I think my favorite shared-on-the-blog experiences are the Blue Goo, and the Squirrel in the House at Christmas stories. What I didn’t remember is that my brother had a bird in the house? How does that even happen? Open doors and windows I suppose.
Every now and again coffee mishaps fill this page. In the moment these experiences are not so funny because coffee is, well, coffee and our preferred morning, let’s get this day started beverage. I mean while baking I’ve added finely ground coffee beans to chocolate cake, because sublime.
So our habit at home, wherever that is in any given moment, is to prepare coffee for dripping just before we wake up. And by we, I usually mean he, because regular work schedule. Me on the other hand would press brew in a sleepy-coffee-needed-sooner-rather-than-later haze. I’m certain you relate because quilters and night owls seem to be a common, though not across all quilters, experience.
Every now and again something goes weirdly wrong and the mornings coffee experience goes all haywire. This usually involves things like not closing the lid so hot water spews all over the place, including into the filter and well, that’s a hot mess. Sometimes the filter holder thingy isn’t seated quite properly so the doohicky and the coffee carafe aren’t quite meeting and well, uh coffee and grounds all over the counter, and sometimes the floor. Then there’s not seating the carafe well, having the same undesired effect as not seating the filter holder thingy.
Sometimes there’s crunchy coffee. Crunchy coffee happens when not quite enough attention is paid to placing the filter in the filter holder thingy, or the filter holder thingy isn’t seated quite properly but all the coffee goes into the carafe. Wednesday June 17 was Crunchy Coffee Day. My guy simply rolled with it while I slept, figuring out a way in this teeny tiny hotel room, complete with bijou kitchenette,to run the aforementioned Crunchy Coffee through a filter and begin the day. He even, in an act of great compassion and love, ran my first cup through the filter so I would not be subjected to the crunchiness of the coffee. What amused me to no end was pouring my second cup through the filter and seeing how much crunch this coffee had. If it had a sound it’d be akin to smooshing up that pretty plastic stuff that wraps up flowers or lines goody bags.
If you know me in person or read my blog you know that I will make an attempt at being vulnerable. This is difficult to do as there is a great risk that at some moment it could come back and bite me in my ample patootie. This vulnerability actually helps when I’m teaching as I show you my own quilting mistakes, often followed by a variety of remedies for those mistakes. I’ve shared that there was a moment when I learned by overhearing a conversation at a quilt show, that some people will like my quilts, and some won’t. Okay, that’s fine, I have opinions about quilts too and I’ve learned to hold my thoughts because that is someone’s hard work right there. So today I’m sharing something that might surprise you there is a lot of time where I struggle with confidence, with being confident. Its something that one day I’d like to get on the other side of. I’ve been delightfully surprised by the feedback I’ve already received on Color, Thread, & Free-Motion Machine Quilting. Like any quilt I’ve made I can where I can show you, and frequently do when I’m teaching, where the bodies are buried, I can see where I might have done better, or gotten the names correct. (Sorry friends! your names are so close.) Or wish I’d done this or that. And like many of my creative/quilter/author/writer/artist friends there is that moment when someone won’t like it and, well, makes sure I know of their displeasure and lack of appreciation for all my hard work getting to this moment. Okay I said it.
And just like quilts, and teaching, and crunchy coffee, and cilantro tastes soapy it’s gonna happen. While like tasting cilantro in stuff I won’t like it, I can deal. I have good friends for support. So there it is friends. And ya know what, I’m working on it. Just like I’m still practicing quilting.
Happy Quilting,
Teri
PS please check with your local quilt shop to order the book 😀
I’ve had coffee about every way imaginable. Although, I would rather drink it fresh brewed without surprises! Sometimes, I get sidetracked. . .thinking about a quilting solution and then I brew coffee with no beans. . .hot; but, it sure lacks the caffeine punch that way! 🙂
I know right?! How does one do coffee with no beans. It’s worse than crunchy coffee in oh so many ways. At least crunchy coffee tastes like coffee. Coffee without beans though is so lacking in flavor that one might consider it…hot water.