embroidered cottage with hollyhocks

prince of the wildflowers

(Prince being the cat-next-door)

Henry takes a drink

Here we have Henry taking a drink of water.

 He dips in a paw

then licks.

Apparently some cats do this if they don't feel confident about where the water level is.

Silly, but it reminds me of the story of Gideon! 

"The Lord said to Gideon: They that shall lap the water with their tongues, as dogs are wont to lap, thou shalt set apart by themselves; but they that shall drink bowing down their knees, shall be on the other side. And the number of them that had lapped water, casting it with the hand to their mouth, was three hundred men. And all the rest of the multitude had drunk kneeling. And the Lord said to Gideon: By the three hundred men, that lapped water, I will save you, and deliver Midian into thy hand..."

                                    Judges 7: 5-7

sewing two by twos

For a patchwork quilt, twos together, three inch squares and a whole lot of 'em.

choosing the law of happiness

"He [God] has fashioned a law for us that will train us for eternal happiness. It is the law of love. Our life's work is to hear and choose this law of happiness over the law of sin and death. Thus do we take part in the work of Easter."

                                        - Magnificat,  April, 2013

Dolly at ten

Dolly turned ten years old today!  She started off her day by having breakfast in bed, then a nap.

Before lunch a little digestive, then napping in various places throughout the day.

Tonight, one more look out the window

and a little jazz before bed.

enjoying Nostalgia by Charles McPherson

afternoon in the city

Caravaggio came to town

at the museum in the city - but we couldn't take pictures.

a section where we could

Look at those wild colors (not Caravaggio's work)

Then a free jazz concert at the library up the street

where we strolled along a bit of parqueted sidewalk.

something cute from the thrift store

A new mug

which is getting along very well with the blue glasses.

sewing corner in the sun

with the sum of all our years

God of myst'ry, God of mercy,

God of glory, hid in light:

Let your face shine on your people

Where we dwell in dark of night.

Part the clouds that keep us from you,

Rend the heavens and come down,

Show your love at work among us,

Let us sing your great renown.

God of daylight and of darkness,

God of heaven, God of earth:

You are Lord of all our living,

Yours our tears and yours our mirth.

Hold us in the hands that made us,

Cradle all our hopes and fears,

Let us praise and give you glory

With the sum of all our years.

- Magnificat,  April 2013

return of the daffodils

In the little bed beside the front steps were weeds and things I just couldn't get rid of. So in the fall I did what I'd read about so many times - covered the plot with watered-down layers of newspaper and some black plastic, with rocks to hold it all down.  I knew it would kill my daffodils, but I couldn't see any other way; I would just have to plant more.

Well, last week I noticed the edge of the papers were up - the side which was toward the sun. 

Those daffodils weren't so easily done away with, bless their sunny little hearts. 

Everything else seems to be gone. How convenient.

a good substitution

Back when Hurricane Sandy was threatening, I stocked up on a few useful things, and one of them was a carton of oat milk. Well, I just thought it might come in handy if somebody was desperate. But we didn't need it, and I've been wondering ever since what to do with it.

Yesterday I pulled out my muffin recipes, determined to try them all and weed out the losers.  But at the supermarket I forgot the milk. 

Today I made cranberry-orange muffins with the oat milk, and you would never know! I don't remember the price of it, but there are several recipes out there for making your own, and I'm thinking it may be worth it.

the maple trees are ready

"entrust the rest to the Lord"

"There are times when the burden of need and our own limitations might tempt us to become discouraged. But precisely then we are helped by the knowledge that, in the end, we are only instruments in the Lord's hands; and this knowledge frees us from the presumption of thinking that we alone are personally responsible for building a better world. In all humility we will do what we can, and in all humility we will entrust the rest to the Lord. It is God who governs the world, not we. We offer him our service only to the extent that we can, and for as long as he grants us the strength. To do all we can with the strength we have, however, is the task which keeps the good servant of Jesus Christ always at work: 'The love of Christ urges us on'."  (2 Cor 5:14)

                                                  -   Benedict XVI

new chair pads

Ah, finally - how dilapidated the old ones were. I've done two so far, each a little different. And with more ideas on how to improve the next one.  

the first of many

A day warm enough for sandals -

sun through blue glass

the love of Christ

"What will separate us from the love of Christ?"

                        -Romans 8:35


"Stern as death is love, relentless as the nether world is devotion; its flames are a blazing fire. Deep waters cannot quench love, nor floods sweep it away."

                                       - Song of Songs 8:6b-7a

good enough for Henry

I got interested in an Amy Butler quilt from her book In Stitches, a throw made of heavier weight fabric of her own design, but which I intended to make with whatever I had at hand.

It consists of rectangles of different sizes, in fabrics lettered A to J (from fabric J, cut a piece 26" by 28", etc.), which are arranged in a certain pattern. So, without desiring to spend time planning or thinking about it too much, I began by reaching up to my fabric shelf, choosing something, and calling that "A". My only criteria afterward was that subsequent pieces not clash with the previous ones. And if I didn't care for the way it was coming out, I would just have to live with it! 

So that's what I did, more or less. 

It doesn't look too bad in this picture, but I'm not so keen on the dark patches; still, this is how you learn what appeals to you and what doesn't.  It ended up mostly pink and lime, so I decided green was best for the backing. I found some online at fabric.com for a good price and bought enough to piece it to get the width I needed, but then decided - since it really wasn't a thing of beauty - that I didn't want to bother, so I ran the gingham up the center and cut off the long sides of the quilt to match.

Then it got machine quilted, horizontally in the mid-section and vertically at either end. 

Even though it's not really pretty, I enjoyed the process and learned a couple of things which don't work - so that's good.

