I Like Thursday: Summer Stuff

How has your summer been going?  Mine has been too hot.  The grass in my yard is burnt, the squash flowered but no fruit and somebody's been eating my zinnias.  Delays on my black-and-white quilt means it won't be done in time to submit to local fairs.  Bummer. 

But this is a post of likes - and there's been all sorts of good things this summer. 

Spent a few days down at the Cape for a family reunion.  My sister and I rented a little place together, so we got some quality sister time.  Awesome!

Had a good time catching up with various cousins and aunts.  Spent some time walking the beach.  And the weather behaved. Yay!

Weekend events include churning our own ice cream.  When I stepped into the outdoor shower to rinse off the dashers, I found these nifty chair hooks.  Aren't they cute?

 

Hard to see in this photo, but that is a coyote trotting by as I walked the flats at low tide.  That's the first time I've seen one on the beach.  I talked to a local walking his dogs, and he said it's not unusual to see one in the morning.  Made me a little nervous, but the coyote was on a mission and minding his own business.  

Rob and I have birthdays in August (which included a lovely dinner out).  We were given a couple of goofy gifts:  a bottle of wine with a guinea pig on the label (ha!) and a silly sheep toilet roll holder.  

 

Knocked off a bunch of little projects (while I took a break from fighting with my sewing machine).  Spent part of an afternoon cutting soap base.  Yeah - kind of an odd thing - but we like this so much better than brand-name soap (no offensive scent!).  

Our foster guinea pig, Madea, stayed with us for July and just went off to her forever home.  She was a total sweetie. 

 

And that quilt!  My sewing machine threw a temper tantrum over quilting thread for days before I gave it a time out.  Once we both cooled down we worked out an agreement:  I would stop messing with the bobbin tension if it stopped nesting and looping the thread.  Deal?  Deal.   

It's still a little uneven - pulling a little too hard on the top or the bottom - but so far none of it has been bad enough to warrant ripping out.  I count that as success.  

Sharing with I Like Thursday over on Not Afraid of Color.