Life goes on …

I’ve been so pleased with my rolls lately.  I have a love/hate relationship with yeast.  I love bread.  Yeast hates me.  I actually had my dad watch me put the ingredients in the bread maker once, when I was a teenager.  I did it just the way he said to, the way he always did it, but because I did it, it didn’t rise.  Even my dad looked at it and said, “That’s funny … what did we do wrong?”

BUT … I’ve had luck lately … or I’ve bribed the yeast with just the right temperature water and the right amount of honey, because this is what my rolls looked like this week:

They were a little on the crumbly side, but I knew I’d added too much flour when I was shaping them.  I’m not a pro yet, but I’m on my way.

L is doing very well.  She’s reading 83 words per minute.  The first grade goal is 53.  She passed that months ago.  And I don’t know what poor S is going to do in Kindergarten next year.  She’s already starting to read.  And J just had to get up and pretend to follow his sisters’ examples.

I went to Jo-anne’s today.  I found most everything I needed on sale … including the rotary cutting board, cutter, and rulers.  I’d planned on using my mom’s when I went down next, but at 40% off, and the fact that I don’t think this is the last time I’ll ever need it, I couldn’t resist buying my own set.  Oh, and I had a coupon for 20% off that was also good for the things on sale.  When they totaled up my receipt, I’d saved $63!!!  I’m not telling how much I spent, though …

So, now I have a plan and fabric, and all the tools I need to put together a new quilt for J (minus batting, I’ll get around to that after I’ve pieced the top).  I get so anxious in this moment: when I have the plan and the materials, but I haven’t started yet.  Remember the Snow White Dress I made for Susanna two years ago?

I had the same feeling before starting that project, when all I had was this:

I’m afraid I’ll mess up and ruin the whole thing.  Of course, I won’t, and even if I do mess up, I’ll be able to fix it.  But until I make those first cuts and get into it, I’ll have this lump in my throat. 

The nice people at the local Bernina shop are so encouraging, though.  I stopped by to pick up a satin stitch foot, because I’m going to put an applique on each of the squares, and they talked to me about it and assured me that it’s no big deal, and I’ll be able to do just what I want without any problem.  Then she cautioned me to start on a scrap piece of fabric, just to get the hang of it.  Good advice.