Busy Days

Scrappy Nine-Patch Blocks

Sunday night, I couldn't fall asleep until past 6:00 a.m., then, I slept and woke up at 9:00 a.m. feeling wide awake!  I thought I might have a nap in the afternoon, but, I didn't!  I did a load of laundry and dusted the living room and parts of the dining room.  I couldn't dust the dining table because it was full of my fabric scraps!  Once the laundry and dusting was done, however, I was able to relax and spend the whole afternoon sewing!  I sewed all the 3.5 inch squares to make scrappy nine-patch blocks.  I made 24 blocks.  They are not enough for a quilt top, of course, but, I wanted to do some sewing as I was getting tired of just cutting out squares. 

Later in the evening, I cleaned the litter box, took all the trash cans to the curb for pick up in the morning, and watered the garden.  It was 8:00 p.m. by the time I finished watering and it was starting to get dark.  After I came inside, I chatted with friend R, cooked a dhal curry and warmed up a packet of frozen chicken curry to have for dinner, with rice, and zucchini.  Then, video chatted with my daughter.

I felt a little pensive on Monday, because it was one of those days that I call "anniversaries of the heart" - an anniversary of a day that is special to me for various reasons because something happened or I did something which changed the course of my life.  On those days, I tend to ponder, what would have happened if such and such an event didn't take place or if I had made different choices, etc.  Those questions don't have any answers, of course, because the said events did take place or I made the choices I made.  There is no going back from that point in time; there is only going forward.  I know that none of this makes any sense to anyone reading this, but, August is full of those life changing anniversaries of the heart for me - it was in August that I left my country of birth, back in 1973; it was in August that I arrived in the US, in 1974, it was in August that my daughter left home to do her graduate studies in 2014 and I became an "empty nester", it was in August 2015 that I had to have follow-up scans and a more focused mammogram when an earlier routine mammogram detected an abnormality, which led to the biopsy (in September) which confirmed the breast cancer, and resulted in the lumpectomy (in October) and chemo treatments (starting in December) and so on.  

I had no problems falling asleep on Monday night (well, it was Tuesday morning by the time I got to bed).  I brought the trash cans in and checked on Mama Cat in the morning, giving her more fresh water and dry cat food.  I moved the bowl closer to her hiding spot because she was not coming to eat by the front door any more and a possum was eating all her food!  I was wearing a long white skirt when I went outside and I didn't realize it at the time, but, a little unwelcomed guest had hitched a ride on my skirt!  I was seated on the sofa, when I noticed a black speck on my skirt.  I touched it thinking it was a bit of dirt, meaning to brush it off, and the black speck jumped!  Oh, no!  I pulled out the sheets I use on the sofas as dust sheets, did a load of laundry, covered the sofa with other sheets, and sprayed the sofa with flea spray!

In the afternoon, I replied to blog comments, read and commented on a few blogs, and ironed all the patchwork pieces I had sewn on Monday.  I also chatted on the phone with friend A, with Aunt C, and with neighbor T's daughter K who informed me that her mother has completed the number of days she's allowed to be in the convalescent home under Medicare and because she is not yet able to live at home on her own, she will be going to an assisted living facility, as of Wednesday.  K was mostly calling me to inform me that her brother, who lives out of state, will be visiting and staying at the house, just in case I notice his truck parked in the driveway and wondered who was living next door while T is away!  

In the evening, I checked on Mama Cat, again (she had enough water and food and didn't need any more), spent 10 minutes walking up and down the drive way, and brought in the mail.  This time, I checked my skirt before I came inside, brushed off whatever specks I could see, and immediately afterwards, took the skirt off (I was wearing a pair of shorts, under it) and rinsed it off at the bathroom sink and hung it up to drip dry in the bath tub!  M will be returning from his week of vacation on Wednesday and I will ask him to spray for fleas in the front yard, again!  

Later, I chatted with friend R and video chatted with my daughter.

Brunch was a salad (lettuce, carrots, sliced zucchini, part of an apple); dinner was rice, chicken curry, dhal, and zucchini chutney followed by the rest of the apple.  I snacked on some roasted peanuts when I had my cup of tea in the evening

I am grateful for:
- Working appliances
- Electricity to run them
- Flea spray!
- Chats with family and friends
- Having food to eat

My joyful activity was playing with fabric.  

