A Hodge Podge Post

 

How much rain, humidity, and general moisture have we been having? Well, enough to grow a mushroom on my deck!!! I didn't add the leaves on the right or change the composition in any way; this is the artistic scene I spotted under a small table on my deck. 

So, you might be wondering why I haven't posted recently. I have had major computer issues. My laptop would turn on, but not completely boot. The good folks at Apple Support had me try a couple of things which were unsuccessful, and then I was told that my eight year old laptop was considered almost "vintage" and I should either try an authorized repair shop or buy a new one. Well, I wasn't ready to give up on it quite yet and tried everything that I found online in hopes of reviving my expensive doorstop. There are many, many articles which offered step by step procedures.  I've been fooling with it for three or four days, but tonight for some reason I was able to get to the recovery stage [Command + R] . For the first time, I was able to get to the point that I could replace the operating system. Up to tonight, it would stop loading half way through and freeze. Right now it appears to be running fine and back to normal. Will it last? Who knows but I will keep my fingers crossed. 

When I haven't been trying to fix my laptop, I have done some quilting. Here are a coffee themed apron and place mats for a raffle basket for an upcoming quilt show.

I have nearly finished putting together the top of the Lori Holt - Let's Bake quilt. There's no rush. It only has to be done for a show next month!!! 

I love the quilt, but I didn't like one large section which featured a cross stitched cake recipe. Instead I used the templates to make a flower block which looks quite natural along with all the other blocks. I filled the rest of that large space with some smaller repeat blocks.

The top should be done tomorrow and then I only need to layer it, quilt it, add a binding, hanging sleeve, and label. No sweat . . . plenty of time. By the way, the Herring Run 2018 Quilt Guild Show is Sept. 29 - 30, and the Crosstown Quilters Guild Show is Oct. 20 - 21. Click on either show for more details.

One last thing . . . have you read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barnes? It came out about ten years ago and was rightfully a very popular read. It deals with a literary group trying to survive the German occupation off the island of Guernsey. Guernsey is in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.  Netflix has made a wonderful adaptation of this novel. I watched it last night and I highly, highly recommend it. I would suggest that it might be best to read the book first to follow the film better. You will recognize some familiar faces from Downton Abbey: Lily James (Lady Rose) and Penelope Wilton (Isobel Crawley).  If you have Netflix, by all means view The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. It is so well done.