Rain to the tune of 2-1/2″ this morning! And the wind blew so there’s sticks and twigs all over – every time I bend over I try to think of it as calisthenics – haha! Betty, the puppy, loves for Connie to be outside picking up sticks. I said to teach her to pick them up and put them in a pile – now that would be a trick!
Connie is working on a quilt for the next book and I started this afternoon very unenthusiastically – I’d better change my tune.
Yesterday in the heat and humidity I had to clean out the feed room because I wanted to have feed delivered before the coop got too busy with harvest.
I scooped up all the feed on the floor and put it in a feeder or a tub -but get a look at those cobwebs on the ceiling – yuck! Here’s the AFTER picture – so much better, don’t you think?
The feed truck was scheduled for 8 am but it was raining too hard so it was postponed till later in the morning. Here’s the latest picture. It looks so clean -I love it!
I ordered only one ton and then I’ll run out before the snow gets too deep which means the feed truck will come again before spring next year. We eat very expensive eggs – smile.
While I was outside I decided to check on the volunteer pumpkin vines in the goat pen. I need two closely matched pumpkins for the altar at church. I see some orange peeking through these old steps.
Sure enough -it’s a beauty! The only reason it hasn’t been chewed on is because the steps were over the top.
Yesterday someone asked about the table topper under the corn. Here it is.
This is one enlarged block of Devil’s Claw which is on the cover of Civil War Remembered by Country Threads.
I have also made a multiple small block topper in brights but right now I can’t find it to show you.
Someone else asked if we got credit for closing an ad and yes, we do! We will appreciate any help you can give us to keep this blog going.
I’ve gotten more stories from readers and I have to say it’s my favorite part of this blog.
I hung my Sugar Maple Quilt the other day in our front entry so I see it from the table – I’d better be thinking what I want up there next.
Just realized I had not shown you this picture of a cloche my friends Carolee and Bob gave me last weekend. I have a special plant named Cookie by the giver and it’s not doing too well so it’s inside the cloche. I hope Cookie can be revived.
Oh, I almost forgot – the oriole nest came down in that big wind.
I finished sewing the velveteen backs on the two red and white pincushions.
Hmmm – I believe that picture is upside down – I’ll close on that note because if I try to fix it the whole post could crash!
Thank you for that post! It was filled with cute!
-Jean💟
Well, if Miss Betty picked up the branches, she’d be the “branch manager!”
We could use some rain…please send us some.
That pumpkin is a hum dinger, I’m sure you will find a matching one in your harvest from the other day.
I just got home from jail and my partners show and tell was so awesome, I didn’t want to show mine. I cleaned and adjusted machines for a hour. Those inmates are very productive, their show and tell was great.
Jo – branch manager, haha, I love it! Honestly those inmates amaze me – do you think they’ll continue quilting when they get out of prison? You are so good to help them with their machines as well as producing quilts.
Fantastic job of cleaning the feed room, Mary! That’s a tough job and your results are wonderful.
As a misplaced country girl, oh how I love your blogs and look forward to them. Have to ask you a stupid question. How do you keep rats out of that feed? I can’t even put bird seed out anymore or they come. So glad you are having rain. I don’t even know when the last time was we had some – maybe Jan. or Feb. Has to happen sometime. By the way, I love the straightline quilting you do. I asked a couple machine quilters here but they can’t do it on their machines. Looks so much better than the overall patterns.
Maryjane B – no rats here – too many cats who take their job seriously. They continue to catch mice but we just don’t have any rats. Hazel wants to catch a mouse so badly but the cats kill them all. Of course machine quilters can do straight lines quilting – they just think they can’t hold it straight enough to suit them. My lines are not perfectly straight but how could you tell?
We got about an inch of rain from last night to around noon in Kasson. But oh! yesterday at about 3pm the wind was crazy! It was hot but Al wanted to mow – I was picking up a few sticks and he made one round, the wind came up and there were leaves and sticks flying every where, and the temperature dropped 20 degrees in less than 5 minutes. Lots more branches to pick up but we didn’t lose anything big, there were a few bigger branches down around town. And it didn’t even rain then – it took 2.5 hours for the rain to show up, and I think we are supposed to get a few more inches of rain over the next 2 days.
