Purple Has Its Day

We're in the middle of a couple of weeks of rain. It looks as if summer will come in looking an awful lot like spring. It didn't stop the new clematis from unfurling its petals, however. I'm hoping the temperatures will warm a little and it will decide to open up all the way.

In the herb garden, I finally had enough sage blossoms to give the sage blossom vinegar a try. I'd picked as many as I could find a few days ago, and they were chilling in the fridge. Yesterday, I picked around twice as many as previously. I still didn't have as many as the recipe suggested, but I thought I had enough. Possibly this wasn't necessary, but I separated the blossoms from their greenery. Sometimes the greenery can turn things bitter.

Then I put them in a quart jar, and poured white vinegar over them. You can also use white wine vinegar. I've always had good luck with the regular stuff. So this will sit for two weeks before it's ready.

When I looked at it this morning, it was already turning a pretty shade of purple.

Also, the lavender is popping open. It smells so good! It's my favorite fragrance. If you click on this link, you'll see all the ways lavender is beneficial. And I don't know about all of that, but I would love it even if none of it were true.

We live by the rhythm of the seasons here at the Three Cats Ranch. We didn't plan it that way, but it has worked out that way nonetheless. When lavender makes its appearance, Bees Knees are sure to follow. Matthew enjoyed his first Bees Knees last night...we all did. There are probably lots of ways to make a Bees Knees, but this is how I do it.

Also, it seemed like a good day to make some Caramel Bread Puddings for Two...only this time, I made it for three.

Smitty was blissed out after rustling up his fourth squirrel of the week. It's been good hunting this year. Last year, the kitties were confined to the indoors all summer long, and so the squirrel population exploded. He's taking them down one by one. We've also caught three in a trap. There have been times in the past when we've made the place inhospitable enough that they packed up their little squirrel belongings and moved their families to the far end of the property. I'm hoping they'll do that again.

It was a busy day in the kitchen, but there was still some sewing toward the end of the day. Along with black, which was already threaded onto the machine, these are the colors of thread I'm using on my challenge piece. The yellow is in the bobbin.

Since the top-stitching for the applique and the quilting are one-in-the-same, I want to make sure I get my tension adjusted right. I don't want the yellow thread pulling through to the top when I'm stitching with black, and vice versa. So I made a little spot for testing this by fusing one of the applique scraps at the edge of the quilt. That area has all the layers of the quilt for testing: quilt back, batting, quilt top, and applique.

Now I've top-stitched two of the sections, and there is one left. I'm also going to free motion quilt some text before I'm finished. As I've mentioned previously, I can't reveal this quilt until August 1st, so these peeks will have to do in the meantime.

Today I'll get back to work on this quilt, and it's just possible I'll have it ready for binding by the end of the day. Also, it's a make-dinner-ahead kind of day. I have the makings for a potato salad already prepped. They just need mixing up. I'm trying a new recipe for some stuffed red bell peppers. Of course, I'll report back tomorrow on how it goes.