Chilly February

 

 My first February on Whidbey Island has presented a little bit of everything. Some snow flurries this past week, with enough snow to cover the ground and the rooftops and frost all of the trees for a half of a day. That was followed by some sunny but very chilly days, and then today I was surprised by a rather remarkable hailstorm, with pea-sized hail stones bouncing merrily off of the deck. I wonder what March will bring? 

 

Speaking of crazy weather, my former home of Sonoma County, California has had a crazy weather week, with a rather significant snowfall where it never, ever, snows. My sister sent me this picture of her front yard in Cloverdale, which is a few minutes north of where I lived, and which is known for being the hot spot in the county. Very exciting!

My days have been filled with work, mainly - but I am trying to get better about making some time each day for something creative. I'm thinking a lot about balance these days, and trying to ensure that snarly litigation isn't consuming all of my brain. 

Yesterday I felt the need to get out of the house for a bit. I fashioned a lunch date for myself -- a visit to the nearby Dairy Queen for a take-out lunch, which I took to a nearby quiet beach for a scenic break. The Dairy Queen is the only fast food restaurant on the south end of the island, grandfathered in when zoning laws were enacted prohibiting them, I think. It's kind of funny how ordinary fast food can feel like a real treat when it's not easily available. 

 So I enjoyed popcorn shrimp and fries and a fountain diet coke while I sat in the car, breathed the chilly air, and read my novel. (I was reading "The Hotel Nantucket" by Elin Hilderbrand, about another favorite island.) It struck me as funny that I was reading about a Nantucket summer while enjoying Whidbey winter. And in case you're wondering, the popcorn shrimp was surprisingly good.

Of course I got out and spent some time roaming the beach, gazing out at the snow covered mountains across Puget Sound and poking around at scallop shells. 

I had the whole place to myself, except for a bald eagle that cruised by overhead. It was lovely and peaceful. 

 Before I left, I could not resist leaving a quilted heart for someone to find. Shhhh! Don't tell! 

Back at home, I got back to work finishing some donation quilts. My new quilt guild has a lot of donation programs, and so over the last few weeks I've cut and sewn triangles to make a few little quilts for the neonatal intensive care unit at an area hospital. Apparently they are in need of baby boy quilt-lets, so I pulled pastel blues and greens and turquoises and have had a happy time getting them together. I finished quilting them yesterday and binding them today.

I usually hand-sew bindings, but for baby quilts that will be washed frequently, I opted for machine sewing the borders -- and how satisfying to get the binding finished so quickly!

 For another use-up-the-scraps project, I have been cutting squares and triangles to make colorful bears paw blocks. I was inspired by this picture, which I found on Pinterest without a source...

 

It has been on my "want to make" list for quite a while, so I mapped out a plan:

 

 

I've started in cutting and sewing. There are a whole lot of half-square triangles for those bear claws, so I think I'll be working on this for a while. But the bright colors make me happy and it makes for fun, mindless sewing. I love revisiting scraps and remembering where I used the fabric before. Some of it has been in my stash for quite a few years.

In other exciting news, I made a delicious recipe for lasagna soup that turned out really well -- another great cold-weather soup recipe for winter rotation. As odd as it sounds, serving with a dollop of ricotta cheese on top really added to the creamy lasagna sensation. 

I have dipped back into a bit of sketching and watercolor painting, thanks to a weekly zoom class with urban sketcher Becky Cao. Wow, am I rusty! But I'm having fun. This morning's class was a challenging scene of a Vancouver cafe -- with a person, even. Very fun.

Drop a comment and let me know what you are doing to keep yourself happy this month! I'm off to get dinner on the table (another soup night!), so ta ta for now!