Slow Start

Good morning, my friends. Before I forget...

Oh yes, and in addition to that it's

Be careful out there, my friends. This isn't a day to let your guard down. It's okay to pet kitties, though. Kitties do not like zucchini, and so you're probably safe sticking with them.

It was a slow start off the block yesterday. There was time for some slow-stitching, and I filled my hoop.

There's only just a little bit left in the area where I moved my hoop. I'll probably finish up the right side of this piece this morning.

So it was nearly noon before I got to my carrot canning. Fortunately, these go pretty fast. By 1:00 p.m., I had myself another seven 12-oz. jars. 

Mae told me Erik was already starting on the second jar of the two I gave them. I gotta keep my kid in carrots, don't I?

So despite my slow start, there was still plenty of time to work on my Circles and Squares challenge piece. Smitty was my helper cat yesterday. We had to swirl the quilt behind him. No peeking.

But here's a little peek. I had it to quilting stage at this point.

It was hard to decide what color of thread to use, but I settled on this variegated thread on top. It had all the same colors as in the quilt.

The quilting is complete. Now it just needs a binding sewn on, and it will be finished.

Here's how it looks from the back:

Any guesses?

Well, that took us to the end of our sewing day. Mike was busy outside getting the automatic sprinklers set up for some of the potted plants that will need watering while we're traveling. Smitty joined us for that.

Sadie enjoyed the evening from the safety of her catio. Kitties who refuse to come in, don't get to go out in the evenings.

I noticed the replaced dahlia is forming a bud. This makes me very happy. 

Another red sunflower has bloomed. This one is from a package labeled "Infrared Mix." I'm not sure if the "mix" part of that means it's the name of the flower, or whether it means there's a mix of colors in the package. I planted two of these. We'll see what color the other one turns out to be.

The Procut White Lite sunflower has opened all the way now. It's hard to find a sunflower that doesn't have at least one bee on it.

Last night's zucchini battle did away with two more zucchini. This is Summer Squash and Shrimp Fricasee.

Ours was served over rice, although the recipe didn't say to do that. It seemed like it needed something to soak up its creamy sauce. I've linked to the recipe back there, but I'll warn you there's a lot of prep for this. It cooks up quick once you've done all the chopping. If you want to give it a try, start well before you want to eat.

There's not much on today's to-do list. It seems like a good day to head off to Joann (shudder) for the embroidery floss needed for my take-along project. Also, I'm not entirely happy with the fabrics I've selected for the new baby quilt. The fabrics are fine, but I'm afraid it's not going to look very much like a quilt for a baby. I'm going in search of something else. Possibly I'll find something at Joann, but if not, there's a great quilt shop in town. I might head there either way. 

Also, I need to water the flower pots and check in on the harvest. I believe I'll start harvesting the baby zucchinis now, and there should be plenty. I'm also keeping up with the beans and cucumbers. The tomatoes are coming on fast now. I'm planning to purchase the makings for salsa late on this week. It's always busy in August with vegetables and just keeping up with the landscape. It's good preparation for the relaxation of our September trip. I'm starting to get excited. How about you? Will you be traveling with us? Just FYI, here's our route. (Maybe I shared this once before. I can't remember.)

Okay, time to get a start on my day. Stay cool everybody, and watch out for tornadoes.