~ October ~

Good morning, friends.

Welcome October, one of the year's finest months.

''October, tuck tiny candy bars in my pockets and carve my smile into a thousand pumpkins.... Merry October! ''

                        ~Rainbow Rowell (b.1973), Attachments, 2011

"October inherits summer's hand-me-downs: the last of the ironweed, its purple silken tatters turning brown, and the tiny starry white asters tumbling untidily on the ground like children rolling with laughter; stiff, drying black-eyed Susans whose dark eyes gleamed from July's roadsides; coneflowers with deep yellow petals surrounding brown pincushion centers from which bumblebees still are sipping honey.  The assignment of yellow is taken up now by thin-leafed wild sunflowers and artichokes."
-   Rachel Peden

"Well, it's a marvelous night for a Moondance
'Neath the cover of October skies
And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow

-  Van Morrison, Moondance

love

lizzy

gone to the beach......

sanderlings

gulls

sanderlings

Black skimmers, quite rare/ endangered
the grey ones are the babies

Let's Try This Again ~ Cooking, Quilting

Hello! One of my favorite sayings from an old sampler [supposedly] is "I DONE MY BEST jane smith aged 11 years". It makes me laugh, in  sympathy for the child of long ago. I know just how she felt, the urge to just say, this is good enough.
The crucial question is, did I really do my best or am I just getting by?  I know nothing can be perfect, but some things are worth trying again. And again. As Tom Gunn says, Make it work! [My other fave saying.]
So first we have the Log Cabin / Schoolhouse block from When the Wild Geese Fly.
Version One. Awful. I blamed poor Jan Patek's pattern.

Version Two. I drafted my own pattern. Okay, harder than it looks. And really ugly, below. In our defense I will say this quilt block is usually pieced, and I have done so with no issues. Even made a miniature one once with 2" blocks. But this applique version is not good.

My friend Mel said something about how she never liked that block anyway. Which I don't agree with, I love it!---but that made me think : Yes I want a cabin/ cottage/ house in that spot; No, it need not be an [ugly] Schoolhouse.
This is Version Three. It's, well, okay. A Cape Cod cottage, maybe on the marsh where the geese are huddled, preparing for their autumn flight.

Geese here migrate to the golf course and the soccer fields. But the big Vs of honking geese are beautiful and evocative and wild, in my imagination.
Does it work? Maybe

.........

Now with cooking, do-overs are easier and more fun. You'll maybe recall my bland and boring cauliflower ''pilaf'' from a few weeks ago. It was edible, but disappointing. Not a hint of rice's nutty goodness and why I expected that is a mystery. Cauliflower tastes like, uh, cauliflower. This didn't stop me from buying another bag of the grated cauli and---again listening to Mel---I made her delicious version of faux twice baked cauli.

Here is her description, edited a little,because she kept adding info:

 Mel's Twice Baked Cauli Casserole

It's like twice-baked potatoes. 

Cook cauliflower lightly and break up. 

Mix in melted butter, sour cream, some green onion, bacon bits, and shredded cheddar. 

Mix well, and put in baking dish. 

Top with a bit of cheese and bake (or microwave) until hot through and cheese is melted.

    ****

I used the pre-grated cauli  crumbles  microwaved in the bag 3 minutes.

Added cheddar [reserve some for topping] , green onions*, sour cream, butter. Salt and pepper to taste.
* I didn't have green onions, used regular minced. But I think green onions / scallions would be extra tasty plus adding a bit of pretty green.

Don't forget the bacon bits!

I  baked the casserole for 20 minutes at 350*, then added some reserved cheddar . Baked it 3 minutes more til the cheese melted.

This was delicious! We gobbled up the whole thing. I served it with a green salad and lemon/ thyme grilled chicken breasts, though I personally don't eat chicken and the cauli casserole and salad was a delightfully hot savory and filling, though not lo-cal, meal. Easy to make too.
I picture this being really wonderful with steaks, too, just like regular twice baked potatoes are. Yum!
.................
Sky note: the air is suddenly chilly now, the wind is blustery at times. And sunsets are coming ever earlier these on these October days. Too early but so beautiful---an amber orange glow fills the cloudless sky.

Have a great week!

love

lizzy

gone to the beach......

September Quilt Blocks

Hi! The days are getting shorter, as September draws to a close. I'm not fond of winter's darkness, I don't find it cozy---just, well, dark. Mo and I continue to enjoy our afternoons of sewing on the deck. I just have to get out there earlier!

And despite the shorter days, the deck is hot, sunny, and beautiful every afternoon.

Mo is not going to pleased when his afternoon sunbath on the deck ends in a couple of months!

