One of two ...

Tina B left two for me to quilt. She chose a dogwood pattern for this one. These colors would work in my dining room. I never yet have asked for payment up front when I do a quilt. I figure that if someone doesn't pay me, I'll just keep the quilt!

Sometimes I wish I could get a quilt that way. I almost got one. I kept the finished quit here for almost two years, not having been able to track the owner down by phone, email, or otherwise. But then ... wouldn't you just KNOW it?!? The owner called and came for it just about when I thought it was mine.



















(That's the back.)
Now for Tina's other quilt ... gotta get them finished before she shoves off for school.

Things are a'changin' ...

THAT'S for sure. The economy. The world scene. The way people communicate. Or don't (as in, pretending to be tied up by another call so they don't have to take yours, or hanging up in the middle of a call and pretending they lost service. Ugh! There's even an app/program to facilitate the farse). But that's not all.

There was a time, no so long ago, when an entry in a quilt show that was machine quilted wouldn't get a second look without criticism and the word "cheating" flung about. Now it's rare to see anything but. Hand-quilted is (almost always) beautiful, but is becoming a thing of the past for the most part. Except for a few hold-outs, pretty much everyone has come to accept machine quilting as every bit as much an art form, and even if the quilt is not the winner of a spectacular award, we admire them in every quilt show. Kelly was back yesterday, and did another Hunter's Star, this one done by a different technique than yesterday's. Both were the result of classes offered by our local quilt guild.
















(We see you back there, Kelly!)

Another thing that has changed in one generation became apparent to me today. I stopped for gas in our local area. Mind you, some people think that we're so far out in the boondocks that even the crows fly backward here. When we came here some thirty-odd years ago, the Amish neighbors would sometimes stop and ask if they could use our phones because they would not have one in their homes back then. After ten years or so, I got a call from my Amish neighbor/friend down the road, telling me they were now "allowed" to have a phone in the barn and she was so tickled she just had to call SOMEone. I was probably the only one she could call without incurring a fee back then, because practically everything here is/was a toll call. Back to today: I pumped my gas and went inside to pay for it. Standing in line in front of me were two young Amish men, and one of them had a CELL PHONE on his hip! I probably chuckled right out loud. It tickled me.

Do you knit? You're in good company! God knits. (KJV Col. 2:19, if you wanna see for yourself)

We feel like cannibals ...

We ate the eggplant baby. So, I'm the kind of nutball who gets sentimental over things like that, and felt bad about dismantling and eating the thing. I was surprised, tho, when DH said he felt like a cannibal.

Kelly came and got one of her quilts done today. She told us she made it something like ten years ago. The raspberry fabric is just gorgeous -- looks like suede. Wish I could find some of it! I have no idea what for, but it's so pretty I'd just like to have it, even if I never use it in a quilt -- although, of course, that is what I would pretend I was buying it for. Before she took off, she loaded up another quilt and will be ready to get to work on it tomorrow morning.

And me? I got next to nothing accomplished. I started a quilt, hesitantly, because I was unsure of what to do on it. So I spent most of my afternoon chatting with a dear friend who dropped by. Maybe I'll solve the problem of uncertainty by "sleeping on it " (the idea, not the unfinished quilt).

A bit of a snag ...

I'm in the process of weaning my two bottle lambs, and have run into a bit of a snag. I don't like to just suddenly quit feeding them, so my plan has been to feed them less and less often until we're down to nothing. That's how I always do it. But I'm afraid I've run into a bit of a snag this time. These two little guys are smarties. When time comes that they expect a feeding, they come to the pasture gate and baaa-aaa-aa until I come out. Until today, that is. Now they've decided they know where I live and there's no sense waiting for me to come out -- they come calling. They squeeze through the gate boards and run across the road, up to the house and make their demands. Good grief. As if having all these critters to take care of isn't enough ... now I'll have to put up with them calling for me at the kitchen door! This certainly complicates things for me. Whatever shall I do when it is time to part with them, after they play the part of best friends who'll come calling?!? Oh, dear ... it's going to make a hard thing even harder, I'm afraid.

Julie S says she can't wait to see her finished quilt, so here's a photo of it for her.

I'm rather fond of her color combination, even though I would never have thought it up for myself. This close-up shows the quilting:

Shootin' the pig ...

For whatever reason, when they test the gas pipeline, they call it shootin' the pig. They have a big foam plug (the "pig") that they insert into the pipeline and force it through with compressed air to check for problems. I wish I had known before they did it. I think it would've been great fun to stand at the other end of the pipe and watch for the thing to pop out of the hole. I DO hope they had someone watching for traffic, just in case it popped out unexpectedly.

According to DH (A.K.A "Snoop The Scoop"), they'll next do some high pressure test that will discover any possible leaks. Once that's done, the pipeline will be good to go. Neighbors are all wondering how long it will be before the wells here will go online. Rumor has it that it will be sooner rather than later. I'm still waiting for my eggs to hatch before I count my chickies.

(sign at Ken's corner, for those of you who know where that is)

It's been an unusual year so far, and so the sheep got their "haircuts" later than usual. The fellow who's been shearing for us for decades wasn't feeling up to the task. Thankfully, he's trained the next generation! The little gal in the background had a ringside seat (or actually, "stand") -- and was completely absorbed by the process. She chatted up a storm while Mike The Shearer kept busy for about two hours. He's got a young son, so didn't mind.

She tries to figure things out on her own and some of the things that come out of her just crack me up. It's awfully quiet around here now that she's gone back home.

well ... what have YOU been up to?

I finally figured out how to use the new camera. Sorta. Even though it's supposed to be the new model of the same camera I had before, it's a lot different. And the only way to read the handbook for it is to use the CD in the computer. Tsk! Turns out, it has a lot of nifty features I'll probably never use because I don't need to. I've gotten to that age where I only do what I need to, not all that is possible.

Here are some things I've taken pictures of:

Paula, who finished something like six quilts while she was here. Whew!

Kittens, kittens ... everywhere! I did not pose this little thing inside the work boot. He was already there when I went out onto the porch.

Don't Play With Your Food!

(yeah, yeah ... whatevvuh)

Seems I do peculiar things when I'm left unsupervised. So, sue me!