Under a Blue Moon

Friday Favorites

Blossom ◊ the wall through the hassie ◊ eggs4 ◊ Lavender Teabags

Ina Garten has a new cookbook coming out! Note to sisters – DON'T buy it – you might get it for Christmas
Speaking of new cookbooks – I bought Joanna Gaines Magnolia Table cookbook last night. I was at Costco and there was a woman perusing it and she said she heard that the biscuit recipe alone was worth the price of the book. I haven't properly looked through it yet but what I have seen looks lovely
Here are a couple of cheerful Instagram feeds I just started following: Jen's Fresh Vintage – very mid-century, kitschy and Catarzyan Home Life – lots of shabby French loveliness
They have remade Picnic at Hanging Rock. Anyone remember the movie from the mid-70's? I can remember being fascinated by it and watched the VHS tape over and over again. Such overwrought performances

Happiest of Fridays to you! What was up with this week? It just seemed to drag on forever.

Rick and I started our early morning walk routine this week. He starts his workday at 7:30 so we like to get back by 7:00am. It actually started getting light enough about a week or two ago. I love these walks – it's a lovely way to start the day.

It's such a peaceful time of day, dawn. Most houses are just stirring and a fair number still slumbering.

We have 30-45 minutes with to spend with each other with no distractions. Well except we are inveterate "house" watchers and most of our discussions are about our neighbors houses and gardens. What we like about them, what we would do differently, what we covet. We are constantly tripping over our aged sidewalks because we are busy gawking at our neighbors porches.

There is one house that has huge terracotta pots strung up in their trees on a pulley system. What is up with that?! We can't figure out why they do that. We may never know.

This weekend is going to be low-key. I am going to watch our granddaughter while our son and his wife are on a hike date. While I'm doing that Rick is going to go pick up some extra large concrete stepping stones we ordered. They are going in our freshly weeded parking strips. I have a final bit of weeding to do which I hope to do on Sunday.

I do love this time of year. I have a hard time committing to a "favorite" season because each has its charm. But I think I feel the most exhilarated in the Springtime. Everything smells so good and the light is so pretty.

I hope you have a marvelous weekend!

Small sewing projects

I want to get back into doing small sewing projects. I find taking on a big project (like a bed size quilt) rather overwhelming. Especially since my sewing skills are modest at best. There is nothing more discouraging than having an outcome in mind but you can't quite execute it. And, let's face it, my attention span is short.

So I'm very drawn to small projects like the little zippered bags above. I was heavily influenced by Kristyne Czepuryk of Pretty By Hand and the Japanese craft movement circa 2015.

For this particular project, I relied very heavily on my sister's (Nicole of Sister's Choice) zipper tutorial. Side note – I have the little bag in her tutorial and still carry it in my purse with my lipsticks and pocket mirror. ♡

I am very enamored with sweet little prints which lend themselves to small projects. I bought all these fabrics about three years ago but a number of them are still available on Etsy. I bought the bundle above from Cottonholic (a name I can totally related to). The bundle isn't currently available but individual yardage is in a couple of the color ways.

I thought this gingham with sweet little flowers on it was just about the cutest thing. I must not have bought it on Etsy because I can't find it in any of the orders I placed. It has "Eco House Cotton 100%" on the selvage along with some Japanese or perhaps Korean characters.

Now this fabric is delicious. It is a linen floral. I haven't been able to bring myself to cut into it yet. I also bought the heart lace from the seller (SonSu). Although she had smaller cuts available when I bought it.

The fabric above is from Liberty. I went on a serious Liberty bender a while back and bought a number of charm packs. Charm packs are perfect for the small piece work that I do. This one is called Nancy Animal. Here it is in a purple color way.

The little bag above was my very first, feeble attempt. It actually looks better in the picture than it does in real life. It is very wonky and it was before I used Nicole's zipper instructions as you can tell by the tucked in corners. I used a number of vintage bed sheet scraps in this project. If you have followed my blog for a while you may remember a lap quilt I did using vintage sheets from the 60's and 70's. I also made some pot holders (using a pattern by NanaCompany).

I ended up giving that quilt to my best friend's granddaughter. I should do a post about that. I took an Ikea doll bed and painted it pale yellow and made a teeny version of the quilt for her doll. It turned out so cute. I am so going to do that for my own granddaughter.

Maybe that will be my next project.

And just so I don't end with a picture of a failed project here is Rosie and Grace doing what they do best. Although they do look like they are judging me…

Another Monday

Snowball bush (Viburnum plicatum)

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. Mine was VERY productive.

