I Like Thursday #199

 Welcome to my 199th I Like Thursday post.  Thank you LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color for encouraging us to find things that we like/love and share weekly in a post.  

I like that I can be foolhardy at times.  Why do I say that?  With everything going on, including a lot of work, and contemplating and supposedly packing to move, I decided to do the Moda Blockheads 4.  What is Moda Blockheads?  It is a group of well known Moda designers that create a block and release it through Moda's website on a weekly basis for about 28 weeks with another 8 bonus blocks released ever couple of weeks. Those blocks will be both 9 inches and 4 1/2 inches finished.   I will admit that I have printed out the Moda Blockheads 2 and Moda Blockheads 3 for "some day" quilts.  

My 2nd foolhardy move instead of using my substantial staff which could last me multiple lifetimes I decided to purchase a half yard pack of Home to Roost by Wilmington.  

While there were 14 different prints I didn't realize one was all stripes which is the one on top.  I am not too sure how often it would fit within the blocks, so I did a stash shop and pulled some other fabrics which match the color registrations along the sides of the top piece.

I have also pulled some scraps here and there.  My background is the white which looks like it has kind of small light blue chicken wire.  Last week on my one day off I cut out both sized blocks, but I finally had time to sew on Tuesday.

This is the 4 1/2 inch finished block.  

The 9 inch finished block, and both of the blocks together.

I love having things prepped to grab and sew.  I have parts for my ribbon star all cut to sew.  It is just picking out the different parts for each block.  I managed to finish two this week.

Ribbon Star block 11.

Ribbon Star Block 12.

My blocks so far.  One star block appears almost violet really stands out, but I used the fabric because there is violet in some of the batiks.  The Bali Pop I used had lots of really dark, almost black purples which are hard to find, and because I want to make the quilt bigger I am trying to match from stash. 

I think I have mentioned a time of two how much I hate exercise.  I am lucky with my job that by about 4-6 hours into my shift I hit my 10,000 steps, but my days off I feel like I work so hard to get my exercise in, that does not include any additional workouts for arms, legs, core, and yoga stretching.  I use BitGym which uses your camera on your phone or Ipad and it is almost as if you are on a trail.  I have finished all the walking/hiking tours and am now working on the bicycle tours, that still can be used if you are walking.  

There are a lot of walking/hiking type tours on YouTube which I have used, but when I saw some virtual challenges I thought maybe if I had to set a goal with a time limit I would be a little more enthused.  I know that there are a couple of bloggers that work to get 2,000 + miles in a year.  So I signed up and paid for a virtual walk.  The first one was The Ring of Kerry through The Conqueror.  The Ring of Kerry is a scenic drive along the Iveragh Peninsula in Southwest Ireland's Kerry County  starting and ending in Killarney.  While you do not get a step by step view, you can do a Google Earth view of where you have ended each day, and some of the interesting sites nearby which you can do Google and Wikipedia searches.  The Ring of Kerry is 124.3 miles, and I set up that I would do it in 70 days.  Obviously I didn't have much faith in myself.  I finished it in 19 days!  I pay for the basic walk and when you are done  you receive a nifty medal.  

 Since I did The Ring of Kerry one, I am now doing the North Coast 500 which is in Scotland.  I set my goal for 105 days, but I am already over 21% completed in 18 days.  The NC500 is actually a 516 mile road around the Northern Coast of Scotland beginning and ending at Inverness Castle.  

On a sad note the drummer for the group The Foo Fighters, Taylor Hawkins died in Bogota, Colombia after playing a concert.  While googling and reading about him, I stumbled upon something kind of cool.  Rockin 1000 which is a group of people that form a rock group of 1000 people.  This clip is the Rockin 1000 playing The Foo Fighters song Learn to Fly, it is amazing!

 Another awesome news item is the National Parks Service announced 16 new sites for the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.  You can read more about those listings here.

Oh the books for the week!  I got on a Dr. Ruth Galloway kick, and since the stars all seemed to align and I could obtain them either through Amazon Kindle Unlimited, or my Overdrive library app,  I finished all the books in the series.  I can't wait until Elly Griffiths publishes the next one.  

The Dark Angel is number 10 in the Dr. Ruth Galloway Series.   Ruth is invited to Italy to help a fellow archaeologist/TV personality regarding some bones which were discovered on a hilltop near Castello degli Angeli a small town which is slowly dying because all of the young people are moving away to Rome so that they can make a living.  When the priest is found murdered old hurts are unearthed regarding the second World War and the resistance. 

