RANDOMNESS -- CATCHING UP!

For several reasons my lifestyle blog has been neglected recently.  So, fair warning, as I try to catch up on life in the Salmagundi household; this post will be random and probably long.

RANDOMNESS #1 - CONVALESCENCE

On March 18, I had some surgery --- nothing too serious, but important enough to require some hospitalization and some convalescence.  I'm doing great, but still not quite up to par and laziness has set in.  I haven't sewn a stitch in 7 weeks, but I'm back to the cooking, cleaning, laundry routine.  I did manage to put out a few Easter decorations ----

VICTORIAN EGGS THAT BELONGED TO MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER

But my laziness is indicated by the clutter on the table by my recliner ----

I have managed to read nine books.  My favorite of the bunch, by far, was "Becoming Mrs. Lewis" by Patti Callahan.

RANDOMNESS #2 - WYATT
 (or as his sister says, "The golden child of the moment.")

Our two grandchildren live close.  Caitlin is 22 now, and is working hard at "adulting" and has a serious boyfriend, so we don't see her as often; but are in contact by text constantly.  Wyatt (now a junior in high school) is in and out of our house all of the time. I guess he is fond of his Papa Bob's workshop and my cooking!   
First of the month,  he was on the gold honor roll again-- that always makes a grandparent happy.  Then within days he received his letter for his letter jacket for being the Tiger mascot this past year.  This has involved appearing at a lot of athletic events and charitable high school events. 

This is the perfect activity for this outgoing, personable kid; plus he got to hang out with the cheerleaders a lot! It has been fun for us to watch him do his thing. 
Then, he took first place at the County Schools' Art Show at the Fine Arts Center for his welded sculpture.  

A week after that, he became the high school state champion in welding sculpture.  I didn't feel up to going to the award ceremony out of town, but Bob went and took my favorite picture of Wyatt on the phone to me reporting the exciting news. 

In June, he will be going to the national competition in Kentucky.

Then there was prom.  I guess I'm the official master presser of kilts for him and his friends. That took a couple of hours. In this requisite pre-prom picture, they do look pretty sharp!

 Enough for the moment about "The Golden Boy" --

RANDOMNESS #3 - EASTER

Our son, Mike, was home bearing gifts from his recent trip to Japan.  A lot of neat stuff including fancy chop sticks, boxes, fabric, and origami paper. 
The grandkids have always had an Easter egg hunt at our house, often on the day before Easter.  They are now way too old for an egg hunt, but still want one --- what is a Grammy to do?  We keep having to make it harder and harder!!  Last year, we filled the plastic eggs with coins, buried them in the ground, and they had to use the metal detector to find them.  This year, we decided it was time for a treasure hunt with clues in the eggs that told where the next egg was to be found.

The most frustrating clue for them was "Chap Stick, wherefore art thou?"  They found three chap sticks around the house before they found the egg with another chap stick hiding in the glove compartment of the car.  My favorite clue was "Man's best friend, Quack, Quack!"  It took them forever to reason this one out --- the egg was in the garage where we keep the Duck Tape.  The last of the 15 clues led them to my silver chest where they found young adult's favorite treasure -- gift cards. They had great fun -- secretly, I think Mike always enjoys it as much as the grandkids!

Then, I set up a taco bar for supper.

The best part of our Easter celebration was yet to come.  Wyatt has been seriously involved in his Christian journey the last couple of years, and decided to be baptized on Easter morning in the church we have belonged to since our own kids were young.

What more could grandparents ask for?  We have truly been blessed.

I hope you also had a joyous Easter weekend.

TARTAN DAY

I couldn't let Tartan Day pass without a post.  My addiction to plaid has been well documented!

Before surgery a couple of weeks ago, I was working on a new, small quilt from my plaid and wool fabric stash.  My main source of plaid wool has long been the thrift stores.  Back in 2014, I ran across this tartan skirt, and I couldn't pass it up for just $6.00.

The label said it was from Scotland! I deconstructed the garment; then felted it by washing it in hot water, then finished the process in a hot dryer.  This makes the fabric soft and keeps it from fraying -- perfect for appliqueing.

 Here is the project using the plaid for the applique background.

 Now, that I'm on the road to recovery from surgery, I hope to finish it up soon.

Until then, Happy Tartan Day --- add a little plaid to your life!!