Here is my husband working on his laptop while watching Rose the bunny. She was in our garden getting some sun while he worked remotely. He had the company of Poppy and our chickens while he worked. We can't leave the bunny alone or she might get eaten by wildlife.
This is me putting in the potatoes in our newly fenced garden. I have the company of Daisy the cat and Igor the rabbit. Igor is an indoor bunny and gets to go outside when the time permits. Since we fenced off our garden from the chickens we have now a bunny play yard. The chickens dug up many of last years seedlings and pecked all my tomatoes. This year they will be kept out.
This morning my neighbor who raises cattle came to our door needing help ASAP. He had a cow down and her calf was stuck. My husband was in the middle of a phone meeting and could not leave to help. So I jumped in his vehicle and we zoomed off to his place. There was a huge cow on the ground with a dead calf stuck halfway out of her. The large calf could not breathe and got stuck sometime during the night. We both took turns looking for the front legs of the calf inside the cow. After several 2 arm attempts, I was able to find a shoulder to the leg stuck inside the cow. I pulled a slipknot under the calf pit using bailing twine. With that we were able to pull out the 2nd leg. Next, we tied the calf legs to the owners ATV and pulled slowly. The dead calf came out whole but the cow did not rise. The calf was too big and her uterus was prolapsed with the placenta. We left the cow to put the calf in the dead pile away from the herd, buzzards were attracted to the scent of death. We came back to get the cow up but she was in pain and needed a vet. If a cow does not move for several hours, gas builds up in their gut and they can die. Also some deliveries can paralyse their back legs. The vet came and stitched up the cow. Now we are hoping she will stand up soon and walk. She will be put in the barn overnight. She can no longer be bred if she survives. This was a day of learning for me.
One of the skills I learned from a talented friend in Texas was rosary making. She is a member of a rosary makers group and she taught me how to make sturdy rosaries. Many rosaries today have jump rings holding them together like a cheap necklace. I make them by hand using a twisted wire loop. These will never pull apart. Made to last and hold together for years of handling. I have also been fixing broken ones I fine here and there. A little bit of time and effort will help these last a lifetime.
We were happy to borrow our neighbors gas tiller to enlarge our spring garden. We had to add soil mixed with manure and compost this year. The garden has been left alone since last summer. We got lessons on how to operate this tiller. It is a bit of a bear once it gets going, but it did a great job. Our beds are ready for spring planting.
Here are our 2nd go at sprouting. We both enjoy adding spouts to sandwiches and salads. Eaten raw or with dressing, sprouts are a tasty alternative to tomatoes and lettuce.
We took advantage of a nice sunny windy Sunday to take down two dead trees in our pasture. Our horses ignored us as we put a cable around the tree to hold it with the tractor. Then Alan sawed into the trunk to weaken it. Then he got in the tractor to pull the tree down. We now have a lot of fire wood for winter.We will have to saw it up next week. We lost the daylight and a storm is coming in on Monday.
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.
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.
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.
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.