 The Stone Circle is the 11th book in the Dr. Ruth Galloway Mysteries.  The Stone Circle has Ruth and DCI Harry Nelson back where the series began at a stone circle in Dorset where the ancient bones of a young girl are discovered, as well as the bones of a preteen girl which are more recent.  Throw in some letters hinting at DCI Harry Nelson's failure to solve the first crime before the death of the abducted Lucy Downey. 

 

The Lantern Men is the 11th book in the Dr. Ruth Galloway Series.  The Lantern Men are lights that lure the travelers on the salt marsh at night to their death.  When a serial killer offers to disclose the whereabouts of his victims to DCI Harry Nelson if Dr. Ruth Galloway will do the dig.  During the dig though the forensics does not match up. 

The Night Hawks is book 13th in the Ruth Galloway Series.  Night Hawks are amateur archaeologist that hunt for buried treasures using metal detectors.  When one of the night hawks discovers a dead body, and then one of the investigating officers who was first on the scene dies suddenly is it a coincidence?  DCI Harry Nelson does not believe in coincidence. 

The Vanished Bride of Northfield House by Phyllis Newman.  Anne Chatham takes a post as a "typewriter"  typist for Northfield House.  Anne has no family, no money, and no prospects, but what she seems to have is a sensitivity to spirits.  Learning of the disappearance 40 years prior to the Bride of Mr. Wellington on their wedding day, Anne is convinced that the spirit she sees is Eleanor Wellington the vanished bride.  When the beautiful and vivacious Charolette a distant cousin dies during a masquerade, Anne is convinced there is evil lurking.  

 Thanks for visiting.  If you would like to check out the other I Like bloggers head over to LeeAnna's at Not Afraid of Color. 

I Like Thursday #198

 Welcome to my 198th I like Thursday post.  What is "I Like Thursday"  it is a post filled with things that I been encouraged to find throughout the week, thanks to LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color, and share with others.  

I like that we have actually had days where we were substantially over the freezing mark.  In fact one day we were 70!  Ok that night we were below freezing and the next day we were only in the 40's but not having multiple days in the 20's as a high is a plus in my mind.  One of those days Bobbin got to go for a ride to run errands.  She was so happy she just had to give me kisses.

We went to the library to return books, and to the dairy. The day was so nice we had the sunroof open!

One evening the moon was huge and I liked how it just hung in one of the trees. 

A couple of my clucky girls have decided that they are too good for the run, so on a daily basis they escape.  We found where they were laying eggs!  So daily now it is an egg hunt to see where they thought would be a good idea to lay.  

The old half buried wash tub is a good spot I guess.  That is my daughter's dog Gaia, she and Bobbin are besties and they enjoy a good run together almost daily.  Even in the snow, rain and wet.  Downside, Bobbin comes in all muddy, but I love seeing her get out to play.  

While on the egg hunt I have seen signs of spring though.

Not much sewing going on, but I decided it would be fun to do the Moda Blockheads round 4.  I decided I wanted to do a quilt in the fabric line Home to Roost by Wilmington.  I ordered extra of the white that looks like chicken wire for my background.  I will also add some more fabrics that may match from my stash.  You can find out more about Blockheads from the link above. 

I am just waiting for it to arrive....per the USPS website it is actually in Detroit.  Perhaps today or tomorrow. 

I only have 1 day off this week, and am looking forward to some sewing time today.

The books I read this week are the following:

 

Coal River by Ellen Marie Wiseman.  Emma Malloy must return to Coal River, Pennsylvania after the death of her parents.  Coal River is full of painful memories.  Memories of the death of her little brother, memories of living with her pretentious aunt and  uncle who expected her to be a housekeeper/maid to the family, and their spoiled son.  Emma's uncle is  a manager at the local coalmine so they live very well compared to most of the other inhabitants of Coal River.  When Emma sees young boys missing legs, and hands she starts to question what happened and learns of the "breaker boys" (the boys who sit over a coal shoot conveyor belt and grade the different sizes of coal).  Emma becomes determined to make a better life for the breaker boys and the other coal miners against her family. 

Odessa Sea by Clive Cussler.  This is the 24th book in the Dirk Pitt Series.  Dirk, and his son and daughter are investigating are investigating an underwater wreck, when they are attacked and the things they have salvaged are taken.  Throw in the Romanov's a possible treaty with Great Britain, and Russian aggression in the Ukraine, and as always you have a high speed, adrenaline filled adventure.

