Posted on by agilejack

A Lovely Friday Off

I took today off work for a little recovery from our recent radio drive. All day I kept thinking tomorrow was Sunday. Such a nice surprise to realize my weekend has two more days!

I got up this morning and headed to Oregon City to play pickleball. It was an absolutely gorgeous Portland fall morning. And, of course, I had a good time playing pickleball. I kept laughing because I was the youngest person there… by a good ten years! I can’t remember the last time I was the youngest person in any place I went!

When I got home I played with Bender and Rico in the back yard. They were happy to have me home and the gorgeous fall day continued.

Bender is such a good sport. But he found this next photo difficult to sit still for when I stuck the leaf to his nose with honey!

Once the dogs had a good romp I made some pancakes for lunch and then took a short nap on the sofa. How decadent is that?

When my sister in law was here a couple weeks ago I dug into my freezer to find some soup for dinner. I realized that my stock of frozen soup is dangerously low. So this weekend is going to involve some serious soup making. Today was split pea soup. One of my favorites.

It’s so easy. I don’t even use a recipe. I had a ham bone that my friend gave me (my friends are always giving me ham bones and turkey carcasses!) and I put in a nice big pork shank.

I tossed in a couple of crudely chopped onions, carrots, and celery.

Poured in a couple pounds of dried yellow split peas then added some salt and pepper. Filled the pot with water and put it on the heat.

I love the pork shanks because they have great flavor. They also have more meat on them than ham hocks.

And I just realized that I didn’t add bay leaves… which I love. Well, next time.

When the peas are cooked I remove the bones and meat from the pot to let them cool. Then I use my immersion blender to puree all the soft ingredients until silky smooth. I cut up all the ham and add it back into the soup.

I use the yellow split peas because they are less pea-ey than the green ones. I prefer that milder flavor.

This soup cooks up in a couple hours and freezes really well. I have four containers in my big freezer and that makes me really happy. Tomorrow I’m going to make a huge pot of chili.

After having a nice hot bowl of soup for my dinner I hit my sewing room to work on that Aboriginal bag I’ve been working on. I had wanted to construct the bag body the other night but after digging into my closet I realized I was out of the black vinyl I use for handles. So I had to order some. It arrived today so I opened teh package and cut up a bunch of pieces of it for handles.

I almost always use the dark brown vinyl for handles, but occasionally I make a bag that screams for black handles.

This is one of those bags.

I got the handles made and sewn onto the bag panels.

Once that was done I sewed the bag body.

Ooh. I really like that! And I love how getting the bag body sewn together completely transforms those panels.

The other night I looked at some options for a lining for this bag. I really wanted it to be one of the fabrics that in the bag.

The choice for me was between the red and the green. And I chose…..

It just takes the bag to a different place.

Tomorrow is more pickleball in the morning. Sunday is even more pickleball in the morning and then a friend I haven’t seen for four or five years will be here for lunch.

I think I might actually dig into finishing up the corners on my Libby quilt this weekend.

45 Replies to “A Lovely Friday Off”

  1. What a lovely post! Glad you are having a restful weekend after all your hard work.
    Fabulous bag, I’m inspired to dig into my stash to make a similar colourway. And Bender is just too adorable. Soup looks good too. Enjoy!
    Lindy x

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  4. Absolutely stunning Bag ! IT is always nice to have an extra day off. Pickleball really is the rage these days. How fun for you! Happy Weekend and doing as you like.

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  5. Your new Aboriginal bag creation is stunningly beautiful 🥰. Bender sat still enough to take a pic with honey on his nose 🤣. Not quite soup season here in San Antonio. Looking forward to it getting cold enough for chili! We will be able to see the annular eclipse- ring of fire here today.
    Enjoy your long weekend 💕

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  7. Sweetie Bender! Such a good sport. The soup looks so good, will have to try it for hubby, I don’t like pea flavor so will look for the yellow ones. Beautiful bag! You need to get a sweet Ernie 🥰

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  11. Loving your bag and of course I will just have to try your split pea and ham soup recipe……have a happy weekend with your fluff balls.
    Lesley
    PS
    Currently in the Lake District on hols (U.K.) and yes autumn colour with frosts has begun

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  14. The bag is outstanding! Love your pictures of the dog. Have you ever made hamburger vegetable soup? It’s delicious and easy to make and freezes well.

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  15. I keep soup in the freezer as well, so yummy on a wet /cold day, plus when I’m in the middle of sewing, I don’t want to stop to cook. Win win

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  18. I have been following you for a couple of months… So enjoy your blog. I would like to learn pickleball, I used to play tennis years ago, but now living in a rural area where I have to drive an hour to a town/city. I have a question. I make bags with cloth handles. I see your black leather handles. Do I need to sew differently when sewing these leather handles?

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    1. The handles are actually vinyl. My Frankenbag tutorial has instructions for making them. I basically cut a piece 3 inches by 24 inches, fold it over in thirds and stitch along each edge. I use my walking foot and my machine sews it with no problems. you need to be sure to get a vinyl that isn’t too thick.

      Anne

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  19. Be right over for some of that delicious soup…alas I live in Florida but will try to duplicate here. Looks easy. I I love all your stuff. Working on some scraps for a bag. Keep going and writing to us all.

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  20. That soup looks delicious Anne but with spring here in New Zealand it’s getting a bit warm, next winter! Your bag is so bright and beautiful too, just love Aboriginal fabrics and this reminds me of why I became a follower of your work. The red lining was exactly the right choice.

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    1. it’s definitely not too hot here for soup! I always get cravings for soup when the weather cools and we start to get rain.

      I’m glad you like the red lining. It seemed like the only choice when I looked at the options.

      Thanks for reading!

      Anne

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  22. Love this post Anne – the great pix, the soup recipe and the Aboriginal bag! How big are the squares used for the slashed in two directions 4 patch block? (Can’t think what that’s called – magic 4 patch?). I’m working on two UFO’s and an original design for an amulet necklace incorporating handmade fabric beads and a clay button with bead dangles.

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    1. It’s a disappearing four patch. the blocks started out at 6.5 inches because that’s the width of the strips I used for the Aboriginal Libby quilt. So I stuck with that size.

      Your project sounds fantastic! good to hear you’re creating!

      Anne

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