Wheat-alternative to harvesting

Sometimes a wheat field is full of other things besides wheat-stalks, so we cut it down and make hay out of it. This field was full of rye so it was put into rows and made into hay.

The problem with these rows of wheat is that they've been rained on--several times. It should be big fluffy rows of green stalks, but it's dark-brown mashed-down rows of dried wheat stalks. It still has to be made into hay and moved from the fields so another crop can be planted. The problem with the rained on rows of wheat, before its gets baled, is that it takes about 50% of our crop and we get about 50% of the price for a bale--we should've gotten twice the number of bales and should've gotten more per-bale of hay.

This is Trent's old tractor and rake we use to try to "fluff" the hay up off of the ground so it will dry out. Farmers version of a blow-dryer. Somebody asked me about the tractor being besides the clothesline--you never know where my guys are going to park machinery. I never complain unless it's parked so I can't get my car out of the garage!

One bale after it's been kicked-out of the baler. One down....many more to go!

Oh, I forgot to mention....everyone of these bales has to be moved out of the field too.....ONE at at time! Have you priced diesel lately? Geez.....

Hay-moving forks on the back of the pickups make moving hay easier without using a tractor. Just takes enough persons to be around to drive...back and forth, back and forth getting it out of the fields. "Mom, you didn't have anything planned for this afternoon did you?"

Red & Blue Star

If I've posted a picture of this star before, you can ignore me today. I was washing bedding and decided to take a picture of this quilt. This is Troy's bandana quilt that was made several years ago.

I used Eleanor Burns method of making this star which is probably the fastest way of putting one together--for me anyway. There were guys here working on the house and one of them even commented that it could easily disappear if I left it out there for very long. It's definitely an eye-catcher.

Wheat Crop Update

I know a lot of you buy your own wheat berries and grind them into flour. Thought I'd show where our wheat is this time of year.

This shows a head of wheat while the berries are still soft and green. We call this the soft-dough stage. Most of the berries are getting full and filling out--which is wonderful for us.

Put hundreds, thousands, millions...bunches & bunches.... of these heads of wheat together and we get about 900+ acres of wheat that we're planning on harvesting.

When you have that much green-stuff growing, you're going to have pests. We have bad bugs (worms) and then we have the good lady bugs:

While we were out spot-checking for worms, the neighbor hired a local aerial service to rid his worm problem. We didn't see enough damage from the pest to warrant the spraying..........yet.

Providing entertainment

DC --the cat, had been waging war with this bird for quite awhile and then he learned where the nest was. Don't think there was a winner in this war of territory, but it was fun watching the battle. The mama bird came back minutes later with worms for her chirping offspring.

Yep, we're easily entertained.

Wildflowers of the Prairie

I drive by these on a daily basis and finally remembered to take my camera. The wild Verbenea, Indian Paint Brush, and yellow daisies are just beautiful this year. We've had such a wet spring, the rain has washed the dust from the dirt roads off of them. I'm sure they all have real nice technical names, but they usually get called by their color or their smell. You learn real fast which ones can be picked and which ones are better left planted.

Star progression....

Only one more to make!

The wind wasn't blowing (imagine that?) so I took my star blocks out to the concrete in front of the garage.

This is the total measurement across three stars. Yes, it's going to be a big project and I hope it doesn't get too big for the quilter 'cause I sure can't quilt this on my Bernina. Still wanting to fill in the edges with leftover WOW blocks (or maybe a small star block) and a narrow scrapy border after that.

This has definitely been a scrap busting quilt...and it's gonna look good on MY bed!



Probably the first quilt picture taken outside that doesn't have a Rusty or a cat trying to investigate in it.

We know Rain personally....

15" of the wet stuff in the past 90 days.... I'm starting to mold.

Prayers for a little one

Prayers have been requested by Patty from Texas. This is her grandaughter Mei-Ling which had to stay in the hospital for a few extra days after being born. Babies are so precious and when one is born that needs some extra attention a little prayer would definitely help.

Patty has another grandaughter coming soon and these two little girls will have the pleasure of growing up together.

Look at this precious face and say a prayer for her continued improvement.

Patches

The concrete is fixed. I was outside when they finished pouring the patch of concrete and Rusty thought he had to offer an opinion too.

The construction crew has been real nice to my pooch but I think he provides a little entertainment during breaks. I know he's ate a few extra McDonald hamburgers and drank leftover Gatorade.

I've warned the guys not to leave anything overnight that they don't want Rusty to bring to the back door. This is the first crew I've been around that cleans up after themselves too......thanx Rusty!

