"I don't know why ..."

It’s a stupid habit …


When I go to the barn every morning, I first pour myself a cup of coffee and take it out with me. I set it up on a tall fence post where the horse can’t reach to knock it down. I’ve learned. The hard way, of course. The horse (yes, the same one that steps on my foot every time I try to lead him anywhere on a rope) WILL knock my coffee cup off the fence post if I leave it where he can reach it. But the post that holds the gate is much taller, and has a good flat surface on which to plop a cup of coffee. I can grab it and take a swig every time I pass the post – heading for the chicken coop, the sheep pen, the goose pond … whatever. But this has GOT to stop. I absolutely MUST get out of the habit of taking coffee with me.

It’s not that I intend to stop drinking the coffee. It’s not even that it’s sillier than all get-out to have to play this game to outwit a smart-alek horse. It’s the bugs. Twice this summer, I grabbed the coffee and took a big gulp, only to wind up with a bug in my mouth. Once, I’m certain it was a fly. Oh, gag! I wanted to barf, and just couldn’t get the idea out of my head for HOURS. Even though I was sure I spewed it back out without swallowing it, I could “feel” it in the back of my throat. The ditty “I don’t know why she swallowed a fly … I guess she’ll die” kept spinning around in my head. Just thinking about it now makes me creep out – it is SO-o-o- repulsive! And then this morning, I don’t know WHAT it was, but I’m sure it was a bug. Something tells me it was a spider.

http://www.burkemuseum.org/spidermyth/myths/whileyousleep.html (oh, yes ... PLEASE tell me it is truly just a myth!)

Speaking of spiders, we have most of the spiders in the universe right here on our farm. At this time of year they show up everywhere. I see some fantastic webs in the early morning when the dew is on them, making them impossible not to notice. Those black and yellow garden spiders make the most fantastic webs. They are huge, and look like there’s a zipper in the middle! Too cool. But also kind of creepy to happen upon unexpectedly when bending over to pick tomatoes and finding your nose an inch away from it with Madame BlackandYellow at home. Oh … and there’s a spider who lives behind the mirror on the side of my car. Every day I wipe it’s web off, and every night it spins it back. Crazy-persistent thing!

Nancy C spent a long day here quilting her CW quilt.

We found designs she liked and she was off and running. It was worth the trouble, don't you think?

Here's a close-up of what she put in the center of the quilt -- I darkened the photo hoping the stitching would show up better. It's all kinds of CW motifs grouped together: Confederate and Union flags, a canon, a soldier's cap, a drum, a pistol. See 'em? Maybe it's clearer if you double-click to enlarge the picture.