ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER IDEA.

 I have been getting ideas for new quilt projects.

This one is "Ghost in a Pumpkin" all tacked down.

This one is "Helpful Moose" with 2 Xmas balls dangling from his antlers which he is bringing to help decorate the Xmas tree.  This caption may read, "Can you use these?"

I made a moose wall hanging a couple years ago which I enjoyed making.

I took a different route this time.  This big guy got himself in trouble.

I have also been thinking about little houses in winter.  I have one which I really like so thought a few more wouldn't hurt.  They will work well during winter after Xmas is behind us.... like this one......

Winter can be long and drawn out here is southern Maine.  I could use more winter subjects.  I am thinking also more birds wearing muffs and hats, too, like this one which are chickadees but maybe something in cardinals or blue jays......

My mind is clicking today.

Have a good day.

FALL IS HERE. SEWING AND CLEANING UP THE GARDEN.

 It's been cooler the last week or so.  Temps here in southern Maine are ranging in the 50s and 60F daytimes and nites drop to 50s and 40s now.  It's just lovely outdoors.  To date I do not see red leaves on our trees.  We usually see lovely color by the 10th to 15th of October, unless we have lots of rain.  That seems to put the brakes on having good leaf color.

I worked in my garden lately cleaning it up and getting it ready for bed for the winter.  Pulled out all the cucumber plants and most of the tomato plants that have given up the ghost and put the cucumber cages in storage.  I got 3 cukes before pulling them out and a few tomatoes.  Today I harvested 7 nice carrots.  My thyme, parsley, and chives are still doing just fine and my sweet peppers are still trying to grow some fruits.  They are tiny so far so I don't think they will get much larger before we hit a frost.

With the garden becoming a thing of the past, I have started back into sewing again.  With Halloween coming up soon, I drew a couple of Halloween pictures.

Here is "3 Pumpkins" all satin-stitched.  I still have the layering, quilting, and shading to do (eyes, crease shadows), along with adding the binding.  This will finish around 18" by 24" when it's done.

I also drew a 2nd sketch since I also love ghosts, the friendly and cute ones, not the horrid ghouls.

This one is titled "Ghost in a Pumpkin" and will be much smaller.  I hope to get them both finished before Halloween rolls around so I can have something cute for my front door.

The rest of my life is rather dull.  I clean house a little, cook a little bit and share with an older neighbor who does not do much cooking these days, and do lots of TV viewing, reading, and there's always the jig saw puzzles and crossword puzzles.  Once a week I am the Bingo caller here in the complex.  I enjoy doing it.  I do not do my own grocery shopping since I live daily with vertigo to some degree, some days better than others, so my darling son shops for me twice a month.  I could order my groceries in but he says he likes to do it so he can come visit with me a couple times a month.  I think I will keep him.  

My daughter, thank goodness, gets me to doctor appointments.  Thankfully they only happen every 6 months so though I get to see her now and then, it's not often. 

My life as I live it is pretty good.

Hope you are having a good day.

3 PUMPKINS DOOR HANGING STARTED

I am finally getting back to my sewing.  I started a new Halloween project, an 18 by 24 inch door hanging.

This is the sketch.....

I named it 3 Pumpkins.  

This is it as of today.  I managed to sew some of the parts to the background.  I still have the black cat and the fence to add and maybe something more when my little brain thinks about it.  

It feels good to be sewing again.

Have a good day.

JUST A QUICK CHECK IN

 Sorry I haven't checked in lately.  My routine has become rather dull of late.  

I check my garden daily to pick any fruits.  I have been getting enough tomatoes and cucumbers to share with other residents in my apartment house and with my family.  Also a few carrots since my plot was only a 12-inch square.  But darn they were tasty and super fresh.

                           A little of this and a little of that.

For herbs I have thyme and Italian parsley planted so those have been harvested the last few weeks as well.

Our Maine weather has been marvelous.  Our days have been from the high 70sF to the high 80s for the most part.  We only got a couple of hits at 90 plus this year so far.  That's a blessing.  I have not had to water my garden too often since we get rain at least weekly, and most of the time at night.  Living alongside the river, even on hot days we get a beautiful breeze which is so welcome.

Now temps are cooler with days in the 70s and nights in the 50s.

