Miscellaneous 08-06-21

 

These are last week's tomatoes!  Long gone.  But true and generous friends Carol and  Dick left another bag on my porch mid week.  I am enjoying them sooo much - juicy, but meaty, not too acidy, and such a luscious color.   Just tomato and mayo on whole wheat bread makes me happy and full.  

I have a hard time blogging these days because I don't do anything to write about.  We go for our walks twice a day and talk to neighbors.  I sometimes talk on the phone, do you have my number?   seven one four -315-9526  My PTherapy lady is on vacation, as is friend Liz with her husband on their annual month at Silver Lake on the June Loop near Mammoth Lake in the Eastern Sierra.  I am sooo envious!   KoKo had his monthly grooming on Thursday.  I arranged to have a little body work on my car where someone scraped my right rear bumper.  I hope next week the shop can buff it out and maybe spot paint and not have to replace the entire bumper for $800+!   I am machine quilting a quilt for the art quilt group in San Diego, but cannot share until our September meeting "reveal".  We are sending six quilts as a special exhibit at Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara in October.  Surfside Quilters Guild is having their in-the-flesh meeting this coming  Tuesday morning in San Clemente; the first since February 2020 and the reveal of the Challenge quilts for this year.  It is always so fascinating to see what others have created, there will be 31 pieces - quilts, handbags, toys, and I hear there is even a clock!  The theme is Bucket List and mine is about traveling again.  

I will try to be more regular with my blogging, but, as you can see, I don't DO anything much to write about. 

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Quilt from 2011 in TCQC 08-01-21

I enjoy the Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) online auction each year and usually bid on half a dozen or more pieces.  There are now over 100 of the 12"X12" auction quilts in TCQC. Sometimes I just love the quilt, but sometimes I find something with a different technique or style.  And I always look at anything with a bird in it to add to the special 12"X12" bird collection.  The quilt below attracted me with the soft linear lines and the reflection.  I expected strips of fabric and was surprised that it was printed by Spoonflower and is basically a whole cloth quilt with a little beading.   I purchased this quilt from the SAQA online auction in 2011.and posted it on 06-24-12.  Below is a copy of that post. 

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  "Lake in the Woods" by Sandra Hart - Los Gatos, CA.   2011 12" x 12" 

Created digitally with Photoshop Elements.  Cotton fabric, beads.

This is a whole cloth quilt, printed on fabric with the row of stitched beads to indicate the water line. I almost didn't believe it until the quilt came in the mail.  The color in this image is off - it should be more green. 

Big label.  But no contact information.  Fortunately, Sandra has a website.

http://gudnyc.home.comcast.net/~gudnyc/sgallery.html

There is another Sandra Hart quilt on my Blog, one she showed in 2009 at Quilt Festival - Long Beach. 
http://www.delquilts.blogspot.com/2009/07/quilt-festival-lbeach-2-posted-07-28-09.html

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Friday Food 07-30-21

This watermelon salad is one of my summer favorites.  But I can't make just a little bit, so I eat it several days in a row.  I suppose I could share some with one of my neighbors, but some how I don't manage to do that.  

The recipe, such as it is, came from a blog friend in Australia.  Maybe some of you know Meg Messervy.  She shared it with me in July 2009 and I have been making it every summer since. She told me then that she had the recipe from a friend who received it from a restaurant in America.  What she sent me all those years ago was:

"I made a lovely saled for my tea, using watermelon, orange, radishes & mixed green leaves, with olives and a light dressing of fresh lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil."  

We talked back and forth about prep.  We agree that slicing the radishes a bit thick was best and using small greens was better than cut up romaine.  I don't mix in the greens because they tend to wilt in the leftovers, so I just mix them in when I serve up a bowl..  We both buy sliced black olives in cans.  As for how much of each, it is dependent on what is available, I guess.  I use a "personal" watermelon and only half of that, cut into about one inch chunks. (Dolcinea is the best brand, I think).  One large orange and a bunch of radishes, which is usually about six good sized ones.  Radishes are not always available, but they are a necessary ingredient.  I add a couple stalks of celery because I like celery and it adds a little more crunch.  This picture shows my largest mixing bowl and I have removed one cereal bowl full for my dinner.  So you can see it makes a lot.  Mixing the olive oil and fresh lemon juice seems to make a better dressing than just pouring them in individually.  

It is hard to believe that twelve years have gone by since Meg sent me the recipe.  We don't hear from each other often anymore.   I don't know if she still checks my blog.  But I will send this post to her so she can know how much I am still enjoying her special salad.  I have posted about this salad three previous times. 08-10-09, 06-25-14, 07-20-18.

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Southern California 07-29-21

This is a typical parking lot in Orange County, California, although there isn't a Tesla.  White dogs are also popular!

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A Little More KoKo 07-28-21

Yes, this is his most favorite thing to do, besides eating.  Tissues, paper towels, napkins - any soft paper - he shreds.  I try not to leave anything within his reach, but he manages to find things.  He will sometimes steal one from my pocket and run off before I can hang onto him.  

He doesn't especialy want to go for a walk, but does better in the evening.  In the morning he will take any opportunity to rest for a few minutes.  But in the evening he moves along and wants to run a bit now and then.  I can jog better than I can just stand still, it is actually less painful for me.  Odd. 

Playing with or sleeping with Froggy is his second favorite thing to do!  Poor raggedy Froggy, time for more surgery. 

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Food Shopping 07-27-21

I know the saying, "never go grocery shopping when you are hungry."  But today I violated that and ended up with an overload of food for the next week - maybe even two!   Yesterday I shopped a little at Ralph's for things I cannot buy at Trader Joe's and today I hit Trader Joe's!  I did have a list of only five items that I really needed, but then spent about $75 total.  No going out to dinner for at least this week!

Several friends have told me how delicious the peaches have been at TJ's, so I bought a flat of 12 medium sized and offered to share with my friend Carol.   I think I will try to make a little jam with some of them, although I haven't made jam for decades.  I'll try "freezer" jam from a recipe online.  

When I stopped to drop off the peaches Carol had four lovely vine ripened tomatoes for me.  Aren't they lovely?  Since I refuse to eat store bought tomatoes each home grown one is very special.  

My dinner tonight was a slice of whole wheat toast with mayo, tomato, S&P, and romaine for a "lid".  Fabulous! 

I have cheese, chicken, pastrami, eggs, veggies, etc.  Enough already. 

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Sue Benner quilt in TCQC 07-26-21

This was the second of Sue Benner's quilts I added to the Collection and posted to this blog on Dec 27, 2010.  It was offered at an online auction by San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles.  I enjoy the obvious spontaneity of the pieces, all fused - lapping, on top of, repeated, and quilted with a wonky grid.  I have cropped the image of the front so the corner tassels don't show.  

"Checks & Bars Jumble" Sue Benner 2009 11" x 11" Fused and machine quilted.

Various fabrics, commercial and hand-dyed/painted.

Sue is very inventive in her quilt making. I have taken her classes at Empty Spools and elsewhere and she does challenge her students. 

A solid back - Marimekko fabric with title and signature in gold. One of Sue's signature techniques is leaving the tails on the threads she uses to overcast the edges of her quilts. Whenever I hang one of her quilts I fear that some helpful quilter will whip out scissors from her purse and trim off those dangling threads.

www.suebenner.com

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