Two new quilts to take pictures of! One of my most favorite things to do is take pictures of quilts around the farm and Small Pickins and Pumpkin Country are no exceptions. Both of these patterns can now be found in our online store.
Pumpkin Country
Small Pickins
I was chatting with Betty in Rapid City and apologizing for such a boring blog post and this is what she wrote back. I thought maybe you’d all like to read it as a calming influence on our everyday lives.
I forgot to answer your question about the blog. Right now all of our lives are rather dull and boring and I’m sure that is how you feel. Like your blog is dull and boring. It isn’t. Another live voice telling about life on the farm. Another live voice telling what seems like monotony to her. It doesn’t sound like that to the rest of us. Led by you, it is a conversation about all of our lives, family, problems, births, deaths – all the things that happen every day of the year. It makes us smile. We laugh. We giggle. We cry. That is the way it lives. Just seems right now with all the major problems of storms, pandemic and fires we are very content to live our little lives doing the ordinary things we do every day. Here the sun is shining very orange which means smoke. A lot of us are content where we are, just not so thick that we have to cut out a cupful to breath. Dull and boring isn’t a bad thing.
Most of us won’t ever make a very big dent in the world, but we will be holding up our little end of the world and doing our best to be a good person loving all the people that touch our lives.
No, your blog isn’t blah. It is a welcome breath of air in a world that is having a very hard time right now. The ladies and their comments are so welcome. A piece of the world outside each of our own little worlds. Each lady brings their thoughts, hopes and laughter.
And if it is any help – the brothel ads are showing up on what I see again!
Take care. Betty
Isn’t that just the sweetest letter? I am living far from the fires, hurricane and pandemic so it seems boring to write about my simple days. I hope you feel this blog is a safe place to chat with other like-minded ladies and forget about all the trouble in the world for just a little while.
Now you’ll laugh – my biggest problem right now is finding where the chickens are laying all their eggs! Remember last year when the Tribe hatched in the fall? I was not happy and I think it’s those hens who are now laying their eggs elsewhere and are probably setting on the nest waiting for the eggs to hatch. Oh man, I do not relish having a bunch of wild roosters on my hands again!
Here are the Dirty Dozen quilts for today!
If YOU have finished your #11 for September, send a photo to my email, marye@ncn.net.
Last night when the sun was getting low in the sky I drove to the southernmost part of our farm to look at the sun – so red orange and beautiful – too bad it’s all that smoke from destroying people’s lives causing it.
Here’s the original picture on the cover of Pumpkin Country.
Still beautiful! I love it!
And here’s what’s on the longarm – actually it’s off now and already bound so I need to get that picture taken – except that it’s a birthday gift and I want it to be a surprise. Maybe I’ll have to post the picture when I give it.
That’s it for tonight – as I watch the Country Music Awards. Be still, Friends!
Thank you to Betty for saying it so well. I agree with her and look forward to reading your blog.
I loved Betty’s wonderful letter. Thanks for sharing it with us. My life is rather hectic right now – I have the #11 top pieced but I don’t think I’ll get it quilted before the end of the month. Knee replacement surgery scheduled for September 28 and the next week and a half is full of Dr. appointments (both for me and my husband). Looking forward to the surgery and being able to walk without pain again! Love the blog, Mary. It brings back so many wonderful memories of growing up in that part of Iowa.
Kay Crandall – did you find someone to drive you and your hubby for awhile? I hope so! If it’s your left knee you’ll get to drive sooner than if it is your right one.
Yes, a friend’s daughter is home from college this year and I hired her. When she can’t do it, her father will help out. It was a huge relief!
Thank you to Betty, very well said and thank you Mary for sharing her letter. I look forward to reading about your life on the farm. I’m not on a farm though I have 6 chickens so do enjoy the fresh eggs. I have a hen that now lays her eggs under the hen house which is only about six inches off the ground so it takes a long rake to get the egg every day Not sure why she changed her laying spot from inside the hen house to there. I guess I will never really know. Good luck finding those stray eggs, before they become roosters, LOL.
