2014 Goal evaluation for quilting anad sewing

As the year comes to a close in a week, it is time to evaluate some of the goals I set at the first of the year.  Right now I am only going to evaluate the quilting and sewing projects.
Here is a reminder of the goals I set. 

--Unfinished Quilting & Sewing Projects--
1.  Quilt Off-Set Blocks quilt
2.  Frame Welcome Embroidery piece (Done)
3.  Finish tiny wall hangings (Done)
4.  Quilt Storm at Sea quilt
5.  Quilt Double Irish Chain quilt (Done)
6.  Quilt Garden quilt
7.  Quilt Garden quilt wall hanging
8.  Finish Embroidered Baskets wall hanging
9.  Finish Embroidered Baby Sun Bonnet Sue baby quilt (Done)

--New Quilting and Sewing Projects--
1.  Embroidered Flowers Quilt
2.  Island Sunset Paper Pieced Quilt
3.  Camping Appliqué wall hanging
4.  Harvest Moon wall hanging

Here is the evaluation of what I did get done during the year.

--Unfinished Quilting & Sewing Projects--COMPLETED
1. Framed Welcome Embroidery piece
2. Quilted Spring Mini wall hangings
3. Quilted Double Irish Chain quilt
4. Pieced and quilted Embroidered Baby Sun Bonnet Sue baby quilt

--Unfinished Quilting & Sewing Projects--IN PROCESS
1. Pieced Embroidered Baskets wall hanging and being hand quilted

--New Quilting and Sewing Projects--NEW
I did not work on any of the new quilt projects this year but I did several new projects that came up during the year.
1. Noah's Ark baby quilt
2. Baby Broeckelman's baby shower quilt
3. Crochet edged baby receiving blanket
4. Macie's dress
5. Take Away The Blues! comfort quilt
6. Flora's Doll quilt

Other projects I worked on:
1. Helped Karen make a quilt top for Kinsley's big bed.
2. Helped the Altar Society quilt and bind their quilt for Mardi Gras next spring.
3. Designed king size Double Irish Chain quilt for Mom.
4. Helped Mom on borders for embroidered postage stamp borders quilt.
5. Helped Karen with applique on her North Dakota quilt.
6. Quilted baby quilt Judy made for another teacher at school.

OK, so I did not get everything done that I had listed but I really did do a lot.  10 finished projects, 1 project in progress and 6 projects I helped others with.  I am also crocheting on another baby receiving blanket. That is more than I ever really thought I would get done. Nice year for quilting and sewing projects.

Now to set new goals for the new year.  I look forward to see what comes about.

Rose

A new Christmas story

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring except for the mouse.
He was so brave that he ran around and played.
He was eager to come out in the light.

Sticky traps are around the baseboards
but he wants to run in the middle of the rooms.
I could not catch him no matter how hard I tried.
I went to bed in hopes that the traps would be filled.

On Christmas morning I checked the traps
Unfortunately they were empty.
I am so frustrated
What do I need to do to catch this critter?

I heard a rattling in the kitchen
To find he was chewing on a piece of dry bread.
He disappeared between the cabinet and the stove
Not to be seen the rest of the day.

I see his 'tracks' on the counter tops in the kitchen
I see his 'tracks' in the bathroom cabinets
I watch him run around the living room
I watch him run around the sewing room

It is now Christmas night
The mouse again is running around
He does not want to stay to the baseboards
Were the sticky traps are waiting for him.

Poison has been set out for weeks
Some have eaten and some have died
Then the smell begins
And the searching takes place.

Lately the mice ignore the poison
Lately the mice ignore the traps
Any holes are filled with steel wool and expanding foam.
I do not know where they are coming from.

I caught 3 mice and 1 gopher already this week.
I have lost count of all I have caught this summer and fall.
I am so tired of rewashing dishes and towels
I am so tired of always having a mess.

When I get ready for bed tonight
I am setting every snap trap I have
In hopes that the mouse will partake
And the trap will snap.

Plug any more holes
Catch all I can
Clean the whole house
Goodbye, little mouse.


Yes I know I am terrible at poetry or anything like that.  Forgive all my errors in form and format but enjoy the story behind it all.

I have had a nice and quiet Christmas day which falls between a couple of busy weeks.  I will get to see most of my family during this time. 

As we celebrate the birth of Christ, our Savior, I remember the reason he came to earth.  I am so grateful for all the blessings in my life.  My prayer for you is a life filled with love and joy that comes from Heaven above.

Merry Christmas all.

Rose

Take Away the Blues!

At the first of the year I set a lot of goals especially with quilts to make and finish.  This one is an additional quilt that I had no idea at that time that I would do.

My good friend, Roni, has been diagnosed with breast cancer.  She seems to be so strong.  She will have a mastectomy this week.  My heart hurts so much and I do not know how to express it.  So I do what I know how to do.  I offer help but she has no idea yet what kind of help, if any, she may need.  I turn to what I am best at doing, I make a quilt.  I sat down with the graph paper on the computer and began to design.  I had fun designing the block then the quilt layout.  I thought about using pink an burgundy colors to represent the breast cancer support but I decided that blue would be better.  I used 24 different blue fabrics--thus part of the name.  As a comfort quilt comes the rest of the idea of the name for the quilt.  Roni and I have known each other and been friends for 26 years.  I could not come up with a quilt layout with 26 blocks or I would have done that.  I used black flannel for the quilt back so that it will be soft and warm as well. With every thought and plan in the design, with every stitch made to piece together and quilt the quilt, I have put in all my thoughts and love and hugs and good wishes and prayers for her. 

 

Love you, Roni. I am so grateful to have you as my dear friend.

