July begins

My plants on the front porch have had their appearance upgraded with the help of my resurrected macrame talent.  They are not complex or fancy, but they are much prettier than the plastic hangers the plant pots came with.  Then on the other hand, those plastic hangers are not able to handle the extended exposure to the sun, nor the weight of a pot full of soil swinging around in the breeze. These new macrame plant hangers are made using paracord which should sustain the weight and sun exposure with ease.





A couple weeks ago I thought I only had two babies in the nest, but later found out that there were actually four. Last week they flew the coop... or so I thought.  All were gone in the afternoon, but later in the evening I looked up to see all four crowding in for their place in the nest.  They are gone when I check in the morning, and continue to return in the evening.  Not sure how long this will continue.





In case you are not familiar with the term Clafoutis, it is a French dessert that works really well baked in a cast iron skillet.  A Clafoutis is a close cousin to a Dutch Baby. This is supposed to be a "Clafoutis for two".  Recipe says to use an 8" pan, but I feel much safer using a 10". The heat retention capability of the cast iron helps to make this an almost foolproof breakfast delight.  This one is made with fresh blackberries.  Even though it is considered a French dessert, it is extremely easy, and can be made with any fresh fruit you happen to have on hand.  I use my Vitamix for the batter part, but a wire whisk would work just as nicely. Definitely a winner... even if you decide it doesn't necessarily need any whipped cream.

I really did not need another set of placemats. It turns out that Ron is quite pleased because they are a wee bit bigger than the average placemat, and he has often praised MaryEllen's larger placemats  It was with this in mind I decided to try my hand at bargello when I saw this pattern. The fabric is all from my stash.

  

Doors and more...

It will take a while to get things situated where they need to be, but little things can make a new home start to feel more comfortable.  I have several quilts that need to find their place on the walls of my new gallery, so tacks and pre-positioned nails are helping my front entrance to look a little more like home.

  Christmas cactus likes the light that comes through the door, and that silhouette quilt might just stay where it is...  it kind of looks like it belongs there.  I am thinking a quilt needs to go around the corner on the wall above this smaller quilt.  That might take some figuring as I have never hung a quilt around a corner before, nor one quite so high up.

I have two back doors, one goes into the garage and the kitchen has a door to the back porch.  My sister sent me a table topper that has ended up... at least temporarily, as a door topper over my washer and dryer.  Those bi-fold doors are new... previously there were sliding doors that somehow just don't belong in front of a washer and dryer.

 I won't get around to a garden quite yet, but my garden art needed to get out of the garage and my porch said dress me up. Seems there is a good breeze that comes through my back porch and makes my wind chimes sing.

One of our projects will be to replace the outside lights as they are all missing their tops.  Of course this makes the birds happy with a nest protected from the sun and rain, and high enough so the wind is minimal.  The close-up here is from the light fixture by the door and I used a selfie stick with my phone to see if there were any eggs in the nest.  Mamma wasn't too happy, but I didn't disturb anything.  Once the babies have flown the nest, these lights are on their way out. This nest belongs to a dove... the other nests around are barn swallows, of which there are many in the neighborhood.