Dallas Blooms with Mister's Mom

I absolutely love Dallas Blooms at the Arboretum.  To miss it would make me sad indeed.  We have been talking about taking Mister's mom with us and today we have finally made the arrangements to do so.  I am really looking forward to it and we are on our way to pick her up right now.

Once we arrive, we head straight for the shuttle stop and take the little tour as Mom is not able to walk the entire grounds.  She gets to see some areas and then we are returned back at the center park.

We walk over and check out several items, including the new peacock displays.  Tell me these are not beautiful and I will never believe another thing you say.

As we stroll around the plaza, Mom stops now and then to point out different plants that she knows and even spots a peach tree that I am pretty sure is not a peach tree.  Boy was I wrong.  Gotta love the wisdom of our elders and respect it more.  Good lesson for me today.

We have had such cool weather that things are just starting to bloom.  Another week and it will be vivid here, but even still, the colors are intense.  It is hard to be unhappy here --- such beauty is all around and the eye never seems to stop in any one place for very long.

The skyline looks so cool in the morning light through the tree branches.  In a few weeks, you will not be able to see it from here as everything will be leafed out.

I LOVE this.

She's a toucher too!  And a smeller.  I love that we have that in common.

Mister said Mom really doesn't like her picture taken, but I want some.  I win, but she doesn't have to smile.  Deal.

WOW!

I think it is time for a haircut.  Oh my.

I pick Mom's brain on the different flowers as there are a few that I don't know.  It becomes humorous as she can only narrow it down to three.

Hey, that's three more than I had.  It is such a beautiful morning here and the time with her is treasured but it is time to go and I am hungry.  We drop down into Deep Ellum to Cane Rosso for a wonderful lunch and fantastic conversation before returning her back to her apartment.  We absolutely must do this again soon.

Peach Blossoms!!! -- Spring is Here

Is it?  Could it be?  Yes -- I think it is.  Spring!  The peach tree is in bloom.  Please, please, please let it not freeze again.

Isn't it gorgeous?  I was a little worried after Mister pruned it back so heavily this year, but she is full of pretty pink blossoms AND the bees are busily working them.

Gotta stay with this post --- the pictures just keep getting better.

One more

Working the Dallas Wine Trail -- at Calais

Our friend Benjamin Calais asked us to help down at the winery today.  It is the Dallas Wine Trail and he needs people to help serve and promote his wine.  It sounded fun and we are always willing to help so we are on our way to Deep Ellum this morning.

We arrive and are given our assignments - I am pouring Syrah and Mister is doing meet and greets and sales.

There are others helping as well and I am next to Carroll from Marbelicious Meats, who is cooking wagyu beef to pair with the red wines.  The smell is divine and oh how I wish I could just sit down and have one of these $40.00 steaks.

It does not take long for the place to fill up and we are busy until around 4 in the afternoon.  At some point I give up on standing and take a seat on a bar stool behind my table.  During our oh so very few breaks, a little crocheting is attempted.  I know, I have a problem.

It is a great day and we hope to have the chance to do this again sometime.  Thanks Benjamin.  Fun way to get out of the house for the day AND take home a couple of bottles of you fine wine plus a new york steak from Carroll.  Pretty good wages for a day spent visiting and sharing wine knowledge.

Craving Fried Chicken

I have been craving fried chicken for days now.  Tonight I could not handle it anymore.  While at the grocery store, I discovered a sale on drumsticks -- so they went home with me and this is the end result:

Yes, it tasted as good as it looks.  Yum.

A Simple Foil Dinner

What to do for dinner?  Don't you hate it when that happens?  I have not planned well so a quick rummage through the fridge leaves me with a few ingredients to work with.  I find some red/orange/yellow peppers to use.  As I cut the top off the yellow one, this is what I find inside:

I seem to get more mutant vegies these days.  I also found some tilapia, celery, onion, and herbs.  Time to just throw something together and see what we get.  A foil dinner works well for that.

Once it is all together -- into the oven for about 15-20 minutes  (I know, not such a pretty sheet - oh well)

And voila:  dinner.  Yum.  We add a little rice that is leftover in the fridge and our meal is complete.  Yes, there is a fish filet in there.  And it taste soooo good.

Lunch at Velvet Taco

After being at the Quilt show all day, food is high on our list and Mister surprises me with a stop at my fav taco joint:  Velvet Taco.  Oh my, I can taste it already.

First up is their corn -- too spicy for me to take more than one or two bites, but Mister LOVES it.

Then the delicious treats arrive.  Oh yes!  I am going to savor each bite.

Dallas Quilt Show

Upon waking this morning, I asked Mister if he would like to go to the Dallas Quilt Show with me.  It is my guild's show and I would love to go and check it out.  He readily agrees and off we go.  For the first time at a show, we start with the vendors.  It may prove to be a mistake, but we'll see.

I am always looking to learn new techniques (whether I ever use them or not) and spot this one where they sew a small piece of fabric on top of the blocks and then brush it with a steel brush to create a "chenille" strip.  Pretty cool.

We come across a booth that has featherweight light bulbs, yep need one of those.  Another booth has the seam ripper I bought a couple of years ago -- he has a stiletto point that fits my ripper -- yes, gotta have one of those.  I also find a couple of cute fabrics that are on clearance, so grab those to make a couple sewing machine covers for the machines that are always set up.

However, the bulk of our time is spent trying out various sit-down long arm machines.  Oh and the chairs.  Here are my favorites of the day:  This chair was incredibly comfortable and the Sweet Sixteen is my choice for machine as well.  Now -- will someone please give me five grand so that I can get one?  It would truly make me a happy girl.  Best part is that both the chair and the machine are in the same booth and the shop is really close to home for me.  Yay!

The day has really passed and after trying out six machines -- yep -- we were on a fact-finding mission -- we realize that the show is going to close soon and we have not even peeked at the quilts.  Time to go and stand in awe of other quilters ability.  I say that with all sincerity.  I truly am amazed at their creations.  However, the pictures that I take are ones of quilts that speak out to us and that perhaps we would like to try making.  Please enjoy the show.

Still searching for an Amish one to try.

Recycled shirts --- yes!

Close up:   Isn't it divine?

Not overly crazy about the border, but have been looking for a pattern that will use my tiny squares and still give me open area to practice more intricate quilting.

LOVE - a black/white/red is high on my list.

Okay this one --- way fun.  Mister and I have looked at using ties since we see them all the time at estate sales and thrift stores.  Well --- this one is entirely made of  them.  What a great layout.  I am especially fond of the border with all the little tags on it.

Check out the close up:  great!

Hst's galore.  I have stacks of these to use.

Mister is drooling over this one.  I think we have a solid crumb quilt in our future.

I have had so much fun and where on earth has the day gone.  The show is now closed -- we have spent all day here and are both starving.  It's time to find some food before heading home.