Black and Teal

I started cleaning out my closet. I am being ruthless. Anything that doesn’t fit well or is the wrong color is getting donated. What’s left is mostly black and a fair bit of teal. Teal seems to be the one saturated color that I am able to find on a regular basis, but I am just as tired of it as black.

I’ve got some hot pink and other jewel-toned fabrics on order. I do need to get working on some cooler-weather tops, though. I traced two patterns yesterday—the Sadie top, similar to my Liz Claiborne tunics, and this one, from Sew Over It, a UK company:

I need simple, dressy tops to wear to church. The cuffs have to be plain hems or bands so they don’t get in the way of me playing the piano. This one has a 3/4 sleeve option, which is even better. DD#2 keeps telling me I should add some V-necks, too, and I like the collar on this top very much. And the pattern includes bust darts.

Joanns had Burda patterns on sale over the weekend, so I picked up a few more of those, too, for similar kinds of tops. I suspect there will be a fair bit of frankenpatterning going on, though, because I like some details from some of the tops and some details from others.

I’m knee deep in it at the moment. Knee deep in fabric and produce.

I weighed one of my tomatoes yesterday, just for fun:

One pound, 5.5 ounces. I’ve got several this size. I really need to find the labels, though, so I know what I am saving seed from.

The zucchini plants are spent. I might pull them out this weekend. I also need to dig up horseradish and make a batch of fire cider. I made that last fall and used it over the winter when I felt like I was coming down with something. It’s heavy on the garlic, onions, horseradish, and orange juice. It needs a lot of honey to make it palatable, but it’ll warm you up nicely.

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Sherri McConnell, of A Quilting Life, is big on productivity tools. She recommended a podcast called The Productive Woman. I haven’t listened to it yet—maybe today. I am curious to hear this woman’s advice. I get a lot of comments from other people about how much I do, but working hard and being productive (and learning things!) makes me happy. And I am a poser compared to the husband. He works harder than anyone else I know.

[Robin, you will be happy to know that he replaced that rotted board in the bridge going out to the greenhouse.]

I saw Tera on Sunday. Her route home from church takes her past our church, and when she saw me in the parking lot, she pulled in. We visited for about 20 minutes. We agreed that we need to put a trip on the calendar for next year. If we don’t schedule it now, we won’t do it, and I had such fun going to Garden of Quilts with her last September. (That’s the same weekend as my cousin’s wedding this year, or we might have gone again.) We’re thinking maybe the Sewing and Stitchery Expo in Puyallup, Washington, next March. That’s not too far from Pacific Lutheran, where DD#1 went to college, and I know my way around the area. Gail Yellen usually teaches serger classes there. I would love to take a class from her.