Be Careful What You Ask Your Husband to Do!

It has been a nice day here, even with the wind blowing so fiercely. We went to visit MIL this morning. She was having a good day. That is always good news to us. We did some things around here when we got home. Kevin put a new motor on our old shredder. Now we just have to wait for fall to shred up the garden plants. It works, so he is happy. This is the second one of our machines that he has replaced the motor on this spring. We have an old Troy Horse tiller that we bought in 1999, just before Troy sold out to MTD. It has tilled miles and miles of garden for us. The motor quit a couple of years ago, so we have been using a front tine tiller and our little Mantis. One day while reading on Homesteading Today, I read the comments to a guy asking if he should repair his old tiller or just buy a new one. I told Kevin about this thread. He read it and then we decided to buy a new motor. It works so good that Kevin decided to buy another motor for the shredder. So now we are ready to work the land. LOL By the way, the tiller is still as awesome as I remembered. It does such a good job of tilling the soil. I have missed it. :)

Now I will share about last Sunday. I posted about this on Facebook, but decided to go ahead and share the story on my blog. As Bren said, someday my grandbabies might be reading this. (grin) I put a book on my Kindle that uses coconut flour in the recipes. Since coconut flour costs about $10 per pound, I asked Kevin if we could make our own flour. He researched and said yes. So I picked up a couple of coconuts for us to work up. Last Sunday was the start of a big sale at Joann's. I had mentioned this sale to him a few days earlier. After we got home from visiting with his mom, he encouraged me to go shopping at Joann's. (Yep, I should have known something was up. He actually remembered this! LOL)  I called him from the parking lot just before starting for home. He asked me to pick up cheese cloth. OK, so I went back in the store and used another coupon to buy some cheese cloth. I love those coupons. 
I got home and walked into the door to this horrible smell. Then I looked at my kitchen counter and almost fainted. It was quite a mess, so I ask, 'What you doing?' He replies, 'Working up your coconuts.'  OK. 'Well what is that horrible smell?' I ask him. His very offhand reply, 'Oh, I think I burned up your blender.' OMG I was a good wife and said nothing. He was right. Blender is dead as a doornail. Then he told me he just had a couple more bowls to wash up and everything would be cleaned up for me. Another OMG! I had sticky coconut juice everywhere. His idea of clean and mine do not meet. LOL  I was still a good wife and told him I would clean up. So I wiped down everything and swept the floor while he strained and got the ground coconut on the dehydrator.
The next day I used my Cuisinart mini grinder/chopper to grind the flour. I didn't want a repeat of the blender murder. All that work and we got just over 1/4 lb of flour. I will say, though, that this was about 3 or 4 cups of flour. It is light weight. I think I will just buy the coconut flour from now on. It would be cheaper. On the bright side, I am getting a new blender, just as soon as I decide which one I want. My old one was an Oster and I really liked it. I have always thought Oster appliances were pretty hard to kill, but not for my hubby. LOL I am actually leaning towards another Oster, that I just might hide when I leave the house. LOL Oh I forgot. He told me next time, he thought my juicer would work better. Hmmm, I don't think so! That juicer was expensive. Not sure I could remain a 'good wife' if I came home again to the horrible smell, with the words, 'Hon, I think I burned up your  juicer.' LOL So I need to be careful about what I ask my hubby for. LOL He was trying to help, but he is kind of like Tim Allen from the old show 'Home Improvement'. Everything needs more power. LOL

Here is my coconut flour. I packed it down pretty tight to get it all in this container.

We also got a couple of quarts of coconut milk, so I guess that is another plus to the story. LOL

I am still plugging along on the hand quilting of mom's quilt. I am about 3/4 done with the center. I need to have it done by May 26th, so I think I can get it done. I will share a picture when I get it done. In case I haven't posted about it (my memory is horrible any more) I am making a Carpenter's Star quilt for my mom's 75th birthday. I do have a picture of the center. I don't think I shared it on here. I put 4 borders on it, so it should fit her bed.

I wanted a change of pace, so I drug out this little mini quilt that I made last year. I quilted it in a couple of evenings in front of the tv. (grin) It is now ready for binding.

Here is a shot of the back. The quilting shows up better.

Well, I guess that is enough for now. I'll be back in a couple of days for another post. Can't do them every day because my life is just not exciting enough for a daily post. LOL Oh well, I like boring. Thank you for visiting. Have a great day and come back again.

I have baby chicks....

I was so excited on Palm Sunday when I found Ruby setting on a clutch of eggs. Of course, I wasn't sure she was serious, so I held my breath. Yep, she was still there the next day.

Of course we had to have a few squabbles. Yikes, she was mean at first. I got bitten when trying to mark her eggs. After that I wore gloves when I checked her. She was in one of the nest boxes, so of course the other hens just had to get up and lay beside her. Then she would steal their eggs. Well, that would have been quite a mess, so I marked a red mark on each of her eggs. Every day, I would put my gloves on, pick her up, and sit her to the side, then grab any eggs that did not have a red mark on them. LOL It became a routine for us, and she eventually quit biting me. I think we are kind of friends now. (grin)

This week she hatched out 6 babies. Unfortunately, 3 of them did not make it, but the 3 that did are buzzing around like little bees when mama calls. Aren't they cute?

