The Second Week of March

I can’t believe we are already half way through March.  The weather continued to be more summery than autumnal, but today a cool change has come through, dropping the temperature by 10degrees C from yesterday,  now being in the low 20s. This last week has been rather full.

On the garden front, we have been enjoying the show put on by our dahlias.  Out the back, after a very prolific second flush of beans, they have now finished and the bean and zucchini plants have been removed and composted.  That only leaves self sown tomatoes, eggplants and spinach left for this season.  It looks rather bare.

Inside, I have my little shelf in the kitchen where I make little seasonal displays.  

I didn’t get around to sharing my summer display, which was rather simple this time.

This has now been replaced, for just a week, with a St Patricks Day show.  On Monday they can go away and Easter can come out.

We have been out and about.  

On Saturday, while Mick was at bowls, I took myself along to Kings Parade, in the middle of town and listened to a Carillon recital. You may remember that Mick and I went on a tour of the Carillon last winter.  Pop over here and read a bit about our visit to the wonderful feature we have here in town.

Back in the day, there were regular recitals on the Carillon on Saturdays at lunch time.  It was just a background to our normal lives.  We didn’t consider that this was something rather special.  Once the carillon was automated, those recitals stopped.  Now that the clavier has been installed and local carillonists trained they are starting up Saturday recitals again.

I took a folding chair and parked myself in the shade of a big tree, as it was a really hot day, and listened to the music while doing some crochet.  I may as well crochet, as you can’t see anything, you just listen.

Anyway, the draw card was a visiting carillonist by the name of Peter Bray.  He is a young man, who is a senior carillonist at the National Carillon in Canberra.  This was his final performance in Australia, before travelling to Belgium to compete on the world stage. He went four years ago and did very well. He played a mix of traditional, popular and contemporary music for about an hour.  I have just discovered a YouTube clip of some of the performance. It’s worth have a short look at.

By the end of the performance I had completed another spiked granny square. It was a delightful way to spend some time and I think I will keep an ear out for future recitals, and if the weather is nice, go down with some handwork and listen to the music.

Last weekend I had participated in one of Chooky’s impromptu Zoom sessions, during which I completed two more squares, with another added during the week.  There is just one more to make before I consider that I have enough to turn them into a small rug. I am getting down to the dregs of some of the colours, which is a great result. Hopefully, the last square will be made before the end of the month.

On Sunday we had an early start to drive up to Oberon.  The sunrise over the town was pretty.

The reason was the Oberon Swap Meet, at which we had a stall selling some bits and bobs.  The weather was lovely, not too hot, and it was a nice social day out.

I even read a book this week.  This one was shared by Lou.  A very interesting read.

It was about time to try a new recipe.  I used one of the last of our zucchinis, that had grown a bit too big, and made some zucchini chips.  Yummo!  All you do is slice the zucchini, dip the slices in an egg wash, then crumb with a mix of 1 cup panko crumbs, half a cup grated Parmesan and a teaspoon each of garlic powder and Italian herbs. Lay out on baking trays and give a little spray of olive oil.  Bake in the oven at 200C for 20 minutes.  We initially served them with aioli, but in the end preferred homemade tomato sauce.  I’ll definitely try them again and will also try with egg plant cut into chip straws.

Back in the sewing room, I have completed my two fish for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, one using the feature colour of purple for the body and the other for the features.  Such fun.

I mentioned previously that I want to make a second fish quilt using batiks and this month I made a start. What a difference to my colourful version.  I’m loving how they look.  I have the first three months’ blocks fused, ready to stitch down the appliqué.  The stitching will be a project to work on at Scrub Stitchin’.

Yesterday, I started to prepare to quilt my next quilt, getting the backing pieced and on the frame.  Now I’m off to cut the batting and make a start.  Hopefully, next week there will be another finish. No, this is still not my One Monthly Goal, but another UFO I want to get over the finish line.

As you can guess, I have continued to manage my 15 minutes of crafting a day.