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Welcome to spring in the western U.S.
This week has been full of signs of spring! Like the tumbleweed above, because spring in eastern Washington is WINDY, and this fine specimen blew onto our back patio the other day.
Did I ever tell you about the former co-worker of mine who went out driving in his pick-up on a windy day? Just for fun, he tried to see how many tumbleweeds he could hit with his vehicle (if you hit them just right, they kind of explode). The problem is, he wasn’t wearing his glasses at the time, and he wound up having to spend the rest of the day underneath his truck, picking porcupine spines out of the engine with pliers. Hmmm . . . .
Spring also means Pi Day, and since my partner is trying to avoid sugar at the moment, I went for a ground beef pie with lots of vegetables and a puff pastry crust. A bit soupy–too many mushrooms and too little patience to cook off the excess liquid–but delicious.
I have all these cool black and white fabrics, and I was so happy to get to use them here.
My sister’s birthday is today, so I made her this zipper bag using all stash materials. The bag is supposed to have a bee applique on this side, but I fell in love with my patchwork here and couldn’t cover it up. So the bee went on the other side.
Here’s the inside:
The nights are a bit warmer these days, so it was time to shift to the spring bedding. The cats bid a fond farewell to the comforter with its red flannel cover.
And hello to the new green flannel sheets I bought during the January white sales.
BEST SHEETS EVER.
Friday was the monthly Friday Night Sew-In and I worked on this. You may notice that this is not the baby quilt I was supposed to be sewing this weekend. My only excuse is that the gray, soggy weather made me want to sew something summery.
And today, I went to Joann’s to take advantage of the pattern sale and came away with this:
Yep, fleece remnants again. But that green! And the two together were about $4 for 1 1/2 yards. I think these are going to get washed and put away for fall sewing. Or maybe I’ll just leave them out where I can admire them.
As always, all credit to Natalie at Threads and Bobbins for getting Sunday Sevens started. Have a great week, everybody!
STH
ETA: A little tumbleweed context–probably the only place that most people have ever seen one:
Living in Color 
What a breath of fresh, spring air! The story is hilarious (so funny!) and oh that bee!! Wow. Great work. Lucky sister. I also love the yellow and the green, and it goes without saying that you eat well in your house. Yum.
I have also taken the flannel comforter cover off the bed and replaced it with a spring one, although that was an optimistic move on my part (still below zero and snowy here). 🙂
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PS OK so maybe not funny for the porcupine…
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STH, we have been known to see snow on April 30, so it is anyone’s guess..:)
I love green, too. It’s a restorative colour and fortunately happens to look good on me so should do it! My comforter cover is white with a botanical print so lots of green!
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April 30?!? YIKES.
I’m very glad you like winter!
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Well it’s light snow and doesn’t stay on the ground! I think it’s going to be 5 C today so positively balmy!
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Thank you! I am frankly green-crazy at the moment, so pretty much everything I sew is going to have some green in it for a while. I love how the pouch came out and those quick little projects are always so fun to do–I got to play with so many pretty scraps!
When does spring actually start where you are? We’re so lucky here, as things start to warm up a bit in March, while plenty of places in North America have to wait so much longer. I really had a hard time with that when I lived in Boston. 😦
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And, yeah, it’s the kind of story you laugh at, and then feel bad for laughing! It was funny, though, coming from a very intense, serious guy who I always thought was a little intimidating. He glared at me from under his bushy eyebrows and told me this somewhat embarrassing story with a straight face, and it was hilarious. 🙂
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That makes it even funnier!
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Yes! It was a supremely weird moment.
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I’m thinking I’m rather uneducated as I evnever heard of tumbleweed! I bet the porcupines must dread the season when they’re about if there’s friends like yours on the roads ! Loving the pie!! I’m wondering if I could make a healthy version, with loads of mash potatoes! And living the Friday night sew in, I’ll have to see if I’m off Rita for the next one! 😃
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Aint you never seen none o’ them Westerns, pardner? If you watch old John Wayne Westerns, everything is dry, dusty, and rocky and the tumbleweeds roll by–they’re just dried up dead bushes that come loose from the ground and get blown around. Most of those movies were filmed in California’s drier areas, which have a similar climate to here in eastern Washington (and not at all like Yorkshire!)
The pie would be great with mashed potatoes, I’m sure. If you want to reduce calories further, you could also use mashed cauliflower, or do 1/2 of each. The recipe I used was here: http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/537886/puff-pastry-minced-beef-pie. I increased the veg and reduced the meat to 400g, but you could easily reduce it by more. It had a LOT of meat in it, more than would be my preference, though my honey loved it. 😉
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I like the idea of cauliflower topping. Mmmm…making this one.
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Enjoy!
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Oh that pie looks amazing! What a lovely crust…..will have to try with lots of veggies. It’s still pretty cold here in NY, so plenty of time for soothing, warm, suppers. Cute, cute little bag for your lucky sister. And oh goodness I must confess to laughing at the porcupine story. Sent a quick apology afterward to the poor fellow. Growing up in the dry part of CA, I’ve seen my share of tumbleweeds, but haven’t thought of that song in decades. Now it’s in my head….rolling along with the tumblin’ tumbleweeds….
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Thank you! I think my favorite is cottage pie with Colcannon on top and lots of veg inside (recipe here: http://chickensintheroad.com/farm-bell-recipes/lightened-up-cottage-pie/). These UK pies that are just solid meat aren’t really my thing, and puff pastry is definitely a rare treat! Where did you grow up in CA? I was born in Antioch and grew up in San Lorenzo, before moving to OR in high school.
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I grew up in Bakersfield and lived there until I remarried and moved here. (A long-time school friend had moved to the Bay Area and I went to her wedding at a church in Antioch!) I’ve never been to OR, but have always been attracted to its beauty and diversity.
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Ah, so halfway between my old house and that of my grandparents’ in Anaheim! OR is beautiful and I do love the way the wetter parts stay green in the winter, but the rain–oy. I sure missed that CA sun when I lived there.
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Happy Spring! Tumbleweed tipping is a thing still? LOL Fab fabric and pattern haul. I resisted the urge for that recent sale. Still have WIP’s to get on. Flannel is still our friend too…spring sun brought chilly temps this fine first day of spring on this side of the WA. Love the cheery plaid! Cheers Don’t go chasing those tumbling tumble weeds…or at least put on your glasses, (wink). 😀
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Ha! I have to confess that I have also done of that tumbleweed chasing with my car. We have some pretty empty country roads around here, ya know, and it is pretty fun to see them explode and fly everywhere. It reminds me a bit of Pong, but a lot more fun. I’m far-sighted, so my glasses are for reading–the porcupines are safe. 😉
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One year a few years ago it actually snowed on my birthday! May 2nd. Okay, it was just a few flurries and didn’t stick but snow on my birthday! Unreal. This year it’s mostly been The Year Without Winter. We have had only a few cold days. Monday’s high was over 90.
I love the blue plaid. I am so ready to sew for summer.
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Wow, May 2nd is WAY too late for snow! I’ve seen snow in April in WA state, but that was on Snoqualmie Pass, the mountain pass you have to take to get from eastern WA to Seattle. It’s been such a super-weird winter in lots of places; the one silver lining for us has been an end to the drought. Should be a good spring for wildflowers, too. Hope your summer isn’t too bad–90 in March doesn’t sound good at all.
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