Home

 It was an uneventful trip home. The plane just landed about 30 minutes late with the head wind and we left a little late from NY. Arrived home around 9:20 last night. Greeted at the door by Bear the dog, then Greg, then Emily .... then a boy with a big smile since Mom was home! 

Greg dropped the kids to school and has been over at the hospital with his Dad. Well, his Dad has been moving to procedures and we think he might have gone right from the procedures to surgery. He has not come back to his room yet. Still waiting on an update. 

Work is a little crazy this morning as well. I did get to go out and check the girls out back with Bear around lunchtime.

Ivy and Buttercup - the Rhode Island Reds.

Myrtle, Poppy and DC - the old girls. 

Blackberry.... who might be a rooster?

Bear likes to help me check on them.

One of the Plymouths is molting... They look horrible when they loose their feathers and then grow them back.

Eggnog, Blackberry and probably Ivy.

I'm hoping I can relax with some hand quilting on the Frosty's later tonight after the second kid pick up.

It appears meals while I was gone were from Papa Johns and Publix. 

Slow Sunday

 I gathered the eggs yesterday and didn't crack one this time! I tend to give them some mealworms when I go in their area to check for eggs. The girls were gobbling them up. They tend to come running when they hear the back slider move! These girls are Maple, Poppy who lays my green eggs, and DC or Daisy Chickalotta. Two Plymouth Rocks and an Easter Egger. We had to put up a strong fence for them last year after getting the dog. They have the back woods area of our lot - plenty of space to explore for bugs!

Emily rode yesterday in the very hot sun. I don't think they got on until close to 11:30 and it was hot, humid and full sun. Red faces and lots of water. The horse was getting a wash down after riding before being put back into his stall. This is Lance, who was a Racehorse at one time. 

Well, the garden is growing weeds wonderfully! We do have this surprise plant that started a few weeks ago outside the garden so we let it go to see what it would do. Well, it is taking over and going crazy! We are not really sure what it is, but it is huge. Imagine the size of a big leaf over a pumpkin or gourd, it is that size! There is another smaller one up the vine a bit as well. 

I picked up the bear paw quilt last night while watching the NHL game on tv. Sadly, the Panthers lost and are down in the series 1-3. I am almost done with the feather on this little baby quilt. I decided to stop at a local quilt store yesterday and see if they had needle minders. They had one, so I got it to try it out. It is pretty handy, when I remember to put the needle on there! Linking up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers.

Progress....

 I gathered the eggs this morning and managed to crack one of them! Sigh, I'll use it up in dinner tonight. A green egg and 2 brown ones. It will be a homemade Chinese night - I'm going to try Moo Goo Gai Pan, Emily will make veggie fried rice and I also got the things to try a beef and broccoli. We will see how it comes out. ***Edited - the beef and broccoli has been added to the rotation. I opted not to do the Moo Goo that night.  I am tempted to make egg drop soup as well, but think that will be too much food. 

The baby chicks sure are growing fast. They have feathers coming in and the tail feathers are starting to grow as well. Eggnog is on top of the water with the Reds on either side of Blackberry. They tend to fly out when we open the top of the cage!

I got some sewing time in and cut out the sashing and cornerstones and got this all sewn together. I pulled from that magic box of fabrics I ordered last fall and found a cream for an inner border and a blue dotted print for the outer border. I'm thinking 2.5 inches and then 3.5 inches for the borders. 

Maybe I'll be able to cut and sew the borders on tonight after dinner? We will see. I'll have to search and see if I have a backing that will work. I believe it will end up about 66x84 for a twin size quilt. We will see if I can get it quilted this weekend. Linking up to the RSC on Saturday.

12 Scrap jar blocks completed....

 Now to get them into a top! I was able to make the brown 16 patch block and the last three blocks were set into their jars this afternoon. Teal, light blue and brown were added to the mix. Linking up Saturday to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. This one will be a quilt donation to the homeless shelter in Vermont. They asked for a twin size.

