Busy Day

Good morning, my friends. I'm writing fast again this morning. In a little while, I'll be heading off to the farmer's market with Erik and Mae. It's the first time I've seen them since we've been back, and I've missed them. (Also...I have presents.) It's going to be a good day. As for the farmer's market, I'm in the mood for some freshly baked baguette. And, if I can find them, I'm looking for big strawberries. Since I have the cut the seedy sides from ours, only the big ones are worth buying. Also, I might try to get some rhubarb. I have a couple of rhubarb recipes I'd like to try. If I see anything else that looks good, I'll buy that too. 

Backing up to yesterday, I finished stitching the second of the Joy in the Ordinary blocks.

When that was finished, it was time to get outside and pick a bucket o' weeds. You might remember seeing Smitty sunbathing near the catnip a few days ago.

When I found him lying in the same spot yesterday morning, I decided to relocate the Gracie Memorial Catnip Garden to this spot. I might have done this in previous years as well.

Our Gracie loved the catnip so much that I had to surround it with rocks to keep her from rolling all over it and killing it. When she crossed the rainbow bridge, I established the Gracie Memorial Catnip Garden in that spot. 

Problem is, I have to replant it every year, while the stuff where Smitty is lying grows all on its own...even when I try to kill it. So I decided yesterday the cat and the catnip know best, and now the Gracie Memorial Catnip Garden is permanently relocated. (Dusts off hands in satisfaction with her decision.)

In other garden news, a third dahlia is showing itself. That was reassuring. I was afraid we'd gotten them out too late. I'm hoping the fourth and final dahlia will sprout soon.

The Garden Treasures peony is opening its first bloom. It wasn't quite fully opened when I took this picture yesterday.

Also, the Fairy Princess peony is blooming. Both of these are covered in buds.

Also, I think this might be the first year we'll get more than a handful of blueberries from our blueberry bushes. We have four, and each one has multiple clusters like this. I'm going to need to dust off my blueberry recipes and figure out what I can do with these when they're ready for harvest.

So that was a good gardening day. Back inside, I went to work baking our Apricot-Cherry Upside-down Mini Cakes. These are a perennial favorite. With a dollop of whipped cream, they make a tasty dessert. It's a Cooking Light recipe, and so they don't even break the calorie bank too badly.

There was still one housekeeping chore to do, but then I was able to make my way into the sewing room. My first task was to sew borders on the "Joy in the Ordinary" block.

Here are the four blocks I have for this quilt so far. There are still two more to stitch in order to catch up.

From there, it was time to put in another hour on the "Vintage" art quilt. Smitty was my helper cat.

I reached a significant milestone on this piece yesterday. When I started, I wasn't sure I could pull it off, but the first (and most difficult) part is finished now. Happily, it's going very well. This is a project I've wanted to do since taking the photograph five years ago, and so I'm stoked at how it's coming together. Here's your peek. Believe me, I really want to show you more than a peek. If it's any consolation, I'm certain it hurts me more than it hurts you.

Sadie hates these peeks. She really wants to see the whole thing. She's no good at keeping secrets, though, and so we don't let her look.

When my hour was up, I made the tuxedo cat wearing pink pajamas to catch up to May's block. Since this is a black cat, he needed green eyes. I had it all sewn together and took this picture before I said...wait...what the...

All along, I'd been thinking there was something wrong. When I realized I had pieces leftover, I took a closer look and realized I'd forgotten to finish off the cat's muzzle. It was an easy fix. There we go. 

And these are the five cats I have for this quilt so far. I'll get busy making June's cat...maybe today...and then these will be caught up.

So knowing I have a busy day ahead, I was up early (as always) and I enjoyed this morning sky.

After the farmer's market today, I'll probably give myself a sewing day. After about four straight days of weeding, my back was feeling it last night. I took some tylenol, and that helped, but I'm still going to give myself a day off from bending over. Besides, I'm excited to get back to my art quilt. Maybe I'm far enough along that I can dispense with the one-hour rule. At a certain point, an art quilt can take over my entire life.

Okay, so I think I can fit in a bit of slow-stitching before I need to get ready to go. I won all my word games this morning, so I know it's going to be a good day. And if the weatherman is correct, it's going to be a hot day too.