We don’t have mice…we have chipmunks. And they aren’t nearly as cute as Chip ‘n Dale or Alvin. They are tunneling under our sidewalk and I suspect driveway and being quite destructive. They climb up one neighbors’ bird feeder and chow down. Our other neighbor’s dog would love to catch one, they drive her nuts.
Sherry – we had that same wind about 3:15 yesterday – how can that be? But today we have branches, nests, twigs, leaves and corn stalks blowing around the yard after 2-1/2 “ of rain this morning. Nothing to complain about when I think of North Carolina! How will they ever get back to normal?
We drove through Kansas yesterday and the corn looks like across the road from you. On the road yesterday and no internet last night, so a little late responding. I’m looking forward to getting some piecing done in the evenings while we are in Colorado. Working on blocks of the month and Moda Blockheads which appear every Wednesday. Also bought a couple of scrap quilts to work on after I complete the BOMs. It was hot in Kansas when we left and in the 90s here in Colorado! Always enjoy your blogs, Mary.
Please remember the North Carolina Coast victims. I am fine in Clemmons, NC, but the east coast is
having a horrible time and will continue for weeks. The coast is devastated. The news reporters will leave and they will be forgotten. A donation to the Red Cross will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Ann Roth – none of us can believe our eyes when we watch the news! Those poor people – their lives will never be the same and the way I understand it is that many are trapped either inside the flood area and can’t get out or are outside and can’t get back to their homes or what’s left of their homes. It is unbelievable! No, we won’t forget – forgive me for not mentioning them in my post this morning.
That is one very clean feed room! You could eat off the floor. We didn’t have rain today, but we had the remnants of Florence over the weekend. I do feel sorry for those poor people down there. The Red Cross is a good idea because it goes right to the people. Thanks for sharing all of the quilts and toppers, Mary.
Diane – believe me you still would not want to eat off the floor! Haha!
I had a 3 mo. GSD puppy that saw me dig holes planting tulip bulbs. He dug 150 holes for me. He never dug holes again. It is possible to teach dogs. Today I thought of going down the road to McHenry to buy 7M tickets at the VFW for you and several of my friends but the line was 5 hrs. I already had mine. Will try the next time beginning in January. This one took 2 yrs, for a winner.
Dee t – I hope you win!
I enjoy reading about your normal stuff it’s different from my normal stuff.
I am on the California coast we get rain in late October now it’s cool nights and warm lovely days.
I watch the weather news periodically throughout the day to see what’s happening on the East coast we don’t get rain like that here so it’s important to see the flooding for me to understand what’s happening.
Also an earthquake in Japan
I use a gopher grabber to pick up smaller sticks and apples that fall off my trees, it saves on the back.
That would be an amazing trip to teach Betty to pick up sticks and put them in a pile. My labs think I pick up sticks just for them to take and play tug of war with with and my golden retriever thinks every stick is just for him to chew on.
Linda schluchter – sounds like your dogs have the good life, as if they expect you to pile up those sticks just for them. Haha! Don’t we all? If Connie teaches Betty to be a branch manager, surely Hazel can learn, too.
When I first looked at the before picture of the feed room, I immediately thought of an old master’s painting. I loved the cobwebs, the light and the red and yellow accents against the grey walls. At least that ‘s how I saw it on my cell phone. On my laptop the colors were much brighter so I’m happy I saw it first on the phone. Easy for me to see the beauty as I wasn’t the one mucking the room out! Your photos enhance your blog so much. Thanks for including so many; you are quite a photographer.
It’s hot in Placer County, in northern California. We are approximately halfway between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe.
We feel so badly for those impacted by the recent storms. I can’t imagine losing my home, even temporarily.
Sarah – you have an artist’s eye, me thinks! Those poor people in the Carolinas – my home and pets are my life. Don’t know if I could live if suddenly I lost it all!