On the quilty side, I have been working on my string stars. Have decided to set them on-point, so it's going to take a few extra to get it to the size I want.

After this picture was taken, I have two more stars assembled. The HST's are already made, so it's just the center string blocks to make.

Each star is 24x24, so it gives you an idea how big it's going to be.

Broken...

First of all, let me say the lecture was WONDERFUL! If you ever get a chance to see Cynthia England lecture on landscape quilts GO. She's lots of fun and full of talent. Her workshop was full, but one of the gals from our guild got to go and is going to show me what I missed. Cynthia's technique is definately different and it's always fun to learn something new.

But.....before the lecture, just as I got to Okcity my cell phone rang. My DH called to tell me that there was a slight problem with the concrete.

The supports holding up the concrete over this part of the basement collapsed. Yes, it's fixable and yes, it's a minor setback. Just scarey. Two guys were standing in the area but nobody was hurt. About 10 yards of concrete and several days of labor wasted.

I was so proud of DH, because he ran out and took pictures when it collapsed. I asked him if he wanted me to come home and he gave me a fast NO. He said there were 10 people on the crew working and they didn't need me there worrying. So....I went shopping! Hancock's and JoAnn's. Fabric soothes the soul.

The cleanup has already happened and the edges are smooth for the patch-work to begin. If the rain holds out for a few days, we'll have a patched-concrete floor. And, we'll be on our way again.

Thursday Lecture

I was invited to attend another Guild's Meeting and since it's quilt-related, I see no reason why I can't take the day off to go!

Cynthia England is going to be the guest speaker and if I would've know (or paid attention) sooner, I would've gone to her workshop on Friday.

...and besides...the concrete truck is going to be here bright and early tomorow morning and the contractor told me to go find something to do so I wouldn't be out trying to help. Listening to an artist talk about landscape quilts is a good place to be out of the way!

Prom 2007

I got interrupted this morning before I got some more pictures posted! Work sure gets in the way of blogging.

Troy and his date double-dated with another couple. It was a fun night for all of them.

This is my favorite picture --of Troy. Dressed up farm-boy.

An Anniversary to Remember

I'm not good at remembering dates of tragedy in our past, but for some reason I remembered this date this morning.

I remember where I was on April 19, 1995, remember the empty feeling I had and remembering that it was too close to home. Our family knew several who were affected by this tragedy, so maybe that's why this date lingers.

There are a lot of things that happen in our lives that we never know the answer to. The how-comes and the why-did-that-have-to-happens that we'll never understand.

I've never understand how somebody can hate another person-whether it's their outward appearance, their religion, or their stand on gov't issues to the point of doing something so distructive.

If you have time and have a fast internet connection, go visit this site.

On a happy note....If you remember the embroidered baby quilt I recently made...the niece who is expecting my FIRST Great-Nephew is being induced this morning. April 19th would be a wonderful day for a baby, don't ya think?! New beginnings start every day and life must go on.

9-Patch Blocks

This is what I finished over the weekend. The pattern is called 9-patch variation and is an easy pattern to make.

Thirty two of these blocks were blocks that I won at our quilt-guild's BOM-lottery--I made 8 of them. At our house you make quilts big enough to use...not just big enough to cover your legs...so I made 48 more to add to make the scrap quilt very usable for a bed covering. The 9-patch blocks are 9" finished--so you have an idea how big it really is--you can also see partial pieces of my two quilt-holder-uppers.

It will probably get borders of some kind, but it's to a stopping point where I can show it at guild next week so the next winner can see what can be done with blocks won.

It turned out to be sunny and bright saturday and then warmer on Sunday so it turned into a decent weekend after the Friday flood.

I forgot to post where I got this pattern. Definitely want to give Marge the credit!
Delaware Quilts is listed on my sidebar and her list of BOM's have many great opportunities. This is the second time I've made this quilt. Just turning the blocks a different way give it a totally different look.

Rain...

See today's forecast of 100% rain? At 9am, we've already received 2" of the wet stuff and it hasn't stopped since.

My basement now has about 8" of water in it. I think whoever said something about May-showers is about a month-off.

I'm growing fins and gills here.....somebody close the north door and turn the faucet off!

I think it would be a good idea to take off early and go home to sew. What's funny is that I've got to go to the County Commissioners office at the County Courthouse and get a copy of a flood-plain map....gotta satisfy the mortgage company.

Everybody have a good weekend. Looks like I'll be setting by the fire most of the weekend with the temps and damp weather.

Something very fatening....

Yes, this woman needs to lose some weight, but I happened across this recipe...TWICE so it was saying "make me...make me".

Luckily I had printed it off because we had four extra people for supper last night and they definitely thought it was a keeper too. It took longer for the oven to heat than to mix them up!


