Month: July 2023

The Dwarf Mexican Petunias Arrived

I was outside most of yesterday—the DWARF Mexican Petunia plants came, and I had to dig TWENTY holes, amend them, plant them, and water them.  I know you know that with the clay here, digging and amending involved the shovel, the Maddox, two bags of sand, 1 1/2 bags of compost/manure, bone meal, my heavy boots (to support my formerly sprained ankle which does get sore with the hard digging), the hose, yada, yada…. Each plant is healthy, but tiny, but I basically had to dig a trench down the front of the front bed to get the holes deep enough to amend them properly.  Then I had to put back the pine straw and fussy it back around the plants.  They look perky this morning.  

I think the front azaleas are struggling with the heat. They are, again, a pale color. I don’t want to fertilize them in this heat, but will spend more time watering them I think. The ones on the side of the house are a rich green color.

While the hose was out I spot watered the now dry patches in the grass and all the shrubs.  And went on to do the far side of the house and then went around back to water as well.  I kind of like the Zen of these watering moments—and walking neighbors stop to visit.

I started outside in the fairly early morning—having discovered while having my morning coffee that the plants had been on my doorstep since yesterday afternoon late.  I took them to the hose and soaked them.  They were beautifully packed for shipping.  It was HOT, so after an hour of digging, I was totally soaked with sweat and feeling the heat.  Likely temps had reached 90+.  The sun is on that front bed until mid-afternoon—so I went inside and showered to cool off.  I went back when the sun was on the back of the house so the front was shady.  There was still hard work to do, but there was shade and a strong breeze.  Coastal rain clouds raced by, but none stopped to give us some much-needed rain. 

A friend sent me a post this morning that described a huge solar spot/flare on the sun right now. Very huge–bigger than Earth. Apparently sun flares can impact our weather in negative and unpredictable ways.

I have not sewed upstairs for two days now, what with one thing and another. BUT, the third border is now on “the quilt from hell,” and the darker border is making that quilt sing. One more side to go.

Emergency Lanterns/Flashlights

We lost power in the last bad early evening thunderstorm the other day.

Losing power in Maine happened all the time. I had a very effective and big generator there which came on automatically. The Maine house ran on propane, so it was fairly easy to add a generator to that system. I’m not sure how easy or necessary a generator would be here. Generators are also noisy. And the houses are close together. The electrical grid here is much better than Maine. This is the first time in this house that I have lost power–for about an hour. The outage covered a pretty big area apparently.

But, we have hurricanes here. And that season is coming.

When the power came back, the refrigerator power didn’t. Fortunately I found that it hadn’t and checked the fuse box. Yes, the outage had triggered the refrigerator electrical switch. Whew! I had just stocked up on freezer items, like meat. One neighbor had to reset her dryer at the electrical box.

So, a learning curve there. More importantly, I realized I was NOT prepared for power outages. My flashlights were old and not very powerful. I found candles, but didn’t have matches. (Movers won’t move matches.) Eventually I found a hand-held pistol type lighter that I must have bought early on here–like you’d use to light a stove top or a bbq grill. Or, a candle.

Later, a neighbor told me about emergency lanterns that pack a real punch. I ordered three and the two smaller ones have come. Upright this little guy becomes a lantern. Sideways, it can be a flashlight or can run a ring of red emergency lights. The bottom has magnets if you want to put it on something metal.

Here it is opened as a lantern. Yes, it throws a powerful light that is much better than a candle. And it is safer than a candle.

Here’s the top, with the flashlight portal.

This one can run on a rechargeable battery or with regular batteries. It comes with a cable that can recharge it or can be used to charge something like a phone.

The big one I’ve ordered can run for 150 hours on medium settings and a combo of the rechargeable battery and regular batteries. All three units can run as long as you replace batteries as needed.

I charged both of these two smaller units. And I went shopping for back-up batteries yesterday. I also bought a new flashlight and junked the old one that wasn’t working well. And I got a back-up hand-held pistol type lighter. The local grocery store does not sell matches. But I’m good with the pistol lighter.

