June is Bustin' Out All Over

 Let's try this again, shall we?  I remember when I posted every single week and I surely do miss it.  So I think I will try to begin posting each Sunday from now on.  

This past spring has been, not surprisingly, rather calm and uneventful.  The weather in the Ozarks was wet and rainy and cold.  But the farmers need the rain to bring on the hay for the animals.  I promised John a long time ago that I wouldn't complain about rain ever again. So far, I've kept that promise.

John's chickens continue to grow and produce eggs over the spring.  About April, they began to slack off on egg production.  Upon checking with the feed store folks, it turns out that chickens go thru a molting season to rid themselves of their winter feathers and prepare for summer from April to June.  Where John was getting upwards of 24 eggs each day, the chickens only produced around 9-11 eggs each day for the last 2 months.  Hopefully, they will begin producing more soon.  We are able to sell every egg they produce.  I keep records of the egg sales for tax purposes and can see how Grandma could use egg money to run the household!  Eggs bring in quite a bit of extra change!!!

My nephew and his family made a trip out to Kansas City at the end of March and ventured down to us for part of the day.  It was lovely to see them.  Those children are growing up to be amazing humans!  Smart and funny and inquisitive!  They spent part of the afternoon up in the hay loft of our barn with Uncle John...then fed the chickens and gave the cows treats.  We are so blessed to have them visit!

I've been cross stitching a lot!  More cross stitching than quilting.  But lots of artsy stuff happening!

Loch Ness Monster, Spring Strawberry, and Queen Bee.  All of these are smalls - about 3 inches square.  

I am participating in Summer Cross Stitch Camp this year.  For June, our camp project is to be to stitch a holiday design. I am going to do Happy 4th of July by Maryna Riznychenko. She's a designer out of the Ukraine.  I really like her designs. 

Hoping I can get the entire design stitched by the end of June.  Will check back in later in the month to post progress.

In May I was able to travel out to Utah to see our son and his family for the first time in 3 years.  Oh, what a joyful trip that was.  All 5 of the grandchildren are becoming amazing humans!  E and her husband came up to visit while I was there and I got to meet him.  What a nice young man she chose!  C performed in an end-of-year concert at school. 

She's turning into a beauty - inside and out!  She will be a senior in high school next year and will be part of the Madrigal Choir - an elite choir only for seniors.  She will also sing with a couple more choirs and is going to school to become a Med. Tech as well as working as a lifeguard at the local pools.  This young lady is going it all! So proud of her.

W reminds me so much of his dad.  He's funny, and smart, and handsome.  And he's amazing around old people (took really good care of his grandma without being told!)

And then there are C and H.  The two youngest of the Knotwells West family.  H is really an artist!  He amazes me with his talent.  His birthday was while I was visiting and we gave him a huge set of alcohol markers.....his pictures gobsmacked me.  He told me he wanted to draw hands and faces and watched a lot of videos and practiced until he got it right and I can tell you he nailed it!    C is the youngest and she is a dancer.  She had a competition right after I got there and another recital just before I left.  That young lady had her grandmother in tears at her performance!  She seems to prefer lyrical and jazz dance to other forms. And she is GOOD!

What would pictures of my Utah family be without my treasure?  

John and Jill are such a wonderful pair.  They make us so proud!

Clean up time after dinner! Everyone pitches in.

Oliver is their dog. He's a Labradoodle.  They've had him for about 5 years now.  He and I started a routine while I was there.  As soon as I went upstair to start my day. he would come up to me and stand near my knees, waiting for a good rubdown. Once that was done, off he'd go to do whatever dogs do.  But he always came up for a good morning rub!  I don't know what he did when I left to come home.

About halfway thru my visit, I began to feel kinda crumby.  Since Salt Lake City sits much higher in elevation than we do here in the Ozarks, it isn't unusual for me to get a bit of sinus distress....or a cold or allergies.  What I was feeling was just as usual for about halfway in any visit so I didn't think anything of it.  When we came home from C's choir concert, John suggested I take a Covid test, just in case.  Guess what!  Yep, Covid positive!  I spent the rest of my visit wearing a mask and I wore one on the trip home and several days after I got home.  I finally tested negative this past Wednesday!  I was so fortunate to have an incredibly mild case.  I never lost my sense of smell or taste.  Never had any really breathing issues.  Just a bit of drainage down my throat and no sore throat at all. No fever, one small headache that was dispatched with aspirin.  No body aches.  Really very fortunate!  

I am back to normal - whatever normal passes for around here.  John is working on replacing some tiles in Mom's bathroom where her new walk-in tub was installed.  We are expecting rain and storms tonight and rain for several days in the next week.  

Thanks for stopping by and sticking with me all these months. I will try to be a better blogger.