Growing Up

Remember this wee thing?

He grew up and went through the Barky Twos, though it sounded more like screaming. Next came the Ferocious Threes, where he became the GUARD DOG.

Being Mr. Smarty Pants, he has no concept of obey. He does want to please us, and he definitely loves us more than anyone else (strangers definitely beware) but until he turned three in February it was a crap shoot as to whether he would even lift his head when he heard his name called.

It’s been stressful to keep him properly exercised. Walking was NOT pleasant as he was still highly reactive to other dogs, cars (especially white trucks) and strange men (especially those jogging.) I am in no fear of being attacked with Bandit at my side; at 30 pounds I think he would be quite capable of leaping for an attacker’s jugular, or at least his nether regions, and he would NOT let go! A very ferocious loyalty to me and DH. However, this aptitude is not especially appreciated when attempting a quiet morning walk at dawn…

Last summer when we put him in the back yard he just looked at the windows and barked, or barked at Stella, the dog next door who barks at everyone because she is left home alone for 12-15 hours a day. His barking is high pitched and very sharp, you can hear from the park, over a quarter mile away.

BUT He is SUPERB at oxygen monitoring, and sits with DH anytime he is not doing well, ready to charge up the stairs and retrieve me so…

We knew maturity was a big part of it, so we have waited and waited and waited. Finally last fall we got a bark collar. It is awful to have to buzz him, but we hoped since he was so intelligent it would only take a few zaps and he would KNOW. We only used it a few times, once or twice on a walk and in the back yard when we simply had to get garden stuff done.

This spring we took the collar out again and he ran away (in the house.) When he started barking when the neighbors came home (at 9:30 pm) we put the collar on my night stand. Within a day all we only had to ask if he needed the collar in a stern voice and he would give us his I’m sorry look and settle down.

The big test was going to Montana. He only needed two “calming” tablets while there, and one was just to settle him down so he could sleep the first night. He barked as expected when we got out of the car for breaks, but once at our daughter’s he spent much time in the back yard, and he was a very good boy. We put the bark collar on him the first day, and not a peep. The next day we used the collar WITHOUT TURNING IT ON and not a peep.

Upon returning home, we have put the collar on in our back yard and for the first time in two years, no barking, AND he has stopped staring at the windows and is now looking around and smelling the great smells, moving to the shade as the morning progresses.

We haven’t been taking walks because the very early sunrises May — July allowed us to play ball in the golf course drain way before anyone else was up (so no Winston running loose). It’s been a little tricky this fall with daylight coming later and later, so I expect at some point we will have to return to walking. Maybe if I carry the collar, we can get to the point of having an enjoyable one.

I keep reminding myself he IS improving, and heelers are notorious for taking an extra year to settle down and be MATURE. We are getting there slowly.

Endless Combinations

Pattern Review’s contest for October is called Endless Combinations. The idea is to make garment A, then pair it with piece B, pair B with C, etc. I sat down with my stash list in September and realized that I had the makings of a LONG list of possibilities. So I did some prep and on October 1st I was off to the races.

A motivating factor (in addition to finally sewing some yardage I have had for several years) is my 10 days off from teaching! I had master class on Friday and am looking at an entirely open week free for sewing.

So the plans are:

Piece A: A camp style shirt from a Robert Kaufman lawn
Piece B: Barrel leg pants from a street twill
Piece C: White shell top from white interlock
Piece D: Pants from a taupe herringbone twill
Piece E: Tank top from pink merino wool knit
Piece F: Blouse from plaid 3 season wool
Piece G: Gray dress slacks (or maybe a skirt)
Piece H: Flowy blouse from wool voile
Piece I: Skirt from same fabric
Piece J: Jacket from Purple boucle
Piece K: Tank top from left over black micro fleece
Piece L: Jeans from stonewashed denim
Piece M: Jacket from red plaid flannel

I don’t seriously think I can manage all of that this month, but I think I can make a dent in it, and I am happy to get the fabric of the shelf and into the closet. Some patterns are new, some are out of print, and some are pdfs I have printed at home. I have a good start, the first two tops are done, and the barrel pants are about half way. I hope to finish them today and do some more work on the second pants muslin, which needs some fitting.

