Lambs and Lemurs

Good morning, my friends. Our air quality continued to suck yesterday. According to our local newspaper, Portland has the worst air quality on the planet right now.

It was worse yesterday than the day before. The day before had the air quality index rating of "unhealthy to sensitive people." Yesterday's air quality index gave us a rating of just plain "unhealthy." To everyone. We're expecting another day of bad air today. With a shift of the wind, hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Checking the garden, I decided hoeing could wait for the air quality to improve. Instead, I spent most of my day on sewing projects. I've stitched the sheep to a near finish.

It should be easy to finish it off today. Knowing I'd need something else to stitch, I traced the final block for "A Year in the Garden."

Here are the blocks I have for this quilt so far:

After that, I went back to work on the lemurs. Setting a timer for one hour, I had it this far when it was time to stop.

There was one area that was bothering me. First, I thought I should have used a darker gray on the tail where I've circled below. Also, the tan piece within that circle was a mistake. I meant to use the other side of that fabric for a lighter tan.

Here's the original photograph for comparison.

I thought I'd just leave it like that, but when Mike looked at it, he noticed the too-dark tan piece right away. And as long as I was unhappy with that lighter gray, I decided to attempt a fix when I returned. Smitty was my emotional support cat while I worked on that.

Returning from my break, I carefully pulled up those two pieces and replaced them with more suitable colors. By day's end, I had it this far.

There's still a fair amount to do to finish them off. If I have as much time to work on them today, I might be able to get them over the finish line. Of course, there's still much to do before I can call it a true finish. 

So that's where things stand. There isn't much on today's to-do list, and we're avoiding doing much outdoors. Hopefully things will improve air-quality-wise, but I'll admit to relishing the extra sewing time. Another day like yesterday would be just fine by me. I'd love to finish the lemurs. Tomorrow will be a grocery shopping day, and that will cut into my sewing time significantly. I'll enjoy these slow days while they last.

There’s one easy housekeeping chore on today’s list, and I need to make up a shopping list for tomorrow’s grocery shopping expedition. It looks as if I have enough zucchini for some zucchini relish, and so I’ll add whatever I need for that. A few more cucumbers have been harvested, but I’m far short of what I’ll need for a batch of pickles. The garden has been producing at a rate I can keep up with…for now. We have a trip planned for mid-September. (I’ll say more about it as the time grows near.) Hopefully, we can get a good harvest before then.

Okay, so it’s time to get on with my day, and I’ll leave you to get on with yours. Make it a good one, okay?