I guess, life happens.

WHAT IN THE WORLD HAVE I BEEN UP TO!!!!!!!!!

April left with another storm, another 18 inches or so of snow.  Dosado had her two kid a few days before the storm hit, when it was a balmy 75degrees, but then two days later lows in the single digits.
But I think that spring is finally here.  The grass is greening up and it has been in the 80's the last couple of days. 
Here is Dosado's new kids.  Of course the flashy one is the little buck, the other is the doe.

 

 

Dennis took a couple of pictures of me bottle feeding babies.  The first is a lamb, she was one of

Kipcha's triplets born in March.  I wanted to supplement her so it would lessen the strain on Kipcha, and give the little female extra milk as the two male brothers are very aggressive when it comes to feeding time.

The little brown ewe comes at bottle time just to get scratched and loved on.

 

One the lambs are done, I go to the baby goats.  I milk the mom's twice daily and feed the babies their mom's milk in a bottle so they are tamer and easier to work with.  They do stay with the mom's at all times, so they can learn to be goats, and nurse off the mom's on and off throughout the day.  So I only need to bottle feed twice daily.  Sometimes they are not interested in the bottle, as mom has already fed them.  But this works the best for me with my schedule.
I only have one more ewe to lamb as of May 18th.  I hope she does not have triplets, as I don't want to bottle feed another.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!!                                                                                                            We had a nice day with the family at Ryan's home.  Hamburgers with all the fixins' even home made french fries!!!    Here is an absolutely gorgeous picture of Tera, looks all studious. 

Tera and Ryan bought me a beautiful necklace for Mothers Day.  I told Lily that it is like a window, with Grandma's treasures in it.  It actually is a locket, with glass on both sides and filled with charms that are near and dear to  me.  Both Tera and Ryan's birthstones are in it, a small sewing machine, you all know how I like to sew, a rose, a heat with Mom engraved on it, and a rose, and a glass of red wine.     thank you  Tera and Ryan.  Here is a picture of the necklace, which will be cherished by me always.

 

A picture of Julie and the girls.

'HOME AND GARDEN SHOW
Tera wanted to go, so we did.  But I outlasted them all.  Here are the three of them lined up waiting for me to finish up with yet another sales person. Now, is this a Kodak moment or what!

GARAGE SAILING
Tera and I went to an all town garage sale in Ault, (10 miles south of us, and our closest gas station).  Boy did I get some good deals!  I bought Tera a drop leaf table for $20 and 3 chairs, for $15.  I took the table home, which was pretty beat, up but solid wood and sanded it.

Tera picked out a stain called English Chestnut.  I applied two coats of stain and then 3 coats of polyurethane. It is actually a more reddish hue than the picture here.  What a treasure!

                                                                                                        

 

SEWING ROOM

I have not been able to spend as much time as I would like, or should, in my sewing room.  However, I did get a quilt on my frame and it is waiting to be quilted.  Note the black clip on light, $1 at the Ault garage sale!

 

Also I did manage to make two blocks for quilt club on Tuesday.

 

BOOK CLUB

I just finished reading The Glass Castle:A Memoir by Jeannette Walls.  A must read, it is  her biography.  She also wrote Half Broke Horses, that I wrote about in my last blog.  She tells of her life as a child, being raised by two mentally challenged parents, one also an alcoholic. The hardships that she and her siblings had to endure.  And she rose above them to be an author and contributor to MSNBC. I gauge the measure of an author if I seek out other books that they have written.  So both of these books are good.  Read Half Broke Horses  first, it is an autobiography about her Grandmother.

 

NEW HOBBY IN THE FAMILY

Well actually, it is an old hobby.  Dennis has again started an apiary.  He was an avid bee keeper up in Glyndon MN when we lived there, getting upwards of 700# of honey from 4 hives.  We lived by the Hutterites and they used to extract the honey from the combs for us.   "Up Nort" he had the Langstroth type hives, the typical hive you see that has stacked up white boxes.  He has since started with Top Bar Hives which are more like a hollow log.  More natural for the bees.  Natural and organic, mite free, fungicide and moth

free.  Here is the package of bees that we got up in Wyoming,  thousands of bees in this  box.
Last spring we had tilled  2 1/2 acres of our property and planted bee habitat.  It has been growing nicely, as the antelope have been in there all spring grazing. Hope something is left for the bees.
Dennis has to check the bees every three days.  Here is how they have been progressing.

