Sunny and Dry

Good morning, my friends. The warmer, drier weather we've been promised has finally arrived. We have a pretty view of the mountains this morning.

We were able to get out and pull some weeds yesterday, although the day started out pretty chilly. We waited until after lunch to get outside, and then we each picked a bucket full of weeds. It was a pretty good head start. The kitties helped, of course, but they were off busy with other things. There was no rain overnight, and we're not expecting rain before Sunday. Mike has identified some areas he wants to spray today, and I'll get to work on the blueberry and peony beds. If we can get all that done, we can feel pretty good about the weed situation while we're traveling. At least, I hope so. 

While we waited for the day to warm up some, I finished stitching Day 22 of the Tiny Hearts. The day's stitching finished off the one we'd started the day before. This one includes satin stitch, French knots, and fly stitch.

When that was finished, I took the first stitches on Block 7 for the Kittens quilt. I doubt I can finish this before we leave. The kittens are coming with us this trip, and so I'll keep working away at them. 

It was only mid-morning by then, and so I baked off the Jumbo Breakfast Cookies that will be traveling with us. These are made using peanut butter, rolled oats, raisins, and multi-grain Cheerios. They'll be an alternative to Clif bars, but we'll also be taking Clif bars. We like something like this when we don't want to stop for lunch. We each had one with our afternoon cup of espresso, warm from the oven. I saved two for this morning's breakfast snack. The rest were individually wrapped and frozen to take along.

So we had lunch, and we did our weeding, and then we both took naps. Weeding has become a torturous undertaking with our old knees and backs and so much getting up and down. We needed the refurbishment a nap provides.

There was nothing else on the agenda after that, although I'll admit I forgot one housekeeping chore. I wanted to get this last small quilt finished up. I kept it pretty simple with some straight line quilting.

One of the fancy stitches on my sewing machine reminded me of honeycomb, and so I used that.

Here's how it looks from the back.

Binding strips were already cut, and so I sewed those on.

The rest of the afternoon was spent hand-stitching the binding, and TA-DA!!

And lookie there! All my small quilts are quilted and finished!

It's been a long time since any section of my white board has been empty. The Tiny Hearts will take their place here soon enough, but for now...clean slate, my friends. It makes me feel energetic just looking at that wide open space.

Okay, so our trip starts one week from today. We're going to have to get serious about our preparations. I was going to wash clothes yesterday, but then found the hamper only about 2/3 full. I'll put that off for a day or two, and then I won't have to do it again before we leave. Also, we're doing our grocery shopping today. Between the foods from the freezer, foods I cook ahead, and food I have planned, we shouldn't have to go grocery shopping again until we reach Escondido, California, on March 7th. There is one exception to that, however. We can't take certain fresh produce across the state line into California. I'll make a separate list for those things, and we'll make a quick trip once we get into the land down under. 

For whatever reason, the sign reminded me of a cartoon an old sociology professor loved. He taught a class called "Sociology of Deviancy." And how could I resist taking a class with that name? Anyway...he liked to tell about a cartoon he'd seen once of the "Welcome to California" sign. The subtitle was "Resume Deviant Behavior." I'm for that. Who's with me? And when you consider that I was born in California, it makes a whole lotta sense, doesn't it?

Okay, so this seems as good a time as any to say my blogging might be a little more sporadic over the next week. I may not post every day. We're going to be very busy with trip preparations, and I'm not sure how much blog fodder I can generate with all that going on. You understand, don't you? So let's just agree that if I have anything of interest to tell you, I'll write ("of interest" being a relative term). And, if not, you'll hear from me no later than next Thursday. Surely I'll have thought of something to say by then. 

If you're coming with us, you might want to start packing too. We're expecting weather of all kinds. And don't forget your eclipse glasses, for goodness sake. Also, you might want to check your stash. After Paducah, we're going to Missouri Star Quilt Company. And oh, the other sights we will behold! We're going to have a good trip. I hope you'll come along.