Yup, the chicks are running and flapping their wings around their pen! Haha! So cute – I go in the pen with them so they’ll get used to me.
And they’re good eaters – wow!! No wonder they grow fast. My day is filled with litter boxes, dog and cat food, chicken feed and water buckets, a bit of laundry and housework (not much) and sewing and reading.
And this is why I wanted chickens – seeing them cruise around the yard is so special!
Because of Bob’s 90th birthday Sunday he has relatives coming and going at his house from out of town so Molly will be here off and on. Tomorrow it’s back to Walmart to buy a wall mount bracket for my tv in the porch.
And today I got brave and quilted the calendar quilt.
It’s not trimmed, cleaned up or bound but that’s next. I have a couple questionable quilting spots but it’s not going to the state fair so who will know but me? And once it’s hung up, I’ll never think about it again.
For those just joining the blog and don’t know the story behind the Calendar Quilt, I will post all those details when I finish and take its picture.
Last night and even this afternoon storms hit south of us.
One reader quilt
Thanks to any of you who sent Bob a birthday card!
What a fabulous log cabin quilt! Just beautiful. And Mary, your calendar quilt is awesome. We’ll done! The new baby chick’s are so cute. The feather duster made me laugh. Jeanine, I’m so happy to hear of your daughter’s report. Prayer warriors unite! Have a nice evening all!
Sue, your log cabin quilt is gorgeous, great job! Laundry Basket does have beautiful patterns and fabrics. Mary, I’m an indifferent longarmer who always has some trouble spots when my nose is 6” away, lol, but somehow they disappear in the wash. The calendar quilt is simply lovely. The chicks are fun!
I’ll join in here in saying the log cabin quilt is one of the prettiest I ever seen! Thanks for sharing this beauty! Mary, you new chicks remind me of growing up on the farm. I loved when we got new chicks. There’s just a peacefulness about seeing chickens out in the yard. I do miss that & miss those fresh eggs, too! Store bought is just not the same! My friend came by to get her dog, Preston Monday night. Boots has been in mourning since he left! Sandy said Preston has been the same way. Boots finally ate last night & we enjoyed a nice long walk today. These two dogs really love each other! Sunday afternoon was spent picking up a new water heater & my grandson installing it for me. He also replaced a lot of bad plumbing that had been done by a big box store before I moved in here. He replaced all the PVC with copper & brass. I also know how to shut off the water to the main house now! That handle had been broken off before I bought this home. Even though he didn’t want me to pay him for his labor, I did. Beautiful day here & I spent the morning working on my flower beds. My rose bushes will be blooming in another week. This is truly my favorite time of year. Tomorrow I’ve having lunch with dear friends that I worked with & a birthday celebration! I can’t believe I will be 81 tomorrow, where did the years go??
Happy Birthday, Alice! Yes, where do those years go so quickly?
Thank you, Jeanine! I do feel blessed that I’m very healthy so far, more so than some of my younger friends! Lol
Alice – Happy Happy Birthday!! Enjoy your lunch with friends. Maybe Boots and Preston could have some play dates now and then? I’m sad for them both
Thank you, Mary. The birthday luncheon was very nice. Instead of cake the hostess baked brownies. Everything was yummy! Yes, Preston & Boots will have playdates & I will have him this summer for a week when his parents go on vacation.
Happy Birthday! If your birthday is the 17 we are only 2 yrs difference. I will be 83!!! Sure don’t fell like it most of the time.
I completed the log cabin quilt in time for the binding to be sewn down while I am recuperating from hip replacement surgery. I started it last summer. It is a kit, not pre-cut, from Laundry Basket Quilts and the pattern can be purchased from them as well. Now that I am finished with that, I am itching to get back to my sewing on grandchildren’s 13th birthday quilts but will have to wait a bit longer. There will be three having birthdays within 6 months of each other, so I started well in advance in order to get them done in time. One needs binding, one needs to be quilted, and the third is still being pieced but is not needed for awhile.
I love Mary’s Calendar Quilt also, both the pattern and the color combinations. And I look forward to watching the chicks grow !
It is called Pioneer Log Cabin-Patriotic.
Thank you for letting us know the name of the log cabin quilt pattern! I just ordered it from Laundry Basket Quilts! I hope your recovery from hip replacement goes very smoothly and that you’ll be back to good health very soon.
Love both quilts!!!
