Day: April 27, 2018

Turkey Tracks: “Sweet Dreams” Quilt

Turkey Tracks:  April 27, 2018

“Sweet Dreams” Quilt

Today is my youngest grandchild’s third birthday.  “Sweet Dreams” went into the mail to her and has been received.

The blocks are Tula Pink’s 100 Modern Quilt blocks, from her book of the same name.  This quilt was a challenge made to Coastal Quilters (Maine).  We did eight blocks a month until we were done.  Many of us have completed the project and some are almost done.  All of the quilts are gorgeous!

I used the “city scape” setting suggested by Tula Pink and put the lighter blocks on the top of the skyscrapers, per a suggestion by CQ President Sharon Flanagan.

And the blocks, grey sashing, backing, and binding are all Cotton+Steel fabrics.

I really love how my quilting came out.

Look at this fabulous backing fabric.  Could it be more perfect?  No.

Here are some of the blocks.

I love this quilt.  I didn’t really expect to love it as much as I do.  It’s one that caught me by surprise.  I’m really pleased with it.

Turkey Tracks: April 2018 on the Homefront

Turkey Tracks:  April 27, 2018

April 2018 on the Homefront

The snow is almost gone from the Snowball slopes–where we have local skiing.  I stopped to take this picture because I love it when wispy clouds cover the top of the mountain, allowing glimpses here and there as they swirl and drift.  My world is greening up now, especially after two days of much needed rain.

I planted pansies this week.  Usually these barrels get planted much later in the spring, but they had to be moved from their winter spot due to the garage drainage project.  I love pansies, so having them planted where I see them every day is a real treat.  I’ll plant them every spring now.

The droopy plant below has recovered after two days of rain.

Dinner the other night was some scallops I found frozen at the Belfast Coop the other day.  The scallop season up here is very short and starts in December.  It’s amazing to think they are mostly collected by DIVERS who brave the cold Maine bay waters that time of year.  I made sweet potato fries to go with and sautéed some baby boy chow–a favorite vegetable of mine.  I just flash cook scallops in a good fat, or a mixture of good fats, so that they caramelize.  They are amazing with sweet potatoes.

This sweet potato is one of the white Japanese ones.  Peel, cut into fry sizes, put into an oven pan lined with parchment paper (please, please, please DO NOT use aluminum foil for any cooking), add dried herbs, minced garlic and ginger (you don’t have to peel the ginger, just chop it fine), drizzle with olive oil and toss everything around.  I used the convection oven feature to cook these at about 350 degrees.  Otherwise, use a slightly higher heat and check that you are not burning the bottom of the pieces.  Turn them over if they are getting brown.  I don’t know.  It takes about 30 minutes, depending on heat temps.  This sweet potato variety is dead sweet.

Books: Recent Books I Liked

Books:  April 27, 2018

Recent Books I Liked

I’m currently reading William Kent Kreuger’s mystery series (Cork Corcoran) mostly set in the “Boundary Waters” area up on the Canadian border.  Kreuger, from the beginning of this series, has won numerous writing awards for this series.  AND, for at least one stand-alone novel.  I like the strong emphasis on the powerful, spiritual connection that is possible between humans and nature, how wrong the human condition can go for some people, and what is truly important in life.

I have fallen into a pattern of reading. EVERYTHING by an author I like for some years now.  Among these are the series by Elizabeth Ogilvie (Maine coastal people), Laurie R. King (Mary Russel/Sherlock Holmes), and now Kreuger.

I do the same thing, apparently, with the downloads I get from the Maine Library system.  There is something magical about having a book read to you while you work with your hands.  My tastes are eclectic, for sure, and include multiple books by Louise Penny, Julia Spencer-Fleming, Lee Child, Paul Doiron, Karen White, Lisa Gardner, and Sandra Brown.  Those authors with series really need to be read in order.

Recent books I really enjoyed from the Maine download system follow:

A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS by R. J. Ellory.  This author is British, but captures the speech and thought of rural Georgia for decades, starting back after WWI, as the main character grows up to identify and confront a long-time serial killer.  My mother’s family is from rural Georgia, and I did a lot of growing up in her home town, Reynolds, Georgia.  The prose and deep understanding of the human condition in this novel captivated me.  I look forward to reading more of Ellory’s work, which I will have to do as this is the only Ellory novel on the Maine system at the moment.

THE SISTERS by Nancy Jensen.  This novel, I think, is a first novel.  It spans decades.  At times it is slow, but, again, I really liked the development of the characters.  A misunderstanding at the beginning of the novel sends characters along life tracks that develop down through several generations.  I like long novels like this one, so enjoyed it.  Sometimes we don’t really know how our life decisions will work out as they play out over many, many years.

MEET ME AT THE CUPCAKE CAFE, Jenny Colgin, is light as a feather and very predictable.  BUT, she includes MANY descriptions of baking goodies along with real cupcake recipes that make your mouth water.  Will get the hard copy of this one and will give to someone in my family who still bakes.

I am currently listening to THE FOLDED EARTH by the wonderful Anuradha Roy.  I love her work.  The NY Times said this novel is “quietly mesmerizing,” which I think is true.  I am enjoying the beautiful prose and the quiet understanding of the complexity of the human condition that is slowly emerging.  We are, truly, a strange and, at times, wonderful, species.