 

Rose



December Mud

It has been so very dry. There is powder dust everywhere instead of dirt.  Today we gratefully got rain.  Thunder, lightening and pouring rain.  I stood at the church door and watched; water was running down the gutters and across the parking lot towards the field.  As I was driving back to the farm after church, I drove through off and on heavy rain and there was water standing in the fields and ditches.  At Rexford I called home to ask how muddy it was and to notify Dad that I was on my way in case I got stuck and needed to be picked up.  Dad said they hardly had enough moisture to get the sidewalk damp.  Funny, I was driving in rain.  Ok, I'll head down the dirt (mud) road. 

As I turned to the county road, it looked muddy to me.  Oh, boy, was it muddy!  You can see that I was not exactly going straight down the road.

I do not like driving mud roads but I can do it.  I take it slow and slide all over the road but seem to stay out of the ditch.  There were times that my steering wheel was upside down or turned 3/4 around.  At one time I did not know which way was straight and had to just let go to allow it to return to normal. My Dodge Journey has the stability traction control feature that shuts down the engine when it senses the tires slipping.  I was basically sitting in the middle of the road and going nowhere.  I pressed the over ride button to shut it off and to let the car skid some.  I saw the anti-skid light come on once even after turning it off.  I made it home and did not get stuck. Yea Rose!!

I went down to Mom & Dad's and it really poured rain for a while.  I showed Dad the pictures I took as I was driving.  I think I was going slow enough and only need one hand to 'loosy goosy' steer the car that I was safe enough to take the pictures. 

I had .80 inch of rain in my rain gauge and it was leaning sideways so that most likely is not accurate but at least I have proof it rained a lot (just in case driving in it did not let me know).  I think Dad must have been sleeping in his chair and not realizing how  much it had really rained.  Snow is to come tonight.

Rose

Last days of fall

Autumn (fall) is my favorite season and time of year.  I love the warm days with cool nights and the beautiful colors the trees turn. Today is the last day of the beautiful fall weather that we have been enjoying.  This is the 8th fall that I have been living on the farm and this is the most beautiful I've seen for the longest time.  One year the trees were really pretty for a few days then a severe freeze and wind took care of that overnight. Other years the trees just seem to drop all leaves without any changes first. The trees have been beautiful and the weather gorgeous for 2 months.  That will all end after tonight.  Winter temperatures will hit and it will not get above freezing for high temps for a few days.  There is a small chance of snow in three days.   Here are a few pictures of what I love.

Ash trees are the first to change in the fall.

I love the color and shape of this tree.

Cottonwood tree is the last to loose leaves.

Last hay bales of the year.

 

Bushes and trees west of my house.

 Poor mum was transplanted this summer and did actually survive and bloom. Must be hardy.

I did not take this picture but it shows the beauty of autumn in Kansas.

 

Even though the weather is warm yet today, the wind has picked up giving us a warning of what is to come tomorrow.  I am watering my flower beds and yard one last time today then will disconnect my hoses and put them away for the winter.  Spring I hope you come fast.

 

Rose

 

Garden Robber

Dana plants a garden at the edge of the field just east of my house.  When school starts she seems to end any garden work.  Last year there were a lot of peppers on her plants in October when a frost was expected.  I talked to Derrick and asked if they were planning to pick before freezing or if they wanted me to do it.  He told me Dana was going to pick them.  I left it alone.  It froze and she had not picked the garden before hand.  It was a very hard freeze.  I was very upset that all was lost when it did not have to be.

This year seemed to be the same.  Since mid August I could not tell that Dana did anything with the garden.  During September, I watched the plants and their production.  When the first frost was forecast, I checked the garden again.  Nothing had been picked so I went out late in the afternoon and picked the 6 quart kettle full of peppers. 

I sorted the peppers by type and put in bags and into the freezer.  This will be wonderful during the winter or to make salsa later.  That night we did have a mild freeze.  Mom's garden in front of her house had damage.  I could not tell that Dana's garden was hurt, though.  Maybe I should not have picked and left them there to see if she would pick them later.  Last week we had another forecast for a freeze.  I checked the garden and there were more peppers and a few tomatoes also there.  I picked again.  This is what I got this time.

There was probably another 6 quarts of fresh veggies but I put them in other types of containers.  They are also going in the freezer.  Once again Mom's garden was hurt more but Dana's was not.  The freezes have been very mild so far this fall. 

 

I kept the twins last night.  Layne saw these sitting on my table and asked where I got them.  I told him I stole them from his mama's garden.  That did not concern him.  He just wanted to eat some of the little tomatoes.  So maybe I can count telling Layne I picked their garden and his reaction to that as a confession and forgiveness.  You think?  Well, if not, this is my confession.  I do not like to raise a garden but I love to can, freeze and dehydrate its produce.  I am the Garden Robber.

 

Rose

My Baby's Back

A week ago, my cow, Molly, had a baby.  The next day Dad & I went out to tag it. Dad found it tucked in the grass in the pasture.  I totally missed it till he pointed it out to me.  Can you see it there? 

As I said in a previous post, we spooked the little thing and it ran-through the electric fence, into the heat field and we could not find it.  That evening Molly  (the mother) was pacing along the fence where the baby went through and crying for her baby.  I really hoped that the babe would return to it's mama for milk.

The next morning when Dad was out checking cattle and saw Molly with her calf nursing.  I was so excited that the baby was back.  It looks like Molly will be a good mother after all.

 

 

I went out with Dad again to try to tag the little critter.  Molly kept herself between us and her baby.  We will have to wait till they are both in for water to catch them and run them through the shoot to tag it.  Dad thinks it is a girl but we could not get close enough to tell for sure.  Either way I have a grandbaby calf.

 

My baby is back.

