Weeks 14 and 15: Project 365, the 2015 Edition

Wednesday, April 1

We are harvesting the last of our vegetables. Ivan was disappointed with the yield from his container garden this year, but I've enjoyed every tomato, pepper, lettuce leaf as well as the dill, basil, mint and other herbs.

It was a very rainy year, and our theory is that it was just too much for a container-style garden. Oh well, there's always next year!

Thursday, April 2

The sketching of various quilt designs continues; this is the first one that I kind of liked.

Saturday, April 4

Ivan spent the day helping a friend paint their new apartment and while he was gone, I decided it was as good a time as any to start the online photography class I'd signed up for through Craftsy. The teacher uses a Nikon so the first thing I had to do was download the user's manual for my Canon Rebel Xsi. It took me a couple of hours to get through a 25 minute lesson, since I had to keep stopping to look things up in the manual. I realize I have a LOT to learn, and this was only the first lesson, so I'm trying not to be too hard on myself. But seriously? My photography skills are saaaaad.

Rain kept me inside, so my options for practicing with different types of light were limited. These are just a few of the many photos I took of my glass of water. Hopefully when I get done with the course, I'll be able to look back and see how far I've come!

Sunday, April 5

Easter Sunday!
We went to church early for a devotional followed by breakfast before the regular morning service. In Argentina, breakfast means bread. Everyone brought a variety of breads, mostly sweet. My contribution included a few leftover GF lemon and raisin scones from Friday and a fresh batch of GF cheesy biscuits.

(Disclosure: This is a borrowed photo since I forgot my camera and my photos with the iPhone were less than stellar.)

A number of people brought coffee, and there were a few matés being passed around too (the herbal tea so prevalent here).

Monday, April 6

We had to make a trip into Cordoba, and decided to go a little early so I could check out a fabric store. Took a while to find one -- it's been a few years since I'd been to the really big one and we never did find it, but did find a smaller one. Then we got lost going back to the car. Ivan stopped to see if he could figure out where it was on his phone's GPS...

...but our cellular service is worthless. You'd think it would work better in the capital of the province than anywhere, wouldn't you? We'd stopped in front of a barbershop so when it became apparent the phone wasn't going to work, I went inside and asked the barber and he was able to head us in the right direction. I knew the parking lot was near the corner of Rivadavia and Lima but had been confused about which street the parking structure faced.

Tuesday, April 7

The trip to the fabric store confirmed my suspicions that finding good quality quilting cotton here is not an option. Getting 100% cotton fabric in any form is difficult. So this morning I went through all the boxes of fabric stored in the garage, as well as the dresser out there where I keep a good assortment. Thankfully I found enough for my project.

Wednesday, April 8

A few days before we'd gone to the one and only vegetable store that occasionally has cilantro. It's always packed with people; besides having a greater variety than most places, they are also centrally located in the heart of old downtown. Anyway, Ivan bought some cilantro -- or so he thought. When I went to make salsa today, we discovered it was in fact parsley, not cilantro. So instead of me making salsa, Ivan made chimichurri! Ivan's is the best in my opinion; he uses the perfect ratio of parsley to garlic to oil and vinegar.

Normally he chops everything by hand but he decided to try making it in the blender this time.

Thursday, April 9

We started out the morning with a nice walk along the river. Someone is grazing their horses in the public areas. Makes a pretty picture, doesn't it?

But it does mean you have to be very careful where you walk.

Late morning we went to visit Magdalena, whose husband died last month. She went to Cordoba with us when we bought foam a few weeks ago and she'd asked Ivan to come over and cut it for her. Did you know the best thing to use for cutting foam is an electric knife? I found one at a garage sale a few years back while we were in the U.S. and it has come in handy on several occasions. We ended up staying for lunch and a nice long visit.

Back at home, we received a message from our friend Jennie that her husband, John, had died peacefully in his sleep. I've known John and Jennie since I was 16. He was the pastor who led me to Jesus almost forty years ago. Some of you may have already read my tribute to him here on the blog. We're so thankful for his life and legacy. This is a photo from their 50th wedding anniversary celebration.

Friday, April 10

I shared this photo (from a few years ago) on Facebook today in honor of National Siblings Day.

My sister and I have so many shared memories that it only takes a word or phrase to have us both rolling on the floor laughing like hyenas.

Sunday, April 12

Still sketching...

This time I used colored pencils, but with no gray I had to use black to shade in the gray blocks. So picture the background with soft grays and whites, 'kay? And should I decide to use this design, the actual quilt will look only vaguely like this. I just wanted an idea of what it would look like to do pieced circles on a pieced background.

And the coral border might end up being blue instead. Sort of depends on if it's a boy or girl. Yes, you read that right. We're going to be grandparents again! Kyle and Tina are expecting in November, about a month before Simon turns two. Woot!

Monday, April 13

Ivan's been working on the exterior of the casita for a couple of months; a few hours here, a few hours there. He had to clean and sand the front portion that had previously been painted, then lightly sand the section we had freshly plastered a couple years ago. He also applied two coats of sealer and patched all the wall cracks. So the front and one side are ready to paint, but first he wants to get the windows done. That requires cleaning and sanding the frames and bars so the paint will adhere.

I took this photo early in the morning. He did get the other window (in the bedroom) painted by the end of the day, but of course I forgot to take a picture of that. It's one of those jobs that's a lot more tedious and time consuming than you think it will be. So he still has to do the kitchen window frame and bars as well as the screen door. Poco a poco.

Tuesday, April 14

We harvested the last of the cabbage leaves today.

I fried up a mess of potatoes, onions and cabbage for lunch, to go along with the black beans I cooked overnight in the crockpot and a fresh pone of cornbread.

Not the best picture, but Yum!