If any sewing that happened over the weekend amounted to just the hand stitching of the binding on this table runner, and a bit of evening hand quilting on the "this is taking forever" string star project, I still consider it good!
When the weather is finally nice enough to focus on being out there - the sewing can wait! What's the hurry?
Late afternoon sun on the mountain - and greening trees!
There was time to enjoy the deck and just watch for squirrels.
I took my kindle paperwhite out to the deck and just enjoyed the milder temperatures. It felt so good!
Clean Up has Begun at the Round House!
Yesterday morning I took the dogs down to Round House Road - the wind was supposed to kick up later in the afternoon, and my biggest peeve is wind when it comes to walking so we did a before-lunch-trip to see what we could see.
I'm happy to report to those who have walked with me past the piles of gutted out stuff in the yard of the old Round House that things are now cleaned up! It's a MIRACLE!
Does this mean that they are going to start restoring this place for real? We can certainly hope so.
So much green!
This little juncture IS the "MOUTH" of "WILSON CREEK" as it enters the New River. I was happy that the water was relatively clear as we haven't had any storms for the past week.
Sorry girls, no going in! Not yet!
We are still getting the hang of the double lead.
Up hill we go!
Blooming tree at an old abandoned farmhouse.
What I wish I could capture was the happy sound of bees humming. Spring! Hooray!
Further up past the farmhouse and the barn we reach the top of this hill - the grass is still short enough I can see headstones.
The view from the McMillan family cemetery is spectacular.
Still looking for squirrels!
The old Halsey place.
I wish someone would do something with this. It is so hard to see it just go. The land is still farmed by the family. I know the value is in the LAND, not in old dwellings, but still. You know?
Two dogs getting feet wet!
Zoey is the dainty one. She will go up to her knees but no further. Mabel looks for the deepest part of the pool and promptly sits in it. LOL!
Cool off those hot, tired and dusty feet girls. I'm sure it feels really good.
Mabel - doing her best to blend into the rug.
We wore each other out!
Zoey - taking over Ivy's spot at the top of the couch.
Crazy dog!
Ivy - not happy about the whole situation.
Air Frying more Chicken wings!
While The Hubs has been in Texas visiting his brothers I've used the opportunity to clear the fridge of ALL left overs and even discover other "mystery" items in the freezer. Why do I ever put things in freezer containers without labeling them?
I had one more small package of wings, and air fried them up for last night's dinner. I posted this info the other day - the non-recipe recipe, but here you go again because it is so versatile!
Pat chicken wings dry and rub with olive oil. Sprinkle with two tablespoons ranch dressing mix (dry mix) and toss.
Cook in single layer in air fryer for 25 minutes at 360°. Turn the wings halfway through cooking.
Turn the wings over one more time and increase the heat to 400 degrees for 5 more minutes.
Toss with more ranch dressing mix if desired or serve with BBQ sauce!
Cook in single layer in air fryer for 25 minutes at 360°. Turn the wings halfway through cooking.
Turn the wings over one more time and increase the heat to 400 degrees for 5 more minutes.
Toss with more ranch dressing mix if desired or serve with BBQ sauce!
I'm posting this here again because of so many emails asking me what air fryer we use.
This is the PowerXL 10 quart - it comes with 3 wire shelves and removeable drip pan for easy dishwasher cleaning.
Generous capacity fits a 4-lb. rotisserie chicken, 9” pizza, or roast an 8-lb. pork loin.
It's also a food dehydrator.
Our other small one (the gateway drug to air fryers!) was great for fries and small things, but I wanted to really put a bigger one to good use. When the basket handle broke on the old one, I went with this one.
We use it for everything from Garlic bread to wings to ribs and everything in between. It is large, and it just sits out on my kitchen island because I am literally using this thing every day.
You'll find it in the In The Kitchen category of the Quiltville Amazon Affiliate Store.
Between my air fryer and my instant pot - my oven rarely gets used any more!
I hope you also had a great weekend. Sometimes it's nice to just relax and enjoy instead of power through and conquer, you know?
It's the Last Week!
The April Showers PDF pattern release has exceeded all expectations as we are all (in this hemisphere anyway!) clamoring for spring followed by summer.
Thank you so much for your positive response! I see photos of you digging through your stashes, posting images of fabric pulls and first blocks already. Sew! Sew! Sew!
