Farmhouse Summer Quilt

 In 2020 I'd gone to Amarillo, TX with a friend and as we headed back home, we stopped at a quilt shop in Clovis, NM. The first thing we saw when we walked in was this quilt on the wall and I don't know what it was, but we both instantly fell in love with it and had the quilt shop owner cut kits for us. I don't generally like making quilts from kits because I like selecting my own fabrics, but I loved everything about this one. 

There was something about the slightly shabby, faded Americana aesthetic that spoke to me. And then it sat in a project bin for 5 years until I finally decided to tie into it in February.

The blocks are big and I didn't enjoy piecing them all that much, but they were easy and came together quickly

I've never been drawn to cheater fabrics, but I loved this one and it came in wide yardage and was on sale so I used it on the back

I'm tickled to have this one stitched together

It'll be just right on the 2nd guest room bed

Jackie and Sandy quilted a design called Geranium across it 

It finishes at 88" x 100"

 and I love the end result!

Sunday Blessings

 I began Sunday by baking up some Banana Nut Muffins to make use of some overripe bananas.

 While those were baking, I fixed eggs and bacon and then was greeted with the thunderous sound of a hummingbird feeding frenzy as daylight arrived

DH took a video and if I can figure out how to share it, I will. It's absolute bedlam at all 3 feeders. 

Mornings on the deck are the best way to begin the day. I know I ought to drive in for church, but I just stream my service and praise Him from my mountaintop.

DH is building a shooting bench in the shop so he worked on that a bit

                                       

And I wandered into my sewing room to run a bit of fabric under the needle

Then we dined on the absolute BEST steaks. Reverse sear for the win!

And concluded dinner with fresh peaches and ice cream

We thought the day could not get any better, but then it began to pour

It was such a delightful surprise because the forecast predicted a slim 15% chance in the area. 1.6" in 30 minutes.

The water trough down below the house was under water. The trough is 3' deep.

When it rains like that, the toads emerge

and they began to serenade us

We were treated to quite the symphony

Skeet ran down as soon as the rain quit to investigate the raucous racket

It was the perfect kind of Sunday

Steak Tampiquena

Last week my DIL and I took E into town for a girls' day while the boys worked on peeling cedar stays for the fence

I left them Steak Tampiquena for dinner. A dear neighboring ranchwife friend shared this with me probably 15 years ago and it's a family favorite. I realized I've mentioned it a few times, but never shared the recipe. I've cut a few steps through the years, but I still make it both ways. Originally you begin with making a chicken fried steak and then cover it with the sauce, but last week I used my shortcut method so that's what I'm sharing today. However, I urge you to make the chicken fried steak version at some point because it really does elevate this dish. I've made it both ways for a cowboy crew in the past and it was always a favorite.

Steak Tampiquena

1 stick of butter

2# tenderized round steak sliced into strips

Pepper, granulated garlic, seasoning salt

2 large onions, sliced thinly

1 fresh jalapeno, diced

2 cans green enchilada sauce (I usually use 1 mild and 1 medium)

*Season sliced tenderized round steak (cubed steak) and brown over medium heat in 1/4 C butter. Season in a few small batches and remove browned meat from pan.

Add 1/4 C butter to same pan, adding sliced onions and diced jalapeno, sauteing over medium-low heat for 15 minutes or so, stirring occasionally until onions are golden. 

Stir in green enchilada sauce and let simmer for a few minutes. Stir in cooked meat and let it all simmer for 15 minutes or so.

Spoon over rice or mashed potatoes and sprinkle with shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

Under the Needle: July

 I was in my sewing room quite a bit this month, but I wasn't always sewing. 

But this month I managed to get my Land of Enchantment top together. I had made all the blocks earlier, but it had a pieced border so I completed that this month. I've been trying to use what I have, but I didn't have anything even close for a backing and I caved when I saw this fabric online and had to have it.

I didn't get a lot of sewing done this month because I started cutting into my scraps. Tackling a 32 qt tote of scraps was a daunting task, but I stayed focused and emptied the bin! Some of it has been used, but all of it has been pressed, cut down into usable sizes, and I've made notes for how I intend to use much of it. Hopefully I can stay on top of things and not let it pile up like that again. It was a lot.

I am currently binding this Farmhouse Summer quilt in the evenings.

And I went ahead and cut the leftovers into 5" squares that I'll stitch into HSTs for a bonus quilt.

