My day started with recording at church. When I got home I started working on the flower area in front of my house – which looked so bad I didn’t even take a “before” picture up close.
This was a back breaking job bending over to get the leaves out of the rocks using this tool.
I wasn’t able to clean this area last year so it was twice the work this year – it doesn’t matter now – it’s done and waiting for my cactus and succulent collection to move outside.
Did you know chickens like to dust? The reason? It removes lice and keeps them healthy.
Susan – I couldn’t resist posting this picture of your Thor and Lizzy!
Lunch today on my favorite old Homer Laughlin plate – chipped
and discolored but I still love it. What a great size! Peanut butter toast with a sprinkle of sugar – one of my mom’s favorites!
Dirty Dozens:
I gave the baby boy quilt to my friend Mary Jo yesterday.
Her girls, Olivia and Naomi, loved Deano who wanted to lay on the table between them – something that isn’t a problem when it’s just me at the table but quite inappropriate when I have guests. Small problem when compared to our world today however.
Tomorrow I won’t work so hard – I’m picking up the puppies mid morning and my day will be filled with getting acquainted with them. I’m wondering how Hazel will react. I’ll be letting you know how we’re all getting along. I am so tired. BUT I would rather work hard than live in town!
Wow! You did an awful lot of work today and it is beautiful! How much fun to have these little ones come to visit…I’m sure you just love it! Get a kick out of Deano – knows just how to get all the attention! That little girl loved her new quilt, it was quite evident. Will look forward to hearing how Hazel feels about the new puppies, it will be interesting. I finished the Men’s shirt quilt, small but I’m loving it. I hope that the woman I made it for will love it too, made with her “late husband’s” shirts with a very plushy flannel backing. Can’t wait to get it back from the quilter!! Will send a picture .
Kathy Hanson – I often think about you and your llamas and wonder if you miss them or if the lack of chores and being tied down are a great reward. I love my chores but I’ve never really been one to go many places so it’s never been a problem. These days I love my chickens more than ever! I hope you send a picture of your latest finished quilt!
Yard work is hard, but usually the results are worth is. Rest up because puppies will keep you going. Thank you for your love for animals. Quilts are beautiful and it is fun to see them. Have a blessed night. Jennie
Hi, you need to take a little rest and sew.😊 I want to ask Deb O. who did the tumbler quilt what size her tumblers are and size of her quilt. I m finishing up a tumbler quilt and I love hers. Hugs, I’ll watch for an answer.
Mary , you like you peanut butter like me thick on toast and crunchy, haven’t tried sugar on top! You certainly have been busy in the garden, enjoy the new puppies, best wishes , sandy
The rocks look great. Never thought of using a long nose pliers. Fingers were sore from picking the leaves out of the rocks. This spring I will be ready to take on the neighbors maple seeds with my bucket and pliers. Thanks for the tip.
Enjoy the puppies. Thank you for taking them in and giving love and good care. You are special.
Great finishes everyone. It is fun to see what everyone is doing.
It was so cute to see the young girls enjoying their snack in your sunroom with Deano wanting to be included. I miss days like that when friends and family just walked in so once our stay at home, stay well order is lifted, I won’t take a visit for granted! But our numbers are dropping so it’s hopeful to me. Your new puppies will get lots of attention with your kindness and care. So happy to hear you are up for the challenge.
The quilt show is so wonderful as always. Makes me so happy to look at them. Who would have thought your DD idea last year would have entertained us so much with this isolation from our quilting friends, no guild meetings and cancelling of our local quilt shows. Who knew!
Kathy in western ny – yes, I enjoy seeing the quilts, too. Now I’m waiting to see finished Itty Bittys because it’s time to get them hung. My guests were thrilled to see the barn and all the animals – a little slice of normalcy here on the farm.
That’s exactly what’s sitting on my cutting counter to work on this weekend after I finish one more batch of requested masks. It’s time to work on something for me and not feel guilty for doing it. Was fun picking out colors for the May itty bitty.
I looked at the gathering around your table and wondered “Will I ever be able to sit at a table with friends and family again?” The virus is raging in Md. Many of us sewers continue to make masks. A neighbor’s mom just passed away from it. She was in an asst. lvg. Our small town/county continues to increase in cases each day. Is it because more have it or is it that now that testing is available we know? Your flower beds are looking great! Every leaf gone! Wow. I use a leaf blower but the leaves are stuck in rocks and stones and must be gotten one at a time by hand. This is when I become a “tree hater”! I wish I had taken before and after pictures. I still have one flower bed to do but the bluebirds have a nest in the box and I don’t want to disturb them as they come and go to feed the babies. The azaleas in that bed are all blooming and they cover up the leaves and weeds that are still in there…haha We had our first hummingbird the other day! I do love the hummers! Cold and rainy here in Md. but I’m waiting for your good weather to come across the U.S. to us in a few days! Stay well everyone.
