We’ve continued to have a pretty nice summer here in the Pacific Northwest. It was so lovely and cool today. I almost needed a jacket when I walked my boys this evening.
In case you’re wondering, most people in my area don’t water their lawns in the summer. it would cost me a fortune to keep my lawn green! I’m so glad I don’t have the pressure of maintaining a manicured green lawn!
My tomatoes are coming on now and I’ve enjoyed a few salads with my favorite summer treat.
A couple of weeks ago I drove out to a friend’s place to pick some of her very plentiful blackberries.
Black berries grow wild all over the Pacific Northwest. They are really difficult to control and can overtake your property in no time if you don’t stay on top of them. And you can see the thorns on the vines. My arms were torn up and bleeding by the time I was done. But they are so delicious and so plentiful.
I ended up with over ten pounds that I picked in no time. I would have brought home more but I dropped one bucket full in the dirt.
Once I got them home I put them on cookie sheets and got them into my freezers.
I like freezing them this way rather than freezing them in the bags because they don’t freeze together in a clump. Once they’re frozen I put them into bags for storage. I have quite a few bags of frozen berries in my freezer now that will be a wonderful treat this winter.
Bender likes to help pick berries and happily takes one or two in payment for all his effort.
I haven’t been doing much sewing the last few weeks. I did manage to get into my sewing room the other night and square up the scrappy blocks I’ve been working on.
To make the squaring up go faster I took a few minutes and added some tape to the back of my ruler so I can line the ruler up with the squares in the center more easily. It worked really well.
So now all I have to do is line up that pink square with the center square and my blocks will have the correct seam allowance all the way around.
The tape is an Omnigrid product and is made for this purpose. You can probably find it in your local quilt store. It comes off really easily and doesn’t leave anything behind.
A few weeks ago one of my readers let me know that an online shop was having a sale on Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics. So I took a look and was so happy to find that the Brandon Mably fabric I wanted for the back of my Brandon Leftover quilt was actually on sale! So I bought five yards.
I’ve been hoping I would find that fabric on sale and am so happy to have it on hand now. I really had my heart set on that cheery yellow print.
As usual Pickleball has been keeping me busy. My friend and I played in a tournament a couple weeks ago and had a blast. And on top of all the fun we won a silver medal! Not bad for our first tournament.
It was so much fun and I love that we ended the day up on the podium!
We’re playing in another tournament this weekend. I’ll also be playing mixed doubles with my coach in the same tournament. That will be a challenge as we’re entered in a higher level of competition. I’m going to have to be on top of my game!
Another friend of mine asked me if I wanted to play mixed doubles in another upcoming tournament and I said I was game! I play with him every now and again and we get together and practice and drill occasionally. I really enjoy playing with him so that will be fun.
My friend Linda, who visits regularly, is planning her next visit. She’ll be coming around Labor Day and will stay for two weeks. I’m in great need of a vacation and am looking forward to her visit. I’m going to have to figure out what quilt I want to make while she’s here.
We have a nice few days of cool weather coming up and I’m really looking forward to it.
agilejack 