Life Gets Busy

 Sometimes...even in the middle of a pandemic...life gets busy. And just in case we look back on this time and think we really didn't do anything, I wanted to have proof in a post that that in fact...is NOT the case. LOL.

Friday night, I got back from visiting my mom in Texas. I was away for 10 days. I told her to keep a list of things I could do for her and I sawed my way through that list:

Many of you have inquired about her (thank you). She is doing remarkably well, considering that the Sarcoma has now metastasized into her lungs. I went down to be with her for scans and appointments and her first immuno-therapy treatment. She will have 2 more, 3  weeks apart, and then another round of scans. So, I'll go back down again then. Right now she is not in pain and feeling good. I'm so grateful that she is still able to be independent for the most part. She has a care giver 4 hours a day - 5 days a week who takes her to appointments and runs errands and her huge never-ending tribe of friends are always in and out. Plus, she still cooks and feeds the neighbors.

I had rented a car so we returned that on Friday night after my 9 hour road trip. It was close to dark by the time we got home and began to tend to evening chores. 

I saw a skunk. 

And then Skeet saw a skunk. 

So Skeet is banished from the house until I can find time to de-skunk him. That, in turn, means that I will need a de-skunking as well. He came running to me for sympathy immediately, but I scolded him away and his poor feelings were hurt. I wanted to console him, but then I too would have been banished from the house. 😉

 Then we were out the door by 5 Saturday morning, headed to a state sectional pistol championship 2 hours away in Clovis. It was supposed to be in the 80s and nice, but it was 46 when we arrived and the wind BLEW hard. Non-stop. All.Day. Long. 

Add to that, the fact the dirt there is like baby powder. Oh what fun! I told DH I was a fair-weather wife because after he shot a station and I helped him clean his mags by insuring the parts did not blow away,

 I trudged back to sit in the truck until it was time for his squad to move to the next station. I added a few stitches on a binding while in between stages

                                   

 and I had packed a lunch so we dined on sandwiches and apples and carrots on shop towels...without grit. 🤗 Almond M&Ms for dessert. 😉

I scribbled a tentative menu on the back of an envelope while we were en route as we are weaning next week and I'll be cooking for a crew of 10-12 Tuesday through Saturday. So that meant I had a grocery store run to make on Sunday morning and when I ran back into the house for a second, I came back to find this:

Poor Skeet. He's never done that before. Evidently he'd had enough of me being gone and DH said this was his way of saying, "Enough. No way are you leaving me again!"

4 hours and $500.00 later, I was home, getting things put up and starting on dinner and dessert for Tuesday because we are looking at another 12-14 hour day at the sale barn tomorrow and after a 4 a.m. breakfast on Tuesday, I have a date to take a steer to the processing plant in Ft. Sumner....a 4 hour round trip, which puts me home at 9 and dinner for 12 is needed at 11.

So, anyone ready to sign up to be a ranch wife yet? LOL.

The Bear Necessities Toddler Quilt

 Anyone else singing that song from the Jungle Book after reading the title of this post? I sang it a lot while making this quilt. I can't even remember how long I've had this fabric, but I made my first quilt in 2008 and I'm pretty sure I had this fabric before then. 

I may be mistaken, but either way, I had stashed it away, knowing it would eventually find it's way into a quilt. I had a lot of it, probably 3 yards or so and a few years ago I made this quilt and gave it to a sweet couple who are friends with our girl and who we've known since the kids were in 4-H. 

I knew I wanted to make another quilt and I settled on an Irish Chain pattern. I used gingham prints from a western line:

Once I handed it off to Jackie, she quilted these darling teddy bears across it:

And I just had to use the same print for the backing, finishing it off with the red gingham for binding: 

Teddy Bears from my childhood were unearthed from storage for a photoshoot: 

According to my calculations, this is the 100th quilt I've made. Right now I think it's absolutely my favorite timeless little quilt and at 48 x 64, I think it'll be perfect for a future grandchild...if the good Lord ever sees fit to bless us with any. LOL

But these sweet, classic bears will never go out of style:

Jungle Baby Quilt

 Today I'm sharing a little quilt that began with a fat quarter about 2 years ago:

I only had one fat quarter and I just didn't have the heart to cut it up so I hemmed and hawed about how best to showcase the cute jungle babies .

I didn't use a pattern - just pulled coordinating fabrics from my stash for inspiration and that led to the patchwork border. I am always drawn to simple patchwork and I really do like what it does here:

Now that it's quilted, I wish I had added a small brown border around the fat quarter, but all in all, I like the simple design and will use it again.

I used this paw print for a backing because the colors coordinated so well with the front and bound it with a textured brown print from my stash:

The patchwork border really is a mess of everything that would work and that cheddar is even a reproduction print. Jackie quilted the cutest monkeys on it:

It's 48" x 48" and I'm pretty tickled with how that simple fat quarter was transformed into a fun, happy quilt:

Dirt Road Granola Bars

Today I'm sharing an old tried and true recipe from my family favorites. I've been making these for over 25 years and I can't believe I've never posted them. I don't remember where I got the recipe - probably from Taste of Home because back then, that was my source for a lot of recipes and this one has stood the test of time around here.

I always packed food when we left the dirt road and these were often packed into coolers when we were headed to homeschool or 4-H events, baseball games, stock shows, ropings, and ranch rodeos. It was always a challenge to keep everyone's hands out of them before we even left the dirt road.

Money was tight and we rarely ate out so portable meals were always welcome during road trips and these granola bars were a staple.

DIRT ROAD GRANOLA BARS

1/2 C softened butter

1 C packed brown sugar

1/4 C sugar

2 Tbsp honey

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 C flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 C quick-cooking oats

1 1/2 C crisp rice cereal

1 C chopped nuts (sometimes is use pecans. sometimes I use sliced almonds)

1 C raisins or chocolate chips (I usually use chocolate chips, but am going to use dried cranberries next time)

*Cream butter and sugars. Add honey, vanilla, and egg - mixing well. Combine dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt); add to creamed mixture. Stir in oats, cereal, nuts, and chocolate chips. Press into a 9"x13" baking pan. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes or until top is golden brown. Cut into bars when cooled. Wrap in plastic wrap.

The batter is really thick so you'll have to press it into the pan. If you want softer bars, do not cook past 30 minutes. If you're after crunchier bars, bake longer.

I've made these well over 100 times, but I haven't made them in a while so this gave me the opportunity to mix up a batch so I'd have a photo to share. 😉