Summer is in Full Swing

Well life has happened again, but the days go on. I have been weeding and weeding and weeding and eating and weeding some more. The garden is looking better this year than it ever has in the past years. My onions, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers are looking good.

I just planted 4 rows of bush green beans. My originals seeds rotted in the ground due to all the rain we have been getting. I am hoping to have enough to can for us for the year. I also didn't get my corn in and so will be buying that from a local farm and canning enough again for the year. I am hoping to have a fall garden that will produce peas and give us some fall lettuces and potatoes.

Checklist of things to accomplish: (yes this is boring, but the only way I can keep track)

*plant another three rows of beans

*Find seed potatoes for the fall

*plan the fall garden and get seed

*put up trellis for remaing 5 cucumber plants

*7 dust the plants

* work on finding mulch and taller stakes for the tomatoes

* finish the elephant quilt for a customer

*finish the John Deere quilt for a customer


and the list goes on.... The dog days of summer are here as we are having heat indexes around 110. Needless to say it is steamy, which causes lots of thunderstorms and then the steam and then the storms and on and on.

I have been spending these hot afternoons reading about homesteads and providing the food your family needs. I would love to be able to raise most of the food we need and only have to support the store for a few odds and ends. I should be able to do this and am just still a little leery of being able to pull off some of the bigger projects. I am thinking about ordering in some dual purpose birds in order to be able to have some fresh chicken in the freezer for the winter. I did this a couple of years ago and we loved having all the fresh chicken available. I would also like to get a feeder pig and raise it for the pork, along with a jersey cow for milk. The memory of fresh butter would spur me on to milking every morning and evening.

As with everything daydreaming never hurt anyone and gives the idle mind a place to rest.

Now back to reality and the weeding!

Poof!

Dreay Old Day

Well you gotta love Missouri weather. A week ago when we should have spring weather, we were getting into the mid 90's. Hot dry and so humid you could cut it with a knife. Well, in Missouri, the only way to get rid of the humidity is rain. Which is the story of the weekend and the beginning of this week. We have had rain everyday since Friday. And not a rain that downpours (although we have had some of those) but a rain that teases. A drip here a drop there and then maybe a small peek of sunshine. So yeah, I see sunshine. Get all the garden things out and about 5 minutes into it a small shower. I keep weeding, thinking that it will pass, but then heavier, so inside I go. Get things put up and inside and look out and it has quit raining. I just cannot win for losing sometimes. Here are a few pics of the weather lately.









I was able to weed the zucchini and I saw 4 blooms and the teeniest zucchini peeking out. I cannot wait until we have some fried (my favorite). I got about half a row of tomatoes weeded and tied up again. The tomato plants are looking really good this year and I hope we have a bumper crop. I like to can tomato sauce and juice and DH loves homemade salsa. My beans though have not weathered the rainy spring. I planted 2 rows of bush beans and a row of Lima beans. Only about 10 plants in each row sprouted. I went to look for more bean seed and the only thing left is pole beans, so looks like I will be trying that this year. Mom always said bad words about pole beans, but I have seen many rave reviews. So I guess this is mother nature's way of getting me to try them. Many people say they like them better, that they produce more and that they are much easier to pick. Anything up off the ground is a blessing to my already failing back.

The cucumbers are going like gang busters and I am going to try and get them started on a trellis this year. A close friend grow his that way and says you can pick them like bananas. Lettuce, carrots and radishes were a flop this year but hopefully the onions will do good. And I still have beets, turnips and fall peas to try and get in.

Summertime memories are some of the best ones I have. Here are a few pictures of some memories my kids are making.







Well when it rains what do you do but either clean house or sew. I think I will choose to sew. I am still working to complete the elephant baby quilt. I have decided on 9 blocks making it 3 x 3 with two outer borders. There will be 4 elephant blocks and 5 patchwork blocks incorporating the fabrics used on the elephants. I almost have the 5 patchwork blocks completed and am looking forward to getting the top put together and quilted. Hopefully I can get that accomplished today. Here are a few pictures of the patchwork.




DD #2 is supposed to have a softball game tonight, but I am almost sure that it will be rained out. She also has a tournament this weekend and from the forecast if will be in true summer softball fashion. Meaning that it will be mid 90's and humidity nearing 80%, without a leaf wiggling in site. Gotta love the thrills of summer sports.

Well since it is to discouraging to work outside, I had better get back to sewing!

Poof!

Life Happens.....

Well I apologize for not being on here for a while. As I said in the title, life happens. Without going into too much detail, we have been trying to learn about and handle a family health issue. Also, without being to sappy, we would appreciate all your prayers, as I truthly feel that prayer heals all things.

Now on to more happy news..... I attended a meeting of a guild in a neighboring town and learned that their bi-annual quilt show was on June 5th and 6th. And you can bet your boots, I went. I could have spent days in the show looking and dreaming. There were over 350 quilts on display. From the simplest quilts to extravagant ones that took months, maybe years, to complete. There were quilts that were completely done by hand and some that used the latest in machines and long arm setups. There were even some very, very old quilts predating this century.

Also one of my favorite places to spend time at a quilt show was the vendor area. I received an idea from one vendor that inspired me to start and almost complete the John Deere tractor baby quilt that I had been commissioned to make for a friend.

So since I was so excited about making the quilt, I didn't stop to take many pictures, but I wanted to show you some of the process. At a later date I plan to do a tutorial on the making of this quilt. It is really a quick and easy way to get a quilt finished quickly since once the initial sets are done, the quilting and backing are also completed (Quilt as You Go).


Here are the fabrics that I chose for the quilt. Of course, John Deere green and yellow and a focal fabric of tan and yellow plaid featuring the John Deere logo and also different types of John Deere tractors. Although green and yellow Never show their face around our farm, I had so much fun knowing that this little boy would be enjoying the quilt for years to come.



This is a picture of the overall quilt. The technique of using two different fabrics makes it look like the traditional "robbing Peter to pay Paul" quilt pattern. It also gives the back a little motion as each square alternates in color.


And a look at a close up of the blocks.....

















And last but not least is a picture of the back of the quilt.


I only have the sewing of the arcs left to complete, so keep your eyes peeled for the completed quilt coming very soon. I have also been working on some of the elephant blocks for the other baby quilt I was commissioned to do. I will be posting pictures of that quilt also as it takes shape.

I would love your feedback on these quilts and would greatly appreciate any ideas for future quilt you would like to see made.

Poof!