Friday Food 05-31-24

 Somehow spring time is always salad time for me.  Although I do eat salads all year, they seem more appealing as the weather warms up and the landscape is green and also colorful with flowers.  Here are some memorable lunch salads.

Although Fitness Grill has changed to Versie, the menu is basically the same. I frequently order the salmon salad which is always simply delicious.  Other than scallops I rarely cook seafood at home, so often order it at restaurants. 

Several years ago there was a fad of stuffing the salad in a tall glass and then  upending it  on t he plate; a sort  of  salad tower; this one was at Bowers Museum restaurant.   Very tasty, but one had to flatten it out to eat it. 

Here is a crab salad in an interesting combination.  Don't recall the restaurant. 

Here is a made-at-home salad.  Celery, avocado, oranges,  banana,  dried cranberries, chopped toasted pecans, lactose free cottage cheese.   Not yet added, a drizzle of Brianna's Poppy seed dressing.  

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Twenty years ago - June 2004 05-30-24

The yearning for a road trip is getting me down,  but I cannot go right now, maybe in late June.   These phots are from June 2004 when I was driving cross country and wandered off the main highway.  Nice to stop and look around and take some photos.   Not sure where I was, could be the very top NW corner of Texas or New Mexico.  Lots of wild, wide open country there. 

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Wordless Wednesday 05-29-24

 

Second bloom - today.

First Bloom - early April.

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Memorial Day 05-27-24

Although no member of my family died in war, my Uncle Gordan was in the Navy stationed in the Aleutians during WWII.  But as a child my family always took flowers to the cemetery for our relatives and friends buried there.  There were always lilacs, iris, daffodils, privet leaves, and Douglas fir branches.  Those are the ones I can remember, anyway.  I loved the mausoleum that has a great curving staircase and marble all around.   I decided that I would get married there and come sweeping down in my long white dress!  What did I know about weddings!

Flower field near Lompoc, CA.  The only way to see it is from the air.  I suppose this photo was taken with a drone.  Wish I could see it  -  from an airplane! 

Along a secondary road in Kansas on Memorial Day, 2011.  I was surprised to find the road lined on both sides with these large flags.  It was a rather rural area with a very small town nearby. 

 

In 2018 I was on the  road again on Memorial Day.  I was hard pressed to find an open restaurant in Yreka, CA, and ended up here at Jefferson's Roadhouse. Food was good, not many people. 

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12X12 quilt from Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection 05-26-24

 

"Don't Piss Off the Fairies" Ruth Powers 2008 12" square

Cotton Fabric, thread, batting.  Machine pieced and quilted.

This was one of the SAQA 12" X 12" auction quilts in 2009. I am so happy that I was able to add it to the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection. Besides the priceless look on this fairy's face, Ruth Powers technical skills are outstanding

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More Flowers 05-25-24

Temperatures are rising, but only in the 70s, and the bougainvillea are great piles of color.  They grow  into great piles or walls of color and with the support of a wall can attain 40' or so.  The thorns are vicious, requiring great care when trimming.  I will never have them in my yard again - too treacherous.  The vivid color red/pink/burgundy/orange/white  is from the bracts supporting the flower, that tiny white dot that is hardly noticeable.  They do not have a fragrance. 

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Quilts from the Past! 05-24-24

I was looking for a particular image from long ago and came across some photos of quilts I have made in the past.   Some I still have, but most have been sold or gifted to others.  Several were made specifically for Surfside Monthly Minis, but most were made just because I had the idea and wanted to make them.

This is a  group quilt with blocks made by friends of Judy House, who I met at Empty Spools/ Asilomar in the 1990s.  The blocks came from all over the USA and I was tasked to put them together.  I do not remember why we chose chickens as the theme, or why we didn't have a size restriction; like divisible by two inches.  So, the  blocks were every size and very difficult to put together.  One lady did the "Chicken/Egg strip in the top right corner, which I split to  make a corner, so I use her lettering to add a few more words.  And I made a few very small blocks and strips to fill in.  This was the first time I put together a quilt like this, it was very difficult, but I am extremely proud of the way it turned out. 

Judy submitted it to this quilt show and I was extra proud!

Judy died of cancer and the quilt was donated to a children's hospital in Virginia (I think).  

"Cactus Flower"  Del Thomas 2004

This quilt orginated in Ruth B. McDowell's class at Empty Spools.  I did the design in class, but selected the fabrics and sewed it together at home.  FMQ with my "original" flower design.  It is unique because I used puff paint to make the dots in the center - the  only time I have used paint on a quilt.  This picture was taken at Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove when I had a one person exhibit there.   

"Jack" 2013  A Monthly Mini quilt

"Summer Garden" 2013  A Monthly Mini quilt

"Sunset Strip: South Pacific  2013

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