Seven Sisters Joining

I worked out how to put together these orphan blocks. I like the shape and the puzzle of colors. I am sure the original quilter had a plan in mind. But time and lack of notes has left these mystery blocks up to my own design. Just need to pick out a background color to compliment them with.

GASLAND

I watched the documentary GASLAND, about the frac drilling for natural gas in the United States. This type of natural gas drilling uses over 500 cancer causing chemicals. And those chemicals are unregulated and seep into our water, land and air. When you allow drilling on your land you get all these chemicals too. And if your neighbors allow drilling, you get the chemicals too. And the gas companies do nothing after they have put in the drilling station. Don't believe me? Just listen to the people in this film. Talk to your relatives who live around these shale red zones. Got cancer? Might be from that little gas well in the front yard.

Why do I care? I have parents living in PA who live near these red zones and don't know it. I have relatives in LA who live in the red zone. I have friends in TX who have breast cancer, kidney cancer and brain cancer. And who is going to protect you from big natural gas companies, no one. Not the president, not the gas companies, not the EPA (in the pocket of big business) and certainly not your health insurance company(they don't like to pay for your cancer treatment).

And if you do a search for GASLAND you will see a gas company(ANGA) that has a paid slot to discount this documentary. I wonder why?

This is just the sad fact that our country, America, is about big business and not about her people. Our politicians only want money no matter what. People are for taxes and votes.

If you watch this movie, let your loved ones know and keep knowledge going. Let's protect ourselves, our future, our health and our lands.

Spring Cleaning

Having moved around and lived in and done so many things, I have collected several sewing tools and crafts. I have lace, buttons, fabric balls, wool, notions, sewing feet, thread of all kinds, ribbons, sequins and more. All I have used in costume making, fiber restoration, sewing, quilting, crafting and pure collecting. These items finally have a home in a wooden seed bin my husband bought for me. I can see what is on the bin and I can separate all the items into groups. And I can roll this bin around my studio for cleaning. My sewing items stay dust free and the cats stay out of my stuff - especially the threads.

Sprouts

My neighbor introduced me to growing my own sprouts for healthy eating. I had sprouts in deli sandwiches before and thought it was nice, but at the store they are very expensive and stale. So she set me up to grow my own. I went to RawBerry Kitchen and ordered my sprouter. I followed the directions to sprout clover and alfalfa. In a few days I had a ton of fresh chemical free sprouts for sandwiches, salads and flax crackers. They are tasty and fun to eat. And any stale ones get fed to our chickens. I am now sprouting lentil, rye and mung beans after tasting her sprouts. It is fun to have a mini garden in the kitchen that you can use without the mess of soil.

Seven Sisters Block

I acquired 5 vintage quilt blocks recently. I have always admired this shape and pattern. I am working to put them together as a small throw. After it is quilted then I will wash the entire quilt. These dirty fabrics should lighten up with the age debris removed.

Sunny Windy Day

Here is Daisy resting in the window enjoying the spring warm up in the Ozarks. The wind is blowing very hard and the sun is so bright, great for cat napping.

Learning to Be a Chicken

Here is our single yellow chick getting eating lessons from his mom. She digs up the sprouted oats and the chick gets fed. Soon he will learn to do all this by himself or herself.

Horse Holding

We took our herd out to run the pasture and eat grass. We do not have a fence yet so we hold onto the lead mare, Dolly. The weanling Bean and Maple got to run free for a little while. They are still muddy from all the rains we have been getting this spring.

March Hay Day

Our horses ate though a round bale and we ran out of spares. So I went to Peace Valley, MO to get square bales. We were able to get 14 in my friends truck, tied and stable. Got home and unloaded before the rains came.

New March Chick

Today our 2nd broody hen surprised us with a single chick after 3 weeks on a pile of eggs. I spent the afternoon candling the remainder eggs. Three had chicks and the rest were not good. But our hen was no longer setting on her nest so the eggs were tossed. Might have to get an incubator for the next group if this happens again. She was off her nest to run after her only chick and the nest got cold. The other hens will peck at cold eggs if left without a hen to protect them. Life on the farm is hard sometimes.

Cathedral Windows Quilt

I have always loved the simple beauty of the cathedral windows quilts. It is a great way to use up scraps and you don't have to quilt it! You piece and add as you go with muslin as the background. The tedium is in the making of the muslin squares and sewing by hand. It takes time to sew by hand. Tiny stitches make for a sturdier quilt but do consume a lot of time. But I am happy with the results I am getting using tiny stitches to sew the "windows" inside the muslin.

I chose natural muslin as it already looks old and dirt won't show up as easily. This style of quilting also makes a heavy quilt. Mine will be a king size quilt and will take a lot of time to make. But this type of project you can pick up and put down throughout the year. I will post more photos as I begin to join the groups of windows.

Luna learns the Woods

Alan rode Luna around our forest and pond to get her used to trail riding. She has a problem with staying at a stop upon whoa and will need work on that. But when she gets going she covers a lot of ground quickly in her gait.

Our Garden Plot

Here is my husband with the tractor and the scraper. He is clearing last years plants and enlarging this years plot. We will be adding manure and dirt as well a chicken fence. He was able to get it scraped before the storm on Sunday. Looking forward to a larger veggie garden without my chickens eating all my tomatoes.