Like many others, I loved Betty’s letter! Thanks so much for sharing it with us! I look forward to reading your blog and it is always such a happy moment when I see it in my inbox! Can’t wait to hear where you find the eggs (or chicks)!
Oh my gosh, I loved Betty’s letter and I especially love these words of wisdom from her, “Most of us won’t ever make a very big dent in the world, but we will be holding up our little end of the world and doing our best to be a good person loving all the people that touch our lives”.
That is exactly what life is about. 💗
Teresa – yes! I thought it was such a wise letter, I wanted to share it!
How perfectly said, Betty!! I am sure all of the rest of us feel the same and you had just the right words to give it life! It surely is a warm, joyful time in my day to read Mary’s musings! Seeing and hearing about the farm, seeing everyone’s quilts and seeing what others write. What a blessing you and your blog is, Mary!!!😊❤️
Betty is a gem! I so look forward to her comments as some have made me laugh out loud here in NY. Her letter is so heartwarming. She sounds well traveled to know so much and I love when she pops up in with a cute comment.
Your Home life is like mine Mary although I don’t have farm animals. I don’t mind it one bit being in the slow lane. I use to jam my days with activities but boy this pandemic has changed my priorities. I prefer my dull day. If this post is a mess I too am watching the country music awards show and hoping I can stay awake long enough to see Trisha Yearwood sing. I give all the singers credit for doing this – it’s odd not hearing the cheers and clapping for their songs.
I definitely agree with Betty! Your blog is a bit of calm and normal in our crazy COVID days.
I’m watching the ACMA show, too. Always rather bittersweet as I think of my dear friend, Bill Barwick, who would have been there had it not been for his stroke.
I’m binding tonight—soothing stitches in beautiful fabric.
Diane Bauer – so tell me about Bill Barwick – is he part of the country music industry, a fan, a resident? Why would he have been there? You mean IF there had been an audience? When quilt market was held in Nashville many years ago, Connie and I attended a show in Reiman Auditorium.
Mary, your posts are never boring. Please erase that thought from your mind. Betty said it best for all of us who look forward to each and every one if your posts.
Take care, stay well and be safe.
Betty’s letter was lovely as are all the quilts. I love reading your blog as our lives are so different. I live in the suburbs 20 minutes outside of New Orleans, LA. All we’ve done lately is dodge Hurricanes Marco, Laura and just recently Sally. All have aimed themselves at the Louisiana coast. We now have a disturbance in the lower Gulf of Mexico that the models are again aiming at us. Hope to get through the other 6 storms without incident. Hurricane seasons doesn’t end until the middle of November. Give Hazel a kiss for me. She is adorable.
I also look forward to your blog. Here in Utah we had a horrible wind event last week. Thank you to Iowa for sending some of your workers to help our power company get power restored. We didn’t lose ours, but thousands were without power for days.
Betty said what we all feel about your blog. I look forward every day to read what is going on in your part of the world. I have retired from working 40 plus years in a hectic job that I loved, but now I like the calm and maybe boring to some. I can now quilt for hours and not feel guilty. Keep up the great blog, Mary.
Betty said it all and so well. There are plenty of places to look if I want controversy and mayhem, but very few to find the kind of calm and normal life I read about on your blog. I enjoy everyone’s comments on this blog as I feel they come from a place of sincerity and warmth, traits that seem lacking in today’s world.
Hi Mary, Teresa from Port Coquitlam might try chicken wire around the base of the hen house to stop them laying eggs under the house.Love the goat quilt, must get my young goat to order mine! I enjoy the quiet days,quilting and trying to down size, hope to move in a couple of years.stay safe everyone, best wishes from sandy
So true! Great letter and exactly how I think many of us feel. Thank you!
Betty’s note was spot on.
The ladies that contribute to the success of this blog are to be applauded!
Every day I look forward to a few minutes of pleasantness and often a good chuckle.
God bless you all. And thank you!