Wednesday's To Do List:

- Have M set up the window a/c unit in my bedroom
- Have M spray the garden with flea spray
- Vacuum

Speaking of fabric, this is a photo of my scrap fabric stash from August 2015:

Scrap Stash August 2015

There's that green basket, again!  Filled to the brim!  And those stacks of small squares in the foreground when to make this quilt:

Nine Patch/Irish Chain Quilt

I wrote about it here.  The finished quilt was gifted to friend A's younger daughter.  The quality of the photo is not good because I used to take photos with my laptop as my old flip phone couldn't take pictures!  

So the question is, am I going to make another Irish chain quilt with my current nine-patch blocks?  We'll have to wait and see, won't we?

Hope you have a lovely day on Wednesday!

Edited to change the date my daughter left home to 2014, not 2914!

August Meal Plans: Week 2 Review and Week 3 Plan

Happiness is...finding that there is another piece of pizza in the freezer!  LOL!  I thought I had another piece in the freezer, but, couldn't find it when I was looking for it, earlier, so, I thought I must have eaten it and forgotten to make a note of it.  Then, today, I found it and had it for my brunch!  LOL.  

Here's what the August Week 2 meal plan was:  

Brunches: Salads ✔, sandwiches ✔, and fruit ✔; I might alternate between corned beef sandwiches and tuna salad sandwiches

Dinners:
- Rice with chicken curry, beetroot, chutney, etc.✔
- Shirataki noodles, stir fried with vegetables and sausage
- Burritos from the freezer ✔
- Spaghetti with pasta sauce (from the freezer) ✔
- Leftovers ✔

Here's how it turned out:

Monday:
Brunch: Salad 
Dinner: Didn't write it down, but, chicken curry and rice, probably

Tuesday:

Brunch: Salad and ice cream cone 
Dinner: Again, didn't write it down, but, I obviously ate something!

Wednesday: 

Brunch: Salad and corned beef sandwich (eaten around tea time) 

Dinner: Chicken curry and tortilla; pancakes and peach sauce for a late night snack

Thursday:
Brunch: Leftover pancakes and chicken curry

Dinner: Spaghetti and ground turkey pasta sauce (from the freezer)

Friday:

Brunch: Fresh fruit salad; corned beef sandwich around tea time
Dinner: Leftover spaghetti and sauce

Saturday:

Brunch: Leftover spaghetti and sauce; leftover fruit salad

Tea: Corned beef sandwich
Dinner: Scrambled egg and toast

Sunday:

Brunch: Burrito (from the freezer)
Dinner: Rice, shrimp curry (from the freezer), zucchini

In between meals, I ate some healthy snacks (fresh fruit, almonds, apple slices with peanut butter) and not so healthy snacks (chocolate wafers, ice cream, faluda, crackers with peanut butter and jam, etc.)

I didn't make the shirataki noodles, but, I followed the rest of the meal plan options and I'm happy with that.

On to August Week 3 Meal Plan!

Brunches: The last slice of frozen pizza (Monday), salads, fruits, chicken curry and tortillas

Dinners: 

Chicken curry, rice, dhal, chutney (Monday)
Shirataki noodles stir fry with sausages

Breakfast for dinner - French toast

Leftovers 

I cooked a fresh pot of rice, on Sunday night, and there's enough leftover rice for at least a couple of meals.  I thawed a package of frozen chicken curry and cooked a pot of dhal on Monday night, and that takes care of meals for at least the next two nights!  

  

How about you?  Did you make a meal plan last week?  If so, did you follow it?  Are you making a meal plan for this week?

Sunny and Warm on Sunday!

Scrap Baskets

Some of you might recognize the green plastic basket on the left!  These two baskets held the majority of my stash of scrap fabric.  These are the smaller leftover pieces of fabric from other sewing projects.  My mother used to roll up all her remnants and tie the rolls with small strips of fabric and that is what I do, too, having learned from her!  At one time, I tried to keep the patterned fabrics in one basket and solids in the other, but, over time, things got mixed up.  

