My flock.

It is still cloudy and cool here with more chances of rain tonight. So far we have had just over half an inch of rain. I walked down to look at my garden. My plants are loving this rain. I sure wanted to get out there and weed my peas, but I would have sunk in to my ankles. LOL So I decided I'd better wait. It will dry quickly once the sun comes out. Sure haven't needed the ac the past couple of days. That is good on the electric bill. They are calling for it to be back in the 90's by the weekend, so it will come back on.

I took some pictures of my chickens on Monday. Our rooster, Rudy and the ladies are getting old, but they are still pretty. Here is Rudy. He is a Golden Wyandotte. He gets prettier every year and is gentle as can be.

I never did name the ladies, cause they all look alike. They are Rhode Island Reds and about 5 or 6 years old.

Rudy takes very good care of his ladies. My little chicks are growing up. They are right at 6 weeks old now. I just love the feathers on the little banties' feet. Aren't they cute? I really like this little lady. (At least I am hoping it is a lady. I have 2 of them, so surely at least one will be female.) I want to get a case made for my little tiny walkman. I have an arm band left from an old MP3 player. I plan to make a case that I can slip onto that band. Then I can wear it when exercising, working in the garden, sewing, or whenever. LOL I also need to make a case for my SIL's GPS. I promised him a case last Christmas and still haven't made him one. I fixed one for Kevin's and that kind of jogged my mind. (Or rather made me feel guilty.) Maybe I will work on those this evening.

I put the binding on the teapot quilt today. I think it turned out pretty good for all the booboos the poor thing went through. LOL First there was the deal with the borders not fitting. Then when I was almost done with the quilting, I snipped the thread too close and cut a small hole in the border. I could not believe that I did that. I have never done that before and hope I never do it again. So what could I do? I took some pink DMC floss and did a small satin stitch over the hole. Can you see the different colored pink just above one of the flowers, next to the border, about in the middle of the picture? I don't think it is even very noticeable. Here it is all done, except for a hanging sleeve. I'll get to it later. Of course, we need to see the back. I have so many projects that I would like to do, but I also have other things that need to be done. I plan to spend at least one or two hours every morning that the weather allows working in the garden. Kevin reminded me that he is in need of some new summer shirts. I already told you about the cases I need to make. Also our son, Jon, would like me to make him a laptop case like his dad's. I need to finish quilting the disappearing nine patch and the Savannah Star. I have a whole tote full of flimsies ready to be quilted. So I have plenty to keep me busy for the next few months, but I wouldn't want to bet that I won't give in and start a new project soon. LOL That is just the way I roll. LOL I already have 72 - 2 1/2 inch strips cut for a project I will be following from another blog. I'll talk more about that tomorrow.

I need to get out and check my chicks and feed and water everyone for the night. Everyone have a good day. Thank you for visiting and please come again.

What a weekend!

Hello everyone,

We have had an interesting last few days. LOL My dh needed to get his driver's license renewed before his birthday next Saturday. So we got up bright and early Saturday and headed to the license bureau. We were 15 minutes early and still had at least 6 men ahead of us. (sigh) So we stood in line for almost an hour before it was dh's turn. Our state now requires a one time of proof of your identity. Doesn't matter that you have had a driver's license for almost 40 years. (frown) Anyway, dh pulls out his SS card, voter registration card, and birth certificate to proove who he is. (Eye roll here!) They will not take his birth certificate because it is not embossed. This is what his mom gave us when we got married almost 32 years ago. I have kept it in the safe with mine all these years. Now we find out it won't work. Dh was not happy, since we had just driven over there and waited an hour in line for nothing. So we went home. A little later, I went back to get groceries. While I was gone, dh's mom called and said she had fallen and couldn't get up. So he rushed up there. Her motorized chair was blocking her and he couldn't get it to move, so he picked it up to move it out of the way. That thing is heavy! Then he had to get behind her and pick her up. He was a nervous wreck because she is very fragile. Anyway he got her up and in her chair, but it threw his back out. I was able to massage and get it back in. This was all just on Saturday. We both agreed that Saturday wasn't a good day. (another sigh)

Sunday started out much better. We got the brooder house all ready for our baby chicks. They are having so much fun, running and playing. I just sit down there with them watching them play. Aren't they cute?

Some of those little banties are already running around bumping chests. LOL So I figure I have at least a couple of roosters. I just love those feathers on their feet.

