Speechless on Saturday

There was a sale at Michaels. Fantastic grab bags for $2! Well, not all was grabbed. Some seducing happened. oops! But wait till ya see the summer hall and a little spillover in the veranda and front room. YUM!

And I didn't get the porch paint. Long, long line so I shall go local and get them to tame down my last can of neon lime green at the same time.

It's all good!!!

A Sense of Direction

My goodness! I have paint cans all over to correspond to their future uses. I can paint the whole kitchen. I can pickle the cedar chest. I can finish the chicken coop. I seem to have bought a whole lot of white paint! I can ...

Veranda. Focus. Veranda is the focus.

I carted the pieces out to the barn and to my gifted paint room. I washed things up, found screw drivers so my dearie can tighten up all the screws, etc. that I overlooked. I was just going to do it in my own zealous (reckless) way. But the rooster has crowed. I'm needing finer sandpaper, a somewhat slower pace and some forethought. He's right.

I did find the old paint cans for the veranda so I can do some touch ups. I'm wondering why we didn't put baseboards down , at least on the outside walls. Hmm, I do like those prepainted boards.

Seeing it empty also increases my roosters anxiety level as he SO wants to get at the veranda which you see has serious needs. But this weekend is designated Zoo day. Dad wouldn't have set aside this project. But Grand Dad... Well, lets just say the zoo isn't the attraction! lol

He does need to get a few things for the permanent fix so this doesn't happen. But I also need to get a few things like porch floor paint. So I have my list and I'll try not to buy too much for the kitchen, hall, and all.....

It's a good day here at the coop.

Heck, I'm having a good week!

Feels good to be back in the happy groove. Nothing major to report but I'm happily moving along through all the little stuff and the bigger fun stuff is saying "c'mon"! And I'm anticipating more happiness in the doing of the big stuff.

My rooster and I cleared and prepared a spray/paint place in the barn. "Ye have not because you ask not!" I shoulda asked sooner. oops! I can use his 2 wheeled cart to get stuff to the barn and I got good lighting and power and water and no distractions! YES! Then he can help me carefully carry it back.

Another biggie has been the DIY bloggers. They have opened up an whole new world for me with their tutorials and various styles. I thought I was weird always wanting to change things. NOT! There are lots of us. Now I don't want to pick up power tools but I do know who I can ask to do that. He is no skilled carpenter, more the jack of all trades, master of none kind of guy. But he is pickier than I am and is super good at figuring out the best way to do things with our abilities, and resources. My rooster is not exactly crowing, more like squawking, but he is a good guy and doesn't 'really' mean I need to quit looking at all those projects. Heck, think of all the money he'll save DIYing!

Best of all, the variety has caused me to fine tune my style. It is definitely more focused and I am feeling confident as I move forward. Everything I do needs to reflect the happiness I have here at home, me and my dearie, surrounded by the things that make us smile! < VBIGS>

Five by twelve

Amazingly, I got my five things done by lunch time! Must be a first. Of course that now gives me lots of time to worry! More on that later.

I have computer time in the morning and I realized I could do some altered page prep while some of the sites load. Multi tasking.

I wanted to try using a doily as a stencil. I definitely need more practice.

Then I gathered up my various cans of spray paint and sorted through the old paint cans in the basement. Threw out two, set aside two and felt fabulous to have started to edit my paint department. I will never save paint cans again. I'll pour the extra into plastic peanut butter jars and label. Better than rusty lids and painted labeling. sheesh

I have some paint from the laundry area. Possibly the tables.

I have 1 can of spray paint and got 4 on sale yesterday- celery. Should do the 2 chairs.

I have a yellow for the high chair but I may hold out for a gold. Hmm, maybe I need to look to see if there is any sunshine room paint left.

I do have a darker yellow for the shelf.

And I have some bathroom paint left for the bench. I also want to learn to antique/distress and I have some paste wax to experiment with.

Now I've warned my rooster I need a place to try spray painting again so hopefully he'll come up with a good idea. Shoot! Seems like all the DIY Bloggers all do it, so why can't I???

So with big ideas on my mind I...

... did get on the mower and cut grass. The old garden is now grass but you can see where the new pasture will be for the sheep. So I gained some grass but I also lost some grass. That fluffy stuff is foxtail barley and not very edible. But the grass is pretty brown right now so at this point it is all one level and done!

My rooster is beginning to catch on to landscaping and now has opinions. :( He wanted a stately tree in the centre of the old garden. ??? We do need to break up the wind so what the hey, go for it!

Dear grandson and I forgot to shut a gate and this is what the sheep thought a feature tree should look like! Hopefully it'll bounce right back and bush out like that big willow in the background.

But the bad news is that while I was dreaming of my painted furniture I chewed up and did not spit out a 50 foot real rubber water hose. oops! He who keeps the books is going to be entering my transgression on the debit side of the ledger! ;^)

Day Tripping

I'm taking a break from the yard work.

