Sunday, August 15, 2010

Blue ribbon!

Kathy and I went to the fair last night to pick up Tori's quilt that I had entered. I try to enter at least one item every year - it gets my in for free, so even if I don't win a ribbon, it's like winning $10! Plus there's that whole show off a little factor. But this year, I did win! A blue ribbon! The quils were already taken down my the time we got there (boo!) so we didn't get the chance to see them all. The Grand Prize winner looked like a beauty too - exactly what the judges here like - Eleanor Burns colours and lots of applique. I guess that's why I'll never win a rosette. We pigged out on our annual fried bread dough indulgence, washed down with a shared lemonade ($5!) and plotted our entries for next year. It was a beautiful night, and a fun night out.

Last Week

Needlework

Sew 30 minutes every day - almost
Assemble top for Nic's quilt - almost
finish blocks for Ellie's quilt - almost

Other

Monday 7:30 am - Innisbrook meeting.
Monday - quilt to Field Days (before noon)

Monday - band concert - raining
Wednesday, Thursday - Perseid Meteor Shower - cloudy
Next Sunday - Pie & Ice Cream Social - nah
begin retaining wall in corner - see below
weed - harvest - garden things.

I got a bunch of sewing done this week. Nic's quilt top will be finished this week, and Ellie's will be close. Then I think I'm going to get started on some of the monster coin purses. I suspect they'll go fast and be fun to make. (famous last words)

The garden continues. In a burst of *something* Friday and Saturday I got the weeds under control. Again. Tomatoes are starting, finally, beans continue to send out new flowers, and JOY! there are at least three pumpkins. 3 kids require 3 pumpkins - any fewer and I have to buy them, and as ridiculously cheap and easy as pumpkins are to grow, they are outrageously expensive come October. It's a racket, I tell ya. I wonder if this baby will have a chance to grow big enough before fall. I guess we'll see - it wasn't there Friday, as I recall, and it's about walnut sized today. Next year they're getting their own space again - maybe with squash at the other end of the bed. They just take over! I wish there was a companion plant that discouraged powdery mildew, though - those plants look like sh*t by this point every summer.




Now, about that wall... Along the lines of my daylily bed last year, this is the project that refuses to start. At the northwest corner of our house the lawn drops dramatically away from the house, both to the north and to the west. The resulting slope is treacherous to cut downhill on the riding mower and impossible to cut uphill with the push mower. So, lightbulb moment, let's make a retaining wall and some steps and be done with it?! Exactly! Great plan. Only it hasn't happened yet. Earlier this week Scott was outside working on his new little target shooting deck when he noticed the neighbour loading up the bucket of his tractor with the big chunks of Panton Limestone from his old foundation. He was hauling them into the woods and dumping them into the ravine. Wait! I'll take those! (Scott, not me) I rolled my eyes - yeah! A new pile of crap to look at. I thought it was chunks of concrete, Scott assured me it was not, it's really dirty stone. I went and had a look last night, and he's right. So now the wheels are turning. I need a wall, we have a big pile of free rocks... hmmm.

Next Week

Dinner Menu - August 15 - August 28

Sunday - grilled keilbasa
Monday - stromboli
Tuesday - breakfast for dinner
Wednesday - Simon - ??
Thursday - Tori - ??
Friday - Daniel - ??
Saturday -pizza
Sunday - pork roast
Monday - quiche
Tuesday - swedish meatballs
Wednesday - Tori -
Thursday - Simon -??
Friday - Daniel - Calzones
Saturday - grilled chicken

Needlework

Sew 30 minutes every day
Assemble top for Nic's quilt
finish blocks for Ellie's quilt

Other

Monday - Scott Burlington appointments
Monday - band concert
Wednesday - mattress delivery
begin retaining wall in corner
weed - harvest - garden things.

2 comments:

QuiltingFitzy said...

Congrats on the ribbon Dorothy! You deserve 10 more just like it.

Someday...when I retire...I will try gardening. It requires lots more tending here-shading, watering, etc., and I just can't carve out the time these days!

Vicky aka Stichr said...

wooowhoooo you got a ribbon, rock on!

i should let megan try a small garden nest year, she likes to fiddle with that kind of thing.