Yesterday. 2/17 was an unusual day. Not sure I ever remember Chinese New Year and Mardi Gras occurring on the same day! Since we spent 10 years in Asia we had Chinese for dinner. 2 different types of pot stickers and wonton soup. It did the trick. Have misplaced my Taiwan Beef Noodle soup recipe but think I found a similar one on the internet. Plan on making it this weekend. Been hungry for it.
I have been working on the dogs bandanas for St. Patrick’s day. Have 29 finished so far. First picture. Medium, second picture – 10 small and 10 extra small.
I also started my Raspberry Twist quilt. It’s a Jolly Bar kit from Fat Quarter shop.
First step sew 2 bars together. I did that while sewing the bandanas- leader/enders.
Seams all pressed open. Ready for the next step.
Last Thursday we went to look at plants. Didn’t really plan on buying any yet. We did. A tomato plant, a couple of flowers and 2 herbs for the raised bed.
Working compost into a bed and also putting up different fencing around several beds. Last year the rabbits ate all the young plants, including our new hostas. The new fencing has narrower openings. Hopefully this will work.
This past week it’s been in the 60’s and 70’s. We have a few days in the low 80’s. But not until late in the afternoon. And starts to cool down again. Easy to take!
We met Osie last Wednesday. Gave her my quilt top plus a few boxes for Linus. I brought my 3 tumbler blocks quilts home. As usual she did a wonderful job quilting them. I got them trimmed and bound. Did the binding my machine this time. Need the practice, especially at the corners. Will keep trying. Will give to Osie the next time we get together. Also want to go through my quilts to see what I can give her. They are donating a lot to various organizations.
Fabric for my next batch of dog bandanas. Saw this cute dog print. Had to get it. The other picture is for St. Patrick’s Day.
Galen has been down to the pond a few days. Mute Swan, Great Blue Heron and Lesser Scaup. Just a few pictures from there.
And lots of activity in our backyard feeders. Lesser Finch , Yellow-rump warbler and Orange- crown warbler. Plus many more.
Plans for the week. Bandanas, need to work on a few quilt blocks. More sorting and more printed patterns needing to be organized!!
Trying a new recipe for soup tonight. Hope it’s as good as it looks.
Punxsutaeney Phil said 6 more weeks of winter. All our animal prognosticators disagreed.
We had one more night of 20’s over the weekend. Our plants are now uncovered and moved back to the front of the deck to get sun and make it easier to water. My Merkot lime made it through another winter. We use the leaves when having Thai food.
Still some sleet on our roof. Should be melted by the end of the week.
I did get my Mirage top sewn together and borders sewn on. It needs to be pressed.
I am great at getting patterns downloaded and then not remembering which ones or what they look like. I have started to print out the first page of directions. Have them in a folder so I can double check. Now before maybe buying it again I will know for sure- have it or not.
Going through my January records of sewn bandanas- 80 for the month. Now on to sewing more. Some everyday, St.Patricks day and a start on ones for Easter. I have plenty to keep me busy.
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Monday, January 26, 2026
DESIGN WALL MONDAY
First off Texas weather. What a weekend! Galen did get the outdoor plants covered and protected. A few came inside too. Christmas Cactus, my small Pointsettia and my oregano. Temperatures did get into the teens at night and stayed below freezing during the day.
We dodged a bullet however. Had close to 2 inches of rain before the temperatures dropped with more forecasted. Shades of the 2023 ice storm. We were lucky. It came down as sleet so not much coated our Live Oaks leaves. We didn’t lose branches and power stayed on. As of this morning, the yard is still white. Most should melt today. Considering this is the most moisture since last October we are gratefull. We did have the heater in the birdbath. The birds were happy about that as well as having full feeders. I think Lady was happy wearing her sweater!
A few of our happy but cold birds at the feeders. A very cold Cardinal, White-throated sparrow. House Finch and a Blue jay. We had orange crown warblers and yellow rump warblers in as well. The feeders were active.
I had been wanting to make Tom Yum soup. A spicy Thai soup we enjoy. That was Saturday’s dinner. And yes, still using my dishes I bought when we lived in Taiwan. They are a lot heavier than the ones you see in a lot of Chinese restaurants here! Quite a few of us brought these back with us!
I dropped off Valentine bandanas to Lady’s groomer and mailed a box to Lisa, the groomer in California. Am working on a few more for them- xs size.
In between those I managed to get the Mosaic rows together. Now to get the borders sewn on.
Yesterday morning I walked into the room with the design wall. The wall is against a window and the sun was shining. The picture below- no artificial light; just the light shining through the window.
And the never ending job– still sorting through things. Found the container with my Two Rivers quilt pieces. A pattern by Pat Speth. I plan on tackling it next. Need to sort through; some parts are made. Mostly the half square triangles. Some other pieces cut. Will check and see just what is needed so I can get back to work on it!
We will keep plants covered through next weekend. After that it looks to be mostly above freezing at night. We will keep a watch on the forecast. Today we will stay home. Roads are still slick and we don’t need to be anywhere. Actually a lot of places are closed today. Will stay put, there’s plenty to do here.
Hope everyone is safe and warm. This was a monster of a storm. A lot of friends are digging out after getting snow over the weekend. Happy we dont have to do that anymore!
Till next time.
Monday, January 19, 2026
DESIGN WALL MONDAY
2 weeks have passed since my last post. And yes, there has been some sewing!
Our temperatures have been on a roller coaster ride lately and that will continue. But so far our winter has been warmer. I have never had my Thai Basil still growing in January. Parsley sometimes but never the basil!
Basil. And parsley
The cages don’t do much in keeping out the leaves from the Live Oaks but the squirrels can’t dig up the plants!
Our feeders in the backyard have been very active this past week; blue jays, titmice, chicadees, Cardinals and lots of lesser goldfinches. Yesterday 3 different woodpeckers. Yellowbelly. Ladderback and the Downy. First time a Ladderback has been in for awhile. With the weather forecast for the next 10 days we will keep the feeders full and the heater will go into the fountain birdbath for the below freezing temperatures that are forecast!
Made Zuppa Toscana one night. The left overs later in the week were good too!
And yes I did sew! Dropped off bandanas to the local groomer last week.
Lately I have been getting the ones made for Valentines Day. These are small and extra small. Have the medium size cut hut not sewn yet.
And my Mosiac quilt top; the first 4 rows are together. Top half of quilt is done!
Will get back to this as soon as the other bandanas are finished. Small steps on the quilting front but progress!
A little progress has been made on sorting as well. Will be meeting my friend Osie to give her the Mosaic top to quilt the beginning of Feb. I plan to hand over things for Linus then as well. It’s a start.
Have a good last few weeks of January. I know some of you have been dealing with wintry for several months. So I won’t complain about our little bit of it. Being from PA, having lived outside of Chicago and also St. Paul, MN. I think that was enough of winter for both of us !!!