Bonnie, in smoky Oregon
Betty and Mary, thank you both and all the readers for kind words about our lives. No one is dull.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Betty, for saying it so well. I love this blog and appreciate so much, Mary, all you do for us followers. Hearing all about your quilting and life on the farm is delightful.
With all that is going on in the world, at age 72, I am quite contented and grateful for this time to spend in my sewing room, making a dent in my fabric stash.
Take care all/be safe.
Well said Betty. A few years ago my family was in the midst of one crisis after the other. Two of three sons struggling, me with health issues, a niece with brain cancer and dying, a sister losing a child, me losing a job, hubby with an increasingly stressful job, Etc. It was an extremely trying time. Out of that I learned several things – trust in God and pray, find your center with God’s guidance, look for the good, build strong relationships, care for others to help forget your own problems – just to name a few. The other thing I learned – boring isn’t so bad. Boring means there’s no drama of either kind. We need boring to sustain us through life’s ups and downs. I enjoy your blog. I love the farm stories and the quilts. Your blog is the only one I read the comments on. I look forward to the emails telling me there’s another post or another comment. Thank you.
You are so right Susan. Boring isn’t so bad! My husband and I used to say we were boring but that is so much better than drama. I trust in the Lord and he is getting me through this tough year after losing my husband and grandson within 5 months. I love your care for others to help forget your own problems. Thank you!
I love reading your blog and remembering growing up on a peaceful Iowa farm. It is always fun to see what all of your animals are doing.
I look forward to reading your blog posts and I never find them boring. Betty expressed how I feel exactly. Blessings to you.
Thank you Betty for your perfect letter. My feelings exactly! I’ve been telling Mary all along that I love her blog and hearing about her life on the farm. Hope you find those laying hens.
We had blue skies today in the San Fran Bay area. It was so nice! So sorry the rest of the country is getting our smoke. It does make for beautiful sunsets. A couple of the fires closest to us are almost fully contained. Thank you to the hard working firemen!
i agree with everyone! Your blog is the only one I comment on and the only one where I read the comments! This is a wonderful place to be!
I’m with you, Susan. I also read all the comments and comment myself occasionally. I rarely read the comments on other blogs I read. Thank you, Mary, for keeping us informed about life on the farm and all that goes with it. It is a great joy to read your blog, and I enjoy seeing all the pictures you share with us. And yes, I also agree with all that Betty wrote. Keep up the good work. Nothing you say or do is boring to me.
I too agree with Betty’s kind words and thank her for writing. I enjoy this blog very much and look forward to reading it when it’s posted. Thank you Mary for all your hard work. Never boring!! Stay safe everyone.
Your blog is the first thing I am reading this morning with my lemon ginger tea. What a nice thing to read, the letter from Betty,I agree with her. Thanks for sharing. And thanks to Bettey for posting. j
Betty’s letter is perfect! I might be boring but I’m never bored. After being in a struggling marriage for 20 years & raising 4 wonderful children at 76 I’m happy to be boring & without drama.
The weather was so beautiful yesterday that I washed some windows. I was so tired last night that I fell asleep in chair & forgot all about the CMA awards.
I love your blog Mary & like others it’s the only one I read all the comments, thank you.
How did I forget about the CMAs? Your low volume quilt is just lovely. Those small pumpkin quilts are precious and appealing– you have a great eye for set up and photography! That is a very sweet letter from Betty; I know how much those heartfelt affirmations regarding one’s blog can be energizing and so very welcome!
Mrs. Goodneedle – was so sorry to read about your friend, Janis, as well as their dog – leaves you with a heavy heart, doesn’t it?
Hi Mary, I agree with the comments about your blog. Always able to get away from my real life when I read
it. Lie here has been very busy and lots of life events, mostly sad at the moment. Will try to write a longer
note to you in the near future.
