Mornings With Skeet

Since we no longer have small children, nor have grandchildren yet, you get posts about Skeet.

This little dog has been such a wonderful addition to our family. Honestly, he's just the perfect dog for us.

And he's so vocal! Not as in barking vocal, he only barks when someone other than DH or I drive up, which is exactly what we want him to do, but he talks to us. Even our girl, said, "WHAT IS THAT?" Why, it's Skeet language of course.

He and I head out the door by 6 a.m. for our daily trot 6 days a week and he lets me know if we're running late. He really is an outside dog, but he eats inside and he gets to stay in for a little then and he about wiggles out of his skin when we let him in in the mornings.

A few weeks ago he met a badger and I wished like anything that I had my camera so I started carrying it.

Skeet lets me know when something interesting pops up:

The lighting is odd in this photo but the sun was just up and this deer had walked into a mesquite bush and I had just a nano second to take the shot because I didn't want to spook her. There was just a tiny spot where I could catch a shot of her:

And then, wouldn't you know, I didn't grab my camera yesterday and I could have really used it, but we had over 60% humidity and in this dry, arid country, that's rare. And even though ya'll may think I'm tough, I'm not. Just plant me in humidity and watch me wilt. So, I was already reluctant to head out and just didn't feel like hauling my big camera along so all I got was crummy, antique cell phone shots, but I'm glad I at least have these.

We have a lot of antelope here and they are fun to watch. 

                                   

Skeet is crazy about them and starts to shake when he sees them when we're making feed runs - which thankfully we were able to stop making May 1. Yesterday there were a couple on our route and Skeet sprinted after them

They made a big circle and when they came back around, the antelope was chasing Skeet.

This went on for at least 5 minutes. They were actually playing with each other and it was a hoot

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This is dirt road entertainment at it's finest.

Hard Headed Heifer

And yes, that title could be applied to me although technically, I would be a cow. :)

This fella's hard headed, yet has a soft heart. He is incredibly kind to children and animals, yet does not have much patience for folks with no common sense or work ethic.

Lately it seems that much of society wants what they want when they want it and they have their minds made up without much regard for other folk. There was a time when folks actually used their minds, but these days it seems we're all becoming more like cattle.

A few weeks ago, we were out making the rounds, checking cattle and water when we came up short 1 hd in Mesquite. So we went back to the house, hooked up to the trailer, saddled and loaded a horse, and went in search of the missing heifer. DH looked for about an hour before spotting her.

She was sick and he called me to bring the rig his direction after he had her roped

Thankfully she was on her feet and he started to lead her towards the trailer

Then she decided that she didn't want any part in this adventure

She just planted her feet and refused to take another step

So DH had to drag her to the trailer where she finally decided that a trailer ride might be the best thing after all

I couldn't get any pictures of him loading her in the trailer because the first rule in the ranch wife handbook is 'don't get in the way'.

But we brought her to the pens where we could doctor her and keep a close eye on her as she recuperated. Silly thing pitched a fit when all we wanted to do was get her well and let her have all the sweet hay her little ol' heart desired.

We're kind of like that.

Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.
Jer 7:24

The good Lord wants to help us, but more often than not we think we know better. So the next time He's trying to lead you, it might be in your best interest to follow. He's not going to rope you and drag you into the trailer, but some of us (me) are as hard headed  as that ol' heifer and that might be what it takes.

Quilts in Progress

I apologize if ya'll went to read this post and it disappeared. I think our 8 year old computer is finally nearing the end. I'm still running Windows Vista on it!  And now that it is beginning to eat blog posts, it is time to let it go. We do have a laptop, but all of my 25,000 plus pictures are on the PC. Most of them are backed up on an external hard drive, but it's time to back them up to another location where I can access them from other devices. I really do have a love-hate relationship with technology.

So, I'm attempting to rewrite this post. Sigh. Skeet is not happy with me as we should have been back from our morning trot long ago and we haven't even left yet. Hang on Skeeterbug!

I think I'm finally caught up on baby quilts for a bit...at least for a week or two. I've got 2 big quilts to bind but it'll be a while before those are done. I'm a slow binder. I only work on bindings and hand stitching in the evenings and there's not much time to bind during these long summer days. I've still got a few quilts in various stages and I think it's a good time to take stock and make a list.

Now, this didn't all happen in a day or two...or even a week. This has taken place a stitch at a time, here and there, over the course of probably the past 3 weeks.

1. A while back, I bought this line of On Deck from Craftsy

to make this quilt and I finally opened, pressed, and cut it out

2.  Then in my attempt to use up leftovers from an old Lilly and Will line, I cut and pieced a top using the Baby Sails pattern, substituting bunnies for the sail boats

The pink and  white piece is large enough for a backing. but I still had leftovers

So I made 100 QST and am piecing those into a top. And I think there's enough left for one last quilt from the leftovers of the leftovers. :)

3.I made a southwestern wall hanging quite a few years ago. It's just been sitting as a top because I couldn't decide if it needed a border or not, but I finally just cut a backing and will hand it off to Jackie

4. I bought this piece when I needed $3.00 in order to reach free shipping status on an order and was determined to get it into a baby quilt

So I pulled coordinates,  made a slew of HST's

And pieced it into this design:

And that led to yet, another leftover quilt:

5. When we're on the our way to anywhere and I'm not driving, , I grab my little box of EPP and make a little progress

6. I worked on the May and June clues for the Two- Step Mystery Quilt over at My Carolina Home. The last clue is coming out today and I'm excited to get this one finished and gift it to Grandma Lillian:

7. I am making bias binding for this one. This is the one I'm most excited about:

8. And I'm currently binding this one:

9. This one was put on the back burner in June because June got crazy with cow works and the kids coming home on 2 weekends. I would much rather have the kids home than sew and I love that they enjoy spending time with the old folks.

