A change is as good as a rest!

Rooster work is happening!  We almost got heat stroke one day but then we got a good thunder storm and the wind has made working outside bearable.  :)

I had fencing pliers but they were taken away due to lack of progress.  Now the Rooster is an amazingly focused and motivated boss but he tends to lose tools during the working frenzy.  I usually get him to check his pockets. lol  I did find those pliers when they went missing.     We are also looking for another long lost pair and his favourite lederman as we  remove old fence lines and plow through long grass.  Notice the rubber boots!  I have walking shorts on and rubber boots.  It makes for an interesting tan!  :(

The big barn is scheduled for a new hair do and some lipstick.  We should be done outside work today and can move into the barn.  We'll clean.  AGAIN!  :(  And start patching and putting back some windows in those boarded up areas.  A new door for my future workroom is also in the plan!  woo hoo!

All behind the barns is gonna need leveling but that won't involve me.    The smaller barn will get painted next year.  That'll be a piece of cake compared to the big one.  yikes!   I was having trouble with the thought of a bright 'barn' red but barn paint also comes in that pinky brown which is its original colour so that really makes me happy.  I've already googled a cool set of doors that Rooster says works fine!  :)  By golly, we are gonna stop traffic!  lol

The Rooster bought a yard tractor when he sold his field equipment.  It is sure saving our backs!  Then he got  a pull behind mower for it.  When I think of the days of my life spent pushing and then riding on my wee lawn mower I could just kick something.  He roars around for a couple of hours while I try to avoid being run over as I trim.  We our done the main yard in a couple of hours. sheesh Talk about progress!  But now I can rest, right!

An AHA moment or two!

Darn!  I wish I was faster on the uptake.   You know, catching on to things.  It might actually save me some money!  ;^) 

Home decorating has been of interest to me for so long that I don't actually think of it as a major hobby.  It is just part of how I just do life.  Therefore I assimilate information as I read, observe and study decorating principles.  I think I have a good understanding of how it ticks. lol

So when my young gal announced she was getting her first apartment I kicked into decorator mode and we whipped up the recommended mood board.  As a refresher, and mostly because I like to, I got out a book I have from a latest favourite decorator and even ordered another one from my local library.  Because I already know stuff I was thinking this is good for her but not for me.  NOT!

Holly Becker of Decor8 wrote, "There are some homes that I've visited where I instantly thought of a designer or look,  not the personality of the homeowner."  whoa!

I am making the switch from quilt kits, patterns and matchy fabric lines so why have I been so slow to realize I was not allowing what I luv to come to the for.  I was shopping my house which is full of 'the price was right',  it was given to me,  or worse yet it was a reasonable facsimile of a design lesson.  :O

With the chicks having flown the coop, the nest is now open for options.  So why am I stuck in 'old' thinking.  The opening photo makes me happy.  I luv white, old white, white with terracotta trim, or wood.   White ironstone has become a collection.  It may not have been appropriate for five rambunctious kids and a Farmer who doesn't take his boots off, but ...  My Rooster has scaled back to gardening and egg gathering.  He takes his boots off.  The grand kiddies have moved on from potty training!   I have a part time job and discretionary spending money.  I no longer 'have to'  have that uncomfortable chair in the bedroom.   And-  I know how to Google!  :)

There is something about toile that makes me smile.  I have two wallpaper rolls that I have wanted to put in our bedroom.  I have a quilt on my to-do list that focuses on toiles.   Then yesterday I got confirmation that I should just pick up that roundtoit and make a mood board.  Seven metres of wide, kinda sheer, toile fabric.  In off white and gold.    I also picked up two old plates in pink and yellow on creamy white which makes me sigh.  Now this surprises me as this chick  rarely wears pink.   :O   I also got  8 old books,  published in 1901.  Good reading, too!  Seashells, glassware, ironstone and candles.  Definitely mood board material.

Then today my gal and I continued our sightseeing tour by stopped briefly at a new bazaar shop in our small town.  I have ALWAYS wanted a tea trolley.  !!!     Now I am starting to realize that my front room suits the look of the house but it has become a tad , well, I'll just say it, old ladyish.  I need a modern 'something' for it.   Might be a rug to replace the old florally one.  ???   A modern vignette on the trolley.  hmmm  I have a very retro pinkish taupe tea set somewhere.  :}  pink again!