Buttery Bread Sticks
1/2 cup margarine (1 stick)

2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk (approximately)

Place the margarine in a 9 by 13-inch rectangular pan. Put this into the oven at 425°. Leave the pan in the oven until the margarine melts. Meanwhile take out your favorite mixing bowl. In it combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a fork to stir, gradually mix in the milk. You may need a little more.(I added about 1/4 C more of milk) Stir up the dough until it is cohesive, and forms a soft ball. (I used my hands--works a lot easier) Coat the ball with flour if it seems sticky. Rip off a sheet of waxed paper and pat or roll the dough out on top of the waxed paper. You should make a roughly rectangular shape which will fit into the hot pan.

Remove the hot pan from the oven when the margarine is melted. Gently place the large sheet of dough into the pan, overtop of the hot margaine. Be very careful not to burn yourself.(can anybody bake and not get burned?--not me) Next use a pizza cutter or a sharp knife to cut the dough into thin strips. I cut it once down the middle too, but you don't have to do it that way. The margarine will ooze up between the sticks. This is supposed to happen. If desired, you may sprinkle the bread sticks with parmesean cheese at this time. I seldom do, although it does taste good. Now bake the bread sticks at 425° for about 15 to 20 minutes. They will bake up golden brown, crunchy on the outside and soft in the center. Good with spaghetti. You can sprinkle 1/2-teaspoon of dry garlic powder into the melted margarine before adding the dough to the pan if you like. This makes garlic bread sticks. The best part about this recipe is how quickly it cooks, not to mention the spectacular impact it makes at the table.

Cinnamon Dips: Combine 1/4-cup of sugar, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Sprinkle this liberally about the bread sticks right before baking.

I made the cinnamon version--will make the garlic ones with either spaghetti or shrimp/alfredo. With 8 of us, they were all gone.

Here is the site I got/stole/copied the original recipe off of. --Hillbilly Housewife
If you need pictures to cook, then look at this one.-- Tammy's Recipes --mine looked just like the pictures of her cinnamon ones.

This is definitely a fast-easy recipe that I'll make again!

Not the official picture....

When you have a DIL who takes pictures for a living, how do you get an engagement picture? You ask the Future-MIL to take them! Yep....about 400 pictures I took.

An afternoon of pictures--four locations, three changes of clothes and several memory cards of digital images. Oh, the thought of how far we've come in capturing memories.

This picture probably isn't going to make the final cut but it is a cute one. Trent was good at keeping his sense of humor when Mom kept telling him to move to a different position.

When they decide on what they're going to use for sure, I'll post it. I may of took the pictures, but it's her decision in what to use. She's going to do pictures on their wedding invitation too. Glad she has an imagination and likes to create...there's going to be a lot of it going on!

Easter Weekend

Since life is just extremely busy right now, thought I'd just show the two banners I made for our sanctury last year. Oldest son is being cheesy besides the first banner. They are about the same size.
























On the new-house frontier: Concrete guy is suppose to be here Monday morning. We've had three days of freezing temps, so I keep being optimistic and say that we couldn't pour anyway.

I got another bid on flooring...there are TOO many choices out there. Tile-ceramic or porcelain...wood look or color. Wood laminate...what size and color. Gives me all a headache. And then...the contractor calls me at 7:30 am on a saturday and wants to know what color shingles I want?! I don't have a floor and he wants shingle color. MEN....

I've got two meals to cook for over the Easter weekend. Nothing fancy, but still lots of food to prepare. I'm planning on simple and easy!

Hope everybody has a good Easter and enjoys some family time.

Great Give-Away!

The gals over at 5 minutes for Mom are giving away a Dyson vacuum. These have got to be the hottest item in suction power that I've seen lately and I WANT ONE!

Go over and put your name in the hat and see if maybe you could be their lucky winner too. IF you win it, you could easily come try it out at MY house first tho! ....IF you wanted to......

I think I'm number 1249 on the list...and that HAS to be my lucky number!

Sew!

Remember when your kids were little and you could not get them to be quiet during your favorite television shows and then they would be memorized by the commercials? My kids were this way and would always set still for the jingles and then want my full attention during any kind of interesting television broadcast that I wanted to watch.

Well, last night as I was trying to get the binding sewed on the Bricks'nStones quilt, my guys were like "MOM....quit sewing, you're too noisey". "You can sew during commercials!" So, that is what I did. I sat at my machine and watched "House" along with them and then during the noisey commercials I would get the okay with "Sew, Mom, Sew!" Yes, it took me most of the broadcast to get all the way around, but I got that binding on just in time to show at guild tonight!

