Monday Musings - Aug 10

Today's clock class went well. This group meets at the Salvation Army Worship Center. They have free use of the large room one day a month. It's a great place for sewing with plenty of space. We had 14 folks in the class, and 3 others took the kits home. 

This woman used her embroidery machine to make sewing design,

and drew in the numbers with a marker.

The clocks are made using a 7" square of foam core and a 

12" square painting canvas. Both are covered using quilt squares 

or fabric. 

The foam core is being taped to hold it in position before transporting it home.

She will finish the clock at home. 

Here's one that is finished,

except for installing the clock mechanism.

I think everyone had a good time. 

Three women finished their clocks and the others were well along the way when they chose to leave. Lunch was calling! 

I stopped at ALDI on my way home. I have a few 'go to' items I like to buy there. We both enjoy their Italian & sourdough bread. It is made with only 3 main ingredients. It has a nice flavor and texture. I usually pick up some basic veggies; broccoli, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes. I prefer getting veggies at other shops where I can pick out the zucchini I want, or the corn, and it isn't pre-packaged.

I also really like ALDI chicken salad with cranberries and walnuts. I used to shy away from their meats, but read an article that the meats, although limited in cuts, are some of the best rated. They have some good cheeses. I love their Buratta cheese in caprese salads. Yum! 

But today, I picked up some bottled coffee, a Starbuck coffee knock-off for half the price, asparagus, some yogurt for smoothies, and chicken salad... remember, I said lunch was calling? As soon as I walked in the store my stomach was urging me to the back to grab a container of the salad! 

I did a little sewing in the afternoon, after a lovely nap. I missed my normal Monday Mahjong, so I played online with a friend. 

The Mister had a follow-up appointment with his care provider. He could barely hear any of the pneumonia. A CAT scan needs to be scheduled in 6 weeks. 

It's time to make dinner: Cowboy Onions with some chicken thrown in and fresh-ish asparagus. Then, as we haven't had rain for a few days, I need to run some water on the new sod, and on some of the potted plants around our yard. 

 

E.B. White on Corgis, and my Saturday

Who amongst us has not been touched by E.B. White? I would still find it enjoyable to curl up and read Charlotte's Web, or Stuart Little once again, having read these childhood favorites how many times? White's Elements of Style was my bible in high school; I poured over it looking for answers as to why my English teacher kept awarding me Ds for my papers. (When I met with him out of frustration to inquire as to how I could improve my writing, that &$%^* arrogantly declared that my writing would improve when I became more mature. 😠 But, I digress!)

For those of you perhaps more erudite than me, you probably read White's writings in the New Yorker or Harper's Magazine. 

I recently stumbled on this piece about Corgis, attributed to E.B. White. This made me laugh, as there is so much truth to be found in his reflections on the nature of Corgis. If you own, or have owned, or know someone who owns, or has owned Corgis, you will smile as well! 

In the event the writing is too small, here is the text:

Being the owner of Corgis, to me a book on dog discipline becomes a volume of inspired humor. Every sentence is a riot. Some day, if I ever get a chance, I shall write a book, or warning., on the character and temperament of the Corgi and why he can't be trained and shouldn't be. I would rather train a striped zebra to balance an Indian club than induce a Corgi to heed my slightest command. When I address Fred I never have to raise either my voice or my hopes. He even disobeys me when I instruct him in something he wants to do.

     E.B. WHITE

I began my day as before, getting outside before 7:15 AM. I did nothing huge, just some small yard/building tasks to tidy things up.  We had a delta of sand crossing one area of the driveway from a heavy rainfall last week. I moved the sand back to its area of origin.  A few weeds that had found a toehold in crevices of the driveway were sprayed with Spruce weed killer, a possibly safer alternative to other available sprays. I moved some items from the garage to the RV garage and storage area, and took clean linens and towels back to the RV,  ready for our next trip. 

The Mister brought two bucket loads of mulch over to the front garden.....

Which I spread as best I could.  I have a soaker hose under the mulch.  The plants may be able to hold onto the moisture a bit better now.

After lunch, leftover Shepards pie, and a brief nap (so tired, again...not sure if it is the heat and activity, or something going on) both the Mister and I ran to the local fabric shop to pick up something to make a quick quilted blanket for a friend undergoing dialysis. His wife was saying how cold he gets, as they keep the temperatures low to stem the growth of bacteria. Hopefully I can get this knocked out in a few days and get it on its way. 

We stoped at ALDI and Publix. The ALDI 'surprise product of the day' was a set of 4 large ice cubes. Seriously?? Have you ever?

Maybe this is the thing of the future. 

Remember the reactions when bottled water was first marketed?

But seriously, I will not spend $2.49 for 4 ice cubes, 

no matter how clear and slow melting they are!

A Sew Sew Day

 I am ready to quilt my Lupine and Laughter quilt, but I didn't have a wide backing, or five yards of a coordinating fabric to make a backing, or even five yards of ugly fabric to use as backing. But, I have lots of leftovers from making Lupine & Laughter, and I have lots of other scraps, so I began sewing small pieces together to make larger pieces. 

My process has been to create 9 pieces that are roughly 30" square. Those will then be sewn together to make one piece larger than 80" X 80". It is almost relaxing to grab pieces, sew them, trim them and then find another that kinda fits that spot. 

Sew, I worked on that for a bit, then gathered pieces for the Desert Oasis quilt I've been working on, grabbed my smaller sewing machine and all the necessary sewing accessories (accept the ones I forgot and had to come back to house to get 😜), and trucked it all to the community center to sew with my friends. 

Did I take pictures while I was there? No....did you expect that of me? I was busy sewing, and trimming, and babbling, cackling, blabbing and simply chewing the fat. There were five of us. I found it interesting to hear what all we chatted about. Our conversations covered the gamut: what's for dinner/lunch, silly/stupid things we did as kids and didn't kill ourselves doing, what we are sewing next, what our husbands are doing while we are sewing, our pets, our health (or lack thereof), the wellbeing of our friends, when our next opportunity to sew will be, and sew on and sew forth! 

It was enjoyable. It was relaxing. And then it was time to pack up and head home. Once there I worked in the garden a bit, ran out to ALDI to pick up some veggies and bread (we love their sour dough and their Italian breads) and then back home to feed the wee beasties and water plants around our home as 'hand watering' is permissible after 6 PM.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Winning Ways

I'm not much of a gambler. I don't find going to casinos fascinating. I don't like the idea of throwing money away on games of chance (but I will buy an occasional chance on something where the funds go to support a good cause.)

However, today I came out ahead with a slot machine! 

😂

I returned a cart at Aldi's after having found it, looking lost and forlorn, in the parking lot!

I was ahead  $.25 when I left the store. Not quite enough to pay for may groceries!

I do have a friend whose husband accompanies her to the store. He scours the parking lot looking for carts folks leave behind, so he can return them to the rack and get a quarter back. He delights in telling me how much money he makes on each trip! 

Do you have an Aldi near you? They are popping up all over the place. From what I've read, Aldi acquired SE Grocers, which owned Winn-Dixie. They are converting many Winn-Dixie stores into Aldi, and have sold the remaining shops to a new consortium, which will continue operating the Winn-Dixie stores.

I love Aldi's fresh fruits and vegetables. Key word there is "fresh". The veggies at our other local stores are often very sad. I will often pick up some cheese - I love their brand of Brie. I've heard their meats are of high quality, and they have some good bread, but again, there's not a lot of variety.