We received some yummy homemade granola for Christmas (thanks to the Portland aunties!), and at Caitlyn’s request I rounded up the ingredients to reproduce it on our own. I scooped and Caitlyn poured and stirred. I think she had a good time helping, although she didn’t sound so enthusiastic when I asked if she’d want to do it again, something that I think has more to do with the granola-making taking the whole morning and using up her intended Lego time than with the actual granola-making itself. The report from breakfast today, though, was that she ate it enthusiastically. And …
Quilt Along!
My fabric for the Postage Stamp Quilt Along arrived yesterday! I’m going with Meringue from Timeless Treasures and Sweet Pea from Island Batik. Love batiks. Love them, love them, love them. Despite all advise to the contrary, I spent my “creative time” this afternoon prewashing these strips. I prewash just about all fabric that comes into the house, but it gets iffy when the fabric is pre-cut. But since I’m using fabrics from two different manufacturers, I was concerned that the shrink rates would be different (in the past, when using pre-cut strips, I’d piece the strips and then wash …
On Not Reinventing the Wheel
About a year ago, I was reading a handful of blogs on sustainability and coming environmental apocalypse, specifically Crunchy Chicken during the annual “Freeze Yer Buns” Challenge and Casaubon’s Book when the author was discussing how her family dealt with low interior temperatures. These are people who, when it gets cold, don’t turn the heat up – they add layers. Casaubon’s Book, which, in general, looks toward history to find solutions to such problems, mentioned the petticoat. It’s weird that I’d more or less forgotten about petticoats, given my general tendency toward antique fashion. I appreciate that I can wear …
I need a cow
Ok, maybe not. Cows are big, and the neighborhood would probably object if I were to fence off our central park and convert it to cow pasture, since there’s no way my back yard is big enough. And there’s the various problems of noise (“Mooooooo!”) and manure (flies and stink), not to mention the sheer work of feeding, milking, impregnating, and keeping it healthy. Oh, and what to do with the inevitable calf? No, I can’t have a cow. I don’t even really want one. I’m happy growing vegetables but very nervous about all forms of livestock. But I need …
New Project (’cause I needed one!)
About a year or so ago, I discovered PS I Quilt, just about the time that Rachel started a Pinwheel Sampler Quilt Along. It didn’t take long before I was wishing I had found the site just a week or two earlier, or that I had jumped into the quilt along before I really knew what it was about. And I promised myself that the next time Rachel announced a quilt along, I was getting involved. Guess what? Rachel’s announced a postage stamp quilt along and I’m gonna play! I ordered the quilt top fabrics yesterday, and they’ll be here …
One More Memory
At the risk of being officially labeled late to the party, I’m posting photos from the lunar eclipse last month. I remember watching a lunar eclipse when I was a kid, though I don’t think the one I remember required waking up in the middle of the night. My folks did get me up for Halley’s comet in 1986, though I remember being cold and the frequent comment that I would probably get to see it twice (it returns in 2061) more than I remember actually seeing the comet. Who knows what Caitlyn will remember of this recent eclipse – …