I have it and the bullseye finished and would've had a third finished but I got commissioned to take engagement pictures! Luckily DIL-2B has a really nice digital camera so we go off to different spots and take ohhhh about 200+ pictures. I think she has a few to pick from. I still think it's amazing that SHE can get him to do things that I never would've even been brave enough to ask. Yep...believe it's love.

It's Official...

I'm going to be a mother-in-law again as I'm gaining a daughter! Son #2 has dated this gal off an on for probably more than 8 years and real steady for the past year. They decided it was time to get married.
Yes, we're tickled. We've known their family for a long time..yes, they're farmers and yes, her mother is a quilter! We're aiming towards an August wedding, so I'm sure to keep everybody updated.

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The stock show was four days of inhaling dust so my head is stopped up. Troy's two pigs didn't win any ribbons, but the FFA/4-H kids had a good time. No sleep, lots of work, and eating on the run ...and they call it fun.
I spent part of the time with son #1 and his wife and we had a blast. Hit sales as Hancock's and a few other stores. Don't know if it's everywhere, but Hancock's is shutting down two stores in the OKCity area.
After I get the pyramid cleaned off my desk at work and get the laundry caught up here at home, I'm going to get back to sewing. I did get the newsletter printed for our quilt guild so that's one item checked off the list. I think the list is getting longer.

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We're having 70 degree days but the skies are dark and it's threatening rain. We do need it, so we won't complain. It's the first day of spring and the March winds are definitely coming in strong.
No more work done on the house. I think we're on the bottom of somebody's list.

Bricks'nStones

This is what UPS brought me today. Isn't it purdy? No, it isn't bound yet but it was too pretty outside not to go hang it on the line.

We've had upper 70's today and when the sun came out, I couldn't resist being outside for awhile.

This is going to be a birthday present for my middle son next month. It'll probably be too warm to use (the back is flannel), but I'm sure he'll still claim it.

I know I've talked about this quilt before, but it's a Bonnie at Quiltville.com design and quilted by Bonnie at Quiltville.com too. Her work is first class and she was great to work with.

The picture was taken at MY house tho! Barn by Koch-design?

I'm going to be gone for the next four days attending Troy's last stock show of the season in Oklahoma City. I know I have about 60 visitors a day with only a dent of those commenting, but if ANYBODY cares that I'm not around......I'll be back next week.

New sewing buddy

We lost two family pets within the past 6 months and were lucky enough to find this overly-friendly, pot-licker, good-for-nothing, deadly-tail-wagger, chocolate lab. He's a full-blood recliner-lover who is about a year and half old.

The boys have already decided that he likes me the best.

Oh yeah....his name is Rusty. Isn't he purdy? He's about 80 lbs. too and can lay his head on the kitchen table with no problem. If he grows into his feet, I'll be feeding a monster.

Here's what I'm still working on. After seeing several making string quilts, I joined in but decided to make my centers solid-string blocks. I think I like it better this way than a previously posted star. I have enough HST to make 9 of these stars--yes an odd number to make into a quilt. The HST's are 6 1/2".

Construction progress:

I've been slow about posting about construction, but we've been fighting snow/rain/ice so the progress has been slow.
This is the latest we've accomplished--concrete footing being poured around the base of the house. Seeing two concrete trucks pull up into the yard was exciting. The plumber has since even been onsite to begin his job which goes under the concrete floor. Slow but sure we'll get there. Dh teased me last night that we might be in the new house by Thanksgiving! Of course it rained this weekend, which we don't cuss a rain this time of year but it puts things off another two weeks.

March Madness

If somebody would come to my house and

*do the laundry,
*fold the clean laundry,
*clean out the dishwasher,
*fix supper,
*clean the kitchen,
*clean the bathroom,
*pick up the living room,
*go to work on a daily basis for me

THEN, I might be able to get some sewing done! But, I can't get any takers.

I keep telling my guys that if we didn't have to eat or wear clothes, then my life would be so simple. Can you imagine not having to go to the grocery store, not needing a 'fridge, not having a washer or dryer, not ever cleaning out the dishwasher again, or not having a messy closet? Oh, if only in my dreams. I kinda freaked the boys out when I mentioned the idea of not wearing clothes.

Dh calls it spring fever. We get this way every year because we're so ready to get out of the house and work outside more. I keep telling him that we need to move further south, but he likes it where we are. I have no relatives that I care to stay in the area for, but he likes it here.

I am so ready for the daffodils that are peaking out of the ground to come up and show me some color. These aren't from my garden, but if the wind doesn't beat them to death we should have some......sometime.