Archive for July 2016
Turkey Tracks: Windjamming Days on the J&E Riggin
Turkey Tracks: July 24, 2016
Windjamming Days on the J&E Riggin
The house is organized.
The garden has been weeded…mostly…and watered.
My bags are packed.
AND I AM OFF TO THE J&E RIGGIN windjammer later this afternoon for six days of doing nothing but what I absolutely want to do. Hot weather, Jon Finger’s quiet friendship, Annie’s fun conversations and fabulous food, being with their daughters Chloe and Ella, sights to see, a clean wind to feel, the swish of the boat flying through the water, books to read, a book downloaded from the Maine State Library system, sewing to enjoy, naps to take, former travelers to see again, and an abundance of laughter and fun.
Last night, this…
…turned into this…
…as I tried to use up my veggies from Hope’s Edge CSA last Tuesday.
I froze half for the night I come home.
I also processed some kale and washed some sweet peas in the shell to eat with my picnic supper aboard tonight. I weeded heavily this morning–HEAVILY–and treated myself to lunch out and a coffee from Zoots. So I want a lighter supper tonight.
I finished two more quilt-lets in the past week at night:
I made up a few more to do on the boat, but mostly I’ll work on the lavender sachets. I’m now thinking of green ones (balsam), rose ones (rose geranium or roses), and yellow ones (lemon verbena???).
Did you know that if you squeeze a lavender ball when it no longer smells that you will release renewed smell?
Hugs to all of YOU!
Books, Documentaries, Reviews: Elisabeth Ogilvie
Books, Documentaries, Reviews: July 24, 2016
Elisabeth Ogilvie
I’ve heard Elisabeth Ogilvie’s name since I moved to Maine twelve years ago. And saw her books in book stores off and on.
But I’d never read any of her books until this spring.
There are A LOT of her books, but at least seven of them take place on a fictional island, Bennet’s Island, out near Matinicus Island somewhere. And, “Limerock” is certainly Rockland. Camden appears as Camden from time to time.
The first six books comprise two trilogies. I am on the sixth book, and it is going with me to the J&E Riggin later today.
I am a sucker for books set in or about Maine, so I’m not sure everyone would like these books. Ogilvie died in 2006 in nearby Cushing, Maine, shortly after we moved up here, and started publishing in 1944. Her books were very popular back in the day. Today they read a bit old-fashioned, but I bet back then they were a bit racy in ways.
In any case, I am enjoying them a lot. As I have moved through them, I can see that her books get more complicated, have more depth, are better written. The characters are interesting and compelling. And I am loving reading about lobstering and drag seining back in the day on a virtually self-sufficient island.
Ogilvie was born and went to school in Massachusetts, but summered in Maine. As an adult she lived on a 33-acre piece of land on Gay’s Island, and, I think, wintered ashore in Maine. She fostered children.
Another interesting thing to note is that she had a “significant other” woman companion. So, in that, she joins other writers who lived in Maine: Willa Cather, Lura Beam, Sarah Orne Jewett, and Mary Ellen Chase.
This wiki link lists Ogilvie’s books:
Source: Elisabeth Ogilvie – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Turkey Tracks: Lavender Sachets
Turkey Tracks: July 22, 2016
Lavender Sachets
It WORKED!
On faith, I ordered a pound of organic dried lavender flowers, glued up the 1-inch pentagons, and started sewing.
It didn’t take anytime to make the little sphere, no time to stuff it, and a bit more time to sew the final seams–but I assume that part will get faster as I make MORE of them.
I’d also like to make some green ones with dried balsam, which is the quintessential smell of Maine.
AND, it would be fun to find some dried Rose Geranium, but so far no luck on that. I might have to fall back on rose petals stuffed into rose-colored spheres.
The pattern came from ALL POINTS PATCHWORK, see below.
Turkey Tracks: Hope’s Edge: My CSA
Turkey Tracks: July 22, 2016
Hope’s Edge: My CSA
Hope’s Edge CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) is in full swing now.
Going out there each Tuesday is one of the highlights of my week.
Last week, the road was lined with a wildflower in the Valerian family–which is also sometimes called “Wild Heliotrope,” which it is not. It is, however, very fragrant.
I picked two quarts of strawberries that smelled and tasted like sweet perfume. Delicious!
Farmer Tom was haying–and we were meant to have some hot, clear days in a row, so that was a good time to hay.
I look for this bunch of wild flowers on the paved road every year.
I think they are in the “fireweed” family. I’d have to look them up again to be sure.
Turkey Tracks: My Garden in Late July
Turkey Tracks: July 22, 2016
My Garden in Late July
I wish I could bottle the smell of my garden and put it on this blog or Facebook.
The garden is now a mature garden, which means moving some things around each year and filling some “holes,” but mostly it just needs mulch, fertilizer some times, weeding, and watering.
The white Annabelles are just crazy this year.
After mowing in the cool of the late afternoon the other day, I took pics of them and then could not stop.
So here’s my garden in late July:
The far “hedge” is a mixture of raspberries (up front), Rugosa Roses, Bay, and wildflowers.
The veggie garden is struggling this year with the cool weather and more shade as the trees below have filled out even more.
I weeded the rock paths yesterday. Weeds LOVE rocks.
This garden needs weeding and some deadheading.