You can see the queen on the right lower corner of the picture below.  She is the darker one with the elongated abdomen.  Right under the 05(the date)

Well,I have rattled on enough.

More later.........................................................................................................

goat babies! Quilts, Book Club

My first doe due to deliver is Gabby and she gave us beautiful triplets.  And Gabby is not my largest doe, but she did fine during her pregnancy and delivery.  She is also milking like gang busters.  Even though she has triplets, the dairy goats still need to be milked twice daily, as they give so much milk, or you risk the chance for mastitis, I have found this in my experience anyway.  Since 1997 of goat rearing, I have only had two cases of mastitis.  Just really have to keep up on the goats condition at this stage.
Here is a picture of the two little does and buck that Gabby had. This first picture is under the heat lamp.  So the red tinge.

 

 

I only have one doe left to deliver, and that is Dosado.  She has always given me triplets also. 

Here is a picture of my lady in waiting. She has 3 weeks to go.

 

 

SHEEP UPDATE                                                                                                                          

I sold my little ram Hank.  But will be keeping him until he is weaned in 3-4 months.  The brown with white tail. I was planning on keeping him, but you have to make a sale when someone inquires. I got what I wanted for him also so I am pleased.                                                                                                                                 

I think it was the white scrotum that sealed the deal!  Now, how cool is that!

Just one more ewe to lamb, and one more doe, then birthing season is done for the year.

SEWING ROOM
Not enough days in the week to get all the sewing done that I want to whilst here on the planet.  My son Ryan reminded me, that if I only have little snippets here and there, that the art of sewing will be dearer to me, and more special.  That is what it is like for him in regards to fishing anyway.
I did get finished a tote bag for a quilting friend of mine, specially made to store her hand quilting frame in.  

Also, I recently purchased a quilting frame and sewing machine.  It took Dennis almost a week to put it together, bless him, and I tackled the electrical part of the stitch regulator.  Here is the machine and frame all set up and ready to go.  I made the leaders to attach the top, batting and backing to the frame.  If you are not a quilter, this probably does not make sence to you.  I have been free motion quilting at my sit down machine, but it is getting harder on my elbows and shoulders tackling the quilts and moving them around to quilt.  With a quilting frame, the quilt is stationary, and the machine moves around.  The sewing machine is mounted on a frame with handles.  The technology is such that you can use your little finger to move the machine.  I also bought a laser to follow quilt patterns, and a stitch regulator to keep the stitches of consistent length. I can quilt a queen  size quilt

 

This is the quilt I just finished, and it will be the first quilt that I put on my new frame.

BOOK CLUB                                                                                                                                     

 I am reading the book, or actually the kindle book "Man in the Blue Moon" by Michael Morris.  I am 60% through the read.  The jury is still out on this book.  I keep waiting for something supernatural to occur.  Will let you know on a later post if it was an exceptional book.  I have to finish to find out, so I guess that is good.   

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                         More later.......................................................................................................................................                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Kipcha delivers triplets!! Hank, sewing room and books

Well, my last blog I posted a picture of my very pregnant  ewe, Kipcha.  On  March 20th between the hours of 1:36 AM and 6AM she delivered her triplets without trouble. 1 ewe lamb and two ram lambs.  But she had tapped her stores of calcium to make those three baby  skeletons,  she was tired out and low in calcium. When a ewe or doe is carrying allot of babies, it is almost impossible for the ewe to eat enough, due to the kids/lambs taking up so much room.  Especially so if the ewe is overweight.   Which Kipcha is not, thank goodness.
 She received supplemental calcium yesterday, and this morning is up chewing cud and tending to her babies.  I have been supplementing the babies with goat milk three times daily as we wait for Kipcha's milk to come in.  But with three lambs to feed, I will continue to supplement the lambs.  I keep the ewes in a "lamb jug" for a week after they deliver, it is a small pen where the mom and babies can be monitored, and lets the little ones grow some before they are let back in with the rest of the females.  As sometimes, the other females will butt the babies around, especially if the newborns think there is milk to be had from each mother.  The mothers really don't appreciate this.

