Jessie's Tulip Surprise

While traveling in the car, and sitting around talking and eating over the course of the weekend, I managed to finish Jessie's quilt for Christmas.

But really, all I had to do yet was sew the binding on.

The top is made from vintage sheets sent to me by Jacquie, and it is backed in nice, warm flannel. It measures about 48" square.

And the silly girl tells me, as I am sewing on the binding - that's so pretty Mommy - can you make one just like it for me? hehe - I told her it was for a friend's babyshower for after the 1st of the year.

Then last night, I started on this for her for Christmas:

We'll see how this Messenger Bag holds up. I still have to finish the edges, put a strap on it, and some sort of closure. Complete with 2 compartments and 5 pockets. I lined this one in cotton, with fusible interfacing. I'm thinking I should have used 2 layers of home decorator fabric (which is what the stripe is) but oh well. For Tyler's, I'll try using home decorator fabric for both the outside and the lining. Since this one is from fabric found in my stash, if it only lasts to the end of the school year, I'm happy with it.

Kris

Home

We made it. And we didn't have to stop on the way out to shoot that stupid bull.....although it was close.

4 hours with a truck, trailer, a nervous bull who COULD NOT stop pacing, and 2 kids. The bull wouldn't stand still - so the truck and trailer swayed side to side and back and forth - for 190 miles at 65 mph. I wanted to tear out my hair the rocking was so bad. The kids were great - other than stopping every hour or so because they "HAD TO GO." But really, it wasn't bad.

A day and a half really wasn't long enough. All of Todd's family is back there. We got there about 7:30 (left our drive at 3:45), and it was go nonstop.

From riding and driving horses - I don't have pics of them driving the cart and horse:(:

I'd love to buy this horse for Jessie and Tyler, but we already have 3, one of which is just as good as this horse, if I'd work her a little bit and she went on a diet:). He's for sale, so maybe next spring he'll still be around and we can think again.

Tyler wanted this horse, but she's only 6 and isn't finished off yet in her training:

To playing in the pig barn:

To looking at the million calves they raise every year (this is a very small portion of them).

Then this morning we loaded up the new bull, put the truck in the wind and headed home. There was a steer calf back there that Todd's uncle kept telling us to load up and bring back home for Jessie to show next year at the fair. We should have. Really should have. But we were afraid the bull would be a moron (which he wasn't) and we pulled in about 2:45 (left out there around 11 or so).

Videos of the kids riding to follow.

Kris

Bye Bye Mr. Bull

He is loaded. He is ready to go home.


We are off for a weekend trip to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Of course, we aren't coming home empty - we are bringing a new bull home to use for the next couple years.

I'm sure Mr. Bull will miss his harem, but really, he'll have a whole new harem next year totalling throughout the year about 100 cows.....

Death of a Quilt

If you haven't figured it out by now, I LOVE quilts. Old, new, big, small.



But what I really love are the vintage ones.







And I had this quilt. It has special meaning to me (having been in the family for umpteen million years), but it was so shredded. It's been in an attic for who knows how long, it's probably 90 years old, well used, well worn, well loved. I tried fixing it, but I think there are some things that should never be attempted, and fixing this quilt was one of them. I came up with an idea to make pillows out of it like these.



It took me 3 months to get up the nerve to cut into this quilt with a pair of scissors. And I had to call my Mom for moral support while I made the first cut. You would not belive how many times I picked up the scissors only to put them down because I could not make that first cut. Interestingly enough, the basket blocks are in great shape, it's the sashings and borders that shredded.

So now I have 12 pillows to make, and a million little basket squares that I think I'm going to frame.

More Christmas presents down. YES!!!!!!

Kris

Corn

Monday night Todd came home from work and picked a load of corn in the dark.

Tuesday night he came home and finished:

And we unloaded it into the corn crib using our hay elevator. Works for the most part.

Tyler had fun pushing the corn down. Gives me a start to see him climbing around in the wagon but....

The best part is, this should be enough to feed our animals for the next year (should easily last that long - last year we fed 11 full size head and 3 younger ones through the winter - this year we will be feeding 5 full size head and 5 younger ones).

Me - I'm just glad it's not me sitting out there on the tractor - it's 38 degrees right now.

Kris

20 - 21 weeks

Some of the chickens (the Barred Rocks and Silver Laced Wyandots) were 21 weeks old yesterday. The Rhode Island Reds were 20 weeks old yesterday. And the Jersey Giants and Astralorp were 16 weeks old.

And we FINALLY got our first egg today:

A little small, but....some "biddy" out there is stepping up to the plate! I don't know which hen laid this (for obvious reasons) but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a Jersey Giant or the Aracana. The hatchery told me the Jersey Giants it could take them 30 weeks to start laying.

Hopefully the rest will kick into egg production within the next few weeks. We've got a lamp out there on a timer (at the hatchery's suggestion) to trick them into thinking there is more daylight than there really is.

Now as long as I can convince Tyler he cannot sell just his one egg......

Kris

Donkey Party

For those of you wondering what a donkey party is.....


My MIL thought this up 3 or 4 years ago. In addition to celebrating the birth of Jesus at Christmas, she thought the donkey ought to be celebrated for carrying a pregnant Mary around (yes, warped sense of things, but they have miniature donkeys, and I think this is an excuse for her to have a party with a bunch of little kids...really though it is a lot of fun).






We play donkey games (pin the tail on the donkey, donkey bingo, break a donkey pinata), string donkey beads, and drive their miniature donkeys around in the cart.




And of course, eat and stand around a fire and talk.....


Since I was working this year, I don't have pictures from this year's party. I told Todd to take the camera, but....he is a man. I should have let Jessie take the camera but....she is 8.

Kris