I Like Thursday #210

 Welcome to my late, 210th I like Thursday post.  Each week a group of bloggers, hosted by the fabulous LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color share things that we have seen, done, heard that we like/love during the week.  

I have had a busy week, going back to work, the deadline for the kids to sign the papers on their home is imminent.  

I will say this for pre moving for me.  I am getting organized again.  I used to be very organized, but after the last few years, it became a disaster and once that happens it is so hard to get control of it again.  It is coming along slowly.  I think I have almost everything in the kitchen packed for storage that I will not need in the immediate future. I jokingly tell my kids I have met the maximum box to kitchen space ration.

All boxes are labeled and surprisingly they are not a hodgepodge but specific.  Cookie making supplies, canning supplies, bird feeders, extra utensils, you get the drift.  

I have started on my fabric stash and sewing rooms too.  If something is for a specific quilt/project it is packed in a 2 gallon Hefty bag and put into a box marked kits.  If it is just a specific fabric designer, and I don't have a plan for the fabrics, it is packed by the designer.  I don't have many precuts so those will go into a box, and then I will tackle the folded stash.  I just need to make sure my boxes don't get too heavy.  

I have been trying some new recipes, and per request an old one.  

I made a broccoli, ham, and pasta salad which was from cooking light, it was really good, sorry no pictures, but I did throw in a lot more veggies, including celery, and olives.  The by request was for edible cookie dough for the kids.  No eggs.  

 I have found that some of the spices I purchased recently are "stale" and I use a lot of spice, so I splurged to restock the ones I recently used, and ordered them from The Spice House.  I love their spices!  I use a lot of Cumin and I was very disappointed when I ran out a couple of months ago, and replaced with the grocery store Cumin.  Much different quality.  

I have been trying to get the yard under control too, but unfortunately my stars are not seeming to align.  I somehow messed up my battery operated weed whip, so had to take it to be repaired, the closest place was 1 hour away in Ohio.  Anyway since I could not weed whip, I thought I would mow some of the tall weeds down, that was a major fail too.  No gas in my mower, and for some reason, on this farm, I could not locate a gas can.  My middle daughter's comment that day was it was God's way of telling me to sit my butt down and relax.  

When I went to Ohio, to the small tool repair shop,  I decided since it was not terribly hot, I would go on a small hike and check out a place I had read a little about in history books.  I visited The Fallen Timbers Battlefield--  1.5 mile hike, with lots of signage and history.  

Per Wikipedia The Battle of Fallen Timbers was the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, and was fought on the 20th of August 1794.  The Natives were rising up against the white settlers who were entering the Ohio territory which had previously treaty territory.  Interestingly enough the name of the battle is because a tornado had swept through and many trees in the forest had fallen.  Lewis and Clark fought in this battle as well as future president William Henry Harrison.  

The original battlefield was thought to be about 3 miles south and is marked with a monument which has been there for many years.  Not until the late 90's was it actually determined where the true battlefield was after an archaeologist was granted permission to do a dig, and located musket balls and found  what could have been a mass grave where the only surviving objects were what they call frog legged eagle buttons which were a feature on General Mad Anthony Wayne's Legion.  

I loved the scent of clover, and saw these beautiful wild roses blooming in perfusion.  It was a lovely hike. And not many bugs!

I purchased a FitBit a little less than a year ago, and every now and then I get these funky notifications.  I thought this one was very cool.

It tells me that since I started wearing my FitBit I have walked almost 2,000 miles!  In a little less than a year! That is equivalent to walking the length of India.  When there are some days I just don't want to do anything, it helps me keep focused. 

Thanks for stopping by to my late post, please head to LeeAnna's to check out the other I Like Thursday posts.

 

I Like Thursday #209

 It is Thursday so it is time for m209th I Like Post.  Every week a group of bloggers share a post of things that they have discovered that they like/love.  LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color is our host and encourager.

I have had a few days off, some scheduled, and some due to a death in the family.  While it is near impossible to afford to fly/drive to the west coast, I have been staying close to home, cleaning, packing, reading, trying to get my steps in, and working on getting my head in the right space.  Bobbin and I have been walking the property line when it isn't too hot.  We have spotted a family of geese on the neighbor's pond.

Fed mulberries to the chickens. I have a lot of volunteer mulberry trees and they are loaded this year with fruit.

And after 10 years I finally had cherries on my teeny tiny tree.  

