Chicks and Appointments

I have my last eye appointment today.  This one is to get fitted for glasses.  I can't wait.  I have been using 'cheater' glasses and they have been fine for reading, looking at the computer etc but I have to take them off for everything else including watching tv.  Of course, even though I have a number of pairs, they are always somewhere other than where I need them.  I tied a ribbon to one set so I can hang them around my neck and that helps when I am watching television and hand quilting.

As I am looking forward to the end of my eye care, hubby is getting ready for his knee replacement.  Appointments, phone calls and more appointments are taking over the time previously used for my eyes.  I am glad we are getting the knee replacement done as he is in so much pain.  In the time we have outside all that, I have been getting some quilting done (mostly for customers) meeting writing deadlines and doing the normal everyday stuff.

We have had a couple of blessed events and now have two little baby chicks that were hatched by one of our banty hens  The eggs were from one of the full size birds so momma banty is going to have her feathered hands full.  We are really pleased to get these additions to our flock as it is much cheaper than buying more birds and, of course, we have the fun of watching them grow.

                                                       One of the chicks and mom

                                            Some of the flock.  Isn't the rooster magnificent?

Our fall fair is this Monday so have been working on my entries. I am not doing as many this year but do have a few things.  I will post them next week.

Blessings, 

Last Minute Preperations.

 I am back.  Our granddaughter went  home yesterday so we are now trying to adjust to not being hugged all the time and learning what a T pose is.  It was lovely having her here as it gave us time to get to know her.  Hubby and I Facetime with her and her brother each week but that, naturally, doesn't really give you much info into who they really are as people.

It has been a long time since I've been a parent (my son is 53) and I am amazed at the different lives young people live now.  It isn't just the amount of computer time they have but they relaxed attitude toward how they choose to identify themselves.  Our granddaughter has chosen her own name and, at the moment is non gender. She doesn't use pronouns to describe herself which I can't manage to remember.

She is still very confident, affectionate and willing to learn.  I firmly believe that those are the qualities which will help her grow into a successful and happy adult.

I am now back to quilting and getting ready for our fall fair.  I never seem to get things done in advance so will be working on my entries right up to the last minute.

I hope you all have been well.  My prayers are with all those affected by the forest fires.

Blessings,

Blessed are the Children.

 Our temperatures have really dropped.  It was close to 30 a few days ago and now, at 10.30 a.m., it is 9C.  Hubby wondered if we should turn up the thermostat but I opted for an sweater.  It will warm up as the day goes on and, really, I do prefer the cooler temperatures.

We had a lovely day at the Burk's Falls Village Quilter's group yesterday.  One of the ladies brought her granddaughter and what a lovely young lady she is.  She is 14 and have the grace and social skills rarely seen in someone much older.  I think we all would have gladly adopted her.  We do hope that she will come as often as possible.

On the opposite end of the age scale, the daughter of one of the other ladies drops in with her daughter and many grandmotherly noises follow the little one.  She is a beautiful little moppet and adds a lot of joy to our day.

Making children welcome at a quilt group is, I think, important to the continuing success of our craft.  If these young people have a good experience being around us, it will carry on with them as they grow.

I wish I had had that wisdom a number of years ago when I had a group in Edmonton.  One woman often brought her daughter and the rest of the ladies really preferred a child free environment.  I discovered some time later that the reason Mom brought her daughter was because her husband was abusive and she was afraid to leave the little one at home with him!  We all need to be very sensitive to the horrid reality that not all people have happy healthy homes.  

I finished a customer quilt and have the top of another nearly finished.  I am also back working on my hand quilted top.

Thank you to those who responded to my query about whether you liked the wrinkled or smooth look for a top.  The answers were even for both.

Blessings,

Smoothed or Wrinkled?

 

My faux English garden.  I don't have a lot of plants yet, other than the sunflowers and lilies at the back, but I do have a ton of gnomes.  I just finished emptying two totes and there is still a lot of other ornaments such a a wooden outhouse that are in the garden shed.  I have quit collecting gnomes as there is no more room for them.  I would like to get a garden hedgehog or two so will have to watch for those.

