An Official Orchard

 Last week, DH and I layed out the pipe that will supply the orchard with water. 

We rolled out 280' from the orchard to our spring and plumbed it in

We're still researching watering systems for the individual trees and will add a few more hydrants, but we're leaning towards a drip system. This project will be a work on progress.

He also dug the holes for the trees 

and then we went to pick some of them up from Jaimee on Monday

I took her some eggs and she gave us a bottle of Mesquite Bean Syrup. It is so sweet and good. She said it is excellent on pancakes and that she uses it as you would use honey when you run out of honey. It is high in iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium, and I've now added that to my list to make.

She is grafting some specialty trees for us, but they won't be ready until September

DH wanted one heirloom apple tree that will be bigger, in the back of the house so he moved a few rocks

Dug a hole

And brought in a load of manure

We mixed  it in with topsoil and fertilizer and potting soil from Jaimee

And we have our first tree! 

And an official orchard!

Well, there are more to plant, but we got 6 in the ground on Tuesday.

Lots of time behind the shovel and that's about all I can handle. We're sore and tired, but excited about the possibilities

and hopeful that our project will one day bear fruit.

Peppermint Bark Christmas Quilt

 A few years ago I stumbled upon this Peppermint Bark fat quarter bundle at a great sale price and I waited for a pattern that would showcase those great colors and prints. 

The Cleo Quilt pattern from Kitchen Table Quilting felt right and in June 2024 I started pressing all the fat quarters. I also threw in these 2 plaid prints because I think every quilt needs some plaid. 😉

The chiddlers wanted Christmas snuggle quilts and I gave them each one last year so I'm looking to replenish ours and I think this will fit the bill. On another afternoon, I cut everything up and put it in a bin until I could find some time to sew. In July I sewed all the blocks and worked on trimming them in batches.

And then we moved. With all of our outdoor projects, it took a while to set things up in my sewing room, but this was the first project I reached for to work on in our new home. Once I made 4 blocks, I was hooked and I put it all together quickly. But then it sat for over a year as other projects took precedence 

But I finally had it quilted and made it my evening binding project just before and during the Olympics. Sandy quilted it with a design called Hot Cocoa. The prints are busy and it's difficult to see the quilting, but it shows up nicely in the back

It finishes at 72" x 92" 

The wind has been howling here for 3 days, making it a challenge to take pictures

I just really like the way the fabrics work together

These trees are my favorite

 A red Grunge from my fabric pantry was pulled for the binding.

Even though this is a Christmas quilt and it's February, we all know that we'll blink twice and it'll be time to drag this out

Everyone else is ready for spring, but I've enjoyed every stitch of this Christmas-y quilt while I was binding it.

No Point Stars for QOV

 I follow The Fabric Patch quilt shop on You Tube. They are a fun, generous mother / daughter duo. They often spearhead community projects. Each year they host a breast cancer fundraiser in October and I've started donating to this cause.

Last week, Cindi's son, who is a Navy Veteran, celebrated a birthday and he requested 12 1/2" blocks for the Quilts of Valor group he and his wife are a part of locally.

My Dad was in the Air Force and our son is a Marine veteran and we've always supported our military. I've made a few QOV and would like to do more. This is a good place to start.

Here's a link to the video. 

If you would like to participate, you can mail blocks to the address in the screen shot below.

After shuffling through numerous ideas, I decided to make the No Point Star block. I found a tutorial from Jessica Dayon that walks you through the block construction

I chose it because they will be receiving blocks from all over and it will be an easy block to incorporate into a quilt without losing the points.

I pulled out my  QOV bin and started sorting through fabrics. I tend to lean more towards the Americana colors than the brighter whites, but I think I can cobble together some of both.

Yes, I think this will work even though I didn't orient my stripes the right way.

