November Update

Look, it's a new post! Wow, I don't even have an excuse. I have not been overly busy but I have become consumed with cross stitch. Did I need another craft? No but I have one.

I finished stitching Take Time.

I found this kit at Walmart.

I need to frame it and add the shells.

It will be displayed in the bus at the beach.

I learned to coffee/tea dye Aida.

I followed this video but paid close attention to time because my fabric was different from their's.

I really like how it turned out and can't wait to dye more.

Because bright white isn't necessary for everything. 

Then I started stitching this for the grands.

I bought the pdf chart from Aliton Embroidery Etsy shop.

I'm still thinking about pulling out the gold and restitching in a darker gold.

Next up is sewing news. 

I finally made my blocks for our quilting group Christmas party.

I'll show you those after the party.

I cut out and sewed a new knit shirt. 

I'd show you but it's sitting on the machine waiting for a hem.

I love mixing up the textures of knits.

This is a raglan top with the stripes for the sleeves.

I pulled fabrics finally for the new Quiltville Mystery Frolic.

It took me a while to decide on my fabric.

I'm using stash and I have almost no blues at all.

I have lots of purples so that's what I'm using.

I thought about using bright yellow since I have very few aquas.

Daughter Crystal and I went mystery fabric shopping and

I decided to buy 1 piece of aqua and use that.

I did add a few more purples and of course I had to add to my neutral stash.

These aquas were put back in the bin.

I'm happy with my fabrics. 

I have not quilted anything since Hawaiian Sunset 1845.

I've made backs and now need to have a basting party.

I pulled out some little Churn Dash blocks to use as leader/enders 

and decided to finish making up these blocks 

so I can get them turned into the top I have designed in my head..

Of course it's not fun until the seam ripper comes out. 

It seemed like everything I touched that day had to be taken out and redone. 

Farm News

Hubby decided he wanted to hatch out some chicks.

He put 22 eggs in the incubator and we now have 19 babies.

We had a raccoon problem and lost quite a few of our hens.

The kids have fun with the names.

In this group are Peanut Butter, Peanut, Peanuts 1-5, Banana Split, Turtle.

Honestly I only know Peanut Butter because she is the only red chick. 

Always fun on the farm.

Until next time........

Design Wall Monday

It's retreat prep time!!! WahHoo!!!  I am soooo ready for retreat, spending sewing time with my daughter and lots of friends! I love to have everything cut and ready to sew. These 31 little blocks are going to be so much fun. Each one is different so the cutting time was long.  I have my Dresden quilt all kitted up and there is one more project that I want to prepare. It wouldn't be cool to run out of something to do.  It's not like I won't be coming home a couple times every day so I could grab something else if I need to.

This is what I saw when I let the dogs out this morning. Pretty much can't beat a cool morning sky! 

This lump of Miss Shirley wouldn't leave my lap last night. I'm trying to get the binding on this wall hanging and she was helping me stay seated and forced me to get it done. Then the dog walked by and we both lost focus. :-)  I'll show you this next week. 

Life on the farm is always fun. There were 4 babies last night. I wonder how many there are this morning. Have a wonder week everyone. I'm headed over to Patchwork Times to see what everyone is working on.  Morning coffee in Blogland......so much fun!

Meeting Goals

I'm working hard to meet the weekly goals I set for myself.

First up is to finish the elk quilt.

Monday morning, bright and early, I set up my table and trimmed the quilt.

While the table was set up, 

 I cut out 2 Della Wallets.

Why not keep cutting, I have a retreat in a few weeks.

I took out a bin that said bright 2 1/2" strips to cut a new quilt.

When I opened the bin I found that I already had a plan for those strips.

I decided to go with that plan and cut and made kits for several blocks.

This will be a baby quilt when it is finished.

I even have the pretty pink flannel for the back.

May as well get the batting and binding ready too.

Where did that plan come from??? 

After dinner, I sewed the binding on and started stitching it down.

My goal was to stitch and watch The Voice.

I made it through the first hour before my eyes gave up.

This quilt will be finished soon.

I am going to start basting this quilt in a few minutes.

Yes, I am a bright and early person.

On a farm related note, 

I forgot to write about the new babies.

Friday, April 3rd, 12 baby chicks followed me home.

5 Buff Orpingtons

2 Black Australorps

and 5 Golden Sexlinks

Sadly one didn't make it but 11 are growing like baby chicks do. 

Today is going to be a busy day.

But first, I need another cup of coffee!

