What's growing in my garden?

First plumeria blossom from a trimmed branch from Stacy's tree. So fragrant!

Also the pomegranates are getting bigger, and the plum tree is full of almost- ripe fruit.

Apricots in March!

My poor, confused apricot tree is forming fruit in March! It hit high 80's here today. Strange weather here in Southern California.

On the creative front, I've been working very hard on the quilt that I can't talk about yet. It is coming along. I'm excited about it.

Also, a friend told me she has received her Quilters Newsletter Magazine, which has two of my quilts in it. So tomorrow my quest will be to find a copy for myself.

Around the Farm

Do you know what this is? It is hops, which is used to make beer. A long time ago, this used to be a hops farm. The smaller barn was used to dry hops. Jack is continuing the tradition.

 Mimi the cat. She earns her keep as an excellent mouser.

 The ancient apple tree is laden with apples. After we left, they made gallons and gallons of cider.

 The path to the pasture.

Rustic harvest.

Mystery berries

We encountered these at a B and B in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Anyone know what they are?

Critters Inside and out

Out in the backyard, Grandpa T is relaxing under the BBQ.

Here's the owl my pet sitter suggested, to scare the crows away.

Ginger nearby, comfortable both indoor and out.

Ginger likes hanging out with Matilda, too, indoors.

I am working on a quilt, which I am keeping under wraps for now. I am also putting finishing touches on award ribbons for my guild's upcoming quilt show.

Arlington Garden

Today I went to Arlington Garden in Pasadena with friends, on the way to the Norton Simon Museum. It was a delight for the senses, despite the heat. Here are some random shots.

new prayer flags

I made three new prayer flags, all of which were presented to my sister-in-law, Marti for her birthday last week. This one is called "Organic."

We went all the way to Colorado to celebrate her birthday. This one is called "Nest," and was inspired by the two baby hummingbirds that were born in our atrium a few years back. If you look on my list of Labels on the right, you'll find lots of photos and stories about them. At one point I made a rubber "stamp" of the babies in the nest, and that was the starting point for this prayer flag.

This one is called "Equal."

home from our trip to the UK

We've been gone for three weeks! We visited our daughter and fam in central NY, then headed for England, Scotland and Ireland. It was a great trip, and I'll be sharing photos one of these days.

Trip detritus: rail tickets, maps, ear buds from plane, room keys, etc.

Some things I packed were useful, such as this little bag on a string, made by my friend Joanell. It was useful at various airports: it held my passport and boarding pass so I didn't have to fumble for them.

One thing I packed that wasn't useful was this vintage passport holder. I took it to France in 1969!

It's a pretty blue and I think it's kinda cool, but it was easier to keep my passport packed next to my wallet in my purse most of the time.

When we got home, we discovered our pomegranate tree was loaded with blossoms!

This mug was also waiting for me in the mail when I got home. It's my premium for subscribing to KCRW, and it reminded me of quilting designs, sort of.

Trip photos soon...

Quilty Signs of Spring

There are signs of Spring at Cookseyville, both inside and out.

That postcard is by Del Thomas. I bought it at an auction, raising money for Alzheimer's research.

An oldie but a goodie, garden-themed quilt featuring my husband. This one has been to Europe and Japan, not to mention Houston.

"A Dance to Spring," featuring my mother. Her bracelet says "Margie." Part of the Noble Seasons exhibit.

The kumquat trees are loaded with ripe fruit.

Spring colors on this "Hidden Investments" update. There's a pattern of it still available through Jukebox.

Darn, my photo of plum blossoms didn't come through. I'll post it later.
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Hello again

My goodness, I've been AWOL from my blog. Sorry about that! I've been busy, caught up in the holiday frenzy. I have lots of things to share, but I don't want to spoil surprises.

Family members will be arriving this weekend - we are excited! I am still doing a bit of knitting, but otherwise Christmas gifts are done. Also, this afternoon I cut into some fabric for a new art quilt. It's kind of a scary stage - hope it all pulls together soon.

