Savage River?

Last weekend, we made a quick three day getaway to Savage River State Forest in Western Maryland. We took the dog, and he had a great time frolicking in the not-so-savage headwaters of the river. We hiked and read and talked and generally enjoyed our time without tv and computers.

This photo was actually taken when we were on our way out, pup leashed up and ready to load into the car. I left my camera behind in our cabin when we went hiking, but it's probably for the best. The camera can never capture the dappled sunlight through the trees quite the way I remember it.

Just checking in

Well, summer hasn't gotten any less busy, so it's no surprise to me that it's been almost two weeks since I've written here. I present a few (fuzzy) photos to catch up. The progress on my hill-y ripple blanket, started many moons ago. I'm using all Debbie Bliss yarns (Baby Cashmerino, Cashmerino DK mostly) because if you're going to do something that takes this long, you might as well do it right. This will be a really luxurious blanket for our queen-sized bed. As a bonus, it's quite heavy, so it will be nice and cozy in the winter. Here's hoping I can get it finished by then! I've done about 35 rows (each row is two rows of the same color and comes in at about an inch in width, depending on the yarn), and I'm a little over a third of the way done. I'm digging the way the colors are coming together.
Buttermilk batter-fried squash blossoms from a couple of weeks ago. These were phenomenal. We bought a pint of these little gals at the farmers' market for about $3, which seemed expensive at the time, but they were so delicious once I fried them up that I wish I could get them every week. I used a 1:1 buttermilk to regular flour batter and pan fried them in canola oil. A little sprinkle of kosher salt, and yum yum. Not all of them are shown here, because you have to eat them piping hot, don't you know.

And anniversary flowers from my sweet husband. This is our fourth anniversary, so fruit and flowers are the traditional gifts (or, as Wikipedia wants to call them, the "British" gifts). These are huge and beautiful and they smell wonderful. I'll share the (somewhat silly) gift I made for him here tomorrow. Happy Anniversary, Brian! I love you.

Rainy summer afternoon

Beautiful, really. Look how saturated those colors are. The rain was still coming down when I took this.

Birthday bean bags

Yesterday there was a pool party birthday for my cousin Sara's little girl. She'll be two later this week. I wanted to make her something active and colorful, and so the idea for these bean bags was born.
My husband had to go to the store for me to get enough dried navy beans to fill all the bags, but I think they turned out really cute. The birthday girl seemed to enjoy pulling them out of the bag one by one.
And here's the bag to put them away when playtime is finished.

Another girly baby quilt

So. This quilt is for a friend who's a little more girly than the one for whom I made the first "girl" baby quilt. Pinwheels instead of hourglasses, and all pinks and grays. This one was kind of hard to give away, it turned out so well. But I could make another if I really wanted to; all the fabrics are still in the stash. The quilt is still smaller than the "standard" baby quilt size, but I like them that way-- they can be used as a play mat or drag-along as well as for the wrapping-up in the first few weeks and months. BQ (before quilting) it was 36" by 41", and I forgot to measure after. I was rushing to get it completed for my friend's baby shower today, where it was received very warmly.

A few cobwebs have been forming around the blog here lately. I think summer is getting in the way. Back soon, hopefully!

Jane-a-palooza

So yesterday I had some time to get caught up on some Jane-ing. These were all foundation pieced patterns that I already had printed up and tucked into my book. I thought they were all from the Jane-along, but it looks like only two of them were. I'll have to pay more attention in the future!I always seem to start these multi-block entries with my favorite of the bunch, and this time is no exception. This is F-2: Kaleidoscope, one of the ones that I needed to catch up on. This came together really easily, and I love the way it looks with the red and cream and green and the sprouting sprigs in the center.
E-3: Paddlewheels somehow took waaaay longer than it should have during a recent crafting night with a friend. Also, some of the toner from the paper-printed pattern ended up on one of the light colored triangles in the middle. I know that someone in the Dear Jane group posted (recently?) about a good way to clean blocks-- was it Murphy's oil soap, or is that just crazy? Any ideas out there?
This is E-4: Buffalo Tree Hopper, also not a current block with the group. The inset seams didn't turn out so perfectly here, but I also forgot to do any clipping before I sewed them. I'll remember that next time. I love this fabric, and the opportunity to use some gray in this quilt. I don't know what it is, but I'm still really into gray at the moment.
And BR-1: Rosemary's Rainbow (finally!) one for really catching up. Fissiett commented over on flickr that this looked like Jane was making mushroom soup, and I guess it does! If I had paid attention and remembered that this triangle would be on the bottom of the quilt, it's possible that I would have turned the mushrooms up the other way. Maybe.

I hope everyone's having a great Tuesday! I'm pretty happy today because I'm getting a new stoop out front, and the days of our house being the mailman's least favorite may soon be over.

The fifth of July

Today was a quiet day at the farm, no explosions in the sky (even though the stands in town yelled, "HALF OFF TODAY!"). Today the beauty was in the details. On land:
And "at sea":

I would show you a photo of the 82 mosquito bites on my left calf, which bites were also a detail of my day, but I don't think they're a particularly beautiful detail! I hope everyone enjoyed a great fourth.