Gotcha Day Giveaway

Good morning, my friends, and a Happy Gotcha Day to this little person! 

She was the sixth cat to join the Three Cats Ranch seven years ago. She was about a year old when we brought her home, and so we estimate she's about eight years old now...practically still a kitten! She's so excited you came to her party that she's sponsoring a giveaway at the end of this post. 

But let's just hold on there a second because there's plenty of news to report from yesterday. Mike and I were out bright and early to do our gardening...before it got too hot. A few days ago, Mike made a dry run at destroying the rotted whiskey barrel at the front door, and moving everything there to a new pot. There isn't much to see in this image because the pot contains all bulb flowers at this point.

When we head down to our local mega mart later this week, I'm going to pick up a potted perennial and some flower seeds to dress it up a little. I'd dearly love to get some California Poppies and some Black-eyed Susans going here. 

Okay, so (queue the scary music) we tried our best to move the poppy near the greenhouse to a similar pot yesterday. Here's how it looked when we were finished. It wanted to flop over, and so we put stakes around it and tied it upright. It was looking pretty sad by the time we finished, but not nearly as sad as it looks right now. I'm afraid the thing just up and died, probably with the first shovelful of dirt.

Here's all that's left of its rotted out whiskey barrel. The plant looks just about as bad.

As if that weren't bad enough, I noticed one of the dahlias was wilted and dying. It's the second one from the top in the image below.

Here's a closer view. No idea what its problem is. It has received exactly the same treatment as the others, and they all look good. (Hopefully, this isn't the start of a full-scale die-off.) 

They were planted just seven weeks ago today. I've sent an email with pictures to the local grower, and I've read over their guarantee. I think I'll still be able to get a free replacement for this. They have an online "contact us" form on their website. There was no confirmation that they'd received my email, and so I might try it again this morning, just to be sure.

The kitties were outside helping us while we worked. They were sticking to the shade. Kitties with dark furs are not fond of bright sunshine on a warm day.

Setting my garden disappointments aside, I headed into the sewing room later in the afternoon. The day's efforts went toward sewing together the next two Shop Hop blocks. This one is from Pressing Matters Quilt Shoppe in Holland, Michigan. You can read about my visit there at the link I've given you.

We were staying at a state park in Grand Haven, Michigan, and we made a day trip to Holland. The image below from our visit pretty well sums up why I selected this fabric.

When the first block was finished, Sadie joined me in the sewing room.

She took one look at the paper-piecing I was doing and decided she could best help by looking adorable.

And then I went to work on the next block to represent Park Bench Quilt Shop in Midland, Michigan.

I visited this shop with my dear blogging friend, Gail. We'd spent the day together, including a visit to a public garden. I selected this fabric as a reminder of our time together.

Meeting up with Gail was a many-years-long quest, and we had a wonderful day. You can read all about it right here. And here are the four blocks I have for this quilt so far. Michigan will feature prominently in this quilt.

For dinner last night, I made something I used to make often when I was still working. This is Japanese Soy-braised Chicken and Sweet Potatoes. When I was working, I liked it because it pretty much makes itself. The chicken is first browned, and I used that time to prepare the vegetables and the sauce. Once everything was in the pan, it just needed time and an occasional turning of something. I could sit and relax.

Just now I spent some time trying to locate the recipe online. Apparently, one needs to own the book in which it appears now. It was originally published in Sunset magazine, but that was some years ago. Since I can't link to it, I'll give it to you here.

Japanese Soy-braised Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

Recipe from Sunset magazine

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

6 skinned chicken thighs, rinsed and patted dry

2 cups fat-skimmed chicken broth

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup mirin (see note) or dry vermouth

1 tablespoon sugar

1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut crosswise into 1-inch thick rounds

6 baby bok choy, rinsed and cut in half lengthwise

Directions:

Set a 12-inch nonstick frying pan (with 2-inch-tall sides) or a 5- to 6-quart nonstick pan over high heat.  When pan is hot, drizzle oil over bottom.  Add chicken thighs and cook, turning once, until browned on both sides, about 10 minutes total.

Add broth, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar; bring to a boil.  Add sweet potatoes; cover, reduce heat, and simmer, turning chicken and potatoes after about 10 minutes, until chicken and sweet potatoes are tender when pierced, 20 to 25 minutes total.

Lay bok choy halves over chicken and sweet potatoes; cover and simmer until bok choy is barely tender when pierced, 7 to 8 minutes.

Arrange chicken, sweet potatoes, and bok choy in wide bowls. Spoon broth over servings.

My notes: Mirin--sweet sake--can be found in the international section of many supermarkets and in Asian grocery stores.  I substituted dry vermouth with good results; however, the original recipe suggests cream sherry as a substitution.

* * * * *

Okay, so now that you've been fed, let's turn our attention to the promised giveaway. Sadie selected this 6-fat quarter bundle for its name. This is "Tiny Beasts" by Tula Pink for Free Spirit Fabrics.

Here's what you need to do to win it.

1. Just leave a comment...any comment will do. If you can't think of anything, then tell me about any vacation plans you might have for this summer. Please leave your comment here on the blog. If you are an email follower, simply click on the title of this post to be taken to the actual web page. You can leave your comment there.

2. You do not need to be a follower to win, but if you want to become a follower, you can find lots of ways to do it there in my left side bar. Also, I will ship internationally, so all residents of Planet Earth are welcome to join in. 

3. If you're no reply, be sure to leave an email address. You can't win if I can't contact you. Even though I say this every time, I'm going to estimate that about half of the comments come from no-reply folks. Please take a minute to update your settings. If you aren't sure, then please leave your email. To avoid getting spammed to death, leave it in this format: your name at your service provider dot com.

So good luck, and a big thank you for helping Sadie celebrate her special day! I'll leave this giveaway open through Saturday, June 17th and announce the winner sometime on Sunday, June 18th. That's Father's Day, y'all.

Good luck everybody!

Okay, so a new day begins. I'll institute the one-hour rule and get started on Tiny House #22...this one.

When my hour is up, I'll get to work on the next barn block for the Barn Block Sampler quilt. This is the block I'll make next.

There are weeds to hoe and peonies to deadhead, and so I have a busy day ahead. I'll leave you to get on with whatever is on tap in your world today.