This was on my list today – cleaning the valleys in the roof which were full of helicopters, leaves, twigs and branches. I put my sturdiest shoes on and climbed thru the upstairs bedroom window to the roof with a hoe and the blower. This is the first of three I cleaned.
Two more to go and then of course it’s all on the ground creating another huge job of raking it up and hauling it away.
And here’s where “choice” comes in. This is a huge job but would I rather be sitting in a condo in town with no yard and basically nothing to do? Not on your life!
And after that’s cleaned up I started mowing. Now mind you, I’d rather mow than cook so Rick did pork on the grill.
I mowed by the barn yesterday. If I can sit on the mower to keep the place looking relatively good, it saves my back. I can’t weed so I have no flowers planted in the ground.
I think back to when the shop was open and how fussy I was about the yard. Now I’m the only one who sees it so what does it matter?
You all agreed with me that the chair quilt top on the right was too boring to even bother quilting it. By quartering the boring blocks they got so much better. Remember that – cut the blocks apart if you don’t love them and put them back together differently – you just never know what you’ll come up with,
What a difference the fabric makes!
Mark your calendar if you’re local to attend the Blue Earth quilt show August 16-17 at the high school where you can see this quilt in person.
Flag Day is two weeks away and just two weeks from that is July 4. Here’s a real fast simple flag quilt to make – you can hang it outside!
And that’s it from the blog about nothing.
Did you crack the big egg? It does look like a double yolk.
I only climbed on the roof of our old house once. That was more than 30 years ago. Now my balance isn’t very good and I don’t climb on anything – not a chair, stool, nothing. And I don’t move fast, either. Luckily I have a couple neighbors that are on call, and I’ve got their number. I do not need to fall and break something. Another neighbor really likes my husband’s riding lawnmower and I keep him in gas. Frank loved that riding lawnmower and was good for at least 2 hours with a full tank of gas.
We take our quilts in Wednesday morning for the quilt show setup. It is always a feast for the eyes. The show is June 5-7. And the Volksmarch up Crazy Horse is June 7.
In the meantime, I’m still trying to get all the piles of fabric out of the living room. Gramma said ‘don’t waste it’ and I’m stuck. Just can’t throw those beautiful pieces of fabric away. And I can come up with great ideas!!! Just never know what idea is going to show up next.
In the meantime, take care everybody. Enjoy everything . Betty in Rapid City.
Betty, I did the volksmarch up Crazy Horse many years ago. It was a fun and unique adventure. The Black Hills area is very interesting and beautiful. Thanks for bringing back that memory.
The Volksmarch is June 7. So many people climb it every year. I think they are having half climbs, too. Gives people a chance to climb it not wasting their body and stamina to do the whole 6 miles. They also have another climb when they have the Buffalo roundup in the fall. I think there were over 20,000 people at the roundup last fall — and they got up before 4AM to get to the park. That is way too early for me, but really worth seeing the buffalo into the corrals. My cousin came out in 2008 from Minnesota to do Crazy Horse and it was great. I climbed with him. When we got back to town he took an hour nap on the davenport and then drove to our Aunt’s home in Sioux Falls. I was no good for 2 days!! And it had been cloudy and cool. I could not have done it if it had been sunny and hot. Betty in Rapid City
What a great life motto, Betty: ” Enjoy everything. ”
I’m going to try hard to do just that today 🙂
Well, Mary, if you fall off your roof I guess we can all console ourselves knowing you went doing something you loved.
I agree the quilt where you cut up the squares and sewed them back in a different arrangement is more interesting. But I think the original one is also attractive, certainly worth doing some straight line quilting. It would make a nice throw or lap quilt for someone, maybe one of the people in the care home you visit.
I have yard work to do too, mostly weeding and trimming, and I need to clean off the porches since it’s finally warm enough to sit out in the evenings. DH takes care of the mowing.
Dear Mary and the Country Threads Family,
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the incredible outpouring of love and kindness you showed my mom, Ina in response to Mary’s blog on 4/3/25.