Here is a picture of Kipcha in the "jug" with two of her lambs, the other lamb is standing by me. 

HANK
My ewe Easter gave us a very pretty colored ram lamb who we call Hank. He is chocolate brown with half a white tail, and some white on his two back feet. Oh, and his scrotum is white, now how cool is that! Also he is an RR ram who is resistant to scrapie. We probably will be keeping this little fellow. here is Hank with his mother Easter.

The tags in the ears are the white is a scrapie tag required by the Government so every animal can be traced to the farm of origin.  The yellow tag in the left ear is his flock ID tag that matches the Katahdin Hair Sheep International registration, since all my sheep are registered.
So now we are up to 6 lambs, and 2 more ewes left to deliver.  We are also expecting Nubian goat babies out of two does in April.  It will be a busy spring for us this year.

SEWING ROOM
I have not been able to sew much the past week or so, as I have been on baby watch. But I did manage to make a quilted "hoodie" for my featherweight. I like to keep the dust out of my sewing machines when not in use. Since the wind blows here so much, there always seems to be dust.

BOOKS
My friend Debbie sent me an excellent book to read called Half Broke Horses A true Life Novel written by Jeannette Walls.  This is a story about the authors Grandmother Lily Casey.  Lily is a strong independent women ranching/teaching/adventure seeker living in Arizona.  It is a must read, especially for my friends and family down in Arizona.  Wish I still lived there so I could check out some of the places that this gal wrote about.

SPRING
Our weather radio started alarming and flashing at 6AM this morning.  We are expecting another 6-12 inches of snow starting tonight.  Our local radio station predicts we will get this depending on what weather station you listen to, or we could get sunshine and 50 degree weather.  Oh well.

More later.....................................................................................................

Writers block, daughters move, Lily and Katy, and first lambs of the season

Wow!  I have had writers block for the last couple of months, or just not anything worthy of writing about, or just too busy.

FAMILY DOINGS
We helped move our daughter Tera and grandson Brady from Denver to Greeley. So glad she lived on ground floor, as it took us quite a time to recover.  Tera had a job transfer.  They are now living in a condo, with allot more room than their previous apartment.  And so nice light and airy.
Brady has made a few friends in his new high school and is settling in nicely.  Tera likes her new job, the co-workers, and sure does not miss the hustle and bustle of the big city.  Not to mention the crime, and time on the freeways.  We are so happy to have the both of them only 26 miles from us, vs 95 miles.  We got together this past weekend, to watch a  movie, eat pizza, and Tera showed me how to work facebook.  A really nice afternoon on a wintry day.

Lily( I call her my little snow princess) turned 3 the first of March, and Katy was baptised.  The other grandparents came down from South Dakota for these events.  It was so nice to see them.  Lily sure enjoyed their visit,  Katy became reacquainted with Joan, as Joan helped take care of her for her first 6 weeks of life.

THE BARNYARD

We have 5 ewes due this spring, and 2 goats are due  in April.  The first ewe had her twin ewe lambs yesterday.  One smoky Hershey colored lamb, and one white lamb.  I will have to try and find out what color this dark ewe is called. 

This ewe is the next to go I would suspect.  Her name is Kipcha and she is standing near the red feeder.  She Looks like she will have triplets, or two huge lambs.  Oh, we had snow yesterday, a few inches, but it supposed to warm up into the 50's by the weekend.

SEWING ROOM

I figured out that I have made 31 baby quilts since we have lived here 3 years.  Just love to make them.  Here is my latest that I made for a family members new baby.

