Lauren's present to me, quilts, and cappuccino (latte?)

I was just sitting at the sewing machine, sewing together the strips I cut out this morning and minding my own business, and in walks Lauren with his little thumbnail drive telling me he has some pictures for me. Well, we've had so many pictures over the last couple weeks that I can't imagine what he has, but curiosity gets the better of me and I find myself plugging the thumbnail in an open USB slot.


Look at this! This is from our front yard! Every day when I go out there, I say either to myself (when I'm alone) or to Lauren (when he's with me), I need to get a picture of that. I love the leaves! They remind me so much of my childhood.

I grew up in an apartment building on Indiana Avenue, in Charleston, but not far away was Elkview where my grandparents lived. I spent a lot of time with them; and in the fall, we would always gather up the leaves in their apple orchard and they allowed me to jump in them and make a big mess. Sometimes, Grandpa would load a bunch in the wheel barrow and then put me in on top of them, and he'd push me around the yard. I'm sure leaves and these warm memories go hand in hand in my thoughts.



Interestingly enough, our leaves are from an apple tree, too. Our apple tree isn't nearly as big as the one at Grandpa and Mammy's house, but it is a real apple tree and it produces fruit. Lauren gathers the fruit during its harvest season, and he makes apple crisp for us - and it's even better than his mother's! Like all recipes Lauren adopts from others, he works on them, making improvements until the recipe is his and his only! Yummm! When he has extra, he gives them away. Sometimes he leaves a bag on the front wall near the mail box for whoever wants to take them.

Needless to say, I love Lauren's present to me this morning. He did some weeding, at my request, in the back yard today and then snuck around front to capture these images for me.

We have flowers along our little front wall, too, which Lauren planted. It's amazing to me that we have daffodils right now, but here they are!


I planted some paper-white bulbs in a pot a month or so ago, just for fun, and they're producing the most delightful flowers now.

When a flower blooms, it's like a gift! I am always delighted! Our pinks along the west fence in our back yard are blooming, too. Living in more southern climates has its bonuses, for sure!

I remember (again) when I was young and we lived in a house on the hill in the Montrose section of South Charleston, I used to take walks in the evening, and when it was snowing, I loved the feel of the snow on my face and the way it sparkled in the street lights. And then in the spring, the first buds always made me laugh. For a long time, I missed those changing of the seasons; but in my older years, I have really come to enjoy the benefits of having a garden year around!


After yesterday's fiasco of wasting time trying to create an album of our Israel photos on my computer so I could burn a slide show to disc, I decided I would get up this morning and do something constructive. I'm starting the first of four military quilts whose theme will be strips, just to see how many different ways I can use a limited number of fabrics stripped together. I'm going to sew the strips and then top-stitch them because I worry that these quilts will be tied instead of quilted (lots of sewing on them to hold them together). I think it will go fast. I'm glad to be doing something constructive today! I'll take a little break (as though blogging weren't a break) in a little while and go to the grocery store for some pantry items and then the library and get bag full of needlework books of whatever kind they have on their shelves today.

About the cappuccino, I think I had a success this morning because Lauren liked it. Here's my recipe so I don't forget it and I can make it more than once. (You gotta hate it when you create something someone likes and you can't do it twice because you didn't write it down!)

For two cups:
- About 1 heaping teaspoon of espresso in the espresso maker (this is about half what the espresso book calls for)
- Enough water to make three cups of espresso (one cup is expended for the steam for the milk)
-About 1/3 cup of milk in the metal steamer pitcher
In each of two cups, put:
- About a tablespoon of no fat, no sugar hot chocolate mix (I use Swiss Miss, I think)
- A sprinkle of cinnamon (probably about 1/8 teaspoon)
- About a tablespoon (plus or minus) of honey
Start the espresso (I turn it off and turn the espresso maker to steam when the carafe is about 1/3 full), steam the milk, finish the espresso, pour half the espresso in each cup, and then finish by pouring and dolloping the steamed milk on top. Lightly stir.

I love that European white coffee, and this isn't quite it. I need to play around with some different coffees to figure out how to get that flavor I love. AND, I think I can make Mavash's steamed milk with my espresso machine by not using any coffee when I create the steam. Now talk about Yummm!!!! YUMMM!

I'll post some pictures of my success when I make it next time. This is the first time, ever, that I've figured out how to froth that milk so it looks really nice. I'm hoping I can do it again! I think it was because I put the steaming spout in really close to the top when I started the steaming process.

Back to sewing!!!