I have a question of the day.  Do you like the post wash wrinkly look of your quilts or do you prefer the smoothed just ironed appearance?  I prefer the former as, for me, they remind me of the well used, well loved quilts of the past.  I have a friend, however, who prefers the smooth look.  What is your preference and why?

Blessings,

Quilting and Kittens

What a week.  Monday evening, hubby came in from seeing to the chickens and showed me the tiniest furball that was resting in his hand.  It was a little kitten that appeared to be on its own.  We guessed that perhaps a fox or other predator had got its mother. The little one seemed to be about a month old so I wasn't sure how best to care for it.  We had an eye dropper so filled that with warm soy milk which it drank right away.  We then tried a saucer and it was able to drink and get a foot bath at the same time.  I fed it about every four hours until it was time for bed.  He was in a carrier with a blanket and more milk in case he needed it.  Our dog slept beside the carrier all night!  Our cat carried on like we had invited satan into the house.  The next day we took the little fellow to our local pet rescue.  They had just taken in another kitty about the same age so it would be good company for Sammy (as we had named the little one)

I felt bad leaving him there but I believe it was the right thing to do.  We gave the Rescue a donation toward Sammy's costs

Wednesday we took delivery of a steam cleaner and spent the day steam cleaning everything in the main bedroom  Mattresses, pillows and floor were all treated to a good cleaning.  Today, it was the hall carpet.  I still have the carpet in the spare room to do plus couch and chair in the living room.  It is a lot of work but nice to know everything is clean and no chemicals were used.

I finished the memory quilt and took it to the owner on Monday and have started the next two.

Memory Quilt

                                                                              Sammy

One more event to top off the week-I lost my cell phone.  I looked everywhere at least twice and then phoned a couple of places where it might be and located it at Walmart.  I must have left it in my cart or at the check out.  Thankfully, it was turned in and a friend is picking it up for me.

And that is the excitement for this week,

blessings,

Flower Gardens.

And now it is time for a cup of tea.  I went out early this morning to finally get the last of the gardening done.  I was making a new bed near the front of the house where the plants can be seen from the windows on that side or from the deck.  I planted all new perennials  and will add the spring bulbs later.  There is already a large iris which is the background and a few other plants. I would like the finished bed to look like an English garden.

I still have to unpack my garden gnomes (yes, I know it is the middle of July!) and put them in place.  I like to have a lot of hidden treasures scattered here and there.  I have a steepled church in the new bed and will add some gnomes as well.  I finally have the large ceramic sheepdog with the geraniums.  

I could use my eye operations as an excuse for being behind but, really, it is because there is always something else to do-mostly quilting  or writing.

I tried to take a photo of the garden but the sun was too bright.  Will try again  later in the day.  Speaking of photos, my camera battery isn't holding its charge.  I bought a new battery but the same thing happens.  Do cameras wear out?  I have a non digital which is at least 40 years old.  I bought the Canon around ten years ago.  Anybody else have this problem and found a solution?

blessings,

Operations Finished.

 I have completed surgery on both eyes now and am just continuing the eye drops.  I probably won't be getting my new glasses until August.  For now I am using dollar store ones as well as those from an old prescription and they are working fine for computer work, quilting, reading and so on.

It is really hot and humid here with little to no breeze.  I was saying to hubby that we need to get up at four a.m., do our work and then go back to bed. The heat is hard on the animals.  Both the cat and dog lay either on the linoleum or wood floor as they are cooler than carpet.  I make sure their water bowls are full as well.  We are a pet loving family.  My sister's dog won 'dog that the most people would like to take home' prize at her local village fair in England.  Dylon is a German shepherd.  My other sister also has a shepherd but Willow hasn't won any prizes yet.  Heidi would probably win for most people loving.

I hope to have some photos of completed quilts within a week.  I have almost finished one of the memory quilts as well as a top for a customer.

Hubby had to move our (non functioning) generator so I could expand my flower garden. I got a lot of perennials when the garden centers were closing down and need to get the last of them in the ground.  

Always something to do.

Stay cool,

blessings,