I have also been busy making totes, since they are so easy to whip up, and use up some of my stash.

I also bought a Featherweight sewing machine.  I hope to finally attend some quilting retreats and the featherweight is the perfect portable for transporting, and piecing of quilts in the classroom setting.  It is a 1951 model,(as old as Dennis, and should last a lifetime) made of aluminum, and weighs 11 lbs, 8 1/2 inches high and 11inches wide. I have been obsessed about taking this machine apart and looking at its workings.  It is so cute.  My mother used to have one of these.

MY GOOD READS
Oh my gosh!  I have read some fantastic books since December.  Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, a suspenseful thriller about a psychopath.  The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian, about the Armenian genocide.  Mudbound by Hillary Jordan, loved this book, a connection between a black and white family in the Mississippi Delta in the 1940's, farm life.
The Devil's Highway and   Across the Wire:Life and Hard Times on the Mexican Border, by Luis Alberto Urrea. Both of these books were real eye openers for me, having lived just 80 miles north of the border when we lived in Arizona.   Dreams of Joy by Lisa See, about life and hard times in Red China during the 50's. 

...............................................More later.

Merry Christmas 2012!!!!!

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends, and a special "thank you" to all who sent us Christmas cards and letters keeping us updated with your lives.

We spent Christmas Eve day with Tera and our Grandson Brady down in Denver.  Good thing, as it started snowing about 7pm that night. But we made it home before the roads were bad.  The drive to and from Denver, is always white knuckle time for me.  People drive fast, and tail gait/cut you off.  No blinkers, one hand holding the cell phone kind of driving.  Always makes me nervous, and I get a little car sick. I am always grateful for surviving the trip.

 Tera served us a lovely ham dinner with all the fixings.  I made a red velvet cake from scratch, and homemade frosting.  We read a bit from the bible, and then opened presents.  I was unable to get Brady to lead us in Christmas carols.  Maybe next Christmas, or when we get together with Ryan's family on the 5th of January for our second Christmas of the season.

 Ryan, Julie and the two little granddaughters are spending Christmas in South Dakota with the other grandparents.  Dennis and Liz at Tera's place.

As for Christmas Day, we woke up to a winter wonderland.  Received about 4 inches of snow, no wind to speak of, and a balmy 9 degrees.  The expected high to day will reach 19.   We will be spending the day with our 4 legged family.  Some pictures of chores this morning.

MUST READS!!!!
Some exceptional books that I would like to recommend this month are
"An Invisible Thread" by Laura Schroff.
"Kitchen House" by Kathleen Grissom.  And last but not least,
"The Midwife of Hope River" by Patricia Harmon.  This book was so good that I ordered and read her book "A blue Cotton Gown:A Midwife's Memoir" and I am on the waiting list for her 2011 book "Arms Wide Open: A Midwife's Journey".

SEWING ROOM

I have been making allot of special gifts for my loved ones in the sewing room.  The aspen leaf coasters above have 12 different fabrics in each leaf.  The middle of them is a product called insul-bright, that is heat resistant.  It looks like two layers of batting with tin foil between them.  I heavily sewed the veins of each leaf, to keep everything tstiff and together.  I made 2 lap quilts for nursing home residents and also one for my Mother -in-law pictured below.

Not forgetting the pillows, curtains, and knitted items I made.  However, I wish that I would have started earlier, as I procrastinate until the final hour, and get a tad stressed out.  That is just me I guess.

More Later.....................................................................................................................

The Thanksgiving that almost wasn't!

I thought first off I should post a picture of our turkey, Peeping Tom!  He was the father of our turkey for Thanksgiving this year.  Tom is going on three years old and still going strong.  He has curtailed his peeping activities and roosting, peering  into our bedroom window, and has succumbed to the warmth of the chicken coop with our other poultry.    He is such a delight having around the homestead.  His only bad habit is when ever Dennis wears bluejeans, he will slap at him with his wing.  We figured it out that the blue of the jeans, makes Tom think of another tom turkey, as their heads are blue.  I never have problems as I wear brown pants when out to do chores. Thank you Tom!

