Another Project Off the List

I managed to get the grass cut on Thursday while the weather was nice. The apple trees are just about to blossom. I might have to thin the fruit on some of them—the State Fair tree is loaded with flowers—but I’ll see later in the spring. I read somewhere that thinning also helps to keep the trees from going biennial, and that State Fair does seem to produce only every other year or so. I will consult Susan.

I thought I might get the tomatoes planted yesterday, but it rained for most of the day. I don’t mind working in a light shower, but planting in a torrential downpour would have been unpleasant.

Luckily for DD#2, the fact that I was stuck inside meant I could work on her patio cushion project. I finished the second chair cushion and got the couch cushion ready to put together:

I decided to wait and do that this morning when I am less prone to making stupid mistakes. Once it’s done, I’ll be able to cross this project off the list. She asked for coordinating pillows, too, but I think we can find those at Home Goods or Hobby Lobby.

The more I use that new Bernina serger, the more I love it. I have a Serger 101 class scheduled at the quilt store north of town on June 6, and the store owner e-mailed me the other day to tell me there are four students signed up so far. That class has a limit of 6. I also talked to the class coordinator at the other quilt store and we are working to get more classes on the schedule for late summer and into the fall.

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I offered to lay out the tour booklet for this year’s garden tour. I have all the software and it’s a small enough project that I’ll enjoy doing it. We plan to have a map, a profile of each gardener, pictures of the gardens, and a recipe from each one. I was going to include lavender biscotti as my recipe, but our friend Anna brought over lavender shortbread last night and now I am rethinking that idea. This shortbread was amazing:

Anna does vegan take-and-bake meals at a local market in addition to her vegan catering business. We sometimes get the benefit of being her test kitchen for new recipes, and the chickens get all the food scraps. She has got the baked goods dialed in, which is difficult to do without eggs and butter. (She brought us some chocolate mini-cupcakes last week with a fantastic cherry frosting, and I don’t even like cherry.) The husband hoovered down most of one container of these after dinner. I try not to eat wheat or sugar so I only had one, but it was delicious.

Anna is the person responsible for naming us Krause Basin Farm. I’ve planted extra out in the garden this year because she likes to buy local produce.

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The husband put the fence up in the chicken yard to separate the little chickens from the big chickens, and we opened the door on the little chickens’ side of the coop so they could go out. This is always an entertaining process. A couple of curious ones will stand in the doorway looking out, and eventually enough other little chickens will range in behind them that the ones standing in the doorway get pushed out. Then they have to learn how to get back up the ramp and into the coop. Once they get it figured out, though, they are in and out all day.