Life on the Farm

I was asked several questions in the last post and will try to answer them.

No, the cows are not dairy cows. We don't produce milk, we produce meat. Please don't stand (or set) there and say "yuck". Most of Americans eat meat products on a daily basis. Whether it's beef, chicken, pork or turkey please be aware of where your meat is coming from! I won't use this as a soap-box ....but, YOU asked!

Since I'm a fourth generation farmer, it's natural that we promote what we raise. I'm not going to stand here and say only eat American-raised beef and grains, but I am going to say to make sure what you put in your mouth comes from a known source. If it's imported, is it up to the standards that you're familiar with? Be PICKY!

Okay...to make this a positive post, I dug out some children friendly pictures. We raised three boys on the farm. I've given the oldest boy his photo album already, so I'm short on pictures of him. You'll see more of the other two.
When we first bought our current house, I was pregnant with Troy. I wanted to stay home (DH worked in town), so we got the bright idea to raise bottle calves. We even had two milk cows at one time.....when did I ever have time to sleep? One summer the boys and I raised close to 100 bottle calves. Lots of bottles and lots of mixing milk. The most ever at one time was 35 calves.

When the vet started calling me and asking ME about how to doctor calves.....needless to say, we had a pretty good record of success with baby calves. Like I said, I was raised on the farm and I didn't want the opportunity of having all of this in front of the boys and them being in town at a babysitter.

This small farm has raised it all: rabbits (no, we didn't eat them), chickens, turkeys,sheep, pigs and calves. My kids have witness life, death, sickness and loads of dirt and fun. No, this life isn't for everybody but it's all I know....it's the way I was raised. Raising our own food and canning for winter was something they witnessed firsthand. It's not always the most economical, but I wanted them to learn where their food came from. I wanted them to appreciate what being a "Steward of God's Earth" really meant. I wanted them to know what a strawberry was really suppose to taste like--what smut on fresh corn looked like--how an animal relies on them to live--what it's like to get up in the middle of the night and witness birthing baby pigs. I wanted them to know what the saying "dancing like a chicken with his head cut off"...well, you get my point. We do have windmill here on the farm. It's not pumping water, but it makes a good decoration and conversation piece. I don't know how many more years it will stand up, but I'm protecting it for right now. The old barn needs to come down. It was built in the '20's and is in horrible shape. The materials used weren't the best and the years haven't been kind.

So, I hope I answered your questions. Yes, we eat what we raise and if you come to supper I'll cook you a hamburger. It probably is from a cow from our farm or if it's a sausage-burger it may of been pampered at a stock-show. May sound cruel, but it's a part of farm life. Our phiosophy is that we can either eat what we raise or go buy it at the grocery story. I'm just picky enough that I want to know that what I'm eating was raised with the quality of care we give.

Hoping that this week brings you some quilty-time because I'm sure as heck not getting any!

Hallelujah Chorus in the Backyard

Once a year we get to listen to a choir. No, it's not the usual beautiful choir you think of at church but it's an unending hymn of Mooooooooooomama. We bring our weaning calves to a pen/lot very close to the house to wean them away from their Mamas.

If you are even in eyeshot of them, they start the singing. If you go out there to visit with them, they're right beside you. Yes, such wild-beasts

we have!...

not. The mamas (who are in a field several miles away of ear-shot) aren't even the least bit worried that their calves are gone. They're actually all bred and will have another calf next spring.

I also included a picture of Troy with one of his bottle babies. There are two of these spoiled-rotton creatures who can always find their way to the front of the crowd for a head-rubbin'.

Quiet-farm life?

Not during weaning season for sure! I call it 73 chances to get your jeans licked on.

AND....your boots better be clean 'fore you come back into the house....

Fifteen years my friend

This is Trudi and a young version of Troy.

She came into our lives as a present for our boyz and was a member of our household for almost 15 years.

She could bark and keep all of the cats cleared off of the back porch or keep a steady beat while the kids played outside.

I could fill lots of photo albums with all the pictures I have of her. She always had to be in the middle of whatever you were doing and for sure kept the kitchen floor spotless!

I know pets aren't in our lives forever, but this one has been around a long time.