Fun On The Farm

Crystal and Mike and the kiddos stopped this morning to see if I wanted to ride into town with them, go out to breakfast and shopping. Umm, no thank you but if anyone wants to stay here with me and play in the garden, they are more than welcome to stay.  After feeding 3 kiddos a pancake breakfast and watching some Sesame Street, we headed outside.

 First we moved the turkeys from their overnight pen out into the big pen to hang out with the chickens.

Next we had to ooh and aww over the baby chickens. We talked about Fred the Rooster and why is he being mean now.  He used to be a very nice rooster but now, not so much. He is a very protective daddy. It's so much fun to watch the baby chicks.

 The kids have giant pumpkin plants so they weeded them first while I worked on the wildflowers.  It's hard to tell the weeds from the flowers.

Tony Dog took a few dirt baths that cause quite the giggle fest.  He wasn't very much help pulling weeds but he sure provided some entertainment.

 After an hour, we decided we've had enough garden time and needed a snack. On the way up to the house, we explored the hydrangea bushes.  They are about to explode with color.

Now we are coloring and will have some lunch pretty soon.  We decided a peanut butter and jelly picnic is what we want today.  So much more fun than going to town.

And Then There Were Two

Yesterday afternoon we fixed up the new pen for Henny Penny and her new family.  I took her and Ernie was going to get the baby and the eggs.  A new chick had just hatched out.  She is from Miss Blue who liked to lay her eggs next Henny Penny.  I was quite sad when he said there were 2 that didn't make it.  So now we are waiting on the 3 remaining eggs.  I know there is at least one more from Miss Blue.  I'm wondering if any will look like Henny Penny.

I don't want the turkeys to feel left out.  Today is their 2 month birthday.  They are so fun to watch.  We let them out of their pen sometimes and they follow us right over to the big pen to hang out with the chickens.  Then at night, I go out and call them and they come right to me and follow me back to their home.  It's never dull around here!

If you enlarge this picture, you can see Proud Pappa Fred in the back.  I'm hoping at least one of the chicks looks like their father.  I never thought I would feel this way about chickens.  They just make me happy!

Today is retreat day one.  I'm so glad I live close so I can come home and check the babies.

Our New Baby

I really wish I had a better photo but...

I don't.

I'm really writing this post to document our first hatched chick.  Last night I went down to tuck the chickens in for the night and I heard teeny tiny peeps.  My heart started racing.  I gave Henny Penny a nice little pet then gently lifted her off the eggs she's been sitting on for-ever!  There it was, a teeny tiny chick.  My heart was racing!!!

I reluctantly left them alone until this morning.

When Ernie got home I told him and he said something about what to baby chicks eat........ I told him Momma would take care of her baby.  I woke up at 3 am worried about what baby chicks eat!!!  So after an hour of tossing and turning, I got up to find out. I headed to my favorite site--Google and punch in chick just hatched which led me to chick just hatched now what.  Basically I found out that they need some baby chick food and water, just like I thought.  And Momma will take care of the rest.

Now I will move Momma and baby and the remaining eggs to the new corner pen so baby has room to play while Momma works on the rest of the family.

Can you tell I'm a bit excited!!!

Farm Tales

The baby turkeys are almost 4 weeks old now.  Saturday we moved them into their big home.  They looked so big in the tub they were in and now they look so tiny!  They are quite adventurous and so fun to watch.

 The front of the chicken house needs wire across the bottom. I keep forgetting to do it.  The other day I happened to spot an egg.  Then I found 5 more.  Today I spotted 3.  I had the camera in my pocket so decided to set it on the ground and take a picture.  I see 3 more eggs I couldn't reach.  I'll have to get the tennis ball flinger and a kid to lay on their stomach to get the eggs out of there before they get nasty.

Saturday was bee day.  We lost both of our hives last year so we are giving it another shot.  Cross your fingers that we get some honey this year.

The littles were getting bored with watching bees fly around and decided the chickens needed a snack.  See the big rooster in the front?  That's Fred. He isn't mine, he lives next door but likes it here better.  He's a nice rooster so he's welcome.  The neighbor kids came and got him the other day and the next morning he was strutting down the road.  Makes me wonder if they gave up on him.

Good Morning Girls

The Boy Next Door

I looked out my window last night and saw this guy from next door.  Ernie said he was pacing the fence line trying to get in with our girls.  He opened the gate and he went into the pen but when it was time to lock my girls up for the night, he stayed outside.  We just don't allow that funny business around here! ;0)

I thought maybe he would go home today but no, he is still here.  My girls could care less.  I left the neighbors a note tell them he is here but haven't heard from them yet.  I'm hoping they come and get him soon.  I'm not really wanting a rooster.

