Plain and Practical

Don't You Just Love Summertime?

Even if you have to hide in the AC or sweat in the truck, it's just plain glorious.  I went to pick up my old sewing machine at Jay and Daisy's, and on the way saw a man who was selling green beans from his garden and got two pecks, one for myself and one for Jay.  I also had a large trash bag of little pieces of fabric that had been handed to me and I'd sorted out for Daisy, so we had a nice sit at their kitchen table, I finished a blouse and then we snapped beans together.  I saw dark clouds comin' and left right quick but got caught in the rain down the road a bit.  Here's my beans, half the batch cookin',

and today the piano tuner is coming at 5:30 so will serve him green beans, cornbread, and probably a baked chicken breast, and will do up a pie this afternoon or turnovers, one or the other.  The sallet will be made with these cukes, tomatoes, sweet vidalia onions, and whatever else lends itself,

and between thunderstorms yesterday afternoon, I shot this picture from my back porch steps, I bet the angels above us love to play with these!  

the whole sky was filled with these puffy bits sort of arranged in rows.  Today I need to keep sewing on these blouses, right now it's a lovely supple blue linen one cut from a tablecloth, next a soft grey.  And soon I'll show you my straw bonnet I'm making from a placemat.

Prayers please for my Quaker Friend in trouble.  I'm going to Kentucky soon to help her move from an abusive relationship, not sure when the hat will drop, but it will, and that elusive Peace will be easier in her new home, God Willing.

Eat some green beans, Friend, those and tomatoes are what summer is all about. 

Yarn Goes To Sauder Village!

For those who read this blog often, you know I'm a member and a fond supporter of Sauder Village, in Archbold, Ohio.  They are having a huge fiber festival TODAY so yesterday I got up spankin' early, guzzled coffee, and packed myself off for a 3.5 hour drive up there to drop off this large box of handspuns and bundled clean wools and mohairs.  They are always so kind to me, we labelled the yarn for them to sell to benefit the Spinning Building there, and then I went shopping--

and you couldn't have asked for a prettier day, it was warm, but not enough to make you sweat just walking around, and although my list was not nearly fulfilled, I did get pennyroyal oil at the herbal house, a drop spindle for teaching Donna to spin, two wooden toys for children of a friend, thread for Donna, a piece of fabric with scripture written on it for Pat (for a comfort shawl for a young woman with cancer at her church).  Me-ums got three fat quarters and a 1/2 yard of another for my pinwheel quilt, and I fingered some nice thick black cotton and wish I'd gotton some now.  The quilt store there is pretty extensive, the fudge is fresh and sweet, being able to walk around and see hand made things while occasionally a horse trots by or a cow bellows or a butterfly lands near you on an old-fashioned flower, those are dear moments to me.  My only complaint is I couldn't find the geese, I had snuck some bread into my bag and was looking for them, but they seem to have been removed.  Geese were an important part of the economy, as were chickens, and there should be more of them--the chickens loose if possible on days the traffic won't be so bad!  

And driving back, I came across 6 to Bowling Green and saw these four big windmills on the way back, very smart that they put them next to one of those landfill hills--we call our SWACO one down here Mount Trashmore--who there will have any complaints about the windmills?  One was turning pretty good and I couldn't hear anything over the sound of the truck.

Came home to a total of six bags to sort in the living room, laundry is overdue, and husband says, hey, want to go to the science fiction-gaming conference with me today?  Of course.  Life is for living.  The housework will of course be right here all day tomorrow, and like Scarlett O'Hara, I'll worry about it tomorrow!

Peace.  Go make stuff.

Two Fuzzy Things

Here's the first one, look very very carefully (you can click to enlarge the image) and you'll see one of the little bunnies that comes and dines on our clover buffet regularly.  They have very pointed ears, about the width of my forefinger.  We had a batch last year, too.  I smile when I see one out there munching!

And this is the kid mohair I'm spinning for Sauder Village (must call them today) to deliver on Friday, all the singles have to be spun and washed and hangin' by noon today to dry in time, and all the plied yarn by 6 p.m. tonight. 

Tomorrow morning the accountant, tomorrow afternoon sewing with a friend and my first Bible study session with her (Gospel according to Matthew).  The days are blessedly full, I took the skein winder out on the porch yesterday afternoon and balled yarn for three hours, listening to the birds, feeling the breeze on my face.  It was very warm but just sitting quietly in the shade, not too bad, just sweated a little and remembered, it's summer, after all.

Peace 

The Weatherman Lied Again!