While I was getting the chicks settled in, dh was push mowing. We have been trying to keep up the mowing with a push mower and weed eater. He mowed around my clothes lines. So I got all the laundry done and hung out. Then I set all my plants out in the little cold frame so they could start hardening off. They are so big. It is time to get them planted, but I never plant them before Mother's Day weekend. I bought my seeds from Jungs. They have really done well. Now I know the tomatoes don't look so great, but that is because they are getting leggy. No problem, though. I will just plant them kind of like in a trench and turn the top parts up. I have done this many times. It gives them a better root system.
The peppers and eggplant are looking good. And look at the cabbage. I told Kevin that if we don't get them planted, we are going to have heads setting on them in the house. LOL So on Sunday we got the chicks moved, alot of mowing done, laundry done, hummingbird feeder out, trash burned, and plants moved outside. By mid-afternoon we were ready to call it a day. Then one of Kevin's friends called and said he had found a heavy duty mower for sale that he thought we would like. We have very rough mowing, and as I said before, we haven't had a rider for about 3 years. We went to go look at it and came home with this. This thing is almost as old as me and weighs a ton. Kevin and his friend tried to pick up just the front end to get it up over the tailgate and they could not lift it up. We had to use ramps to drive it into the pickup. Kevin has already mowed some rough ground with it and says it does great. The newer mowers just aren't made for our kind of terrain. I know, as we have had 2 new mowers in the past 10-15 years. So, that was our weekend.

This morning at 8 a.m., I called our county health department. The lady there said we should be able to get Kevin's birth certificate and be on our way in 5-10 minutes. Yeah, right. LOL We showed her the BC that he had. She typed in all the necessary stuff. Then told us that he isn't in their system. We are like "WHAT?" So she called Jefferson City. It seems that someone in their legal department decided that a 'P' in Kevin's name wasn't a 'P', but a smudge. Even though his father had the 'P'. This was the last name. Our health department lady convinced them that it really was a 'P' and he really did exist. So they faxed the document to her. Guess what? Now they have on it that Kevin is female. Yep, my big burly husband is listed as 'Female'. By now, we didn't know whether to laugh or cry. So 3 calls and about an hour later, we finally get that straightened out. Kevin goes to pay for it with a $20 bill. She says, sorry, it has to be correct change. Luckily, I had 3 $5 bills in my purse. Goodness, what a day! But he now has an official birth cerificate, enbossed, and has his driver's license renewed until 2015! He is so relieved. I never would have dreamed it would be so hard to get your driver's license renewed. LOL

So, after all of these happenings, I did very little quilting this weekend. Now I need to get off here and make Kevin's laptop bag. So there won't be much time for quilting today either. Oh well, I will do the best I can. Won't be the first time, if something isn't done on time. LOL

Everyone have a good day. Thank you for visiting. I love the comments. I tried responding to all comments, but just haven't had time lately. I do read them, though, and really appreciate all of them. So please come again, and feel free to comment.

Good rainy day!

Good afternoon,

We had such a rainy and stormy weekend. It has been raining since Saturday. Yesterday, we had some severe weather. In fact, we had a tornado sighted pretty close to us, but fortunately it did not come down. I do not like storms, so I was a basketcase. I was just glad it was Sunday and Kevin was home. It is still lightly raining. They are saying we have had 3-5 inches of rain, depending on where you are. So, the garden should be coming up. (grin) I noticed this morning that the Nodaway River is about out of its banks. I hope it doesn't flood. We are way too high for it to affect us, but I hate to see it hurt so many others.

I thought I would explain a little about our chicks. I was asked what sex-link meant. I thought I knew, but I looked it up to be sure. LOL The sex-link chicks are from mixed breeding where the females hatch out one color and the males another. Therefore, they are very easy to sex. They only are like this for one generation, though. The next generation could be any colors. The black sex-links are from a Barred Rock mother and a Rhode Island Red or New Hampshire Red rooster. Both hatch out black but all of the males have a white dot on top of their heads. The red sex-links also have a RIR or NHR father and can have several different breeds for mothers. (Not each chick, but the breeders use different breed hens to get these. Clear as mud. LOL) Males hatch out white and females hatch out buff to red color. There, now you have everything that I know about the sex-link chicks. I have had some before and they were very good layers.

I bought some fabric to make myself a purse over a year ago. One day last week, I decided to just do it. So here is my Gracie bag.

This is a Lazy Girl Design. These patterns are really easy to sew. I love them. Look at the inside. I have so much room. Makes it nice when I want to carry my camera or something extra.

