One of Those Weeks

  

 Well, friends, it has been one of THOSE weeks. You probably know the kind. Way, way, WAY too much work. A lot of things around the house that need to be done, but no time to do them. Clouds of dog hair wafting around the floor. Laundry needing to be done. Christmas stuff needing to be put away. And that cranky, tired feeling of being laden with too much stuff rolling around in my head.

So I will start with a highlight from yesterday. I had a list of errands to accomplish (recycling center, grocery store, etc.). But I'd not eaten before I dashed out, so I decided to treat myself to breakfast out, and I stopped at Whidbey Donuts. 

 

This little cafe and donut shop is maybe 5 miles from my house, behind the field where the weekly farmers' market takes place in spring through fall. It was raining yesterday, and it turned out to be the perfect spot to sit, relax for a bit, and enjoy a yummy breakfast.

I was taken with the donut art all over the restaurant, which I will have to inspect on future visits. 

And although I did not stop to take a photo, the breakfast was delicious. Scrambled eggs, bacon, and -- surprise - a grilled donut. A novelty experience, to be sure. They had cut a plain glazed donut in half, sort of hamburger bun style, and put it face down on the grill for a bit so the surface was crispy.

Google tells me that this is a THING. If you go look, you can find recipes and images of sandwiches and desserts featuring grilled donuts. Who knew.

 

Anyway, it was a nice morning break. I've been reading Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, so sitting, sipping my coffee, nibbling my grilled donut, and reading was a perfect pause. 

The novel, by the way, is quite enjoyable. The author has said it is loosely based on Fleetwood Mac, and is about the relationships between various band members as they become famous in the 1970's. It's told in an ongoing interview style that makes for interesting reading, as each character tells his point of view which is often quite different from the view of other characters. A movie is in the works, I hear.

One of my errands was a stop at a local appliance store to search for a replacement gas range. The one above (excuse the fingerprints and grime) is what came with the house and what we have been using since then. But on Thanksgiving, issues became apparent -- mainly, the vague smell of propane gas ALL the time in the kitchen. After various repair visits and gas line inspections, it was determined that the range had a leak in a part which was no longer available, so the range would have to be replaced. 

Along the way, I did get better acquainted with two neighbors who helped me pull the range out and shut off the gas line, which I greatly appreciated. I've also learned that the propane gas smell is from a substance called Mercaptan, a harmless chemical in and of itself which is added to odorless propane gas so any dangerous leak can be detected. I can not tell you how many times the gas company people have said the word Mercaptan to me over the last several weeks.

I will spare you the story of "how I lived without an oven or stovetop" from Thanksgiving to early January (which would include a deeply moving segue into the agony of not being able to bake the ritual Christmas cookies). Suffice it to say that I have become a lot more familiar with the benefits of my Instant Pot, and have used my crockpot, toaster oven, and microwave oven a whole lot. I can also report that in a pinch, Walker Shortbread will make a reasonable substitute when you are desperately craving the family traditional  holiday shortbread. 

I now have an excellent replacement range on order which is expected to be installed next week. Turns out that the tricky part was not choosing a gas range; it was finding one that would be available sometime before March. 

Oh, one more thing. See how that range up there has two ovens? I thought that might be a handy feature, and it turned out that the top part (broiler and shallow oven) worked fine for a lot of things. But if you're tall, like me, and pulling a casserole dish or roasting pan (say, with a big ol' turkey) out of the lower oven, then you are pretty much down on the floor ... with two dogs eager to investigate and thrilled to have delicious smelling food right at their snout level. So the new range will have one normal oven, with the typical storage drawer at ground level. I can hardly wait.

Meanwhile, in another break from work, last weekend I loaded another small quilt top onto the long arm. I have no idea when I made this. I vaguely recall that I had a small assortment of fabric that I'd bought because the prints were just too charming to pass up. Look at those pink clamshells! And the abstract seaweed print on white! And the little whale tail on navy blue! And starfish! Somewhere along the way I decided that I'd mix in some other things and cut them into equilateral triangles for a someday baby gift or donation quilt. I still love these fabrics and the unusual pink-navy-gold color combination. 

 So yesterday afternoon (instead of dealing with the laundry, dog hair, and Christmas decor) I started in with the quilting a bit. I like the quilting to emphasize the part of the quilt I really like -- and I realized with this, it was the triangles themselves. Plus I thought I needed to ease back into ruler quilting with something that is not too challenging. So, quilting straight lines to emphasize the triangles is now under way. 

If you've never quilted with a ruler, on the longarm you hold the ruler down with your left hand, and guide the machine with your right, keeping the ruler foot gliding along the edge of the ruler. I had forgotten how easy it is to just veer off away from the ruler, so what should be a straight line turns into a strange arc heading off for parts unknown. I've already had to do a bit of ripping. Ah well, it's what this practice is for. 

So, there you have it. The week ahead promises to be another crazy work week, but I now have the knowledge that I'll soon have a working stovetop and oven back in the kitchen. Plus Miss C is quite intrigued at hearing about grilled donuts, so I suspect there will be a return visit to Whidbey Donuts sometime soon.

Happy January to you all, friends!