I Like Thursday #119

Welcome to my 119th installment of I Like Thursday.

I am thoroughly enjoying my garden this year, even though there is a lot of work, and I am always behind the weeds.

This is a picture of my zucchini that I took about July 25th.  By July 28th this is the zucchini I harvested.

I was kind of mourning the fact that my Rose of Sharon bushes didn't appear that they would bloom this year.  But today one of them surprised me.

While cleaning the pool today I pulled this guy out. 

Aren't the markings on the wings amazing?

Finally my books I enjoyed this past week were:

The Shaman Sings by James Doss.  Julierose suggested this series to me.  Many books of this type use the more well known Indian Tribes, but this one takes place on and around the Utes.  I love that the past couple of years I have been around a lot of the areas described in this book near Durango, Colorado.

My 2nd choice was Legacy of Lies by Robert Bailey, a Bocephus Haynes Legal Thriller. 

Thank you LeeAnna for encouraging us to look for things to share during the week that we like, love.  Now head over to Not Afraid of Color to check out the other I Like Thursday posts. 

July....is Half Over... Well Now it is Over

Woohoo we made it to July!  Well, now it is actually mid July, strike that the end of July.  I decided I would share what little bit of sewing I did in June.  And now part of July.

I finally finished the hanging sleeve, binding, and label for the little bike quilt.  The name of the pattern is Mod Geo Cruiser Jr. But I named my quilt Velocipede. 

I have been working on sashing and cornerstones for the Tuesday sewing group BOM.

Have I mentioned how much I dislike sewing sashing and cornerstones?  Almost as much as borders. Well since I started this post I actually finished this quilt.  Sorry not  great picture, but I was not in the mood to pull out the step stool, look for the bulldog clips, and hang the quilt. 

Since I finished something (Velocipede)  I could start something new. My rules.  😁 So I grabbed a pattern, and using the fabrics I had been using for the Quarantine Mystery Quilt and the Tuesday Sewing Group BOM, and I made this little quilt.

The pattern is called Vintage Glory and most of the fabric I used was from my Bonnie and Camille stash.  I think I am going to quilt this up and make it into a pillow.  I bought some cording, I am going to try to make piping.  😰

Since I finished my small project (Vintage Glory)  I grabbed a new one from a pattern and fabric I had kitted up. 

The fabric line used is called Cultivate Kindness and the pattern is made up of the fabrics, and a panel.  I have all the parts cut out, and started sewing. 

Block A1, I needed 3 of these blocks.  I finished them up and started block A2.  I only needed 2 of these and once I got going I managed to finish both of them too.

I am currently working on Blocks B1 and B2. 

I finished quilting a Quilt Guild Charity quilt, I need to square it up and then find some fabric to bind it. 

I decided to pull out my knitting needles and make some dish cloths.  I will say that the first one didn't come out spectacular, but the 2nd one is looking good so far.

I decided to try bamboo needles, and I will say I am much more successful with them, than the aluminum ones. I am over 1/2 way done with dishcloth 2. 

I whipped up another pillowcase for my bed.

I got the design a little too close to the edge, but it is for me so it doesn't really matter a lot.

I also have been playing with my embroidery machine.  I decided I wanted to make a lot of throw pillows for my couch.  Maybe change them out depending on the seasons. 

These two are made with a gradient type ombre'.  There is a bear, a fox, and a deer, but somehow I didn't get a picture of the deer. 

A barn. 

A Vintage truck that says Follow your Dreams.  I just need to create pillows with these.  Should I quilt them, should I just make them into pillow slips?  I am not too sure yet. 

I also pulled out an old piece of yardage that I wanted to use to experiment making a One Block Wonder quilt. 

I love that I belong to a group on Facebook that is all about the One Block Wonder quilts or OBW.  I was pointed toward a website that I could use a picture of my fabric, enter some small details and it would show me what the fabric would look like as a OBW.

The programs shows the block set up in a random pattern, but you can also choose it to arrange by colors, or invert the block. 

I bought the template by Creative Grids to make face masks.  I will say that it only took me maybe 1/2 an hour to whip this mask up  which is lined. 

