Covid-19 Life: Quilts, Books, and Spring Flowers

Happy May Day!

The trees in the neighborhood are in full bloom.

Including the crab apple in our front yard.

I have completed the second block in Barbara Brackman's Ladies Aid Sampler Quilt, the cow under the tree. Which to me looked like Ferdinand the Bull so I gave him a flower to smell.

A friend shared some teapot embroidery patterns to add to the tea cups I embroidered.

And I showed the Water Lily quilt to the quilt group when we met at the park.

Water Lily quilt by Nancy A. Bekofske

I picked up a few books at the library (they are still closed to the public, they leave the books outside on a table.) Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny is set in Michigan's Up North town of Boyne City. It was a great read, warm and charming and funny. And The Chanel Sisters by Judith Little whose Wickwythe Hall I read last year.

New on my NetGalley shelf:

The Heron's Cry by Anne Cleeves, second in the Detective Venn series; read my review of The Long Call here

Talk to Me by T. C. Boyle in which a chimp has been taught to talk in sign language

My brother and his girlfriend are walking the North Country Trail across Michigan. Last weekend's threatening clouds produced some dramatic photographs as they crossed Kalamazoo County.

And Book Club Cook Book win book A Hundred Suns by Karin Tanabe arrived.

My quilt friend Theresa Nielson shared a 1925 baby book with me and I was able to track down the family on Ancestry, with help from Newspapers.com. The family is excited to be reunited with this terrific heirloom. It included photographs and hair snippets and newspaper articles.

The vintage art work was adorable.

My family and close friends have all received their second vaccination shots. It is a relief, especially as Michigan continues to have the highest case numbers. One in eleven people in our county have had the virus. Our small town of under 12,000 has had 747 cases and 23 deaths, a huge increase in cases this spring as it exploded in the schools.

The missed doctor appointments have been made up. And today my husband donned his mask and went grocery shopping. He missed it. I prefer Shipt!

This week saw the passing of astronaut Michael Collins, who was part of the Apollo 11 crew. Many years ago I made a quilt for the mission which I called When Dreams Came True. For as a girl, we all dreamed of going to outer space. The images were from NASA photos and created with fusible applique.

Michael Collins is on the left. detail from When Dreams Came True
by Nancy A. Bekofske

When Dreams Came True by Nancy A. Bekofske

Stay safe.

Find your bliss.