This Boy

This boy:



Made me a Mama:


Fills my heart with joy:

Makes me laugh:

Is my Superhero:

Gives the best hugs:

Is charming:

Gave me my first gray hair



And many more after that:

Has all the right moves:

Has a mischievious grin:

Loves his sister:

makes us proud:

Has a kind heart:

Is handy horseback:

Is a talented guitar player:

Loves to fish:

keeps my on my knees:

grew up much to quickly:

Has his Daddy's work ethic:

Always does his best:

Loves skeet:

Is headed to Afghanistan today:

Feeling my Age

 When the kids were small we had chickens, but the chickens did not make the move with us. We have a chicken house here, but in the hustle and bustle that is life, we just never seemed to bring any home. Yesterday, I headed out to change that and I faced this:

Our poor little dilapidated chicken coop.

It's rustic. It's vintage. I hear that's in these days.

The chicken yard is 30' x 35'  and it is covered in weeds. Correction, WAS. It was gorgeous out yesterday and staying inside when it's that nice, just isn't possible so I grabbed my trusty rake, shrub cutters, and gloves and fought my way through the brittle jungle to the door. -Insert Indiana Jones Theme Music here- then swoon because that's what happens when you think of Harrison Ford. Alas, reality is calling.

This little door is only 18" wide

Everything had to pass through it.
This is what greeted me:


Our daughter's trusty beagle was stomping the weeds for me and clearing a path hoping it would earn him some extra vittles. The dog thinks with his stomach.



Now, DH is the chivalrous kind, but seldom does he have time for projects like these. 128,000 acres kind of keeps him occupied so these kinds of things become MY babies and in my attempt to get comfortable with this empty nest, I need projects. I miss the pitter patter of little feet. Looks like I have to settle for chicken feet. :)

I am doing this on a budget. A shoestring budget. Make that 1/2 a shoestring. So there won't be any primping going on. Holes will be patched in order to provide the security system and fresh bedding will be installed. An interested party was already scoping things out when I went out this morning:


And he was there again when I headed back in:



You had better not be getting any ideas mister.

 My flock will be fat and sassy, but they will not be living in luxury. I don't live in luxury, but I am quite spoiled and yes, a little fat and sassy too!

Here is the fruit of my labor:


And here is the result at the end of the day. I really only put in 4 solid hours, but it felt like all day. I was beat, but at least I'll be able to find the chickens!







My hands hurt. My arms are sore. I feel old this morning, but I'm headed out to finish the job. And on a positive note - I slept like a baby...a baby that sleeps like a log.

A Little Bit of Progress

Thought I'd pop in and give y'all an update on my little stitching project. I don't have much else to show for the month of  February because this little critter has been hogging all of my time. This past Sunday was absolutely gorgeous and I spent most of it outside. Yesterday the wind blew. No, it REALLY blew. Think 50-60 mph sustained winds. All day.We live in the desert, surrounded by dirt. I felt really spoiled. I only stepped outside to chore and came back in feeling a bit like I had been sandblasted. I've heard that people pay good money for facial scrubs and I get mine for free. :)

I know that my stitiching time is about to decrease...dramatically, so I stitched like...well...the wind this month. So here's where I left off last month:

And here's Little Bit today:

It doesn't look like much, but I feel like all I did was stitch this month.

I am going to be really sick of brown, but I'm excited to give him to my FIL for Christmas.

What are y'all doing with your 'extra' day today? I am off to clean out the chicken coop! :)

I am Smitten with my New Pincushion!

A few days ago I saw this post on Karen's blog and I was over the moon! I ran out to the shed and moved the tackle box, shoved the basket of baseball gloves and baseballs aside, reached into the dark recesses of the unknown whispering, "Please don't bite me. Please don't bite me", and pulled out the chicken feeder. Tada! I blew off the spiderless spiderwebs, dusted off the dirt and thus began my journey.

I have been stalking blogland for pincushions for months. There are lots of really cute ones out there and I have started a list of ones I want to make. How many pincushions does one quilting gal need?  Well I knew I wasn't going to stop at one and when DH asked me to haul him into town to pick up the feed truck, I was game. He was a little perplexed at my excitement. The girl that avoids town at all costs, and can often be heard chanting, "Please don't make me go. Please don't make me go", was in the truck before he finished his sentence with her sights set on the Farm Store. $2.89 later, I was a happy camper. Its a little embarrassing how giddy I am with this purchase.

I picked up a bag of crushed walnut shells at the pet store a few weeks ago. I  chose the smallest bag they had, and I'll be making more pincushions, but I'm pretty sure I have enough walnut shells for all of blogland. One thing I did differently besides use the walnut shells, was I encased the shells in a  gathered muslin circle and stitched the heck out of it so that the little grains would not escape. Then I gathered a second circle of my chosen fabric for the outside.

Its close to the end of the month and almost time for:

This is my addition for  the Christmas blog train this month.

Cheryl and Darlene are hosting this. So if you've made something this month to add to your Christmas gift stash, hop over and add your link today. Lots of great ideas are popping up!
Marquita and Lora, you are banned from making these because there are only so many adorable gifts I can come up with. I figure you'll forget about these by the time Christmas rolls around. Ducking...

The other thing I did was cut a circle of scrap wool and tuck it in the bottom of the feeder. It keeps the little spools from rolling around and trying to duck inside. Works like a charm! I just used hot glue to attach the pincushion to the feeder.

Also jumping in for the  Sew Darn Crafty Party:

Another great spot for you to add some new projects to your list and discover some fun new bloggers.
So, Karen, thank you, thank you, thank you! These are just perfect! You've created a monster because I picked up something else while I was at the Farm Store...