My Oh My. I seem to have lost my blogging mojo. Or desire to be online. Or will to live LOL. These last few months have been somewhat painful and I’m sure a lot of you have been feeling it. I’ve been plenty busy, but just haven’t really wanted to blog about it much. Plus, when I spend time online, I want to be inspired by beautiful projects but this last little bit it seemed like so many blogs and instagram pages turned into their version of the news and it was just too much, so I just turned it off for awhile. Just call me an ostrich. Life is just too short, and the older I get, the shorter it gets, so, I followed Nancy Reagan’s advice and Just. Said. No. LOL.
We’ve tried to have as normal as possible spring/summer here, considering we can’t go really go anywhere. I spent most of the spring in the yard – cleaning out flower beds and then spreading 15 yards of mulch around. I love the years we mulch because after all the hard work, the beds remain relatively weed-free. My little Etsy shop has kept me busy too — who could have predicted what covid would do to the fabric industry? Thank you SO much for your orders – lots of new fabric has been arriving and my third order/restock of Liberty in just a few months is due later this week. There must be a lot of beautiful Liberty masks out there!
I’ve been spending lots of time with the grandbabies (now that we aren’t isolated from them), trying to help SweetiePie and give her a break now and then. Those three little girls are busy! When I look back over my iphone pictures, I realize we really have been having fun. We’ve had some pool days (luckily, we’re in a small neighborhood with an uncrowded pool), lots of games and puzzles (seeing FinallyAnotherGirl learn how to play Hide and Seek is just too cute!), walks and bike rides (my favorite are the walks after the sun goes down to beat the heat), and even a day at the Zoo when they were letting members-only sign up for time slots so it wasn’t so crowded. Feeding the “giraf-fez” is ALWAYS a hit!
In the kitchen there have been the usual cupcakes and cookies, and because it’s summer, I’ve tried a few batches of ice cream. A friend gave me some fresh peaches, so I made some peach ice cream. The ice cream wasn’t very good (WAY too much cream) but I made some ice cream sandwiches with it, and the cookies for the sandwiches were a big hit.
A U-pick berry farm has popped up along the route between our place and TheFirstChild and SweetiePie’s home. I’ve watched it the last few years, wondering about it, and this year, I decided to take FinallyAGirl and check it out. We picked little baskets of the most beautiful blackberries and we’ve had blackberries running out of our ears. (Because it doesn’t take long to pick them and we kept picking more because we were having so much fun. ;-D)
FinallyAGirl and I made blackberry freezer jam (using my favorite recipe and substituting blackberries for raspberries).
I thought the jam would use most of the berries but didn’t even use half of them. So, I decided to make some blackberry ice cream which turned out great. There are still blackberries left, so I think I’ll be making another batch of jam. (And I’ll definitely be making these Almond Raspberry Bars using blackberry jam instead of raspberry jam, making them Almond Blackberry Bars ;-D).
On the sewing/quilting front there have been several projects. A few masks, of course. And a few little girl dresses which didn’t get photographed before they were treated to a trip to the beach. I spent most of early spring working on a wedding quilt for CuteNiece1. I completed some applique and 80-or-so blocks. I can’t really show much of it, but here’s a peek at the applique:
And then, Covid struck and the weddding has been postponed until next year, so there will have to be some unpicking. I was just getting ready to sash all the blocks when the postponement happened, so I’ve lost my steam and the project now sits as a UFO. What’s the hurry? I have a year left, and I work best under pressure LOL. I’ve also been working on FinallyAnotherGirl’s baby quilt. When I finish the current row of quilting, I’ll be a little over half-way finished. I’m hoping to have it done by her second birthday in September. We’ll see!
So, that’s probably enough for now – hopefully I’ll be back before too long with a little sewing. In the meantime, I hope you are all having a good summer (or winter, as the case may be) and staying safe!
XOXO,
Anna
Hi Anna! So nice to ‘see’ you again! I’m glad you’ve been keeping busy, and glad you’ve been able to spend time with the grands. Take care!
Welcome back! I’ve missed your posts and pics. And I do agree with you on the topics of the news we’ve been forced to listen to. I can’t listen to it anymore. I turn it off, but then my daughter the historian wants things documented so it creeps in to the blog once in awhile. It’s much nicer to look at the work people are doing and see pics of their lives. Something normal.
The world is upside down. And I don’t like it at all. I’m missing everyone and missing vacations; yours and mine too. C’s quilt is beautiful and how can she be almost 2. Time went so fast.. except for the last 5 months. I can hardly remember what day it is anymore.
Hello Anna…I loved seeing your little catch up here! It’s certainly been a strange time, and like you I prefer the ostrich approach if possible……….I love to focus in on the lovely little things. Your pictures are beautiful and your time with your sweet grandchildren so heart warming. What a shame about the gorgeous wedding quilt now needing a change of date…
(Love the giraffe feeding pic btw!) Have a good summer and take care! XXX
oh anna, as usual – you slay me! i <3 that monet quote fabric and just checked your shop for it. that applique block makes me swoon. blackberry ice cream! your adorable granddaughter! i hope you're doing well. i've stayed away from all of the rigamarole as much as possible and am just keeping nmy head down and working… but it's a bit much sometimes. i miss your posts! maybe one day i'll be as productive as YOU! loved seeing what you've been up to!!
I am right there with you. But your post is wonderful! I love all the pictures. I’ve replanted blackberries. Ours died out. And I’m hoping we’ll start having some to eat next year. I miss them. I’ve mostly been hiding out at home to avoid the crazies. And I’ve unfollowed a number of blogs who choose to preach at me.
I read you … I’ve lost my mojo to be online … My goal is to hang on to my peace … I do love to write so I keep up with my blog. Actually more so than the last couple of years. It is nice to see you here on blogland. I will admit, blogging doesn’t seem to be as popular as the prior years. Instagram is so much easier and I guess people are gravitating towards that. Many of the blogs I followed are mute at the moment. I enjoy the creative aspect of writing. I do it for my enjoyment and if people read/leave comments … bonus! Cheers!