The Log Cabin quilt is amazing! Thank you, Maker, for sharing with Mary who shares with us readers. Mary, in another lifetime maybe I’ll have some chickens. I just love them and the stories that come with them. My brother has recently started raising chickens but he lives in NC and I’m here in IL. I am looking forward to the story of your Calendar Quilt. It’s a beauty! I got my card out in the mail Tuesday. 90 years is quite a wonderful reason to celebrate!
The log cabin quilt is amazing. Can’t wait to see your calendar quilt finished. Love the colors. I’ve been working on a quilt for my nephew and his wife for what seems like forever. About seven years ago, I bought a pre-cut kit from Laundry Basket Quilts. The pattern is called “Alaska”. My nephew lives in Alaska so I thought it would great for them. I started working on it before Thanksgiving. There are 7 blocks in each of the 7 rows. I have the blocks in each row sewn together and now I’m joining the rows. There are so many points that have to match exactly in this pattern. It’s driving me crazy. To be perfectly honest, I’m so tired of working on this quilt that I was going to put it away for a while. But I told myself that as soon as the rows are together all I have left to do is sew on the border, have it quilted, sew on the binding and I’m done. I’m anxious to start on other quilt projects so I will finish this one.
Dianne – don’t put away now when you’re so close to finishing!!! Won’t that be a great feeling to start something new?
The calendar quilt is gorgeous! The colors are so amazing. The log cabin is beautiful, too. I’m amazed at how the weather as of late has kinda gone around us in this art of Iowa. I’m sure we’ll get our turn, but not looking forward to it. I’m still trying to get back in the swing of life after being gone for a few weeks. All I did for the first week was go to appointments and play phone tag with people! ARGGHH! Shredding papers today and hopefully get into my sewing room. I did make a practice block last night, so I think I’m good to go. I do love the chicks and I could have been a farm girl in a previous life! Now we are gone too much to even have a cat anymore. I just live through others.
Mary, your Calendar quilt is amazing and I can’t wait to see it stretched out. And, to whom ever made the Log Cabin…..it is an heirloom for sure. Love it!
The chicks are so adorable. Reminds me of the time we raised baby chicks. We started them out in a large box in our dining room. Then, to the porch, and then to a moveable chicken tractor my husband made. They were so cute. My next batch were pullets and by then we had given up the tractor idea and had made a regular chicken house. So much better. Now we have chickens we were gifted. They are brown leghorns and are excellent layers. Best of any we have had, but their screetchy, scratchy voices go right through us. This is when they want to be let out. You do it in self defense. I do love chickens, though. People say they are dumb, but that is not true. Chickens are pretty smart, I think.
I am almost finished with my great granddaughters graduation from HS quilt. I am not very happy with my straight line quilting, but I do it on my Janome sewing machine and all that bulk going in a straight line is getting almost too hard. I am envious of your quilting machine and set up. Ah, well…maybe in another life.
Remember the Twilight Bark from 101 Dalmatians? Where the dogs spread messages? That’s why one dog barking sets them all to barking.
Those little chicks are really enjoying their freedom from the crowded cages which were all they knew until coming to live with you. Mary, I’m always in awe of all the lives that depend on you. It must be at least 25, probably more.
Dot – 21 chicks, 23 old hens and 1 rooster, 5 geese, 2 goats, 8 cats, 2 dogs, a parakeet …,and a helpless husband
Your posts about your chicks and chickens make me miss our farm all the more. I couldn’t handle the work now, but chickens are incredibly efficient critters that give those wonderful eggs. Nothing better!
I agree with everyone, the log cabin quilt is beautiful. I’m enjoying hearing about your chicks. They are so sweet and they do grow so fast. Our mama horse is getting closer to having her foal, any day now. It’s interesting seeing the changes in her body as it gets closer. And we’ve seen the foal kicking, I can imagine that is uncomfortable for her.
Teresa – you’ll send pictures, won’t you?
Of course I will. It’s getting closer now, apparently they test the pH of the horses milk. It’s just above 6.2. She can have the foal any time once it reaches 6.2. We figure it could be any time tonight onwards. We are excited and I can’t wait to watch. I will send a picture once he or she is born.
Love your calendar quilt! It is turning out so beautifully. Can’t wait to see it all finished.
What is the pattern for the Log Cabin quilt? I hope someone will spill the beans because I absolutely adore it! I want to make it now!
