At the End of the Day...

This is how we do Saturday nights at the end of this dirt road

                                     

 Over 30 years ago, DH told me I was a cheap date when we went dancing on our first date in college because I only wanted water to drink. The amount of wine you see in this glass is about as full as my glass ever gets. Saturday he laughed and told me that I was still a cheap date. I told him "Some things never change."

 I told him good thing for him I was because he was broke back then. He said, "Some things never change". :)

And after all these years, at the end of the day, I wouldn't change a thing.

Butterfly Garden Quilt Finished

                                            

Oh, goodness, I love this quilt.

I love the warm colors and the simplicity of the design and the beautiful array of leaves that Jackie quilted across it.

                                          

I started out with 2 layer cakes of an older line called Butterfly Garden by Moda. I know it's summer and these are dark colors, but it took me a coon's age to get it bound.

                                     

The pattern couldn't be any simpler. At the time, I just wanted some mindless sewing and a way to use up those layer cakes. I just paired 2 10" squares and stitched all the way around them.

Then I sliced them on the diagonal 4 times,

 paired them up again, cut on the diagonal once more and the result is  6" hourglass blocks or 1/4 square triangles. Accurate. No waste. Simple. 

I can't recall and have been unable to put my finger on where I first stumbled upon this method, but it's one I am happy to add to my quilting arsenal.

This quilt ended up measuring 82" x 96"

and will be gracing the bed in the guest bedroom come fall.

Although it's very tempting to just crawl up here in the hay and sneak in a nap right now:

                                           

Meet Skeet

We've had dogs our entire married life, but a year and a half ago we had to put down our last dog, Gus, who was 15 and we've been dog-less ever since. We don't need a working dog here, but it just didn't feel right not having a dog. I missed having a walking buddy, garden shadow, chicken wrangler, watch dog, and chore chum.

The fella at North Camp had dogs and he had 8 puppies. DH and I hadn't discussed getting one, but DH came home on Friday with a sack of puppy chow. I just looked at him and asked, "Are we getting a puppy?" He answered, "Maybe." And on Saturday he walked up with this:

 He's a Border Collie - Hound Dog and he is naturally bob-tailed. DH wanted to call him Stumpy. Yes, you can laugh. I did. It's funny, but I thought we ought to have some other options. Goodness. I told DH that we spent more time choosing names for a dog than we did for our children! :)

We settled on Skeet. I think...and if he REALLY thinks it ought to be Stumpy, I'll cave. LOL.
He's been introduced to the cats and chickens:

                                          

The cats haven't figured out what he is just yet and the chickens just pitched a fit when he accompanied me to the coop yesterday.

                                

He's already become DH's sidekick:

                            

The yard gates needed some mending and when I walked out this was what I saw:

                           

He follows him everywhere:

                                    

He's been a good pup, never whining even once at night. He sleeps on the porch right now. He'll be an outside dog, but we've gotten soft in our old age and are letting him in, where he promptly made himself at home

                             

Yesterday morning I hauled the boys to the east side of Chuck Box and took Skeet along for the ride. As the boys unloaded and pulled on their leggings, I set Skeet on the bed of the truck to take it all in.

 Yes, I think he's going to be a good fit:

The Great Guinea Fowl Adventure Begins

DH has wanted guineas for a few years now and the seed store called last Friday to say they were in. I am happy with my chickens, and didn't really care one way or the other if we had guineas so I told DH these were his guineas. He told me that I had been designated as Director of the Ranch Poultry Division. LOL. That man!

 I figured they were like baby chicks,but they are smaller and their markings are so pretty!

and they require a different starter. They need more protein so we feed them a turkey / game bird starter that is 30% protein and non medicated

Baby guineas are called keets.

There are 25 keets in 1/4 of this box:

                                   

They are tiny:

So after only a few days of emptying the brooder, it is once again full.

We have 3 different varieties. Most of them are helmeted guineas. They are the most common and we saw them in Africa.Then we've got a few white ones and a few purple ones:

They are hard to capture in photos - they are busy little things:

They are good insect eaters, snake deterrents, and guard dogs...with feathers. :)

So the great guinea fowl adventure is underway!