I am now on a mission to reduce this stash of scrap fabric!  To that end, I've been cutting out squares of fabric, in two standard sizes: 3.5 inch square and 3 inch square:

Fabric Squares

The taller stack on the right has the 3.5 inch squares; the shorter stack on the left has the 3 inch squares.

When I cut out the squares (using the rotary cutter, cutting mat, and ruler my daughter gave me as a birthday gift several years ago; prior to that, I would draw around a template with a pencil and cut everything out with a pair of scissors), I cut the bigger size first, then, the smaller squares.  At this time, I'm not cutting anything smaller than that.  Any remaining fabric bigger than an inch square gets stuffed into a gallon sized plastic storage bag, for a potential crumb quilt.  I've given myself permission to toss out any fabric less than an inch square.  A long, long time ago, I made a log cabin quilt using one inch squares and strips of fabric one inch wide.  And this quilt, which I repaired last year, uses 1 inch by 3 inch strips:

Repaired Roman Stripe Quilt

I actually made two such quilts!  The first one I made was given away to someone I used to work with.  This is the second one I made and I still have some extra patches leftover from when I made it, back in 1981!  I'm thinking of incorporating those extra patches in the new quilt I'm planning to make with the squares.

I started sewing some of my 3.5 inch squares together this evening.  For now, I am sewing nine squares together to make a nine-patch.  I still don't quite know how they will all be put together, but, that's to be decided later.  For now, I'm having fun playing with my fabric.

Today was another warm day with a high of 96F.  I exchanged emails with a couple of friends, replied to blog comments, read and commented on a few blogs, learned how to add blogs to my reading list because I am no longer receiving email notifications of new blog posts on those I used to follow by email (thank you, June, for telling me how to do it),  did a load of dishes simply to run the dishwasher (I've been told I need to run it at least once a week or so to keep the hoses flexible; otherwise, they get brittle and can spring leaks), called friend R to chat with her, and video chatted with my daughter.

Brunch, eaten rather late because I wasn't feeling hungry, was a burrito from the freezer, followed by a slice of mango.  I ate some of the spicy snack mix from the Sri Lankan store with my evening cup of tea.  Dinner was rice, shrimp curry from the freezer, and zucchini.  I had some chocolate wafers for dessert.  Still later, a snack of saltine crackers with peanut butter and peach jam; delicious! 

Today, I am grateful for:
- The fabric stash!
- Time to play with fabric
- Working appliances, especially fans, and the electricity to run them
- Cool evenings
- Helpful blogging friends

Today's joyful activity was sewing and playing with fabric

This week has been a very relaxed week, which has been lovely because it's been a bit on the warm side, but, I need to tend to some neglected housework, next week!

Monday's To Do List

- Load of laundry

- Dust living room & dining area

- Clean the fridge

- Take trash cans to the curb for Tuesday trash pick up
- Water the garden, front and back

- Meal plan

How was your weekend?  What have you planned for Monday and next week?

Warm on Saturday

We Just Love Our New Basket

"It's a Purrfect Fit for Me!"

Dancer has been in and out of his new basket, all day long!

Another warm day, today.  We went up to 99F.  It was a bit cooler in the morning, but, I decided not to vacuum.  Instead, after replying to blog comments, etc., I spent a very relaxed day, seated in front of the fan, watching quilting related videos online.  There were quilt exhibitions, a couple of documentaries on quilt making and quilters from Gee's Bend, Alabama, and someone giving a talk about their quilt collection.  One of the quilts that was shown in one of the videos I watched was in a collection in a museum and it was a very unusual quilt because the design on the quilt top was entirely made of buttons!

Later, around 6:30 p.m., I decided to sit outside in the back patio area as it was cooler outside than inside by then, with a little breeze blowing.  I took my laptop with me and started to write an email to a friend.  After a few minutes, I realized the chair was to close to the passionfruit vine because there were at least three wasps flying around the passionfruit vine!  There were no flowers on the vine, so I don't know why they were visiting the vine, but, maybe they were finding aphids or perhaps they were sucking some juice from the leaves?