She loved it when I sewed because she always claimed it as a new sleeping blanket. It was a big joke with the boys that Trudi always went with us because everything we wore had Trudi-hair on it.

I had to tell Trudi goodbye last week. When a pet like her is a part of your life, it's really hard.

Her beautiful hair was embedded with strings from my last homespun project as I wrapped her fraile thin body up for the last time. She left my heart heavy but my sewing buddy will always be remembered.

Goodbye Trudi

Ribbons Won

Had a good time at the fair. Troy took three pigs and won two ribbons. Overall the school won more places (ribbons) than last year, so we have to say the show was a success. It would be great to say we got one in the premium sale (where the big money is), but we (the whole school) didn't get there. That's alright...the kids had fun and enjoy going so it's worth it.

There was also some nice quilts at the fair. It's always fun to go to be inspired. Last year it was a bullseye quilt that I saw that made me finally decide to make mine. Who knows what I'll start next because of what was seen. There are still three unfinished projects laying in my living room that are going to be finished first!

Visited three fabric shops while in Tulsa and found the backing fabric I needed for my bricks and stepping stones fabric. Surprised myself and bought something totally different than what I went in looking for. Also went looking for some fabric for another project but gave up on that idea. Proves that you should buy enough fabric for the WHOLE project.

Got to visit my niece whom I hadn't seen in several months. I'm gonna be a Great-Aunt! Don't I look great?

AND...bought myself a new pair of NewBalance shoes...NOW..I'm ready for HOUSTON!

Probably the most important purchase was a new cell phone...so nice to have one that works! Middle son said that if I wouldn't cuss so much, I wouldn't need to wash the dirty words outta it. Yeah, right.....

The washer is calling....why is it that when you're only gone for a couple of days you're always behind.

BTW---somebody asked me about my windmill. Yes, we have a working one here on the farm and have several on other places. They're a pain to maintain, but they still remind me of old-times.

Going to the Fair!

Every year 'bout this time, we head north-east on the turnpike to the Tulsa State Fair. Since we have a very-active ag-student in our presence, we'll spend a few days up there.

I usually get a few inspiring pictures of the quilt display and sometimes get to visit Material Girls. This year my traveling companion (aka husband) is going to be itching to get back home to swath and bale hay before the freeze visits, so my quilting visits may be cut short.

I am packing my embroidery work so hopefully I'll get a lot of it done. Good idea, but we'll see how it flies. I've already printed out a map of the stops I'm going to request, so there may not be too many minutes setting. I've got swatches of some fabric that I'm going on a hunt for too. That's what I get for not buying enough when I was shopping the first time. Three Hancock's in one town!....how do those Tulsa girls survive?!

Last year it rained and rained, but this year we're having record hot temps. Guess that's Oklahoma for ya! Everybody have a good week.

I've made some changes to the scene...anybody notice?!

Getting along...

I've had a boy home sick with strep-throat and he really doesn't need me holding his hand so I'm sewing. He sleeps just fine in the recliner and loves watching old movies or music videos. I can multi-task so I sew as I listen to him snore.

Here's my accomplishment :

I started this as I was trying to use up scraps from my bullseye (homespun) quilt. Guess I didn't realize just how many scraps I had accumulated! AND...it's grown since this picture was taken. The picture looks purply and it has a lot of blue in it, so that's maybe why.

BTW--it's a BONNIE design!

When I get the border on I'll post another picture. This has been one of those quilts that grew f-a-s-t . ..but when you're making it for a boy who also grew f-a-s-t...a small lapquilt just won't do.

Gratitude for this week: antibiotics that we're not allergic to!

The Color Red

You Are Crimson Red

Down to earth and warm-hearted, you instantly make everyone feel at ease around you. And while you have an understated passion - you lack the uncontrolled passion of most other reds. You prefer to sit back and enjoy every situation life has to offer. You put an optimistic spin on everything. And even when things are going well, you don't get too amped up. You prefer to keep your emotions as steady as possible.

What Color Red Are You?

