Hit or Miss

 

Here are a few weird but fun facts to ponder:

The Eiffel Tower can be up to six inches taller in summer, as heat makes the iron expand.

The Philippines consists of 7,641 islands, not counting sandbars that emerge during low tide.

Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts, and she’s from Willows, Wisconsin.

When lightning strikes sand, the heat can create glass structures called fulgurite.

Your circulatory system – veins, arteries and capillaries – is more than 60,000 miles long.

71% of Earth is covered with water, but only 2.5% of that is fresh water. And only 1% of that is accessible, with the rest bound in glaciers and polar ice caps.

Beavers have transparent third eyelids that let them see underwater while protecting their eyes.

There are more pyramids in Sudan than in Egypt, with roughly 250 compared to about 100.

Dead skin cells are a major ingredient in household dust. We shed around 200 million per hour.

Orange House

 

I was ten or eleven when I read Hey, What's Wrong with This One? by Maia Wojciechowska. A lot of years have gone by and I’ve read hundreds of books since then, but this one has stuck with me. It’s about three brothers – Harley, Davidson and Mott – trying to cope with their mother’s absence. One thing they learn is casseroles are good things: easy on the cook and on the dishwasher. Some, like this one, can be comfort food, too.

 

Neiman Marcus Chicken Casserole

 

4 cups cooked shredded chicken

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

2 cups shredded cheddar

3 green onions, chopped

1/2 cup bacon crumbles

1 teaspoon Cholula

1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed

1/2 cup butter, melted

 

Preheat oven to 375F. Coat 9x13” pan with cooking spray. Add first 7 ingredients to pan; stir. In a small bowl, mix together crackers and butter; sprinkle over casserole. Bake 35 minutes.

Flower Show

 

“Do you remember learning about Jesus feeding more than 5,000 people? Jesus had been teaching people all day, and they were hungry. Somewhere in this large group there was a young boy who had five loaves of bread and two small fishes. He knew that this food could not feed very many people, but he decided to give Jesus what he had. Jesus took the food and thanked Heavenly Father for it. That food fed thousands of people! Just as the young boy did not have to figure out how a small amount of bread and fish could feed so many people, you do not need to worry about fixing all the problems around you. Heavenly Father can provide miracles when you simply offer what you have. When you say, ‘Here am I, send me,’ Heavenly Father can take something small and simple and make it great!” – President Susan H. Porter

Forty-Eight Louisiana Blocks

 

I did an inventory in my sewing room this week, and discovered I have seventeen different sets of quilt blocks that are ready for sashing and/or borders. Seventeen. That doesn’t count the tops that are ready to be quilted or the quilts that are waiting to be bound. It’s just blocks. Some are in plastic bins and some are in cardboard boxes. Some are in zipper bags and some in paper grocery sacks. Seventeen is just too many, so I set to work on clearing the backlog. I made the first of these red, cream and blue blocks in November 2022. I didn’t follow a pattern. I was just using up leftover scraps from other projects. If I stitch these blocks together without sashing, add a 2” blue stop border and a 4” red outer border, it would make an excellent donation to Quilts of Valor. One down, sixteen to go.

Midnight Blue Pinwheel

 

We went to a potluck picnic last night, and had a marvelous time. I brought my spicy English layer salad. If you’re interested, the recipe is here: https://mombowe.blogspot.com/2016/06/four-teacups.html

It’s one of my favorite dishes, but it can be a bit of work. I really should have made grape jelly meatballs. There are only three ingredients; no slicing, grating, chopping, or julienning. (I looked it up. That really is a word.) In a slow cooker, dump ten ounces of grape jelly. (Smuckers is okay, Bonne Maman is amazing, but usually I just use my own.) Add 12 ounces of Heinz chili sauce and stir. (There are other brands, but they might change the taste.) Add 32 ounces of fully cooked, frozen meatballs. (You could make your own, but that’s extra work.) Cover and cook 3 hours on high or 6 hours on low. If you take this to a potluck, be sure to bring toothpicks for serving.

Brimming Basket

 

I learned a new term (well, new to me) this month: Maycember. If it isn’t obvious, Maycember is a combination of May and December. It refers to the absolute mayhem that happens at the end of every school year. This time of year, calendars are just as jam-packed as they are during the holiday season, without the benefit of gift-giving, festive decorations, or the cultural permission to slow down. So far, we’ve had two school band concerts, a choir concert, a piano recital, a dance recital, an amusement park field trip, two fund-raising carnivals, and several end-of-year farewell parties. As if that wasn’t bad enough, some of these events occur at the same time on the same day, so there’s literally no way to attend them all. The good news is summer break starts a week from tomorrow. Then there’s a whole week of relative peace and quiet before the summer musical starts.

Pink Tulip

 

For years I was a substitute teacher. It was a great way to supplement our family’s income and still be at home when my kids were. I only subbed in elementary schools, as older kids can be brutal.  When I found this story, I could definitely relate: “A former Marine Corps sergeant took a job as high school teacher. Before the school year started, he injured his back and had to wear a plaster cast under his shirt. The students didn’t know. The first day, he walked into the rowdiest class in the school—the kind that eats new teachers alive. The kids, knowing he was a former Marine, were eager to test him. The sergeant opened a window and sat at his desk. When a breeze blew his tie around, he casually picked up a stapler and stapled the tie to his chest. The room went silent. The rest of the year, discipline was not an issue.”