September 8, 2026 - Bread - Buns and Rolls

 Since yesterday was our Azure pickup, put the spelt in a bucket this morning and realized it looked a little wimpy. I'm guessing it's because so much of the grain this year has been grown in drought conditions but I wanted to test it and make sure it's ok.

I don't know if you can see it but the grain in the white lid is grain from last year and the grain in the bucket is the new grain.

I figured the best way to test it was to make a tried and true recipe I've made often - Hamburger buns made with hard white wheat and spelt.

I've been having a problem with my right ear - it pops sometimes but this morning it was popping way more than normal. Every step I took, the ear popped. I had just shaped the buns and rolls to rise and decided I should have the doctor look at the ear. I called and the lady said "Can you be here in 30 minutes?" I wanted to say "No! I'm farther away than 30 minutes." But, I said YES because I was about to scream with that ear popping constantly.

I stuck the rolls, that had just started rising, in the fridge and went to see the doctor.

You know sometimes weird things happen to me. The doctor came in and looked in my ear and said "There's a hair in your ear." I thought "Oh, great . . does hair growing in my ears come with old age?" Nope, not growing - just a hair resting on my ear drum and every time I took a step, that hair was kinda like it was beating a drum! They did an "ear flush". Guess where the hair came from! Cooper! It was a Cooper hair in my ear. Who would ever have thought that could happen? Hopefully it never happens again.

Came home, got the rolls out of the fridge, let them rise, baked them and here they are:

Five hamburger buns and four little rolls. 

I cut the smallest roll in half, added way too much butter and it was delicious. I love the nutty, buttery flavor of spelt. I love making bread! 

September 8, 2026 - Weather

 Is everyone's weather crazy? Ours sure is. We've had weeks and weeks of temps over 100. Our home weather station has shown temps as high as 115. I don't even remember the last time it wasn't over 100 in the daytime - it's probably been well over a month. And the last time we had rain . . I would guess two months and my water bill will confirm that guess!  :)

Tomorrow we're supposed to break yet another record. The weather guy says 102 for a high but I'm betting at our house, it will be warmer. We're in a valley and it always seems to be a few degrees colder than it is in town and apparently in the summer, we're a few degrees warmer.

Then, look at our low for 9/20 -- just 12 days later.

Many nights that low and my okra will be done. When the okra is done, that's the end of the garden for me. I'll put the rosemary in the greenhouse. It's all in small pots but I'm pretty much ready for this year's gardening season to be over . . though I do hate to lose my okra this early. One 47 degree night may not hurt it but several in a row will and if the forecast says 47, it well might be 43 at our house. 

It's ok . . not much I can do about it but I'm ready to get out the sweaters and wool socks and sit and cross stitch all day vs. pulling weeds, squishing bugs and watering plants!

September 7, 2026 - A New to Us Breakfast Recipe

 Last night Vince sent me this video and said it looks good. It did look good so I told him I would make it for breakfast this morning. I did and it was super easy and delicious! I will make it again but I think I will add jalapeno peppers next time.

The stuff that looks like icing on top is actually melted cheese. I love the Rumiano mozzarella. I like it so much that I try to not even buy it!

There was over half of it leftover and I think it will be great reheated in the air fryer.

Our Azure pickup was supposed to happen today at 12:30. We had decided we would eat in Lamar (that's where we pickup) and Vince had found a Mexican restaurant to try. About 7:30 we got an email that our delivery was delayed because the truck had been damaged in a storm last night and they would let us know when they knew more. About 1:30, we hadn't heard anything and I hadn't planned lunch so I told Vince I'd grab a jar of something. 

I wanted red beans, sausage and rice so I got a jar of red beans and sausage and I add ground beef to it when I'm canning it. I wanted to add extra sausage so I got a package of sausage. I made coleslaw and dressing, rice and cornbread using soft white wheat and dried dent corn.

This is one of my favorite meals! Before we were quite finished eating, we got an email that the Azure truck was fixed and would be at the drop off location by 3 p.m. Oops . . that was about 45 minutes from when I got the email and we're 45 minutes from the drop so we finished eating, put the coolers and ice packs in the car and took off. It's a good thing I cooked because there was nothing but fast food open in that little town. The Mexican place was closed. The BBQ place we like was closed . . we would probably have come home and had a sandwich.

Tomorrow (Tuesday), I don't think we have to leave the house . . that's my hope anyway.

