Whose idea was this weather?

Okay, I just stopped by to complain about the weather. A couple of weeks ago it was 103° here in Minneapolis. 103°! In early June! In Minneapolis! That is just crazy. There have been tornadoes and thunderstorms too. As a matter of fact we had a slight touchdown less than 2 miles from us on Tuesday. Poor Walter and I had to hit the basement for a bit.

The only good thing about all of this weirdness is that it gives me time to make jam. For you see my friends have started to call me Rhubarb Ronda. I have accumulated about 12 gallons of frozen rhubarb that I am now making into various yummies. So far I have made Rhubarb Wine, Rhubarb Vodka, Rhubarb Bars and Rhubarb Jam. Today I am going to make one final double batch of Rhubarb Jam and then I need to find other things to do with rhubarb. I am considering making Rhubarb Mead and maybe just some plain Rhubarb Syrup for flavoring beverages and such. In the back of my head I have an idea for Rhubarb Hard Candies. I can always keep the rhubarb frozen and make bars and such throughout the year.

Of course the other thing the odd weather is good for is giving me time to sew. I am making headway on my handkerchief project. The sewing machine has decided to co-operate and I have found a quick way to finish each one. I had been folding each edge, but that was t-e-d-i-o-u-s. Now I am just zigzagging the raw edges. I mean we are just going to blow our noses on it right? If I were making them for gifts then I would fold the edges and make them all pretty. However, I have two more sheets to do after I finish this one, so a nice zigzag will do!

So, I have been busy with all sorts of stuff this spring, but I just have not been reporting them here. I try will to change that over the next week or so. Assuming that is that we don't have a freak summer-time blizzard with an earthquake at the end.

Happy Earth Day! ~or~ Hankies - Part 1

It is a grey and gloomy Earth Day here in Minneapolis. According to Weather.com we might see a glimpse of the sun for an hour or so this morning, but that my dears will be all we get and then later it is supposed to rain. I am going to try to be out walking during that sliver of sun, but the rest of the day will be spent indoors.

I have a plan, however, to fill those indoor hours: I am going to make hankies from old sheets! Rodney and I have at least two old sheets with holes in them. I have been saving them because I knew I could make something out of them. Well after we went through TEN boxes of Puffs in March, I think I know what we need: Hankies! And lots of them!

My plan is to get a good start on some hankies today. First I will need to rip the elastic out of the sheets and then I will need to cut them to the right size. (Hmmm…I wonder how big a hankie should be? Tissue size? Napkin size?) After I get everything cut comes the really hard part: convincing my sewing machine to sew. It has been being quite stubborn lately.

I will post pictures when I get them done. I am not sure I really need 2-3 sheets worth of hankies. What else could I make with them? Napkins, of course, but I have several cloth napkins. Any ideas out there?

I have to get ready for my walk now, or I will miss my short time window of sun and no rain. Have a great Earth Day!