BG and FF

I feel like singing!  Ok, I just did and the boys were happy to go outside.  Spots of blue sky, a Birthday Girl and the First Finish of 2013.  So I sang and the boys wagged.

I am very happy with the finished quilt and so is Amy.  The pattern is Cloud Nine by Villa Rosa Designs.  Easy peasy and a $2 pattern!  The fabric is Figgy Pudding and Fruitcake by Basic Grey for Moda and because we had scoured the internet, we secured more than the pattern called for.  That was pretty amazing given that both fabric lines were several years old.  The quilt finished 64x84 and has a bamboo batting.

On the design wall

The pieced back didn't even use up all the fabric

Quilting close-up

My friend Sheila did the quilting, free hand on her long arm quilting machine.  It looks fabulous and is nicely spaced to make the quilt soft and drapey.  We both love the look!  Thanks Sheila!

Happy birthday to my girl who is a fabulous and amazing woman!

"Top Stories"

From the Daily Herald this morning:  "Giffords pleads for gun curbs; NRA fights back".

I don't get it.  I know everyone, it seems like everyone in this state at least, is waving the the 2nd amendment/founding fathers flag so I looked up to see exactly what the amendment says.  I am embarrassed to say how long it has been since I actually accessed the Constitution and I truly expected something much wordier given how often and fervently it is invoked.

 Amendment 2 - Right to Bear Arms

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed,

 http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_Am2.html

That's all there is, one sentence.  Easy enough to memorize. 

I'm appalled that a woman, damaged by gun violence, gets up to beg for change and it is the NRA who, once again, gets all the time.

It doesn't make any sense to me and that's when I remembered.  When something makes no sense at all, look for the money.  I haven't heard one word about the gun industry, just the gun lobby.  I think if there is a lobby that means there must be money close by.  Hmm.

Update:  Here is a story that ran on NPR's Morning Edition this morning:

Should Gun Owners have to Buy Liability Insurance?

Jack, Jack, Jack

He needs his alone time and I can relate to that but I had to beg him to come in.  Silly guy!  He may reconsider the next time because I had to get the hair dryer out and he's really not a fan of that.

Suddenly Sixty

And Other Shocks of Later Life is a book by Judith Viorst.  Do you know her?  I recognized her name but I am not sure I have read anything by her before.  Jan loaned me this book and it is most enjoyable!  This is one of her poems I really, really like (not that anyone has asked me this):

When Asked If I Thought That I'd Finally Got It Together

I had it together on Sunday.
By Monday at noon it had cracked.
On Tuesday debris
Was descending on me.
And by Wednesday no part was intact.
On Thursday I picked up some pieces.
On Friday I picked up the rest.
On Saturday, late,
It was almost set straight.
And on Sunday the world was impressed
With how well I had got it together.
Spare me the cheers and applause,
For as the world turns
Every sixty-plus learns
That among life's immutable laws
Is one that we're bound to be bound to
Right through to the end of our days:
That although we may get it together,
Together is not how it stays.

It's Coming Along

One section done!

The fabric cabinet has six sections and there are two shelves in each section.  I am wrapping fabric that is more than a quarter of a yard on comic book cardboard and you see those on the top shelf in section one.  The cardboards come in packs of 100 and I have about 10 left and some others have been cut in half for smaller pieces that don't have a place yet.  What that means is that there are about eighty five pieces of fabric on that top shelf.  I couldn't believe it either so I counted and there are actually eighty three pieces.  Yikes.

I'll be picking up more cardboards tomorrow when I run my errands.

Update:  I had to oil my machine today and I went back and looked at my service log.  I oiled it in the middle of June, again in mid October and then today.  So 4 months between the first and second time and 3 months between the second and third time.  Between October and today I actually went a month without touching the machine.  So it's evidence that I am sewing more.  Yay!

Lunch and an Activity

An afternoon with a friend...is a wonderful thing!

Jan and I started out with our most favorite lunch of soup, salad and breadsticks at Olive Garden.  Chicken Gnocchi...yum!  Pasta e Fagioli...yum!  Zuppa Toscana...yum!  You get the picture.  Add in the breadsticks and we had no room for dessert.