The girls have grown a lot in 2 weeks. Eggnog is a lot bigger than the other 3 already! She is the one in front on the left, then blackberry, Ivy and Buttercup. The two on the left are Easter Eggers - a cross breed with a known blue egg layer. The other two are Rhode Island Reds. They will lay large brown eggs. We will wait and see what color and size eggs the other two lay in another 4-5 months. We currently have one Easter Egger -  Poppy who lays pretty large green eggs. The other two laying are Plymouths who lay large brown eggs. They are Maple and DC or Daisy Chickalotta.

Time to prep the Egg roll in a bowl for dinner. I'm using mild Italian sausage and need to shred the cabbage. I think I'll add some carrot to it as well... got to get some veggies into the boys. They liked the prosciutto wrapped asparagus that went with the steak on the grill and the roasted potato and onion last night. I think Friday will be Stromboli with pepperoni and black olives.

Slow Stitching Sunday

 It was a nice and relaxing day Saturday with no running for me! I did not even get near my car for once and it was oh so nice. Greg took Emily to horses, so I got to relax and play in the sewing room, then watched the F1 practice and qualifying with Aidan.

I have not made much progress on hand quilting the bear paw but hopefully it will move along this week a bit each night.

I have been working on hand stitching the binding on the Crossed Canoe and should get this finished up later today during the race.

I got the Row House sew along runner at Accuquilt completed yesterday. I pulled all from the stash - a Kansas Trouble line, then a brown print for the ground and a mottle sage I had for the border. I 'might' hand quilt this rather than machine quilt it. We will see. I need to pull a backing and batting for it and trim it up a bit and then I'll decided. It might just want to get finished. 

Linking up with the Slow Sunday Stitchers. 

 

As promised here are the sad looking girls who are in various processes of their yearly molting. They tend to molt in the fall and their feathers fall out so new ones come in. They tend to not lay eggs while they are molting, and their crowns change from a bright red to a dull red. Once they change back to bright red, they will be laying eggs again. 

These are the 5 girls. All the reds have passed on, which is a bummer as they were great layers being part Rhode Island Red and Rhode Island White mix.

The 3 Barred Rock or Plymouth Rock's are the black and white ones. Myrtle, Maple and DC - Daisy Chickalotta. The top brown with a beard is Poppy an Americana and she lay's my pretty green eggs. Rosie is also an Americana, and she lays small white eggs. From what I can tell, she is not molting as she has all her feathers. One of the Rocks is mostly through her molt as she has all her tail feathers back - I think that is Myrtle. She doesn't have a bright crown yet though so no eggs.

You can see the fluff feathers on Poppy, those will fall off and her tail feathers have mostly fallen out. 

A better shot with just 1 tail feather for Poppy and DC has bald spots on her back end and is missing tail feathers.... but the one on the left has her tail feathers all grown in.

I mentioned Emily made some Molt muffins for the chickens. It is a high protein snack that helps them to grow those new feathers but must be given in moderation. They get 1-2 muffins to split between them each day. She made 2 pans (24) muffins so it should last us through the molt. 

I promised Chicken Tikka Masala for the boy for dinner tonight, so I need to grab the chicken and prep it with the yogurt and spices for marinating in the fridge today.  Have a great Sunday.

Birthday Sunday!

 Someone turned 14 today! He requested his Dad's cheesecake with raspberries. I went looking for cream cheese yesterday.... thank goodness Aldi had some since Walmart was completely out! He is 5 feet 9 at this point... and way too tall! (I'm a little under 5ft2 and now officially shorter than the girl!) Slightly shorter than his Dad but I'm sure he will be 6 feet by his next birthday and the tallest in the family. I might have mentioned he was too tall so he crouched down for me with a big smile!