Well, dunno about "lied."  Certainly "misinformed," "not thorough enough" or "didn't have all the facts."  But suddenly on a day it wasn't supposed to rain, and I had all this yarn and all my cleaning towels and several pounds of clean washed white wool outside, it got darker and darker and the wind kicked up.  I'm a country gal enough to know that it was time to hustle that stuff in and just made it before a few drops fell.  So here's the Sauder Village yarn, drying on two poles across two chairs in the kitchen, with the overhead ceiling fan on for good circulation:

And in a few minutes, I'm taking off shoes and socks and apron and going to kick back and watch a movie on the computer and "finger pull" a nice batch of black and grew mohair to add to it later this evening.

Lunch was a fresh chopped tomato salad, the kind you can only make in the summer when you have REAL tomatoes, with vinegar and olive oil and chopped corn-on-the-cob kernals, dill, garlic salt, pinch of sugar, and whatever else you find in your fridge.  Lit'l pepper.  Would have put in cukes but didn't have any.  Finely chopped sweet vidalia onions.  It was delicious, lightweight, inexpensive.  Summer in your mouth.

I wish you all moments of sweet Peace today.  A clean home, a nice walk, a letter to a friend, some music that lifts you up, it's not that hard to be happy if you can enjoy little things throughout the day. 

Make'um Stuff While the Sun Shines!

Here's some of the Mother of Pearl buttons that have been arriving, and the custom made rubber stamp I bought on Etsy.  I have a stack of cardstock and some nice tags already made, and will soon start stamping the needle and thread, draw a line between them, and attach the buttons to the cards.  A friend says she is getting rid of buttons and plans to come this week and let me sort through and buy some from her, and husband's step mother gave me some metal ones while we were there visiting last night for Father's Day.

And these are two purses, both less than $4, bought at local thrift stores.  The wood beads have been sprayed gold, and washed before that, so sometime when I have only two brain cells and am tired at night, will sit and take them apart, good sit down job.  This will give me several hundred beads for my art-o-mats I make for Artists In Cellophane.

and I got some finger bananas, so of course had to take some pics and play with those images, for the next batch of cards I do for the food bank!

Two more people are added to the mailing list of the PNP newspaper, glad it's being enjoyed by others.  Besides playing catch-up with tax paperwork this week, I am also doing some sewing just for me--I need blouses, prayer caps for around the house, a cotton slip, simple things that I keep putting off.

Today--all spinning for Sauder Village.  Putting together another nice box of yarn for them, they have a fiber festival coming up so I'm against a deadline (the best way for me to accomplish something, since I lack the discipline needed to just get'em'done otherwise).

I start bible study this Thursday, a wonderful blessing, a good sensible friend is going to lead me.  We're starting at the beginning of the New Testament and progressing at whatever pace is needed for me to feel a better understanding of the Word.  I am so grateful she is willing to take the time, and that God has answered my prayer for such a person to enter my life and help me with this task.

Peace   

The Dollar Car and other Old Things

Hee, Husband is talking about other cars . . . so it won't be long before this one will be getting sold, I think.  I'd rather have the money in the bank and we just put $800 into an annual check for this one!  But it's got splotchy paint and there's a leak in the back window molding so our wonderful $1 car from his cousin will soon have a new owner, I suppose.  That's one of my turn-around aprons made from a thrift store dollar dress, I have several and they just last on and on and on.  Had to get my spare prayer cap out of the box from Bayley Thompson, of Bagdad, Kentucky, and package up my old one to send back to her.  She'll make me two more, crisp, neat, just my size, she does very nice work.  I put the ribbons on when ready to use the next one.

And the Keepers at Home issue had a very nice question in one of the articles:  When someone enters your kitchen, what is the first thing you see?  And she admitted in her kitchen, it was the waste can, with coffee grounds and egg shells and dirty kleenex.  She's right, when peole come into our little kitchen, I want them to know me by my acts--counters wiped down?  I do this more dutifully now that I have my homemade peppermint soap right at the sink for that purpose.  Dishes put away?  I just made another batch of drying towels for myself, so that's a more pleasurable chore now, too.  A new duster, a couple of new jars for holding flours on the countertop, pretty covers for the burners when they aren't in use--yes, these all cost some money, but when you compare homemade food to bought-out or convenience foods, it's still a bargain to make the kitchen a place where a woman wants to spend a lot of time!

Headed to Plain City for the bulk food store.  Pat says she'll come over on Friday and we're going to figure out the mechanical noodle making crank machine thingamabob gizmo.  We promise to count our fingers before, and after!  So need some pastry flour and other goodies that are fresher than the "regular" grocery store--also out of vanilla, dried pineapple rings and bacon for Good Husband, and he said to pick up some nice melons and fruits to make a binful for the folks at his work tonight--it will be a full and wonderful day.

