Cooking For the Crew

 We branded on Tuesday so I fell into bed at 9:30 Monday night and set my alarm for 2:30. 😲 I know most everyone loves the longer days, but this old body is plumb tuckered out with longer days and shorter nights. 

Breakfast for 8 men was at 4 and they jingled in at 10:30 for dinner. And as much as I love taking pictures of the crew when they brand, the pens are almost an hour from the house and there was not a moment to spare between breakfast and dinner. It was forecasted to be 99°  and we try to work cattle before the heat sets in. I fixed biscuits, gravy, eggs, sausage, and fruit for breakfast and then washed all the dishes (remember - no dishwasher in this old ranch house, but I don't have to haul water from the creek or chop wood. 😉), cleaned the kitchen and set about making a mess again:

Chicken Fried Steak, gravy, mashed potatoes, corn, and State Fair Yeast Biscuits with Ice Cream Sandwich Dessert for dessert. I don't make Chicken Fried Steak very often. It makes a HUGE mess, but a few years ago, a sweet lady that used to live at North Camp with her husband shared her secrets for the best chicken fried steak ever and I knew it would make for a very happy crew. I don't even know if I can really share it with you, because it's more of a method than a recipe, but I'll see what it looks like in writing and if it makes sense, I'll post it. 

Then, once everyone shuffled back out the door for a second time, I was blessed with another mountain of dishes and a kitchen that needed cleaning. And yes, I do mean blessed. I'm so grateful that DH has a good crew to help during branding and that I can put a decent meal on the table. And the bonus blessing is that there are leftovers. Grin.

Just after the crew left, the air-conditioner repair fella showed up. Our air-conditioner has been acting up periodically so they made a trip out to diagnose the problem. Looks like the expansion valve isn't functioning properly so if it continues to freeze up, they'll come back and replace it.

He got the last 6 cookies in the deep freeze and the brand inspector was coming out later in the afternoon to inspect some cattle we were taking to the sale barn in Clovis on Wednesday. We've known Justin for years - he was a part of a very fun branding crew for a few years about 15 years ago. So, I was back in the kitchen again. M&M Cookies for him this time, plus a few for my cookie stash

I cooked for the boys again today - 10 this time. Nothing new to share. Breakfast Pizza, bacon, biscuits, fruit, and Honey Bun Cake at 4 for breakfast. Brisket, Hot Links, Cole Slaw, Rancher's Potatoes, Soft & Fluffy One Hour Rolls, and Jalapeno Poppers with Cherry Cheesecake Lush for dessert. 

Oh, wait - I searched my blog and can't find the recipe for Ranchers Potatoes and it is definitely worth sharing so stay tuned! And Cole Slaw is just Cole Slaw, but we kind of like it so I'll share that one too. Hmmm...can't find a post for Breakfast Pizza either. Nothing fancy, but something I make a lot when I've got extras. OK...shake out your aprons!

Another Little Mouth to Feed

 Last weekend I heard a pitiful little cry just west of the chicken yard (the chicken coop is about 30 yards south of the house) and when I went to investigate, I found a tiny little kitten. I looked over and didn't see a mama around, but I wanted to give her a chance to pick him up although I did check him over to make sure he wasn't hurt. The mama kitties will often move their kittens and for the most part we let them do their job. We have a lot of barn cats around here and I throw cat food onto a slab in the evenings and everyone comes up to eat, but the cats are wild. They are hunters and do a good job of keeping mice and rats and snakes cleared out of the hay, barn, shop, and salt shed. I've been noticing our herd declining and figure we've got coyotes working around. I worked around the chicken yard and watched closely, but never saw the mama. We've got a few mama kitties tending to babies, but no-one claimed this little fella, so I picked him up and brought him into the yard. Meet Oliver:

I wasn't going to name him, but he was so tiny and skinny underneath all that hair that I brought him into the house and DH said he looked like an Oliver so Oliver it is. Thing is, I do not want an indoor cat, but I have to save him if I can so warm milk is being doled out every 3-4 hours.