 

Rose



 

Temple Garments

I was raised in a strong Catholic home. Thank you, Mom & Dad, for raising your family with a strong faith in God.  I have taken additional classes as an adult to better understand my Catholic faith.  I took a trip to Israel and to Rome to visit religious historical sites.  I am now a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Do not get me wrong here.  I have not rejected the faith that I grew up with but have taken that faith and knowledge and expanded upon it.  I now have a better understanding where before I had a lot of unanswered questions.  I do not know it all nor have all questions answered and do not expect to while living upon the earth.  This is the first time I have spoken so boldly outside the church about my faith.  It is a little scary to put myself out there for fear of rejection.  I think we all feel the disapproval from others at times but that can be another entire post topic.

When I began investigating and attending the LDS Church, my family was not too happy (that's the understatement of the century!)  Mom said a lot of negative things before storming out of my house, my sister-in-law did not want me to spend time with her children, others just thought I was crazy (but that was nothing new).  I did not share this part of my life with my family.  We just did not talk about it at all.  I knew I could not explain in a way they would understand and that I needed to live my life as an example of my faith before them.  They have come to see that I am not evil or possessed, I do not put them down for their beliefs nor am I 'preachy' about my faith.  I hope they know that my family is so very important to me and that I love them all more than words can express and would do anything within my power to help them.  I also love my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and am grateful for the plan of salvation and the atoning sacrifice Christ made for my sins and the sins of all mankind. 

The last time I was in Wichita at Karen's she said that one day at school some of the teachers were talking about "Mormon magical underwear'.  She stood up for the LDS faith by saying to these ladies that her sister (me) is 'Mormon' and that their garments are for modesty and an expression of their faith.  Well, she was right to a point and that was a good enough explanation for these teachers at that time. When she was telling me this, my heart swelled with appreciation and awe that she would do this in defence of the LDS faith when she is not a member of the church but that I am. 

Ever since that day I have wanted to post about this topic.  I talked with my home teachers about this asking what would be appropriate and not appropriate to say.  There are so many types of religious clothing in many different religions that display faith in God.  Are these made fun of as much as the LDS temple garments?  I do not know. 

The other day I found this article and video which explained the topic of temple garments much better than I could ever have done.  Since it is put out by the church I know that I am not saying anything that I should not.  Maybe this will help others to have a little better acceptance of what they do not know or understand.  There is nothing to fear. 

Sunbonnet Sue Babies Quilt

A few years ago Karen and I were at the Newton outlet stores at the Charlotte's Quilt Shop.  She bought an embroidery pattern pre-printed on fabric of Sunbonnet Sue Babies.  The fabric was pretty cheesy so she made copies on the copy machine at school and used that to trace onto fabric she wanted to embroidery them on.  She bought all the threads in the colors according to the pattern directions.  I loved the pattern also so we decided to share it.  When she was done, she gave me the pattern copies and all her threads.  She said there was no point in me buying all the colors when you only use a little of most of them.  As I embroidered the babies, I would purchase any thread colors that I ran out of.  When done the pattern and threads were returned to Karen.

I worked on the babies all winter a couple years ago.  I like doing hand work when I watch TV or just sit around and wait .  These could be put in a zip lock bag and tucked in my purse and go anywhere with me.  They were so cute an really easy stitches to do.  When I got them all embroidered, I put the set away to finish later.  Someone needs to have a baby girl as their first baby now.

At the first of the year I added this quilt to my list to finish this year.  Even if nobody is having a baby girl, I can finish the quilt and have it ready for when the right baby comes along.  I have told all my nieces and nephews that when they have their first baby I will make them an applique quilt for their nursery.  If they have 8 babies I do not plan to do 8 quilts!  I try to make the quilt special to go with the nursery theme or a theme that means something special to the family.  Some quilts have been made from purchased or free online patterns but others have been my own creation. 

In June, Emily, Karen's daughter, announced that she was having a baby in December.  A few weeks later she found out she was having a baby girl.  Oh, goody! I can make the embroidered Sunbonnet Sue Babies quilt for her.  How fitting it seems to me.  Emily is into retro things, natural things, artistic things, and besides that I got the pattern from her mother.  She saw some embroidered blocks that Mom got in some stuff and fell in love with them.  Mom made them into a quilt for her.  She loved it.  She said her nursery is painted teal and she promised Ryan that she would not go all pink girly in her décor.  I think she will like this embroidered baby quilt.

 

Sorry the picture of the embroidery work and the quilt itself is not very clear.  I'll try again to take pictures of it and if I can get a better one, I will replace this later.

 

I wanted to add a little pop at the border of the quilt but everything seemed to be too much.  I found a tutorial for "Susie's Magic Binding" and thought I'd give it a try.  It added just what I needed and turned out great.  The tutorial was so easy to follow.  Look at the results.



On the bottom picture you can even see some of the machine quilting I did. 

 

Emily's baby shower is not until November 1 so don't spill the beans.  Can we keep this a secret from her?  You are getting a sneak peak.

 

Rose

PS: Look what I made from the scraps.  Baby Flora will have a doll quilt that goes with her baby quilt. (Dec 14, 2014)



I am a grandma (of sorts)

Monday morning Dad called to tell my that my cow, Molly, had her calf.  I was beginning to think she never would even though Dad thought she might.  If no calf this year, she was going to the sale barn.  She was just saved.

Yesterday morning Dad & I went out to find the baby and tag it so we know which one is mine instead of being one of his or one of Derrick & Dana's.  We found Molly but her calf was not with her.  I was concerned if she was taking care of her baby since we lost her calf last year. 