I started this dish cloth in the car line waiting on Aidan for late pick up this week - when I remembered to put my phone games down! I tried the double moss stitch one from this free site. This will live in the car console for a few weeks as I anticipate 4 late pickups for him each week until the regional competition on the 26th. I think I got this yarn at Dollar Tree for a dollar. Should be fine to wash dishes with.

The chickens got some honeydew melon yesterday.  This is all 7 of them. Poppy is now done her molt and I got a green egg on Friday. All are laying again.

Lots of hand stitching going on! I finished putting the 4th section together this week. This is 4 sections laid out and is half of the quilt - 88x34. They still need to have the sections stitched together.

These are the sets of 4 hexagons that will make up 3 sections of the quilt.

These are the 'extras' for the 4th section. Just documenting so when I remember to prep these I know what I need! I need to add some and get these all into sets of 4 still. Looks like I need 4 yellow, hmmm how did I get extra browns? I already have a set of 4 together... oh well, 2 browns, 1 purple, 1 pink, 2 orange, 2 dark green, 3 light green, 3 light blue and 4 dark blue. I have brown, black, red and teal covered already.

I think my OMG for February will be to get these 4 sections assembled so that at the end of the month I will have all 8 sections assembled and then can finish them up in March. 

Linking up with Slow Sunday Stitchers and One Monthly Goal.

mid week check in....

 I really need to stitch these 4 rows together tomorrow for Aidan's quilt. Hopefully I get a few hours in the morning for sewing. I have a meeting in the afternoon that I will log into and some quick moving of files into test first thing in the morning before I drop kids to school. I must remember to grab his quilt and jack the ripper and get to work on removing the binding tonight as well.

That of course will be after the leader meeting tonight - the first one this year (year started in August) I will go to in person! Hope I can find the new spot. Dinner is a mish mash.... as Aidan didn't feel like the brussels sprout and squash meal and Em didn't want the kiev. They are getting rosemary roasted red potato and buffalo wings instead!

Hopefully I can stop at Sams on the way home and pick up a few things. We are out of Kleenex (Aidan informed me it is allergy season!), and I'll pick up the big package of bounty paper towels and tp so we are good for a few months. Flour and Sugar as I popped the last bags into their container last week and we are nearly out of the frozen burger patties and chicken breasts I like to have on hand for meals. 

A few photo's from the back yard this afternoon. This is 7 of the chickens - Poppy was in the coop thinking she wanted to lay an egg but I have not checked to see if she is done yet. When she is done there should be a green one in the nesting box. The Trumpet flower and my rose the kids gave me probably 10 years ago for mothers day. This time it looks cream in bloom - last time it was pink =) It tends to swap back and forth on me.

RSC is Orange....

 I have yet to dig into the small orange pile this month. I know my orange is limited and I think I do have a few in a scrap bucket somewhere that I need to find. I knew this area was low so I added a few FQ's from a shopping trip earlier this year.

I had not included my Hexagon QAYG in my teal wrap up post. Here are the 31 from August. All but the bottom row is sewn into sets of 4. That leads me to the hmmmm what to do with the 'extra' blocks after the first 28 days! I think I'll tuck those 3 aside and when I have all the months sets of 4 together, I might mix and match the rest of the colors. Time to prep the orange ones! Linking up with the RSC.

I was laying on my bed after picking up the kids from school (tummy has been off for a few days) and saw this out my window! Aidan had gotten our broody girl Lily out of her nesting box - she finds the batch of eggs and lays on them every day! She decided his arm was a good roost and did not want to get off! Her red crown is not bright anymore as she is not laying.

I did make an order from Connecting Threads this week for some backing fabrics with their 15% off sale. It arrived 3 days later!  I loved the snowflake in grey - perfect backing for hoarfrost and I think I'll use it for my nine patch OMG this month. I should have written down my thinking as I planned 4 quilt backs out of this! The polka dot was fun and cute and I 'think' I planned that for a few smaller ones.  I'll have to search for my hand quilting batting to prep the next quilt. I know the OMG will use my warm and natural and be machine quilted but if I am in prep mode I might as well prep a hand quilting one as well. 