September 6, 2026 - Organizing The Floss

 Organizing the floss will take much longer than organizing the linen. It's a mess. Several months ago I added a page (or more) to my journal and when I order floss, I write down what it's for and immediately put it in a project bag when it arrives. Up until I started doing that, floss would get tossed into a bin when it arrived and I would never remember what it was for so . . here's the mess I created.

There's a bin for Weeks, Gentle Arts, Classic Colorworks, DMC, Colour & Cotton, Vicky Clayton Silks and Roxy Floss Co. and Victorian Motto are in one bin. There's more to go into these bins and once I'm fairly confident I have most of the floss in the bins, I'll start with a bin and alphabetize it, except for Colour and Cotton and Victorian Motto. I keep those together by color. Then I will add the new floss to the floss I already have that's organized. I put it on large rings and hang it in a closet so it's away from most of the dust and dog hair and light.

In my defense, when I first got back into stitching in late 2020, floss (and linen) was hard to find and that just fed the frenzy of getting it ALL so I never have to search for it again.

It's going to be so nice to have the linen all in one place (except for the bins that block the dogs' illegal activities) and the floss easy to find. I would like to think that will give me more time to stitch but . . you know how I am! I'll find some other rabbit hole to go down.

September 5, 2026 - Linen Organizing

 Today I almost finished organizing the linen. It was a mess. It isn't 100% fine and may never be because we keep plastic bins/totes full of various items to use as barricades for the dogs. Here is one of the bins (there are four in that "grouping") that keep the dogs from jumping from Vince's chair to the loveseat where I sit. There are others to keep them from pulling paper out of the printer, and another set that keep them from jumping up on the windowsill and scratching the wood trim. I guess it's a good thing we have so much "stuff" to build walls to block the dogs. :)

But, most of the linen is in the bins on a shelf unit in the sewing room.

I had planned to get it all rolled onto the comic book boards so it would stand up nicely and I can open the bin and see all the colors but I didn't have the time to do that. I do, for the most part, have it all separated by dyer.

The top bins are Roxy Floss Co., Colour & Cotton, Grace Notes and Tropical Stitches. The bottom bin is X-Ju and there's another bin of X-Ju linen. I'm not sure if there's more X-Ju or Picture This Plus - those are the ones I seem to have the most of.

I did keep out these two linens for family pieces. 

This is the one I stitched for my dad:

This is the one I'm stitching in memory of my grandma:

I thought those two pieces of linen go nicely with these two. I didn't want to use the same linen twice but I believe these two will go nicely with a family grouping. I still want to make a memorial piece for my aunt and my grandpa and of course, some day I will make one for my uncle.

One of the things I found while cleaning in there was this chart. Denise and I were too often doing weird things (like ordering the same chart on the same day without telling each other we were going to do it, or starting the same project on the same day) and I would tell Vince and he would say "Y'all Ain't Right!" Denise and I would laugh and laugh about how often Vince would tell us that. She even has a post or two on her blog about it. I saw them when I went back to see if she had shown this piece as being finished. One of us found this chart and we both ordered it. I am going to stitch this and then put her name on it and, though not a traditional "memorial" piece, it's going to remind me of my friend when I see it and I will smile, even though I miss her!

Vince is planning to watch the Clemson/LSU game tonight and there's a LONG lightning delay so he'll be up late tonight. It will be nice to have company while I stitch.

September 3, 2026 - Furniture Moving Day

 I hope this doesn't come across as whining because I don't think I'm whining but . . I have had the hardest time finding a stitching chair I like. 

First, when we bought this house in 2020, the owners weren't taking the two Lazy Boy recliners that were in the basement. They said they would leave them if we wanted them but otherwise, they were donating them. Our furniture wasn't coming for six months (because I came here before Vince came here). We bought new furniture for the upstairs family room but had nothing for the basement, which is where the only TV is, so we were happy to keep their recliners. They were older but didn't look bad. Six years later, they look bad, they aren't comfortable anymore. They're still in the basement, which is where I stitch and where I sit probably way too many hours per day. 

I have truly tried to find a better chair/sitting situation. First, we didn't yet have Oscar and I bought an electric recliner. It was ok until Oscar came along. First, when I need to get up quickly to get something away from him, the chair goes down slowly. I can pop that foot rest down way faster manually. Second, Oscar is always on my lap or next to me and every move he makes would cause that chair to wiggle because it was a rocker/swivel recliner. That could make for some not so great stitching. I have a neighbor who has teens and they have a "rec room" type room and I figured they would use it. They were happy to get it.