The Bluebonnet Battle by Carolyn Brown.  In Bonnet Texas, Liddy Latham is the queen of funeral dinners which is a mix of southern comfort food, and tradition of the community coming together to show support.  When Matilda Monroe, returns to town, determined to break Liddy, the fur flies.  Townsfolk take up sides, stick with tradition, or succumb to Matilda's demand for catered events, offering only healthy, vegan food.  Then horror of horrors, Liddy's niece, Amelia, catches the eye of the new man in town Nick Monroe, Liddy's one and only child, and he is determined to woo her no matter the long standing family feud. 

The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths is the 9th book in the Ruth Galloway mystery series.  Street people are disappearing, and the architect of a new restaurant has discovered bones in a sub basement of his new renovation. 

Trophy Hunt by C.J. Box.  Joe Pickett stumbles upon a mutilated corpse of a moose, and the mutilations look almost surgical, is it tied to the mutilations of local cattle?   Next a local landowner, and one of the local cowhands are discovered on the same night, with similar mutilations.  Alien theories are thrown out as an explanation, throw in a rogue grizzly bear, and newly opened natural gas fields.  Are these random events?  Or are they tied together in some macabre way? 

Thanks for visiting, now head over to LeeAnna's to check out the other I Like Thursday contributors. 

I Like Thursday #197

 It has been a very busy, messy, and emotional two weeks.  Moving rooms, the Ukraine, remembrances, and frankly I was just plain t i r e d.  I am in a much better place, the sun is warming up the earth, and it is time for my 197th I Like Thursday post!  Thank you LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color for encouraging us to find things to like/love to share for the week. 

This was my mantra for the past two weeks!  

A couple of weeks ago I shared that the ceiling in my bedroom had started to crack all the way around the outside walls, then a few days later it started to crack across the center of the room.  I wanted to move back into the master bedroom but Jeff had made it into my sewing room when the great aunt and uncle lived here and after he died it became a catch all.  

Master bedroom looking into the sitting room.

Master bedroom and the quilter, and the mess.

Master bedroom sitting room.

Yes I know it looks like an episode of hoarders, and frankly a lot of my house looks like that at times with everything that had went on after Jeff's death.  It is slowly getting better, and you work on it like you eat an elephant.  One bite at a time. 

I am proud to say that I took one car load of things and donated to Salvation Army this week though.

In the meantime I moved to sleep in another bedroom which has an antique bed.  My kids laughed at me when I complained the bed is too high, it is too short, it is too narrow and it made my knees hurt since it has a memory foam mattress on it.  

I also felt claustrophobic. The room is only about 2 feet longer than the bed.  The color of the room is the same for the walls and the ceiling, and the floor is just a shade darker so I felt like I was in a cave.  

The quilter is gone.  We had to cut it apart to get it out of the house, and that took a couple of days by itself.  But my bedroom is moved.  

 

I have a couple of book cases full of fabric to move yet, and a dresser, but a little at a time, especially since how the upstairs is laid out moving things involves 3 point turns for a lack of a better way to put it.  Out the door, across the hall at a 45 degree angle, through the door to that bedroom.  A 45 degree turn in the other direction to get into the hallway fully, down the hall 4 feet, another 45 degree turn into another bedroom, straighten up, then across the hall into the master bedroom.  

While doing all that moving I did find some treasures.  Boxes of HST that are already squared, which I moved into my shoe boxes which are  a tad bigger than strawberry boxes. 

I also squeezed a little sewing in.  I finished 2 more ribbon star blocks so I have 10 finally.

I saw a cute pattern for a bunny and had to make it.

I think I am going to make it into a pillow.  I actually have borders cut out already even!

I shared that I had purchase Jen Kingwell's newest book  Quilt Recipes.  I like the book, but a couple of the quilts need templates to make, and so I purchased the template sets.  The template for a quilt called Wensledale arrived the other day.  I also have a template set for a quilt called Winki Stars. 

If and when I ever retire and have more time to sew I will have a lot to keep me busy.

I received an awesome squishy package from Dawn of Relaxing Robin.  Cute patterns, a Square in a Square paper piecing template, and some lovely fabrics from a layer cake.

