'Til Next Year

Good morning, my friends. The spring birthday season is over. There will be no more birthdays in our family until Erik's October birthday. There will be a lot of miles traveled between now and then, both literally and figuratively. For now, I'll just say we've survived another trip around the sun. Hopefully, I'll still be able to say that again next year.

It was a busy kitchen day yesterday. I started by steeling myself with slow-stitching. I finished up the "Buttons" block...

and then I started on the third and last embroidered block for this project. This one is "My soul is fed by needle & thread." I think I've made three quilts with this phrase over the past year. It must be true.

When my stitching time was up, I headed outside to fill the bird feeders. I found Sadie skulking in the grass for small furry mammals.

The blueberries are flowering now. 

But the rhododendrons are really the stars of the garden. I decided to back up and show you the whole bush for these next images. These next two are at opposite ends of the herb garden.

This one is at the front of the house. There are still two more rhodies, but their flowers are still in tight buds.

The chives are opening bit by bit. I have a few, but I'll need a lot more for vinegar. I'm hoping I'll have enough by this weekend, or I'll run out of time to make it before we need to leave on our trip.

The dogwood is  pretty this year. We sometimes get smaller flowers that don't seem to open all the way. It's having a good year this year. I'd say our winter was relatively mild, and that probably helped.

The dappled willow continues to put out pinky-peachy new growth. It might do what I'm hoping for this year if those tendrils continue to grow longer.

As I was preparing to go back inside, I noticed this blooming shrub at the edge of our woods. Anything that grows there is on its own.

My phone tells me this is spirea. We saw it at the cemetery too, and it grows wild along the roadsides.

Back inside, I wanted to make a Lemon Meringue Tart. I didn't have the right size pan to make this a tart for two, but I went ahead with it anyway. It fought me every step of the way, and then the meringue got a little overly toasty. (I baked this in my toaster oven.) 

Every time I walked by it yesterday, I worried it was going to taste burned. As it turns out, my worries were for naught. When we cut into it, it was beautiful inside, and everything tasted good. Phew!

When I made my way to the sewing room yesterday afternoon, I found an utterly bored Smitty waiting there for me.

I finished making a back for the Sweet Dreams quilt, and then I traced the next block for A Year in the Garden. It's a happy accident that I'm stitching these in the month we happen to be living.

When that was ready for stitching, I finished adding borders and pieced blocks to May's contribution to The Sewing Room project. Here is May's assignment.

And here are all the blocks I have for this quilt so far. It's hard to know where she's going with this. It looks like a big mess to me, but it is giving me a way to use some of my smaller scraps.

And then I selected some greens for May's Kitten in a Teacup. May's color is green. 

All the background pieces for these blocks are already cut, but I need to cut the kittens and cups separately each month. Smitty helped me stay organized.

So I have all the pieces cut and labeled. And this is where I left it for the day. It's all covered in rulers to guard against any unrequested reorganization, and I can start sewing it together this afternoon. With the cutting done, I expect to have it finished today.

And that will bring me back to the "Large Quilts for Quilting" section of my white board. Next up will be the Joyful Journey. It's been hanging out over my sewing machine for several weeks, and it's getting anxious for its turn under my needle.

As far as "large" quilts go, this one is on the smaller side. I expect I'll be able to get it quilted and bound before we leave for Alaska, but I'm going to try not to stress over it too. And if you're me, that's easier said than done.

Okay, so I have some baking to do today. Mike has requested more biscotti for our next breakfast snack. I'll be trying a new recipe for Honey-Lavender Biscotti. It has lavender honey and dried lavender blossoms. It sounds interesting. There are a couple of housekeeping chores on today's to-do list, but I'm expecting an easy-going day despite my list of to-dos. I'm just glad I'm not going anywhere today.

Last I saw Mike (about a half hour ago), he was watching Formula One with his eyes closed and the TV turned off. It's just one of the talents one develops with each passing year...divining what's on television without turning it on. Young people, you have a lot to look forward to.