Receiving over 80 cards and letters from across the country brought her so much joy—each envelope was like a hug in the mail. Every day, she looked forward to opening them, reading your sweet notes, and feeling the warmth of your thoughtful words. It truly lifted her spirits and reminded her—and all of us—that there is still so much goodness in the world. She loving cut each return address and taped it to the back of the card so she could be reminded of where each card was from! Your letters sparked many conversations and memories about her time at Country Threads, her quilts and her friends she met while sharing her love of quilting with all of you.
Your kindness meant more than you’ll ever know.
With heartfelt gratitude,
Deb, Ina “Mo” and Family
Deb – thanks so much for letting us all know that Ina enjoyed receiving the cards. I’ve always said a card is a gift – someone shopped for it, paid for it, wrote a message, signed it, addressed the envelope and put an expensive stamp on it – all a part of being kind and
KINDNESS MATTERS!
What a hen! That’s huge for a chicken egg…
Thanks for the flag pattern – I may have to work that up before Flag Day!
I understand about the roof – I used to go out on the one on our old farm house when I was younger. Today I live in a single-story, so there is no window to venture through and I don’t do ladders well anymore. My son says he will make an attachment for my leaf blower so I can clean out the valleys, but I don’t know when he’ll be able to get to it. One of these days! Meanwhile, I keep mowing… and trimming… I need to weed, it’s getting ahead of me!
Gail – investing once in gutter covers is the way to go! No more ladders or blowers.
I love the basket of eggs, and I feel really sorry for the hen that layed the super large egg. Hope she is ok. We have to clean our gutters but thankfully not the roof. I don’t mind latter work. I painted the inside walls last year and needed a tall ladder for the cathedral ceiling.
I was out in my yard yesterday evening and I have a couple areas that I need to redo. Take out some plants and plant new ones. I’m thinking of some hydrangeas. We had terrible heat yesterday but nicer today. Maybe when plants go on sale again.
Have a great sunday. Mary thanks for the flag pattern! Now I have a project!
Thank you for the flag pattern. I have had a flag quilt on my list of projects to make for a while. I couldn’t climb on the roof like you did, Mary. I am absolutely not happy with heights anymore. This, after all the years of climbing tall trees as a child. Who would figure?!! I had volunteer marigolds and petunias coming up willy nilly in my flower beds. Yesterday, I transplanted some to places that were bare. I hope they do well – the ongoing watering begins again until we get a good rain. Happy June 1!
Vicki – I am terrified on a ladder but the slope of the roof is very gentle. My balance just isn’t what it used to be but as I said, who else is going to do this? I am forced to do it – there is no one to hire.
You are such a brave woman. You and Hazel are a good match. Thanks for the flag pattern quilt. I will start it this week. I made a quilt with several flags appliquéd on it. The pattern was by Jan Patek. I also made one made out of men’s shirts. I gave both away so now I don’t have one. I’m almost finished with the sweetest quilt, but as usual out of all the fabric I have, I don’t have the color I need for the last border so I’ll have to go buy more fabric for it! Typical.
Jan’s quilt. Oh my. What is the name of the pattern? I remember your lily garden and when it was in bloom it was breath taking! Yes. Your yard was always beautiful.
Jean – my beautiful lily garden is no longer. Right now it’s weeds and my mother-in-law’s sweet mallow seedlings coming up. If I start pulling weeds, I’ll disturb the mallows – I’ve never replaced the lilies as they died out. This is an area I’m going to have to mow from now on or the phlox will take over and I hate them.
Jean – I checked Jan’s message and she said she saw something like this online and drafted it herself.
Hi Mary, l can’t even get on the first rung of the little step ladder now! I don’t think my son would get on the roof,obviously they bred them tough in Iowa! Take care everyone ,best wishes from Sandy
Mary, you with nothing to do???? Just think, more quilts being made, more books to read and the time for it. But when you do finish your “yard work” oh the satisfaction…..
