Weekend Update

We had a very nice weekend! We didn't head downtown to the typical tourist spots- instead we found this place. It's the headquarters of the whole society. There were an old mansion and as you explored, you ran into things like a tree-lined (former) clay tennis-court. There was a butterfly garden and nature trails; on one of the trails we came so close to a young deer that was sorta ok with us being nearby. I've seen deer throw up their tails to warn you to back off, but this one kept lightly stomping his front foot. I could have hung out with this guy and his 2 friends for a long time, but J. just didn't find it as interesting as I did. I think I would have hugged the deer if they'd of let me... By the way, if you like this kind of thing, Boxerwood Gardens is just as impressive if you live near Lexington. Today I finally finished some projects that I'd had hanging over my head- my friend's baby quilt and some pottery that I needed to finish. I shipped the quilt off right away- can't wait to hear how she likes it. She's having a boy, and I'm so excited for her! I think, as I'm working on quilts, of all the different kinds of quilts I'd like to make for friends and family, but since I still don't know how to machine-stitch, my hands and arms have got to have a rest. For the record, I did have my mom come over to show me how to use the machine, but it was not working (of course)!
I had found these vintage hankies that I wanted to use on the quilt, and so I was looking for as close to vintage as my local fabric store (Le Wal-Mart) carries. They've got a pretty random collection of fabrics.

So, as I said my arms need a break from quilting and pottery-holding-scraping. I think I'm ready to head in a different direction for a while. I'm wanting to get back into cooking. I feel a little bad. J's been eating LOTS of peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches, cereal, chips and dip lately. I think I should dust off the ole cookbooks and put them to good use. I'll share a recipe later after I decide what to make!

Nevermind! Dinner was a complete disaster. Shrimp and Grits... we were so looking forward to it, but the shrimp was overdone and the grits were disgusting. How can someone mess them up? well, I read the directions wrong the first time-- too much butter. The second time, I realized that I had used directions for INSTANT grits and not the ones I had in a container. At 9:45, we gave up eating our Shrimp Soup and pulled some taquitos out of the freezer. I tried!