Hoarfrost quilt pattern by Canuckquilter

Sunday Slow Stitching...

 Well, there might be a little slow stitching today. I measured my step #4 of harmony and I need to unstitch and try again with a smaller seam allowance to get the desired size.  It is a smidge off - by a good 1/4 inch on multiple sides. I had only done 2 sets of the 4 sets needed so once I figure it out I can move along and then get the corner sections stitched up.

I probably won't meet my goal this month of getting this to a top... but it is a project that can travel so it will head up to Vermont next month at whatever stage I am at. Linking up with Kathy and the other Slow Sunday Stitchers.

Today - I will start cutting out the graduation quilt. Yes, I am aware it is May 23. My goal is to have it together and quilted by the end of June to travel up to VT for delivery. I picked up a few more FQ's of black on white one of the trips to Walmart yesterday. It was a busy day of errands - Emily to horses, then Aidan to get shorts - his keep getting shorter - something about growing taller!, then pool time with Aidan for a couple of hours... then Emily needed a bathing suit that fits so back to Walmart with her last night. 

The separate trips were intentional. I have had a lot of Emily time with all her awards, scouts and horses this week and the boy needed Mom time. His awards are Monday night. Only one parent can attend for capacity measures so I get to go. 

Last night we had a chicken search. Only 8 were in the coop so we were out searching the back yard with flashlights looking for Poppy - who lays the green eggs. We have 1.25 acres for our lot and the back part is wooded but we have a fence up to keep the chickens out of there. The back yard area is all fenced in to contain the chickens for free range all day. She did this a few days ago and was sleeping perched on the trailer by the fence. That took us 20 minutes to find her. Last night, she was on the top of the fence! That is getting into dangerous territory.  We will need to figure out why she is not wanting to go into the coop at night to sleep.... I have a feeling someone is being a bully (Molly or Emma). We have it secured so no rodents or predators can get in, it is getting a good cleaning this morning from Emily and Greg and we don't think mites are an issue. Must be bullying - as she does lay her eggs in the nesting boxes.

Stashbuster 2020 is completed! February OMG complete.

 2 for 2 in 2021! I do wonder if I can keep it up!

I finally finished hand stitching the binding on the 48x60 Stashbuster quilt last night with a NCIS marathon. I think I am on season 7. Emily has started watching a few episodes with me - she likes Abby - the scientist on the show.

Lets revisit the February goal - Sandwich, pin, quilt and bind the Stashbuster 2020 quilt made with the RSC last year. I'm very happy to have checked off all the parts on this list and I just put the quilt into the washer so it will be nice and cuddly...... and all the chicken and cat fur will come off it!

Emily kept putting the chickens on the quilt. I think this was Emma. Molly was on it before this.

Then Poppy got held for a photo op with the quilt. This is the chicken that lays our green eggs =).

Aidan was trying to get Rosie over there but she had just laid a pink egg (it was very hot when I checked the nesting box) and was not having anything to do with being picked up right then.

Linking up with a completed February OMG. I have a few days to decide what the March goal will be but I think I'll shoot for another finish.... I wonder which of the 26 quilts waiting will bump up to the top of the list?

Also linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge on Saturday

Wednesday already?

 Honestly, I have no clue where the last few days have gone! I think the last post was Friday or Saturday..... Sunday was busy with a few hours spent at the Agriculture Pavillion. Emily got into her FFA uniform and had her Showmanship appointment and then the Skillathon. Turns out that was a written test. 

She looks like my niece Sally in this photo!

Emily with Myrtle.

