Cool Weather!

The weather is really cool for August. Almost need a jacket and it is going to be cooler tomorrow. Sure feels like October.

Today was a trip to see my grandbaby, Peyton, and I didn't get a chance to work in the yard much. Took a walk around to see what's going on. The beauty berry bush is really pretty. I'll post a picture tomorrow. I pulled a few weeds so I guess I did something, but mostly I admired the few things in bloom and how some of the plants are putting on fall growth and the roses for a few blooms late in the season.

Tomorrow is reserved for quilting in the morning and afternoon and gardening in the evening. It will be a busy day.

The Yard Gets Tired This Time of Year

I went outside to take a few pictures of the finches. I heard them and saw them at a distance but knew that walking up for a picture might scare them away. I sat on the deck steps and took some pictures as I saw the yard from that location. The yard is finished with most of it's blooming season. The plants need to be cleaned up a little and given a chance to rejuvinate for the long winter and next year's bloom. It is still pretty in it's own way, with an annual here and there to brighten things up. Another area of the yard has blooms, but cannot be seen from this vantage point. It is mostly shade and that garden has a variety of greens and textures. Next time I will venture closer to present it's beauty. The brightness in the background is the sun shinning on a soybean field. My shade sure makes a contrast to that sunny area.

The Quilt is in the Frame!

Well, I have the quilt in the frame. It has been in for about three days now and I am busy working on the borders. I'm almost finished and ready to start with the T-shirt blocks. Each one will be stitched as I decide, upon looking at it. Here are a few pictures to show you how it looks.

These are the two borders on each end, the outside border goes around the entire quilt and between the blocks.

This is the story of the lady's life - on the far end, her son was in the Navy, on the near end, she was a cancer survivor and participated in many of the Relay's for Life. The quilt blocks represent important events throughout her life.

Once the quilt hits the frame, I get excited about stitching it. It will be interesting and fun as I do each block differently.

Peyton comes to visit

Our first little grandbaby, Peyton, came to visit on Sunday. Some people get their grandchildren at an earlier age, but we finally got our little Peyton and are busting at the seams with pride. Needless to say, things stayed quiet in the yard, the farm and with the quilt on Sunday. Here are some pictures of our little one.

Monday's Here!

I worked on the lawn on Saturday but the mower ran out of gas and it was parked a little away from the house. I asked hubby to put some gas in it and I would finish the lawn. That is tonight's task. It won't take long and then I will work on the weeds in the beds behind the house. The weather is still pleasant although it should get hotter this week. I don't work well when it is hot so I hope hot doesn't mean really HOT!

A new sun bed is being worked out in my head right now. Location was an issue but I think I have that figured out. Planting will be next spring, preparation will be this fall. Some daylilies need to be moved because they have too much shade. But until then, I will stay with the lawn and the weeds.

Kittty's getting big and other things

Little kitty is getting bigger every day. He's not ready for solid foods yet, but getting close. I snapped this picture this evening as he scurried across the couch. His new box is a clothes basket turned up-side-down over a folded towel. Works really well as he can see what's going on around him.


Besides little kitty I need to comment on the wonderful weather. Feels like late September, but the leaves aren't turning color yet. I spent some time in the yard - not enough as I would like, but I did need to work on marking that quilt. I have all but the border on the two sides done. That shouldn't take too long. If I would have stayed with it I would be finished already, but my eyes were starting to cross and I felt a need to do something else. Should be ready for the quilter tomorrow.

Cardinal, Finches and a Humming Bird

We had a nice rain yesterday evening so I spent some time this evening weeding in the yard. Weeding is so much easier after a good rain. As I relaxed by the shade garden I observed a cardinal taking a dip in the birdbath. I never see birds at the birdbath so this was a treat. Then followed the finches - a male and two females. They were enjoying seeds from the cone flowers and didn't seem to notice me at all. They spent the whole evening. As I finished so I could get supper ready I stopped on the patio and sat in the swing for a bit. It wasn't long and a humming bird helped himself to some nectar at the butterfly bush. It was such a pleasant time in the yard - I just love to watch the birds. It's a nice way to mellow after a busy day.

The T-Shirt Quilt

At the present time I am working on a T-shirt quilt. I have been working on it for over two months now, although I should be finished with it already if I didn't have so many interruptions and delays. This is the first T-shirt quilt I have done and I am very pleased with the way it is turning out. The top is assembled, pressed and now I am marking the stitching designs. Many people are starting to do the machine quilting but I believe hand quilting is so much more beautiful. I am going to hand quilt this piece. I again was interrupted today and didn't get the marking finished. It is a little time consuming and I didn't get very far today. I will set a goal of getting it into the quilting frame (I call it the 'quilter' and my sister laughs at me since she says I am the quilter and it is the frame.) tomorrow so that I may begin the hand quilting process. I plan to post a picture when it makes it to the 'quilter' and you can see how long that takes.