Anyway, I moved my chair away from the passionfruit vine and continued to write my email.  Then, I noticed the swarm of what looked like mosquitos around my legs!  They hadn't started to bite, yet, but, I wasn't willing to wait!  I picked up my laptop and phone and went indoors!  Any further plans to sit outside in the patio in the early evenings will have to include some mosquito repellent!  Not sure where they are coming from because I don't have any standing water in my back yard - even the cats' water bowl has been emptied since the only garden cat seems to be preferring to be in the front garden.  But, I believe the neighbor behind me has a pond, so maybe they are coming from there?  I think I was outside for less than 30 minutes!  I haven't been stung by mosquitos when I am outside putting water, but, that maybe because I am always moving when I water.  One small mosquito managed to come inside with me and was buzzing around for several minutes while I tried to swat it.  I must have succeeded because it stopped flying around after a few minutes.  

Later in the evening, friend R called and I chatted with her.  Then, I commented on a couple of other blogs.  Still later, I video chatted with my daughter.

Brunch had been the leftover spaghetti and sauce from last night and the last bit of fruit salad.  I had a corned beef sandwich with my tea around 5:30 p.m.  I couldn't decide what to have for dinner, so, I just made a scrambled egg and toast, with a piece of mango for dessert.

Today, I am grateful for:

- Being able to sit outside in the patio for a short time
- I didn't get stung by a wasp or mosquitos!
- Online videos that offer glimpses of things I would not have seen otherwise
- Emails, phone calls, and video chats
- All the friends I've made online through blogs and forums, etc.

Today's joyful activity was watching quilt videos.

No big plans for tomorrow.  It's supposed to be another warm day, with a high of 96F.  I'll probably relax and play with fabric a little more.  

How was your Saturday?  What are your plans for Sunday?

 

 

Friday

Dancer Claims a Basket

I woke up once at 7:00 a.m. on Friday morning, after less than 3 hours of sleep; I turned off the porch lights, fed Dancer, considered getting up, but, decided I needed more sleep and went back to bed!  The second time I woke up, it was almost 11:30 a.m.!  I had had 7 hours of sleep and I figured that was good enough.  By the time I had got dressed, put out food for Mama Cat who was no where to be seen, and fed Dancer for a second time (he acted as if he had not been given his breakfast at 7:00 a.m.), it was noon and half the day was gone!

In the afternoon, I started the car and let it run for about 15 minutes, while I brought out two resin chairs that I had stored in the garage and washed them.  M had stood on the other resin chair that I had out, earlier, when he trimmed the passionfruit vine last Friday and it broke.  I placed the two chairs in the area near the passionfruit vine trellis to be used as patio chairs.  I need to find a small table to use as a patio table (my patio table broke several years ago and I didn't replace it).  

Fruit Salad for Brunch

Afterwards, I made a fresh fruit salad for brunch, using the last banana, half an apple, some mango, the pulp from a passionfruit, and some almonds.  

Then, I spent the rest of the afternoon playing with fabric.  While I did that, I watched some online videos and the evening news.

I had a corned beef sandwich around 5:00 p.m. and drank a cup of tea.  

Later, at 7:00 p.m., after I had finished watching the evening news, I put water to the garden, both front and back.  I saw where Mama Cat was hiding, near the side wall, among the succulents growing there.  She didn't seem hurt and came out to drink some water, but, didn't seem interested in eating.  Oh, well, the bowl of food is there for her if she decides to eat, later.

It was 8:00 p.m. when I finished watering and went inside.  I warmed up some of the leftover spaghetti and sauce for my dinner, chatted with friend R who called, and watched a few more online videos.  Then, video chatted with my daughter and exchanged emails with a friend.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- The car started without any problems!
- Water for the garden
- The handful for ripe chilies I harvested from the garden
- Fans, electricity, working appliances
- Phone calls, emails, blogs, and video chats

Today's joyful activity was playing with fabric!  

Today's high was 96F with 19% humidity.  Now, at almost 2:30 a.m., it is 75F with 50% humidity.  In the meantime, 75F was the high in Berkeley.  

No big plans for tomorrow.  If it is cool enough in the morning when I wake up, I will vacuum the house.  If not, I will relax and maybe do some sewing.

How was your Friday?  What are your plans for the weekend?