I love how ALL of the purples are so varied and play together so well. Mother nature knows what she is doing!
I used my Essential Triangle Tool for the half-square triangles in April Showers.
I used the Simple Folded Corners ruler or Simple Folded Corners Mini for the stitch & flip corners on the diamond rectangle units.
I use these rulers all of the time. If you don't have them, invest in yourself and get them! You'll find them in the Quiltville Store.
Traditional rotary cutting and piecing methods are given to those who don't have the rulers.
Does your purple or green (And neutrals - always!) stash need a bit of enhancement? Check out these color rolls by Cotton to Quilts!
The best variety and fantastic service! And I'm so grateful that Cotton to Quilts is once again offering up 2 fabric rolls for this gift-away!
We'll be drawing for one winner who will receive the PDF pattern for April Showers and a facets of purple color roll, and a second winner who will receive the April Showers PDF pattern and the facets of green color roll!
Head on over to the Gift-Away post and get your entry in!
Quiltville Quote of the Day -
Look deeper, praise and uplift others more, criticize less..
And remember that how you say something is often more important than what you say.
Enjoy your Monday, everyhone!
You probably already have written about this, Bonnie, but I was just thinking of your round house the other day because I stumbled on an article about the octogon house fad of the late 19th century (of course I can't find it now, but it was similar to this Atlas Obscura post, if I can post URLs here: https://www.atlasobscura.com/lists/octagon-houses). Some interesting stuff in there - Wiki says there are 68 Octogon houses on the Nat'l Register of Historic Places! Maybe "yours" will be one day too.
ReplyDeleteI now keep a roll of blue or green painter's tape in a kitchen drawer with a Sharpie and make a label for any plastic container of leftovers I put in the freezer. You can write on Zip-loc bags, of course.
ReplyDeleteHappy Spring! We get Scattered Showers again today. Another day to stay inside for me. Resting up for a Roadtrip tomorrow morning. I have some hamd quilting to take with me. It has a deadline that is coming up real soon. I need to adjust a couple seams. It's too Humble for this Humble Quilts Swap.
ReplyDeleteAlways love your blog. I didn't do much other than yard work and some hand piecing this weekend. I have a string quilt which I keep on the couch for Lucy. Of course it gets washed a lot and after 7+years it starts fraying. I cover it up with hearts. It may be the last time. I just have to make another quilt for her to lay on when she is on the couch.
ReplyDeleteYour saying on the quilt hits the nail on the head. It's not what you say as much as what we do.I love the pictures of your girls and cats. Cat expressions are so telling. It's a good thing they don't speak much human.
ReplyDeleteI love accompanying you on your walks, Bonnie! I'm excited to see the progress on the round house. What I would give to live in one of those empty houses.....!
ReplyDeleteIvy has the same expression as our cat when our dogs are in her place *lol*
Haha, I just love your doggie photos! And that your air fryer has a window so you can monitor progress! Wonderful.
ReplyDeleteEvery time you mention the New River it takes me back to my husband in the Marine Corps, stationed in Jacksonville, NC (where the river meets the road, so to speak). We put chicken necks on string and fished for blue crab in the New River, and went flounder gigging at night, catching those unfortunately flat fish with flashlights and spears. We sometimes waded out waist deep for crab, too, until the Marine Corps posted a warning about water moccasins. I learned to sail a boat on the New River (in a life jacket) because I was unable to tread water in the New River. You are at the clean, fresh beginning of that river, so I really enjoy seeing those photos of the river that gave us so many fun times.
ReplyDeleteI love the picture of the old farm house, it reminds me of my grandparents farm home which is still in the family and about 150 years old. I spent many two weeks each summer there. Did I miss the post about Mable's DNA or have you not posted yet? I love the antics of these two dogs, I can't have any as they charge $25 / per pet extra in rent a month.
ReplyDeleteBonnie, The tree blooming with the tiny blooms appears to be a Redbud tree. If the tree is not near a road, the blooms are edible. They are great on a tossed green salad. They have a black pepper sort of taste. The reason you want the blooms away from a road....exhaust fumes . I owned a Tea Room in East Texas and when our Redbud tree bloomed we sprinkled them on our salads.
ReplyDelete