Dark and Stormy Night

Good morning, my friends. It's quite dark outside this morning. Rain moved in overnight. I awakened early this morning to the sound of water running through the gutters. The field is still dry and brown. The rain will green it up, and we're looking forward to that. With autumn officially starting tomorrow, I expect we'll be seeing more rain very soon.

Yesterday started with a visit to the farmer's market with Erik and Mae. I came home with eight ears of corn, a bunch of cilantro, 1-1/2 pounds of tomatillos, 8 oz. of chanterelle mushrooms, and a big bunch of carrots. I'm always in search of the non-tapered carrots. This isn't my photo, but this is what they look like:

I like them because I cut them into spears to make Spicy Dilled Carrot Spears, a family favorite. So, I guess you could say I signed myself up for a job within the next couple of days. They're not hard to make, but it does take some time to cut them into spears and pack them into the jars. After that, just add  a few spices, pour in the pickling solution, and then into the canner they go. 

As for the rest of the haul, the appearance of chanterelle mushrooms is my cue to make some Chanterelle Mushroom Risotto. It's one of those things we love so much, I have to make it once per year. Also, the corn will go into some Corn Chowder, another dish I make once per year. The tomatillos will be roasted and pureed. After that, I freeze measured portions for making Enchiladas Suizas. That's one of Mike's favorite dishes. Making the sauce is the most time-consuming part of the dish, but when I have the tomatillo puree already made, it goes pretty fast. 

So that was good hunting at the farmer's market. Mostly I just enjoy hanging out with Erik and Mae. They get a lot of their food at the farmer's market, and they are both excellent cooks. It's always fun to get a window into what they'll be cooking and eating over the next couple of days. We also made plans for the holidays. We'll do Thanksgiving dinner this year. They'll do Christmas. Hard to believe we're already talking about the holidays, isn't it?

Okay, so back home, I needed to fill the bird feeders. While I was out, I took a little walk around. Most everything is bloomed out, but I noticed these dark blue flowers on one of the hydrangeas. There's no color-editing in this picture. The flowers really are that blue.

The dahlias continue to bloom away. This is the Fuzzy Wuzzy dahlia.

This is Bumble Rumble. The bees love this one. When I decided to plant dahlias several years ago, I wanted to choose four varieties. I visited Swan Island Dahlias to see which ones I liked most. This one, though...I knew this one would be on the list.

 

Also, I noticed another bud on the Firefighter dahlia. It will be a while before it actually flowers, but it's good to see more buds appearing. I'd say this one is late in blooming, but the others bloomed very early. Dahlias are fall bloomers, and so this one is probably right on time.

Okay, and back inside, I finished fusing the applique for the Fireweed block.

Today I'll work on this Forget-Me-Not block. This is the picture from the pattern.

I've already made the quilt block...

And added the sides, top and bottom.

That's where I left it yesterday when I turned out the lights. Today I'll do the applique, and then both blocks will be ready for top-stitching.

Also, I spent a little time on my slow-stitching yesterday. There's still a ways to go on this, but I've made some progress.

Now I've moved my hoop down and to the left a little, and I'll start there this morning.

So, it's going to be a weird day today. I'm prepping for everyone's favorite "oscopy" procedure. If you're a younger person, and you've never had the pleasure of this particular procedure, then your time is coming. You have a lot to look forward to. 

My first task this morning was to mix up the jug of whatever this is:

Now it's chilling in the fridge since I'm told it's even more delicious when it's served cold. I don't need to start that until around dinner time, and then I'll be up super early tomorrow morning to finish it off. Mmm, mmm, mmm. Also I made myself a scrumptious bowl of lemon jello yesterday afternoon. That was this morning's breakfast along with a glass of apple juice. Such fun.

With all that going on, I've given myself plenty to do today to keep my mind off my growling stomach. I'll get in a walk on the treadmill, and I have one housekeeping chore to do. Laundry is on the to-do list, but I can do that while I'm sewing. Laundry and sewing going hand-in-hand.

So, I know y'all are envious of my day. Take heart. Your turn will come soon enough. It's good to have something to look forward to.