Guess who's Back?!

  After some prodding from some very sweet friends, I've decided to come back and post.  I have caught the crud from my Granddaughter, and have some busy Christmas days ahead but I promise to come back and post some really boring stories about life out here on the plains!

Thanks to you who asked about me....you know who you are.  I do appreciate it.

Summer Project

I actually started this quilt right after Christmas when the couple first accounced they were getting married.  Spring brings calving season, lots of road-travel for work, then comes harvest and to get a quilt ready is sometimes a big undertaking --okay, enough excuses.  The truth is that sometimes I'm just slow!

This was taken outside on the north side of the house when the wind was gusting over 30mph. 

 Had to move toys out of the way to get this one...imagine that?!

You'll recognize the pattern as Bonnie Hunter's Many-Trips pattern.  How can you go wrong with it?!

Dean and Trent fighting the wind to get a picture of it outside for me.

One of the back.  No, you can't see it too close, but I ordered this fabric from Fabric.com and was real happy with it.  Had to piece it and had maybe an 8x11" scrap left.  WooHoo!

I have to say that the whole quilt top came from my stash!  It's lots of left-overs and pieces that I've been saving.  Farm/cowboy/barbed wire/paisley/plaid/cow/wheat/tractor fabric.  One of the ladies at the wedding shower said it looked like a farm-quilt...duh!  The groom and bride are both involved in farming, and since it came from a farm-wife...she was definitely right!

Rachel showing that the quilt is kid-friendly.  Has her horse ready too!

I think people have learned that if they want a quilt...they better tell me WAY ahead of time, or it's gonna be late getting there.  This quilt was given away Saturday..and I finished it THREE whole days ahead of time.  SO proud of myself! 

OH..did I mention it was quilted by ME on my Nolting! 

Second harvest

We were done with harvest almost as fast as we started.  I would've uploaded these a couple of weeks ago...but Blogger had issues with me and my pictures.  From what I've read on other's blogs..I'm not the only one it doesn't like.

The bin is almost full on the combine here.  Setting inside the combine, the only way you know when it's full is the annoying beeper that goes off. 

Troy and his Dad eating an early supper waiting on Trent to finish filling up.  Lunch/supper outside...with the bugs, the flies and the dirt.  Typical for this time of year.

Emptying into the semi which Troy gets to drive to town.  Harvest was so slow that nobody needed me except to bring food to the field.

A view from the other side of the semi.  This truck holds about 600 bushels of grain.

 I rode for awhile...since they wouldn't let me drive...and you can get a better view of good vs. thin wheat.   Why a combine has a windshield wiper is beyond my comprehension. 

This is the first year we've used this new header.  It has a conveyer belt that takes the cut stalks up into the combine.  I just know anything that falls on it better be ready to get chewed up.

Harvest lasted maybe 8 days this year.  The wheat is sold and the money is already spent at the bank.  We now have another crop, milo, planted.  Some of it is under irrigation so we can control the rain!

Gift in the mail!

I received my 12x12mini quilt from the swap that I participated in and boy was I surprised to find a package addressed on the outside from Argentina, but inside the pkg was a bag that said MADE in TAIWAN!  Ok...I have a funny sense of humor, and I know things are shipped to all countries but I found this funny!

This was my prize.  This is georgous and I'm so proud to have an Argentina made quilt in my home. Celia at Patchwork Infinito  sent a real treasure.  Really love the colors...

Even the back is pretty.

I also received a gift of tea...how did Celia know I loved hot-tea?!  I made this the next morning and it's some VERY-VERY strong tea!

I had to have one of the engineers here tell me what it said!

But then, I really want to know how she knew what I looked like, because she included a doll that looks just like me! Beedy-eyes and fuzzy hair...just like me!

I really want to thank Victoria at Bumble Beans, Inc. for having this swap.  The world is really a smaller place when we share our quilting!  I now have a friend in Argentina...and she does some magnificient sewing.

First Wheat Harvest

About a month ago we finally decided that some of our wheat wasn't going to produce grain.  When you have 1700 acres of wheat...and you need a paycheck...you gotta figure out something to do with it.  So, we put tractor and swather to the fields that were the worst and knocked it down .