I will say that even though I was off for a few days I didn't venture out other than to run to the dairy to get milk.  While I was out I saw this Packard, hopefully heading for a restoration. <3

 I did try a couple of recipes which are lowfat, or low sugar.  

I love the Shamrock Shakes from McDonalds but I don't need the added sugar and calories.  I found a recipe and tried it and it isn't too bad.  I found the recipe on TikTok.

I also made Reuben Egg rolls in the air fryer.  They were very good too!  

I found many recipes and used this one from Spend With Pennies.  

Of course I have read many books the past few weeks.  

Lately if possible I like to read several of the books in a series.  Most of the books I have read when I can get them from the library are the Elly Griffiths'-Ruth Galloway series.

Thanks for stopping by, and now please go visit the other I Like Thursday posts at Not Afraid of Color.
 

I Like Thursday #196

 It is that time again.  Time to share the things that I liked for the past week.  Welcome to my 196th I Like Thursday post.  LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color has encouraged a group of bloggers to weekly share the things that we like/love.

I survived Paczki Day!  After working several 12 hour days I am so relieved that it is finished for another year.  This year was quite different from the previous two years.  This year I only had Bavarian, Strawberry, Apple, Cherry, and Blueberry, and very few boxes of those fruit flavors.  I was missing Raspberry, Cheese, Prune, and Lemon, and daily I was privileged to listen to a customer's harangue that their favorite flavors were missing.  Sigh. 😔 Daily I filled this case with about 160 boxes of Paczki.  

Nightly I was fortunate to have this many boxes remaining.  Many morning this case was completely empty.  

Saturday was my 58th trip around the sun.  My mother sent me some summer sausage made from deer and elk meat that they got during their hunting trips the past year.  A candle, my favorite scent from Bath and Bodyworks Peach Bellini.

A pretty porcelain pill box.

We were all working many hours around here so the kids bought me Chinese take out, and a cheesecake for my birthday.  

I got a chuckle at work when I spied these Peeps.  I am not a fan, but Jeff loved them!

My Shamrocks are blooming, or perhaps I should call them Oxalis.

I like my little succulent called a donkey's tail.  It has new plants coming up in the pot.

After reading all the comments on Jocelyn of Canadian Needle Nana's blog when she inquired about what do you do when your polka dot plant gets leggy.  Mine was insanely crawling all over.  I followed her lead, and just cut it off, and there is a new little plant coming up now. 

Today I decided that Bobbin needed a new collar.  I couldn't find the original instructions I had found on the internet so I tried several different YouTube tutorials.

I dug out some fabric from my favorite Bonnie and Camille scraps.

It turned out very cute, and just the right size.

My dog doesn't sit still very well, but she can pose pretty.

I decided today I wanted to attempt focaccia bread.  I made Jalapeño Cheddar Focaccia using this recipe. Jalapeño Cheddar Focaccia

Take aways...I should have flattened the bread out a wee bit more.  I think a little garlic in the olive oil would have been good, more jalapenos, and perhaps some Asiago cheese.  

 I finished reading the Detective Lavender series this week.  I read Murder in Park Lane and Murder in Willow Marsh by Karen Charlton. 

I liked this series because it was based upon some news articles about the Bow Street Runners and an actual Detective Lavender.  

Murder in Park Lane was a locked room murder.  David MacAdam is discovered dead in his locked room at a boarding house.  Looking at his belongings he is a "dandy".  But upon further investigation is he really a business man from Essex?  But when Detective Lavender and Constable Ned Wood travel to inform his family of his death, they are met with the news that David MacAdam was buried months ago.  

Murder in Willow Marsh, Detective Lavender and Constable Ned Wood are asked to investigate a murder at an isolated estate near the marshes of Ely.  When they arrive, there is a family feuding over an estate, and Detective Lavender discovers that he has dealt with this family many years before, resulting with one of the sons being sentenced to hang.  

I also read the 3rd book in the Ruth Galloway series.  The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths.  As historic Sea's End is slowly falling into the sea, the university is researching cliff erosion when they stumble upon a rockfall hiding a niche, and within the niche are a tumble of bones.  Ruth is called back from maternity leave to help catalog and remove the remains, what is very disconcerting is they all have their arms tied behind their back, and a bullet hole in the back of their head.  World War II secrets come to light regarding the Home Guard at Broughton Sea's End.

Thanks for stopping by, now head over to LeeAnna's to check out the other I like Thursday posts.