Happy Friday! I'm actually blogging on a Friday for a change.
It really is fall now, I guess. Here's my grandson in his Halloween outfit. I've decided orange is my new favorite color. (Oh, and the shirt doesn't lie, either.)
Here's my finish for the week--I have finally finished the canning. Last weekend I got a half bushel of apples and a half bushel of pears canned up. A few of these jars are left from last year, like the beets (I'm the only one who likes them) and some of the pickles and jam.
The little jars here on the lower left are baby food. Applesauce (unsweetened, of course) is next to the wall, and the pears are closer to the jam jars. They're clearly labeled on the lids, since they look just about exactly alike. Our little guy has started on cereal and vegetables, but no fruit yet. When he's ready, we'll be ready.
These empty bottles are for vinegar. I started some on Saturday, as I finished the apples. I make it with apple peels and cores with water and a little sugar. It will ferment in the kitchen until it's good and vinegary, and then I'll put it in these glass bottles.
My grandson and I went for a walk on Wednesday. He rode in the stroller and chewed on a toy, and he didn't seem to mind when I kept stopping to pick up leaves. Even though it's early, some of the trees are starting to turn, and there are all these wonderful colors just lying on the ground.
Of course that made me long to make leaf blocks. So I did! Hey, why would I worry about UFOs? Sometimes the inspiration strikes, and there you go.
Before I started, I knew I wanted to make 9 in. blocks. They're a good size, not too tiny and putzy, and not too big and clunky. I used my scrap strips, and cut them lickety split with the Accuquilt cutter. Then I took them up to the sewing room on a cookie sheet.
I'm varying the blocks a little, and making them very scrappy. Lots of the squares came from my shoebox of leftover 3.5 in. squares.
So that's what I'm happy about this week.
I guess I'm getting grouchy in my old age, but somehow today I've been thinking about stuff that makes me grind my teeth and shake my head.
Pet Peeves of Fall
1. Fake pumpkins for decorations. Believe it or not, they actually make fake pumpkins TO CARVE. Seriously. Real pumpkins are cheap. Buy some from a farmer. Buy extras and make a pie or two.
2. Strong fake-cinnamon smelling pine cones. Today I went to buy batting in a chain store, and could barely breathe for the smell of it. I kept looking around for them, but didn't see the bin of them until I got to (of course) the batting shelves. AT THE BACK OF THE STORE. I think the employees stuck them back there to try to lose the smell, and who could blame them. I might have put them on the loading dock where a truck would hit them.
3. Christmas decorations put up before Halloween. It gets earlier every year. Next year it'll probably start right after Valentine's Day. I like Christmas, I really do, but this is too much. Holidays should take turns, like grade school kids at show and tell--one holiday at a time.
4. This ENDLESS presidential election season. We've had almost 2 years of this nonsense, and at this point I'm all out of outrage. I'm going to be so excited to cast my ballot on election day, mainly because that will mean the election is finally OVER.
Sorry about the ranting this week. Writing this down made me realize just how minor most of this stuff is, and how good I really have it.
I'm linking up with the very creative Myra at
Busy Hands Quilts
and with Amanda Jean at
Crazy Mom Quilts
Enjoy the season this week, whatever it may bring.
Cheers,
Sylvia
SOLD! Thank you for sharing! I found and downloaded this pattern! Now it's time to purchase a few fall fabrics! Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome. I hope you have as much fun sewing the leaf blocks as I did.
DeleteIronically your number 1 and 2 pet peaves are great joys for me. When my kids were at the age of carving pumpkins I was working retail. There its never enough time to carve them. They are an awful mess. The walls never get thin enough to carve. It ends up being a horrendous hack job. The slop for seeds is yucky. We had a pumpkin growing out of the bathroom sink one year. I could do with out the whole affair. But many absolute favorite part of fake pumpkins is you can use them year after year. So as your little one grows you can see how there skill increases. Just like ornaments on the tree. And cinnamon pine cones are wonderful to me. I always inhale deeply. I have been known to rush over and stick my nose super close and make an absolute fool of myself. I have used them for kindling in the fireplace. They are as synonymous with the season as pumpkin is to me. I am in complete agreement with 3 and 4.
ReplyDeleteHi, Heather! It just goes to show you, everybody looks at things differently. I love the idea of the pumpkin vine growing out of the bathroom sink--that could happen here! When my oldest grandson was little, we used paint or markers on the pumpkins instead of carving to avoid some of the mess. Have a lovely autumn season.
DeleteSylvia, found you on Crazy Mom Quilts. I can relate to your "ranting", believe me! I like a kindred spirit who just sews when inspiration strikes. I like your leaves, they are perfect for this time of year!
ReplyDeleteHi, Janice! Don't you just love Crazy Mom quilts? How on earth does she get so much done? It has been fun making leaf blocks while the real leaves are giving us such a lovely show. Have a wonderful fall season!
ReplyDeleteSylvia - I relate to your rants. Those stinky pinecones give me a headache and if they are in the big box stores - I just run in and grab what I need and run out. I would wager that they lose money over that odor. It is just horrible. After tomorrow the election nonsense should wind down. It has been a wicked year of lunacy.
ReplyDeleteYour fall leaves, both real and stitched, are so pretty.
Thanks, Bernie! It will be so great to have the election commercials gone and something else on the news. Have a lovely autumn.
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