Here is most of the rest of the flock, thinking I have a treat for them. I did, some strawberry stems and corn meal for the babies to scratch in. LOL I have barred rock hens and buff orpington hens and roos. I sure hope these 3 babies are all pullets. The coons really cut our flock down last summer.

Ruby loved the strawberry stems and called the little ones over. I could sit and watch them all day.

I took this picture of the ducks a week or two ago. I wonder if any of them will go broody. I think that would be neat. I also wonder if they get as mean as a hen when they set. LOL

I had a khaki campbell hen duck come up missing a couple of weeks ago. I am sure hoping she is just setting on a nest somewhere, but I doubt it. I found no feathers or anything, so maybe.

Here is our old beagle. This is Thunder and she is 15 this spring. She still tries to chase rabbits, but doesn't last long any more.

Here is Sammy. He is such a sweet buck. I am still debating over whether to get another doe and try raising rabbits. Actually just getting the manure from Sammy for the garden has made him pay for himself. LOL I think I would like to get a New Zealand doe.

Well, that is enough for now. I was inspired by Paula's post today to take some pictures of my own to share. Also Bren encouraged me to post, so I figured I might as well. I really would like to get into the habit of posting regularly again, but I have said that before. LOL I will be back to share a story about making coconut flour and some hand work. By the way, I am really loving Bloglovin. I am glad I went with this reader. Thanks for visiting. Please come again. Have a great day.

Claiming My BLog

Ok, not sure what all this is about, but I know that I need to find another reader. I chose Bloglovin. It says I need to claim my blog. So that is what I am attempting to do. LOL If you want to keep up with my rare posts, LOL just follow me on Bloglovin. Thanks.

If this doesn't work, I will be begging for help. The computer is not always my friend. LOL

Back to Square One March

I am back for a bit anyway. I just don't seem to be in the mood for blogging any more. Haven't been much in the mood for sewing either. I did get mom's Carpenter's Square pieced and have made good progress on hand quilting the center. I hope to have it done by the end of the month, but that will depend on how much gardening I get to do. It has been a very cold spring here so far. We planted potatoes, onions, peas, lettuce, turnips, spinach, kale, and radishes on March 19th. Then we got several inches of snow on the garden. So far, nothing is up. I am just hoping the seeds haven't rotted. Of course no asparagus is up yet either, so the soil may just be too cool.

I caught up with the Back to Square One Medallion Mystery during the first week of March. That is a very good thing, because I then took the flu or some sort of virus. I was really sick with a temperature of 102.4 off and on for 2 weeks. I have not coughed so much in a long time. My stomach got sore from all the coughing. I spent most of those two weeks in bed. I just wanted someone to put me out of my misery. LOL I always hurt all over when I have a fever. Thankfully, I am ok now. Of course once I was feeling better, I just had to push it and ate a sandwich. I know I can't eat gluten, but I did it anyway. For four days my knees hurt so bad that I could not bend them without catching my breathe. It finally got my attention. I must eat gluten free. Kevin found a gluten free bread recipe on the net for me. It isn't too bad. I said he found it on the net. That isn't quite right. LOL It is in a recipe book he purchased for his Kindle. I then purchased it for my Kindle. I think it only cost me about $1.28. It is called 'You Can Eat This: 22 Gluten Free Comfort Recipes' by Tam Linsey. I haven't tried any of her other recipes, but the bread is a winner.

We are hoping spring has finally sprung. I have cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts that desperately need to go into the garden. I am going to start hardening them off today. I only have room for 2 trays of plants under the light, so my tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant have been put on hold. I hope to get them planted today. I'll just sit the cold hardy plants on the counter at night for now. I got my hair cut last week. Then I gave Kevin a nice short haircut on Saturday and he cut Buddy's hair. Our poor little Pom gets way too hot with all that hair. He looks kind of pitiful right now, but his hair will grow out. LOL So we are all styling for spring. (grin)

Here is the center of my Back to Square One Medallion Mystery Quilt....

Here is the paper with scraps to show the fabric I am using....

I thought this might show the colors a little better. I am liking it.

This is the first quilt I have ever made with all solids. The colors aren't quite true on the computer screen. My background is a light yellow. Then I am using dark and light purple, dark and light olive green, and a royal blue. Now I am ready for April's section.

Well, I guess this is enough for today. Thank you for visiting. Please come again. Have a wonderful day.

Back to Square One Mystery Jan. Clue

Just this week I got my fabric cut and pieced for the first clue of this mystery quilt. Good thing, cause Judy posted the 2nd clue today. Here are the first clue pieces. 

The colors aren't quite right in this picture. The background is a pale yellow. The color that looks like dark blue is really a deep purple. This is the first quilt that I have ever made out of all solids. Having fun with it.

