Etcetera

The last two weeks have vanished in a blink.  What have I done, I ask myself.  Good question! Reading, of course.  Having that Kindle app and taking advantage of two free months of Kindle Unlimited has made me like a kid in a candy store!  One book was very different and also thought provoking given these times.  The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson is an historical novel based on real events.  

I've finally had to make a mask or two.  Most of Dan's consulting work involves workshops and field trips and most have been cancelled due to the virus, but one is taking place this week with all kinds of precautions.  He will need a mask as he teaches so I bit the bullet and made him two out of tan fabric with pine needles on it. Suitable, I thought!  

The weather has been all over the place,  Cold, wet and dreary, hot, sunny and necessitating turning on the AC, and now back to overcast and wet.  Lots of thunder and lightning, too.  As we tell each other, it's still June! Truthfully, given the current events politically and healthwise, I'm hoping for a cool summer to help keep people calm.  

The baby shower was fun and the mom-to-be loved the bibs.  I'm thinking of making some more this week before I forget how cute these turned out.  I also have a friend who became a grandma for the first time that I want to send some bibs to.  She can keep them at her house or send them on but either way, I thought she'd have fun opening the package.  

This cool weather has been wonderful for the flower pots and the garden.  Here's the view from my front entryway.

And here's a cute one of Daniel and his friend Crosby at their swimming lessons last winter.  Here's hoping they can soon hit the water once again.  

Happy summer!  ♥

Feathered Friends

Since we live on the edge of town, actually in the county rather than inside the city limits. we get our share of wildlife.  Skunks, elk, moose, and so on.  We also get a lot of birds.  The quail make me laugh as they run in groups, always with one far in the rear.  The pheasants are gorgeous.  And this year, we've spotted a new duo in our trees.  A pair of owls.  

They are huge!  (And we're ever so glad we don't have a cat anymore!)  They seem to like our poplar trees.  

Hoot, hoot!  Look at that wise old owl!!  ♥

And In the Sewing Room . . .

. . . disaster reigns!!  I started to do a major sort and clean a week or so ago, but then I remembered that I needed to make bibs for an upcoming baby shower.  This couple has decided not to find out what they're having beforehand and I realized that the few bibs I had left in my stash were definitely boy or girl.  As in pink and frilly or blue and all boy.  It's been a long time since I went to a shower where the gender was unknown.  

I pondered designs.  I ransacked my stash of flannel--which ran to mostly pinks and blues.  Hmmm. . .  An already messy sewing room began to look as if a tornado had struck.  

 

I usually start my bib making by cutting a bunch of bib shaped blanks, and so I began.

The grey polka dot and the red polka dot seemed to be good choice for neutral bibs, and I began with the grey. I decided on a lamb theme and began with a Debbie Mumm design from her Baby Oh Baby design set.  

I have about six bibs done now, and plan to keep on stitching until I have a nice pile of them again.  So. Much. Fun!! ♥

A New Graduate

I meant to write this a few days ago, but, well, I didn't. As my friend, Kathy, says, sometimes the muse is missing.  And it was.

In this strange spring, so many usual events have gone by the wayside, and one of those is the usual high school graduation.  This was Keaton's senior year, and he hasn't been in a classroom since March 13.  We are thankful for this modern age when teachers can conduct classes over the internet, at least in a fashion, so the school year went on.  The last official day was May 22 and graduation normally would have been last Saturday, the 30th.  In lieu of an actual ceremony (there are still hopes for one, perhaps later this month), a drive-by was instigated by the teachers on Saturday at five.  Here are a few pictures of Keat's moment of honor.

Cheered on by big bro Cam!

The parade of cars!

Afterwards everyone met at the home of one of the students for a picnic.  A bonfire was also planned but had to be scrapped because of the weather--storms and wind! 

Keat and his best buddies

And here is one of my favorites of our "Keater-bug" as we called him when he was just a little guy.

And an official graduation portrait.

The years have flown by.  So thankful that he grew up right here so we could be a part of his life.  What a blessing it has been.  ♥

What Ho!

I know, what a strange title! But there's a reason behind my madness.  I've been having the most fun reading books on my iPad Kindle app and I discovered a wonderfully entertaining book series set in circa 1910 England. It's the Lady Hardcastle mystery series by T.E. Kinsey and each one kept me happily reading from start to finish.  Lady Emily Hardcastle and her diminutive Welsh maid, Florence Armstrong, have stolen my heart and now that I've read all six in the series, I'm going to have to wait until December when the next book comes out.  Drat!! Looking for a good read?  Look no further (with the added plus of all those ridiculously fun British sayings like, "What ho!"). 

Having finished with Lady H and Flo, I went to our overstocked shelves in the family room and set about to look for a familiar read.  Back in the '70s, M.M. Kaye achieved fame with her book, The Far Pavilions and while I do like that one, my favorite of her books is Shadow of the Moon.  

