A beautiful day!

I think pansies are the cutest flowers God ever made.  And did you know they're edible?  I have read that if you buy them from a landscaper or nursery, they may have been treated with fertilizer or pesticides, either of which can make you pretty sick, so you are advised to grow your own.  That poses a problem:  is there such a thing as pansy seeds?  There must be.  But this woman is not going to sprout pansy seeds or any other in the near future, so I'll just enjoy looking at my pansies and save the edible ones for Pru.

Who is Pru?  Prudence Ruth is a wonderful, industrious lady who owned a farm in Pennsylvania, complete with a farmhouse that had an enclosed porch in which she served the most remarkable teas anyone has ever experienced.  Here's a picture of the play house in her garden.  In the window sits a nearly life size doll with antique clothing on it.

Pru would serve heavenly sandwiches made with ingredients that we had never thought of combining.  Her hot and cold soups were to die for.  I even have the ingredients of her pumpkin soup, but since Pru doesn't have the measurements written down for many of her recipes, you just have to wing it.  Nonetheless, my friends and family all love my (her) pumpkin soup now.  She also served tongue titillating salads, the greens all grown in her own garden.  She used pansies and marigolds and other flowers as garnishes.  And she made the best clotted cream and scones this side of Heaven, baked and served in little terra cotta pots.

Here's a picture of the table where my sister, cousins and friends usually sat, looking out the window at the pond in the garden.  On each table, Pru put a fresh pot of tea that she would choose from her extensive repertoire.  The charming tea pots were covered with adorable cozies that she had made for them.  I especially liked the Christmas cozies, which were Mrs. Santa Claus or snow people.

And why am I talking about Pru today?  Well, for one thing, I miss going to tea at her farmhouse.  Today is Pru's birthday.  She's probably old as dirt, if you ask her, but she is ageless to me and to all of us who have had the blessing in our lives of knowing her.  Happy Birthday, Pru, and many more!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I just completed this quilt for Barbara M, one of Sue B's friends whom she browbeat into sending her first quilt to me to "bring to life."  Barbara's quilt was beautifully and carefully made, so it seemed important to make the quilting very special.

Here's the back of the quilt.  I sent it off to her yesterday and can't wait to see what she thinks.  For those of you who do longarm quilting at home for yourself or others, check out my professional blog:  http://www.lakeside-quilting.blogspot.com/  for notes on quilting "adventures" and tools and such.

Sunshine on my shoulder...

You know how you wait through the bleakness and the cold and the insane snowfalls of winter, dreaming of spring? Well, it's here, and every muscle in my body hurts to prove it. Why do we have to go out and buy forty seven plants and fertilizer and topsoil and bend over to plant all these and to walk around and pick up fallen branches and twigs on the lawn and then decide that it needs a little trim here and there so it looks well groomed and then as if that's not enough, one MUST put posies in large pots at the front door and in front of the garage or else heavens! It will look like we're not in the spirit of things! Well, I mean to tell you -- I haven't bent and stretched and lifted and climbed and lugged the whole winter, and my body is on strike! I can barely walk today. What ever possessed me?!

But you know how cute pansies can be. They're like puppies, or kittens if you're of that persuasion, and you just can't pass them by without envisioning how adorable they will be in their tub, greeting all who come to your door. No matter that it's mostly the UPS lady, and that she drops and runs because the dogs are always barking just inches away behind the front door.

But I fell sway to my fantasies and planted some yesterday anyway. The sun is shining today on them, making each dear little scrunched up face look like it's blinking to keep from getting blinded. Like every proud mama, I had to take a picture: here they are, my kinder flora (interpret that as flower children).


I am also happy to say that I finally put some holes in one of the walls in this new house and hung a sunflower and chickadee quilt that I made some time ago.

Hmmm. You can't see how cute the little birdhouses are around the periphery with their wooden buttons for doors. Here's another, closer shot. There, that's better.

The sunflower and birds are appliqued, and the birdhouses are rectangles and prairie points sewn into one of the borders. The pattern is called Sunflower Cafe by Sue Harvey and Sandy Boobar. It can be found in the August 2008 Quilter's World magazine. My friend, Mary, made one of these and put it in her powder room. After I saw it, I just had to go out and buy that magazine (about a year later!) and make one for myself!