Hank arrived this morning at 7:20.
At 8:36 the tree fellas texted that they’d be here at 9.
Oh, man this was nerve wracking! They left about 10:30 and after a coffee break I started mowing.
And there were visits to Dottie and Sara and the chicks. Becky stopped and we had a nice visit – more about that later. Hank went home after meeting the girls and the chicks up close and personal. He’s a good listener and even tho he would really like to bounce around with the girls, he stopped when I told him to. This is how I teach visiting dogs that these animals are no big deal. They go in the pen with me and mingle.
A goat fact: goats don’t graze on the ground. They browse at head level or above so the grass along the fence is just what the girls love best. They would love to browse on tree leaves. I wouldn’t say they’d NEVER eat grass but it’s not their first choice. Sara’s eyes are blue!
Ok, enough about my girls! I’ve got more great quilts to show you. This has been the most fun – all these great quilts to look at and study for days now.
Jeanine – I speak for all of us when I say we will remember your daughter and son in law, who both are experiencing cancer and treatments and other complications, in our thoughts and prayers.
We need an update on Elio and I don’t remember the reader’s name who told us. Anybody?
Boy, it’s late and I’m tired.
Thanks for posting all those beautiful quilts; they are amazing! I love seeing all the animals. I noticed the goats were on the hayrack. Is that one lonely chicken still hanging out under the hayrack ?
Jeanie – no, I had to take it but left her a bench. I wanted the new chicks to have a place of safety where they could hide from a hawk. This morning I rescue Hayrack once again from other hens pecking at her! I picked her up and brought her up by the house. Today I’m going to catch her and put her in the area with the chicks. I just have to try to help her, poor thing.
Mary I just love your chickens, they are sure growing up fast, as they do. When we had chickens we had three or four of the varieties you have. I really like them but have decided not to have chickens. We have lots of animals here: 4 horses, 3 dogs, 4 very friendly barn cats, a pig, 2 rabbits, 2 budgies and 4 cockatiels. I think that is enough.
The quilt show was wonderful, I especially liked the 2nd quilt. We’re having a little heat wave here so I have no energy today. Saying that I finished painting our bedroom, all the baseboards and the top boards as we are doing the room with board and batten. I just need to buy the vertical boards and paint them then help my hubby install them. That’s next week project as we are having family from Kansas here on Saturday for lunch, there will be about 20 of us.
Have a wonderful day everyone. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family Jeanine.
The quilts and goats are sio fun to see. There will be more quilts to see tomorrow and Saturday. The guild I participate in has its biannual quilt show in Xenia, OH.
Hi Mary,
I was going to give an Elio update today, and there you are asking for it! It’s the first bit of news in a while, and it’s nice news. Elio is profoundly deaf, for those catching up. He’s our first grandchild, born in April. They now have determined he has ear canals, but whether there are ear drums is a discovery down the road. When his plates in his head are fused, they’ll do an MRI to determine if there are ear drums. Meanwhile, the plan was to fit him with a Baha Band, which conducts sound through bone, in October. However, that plan is moved up to July. So he’ll be “hearing” voices this summer!
We were visiting (he’s 3.5 hours away) this weekend and I was holding him and talking, and lo and behold, he was smiling and… oh my heart… cooing little baby sounds! I could have cried! I really didn’t know if he made sounds and there he was, using the sweetest little voice.
My husband brought his guitar and sang some “baby” songs (think, Jackson Brown, “Somebody’s Baby”, and others), we put Elio’s feet on the bottom of the guitar and his reaction was priceless! Big eyes, round mouth, looking left to right like “What??? What’s that I feel?” He really liked “Julio Down by the Schoolyard”, by Paul Simon… the guitar is pretty loud on that one, he was really aware of the vibrations.
Thanks to everyone, again, for words of encouragement and family stories about friends and relatives with hearing deficits. It really helped me settle down and just enjoy that “new baby smell” ha, ha, new life, new joy!
Carol – I sent an email to another Carol because I didn’t know your email address – now I made note! Poor little Elio! But he could feel those vibrations on the guitar!!! Isn’t that just amazing?? And he makes sounds, too – I wondered about that. It’s quite a long trip for you which is too bad but you’ll just have to make it often. He’s been on my mind, Little Elio.
Wow, the girls (chickens) have really grown. I bet they had a great time outside in the grass.
Yes, wonderful quilts. Lots of talented quilter’s out there. Thank you Mary.
The last picture of the goats immediately made me think of “3 Billie Goats Gruff” story!
Love 💕 the quilt show
Love all the quilt and goat photos. I always wanted goats. Do they have to be fenced in? Do they get out of fenced in areas easily?
My husband figured they would get out and be on top of his pickup and that would be the end of the goats!
Lori – they re very inventive and yes, they need to be fenced in if you don’t want all your flowers eaten – they’d make a beeline for my rock garden and houseplants
You had a full day yesterday! WOW!
Amazing quilts! I finished up a baby quilt yesterday and it goes in the mail today.
The goats are growing. Do you feed them something other than letting them graze?
I just want to thank everyone for praying for my daughter and son-in-law as they each go through their cancer journey. It has been difficult, but God is helping them day by day. It is hard fo my husband and I since we are so far from them and can’t help them out. They do have three adult children in their area right now that help out a lot. There is a lot going on right now, and I will share more in the future. Thank you Mary for your concern. We all love this blog and the concern we have for one another.
I have really enjoyed all the patriotic quilts. They are some of my favorites. And I love seeing the chickens and goats. Baby goats are so fun to watch. Have a great day today.
Your family is in my thoughts and prayers Jeanine.
