Christmas Through the Year - March

                                                       

Only by the skin of my teeth do I have something for my Christmas box this month. Honestly, I just finished these about 30 minutes ago. I worked on lots of projects, but nothing for Christmas. I've been so focused on knocking things off of my PHD list, that when I finally came up for air, the month was coming to a close.

At the first of the month, I come out from under my rock to see what everyone else is doing and I make my list. Then, when I poke my head back out and blink a few times, I realize the month has all but passed me by. Thankfully, I can sew under my rock and having Internet access allows me to check in with y'all, but time rushes by as fast under my rock as it does for those of you above ground.

Here's my contribution for March - Rice bags:

I like that the cover is removable for washing:

I used this hay print, that I love, on the back:

I've had rice bags on my list for some time, and finally got a few made for some ranching friends. Here's the tutorial I used. Keep one in the freezer for a cold pack and one out to heat in the microwave for when you need to apply heat. You can add a few drops of essential oil if you'd like, but these are for ranching families and I'm not so sure the men in these families will want lavender scented heating pads so these are unscented. These are about 8 x 10 and perfect for a sore shoulder or back.

And I have one pillowcase to add to my box too:

I have more cut out, just need a few minutes to stitch them up. I'm linking up with Kim over at Lily Patch Quilts for Christmas Through the Year. Last month I was tickled that my name was chosen for the monthly drawing. I won a $50 gift certificate from The FQS! I'm still contemplating what to choose - it's like being in a candy store. SO many wonderful choices! Thank you Kim and FQS! Don't put me in for the drawing this month, but I wanted to link up so I could keep myself on track.

Bohemian Baby Quilt

 I pieced this little quilt on the spur of the moment, although that spur of the moment took place last year. :) Not because I needed a cute baby quilt - although every time I turn around, I seem to be hearing about the impending arrival of a new baby lately, and I think a few extra baby quilts will come in handy- but because I was just inspired to do so. I had a charm pack of Bohemian Festival that I snagged on sale, and I wanted a very simple layout that would allow the fun fabrics to shine, and then I added a bit of raw edge applique using my Go! Cutter. I've got a long way to go, but I've got to start somewhere.

I then took a deep breath...for a very long time... and after basting:

I finally put the needle down into the fabric in an attempt to machine quilt it. The result? Some very wonky free motion quilted flowers in each square:

And some straight line quilting in the sashing.

And you know what? I'm pretty happy with it. It measures 40" x 40" and hopefully it'll spend much of it's life being loved and dragged around and snuggled. I think that is a very nice way to spend your life if you are a quilt.

The most exciting part? I think this makes me a quilter! :)

Smothered Chicken

Yes, we are ranchers.
Yes, we raise beef.
Yes, we have a freezer filled with ranch raised beef.
Yes, we sometimes eat chicken.

Once, during one of our cow works, our girl came in to get another syringe and said, " Don, wants to know what your fixin for dinner".
I replied, "Chicken enchiladas".
When she came in to wash up for dinner, just ahead of the rest of the crew, she said, "Don says you're not supporting the beef industry".
So I whipped up a beef burrito and stuck a toothpick in the middle of it with a sign that said, "Proudly supporting the beef industry" and put it at his place setting. He ate the burrito and the chicken enchiladas, and we laughed about it. He's such a dear man.

This is what was for dinner yesterday, but don't tell Don:

It's not even really a recipe, but one of the gals who lived at North Camp with her husband gave this to me years ago, and we love it. I think her recipe called for green onions in place of the green chile, but we put green chile in just about everything around here.

I season some chicken and brown it on the stovetop. Then I add sliced mushrooms, chopped bacon, NM green chile, and some grated cheese. Let that cook for about 5 minutes and you are good to go. I added a salad and some roasted red potatoes and dinner was served.

On the menu tomorrow: BEEF :) I should invite Don.

Changes

I am a creature of habit that has learned to fly by the seat of her britches. We all know that Google reader is going away. When I first saw the message pop up, I had a look on my face like this:



I don't have a smart phone or any of the nifty tablets or an IPad. We have one desktop computer and I kept tabs on y'all through Reader. Then I started seeing 2 options pop up so I am trying out both of them.


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

or www.feedly.com


The jury's still out but here's an informative article that may help you decide: Feedly vs Bloglovin . Thus far, it hasn't been too painful.

Now I am off to bed. It is closing in on 8 pm and I am shutting down.

Some things never change.