I am making this quilt for a lady's mother and it is a story of her life, when she was young and her T-shirts were quite small to now when she is older and a grandmother and her shirts have gotten much larger. She had three children and I have appliqued their names on the quilt. I have appliqued additional information to fill in T-shirts that have open spaces. The quilt has been fun to lay out and work on and I am anxious to finish it and see how the lady likes it when it is done.

I have another T-shirt quilt to do after this and sometimes my mind gets ahead of itself and I am thinking of the next one before the present one is finished!

Kitty has teeth now!

Baby kitty has been chewing on everything lately - my hands, my face, the towel - just about eveything. So finally I checked in his mouth and there were his 12 little front teeth and his four fangs - he looks like a little Dracula! He loves to sit on my lap or my shoulder or my neck. I just can't get anything done when he is sleeping on me. Here is a picture of him taking his bottle. He is still little, but growing fast!

Farm introduction

The farm is really my husband's family farm. My sisters and I have a farm that we rent to other nearby farmers but we do not farm there. We have a herd of approximately 30 hereford and mixed-hereford cattle. We raise corn, soybeans and clover hay. We usually put out a few acres of wheat and bale that when the seed is at the milk stage (the seeds are just beginning to form) and the stalks are still green. We also have an acre that we plant in oats, grass and clover each year. We also bale that when the oat seeds are at the milk stage and the grass and clover have put on some growth. We later bale the grass and clover again. Below are a few pictures of the farm that we took last fall. One shows the farm buildings from a distance, the other shows fields that we work.

My husband has been getting ready to fill our silo in a month or so. We need to wait until the corn has matured enough so there is some drying to the stem and leaves but still some green exists. We feed silage throughout the winter months along with bales of hay that we have harvested throughout the growing season. Some of our hay is in large round bales and some is in smaller square bales. We feed the small bales to the young steers and to the cattle when the weather prevents feeding outside the barn.

We have had two new calves born the first part of August and two other mama cows are expecting any time. Baby calves are always so cute. Earlier we had one mama cow give birth to twin calves. As you can see in the picture, they are cute as a button. They are a little smaller than another calf that was born a few days later and we are waiting to see if they will catch up as they get older.

The Baby Bird

Yesterday evening I was weeding one of the flowerbeds - the one with the tall grass, daylilies and menarda plus a few other things. As I was busy pulling weeds and grass I looked up and saw a baby bird sitting on a piece of the grass. It had all it's feathers and the notch on the top of its head was beginning to form. It's feathers were tinged with red - it was a baby red bird! It said, "cheep, cheep" and hopped away to the other side of the bed. I was nearly finished and there weren't many more weeds to clear away so I decided to leave this bed for awhile so the baby bird would be able to get stronger and fly away. A few days I guess - in the meantime, Simon, the cat will not be allowed outside the house.

The weeds never stop growing.

It has been some time since I have been able to work in some of the flowerbeds. I had been sick and with just a week or so away from the yard things really got away from me. I spent a few hours this evening and last evening pulling weeds around the perimeters of two of the beds. I am fortunate that leaves fill the inner portions of the beds in the fall and winter and it has helped keep that area weed free. I just allow the leaves to stay in the beds and the weed seeds don't germinate. It has been wonderful since I have a problem weeding in those areas. Most of the perinnials are finished blooming. Coreopsis - that last forever - and some annuals make up most of the borders of the beds. I always feel good when I see what I have accomplished.

Kitty gets sick

Two days after kitty visited the vet his people mommy slept in and waited too long between feedings. Kitty had an infection, was on strong medicine and became dehidrated because of the long wait between feedings. His body temperature dropped and he became listless. I thought he was dying. I put a heating pad around him and finally got him to take a little warm milk. After a half day of holding and caring for the little guy he was back to normal. He did get his box moved to the living room where we could keep a close eye on him.

He is growing fast and takes twice the amount of milk in a feeding now. He can walk around with his tummy off the floor but has not started to play with toys yet. He loves to look at his people mommy when she talks to him. I wonder what he understands.

Baby kitten

About three weeks ago I rescued a newborn kitten - the mother had abandoned it and it was about thirty or more hours old. This little baby is a real tough guy. He managed to stay alive for this unbelievable amount of time without a mother's care. I gave him baby bottles (kitten size) of newborn kitten milk and he was thriving.

This past Friday I noticed a lump beginning to form on the back of his neck. It grew and grew and finally on Monday I got him to the vet. It was an abscess about the size of the kitten's head. The vet drained it and gave me an antibiotic to control any more infection. Today kitty is doing much better and I have been draining the neck several times a day.

Kitty started biting me after I fed him and I finally figured out the large container of kitten milk was going bad so I mixed up a batch of powdered kitten milk and we are back to our old kitten self again. This little kitten is as much work as any baby, requiring a lot of attention. He loves to look at his mommy since his eyes opened a few days ago.