Tuesday, May 26, 2020

In Remembrance

Edit: I intended this to post yesterday, but because of slow or non-existent internet connection I was unable to do that.


My poppies are blooming, a few at a time.


To see what other quilters are up to go to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

Saturday was a bittersweet day. 
I miss my brother. I am thankful that I am able to do something in his memory that will benefit other people. I meet the criteria to be able to do Power Red donations. The red blood cells are separated from the platelets and plasma. The red cells are donated; the platelets and plasma are given back to the donor with saline solution. It takes a little longer, but it is very helpful for people needing blood. This was my fourth time.
 
Mike was a frequent blood donor so the Red Cross reached out to my SIL to do a blood drive in his honor on the anniversary of his death. This is the third year. The man who reached out and organizes the blood drives survived a bad accident because my brother performed CPR until EMTs arrived. The man credits my brother with his survival.

I was glad to get to spend some time with my son, SIL and niece. I wish we could have visited longer but besides donating they were all also volunteering at the drive.
Red Cross did a nice job of socially distancing the donors and masks were required. They had a pretty good turn out. Only 2 or 3 people did not show up for their appointments, but they said this time of year is always tricky. Sometimes the nice weather keeps people from coming out to donate.

The weather prediction was for severe storms with a tornado watch for us into the evening. We got a little rain and thunder, but no storms or tornadoes. Sunday was warm and humid, but I am not complaining. Neither are my flowers.

 

And, in the field behind my house were these three deer. Edit: we have seen them every day since.

 

We don't usually see them that close. Husband figures they were eating those nice tender shoots of corn. There is a deep ditch between two fields out there. We think they are bedding down in that area.

I was visited Sunday by this lovely bird. I know there are some living in the trees down the road and occasionally one will stop by my yard for a bit.
We are seeing more birds this summer. Usually just a sighting or two. I wish they would hang around all summer.

The last few days I have started working more on my Quilt Scrapbook.


I start a project sheet that I try to keep up with when working on a project. Recording the start date, pattern name/designer, fabric choices, any special notes, dates specific steps were worked on or completed, size, finish date. I am planning to include small scraps of the fabrics, especially a selvedge edge, if possible. When the quilt is finished I print out a neatly typed sheet along with a photo of the finished quilt. These get inserted into the scrapbook. I really need to do a better job of keeping up with this. Sometimes I add the handwritten project sheet to the pile without finishing up all the details. Then I forget some of the important stuff when I go to type it up. Some of my quilts are gifted or donated. Some have won fair ribbons. I want to record that information, but I guess it doesn't really matter. This will only probably be important to me, but maybe sometime in the future someone might be interested in my quilts and the information will be there.

We have had some warm, sunny days with a few rain showers sprinkled in the last few days. I got to have a driveway visit with my quilt friends again. I had asparagus to share. They shared some plants with me. Win,win! 

 I needed to get those plants in the ground which I did just before a little rain shower. But this made me realize I need to get some work done in my yard. 

Here is how the garden is doing.



From top: Mini cucumbers, more mini cucumbers, radishes and green beans, sugar snap peas.

Stay save and well.

Friday, May 22, 2020

Sunny Day

Today is looking sunny and warm so far. 
And not windy!

A purple iris decided to open now that it isn't being blown to bits and cold.
 So far the poppies have been opening one at a time. Many more are very close.

This peony is about to bloom. It is doing well in this spot. I wasn't sure it would since it doesn't get sun all day. 
I saw a hummingbird at one of my feeders yesterday. I wasn't able to get a photo. Those little hummers are fast!

I am apprehensive (d#*& coronavirus), but my car is packed. 
I am heading to my son's house tomorrow morning before I donate blood. I am happy to get to see him, my SIL and niece, but worried about the risk. I am also happy to be passing some of my junk stuff off to him. He might as well sort through it and get rid of stuff he doesn't want now as later when I am gone. I have no use for it anymore. There is an small table top air hockey game that we used to play when he was younger. Many board games that he and GF can play to help with the boredom. She may take some to work for her consumers to play. They love games she says. A box of DVDs and video tapes which he will have fun going through and watching. An air compressor that he has been requesting. 
I finished the placemats for my SIL - two each of two designs. 
And, there is a wool stitched piece for my niece that should fit in nicely with her bee collection. My brother was a bee keeper.

Well, I guess I should get outside and enjoy this beautiful day. 

Stay safe and well.

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Around My Yard

Yesterday I took a little walk around my yard - in the drizzling rain.

I saw
Purple Moss Phlox growing beside the garage.
Purple and White Violets growing under the apple tree.
Poppies starting to open. They grow in three different areas around my house. I just love that bright pop of orange.
Yellow Iris just opening up.
There are purple and yellow iris that will be opening soon.
Tall Garden Phlox in the corner.
Sugar Snap Peas coming up in one of the raised beds. Or could be bush beans. I can't remember.
Plants I bought recently. Besides some annuals and perennials there is a tomato and four cantaloupe seedlings. It is still too wet to put them in the ground. 
See, too wet.

I have a small section of fence out by the road that I put a string of solar globe lights on. 
I noticed the last few nights they haven't come on. I figured with the cloudy, rainy weather we have had they weren't getting enough sunlight. Then I thought maybe the grass growing up around the fence was blocking the sun. So I went out to weed the grass and noticed something.
Yeah, don't let this sweet little face fool you. 
I am pretty sure if it wasn't this one it was one of his buddies that is responsible.

Meanwhile, inside I loaded some placemats on the quilt frame.


My SIL will like these. Somehow a binding seam ended up at a corner on three of the four placemats. 

I will give these to her on Saturday at the blood drive in memory of my brother. 
I hope they have a good turn out this year. Things will be different because of all the COVID-19 craziness. I am not sure they will encourage many people to hang out and visit like they have in the past.

Stay safe and well.