Big Birthday, Cake and Special Flowers, Blue String Blocks, Thrifted Quilt Mat Find

  Well we celebrated Tony's 86th birthday in fine style. It was a hot, sunny day and the family took us to a restaurant in a nearby town. We had a feast of surf and turf, oysters, tuna tartar, shrimp and a bread choice I really liked. It was sourdough bread with whipped feta cheese and honey, a concoction I could make at home. It was all delicious. 

And Beth made him a wonderful Black Forest Cake so the feasting will continue.

 I planted these tiny little flowers for ground cover in a shady spot in the back garden, an area that doesn't get walked on. After a couple of seasons of little growth, they are finally making a much better show of themselves which pleases me no end. 

                                       

This was a sentimental choice for me as Forget-Me-Nots were Mom's favourite flower. Also Newfoundland has a special connection to this little flower that grows wild there. It is worn on July 1 which is Memorial Day in Newfoundland, a day to formally remember the tragic losses at Gallipolli during the first world war whereby the Newfoundland regiment was virtually wiped out. Folks gather at the Cenotaph where the tomb of the unknown soldier from that war is interred. I took photos of it last year when visiting. 

There are two Tombs of the Unknown Soldier memorials in Canada, one is the National Tomb in Ottawa and the other is in St. John's Newfoundland. Because we were still a dominion of Great Britain at the time of the Second World War, our soldiers signed up with British forces. That included my grandfather, Mom's father. He was a seaman and the ship he was on, the Europa, got torpedoed. He survived this and was taken to a hospital in England which then got bombed during the Blitz in 1941 and my grandfather was gone. My grandmother had first gotten a telegram saying he was injured but would be coming home so there was much jubilance in the house, then got the awful second telegram with the news of his death. My grandmother, to honour him, never remarried and got his British war pension all the rest of her life and she lived to almost 89 years. ( If she'd remarried, she would have lost it...for a number of decades, they would send a fellow out from England to check the status of these Newfoundland war widows.) So Mom grew up without a Dad and, while always very sentimental about many things, especially so about anything related to the war. Her wedding ring had a circle of engraved Forget-Me-Nots on it. 

I've been trying to remember to swap out my small tabletoppers and mug mats. I have them tucked away in various drawers and it seems with me more and more, out of sight is out of mind. Here is one featuring the Disappearing Pinwheel With Arrow block, a pattern new to me.. A little wonky on the sides but not as wonky as it shows here. This was a rare thrift store find...I always look but have found real quilts only a couple of times which I hope means folks are enjoying and keeping them. 

The fabric up close is so pretty. Anyone recognize it?

 LeeAnna's Not Afraid of Color prompt this week was do we shop at thrift stores, flea markets, etc. Well I guess we all know by now my answer!

 Becky at Patchwork Posse has a good video showing how to sew this easy block.

I'm making good progress with machine stitching more of the blue strings blocks. I need five more to complete the forty I need for a yet to be determined design. 

The heat wave is continuing here. Very hot with high humidity making it feel like 40C or more at times during the day.

But, my how the garden flowers are just loving it. All the beds are looking lush and this may be why those Forget-Me-Nots bloomed so well. Here the Hydrangeas are overflowing and blocking the shed door in the back yard. 

Just a glorious mess!!

Hate to cut them so I'm trying to figure out how to tie them back. Suggestions? This has never happened before. 

Okay rambled on so long I've had to divide this post into two. So more to come soon. Hope I've not bored you to tears! And hope your week has gone well with more to look forward to. Take Care All!

Happily linking with Creations Quilts Whatever, Quilting and Learning, Quilting Patchwork Applique, Songbird Designs and  My Thrift Store Addiction.