It's been very very cold and very very dry here. The cold doesn't bother me, and it actually makes me happy because I hope for fewer bugs in the summer, but we're quite desperate for moisture. I've been trying to water my trees, but it has to get warm enough for my hoses to unthaw, and I have to remember to always unhook them afterwards!
1. I like being able to catch up a bit! I feel like I'm finally getting caught up with a bunch of stuff after the holidays and like the new year is really on its way. I managed to get a couple blog posts written about a new project this week based on my triangles, check back tomorrow to see the final quilt. Here's an in-progress snapshot.
2. I like starting new things! I actually have two new quilt projects ongoing right now, one started over the weekend. This one will involve smocking, I have no idea how it will work, but of course I'm jumping in with both feet. I started by painting this fabric (it was a pale pink). It was some sort of polyester satin stuff, and after painting it almost looks like a fake leather when you touch it. Kinda cool!
3. I like baking! I try not to do very much because it's always followed by lots of eating. But this week I used my mom's beer-bread pot to make my first loaf of beer bread. It was quite easy! I used a bottle of sweet potato beer I'd had in the pantry for a while. I bought a six pack of them thinking it would be a fun thing to try and it wound up being the most disgusting thing I'd ever tried to drink (apologies to sweet potato beer enthusiasts). I thought I'd save them for cooking, and of course the flavor was much reduced in the beer bread, but it still came through. I think I'll probably just empty out the remaining 4 and recycle the bottles. Otherwise the beer bread worked great!
4. I like singing! This past Thursday was our annual choral evensong service. We join up with another choir from a nearby church and sing this service as a guest group at St. Thomas Moore church in Norman. It's a bit of a different singing environment (with regards to the placement of the organ and the acoustics) than we're used to, but I think it went lovely all the same. I really enjoy it every year, and it's a bunch of fun music. This year we used a Vaughn Williams setting for most of the music. Here's a recording of the Magnificat from the service, hopefully you can play it!
5. I like my pups! Of course I always like them, but they've been especially snuggly lately in this cold weather!
I hope everyone has things to like this week! Thanks to LeeAnna for keeping us positive!
Hi Shannon,
ReplyDeleteThat beer bread looks very interesting, but I can imagine you do not like the taste. If you hate the beer, just dump it out or find a friend who does like the taste. It wouldn't translate well into a bread if you didn't like an ingredient, I would surely guess. I love it when you include pictures of your pups! Of course you love them and they love you. Look how they are looking at you! No photos of plants this week? Soon they will all be changing and growing for spring. Your triangles are really coming along - I'll have to pop back and see the update. ~smile~ Roseanne
Where have I been...never heard of beer bread. Yours looks great. I once tried a fruity beer on a cruise...thought I’d like it but no, not really. Love your experimenting with painting on fabric. So interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe triangle quilt looks cool. I'm jealous that you have time to catch up! I need that! Baking is fun - eating is dangerous (but also fun). :-) All good stuff.
ReplyDeleteYour new project is fascinating to me! I scrolled down and read your earlier post about it, too. I've never painted fabric - what kind of paint do you use for that? The beer bread looks yummy!
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing as wonderful as snuggling with a nice pup on a cold day! I saw your piece in today's post (triangles) and love it! Well done, you managed it perfectly! Have a wonderful day!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful music. Thank you. That triangle piece is so interesting. Off to see your next post to see what it looks like finished.
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