My pepper plants did not do well this year.  I only got a couple of sweets and so far, only one hot pepper.  There is one hot Surena growing now but am waiting for it to turn red.  My son loves hot peppers.  I won't touch them with a ten-foot pole.  I have no idea why I had a problem with peppers this year.  They did fine last year.  Maybe some pathogen in the soil from the store-bought Black Cow compost I added to my garden bed this spring.  It seems that end of the bed did not produce well at all.  Even a couple of tomato plants and the chives in that area did poorly and one cuke plant gave me only a few fruits this year.  Yup, there is something wrong in that half of the bed.

With cooler days coming all my plants will be slowing down to a crawl and I will soon have to put my little garden plot to bed for the season and hope for a better year in 2023.

With fall coming I will be back to making quilted art projects.  I have a few ideas burgeoning in my head and will work on them when it is cooler.  There is no a/c in my sewing area so I rarely do any sewing in the summer.

I hope you all had a good summer and wish you a better fall.

MY FIRST CUCUMBER

My first cucumber harvested today, July 18th.

This is a Bush Pickle cucumber and my first off the vine.  I am thrilled to have it and will enjoy it at lunch today.

As for my tomatoes, the first ones ripening are the Gold Nuggets as you can see among the green.  

This will be my first nice salad with my Bush Pickle cucumber and a few Gold Nugget tomatoes, the first of my season.

My garden is very green and looking good.  We are expecting t-showers this afternoon so I did not water my garden this morning.  

Another item to share with you is the wooden knife block I purchased online from Wayfair last week.  Originally, I had to keep my large knives in a drawer which made for difficult choosing and keeping them sorted.  This knife block eliminates that problem.  All the knives I had fit perfectly.  I love this block.  I can even slot my steak knives but have a smaller knife block for those.

Have a nice summer day.

EGG BITES RECIPE

 This recipe is being passed around my quilt group with good results.  Everyone that has tried it likes it and you can freeze the results, so it's never wasted.

Ingredients:   Makes 12

3 Slices bread, your choice, crusts trimmed away, cubed in 1 inch pieces

1/2 Lb Pork Sausage Meat, cooked.  Or frozen sausage patties or links, cooked and cut into small pcs.

4 Oz. Cheddar Cheese, grated

8 Eggs

1 1/2 Cups Milk

1 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Oregano

1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper

Options:  Cooked hash brown potatoes in small bits, small pieces spinach, or any veggie of your choice, cut very small.

Preheat your Oven to 350 degrees F

Use Silicone muffin pans or Silicone liners.

If you use non-stick pans you need to spray them well, otherwise your pans will be difficult to clean.  With silicones, even without any spray or oil, they pop right out.

 First..... Distribute the bread pieces on the bottom.

Next, add some cooked Sausage to each cup.

For the next step I added some Hash Browns but you can eliminate those or add some veggie your prefer, like spinach.

This was topped off with the grated Cheddar cheese.

Next is the Egg and Milk Mixture....

In a measuring bowl break 8 eggs, add 1 1/2 Cups Milk, also the pepper, salt and onion powder.  Whisk well to incorporate fully.

This is poured over your muffin cups evenly, but leave a little space at the top because the milk mixture will rise as it cooks.

To finish, place muffin pans in 350*F Oven for 25-30 minutes to cook through.

The result in a dozen muffin-sized Egg Bites.  You can freeze these to use later.  Just allow to defrost overnite in the fridge and microwave 30-60 seconds before enjoying. 

Or you can save in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Enjoy.

GARDEN UPDATE.....

 ITS BEEN A NICE COUPLE OF DAYS AND HAPPILY WE GOT A LITTLE RAIN LAST NITE, NOT MUCH, BUT A LITTLE MORE THAN A QUARTER INCH SO THAT'S GOOD.  MY GARDEN IS LOOKING GOOD.

My Bush Pickles are now covered in blossoms and many little cukes starting to grow.  

This Golden Star pepper has a nice one growing with several little ones to come.  It will turn golden when its ripe, but of course, one can pick peppers at any stage and they are good eating.

Little Napoli tomato is a small variety in size, but gives lots of nice normal-sized plum tomatoes.  There are many little toms growing and lots of blossoms to come.

Ruby Crush tomato is doing very well with its grape-size tomatoes starting to form.  

I am very happy with everything in my garden.  I harvested a couple of Romaine lettuces this morning and gave one to a neighbor who was walking her dog nearby.  She was pleased to get super fresh lettuce.  I will use mine for more BLTs for lunch today and tomorrow.  Its a good way to use up fresh lettuce.

Our temps have lowered from the 80 and 81 of a few days past.  We are back in the 70s days and 60s nites which pleases me, though peppers are not as pleased with those temps.  They grow best when its hotter. 

Happy gardening.