Monthly Archives: February 2018
Moving day
These two have learned to pull things down and drag them around, so it is definitely Moving Day. They were also trying to jump onto the couch. They were moved to the barn. They have their kennel in a heated room for the nights. as I was afraid moving them from the house to really cold might be a bit of a shock when the nights are below freezing. But in a couple days they will have acclimated and after Saturday, we are supposed to have a week of above freezing nights.
They will become real sheep and learn the ways of their kind. And I will get the toys picked up and clean the floors less frequently. Plus today was vaccination day and it was easier for them, to all be together. I will still be taking bottles up for them 5 times a day so we will have a lot of interaction.
When you need a boost , it’s very handy to have mom resting nearby.
There! – With mom’s help, she made it into the feeder.As for the people who live here. Today, we had our general blood work done. When we came home,
the friend that was here visiting yesterday stopped by with the most delicious loaf of home-made sour dough bread which we willingly accepted and is now half eaten. It is wonderful to have friends share with you especially when you have added responsibilities.Exchange students and sheep
usThis morning we had the privilege of introducing our sheep and dogs to two exchange students who had not been to visit a farm before. Beau insisted on being in the photo as he firmly believes each visitor is here to pet him. The girls’ hostess is a friend so it was fun to visit with her while they were here, plus she brought us lovely shortcake to go with the strawberries that I had thawed.
We chose a time the lambs would be hungry so the girls would get to experience feeding them as well. It looks like they enjoyed the experience.
We enjoyed their visit and hopefully they will get a chance to return and watch the lambs as they grow.
This morning the peas were sprouted, so the plan is to put them in the hoop house Friday when the weather is warmer. Perfect timing! This will give us early peapods as well as peas.
Mountain mistakes
I’m showing you a couple of mountain mistakes I have made so that you can avoid them. I think I made them because I am grabbing minutes here and there instead of doing them thoughtfully. The above is how they should look. I have 4 of each side.
With these mountains, I failed to reverse two of them, so have 6 of the left side and 2 of the right side. They will still be used. I have a bit of extra fabric, so I will make corrected blocks.
And obviously in this mountain, the first cut was 1.5″ instead of 2″. Again, it is still usable, but not what I had in mind for this quilt. I’m glad I saw this error as soon as I made the first cut. The other blocks are cut correctly.
I am finding with this block, I need to lay the pieces out in the correct order before sewing them together in order to avoid ripping. It really is a very easy block, but one does need to think about the order of sewing.
Delectable mountain tutorial
I’m not sure if this is more for me or you. The delectable mountain tutorial was a dry run before I actually cut out my pieces for the quilt.
I started with 8 1/2″ squares cut on the diagonal. In this case I used the same fabric for the light color in each of my blocks. Sew them together and 
square them up. This I found to be the most crucial step, because somehow when I sewed those large triangles, they didn’t always come out square. So I squared to 8″. (the rest of these photos is using my practice piece)
I put 2 of these new squares together with sides reversed and matching the diagonal line, then cut the 8″ pieces into 4 -2″ pieces and 
switched the two outside pieces and then the two inside pieces so they now look like this. Because you have cut two of these squares, one is the reverse of the other and can be put together like this
to complete your mountain. If you have trouble visualizing this, you might want to make two squares and try it out first. It makes more sense once you have done it.
NEWS ITEM: Meet Paco and Pepita, our latest additions
She is white, but she is fresh and not yet dried in this photo.
Kaarsten, Kristie, and a new start
Meet Kaarsten and Kristie, our two newest family members.
Here are Petunia and Pepe’, our first two who were not expected to survive. Looks like they are doing well.
Our frozen wonderland has made me long for the sewing machine and a new quilt start. Really, I had run out of projects? – no, not really. Just a creative need.
This batch of fat quarters has been hanging around the sewing studio. I have no idea where they came from or when. They are not a grouping that I would have chosen, so they must have chosen me. They needed a purpose and so they are becoming mountains.
