Expired.....

I was rooting through an upper kitchen cupboard the other day to see if I had any powdered sugar for a recipe. A plastic container tipped over so I got my step stool for better access and found the box full of spice mixes, envelopes of salad dressing mixes and more hardly-used-and-why-did-I-purchase stuff.

I looked through the dozen or so items and decided what to keep when I found this one.

I don't make chili very often but have a few good recipes I use during the winter. I don't know where I got this one, but when I turned it over I realized I could probably let it go.

We lived in Bay View when I bought this mix maybe in 2013? I've made lots of chili since then but obviously without the pre-packaged spices. I don't mind using items that are past their use-by-date, but I thought this was probably pushing it just a bit.....so I tossed it in the trash.

Maybe I need to clean all my cabinets?

 

Boring.....

The sun is shining and the sky is blue....and the wind is blowing from the northeast at a steady 40 mph. So it's an inside day in Port Washington. Just spending time looking out the window at a very angry Lake Michigan has provided some "entertainment", along with a good book, and my sewing machine, some favorite podcasts and the TV. My only outside ventures have been to quickly walk Fenway around the block.

So I am content to spend the day doing inside things..... but Fenway is bored. He keeps coming over to me and dropping a toy, he begs for treats, he sighs. He curls up on the couch for a nap and then gets up, stretches and starts his "I am SO bored" routine all over again.

Walking through the family room I heard another sigh.....but didn't see him right away.

I think this is a first. He jumped up on my mom's little footstool where he can look out the window but this time he brought toy shark up with him. Maybe he was trying to show it how to look out at the birds. Who knows.....but he is bored.

Sigh.....

A Not So Little Thing.....

According to my 2020 calendar, the last time we spent time with friends inside a home was on March 7th.....dinner and cards at our friend's house in Mequon. March 7, 2020.

Today is March 13, 2021 and we've had the most wonderful weekend. Friday evening we were invited for a delicious spaghetti dinner and then a lively game of Hand and Foot at Tom and Tricia's house. All four of us were celebrating our two weeks plus since vaccine #2. It was just such a nice, normal, fun time spent with friends. We were there at 5:30 and, dropping our jackets, started with some very warm, long, tight hugs.....it felt so good! 

It was guys against girls. The guys won by several thousand points. No worries ..... we'll have a re-match soon!

Saturday we had friends from Milwaukee come up to our condo for brunch and then a walk up the bike path. Again.....hugs and face-to-face conversation and laughter and togetherness with Ted and Phyllis.

Friday it was "just" pasta, salad, bread and dessert, Saturday it was just brunch....but it was so much more. I thought to myself that these gatherings were "small" things.....but they seemed like a "big" things. Dinner and cards with friends, Saturday brunch....wow.

A Year....

There has been so much in the news over the past few days "summarizing" 2020 and our COVID -19 year. It is pretty amazing when you quickly see one event/warning/cancellation after another and realize just how quickly our whole world changed and how not-normal this has all been. And the deaths.....so many loved ones gone due to this pandemic. Dave and I count ourselves lucky that our little family dodged this bullet and he and I are fully vaccinated now. We feel such a sense of "relief" that at least we reached this milestone and now wait for our friends and family members to be able to roll up their sleeves.

I woke up at about 4:00 in the morning today.....a dream disturbed my sleep cycle. I can't remember any of it except for a quote running through my brain. I can't figure out if it was part of the dream or where I might have heard it.

"We all know that hate can win, but people still open their doors and let it in."

Where on earth did that come from? Is it part of the dream that woke me? Is it an interior comment on some of what's gone on over the past year and some of what is causing unrest, division and sadness still?

I'm not naive enough to think that 2021 will suddenly be a love-your-neighbor-year, but I do hope that it will prove to be more positive and peaceful than our recent past.....for the whole world.

At this point the stupid quote is an ear-worm that I can't seem to get out of my brain. Maybe I'll go take a nap.

Every Time......

It's no secret that I spend a lot of time at my sewing machine. I started way back in middle school when home economics was still part of the curriculum. I remember sewing a solid brown straight skirt and matching vest for the 8th grade "fashion show". Ugh.

When the kids were little I made clothes for them and for myself. When we moved I made curtains for windows and spreads for beds. But gradually I left all sewing behind in favor of quilting..... and yes still an occasional curtain. 95% of my time at my Bernina is sewing together pieces for another quilt. It makes me happy.... it satisfies my need to feel creative... it surrounds me with color... and I enjoy giving lots of my quilts away.

It was probably about 15 years ago that my mother-in-law asked me what I'd like for my birthday. I told her I'd really like a specific kind of scissors used to cut pieces for my quilts. Being the best of in-laws she granted my wish. These are only used occasionally....and NO ONE better cut anything other than fabric when they pick them up.

I used them a few weeks ago to cut circles for a specific quilt....I was trying to design something that would suggest looking up through tree branches, leaves blowing in the breeze, to see glimpses of blue sky above. This is a particular view that we've enjoyed at campgrounds all over the USA. So I raided my stash, and cut my circles using my special scissors.

I'm not sure if I succeeded in capturing the "look" I was going for....but I do like the way the quilt turned out.

The thing I liked most about creating this one was that with every little clip of the scissors in my hand I thought of my special and much-loved mother-in-law. The lap-size quilt is hanging in our third floor lobby for about a month and every time I go out or come in I glance at it..... and remember again.

"Where's Waldo"......

Suddenly I had a reason to make a few baby quilts.....a neighbor expecting her first, a friend is a new first-time grandmother and my cousin's daughter just gave birth to her first child. Ahhhh....a use for my scraps! I love to make small simple quilts using all kinds of don't-match colorful prints. My idea is that this quilt is not designed to be a family heirloom. Rather this is the toss-it-on-the-carpet-with-baby-on-tummy-and-let-the-drooling-commence kind of quilt.

I picture little ones as they begin to hold up their heads, reach for things and explore this big new world trying to find the butterfly or following mom's prompt to touch the turtle. I picture these as fun, well worn blankets that go in and out of the washer/dryer.

I enjoy making them.....and I think babies enjoy spending a little time on them before they get to the stage where they'd rather crawl over and get their favorite truck or stuffed animal.

Our youngest grandson just turned 16....so maybe part of this is filling a "void" for me. No more little ones until the next generation....and that will be awhile!

So......can you find an owl?