whooooosh

My Dad just turned 81 (Congratulations, Daddy!) and reminded me again that the older we get, the fast time goes. Which puts me in mind of this little Dr Seuss ditty:

How did it get so late so soon?
It’s night before it’s afternoon.
December is here before it’s June.
My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon? 

Anyway, it’s been a jam-packed, mostly wonderful, month. If a very fast one. I started a new project I was sure I’d have done in no time – but no time is exactly what I’ve had. This is Little Sampler by The Goode Huswife. I did it years ago in blues for Annemarie, over-one and very wee. This one is huge. I’ll use it as a seed pocket.

I’ve been trying to greenify my thumbs and other fingers with gardening endeavors. My friend Tigger just finished consuming his garden bounty from last year – I want that to be me next year!

The kids have, as always, been busy with a zillion things: sports, concerts, clubs, and much more. It’s not uncommon to hit the ground running at 2:40 when the school bus drops them off and not catch my breath till 7:30 or 8 in the evening. I don’t know how it affects them, but it exhausts me! LOL. Here are a few shots of the younger kids enjoying this and that, here and there.

There’s been a lot of farm activity, with the births of chicks, ducks, goslings, and bunnies. It being a farm, there have also been some sad losses. We are looking forward to the birth of some baby goats later this summer, as it appears both Annie and Eve are pregnant! Muffin left us to join her new home, and we will be welcoming a new buck to the farm in a week or so.

There has been a great deal of beauty in small things – special moments with the children, trying new things, mastering skills, connecting with friends, acts of gentleness and kindness – and over all, Mother Nature treats us daily to a spectacular feast of the senses if only we look around us.

I’ve been reading. Right now I’m reading The Wind-Up bird Chronicle by Murakami (and have the third volume of 1Q84 ready to read) and In One Person by John Irving. I just finished The Wind in the Keyhole by Stephen King and will soon be re-reading The Shining. Stacked up and ready to read are Affliction by Russell Banks, Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell, and Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. I’ve been listening to lots of music, too, mostly thanks to my Pandora connection, but I also bought Affairs of the Heart by Canadian artist Marjan Mosetich – it’s sublime.

Niek’s been traveling much of this month in Europe for his job, and next month I’ll begin a new job in the mental health field. With Arden ready for school, it’s time I can get back out in the world again and will do so with a new job and grad school plans. First we’ll enjoy the sweet months of summer together, though – I’m only working one day a week till school resumes after the summer holidays.

I have no idea how much time I’ll find to get online, but I won’t be far away. Thank you for your friendship – I’m looking forward to sharing more soon.

little pretties

It’s been a gorgeous day – sunshine, good friends, interesting conversations. I hope yours has been wonderful, too.

The other day the postman brought me a surprise package from Dianne that contained this sweet little turkey and a print of a beautiful antique sampler. I have a number of Wade figures saved from tea boxes when I was a child, so the turkey is in good company – and you know how much I love old samplers.  Sorry for the rather terrible lighting….

I finished the goose doodle that I started at the half-day workshop. It’s a family portrait of Hobart, Pip, Priscilla and their daughter Peepers. Since I started it, a second female gosling has hatched – Niek insists we call her Hooters. I’ll have to stitch her, too, but till then here she is IRL.

The mailman also brought me a lucky BOAF win from eBay. Surprisingly, the bidding stayed low and I could purchase this absolutely guilt-free.

I’ve already told the kids I’m stitching this for myself. Can you believe they laughed at me?

boo! bet you didn’t know i was here

Busy, busy, fun, fun. The kids had last week off and we had plans enough to fill the entire summer, let alone one measly week. We had such fun – visited with my mom, dad, and aunt (all separately), had friends over and/or went to friends’ houses, took long walks, instituted Family Game Night (every Friday, heaven help me – I don’t like games), and did approximately one gabillion other fun things together. Toward the end of the week, my asthma kicked up and turned into something that has nearly robbed me of my voice – but there are those who seem to find that an improvement.

Now that things are back to so-called normal, the kids are in school and I’m busy with this and that. I had class yesterday and today I taught a half day workshop on cross stitching at a local high school. I was more than a little nervous going into it, but it went quite well. I’m sure I had the smallest workshop (4 kids, with one wandering off never to return) but they were great kids who really put a massive effort into it and did a great job. While they worked on their projects, I did this Sampler Girl design with some minor changes:

I started a second teeny project with geese, but didn’t get too far. I was doodling the other day, trying to break out of my anti-stitching mojo while Niek drove us to Bangor to belatedly celebrate Max’s birthday. Before I knew it, I’d come up with this:

It needs some sort of  green viney border, don’t you think? I’m also thinking of putting in a segment of the lion and the unicorn poem.

I doodled some more in the car and started this girl, who will be one of … three? … sisters, I think:

And ages ago, I started the Favorite Font Sampler. It got sort of buried under other stuff and slightly forgotten, but here it is again:

I’m using a Gloriana overdyed silk for the lettering and will use ‘plain’ silk for the figures below the verse. Eventually.

