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!

Contemplating Another Hand Stitching Project...or Two!

I'm not sure of this is wise, but I've got another EPP project on my mind and it's being kind of bossy about me getting started on it. This quilt is the culprit:


                         

I found it on Pinterst and it links back to this blog: Plain and Simple.

This one caught my eye as well

                                         

I'm not a swooner, but WOW.  Those little 1/2" hexies kind of scare me. but I think the 1" hexies are too big. I may just have to make one star and see how it goes, but right now, something like this is definitely on my bucket list.

And then there was this one! The link goes back to FB.



I don't do FB. Pinterest steals enough of my time! :) Gosh, what a fun way to use scraps! Now if I could only devise a way to add more hours to the day. Wonder if I can paper piece these stars in my sleep.

English Paper Piecing Projects

I've always been drawn to English Paper Piecing projects. The only one I've ever done is this Irish Chain version. It allowed me to make hexie flowers without committing to an entire Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. It was a good way to test drive English Paper Piecing. :)

A few years ago, Bonnie Hunter shared a hexagon project. Here's the link. I didn't want to use her picture without her permission and I know how crazy busy she is. And I started cutting hexies in blues and browns and creams:

I liked having a portable hand stitching project and worked on it in spurts:

This is where I left off early last year:

And there it sat, abandoned on the back of a shelf. Now the hand stitching bug has hit me once again, but I've lost my passion for this one so I think I'll find a stopping point and finish it off.

When I was visiting my Mom back in February, we visited with friends of hers and the wife is a quilter. She took me upstairs and showed me some of her quilts. I'll share some at a later date, but she shared this one particular quilt top that I fell in love with:

This was pieced by her grandfather's first wife who passed away during childbirth in 1899. It was passed down to June and I was simply charmed by it. Old quilts like this are truly a testament to 'making due'. Not only are some of the stars made up of different fabrics:

But some of the points are even pieced using impossibly tiny scraps:

June is at a  loss as to how to finish it, or even if she SHOULD finish it. Parts of it are so fragile where fabrics have deteriorated.

I was so touched that she shared it and the story behind it with me and I am now on a mission to make one.

I am using a package of these Quilt Patis templates that I bought 2 or 3 years ago

 and pulling fabrics:

                                                

One down. Umpteen more to go, but this is a project I intend to savor one stitch at a time.


                        

What I've Been Up To

 Last week I was away, spending time with my mom for her birthday. It rained a lot and even when it doesn't rain, the humidity is just so oppressive. It's hard to breath and even the smallest outdoor activity, like cleaning off the deck and re-potting plants, left me drenched and wrung out. I'm so glad that I was able to spend that time with my mom and help her tend to some chores, but I am definitely a low humidity kind of gal. Thankfully, 1" of this glorious rain ended up in the headquarters rain gauge at the ranch.

On Sunday, DH and I spent a little time at my favorite fishing spot

where we once again, caught dinner:

The baby chicks are growing fast and have been relocated from the brooder - really just an old water tank - to the coop. They have their own little patch of the coop where they are safe from the big girls who are not very hospitable when it comes to sharing their home with the new tenants.

 Hopefully, after a few weeks, they will have acclimated to each other and peace will reign in the coop. I'm bribing them! :)

We've had such a pretty spring, but it seems summer has made a rather bold entrance this week as today it's expected to reach 100.

 I'm thinking I should have planted more watermelon in the garden. When it gets this hot, watermelon is the only thing that sounds good.

Much of my mornings this time of the year are spent outside trying to get ahead of the heat. This morning I was walking at 5:30, soaking in the cool of the morning. And this afternoon, while the wind howled, DH and I spent 4 hours in the truck, hauling cattle to another sale barn:

                             

 In sewing  news, I'm working on the Safari quilt:

And stitching on a binding

This time of the year, it's a slow process as I do all of my binding in the evenings and by the time I sit down at night, I'm just plumb tuckered out and ready for bed. And yes, that's usually before 9:00. :)