I really like these emergency or camping lanterns. Fully charged, they can run until the rechargeable battery gives out. Then they can run on batteries. As I’m on the mainland, in a hurricane, I may get family from Isle of Palms here, so I want to be ready.

Rice Salad and Quilty Update

I was so hungry for rice the other day, and I had a package bought locally of a mix of rices. Organic, but not sprouted. I cooked the whole package and froze meal-size containers for later.

I control grains–though you would not know that with the amount of fresh corn I’ve been eating. All I have to do is walk past a rice package to put on weight. I just don’t handle rice carbs well it seems. But, of course, I love it.

I had roasted chicken on hand to use, so made this salad. I also love the tiny petite green peas and had some I had cooked on hand. Yes, another carb. I can’t do beans (which I also love) with the histamine intolerance, but peas are ok. The fresh herbs from the garden really increase flavor in a salad like this one. Ditto the really good Koroneiki olive oil.

I couldn’t find organic sprouted rice locally–not at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s or the local grocery store (Harris Teeter). So I ordered some from Amazon.

I had to put the 5th set (of 6) of mystery quilt blocks on the rug upstairs as the half-square triangle quilt has gobbled up all the design wall real estate. These blocks were fun to make.

Here’s the big gal. “Bonanza”? maybe. The top border is mostly pinned–and I have only sewn three of the blocks on the left of the border together. I stopped to make more and more and more needed half-square triangles for the rest of the border.

I have no idea about a backing or binding yet. And that’s ok.

I’m sewing on the 3rd border for “the quilt from hell.” Yeah! And I laid out the last border parts to make sure the colors were ok for where each piece would go–in terms of where they would fit in with the quilt itself.

My coffee is gone now, so I’m off to run errands before it gets too hot. And today I’ll sew! Yesterday was too busy, which is rare for me.

The Mystery Plant And A Garden Update

I finally figured out what this plant is. I found a place to park the car near the nearby traffic rotary where it lives, walked over, and got some good pics. I was surprised to see that the plant also comes in white and a pale pink.

It’s a Dwarf Ruellia, or Mexican Petunia, which is not a petunia. The parent plant grows 3 feet tall and is very invasive. But the dwarf will spread, but is more easily controlled. And it is so darn cute. It is a perennial.

This dwarf plant will do sun or shade, and it can manage some cold winters. They will die back in cold weather, like a lot of perennials, and emerge in the spring.

Katie’s Dwarf Ruellia

I ordered 20 plants in the violet color, and they are now on the way here. I’m going to put them in the front bed, where they will make a nice border line and will be backed by the taller azaleas (white) that bloom in the early spring. I have the sand, compost, and fertilizer all ready for them.

Look at this fancy Cone Flower! I’ve never seen anything like it and couldn’t resist bringing it home when I started planting this bed. It’s thriving, and I hope it will come back next year. Sometimes fancy cone flowers are more fragile in terms of winter.

The Limelight hydrangea is covered with blooms. This plant will get much bigger and will fill the space around it. The blooms will turn rust red in the fall. And the viburnum to the left has flower heads and has doubled in size with new growth.

Lantana thrives here–and I found one I really like. There are perennial and annual forms of Lantana. This one is perennial. I cut it back regularly as it can get very rangy–and I do like to bring the cut pieces inside. The flowers last quite a while in a vase.

The Russian sage is happy. Time will tell about the daisy and the clay soil. But it has had two bloom flushes this year. I just deadheaded it again yesterday.

The vitex is also happy. This one can get big too, so I’ll trim it carefully to encourage sideways growth. I don’t want it to be a tree, but will let it be a tall shrub.

The dwarf Butterfly Bush is happy. I didn’t realize it was a dwarf when I bought it. If it doesn’t survive the winter, I’ll replace it with a standard size. The blooms are so pretty, but these blooms don’t last long in the house anyway. So I suppose it does not matter about the dwarf size that has no long stems involved.