Last year we moved cattle to the north pasture and there was a tiny little calf struggling to keep up and was trailing (what looked to me to be) a first calf heifer.  When we got to the pasture the little thing laid down in the grass and panted and panted but no mother came for it at that time.  I wanted to pick it up and take it home to make sure it got something to drink and then bring it back when a mother was looking for her baby.  Dad said to leave it alone because the mother would come looking for it.  The next day he said the baby was in the same area and he did not see a mother with it but believed that it was being taken care of even though he did not see it being done.  I still wanted to bring it home to take care it the little thing.  Dad said he'd keep a watch on it.  The next day it was not in the spot or area it had been for the prior two days so he felt it was with its mother even though he did not spot it but there were a lot of cow/calf pairs in a small pasture intended to only be there for a very short time.  The following day he found the calf in the draw bottom, dead.  My baby died.  If only I had been more insistent about bringing it home to care for it.

Well, back to this year's new baby story...We found Molly but the calf was not with her.  Dad has the cattle spoiled by bring them corn every day that all the cows come right up to the Ranger looking for corn and will take it right out of his hands.  We got corn and gave some to Molly.  She stood still and Dad checked to see if she had been nursed on and if she was giving milk.  He said all was good there.  We went driving around the pasture looking for the baby.  We finally found it when we almost ran over it tucked in the tall grass in a terrace channel.  Here is what we found.  No wonder it was hard to find.

 

 

We stopped and the calf just laid there where it's mother placed it.  I got tags ready for it and the castrating band ready in case it is a bull.  The baby never moved the whole time I was doing this and Dad and I were talking.  We decided we may be able to walk up on it since it was so calm there.  That would be better than trying to chase it with the Ranger and hook it's leg to catch it especially since Molly was not there with her baby.  I was standing at the back of the Ranger and Dad began to slowly walk towards the baby.  All of a sudden it shot up and took off on a run away from us.  That away was to run south.  As it came to the fence it stopped a bit and paced the fence line before going through it into the wheat field.  After running a ways into the field it stopped running and turned to look at us.  We were on the Ranger but not moving.  It turned around and began to run again.  No point chasing it as it will only run further away.  We drove to the fence then through the pasture along the fence line looking for the baby.  We did not see it.  Dad hoped it laid down in a terrace in the wheat field and that it would return to where the mother laid it.  We scanned the hay field and wheat field but could not see it there either.  We decided to check on it later.

 

Late afternoon Dad went out again and found Molly pacing the fence line in the area the calf ran through and she was bawling for her baby.  Hopefully the baby will be close enough that it will hear its mother calling it and be hungry enough to come looking for her.  I had to come to school to sub this morning and Dad had gone out early to rake hay so had not checked cattle before I left.  I hope the baby is back with its mother. 

 

I hope not to lose this baby like I did the one last year.  Dad felt so bad for not letting me bring the calf home last year and he believed it to be Molly's calf that he gave me one of his calves to replace the one he caused me to lose.  He did not need to do that but it was very kind of him.  I'm afraid that if we do not find this baby, he will feel really bad again.  After it ran, he said he knew better than to approach it from the north because it naturally would run in the opposite direction which would be away from home.  He thinks if we would have been on the south side of it and it ran it would have run towards home and maybe not get lost.  Also we would have been coming from the back of the critter instead of from the front.  When we came across it and stopped, we just happened to be in front of it. 

 

As much as I love working with the cattle and especially with the baby calves, maybe I am not meant to have any of my own.



Kitchen goal

I have worked on my goal to clean out the cabinets this year and wash all the cabinet fronts.  I did it unexpectedly, you might say. 
This summer and fall the mice have been terrible.  In the last 2 weeks or so I have caught 10 mice in the house.  I have not had any for the past 4 days.  I hope this means I have them all now.  The big question is where do they all come into the house at.  Dad and I filled everything we thought might be an option for those little critters last December.  Evidently they have created a new entry point that I have not been able to find. 
One day I was getting something out of the upper cabinets and saw a couple marshmallows on the shelf that were not in the bag.  I am not that messy in that cabinet that I have chocolate chips or nuts or marshmallows laying loose.  I always have clips on the tops of opened bags.  I began to look a little more and found the evidence of a mouse being in the upper cabinets.  I have had them in the lower ones quite a bit between the refrigerator and stove but never in the upper cabinets before.  As I researched I found out that the little critter got in the vegetable bins, chewed the edge of the cabinet shelf to gain access to the upper shelves. 
So began the cleaning.  I took everything out of the cabinets, scrubbed them out, wiped the cabinet doors, put everything in plastic containers or glass.  When everything was back in the cabinets, they really do look good and organized.  I even got all the counter tops cleaned off and organized.  Now if only I would get the table cleaned off.

Now how long do you really think I can keep it looking this nice? Any wagers?  I will not bet in my own favor for long.  I just am not the most naturally organized person.  The inside of the cabinets will stay looking pretty good for a while (only because nothing else can fit in there) but the counter tops will surely be cluttered again as soon as I go to the store or get busy with things other that in the house at home.  I am scheduled to sub at school coming up and a few other things so my guess is it won't last as long as I'd like.  But--At least I can say I got it done.
By the way, my laundry room still looks clean and organized.  As of today, I have a box on the floor that has some white clothes to fold and one batch of folded laundry on the dryer top to be put away.  That will be done this week when I do more laundry.  I am pretty happy with myself.  Now to clean and organize the mud room where everything went that did not belong in the laundry room.  Oh, well.  This is par for me.
Rose

Another week on the farm

I was asked to put together a rag quilt from the blocks that were signed at the baby shower for my nephew and his wife, Isaac and Kate. Valerie gave me the blocks and all the other flannel she purchased.  I finished the quilt and got it all clipped last Wednesday.  I gave it back to Valerie to wash and dry it to fray the edges or else she can give it to Kate to do that.  Their baby is due in just a few weeks. 