I got to choose the activity since I am the "birthday girl" this week and I thought a trip to the BYU Museum of Art would be interesting.  It was.  We visited the We Could Be Heroes exhibit and there was a lot to absorb.  One of my favorite displays was a pair of paper pieced depictions of war machines, a tank and a bomber, made from slivered dollar bills.  The cost of war.  The artist then claimed the dollar bills as a cost of business deduction on his taxes.  Ha!

I am always impressed at what the museum has to offer and I am always amazed that we are still in Provo when we leave the building.  This museum is truly a gift to the city.

Of course there is a down side of living in the shadow of a big university.  Things are always being torn down and replaced with bigger.  Student housing (and parking) is always an issue.  This is the latest from campus but at least it is on campus:

These building are replacing very tall, straight up and down dorms.  The exterior gives a feeling of a change from functional to deluxe and I understand the interior is quite nice too.

*Pretty good pictures taken from a moving car.  More in focus than my usual pictures.

Celebrating!

Another year, another degree!

Spiced Up Carrot and Lentil Soup

Wow!  Those carrots look so healthy!

This soup was on my list of recipes to try.  Easy to make and very good.  I did make a few small changes, more salt and an additional carrot since medium is open to interpretation.  Also my Cajun seasoning mix had only half the amount of pepper.  Smooth soups are not my favorite so I would add some bulk Italian sausage to this soup, browned and patted dry to absorb any excess grease and then added to the finished soup.  No more than half a pound as this recipe makes just four servings.  The original recipe is here, with some lovely pictures.

Spiced Up Carrot and Lentil Soup adapted from Julia’s Album

• 4-5 medium carrots
• 1/2 cup dry green lentils
• water
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning*
• salt and pepper to taste

1)  Boil carrots in water until carrots soft and thoroughly cooked.   Bring lentils to a boil in 2 cups of water, cook until they soft, add more water if needed.  Reserve cooking water from both carrots and lentils.

2)  Let carrots and lentils cool. When cooled, add carrots in 2 batches to blender. Add first batch of carrots plus 1/4 cup of reserved water from cooking carrots. You can also use regular water. Blend until carrots reach puree consistency. Repeat with second batch of carrots. Add pureed carrots ito a large pan.

3)  Add cooked lentils to the blender along with 1/2 cup of reserved water from cooking lentils. Blend until pureed. Add pureed lentils to pureed carrots. Add 1/2 cup half-and-half. Heat through without boiling. Add all spices, stirring constantly. Add at least 1/2 teaspoon Cajun spice. Taste to check flavor. Add salt and pepper, adjust other spices if necessary, being especially generous with Cajun spice.

4)  Toast sliced almonds in the oven preheated to 350 for about 5 minutes. Ladle soup in soup bowls. Sprinkle with toasted sliced almonds. Grind black pepper over the soup and serve.

*I added 1 teaspoon and used this recipe: 

Cajun Seasoning Mix adapted from Food(dot)com

• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon celery salt 

Mix all ingredients together and store in a small jar.  The original recipe is here and you can see that it called for white pepper which I did not have and given that I don't care for too much spice, I am glad I left it out!

On the Needles 01/04/13

I have followed Judy at Patchwork Times for several years.  Last year she started posting her knitting progress each Friday and invited others to share what they were knitting as well.  So here is what I am doing, just a preemie hat but it gives me something to do when I am, for example, listening to Science Friday.

Earlier this week, I read this in Sins and Needles by Monica Ferris where a group of people are just starting a beginning sock class:

"Lucille had already cast on.  She began dividing the knitting evenly onto the four needles, struggling a bit with so many needles all apparently wanting to help."

I laughed out loud, causing alarm to the boys who jumped to their feet from a soundly, snoring nap.

Here is how I get my exercise.  Big dogs getting some sun right in the middle of the "road" so I have to swing to the right around the table and the island to get the sink.  Longer but safer than trying to step between and over them.

Next week, I hope to have a sock on the needles.  I don't want to be the only one who hasn't accepted that challenge.  There is a KAL going on that has techniques on video that should help me immensely.