Poor thing was terribly constipated and probably dehydrated. I did fix him a little box with a towel and when I was in town on Monday I picked up some milk replacer, kitten chow, and some litter. Later, I noticed 2 kittens squeezing into a spot under the house and they would wander out to play by the chicken yard. When I put Oliver out with them, they acted like they were familiar with each other so I'm certain they are litter-mates and Oliver is just a runt and something happened to their mama. 

The other 2 are short haired and more active, but I also started putting warm milk and kitten chow out for them in an old discarded pan twice a day. Once their tummies are full, it's nap time:

For now, I let Oliver sleep in his box in the office at night, but I put him out with his siblings during the day. I want him to know how to be a kitten. 

The funny thing is, I will step outside and find him sitting at the front door, or I will peek around the other side of the house and if he sees me or I call his name, he will begin to meow and run to me. And those of you who are members of Skeet's fan club will love him even more:

He is SO sweet and gentle with Oliver and when I walk outside and look for Oliver I ask Skeet, "Where's the baby?" he helps me look for him. I know everyone loves their dog, but Skeet truly has the most incredible heart. Oliver even talks to him. LOL (Skeet was right next to me when I snapped this shot)

Oliver's a little fluff ball, but there's nothing under all that hair so we're doing our best to put a little meat on his bones and turn him into a healthy, happy kitten. This is a good start:

Under the Needle: May

 I know May's not over yet, but I've got a full week ahead and I know sewing won't be a part of it. It's been a while since I've posted an Under the Needle report. I had intended to post them once a month, but I haven't been very good about getting that done. Lately, I've just been puttering here and there in my sewing room. I always have multiple projects in various stages of completion going on at once and this time of year it's harder to get to them when so much of my time is spent outside.

DH has helped the neighbors 4 days in the past few weeks and that means we're crawling out of bed at 2:30 in the morning. Crazy hours. He always tells me I should just stay in bed, but I always feel better if I at least make him some coffee to take along and then I brush my teeth and then I'm just awake. So, more often than not, I will write a blog post, clean something, read a little, and then spend that free time playing with fabric.

And yes, later in the day, there will be a nap. 😉

Recently, I've been working on trimming a pile of HSTs I made in an attempt to empty a bin of fabrics leftover from another quilt. There were 408 to trim. I recently splurged on a 3-piece set of Bloc-loc rulers and I have to say, I am really liking the accuracy:

I am also piecing a quilt top that uses 155 of the above HSTs and includes another little appliqued sailboat:

And when I get the hankering to just run fabric under needle, these little 16 patch blocks are piling up. I am working on Bonnie Hunter's Winter Blues quilt: 

Around here, we don't get the blues in the winter because although we get really cold, we always have incredible sunshine so I will probably end up renaming this. I have a healthy stash of blues and even though these pieces are small, surely I am making a dent in the bin.

I'm making a little progress on my Follow Your Heart project:

This was a Sweetwater Kit I bought 4 or 5 years ago. I'm not a fan of kits, but I still love this and I'll love it even more once it's out of the project bin and an actual quilt. All the squares have been cut and I'm drawing hearts onto Heat & Bond Lite, cutting them out, and pressing them onto the blocks.

I am also binding a quilt I started in 2016

And I finished this quilt a few weeks ago

Farmhouse Flannels Quilt

So apparently I'm very productive at 3 a.m. 😕 Alas, unless DH is helping the neighbors or I'm cooking for the crew, the only place you'll find me at 3 a.m. is snuggled under a quilt, snoozing. 

Special Company

 A few weeks ago we were blessed with a visit from this little bright-eyed nugget

Her mama and daddy are so good to share photos. I love this series from Easter

                                              

And we're always so grateful when they make their way home

They came after Easter to meet the chickens:

To read some stories

To explore outside

                                    

To play Peek-A-Boo

                                   

Again

And again

                                   

And again

Hey, Gram! Pap is REALLY funny!

                                    

To bake a cake:

To celebrate a special 1st Birthday!

And to make some memories:

I missed them before they even made it to the other end of the dirt road