This and That

I spent all of my free time today (aka naptime) refreshing the National Weather Service warnings and looking out the windows for funnel clouds. Not fun. The baby was asleep in her room, and there was NO WAY IN HELL I was waking her up to huddle in the hallway unless the funnel cloud was right here. Luckily, I saw nothing and now the sun is shining as if severe weather never even came through here today.

So I haven't been here for a while. I wish I had a notepad inside my head. I've written blog posts while walking at the lake, nursing the baby to sleep, cooking, sewing, watching movies, but I can't seem to write one while I'm sitting down in front of the computer. Spring is here and I'm photographing flowers and trees and grass everyday. The newness of all this green isn't old yet. Come July when it's 100 degrees outside and everything is an overgrown jungle, I'll wish for cold and brown again. We've been doing some yard work and I still want to plant a small vegetable and herb garden. I want to do raised beds, but I need to find a simple, quick, and cheap method but I keep having to return my library books before I've had a chance to read them. I also want to get rain barrels and set them up to help water this soon-to-be garden. Will wants to plant grapevines and I'd like a blackberry cane and blueberry bushes. After spending the last few months indoors, it's nice to be outside with the sun and vitamin D. Ely loves to help garden (he spent a good 30 minutes telling me the proper way to dig up dandelions because apparently I was doing it all wrong - you must use the big shovel not the small spade and listen for the pop sound) and Agnes loves to roam around in the grass picking the same dandelions and tasting them with her lips or hiding them in holes. I'm not going to talk about those holes because I've spent several years pretending not to see them.

As for sewing, I've been working on my own auction quilt. It's part of a larger classroom project, so I didn't go overboard. I based in on Erin's picnic blanket, but besides the ties I did some quilting in the ditch for stability and will put a machine sewn binding on it. I've been having some frustrations quilting lately and I'm not sure what is going on. It put me in a very bad mood last Saturday. I'll probably write up more in a later post, and maybe someone will have some ideas for me because I'm at the end of my rope, sewing perfectionist that I am.

Oh, my camera broke yesterday while I was at the zoo. One moment it was working just fine and then the next moment it locked up, had an error message, and wouldn't shoot anymore pictures. The same thing happened a couple of years ago, so it was sent off to Nikon today. Luckily I can borrow a camera from the office until mine is returned, otherwise I would have to quit my 365 project, which I'm woefully behind updating as it is. Some days I'm tired of taking pictures and looking for something new, but the idea of not being able to take a picture made me very sad.

Well, I'm off to buy matzoh and make a special dessert for tonight. Every year, I like to eat matzoh and remind myself that I'm half Jewish even if I haven't kept Passover in over 20 years. I hope to have some naturally dyed eggs and a finished picnic quilt by the end of the weekend. And, because it's hard to post without a photo I'll end with the special fruit salad my mother-in-law made for Easter dinner last year. I have no idea if it will make a repeat appearance on Sunday.