She's B-A-C-K

Cindy and I go back way. Well...not forever, but we've been friends for a long time. I don't know if I started my blog first or if she did....but anyway.....blogger zapped hers and she had to start over.
If you have a chance, change your link for her blog:

No Puppy Dog Tails

Very talented, wonderful cook, sweet Mom to her daughters, granddaughter and niece. Go visit..you'll go back!

Welcome back among cyberspace..and next time DUCK so you won't get zapped!

Pincushions

Evelyn showed us her pin collectors, and then I noticed Gail's (and the hedgehog is very cute) so I thought I'd show you mine. The house is very dark today, so I sat these on the porch for a quick picture.

The needlepoint strawberry one is a pincushion that my Mom made me back in the early 80's. She liked to do counted crossstitch and little needlepoint kits and I was the recipient of this one. I typically use it for my glass-top pins and needles (with thread left in them). I also use it to catch different types of machine needles that I want to save.

Several months ago CindyB (who's blog got zapped by blogger) talked me into buying these yellow flower-head pins. Never had used them, and the other pincushion collects them. This pincushion is a crochet doiley that I made for my Grandmother one year for Christmas. When I inherited all of her sewing stuff, it was tucked away in with the rest of her things. There had probably been 15 years pass by and I had forgotten about the homemade pincushion. I cherish both of these as they represent the two women who really encouraged me to keep my hands busy!

Wake me up when it's over

It's fall. The ragweed is out, the wind has started blowing out of the north and I'm sneezing. It's also wheat planting time. We call it "sew wheat". Since so many readers are sewers/quilters...well, don't get confused. Dh is not a sewer....he's a cussin' farmer. Yep, spent the whole day with him. That's a good description.

Last night's sunset:

It may seem dark, but I liked the tractor in it. Sorry if you can't see it. I'll adjust if necessary.

This particular farm always has the prettiest sunsets. Even if the big windtowers are in the picture, it's still a pretty site.

Here's one for JudyL.
She talked about us planting wheat so she could buy flour. She also talked

about buying wheat-berries in the bulk and grinding her own wheat. I do that some...grind my own wheat and make bread from fresh-ground....lots of work, but it does taste better. King Arthur Flour..., almost as good and a whole heck-of-a-lot easier. Maybe when life slows down I'll think about doing that again.

This is one drill full of wheat and Dh's tractor pulls two at a time:

This was also taken last night when I took him supper aka hamburger w/chips. Notice the empty pkgs on tire.

I started this glorious day by taking son #3 to his appointment so he can work off his committment from the auction the other night. Then after a trip to the coop for pig feed(do NOT let me forget to get that out of the trunk of my car) it was the start of today's "can you come and help me for awhile":

~Go to town (we live half-way between two towns and split our business between them) and get fertilizer. 7000lbs of fertilizer in the truck--bulk. No big deal, but then all I could smell was fertilizer. I get tickled at the farmers who wave--they wave at all of the truck drivers and they do a double look because it's a woman driver! Oh my...a woman driving a wheat truck?! DH doesn't like my job at planting wheat...so I get volunteered to get fertilizer.

~After I delivered the fertilizer out to the field, it was then "help me fill everything up". Fertilizer and seed-wheat.

~After filling the drills, it was "help me move the trucks to the next field...you'll have to walk". Can you hear the thrill of joy in my voice?!

~After moving the three vehicles and getting my more-than-needed walk in for the day it was after lunchtime.

~Subway..what can I say..it's nourishment. I really didn't want to be seen by a whole lot of people either. Pony tail, dirt smeared all over me and the fresh smell of mixture of fertilizer and wheat dust. Yep, I'm sure I was real appealing.

~Delivered my farmer back to his tractor and thought my day of helping him was over. Gee...what was I thinking?! Got home to the other two soon-to-be farmers who need help bringing another tractor home, actually thinking that their Mom's car should be brought home too(aka rescued from the side of the road where she was "helping Dad"), and heard this statement...."if you don't have anything else to do, we need more seed wheat loaded".

My head still hurts. Wheat dust, fertilizer dust, laundry piles or the thought of supper being just a few hours away...wait, what is that noise? Plastic hanger in the washer....at least it's not my cell phone.

