My Choice

I’ve researched and read scripture looking for what seems to be the right choice.  I narrowed it down to these:

1 John 4:8—”Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

1 Corinthians 13:13—” So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Psalms 51:10 —”Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”

Psalms 46:10—” Be still and know that I am God.”

It seems that God has to constantly pick me up and set me straight so I almost chose Psalms 51:10.

It was so hard to decide.  I love them all.  In the end, I chose Psalms 46:10….so simple yet so powerful.

For those who were not able to see the pictures, Roy has one on his business site that you can look at. It’s not as good a picture as the one on his facebook page, but you can get the idea.  He starts work on our floors Wednesday!!!!  WooHoo!!!

Looking For Input

DH is almost finished with the barn and we’ve talked with someone about staining the concrete floor.  That may happen as soon as this week.  We’ve known a guy who does staining and scoring since he was a young teenager.  He used to come over to fish in our pond and would take Chris out to fish sometimes.  He lives not very far from us.

He mentioned that he has put scripture in stained floors for some people.  I love that idea.  I think his Facebook photo albums are public so I’m going to include a link to one of the photo’s I really like.  I hope you can see it.

When I think about favorite bible verses, I always think about the first one I ever learned—John 3:16–”For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him, shall not perish but have ever lasting life.”

There are some passages that really  speak to me:

“Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me”—from the 23rd Psalm is just one of them.

Help me choose a verse by telling me what your favorites are.

 

 

Garden Party February Installment

This pattern used to be in 2 parts so it took 2 months to do it.  I’ve re-worked it so that 2 months are now 1 month.  This pattern is only for the background units of the long applique columns.  The applique overlay will come next month.

Nature's Trellis Background

As usual, please go to the Garden Party BOM page to get the pattern.  Thanks for being patient while I got caught up. 

Delay

Oops.  I just got a gentle reminder about our February installment.  It totally slipped my mind and since the updated file isn’t ready it will be a few more days before it makes it here.  Thanks for waiting!

More About Sneaky

If you’re deathly afraid of snakes you might want to close your eyes.   I don’t like snakes but I’ve had to get used to having some around.  We have a large pond literally at our back door.  Not long ago I killed a moccasin about 50 feet from the kitchen door.  I was walking to the barn and that icky, yucky, ugly thing was in my way.  Too close to the house to leave it alone so I found a long piece of steel pipe and he/she is history.

As far as Sneaky goes….everyone can relax.    Sneaky is a fake snake…..albeit a well-traveled snake.

I bought Sneaky on the way to a retreat I hosted in New Braunfels, TX at T-Bar-M Ranch back in 2006.  He made surprise appearances at different times and places throughout the retreat.

As you saw in the photo in my last post, he made appearances in the fruit bowl.

Sneaky loves apples

He took rides on Denise’s shoulder.

Sneaky likes to hitch hike

Sneaky didn’t make Quilter’s Romp in the Swamp in 2007 but he or Son of Sneaky made appearances at Romps we had in Jasper, Arkansas.  Somewhere along the line Sneaky was replaced by Son of Sneaky.  He probably wishes Denise would take that blasted plastic collar off.

Son of Sneaky takes in the view outside Cliff House Inn--Jasper, AR

Son of Sneaky spends some quality, quilting time with WWWanda (Wonderfully, Wicked Wanda)

And Sometimes Son of Sneaky Needs a Nap

Son of Sneaky Approves of WWWanda's Design

Just in case you think we don’t do anything but play with Sneaky or Son of Sneaky when we go on retreat…..here’s this:

Denise Decorating the Wall Art With Beanie Babies

Who Needs Enemies????

When you’ve got friends like these gals????  Just Kidding!  Lol.

Judy L. is hosting a retreat this weekend and I got a message on my cell phone today.  Something to the effect of “I don’t  know if you’re having any fun or not, but if you are, you’re not having as much fun as we are!”   So we played phone tag for a bit before we were actually able to speak person to person.