My mom used to order chicks through the mail back in the ’50’s. She could order whatever breed she wanted, plus the number of males and females. The mailman brought them! I was always so amazed that you could just order chicks and the mailman would bring them to us. When the chicks grew up, she would butcher the young roosters for us to eat and sell the hen’s eggs to regular customers. She had an egg route! In the summer when school was out, I could go too and visit with all the ladies when she delivered their eggs. Seems like centuries ago now. Sometimes I had a pet chicken.
Marty – I remember those butchering days – ugh! What a lasting impression on me!!
We had an alert yesterday for thunderstorms. Nothing happened this time. It diverted. But I like to be aware so no complaints.
I was in a tizzy over what I thought I had misplaced some blocks. Duh I was working on them and had changed the look. Muddled brain. But at 1:30 a.m., lightbulb came on. Duh I feel pretty stupid over it and it drives me crazy when things like that happen.
So today I will finish up that little project and prep the rest of that quilt for retreat next week. I need to quilt a quilt for a grandson also. So not going to sew group today. I would probably run my mouth too much and noy get anything done.
Sunny and warm here too!
Yes, that quilt is beautiful. Thank you for sharing it with us.
As to our daughter, her surgery was suppose to be three hours, but ended up being five hours. They did also remove 7 lymph nodes under her left arm, so maybe that is why it was longer. No cancer in nodes under her right arm. I have not talked with her as yet, as I know she is probably still under the effects of sedation. The surgeons said the surgery was successful. Her husband has kept us up to date on her. They did keep her overnight, so I was very thankful they did that as they were contemplating sending her home yesterday, which is 4 hours from Sioux Falls, SD. They live in a small town in southeast ND. Her husband is a pastor there. Thank you so much for your prayers and concern. We are all very grateful.
We had rain again yesterday, and now the forecast calls for frost over the weekend. Spring will eventually stay here we hope!!
Have a great day, everyone. It’s suppose to get to 80* here today.
Jeanine – great news about your daughter’s surgery! I live two hours from Mayo and they make you stay at a hotel for a couple nights just in case you have trouble
If Rick has to get them into the barn at nights, he will be one happy camper
Dee – Rick hasn’t been to the barn in years
Mary, you’ve described my days-minus chickens and dogs. Add to that a husband who sits with his cell phone in front of his face all day. Thank goodness for my sewing friends!
My card went in the mail yesterday. Hope he has an awesome birthday!
I’m anxious to read about the calendar quilt. And the reader quilt is beautiful!
My friend in Des Moines was getting a down pour yesterday afternoon. I’m jealous
The log cabin quilt is stunning and so is your calendar quilt! You are all so talented and dogged in your sticking to complicated projects until they are finished. I am envious! Love the chickens and the feather duster as the stand iin mama.
I used to love your chickens running around when we visited your shop. You had such a variety that made chickens interesting. I’ve taken the grands to see the baby chicks at Bomgaars and Fleet Farm. I always wanted goats and chickens, but fear I’m too old for such nonsense so I live vicariously through you and a couple other homesteaders on Facebook.
Sat outside and read all afternoon on Tuesday. I was in the shade but still got sunburned on my arms. Worth it though to sit outside.
More storms tomorrow. Repotted my cucumbers yesterday. They were outgrowing the little peat pots they were in. Can’t wait to get in the garden and start planting!
Enjoy today!
OOH, LOVE the calendar quilt!
Your calendar quilt looks fantastic! Good job in getting it quilted!
I love your calendar quilt. The colors are beautiful. And the log cabin quilt is stunning!!
Love the calendar quilt! You did an amazing job. Amd all the doggo’s – such fun! 🐾🐶
The calendar quilt is beautiful, love it! I also love seeing chickens wandering around the yard. 😊
Mary, the chicks are adorable. I love the way they huddle together under the feather duster. The Calendar quilt looks great and your colors are beautiful. Can’t wait to see it finished. I drove over to the main post office today and dropped off Bob’s card. Hopefully it will get there by Saturday. The Log Cabin Star is absolutely amazing! What a beauty! Dogs are so funny! It just takes one to get them all going! Fun post tonight!
Sally – I’m always amazed at which posts are enjoyed most – I didn’t think it was anything special – like I always say, this is the blog about nothing. Just life in general, nothing dramatic. Haha!!
I gasped when I saw the log cabin quilt. Just gorgeous!
Our 3 dogs never bark alone. When one starts, the others invariably join in. It’s apparently a moral imperative.
That Log Cabin quilt is beautiful. I don’t know that I have the patience to do that but it is wonderful.