I have three of the azalea/rhododendron hybrids that will bloom all summer and into the fall: this white one and two red/orange ones (different colors) scattered among other plants in this long bed. And they are all starting to bloom now. My back door neighbor has a long row of these plants down the size of her house, and they are starting to bloom too. Hers are a kind of deep rosy pink. What a find!

Here’s a long view of part of this bed–which is filled with blooming plants to encourage and support pollinators in this new neighborhood. And, yes, the roses continue to thrive and bring joy. I cut back the spikes they were sending up, and now they are branching out to the sides and are about to bloom in earnest again.

The grass is also thriving now and all the care and amendments are working. Whew! It is now covering remaining bare spots and is sending up seed stems every week. This grass is a real water hog though, so I keep an eye on the dryness. We’ve gotten good rain recently so I have not had to water. It is sitting on clay soil which turns to cement without water.

Walking on it is like walking on a deep, thick rug. And the apple green color is so pretty.

The Crepe Myrtles Are Blooming

And I want one.

They come in white and various shades of pink, from dark to light.

I stopped to take this picture over on Isle of Palms.

And this pic is from Isle of Palms, too. But crepe myrtles are everywhere here and range in size from big trees to shrubs–size depends on how one prunes them. I have seen them cut off in a straight line about 10-15 feet up in the fall, and in the spring they form a new, compact top.

Crepe Myrtles bloom for most of the summer and into the fall here in South Carolina.

The tree planted out front by the builder is a Willow Oak. It’s doing well, but eventually it will get really tall and big. While it is very hardy here, I think it is likely too big for the scale of my neighborhood and house.

So, I’m exploring replacing it with a Crepe Myrtle, where the scale of the tree would be much better.

Look down by the stop sign beyond the tree. That cute little fire plug was recently installed in my neighbor’s yard. My heart fluttered when I saw it as in Maine, my house was rural and there was no city water. I had a well. The only water I might be able to count on with a house fire would have come from the pumper fire truck–assuming it could even get up my challenging, curving driveway.

On the way home from Isle of Palms last Friday, I could see a full blown house fire on Goat Island, a small island sitting between IOP and the mainland. Access to Goat Island is only by boat, and of course there is no fire engine. Flames rose into the sky, along with plumes of black smoke. SMALL emergency boats with flashing red lights were racing up the channel toward the house. It burned to the ground, of course.

https://www.counton2.com/news/local-news/crews-responding-to-house-fire-on-goat-island/amp/

There are several pics in the above link. And here’s a pic from my granddaughter.

Yep. I love that little red fire hydrant.

A Quilty Catch-Up

I’ve been sewing every day. It’s great to have that work in the 90+ degree days we have been having.

Of course I have been sewing every day. “I sew” should be on my car’s license plate!

Here are the “Summer Camp” mystery blocks from last week, and I’m working on the 5th set of blocks now. (Next week is the 6th and final set and the reveal.) The bottom blocks, with their contrasting little “windows” nearly did me in. Every piece of that block had to be spot-on perfect for the block to measure out at 5.5 inches. Every piece, from cutting to sewing. That requirement is harder when you are working with a thicker solid cotton–which I am with mostly all Kona cotton. But…I persevered, though it wasn’t fun. And the green block with yellow “windows” is not perfect. I may redo it…later. It measures ok; it’s just a bit “wonkier” than I like. (Yes, I’m a perfectionist.)

With thicker fabrics, one must find the magic place where a skinnier seam accounts for the fold of the seam when pressed. Remember–it is NOT the making of a perfect 1/4 inch seam that makes a unit perfect, because a perfect 1/4 seam might not create perfection. You always want to sew, then measure your unit to see if you’ve hit the magic seam spot.

The Modern Quilt Studio “Summer Camp” designers are using a much thinner cotton (Bernartex Superior Solids) and are pressing their seams open–which makes a block like this difficult one easier. For sure. But each piece in the block still needs to be absolutely straight and perfect, or it will throw the rest of the block off. And let me just say that these folks make gorgeous quilts! I am so happy to find this web site. And I’m so enjoying making this mystery quilt.