~Ten minutes later I hear "you don't wanna go with us? Well, build us a sandwich and you can stay home".


Oh the joys of being left alone for a few minutes. Darn dryer buzzer.

side note: we do have a field where the wheat has sprouted and come up. I'm going to try to show the steps from start to finish so you fine folks can have flour.

Went to Auction

Every year I get asked to donate an item to be auctioned off for a fundraiser. The past two years I've made quilty/craft items that have done quite well.
This year the items I made were a clothing bag and a lap-size quilt. Orange/black are not colors I care to work with (too Halloween for me), but since it's the University of choice for our school I was persuaded to use the fabric.

I've shown the quilt in a previous post but here's the clothing bag up close. Its backed and lined with black denim. Took me three times to remember how to install a zipper! But, I was quite please with how it turned out. The kids about wore the zipper out trying it out before the sale, so I think it'll hold up. Was also asked to make three more. Not sure I want to get into the clothing-bag business, but I bet the next one won't take three zipper attempts!

And yes....Troy already has one!

Troy is on the officer team and they hinted that I needed to make them all matching bags...yeah, in their dreams.....

Being Rewarded!

There were about 100 quilt exhibits that were entered at our county fair this year and three of those entries were mine. They choose the best from the first place winners of each category and I just happened to win it this time. I'm excited. The purple quilt is a really pretty quilt and I'm glad Megan let me show it off. She told me that I get the ribbons and she gets the quilt..she thought that was a even trade!
If you haven't read the story behind this quilt--or seen the whole thing, here's where I first posted about it back in June.

I also entered the Sunflower quilt and the Airplane quilt and they both won blue ribbons in their categories (baby quilt-pieced and baby quilt-machine quilting).

If you haven't been to a local county fair I'll see if I can explain something. Every category is judged against other like entries. Blue-red-white (1st,2nd,3rd) are given. Then the top entries are judged against each other for champion (1st) and reserve champion (2nd) in a large group of like-entries AND THEN they pick a best of show out of even a larger group of like-entries. Follow me? I sometimes have to get my book out to see what all categories are put together, but the quilts are only judged with other quilts and not other craft entries. So, the reserve champion ribbon and the Best of show ribbon actually came from all three being judged against each other. It's hard to follow, and every show has different rules about what's judged against the other divisions.

One of the ladies working (keeping eyes on the quilts) came up and asked me what pattern the quilt was because she wanted to make one JUST LIKE IT for her grandaughter. Wish she'd claim me for a grandaughter.... I obliged and gave her the website where the pattern came from and even came home and printed it off for her. I bet she'll have one in the fair next year just like it!
I've never won a Best of Show so this was quite a treat for me AND Megan.

Night of the Full Moon

Did anybody else notice the big full moon last night? Well....I did. I was out going back and forth and back and forth driving the JD 4640 when the big full moon showed up. I borrowed this picture, 'cause I never could've taken one while bouncing out there. The sun also disappears about 8pm now...what happened to our long evenings? NOT ready for fall...NOT ready for fall....somebody slow us down!

The only good thing about driving a tractor (except I had tons of other stuff I shoulda been doing) is that I get caught up on listening to The BOB radio station. Have no idea why, but their station will not come in at my house or at work. Yes, I know they're on the OTHER side of Okie-land but I always know it's tuned in on one of the tractors. Yeah, I know.... weird what us farmers listen to. Also late-night is when all the weird commericals come out. The one that really caught my attention is that I could apply to become a Highway Patrol because I have 'hostage-situation' experience....hey...I've lived with 4 men for 20 years...I've held kids hostage before...I can negotiate with a middle child...I can negotiate with ANYBODY! I actually think I'm over qualified for that position.

While I was out be-booping to the good old oldies like Fleetwood Mac, Genesis, Foreigner, and Rod Stewart I shoulda been in the house finishing up my OSU quilt. No, it won't get entered in this year's county fair but I've still got a few days to finish it and I'll get there.....

The other thing that always happens to me when the full moon comes out, I start singing David Frizzell's song about "a full moon over Tulsa". No, I'm not quitting my day job, but why do some of those songs just stay with us? Maybe that song is just an Okie thang.