In the meantime, this very same anthurium from last Christmas is still blooming like crazy! I've never kept an anthurium alive for this long, and I am not doing anything special to it. Lucky me...

This is the first time I've had an anthurium plant rebloom. It is doing great in our backyard!

We have a few pomegranates growing....

I've been lax in posting on my blog. Sorry, maybe it's the dog days of summer? I have been busy working on a quilt for Samantha. Photos soon! In the meantime, here are some photos from my garden.

There are even some kumquats ripening in August! This surprises me because I had a huge crop in January. Maybe the trees are confused by the weird weather we've had.

And finally, here is my plum tree, resplendent with cd's and twisty thing, to scare away the birds away. After I took this photo I added one more CD dangler for good measure. Hmmm, maybe a quilt someday?

Quilt, Eat, Sit, Quilt

This quilt by Maria Elkins wowed me at the Long Beach Quilt Festival. I'd seen it in print somewhere, but in person you can see the exquisite quilting and applique details. I think there's a photo of me with my quilt in the Rituals exhibit in my regular camera, but I haven't looked at it yet. Soon. I'll post it if it's a good one.

We have kumquats in July. I don't think that's happened before. We also had a major crop in January. I think the mild weather we're having has the trees confused. What season is it? We also have a few pomegranates and grapefruit growing. And lots of plums! Photo of that later.

 

 

 

I had my family room chairs reupholstered recently, and less than 45 minutes after they were returned, my cat settled onto the back of one.

 

 

 

Now she's sitting on the other one. It's a bit ironic because she's the very reason I had to have them reupholstered. Darned claws.

Backyard marmalade!

The kumquat jam turned out okay, but it seemed kind of skimpy of fruity pieces. Plus I still had lots of kumquats, and more fruit from my garden. Yes, it's been harvest time in my back yard. So I got this bright idea to make Back Yard Marmalade.

I picked 30 more kumquats, which I washed, sliced, got rid of seeds, and set aside. Then I took a lemon and a grapefruit from my back yard and peeled off all the rind with a vegetable peeler. I chopped the rind up and cooked it in a pot with a cup of water and a pinch of baking soda, for twenty minutes.

Meanwhile, I peeled off the white pith off the grapefruit and lemon, and quartered them, getting rid of all the seeds. I threw the quarters in a blender and whirred them around for a few seconds. Then I threw them in with the cooked rind and remaining water, plus the sliced kumquats. I also added about a cup of pomegranate seeds, which I had frozen from our November harvest. At this point I added 5 1/2 cups of sugar and one package of pectin, brought the mixture to a boil and cooked for ten minutes. The photo above shows what it looked like at this point.

Then it was time to ladle the mixture into sterile jars, seal, and load in my big pot full of boiling water. Ten more minutes of cooking.

It turned out very colorful with lots of fruity bits. And, unlike the kumquat jam, it gelled right away. Success! If you want to try this, follow the detailed canning instructions on the pectin package. I just gave you the gist of it.

I tried it on a piece of toast this morning, and it's quite good, I think. The only weird thing is the crunch from the pomegranate seeds. Despite the crunchiness of the seeds, they added a pretty color and yummy taste, so they're a good thing in my book.

Kumquat Madness

I've been on a jam-making kick this week. Sunday I made Kumquat Jam.

First I picked 50 kumquats from our trees.

You need a bunch of things to make jam: jars, lids, rings, pectin, sugar, just for starters.

I had to wash and slice them all, removing all seeds.

I put them in a large pot with a cup of water and 6 1/2 cups of sugar, stirring it up. Then I added a package of pectin. I brought it to a robust boil and let it cook for 10 minutes.

Then I ladled the jam into jars and added lids and rings. I then placed them all in the largest pot I had, full of hot water and cooked for 10 more minutes. Afterwards I removed them, let them cool, making sure they were sealed. They say it could take two weeks to fully set (so far it's kind of syrupy).

If you want to try this, get the recipe from http://www.kumquatgrowers.com/ and read the directions on the pectin box.