On the right
I had picked up a couple of big bags of carrots...the last from the local farmers and knew I would be making carrot soup. It freezes so well and is so nourishing. I keep it very simple...lots of carrots boiled till soft in chicken broth, with a chopped apple sometimes and a little salt and pepper. It all gets blended in the Ninja and at that point, I like to add some cream. It makes the flavour richer somehow. Hubby likes dill sprinkled on his. If you start with good tasty carrots, the soup won't need any other seasonings.
On the left
This is my attempt at Thai soup. Vegetables boiled in chicken stock with a couple of tablespoons of red curry paste or fish sauce added. My secret ingredient in this soup is a teaspoon or two of sugar. It adds a little balance to the flavour. I add chopped ginger also because we like it and I don't add coconut milk because Hubby isn't fussy about it. I serve this over noodles. I love the way this soup can help clean out the vegetable crisper in the fridge.
In the middle
Lots of great scraps for the compost bin :)
As you know I've been diligently working on my Farmer's Wife blocks. This has been, not only a lesson in better accuracy and stitching, but patience as well. I tried to sew together the block called Daffodil and try as I might, I couldn't get the pieces to fit together. I worked at it till I began to feel my eyes cross; I'm not kidding.
I was so frustrated and down on myself about it. But later I read in the on-line group feed that two of the pieces are incorrectly named in the pattern; they have to be reversed for the design to work. So it wasn't me after all. I felt relief when I read that.
Honestly sometimes I think I'm too old to be trying to do this project. I can see why many have dropped out and I can certainly empathize.
I'm having particular problems with the patterns that have many points meeting in the center. With papers adding to the fabric bulk, it is a challenge to have it all lay flat.
Perhaps a solution is....
It was reassuring to read that some people have decided to make substitutions for blocks that are causing them grief, as well as making slight adjustments to others. I've decided to think about doing that too. With just a little change, I can see where a block can be made manageable without changing up the whole design.
I never thought of doing either of these things I guess because it seems a little like cheating but the bottom line is -it is my quilt to do what I want with. So there is hope to keep me going.
Meanwhile
Rex must have gotten a smell he liked from the glue I used in this block, Blossom, which is a tree pattern. Anyway he decided to give it a chew. So after I battle those many half square triangles and am pleased with them, he mangles the main piece, the trunk. Some of the tiny squares are also missing and I hate to think he actually ate them but Hubby doesn't think they'll hurt him.
Note to self: Never leave your EPP blocks on the coffee table.
Woe is me.
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