Weekend Roundup

Kim is right, I have started a new quilt. Mom sent me a "kit" a few months ago (I think before we left Guam) and I decided that I am going to put it together. Basically it is just all of the fabric cut out. Here is what one of the blocks looks like. All the blocks are the same. I guess I like symmetry. I am thinking of drawing out a leaf shape, like a simple pointed oval and hand quilting it using that shape on the white squares with a little bit darker aqua thread. Is there a "best" hand quilting thread out there? I usually just order a spool of Guttermann from Hancock's of Paducah.



I am so craving a landjaeger...A really dry one. If you don't know what a landjaeger is, click here. Dad & J sent us a package of them last year and I took them out of the package and put them in the refrigerator in a brown paper bag...achieving the correct dryness in less than a week! I think that Landjaegers are a northern thing. Probably stemming from the immense amount of German & Swiss ancestry of where we are from. A vodka gimlet sounds pretty good as well. It has been forever since I have had one. DH will have a glass of wine with dinner some nights and he will pass the glass to me so I can "sniff" it. For whatever reason, his Cabernets, Merlots, et al have smelled so delicious to me lately. 6 months ago I wouldn't have drank them if the world went dry. Ahhh, a gimlet and a landjaeger.

This weekend was pretty uneventful. Did the usual stuff, got water, fought the crazies on Saturday buying groceries. I don't know why we go to the grocery store on Saturdays. Joeten always has a "Super Saturday" sale which is basically the same crap on "sale" every Saturday. Not like we go with a special list of "sale priced must-haves". I was really hungry for either Eggs Benedict or a waffle on Sunday so DH & I went to a local restaurant that seems to be a staple in the community. Before we came to Saipan, people on Guam said, "Oh, you have to go to (insert name of restaurant)." Honestly, I would give this place about 2 stars on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the best. We have been there 3 times and 2 of the 3 times they didn't refill our water (all DH will drink) until we were getting up to leave. I should have known better on Sunday though when we sat down and the lady asked what we would like to drink. I asked for a decaf coffee. Now, this place has some fancy schmancy espresso machines and seems to pride itself on an extensive coffee menu. Guess what she said? "Oh, I am sorry, we don't have decaf." Alrighty then. I guess I will just have cranberry juice. DH: water. At that point, I looked at the pathetic one page menu (half of said page was coffee drinks with decaf listed), the other half was about 8 breakfast entrees to chose from. No Eggs Benedict (fish benedict *gag*, yes) and no waffles to be found. I almost told DH, "leave $3 on the table for my juice and lets go". But, I decided to give it a chance. I settled on some crazy named blueberry pancakes.
It was not meant to be. Again, the waitress said, "Oh, I am sorry we don't have blueberry pancakes, we do have banana." Strike TWO sister! If I wanted a freaking banana pancake, I would have chopped a banana off my tree and whipped up some pancakes. Blueberries are expensive to buy, therefore I only eat the expensive to buy stuff when we go out to eat. I ended up with plain pancakes. :(

Saturday I made some homemade hamburger buns and DH grilled out some burgers. The buns were good, although a bit giant sized. It was my first time making them so I have some tinkering to do. I would rather make them than buy the ones in the store that have a million preservatives in them and God only knows how many roaches have crawled through the flour bins. I need to make some bread today. Nothing like homemade bread and it is so simple if you have this. I was lucky and DH bought me one for Christmas last year. It really isn't appropriate for whipping a meringue or some whipped cream, but for double batches of cookies and breads...this baby can't be beat! Every foodie needs one.

I finished my scarf. It is actually about 6 feet long. Used one skien of yarn. Now I started a shawl. I thought it would be good for the charity group that I am in...maybe one of the Moms watching her child go through chemo would enjoy it. Plus I get to use this yarn for something.



I want to figure out how to put little pictures in my sidebar of my WIP's and finishes. Anyone...anyone? Is it as simple as uploading to Photobucket, reducing size and copying the tag line into the sidebar code space? I am such a nerd that I made my buttons or blinkies "clickable" the other day. All except the flag. That one I couldn't decide on where to redirect it to.

Oh yeah, we sent the Granparent's Announcement pillows on Tuesday last week so hopefully they will have them by Wednesday or Thursday this week. I am so anxious to hear their reactions. Wheeeee!

Peace!