I have cut triangles from 8 of these pieces and sewn them together ready to square them up and cut again. Tomorrow, I’ll show you how they are going together.
Essentials
Essentials are all that are happening here, right now. Do you remember when you were a new mother and the baby demanded what seemed like all your time? Right now, that’s how I feel as I hand feed these triplet lambs. I feed 2, diaper, warm the bottle, run up to the barn and feed the one still with mother as she has no milk. Come back to the house and sweep or nap, throw a load in the washer or dryer, or cook. And some days, the grocery store calls my name. But not much else gets done. We are up to 4 hour intervals, day and night, so there is hope. In another week, we should be up to 6 hours and who knows, eventually life may go back to being normal. Thanks for being patient through all of this.
Spool Souffle Flimsy
I grabbed some minutes here and there this week and then an hour to finish the spool soufflé flimsy, which measures 62 x 68″. I’d love to get it quilted before the end of the month, but that will take some real time, which I may or may not get.
The wee ones take much of my time, but they are also a lot of fun and the diapers make it possible for them to have more freedom to follow us around. This photo was when they had full tummies and were tired.
Snow day and Esther
Looks like winter has arrived today with a lovely snow day. The forecast is for more this week. The biggest problem with snow is when one has to go out into it several times a day. However, it is beautiful.
Queen Esther arrived wearing a lovely white crown. She is posing with her mother Estelle behind her. She gives us the count of 5 ewe lambs with 3 ram lambs.
Here are the two being raised in the house, complete with Mickey Mouse diapers. They love following us around, but when tired, quickly go back to their bed.
One variety of tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower, and cabbage are up enough to transplant into individual pots. I forgot to buy beets, so they aren’t started. And I want to get some other tomatoes going. It’s all a matter of time and space. I planted snow peas and sweet peas today. Fortunately as soon as they are up, the cold snap should be over and they can go into the hoop house to grow.
Stem cell therapy
No photos, however, we spent the day at Seattle Stem Cell clinic, getting questions answered on both sides concerning therapy. DH has decided to participate in the self funded studies. He will go in for the draw on March 22 and stay there for a three hours until they are able to do the lab work and inject the cells back into his body. I don’t fully understand their numbers when they say it is 60-80% effect, -seems like a big range – but one is plied with so much information, it’s difficult to think of all the questions. They did say that for diseases like this that are a downhill progression, they have found that a booster each year is extremely helpful. They have found stem cell therapy very effective for balance, coordination, mental slowness tremors, and other Parkinsonian effects which I have now forgotten. It will take 4-6 months after the procedure to see results. We decided it was worth trying as there is no physical downside.
The usual 65 minute drive home took 2.5 hours in the rain on a Friday afternoon. I must remember no more Fridays in Seattle, but I took the first appointment they could work us in. (And if our offspring are reading this – we are spending your inheritance as a trade-off for having your father around longer and healthier.) We are on the research side of this and not only do we want the help, but we want others to be able to get the help as well. This disease now affects 1% of the population and is becoming apparent at a younger age. I will keep you posted as we learn more.
For those of you who were interested when I showed socks made from Felic yarn, Knitpicks has some Felici sock yarn on sale for 30% off.
And now I’m off to get some rest before the next lamb feeding.
12.05 this morning I received a text from the neighbor. “triplets” in my sleepiness, it took a minute then I responded with “in the barn?”. Her response: “in the pasture” We had just sheared anyone bagging up, so what was this. We thought she was 3-4 weeks away. Time to drag myself out of bed and up to the barn. Neighbor is a night owl and a shepherd. She usually gets home from her barn in the wee hours of the morning, however, she was early this morning and was taking her garbage out for pick up when she heard a wee little “baa”.
At noon, when I went up to feed the little boy, I saw that the ewe we expected to go first was in labor and only one foot was presented. I immediately texted the neighbor who came over (she has been working with sheep for many years). She came and righted the little one, so she could be born. And the second one slipped right out about 10 minutes later. There are now 3 new ewe lambs and 2 ram lambs. Happy Valentines Day