Yesterday I was reading my bible between thunderstorms out on the porch, and all of a sudden, I found myself stroking the pages, finding wonderful bits of wisdom just by skimming and stopping here and there in a voyage of discovery.  I was suddenly thankful just to have that book, thankful for the wisdom in it.  A beautiful, God-given moment in my life.  I hope that today you receive just such a moment, whether in a bird's song, a glorious sunset, a kind word from a friend that lifts your spirits into the heavens.  We all know, like little children, that we are loved from above.  But fragile creatures we are, we sometimes need to be reminded.

peace  

225 Pieces Later

Here's my little quilt block for an applique quilt.  I fiddled around and around and couldn't get a nice even circle, but Pat suggested the Yo-Yos so of course, Voila!  perfect and quick and I had lots of them that even matched well.  So 200 of these pieces and 25 squares of cotton backing and I started blanketstitching.  Nada.  Pulled that out after an hour, and these will just plain be applique, not embroidered.  It's not lazyness, it's simply what looks best!  Good task while at the computer in the evenings with a movie or music.  Portable for outside on the porch.

I'd love to set up the blocks on the treadle!  All scraps.

 

Then here's the grey day we are having, I am drying clover for wintertime teas and with the strainers and dough tools, not much light can get through on a dark day--

A nap to make up for the night of weird contorted dreaming, I woke feeling like I hadn't had hardly any sleep at all and been draggin' all day here.  So a nap, then up to sew until Good Husband returns home, he suggested a Date Night tonight--if we both have the energy for it!  He works all weekend too, so it might just be pizza at home.  I laid out stuff for enchiladas with goodies from the Mexican Grocery yesterday so if he's really all done in, we'll just have that.  Cat didn't vote, Boo's been napping on the couch all day, even the neighbors' roofing job hasn't bothered him in the least.

Be good, Peace to all

Making Progress

Here's the silliness I have been busy with for a couple of days while watching movies on the computer, punching out tags for the future store from a case of damaged Ideals magazines:

and although I need another project like another hole in my head, here's a quilt block I'm working on, it's a copy of an antique one I found--Going to have Pat look at it tomorrow, not sure about the black "sunflower centers" and trying to picture how a whole quilt would look . . . and need to do stiff paper templates that I can iron the edges of the pieces around to make them not so herky-jerky:

That will be blanket-stiched around, I think, so the black on the thread will be linked visually to the black in the centers.  I may have to totally finish a prototype square before deciding.  I am looking forward to a carry-around project other than knitting or crocheting dish cloths!

And the Stuff Fairy stopped by and anonymously left me this absolutely wonderful box of ray gun parts.  The ray guns were featured on OddEtsy, very nice promotion, so now I want to make more.  They aren't moving, but this next back will have more variety, some smaller models, different colors, and I'm working on better triggers.  Quaker Ray Guns!  hhahhahaaa.  I like to pretend they zap people with kindness and helpful attitudes towards others, pew pew pew!  If only we could shoot people with life and happiness instead of destruction and pain.  It's all I can do to keep my little part of the planet calm and peaceful and I don't always succeed even with that modest goal.

Did find a lovely handmade oak cross at the thrift store for 90 cents and decided it needed to come home with me.  I placed it in in the kitchen as you go out the back door, a reminder to myself and others that this is a Christian home.  I like the way it looks there.

Peace.  Raining here, birds are stalking a puddle in the back yard--worms beware!

 
  

forgot a pic AGAIN

Was listening to husband's phone call and got distracted.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.  Here's the clothesline pic as promised in the previous post:

I cleaned my studio!

You can actually see the top of the table now--Boo got a fresh pillow and cover in front of HIS window for birdwatching, I swept and mopped the floor and cleaned the windows--it's so much nicer:

and I baked two pans of flat breads and three loaves--I do a batch of seven grain cereal early, and set it aside to cool.  Then, proof the yeast, add the cereal and salt and sugar (no recipe, I just go by feel) and a bag of flour, first rise, then knead and into the pans for second rise (as pictured):

Like that 40-year old aluminum pan?  ugly but works.  And here is my clothesline today, note the giant piece of denim, $2.00.  I had to wash it twice, the second time with a cup of vinegar to "set" the dye, it was not very "fast!"  But sunlight will help it set, also.  Probably will be heavyweight jumpers when winter gets closer--notice how green the day is, we've had three days of humidity and thunderstorms so all of mother nature has had a good, deep drink of water.

Peace.  We all strive for a clean home and doing nice things for the ones we love and care about.  I'm off to mail two packages, hit a thrift store, and drop off a loaf of bread!