 

 

When Valerie came out last week she also brought me two grocery sacks of tomatoes that she picked from her garden.  These tomatoes were the most dense I have ever seen for large tomatoes.  Roma tomatoes are this dense but they are small.  I took all the peppers from my freezer and made salsa.  I ended up with 33 pints and 3 quarts of salsa from this.  I will have some good eating *snacking* this winter.  I will share some with Karen as she always shares hers with me. This year her garden was not so good. 

 

 

This past week I also helped Dad and Mom build a corral in the north pasture in order to make it easier to load the cattle out of there instead of trying to walk them home across the field which is usually planted to something.  Dad decided to make it from old grader blades and make the corral permanent.  Those blades are solid steel, 8 foot long and 6-8 inches high and (I'm guessing) 3/4 inch thick.  They are heavy!!  They are hard to handle.  Dad started out working on this alone.  Why is it so hard for a man to ask for help?  Mom went out to help the next time he worked on it.  She can't really lift but she could place the bolts in and put the nuts on.  I went out to help the next time.  I helped did post holes (my tractor skills are not so smooth when I am to backup only an inch at a time).  I helped lift the blades and carry them to where they were to be used and then held them in place till bolts were in place.  Dad finished up the gate and moved some of the cattle home so they could be taken to the sale. 

 

I had a lot of sore muscles after helping on the corral Thursday evening and Friday morning then standing at the sink working tomatoes and peppers for salsa.  I am not used to that kind of hard physical work all on one day.  I now need a couple days to rest but that won't happen for a few days.

 

Rose



 

Macie & Rose day

Last week Dana's first day teaching at the college was before the kids started school.  Layne went with his Daddy cutting silage and Macie and I had time together.  We have been looking forward to this day all summer.  Macie picked out fabric and ribbon for a dress that we were going to make together when we had a one-on-one day.  It was finally sewing day.  Macie likes the idea of sewing the dress but is not that into doing it.  I was sewing and had her try the dress on to see how it fit.  She had to go into the bedroom and close the curtain to change her clothes.  After trying it on and I was sewing more, she was in the bedroom and being very quiet.  I finally decided to look in on her and she was playing at my makeup table.  This is what she did.

She had opened and used every container, tube and brush.  Foundation, shadows, blushes and lipstick were all over her face and chest.  When I told her that was probably enough makeup, she went to the bathroom to clean herself up.  She spent a lot of time in there also being very quiet.  She came out of the bathroom saying it did not all come off.  There was staining from the lipstick and the eyebrow pencil did not all come off. 

After taking her home I went to the bathroom and found a huge wad of wet toilet paper the size of a cantaloupe that she used to wipe off the makeup.  There was also a bath sheet that was in the sink that was three quarters sopping wet.  I discovered that she had sprayed the dish soap/vinegar water cleaner on both mirrors but then could not reach them to wipe them off.  I had a sticky, streaky mess there.  She must have been trying to help me clean. 












Before Dana got home from school, we got the dress finished.  Here it is. 



Later I was telling Derrick about Macie's day and he asked if I spanked her for getting into things she had no business getting into and making a huge mess.  I told him that I did not because she had such fun.  That is what time with Aunt Rose is all about--doing things that you do not usually do at home.





I love you, Macie, and I'm glad we had a chance to share time together.

Rose 
 PS--A couple days later I asked Layne if he was ready for his one-on-one time together.  His reply, "No, thank you."  OK----At least he was honest and polite.  He'd rather spend time with his daddy and Papa working around the farm than spend time with Aunt Rose anymore.  He is growing up.

Noah's Ark Quilt

I can finally reveal one of the projects I was working on and talked about earlier.  When I was in Wichita the end of June, Karen and I did the applique on this baby quilt.  I could not reveal our work then because it was for a gift for my nephew and his wife, Isaac and Kate Broeckelman.  Today was their baby shower and I gave the quilt to them.  Here it is.

The guests at the shower wrote or drew on flannel quilt blocks and I have been asked to put a quilt together with these blocks and additional fabric Valerie got to go with it.  I'll post a picture of this when I get it done.
Rose

Midnight Bull Fight

About midnight last night I went out to burn trash.  At that time the wind is usually down and I am cleaning the kitchen before going to bed.  While at the burn barrel, I hear a lot of strange commotion in the creek.  I walked down to Mom and Dad's to get the Ranger to check it out.  I thought of taking the pickup to be more protected if I came across anything weird but it made a lot of noise when it started and takes off and I did not want to wake up anyone.  As I drove through the creek down the lane I stopped once to listen to where the noise was coming from.  I then kept following the drive lane and planned to only go to the gate as I would have to get off the Ranger to open it up and, after all, it was dark and spooky next to the trees and with weeds taller than the vehicle on both sides of me.  Holy Moly! Suddenly two huge bulls came out of the weeds right in front of the headlights.  Both were snorting and foaming at the mouth.  Talk about making my heart beat faster.  My guess, they had been fighting.  I sat there as still as I could with eyes as big as the moon as they both walked so close to me I could have reached out and touched.  Once they went into the hay field I turned around.  I thought as I walked across the road that I saw light from Derrick's TV on but was not sure when I drove back up the hill.  I decided not to call him and wake up his entire family and get Dad instead.  If I walk in the house, he most likely would hear me but Mom would not even know I was there. 

