Valerean

Today our Sheltie pups turn one year old. Beau, our sable here, is very sweet if still a bit timid around strange-to-him things and loud noises. He's the best with other people, and is getting friendly with our neighbors. He does not like thunderstorms at all and is the loudest one as far as barking goes. Shadow, our tri-color, has bonded so closely to me he's basically my bodyguard now. Although smaller than his brother he is the dominant of the pair, quite fierce and fearless. He loves to run and has endless energy, but he's also sneaky and very observant. Shelties are not known for being quiet, but Shadow is almost silent 99% of the time. He still doesn't like strangers, but he's gradually learning not to be aggressive with them. The boys love to play Frisbee in our big back yard, go for walks, play ball and blanket monster (I use a blanket to cover my hands and arms when we play to protect myself from bites and scratches, which has now evolved i

My guy really likes soft pretzels, but since the pandemic began we've not been to the city (where the malls are) to buy them. They sell soft pretzels in the freezer section at the market which are almost as good, but they're pricey and the box takes up too much room in my little freezer. That's why I decided to learn how to make them myself. The best-tasting and easiest recipe I found was this vegan version ; although it does take a bit of time to make they're just like the mall soft pretzels. The only difference is that I make them into balls rather than attempted the twisted pretzel shape, which I can never manage with my stiff fingers. The balls turn into soft pretzel bites. :)

Kat sent me this tiny papercut bouquet for Mother's Day. She also got the job offer she wanted from the University of Hawaii, so if they settle on a decent living wage for her she'll be moving to the islands this summer. I'm truly happy for her; I know she will make it into an adventure. I will not worry about the six active volcanoes on the islands, or how very far away from us she will be, either. Wherever she goes there will always be something to scare me. She needs to live her life and do what she loves.

The arm of my stitching hand is temporarily a little sore to move, and that's making me a bit unsteady with the needle. That's why I relied on tracing guidelines while embroidering the linen quilt this week. The center cable shape on this patch came from a quilt border stencil. I used a little sugar cube bowl to trace circles for these little barb wire coils. This patch isn't finished, but I'm using a star stencil here, too.

I ended up taking a full week off from working on the linen quilt. Quilting this estate sale house patchwork in holographic Sulky gave me my sparkle happiness fix and boosted my low morale. I'm going to use it for embroidery practice, too. I also used this patchwork strip of silk and art cloth to do a small slow-stitched piece for my embroidery inspiration board. I really like the combination of bright blues and coppery orange. I felt calm and ready last night when I hauled out the linen quilt to start working on it again, so these breaks are definitely helping.

The cucumbers are flowering and climbing the lattice like mad in the garden now. We'd assumed they'd only just started sprouting, too, but yesterday my guy found one ripe cuke hiding from us. My green bell peppers are starting to ripen. You're looking at what would cost me $8.00 to buy at the market. I've noticed that the local bees really like my chive flowers, so I haven't cut any for a few weeks. Keeps them happy, too. :)

Most antiques you find for sale online are probably not what the seller claims. I knew this when I spotted this "Antique French" trinket box on eBay; I've seen another one in better shape for sale on Etsy (which the seller claims is one of a kind, no less.) Before you spend, do a little research. I can tell you that this box is indeed an antique, but not as old as you may assume. It was likely mass produced in China or India, not handmade in France. From the slightly sloppy soldering work I'm going to guess China. Another tipoff is the two gold ribbon roses on the top of the box, which are the mass-produced variety. True antique French ribbon roses are loosely woven to better resemble the real flower, and often have metallic golden centers surrounded by lighter tulle or organza layers. Trinkets were probably never kept in this box; I unearthed two rusty straight pins from the interior. It was likely where a lady from the 40's or 50's kep

I invested in a couple of late nineteenth century crazy quilt pieces to add to my collection. This one is embroidered with two names: Mrs. Peek and Julia. All sorts of story ideas popped into my head when I saw them -- Mrs. Peek has to be a detective. She simply has to be. :) Mary Flynn was embroidered on this second piece. Names on crazy quilts had many meanings; they could be signatures of the makers, family members, friends, or loved ones who had passed away. The seller also included these four hand-sewn and embroidered pieces as a thank-you, which was a neat surprise.

One reason I wanted to grow tomatoes in the garden this year was so I could make my own pasta sauce from scratch. I've never tried to do that, and my guy loves Italian, so it would be very helpful. It's a lot of work, too. After picking our ripest tomatoes I blanched and peeled them, chopped them, added onion, garlic and spices, and cooked them over a low heat. I then pureed the cooked tomatoes, and finally spoon-pressed puree through a sieve to remove the seeds. All that took most of an afternoon, and was extremely messy. Here is the result -- a little over two cups of pasta sauce. It tastes very good, although not that different from the canned stuff I use as the bases for my pasta sauces. Also, my guy can probably eat the whole thing in one sitting. While I'm glad I can cross this off my cooking bucket list, I doubt I'll make sauce like this again. We can't grow enough tomatoes for me to make enough sauce to keep my guy satisfied, and the process

Last week my guy and I made a trip to a local farm to pick up some produce; they have a lovely little open-air market with all sorts of delicious veggies and fruits. It's watermelon season here, and although they're a bit much for two people I had to buy one. I didn't buy any cucumbers this trip, as we're growing our own at home, but it's always impressive to see the truckloads produced at the farms. Here's my haul: a big bag of fresh corn, sweet potatoes, Valencia oranges and of course the watermelon. Yum!