Monday sees a day trip to deliver the latest baby quilt. DD and the Grand kiddies and I shall see how the grass is growing in the south west part of the country. Then Saturday is ZOO day. Yippee Skippy! My farmer says except for the next 2 weddings we are NOT giving up any more weekends! ;^) We'll see, much as I do agree with him.

In between I have grass to cut. I watered just about all that I needed to water with the kids helping as we drove the lawn mower and the little trailer all around the yard. Good combo- water, pails, motorized wheels and a hot day. They did desert me when the grand farmer had better things happening. lol

But I think I'm done with the yard and I'll be contemplating furniture refinishing projects for the veranda. I'll be thinking of colour combo's as my wheels spin 'round and 'round!

What...

... did the plough say to the tractor? Pull me closer, John Deere. Farmers' humour! ;^)

Thursday's tangent was to ignore the gale force winds that blew things over and around, dropped tree branches, dispersed the heat and to get that baby quilt sewn together.

All the horizontal quilting was done and I kinda liked the look.

But this will be washed lots so I stuck to the plan to outline each square.

It kind of works for the plaid on the back. I used a variegated thread on the back ,

and the front.

This was a quick quilt so I had used the envelope finish and after taking the front picture decided to add one more row of stitching to the edge. hmm, I'm thinking I could have lengthened my stitch more.

Today I'll be on my little lawn tractor, not green but I'll be cutting the green. And the brown. The farm yard has been grazed by the sheep this past week and they have better stuff to eat so they have been pretty choosy about what's been offered. So I'm the clean up crew!

comforted

The oomph was there to get through the funeral week and now comes all the rest. It seems a bit over the top to have to deal with fritzy appliances: microwave, dishwasher and now washing machine. And we are in the middle of a heat wave. sheesh

I had a fan blowing as I stitched the binding down.

The comfort quilt is now a designated crying towel.

There are lots of memories in the quilt which was the 'nothing' that I was doing when I was asked. Trees, river, flowers, pastures, favorite horses, colours, etc. I hope it brings comfort.

Heat wave

It's official. We have a heat wave happening. Same temperature yesterday but it felt cooler because the humidity was down.

Hmm, I seem to be stuck in plain patchwork for these quick baby quilts. I should think about storing us some half square triangles or something. ;)

But I learned one time to let the fabric do the work so here we have Daddy's work logo for a backing, a subtle pattern that fits momma's decor, and something cuddly for the baby.

My current helper. I gave him bread to toss to the chickens. What I didn't realize was that he can open the gate so he and the dog had a wonderful time chasing chickens while I was working on the other side of the yard. oops! He also showed me how the broody hen pecked him as he caught one of her chicks to hold. Tough little guy! No harm done except I expect there will be a bit of a barn dance when they see me take him home today. .

Weather or not...

I'm not a weather person. I just 'do' the day. But we do have HOT happening and I have been, well, since girls don't sweat, I am definitely 'glowing'. Phew! Everyone talks more about the humidity than the temperature. 96%

The tangent is the yard and veranda. My life is not my own so our plans were majorly derailed by family visits. Son #3 arrived for breakfast Saturday morning and to stay the weekend. Daughter, son in law, and the grand kiddies arrived fresh from the beach and peeked in the fridge. lol We had a lovely time. But no veranda work. vbsigh

I have Josh for my helper and we'll trap the night air in the house and try to get some yard work done this morning.

A new baby has arrived at some friend's house. He works for John Deere and I have 1 metre of logo fabric that I don't remember acquiring but it came to mind. Perhaps I can cut some small squares for a quick top. It seems a bit hot to sit and stitch on the comfort quilt.

Fry Day

I think I dallied too long going out this morning and then the mercury hit the top of the glass. oops! So I didn't get as far along as I'd hoped.

But I feel cool just reviewing the progress so far.

Whatever I do has to have some element of fun! Something to make me smile. This definitely makes gardening worth the effort.

This willow sheds so much and I move the stuff around but it just looks so messy that I finally just gathered most of it up and took it to the chickens. Looks much tidier. I'm not sure how the chickens feel about twigs all over there living room floor but...

I'm really feeling like this area is ready to just fill in and look pretty. The frogs slipped over from That Faerie Place. That one little guy is probably going to learn that 'eaves dropping' isn't a good thing to do!

No couch potato

I'm beginning to feel like my old self. Of course, there is always room for improvement but I'm feeling the energy surge.
The binding gave me fits but that was because I under estimated the finished width. Now to hand sew it down.

The Three Creative Studios Tutorial of the Month was excellent. All about couching.

I did make a trip in to the city to get the much recommended open embroidery foot which is clear and has a small hole in the front for threads. Great visibility and has guide marks.