Next . . I thought maybe a loveseat might be better. It had to go in a different location in the basement family room and no matter where I positioned my magnifying lamp, it was in Vince's eyes.  The loveseat itself wasn't so perfect. It felt like it didn't have enough stuffing - just felt wimpy. We talked to the store where we bought it, they sent someone out to look at it, agreed, took it back and had more stuffing put in. 

By then, I had decided I just wanted a new recliner and I wanted a bigger one so Oscar could sit comfortably next to me without us feeling crowded . . I should say without ME feeling crowded. Oscar manages to get all the space he wants and it doesn't seem to bother him at all.

So, the new recliner arrived. It's one of those kinds that you could comfortably sleep in. It's HUGE but the handle was all the way down near the floor and I almost had to crawl out of the chair to reach the handle. I know the one I sat in at the store was not that far down - almost completely on the floor. Vince sat in it and decided he loved it so he took it upstairs and brought his old recliner downstairs. Definitely not comfortable for me.

Then we bought a love seat that wasn't a recliner but had an ottoman. My legs are short so if I had the ottoman close enough that my legs could rest on it, there wasn't enough room for me to get up because the ottoman was in the way of putting my feet on the floor. When we looked at it in the store and I sat in it, the ottoman wasn't there.

I know . . there are millions of people who wish there problems were this small but really, I want a comfortable chair.

We got rid of the old sofa that I had bought when Chad was 3 years old. He's almost 40 now. I kept saying "It looks so good and it's comfortable!" It was a sleeper so it was very comfortable to sit on .. not so comfortable to sleep on. It was in the sewing room in Texas and a couple of times when the A/C wasn't working in the house, we would sleep in the sewing room on that 

As you can imagine, Vince isn't very happy when I mention that I need to find a better chair!

Earlier this week, my back was hurting so I decided to move over to the loveseat - the one that's a recliner. It's in the family room. The one that isn't a recliner is in one of the basement bedrooms.

It's a love seat. There's room for two people. I had to stack up boxes on one end to try to keep my light out of his eyes but where it's sitting, I had no place to put my pens, scissors, etc. The tablet and the lamp were right next together . . it just wasn't working.

This morning Vince left to go to PT and I thought . . I'm moving everything! The loveseat was heavy but I managed to move it over to where the recliner was; moved the recliner to where the loveseat had been. I had to plug some open areas with storage bins to keep the dogs out of trouble. 

This is the recliner that I have to use my legs to put it down. I definitely can't do that with my knee so I'm kinda sitting in the middle. I keep the left side extended and sitting in the middle, I can still stretch my legs out but I can also put my feet down and little to the right and not have to put down the foot rest to get up.

Another good thing about having the love seat is if I have a longer project (I use scroll frames and don't have a whole lot of space to move the project to the left or right), I can scoot over to the left or scoot over to the right and be right where I need to be.

I had to stack more storage bins between the loveseat and Vince's chair because Oscar jumps from Vince's chair to the love seat and I'm afraid he's going to hurt himself.

I really like the place where my recliner was and now where the loveseat is (I can see almost all of the family room and know what the dogs might be getting into). I think everything as far as where the magnifying light is; where the stand for the tablet is, where the Lowry stand is . . just hoping the loveseat is still comfortable after sitting for hours and hours.

Once I get everything put back where it goes, I'll share some photos.

Vince got home from PT and I asked him to come downstairs for a minute. He came down and talked to me, sat down in his chair . . never even noticed that the furniture was all moved around. Let me order one piece of linen and he notices that!  :)

August 30, 2026 - Looks Good From a Galloping Horse!

I had a quilting friend years and years ago who wasn't very precise with her cutting or her sewing. It never bothered her and she would look at what she had just stitched and say "It looks fine . . from a galloping horse, don't you think?" I've always been of the opinion that if the creator/maker of something is happy with it, I'm happy with it.

From that distance, it doesn't look too bad.

From this distance, maybe not so great. I don't even know if I did it correctly but it's done. There's one more row of it to do. I think I'll go ahead and get it done so I can stop thinking about it.

Tomorrow (Monday) I'll get back to working on the Blackbird project - Come Into My Garden.