Category Archive: Life

This was an interesting month with a new educational consultant – fancy name for a demonstrator.    Here is a cute baby cuddly made. with Minky.   There was a pattern for a frog, pig,  dog and cat.   The head is stuffed with fiberfill so the child can hug it or have the blanket around them.   If I were to make this, I think I’d enlarge it just a bit so it would be usable for a few more months.

Here is the pattern

    She showed several quilts made from the book Simply Fat Quarters which were fast and easy.  

Here are a couple more,   These are made using only fat quarters

One book she had, Sew On the Go. was patterns for making a bag for your cutting board, a bag for your long ruler,  various bags to carry other sewing equipment to a class including this cute bag.

 Interestingly enough this flag is made from cutting tubes according to a pattern and sewn right sides together, then turned and adhered to a backing.   The tubes were stitched on and quilted .    This is easer than it looks.   Oh and if the points don’t come out exactly right in the center, no worries, just embellish with a button.

Along with the  patterns, she showed us various rulers and other gadgets to make our quilting easier and more fun

We have driven past the swamp walk many times and kept telling ourselves, someday we’d visit it.   It is a short walk and has been there for 5 years now, but I guess because it is so close to home, we just keep putting it off.   So, today was the day.    It’s a little pocket that is not buildable and the freeway runs the other side of it.

We found these interesting flowers growing on a tree  at the entrance.

This is the entrance and behind me are some inexpensive homes.  They probably don’t have a lot of visitors and this is a terrific view for them.   This is the bird watching tower, though the birds were not cooperative and we didn’t see any.

It really has been left in its natural state except for the boardwalk and a few trees they have planted.  We saw no wild inhabitants of any kind, but did hear a few birds.  I think one was a red winged blackbird who was complaining because we may have been close to her nest

The grasses and trees are lush.

Here is the field of invasive buttercups, but according to the sign, the cattails are winning the battle, which the sign said was very good.

The sun was shinning this morning which brings out the most beautiful shades of green, – very relaxing.

Happy, peaceful sheep are grazing just to the left of the above photo.  We so enjoy sitting on the deck and just taking in all of this.    The alpacas are beyond the trees right now.

Anyone for a nice Polish haircut like this which still amuses me?  These bantams are now about two months old and look a bit top heavy.

The young children presented flowers to the mothers today at church.

It has been a very blessed day.

April’s list is checked and May’s list is ready.    Next week is supposed to be sunny, so hopefully the garden will go in.  This reminds me of laying things aside, a practice my mother passed on to me.    She was a farmer’s daughter and if they didn’t prep their food for the winter when it grew, they didn’t eat.   Needless to say, she canned many, MANY quarts of whatever was in season, even if she didn’t grow it.   She would get fruit in season and spend many hours in the kitchen, washing jars, prepping the food and canning it.   And because we had a generous sized family and one income producer, I did the same.

Now most families are two income families and time is shorter than income, so many no longer put things up for the year.   Having said that, I think there is still a place for putting things aside.   What if there is sickness in your house and you can’t go to the store, or if there is something like a huge windstorm, snow storm, power outage or whatever that closed the stores or that detained the trucks from getting there? (grocery stores at most carry a two day supply of the majority of their items)    If something like this happened, how long would you be able to hold out, and since your neighbors might not be prepared, can you help them?

When Bill and I went to the grocery store on Wednesday (seniors save 7%), I needed a bottle of rice vinegar which is his favorite in salad dressings.   Instead of the usual 3.49, it was marked 2.39 (-7%) making a savings of 1.26 on each bottle which is nearly 1/3.   I bought a dozen bottles.   He asked where I would put it.   When we came home, I showed him.   He was surprised and his next question was “Do you know what all you have?”    I do, but not nearly enough, which is why I buy (and rotate) when I find items we use on sale.   Then he saw some apple juice which surprised him and off he went with that – a happy man.

I still have fresh squashes we grew last summer waiting their turn to be used.  And the freezer is slowly emptying for the next round of food (though if power is off, you may lose your food).    Not only do we have food to keep us from the grocery store at least a month, we also have stored away at least that much for our animals.   And don’t forget that water would also be needed.   We are on a well, so no power, no water.   Even in the city, water can be compromised.    And while you’re putting things aside, it wouldn’t hurt to check your bathroom supplies as well.

We also have firewood stacked and blankets if we lost power which would without a doubt be during a cold snap.  I do have to get a new supply of flashlights.   It seems they get easily lost.   And I should check my match supply.   Yes,  there are still areas where we aren’t ready.

Then there is the matter of what would you do with the time, if you can’t get out and there’s no power.   We have books and I have handwork I can do.  I think I could even come up with a monopoly game of checkers left over from when the children were still at home.

It has been years since our last big power outage.   We were without 4 days and had neighbors who also needed to get warm and have a warm meal.   We cooked over the wood insert stove and slept on the floor in the room with the fireplace and lots of blankets.   During that time, I also did a fair amount of spinning wool.   It wasn’t lots of fun, but it was doable.

And if the news should give a wanting, the store shelves will empty so fast, you won’t believe it, unless you’ve seen it.  It’s nice to be able to hole up and not worry.   And it is doable, just a bit at a time.   And if your house is really small, how about small spaces, like under beds, attics, etc.  I think this is something we should all consider.

I tried cannellini beans for the first time today.    They were good mixed with pasta, some garlic, and a bit of kale. So here’s what lunch looked like.

Did you know that walking for 1/2 hour after your meal helps to regulate your blood sugar.   That is just a moderate walk, which could even be around your house (in 0r out) til you get 1/2 hour in.   (It also takes time from my day which makes me have to force myself to walk).    Even so, after lunch and the walk, I worked on my Grandpa’s pond block and I’m now up to date – thru May.  This block was the cattails.

She hasn’t told us yet, where to put them, but my guess is off to the left.   I’m not sure if something will go between it and the boat or maybe the cattails will go on the other side.  What’s your guess?

I do hope the forecast is right and that we will get a couple days with sun .   I know the rain is important and maybe in August I’ll appreciate it much more.

Here are the May blocks.   I think next to the January fish, these have been the easiest so far.

I have not done the March and April blocks, but did May because they show them as fitting together like this.   Hopefully I can get caught up this week.