About midnight I got accused of desserting the gang, but a girl has gotta get some beauty sleep sometime. I'll finish the orange/black project tonight.......maybe, if I don't get caught and have to go drive back and forth and back and forth. It IS wheat planting time and it takes all of us to get it done..but there are some of us who just can't figure out how to cook supper...

I gotta go to work to rest!

I've Been Nominated

Best Unusual Blog
Well...I've been called a lot of things, but the word Unusual is probably an understatement.

Recently I came across a ring of Oklahoma Bloggers and it's actually nice reading what fellow Okie's are doing. I was even nominated in the unusual category...I'm flattered.

If you click on the above picture, it will show you all of the categories.

So if I'm "Unusual"...what's a Usual Okie?.........hmmmmmmm

Can you Hear me Now?

Did you know that your Nokia 6030 cell phone won't work after it goes thru a front-loading washer?

There's a love/hate relationship with my phone. Living in boonie-ville western Oklahoma--cell phone towers are far and few between....but there are those who think they are a convenience.

So..I get brave and call Cingular--holiday and all, maybe somebody works on these days.

Yes!... a live human being.

Nope, you didn't purchase insurance with the phone when you switched from At&T to Cingular, so they won't help.

Nope, don't bother to try the sims card in your old AT&T phone because it won't work. Different phones, different companies. She tells me that I actually should have disposed of my old phone. (hmmmmm...why?)

Nope, they won't give me a new phone and a new one will cost at least $150...AND she won't actually give me the price for one! She tells me to try eBay.

Okay....I do have a few brain-cells because I don't use the cell phone that often, so my brain says "lets at least try the AT&T phone"...it's just laying dead in the junk drawer.

Re-charge the battery for 3 hours and wa-lah....old AT&T cell phone works with Cingular sims card. Whowouldaknew? Spare battery (yes, it did work) for the guys' cell phones too. NOT disposing of anything until it's ancient from now on (wait, that's normal for me)

Remind me NOT to wash THIS phone?! Only three months on the contract, so it'll be awhile before the guys have theirs worn out.

Sewing accomplished this holiday weekend

How about something accomplished for the weekend?! This happened to be a weekend where I got to do some major sewing.

Our local FFA chapter has a labor-auction-supper for it's local supporters. The idea is that the local businesses/farmers bid on the students and in return they get a 8-hour work day. Okay....buy a kid for (an average) of $150 and get him to work 8 hours....good idea anyway. Oh, I should say..it's tax-deductible.

I usually make something for them to auction off. Some people/businesses would rather buy something besides a kid--last year I made two fleece OSU pillows. So..this is what I made over the weekend. It's just the top and the ag-teacher told me today that I had 19 days to get it finished. Yes, I can do that.....

We're not big OSU or OU supporters... I have yet to send my tuition money to either institution. That may be in our future, but for right now I'll just buy fabric and make something to be auctioned off.

I personally think it's too halloween, but it's Oklahoma State University. When I get it quilted, I'll show a better close-up. It's about 60" wide, so it'll make a nice sized lap quilt for whoever the lucky bidder is. I've also seen a mistake in the piecing..but NO..I'm not ripping it out!

Wish there was such a thing as smell-a-vision. This Martha Stewart cake just came out of my oven..well, minus the candles. Some of my friends don't care for Martha, but I still like her recipes. If it tastes half as good as it smells, it won't last long. My guys were more impressed with the chocolate cake then they were with the quilt.

September First on the Farm

Harriet showed a really cute picture of her son and it made me think of mine. There's quite a bit of age difference between our children and my mind is mush most of the time, but I still had to chuckle. This picture is what her son's feet are going to turn into:

Troy just bought a new pair of boots...Ariat, size 13. Yep, Harriet....just wait. You're gonna spend a lot of money on hamburger before you get there!

While I was off sneaking pictures, I thought this was a cool shot of our JD tractor. It's a 1979 model, but Trent and Dean keep it running. The next shot is even proof of that. They're working on the 4640 that had electrical problems--no lights-- and ya gotta have lights to work ground after dark.