After telling Dad what I had done and saw, we debated about what we should do.  At fist I thought he was just going to let it be till morning.  I was more concerned that he should go out with me to at least see if there was more going on that what I knew.  We went for a ride and found the gate broken open which meant that the electric fence waeno longer connected and shorted out.  We drove around and found one of Dennis Roger's bulls and one of Dad's in the newly plowed field to be planted to hay.  They turned on each other in the headlights and butted heads and snorted and pawed the ground and began pushing each other.  Round and round they went.  Dad drove closer towards them trying to break them up but that only made them madder and I thought they were going to run into us.  Dad decided to leave them be for the time and see if we needed to chase cattle out of the field as well.  We drove around and chased some cows and calves but gave up on that and checked out the fence between our ground and Roger's.  There were 4 more bulls standing at the broken fence snorting and pawing.  Dad decided to try to chase them back from the fence to keep them from coming over also while we went to get fence stretchers and extra wire to splice with.  I held down the fence around where a post was broken off so Dad could drive across.  I put on my seat belt.  If we were chasing bulls I did not want to get thrown off the Ranger by sudden starts or turns.  Cowboy Up!  As we chased them, at one point we got really close as one suddenly stopped in front of up of us and I thought he was going to back kick us.  Dad made a quick turn around to get out of his way.  They were run back and as we came back into our pasture we saw where another gate was broken through. We fixed the broken fence and gates by the light of the Ranger, the bright half moon and a flashlight.  But, the electric fence had no spark.  We began tracing back the wires to find where it was shorted.  We drove and drove the fence lines checking along the way for spark. 

As we opened one gate at the east end of the line, the two bulls walked out of the field right into the pasture as nice as you could ask for.  At least they are in the pasture instead of in the field and possible getting out on the road.

We did not find any spark anywhere until we came to the gate at the bottom of the corral. I do not understand how the electricity line of flow is connected so I do not know what that meant but Dad does.  We started heading to the west pasture to see if there was spark there.  Dad switched something by the stock tank there and we saw vehicle lights that seemed to turn north.  In a bit the vehicle turned around and was headed back to the main road.  Then it turned west towards us.  Dad told me to turn around and head back towards the road because someone must be looking for us.  Sure enough.  A pickup came down the road and came flying through the ditch and into the field headed straight towards us.  Someone was out to get us.  It turned out to be Derrick.  He thought kids were messing around and he was going to chase them off.  He said he did not have time to grab the gun or he would have been shooting.  Lucky for us he did not shoot at us.  I would have never walked out of my house again after dark.  Derrick was not very happy that we did not call him to get out and do all this as it should be his responsibility.  I tried to explain that I did not want to wake his whole household and I was more than happy to help Dad.  I agreed that next time I would call him and let him and Dad do it.  I hope there is not a next time but I have traveled fence lines in the middle of the night with Dad before.  Actually it was a beautiful night to be out and about.  The moon was bright, the air was cool and there were no mosquitoes. 

I got back in the house at 2:30 a.m.  I never would have thought that when I went out to burn trash that it would be nearly 3 hours later that I get back in the house.  A couple things to be grateful for--1-we were not hurt by the angry bulls and 2-I did not catch the farm on fire.

As I write this now, Alysha Rogers just pulled up with the stock trailer to pick up their bull.  He must have come into the corral for water or was chased up this morning and penned up.  Derrick came out and walked the bull right into the trailer with no problems.  I have to admit that this bull was huge and made Dad's bull look small in comparison. 

All in a night's work on the farm.
Rose

More projects

I have been working on more projects.  Even though they are not completed, I feel I've made good progress and different phases are done. 

First project today is a completed project.  I made the Double Irish Chain quilt top several years ago while I was staying at Karen's.  We worked together to make this.  I had purchased a precut kit (strips with pattern) from e-Bay several years before that.  I probably had the kit for 6-7 years before sewing and had the top made for 4-5 years before I finally decided to quilt it last month.  I machine quilted it with a meandering loop design on Mom's long arm quilting machine.  It really did not take too long and it turned out great.  The quilt is completed with binding and all.  I even hand stitched the binding down.

Another project that I have been working on in between other things has been the embroidered flowers.  In an earlier post I showed two flowers done.  I now have the other 4 flowers embroidered.  I am so excited to have these done and to put this wall hanging together and hand quilt it. 





This past week I have been working on Baby Broeckelman quilt.  Karen helped me pick fabrics and work up the appliques.  I have the top completed and will get it put together and quilted once I return to the farm next week.  No pictures of it yet as I have not given them the gift.  You will have to hold on and let the suspense build for a little bit.  I promise pictures soon of this special baby quilt.

Now I am helping Karen with applique on a quilt that she made when in North Dakota sewing with a friend earlier in June.  We are having fun but I will need to go home soon.

Rose 

 

Little Mowing Man

A couple weeks ago I tried to mow my yard but the mower was gone.  Then I got gout and could not walk.  After going to the ER and falling through my porch rail trying to get into my house, my nephew, Derrick, said he'd mow for me since it was getting really tall from all the rain we have had.  Not until you get the mower back from your hired man.  The next day Jeff brought back the mower and Derrick and Layne began mowing.

 



 After mowing some between the trees across the drive and a couple rounds in my yard with Derrick showing Layne how it works, Layne began running the controls by himself with his daddy sitting with him.  Then Derrick got off and let Layne mow all by him self in my yard.

 

Layne finished mowing my yard by himself with his daddy and great aunt watching.  He went slow enough for the thickness of the grass and learned where to drive the front wheel in order not to miss some grass.  When he would miss a spot when he turned around (I do that all the time) he would go back and get it the next time he came by or when his daddy pointed it out to him.

 

You can see that his 6 year old feet are not able to tough the mower deck by a good 6 inches but that did not stop him from being able to run the joy stick and mow.  He was so pleased with himself that he mowed their ditch which is flat (mine is not) and then mow in front of Grandma & Papa's house so they could see him.  



