Unspectacular Quirks . . . hmmmm

This is Sweet Praline (ain't she purrity? Bhu's in LOVE with her!). Sweet P tagged Bhu to list six of his most unspectacular quirks and he can't think of any, so he asked me to help. I, of course, think everything about Bhu is spectacular; it's so hard to think of him in any other way. But, for the sake of True LOVE, I will do my best.

1. Bhu likes to play "fetch" with a crocheted hackysack. It's his absolute favorite toy.

2. Since we're always talking about thinking "outside the box," Bhu sometimes experiments with that theory and it usually turns out to be mostly unpoopular, er I mean unpopular, with the beans (if you get my drift). Sorry, Bhu.

3. Bhu loves to eat roses, orchids and geraniums, in that order.

4. Bhu loves to lick the butter off his dad's plate when he has pancakes for breakfast. Dad's dramatically frivolous with the butter, so there's usually a good five minutes of lickin' on each pancake plate.

5. Bhu loves to lick his mom's fingers after she's eaten an olive but only if it's NOT been soaking in a Tanqueray martini.

6. If anyone is eating raw carrots anywhere in the house, upstairs or downstairs -- doesn't matter -- Bhu will gallop to the site and aggressively push his way between the eater and the carrot and snort and sniff frantically, purring heartily. If you give him a carrot, he will lick it and then lose interest.

We're also supposed to tag some other kitteh friends, but we only know Sweet P, Goma, Annabelle & Zuzu, and Prince Muddy Paws. Bhu says, "U gotta getz out more, Mom!" Okay, I'll try Bhu, but I've been really busy lately.

Yesterday, as I was bottling up my first batch of Skypants Compost Tea, two ladies drove by very slowly and then turned around and parked. Up the driveway they came and introduced themselves.
Turns out they were the original owners of the Skypants B&B, built back in the '50s. The mother and daughter, lovely ladies, both of them; I will invite them back some time for tea. Well, darlings, it's time for the Sunday ritual to begin: quilting shows, ironing, and a little bit of quilting. Hope you are happy and healthy today!! xxoo P

Quiltsapoppin!

Ta-Da! Watcha think? I LOVE it! Believe it or not, it took me hours and hours of careful thought and repositioning of fabrics to come up with this arrangement. I love the way it flows.
Bhu seems pretty impressed and let me tell you he is not easily impressed! He's seen HUNDREDS of quilts laid out on the basement floor, although none quite so colorful.
It's a hot, steamy day again. Yesterday the garden yielded it's first tomato and here it is. At this point the spinach has bolted and not much else is happening other than herbs taking off and zinnias getting taller.

Burrowing Bhu

This is a special shot of Bhu for Sweet Praline. "Hai, Sweet P! Me burrow in blankies!" See his fluffy butt and big ole tail hanging out the end? He loves to burrow and he purrrs and purrrrs -- supah purring! Mark and I were trying to decide whether Bhu looks more like George Clooney, Errol Flynn or Rudolph Valentino. What do YOU think? xxoo P

SHHHH! Big Secret!

It was a big treat to lunch with Meg yesterday! I shoulda had the brie and apple salad, but I had curried tuna salad instead. Anyway, she asked me if I had any knitting patterns for a big ole sweater jacket and OF COURSE I DO!!! Let's see, what vintage, specifically? Here she is perusing a 1974 issue (obvious because of the crocheted cloche) and in the one below a 1986 issue (obvious because of the permed hair). She's harboring a secret I'm sworn not to tell, but we will get together again next month and I'll take her picture again and by then I might be able to tell the secret.

Steam, steam, steamy day. I'll be working on the Amy Butler quilt top and making zuppa toscana. Bhu is napping and won't let me take his picture right now. xxooo P

Me Can Has Cool Cat Award!

Wow! Look what Sweet Praline gave Bhu! She is not only the MOST beautiful kitteh, but she is kind and generous as well. We ALL LUV U, Sweet P! xxoo P

Goma Stars in Music Video!

You really have to see this cuz it's supah CUTE! Click here to see Goma starring in The Smittens music video! Can I has ur paw-tograph, Goma?
Bhu is hoping we will take him to the library this afternoon, so he's camping out on the book bag. He's thinking someone there might want him to be in a video, and he can be a star like Goma!


In honor of Goma and his first starring role, I am sharing this photo of the Shimmering Stars quilt I made several years ago for Meg. I used 1800's reproduction fabrics and it's one of my favorites. xxooo P

Twisty Bhu!

Twisty Bhu! Cute, huh? He don fitz, but he don carez! Yesterday I created a new thread saver block. This one is based on the log cabin design. I had these little strips left over from some project or another and I kept them in a little pile on the cutting table because I liked the fabric. That was about two years ago. Yesterday I saw them and decided, "Time to take care of these scraps." I have many baskets filled with long strips of fabric from projects, so a new thread saver block was created. They can be arranged just like log cabin blocks.

Nancy asked me what is a thread saver block. When you get to the end of a block, or any other sewing project, you always have a dangling length of thread that has to be cut off. Some people use a little square of fabric at the end of each seam to "capture" those threads. I just make more blocks. I have baskets an baskets of little pinwheels and flying geese that have been made from cast offs of other blocks.
Here are two ways to arrange the blocks, ala log cabin. Not entirely unpleasant and a better use of this beautiful fabric than tossing it into a landfill. BTW, I use some of the strips of fabric leftovers as "ribbon" to wrap presents. FUN!!

Oh say, can U C?

This is what we are doing on the Fourth of July: Bhu sleeping nearby (Me can relaxz on holidayz!). . .
Mark playing a vintage 'puter game in the basement . . .
and me, laundry done and on the line outside, finally quilting the thread saver pinwheels top! All in all, a perfect day. It will all be capped, sadly, by an entire evening of raucous fireworks.

Celebrate our freedoms and revel in your citizenship (or, if you happen to be an illegal alien, celebrate your successful assimilation SO FAR). xxoo P