Diane in MD – you definitely understand the leaves vs rocks issue. The blower is my best friend but the leaves are stuck. I move rocks to get them all and this year I do think they’re gone but like you I’ve become a tree hater. Five maple trees in my front yard – oh, so many leaves! There are still only 3 tested positive cases in our county since March 1 and my guests, like me, have stayed home and followed the rules. It was such a nice time!
We’ve never had bluebirds here and the only time we get hummingbirds is in the fall – darn – I’m jealous of your birds! I’ll send our lovely weather your way!
I feel the Coronavirus count is increasing for two reasons… first because more people are being tested & second because it is spreading.. this is a very aggressive virus. Also, expect a drastic increase as restrictions are lifted . As we can return to the world we need to remember the importance of hand washing & distancing & stress it to our children & grandchildren. We will see an increase in cases in the youth when schools reconvene in a classroom setting. Note that the highest number of cases & deaths are where there is the highest density of population. Also, as we are able to test more people for antibodies we are going to find more people have had/been exposed than we thought.
Stay calm
Wash your hands
Distance
This too shall pass
The wind was so strong 40-50 mph yesterday I didn’t see one bird trying to fly out of the safety of the trees!
Did any other quilters watch the online NFL drafts last night? It finally happened as #12 draft was LV! I guess we Raider fans have to readjust to the team’s new home in Las Vegas!
Thanks for the quilt show and yesterday’s gardening pictures, Mary. More ground is being shown up here, but there is still plenty of snow yet to melt.
Hi Mary: One of my favorite breakfast menus are toast, peanut butter and honey. I’ve never tried sugar instead of the honey, but intend to try it soon. It sounds yummy. My “flower garden” and front lawn are a mess since I brought Miss Bailey home from the shelter last year. You see, she is a “digger.” I have several holes in my lawn plus most of the grass is gone. I’m not sure how to proceed, but my landscape company promised they would come up with a “plan” for me. My dog is more important to me than a nice looking lawn, but my neighbors might not agree with this. Haha!
Like you toast with peanut butter is one of my favorite, be it breakfast or lunch. I like the peanut butter toast with sliced avocado or guacamole on it .. don’t judge until you’ve tried it. I also like a gubber burger ..hamburger with peanut butter, need crisp lettuce & slice of red onion to make it perfect.
I love toast, peanut butter and honey for breakfast, too! Once again, I enjoyed your blog today, Mary. We are having a wonderful day in southern Iowa. The corn was planted on our farm yesterday. We are retired, so rent our land out. This afternoon I dug up weeds out in the garden. We have onions, radishes and potatoes up. The potatoes are just starting to push through the ground.
Jeanine from Iowa – our garden has been tilled once but really should be tilled again before we plant – I’m jealous that you’ve got stuff up already!
Lois Ann Johnson – oh, Bailey! She’s a digger – oh goodness! But I would take her over a lawn any day!
Mary: Me, too, Mary! I’ve decided that since she is a digger AND a chewer that I won’t have a nice lawn and all of my shoes/blankets, etc. will be shredded. Maybe she will outgrow it? She is almost 3 years old?
Thanks for sharing.
Peanut butter toast with sugar, hmmm, sounds good, I have never heard of that.
I like peanut butter with slices of banana.
Lori – I like your combo, too!
I like toast with the Crunchy peanut butter and honey butter(I make) for breakfast or snack.
Can’t wait to see pictures of your new puppies you are going to care for. Glad to have my two cats and hubby to keep like more normal most times. Hubby is retiring next Thursday from 30 years of being a walking mailman, have worried about him and the virus!
Do miss not able to have the grandkids coming in to play games and cards with us. Hope that will be over
soon.
I will be using the pliers like your picture next time out to get the leaves from my “junk” in my flower beds.