We live on a corner and we have a large lot by suburban standards. Between the side walk and the curb we have a planting area. For some reason we call it the parking strip although I'm not entirely sure why. It's not like we park in it. It it planted with rose bushes and a few trees. And loads and loads and loads of weeds.

Over the past two weekends I have weeded both parking strips (on both streets). The weeds are very enthusiastic here. It gets to the point where all of the sudden the weeds are completely taking over.

Before (Messus extroidanarus)

The parking strip is made up of rose bushes and a couple of choke cherry trees. Between each bush/tree is river rock as a weed deterrent. Or at least it is supposed to be. It's falling down on the job as you can see by the verdant green between each shrub.

This picture doesn't even do the situation justice. We have clumps of irises and the weeds are intermingled and about two feet tall.

We actually lost a rose a couple of years back. You can see a significant space between the tree and the rose bush to the left. A young girl was driving down the street and must have been distracted (ahem – don't text and drive…) and plowed right into our rose bush and completely took it out. She is just lucky she didn't hit the tree.

After (Joyous extremus)

Maybe you need to zoom in to the see difference but in real life it looks so much better. We live on a fairly busy street, both with automobile traffic and foot traffic. When we are working outside I can't tell you how many people stop and say how much they like our yard. We put a lot of work into it so it's really nice to hear that our efforts are appreciated.

I kind of like weeding. Yes I was over it about two hours in (I put in about 12-15 hours total) but I do find it rather zen like. I bring out my little stool, a bucket and the world's best weeding tool (which comes in a left handed version!) and just zone out for a few hours. Some weeds come out so easily like they aren't really committed to being a weed and others hang on for dear life.

I'm sure I startled more than a few drivers this morning as I was practically laying down in the gutter trying to reach weeds growing under the rose bushes. I probably looked like someone that had a bit too much fun the evening before and decided to sleep it off.

I did surprise a huge dog that wasn't expecting to see someone crouched behind a bush. He lunged at me and I yelped and jumped about three feet off the ground. His person was extremely apologetic and then blamed ME because I startled her dog. Um – I think I was more startled out of the two of us.

My manicure is pretty much shot. And when did my hands turn into my grandmother's?!

Beside the weeds I'm battling aphids and white flies. Rat b@$!@%&s. They are especially virulent this year. I get out there and blast them with the garden hose and then spray with an insecticidal soap but I still don't have them under control.

Despite that the roses are all looking pretty fabulous at the moment.

I think this is a Peace rose. Very prolific and smells fabulous. A great cutting rose.

I see a few more weeds I need to attend to along the fence.

As I mentioned we are on a street that gets a lot of foot traffic. We like to plant things that are both pretty and fragrant so people can enjoy them on their way past our house. This is a new addition and for the life of me I can't remember what it is. The color is reading a bit pink on my monitor but in real life it is a gorgeous apricot pink.

And finally – the lilacs. We live in Northern California which isn't known for its lilacs but last year we went on a lilac bender and bought a number of shrubs that are doing remarkably well. Such a fleeting beauty but oh so worth it.

I hope the moderate temperatures hold out for a few weeks and we don't get slammed into Summer. I want to enjoy this phase of our garden.

Friday Favorites

The Avenue trees in mists and sun ◊ beati loro, con quel panorama!! ◊ doe in the townforest ◊ Historical charm in Oud Naarden

Of course the founder of Pom Pom at Home would have a fabulously calm and lovely home. I have loved (and coveted) their goods from their very beginnings. I actually won a pair of his and hers hand towels back when this blog first started
Two beauty related recommendations – I was in the market for a new blow dryer and saw a few glowing reviews for the Revlon Brush dryer (they also sell at Target which is where I got mine) and the price was reasonable so I gave it a go and LOVE it. My hair is so smooth and swishy! My only critique is the hot setting is really hot. Which leads us to the next recommendation for a heat protectant cream by Briogeo. Absolutely love this – makes my frizzy prone hair very smooth. I've noticed that my hair stays clean for days after using this. No weird build up at all
Everyone probably knows that Wayfair was having a huge sale this week. I took advantage and ordered this round mirror (I paid a little less during the sale but still a good price). I had tried out the very inexpensive Target version but at 28" in diameter it was just a little skimpy for the space I want it for. There will be a before and after post of the space so stay tuned….