The wheat is cut and put into rows and then made into big round hay bales.This photo shows a green strip--a terrace where the snow layed in the channel for a few days.  Just those few days of moisture would've made a big difference in getting a wheat crop...but it didn't happen to the whole field.

One field of bales.  We have FOUR of these fields.  Some of the hay we will sell and the rest we'll save to feed our own cattle. 

Would've been a lot more profitable for the grain to be hauled to the elevator in town.  Oh well...there's always next year!

what happened to...

Does anybody remember Laurie Ann that use to post as Quilting Rush?  She had a dog named Roogrr.

Tornado Alley

I've had a few email (and call) and ask if I was alright.  The tornadoes/storms seem to get to our county and split like they're receiving direction from Moses. They must be allergic to us.  I'm glad we didn't have the storms, but we also haven't received any rain.

Wheat harvest should start in the next few days, and we're hoping for just enough grain to save for next year's planting.  The drought we've been going through has really made it a hard year...but there's always next year, right?!

I could post a video of a tornado that was about a mile from the farm where I grew up, but it's got too much commentary on it.  There's been so much devastation in our country, I'm ready for some calm.  I hope this is a healing summer for all of us.

She liked it!

My swap partner actually liked what I sent her!  I know I have a strange sense of design and color humor, but somebody actually liked something I made!  If we see it in her birdcage, we'll know what she REALLY thinks of it! haha

Go visit Stacey --she has some really pretty quilts on her blog.

She Sews

In-between all of the other stuff going on I have done a little sewing.  Little is the key word:  12"x12" "something from nothing"  that I participated in for Victoria's Swap
I haven't participated in anything like this for awhile, so thought I'd give it a shot.
I can't say where this is going, but it's already in the mail.  Hope she likes it!

babies

This is my oldest, Travis holding my two youngest Grandchildren.  Ava is 1 month old now, and Tyler is 4 months.  Just a little difference in size, but they're definitely related.  Don't know what the weird look was on Trav's face, but he was probably trying to decide which diaper to change first!

Aren't kids wonderful!?

Wednesday

1. Have you ever been served breakfast in bed?  No
Do you enjoy that? I don't have a headboard tall enough to lean against.  I'd rather just get up, go to the kitchen table and let somebody do the cooking. 
If someone were serving you breakfast in bed this coming weekend what would you hope to see on the tray?
I'd enjoy hot tea or coffee w/cream, scrambled eggs, crisp bacon and toast...but who am I kidding?? I'll probably even cook lunch for a crowd!

2. What is one piece of advice you would give a new mother?

Enjoy your time and don't wish him to be bigger.  Who cares if the dishes are done...get on the floor and play.

3. When was the last time you wanted to scream? Explain.  I'm not a screamer...and an usually annoyed when people do.  If you're screaming you better be bleading!

4. Can you hula hoop?  YES.., quite well.  I have a weighted one that I like to use too.

5. What is something people do in traffic that really bothers you?  Pass me and then slow down.  Why can't you drive the speed limit and talk on the phone at the same time.

6. What do you do when people don't admit they're wrong?  Just watch their reactions...and laugh inside when they try to hide it.

7. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word 'fun'?  Scarcasm, because people don't usually "get" the kind of fun I like.

8. Insert your own random thought here. It's Tuesday and I'm setting in an office building all by myself.  Why can't I take my laptop home and work from there?  I'd get just as much done!?

Easter Weekend

You better have a darn good reason for driving across my yard with the tractor. AND, in this case they knew they didn't need permission.

This is two of the boyz taking my new building off of the delivery semi. It was drizzling (notice I didn't say rain--another 4-letter word around here), and cold, but they got it unloaded. This is going to be a quonset-type building that goes over the basment from the old house. I can see my lawnmower, weed-eater, hoes, shovels and hoses stored in it. It might also be the place I get to start a few seedlings in.

Took me 3 1/2 years to get my building...it's delivered, so we'll see how long it takes to get it setup.

Sunrise on the Prairie

I put a new picture on the header and if somebody can help me get it all across the top, I'd appreciate it.  I don't have the patience with this box like I use to!