We have another warm blanket in the house. And now it's folded up at the end of my mother's old bed, where Henry naps from time to time.

I'm sure he'll have no complaints about it.

(ssshh - he's on it already)

a little night sewing

making time after work for finishing the last side of a quilt binding

cooking lamb chops

My mother usually made lamb chops for Easter. It seemed appropriate, with its relation to Passover and everything.  So after she was gone I knew I had to continue, but how?

In my mind, there was always a mystique about the way she cooked them. Sometimes they were thick chops; other times they were thinner. Always delicious. She had such a devil-may-care attitude about them. "Oh, just sprinkle them with lots of garlic powder - they have plenty of flavor." She would put them in a low-sided pan in the oven and casually leave them there till she was ready to take them out. As she got older, she'd use the stovetop instead. I remember once that she put one in a skillet on low, and took a leisurely nap! When she awoke and checked on it, it was just right.  Of course.

You can imagine my case of the nerves when I knew my time had come. Turning to Julia's The Way to Cook, I learned the differences between loin chops and shoulder chops. She said the shoulder chops were much cheaper and quite delicious enough. OK! Armed with that information I looked at them next time I was at the market. The loin chops were the thick ones, the shoulder chops thinner - all right! Now I was beginning to learn something. 

But, how to cook them? I was not looking for a recipe, so much as how to cook them - not the same thing. Poking around in the cookbook section next time I was at work, I found what I was looking for in The Joy of Cooking.  And this is what I do:

adapted from the Joy of Cooking

Salt and pepper your shoulder chops and brown them for two minutes on each side in a T. butter and a T. olive oil. Remove them from the pan and pour out most of the fat. Mince three garlic cloves and cook them in there till soft-ish, then add a half cup of white wine and half cup water. Reduce the liquid by half, then add tomato sauce of some kind (I actually used leftover Progresso Hearty Tomato soup!) - maybe a quarter cup, or just slosh some in the skillet. Put in two cups of chicken stock and some herbes de Provence or rosemary or whatever you want. Put your chops back in and simmer (braise) them about forty minutes or so. 

Good.

what Easter is about

new life

sewing, showing and growing

Pretty, and Happy

Two projects almost completed - a cheerful skirt for Easter wear, which is now hemmed; and a quilt that I've started binding. How nicely they match each other, and my sewing machine!


Funny

This looks like a piece of cotton, doesn't it? But no; it's a Kleenex that went through the washer AND the dryer. Now we all know what a mess a Kleenex makes going through the wash - so what's up with this one??

Real

The ideal houseplant - one which is also meant to be eaten by pets. Not to mention that it's the lushest thing ever grown in this house. 

Joining Leila this time for {pretty, happy, funny, real}

"all now mysterious shall be bright at last"

(Jesus is Laid in the Tomb, by Edward Arthur Fellowes Prynn)


Be still, my soul - the Lord is on thy side!

Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;

Leave to thy God to order and provide

In ev'ry change he faithful will remain,

Be still, my soul - thy best, thy heav'nly friend

Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul - thy God doth undertake

To guide the future as he has the past;

Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake

All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul - the waves and winds still know

His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.

Be still, my soul - the hour is hast'ning on

When we shall be forever with the Lord,

When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,

Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.

Be still, my soul - when change and tears are past,

All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

"food for the world"

"When Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to his disciples, he summarized in these gestures his own life. Jesus is chosen from all eternity, blessed at his baptism in the Jordan River, broken on the cross and given as bread to the world. Being chosen, blessed, broken and given is the sacred journey of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

When we take bread, bless it, break it, and give it with the words, 'This is the body of Christ', we express our commitment to make our lives conform to the life of Christ. We, too, want to live as people chosen, blessed and broken, and then become food for the world."

                                                      -  Henri Nouwen

the patience of smart kitties

Whatever cats' understanding is of the busyness of humans, I can say that Dolly definitely has my bed-making habits pretty well figured out.

Tonight she happened along before I'd turned down my bed - oh, dear. But I gently pulled and tugged, and she scooted out of my way as I layered on the covers -

In no time I had everything just right, and when I needed to get my pillows arranged near the head, she moved to the other end and settled in her spot.

And all's well with those who wait patiently.

just around the corner

This morning it came to me that some of the grass is beginning to look green - a real green-ish.

Later, while with my sewing machine, I realized that even with fresh air coming in the house I wasn't feeling cold.  When the sun suddenly shone in the window, I grabbed a jacket and my secateurs and headed out to prune - at least one rose! And so I did.

Early in the week you could have heard me moaning to myself that I'd pruned many a time in colder weather, but never with snow all around. But, it's gone now.

I think we've turned the corner.

quilting with checks

How convenient it is to machine-quilt when you use gingham fabric for the backing.

Just follow those lines!

wishing winter away

Can you imagine a scene more appealing than this?

I don't know where my mother got this decorative plate - tag sale, probably. It's all brass, with that quintessentially English scene in the center, covered by glass. It's got a silvery look - maybe made with foil?

It does well in the bathroom; and today I busied myself in making things look more like spring inside, even if we can't make it behave like spring outside.

Dolly faces the music

"On the Street Where You Live"

Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian

"we wait with patience"

"How do we wait for God? We wait with patience. But patience does not mean passivity. Waiting patiently is not like waiting for the bus to come, the rain to stop or the sun to rise. It is an active waiting in which we live the present moment to the full in order to find there the signs of the One we are waiting for.

The word patience comes from the Latin verb patior, which means 'to suffer'. Waiting patiently is suffering through the present moment, tasting it to the full and letting the seeds that are sown in the ground in which we stand grow into strong plants. Waiting patiently always means paying attention to what is happening right before our eyes and seeing there the first rays of God's glorious coming."

                                                     - Henri Nouwen