Today is a special day! My brand new nephew is being born! I can hardly wait to meet him. So technically he is my great nephew or is it grand nephew? I can never remember. Either way he is a very much loved and anticipated addition to our family. Happy Birthday Jacob! I can't wait to nuzzle your sweet baby neck. And hang in there Lizz – you got this!!

In other news Rick got a much deserved new car yesterday. We are the types to buy cars and keep them until they beg to be retired to the salvage yard. Currently we are driving a 2005 Toyota truck and a 2010 Buick Rick's dad bought and decided he'd rather give to us. This new car is a dream car of his and I'm so happy that he is happy. He deserves this kind of fun addition. He works hard and puts everyone first. This has been a dream car of his for while. It's a VW Golf R for anyone into cars – very fast and just newly released to the US.

Guess what I'm doing this weekend? More weeding! Try not to be jealous. I think I can get them under control (hahahaha) this time. It's supposed to be cool so perfect weeding weather as far as I'm concerned.

I am still sans laptop but limping along. I know things are suffering around here but I can only do so much on my limited resources. Hopefully I'll get a replacement soon and regular content can resume.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Hard-boiled Eggs

One of my very first blog posts, about a hundred years ago, was how to cook the perfect hard-boiled egg. Oh the arrogance to think that was the ultimate egg boiling method. I have a new method and this time it really IS the perfect way.

The perfect way is to steam them. I'm not entirely sure where I heard about this method but after a bit of trial and error I've come up a fool-proof system. Steaming them results in a more delicate (or less rubbery) egg white and it makes peeling an absolute breeze. You can even steam eggs fresh from the market and they'll peel just fine.

First step – when you get the eggs from the market flip the eggs around. Top to bottom. The yolk kind of settles and it helps center it a bit. Makes for a more pleasing deviled egg.

Second step – bring your eggs to room temperature before steaming.

Third step – put a couple of inches of water in your sauce pan and bring to a boil before putting the steamer basket with eggs in

Fourth step – place steamer basket with eggs over boiling water and cover. I turn the heat down ever so slightly but you want the water to continue to boil while steaming. I've made the mistake of turning it down too low and my eggs didn't cook thoroughly. I've also made the mistake of not having enough water in the pan and it boiled away. That does not smell nice so keep an eye on it and add more water if you think it is getting low.

I steam extra large eggs for 13 1/2 minutes.

Fifth step – remove from heat and place in a cold water bath to stop the cooking process.

There you have it. Perfect hard-boiled eggs every time. Although technically not boiled. I like to have hard-boiled eggs on hand because they are a great low carb snack. And my version of deviled eggs are keto friendly! The secret is sugar free sweet pickle relish.

Monday

Brilliant title for a blog post.

I'll apologize in advance for the quality of photos in this post. I took them with my tablet. I thought I could jury rig a transfer system from my camera to my phone but since I shoot in raw it isn't working.

We had a productive weekend. I got out and did some weeding. Why is it just as soon as you get finished weeding you look back to where you started and more weeds have popped up! Sneaky buggers. You have to be ever vigilant.

The roses are in the first full flush of bloom. It really is spectacular. The rose in the courtyard (top picture) smells heavenly. There are so many blossoms the branches are weighed down and you have to duck to get through the gate.

The Lady Banks isn't a repeat bloomer but despite that I like having one in the garden because it puts on such a grand show in early Spring. It is the first to flower.

Let's see what else did I get up to…

Cécile Brünner – another favorite. Rick is training it to cover the shed.

I rewired two vintage lamps. There is quite a saga with those two lamps that I will share in another post. If you haven't ever rewired a lamp because you think it might be difficult let me assure you it isn't. You can buy the rewiring kits at the hardware store and it takes all about 15 minutes to do it. Now I just need to find the perfect lampshades for them.

I also "sewed" curtains for my office. I use quotes because all I did was cut off a couple feet off the top of a pair of store bought curtains and sew a new rod pocket. When we moved in the previous owners left all the window coverings. I replaced almost all of them but the guest bathroom window had a sweet curtain so I left it up. It is a sheer cotton voile with white embroidered dots all over and embroidered lace on the bottom. Well I was at Target last week and wouldn't you know it is part of their Simply Shabby Chic line.

They only had 84" panels so I just cut the length I needed. I had a near disaster when I went to iron them. Our decade old Rowenta decided to spew out a bunch of rusty water. Fortunately I was able to clean them quickly enough that it didn't stain. But they are a bit wrinkly.

So add the iron to the list of things that decided to quit on me. I also broke a toilet handle. I'm thinking I should just lie low for a while…

Happy Monday everyone!

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