Work of the gold bug beetle. See an earlier post for a picture of one.
Turkey Tracks: July 2016 Quilty Update
Turkey Tracks: July 19, 2016
July 2016 Quilty Update
The design wall craziness is getting bigger–which means some projects are close to being finished.
I still have not quilted the blue/neutral quilt on the long arm.
Amy Friend’s design–“Tell Me A Story” quilt–is ready to have the block papers removed, the blocks sewn together, and the border attached.
You can find this pattern in Amy’s book INTENTIONAL PIECING.
The block count that four of us are making for a fall “improvisational” quilt that will include blocks from all of us is growing. Here are some of my recent blocks. We are each making four blocks of anything–one to keep and three to give away.
Here’s one of Becca Babb-Brott’s set of blocks. (She has an Etsy store, “Sew Me A Song.”) She made these when we sewed on Monday at her house.
How fun are these!!!
The summer is going by sooooooo fast!!
But I’m SEW HAPPY.
Interesting Information: “I Wouldn’t Feed This Stuff to a Dying Animal” – Terminal Hospice Patient Exposes Truth About Ensure Nutrition Drinks”
Interesting Information: July 18, 2016
Ensure “Nutrition” Drinks
I hope none of you are drinking, or have a family member or friend drinking, Ensure “Nutrition” Drinks.
If so, please take a look at this information.
Here’s a quote from the beginning of the article, and the article includes information from the label of what is in these products:
Carrol Krause, a former reporter for the Herald-Times of Bloomington, Indiana, had to retire from her journalism career because of an ovarian cancer diagnosis in 2014. Before she passed away in February, she wrote a blog titled ‘Stories by Carrol’ highlighting the best and the worst of her last days.
A few months ago she started having digestive issues and could no longer eat normal food. What hospice workers brought her as meal replacements horrified her.
Krause writes: “Hospice had the very best of intentions, [but] the stuff they sent over was not real FOOD. In fact, I’m outraged at the idea that they feed this stuff to dying people.”
What the hospice provided to Krause was a bag full of products by Ensure: pudding, shakes, and a drink that pretends to be apple juice.
All three are full of chemicals with about as much actual nutritional value as most commercial junk food (my emphasis), and these drinks are meant to be the nutritional lifeline for people who are extremely sick.
Ensure is owned by Abbott Nutrition, one of the worst examples of a Big Food corporation masquerading as a healthy alternative you’ll ever see. The company has deep ties to the medical industry and as such you can find their products in just about every hospital today, which is bad news for millions of patients who are just trying to get healthier.
This story is another example of how industry has us all by the throat and is choking the life out of us. For profit.
And this is another example of how mainstream medicine ignores one of the most important chemical reactions we all have every day: the interaction of what we eat with our bodies.
Turkey Tracks: More Quilt-lets
Turkey Tracks: June 2016
More Quiltlets
Here’s what they look like together…
I think I worked out a way to do a “half quilt-let” to fill the gaps top and bottom. You can see it on the upper row.
I’ll add a row to the left. I don’t mind the zig-zags left and right.
I don’t know. This project may be a wall-hanging. Or left narrow and used as a bed or table decoration??? Or, maybe an actual quilt. I’ll know when I’ve finished it.
I’m up to 40+ blocks out of 52. And, making them is addictive.
Turkey Tracks: July’s Farmer’s Wife Blocks
Turkey Tracks: July 18, 2016
July’s Farmer’s Wife Blocks
I’m AHEAD this month!
And it’s a good thing because I’m going on the windjammer J&E Riggin in a few days now for SIX DAYS. This trip is always a highlight of my summers in Maine.
So, here are July’s EIGHT blocks, and I’ve finished 46 now.
Katherine, made in honor of the cute t-shirt Megan Bruns made:
Lady:
Lily:
Lola:
Lucy:
Magnolia:
Malvina
Marcella, who is a wild woman:
Turkey Tracks: Some Vermont Quilt Show Quilts
Turkey Tracks: July 13 , 2016
Some Vermont Quilt Show Quilts
Here are some pictures I came home with after the Vermont Quilt Show.
First: Ruth McDowell, Ruth McDowell, Ruth McDowell…
Sixty-two of her quilts were on display, and they are AWESOME to see in person.
I am a long, long-term fan and took a class with her about 20 years ago.
No pics were allowed, but you can see some of her quilts at her web site:
ruthbmcdowell.com
As I stood there looking at her quilts, I realized that my recent efforts at improvising quilt blocks had a definite Ruth McDowell influence, especially with the use of background fabrics. Mine are kind of squared off, while hers are fluid and have a lot of angles, but… Her work has been–apparently–residing in my head for some years now.
Here’s a “best of show” quilt at the show. I thought it interesting because it was NOT the medallion quilt that is then quilted to death. I kind of got confused about which was THE best of show quilt as there was another one up front, and it was one of the medallion types.
Here’s Timna Tarr. She is coming to Coastal Quilters in October, and we are beyond excited.
I loved this group project from an Art Quilt group. The picture is of Lake Champlain.
This is the kind of quilt that I love best though. Fun, functional, quirky, and just…yummy.
And here is a low-volume beauty.
This quilt show is fun–very easy to get to, nice folks, and lovely quilts.