THANKSGIVING STORY
Well anyway, back to my story.  I got up early Thanksgiving day to ready the turkey for the oven.  One hour into my cooking, Dennis came downstairs into the kitchen.  Since he had been upstairs working on his computer stuff, I asked him if it smelled good in the kitchen.  He said it smelled like smoke.  I went and checked the turkey and it was OK.  Then Dennis went into the laundry room and found the washer with smoke pouring out of it.   I had been washing a load, that had my black pants in that I was going to wear that day.  The laundry room quickly filled with smoke, I unplugged the washer and we ended up having to shut the laundry room door and open the garage doors to air out the laundry room for several hours.  Now, how many times I have put in a load of laundry, and left the house to go shopping or what ever.  If we would have been gone, the house would have burned down.
We have had the washer fixed once before, and it is 8 years old, so we decided to go out on Black Friday and purchase a new washer and dryer.  Boy, did we have sticker shock.  Cost almost as much as our brand new Ford Pinto we bought back in 1974!  I told the salesperson, that I would pay more to get a cherry red colored one, as I said that this would probably  be my last washer/dryer purchase, in my lifetime.  He looked at me and said  " you don't look to be 80 or 90 years old!"  I looked at him and said What???? Then he asked me how long I think that a washer/ dryer last these days.  I told him that our first purchased washer/dryer, we bought used and was three years old and lasted us 20 more years.  We left the set in Big Lake, MN when we moved to Arizona.  He said that since everything is made in China, that these days I could expect appliances to last 8-10 years, 11-13 if I was really lucky.  Well, I did not pay the extra $200 for a cherry red set, since I will probably have to purchase another set in 10 years or so.   A throw away society to say the least.  So we had to brave all the holiday shoppers on the dreaded Black Friday.  My mind was busy calculating the age of all my other appliances.  Better save up my money.


So back to Thanksgiving, we had a wonderful time, with both Tera and Ryan's family in attendance. Tera and Brady stayed and visited for a few hours after Ryan's family left, which was nice for us.Here are a few pictures of that day.  Lily chilling out and watching cartoons.

Brady and Tera at the dinner table.

 

 

And little Katy looking particularly festive.

Thanksgiving prayer that I saw when reading Dear Abby that I thought was thought provoking for all the folks that have plenty.

 Oh, Heavenly Father/ We thank Thee for food and remember the hungry./  We thank Thee for health and remember the sick./ We thank Thee for freedom and remember the enslaved./   May these remembrances stir us to service, That Thy gifts may be used for others.  Amen.

More later.........................................................................................................................

Sunsets, pumpkin carving, and First snowfall.

AUTUMN'S GLORY

We have had some really breath taking sunsets here in Colorado lately. Would make beautiful quilts!  Just had to share.


PUMPKIN CARVING

We had our annual pumpkin carving at Ryan's house last Saturday.  I must say that we are all getting pretty good in the art of carving. Katy was occupied with inspecting her feet, and watching the activities of the adults and her sister Lily.
Now the front of Ryan's house is all ready for Halloween as we have it decorated really Spooktacular!

FIRST SNOWFALL

The first snowfall was met with icy roads and plummeting temperatures in the low 20's.  We now have a winter wonderland greeting us every morning as we go out to do the chores.

Two of this past springs turkeys stayed perched atop a dog house, weary of taking those first steps in the strange white stuff.
We ended up with 4 inches the first night, and then another 3 inches the following night.

Everyday it melts a bit, just enough to make the road wet and sloppy making my Blazer look like I have been out mudding.

SEWING ROOM
I have been up to allot of sewing.  This quilt I broke almost every rule, putting plaid, polka dots and flowers together in one quilt.  It turned out nicer than I thought it would.  I wish that I would have made two twin size(perfect for 2 little girls) vs a queen size.

I have not posted for awhile.  Having a senior moment and using the wrong password to log into my blog, but I finally figured it out.  So I am back. 

Two of my best friends.

More later.....................................................................................................