I've been making Bonnie Hunter's 4-Patch Fun blocks as leader-enders. I've just made 10, but as I was working through my scraps, I cut and clipped 50+ together so they are ready to stitch

I picked up 2 quilts from Jackie and stitched the binding to the fronts.

I dropped off 2 and finished 2 this month - Blustery Day

And Gingham Farmhouse

I feel like most of the month was spent processing my mountain of scraps, but I'm so glad to have those cut down and ready for some fun scrap quilts. I didn't have any low volume fabrics in my scraps tote, although I do have some in my 2.5" strip bin, so the stacks of low volume prints were all cut from fat quarters or yardage

I started with this quilt

From this book

There are 2 different blocks and I made one of each to see if I wanted to commit to making an entire quilt. It uses 2" strips and squares which isn't going to whittle those scraps down very quickly, but it's fun to revisit these fabrics and get them out of the tote and into these cheerful blocks.

I also cut scraps down for this quilt that uses 1.5" strips. 

Again, I made one block before I cut pieces for the entire quilt. It was a slow process, but I will stitch the rest of the blocks in an assembly line fashion and that will make them come together much faster.

I also cut a variety of strips, including 5" strips (not pictured because I already put them away).

Sewing continues, but I am stepping away from the rotary cutter for a while. Making scrappy quilts creates a huge mess, but it's all part of the process and despite the piles, it's an organized chaos and I'm looking forward to moving these projects forward.     

                       

Summer Snapshots

We've been thoroughly enjoying our 1st mountain summer. We've been blessed with numerous summer showers that often roll across the mountains in the afternoons. We've lived in the desert long enough to know that's not always the case. When the clouds roll through and the drops begin to fall, DH and I will congregate on the deck to soak in the view. That means it's been good and green and the horses are living their best life. 

As is Skeet!

That rain I mentioned has been a double blessing because I saw this as I headed to bed on the 22nd as a storm rumbled outside

That's a fire on top of Capitan Mountain. Thankfully, the rain extinguished it.

The hummingbirds are eating us out of house and home. Doc and Janie, said they'd leave us the feeders if we'd feed the hummers. I have 3 feeders out that will hold 4 qts. each. I think we've got 30-40  birds and we're filling at least 1 feeder a day. Needless to say, I buy my sugar at Sam's in 25# bags.

I'm cleaning windows...always, because there are A LOT of windows but you won't hear me complaining (even though I do not like washing windows)

And I'm still taking care of our little patient.

She's doing incredibly well! Here she is just before she dashed off to chase a butterfly

I underplayed her injury in a previous post. I don't want to post a picture because it's sure to upset some folks as it's pretty significant. It is not evident in these photos because it's on her tummy and down across her back legs, but I look at it and cannot fathom how she is acting like an uninjured kitten

I let her out of Skeet's crate 3 times a day and she follows me to the barn and visits with her littermates for 30-45 minutes

I am keeping her wound clean, continuing with the antibiotics, and applying Vetricyn 4 times a day. I imagine it'll be at least 2 or 3 months before  her skin grows back, but you'd never know it, watching her

Neither DH nor I can figure out how she was hurt, but she seems to be healing well.

A blog reader commented that they have issues with feline distemper and recommended we have Allie vaccinated. That's not an issue here. We are very rural. The closest neighbor is 5 miles away on a ranch. It can also be transmitted by fleas, but we don't have those either. We've always had barn cats on the ranch and they are always wild and have never been to a vet or been vaccinated. 

We live in a forested wildness and there are lots of predators. We have snakes, owls, hawks, coons, skunks  fox, coyotes, mountain lions, and bear. 

We've always ranched and we've always done our best to tend to the livestock and critters entrusted into our care, but it's just a fact that we will have some attrition from time to time with this lifestyle. We're not heartless. In fact, I'm probably too soft-hearted to be a ranch wife and we've all shed our share of tears over sick and injured livestock and any number of critters and heaven knows we do all we can to save our 4-legged patients. I wrote a little about it at the bottom of this post

                                                             Spring Branding with a Little TLC

I found our 1st egg from the new chickens we brought home in March. It's safe to say that with 26 laying hens, we'll soon be overrun with eggs.

The chickens like their wild lifestyle too

DH has been exploring the mountains on foot every couple of days. He's averaging 5-8 miles 

returning with a big smile on his face and tales of his encounters with the neighbors

Yesterday he logged in 8 miles on foot and gained 2000 ft in elevation. When he goes horseback, they cover 12-15 miles. 

No fences or people. Just rough, wild country.

Mountain life is good for our souls.

But I do fear that our hermit tendencies are escalating. 😂