A Drive in the Country

As expected, I was able to finish up the sixth plate for Pieces of the Past yesterday.

There are nine plates altogether. Here are the six I have so far.

And that meant I needed to trace out my next project. This will be the "short" project on my list. This pattern for "An Irish Blessing" is from Yvonne McKee of Belfast, Northern Ireland. I purchased it when I attended the International Quilt Festival in Galway, Ireland, back in 2012. I looked to link to the pattern, but I could find nothing about it. Yvonne McKee owned a quilt shop in Belfast at one time, but the shop has closed.

There was a white tone-on-tone shamrock fabric in my stash from another project, and I traced it onto that. I'll get started on the stitching this morning. I decided to do the appliqued shamrocks after I finish the embroidery.

It was time to head out to pick up one of our wine shipments. The second shipment is at a winery closer to Salem, and they were closed yesterday. We'll have to take another drive next week for that one. No problem though. It was such a beautiful day yesterday...a nice day for a drive in the country. Mt. Hood accompanied us as we went.

Poppies are blooming everywhere. This next image shows a field at the bottom of our hill.

This next image was taken as we turned into the driveway at the winery.

We picked up our wine, and then went out for lunch. I had a strong yen for a Reuben. I usually deprive myself of that particular sandwich since the dressing is pretty high in calories. Yesterday...no dice. I had me my Reuben with no apologies. It was delicious with a side of sweet potato fries.

When we got back home again, I was able to finish up the applique on the latest block for New Mexico Kitchen. There were some errors in this pattern. Some of the applique templates were missing altogether. Some were not reversed. It's fine though. I got 'er done.

It was time to stop then, but I had just 20 minutes left on my audio book, and so I listened to the end while I started the top-stitching. When the book ended, so did my stitching, and I left it right here for today's effort.

This will take a while since there is a lot of detail to be stitched in. I believe I can do most of it by machine, but there will be a little hand-stitching too.

Just before dinner, I got outside and took a little walk around. Mike has been hard at work spreading bark dust all around the yard. It's the first time in many years he's done this, and everything is looking really nice. He also planted the last two chive plants (from Erik and Mae) in the culinary herb garden. Maybe next year I'll have enough chives for chive blossom vinegar.

The azaleas are amazing right now. Mike added those stepping stones so I can get to the hummingbird feeder without stepping in the mud during our rainy season...which is long.

Here's another of the azaleas.

I'm happy to see the cyclamen has bloomed without further interference from piggy squirrels. Sorry for the blur in this image. Sometimes I have trouble getting my camera to focus up close.

Case in point...it took me eight tries to get these first flowers on the blueberries in focus. I'm told the blueberries won't do much for around 3-4 years. Nevertheless, I'm happy to see the flowers.

Last year, I noticed this large wild shrub growing along our property line. I don't know what it is, and it's been there all along. I don't know why it took me so long to notice it, but it's blooming right now. Maybe one of you knows what it is.

Close-up, its flowers look like this. Pretty, huh?

The new clematis from last year seems to be loosening its hold on its buds. I'm hoping this one will open within the next few days, and we can get a look at it.

In the greenhouse, the first flowers are forming on the zucchini. These are going to get planted in the garden within the next week. Looks like they could use some fertilizer.

And that brings me to the biggest job for today...repotting the tomatoes into their largest pots of the season. Mike has a haircut appointment this morning, but he's left me plenty of potting soil so I can get the job done while he's away this morning. I can't be hefting 40 lb. bags of potting soil around just yet.

First, though, I'll get started on the Irish blessing stitchery. The day is just getting started. There is lots on today's agenda. Time to get going.