Busy day, busy week!

Once again, another week has flown by.

It's been a week of mixed emotions for me which always seems to happen as the time draws nearer to my six month check up including CT scan and blood work followed closely by appointments with my family doctor and oncologist for the results.  It all starts this Wednesday with an x-ray and bone scan and then another CT scan a couple of weeks later.  The apprehension and waiting is the difficult part.

But on a brighter note, I try to keep both my hands and mind occupied.  We've had such a cold and wet Spring that the yard work is no where near done.  

When I look at photos from the last two years at this time, it would appear that we are about three weeks behind.

Having said that, things have started to green up nicely and the perennials and Spring-blooming trees and shrubs are slowly coming to life.

We mowed the front half of the back forty yesterday.  The back is just too saturated with water to be be able to drive the tractor over it without getting stuck.  

And how do I know this?  You really don't want to know the answer to that.  

It's a wonder I'm still married!  *wink*

It's a gorgeous day today here in paradise.  The sun is shining, the sky is blue and it's a great day for drying freshly washed bedding on the line.

The rhubarb and chives survived the winter in the kitchen garden just outside our back door.  I can't wait for the weather to warm up so that I can put my tomatoes and peppers in.

  
The buds on the white lilac bush... 

rhododendron...

and magnolia...

are becoming larger with each passing day.

Isn't Spring grand?

I finished another mini flimsy this past week to get some practice on my new machine.

I haven't decided whether I'm going to hand or machine quilt this one but it'll probably get done sometime this week.

And no week would be complete without some shopping thrown in for good measure...right?

It was time to replace the 6 year old well-used ironing pad that sits next to me when I sew...

with a new one.

No shopping trip would be complete either without a few yards of fabric to add to my stash.

And how about a couple of new rulers and some thread?

While the clothes were out drying on the line, I decided to make a quiche for lunch.  

I prepped enough for two pies but the first piece was so good...

Now only one remains.

Here's the recipe if you'd like to give it a try.  It's easy-peasy to prepare and is delicious.  I usually serve ours with a salad but we were both too hungry to wait until I made one.

HAM-MUSHROOM QUICHE

4 eggs 1 c. half and half cream 1 c. diced, cooked ham 1 c. sliced mushrooms 2 chopped green onions 4 oz. grated cheese Salt and pepper to taste 2 partially baked 10 inch pie shells Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Beat eggs until frothy. Blend in cream. Layer ham in bottom of pie shell. Sprinkle mushrooms, onions, and cheese on top of ham. Add salt and pepper to egg mixture. Set pan on baking sheet. Carefully pour egg mixture into pie shell covering ham and cheese. Bake 10 minutes at 425 degrees; reduce temperature to 325 degrees and bake 30 minutes or until quiche is set. Serve hot. This will make 2 pies or approximately 12-14 servings.

NOTE: I altered the recipe slightly by first spreading dijon mustard over the entire bottom of the pie shell and also sauteed the mushrooms, ham and green onions in about a tablespoon of olive oil before layering them inside.  I didn't partially bake the pie shells either and they turned out just fine!

Just a reminder that this coming Wednesday is the 1st of May which means that the second of six instalments of my Happy Scrappy Spring BOM will be available for you to download.  I also have a Flicker Gallery that you can access from the right sidebar of my blog if you'd like to upload some photos of your progress.  I'd love to see what you've all been doing!

Ollie and Frankie would like to have a peek as well...when they're not snoozing, of course!

Happy stitching!