The Layout

I made some time this afternoon to lay out the Pineapple Blossom blocks.  I am now letting it rest and will come back to it later to make sure I like the looks of it.  I'm sure there will be some twisting and turning somewhere.

This quilt has such fun fabrics.  Old fabrics and new fabrics. I just now see where my aqua spots are going to need some moving around.  

The quilt blocks were not the only things layed today.  One of my spring chicks layed her first little egg today.  I am thrilled.  The first one of the 8 chicks.  5 of my young hens are Buff Orpingtons They are such good chickens and great layers.  We should be overrun with eggs soon.  Simple pleasures....

On The Needles

Last week while shopping, I realized how close Christmas is for a person that loves to hand make gifts.  This year the kiddos will be getting new hats as one of their gifts.  I saw this Amazing yarn and knew that it would be the perfect yarn for the little girls.  It's a wool/acrylic blend, a little fuzzy and very soft and warm.  After spending too much time on Ravelry, I found the perfect patterns for each of the kiddos. 

This pattern is called Rainbow Hat and can be found here. The instructions say size 5 needles and to cast on 112 with fingering yarn.   This is worsted weight so I cast on 80 stitches.  It's a perfect fit.  

These were my wool toe up socks but with each stitch, I liked them less and less so I took them apart.  I think I am going to skip toe up, keep doing what I love to do--cuff down and call this my lesson for July.  I will cast on the gray socks as soon as this hat is finished since those are the needles I need for these socks.

And just for the fun of it, this is Miss Blue.  She is a very naughty girl!  She decided she liked this flower pot for her afternoon nap.  See how bright white her ears are?  This means I get a pretty white egg from her. She is such a good layer that I don't want to upset her so I leave her alone.

What's on your needles?  See Judy L's gorgeous shawl and see what others are doing here.

The Sun is Shining...

...and that makes me happy!  I have been waiting for this day since late last fall.  I love to hang quilts, bedding, towels, clothes, everything! outside.  I love the fresh smell.  I sleep like a baby with fresh dried outside sheets.  When I heard we would finally have a nice warm weekend with no chance of rain, I planned this for early this morning.  Ernie took off early to cut another load of firewood.  I tended the washer and the clothesline.

I love it!  As you can see, I am greatly influenced by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.  Here is a list of her free patterns.  You can see Orange Crush on the left, behind that is Pioneer Braids, Scrappy Bargello and String X.  Ready to hang out now is Double Delight.  My clothesline will be full.  Isn't that great?

Supervising today is Miss Blue.  She is a year old Blue Andalusian and is gorgeous.  She is an excellent layer, giving us one nice big white egg almost daily.  She and Miss Whitey were attacked by a neighbor dog a couple months ago and stopped laying for 3 very long weeks.  They are now both fine and I was thrilled when I found a white egg and she hasn't stopped since.  (The neighbor or the dog have not made a return visit.....I don't know what they did with the dog and I don't care as long as I never see him or his owner again.) 

The new girls are finally in the pen with the big girls.  Today is their first day out as free range chickens.  Really they aren't true free range because they get locked up at night and I feed them chicken food along with veggie and fruit scraps and what they forage for themselves.  In return, all I ask is that they stay safe, grow big and strong and repay me with some eggs one day.

Ernie is home now with a pick up load of wood.  I think he would like some help unloading......  Today, life on the farm is good.

Sunny Day On The Farm

DJ getting loves from Mae.

This past Wednesday, DJ had a terrible limp.
I took him to the vet and was told he has old man knees.
He is taking an anti inflammatory medication.
He is supposed to take it easy.
He will, after his little people go home.

Mike and Ernie doing some work with the queen so she can be released from her little box.

This is Ernie's first day doing bee work. 

He wasn't taking any chances, hence the gloves. 

I think they look cute in their bee suits.

Nothing's more fun for Elliot than a good wiggly tree branch.

Leland, Corbin and Mommy stayed home, I think the boys were napping. 

Smart boys.  

A bit of quiet time for Mommy.

I took several pictures of Miss Whitey but she kept moving. 

This must be her good side.

I drug the big chick pen/stock tank outside so the chicks could work 

on their tan and see what sunshine was all about.

I think it's time to make them an outside pen. 

They are still too little to go in with the big chickens.

They still need their heat light.  

It froze here again last night.

This is outside waiting for me to help unload.  

I guess I better get my gloves on.  

Really, I would rather sew!

Maybe later.