Mowing the labyrinth

Turning around a bend in the path. . .

Every week I intend to mow the labyrinth I put in our meadow several years ago. I don't really have a choice if I want the labyrinth to be useable! This year I have done very well on getting to it each Friday.


In the center, emtry/exit path and six "standing" places. . . .

This week it rained all day on Friday, so I was a day and a half late. The grass along the side of the path is now so long that if I get a little bit off kilter, these grasses wrap around the axel of the wheels and really slow me down. Usually I can do the job in 30 minutes. This time I sepnt 20 minutes and was only 1/3 of the way finished. I was sweating and huffing sao hard, that I put the machine away until the next day!

Very foggy this morning, so I kept to the sewing machine, where I made pillow cases to go along with the Summer Sun quilt.
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I had purchased enough of one yellow fabric to be the bodies of the pillowcases, and I used the leftovers from the quilt to make bands for the cuffs of the cases.


I have a little pillow to put between my knees, so I made a yellow case for that pillow as well.

GrammiLou commented that this quilt seems to have progressed very quickly. Well, yes! I looked back and see that I started it on June 1--part of an internet Quilt-along. I really focused on it for two weeks, AND when I gave it to Catherine, my LA quilter, she loaded it on her Gammill that very night! She heard me that I wanted this quilt for the SUMMER. So June 1 I started, and June 21 I finished the pillowcases. Yes, that's quick.


Sara

Gratitudes:

Enjoyed the new quilt on my bed last night
Newly found Mendelsohn music on radio
Charlie safely home from his trip to Ontario [baseball Hall of Fame]

Lasagna again

I'm not really motivated about quilting projects right now. I am spending more time in the garden and reading. I have lots of started projects that OUGHT to be worked on and finished, such as finsihing the quilting on my Carolina Crossroads, and putting borders on Orange Crush.... but no enthusiasm.

In an attempt to get myself moving I have started another Lasagna quilt top.

I sewed a bunch of strips end to end, and then whacked them off at about 48 inches. Now I am sewing them together, and going through some old strips of patches to use them as well. I have enough for a Middle of a top in sections tonight. Tomorrow I will get them all togeher and think about a "stopper" narrow border before adding more strips as the major border.

And I need to get ready for our SpoolSpinner bee meeting this coming Thursday.

I have walked the labyrinth the last two evenings, using the time for meditation as well as exercise. This adds about 30 miinutes to my walking for each day.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Insect repellant

BLTs for dinner

Labyrinth repair

I hired Nick for a couple of hours for two days retrimming the paths in my meadow labyrinth. I did not get out with my little push mower as early as I should have, and the paths became too overgrown for me to PUSH, I decided after lots of sweat. Unfortunately what was visible was confusing, so I also got OFF the paths with my attempts.

Now I have been bending over with a yardstick, measuring from the inner paths to the outer so that each path is centered 3 feet from another. Then I spray painted dashed lines for Nick to follow.

He got shoulders and arms that were very tired, and I got an ache in my back and thighs--and a lot of white paint on my pointer finger!

Boy! Learned my lesson NOT to let this go another year in the spring. [This is an eleven circuit labyrinth, similar to one at Chartres.]

I was done, but Nick wasn't quite when a tremendous thunder storm came up. You can see the clouds behind him. Lots of wind and rain. My gauge showed 9/10ths of an inch of rain that half hour, while I drove him home, and now I hear more grumbling from dark clouds in the west. More rain on the way!

We are going to New York City with our two kids and their spouses for the weekend of the 4th of July. We will be making our annual grants from a family foundation, and every other year we make a fun trip of it for adults only. This was our daughter's year to design the trip, and she has included a cruise on the Hudson in a tallmast ship to watch the NYC fireworks Friday night. I think we are sure to remember this holiday!

Sara

Gratitudes:

Roof to keep the rain off!

Young man to help with heavy garden tasks

Electricity still on at home