The only negative I can say about it is that it does not include a nose wire.  I will have to make a couple of small slits so that I can insert a nose wire and remove it when I launder the mask. 

Not a lot of sewing going on unless the day is way too hot, or rainy, many of my days are spent working in the yard. 

I Like Thursday #118

Welcome to my 118th installment of I Like Thursday. 

Summer is so busy but I like my little girl cat.  I thought about naming her Nutmeg, but the kids watched the movie Bird Box and because it took me so long to name my cats, they named them Girl and Boy after characters in the movie.  Girl has became friendly, likes to crawl up on my lap for ear scritches, and waits outside for Bobbin and I to come out. 

I have these 2 baskets that I got when I purchased some flowers a few years ago.  I guess to her it is perfect. 

I like my new bed.  My house is weird shaped and getting a queen sized box spring up the stairs is near impossible, unless I don't mind destroying my walls.  I decided to start I would get a new bed frame and a platform bed would be the way to go.  I saw this bed and thought it looked like it would look nice in my room.

It is a simple white iron bed and without the box springs is a nice height now.  Next will be researching to buy a new mattress. 

I like that my cucumbers, which I started from seed have blooms.

These are two of my cucumber plants. 

My zucchini has blooms now too.

While many people complain that they can't go out and eat,  I don't go out much anyway, because eating alone in a restaurant is a bit weird.  But I do pick up orders and I like that I can order from the local Chinese food restaurant, 5 Guys and Fries, some of the local Coney Islands, and Subway. 

I have been working 6 days a week and my day off is usually filled with house cleaning, yard work, and other chores so I don't have a lot to share.  My book picks for the week are.

Exhume by Danielle Girard.  Dr. Annabella Schwartzmann is a medical examiner for the San Francisco Police Department, with a past.  Anna has been stalked by her ex husband for the past 7 years.  The most recent murder she investigates seems just not right.  I enjoyed this book and how Anna after escaping an abusive marriage has remade herself and gets strong enough to fight back, finally turning the tables on her ex husband. 

I reread The Cater Street Hangman by Anne Perry.  I had read these years ago, and decided to reread the series.

I am currently reading The Blight Way by Patrick McManus.  So far I am thoroughly enjoying this book the humor is laugh out loud.  Can't wait to see how it all turns out. 

Now head over to LeeAnna's at Not Afraid of Color to check out the other I Like Thursday posts. 

I Like Thursday #117

Happy Thursday, hope you are all surviving.  I missed everyone last week, it had been one of those weeks that things just went south from the get go, and I struggled all week long.  This week has been much better.

I like that I am now considered a full time employee after being considered "part-time" for the past 7 1/2 months.  I am not a huge union fan, but per our contract if you average over 36 hours of scheduled work per week for 2 consecutive fiscal quarters you can force full time.  I just squeaked under the wire for the first quarter with like 36.67 hours per week average.  The difference between full time and part time?  Insurance cost...about $50 a week for full time, for part time it was almost $160 a week.  Time off accrual, and holiday pay. 

Last week I spent a lot of time working in the yard and in the pool.  I have a shirt that I love the sentiment,

And into the Garden I go to love my mind and find my soul.

The kids knocked down all the thistle and made sure to leave what flowers I had intact, which weren't many. 

Look at the difference in the grow bags, these cucumbers I started from seed!  I then bought what were supposed to be 2 zucchini from the nursery, but upon further inspection it looks like one zucchini and another cucumber.  You can see how much my plants have grown in a short couple of weeks. Before.  I have one lone coneflower up at the top of the hill.  I planted some sedum which is a ground cover, I have more to plant, but I have to pull roots first and it has been a wee bit too hot to work in the garden by the time I get home in the afternoon.   I have also been trying to grow some wooly thyme and prep some more chamomile, and I think perhaps some hollyhocks. 

The tomatoes.  Beefsteak is over 6 feet tall. 

Beefsteak and one of the tomatoes so far.

Grape isn't as tall as beefsteak, but is kind of getting leggy and spreading all over the deck. 

I am amazed that these are orange, there was not a hint of color yesterday evening when I was watering.  Perhaps tomorrow there will be fresh grape tomatoes off the vine.