I’ll do some updates through out the month, so you can see my progress. This week will have LOTS of sewing, and the weeks after not as much, but I hope to make a serious dent in this list!

SAL Update – October 5

I started my new pillow cover, and it is slow going. The percentage of mixed threads is crazy…I maybe should have looked more closely before I leapt!

Here’s my start:

I have also finished the first pillow cover. I wanted to get that out of the way because I have some big sewing plans for October. It is now waiting for its “friends,” which will hopefully be ready by next summer.

Please go visit my colleagues who are doing all sorts of delightful stitching, and a big thank you to our hostess, Avis who reminds us to post!

Avis, Claire, Kathy, Margaret,  Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, Cathie, Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy, Helen

What I’ve Been Reading

I read for about 30 minutes almost every night, and sometimes more if I am too tired to concentrate on my counted cross stitch project. Here are a few books I have enjoyed in the past month or so. There are a wide variety of time periods here, and they are mostly pure fiction, though Jennifer Chiaverini’s Switchboard Soldiers is based on fact.

The Thread Collectors – Shaunna J. Edwards and Alyson Richman

My take: This was an interesting premise and an enjoyable read, though I am not sure how realistic it was that a young wife would travel alone through a war zone. However, war was more gentlemanly in the 1860’s so I could be wrong. I thought the authors did a nice job bringing the two stories together, and providing perspective of how these particular women might feel.

Source: Good Reads
1863: In a small Creole cottage in New Orleans, an ingenious young Black woman named Stella embroiders intricate maps on repurposed cloth to help enslaved men flee and join the Union Army. Bound to a man who would kill her if he knew of her clandestine activities, Stella has to hide not only her efforts but her love for William, a Black soldier and a brilliant musician.

Meanwhile, in New York City, a Jewish woman stitches a quilt for her husband, who is stationed in Louisiana with the Union Army. Between abolitionist meetings, Lily rolls bandages and crafts quilts with her sewing circle for other soldiers, too, hoping for their safe return home. But when months go by without word from her husband, Lily resolves to make the perilous journey South to search for him.

As these two women risk everything for love and freedom during the brutal Civil War, their paths converge in New Orleans, where an unexpected encounter leads them to discover that even the most delicate threads have the capacity to save us. Loosely inspired by the authors’ family histories, this stunning novel will stay with readers for a long time.

Switchboard Soldiers – Jennifer Chiaverini

My take: I thoroughly enjoyed this one! I had no knowledge of the operators recruited during WWI, and thought this piece of history made a great story.

Source: Good Reads
In June 1917, General John Pershing arrived in France to establish American forces in Europe. He immediately found himself unable to communicate with troops in the field. Pershing needed telephone operators who could swiftly and accurately connect multiple calls, speak fluent French and English, remain steady under fire, and be utterly discreet, since the calls often conveyed classified information.

At the time, nearly all well-trained American telephone operators were women—but women were not permitted to enlist, or even to vote in most states. Nevertheless, the U.S. Army Signal Corps promptly began recruiting them.

More than 7,600 women responded, including Grace Banker of New Jersey, a switchboard instructor with AT&T and an alumna of Barnard College; Marie Miossec, a Frenchwoman and aspiring opera singer; and Valerie DeSmedt, a twenty-year-old Pacific Telephone operator from Los Angeles, determined to strike a blow for her native Belgium.

They were among the first women sworn into the U.S. Army under the Articles of War. The male soldiers they had replaced had needed one minute to connect each call. The switchboard soldiers could do it in ten seconds.

The Secret of the Lost Pearls – Darci Wilde

My take: I wasn’t expecting to love this book, but I got caught up trying to solve the mystery and had a hard time putting it down. Lots of plot twists and turns; an entertaining read for the most part.