It’s a gorgeous sunny late afternoon here. Yesterday at this time it was raining so hard I thought I’d drown while taking care of the animals. No joke! My coat, hung up in front of the woodstove, still isn’t dried out! I had to bring the half-grown chicklets up on to the porch to safeguard them. The other birds stuck out in breeding coops were totally encased in tarps. They didn’t care for that, but it was better than the rain.

I’ve been reading up a storm. I finished and greatly enjoyed The Dry Grass of August by Anna Jane Mayhew and am currently reading Black Swan Green by David Mitchell. I also finished volumes one and two of 1Q84 by Murakami and am wondering where volume three is to be found. Normally one of my all-time favorite authors, I’m withholding judgement on this series until I’ve read the whole thing.

Through it all, I have the most excellent company – as you can see. He’s my calorie saver – he ate the whole donut and drank a substantial portion of my coffee Coolatta.

Thank you for visiting despite my rather lengthy absence. And for all who left tips and suggestions about my terrifying foray into education today, I thank you most kindly. Have a great day – catch some sunshine if you can!

you may call me ms barbara

So … I’m going to teach this half-day workshop on cross stitching for high school students because a dear friend (you know who you are, Dawn!) roped me into it and now that the hour draweth nigh, I’m experiencing a few Lepidoptera in the abdominal region. I’ve pulled a bunch of freebie designs and kitted them up with floss, evenweave and Aida, and some bling (like felt shapes, funky buttons, little bells, etc.). I’ve tried for designs that are easy and fun, but that are also cool. And there’s where I run into trouble, because when you use your thesaurus and you look up antonyms for cool … there’s my incredibly unflattering driver’s license photo staring back at you. I am not the poster child to bring the cool, hip factor to cross stitch. I’m more the one you’d find encouraging you to embrace your inner nerd.

So chime in, friends and fellow enthusiasts. Let me know what you wish someone had told you way back when you first put needle to fabric. How big is big enough for a half-day program, without being overwhelming or … underwhelming? Is the bling important? Should I bling it up more? I’m a huge buff of the history of cross stitch, but I understand it could put some people to sleep … should I bring it up, or let it slide? What about specialty stitches? I would just love to plant some little seeds that will sprout into future stitchers, so any comments you might have will be hugely appreciated!

i will not get mushy and embarassing

Max turns 14 today. Oh my heavens, how can it be true? He never would’ve guessed, as the little boy who loved to go to petting zoos, that he’d eventually wind up living on one. We never would’ve guessed that such a tiny, quiet little fella would tower over us in just a few short years. He’s made us proud, he’s made us laugh … and once in awhile, he’s made us a little crazy.

In his typical quiet fashion, he doesn’t want any great fanfare or hoopla around his special day. We’re having brownies for breakfast and sushi for dinner and we’ll go to a movie this weekend. If you see him out there in the great, wide world, wish him well.

chicks, goslings, bunnies … and snow!

The Easter bunny paid us a visit – though the bunny’s “elf” must plan her time better next year to avoid midnight sewing sessions! I made the little Birds of a Feather projects into different bags, pouches and sacks to hold the Easter Bunny’s bounty. More embellishments may be added in the future – I was waaaay to tired last night to fiddle around with trims, etc.

We managed to complete our egg hunt before the snow (!) got serious.

With our farming interest, of course Easter is full of baby animals. This year we’re happy to introduce our first gosling, a Pilgrim goose girl, that the kids have named Peppers.

Her Runner duck roommates, both Fawn drakes, are called Olives and Pickles.

We’ve had 5 new Barred Hollands hatch to accompany the Black Javas and older Barred Hollands that hatched about a week earlier.

Walter continues to grow, albeit rather slowly as he’ll only drink milk … lazy little bugger.

And just so you don’t think I was goofing about the Easter snow, here’s the view out my kitchen window:

A couple of technical issues:

The weird photos are due to the demise of Picnik – I’m trying to adjust to the unsatisfactory Flikr replacement of Picnik with Aviary. Please, Picnik, come back … I miss you!!! Edited to add: Thank you, Terra!! I think PicMonkey is just the thing!

It’s come to my attention that people w/o a WordPress account haven’t been able to comment on my blog. I’d noticed a decline in comments and had assumed I’d become boring, but Carol pointed this out to me. I’ve gone through all my settings and there is nothing that should block non-WP users … I’m curious if anyone else has had this problem. If you have, or if you know of a solution, would you let me know?

some sunshine in our lives

It’s continued to be hectic and unpredictable here, and some reorganizing of priorities (particularly in regard to my farmette) need to be done, but the past week has included plenty of bright spots as well. I’ve been working on Plum Street Sampler’s Favorite Font Sampler but there’s not enough done to merit a photo, so instead I’ll show you what I sent to my Easter swap partner:

The little box features an older pattern by Oubliette and some pretty gee-gaws to give the box a more feminine look. The other stitched piece is an adaptation of a design from sub rosa’s blog, finished as a lavender-filled Easter egg with a pocket for storage of little treasures. I prettied it up using some gorgeous coordinating chenille from Vikki Clayton and a bit of vintage lace I had. My partner liked buttons and charms, so I added some of those and some finishing bits, as well as some local treats (handmade soap and maple candies), some Easter cookie cutters, and a great kit from Shakespeare’s Peddler.