Relaxing on Thursday

Bird on the Wires

Not a very good photo of the mockingbird who was watching me when I was out in the garden, yesterday.  My plum tree in the foreground, back neighbor's chinaberry tree in the background.  

It was 98F where I live, today, and I'll admit that it felt hot, today.  In the morning, I gave the vegetable plants and the Asian pear tree another drink of water,  Later, I replied to blog comments and visited a few blogs.  Then, after a brunch of leftover pancakes with leftover chicken curry, I took a nap on the sofa!  

It was still quite warm when I woke up from my nap and, instead of making my usual cup of evening tea, I made myself a refreshing glass of faluda!  Faluda was a treat when I was growing up and I have fond memories of going to a particular restaurant we always used to go to, my mother and I, and ordering a "sherbet" which is what we used to call faluda, back then.  And it would be brought to the table, in tall frosty glasses, filled with ice cubes: a sweet pink colored drink, a mixture of rose syrup and water, with streaks of condensed milk on the inside of the glass and a layer of pre-soaked black kasa kasa (basil; also known as tukmaria) seeds floating on top.  You stirred the drink to mix the contents and the aroma of roses wafted up.  Sometimes, people put little cubes of gelatin into the drink, but, the drinks I remember having from the restaurant didn't have any gelatin in them.  The faluda I made for myself today consisted of rose syrup, iced water, and a spoon or two of condensed milk.  I didn't have any basil seeds to presoak and add to my drink, but, that didn't matter.  It was a tasty treat on a hot day.  My bottle of rose syrup is almost over; I must see if I can get another bottle, soon.

I watched the evening news after my nap, opened the windows to air out the house, and decided to have spaghetti for dinner, with sauce I had made previously and frozen.  There are leftovers for tomorrow, as well.

Aunt C called while I was having dinner to say she loved the card I sent her.  Later, friend R called and we chatted for a bit.  Still later, I video chatted with my daughter.  She had gone into the office today; they are still going in one day a week.  We don't know how the recent changes to the CDC's Covid guidelines will affect that arrangement.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- Afternoon naps

- Water for the garden
- Rose syrup and faluda

- Fans and electricity to run them
- Chats with family and friends

Today's joyful activity was taking an afternoon nap!

Plans for tomorrow include watering the garden, including the newly transplanted ferns in the front, and starting the car!  It occurred to me that I haven't driven the car in a week!  The last time I drove it was last week Friday, when I went to the grocery store to pick up my order!  Actually, that was the last time I left the house and went anywhere!  LOL.  Oh, but don't I lead an exciting life?!  

How was your Thursday?  What are your plans for Friday?

Midweek on Wednesday

Zucchini Plants

Another warm day, today, with a high of 95F outside and 88F inside.  

I decided to switch around my usual weekly cleaning schedule a bit and cleaned the kitchen (usually scheduled for a Thursday) in the morning, before it got too hot - did the dishes, scrubbed the sink, wiped down the stove and counters, swept and mopped the floor, etc.  Afterwards, I replied to blog comments, etc., and watched some online videos.  Later, I watched news and cut more fabric.  

In the evening, I watered the garden, both front and back.  The zucchini plants are really struggling, this year.  I picked the one zucchini that looked big enough to pick and which was still green in color.  This is definitely NOT the summer of zucchini!

Today, I called friend A to check on her, called and wished Aunt C for her birthday, chatted with friend R, and video chatted with my daughter.  Another of her friends is getting married, early next year, and has asked her to be a bridesmaid!  The wedding will be held in Hawaii as that's where her friend lives; my daughter is looking forward to visiting Hawaii.  I told her that I wanted to visit Hawaii, too!  LOL.  

Brunch was a salad and a corned beef sandwich.  Dinner was chicken curry and a tortilla.  I had a pancake with some of my peach jam for a snack, as well as some mango.  There might have been an ice cream cone, too!  LOL!

Today, I am grateful for:
- Water for the garden
- Whatever I am able to harvest from the garden
- Fans and electricity to run them
- A working fridge and freezer
- Phone calls with family and friends

Today's joyful activities included being out in the garden and playing with fabric.

Plans for tomorrow include some housework and relaxing.

How was your Wednesday?  What are your plans for Thursday?