I Like Thursday: More Neighbors and New Stuff

Another busy week.  But I've been having fun.

We try to walk every day (some mornings we just get too late of a start).  We never know what we'll see.  This is Kiki the donkey who lives up the road.  She liked the carrot tops we brought (chomp!).  Her buddy, Mason the horse, was not as impressed with our gifts.  He told us to come back when we have the actual carrots and not just the tops.

Kiki was much easier to please.

Finally a Finished Flimsy

The plan had been to spend Friday pinning the sandwich together.  Well, that fell through due to the backing shrinking too much when it was washed.  So I'm glad I washed it before quilting!  But I wish I had bought an even longer piece.

Instead of basting and starting quilting this weekend, I will be adding 4-6 inches of something to the backing.  I have plenty of the border blue and extra of a lighter blue for the binding.  Or maybe something super scrappy from the variety of leftovers.

The blocks all sewed together so easily!  The borders went on without a hitch.  And it ironed so flat.  No easing or extra steam needed anywhere.  How nice!

Sharing with:
Confessions of a Fabric Addict - Can I Get a Whoop-Whoop?

I Like Thursday: Flora and Fauna

I will be happy when life slows down a bit.  It's good to accomplish so much, but my need to have it all done is getting on Rob's nerves (and my own, too!).  I have something going on every day next week.  Whew!

I'm enjoying what I'm getting done, though. 

We walked down the hill (instead of up it) one evening.  The moon was up (that white speck in the sky), a storm was starting to rumble in.  We made it home just before it poured.  The view of the surrounding hills is so pretty.  We have too many trees in the yard to see this from the house.  That's okay - I don't mind the walk and I like our trees.

So Close

Today I had been hoping to post a finished flimsy.  It was not to be.  I'm partially blaming the great dancing in the area (I spent three evenings out in the last week that I could have been sewing).  But that's not entirely true.

The empty room is a good sign.  The border pieces had been sewn together; I was in the process of stitching each row together.  And that's when I lost my stride.  I had already found one block that hadn't been sewn together - I had to stop, cut the background piece to size, stitch it, iron it, cut it, and then continue working.  I went back to make sure all the other blocks  were done.  Each one I moved all moved as a single piece...

Montague Bookmill

The Montague Bookmill is such a cool place.  I had been there once, years ago.  Now, it's just a few miles down the road from us.  I see lots more visits in my future.

You can enter on the second floor via covered walkway from the road above or the main doors down below. 


The selection of books is terrific.  Honestly, I am more charmed by the building.  I loved the massive windows.  The bottoms were barred - it would be easy to topple out of one since they extend nearly floor to ceiling.  I like the old wood floors, large ironwork vents, the amount of daylight that streams in.

I Like Thursday: Progress!

Weekends continue to fly by.  And good things keep coming.  My passport arrived in the mail.  Huzzah!  (Not that I plan to go globe-trotting, but now I know I can.)  We tried out the local English dancing - complete with ice cream during the break.  A great way to spend a Monday evening.

My favorite things this week are in the kitchen.  We've managed to pull a bunch of stuff off the counter.  I love this wine rack.  Originally I was looking for an upright wine rack to stand on the counter, rather than the horizontal one I had.  This one can stand, but I'm even happier with it off the counter entirely.

Hounding Hummingbird

Hummingbirds don't like to share the feeder.  They'll spend as much time chasing off others than they do sipping sugar water, even though there's plenty to go around.

Rob beckoned me over to the kitchen window early Thursday morning and told me to watch.  He pointed out a hummingbird sitting on the pole for the feeder.  Not eating - just sitting there.  As soon as another hummingbird approached, this one chased it away.  Then returned to the perch. 

Rob said he'd been at it since at least 6:30am.

The hummingbird feeder has a lot of traffic during the day.  As I took photos (which you can see are mostly blurry - they move so fast!) he chased off at least a half dozen hummingbirds that came anywhere near the feeder.  

A Few Fixes

Standard quilting delays:  my sister's quilt top is not sewn together yet.  First, we had marked several quarter circles that needed more fabric around the edge to match the edges of the rest of the circle.  I had pattern pieces to enlarge smaller circles to the largest size, but I did not have one to resize the smallest to the middle size.  I decided I didn't want to do the small-to-middle.  I shuffled around the pieces and that required only these four pieces to be up-sized.  Nice!

Then I needed to rework a piece.  The upper right corner was originally light yellow rays on the leafy tan background.  There was not enough contrast to see the rays on the quilt. The whole piece stuck out when put with others.  I had no more of the leafy tan fabric.  I carefully ripped apart the block and replaced the yellow rays with brown.  I was thrilled I could get it reassembled and keep the leafy tan.

I Like Thursday: Returning to Normal

Every day is becoming a little more routine.  There's still so much to do, but it doesn't feel like we need it all done yesterday.

We've been walking in the mornings.  It's a hike up the hill - my hamstrings have finally stopped aching.  it must be a great workout!  On our second walk we were joined by Roxy.  She preferred to stay ahead of us, showing us the way.  We discovered her name halfway through the walk after running into a neighbor with three dogs of her own.  It was happy chaos! 

Suns on my Sunroom Floor

Look! Look! What can this be??  Why it's my sister's quilt laid out on my sunroom floor. 

Noodle Bake

Noodle bake.  I bet this was one of the first dinners I learned how to make when I was a kid.  This is one of those recipes that has endless variations.  It's also one of those classic family recipes that has a method of less than 25 words.

The recipe I have below is the original (with a few more words), but is not necessarily what I make.  Rob pointed out I could no longer call it Sour Cream Noodle Bake since I never use sour cream.  So now I call it simply Noodle Bake.  Let's see - I've replaced the sour cream with plain yogurt, the hamburger with ground pork or turkey, and add whatever spice I have on hand, like Worcestershire sauce or blackening spices.  Can't hurt to swap in chopped onion or some peas.  One time we added in so much hot sauce or cayenne that it was almost too hot to eat. 

Mabel's Foot Saga Continues

We continue to work on Mabel's foot.  The foot's tissue looks good, but the open wounds have been very slow to heal.  While we were at the Cape, her foot suddenly swelled up.  I called my old vet and decided to stop by on the way home.

The trip there was an adventure - with a flat tire and pouring rain.  But we made it.  The vet x-rayed Mabel's foot and called me back to review the results.  Mabel is missing bits of the bones in the two outer toes of the right front paw.

What? 

The infection was sever enough to have eaten away the bone.

We were sent home with more antibiotic and a renewed urgency to find a local vet.  I was very lucky to get an appointment at the South Hadley VCA on Monday (instead of the normal 1-2 week wait for a new patient visit).  The vet was interested that we had been wrapping the foot ourselves (and approved of our work).  Mabel's foot has healed a lot in the last week.  We came home with another antibiotic and will be returning in week for another x-ray and progress check.

Mabel, as always, is such a good girl.  Then again, foot wrapping includes lots of lettuce so it can't be that terrible.  She has handled the move amazingly well (including two trips in one week).  Mabel has been cage-bound for a couple of weeks, because the moving chaos.  I have not given her as much attention as I'd like.  I've just started letting her out on the floor again; she's learning the new layout.  But she recognizes the new kitchen sounds and still excels at mooching.  I'm hoping as we get settled in, and as her foot feels better, she will be more active again.  Fingers and paws crossed!

I Like Thursday: Starting to Settle

One of my biggest likes this week is that I actually have some nice photos.  You know, something other than piles of boxes. 

I like the curio cabinet that came with the house.  Amid the chaos around the house, it makes me so happy to see my treasures all on display.