So many things to comment about, haha. Love your garden bed, that was a lot of work! We have stone walls bordering our front yard and there are numerous hickory, oak and maple trees that shed leaves on them. What a pain to clean! My husband makes spring steel rakes (and brooms) that work great on lawns and he’s made me a custom one about 6″ that helps get a lot of the leaves out but we still have to bend down and clean the embedded ones…sigh. Love the quilts! Deb O has been busy! Thor and Lizzy are beautiful as is the quilt they are sitting on. Your visit looks so fun, cute kids. Can’t wait to see our grandkids but MA has quite a few new cases and my town has a nursing home that has 58 patients testing positive along with 15 workers. That nursing home is about a mile from my house. So, very scary. I love your Homer Laughlin plate, perfect size and such a beautiful creamy color. Well, I’ve got to go tend my new chicks! We got six day old chicks yesterday, so adorable. My dog Louis is a little jealous but not in a bad way, he’s just pouting a little more than usual! Stay safe everyone! Jan in MA
Janice Hebert – what kind of chicks did you get?
Hi Mary, just found this question to my comment. Sorry! We have six chicks right now – two Barred Rocks, two Buff Brahma’s and two Easter Eggers. In June I’m getting six more but they will be Icelandic chicks. A lot of fun but a lot of work! I’m hoping the Icelandics will be good moms – they will be straight run so I’m sure there will be at least one rooster. So I won’t have to do all of the work! Jan in MA
Janice Hebert – I am not familiar with Icelandic chickens – I will look them up. Straight run could be more than one rooster – yikes!!!
oh the peanut butter thing! I quote, “don’t judge til you’ve tried it”. when we were kids x-5, mom would grind (table mount grinder) bologna or hot dogs put a little mayo and sweet pickle relish in, slather bread with Skippy P-nut butter, little more mayo if you desire…….enjoy! Every now and then I go back to the 50’s and make some.
Anonymous – now that’s one combo I’ve never heard of – BUT I would never dismiss it until I tried it! Oh, those childhood treats!
Iowa doesn’t have sheltering at home?
Chris – no, we don’t have a sheltering at home order – it’s suggested.
Your PB on toast w/ a sprinkle of sugar was exactly the snack my grandmother would make for me when I was a little girl! Oh, how seeing that warmed my heart! Those two scrappies by Deb O spoke to me: my kind of scrap quilts, love them both; they’re absolutely wonderful! The baby quilt gift is a treasure, it will be loved and cherished. We used to have a terrier who would get on our kitchen table! It was embarrassing to have dog hair on the table if anyone came over! Our son has a kitchen table with built in benches, his pitbull mix gets up on the table and stands there to see outside the window, it’s his favorite perch! I’ll email you a picture, we think it’s funny but I’m sure others would be appalled. Your rock bed looks wonderful ; rest up~ those puppies will need you at 100%!
Mrs. Goodneedle – I left a reply with your photo! Those dogs need a couch or chair by the window! I hate drop in company because cats or dogs could be laying anywhere!
I worked in my among the rocks yesterday also. I just moved them to rake. I don’t have a lot of little ones. They are in the spot where I have a water feature. Cleaned that out also.Too much lifting and stretching for this old woman. Not moving well today. It was so nice working out in the sunshine yesterday. I will send you a piece of that succulent, as I think it is a bit different than what you have. It will be sometime in May. Peanut butter toast a favorite.(creamy).My grandma used to get commodities.They gave her the best peanut butter I have ever tasted. Could just be kid memories.j
Judith Ann Jacques – thank you!
I worked in my garden today. Planted peas already a few weeks ago and something is digging them up—but not eating them. I just pushed them back in the ground and covered the whole row up with a screencovering.
Beautiful finishes today also. And to Launa, yes, I watched the NFL draft. The Lions had the number 3 pick.
Your garden beds look so nice, Mary. Everyone stay in, stay healthy.
Mary you might like this, toast a waffle, spread peanut butter on it then strawberry slices on top. One of my favorite snacks!
Just last Saturday, my 3 year old daughter was face-timing me while eating her breakfast, Peanut Butter Toast! So, this Gramma, got out her toaster and peanut butter, and made my breakfast just like hers. So, we ate our breakfast together, even though we live 8 miles apart. What a fun time during this social distancing thing. I’ve been cleaning the dried leaves out of our rose bush, and now I have the scars to prove it! But, looks so much better, nice and clean. It’s looking a lot like Spring now! Alas, no lilacs this year, as the buds froze during our 20* weather and 6+ inches of snow last week. And, this week we had 80* temps one day! Only in Nebraska! HUGS… and stitches
Such beautiful finishes! I’ll have to try peanut butter toast with sugar. Have you tried peanut butter on buttered bread? Decadent!