Log Cabin Star

The movers have come and gone. There’s a place for almost everything and nearly everything is in its place.  There are still a few boxes in the garage I haven’t unpacked yet, but I’m not in the mood to deal with them now. It’s so nice to finally cook in my own kitchen again, to wash clothes in my own laundry room, and to sleep in my own bed.  The greatest pleasure of all is having my own sewing room. I no longer have to stash my Janome in a cupboard, my fabric in the dresser, and patterns in the bottom of a desk. I can’t be certain that I’m more productive with all my quilting supplies within reach, but it surely feels as though I am. Last week a large orange moving van did a three-point turn in front of our home before parking three houses down. Heather saw it and worried. “We’re all done moving, aren’t we, Mom?”

Enclosure

Several friends have forwarded a message suggesting I not pump gasoline April 15. They feel if enough people avoid buying gas on a single day gas prices will naturally fall. It’s a clever idea, but it has a few flaws. First, April 15 is a Sunday. I never buy gas (or anything else if I can help it) on Sunday. So my failure to buy gas this particular Sunday isn’t going to make anyone sit up and notice. Second, if everyone who would have bought gas April 15 simply buys it a day earlier or a day later, the only result is service station employees will have one really boring work day. Since prices are largely a result of supply and demand, you can only lower the price by increasing supply or decreasing demand. I can’t do much about the former, but I can certainly work at driving less and walking more. Who’s with me?

Japanese Flower

March 28 is Something On a Stick Day. No, really. There's actually a holiday to celebrate eating food on a stick! Corn dogs come immediately to mind, or caramel apples. If you're feeling creative, you might try this recipe:

SHISH KEBABS

1 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons A-1 Steak sauce
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup water
2 tablespoons oil
1 ½ pounds boneless sirloin, cut into cubes
Mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, pineapple, and cherry tomatoes, cut into chunks.
8 wooden skewers, soaked in water

Combine first seven ingredients in saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir until sugar dissolves. Cool. Place beef in zipper bag and pour cooled marinade over. Seal and chill several hours or overnight. Place meat, fruit and vegetables on skewers and grill until meat is done. Serve with wild rice and warm bread.

Silk Blossom

I’ve come to the inescapable conclusion that I own too much stuff.  I’m running out of space in the cupboards, drawers and closets faster than I’m running out of things I’m trying to cram into them. I’ve already taken four carloads of stuff off to the thrift shop; things I haven’t used in the past seven years and am unlikely to need in the next seven. My rubbish bin is filled to overflowing, but I still don’t feel like I’m on top of the matter yet. Clearly I need to make a rule about the things I bring into the house. For every bag, box or parcel that comes in, something of equal or greater size needs to leave. If I need any incentive to follow this rule, all I have to do is watch a few episodes of Hoarding: Buried Alive or How Clean is Your House?  

Moonlit Dance

It's been five weeks since my last post, and a lot has happened during those weeks. Our tenant moved out of our house and we set to work. We ripped out nearly all the flooring and replaced it. Every single room got two fresh coats of paint. I’m in love with the new colors. The paint is a delicious warm cream, and the carpet is exactly the same shade as the inside of a Milky Way bar. Our household goods arrived from England a week ago, and we’ve been busy as beavers putting it all away. Yesterday we had Internet access and a phone line installed, but we won’t be able to use the phone until Thursday. That’s when we’ll get back the things we put into storage three years ago, including all our American appliances. I can hardly wait! Just think: in two more days, I’ll be able to make myself a piece of toast!

Half Snowball Blocks

Snowball is one of the simplest blocks I've ever made; with a triangle in each corner. This block is simpler still, with only two triangles. It may not look like much right now, but just wait until I get 168 of these babies together!

Magic Valentine’s Pudding

4 cups frozen cherries, thawed
2 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup of butter
1 cup self-rising flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa
1 cup milk

Stir cherries and 1 cup of the sugar together in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Use microwave to melt butter in 2-quart glass baking dish. Combine remaining ingredients and stir into melted butter. Spoon cherries on top of batter and bake at 350 F for 35 minutes. The cherries will sink as they bake, just like magic. Serve warm with cream or ice cream.
I made Swedish meatballs for Sunday supper. In my own kitchen this is a simple meal to prepare. But without a cookie sheet for the meatballs, a stockpot for the noodles, or a wire whisk for the cream sauce, it was unbelievably complicated. I would have liked to make a nice sausage lasagna or double chocolate brownies for Valentine’s Day, but dishes like that will have to wait a few weeks. The suite we’re renting while we wait for our furniture to arrive has an oven but no baking dishes. When we stayed in Florida last December our suite had plenty of baking dishes but no oven. Six weeks ago today the movers packed my whole kitchen except for the kettle, two mugs and a teaspoon. These they left for the very last because they needed them to make tea. It didn’t take much to keep those sturdy Yorkshire lads happy. They had their cuppa; what more did they need?

Chigai Igeta (Staggered Grid)

I don’t think I’m an irresponsible computer owner. After a good deal of research I chose the most reliable model I could afford. Except for the odd accident (usually involving chocolate), I keep it scrupulously clean. I never allow it to get too hot, because heat can do damage. I periodically allow my laptop battery to run completely down instead of keeping it continually plugged in. I use a replaceable external mouse rather than the trackpad. I’m careful about which websites I visit and what content I download. Still I’ve never owned a fully functional model for more than two years. Inevitably it comes down with a virus. I treat it with antiviral software: a cure worse than the disease. It ends up so crippled that I eventually give up and buy a new model. The second Monday of February is Clean Out Your Computer Day. I think I’ll celebrate by doing just that; one way or the other.