Domestic Scenes

I'm afraid I haven't been around in blogland much lately. I have finally been pressured into joining the dreaded facebook, and have been familiarizing myself with it. Real Simple magazine had a good article in April's issue that clearly stated a lot of my thoughts about fb. I will have to share that in another post!

But I wanted to share a few domestic scenes with you this week. I finally made my first batch of refrigerator pickles, a favorite from childhood, made by my mom. When I stumbled upon some Kirby cucumbers, I just knew I had to make them. I used this recipe, modified somewhat. They were good, but I'll tweak them a bit next time. It was rather exciting to make them, though! (It doesn't take much to make my day.)

I've also managed to do some stash busting this week, and used up 12 yards of flannel that I'd had for several years to sew baby blankets for a donation drive at church. They're so easy: 36-inch squares of two different fabrics, sewn together inside out, turned rightside out, and then topstitched around the edges. Yes, perhaps they're not traditional baby blanket colors, but they're warm and I'm thrilled to find a use for that flannel! They will go to an orphanage/day care center in Romania; it's a little humbling to think my quickly whipped out blankets might be used to wrap up little babies in need of so much. I wish I could offer so much more.

And, I rather liked the way these daffodils looked after they'd dried up in the vase. They were from my garden. A few more are blooming, but they're almost done. A friend also split some of her perennials to share with me this week, which was exciting gardening news (thanks again!). She brought her border collie to play chase with my pup in the backyard; what fun to watch them race around!

Have you tried any new recipes? Enjoyed any spring flowers?