Back to school

 I went back to school in the late 1950's in a dress similar to this one. Plaid, puffed sleeves and skirt with a slip underneath it. If you were a lucky little girl the slip was a can-can style even if it meant sitting on that scratchy thing all day.

Dresses were mandatory all twelve of my school years.

In 1970 I wore mini skirts like this. I sewed most of my own clothes. 

Dotted swiss and rick rack trim was popular.

I sewed these dresses for our granddaughter's American Girl dolls.

Life was good.  

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Peaches

 Peach crates are in the stores! The first thing I made with them is peach jam.

We had a cat named Peach Jam

 when our kids were young. We called her PJ. She was a snooty Siamese but she was a loyal cat. 

This morning I painted peaches in my art journal.

Today sounds like a good day for a peach cobbler with homemade vanilla ice cream.

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Minestrone

 When I make a quilt I have to name it and this one made me think of minestrone soup.

I loved the upcycled sheet I used for the back of it.

With the quilt done I made soup...

Minestrone soup.

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Green with envy

Friends of our daughter put up a large greenhouse and we enjoyed seeing it yesterday. It is a beautiful structure containing exotic fruits like oranges, lemons, limes, passion fruit, along with all your normal garden fruits, vegetables and herbs.

They sent us home with an abundance of basil which I dried immediately.

I used it today in my homemade tomato basil soup.

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Some of

Some of this...

Some of that...

     Some of the other.

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Lemonade.

I backed this quilt with yet another upcycled sheet found in a thrift shop.

I just love all the summer colors I used in it. I call it my lemonade quilt.

 Gosh it's been hot here. Definitely not quilt weather.

It sure makes me wonder how we ever survived without air conditioners.

We enjoyed this cool lunch yesterday. Just 6 minutes on the stove top.

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Going west

 Knitting dish rags is the perfect summertime project. Small and easy to take with you wherever you go.

We traveled with our daughter and two granddaughters to the Black Hills last weekend. There is always plenty to do there besides being so beautiful.

                                                              We had a great time.

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Belgium

 We have been watching too many cooking shows on these hot days while we are stuck indoors. Ina Garten is one of my favorite cooks. She is such a relaxed cook and most of her recipes are pretty down to earth. 

She was making Belgium waffles the other day when I decided I needed a belgium waffle maker. Let me say I love amazon...ordered it yesterday and was delivered today.

 I haven't made waffles for years. These were pretty good, but it's hard to make a bad waffle. I'll keep trying different recipes until I get THE one. I'm always up for a cooking challenge.   b

Artisan loaf

One of our favorite breakfasts is this cinnamon raisin artisan bread toasted with peanut butter. Artisan bread is so easy to make.

We like both raisins and cranberries in ours.

I made a bread bag to keep it in. I have been wanting to test the theory that they keep bread better than in plastic.

Now add a fruit smoothie for the perfect summertime breakfast.

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Concert

 Who gets to sit in the garden hand stitching on a Monday morning? I do! We have a sweet jenny wren that invites me out every morning.

   This very vibrant yellow finch was also on the entertainment committee.  

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Dime store quilt

                                   My "five and dime" quilt is finished.

I love the colors I chose for it.

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2021 Five and Dime Quilt.

This is my oldest quilt waiting to be finished and yesterday was the day.

Laying out a quilt can be back breaking. I am lucky Mr. b is always willing to help me. I lay out the layers on a board in our garage and then begin pinning.

I tried to pick out fabrics that you would have found in a Five and Dime store in the 1950's. I love vintage. Today it is supposed to  reach 104 degrees so you can find me in my little sewing sweatshop in front of the air conditioner quilting this old/new quilt.

There may be banana bread for my coffee break. I have an oven in the basement that comes in handy on hot days.

Stay cool...b

Kombucha

 I have been brewing kombucha for weeks and today I poured my first bottles. Kombucha is a fermented tea that is good for just about everything that ails you. While we waited for mine to ferment we have been buying it in the store to drink.

I tried growing my own mother from a jar of tea. When I failed or just grew impatient I ordered one from Amazon. Who knew you could order a mother from Amazon right?

I didn't think Mr b. would be on board as it has a strong vinegar taste but he may like it more than I do. We each have a half cup of it first thing every morning. 

Once in the bottles they need a couple of days to carbonate.  I made these blueberry.

I am enjoying this experiment like the sourdough I maintain.

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Are you crying?

 We pulled our camper to North Dakota for a week where we got to watch our two youngest granddaughters play ball. While we were having a discussion on sports I told them "There is no crying in baseball."

We really had fun with the movie lines from A League Of Their Own. Tom Hanks did a great job. "Zip it Doris!" may have been our favorite.

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pink

 

This has been the most flowers my Weigela bush has ever had.

It is years and years old and has been a bit of a struggle for it but I'm glad we both hung in there.

I put my North Dakota rhubarb to good use yesterday.

And that's all the pink I have to show you today. I love pink don't you?

~b

Mark your spot

 We rolled away in our camper yesterday which meant packing books. Which led me to sew up a few bookmarks. They are a fun project using up nothing but scraps.

It's absolutely necessary to mark your spot with a cute bookmark when reading this summer.  b

Chop shop

                           Another beautiful hardwood cutting board made by dakota man.

I enjoyed painting the carrots on a small canvas...not to be cut up on the cutting board.

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Dandelions...

 ...aren't just weeds. I made salve today with the dandelion heads I've had soaking in olive oil and marinating in the sun for three weeks.

Olive oil, beeswax, Shea butter and dandelion heads.

Benefits include moisturizing, lip balm, pain relief for sore and tired muscles or achy arthritic joints and healing minor wounds.

Or you can take those dandelions and make wine.

"A weed is but an unloved flower."

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Easy salsa

I preserve a batch of salsa most falls but I have really been on a mission to find an easy salsa to make in my blender. I went at it again this week and finally found THE one for us.

I wanted it to as easy as I could get it. Open a few cans, minimal chopping and no cooking involved.

I will be able to whip this up in our camper which is a big plus.

As we waited in the check out lane at the grocery store I noticed the guy behind us had his cart full of salsa supplies also. We are all ready for some summer I think.    b

Mother's Day

 We took our camper out for a short stay over the weekend where I finished stitching up this flour sack towel.

My Mother's Day Sunday was so fine. After spending months in our camper over the winter a short trip seemed especially nice.

I needed hot dot dog buns today so a first for me I shaped some of these for them.

They were very easy and good.    

We watched two orioles in our bird bath today. It's a once a year stop over for them and we were lucky to observe them.          b

Sew many quilts

 Another quilt done. This one won't go on the pile but will get shipped out for a high school graduation gift.

                                                 Lucky girl right?       b

Spring chores

 It was a perfect day to hang a few quilts on the line before gathering up some dandelions to make a dandelion salve.

I put the dandelions in my dehydrator for an hour to dry them out before putting them in a jar with olive oil where they will marinate in the sun for a few weeks. I'll let you know how this project turns out.

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