 I have been allowing Bobbin to walk with me off leash, which can be a challenge even after all the training she has had.  She has done wonderful, and has really enjoyed all the running.  Five circuits of the property is 10,000 steps, some days walking outside has been near impossible especially when it is 80 degrees at 7 am.  I usually have Bobbin tuckered out completely by 3 pm.

I have slowly been packing, starting with the kitchen.  Things I don't use often have been boxed, and labeled.  I have this crazy idea color code dots for the boxes that are going to be stored.  One color for the kitchen, one color for bathroom, one color for sewing, etc.  That way you look at the box and you know which room it goes to so if you are looking for something.

I kept out 4 cookbooks, these are the ones I use the most, and all the rest were packed.  I discovered I had 4 binders, and a huge pile of recipes I would never make, a huge pile I wanted to try, and a huge pile I have tried and liked.  I bought some A5 paper and have been printing out recipes I like on it for my little recipe binder.  

I finally got a little gumption to do some sewing, at least the Moda Blockheads 4 blocks.

BH 4 Block 12 9 inch block

BH 4 Block 12 4.5 Inch Block

BH 4 Block 12 Friendship Star

BH 4 Block 13 4.5 inch block

BH 4 Block 13 9 inch block

BH 4 Block 13 Evening Delight

BH 4 Block 14 Alternate Sharply Dressed

BH 4 Block 14 4.5 inch block Bird on a Branch

OK so block 14 is supposed to be an applique bird, I decided to do a chicken with a pile of feed.  I need to stitch it down.  

I have been doing a lot of reading.  

Nine Women, One Dress by Jane Rosen was recommended and I just happened to be able to snag it from the library.  I will admit to spending a whole day reading this book, and not doing much else.  

Teatime for the Firefly by Shona Patel.  Another book that I read every free moment I could find.  The book tells the story of the tea plantations from the view of Layla a native woman in India right before the ending of British rule. 

The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding by Lydia Kang a WWII espionage story taking place in New York. 

The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin.  Another book set during WWII in London. 

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

I Like Thursday #208

 Welcome to my 208th I Like Thursday post.  Weekly a group of bloggers hosted by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color post things that we have found, seen, heard, read, or done that we like/love during the previous week.

Wanting Wisteria-- I never liked Wisteria but a few years ago I saw one and I fell in love.  It was called a Blue Moon and I was a goner.  I searched and searched and finally found one 3 years ago.  I planted it, it didn't bloom, but last year it started to get buds, then we had a severe freeze, snowstorm.  Then nothing.  So I bought another one, thinking the one was dead.  Then got too busy to plant it.  It sat on my porch for months.  I finally planted it, and boom, the older one took off growing too.  This year---the older one has grown to about 5 foot tall, but no blooms.  The tiny one I planted last year is barely 1 foot tall, the cats are always rubbing against it, and it has 5 separate blooms.

I did manage to get a wee bit of sewing done this past week.  I fixed the maple leaf block for Moda Blockheads 4.  I then made the Moda BH 4 Berry Block.

Moda BH 4 Block 11 9 inch block

Moda BH 4 Block 11 4.5 inch Block

Moda BH 4 Block 11 Berry 

 

I started to assemble my On Grassy Creek blocks.  I need to make a bunch of Ohio Star blocks to begin with.

I have been working very slowly on downsizing.  The kids have a house which they are working through the buying process.  Part of downsizing is trying to figure out how to live in a much smaller space in the immediate future for me.  I decided to buy a Keurig.

When I priced the pods I could not believe the difference in price so I bought a refillable pod.  Obviously there is a learning curve to using the machine, and filling a pod.  

 

I like this style of Keurig because I can brew up to a 12 oz cup, even though most of my cups are about 16 oz.  I can also make the maker brew a strong cup of coffee.  I found some coffee on sale and tried the dark, but when I made the coffee as strong as possible, you know the term strong enough to stand a spoon in it?  Yep it was that strong, and I like strong coffee.  

While I listen to a lot of books, I do read actual physical books too.  I saw this and thought it was interesting.

I have had some fun reads the past few weeks. 

The Lucy Lawrence Mysteries by Pam Lecky.

No Stone Unturned introduces Lucy Lawrence, in an unhappy marriage, and shut off from her family because of her choices.  Lucy meets Phineas Stone over the body of her husband in the morgue.  Secrets spill while Lucy learns more and more of her husband, who can she trust?