Source: Good Reads
Rosalind Thorne may not have a grand fortune of her own, but she possesses virtues almost as prized by the haut ton: discretion, and a web of connections that enable her to discover just about anything about anyone. Known as a “most useful woman,” Rosalind helps society ladies in need—for a modest fee, of course—and her client roster is steadily increasing.

Mrs. Gerald Douglas, née Bethany Hodgeson, presents Rosalind with a particularly delicate predicament. A valuable pearl necklace has gone missing, and Bethany’s husband believes the thief is Nora, Bethany’s disgraced sister. Nora made a scandalous elopement at age sixteen and returned three years later, telling the family that her husband was dead. 

But as Rosalind begins her investigations, under cover of helping the daughters of the house prepare for their first London season, she realizes that the family harbors even more secrets than scandals. The intrigue swirling around the Douglases includes fraud, forgery, blackmail, and soon, murder. And it will fall to Rosalind, aided by charming Bow Street officer Adam Harkness, to untangle the shocking truth and discover who is a thief—and who is a killer.

Counted with the Stars – Connilyn Cossette

My take: Such a unique perspective to this story of the Exodus; it really caused me to stop and think, not only about Kiya’s struggles, but also about the Israelites in general, who were coming out of a country with 400 years of being exposed to idol worship. Introducing the plagues as a direct affront to the most powerful Egyptian gods is an area I want to explore more thoroughly. Historical fiction yes, but some real thought provoking ideas here.

Source: Good Reads
Sold into slavery by her father and forsaken by the man she was supposed to marry, young Egyptian Kiya must serve a mistress who takes pleasure in her humiliation. When terrifying plagues strike Egypt, Kiya is in the middle of it all.

Choosing to flee with the Hebrews, Kiya finds herself reliant on a strange God and drawn to a man who despises her people. With everything she’s ever known swept away and now facing the trials of the desert, will she turn back toward Egypt or surrender her life and her future to Yahweh?

HQAL Update – September 21

Last time I hadn’t touched my EPP project, but I am happy to report that I have made some progress!

I have sewn the top to a background, and made a scrappy backing. This week I sandwiched them together in preparation for the quilting, which I will do by hand. I am contemplating how I want to do the background border, so haven’t started yet, but will be doing so this week. I have narrowed my choices down to two ideas; one is a sort of fan type border, and the other would use a corner motif and then extend the EPP shapes outward in a few places.

I need to think things through, so for now, I have it hanging in the sewing room to remind me that I must continue on.

I encourage you to visit my colleagues and see what they are up to.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, and Laura

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link above.

SAL Update – September 14

Join me in visiting my stitching friends to see the marvelous projects they are working on!

Avis, Claire, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, Cathie,  Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy, Helen

Last time I had started a thank you gift for my neighbor, and I am happy to report that I finished it and delivered it to her earlier this week!

My next task was to sort out my threads, which I have done, so now I am ready to start the next pillow top. Maybe by next time I will have the first one sewn up.

Modern Tomato Sauce

While we were in Montana last month, my daughter took the tomatoes I brought her, plus a few of her own, and made tomato sauce. I’ve always done it the old fashioned way: Peel the tomatoes, cook them until soft, sieve the whole mess, then cook the liquid down to sauce consistency. It’s a lot of work, but worse, it’s a huge mess.

She put the tomatoes in her bullet blender, strained them and cooked them down. So Much Easier!

This morning I started a batch while roasting chiles. I took out my handy blender, filled it with tomato chunks and let the blender blades turn it into liquid.

I took my antique sieve and a mesh strainer and emptied the blender into it. By the time I had the second batch of tomatoes liquified, I had just enough room to pour the second one into the strainer. I used a spatula to “lift” the pulp from the strainer, and the juice continued to pour through. After a bit, I did the same with the antique sieve with the same result.

Four batches in the blender filled my Dutch oven to about half. I started it on medium high heat, and then started reducing as necessary to keep things at a energetic simmer. By the time I was done roasting and peeling chiles, my tomatoes had reduced down to about an inch! 