We l when we lived in Ohio a good way to get rid of unwanted vegetation was to hire someone with goats. They had portable fencing to restrict the goats to the area that needed to be cleared.
Another fun fact now that I live in SC. -The Carl Sandburg House close to Black Rock NC is a National Park and among other things features the descendants of his wife’s goats. She was well known for breeding several kinds. They are very friendly.
Christina – I am going to look this up – such a fun fact!!
My favorite part of the day is sitting down with my coffee and reading your blog. Then the grandkids come and we’re off to other adventures. Elliott’s last day of school is tomorrow then they will both be here fulltime. I’m already tired.
Went to the Dr for my back. She prescribed prednisone. I hate that stuff, but may need it to heal.
4th quilt down is my fave for the day. Does the owner have a pattern name?
Prayers and hugs for Jeanne’s family
Diana – I, too, am not comfortable taking Prednisone but since I’m forced to take 15 mg daily I feel wonderful and have tons of energy from it. I’m sure it will heal your back so you’ll be ready to take on those two little kids with no problem – hi to Elliot and Leah
Had completely forgotten about clothes pin holders, shaped like little dresses. My grandma had one and it was such fun hanging up laundry. Love that it’s made from a novelty fabric featuring clothes pins. Sooooo cute!
All the quilts lately are wonderful. Fourth of July quilts have never been my favorite but I’m afraid I now have the bug so we’ll see where that goes. Jeanne, your daughter/son-in-law and family will be in my prayers. Mary, it’s kind of you to take in their goats and give them a great home. Have a great day everyone.
Hi Mary,
The yard looks great! Must be a relief to have all of the damaged trees taken care of.
There is a place up north of here- Al Johnson’s Swedish restaurant- the goats are up on the roof of the restaurant every day in the summer! They graze up there and just hang out in the sun. Good food and coffee too!
Jeanne- I hope you son and daughter in law are doing as well as possible and are feeling better soon. I’m sorry your family is on this horrible journey.
Love looking at the quilts as always!!!
Elizabeth – I’ve eaten at Al Johnson’s and watched them bring the goats in for the day – the goats went right up the steps to the roof! I still have a postcard hanging on my bulletin board. How fun is that??
Elizabeth – oh, there are dozens of trees left to take down – all they did yesterday was remove a huge one from the wilderness trail so I could get thru. I wish I could take an aerial photo to show you. It is very sad but I’m not alone – everybody’s grove looks alike – all ash trees are dead. This is an original farmstead over 120 years old with an established grove and even within my yard I have 4 or 5 dead ash trees that must come down before they fall on the house during a storm.
Glad the tree guys showed up. Your yard looks great. I love all the pictures tonight!! Thank you!
Hi Mary, l have seen videos of backyards overgrown in Australia, they put a group of goat there for a few days and it’s really cleaned up! In bed at 7.15 tonight, sore knee! Tomorrow I want to pin out a quilt, which means lugging out the roll of batting,then wrestling it back in the plastic tube! But .l love to start quilting a new quilt even after 35 years quilting! Take care everyone, best wishes from Sandy
Sandy – I wish I could help you with that batting – I remember when my knees hurt badly but 2 replacements later I can do most anything pain free – have you considered replacement?
Hi Mary, my knees just get sore,lad granular fever30 years ago,had to keep working, on my feet all day,then home to take care of family! Plus cysts in my breast,district nurse used to come to me at work to change drains,was a tough time!
Sandy – oh my goodness! You need to take it easy, My Dear! How about some more of your wonderful appliqué?
Mary, Carol at Pin Oak Quilting posted about Elio her grandson in the comments Cold Temps to Return,
4-16-26. The pictures of Hoover Dam are amazing! I live 30 minutes from there, so we will definitely drive over to see that! Love all the quilts, dogs, goats & chickens!
Good memory! Update provided! I was going to do that today because we visited this week and had nice news and quality baby love!
I read the comments posted in yesterday’s blog. A couple of people mentioned trouble with weeds that keep returning. Last summer I read about using 30% concentrated white vinegar (it’s on Amazon) to kill weeds. It does work. However, you must take safety precautions when using it. I wear heavy duty chemical resistant gloves. Use it full strength. It can be sprayed but know anything it touches will die. I’ve used a small paint brush to brush it on a plant’s leaves and also a small open ended can to isolate a plant and then sprayed into the can. It definitely is better than a commercial spray. But again, handle with care.
Martha – Rick thinks salt does the trick – I have several spots that I’m going to try it
Look it up on line about using salt. I was under the impression that if you use salt it might permanently hurt the soil. Vinegar will work. I’m not sure about how many parts of vinegar and water to use. There are different strengths of vinegar. I use cleaning vinegar. It’s not a one time spray but keeping spraying throughout the season. Google, getting rid of weeds with vinegar or salt. Also don’t let any weed flower and let their seeds go. It’s always something isn’t it.
Love hearing about your animals. I’m a city girl and know nothing about goats or chickens. So please share everyday. Also these quilt shows I’m viewing from my chair are great to look at!
Dianne – I grew up on a farm in the 50s but my farming today does not resemble that at all – ha! I’m just running a rescue farm and these animals are not livestock – they’re pets. Keep watching and learning
Thanks for a fun way to close out my day – great photos of “the girls” and all those quilts!! I am printing one for inspiration!
I didn’t realize that goats prefer the higher vegetation – half of my “back four” would be great for them. Thanks for sharing that fact.
Glad your trees are taken care of – and it makes me nervous too when they are trimmed or cut. Hope you rest well tonight!