Judy L. at Parrain's in Baton Rouge

I told her she didn’t know how much fun I was having because I had a giant Margarita in one hand and a good looking man was kissing me head to toe!  So there!  She had to concede that..well, maybe I was having more fun.  Roflol.

So, a while later I had a message from Susan (PatchKat) wanting details about the Margarita and good looking man….and WWanda wanted details too. My phone doesn’t always catch calls due to our tin roof so after the message came through, I went out to the chicken coop so I could call her back  and sat in the swing DH put on the porch for me.

Susan aka PatchKat

Wicked Wanda

They’re having a wonderful time together and it sounds like they’re getting lots of sewing done.  I sure wish I could have been there with them but I had to choose between getting Valentina or going to Judy’s.

Maybe next year I can join them for retreat.  We always have so much fun when we get together.  Maybe next year Denise (Justquiltin) can make it too.

And maybe Denise will bring Sneaky Snake with her

Plans Change

I *thought* I was going to be able to start moving things to the barn Saturday, but it didn’t happen.  DH is working hard to get it finished but there’s still just too much stuff in the front room for me to work in there.  That’s the room I’ll move into first as it has a finished floor.  It’s where all the fabric will be.  Here are a couple pics so you can see what it looks like.

Fabric Room

Another View of the Fabric Room

It’s much better than it was but still not ready for cleaning & moving fabric shelves/fabric.  So, I’ll try again this weekend.  

The longarm room looks so good.  There are only small things left to do in there as far as remodeling goes.  The floor is the big thing to work on.  We’re undecided as to whether to paint or acid use etching stain on it.  Here’s a picture of it before Don put the new ceiling in.

Longarm Room Old Ceiling

And here’s a picture with the new ceiling.

Longarm Room New Ceiling

So, where is Don working now?  He’s working in the kitchen putting up wainscoting on the walls.  He’s promised to do the ceiling but it may come later. He’s such a good man!

Wainscoting in Kitchen

I just got back from the barn to check on Don and wish I had taken my camera with me.  It’s amazing what a little trim will do!  I think I’d better back to packing!

Meet My Chickens

I thought you might like to see what some of our chickens look like.   The ones we’ve had the longest are the Black Stars aka Black Sexlinks.  They’re a cross between Barred Rock hen and Rhode Island Red rooster.  They’re called a sexlink because they can be sexed at birth.  They’re not overly friendly but will let you pet them sometimes.  There are a few that will eat sunflower seeds from my hand.  They lay nice, large brown eggs.

Black Star

Here’s a picture of Barry with some of the girls.  The picture is labeled as to what they are.

Chicken Family

The Black Copper Maran hens (we have 2) are large birds and have a somewhat “squatty” appearance to me.  They lay beautiful dark, chocolate colored eggs.  If you look closely, you can see that the shanks are feathered as well as the body.

The Silver Laced Wyandottes (we have 3) are gorgeous.  Their feathers are white edged in black.  We have 3 now but did have 4 to begin with.  One of them was a smarty pants and would fly up onto the top of the 6 foot tall chain link fence and hop down onto the other side.   We’d find her frantically trying to figure out how to get back in and would have to catch her to put her back.  One day, something was waiting for her frisky self and we found her feathers strewn across the garden.  I count my chickens every night so I know if anyone is missing. 

The Black Minorca’s (we have 3) are beautiful, shiny black birds and have a small white spot on the sides of their face.  They’re pretty flighty but one was actually eating from my hand this afternoon.

The Ameraucana’s (there are 7) are sometimes called “Easter Eggers” because they lay eggs in different shades of green/blue.  They have little tufts of feathers that pooch out on the sides of their faces.  They eat from my hands.

Another pic of the girls

Light Brahma

I just love the Light Brahma’s (we have 4).  They’re huge and their feathers are so soft and they have feathered shanks/feet.  They’re not flighty at all.  They’re usually first in line to eat from my hand.  They recognize the sound of the window sliding open and hop up on the feeder to see me.  One actually hopped up into my arms one day to eat from my hand.  Don says I’ve got them spoiled rotten.

The Blue Andalusians (we have 3) are one of my favorite breeds.  They’re not friendly but they do come to eat from my hand.   I love their color.

