Crusty

Isn't it interesting how something will get our mind going?

My sweet friend, Karen, sent me another sourdough start down lasterday with one of her darling little boys because I let mine get *beyond-sourdough*. I fed it last night and decided to start a loaf of bread.

Sourdough isn't difficult, but it is time consuming. You mix flour, water, salt and some of your sourdough start into a medium dough and let it rise overnight, about 12 hours. Then you punch it down, shape your loaf, let it rise again for about 1-2 hours and then bake. Hands-on is only about 10 minutes total, that includes mixing, punching down, shaping, preheating the oven and dutch oven, transferring the risen dough to the dutch oven and starting the two-part baking process. Yeah, you just let it do all the work... and it works slow! My favorite part about fresh sourdough bread it the crunch, crust outside and the soft and fluffy inside.



So this is where my brain started whirring!

Have you ever considered just how much we, as women, are like crusty sourdough bread? We take a lot of time to turn out *right*. And, frankly, sometimes we want to rush that process! We want Pillsbury Dough results using a sourdough starter! Those Pillsbury Crescent rolls are yummy and FAST! And for some reason we think we have to be that fast, when really, were are sourdough all the way!

• We get sick... we want to be well YES-TER-DAY!
• We lose a loved one... we want to stop hurting YES-TER-DAY!
• We have financial difficulties... we want to be out of debt YES-TER-DAY!

Well, you see where I'm going with this.   We hold ourselves to higher standard than anyone else around us.  And you know what?

WE JUST NEED TO BE KIND TO OURSELVES!

We need to say, it's ok to take time to heal, to grieve, to dig out, to adjust, and often times, accept that we will NEVER be who and what we were before [before we lost our parent or child, went through a divorce, had surgery, moved away from a best friend, before...]  It's OK, because it has to be OK!

So my advice today is allow yourself to be like that sourdough bread that just came out of my oven:

• Crusty on the outside [read- I can do hard things.  With God I can do all things!] 
• Soft on the inside [read- don't become jaded by the negative things around you.  Fret not yourself!]

***(Yeah, and break open a jar of apricots to go along with your hot, buttery, slice of sourdough bread [read- I don't know but it sure tastes good to me])

Oh My Stinkin' Heck!

You may know that I am a bit of a quilt fanatic. It is one of my expensive, addictive habits (it joins scrapbooking in that distinction). My friend, Anne, infected me nearly 20 years ago, for which I thank her.

Besides quilting for my own enjoyment I will occasionally take in quilts to be quilted using my big quilting set up. The beginning of December, the same day I was taking photos of the Lewis Zoo, Kaye gave me several bags of quilts along with various instructions for each one and the proviso that there isn't any hurry so don't rush.  I put them carefully in my big quilting machine room to await further attention.

A couple of weeks later *a friend of a friend* sent her quilt to me to be finished as a Christmas present for herself. (Her mom was going to pay to have the quilting done on the top she had pieced). And my friend's mother delivered the top, backing and batting to my house the morning that we had almost 2 feet of new snow that I was trying to clear away with a balky snow blower! (Can you see where this is going? Just the fact that I'm getting this quilt 3rd hand should have been a giant red flag!) I put the bags of fabric and batting on my car until I finished with the snow and then took them inside and chucked it all into the room where my big quilting machine lives.

Then I got sick with bronchitis! dun... dun... dun...

The week before Christmas, when I still wasn't feeling all too well, I pulled out this top and backing and glanced at the batting... ugh! thick poly batting... a top without borders on it, but the borders were in the bag, cut, but not joined together (she told me she was a beginning quilter!) I couldn't even make sense of it all. I was still too sick to even think about it. I left it strewn around the room, closed the door and vowed to look at it when I felt better.

I wrote her an email and told her she had the wrong batting and was I supposed to attach the borders? I described in detail what I'd found in the bag...

In the bag you sent there is:
*  the top consisting of blocks of 6" solid blue squares and 6" 9-patch of red, white and blue prints.
*  a bunch of small blue print cut in 9.5" widths that look like you intended to add them around  the aforementioned blocks in a 9.5" border. And I think you said you didn't know if you had enough so you purchased a length of red solid fabric
*  also a large blue print (is that the back?) not pieced together
*  some solid blue that matches the blue squares in the top... is that just extra?

(Holy cow... this is turning into a mess!) But by then I did determine that I was mistaken about the batting... it was actually a king sized thin poly bat that would work just fine but I needed to wait to hear from her as to what she wanted me to do about the borders (heck... I even sent her a photo of a quilt I'd made showing her what borders were!!) Then I didn't hear back from Marianne until New Year's Eve when she told me to go ahead and do what I thought was best.

(Deep breath...)

So on Friday-last I finally was feeling human and energetic enough to attend to this neglected project.  I attached the borders, piece the back and start quilting. Now I never listen to audio books while I am running my big quilting machine because it is too loud. But I have new ear buds and found that I could listen to Northanger Abbey just fine. I'd sewn a couple of widths of quilting when my machine started to bog down... stupid speed-regulator... on the fritz already! Oh... it's not until the machine starts to make a very loud gronking noise that I realize that something is seizing up in my machine, hence the slowing. What?? Is this whole stupid quilt just cursed or something???

So, back to the email to tell Marianne there will be another delay! For whatever reason I told her what I'd done:

I added the borders to the quilt, using the white with small blue print. There was plenty to use just that fabric. It measures 91 x 98 inches finished size. The backing is the white with the larger rose print. I didn't use the solid red so you have that option for your binding but you also have enough of the same small print for binding if you want to use that instead.

