Bees (Macro)

I was thrilled to see multiple bees flying about last weekend. I captured a bumblebee and a regular bee. They never bothered me because they were too busy collecting pollen. I tried to capture a dark blue metallic looking bee; but, it did not come out like I wanted. I am sorely out of practice and the timing was kind of lousy as it was late morning and extremely bright.

Gypsy Wife: Section 2, In Progress

I have slowly and steadily working on the Gypsy Wife quilt. There were days when I just did not feel like doing much. But, hey! I am making progress and that is all that matters. All measurements are unfinished.

1. Courthouse Steps Block, 7.5"

   

   

2. A Bordered Square-in-a-Square 4.5' and two 3.5" Square-in-a-Square blocks

   

   

   

3. picked out fabrics for the Old Maid Puzzle block (8.5")

   

Weekly Recap #18

{May 2 through May 8, 2016}

Gardening

• I have been dehydrating a bunch of parsley. I have way too much growing and hate to see them go to waste! The dehydrator I purchased works fairly well and I am pleased with my efforts.

  By the way, I see pickling cucumbers coming forth. I need to find a good dill pickle recipe soon. I found a tip to add a grape leaf to each jar which will help the pickles themselves remain crunchy. So, I shall give that a try as we have tons of wild grape vines growing along the fence out in the backyard. Speaking of which, I spied green little berries on the wild grape bushes! Just maybe, maybe we will have a good crop later this summer! I just hope it continues to rain periodically because this is what prevents grapes, berries and lemons to just shrivel up and die before maturing. I am watering our lemon and grape bushes when it has not rained in awhile. But, the wild grapes and berry bushes, I let nature take its course.

Quilting; Crafts

• I sewed up the Bordered Square-in-Square block. I also picked out fabrics and sewed up two Square-in-Square blocks. By the way, I ended up paper piecing the square-in-square portions. All of blocks are for section 2 of the Gypsy Wife quilt. I picked out fabrics to make an Old Maid Puzzle block. I just need cut the fabrics and sew the block. I also hope to sew all of the blocks and strips for section 2 together this week. We shall see – slow and steady wins the race.

DIY Shed aka "The Barn"

• I was sick Saturday with migraine, stomach and even nausea / dizziness troubles. It has been a long time since I felt this way. I discovered one of the reasons why Sunday morning – TOM (Time of Month) came. I am sick of TOM. I wish there was a switch or a pill I can take to get it to stop completely. In the meantime, Dan built a bunch of trusses for the barn. I felt bad as I wanted to help him out.

  I was feeling much better Sunday and helped Dan finish building the trusses. We ended up having to run around to find more nails for the barn. I thought we could get it locally; but, stores were closed on account if it being Mother’s day and / or Sunday. Silly me, I forgot. So, we ended up making a run to the city for supplies.

  We attempted to put up a truss Sunday afternoon and failed utterly. It was tough because I have a fear of heights and ladders. As long as I feel safe, I can overcome that fear. However, I just cannot climb a ladder while simultaneously hauling something. We made scaffolding out of a ladder and it just was not high enough for me to hold a truss up. Dan is taller than I and even he failed. We eventually did figure out a way to get a truss up and even nailed it down; but, we could not secure it properly. So, we had to admit defeat and call it quits.

  Dan researched online for ways we can build the roof with just the two of us and discovered many possibilities. It is just a matter of him deciding which method is best (and safe) for both of us to us before the weekend comes. We may be defeated; but, it’s only temporary. We will not be down for long. We will find a way and we will succeed.

Some Links to Share

• Free Sewing Tutorial: Beside Pockets Organizer.

A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.

~ Ruth Bell Graham ~

Feline Friday (Epic Photobomb}

I have not let Gracie outdoors in eons due to suspicions that she is allergic to something, even when I brushed her upon returning indoors. When we mow down part of the back yard later this month or early June, I will let her outside once again. In the meantime, Gracie decided to sleep on my Mother's dry sink in the studio. She has been wanting to be close to me of late which is strange for her. But then, she has her moments. I decided to see if I can get a decent picture of her.

I then went to the other side to see if getting a picture from that angle would be better. I snapped a series quickly adjusting the lens and whatnot in between. (FYI: I rarely check the screen after snapping pictures.) The below is what I got.

You can almost see Abby Gail asking "what was that?" after the first click. And then, checking the camera out upon the second click. She made me laugh and I had to abandon the project after taking a few boring pictures with her in focus.

Weekly Recap #17

{April 24 through May 1, 2016}

Gardening

• I harvested a few more strawberries. I am cleaning, flash freezing and packing them up into freezer bags. If I can collect enough of them, I want to make strawberry jam. If not, I will most likely make a dessert or two with them.
• The cucumbers in the main garden have flowers. The peanuts have also sprouted flowers. It is beginning to look like I will have success growing onions this time around and I am shocked! If they are actually successful, I will have five or six onions -- a very small crop. But, I planted just a few to determine if they will grow in our new space.
• I purchased a food dehydrator. I did not want to spend a fortune and this particular machine got decent ratings at Amazon and elsewhere. I purchased some more Clean-a-Screen trays so that I can utilize all the trays that came with the dehydrator to dry herbs. I am going to purchase more Add-a-Tray and Clean-a-Screen trays in the near future as the machine allows a maximum of twelve trays!

  There is just something about cutting herbs straight from the garden and laying them out in a single layer for the dehydrator that makes my soul sing. I started two layers Sunday morning – Parsley and Basil. They should be done between 20 - 24 hours.

DIY Shed aka "The Barn"

• Dan managed to get all the wood cut for the trusses (the roof). He is now working on the things that support the trusses. His allergies hit him hard Sunday; so, he called it quits. There is no hurry. It will get built sooner or later.

Kitchen (Canning)

• We made some grape jelly from a mixture of store bought red and black grapes. We did not get any wild grapes last year. I believe the reason is lack of rain during the summer. I am hoping that this year will be different. If so, I will make more jelly from wild grapes.

  In the meantime, I bought grapes on sale to make jelly for Dan and myself. We canned Sunday (May 1) using the Heritage Collection purple Ball jars that I had for some time now. That is why it looks so dark.

  We managed to make a mess and I burned my thumb. In spite of this, it is so worth the effort. Dan's words upon first tasting was "We are never buying store bought jelly again"! I am in agreement.

Miscellaneous

• I started reading and finished a book, The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. I first learned of this series (The Wheel of Time) years ago long after the first book was written. It is considered to be a classic among the fantasy genre. The first book was no longer being sold. And, I am one of those folks who have to start from the first book in a series. I finally landed the first and second book at Half Price books not too long ago.

  This book was an extremely good read. It has been ages since I was sucked into another world via written words. There were times I was in so deep and then I would be jolted out of the world mostly by Abby Gail (my cat) who demanded my attention. These are the kinds of books I once loved and the kind of books I used to seek because they were my escape from the harsh reality of life and loneliness in my youth.

By perseverance the snail reached the ark.

Charles H Spurgeon (1834-1892)