What's a JD tractor without a hood ornament? This shedder's name is DC and was taking advantage of the tractor setting still. It's up high and if you're not careful, he's in the cab trying to help.

September is here and that means it's almost time to plant wheat. Hard Red Winter Wheat--and we have almost one thousand acres to plant. Today it rained and we never cuss a rain...just makes another day to catch up on the other things that need to be done--like SEWING!

Look what followed me home...

I love estate sales. Sometimes they are like a treasure hunt because you never know what you're going to find. This particular sale was advertised, so I knew what to be looking for...I went armed with cash!


The quilt I bought was made in the late 1930's by a woman in Western Oklahoma. No, it's not labeled but it will be soon. I am lucky enough to be friends with the previous owner, and she gave me the details of my purchase. It's in wonderful condition and was stored so it has no damage for the age of the quilt. Hard to believe that it's almost 80 years old! AND...it's now hanging in MY living room!

I also purchased the couple's hand-made kitchen table. I'd never seen a table made quite like this and much thanks needs to go to Troy and his buddy JD for helping me get it home.

The top of this table is made from 2x4's turned on their side. The pictures do not do it justice, nor can give you an idea about how heavy the darn thing is. Okay..yes, the boyz called it a few other things. You can also see that it's NOT in my house just yet...it's in the garage. Have yet figured out how I'm going to get the thing into my house. It had to go thru a sliding glass door, and around a fence to even get it out of the previous owner's home. I do have plans for it but you'll have to wait to see what those are.

Probably a good thing that there are only a few estate sales in my area at a time....Dh has already told my boss that I'm not allowed to take off work early again this month!

First Day of School

Yesterday was the beginning of Troy's Sophmore year. Since I leave before he does and he gets home before me, I didn't have the honor of taking the milestone picture. Will get him later.


I did drag this old picture out. Man...were the boyz ever that little?

Troy is the youngest
Trent w/yellow shirt and
Travis holding Troy.

Glad I had them while I was young--what was I thinking? I know other Moms who had children closer in age, but thank goodness God didn't see that in my plan. I never would've survived....they're lucky that THEY survived! They'll probably be in therapy some day 'cause of their Mom! I always told them that thread was bio-degradable. I heard Troy tell one of his friends that he was allergic to white (they were talking about clothes). Heck, it worked...never had to buy white shoes or white t-shirts.

We've been blessed with rain the past week. Now (don't think I'm griping) the mosquitoes are thick! I was out chasing somebody's bottle calves last night because another somebody left the gate open. Grass about 8" tall can hide a lot of mosquitoes. I'm still itchy today.

Been sewing like a mad woman and my house shows it. I gotta stop and get caught up someday....someday will come eventually.

I've saved this picture because I keep thinking that this would make a good landscape/portrait picture in a quilt. Anybody make one? I have a book--but not ready to tackle it yet. ...someday!

A day of Ribbons

One thing I can say is that we're not an overly-competitive family. We like to participate, but being "the best" is not why we go. I try to stress the getting-there is what's the most fun.

We have a local fair that is always fun. It's advertised as one of the oldest free-fairs in the state and it's always been a safe place for cheap entertainment for our boys. My Uncle has always been fair-president (until recently) so family members are always coerced into participating!

First entry of the year: The Sunflower Quilt
I entered it in the Baby-Applique and since I was the only entry, they moved me to the category of Baby-Pieced. You have to remember...small-town country fair. I did ask the judge (i've known her for 28 years) how she picked a Grand-Champion quilt and she said that it comes down to hand-quilting. She said it was a preference for her and if she has two that she's down to, the hand-quilting will win. Well...since there's too many quilts out there that needs to be made, I won't win with my hand-quilting! The blue ribbon is my prize (and a $5 bill to go with it).


Second ribbon of the day:
I don't know who's the bigger Goober....The one I'm married to or my youngest son! Troy won Breed-Champion with his Hampshire pig. Took three pigs to the pig show and it was the day for the black/white one to shine. He won a third and fourth with the other two.
If you've never been to a pig-show, it's an experience in itself. Sometimes it's organized-chaos..well most of the time it is, but they manage to get it done. Like I said, we go to have fun. Yes, it's a lot of work but it's also fun seeing all of the kids work together and learn to help each other.
This picture is also deceiving, because Troy is as tall as his Dad.