This is the email I receive back from her:

No problem- I'm just getting a little nervous that we're not thinking of the same quilt! I don't remember having a rose print! Is there any way you could just take a quick snapshot and send it my way? I know that's a lot to ask, but I keep having a nagging feeling that it's not right... Thanks!

So I sent her a photo of her quilt.

Her response:

Oh my goodness... I don't know who this is worse news for, but that really is not my quilt! I didn't think much of it because mine is red and aqua  [I added this emphasis] with squares on it. I am so sorry! I don't know where the mix up happened! No wonder it wasn't finished!

Oh My Stinkin' Heck!!!!

Now it all comes floating back to me... Kaye told me she was sending a quilt that wasn't finished, she'd worked on it so long she never wanted to see it again, the borders weren't on, didn't know if there was enough for borders, bought more red just in case, so if I wanted to finish it I could send it on to whoever!

For cryin' out loud... do I ever feel like a dough-head!

This is Marianne's pretty quilt, top all finished, back all pieced, thin poly bat...  I'll bet she is so glad that she sent her *beginner's quilt* to a seasoned quilter to be completed!

January Thaw

We had the January thaw! It lasted 2 whole days! We had sun! no inversion layer (aka smog)! High temperatures in the high 40s and low 50s!  Did I mention the SUN?

Today the cold returned. As I left the Temple this afternoon it was sunny, cold AND horizontal snow!  (It is the Utah version of sunny and raining.)

But the best part of the day was this...



a golden sunset!

Happy Adoption Day!

Normally we celebrate birthdays... but when you deal in *used dogs* that just isn't possible!

Three years ago today we adopted Harley at a *pet adoption event* sponsored by Lost Paws held at the American Fork Petco. He has added so much to our family. What a character!



One thing that really bothers me is ill-mannered dogs and I try very hard to teach my dogs to be well-mannered. And sometimes that takes some thinking on the human's part.

We found early on that Harley loved his toys and understood that they were *his* (I've blogged before about him killing the squeak!)  He would proudly meet us at the door, when we arrived home, with one of his toys. My friend says it is his way of saying, "Look! I live here! These are my toys!"

So to avoid the ill-mannered jumping and excitement when company comes, or worse yet, dashing out the door, I gave him the job of getting one of his toys to show off when we have company. That way his energy is channeled into showing instead of jumping. He understands the concept of "Good dogs get treats!" better than any other dog I've ever had.


CAN YOU GUESS WHICH RUBBER ANIMAL HE'S HAD THE LONGEST?

As you can see, Harley loves his toys! He knows it's OK to chew them up, lose them in the backyard, leave them as *assassins* on the stairs and take to bed with him (Poppa's bed, of course!)

Now here is the funny part... he kept losing his toys in the nether-regions of his domain. We would get home and he would be nearly frantic with anxiety at not being able to greet us with a toy. Now what do we do for our little children? A toy box! So I got one of my baskets and gathered up all of his toys and bones and put them in Harley's toy basket; it lives at the top of the stairs. Now he knows just where to find his favorite toys when the occasion rises... what a funny pup!



Happy Adoption Day, Harley-boy! We are glad to have you as a family member!

1-11-11

How could a self-respecting, sequential/repeating number obsessed, winter-loving blogger, such as myself, let 1-1-11 get away without a post? Obviously... it didn't!

I don't know why repeating numbers please me, but they do.  

03-30-03 for example will always be a memorable day for me. And it is interesting that the Lord knows us so well that He will send us special gifts on such days; imprinted forever in our memory. It falls into the category of *Tender Mercies* for which I am so grateful. 



So what of today- 1-11-11?

Nothing memorable has occurred THIS day (so far)... but that is all right because I am aware of the Lord's love for me every day. What a great blessing in my life.

A Winter Wander

[You didn't really think you could get rid of me that easily did you?]

Today was one of those cold, crisp, windless, sunny winter days that I just love. And after spending way too many days sick [and in bed] in the last month I was grateful to be able to go out and take a little *walkie*. I took my camera along with me, somehow I just can't seem to leave it at home.

I thought you might like to tag along with me. I love how the sun plays off the clean, white snow.



Doesn't this look just like a Christmas card?



I mentioned that my tree yesterday was filled with fat robins. I suspect this is one of their many food sources. My friend Sheri intimated that the reason they DON'T fly south for the winter is that they are just too fat! Love that concept.



This tree... with these nests... I only see them in the winter and always forget to look when the tree is covered with leaves to see what sort of ginormous bird inhabits this! Now this one? Yep, he went south!



I also couldn't resist capturing this snow capped post. It just looks so cold and frosty.



I got back home and saw my tiny icicles. I had a moment of serendipity when I caught this drip.



But here is the best part: I'm standing in the drive way and here comes a whole herd of deer [10+] motoring up the street. They headed into the yard next door before the spotted me standing still and quiet. But the alpha-mama didn't like the looks of me... she pogo-stick hopped down to the cul-de-sac with the other babies [yearlings] and mamas in close order. This fellow? Yeah, they don't like him so much... he was all by himself.



And with all these photos do you really think that my 2011 photo-book will be any smaller?

Happy New Deer

So... I'm sitting in the chair by the front window talking on the phone to grand-daughter Makenzie when I see ear (yes, EARS) out of the corner of my eye. I peeked out through the blinds and there are 4 (count them... FOUR) deer eating the ivy in my front planter bed! If the window wasn't there I could almost touch then.

I sneaked upstairs and got my camera... by the time I got back there was only this sweet little girl munching the ivy. I stuck my lens through the blinds. She looked up when she heard my camera through the window.



After the girls left I went out and got evidence that these friendly little ladies get up on the front porch and can almost ring the doorbell!