This will go into the freezer until I have enough to process in the canner. I still have gobs of tomatoes on the table, so there’s enough for at least one or two more batches today. I’ll measure this out when I put it in freezer bags so I will know how many pints I have ready. 

If you don’t can, you could just put your sauce in the freezer and thaw it when you need it. My daughter plans to use hers to make pizza sauce.

HQAL Update – August 31

I have not touched my EPP project in the past three weeks! It has indeed been a busy season here with the trip to Montana and then canning the garden produce. I also have a thank you gift in the works that takes precedence and last week was the first week back to full time piano lessons.

I am not sweating it, just trying to work on things at my own pace, and not get exhausted. 🙂 I’ll see you all next time, with more to report. Until then, I encourage you to visit the fellow members of our Hand Quilting Group.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, and Laura

The Garden is Mature!

Tomatoes: The first picking went with us to Montana where they were promptly made into tomato sauce and popped into Girl #1’s freezer. Once home, we picked again and today put up 14 pints of salsa. I went out this afternoon and picked some more, which will be turned into a batch of tomato soup tomorrow. We are enjoying fresh tomatoes at many meals, and as a snack-yum! I am looking forward to a slice on my next hamburger.

Peppers: There were four fat poblanos to take to MT for Chile rellenos, and today DH picked some for our dinner tomorrow night. The Anaheims are in full production now. I did 8 pints yesterday, and tomorrow will roast and peel what’s ready and freeze them until we have enough for another batch. The bell peppers are growing, but are really just getting started. We have frozen four for stuffed peppers so far.

Corn: After struggling to get the corn to germinate, we had a small stand, but ended up with some beautiful, full cobs. I had enough for 8 pints yesterday, and will pick again tomorrow. I’m not sure if I will can or freeze this batch.

Zucchini: I have only one zucchini plant and it is of course, ridiculous. We have discovered that the chickens love zucchini, so they are enjoying a “log” a couple of times a week. I have also grated enough for zucchini bread for my first master class in October. I also made a great discovery thanks to a friend over at Pattern Review: Mock Apple Pie. I made one this week, and if I didn’t know it was zucchini I would be fooled. Even the texture is right! More on that later.

Raspberries: The early canes are done, (not sure why they were so early, but we enjoyed them on cereal.) The fall crop is looking HEAVY, in spite of a deer touring our garden while we were gone, and breaking several canes.

Cabbage: They are HUGE! I have 6 quarts of sauerkraut fermenting, and tomorrow I hope to make the stuffing for bierocks, which will hopefully take one of those giants. Coleslaw is on the menu for Sunday too, I think! I will probably have to start another batch of sauerkraut as soon as this one is finished.

Great Northern Beans: We started picking and shelling about two weeks ago, and continue to pick every 2-3 days. I think we will end up with about 15 pounds of dry beans, which is great.

Yes, that is our Monster Sunflower overlooking the beans!

Pumpkins: The vines are EVERYWHERE, and I know there are some pumpkins; the surprise will come this fall when they turn orange and we can see them.

Potatoes: We dug everything yesterday and got three pretty full milk crates. There are some slug issues, but still the best harvest we have had in several years. We laid them on loosened soil and put straw over them, so there wasn’t a lot of digging necessary. DH took the vines to the yard waste recycling bin this afternoon, and the robins have been busy all day.

Onions: These are still in the ground, and not looking that great, but they are still growing, so we are calling that a win!

SAL Update – August 24

Happy Dance Time!

I finished my first pillow cover. The trip to Montana provided LOTS of stitching time, both while on the road and while visiting. While this is just #1 of 4, I have already started a new project, which will be a thank you gift for my neighbor, who fed our chickens while we were away.

Here’s my finished cross stitch:

I have already selected fabrics from my stash for the borders, so I may go ahead and get that finished before starting the next one.

Here’s the thank you project so far:

I hope you’ll join me in checking out all the other members of our group at the links below.

Avis, Claire, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, Cathie, Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy, Helen