Here are the Houses from When the Wild Geese Fly.

 I love the Mill building, just like the old mills still standing in New Bedford and Providence.

This is the Saltbox house, a typical Connecticut and Massachusetts style.

And a Schoolhouse:

I know the style is ''primitive'' here, but the classic Schoolhouse's shape is less than wonderful. Maybe try again? Draft my own pattern?

I didn't help things by insisting on using an orange gingham shirt back that had princess seams! It doesn't lay as flat as I'd hoped. [I know~ I always say I'll redo as needed at the end of the project, then by that time I'm so finished and tired of the project I just say Make it work, and move on. So, I guess we'll see!]
I have quite a bit of the string-pieced blue plaid fabric left over. I'm thinking Baskets with cheddar handles, maybe?

I completed this Ohio Sampler block.

The Oak leaves were challenging! Those tight inner curves are tough.

I've also been pushing myself to catch up/ continue with ongoing projects that need machine sewing. These are the undone Westering Women Blocks. Again I'm not too thrilled with my work.
This is called Chimney Rock. The plaid pointy squares are supposed to represent the large rock formation. Apparently on the flat prairie there were a few outstanding landmarks, high rocks at the travellers could see for miles.

I again drafted my own pattern and instructions. My points are pretty good but as I squeezed out the squares from my antique Prussian blue and madder brown wool challis scrap, I was not able to keep the pieces exactly on grain, and oh boy does it ever show!

And I used this special to me but anachronistic Union print for the center. My story/ excuse was that in 1853 as the rumblings of discord and discontent began, maybe my pioneer family was headed west, hoping for a free and peaceful life .
And this block is Courthouse Rock, another landmark on the prairie that the wagon trains aimed for as they headed west. It must have looked so strange to these people. The flat endless rolling grass of the prairie, and then far far away a hundreds of feet high natural monument or outcropping, looming in the distance. [For all I know it looks odd still today, I've never been to Nebraska!]

These set-in seams, below, are called Y seams and Brackman actually showed one of my blocks, another with Y seams, on her blog! I was thrilled. Y seams don't really bother me, maybe because my sewing background is in clothing? It's the 1/4" seams and exact 90* corners that are hard for me.

edit: Oh much better! Patience is important in sewing! Though as Mel points out in her comment, he values aren't well chosen, so the rocks don't stand out. Oh well..

I m feeling somewhat hassled by quilt-y To Dos as I begin machine sewing again. I usually only machine sew in the winter and spring, but I am so behind!  That, to me, means I have too many projects going. I'm a stickler for keeping up and especially for finishing my work.
Those issues did not stop me from recently buying these two new to me Jan Patek patterns! The goal with these, tho I won't begin them soon, is to improve my accuracy in piecing. Look at all those pointy points! And both look like quilts I might actually be able to use in my house.

.....
We had one cool weekend, then the other night these black clouds rolled in. They have brought not rain but warmer muggier weather. But the clouds were all dark drama, no thunder wind or rain!

Have a good week! Quilty 365 Dotties here on Friday!

love 

lizzy

gone to the beach...

PS look close, below/// click to enlarge. Many migrating brds fill my sky each morning. These are maybe small hawks of some sort; they migrate early

To read more about the Westering Women blocks, and the rock formations represented here:

Courthouse Rock

Chimney Rock

Summer's Last Hurrah

Good evening! Just now the sky and ocean and beach put on a lovely show for us, for the last sunset of Summer 2016. I am waxing nostalgic for  a summer that really never was, for me...and ignoring the two more hot months to come.

Instead I enjoyed the moment. What a gorgeous, soft summery sky it was.
“Sunset is still my favorite color, and rainbow is second.'' [unattributed quote]

Besides my pt sessions I am taking a short walk every day. I try to go out with Mo and his walker to start.

Of course then they go on and I slowly return home.

Mo and I did look for some signs of Fall. Just one bright yellow leaf, on the very green grass.

Seed heads on the ornamental grasses.

A new and somewhay ugly fountain in a public space. [Seems to me it should be set into the ground with banks of flowers around it.]

When I'm not home for Mo's afternoon walk, I've been walking towards the beach. My goal is to be able to go to the October fleas.

It's very dry this year.

But Monday's thunderburst coaxed the beach roses into bloom.

Rose hips are more likely in September---bright green like tiny Granny Smith apples.

In the dunes are large flocks of odd carrier pigeons. hey find something there to feed on, and leave many tiny tracks in the soft white sand. Autumn migrations have begun.

Goodbye, sweet Summer. Welcome, Autumn!



love

lizzy

gone to the beach.....