Well I thought that was a duck egg, too! Hope that she is okay & wonder if she’ll continue to lay that size of eggs! You’re one brave lady, Mary getting on that roof! But about 10-12 yrs ago I painted our entire house inside that had vaulted ceilings & I needed a big extension ladder. I told my husband if he bought me a sturdy ladder I would paint it & I did. I certainly wasn’t going to pay someone to paint my house if I could do it! I certainly understand living in the country & having a yard & garden. When we downsized we looked at condos & they just weren’t what we were looking for. My home is what is called a landomenium. I have a nice sized yard & this is kind of out in the country. This afternoon a doe had a baby next door under a tree. At bed time the baby was still there & I’m sure momma is close by! I’m willing to bet both will be gone in the morning!
Alice – what a nice compromise on space – and you had a fawn in your yard!? I hope nobody moved it. Years ago I had a die that visited every morning and early evening / I called her Eleanor. Tell me if the baby is gone tomorrow.
Mary, the baby was gone this morning, so momma did come by to get it! The week we moved in here another had triplets in our back yard! The deer are beautiful, but they eat everything! That’s why I hang my flower baskets from the eves! They even eat my rose bushes! Sadly their habitat is being swollen up with more housing developments. Thanks for the flag pattern! I’ll see if I can get this made in the next week or so!
Alice / that should read doe not die!!!
Alice, The doe will leave the baby unattended during the day and come back towards evening. The baby will not move an inch with mom gone (and we shouldn’t interfere) that’s what nature does.
Summer on the farm – I can relate! Sunny and hot today. Did a little yard work to get ready for a Grands 1st Birthday party here tomorrow. I will be planting a lovely yellow rose bush just as soon as I find the right one 😉. When I saw the picture of the old quilt shop, I remembered Connie. Do you see her often since she moved to the lakes? It was always nice to hear what she’s up to as well. Be careful if you venture out on the roof again!
Cathy – I never see Connie since she moved to the lake and she’s not a phone person so I guess the answer is sadly no.
Mary – Thanks for the blog today. The large egg is the biggest one I’ve seen.
I love having a yard, too. Mine is a small yard, but the previous owner planted perennials so the flowers are just phenomenal. The yellow rose bush in my front yard is full of blossoms. I wanted to do yard work today, but it was too windy. I have to buy a lawnmower, because the family member who was mowing my lawn decided he isn’t going to mow anymore. Good grief!
We lost a canine family member today. Her name was Zoey and she was a sweet older lady (dachshund) who had Cushings disease. She was my younger sister’s dog. The whole family adored Zoey. We are all sad she crossed the Rainbow Bridge. 🌈
I love how quilts look so different depending on the colors.
Take care everyone.
Sharon – my sympathy to you all who loved Zoey – they are family members no matter what some say. She’ll be missed but you’ll see her again one day. Sweet reunion! Sad about the lawn – hope it’s not too big and a small walk behind mower will handle it.
Cleaning the roof is something I don’t have to worry about-no trees near mine. I’ve only been on the roof once-after we had a major hailstorm and had a new roof put on 3 years ago. Wouldn’t have thought about climbing out a window-much easier than a ladder.
I wonder if there’s a double yolk in that egg.
Cindy – I couldn’t possibly get on the roof with a ladder – I’m really terrified of heights but it’s a gentle sloped roof and I simply don’t look down
Mary, roof work is scary!!!!! You are a brave girl. My hat is off to you!!!!!
We had a to laugh when we saw your egg basket. That poor hen. I feel sorry for her. I’ve been busy cleaning my flower beds and planting new perennials were I lost some. I’m going to mulch the beds this year. That’s a first but I hope it helps with less watering.
Wow, I thought that was a duck egg, poor chicken. How clever to clean the roof with a leaf blower, we don’t have any valleys for stuff to get piled up, thank goodness. Weve had so much rain and very little sunshine this past week, our yard needs some sunlight. Today I found some poison ivy growing in the yard! time to mix up some weed killer and stop it before it spreads.
Your a brave women getting on the roof. Not sure if I would. I do agree with you about having a yard or no yard. I would have the yard too. That is a big egg!!! It’s 107 here in Las Vegas today!!!