Bloom and gloom

Dh got a box of iris rhizomes from Northern Ireland about 10 days ago, and promptly planted them out. Within a few days one had a bloom on it! I guess South Texas feels like high summer to them. I love bearded iris, and we'll soon have a whole garden full at this rate!

Tomorrow I will finish putting the second coat of "Grass Green" acrylic paint on my Adirondack rocker, then it goes back outdoors and gets at least two coats of clear polyurethane spray. It really looks nice. I thought about doing some decorative painting on it, but decided I like the way it looks now. I intend to make a cushion or two for it out of some upholstery samples I bought at my quilt group's silent auction last month, as soon as I can pick up some fiberfill.

I still need to measure my quilt top and press it, and I hope this week I can find some fabric for the backing. Once that is seamed and pressed, the two parts will go to the quilter, who already has her own preferred type of batting on hand.

The spaghetti luncheon went fairly well at OES yesterday, despite a steady rain. We had way too many cakes, and several of them returned home with their bakers. Mine was one of the many that were sliced and placed on foam plates and covered in plastic wrap for people to choose from. There was some grumbling from one quarter that I had sliced too many cakes (I had, I'll admit it, but I didn't know how many to slice ahead of time) and that the cakes had been "wasted." I got upset about that--I wasn't the only person slicing cakes, and I had stopped long before the others quit slicing. I felt that the criticism was unjust and unfair. After thinking it over, I decided that I was being too sensitive; perhaps the remarks were not directed at me alone. We'll see if anything further is said at the next meeting. If so, I have a $20 bill that may settle the problem. The extra cake slices went into the fridges for the Monday night Lodge meeting, etc. I sincerely doubt that much will be actually wasted.

I do tend to take criticism much too personally; I am thin-skinned that way. If I get my feelings hurt I either retreat into my shell or lash out in anger. I came dangerously close to lashing out at the offending person--a real no-no at an OES function. I managed to bite my tongue, finished the clean-up, and drove home, muttering the entire way. It has taken me several hours to rethink the whole episode, and I still feel mistreated, but at least I am trying to be rational about it! I know, I need to "be a duck..."

Our OES chapter is collecting children's books this Tuesday night for some charity or other, (I forgot who.) I had some discount coupons for Half-Price Books, so I have already purchased three books and will probably get one more before the meeting. I picked out multi-story treasuries that would be good for reading aloud to a child: Paddington Bear, Beatrix Potter, and Hans Christian Andersen. I am pleased with my choices, and I know the children will enjoy them.

Our large TV is still in the shop, but I hope it will be fixed this week. I still need to put together my demo for the quilt group on the 9th, so it may be a few days before the TV gets picked up anyway. My car is the only one large enough to carry it.

A busy week ahead.....Happy Passover to my Jewish friends!