My copy has held up well, but it's old by paperback standards, so yesterday Dan encouraged me to look online for a hardback.  Done, and done.  Meanwhile, ol' trusty and I will once again head to the India of the 1850s.  For those of you who love stories with an historical background, this one will satisfy.   

Meanwhile, I'm excited to announce that I was able to get my haircut yesterday and feel like a new woman! It's amazing what a haircut will do, especially when it's been forced to be put off far beyond normal time.  

I also need to confess that having been confined to home for all these weeks has led me to shoe shopping on line and I've purchased not one, not two, but three new pairs of shoes in the last month.  A new high (or low??) for me!!  However, I am unrepentant and am enjoying wearing each and every pair.  

The pair above matches my new purse and I feel quite coordinated when setting out to the grocery store!!  ♥

And in the Kitchen

Well, here we are, finishing up week eight (or is it nine?) of this quarantine, and I'm thankful I'm still actually enjoying coming up with two meals a day (we're both on our own for lunch because we're never hungry at the same time).  Our food is holding out well, and we've made several trips to the store at low volume times.  

I've heard that before this is over, we'll all have added the Covid 19, meaning adding nineteen additional pounds.  I hope not!!  But I will say that desserts have come into play way more than usual around here. Homemade pudding, peach shortcake, cookies, pie. . . Yum!!

The other day I noticed my fruit bowl had some fruit that should have been used earlier.  A couple of lonely bananas reminded me of a recipe I got from my Aunt Betty Jane, back in my high school days.  I stopped by her house one day and she was making them and allowed me to copy the recipe with the comment that the handwriting was her younger son's when he was home one day and wanted to help in some way.  So, this is a recipe from sometime in the 1940s.  

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp soda

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup shortening
1 egg, well beaten
1 cup mashed bananas

1 3/4 cups quick oats

1/2 cup nuts

Mis together flour, sugar, soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Cut in shortening (I just use my Kitchenaid and it does the work).  Add egg, banana, oats and nuts. Beat until thoroughly blended.  Drop on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 400° about 13-15 minutes.  Remove immediately.  Makes 3 1/2 dozen.  

I used to like to make these just before the kids came home from school and have them ready with a glass of milk for a tasty snack.  Memories. . .

And then yesterday, I took some less than stellar looking apples and turned them into a yummy apple pie.  I don't even remember the last time I made an apple pie.  Dan was in heaven.  

Today I have some blueberries that I need to turn into a coffee cake for tomorrow's breakfast.  And Sunday's, too!  Bon appetit!  ♥

A Little Pajama Party

Some time ago, I thought it would be fun to have a dolly pajama party and dress all my dolls in pj's.  Of course, this meant that the dolls had to have pj's to wear.  One thing about a quarantine, or "shelter in place", or whatever you want to call it--plenty of time at home to ponder things that have been put off for various reasons.  So, one day last week I decided to see just what I had in the way of jammies for my girls.  I dug through boxes and drawers of doll clothes and discovered I had more than I thought.  

I think I've mentioned in the past that long about twenty years ago when an internet doll company called iDolls went out of business, I bought a number of dolls and doll clothing in anticipation of gifting future granddaughters. Instead, I have four grandsons and no granddaughters so most of the dolls and clothing just went into storage. I did turn one doll into my version of Amelia Peabody, intrepid archeologist/sleuth from the book series by Elizabeth Peters, and one into Evie Tozer, a character in a favorite Tom Selleck movie, High Road to China. 

As I rooted through the doll clothes, I found perfect outfits for Amelia and Evie, and also a nightgown for another doll.  It also turned out that I had jammies for several other dolls.  That left three to sew for, and now motivated, I began.  

So here are my play dolls, all set for a slumber party. Clemmie is sporting her new jammies and is ready to read Tootle to the assembly.  A few bears have joined the party and everyone is ready for fun.

See little tiny 8" Betsy McCall?  I discovered I had a pattern that included clothes in her size as well as for the bigger 14" Betsy behind her.  With a little trepidation, I decided to give the shorty pj's a try.  Well. Let me just say that I think I could have made several pairs for myself in the time it took to make them.  It has a separate yoke, self fabric ruffle, and puffed sleeves. Oh my goodness.  So much detail in such a tiny little garment.  But I prevailed!!  As long as one doesn't look too closely.  (And the reason there's a bear laying in front of her?  She's still wearing her shoes and socks. Those little shoes are over sixty years old and I could see that the rubber "buttons" were hanging on by a thread and any attempt to unbutton them would surely lead to disaster.  So, what to do?  Hide the shoes.  So I did.) 

And here are Amelia and Evie in their time appropriate sleepwear.  

Amelia Peabody circa 1890

Evie Tozer, circa 1920's

Sweet dreams!!  ♥