 I was very careful and pieced slowly on this one, but it still didn't fit together the way it should and I became frustrated, but now it's time to stop procrastinating and get back to work on it.

O.K. Skeet... we can go now

                           

Snickerdoodles

I'm sharing an oldie, but a goody today. I've been making these for over 20 years and I made a double batch last week to take to the Safari Club Picnic. They're nothing new and I imagine everyone has a recipe for Snickerdoodles. but I wanted to add them to the recipes I've shared here. They're an especially sweet treat with a cup of coffee and yes, I'm saying that even though I don't drink coffee. :) I have confirmation from DH and Grandpa and countless brand inspectors, cattle buyers, truckers. and cowboys.

Snickerdoodles

1 C shortening
1 1/2 C sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
2 tsp cream of tarter
2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp sugar

*Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs, mixing thoroughly. Combine flour, salt, soda, and cream of tarter. Add to creamed mixture. Mix well then chill dough for a couple of hours. Combine cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl; set aside. When thoroughly chilled, roll dough into small balls, the size of a walnut. Roll in cinnamon sugar mixture and place on cookie sheet. Bake in preheated 400° oven for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned, but still soft. Let cool on baking rack. They will be crisp, yet soft. If you like a crisper cookie, bake a few minutes longer.

On Any Given Day

DH is a good steward of the land:

And of heifers who think they can hide in dirt tanks

The other morning, the boys brought up some heifers that needed to be year branded and given a booster vaccination:

Please show me the way out of here:

                                        

I helped so pictures were few and far between:

                                            

When we picked up the mail the other day, I laughed. I had just finished helping DH clean out a trough and I pulled out a clothing catalog that suggested I wear tropical, breezy ensembles on these hot summer days. Hmmm...not so sure they'll coordinate with my daily footwear:

                                               

My days may not include beach sand or an ocean view but on any given day, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Vintage Lone Star Baby Quilt

Yes, another baby quilt. :) And, yes, I've made a few using this pattern.

Here's the link: Lone Star Baby Quilt

I wanted to put these tiny floral prints together in a baby quilt.

 I know that differing the scale of fabrics is recommended in order to bring life to a quilt, but I just wanted something very soft and sweet and old fashioned for this quilt.

Jackie used a pantograph called Popcorn that gave it a lovely texture and it measures 39 x 39 after a run through the wash and some time on the line. I backed it with this pretty print from the Windermere line

and used what is fast becoming a favorite for binding for many of these floral quilts:

I think I'm going to make some cards with this shot

                                        

Roast Spread

Being that we ranch, we always have a ready supply of good ranch raised beef in our deep freeze and although we do change things up with chicken and pork and fish, beef is on the menu often. We have it cut to order which for us means very lean 2# packages of ground beef, big 5-7# roasts, 2 steaks per package, lean stew meat, trimmed briskets, tenderized round steaks, ribs, and skirt and flank steaks.  I love to grill so hamburgers, steaks, and fajitas are easy and quick to throw together for dinner at noon. We get a lot of roasts, so I've gotten good at using those and I love cooking them in the pressure cooker.

(I have THIS one - I ordered it a few years ago when Judy, over at Patchwork Times, clued us in about it being a Black Friday special - watch her - she's always sharing great ideas and gadgets that I didn't even know existed. If I had a neighbor, I'd want it to be her.)

It allows me to brown my meat before cooking and that adds an extra layer of flavor that makes a big difference. I'll cook them for about 100 minutes and they are just fall apart tender.

1.Sometimes we just eat it as roast...must have horseradish with it.

2. Sometimes I shred it and add green chile and onions and that makes a great filling in tortillas.

3. Shred it and simmer with barbecue sauce for barbecue sandwiches.

4. Make Roast Spread. I've tried to come up with a better name for it, but my MIL has made this forever - long before I ever came into the family - and it's always been known as Roast Spread. It's really just like Tuna or Chicken Salad so I guess you could call it Roast Salad, but if I called it that here, everyone would wonder what I was talking about.

After it's cooked and falling apart, I put it into my handy dandy Oskar:

I'm not a gadget girl at all. I've managed to cook and bake and feed my family without a food processor or Kitchen-aid for over 30 years so I figure I really don't need one, but DH bought me this little Oskar before we were married and it has been the handiest little thing. I guess it's kind of a mini food processor. It's yellowed with age and the bowl is cloudy, but that blade is still unbelievably sharp and if a much used kitchen gadget is still going strong after 30+ years, it gets a gold star in my book!

I use it to chop nuts...lots of pecans, and to grind up Oreos for a couple of desserts I make, it grates cheese (we do not care for the grated cheese that comes in packages and I mostly hand grate our cheese, but if I need a lot, I use Oskar), same for a lot of onions, and I use it to grind up roast for Roast Spread. I don't grind it up completely, just a quick run through to break it up a bit.

Then I just add mayo, a little finely chopped onion, finely chopped celery, and a couple of big spoonfuls of pickle relish and mix.

Not fancy, but I don't do fancy, and we all love it.