My coneflowers are huge!  I found the small orange coneflowers at work.  There is also some Anise Hyssop in this bed, and a couple of lavender plants. 

What is it you love the most about your yard/garden?  Mine are the scents.  I have honeysuckle, heliotrope (vanillay scent), and anise hyssop (licorice scent)  all mixing together, especially when it is hot, it makes a heady scent that is a gift to the nose. 

My petunias and lettuce are growing nicely too. 

My Zinnias took a hit one day when it was really hot and supposed to rain, and it didn't, but they are struggling back, and some blooms are appearing.  Bobbin and Girl cat like to pop the dead heads off the flowers and flick them back and forth across the deck.

I love the yarrow in my bed by the house.  It sometimes get this gorgeous dark rust, but other times it is mustard yellow. 

Something has taken to laying in it, and there is a resident snake that like to hang out there too, so I kind of avoid the area.

The animals are always fun to watch.  Boy cat playing sneaky coming over the roof of the woodshed, onto the chicken house roof, and across the fence. 

Bobbin enjoying the sunshine.

With her bestie girl cat.

And if you need a smile, walk next door to visit the kittens.

If you look close all 4 are there.  On top of the box is Haze, on the very bottom is Tangiers, upside down with the white chin is Ashes, an on top of the pile is Wookie.  Can you believe they are almost 3 months old already?

There are also the new chicks that the kids incubated.  I ended up with 4.  Using an incubator is a learning curve. 

Then there is a chicken, which I have named Rogue.  I told the kids one day there was a chicken out.  When I went looking for her I couldn't locate her.  The kids looked and couldn't locate her either.  They told me obviously I was crazy. 

Here was the picture I took of her as proof, that is my garage door.  She is very brazen and will fly to the top of the gate, jump over, explore, and hop back over in the evening.  Sigh!  There is always one in the flock.

We had a day where we got almost 2 inches of rain.  After the rain this sweet little bunny came hopping out to feed.

My mom ordered mother's day gifts, but they didn't show up until about 4 months after she ordered them.  I will say I had seen them and couldn't wait to try it out.  It is a garlic press.

This is what the press looks like.  I was making what my daughter calls avocado crack. 

3 cloves of garlic crushed

1/4 cup finely chopped red onion

1-2 cups of diced tomatoes I used Romas, but at times I use grape

1/2 cup Feta cheese

1 TBS olive oil

2 TBS red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste.

I know you are asking where is the avocado?  Well I will spoon about a cup of the mixture out and then toss my 1 chopped avocado into it.  Eat it as a salad, or with some tortilla chips it is awesome!  That way I can have it for a couple of days. 

Oh back to the garlic press. I sliced my garlic a little.

Then you just rock the press back and forth over it.  You get a great size for garlic pieces, and clean up is relatively simple.  So far I would give the gadget a two thumbs up!

Some other things that caught my eye this week.

A ginormous metal coffee cup.  I considered buying it and putting a hole in it to use as a planter. 

These cute little planters with fake succulents.  Hedgehog.

Another hedgehog.

And a unicorn.

Finally these are the books I enjoyed the past couple of weeks.

Murder on Black Swan Lane by Andrea Penrose, this is a 2nd reading for me, I read it in 2017, but that year was kind of a blur for me so I reread it. 

In Regency London, an unconventional scientist and a fearless female artist form an unlikely alliance to expose unspeakable evil . . .I enjoyed my 2nd reading and am currently reading Murder at Halfmoon Gate with these same two characters. 

Curse of the Poppy by Emily Organ which is the 5th installment of the Penny Green series. 

The Skeletons of Birkbury by Diana Febry.  Per Goodreads:

When the body of a teenage girl is discovered in Birkbury, the villagers close ranks. Gossip turns to fear and suspicion as they realize the killer is one of them and is prepared to kill again.

DCI Peter Hatherall must fight his past and class divisions to find the killer.

All must decide which secrets are worth dying for.  I enjoyed this book and had a hard time putting it down.

Now head over to LeeAnna's at Not Afraid of Color to catch up on the other I like Thursday posts.