DH had left at 5:30 Sunday morning to help pull cattle off of wheat and I headed straight to my sewing room. I was able to cut pieces for 24 more blocks by the time he came home at 1

I'm not a fast stitcher. I keep the speed on my sewing machine at less than half of it's capability. The outside world is fast  and loud and  I enjoy the slower pace when I sew. Even so,  It'll probably take me less time to sew these blocks together than it did to select, press, and cut the kits, but I hope to get them together and in the mail next time I'm in town. 

Judy's Chicken & Rice

This recipe came from Judy at Patchwork Times quite a few years ago. I've tried to link to the original post, but her blog is no longer available. I didn't want to post the recipe without her permission and wasn't sure how to contact her, but I had an old email address and thankfully, it worked! I really enjoyed getting back in touch with her.

She was very gracious and gave me permission to share her recipe. 

I'm so glad I wrote this down when I did, because I would hate to lose it. I just made it the other day and thought of her. This is another family favorite.

Judy's Chicken & Rice - One Pot!

10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Oil for browning

2 Tbsp butter

1 diced onion

1 diced jalapeno

Mushrooms (I probably use about 7 or 8 diced up)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 C rice

3 C chicken broth ( homemade or low sodium)

1 can peas, drained

*Season chicken (I use salt, pepper, granulated garlic, and paprika). Brown thighs in oil and butter in large saute pan. Remove from pan. Add a tad more butter if need be and add onion, jalapeno, mushrooms. Sautee for 5 or 6 minutes. Stir in garlic the last few minutes. Add rice and combine with sauteed vegetables, stirring together until rice browns a bit as it absorbs all that flavor. Stir in chicken broth, peas, and add chicken thighs back on top. Cover and simmer until broth has been absorbed, rice is tender, and chicken is cooked through.

I wish she still had her blog. She is an avid gardener and I could certainly use her wisdom as I begin my gardening journey here.

Edited to add that she shared the link to her new blog here Diary of Judy L

Thank you, Judy!

Progress Inside and Out

 Good progress is being made on the orchard

DH and I got the fence up on Wednesday

My shoulders and hands were toast on Thursday

but our son was out again so they got it stretched and hung the gate DH made.

I helped some more - mostly as a fence-holder-upper and puller. Then I trotted back to the house (just 1/2 a mile) and put together a Taco Pizza for dinner. (an old picture from when I first shared the recipe)

Special K Cookies for dessert

And then I treated myself to some time in my sewing room. I am making progress on the pink quilt for little E. She did a good job picking pinks from my stash.

I sewed and pressed and trimmed 100 flying geese (started them on Tuesday and worked on them some Wednesday, finishing them on Thursday). Then I cut everything for the 4-patches and started piecing those on Thursday.

E and  Skeet and I drove down to supervise the boys on Friday.

And to inspect their work. E exclaimed it to be excellent!

And more sticks were added to the mountain of trees DH cleared

Then, back at the house, I was hoping to get all the blocks together, but looking at the pattern, it emphasizes that this design is not block based. Instead, it is constructed in rows. Oye. E is excited to help so I saved some of the 4-patches for her and let her pair them up and run them through the machine as she sat on my lap.

Then she wanted some paper to write her own 'structions' for her next quilt so there's hope. 😉

Heard in the sewing room:

Gram: Oh, I've lost track of time! We'd better get crackin!

E: Oh, I wanna help crackin!

😂

Healthy Granola

 We're not big cereal eaters here, but once in a while we like a change from steel cut oats or the 6 different ways I'll fix eggs. When we DO get a hankering for cereal, I like Special K with craisins or Honey Bunches of Oats with a sliced banana and DH likes granola. I ran across this recipe a while back and and finally got around to making it last week.

                                                                     Healthy Granola

We both really liked it and will probably even just grab a handful every now and then for a quick snack. It didn't clump up as much as we would like, but I'll keep trying because it was delicious.

I've collected a good variety of recipes through the years that have become family favorites, but I still love finding and trying new ones and adding them to my permanent recipe book. This one earned a spot right away. I was laughing when I took this shot. Who takes a glamour shot of granola? 

Maybe I need to get out more, but the granola looked so pretty when the sun came through the windows.