But first thing I saw was this small roll top desk.  I have also been looking for a chest with a fold down door for my Rooster's side of the bed.  He has a fair amount of clutter and I'd so like to hide it during the day.  It rolls perfectly.  I'd lose the knobs and paint it.  (not pink!) I can't wait to show him.  And after he does a bit of the requisite crowing I'll remind him that he thought we should check out the new place!  ;^)  Shop local and all that, don't cha know.  lol

Hey!  Come to think of it, I DID save money.

Ironing the wrinkles out!

We have had serious fog these past few mornings.  The heat is way up there and the humidity is 98% so thundershowers have been enhancing the weed production and the fog is kinda hiding them.  lol   This has turned out to be a challenging year for making headway on all the flowerbeds.  The good news is that the new plants are settling in nicely though.  We have all the trees we potted up in spring to find places for.  Good thing they got a nice start in their 'nursery' by the barn as we've changed their placement several times.  The Rooster is right into cutting grass now and he was not impressed with my 'scalping' of the back yard.  Gee, at one time all he cared about was the height of impending weeds.  ;^) 

When it is too hot to be out I am in the sweat shop ironing.   :(   I have the cutting down to a fine art. My math skills impressed me as I have slivers and a two by three inch scrap left from each piece which is great as these fabrics are fiddly to work with so I do not want leftovers.   I can get four blocks if I don't make any mistakes and there have been two or three.  :(   I will mix and match to get four different blocks and the plan is to make four quadrants.  If my math holds out I will have enough to run an extra row between the quadrants for a nice quilt for the foot of the bed.

 I quickly switched off my steam iron.  I'm using an old thrift shop iron and some spray starch.   Spraying the fabric has made all the difference in the world.  :)

The colour ways are roses, yellows, blues and greens.  I'm liking it; a perfect summer quilt.  The bottom right block was before I began starching and I'm hoping I won't have to use it.  :{

As you can tell from the first photo the fog is just about gone and it is time to do some sweating outside before I can get back to sweating and sewing.  We moved the laying hens back to their home coop and its a race between me and them as to who'll have the weeds gone first!  ;^)

all work and no play makes...

This part time day job is starting to work into my play time.  Between it and the weeds...

First 'work' day involved an appointment for the #2 grand kiddie and a day in the city.

Kinda inspiring to see what a garden geared to the wee ones includes! 

Then the next day my gal and I were back to the city looking for ideas for her first apartment.  This Ikea fabric can be coloured!  How cool is that!

I did get some spray starch but I also got another shrub for my garden bed on the way home.  I absolutely needed it for a balanced bed.  Full disclosure- I picked up two that weren't quite so needed.  LOL  The weather has been very hot and thunder storms have been threatening.  This morning is rainy and overcast.  Would have been  a good day to starch and sew but...

We are back into the city today.  :O

Not to worry.  The sun is always shining, even on a cloudy day!

Seriously behind

Looks like I lost a month in the series.  :(

I left off with a change in plan and then there was a series of things that obviously seemed more important.  :O  But I am committed to do this and while doing a bit of catch up on square in the square possibilities on the Internet I got excited all over again.  Not a bad thing when you are in  'middle of year' stall mode.  This was the new plan. 

The wind is still blowing here and summer chore lists are also riffling.  A hot day, a thunder storm last night and some free time this morning means I can make some small breezes to happen in the playroom.

I'm thinking summer laundry lines, summer flowers, and  summer fun!

I missed the last link up somehow so I'll need to have something doubly good for this next month.

While the laundry was doing its thing, I began to cut my fabric and made two blocks.  Gee, this fabric is soft.  eek!  I shall think about whether I need to use starch.  Maybe I just need to tweak the tension.  I'll think about it as I hang the laundry and  try to catch a breeze while I cut the grass.  It is a motivating Monday!  :)

Frog Forum

That Fairie Frog Garden

My grand kiddie #2 is visiting and we were going to tackle the weeds in the white garden this morning.