I FINALLY found the cord to my camera....it was in the backseat of my car..right where I left it, so hopefully I'll get some pictures posted from the past month.

The garden is started, babies are growing and it's still not raining.  Yep...life on the prairie.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

This week's Hodgepodge from Joyce: 

1. Would you rather talk to everyone at a crowded party for a short time or have a significant conversation with two people?  Sometimes I mingle and sometimes I get stuck with just a couple of people who will-not mingle!  Guess it depends on how many people are there and where it's at.  Some situations it's just easier to mingle.

2. What objects do you remember from your parent's living room?

I remember a big clock hanging on the south wall above the television (which I didn't inherit) and also Mom's two china cabinets...which one is in my living room right now and it's full of American Fostoria.

3. Do you hog the bed? Steal the covers? Snore?

Hog the bed..no, when we moved into the new house I wanted a King Size bed because my significant other gets up and down all night long.  I wanted to be able to sleep all night without feeling him shake the bed.  Steel the covers--I'm a quilter...we own more quilts than shoes.

Snore--He says I do, but it doesn't bother me.  If my allergies have been bothering me, I snore.

4. Speaking of Easter dinner....what is your favorite way to cook/eat lamb? Or does just the thought of that make you squeamish? If you're not cooking lamb what will be your entree du jour on Easter Sunday?

Were we speaking of Easter dinner?  Never ate Lamb...we eat Ham...or roast beef.  And have to have some kind of jello-fluff...'cause Mama always did.

5. Let's throw some politics into this week's mix-oooohhh...Do you know the whereabouts of your birth certificate and when was the last time you had to produce it to prove you're you?

My birth certificate is in my safe-deposit box.  I had to get it out when I applied for a concealed weapons license.

6. As a child, how did people describe you?

The tall, timid, clumbsy girl.  Now, I talk too much but am still clumbsy and still very tall.

7. What do you complain about the most?

I'm not a big complainer or whiner...I just live with one, but here lately the weather or lack of rain has really irritated me.  It affects our future income..so I think I have a right to complain when it's something I have no control over.

Oh, my ankle still hurts on some days, so you'll see me limping before I complain a lot tho.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I am really looking forward to this summer.  Maybe it's because the grand-girls are getting bigger and we can play outside more, or maybe it's because I feel better than I did last summer....hopefully the surgery has healed my aching ankle!

Don't pet Stella..

Stella is one of our landlord's dog.   She's a red-heeler-something dog. 

We've farmed Stella's land for several years, but I remember the first time I went there.  "Don't pet Stella"  is something DH, and DSs told me time after time. 

 They know I love other people's animals and it's so hard NOT to pet her, but after you hear that first time Woo-Woof...nope, don't think I'll pet Stella...ever!

I'm just glad they keep her penned up when they're not outside.

Yep..she's more intimidating than me!

How about some calves?

I haven't showed any of our spring 2011 calf-crop, so last weekend when I went out to "help" I took my camera.

I just love their faces..Wish they would hold still so I could go rub on them all the time. They're so soft.

This poor cow (and calf) were taken to the barn.  She had dust pneumonia.

 Another farm, but same cow-family.  I love how this calf is a different color tan/brown than her Mom.  Her Dad is red Angus, and she's dark brown...hmmmm.

 We call this Milk Coma.  Licking the milk off of his nose and it drips off his chin.

Can you see the newborn hiding in the grass? 

 This cow's name is SuperStar.  She will eat you if you get between her and her calf.  She's a good mama, but stay away from her.  Her calf is a heifer, and I want to keep her in our herd.  Superstar is getting some age on her and will need a replacement in a few years.

 This is one of DH's tame mamas.  He always tries to have a few of these so they'll train the other cows to the pickup.  Spoiled pets....gives him someone to talk to when I'm not there.

 Here's one that still has a calf in her...or she's been eating too much hay.  I know exactly how she feels.

Red Mamas and red Daddy and the babies have white streaks across their faces.  I love it.

I think these two got into the marshmallow cream when Mama wasn't looking. 

The next time I get to go help, they will be a lot bigger.