I ended up chatting outside in the shade with another Mom waiting for her kids who are in 4H. She had gotten a guinea pig last year from the fair and was telling me all about it.  Since our pancake mid morning breakfast was all gone by the time she was done her test at 2.... we perused the offerings for food after another check on the 3 chickens there in their cages. They had 2 food trucks - one had smoked BBQ - 4 big green eggs working on various foods and the other had a grill and fryer. We went with a cheeseburger and fries (me) and a hot dog and fries (Em). She also got a fresh squeezed Lemonade at another booth. We split a funnel cake for desert. I guess in the south it is funnel cakes and up north I grew up with fried dough. Both are yummy. 

I took pity on hubby and went and retrieved the boy from Grandma Sunday night as well. He looked like a 45 minute car ride each way would not be good for his back and was thankful I went. Em stayed home with him.

It was back to work on Monday.....and scouts on Monday night. We finished up a badge on Black History Month and they decided they wanted to make cookies next week! I guess through Zoom we will be mixing our cookie batter up and with parent supervision we will be baking off cookies. Dinner was easy - pulled pork in the crock pot with some coleslaw. I had prepped it Monday morning after dropping the kids to school. 

Tuesday - after school pick up we headed to the fairgrounds to check on the 3 chickens there. We will retrieve them on Saturday morning.... I do wonder how they chickens will all react when the 3 return! The boy had a headache and was a wee bit ornery. Dinner was baked greek chicken (Greek rub from pampered chef) with tatziki in a pita. I had my chicken on a salad with some feta cheese and olives. 

Wednesday - we had Mexican skillet (chicken, onion, peppers, corn, salasa, broth and minute rice with a little salt, pepper and chili powder with sharp cheddar cheese on top). The kids found that recipe in a Taste of home cookbook 2003 I think and requested it. It takes about 20 minutes to make - which is a nice quick meal. The boys are off to guitar lesson tonight. Emily is in her room and I think I'll work on some binding so I can maybe get a finish in February?

I have managed to stitch a few more of the yellow hexagons this week... but that is about it. Unfortunately, I am working tomorrow instead of having a day off so we will see if any more yellow is worked on this week or not. I'm going to see if I can finish the binding on my UFO this month - the stash buster quilt. Time for some NCIS and some needle and thread. Wish me luck.

RSC and a Teenager in the house!

 I have not done too much with yellow yet, but I have been making my Hexagon QAYG blocks. I guess I am a couple days behind but they are prepped so will be done in no time at all. I'll be prepping some more tomorrow for another week of stitching. I found I have a good pile of yellows, the scraps are not big enough for these but the yardage is. 

I also pulled some leftover scraps/blocks from Sally's graduation quilt which was yellow and blue Zig Zags a couple of years ago. I guess I made a few blocks from the scraps a while ago. There are 5 each of the top stacks in the photo which might become a two sided table runner. There are 7 of the 5 inch blocks on the bottom of the photo... I think those will become a 6 yellow on one side and the 3 more blue ones on the back for another double sided runner.  Linking up with the RSC.

This was the chickens yesterday in the unplanted garden. They have dug holes and then lay in them and give themselves a dust bath.  It helps to deter mites from getting on them. They kind of look like a dog shaking when they are done!

Poppy started laying this week - the one with the orange head. As an Easter egger mix breed she was crossed with one that lays green eggs and she is laying green eggs for us. We have not seen a white egg from Rosie (the other easter egger) in a while so not sure if she is laying or just dropping an egg somewhere in the yard? 

We also have a teenager in the house officially. Aidan turned 13 today! Where has the time gone?

Not sure how this little guy grew so fast into this one!

I seem to not have many photo's of him. This was last summer when we got the first set of chicks. He is now towering over me at a good 5 feet 6 or 7 (I'm 5ft2ish). He will be off with Grandma today for a birthday shopping trip and lunch like they always do. We had his birthday meal with the family last night - take out Pig and Cattle. He wanted to make his own birthday cake from the Hershey's cook book - so is in process of making that before he heads out. I was late in scheduling horses this week so Emily opted out of riding. I'm sure she will do a cookie booth on the yard at some point today. The benefit of living on a busy road. As for me - I see sewing in my future.