Here we are, safely arrived in 2021. I spent part of the day sandwiching the new art quilt top that I finished for my son’s very late Christmas present with the batting and the backing so that I can start doing the quilting tomorrow. Hannah was a huge help as I ironed and laid out the cloth on the floor with the batting and the top on it and secured everything with lots of safety pins. The backing for the quilt is just perfect, and I was able to get it with the help of a cousin who works in a quilt store in Durango, Colorado. I texted her a picture of the fabrics for the borders of the quilt, and she texted back fabric photos of possible candidates. I picked one, and she mailed it to me a couple of days later.
I was so happy to get the package with the fabric when it arrived: it was perfect and the thread the exact right color. A big problem had been solved through a pandemic-induced life hack. As I worked with this fabric today I remembered all the uplifting boxes that have arrived on my doorstep recently that have really impacted my mood as I struggle along like so many other people isolating at home alone.
My niece in California sent me a box of lemons from her tree!! Really, who expects lemons when you open an unexpected box? I rose to the challenge and made lemon bars. Each trip to the fridge to sneak another bar out to snack on fills me with a little burst of happiness! Next I’m thinking that I might be able to manage a lemon pound cake. Can I freeze lemon juice?
Do you remember my fabulous monster orchid that I was so happy with last year at this time? That’s it to the left. Over the summer it died… seriously, it is silly to be upset over a lost orchid, but I was. Right before Christmas a enormous box arrived on my doorstep with a two foot orchid carefully stuffed into it… another monster orchid!! Check out the blooms in the picture to the right – that’s my new big boy orchid. My DIL scored me the best Christmas present ever!!
Out of nowhere a strange package appeared a few weeks ago… maybe it was early December? Completely mystified, I brought it in and opened it with Hannah to discover…
My friend is now waiting out the pandemic in another state and who knows when we will see each other again, but we communicate back and forth with email and sending me yarn was a world class act of generosity and completely made my day.
Finally, there was the Christmas gift that arrived without warning from my sister. A little something to keep its eye on Hannah, who has been known to get into mischief on a pretty regular basis these days.
There they are, the collection of serendipitous boxes of joy that landed on my doorstep over the last few weeks that have been so impactful in helping me carry on as bad news keeps crashing in through my walls from the world outside. They remind me that even though I am still isolating and waiting for my turn to get a vaccine I am not alone at all. Through the mail, little things keep coming that mean so much.
I know that we all have high hopes for 2021, but I think that we are in for a long haul. Take joy in the little things that come your way, and when you can, send packets of caring and happiness to others.
This year I will be focusing on charity knitting.
Yarn, Books & Roses 
A delightful post
Thank you. The packages were also delightful!
What wonderful gifts! Sending and receiving care packages really helped me get through 2020.
They really are great helps. I’m going to try to double down and send more this year while things are still locked down.
Cute little owl. Suprise packages are the best.
They really are!
Happy New Year! Yes – lemon juice freezes well. I have a fabulous recipe for lemon pound cake! The owl is darling! Have fun quilting!
I think that I will squeeze the juice and then freeze it in an ice cube tray to keep the amounts small. I guess I will bury it in the freezer so it won’t freezer burn. I love lemons, but I have to be careful as I’m constantly battling gastritis with my autoimmune conditions. I just got the text with the lemon pound cake recipe… thank you!! The owl is just darn cute in the orchid patch, isn’t it? I’m setting up the dining room table for quilting work… hope Hannah behaves!!
They are Meyer lemons. And they got ripe on the tree. This all means that they are less acid than ordinary lemons and have a higher sugar content in the juice. The juice does not freeze to a solid cube in the ice cube trays unless you can turn the freezer way down to “Antarctica”. However, lemon baked goods should freeze well…
Oh. Maybe I can just keep the juice in the freezer in a nice hardy plastic storage container then. I tried some of the juice since you actually just ATE one, but there was a definite veto from the old stomach lining. 🙂 They are extremely tasty and I am using them in cooking and baking. Perfect for winter when the outsides are dull brown unless they are white with snow…
Those are some wonderful boxes! Sending and receiving surprise packages has been a real boost for me as well this past year 🙂
What a perfect way to end the year!
You can definitely freeze lemon juice. I would recommend using an ice cube trap to freeze it in smaller quantities.
Happy you were able to get the fabric you wanted for the quilt. Can’t wait to see it!
I got the q uilt all set up and ready to go on the big dining room table, and…. Miss Hannah moved right in. It is really hard to manipulate a quilt under the machine with a cat on top of it. 🙂 Hopefully the novelty of it all will wear off and she will let me start working on it in the next day or two. I’m going to try to freeze the lemon juice in an ice cube tray like you suggested. If my freezer isn’t cold enough I’ll just dump the juice into a screw top plastic container and keep it in the door of the freezer.
Miss Hannah is too funny! 🤣 Fingers crossed the novelty wears off. I miss really good lemons. When my Aunt was alive, she would mail us a giant box of lemons from her tree in CA. Such a treat!
Today she spent part of the day sleeping on it, so I think that she is claiming total ownership. I’ll have to deal with it soon if I want to get the quilting done. I do miss California some times, especially when I think of the great food I used to get there. I miss tree ripened avocados…
That looks like Emma’s yarn. I have a gorgeous skein that I can’t wait to knit with.
It is Emma’s Yarn! I was stunned to see it, and it is gorgeous! My friend went to a workshop (with Caitlin Hunter) at Four Purls which is the shop that Emma sells out of.
I snagged my skein at a shop on Long Island during the yarn crawl in March. I love her yarn and I read where she is out of Florida.
My local yarn shop just started carrying some of her yarn and the mohair is just fabulous!!
You have such a lovely group of family and friends. What a delight to receive a box of fresh lemons, beautiful yarn, and that gorgeous orchid. I’m glad your were able to sort out a nice quilt backing through the exchange of photos as well. You posts are all so upbeat, even with all you have going on. Happy New Year!
Thank you so much. I do try to stay upbeat in my life and on the blog too. Attitude is all! I am lucky that there are all these modern coping strategies available to me right now like smartphones that allow texting and photos, and Instacart shopping services, not to mention Amazon!! Now that you have reminded me of the lemons, I am off to the fridge to grab one. 🙂
Now I’m going to go get myself another little lemon bar to snack on. 🙂
A good attitude definitely helps, not to mention creative hobbies and adorable kitties. I’ve found so many different uses for my smartphone, too, like take a photo of something I can’t read and enlarging it. It’s great for reminders, too. I’ll take a photo to remind myself of a brand. I use the Notes feature on my iPhone to store info on my son’s sizes or preferred gum for stocking stuffers…that sort of thing. How did we ever get by without it?
I’m drooling over the thought of those lemon bars. They sound delicious. I need to drop 25 pounds, so I’ll have to tuck away the idea for later.
I know about the phone, right! My grocery list is on it. I do my banking with the phone. I rely on Google to get me to my driving destinations. I live in fear of losing that phone!
The most ironic thing about my current health is that, after a lifetime of needing to lose weight, I am losing weight involuntarily and it has become a concern. The upside of this is… lemon bars!! There really, truly, is a silver lining to everything!!
I’m sorry about the weight loss. My sister has MS and it can be that way for her, too. She either doesn’t feel hungry or she eats and quickly fills up.
That is exactly what is going on, but I also get sick from what I eat too. It has reached a point where I stare into the fridge and just wonder what is safe for me to eat. Bananas… eat bananas says the fridge! I’m sorry that your sister also deals with this.