Dusty Trails Quilt

 Back in November, I unearthed this panel from the bottom of the bin that houses my collection of western fabric while I was searching for something else. It's been hiding there for quite some time, but this time I felt inspired to finally use it

I pulled a variety of fabrics from my stash, cut the panels to 6 1/2",

and built economy blocks. 

Ì ended up ripping that top left block apart because I thought the yellow was too harsh. I replaced it with a softer yellow.

I had 30 blocks so a 5x6 layout worked well for a 60"x72" cuddle quilt.

This rustic print has been in my stash for many years and it made the perfect backing with plenty left for another quilt or two.

Sandy quilted it with a meander that had a little star along the path that suits it perfectly.

The brown binding also came from my stash.

I'm not a fan of panels, but I am tickled with the way this one turned out.

Sunday Baking

 We haven't been home much and my 7 day dirt road vacation did not materialize. We were home on Sunday and I was planning to sew some, but I spent most of my time in the kitchen.

We're pretty remote and it takes 45 minutes to get to the closest little village and an hour the other direction to get to an actual town so we don't just run in for 1 or 2 things and when we DO go, it takes a while and we've been going more than I like.

We went to another bull sale on Saturday and the sale barn owner is a rancher and a friend of ours. He has bought our calves in the past. He walked up to me and the first thing he said wasn't "Hi.". He hugged me and said, "Did you bring me some of those cookies?" 😂

'Those' cookies must have made an impression because he bought those calves 5 or 6 years ago.

I swear that will be carved onto my headstone:

She baked cookies. 😂

That sale barn room was crowded and heads swiveled and several perked up, "Cookies?" Whoo, boy. Please don't advertise. 

So Sunday, I made a double batch. For the record, 'those' cookies are my Cowboy Cookies that I've been making for almost 40 years.

 It'll have to do. Monday was another bull sale. 'Tis the season. We also stopped in at the local nusery to drop off a plate of cookies for the manager. He's been incredibly kind and helpful. We are out of room, but DH couldn't help but browse. I about had to rope him and drag him out of there.

I also made another batch of this granola...that DH got into before it had cooled off and before I added the cranberries

When I walked through the kitchen the other day, DH shook the empty jar at me with a hopeful grin...hint taken. 

And I made Dirt Road Granola Bars.

I also wrapped up and delivered my most recent quilt finish, because J (the owner of the sale barn) and his wife just became grandparents last week and that new baby needs a quilt.

 I guess cookies and quilts are my love language 😉

Maybe I can sew tomorrow 🙃

Orchard Progress

 OK raise your hand if you're tired of orchard posts. LOL. I'm sorry, but this has been a big project for a couple old folks. There's a lot more to it than just putting trees in the ground. Seventeen trees are now settled into their new homes. The fig and pomegranate were leafed out when we picked them up so we'll wait until the last frost before we put them in the ground. They are temporarily living in our bathroom and they may end up in the backyard as we're running out of room in the orchard. 

Three more heirloom trees will be added in September. Jaimee's just waiting to insure the grafts will take.

Our son, DIL, and granddaughter were out 2 weeks ago. It was all hands on deck.

Our DIL works remotely and she's been putting in a ton of overtime and was ready for some downtime. Alas, downtime around here looks like this. She's a good sport and not afraid to get her hands dirty.

Around here everyone has a job 

We try to make work fun

Just add water.

The next day, DH welded caps on the open pipe to keep wasps from making nests

DH dug ditches for more pipeline while I was at his folks' Thursday and then we both got behind shovels to fill them in on Friday

 I'm working on a schematic to map the varieties in each location as half of these are heirloom trees from old orchards on homesteads across these mountains.

Then yesterday we spread grass seed and strung out more pipe to set up a flood irrigation system

And I promise not to write an entire post when the first leaf appears, but we'll be cheering behind the scenes. LOL

March Madness

 And it has nothing to do with basketball. The fact that I even know there is a March Madness related to basketball is surprising because I've never even watched a basketball, or baseball, or football game. Well, some football in college, but that was many moons ago. But this last week was just full. We're always busy, but when busy removes me from my dirt road, it unsettles me. Yes, I'm showing my age. 😉

We loaded up on Friday and drove just over an hour for the annual Safari Club Banquet. DH has been a board member for 10+years and he mans the membership booth for the 2 day event. On Saturday night I run the draw down table with another lady. They randomly draw ticket numbers throughout the evening and every 5th ticket drawn wins a prize with the last 5 being hunts.

There is a bucket auction

And a live auction, along with venders

Friday evening they set up a taco bar and on Saturday they serve a prime rib supper. They sold 600 tickets so it's quite the crowd 

and even though this is the loveliest group of people, we were completely peopled-out by the time we had packed everything back up at midnight on Saturday. They paid for board members' rooms and the hotel next door was super nice. We drove home Friday night, but stayed Saturday night.

Thankfully, Sunday afternoon was quiet

We were home on Monday, but I spent the day working on taxes while DH poured over the bull sale catalog.

And we drove 2 1/2 hours to said sale on Tuesday

We've been going to this sale for 20 years, but always on the ranch owner's dime. This year was different since we were purchasing bulls for our own cattle. These bulls are gentle

The sale was strong...highest prices ever, but if you have cows, you need bulls and this is a family operation. They raise quality bulls with solid genetics.

Wednesday we were back on the road to take our 11 year old truck in to have an oil leak fixed and run some errands. Stopped in at Tractor Supply and saw this food truck in the parking lot and a crowd. 

I was a little skeptical, but we gave it a shot and while we waited for our order, our mechanic pulled up. He said his wife had texted him and told him the truck was in town and where it was. Mark said it was really good so we felt a bit better about it. Yummy Fish & Chip picnic on the tailgate in the parking lot on March 4th. Absolutely. 

As we were finishing up, a gentleman approached us and asked if we wanted to buy cheese from Mexico. We respectfully declined, but as we climbed back in the pickup, DH said, 

"I will buy fish in a parking lot, but I will not buy cheese from Mexico out of a trunk. I have my limits." 😂

And today I am driving an hour to my in-laws to spend some time with my MIL while my FIL tends to some business. I will do a little cleaning, cook Layered Lasagna Casserole for dinner,

and bake a Cajun Cake for dessert

I will leave them leftovers, take some to our son and his family, and bring some home to DH.

Tomorrow we are going after a few more trees for the orchard and will get those in the ground Skeet is always eager to help and he's disappointed when we postpone things to take a phone call.

I am declaring the next 7 days a Not Leaving the Dirt Road Vacation. I will be hiding out on the deck, planning my garden and talking to my fruit trees and chickens. Didn't think I'd reached the crazy old lady stage yet, but there you go.