I am going to try to link to Judy's Linky box. You can go there and see lots of other pieces. 

Thanks for visiting. I hope to be back this weekend with another post. Have a good one!
 
 

I am doing it again!

I can't believe I am going to do all these BOMs and Quiltalongs again. I am still not done with 2012's BOMs. LOL I guess I should just leave the computer off during January so I am not tempted. LOL I had decided that I would just do 2 this year. Hmmm, so far I am up to five. Oh well, at least most of them are just once a month. Surely I can get my blocks done and move on to the other things I need to do. They all have links over on my sidebar if you are interested in any of them.

Let's see, I really should be working on a small tote bag for Miss Ava Beth. Her birthday is the 17th. She is a huge fan of the Jayhawks. I bought Jayhawk fabric to make this for her, so I really need to get it done since I also have to mail it.  I'm just not feeling bags at the moment. LOL 

I also decided that I wanted to do some counted cross stitch bookmarks this year for some friends. Hmm well, I bought a book on counted cross stitch bookmark designs. Does that count?  

I also just received the book and needles I ordered for learning to knit socks. I have put that on hold for a couple of weeks, till I can get caught up with some other stuff. 

 Do you see my sweet Buddy's little head above the yarn? (grin) 

I am almost done with the hand quilting on my Raggedy Annie and Friend's quilt. I am on the last block, then just have a 3 1/2 inch border to do a simple design on and the binding. Then this quilt will be done. 

If I have any intentions of getting the Carpenter's Star quilt done for mom's 75th birthday, I really need to get with it. Also would like to get started on a quilt for my niece who is getting married in October. I have considered using the quilt along quilt for that. If I pick the right colors, it could work. 

Also, I just started a new 3 week diet to see what food allergies I might have. Kevin bought JJ Virgin's book, The Virgin Diet, just before Christmas. I finally got around to reading it and decided to give this a shot. So for 3 weeks I will eat no soy, corn, peanuts, eggs, dairy, gluten, or sugar/sugar substitutes. After 3 weeks, I am supposed to add them back to my diet, one at a time and see how my body reacts. I won't lie. This has been a struggle. I have had trouble even eating 1000 calories daily on this diet. Mainly because I am eating so much fiber, it fills me.  Today is better, because I started eating every 2-3 hours. I am already up to almost 8oo calories. I still have supper, and maybe even an evening snack. Wish me luck. Three weeks is not that long. I only have 17 days left. Yea!

Well, I did not intend to write a book. I think I am caught up now.  Thanks for visiting. You all come back, please. 

 
   

Happy New Year!

I certainly hope this year is better than 2012 was. I lost one of my cousins in June. Dave was only 53. He died of heart failure. I miss him. He was such a good man. He never married or had a family of his own, but everyone in our small town loved him. 

We also lost Midget, our old Norwegian Elkhound. He was 14 years old. such a good old boy. He was always my shadow. I cried all day the day we lost him. I still miss him. Rest in peace old boy.

 We lost both of my female rabbits. Sassy and Sara were both due to have babies when the terrible heat wave hit. I did everything I could think of, but I couldn't save them. Now Sammy is a pet. I just haven't had the heart to get any more rabbits. I guess raising rabbits isn't for me. Sam will just be my pet. 

We had a terrible problem with coons getting our chickens. They were literally tearing our chicken house roof off and pulling the chickens off the roost. We spent a couple of weeks stalking the chicken house during the night. Even bought a baby monitor and put it in the coop. We finally had to put tin down over the shingles of the roof to keep the coons out. We lost 3 roosters and 3 pullets before we got this stopped. Didn't lose any ducks. I guess they are too noisy.  So now I have 8 hens, 2 roosters, 2 drakes, and 7 duck hens. We bought waterers that I plug in to keep the water from freezing. Choring in the winter is not easy. 

So as you can see, 2012 was not kind to us. I am hoping and praying for a much better 2013!  I have made some goals that I hope to reach this coming year. Of course, not all of 2012 was bad. I decided at the end of Sept. that I had to lose some weight and start getting healthy. Since then, I have lost almost 20 lbs. I have been exercising and feel much better. The holidays have been rough, but I actually have done better this year than ever before, on not eating lots of junk. LOL  Kevin joined me on the weight loss journey. He has lost over 40 lbs. Yeah, I know! Guys lose faster that girls. Not really fair, is it. LOL

My goals for 2013
 1. Get healthy
 2. Lose 50 lbs
 3.Learn to knit socks. I have a book and knitting needles ordered. 
 4.Make a Carpenter Star for mom's 75th birthday.
 5.Make a quilt for my niece and her fiance who are getting married in October. 
 6.Finish up the 2012 BOMs that I fell behind in.
 7.Raise a large vegetable garden.
 8.Get back into juicing at least once a day. 
 9.Last but not least by any means, read my Bible more consistently.

  This is a pretty good list for me. Now to just stick with it. I hope you all have a wonderful and safe new year. We are getting a snow storm here, so hopefully most people will stay in off the roads tonight.