 

 I love to watch Derrick with his kids, especially with his son.  Derrick is such a good father.  Layne is such a little man as he follows his daddy and Papa around the farm and the little guy is a lot of help.  They will tell him what they want him to do and he can do it.  He was in the tractor 2 different times in the week or so as Derrick and Dad were working on equipment and Layne would pull levers or flip switches for them as they worked on the ground. That saves them so much time climbing up and down, in and out of the tractor.  All you need to do is explain it once to Layne and he knows it.  That is just like his daddy, Derrick, was and still is.  Layne will grow up just knowing how to farm work on equipment just by hanging with his dad and his great grandpa.  I love these three men in my life.

Now that Layne is learning to mow and Derrick wants him to do it more with him being there to watch and move things out of his way and to mow a perimeter for Layne, I may be soon out of my summer farm job.  Oh, well.

Rose

Wind Damage

Last evening we had a spring storm.  We were in a severe weather warning and high wind warning.  As the weather front moved through we had high winds that started from the north but also blew some from the west.  Winds were measured 70-79 miles per hour in some surrounding areas.  We got some hail with the rain.  There was some that was the size of a quarter to half dollar sized but, thankfully, there was not much of it.  I watched it a bit and saw it hit so hard on the north side of my house and bounced off and hit the garage.  Hail did crack a storm window on the north side of my bedroom window.  Within 15 minutes the rain and hail quit but the wind blew for a few more hours.  I saw a tree limb blown down against my fence before I went to bed.  This morning Brother Mitchell called to check on me and how I weathered the storm.  I went out and found a lot of limbs down in the yard.  Derrick's gate blew open breaking the main post against the house off but the gate did not break off.  Their yard tub was blown out of the yard onto the driveway and some of the kid's toys were blown around by the corral.  We only had .10 in of rain (very little).  At least that is all the rain gauge caught from the straight sideways blowing rain.  Fortunately the crops look good.  There does not look like there was any real damage to the wheat and the corn was laying over some but Dad thinks it will pop back up.  When I got home from church, Dad was picking up and hauling off broken limbs.  I pulled a lot out of my yard into a couple big piles for him then later mowed the yard and chopped up all the little twigs, bark and leaves.  Overall, we came through this storm not nearly as bad as we could have.  We have been blessed with much needed rain (nearly 7 inches) since the week before Memorial weekend without having hail or high winds.  This has helped the crops greatly.  For as bad as this storm was in many areas around us, we have been blessed again to not get harmed too much. 

 

This branch that landed on my fence had a base of 10-12 inches in diameter.  We could not see where any of these broke off the trees.  Dad said there were 4 different branches that fell on my fence and knocked over my bird bath.  Amazingly there was no damage to my vinyl fence except knocking off one little top cap which I had picked up from the driveway.  I had several branches that were 6-8 inches.  Thank you, Heavenly Father, all is well.

Rose

Full Moon

Today is June 13, 2014.  It is Friday the 13th.  It is a full moon.  What are the chances of that happening? 
The last time a full moon fell on Friday the 13th in June was in 1919.  The last time the full moon fell on any Friday the 13th was in October, 2000.  The next time a full moon will fall on any Friday the 13 will be in October 2019 according to an article in the Salina Journal but USA Today says the next Friday the 13th full moon will be in October, 2049. I guess we will see.
Is this a lucky day or are you superstitious?  I look at it as a really neat quirky thing.

This picture was taken last night with the cell phone and zoomed in as much as it could.  Sorry it is blurry but you get the idea.  I looked really neat shining through the leaves of the tree.

Rose

ER Visits for Dad and for Me

My father lives to tinker on equipment and fix things, change things to make them work better. He has an amazing way of seeing something and figuring it out and either fixing it or revamping it to work better.  He is a very happy man when he is not disturbed and can spend time working on things is his own time without any pressure.  Dad can fix anything.  He can look at something or listen to something and figure out what it takes to fix it.  He can get a phone call from a grand kid or neighbor or family members, listen to what they are saying, ask a few questions, maybe even listen to the noise the broken item is making, then tell them what is wrong and what they need to do to fix it.  Again, I'll say it: My Dad is amazing. 
For as amazing as he is, he is also just as stubborn.  He doesn't like to ask for help from anyone even though he will do anything for anyone.  I love to hang around with him to 'help' when I can but he will usually not come to ask me for help.

A couple weeks ago my father was working in the shed on a tractor and post hole digger. He did not want to come get me to run the hydraulics on the tractor as he changes the pin in the post hole digger so decided to use the tall farm jack to adjust the height to get the pin in.  As he was trying to adjust the jack, something went wrong and the jack slipped catching his hand between the top of the jack and the underside of the diggers main bar.  He was cut deeply.  He went to the house to wash it and thought he's just pull off the loose skin but it looked like there was flesh attached.  Mom wanted to take him to the ER for stitches but he did not want to go.  She called me to come take a look at it.  I went down and insisted we go to Colby for stitches.  He still did not want to go but we out voted him and took him to the ER anyway.  He hurt bad enough he was feeling sick to his stomach and was a little light headed so he did not fight us too bad but still grumbled. 

When the ER nurse looked at it they told him he definitely needed to have stitches.  They began to clean it up and it hurt so bad that he jumped, yelped, and kicked.  He was x-rayed to make sure there was no break in the hand which, gladly, there was not.  When the nurse practitioner came in, he began to clean it up deeper and irrigate it, he could see the bone in the hand and a blood vessel began spurting blood all over his gown.  They had to cauterize it to get it to quit bleeding.  At this point he noticed damage to a nerve and thought we may have to be transferred to a plastic surgeon.  Under further investigation he decided that the nerve was just nicked because Dad had full range of motion of his finger.  Dad ended up with 12 stitches in a horseshoe shape in the palm of his hand. 

