September 29 2008

Another week gone by and the leaves are turning fast! Last Friday was georgous, so we planned a drive up north a bit on Saturday to go to Bond Falls and also to photograph the changing leaves and wham!!! Losey day! and yesterday wasnt much better but at least Mark had planned to watch football all day.

I started a new quilt for our bed using 12" WOW blocks...they sure are big and go alot faster. I am only using my hand dyes from my stash and each block takes about a fq...I have started a scrap bag because some of the left overs were just too big to throw away...now I will have to do an applique or two or three. I have one big pile to iron and then cut out today and then the fun starts. I am just going to slap them together and see what happens. I was concerned about the background maybe not all being the same but Mark has really encourage me on this one. Not so sure if he really believes I can pull it off or just wants that new quilt with a wool batting on the bed real soon.

It is supposed to be pretty darn nippy this week and next week doesnt look that much better. If the sun comes out it makes all the difference in the world. Still cold but somehow the sun makes it seem less ominous :-) Have a great week everyone!

Fall is here

It is hard to believe but here we are again. I will take a photo off my front porch every Monday morning to show you the change. This is a tree tunnel that is about 1/4 mile long. It is also the place where the neighbor parks his trucks and stuff but the path is mostly for walking and maybe an atv or two. I absolutely love this time of year. Alot of people in this neighborhood use wood burning stoves so they are just starting to light them...the smell of that first wood fire up the chimeny. We will be going up north sometime where they have a sort of apple harvest festival and lots of fresh cider and pies...yummm...used to drive up to Julian(in California, was devestated by fires) for the fall apple harvest. You could smell the apple pies a miles or two outside of town. Must of driven the wild critters nuts! :-)

I am on my way back down to the basement to cut the last six yards of fabric...I am only going to dye 6 tubes (18 yards) for my class. I dont think eveyone wants to use hand dyes. I will be taking them up to Marquette tomarrow after my dr. appointment up there. If by chance they want more, will bring with me on Friday. Maybe I will photograph the pressed stash before I take up with me. Then I have a guild meeting tonight. Yikes! This week is just slammed. Well, I better get down there and start dyeing.....

cloudy sunday

I know these look huge, but they are actually snapdragons...very pretty. Mark said he liked them, I planted them a little late, from seeds, in large planter and these are the first blossoms. Looks like they will bloom one spike at a time, so we will have snapdragons in the kitchen for awhile.

This is my second batch of home made "suet" althou I made with lard. It is a great receipe and I make from stuff I get for free...base is lard and peanut butter and the birds seem to love it. I have two feeders and they empty them about every other day. As soon as the grackles leave, it will slow down, but with the cost of suet going up like everything else I prefer to make my own.

I cannot believe these babies are still going strong. They get hit with almost freezing temps and die away and then come back. Its a nice splash of color in the yard. I wonder if I brought them in the house if they would survive or are they just short lived.

These are Marks Hungarian Wax Peppers. He thought they would be mild like the banana type but nooooooo....they have quite a nice kick to them. Of course nothing like the little Thai ones. I am already planning out next years garden. It is going to be way bigger. Going to really straighten out the raspberry patch this fall and remove a few rows. It is fun getting to plan ahead for the "spring" planting. Hopefully next spring/summer will be a bit warmer. I did enjoy the cooler summer but it didnt help with the growth of the veggies. Mark made the best spagetti sauce with veggies all from the garden except for the two cans of tomatoe paste. We discovered if we use his tomatoes need extra paste or the sauce is to thin. Anyway, it was excellent!

I am going upstairs to finish up Victoria's outfit...just the little jacket left. I need to shorten the pinafore...I accidently cut the dress a little too short so it is shorter than the pinafore...easy fix. Will photo after I am done. Hope everyone has a great week!