Roux-Roux and one of the Blue Andalusian's

The Black Minorca’s and Blue Andalusian’s like to fly up on top of the chain link fence and walk around but I’ve never seen them fly down into the wrong side of the fence.  The chickens are so entertaining.   They run to see me when the know I’m coming and get ready for hand feeding.  Then when I get ready to toss sunflower seeds into the yard for them, they run through the gate into the part of the yard where I throw the seeds and wait for their treat to arrive.

This afternoon, one of the chickens hopped up onto the nest boxes in the new coop as I was walking through “my side” to go out and started pecking on the window.  Roflol.    Too spoiled.

And Then There Was One

When we got our Black Copper Maran chicks in fall of 2010, we had 3 pullets and 3 roosters.  Of the 3 pullets, we have 2 laying hens now.  They’re not friendly but they’re not aggressive.

I never wanted roosters but these were so beautiful.  They’re huge birds with fabulous coloring.  I did some research to see what kind of temperament they have.  What I read was that they are fairly docile roosters.  I don’t know exactly what that “fairly” part means because several months ago, Mr. Big became chicken salad due to his hateful nature.

Barry & Roux-Roux in happier times with some of the girls

I’ve been tempted to get rid of Roux-Roux and Barry several times because “docile”, they are not.  I carry a length of 2″ PVC pipe with me when I go into the chicken yard.  And I’ve had to use it several times to protect myself from a rooster attack.

Recently, the two roosters have been fighting.  I’m not about to get in the middle of one of the battles because it’s vicious.  There’s no reason for them to fight.  There is plenty of food and water.  They have a large enclosed yard to roam and we rotate planting grass seeds so they almost always have fresh greens to scratch in.  The most important part to a rooster is the availability of hens.  We have 29 hens….more than enough for them to share.  So why do they fight?  Heck if I know.

Anyway, in a fight last week, Roux-Roux whipped Barry and this week Barry beat the stuffing out of Roux-Roux.   Barry really hurt him.  I’m not sure Roux-Roux’s right eye is going to heal and with only one good eye, he would be an easy target for Barry.  I decided the kindest thing to do might be to go ahead and put Roux-Roux down or as they say in chicken language “cull”.

That was my plan until I went to check on the chickens this afternoon.  Barry was terrorizing Roux-Roux and poor Roux-Roux was trying so hard to escape that he was running into the fence.  It made me so mad (read between the lines for what I’d like to say).  So, I decided that Barry wasn’t going to be king of the coop because he didn’t deserve to be and I like Roux-Roux more anyway.

Now, any animal activists can close the page here because people have lived off the chickens they raise for generations and I’m not the least bit sorry.

Don came home to find me after Barry with my pipe and he inquired as to was I trying to kill the chickens.  I said “nope, just trying to kill Barry”.

I didn’t have any luck but Don took care of it for me or so he thought.  Let me tell you…..a big rooster is hard to do in.  We thought….really thought Barry had met his maker and darnit, I discovered he was still breathing and then he jumped up and tried to get away.

Barry

Barry has now been plucked and is on ice until tomorrow morning when he will be dressed out and go into the pot for chicken & dumplings.  Supposedly, the icing period allows the bird to go through the first stages after death and the meat is more tender.  I’ll let you know.

Roux-Roux...King of Chickendom

So now, there is only one rooster in the chicken settlement.  I think Roux-Roux will be able to get along with the hens and it will certainly be a calmer place.

Christmas Town News

I spent several hours yesterday working on my blocks for the Christmas Town Sampler.  I can’t tell you what they are or show you pictures but I can tell you they’re fun.  I’ll probably do a bit of tweaking before time to release them.

All the other blocks have been designed too.  Judy, Susan, and Denise have all been busy.

Did you ever see those Mervyn’s commercials where the women were pressed against the windows of the store before the sale?  That was one of my all time favorite commercials.  They were tapping on the windows saying “open, open, open”.  Do you feel like that while you’re waiting for the blocks to appear starting in July?