small hands

Roses from my garden.

My boy is not feeling well today, so we're at home. I took him to work to get a few things done, but he spiked a fever, so I whisked him back home.

The picture from the last post is my back yard.

Here is the recipe for the cookies, from The Best Recipe by Cooks Illustrated [one of my favorite cookbooks]. I substituted dried cranberries for raisins. The nutmeg gives it the extra special flavor.

Enjoy!

The weekend was lovely. The weather was in the low 80s. I sat in the back yard and wrote in my journal. My son wanted to stay with me this weekend, so we were joined at the hip and I answered a million questions. I made oatmeal cranberry cookies. I had groceries delivered and stayed home. I cut the lawns. I cut bouquets of flowers. I sewed a little bit. We slept with the windows open.

Inspiration Friday




I was going through some magazines this morning, before they went into the recycling bin, and came upon this page from October 2007 Country Home. It reminded me of how inspired I am by Denyse Schmidt.

There's a terrific tour of her house here, courtesy of Design Sponge.

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Of course, flickr is an endless source of inspiration.

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It's going to be a gorgeous weekend. I am looking forward to working in my garden.

Now this is my favorite kind of To Do list.



The sewing machine needs a tune up before I tackle quilting these three and I have to locate/replace my walking foot.

I love this part of the morning...the quiet before my kids get up. I've made scones and had coffee and I can plan the day. [Homework minding, yoga, laundry, organizing]

I wanted to barbecue this weekend, but the wind is blowing hard and it's chilly. How can April be two-thirds over? Huh?

Last weekend the children and I drove down to Los Angeles to see my cousin's new twin babies and deliver the baby quilts. I haven't driven down to Los Angeles in almost 20 years. The drive went well. We left at 6AM, stopped once to get coffee and candy, and got to my aunt's house by noon. It helps to have a new car with plenty of room for two children, rather than the five I used to have to travel with. They had no excuse to bicker, which didn't stop them from bickering.

The babies are dreamy--delicious and sweet.

The next day we went to the Santa Monica Pier and the beach. It was fun. We tried to stop by Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills, but the line was down the block and I'm not down with that. We went back to my aunt's house and held the babies for the rest of the day.

We left Sunday morning at 6AM and got home by noon. Later that day, I got my boy a haircut.



I put a border on the Honeycomb Quilt.


Now it's big enough.



I'm very pleased with how it came out. I have three quilt tops to quilt.

The weather is glorious--in the low 80s. On the way home Friday, I rode with the kids with the windows down on Sacramento Street in Berkeley and Kashmir by Led Zeppelin came on the radio. It was a perfect moment.

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Here is the jambalaya recipe. I don't use ham, but otherwise I follow it. It's super easy and delicious.

I'm off to do some yoga.

I finished piecing another Double Irish Chain.

I may modify the corners, but I do like all the white fabric combined with all the color.



Using all the leftover fabrics to make this quilt means that I when I look at it, I reminisce about other quilts made from the same fabric. I like that.

The kids are out of school this week. We're gonna go visit my grandmother in Los Angeles. I had a terrific birthday on Sunday, complete with cupcakes and family and Chinese food for dinner. I like a low key celebration, more and more as the years go by.

I will post the jambalaya recipe next time; I promise.

I took Monday off (in addition to Friday), to take my little dude on a field trip to see the Peking Acrobats at the Zellerbach Auditorium. A fine time was had by all.

After I returned him and his colleagues to school, I went and got a slice of pizza on Hopkins Street and took it home. I think I'm done with pizza. I just can't navigate the wetness to my satisfaction and really, why not give it up and just grab something else when I'm feeling peckish? Lately, I've been snacking a lot on Japanese rice crackers and roasted almonds, baby carrots, and sliced oranges.

This weekend I worked in the yard (and the glorious sunshine) both days and was in the zone, man. It was wonderful. On Sunday, I took a walk to the drug store and when I returned home, I approached my house very slowly to take in the lovely yard and house.

As you can see from the picture, I'm working on a Double Irish Chain quilt. It is the perfect project for anyone who loves, deeply loves fabric. I get to glory in all of the strips cut from remnants fabrics I've used in other projects, to imagine combinations of fabrics and interesting juxtapositions. I have three gallon sized ziploc bags of strips (1-1/2 inches wide), which will yield 3 quilts, I expect.

I was impressed by the fact that I was not exhausted when I picked my kids up from school. I bought a sourdough baguette and we had jambalaya, haricot vert, and sliced baguette for dinner.