After 10 days of keeping it clean and wrapped, he went in to have the stitched taken out.  they left in 3 and said he could pull these out himself in a few more days.  He is to leave it uncovered except he should wear a glove or some type of covering when working in the dirt or grease to still try to keep it clean.  It is looking much better.  My hopes are that from this accident he will think a little more about getting help.  I am happy to help him even if it is just for a few minutes at last minute notice. 

 

One week later I was in so much pain in my foot and ankle that I could not even touch it to the floor therefore could not walk.  It had been building since Wednesday but Sunday morning I could not take the pain any longer.  Mom took me into the ER.  It turns out that I have gout.  I was given a strong anti-inflammatory medication.  It helped a lot the first two days but not I am at a standstill.  Monday I could begin to move my toes and touch my foot to the floor to balance and walk with one crutch.  Tuesday I was able to walk without the crutch but limped heavily and walked as little as possible.  Wednesday I am walking a bit more but still have a lot of pain and some stiffness in the foot and ankle.  I go back to the doctor for a follow up next Tuesday. 

 

The worst part of it all except for the severe pain was trying to get me in and out of the house Sunday when going to the ER.  Because I could not put any pressure on my foot I was trying to use crutches to walk.  What a disaster.  Dad pulled the ranger right next to the steps of the front porch.  I used the hand rails to hop down the stairs to the Ranger then he drove me to the car so I could get in.  At the ER they got me from and took me back to the car with a wheel chair.  When we got back to the farm Dad, Derrick & Dana were sorting and moving cattle.  Mom finally got the Ranger and brought me into the yard by my porch.  As I was trying to hop up the steps with the crutches and hand rails and not touch my foot to the ground something went wrong. 

 

I don't know if my crutch slipped or if I just lost my balance or what but I began to fall forward and thought my head was going to go through the glass door.  Instead I began to fall to the left against the porch rail but I just kept going.  I tried to grab the rail but that did not work and I fell through the railing breaking the crutch that had wedged between me and the rail.  I ended up with my hips on the porch deck with my head on the ground below.  Mom was screaming, "Help, Help, HELP, HELP!!"   I was telling her I was OK but before I knew it Derrick had a hold of one arm and Dana had a hold of the other arm and they were lifting me up trying to scoot me back onto the porch.  "No, just pull me into the yard."  They did that and Derrick helped me roll over to my tummy.  I crawled on hands and knees around to the steps, up the steps, into the house, and onto the sofa.  I lay there panting trying to catch my breath.  I do have a skinned knee and a bruise on my upper left arm along with a few sore muscles but that is not bad.  At first I really thought I would be going back to the ER for head lacerations and stitches.  Falling through the rail off the porch really was not the worst that could have happened.

 

At the time my mother was scared to death and scared Dad, Derrick & Dana also.  Dad said Dana and Derrick flew over the top of the corral fence before he really figured out who was screaming and what had happened.  I am glad they came to my rescue.  Now it is really funny and we can laugh about it. 

 

A side note to this whole story is that I had to go to the bathroom before we left the hospital but I did not want to get out of the wheel chair.  We had to go to Wal-mart to pick up a prescription and Mom went in to do that as I stayed in the car.  After I fell off the porch and crawled to the couch I still had to go to the bathroom.  I did NOT wet my pants.

 

Rose

Tiny Quilts Done

I am excited that I have finished another quilting project.  The two tiny quilts I put together while in Arkansas at my brother's home last fall are done.   I quilted these with monofilament thread zigzag stitch around all the fusible applique.  I am thinking of making tabs on the top of them to hang with and then attach them together by the tabs.  I can also just pin them to the wall also till I decide if I want to do the tabs or not.  Another project finished-many more to go. 

 

 

 

I am still embroidering on the flowers for the batik wall hanging and I have the block of the month embroidered baskets quilt top finished with sashing and borders and I am in the process of hand quilting that also.  The embroidery is easy to carry with me and the quilt is a bit harder so it seems to stay at home and is being worked on as I watch TV in the evenings.  I am glad to be working on quilt projects again.  I most likely will not get every project done on my goals list before the end of the year but at least I am trying.



Rose

Birds

I have been watering my yard lately and today while the water was running on the west side of my house, I looked out the sewing room window and saw birds.  There were 5 little American Goldfinch birds playing in the shade of the big tree in the sprinkler.  They were so cute.  There were several robins as well and one that looked mostly like a robin but its tummy was as gold as these.  I only saw it twice then it flew north over the shed.  There were also some sparrows, a couple shiny black birds and a blue jay enjoying the water.  A robin was splashing and splashing in a tiny puddle at the base of one of the trees.  I went outside to move the water further north and I love listening to all the bird sounds and songs.  One even sounded like a kur-plunk in water but I could see him high up in a tree.  I really enjoy watching nature.

Rose

Because of Him

Happy Easter. 

It is a beautiful spring morning.  The wind is calm for a change.  The trees are budding out and a few flowers are blooming in the bed along the house.  I am so grateful for all I have. 

As we celebrate the life of the Savior today, here is a beautiful Easter video titled Because of Him.  It reminds us of what He did for us through his atonement, death and resurrection.  If we repent of our sins we can start again. When we keep his commandments and follow Him we can become more like him and one day return to live with him in Heaven.  I know God lives.  We have a loving Father in Heaven who sent his son, Jesus Christ, to atone for the sins of the world - for US!  He is risen.  The Holy Ghost can be our constant guide, comforter, teacher, and companion when we live worthy of it.  I am so very grateful for the plan of salvation and all the Savior, Jesus Christ, did for me - and you.  May I always live worthy of this amazing gift.

Rose