I had the free motion foot and it is so much fun. I do need a lot more practice but it is so cool!

Now I need more practice but this is exactly what I want to add to my fibre art so I shall be playing a lot more with couching.

I have been trying to work in the yard in the mornings. It is hot. I don't need to know the numbers; it just makes me hotter. Tomorrow I should have some photos to show I am not in any hammock sipping lemonade.

Tuesday's Tangent

Looks like Tuesday's will be the start of my week. I keep a grand child on Sunday and the return trip is Tuesday. A 3 year old boy and an 18 month old girl. We are on the move a lot! I'm learning to go with the flow while they are here and when they aren't here I'm learning I can work in the yard in the mornings and then have the afternoon and evenings for the 'fun' stuff. But I can't switch back and forth to cover all my different want to's in one week. Hence the need for tangents.

I'll always quilt but anything else will happen in tangents, dedicated blocks of time that last till the keenness wains or another bright idea overpowers and demands equal time. Now I am influenced by weather and supplies so there are some parameters.

I can read the signs of a creative breakout. ;) While working on the MQing for the comfort quilt and soothing my poison ivy itch I did some revamping in the playroom. Nothing major just added a couple of more rolling shelves and I made better curtains for the window. I'm also learning I create better in a quiet, calm, atmosphere and although I adore collectibles I'm better to keep things simple in the playroom as all my paraphernalia is more than enough in the accessorizing department. But I definitely had a little tangent happening; a kind of precreative warm up!

So the binding is on the cutting board and then I want to use my new couching feet.

I want the yard tangent to be done but I think there are many more wheel barrows to come.

Veranda:

The month of July has been designated veranda month by the Rooster.

The fellow who built our 1930's farmhouse and barn knew what he was doing. The barn roof line is straight and the house hasn't shifted much as the plaster hasn't changed much.

But the veranda! Whole other story and this is the year/month we deal with the constant fluctuations as it trys to pull away from the main house.

So while I'm a 'gofer' on the major fixing I'll also try for my own brand of fixing as I get some of my decorating and accessorizing for the veranda done this month as well. I did have a good start. Now to finish it up.

Between sheeps

Looks like Monday's are official grand kiddie days.

Eliana arrived with her potty. Oh, joy!

Then the shearer said Monday was a good day for him to come and help the sheep shed their winter coats.

I shall be locking myself in the playroom as soon as I return from delivering Eliana and her potty nack to her main trainer. Good thing she is so darn cute!

Itching to get the yard in shape

The flower beds need to be fuller and requiring less maintenance. So we dug some ferns from the neighbouring ditch and now I got a suspicious rash on my hand and on the top of one foot. :(

I've since learned that just getting the fern spores would be better.

Live, learn, and die dumb is not the kind of motto I want.

The itch spread quite a bit. My hands particularly so I've not wanted to be in the yard but I did cut the grass. This grape vine is SO prolific but never has fruit. One year I was so upset with it I pulled lots off and practically stripped it naked. But it just keeps growing and you can see that it is climbing the poplar tree rather than the wire fence.

So wonder of wonders to actually stop the lawnmower and confirm what I thought I saw. Teeny grapes and lots of them. I'm SO encouraged. ;)

I do have the comfort quilt quilted and I'm onto the binding.

The fruit of the vine and the fruit of ones labour. I'm comforted.

I 'see' what ya mean!

Slightly fuzzy but she is looking through my magnifying glasses.

I do work in tangents more often than not but I'm encouraged that I want to see the tangents completed. This must mean I am growing up. lol

Today's tangent is grass. Pretty hot, so I'll just try to catch a breeze as I rotate round and round.

A First for July

Shhh! In spite of the fact that many of the areas of our province are facing more flooding issues it is looking like we actually could be making hay, and good hay, on time for the first time in years. And the winter wheat... lush. We are experiencing HOT and dry. Horrible for sleeping in this old farmhouse but very welcome to our high, saturated water table.

The grand kiddies are up to date with hugs. And I'm ready for whatever normal looks like around here.

I'm a tangent kind of person so a different day for different hobbies is NOT going to work. VBSigh. I'm really not sure I can blame age on my declining multi tasking skills. I'm very spontaneous (maybe excitable) but just kind of an all in or all out personality. So I think I need to flow with that.

The yard needs a serious weeding and I pointed the kiddies to the garden tools and we did make some progress but this week I need to really make progress. But the heat and humidity means early mornings mostly. But my age also deems it wise to balance all the physical activity with less strenuous exercise. So glad my various creative interests are not muscle builders. lol

So I'll be machine quilting the comfort quilt which is probably going to be not much better than being out in the garden, sweat shop wise. But I do have a fan!

So July is up on the calender and it is looking like a hot one and I hope that is more than just temperature! ;)