Hoedown

Good morning, my friends. There isn't a whole lot to say about yesterday's comings and goings. As I mentioned, there was a lot on my to-do list after a slothful weekend. Gardening chores took priority. I checked on the lunaria (doing fine), watered the annuals and the greenhouse growers, and then I spent the rest of the morning hoeing little weeds in the vegetable garden. It's a tricky business until the  sprouts grow large enough to be certain of their identity. It was encouraging to see most everything is coming up. I'm still keeping an eye on the carrots. I'm not really sure what I'm looking for.

Before anything else could happen though, I started on the 8th Domestic Affairs block. It seems as if I got a lot done, but there is still plenty left to finish.

Before it's finished, I'll do a running stitch around all the applique, and that will take some time.

It was surprisingly late in the day when I finished with everything outside. I was congratulating myself on getting everything done before lunch time, but then I came into the house and found it was already 1:00 p.m. I still had some housekeeping chores to do, and so it was late in the day before I was able to get any sewing done. Once there, I started my challenge piece. This is for the "collage" prompt. Here's your peek:

Any guesses? In fairness, it isn't even beginning to look like what it will in time. I'll give you a hint that this piece will be worked from the four corners to the center. I've only just started in the southwest corner of what will become the finished quilt.

So, I'll get back to it today. I'm continuing with the one-hour rule for now. When my hour is up, I can get to work on the 19th Tiny House...this one:

It seems mercifully free of eensy weensy pieces this time. It's sections are lettered "C" through "M." 

There was no kitty help in the sewing room yesterday. They'd already worn themselves out working in the garden. When I came upstairs, I found Sadie flaked out in the sun that was filtered by the screen door outside. Black cats cannot tolerate direct sunlight for very long.

Later, I caught them both sleeping under the table. Smitty tried to jump down before I could take his lazy picture. He's worried his fans will think all he does is sleep on the chair when, in fact, his life is so much more complicated and busy.

We had an easy dinner last night. When the weather warms, I like to make main dish salads, and this one is a favorite. This is an Asian Chicken Salad. It's made with lots of crunchy vegetables, slivered almonds, and a sprinkling of crunchy chow mein noodles. The dressing is especially nice.

 Ordinarily, I use one of those whole roasted chickens from the grocery store. For this one, I had an extra chicken breast in my freezer. I just seasoned it with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and then roasted it in my toaster oven at 350°F. It was roasted early in the day, and then refrigerated. When I made the salad, it was cold, and easy to shred. The image above is my plate. I sprinkled the sesame seeds on last to avoid contaminating Mike's share of the salad. As you might already know, we just say "no" to seeds for Mike.

And then, Mike had designs on what we should have for dessert. He brought home some cookies from the road rally. He had in mind to add ice cream. The caramel and hot fudge topping was my idea. Mine was made with the Browniest Cookies.

His was made with the Chocolate-chunk oatmeal cookies.

And that was a pretty tasty concoction. Oh yes, and I never gave you the final word on the Browniest Cookies. The consensus was that this recipe is a keeper. If you find yourself undecided about whether to bake brownies or cookies, then you can rest your weary decider brain, and give these a try. You'll get the best of both in one delicious bite.

Okay, so today is a grocery shopping day, although our list is short. There is just one short housekeeping chore to do, and then I can get back to my sewing. The sky has clouded up and our weather has cooled considerably from last week. We're hoping it will warm up some later in the week. Tomorrow will be our 48th wedding anniversary. We have reservations at a restaurant where they have a nice outside dining area. If the evening is warm enough, dining outside would be very nice.