One more trip to town this morning to pick up my quilt and my prize. There's another fair next month that I'm thinking about entering two quilts in it. Figure as long as we have pigs that go, I can enter some of my quilts too.

Finally, some sewing

I haven't been able to post in almost two weeks and now two in a row....miracles.

Anyway....I've been reading JudyL's theory of sewing at least an hour a day. Sounds good...sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I still have three that are good at stating "come and help me for a minute"....yea..like it's only a minute!

Since we've been blessed with a drink outside, things have slowed down somewhat. When the fields are dry again, I'll get more peace and quiet because they'll be busy outside.

But...yesterday was one of the days that I got to sew for about THREE hours! Well....there was laundry done, supper cooked and clothes folded inbetween, but I DID get some sewing done.
I bought these 2 1/2 x 6 1/2 strips at our guild's flea-market night. A gallon ziploc bag full for .25cents. I've been looking thru Bonnie's site and found this bricks and stones pattern that I thought would work perfect for these. My collection of homespuns grew(still haven't figured this out) after my bullseye and figure it would be a good way to use some of the smaller pieces. Small is right...the checkerboard (stones) are 1.5" strips! BUT...using Bonnie's techniques of strip piecing, I managed to make about 50 of the 4-patch blocks and sewn to bricks! Yes, this is definitely going to be a fast and easy project. Getting it quilted (like the bullseye) may be the problem, but making the blocks is the fun part, right?

And the Thunder Rolls...

Western Oklahoma has been without rain for many weeks. So, when these dark clouds formed we all got excited. Yes the radar said strong winds and small hail, but rain is the magic word.

When the storms passed we went out and check everybody (this is our animal head-count) to make everybody is alright. Much to our dismay we couldn't find one of Troy's bottle calves (which are now weaned).

The pictures may not show the black streak, but lightening hit this tree that Troy is standing next to. We had never seen bark stripped off of a tree like this. Some of the bark was 5 feet away. Usually when a streak of lightening hits, the tree is split in two but this one was different. Just so happened that one of his calves was laying next to it thinking it would give some shelter from the pounding rain.

This last tree-picture shows where the lightening went clear-thru the tree and exited out. This is where the calf was laying when we found her. No, she didn't make it thru the storm and had a big black mark where she was struck by the lightening bolt. I've preached and preached to everybody that lightening is like fire--you gotta respect it. Stay out of it's way! Also sad that one of God's creatures was taken and also (sad to admit) that the monetary loss is also there...raising bottles calves is Troy's way of gaining an allowance on the farm. He does the work and receives the check when the calves are sold in the spring.

This picture is of Dean and one of our neighbors and also shows just how close this tree is to our house. The lightening could've hit our house just as easy.
Dark clouds rolled in again last night and we received another drink. We'll now have enough moisture to plant this fall's wheat crop. When you farm with the elements and know you can't control them, you just do what you have with what you have.

My Quilting Partner

This is my sewing buddy. She never objects if my points don't match or if the colors aren't just right. She never says that it's crooked or that it's ugly.

Her name is Trudi and yes, if you've known me for awhile...I borrowed her name for some postings. She's a 14 yr old Sheltie. Ten years ago, the vet said that she'd probably live to be 12 and she's proved him wrong with her arthritis, her blindness and her lack of hearing. But she's also had the a/c and a pretty good diet to keep her going.

But....she loves it when I lay a project out and she thinks it a new cushion to test out. She also never complains if there's thread pieces on her fur or if a flower-head pin gets stuck to her. Trudi has never been injured by pins or a fallen rotary cutter, but has been stepped on numberous times because her favorite spot to sleep is right beside my rolling chair.

Laurie Ann showed us her Roogrr and how he helps, so here's my hair-shedder in action! It's an on-going joke at our house as to who sheds worse--her or me.

The project she's laying on is my bullseye and I'll show another picture of it when I get it a little further along. It's almost ready to be quilted and I like how it's turning out.