Simple Satisfying Sewing

Maybe it's because my heart is aching so for the Palestinians, maybe it's because my throat feels utterly constricted with rage, maybe it's because this world seems so wilfully angry and ignorant, but I've been doing just what the title for this post says: sewing simple, quick, easy, satisfying little makes. You saw the collection of makeup bags in the previous post. Well, I made my orange churn dash block for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge colour of the month,

I'm having fun finding appropriate 5" centres in the colour of each month!

Gratitude #64

Good heavens, I forgot the last Thursday of the month - where did May go? I started this post, as I usually do, part way through the month, but Thursday just sneaked up on me. Remember if you'd like to read more of these uplifting posts, several of us write them, some every week, and we link up at LeeAnna's blog Not Afraid of Color.

1. I like Kopegaron Forest, a little nature preserve we just discovered at the beginning of the month just 20 minutes from home.

Magical. Fragile. Perfect.

And we are about to re-elect a government in this province who wants to pave over thousands of square kilometres of wetlands to put in a highway that will benefit commuters by shaving off seconds, not lying, of their drive, but that will give billions to his rich buddies who clearly buy him off. I have to stop thinking too much about it other than signing petitions and writing to my MPP because I get a panic attack feeling in my chest.

Trilliums are a big deal to me, being from Alberta where they do not grow. But seeing these rich burgundy ones took my breath away. I looked them up: red trilliums. Who knew.

Thankful Thursday #10 - Humour and Scraps

When I shared this hilarious story yesterday with Lara of Buzzin' Bumble, I realized it was good fodder for spreading some cheer...at my expense.  But hey, if you can't laugh at yourself, well, you must be a pretty grouchy person! It's going to be a bit wordy, so I will interject some garden and some quilty pics as we go.  If you persevere, I'm sure you will laugh out loud at the moron I can be all too often...

So today I am so grateful for my sense of humour!

My blog is named a rather odd name for a blog that mainly is about quilting.  It started about 3 years ago when my brother and I exchanged several pensive, soul-searching emails regarding life at the eyebrow-raising age he was approaching and I had just entered, the 50s.  Your life is half over.  Yet you have the coming half to look forward to, and, if you've been careful and wise with your spending and saving, you will have SO MUCH to look forward to.  We covered various topics but a lot had to do with age, and working and how long to work and what to do when not working, etc.  I had a few events placed in my path thanks to the powers of the Universe, Great Benevolent Presence, God, Goddess, call this Divinity what you will.  These events helped shape the path I was contemplating, that of quitting my job pre-pension-receiving age, a full 9 years before I'd be even eligible for  a full pension, of moving to the other end of the country, 2000 miles away from my family, and taking a step into the unknown.

Wacky Cake #2

I decided to try Mary's (Sweet Little Bluebird) Lemon Crazy Cake recipe for dessert yesterday.  I am happy to say it turned out even better (SOOO moist) than the Coffee & Kahlua one!

Because good food is meant to be shared, I had to call our friend, John, with his dog, Brandy, to come over.  I was a little nervous that it would be okay, as I'd had to make a fairly major change to the recipe.  However, we had bought some organic vanilla ice cream at Publix, (just excellent! no preservatives and so creamy) so we had that as both a complement to the cake as well as a back-up if the cake wasn't edible.  I needn't have worried.

I iced it with vanilla icing, whipping about 2 tablespoons of cream cheese into the icing.  To die for.

You can find Mary's recipe here.  I had to make a fairly major change:  I had no lemons, so I used orange zest to increase flavour, and I had no lemon extract, so I used 1/2 cup of lemon juice and 1/2 cup of water instead of the 1 cup of water.  It turned out just super.  Lemony, with a hint of orange.

As always, we had a wonderful visit, both humans and canines!

I've written before about the importance I place on my friends, but it's never too many times to repeat that sentiment.  We had a wonderful day away this past Friday, at our dear friends, next-door neighbours, from Kingsville, who also winter in Florida.  The time spent, whether in deep conversation, sharing of a beautiful garden 

and music played by the carilloneur at Bok Tower,

or again, sharing good food (Jude made a fantastic fruit salad which I will make and share the recipe on here with her permission) and good belly laughter, ..... where was I going?!  LOL   Oh yes, no matter the activity, the time spent is always so much more pleasurable when shared with good friends.

We need to remember to tell our friends how much they mean to us, and how much we value the time spent with them.  Funnily enough, Jude has done that very thing with me in the past.  On Friday, she also told me how much her husband enjoys and values Joe as a friend.  It takes courage to do this, as you open yourself to another person, yet it truly is rewarding for both! 

We need and we thrive on this belly-nourishing and heart-nourishing - - veritable soul-nourishing we get from good friends. :-)