But, I make, for the most part, functional quilts, so I don’t want to be pressing seams open if I can avoid it–as they weaken a quilt. My quilts get used and washed and dried. Or, I hope they do. And I have a lot of Kona solid cottons after four years taking the online “The Color Collective” class with Tara Faughnan, so I want to use what I already have on hand. And, in general, I’m not a fan of these thinner quilting fabrics. But, that’s just me.

Here’s a sneak peek at the corner where two sides of the border in “the quilt from hell” meet. I’m working on sewing together the third border side now. This darker border is so perfect for this quilt. But like everything else with this quilt, I’m sewing around the circles to install the border, which is…hard. But, I can see the end. And I have a backing fabric (a Ruby Star Society blender fabric) and a thinner batting in case I want to hand quilt it.

The Traverse quilt is all basted and ready for me to hand quilt it, which I will do when “the quilt from hell” border is done and installed.

And oh my gosh!! This half-square triangle quilt continues to be so, so much fun. I need to make A LOT more half-square triangles to complete the border, which is gobbling up the solid fabric stash. This quilt has grabbed most of the design wall now. The center and outer border (that’s a midnight blue/purple color) are all sewn together now. The outer border is just pinned to the design wall. The quilt will be just under 80-inches square when finished.

The big red blocks are pushed to the side now. That’s ok. They will come before any other project. Yes, even the mystery quilt blocks after the reveal.

So, you see that I have, as usual, LOTS of fun projects happening. Five, to be exact: Traverse, the quilt from hell, big red, half-square triangles, and the mystery quilt. And, there are other projects stored and waiting for me. But I’m making a dent in those too. Big red is one of those stored projects.

Roasted Summer Squash and Chicken Soup

Hello Blog Readers!

I’ve not posted recently, but I’ve been busy and happy over the July 4th period of time.

Recently, I made this roasted summer squash soup. I had bought a package of organic yellow summer squash and green zucchini at the local grocery store. And I hadn’t done anything with it, and it needed to be used. So, I roasted all of it in the oven–cut in rounds, sprinkled with herbs, salt, and good olive oil. I had some for one meal with a grilled steak.

But…

What to do next? There was a lot of it to eat in a few days.

I put all of it in a pot, covered it with water, brought it all to a hot stage, and “boat-motored” it.

Here’s my “boat-motor,” which I truly love. I like that it plugs in so there are no battery issues.

I sautéed the usual suspects (carrots, onion, garlic, celery, half of a red pepper I had on hand), and added the chicken. Of course I used duck fat as my sauté fat.

Isn’t this half of a red pepper pretty? When I cook, as you know from reading my blog, I like to use what I have on hand. I think of these things as “assets.”

I also had some fresh corn I had taken off the cob. When they have multiple fresh corn for sale, like 6 for X dollars, I buy the 6, cook them all, and remove the kernels from the extra cobs.

I also had some collards that needed to be used. I had wanted to blanch them, stem them, and have them as wraps for a chicken salad I had made, but that didn’t happen.

I washed and stemmed the leaves and rolled the leaves together and cut them.

Then I cut those rolls in the other direction and put them into the pot on the stove.

I like this brand of chicken. I was able to get it in Maine too. I was only able to get these boned and skinned breasts on July 4th weekend, so I made do with it. I had wanted thighs which have more flavor. To me, today’s chicken breasts taste like sawdust. They are tasteless.

Here’s everything together now–and I had some frozen/defrosted broth from cooking the chicken for the chicken salad I recently made. So I added that to the pot. I had cooked that broth down a bit for storage so it was strong.

Americans no longer eat nose to tail any more. Instead we buy muscle meats. And we are missing all the glycine we would get from animal ligaments that are not present in lean muscle meat. When I make a soup, I add one scoop of gelatin powder to it. First you put the soup in a short glass (or something like that), add some liquid (I used milk this time). In a bit the gelatin reconstitutes, so I add some of the hot broth to it–BEFORE ADDING IT TO THE SOUP.

The last thing I added was the squash puree.