I think I will make a matching wallet for it when I get time, which probably won't be till some time in June. LOL As you can see, Callie approves. (grin) JoAnn's had their Daffodil sales days this past week. I made 2 shopping trips to it, but really only one was planned. I wanted to get some more Guterman hand quilting thread, so I went last Sunday. I came home with this. I prefer the lighter quilting threads. I have used navy blue and black and hated working with them. Red, pink, and yellow aren't too bad to work with, but you are limited on what you use these on. These colors are pretty neutral and can be used on about any quilt. Here is a better picture of the fabric. I don't remember now how many yards I bought, but probably about 15 yards. It was all on sale. (grin) I was perfectly satisfied with my shopping trip and had no plans for any more any time soon. Well, my husband is an enabler! He has been saving and looking for a new laptop for a long time. He found a good deal on what he wanted this Saturday, so I encouraged him to order it. Afterwards, he said he felt guilty for spending so much on himself. Now I tried to convince him that this was silly. He works hard for our money and this was money he has been saving for over a year. He insisted that I take some money and go to JoAnn's. I told him I really didn't need anything, but I am weak where fabric is concerned. (sigh) So I went back to JoAnn's last day of the Daffodil sale. Everything I bought was 50%, so I did really well.
I got 3 quilt batts, a 5 pack of rotary blades, a quilting template, a tote bag pattern and about 10 yards of fabric. Like I said, all of this was 50% off. I love it when I can get stuff 50% off. I love this tote pattern. Isn't it cute? I can make it 3 different sizes. I used my 50% coupon for this. Sorry about the flash, but I think you can still see the pattern. Here is a better picture of the fabric I brought home. I had everything laid out on the bed to take pictures of. Then I ran to get the mail. This is what I came back to find. LOL

I guess Callie thought I brought this all home for her. LOL So as you can see, I am married to an enabler. I told him that I am now stocked up on everything I need for quilting for a long time, so he must not give me money and tell me to go to JoAnn's. I am just too weak to fight the fabric temptation. I love him for his generosity, but I really want to start saving instead of spending. You know what I mean? LOL

Everyone have a great day. Thank you for visiting and please come again.

Beautiful day in Missouri

Good morning everyone,

It is such a gorgeous day here. I did my laundry and hung it outside. I hung out the second load and brought the first load back to the house with me. Perfect drying weather, although the wind is blowing pretty hard. Doesn't seem so bad, though, when it is in the 80's. (grin) The sheets were kind of a pain to hang out, but I got them securely on the line (at least I hope they are secure LOL).

I got Milah's attention yesterday when I mentioned chickens. So I figured I'd better post some pictures of my new babies. I bought them at Orscheln's last Saturday. I bought 8 bantams, (I have no clue what breeds. The sign just said bantams.)2 red sex link pullets, and 2 black sex link pullets. I have had the sex links chickens before, so I know they are good layers. I made sure that I had 2 of each kind that I picked. I know it is crazy, but I wanted them to have a buddy. LOL Only 2 of the banties don't have feathers on their feet. You can see one of them above. It is the little brown chick with a stripe down's it back. These are so cute.

I took several pictures the day after I brought them home. I gave them a whole day to settle in before bothering them. Since the banties were bought straight run, I have no clue how many are girls and how many are boys. At least I hope I have some of each. (grin)

No matter how many pictures I took, I never could seem to get all 12 in the same shot. They are quick little guys. LOL I just have one more picture. I hope to move them out of the house next week some time if the warm weather holds. I grew up with banties always around us, but have never raised them myself. They seem to scratch and dig more that the regular sized chicks I have raised did. They have their water filthy all the time. I have to change it about 4 times a day, but they are a joy to watch. Milah, did you get your chicken fix? LOL I will have to take another picture of them. We have had them a week tomorrow and they have grown so much.

A few weeks ago, I won an Amazon gift card from Cheryl. Now I love books almost as much as fabric. LOL I had so much fun trying to decide what to get. I finally decided what I wanted and added some money with it. I got 3 great books. I have wanted this one for a while. I was pleasantly surprised to see how big it is. This will be a lot of reading, so much good info on eating.Then I got this one. I love Bob on the Biggest Loser, so I just had to have his book. I am about half way through it. It is another good book. Now this book, I love, love, love. I have Pint Size Traditions II, so I knew this would be a great book. I have looked through this so many times. I just want to make all of the projects. Now that it is getter hot, I want to have some little projects to work on in the evenings. This has plenty.
So Cheryl, as you can see, I did good! Thank you again, so much for the gift card. I think of you each time I look at my new books. (grin)

Remember last post when I showed you a picture of Callie laying in a box. Ohoh, look what I caught in Callie's box. Aeris looks pretty smug, doesn't she? LOL So I fixed the problem. I put another box on the bed. Now all is right with the world again. LOL Callie and Aeris each have their own box to lay in.
Well, that is it for me today. My dh has the computer set up to automatically run some sort of scan at noon every Friday. It slows everything way down while it is running. Since it is close to noon. I am getting off here. LOL I'll share my JoAnn's trip and the purse I made next time. Everyone have a good weekend. Thanks for visiting and please come again.