, we noticed the cherry trees are budded out, but not flowering yet. I'm hoping the warm and dry weather forecast for the coming week will have them bursting into bloom.

Back inside, I started working at sewing together the bonus triangles. I'm arranging them by size. The 2-3/4 inch sandwich bag was bursting at the seams, and so I moved those into a plastic shoebox. The rest still have plenty of room. They range in size from 1-1/2 inches to 3-1/4 inches.

Sadie was willing to help with the organization, but I discouraged her from this by opening the clubhouse. I have an idea that's what she wanted anyway since she knows her organizational skills are not propurrly appurreciated.

The job of trimming HST's to size always gives me tendonitis in my left wrist. Yesterday, I sewed these 20 at a time, and then trimmed what I'd done before sewing more. All-in-all, I think I did at least 100. Still, there is no dent in the bag.

I sewed a few more after I took that picture, but the bag doesn't change at all. I have an idea all the bonus triangles in the universe are flying into the sewing room and stuffing themselves into the bag when I'm not looking. What do you think? It only makes sense when you realize that COVID-19 can bring the entire planet to a standstill without ever showing itself. So, it follows that bonus triangles could be stalking the earth in the same invisible way...invisible except when they're inside a zip-lock bag...which is like their kryptonite...and then they can no longer maintain their cloaking capabilities. Not that my imagination is running away with me or anything. I just think we can never be too careful about such things. Bonus triangles, in particular, have always seemed a little sinister to me. But, I digress.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, I had bread rising. When it came out of the oven, it looked like this.

This is American Sandwich Bread, or plain old white bread, if you prefer. It's so soft inside...like store-bought bread. It's made with whole milk, rapid-rise yeast, honey, and white bread flour. You can make it a whole-wheat loaf by using whole wheat flour. It's a very easy bread to make, although I'm told yeast is hard to come by these days. I'm nearly out of instant yeast, so I'll be on the hunt for more the next time I'm out.

Today I'm roasting a turkey. Originally, we were going to smoke the turkey for a family get-together, but that isn't happening now. Still, the turkey is thawed, and so I'll roast it in the oven. I'm not doing the whole Thanksgiving thing...just a 7-layer salad, mashed potatoes, and roasted asparagus. It was supposed to be a dinner to celebrate Matthew's birthday, and so he requested the 7-layer salad.

Also today, I'll start the hand embroidery for the Dancing Chickens and Flying Pigs block, and get back to my bonus triangles if my wrist will allow. I'm determined to get them sewn together, even if they don't end up in a quilt top just yet. What's on your agenda for today?