Dianne in Ontario
Dear Mary, Love your posts. Thanks so much for taking the time and putting in the hard work necessary for your blog. “Boring” is another word for calm, peaceful, less chaotic, tranquil. I’ll pick “boring” every time. Also, many thanks to Betty in Rapid City for sharing her wise words. I have taken the liberty of reprinting them and adding them to my bulletin board which is full of family , friends, wise words and creative snippets. Things that I love and that inspire me. NW Wisconsin is beginning to put on it’s fall show. Blue skies and rolling hills in a myriad of golds, greens and reds. My thoughts and prayers to all who are experiencing floods and fires. 2020 – what a year.
Thank you, Mary for sharing Betty’s letter. I too especially appreciated these words: “Most of us won’t ever make a very big dent in the world, but we will be holding up our little end of the world and doing our best to be a good person loving all the people that touch our lives.” This is what you do each and every day and share with us on your blog. If each of us did this each and every day, our world would be in much better shape. Last, I so appreciate how you end your blog with the beautiful words, Be Still. Thank you!
Like everyone else, I agree whole heartedly with Betty, your blog is a welcome distraction from our lives and gives us the ability to share yours. We are all somewhat alike, having the daily hum-drum chores and tasks that seem terribly boring and mundane, but reading that someone is like us with just a different setting and different set of usual chores takes us away into another world for a few minutes. That’s why we all wait to read what you are doing! I told your bits and pieces about my farm and my routine is close to yours other than I have to feed and clean after my horse and two mini donkeys everyday and I too go nuts looking for eggs when the girls decide they want to keep them. And I have three crazy rooster that where hatched that I can’t find good homes for!! My poor girls are naked on the top (you know what I mean).
I think everyone hear shares the love of quilting and that draws us together to enjoy what you take your time to show us. Please don’t feel your blog is every boring, you let us escape our lives to imagine being on your farm and going on adventures with you. I only wish we could hear you play in church, that would be very uplifting!
Love your little blog. Makes for a quick read and not so many details that detract from the final story! Not boring for me. Single sentences can get the thought out just as easy as blithering paragraphs!
Keep on keeping on!!
I love your blog, too. I look forward to it and appreciate all you put into it. And, I know its a lot. Bettys beautifully written letter tells it all. I also think this group of ladies, even though we live miles apart and would not know each other by site, are becoming fast friends. I think that’s really special and you have brought us all together. Thank you, Mary.
Betty is so right…..each of us are holding up our corner of the world during this stressful time. Mary, every time I see your blog in my in-box it makes me smile. I think ‘oh good, news from the farm’. You never cease to amaze me with all that you accomplish! As for those chickens, our last rooster died this spring. He was the friendliest we’ve ever had but now that he’s gone NO MORE ROOSTERS! I’m under the belief there are more em zines in fertile eggs but my body will just have to deal with fresh infertile eggs. We still have smoke in our area (southern CA) but we can’t smell smoke and the air con is working great. My heart goes out to all those affected by the fires…..so very hard. It really makes me want to sell our acreage and that is what we plan to do next year. We’ve been here 45 years and developers have bought the homes around us. What was once a lovely place to live has turned into teens partying at night on the adjacent hills. Also, the fire dept. has not enforced the weed abatement here and, while our place is weed free, we are surrounded by 4 ft. high weeds on vacant land. We’ve always been very cautious about fire but there are so many people in this city now and unfortunately some crazy’s that like to set fires. We always thought we’d leave So. CA but with our age and children near by we will succumb to a tract home…….but with the largest yard we can find. All is good….we have Jesus in our hearts, we’re above the sod, have our health and lots of friends. Bless you.
Patty McDonald – love your closing thought! Sorry to hear your acreage will succumb to developers!
I agree with everyone here. This is my favorite blog to read. Love the combination of farm life and quilting. Thank you for continuing to entertain us Mary. Such a welcome distraction in this crazy world we find ourselves in lately. Jan in MA
Well said Betty and Mary
Mary, love reading about your life in Iowa, and all the animal antics. Hope you find the eggs soon.
Mary, I appreciate you sharing Betty’s letter. It is also how I feel about your blog. Thank you Betty for articulating it so well. And, Betty thank you for all the information about the fires in the West.