Footprints in the Sand--wealthy widow Lucy Lawrence touring France during an very wet summer, meets a charming Egyptologist and agrees to sponsor his dig.  When the Egyptian Museum is burgled Lucy is determined to discover the thieves. 

The Art of Deception--Lucy is back in London and her relationship with Phineas Stone is progressing.  They are trying to track down an art theft ring, and everything seems to be going well until Phineas' ex fiancee is brutally murdered at a house party and he is the number one suspect. 

I read another Irina Shapiro book--Haunted Ground.  Lexie Maxwell is drawn to England, and after she purchases an old manor house to convert to a hotel, as she helps refurbish with her sexy Scottish contractor.  Nightly Lexie spies a mysterious man at the ruins, and spies a light in an upper story window, which is impossible since there is no upper floors to the ruin.  Lucy discovers many secrets, some even apply to her.  

I also read the latest installment of the the Lady Darby Mysteries by Anna Lee Huber.  In the 10th book of the series A Perilous Perspective, Kiera and Sebastian are in the Scottish Highlands visiting the estate of the Marquess of Barbreck waiting for the upcoming nuptials of her cousin Rye, and former detractor, now friend Charlotte.  When Kiera notices that several of the paintings in the long gallery appear to be forgeries, she is tasked to discover what happened to the real ones, and unearth some decades old secrets.  

Thanks for stopping by, please go visit the other I Like Thursday posts at LeeAnna's. 

I Like Thursday #207

 Welcome to my 207th post for I Like Thursday.  What is I Like Thursday?  Well each week a group of bloggers post things they did, found, saw that they like/love during the week.  A gigantic thanks and hug to LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color for encouraging, and facilitating us each week.

Three day holiday weeks are always super busy, and even busier if you would retail.  So....that being said.

I like that I was caught up until Wednesday with the Moda Blockheads 4 sew along.  

Moda BH 4 Block 10 4.5 inch block

Moda BH 4 Block 10 9 inch block

Want to know what is great about sharing quilts, blocks?  When you realize you have a piece turned wonky.  Guess I should fix that huh?

BH 4 Block 10 Autumnal

 I did fix the last 4.5 inch bonus block zipper so it is the right size.  Then they threw bonus block 5 at me!  What the heck?

BH 4 Bonus Block 5 4.5 inch

BH 4 Bonus Block 5 9 inch

BH 4 Bonus Block 5 Wheat Field

 

My azalea is blooming.  I just love the white flowers with the yellow centers!

I worked Memorial Day, and didn't get a whole lot of sleep since Tuesday would be my day off for the week.  In fact all the adults in the family worked on Memorial Day.  I did spend some time with the boys.  I was challenged to a game of basketball by the middle boy and was surprised when the oldest boy and the youngest boy decided to join in.  We played a rousing game of HORSE.  

Unfortunately I lost, both games, but we had a good time, laughing, and joking, and got some exercise in.  Do you know how many steps you get in chasing a basketball? 

I have been finishing up book series.  Am I the only one that when you read the last book, you are a wee bit sad, and can't wait until the next one comes out?  Don't laugh, I have reminders set when the next Elly Griffiths book with Ruth Galloway, or CS Harris with Sebastian St. Cyr and his wife Hero.  Sometimes I go back and reread a book in a series if it has been a while.  

I reread the Carole Lawrence series  with Ian Hamilton.

I have read all the current book by Victoria Thompson in the Gaslight Series. Murder on Wall Street was the 24th installment.  I like how the story has progressed.  Midwife Sarah Brandt from a prominent New York Family investigates murders all over New York.  The books are named after the different neighborhoods, and is set in 1890's New York.  The police are corrupt, and don't investigate murders without a "reward".  When Sarah meets Detective Frank Malloy, and Irish cop, sparks fly.  By book 24, they have combined their households and had many adventures. 

The next series I read was the Jessica Blackwood books by Andrew Mayne.  Beautiful FBI Agent Jessica Blackwood from a famous family of magicians is

I had to read these books because I wanted to read the next book in the Dr. Theo Cray series called Mastermind.  In the book Jessica is tasked with hunting down Serial killer hunter Dr. Theo Cray.

Thanks for stopping by, head over to LeeAnna's to check out the other I Like Thursday bloggers.