And here you have it–a gorgeous soup that is FILLED with awesome tastes. There were so many flavors to enjoy–to which the fresh herbs added on top added. I buy dill, but I have basil, Italian parsley, thyme, mint, and oregano planted here. (I didn’t add the garden sage, lavender, rosemary, or chives for this soup.) Go slow with fresh oregano as it is a very strong herb.

And about that practice of having fresh corn on hand. Here’s a salad I made using some of the leftover grilled steak and corn prior to making the soup.

All of this food was so yummy. I don’t mind spending some time cooking as I have food for future meals, which gives me more time to do other things AND the enjoyment of beautiful, tasty food.

Happy July 4th

And it will be a scorcher of a day here

I am reminding myself that the other 10 months of the year are delightful in comparison to July and August. The humidity is definitely a factor in the heat.

But everyone copes–we stay inside in the heat of the day for the most part. Or at least I do. And in the early evenings, everyone emerges and there are neighbor visits to enjoy while watering or checking the mailbox. My AC is mostly keeping up, though yesterday upstairs, the heat overran the AC system for a bit of time. The downstairs remains cool.

I’m quite happy grilling outside (which keeps the kitchen cool and clean) and puttering away at household chores and my quilty projects. So being inside is fine. I miss my porch at noon though. Yet, granddaughter Mina suggested we sit out there for our Friday night meal, and that was lovely.

At night I’m sewing on the second border row of the quilt from hell.

The papers are out except for the edges where I still need them in order to sew on the borders. Maybe this close-up will show you how tricky it is to sew these curves.

I can FEEL the end of this quilt top being finished–and the rest of the quilting process (layering, quilting) will be a joy in comparison to making this top. I’ll set up the third border pieces later today.

I’m off to run some errands before it gets too hot. And my morning coffee is finished now, so it is time to mosey along.

I’m looking forward to finishing the 4th set of the mystery blocks today–then it will be back to the half-square triangle quilt I’m so enjoying watching take form.

July, Here We Come!

I’m working on the 4th set of blocks for the Modern Quilt Studio “Summer Camp” mystery quilt. Per the weekly video suggestion, I pulled a random sample of some of my blocks and put them on my “field” (background) fabric to see if my color palette is working to my satisfaction. I was worried about the dark magenta, but it’s fine. Whew!

I have found the videos really helpful, though I am good with color and have been quilting steadily almost 25 years now. And, sewing, in general, long before what I think of as my “serious” date where my serious quilting started. The video on selecting one’s palette stressed NOT to go darker in the palette than the field background fabric and to include some fabrics in each color family that are lighter than the medium fabrics chosen. I’m glad I included those lighter fabrics.

To remind, here’s my palette for this quilt:

Here’s something different than Maine that I have encountered here. Bins of fresh, local corn (and no, sadly it is NOT organic) have a table and trash can where one can strip off the husks before leaving the store. We all know how very messy this job is at home…

My Wyoming niece sent me this picture of her daughter’s quilt from me–which was held and gifted to her on her birthday a few weeks ago. Word is that she loves it. I named it “Wyoming Mountain Crossings,” and there is a blog entry on it.

My younger son’s family has now returned from an exploratory hiking trip to Tennessee–as I am no longer in Maine. They had a terrific time and will go back next summer most likely. There were lots of waterfalls on creeks that had deep pools that encouraged swimming–and crawdads to capture and inspect. There were also lots of caves and caverns that intrigued them. One day’s hike was 11 miles to and from a summit with an awesome view. Even the 8-year old did not get too tired. They are so active, this family.

My older son’s family is gathering for “Sunday Night Dinner” tonight, so I will go over late afternoon. Hopefully the traffic out to the island will be less intense by about 5 pm. It was last Sunday. Grandson Kelly made it home from Old Miss after getting stranded in Memphis overnight Friday.

Granddaughter Mina (16 this fall) spent most of Friday and the night with me. I taught her to make homemade mayo (with fresh herbs from the garden) and how to use it on a chicken salad, which we ate on the back porch, per her suggestion. It’s too hot most days to eat lunch out there.

We need rain!