Plum Cake, Sewing and Flowers

This is an odd thing; when I regard the world widely, it seems to be a more negative and unhappy place, environmentally and politically than I've ever known it. But when I bring my vision closer to home, everything is fine.
We are going along enjoying what we do, our freedoms, celebrating summer activities, our encounters with each other and nature the same as always. Other than recording more hot days this summer, all is seemingly as it should be.
 And I'm sure it's not just in Canada that it seems to be that way.

(But if you think all this would help me sleep better, it doesn't.  Have had almost ongoing insomnia now for a couple of weeks. Not good, ugh!)

But back to calm and peaceful...  Hubby and Murphy on the laneway...always outdistancing Rex these days.

My geraniums in the ancient wooden pot by the same lane way.

And in my sewing room...
Here is the center of the Grasshopper! Sarah Fielke designed this so we would be taken through a skill set, try out a few different techniques and end up with a very unique piece of work.
(The only thing not included in this design is embroidery.) I made the bias tape using my little gadget...there is more to attach on the bottom and also more motifs to fill out the empty spaces before all the pieced blocks get joined for the border. Kind of fun to see it at this stage though it was awkward handling and took two solid days of hand stitching to attach everything so far. Keeping it straight with Hubby's help and satisfying to see the overall look start to come together.

Don't worry about any wobbly bits...lots of leaves and vines yet to come!

Did you know you can buy ready made bias tape?  For an unknown reason I'd completely forgotten this fact though a card or two of it always sat in whatever sewing basket I had at the time over the years.  I'm going to keep my eye out for some because it is a bit of a pain to make your own.  And not just solid colours, pretty prints are available too like these at Ali Express.

                                                      

And I knew when I bought a basket of pears and also one of plums at the same time that it would be too much fruit for us to eat up but I couldn't resist how good they looked. While we ate every single pear - so good with a little Gouda,  I had a few plums left over.

So I baked the ideal fall dessert in the heat of August!
I made a plum cake yesterday and one of those custard sauces to go with it.  A little rich but tasty. Do you use Horne's powder?  Another item my grandmothers used and is still on the go all these decades later. Interesting article here at Confessions of a Dietitian comparing Bird's, Hornes, canned and making your own custard- the pros and cons. I guess I'm old fashioned to be even thinking of this!

Note to self: Let it cool next time so it doesn't fall apart taking the first slice.

Hubby said I should keep the recipe because he liked the cake and he knows these days I jump around on the internet trying recipes all over.  It was from Epicurious and called Cinnamon-Sugar Plum Cake and is a very simple, straight forward mixture that any fruit would work with.

Thanks for stopping by!  I am joining the link parties at Not Afraid of Color, Esther's Quilt Blog, Busy Hands Quilts and Brian's Home Blog.