Friends Are Special

My college roommate sent me a large envelope full of goodies. I told her I did not want to be paid to finish her grandmother’s quilt, so she gave me a gift card to Spoonflower and sent a few other gifts with a long note. Everything was tucked into this fun pouch:

One can never have enough zipper pouches.

She also does cross-stitch, and included these:

The quilt square one had been stitched by her grandmother, but she added the lettering around the outside. I will hang these near my sewing machine.

And she included a couple of these “bonnets,” which she said her grandmother was fond of making. She thinks they were sold at a local craft sale. I tried the bigger one out on a jar of my tomato sauce.

It fits perfectly!

Friends are special. I love all of mine.

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The greenhouse got a thorough cleaning yesterday. I went through all the pots, now organized by size, and tossed any supplies that were beyond repair. The sun was shining and it was warm enough inside that I had to open the doors.

The husband put the diesel heater out there after dinner last night. We have a propane heater hooked up to the tank outside, but that heater has the unfortunate tendency to turn itself off unexpectedly. We almost lost a whole season’s worth of seedlings a few years ago, so we don’t rely on it until later in the spring. The diesel heater is bigger but it has a thermostat.

I’m trying something slightly different with the tomatoes. I usually direct seed them into 3” pots, but I am planting them into nine-packs in trays and putting them downstairs on the lettuce system until they sprout. Once the seedlings get their true leaves, I’ll transplant them. I also bought clear plastic covers for our trays in hopes that we can avoid having to booby trap the entire greenhouse with mousetraps.

The chicks are doing very well. I had one escapee yesterday, who flew out when I lifted up the lid to put their waterer back in. She landed on the table next to the brooder box and froze, so I scooped her up and put her back. Leghorns are so flighty.

And even though I know I’ll have to do it again once mud season starts in earnest, I cleaned the kitchen on Tuesday. I couldn’t stand it any longer. The floor was a mess. I moved everything, vacuumed, mopped, wiped down baseboards, washed the curtains and the wallhanging over the table, and washed the windows and French doors. The laundry room needs the same treatment soon.

‘Tis that time of year. I’m not getting a lot of sewing done this week, although I did finish bear paw quilt #3 yesterday. I need to check in town for the color Kona I need for the binding because—shockingly—I did not have it in my stash.

I’m trying to reconcile myself to the fact that there may not be any (clothing) sewing in April. How ironic, just when I feel like I’ve cracked the code with my bodice sloper. Next month’s schedule is nuts, to put it mildly, and class samples for my summer classes are at the top of the to-do list when I do get time to sew. Maybe I can get a few things cut out and stacked up next to the serger this weekend.