Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Week 4 - More Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

This week is even more of the cold stuff.  Today the temps started just above 0 and with the wind chill, well, let's say the temps haven't gone up much.  It is currently 9 degrees at almost noon...We had a dusting of snow overnight and all things considered, the schools decided to call a Snow Day.  The policy at the library is thus - if schools are closed, we are closed.  Hence, I have the day off.  I can't say I'm not glad.  I'm beginning to think I don't like working anymore.  There's plenty of things to do here at home - fun things, things I really want to do.  Work is a four letter word - need I say more?

John and our neighbor took the 2 boy cows over to the neighbor's property on Sunday...it is past time for them to be weaned.  Sometimes a mother cow will self-wean but our two moms are true nurturers!  Once they got the boys into the trailer and pulled out of the field, John shut and locked the gate and they began to drive off.  Our Rosie went kinda crazy!  She began bellerin' and running in circles, and generally acting like a mom who'd had her child taken out of her arms at gunpoint.  She calmed down after about 20 minutes and I went back to whatever I was doing when I heard the ruckus.

On Monday morning, Mom came in and said she thought John had taken the boys over to John P's place on Sunday.  I said, yes, he did.  She said, well, I've counted the number of cows at the hay ring and it seems we have a total of 4 over there.  Hmmm, says I, there should only be 2.  Yep, there are 4 cows over there.  Okay, I missed something, evidently.  

I went to work and since John P. is not only my neighbor and my John's best 
friend, he's also my office partner at the library.  I told him about finding 4 cows in the field when I expected to see only2.  He said, yes, he got a call about 2 hours earlier from another neighbor of ours and it seems the 2 boys found a break in the fence (or made one themselves) and came home to their mamas.  He came over right away and enticed them into the field with a bucket 'o feed - cows will follow a feed bucket really easy, at least our cows will.  So now we have 4 cows again- 2 of which still haven't been weaned - and this weekend it's fence-mending at Mr. P's place for my John.  


Thanks for stopping by.


Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Week 3 - Brrrrrrr

This past week we see how Mother Nature can be a typical woman!  She's all over the place, temperature-wise. From unseasonably warm temps to frigid numbers, all in one week.

This past weekend was Martin Luther King weekend...no work for me on Monday since the library was closed for the holiday.  With today being my usual day off, I got a 4 day weekend. Yippee!  I sewed almost all day Saturday; Sunday was chore day, as usual.  Yesterday I spent moving stuff from the studio into another room in preparation for John to change out the lights in the studio from regular bulbs to LED bulbs....I can't wait!  Today I finished moving all the stuff out of the studio and now John has no obstacle to fixing my lights.  

In moving stuff, I find that some doesn't even need to live here anymore...I can take a bunch of stuff (mostly fabric that I bought long ago and really don't know why.  Our tastes change over time, doesn't it?) and give it away to allow more room in the studio for moving about. No pictures, I'm slightly embarrassed at the amount of 'stuff' that I've accumulated.  

In spite of the weather, the animals on this tiny farm still need attention.  Doesn't matter that the temps are frigid...snow on the ground, wind blustering, making the temps even more arctic than normal.  The cows still need hay.  
Brrrrrrrr.  He finished and came straight in to warm up!

Sometimes, when I'm sewing, I have company in the studio....and sometimes, my company decides he wants to help.
See that little black and white paw?  He sure wants to help.  
"Did I help, Mom?  Did I?"

Well, if you managed NOT to sew your paw while I was motoring down the seam, then, yes, you helped!  

It's time to get dinner started...my turn to cook tonight.  Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, January 13, 2019

2019 - Week 1 & 2 - Getting Started

Well, 2019 started off right nicely without us forcing ourselves to keep our eyes open and welcome the New Year.  We went to bed at the usual time, and, TA DA!  When we awoke on January 1st, the New Year had successfully been ushered in without our help.  I love that!  

Again, this year, I will try my darnedest to post a blog update each week...no promises.  Just Try!  I just heard Yoda in my head saying "There is no Try, only do or do not."  Well, that little green guy doesn't live at my house and here we certainly do Try!  

We passed a relatively quiet and pleasant and uneventful holiday season...the new year began with just the 3 of us plus the fur people and cows and chickens.  The weather stayed pleasant - cold but no snow or ice.  Here we are on the 13th of January and our first snowfall occurred last night.  It wasn't supposed to snow, it did anyway.  Fortunately, we only go about 1/4 inch of snow so it won't prevent me from going to work tomorrow.  


We don't expect any more snow today...just really cold temperatures.  I'm so glad I don't have an outside job.  

Earlier this week, this was the view outside my studio window...yes, that is a herd of deer grazing just past our south field, in the neighbor's front yard.  Our neighbor texted John to tell him we almost had a deer on the front porch. 

Well, I'm off to start work on another quilt.  Since finishing DA BIG QUILT for my friend in New Jersey, I've completed 5 table runners, 2 wall hangings, and one full sized quilt.  Yesterday I finished 2 table squares - need to make up a backing for each of them and then they can go to the quilter.  I have 2 big quilts already cut out and ready to sew up.  That doesn' include any knitting projects, either.  

I've finished 3 pairs of FlipFlop socks to send to a friend in Georgia.  She doesn't want to give up her FlipFlops but her feet get a bit cold so I did some FlipFlop socks to wear that cover most of her feet except the toes...that should help.  Got the box ready to mail tomorrow so that's one more thing off my list! 

John hung new curtains in the Great Room for me, and he took down some miniblinds in our bedroom (we also have blackout curtains on those windows so the miniblinds are superfluous - and the kitten has destroyed them playing with the cords).  I've got a huge pot of spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove - enough for dinner and then several more dinners worth to freeze.  The laundry is almost done. Now it's off to help mom get started on knitting a sweater for herself... And then I can spend the rest of the afternoon either knitting or sewing.  

I wish you a peaceful and happy week to come.  Thanks for stopping by.