First we had to empty the wheel barrow so I trundled off to deposit the weeds in the neglected chicken fence.  The chickens have only been gone six weeks but my goodness!  I had to tear out some hops vine to get the gate open! :(  

That gave the frogs time to group, gather courage and present their grievances.  :O   Seems that when my faeires left, the weeds moved in and the frogs are having a hard time reading their music,  playing their marathon card games and leap frog has become a high altitude happenstance.  hmmm 

The hens have been doing their best to reclaim the jungle grass over in the orchard.  The new chicks are almost ready to go there so the hens will be coming back to reclaim their home.  Eliana and I got busy and pulled the biggest weeds.  The entrance now lets in some light.  I will need to get some of the bigger garden tools to reclaim the path and trim back the new tree growth.

ah!  The band is striking up.  The concert is planned for Sunday.  I hope the weed whacker doesn't affect the final results! :O

I'm hearing happy humming in this secret garden again.  I think we need to ask the Grand Rooster to fix the ol' potting shed and maybe for Art 101 we could paint that wall like a mural and ...   oh, bother.  I suppose the faeries are wondering what happened to me!  lol

Mid summer

And if the living isn't easy it is colourful.  I like a colour theme and a flow but my Rooster likes colour and flowers, big blowzy ones,  and as he is now part of the landscape team...    I will admit that things are getting done on time and the weeds are under control.  But as his welcome to the team he now must wrestle with the landscape budget which was the first time this year that the Budget ran over! LOL

Grand kiddie #3 had her third birthday and after exploring all the possibilities she settled on yet another baby for the nursery.  Kinda resembles baby 1 and 2 and has the same look as 4 and 5!  ;^)  She is our domestic child.  :)

We are trying to take time to enjoy the garden.  Smell the roses so to speak!  This should be the last time through for weeding.  I'm fairly pleased with the positioning of the plants and now they just need to fill in.

The Japanese tree lilac has finished blooming and the whole yard was permeated with its smell.  Now the mock orange under the front veranda windows is releasing its fragrance.  The moon flowers are twining up the railing and I'm waiting for flowers.  The faerie garden could fill in better but it will be overhauled next year. 

West of the centre walk the bed has been weeded.  The roses are blooming and the lilies are hitting their bloom button.

East of the centre walk I've started weeding.  The spirea we moved to disguise the stump hardly missed a beat in blooming.   I have pulled lots of dill which is all over these two sections.

These are quite tall, very prolific and smell heavenly.  Luv them!

I must have a 5 - 6 month attention span because all my first of the year commitments are lagging.  Time to recommit.  I grabbed my hand from pressing join for a bunch of new things and printed out my ufo list so I can pick it up and look at it rather than surf for something new, flirty and flashy.  :{

Then I revived my water brush and grabbed the sketch book because I am starting my own  club/class/come along.  I'm gonna capture what interests me, get it on paper, transfer it to cloth and play around till I create something!  I shall smell the perfume of productivity.  ha!  First I had to chase away the garter snake that lives under the margaton lilies!   Gee, there really is a snake in paradise!  :O

UFO- finding the launching pad again.

I think this month was a BUST  for listing finished projects.  But I am thankful for Vicki and her link ups because it keeps them up where I can see them and spurs me to continue. 

I have been trying not to start anything new.  I have collected a few ideas and I have resisted the urge to buy fabric.  Now to get back to work and finish up some of my languishing lovelies!  ;^)

Well, that was enlightening.  Nothing been happening.  All my flurries and flashes of 'must do' have yielded no posts.  Which probably meant no progress.  hmmm

I did take the applique blocks to my DD#1 and we will proceed with that and make a few colour changes but it'll work wonderfully in her newly painted and rearranged bedroom.  I'd like to find some blue toile for the backing.

The lap quilt for the front room works but I will not add any more of the theme fabric but frame them in the neutral solids.  After we bought the lovely picture we realized  the gold/yellow paint wasn't going to work so we chose the wall colour from the background of the picture.  It is a complex blue green that changes with the light.  I'll need to think about the backing a bit more though.

The hst quilt is ready for mqing and better yet, the sewing part of the sewing room is clutter free and ready to go.  Now if I can get the grass cut and the flowerbeds looking lovely...

Inspiration and motivation for more BUSTING can be found on Field Trips in Fibre.  Thanks, Vicki!

Celebrating

 Beautiful day here in central Canada!  A good day to celebrate.   Happy, HAPPY!

With the weather looking so good and the great outdoors calling I may just have to wait a bit to try out some good fun.

But if messing around with some celebratory creativity is high on your party plans, I'd like to recommend two gals who are celebrating some great product releases and techniques.

My friend, Margaret Applin at Scrap Wisdom Collage and Barbara  at Joggles, my favourite  place for inspiration and supplies, have gotten together for some exceptional creativity.    I recommend checking out this dynamic duo's newest and best creations!   let's celebrate!!!