This is all the plastic and plastic-coated cardboard junk mail I received this week. Although I usually toss it in the recycle bin, I wanted to use these for something else -- embroidery thread bobbins. I've decided to give up purchasing bobbins; from now on I will either recycle the ones I have or make my own. To make bobbins is not rocket science, of course -- simply cut up the junk mail into the bobbin shapes you like (I do these, which uses the whole piece and creates zero waste) and then store them within easy reach. I have a little bobbin bag I keep with my thread. You can make your own bobbins with other waste paper, too: business cards, greeting cards, advertisement inserts, and even the labels that come with your embroidery thread.

I took this rather fuzzy shot of the manuscript for the second book I've written in 2022; it brings the total words I've written and edited for work this year to 133,924. Using my new split session method it took me exactly 100 days to write two novels, so the new process is still keeping me productive. Having that confidence helps alot, especially as I've now written a total of five books since October. It's also helping me avoid burnout, which was the bigger concern for me. I've started my third book this past week, and I plan to finish it in five weeks, with a lot of ifs: If Hurricane season doesn't start with a direct hit by a category-5 storm. If I can keep myself motivated and happy. If the people in my life who depend on me don't interfere with my work time. If, if, if. Speaking of Hurricane season, I've finished my annual prep, restocked all my supplies, and my guy is testing our generator this week. All I need are some new five-gallon

I decided to quilt this house patchwork piece for my break from the linen quilt project; I'm also going to take a longer-than-usual break this week -- maybe four or five days. I'm feeling a bit depressed after my quarterly check-up, which wasn't all that great. The doc and I decided I need to go back on medication for a while. Hopefully some dietary changes and more exercise will help improve my condition enough that I can get back off it after the summer. As for the patchwork, I first removed the left-side ivory fabric strip (I didn't have any more to add to the other side) and added three strips from another estate lot piece to balance the house on both sides. I'm going to quilt this piece entirely in holographic Sulky, as that makes me happy -- which I need right now. :)

I have a near-endless supply of materials for small projects to do when I take my weekly break from working on the linen quilt. This patchwork house block came from that estate lot I bought last year, and I really enjoy just hand quilting a piece like this before I make it into something (at the moment I'm thinking gift bag, as I've run out of the handmade variety.) Then there is the lure of slightly larger projects, like this bunny patchwork project from the same lot. I love the colors and the bunnies, and with a little help from my stash it could become a lap quilt. Only I know it's something I can't finish in a day or two on my break. It's lovely, but it will take more of my time than I'm willing to spare. So I will set that aside for now and instead quilt the house block.

We see this bird very often down by the lake where we walk, usually perched on a rock or branching while sunning itself. I did some research online to learn more about it, and turns out it's an Anhinga. They're underwater hunters that feed mostly on fish, hence the sharp bill and webbed feet. The species is not considered rare or endangered. I like knowing what something is, even if it's a common creature like this that is evidently in no need of official protection. Being aware of the living things that share the world with me makes me think about my impact on the environment, and how I can improve that. Buying a set of reusable straws and cutting my own thread bobbins out of recycled cardboard are two things I've done this month to weed more plastic out of my life. It would be nice if I could get to zero plastic waste someday, so that these guys can go on sunning themselves by the lake long after I've moved on to the next place.

I thought I'd post more pics of the vintage embroidery thread haul I purchased so you can see how nice and clean this lot is, Theo. Here's the pile of J.P. Coats variegated thread, along with two skeins of Iris. Prism variegated thread, which I've seen in kits to make friendship bracelets. Anchor embroidery floss, which is made in India. DMC embroidery floss from France, my favorite embroidery thread brand. AI cross stitch thread. Two project thread holders, and the handful of unlabeled skeins in the lot (these were leftover from craft kits, I think.) The four oldest skeins, a very vintage Clark's floss, Royal Moulin floss, and two hanks of wool embroidery thread. The spool of fine metallic gold thread. All of the DMC floss on cards fit nicely into an old Christmas tin.

I like herringbone stitch a lot, but it's never liked me much. I always have trouble keeping it consistently sized whenever I use it for my embroidery. I tend to get mixed up with the over/under thread pattern as well because it's easy these days for me to get confused. I want to improve, so I went looking for some new ideas, and found a tutorial where the stitch was used instead of satin stitch as leaf filler. I decided to try that out on the linen quilt. I first drew a shape outline in disappearing fabric marker before I began stitching it, which is how I got the nicely aligned edges with each leaf. I'm still occasionally mixing up my over/under pattern by fiddling with the thread placement (and probably thinking too much), but otherwise it turned out nicely.