Thanks for visiting!

it has been a week

… that I don’t want to repeat. Ugh. But some good stuff happened, too!

Walter is getting used to his new home and I’m (hopefully) getting the hang of this bottle-feeding thing.

Two of the Brabanter chicks hatched. This is another Dutch breed and is exceedingly rare.

And I received my Easter exchange from Samplermakers from Autumn. Wow, I just finished mine yesterday (right on the deadline) and I see I need to add some more extras – mine was terribly under-packed in comparison! Thank you, Autumn for a lovely heart pillow (such a hard finish for me!) and wonderful Easter goodies (the chocolates were loved by the kids!).

I hope everyone else is enjoying the start of spring! Best wishes to all!!

a face only a mother could love, and other stuff

The entire week has consisted of days that were not longer than 15 minutes each. How is anyone supposed to get anything done under those circumstances? I’ve felt like I’ve done little but race madly from one thing to the next without actually accomplishing anything. So today, I’m taking it a little slower (although there are still a million things to do!) and tomorrow I may take a road trip to meet some other farming-types who live in central Maine.

I don’t really know where to begin, so maybe I’ll just start chronologically and see where I wander from there. We had a gorgeously sunny day last Saturday. Although it was very cold, Rowen and Arden got the idea into their heads that we needed to go on an Exploration and have a picnic. So … we did. Brrr. Here are Rowen and Arden fearlessly perched atop the broken branch of a gigantic tree – especially when viewed from the perspective of an uncertain four-year old.

And here is Rowen with Flip in the same tree. Rowen has explained to me that the path we followed was one that Flip shared with Ro and Nick several days previously. I’d tell you where it is, but it’ a secret.

And here is Flip, showing that he is a fearless cat who possesses remarkable leadership qualities. Hey, do you think it’s too late to get him on the ballot?

Today is another brilliantly sunny day, and it is a lot warmer than last Saturday. So of course, no one is interested in being outside at all. Go figure!

Since I’m talking about our furbabies anyway, here’s the latest on Tom, who has been re-named by Rowen and now bears the weighty moniker of Major Tom Stubbs. He’s had his neutering surgery and is being introduced to the house. The other animals hate him, though, so it’s a slow process. His own behavior is still a little unpredictable – he’s generally an absolute love bug but sometimes he forgets that the hand that’s petting him is attached to the arm hovering in his vicinity and he bites and/or scratches the arm. The arm usually belongs to me, and I’ve been very glad we keep antibiotic salve and gauze pads on hand. It’s a face only a mother could love, and yet … we do love him and are glad to be able to offer him a comfortable spot for his golden years.(I’d like to point out that I obviously took these photos elsewhere because my own house is kept spotless and clutter-free at all times!)

Well, maybe some of us are less happy to welcome him than others. Flip is letting him know that this pool of sunshine will not be shared under any circumstances.

Also taking place in my clean and uncluttered kitchen is baking. Lots of baking. Baguettes by the bag full this week, and each more delicious than the last. Yesterday, the gray weather really got to me so I also began baking cookies (something I tend to avoid because I like my own cooking…).

Talking about the gray weather offers me a reasonable segue into the bizarre storm we had that dumped close to a foot of snow on us earlier this week. It’s still melting off. Here’s the barn, viewed from the back door of the house, the day it snowed.

Down in the barn, life has been busy. The geese continue to lay eggs and because I only have two small incubators, we’ve been eating some of the eggs. I made scrambled eggs the other day and when I saw how huge the goose egg yolks were compared to a regular chicken egg, I had to take a picture. Doesn’t it look like a face?

We have some new chicks down in the barn – 2 month old Barred Hollands. I love them! They look a lot like Barred Plymouth Rocks but they’re a much older (and rarer) breed that lays a white egg (rather than a brown one).

In the house, the little Miracle Marans are doing well, and the incubators are full-up. Hoping for some exciting hatching to start soon! While I wait, I occasionally find five or ten minutes for stitching. This is for an exchange, so I can just show a snippet.

I’d probably be able to get a whole lot more done if these impossibly adorable creatures didn’t keep distracting me.

Thanks for visiting! I hope your weekend is full of joy and good health!

it’s all about the …

There hasn’t been any stitching at all. It’s been all about the weather (spring is coming – we hung the sap buckets this morning!), the animals, the kids, and cooking. An exhausting but tremendously rewarding week. And before I go any further, I have to shout out a huge thank you to Niek for taking up all the slack at home – getting meals on the table when I get busy building chicken coops and simply don’t show up, taking Arden to and from school, driving to Bangor to watch Nicky’s performance today, and listening to me blabber on about things that are probably painfully uninteresting to anyone else.

Nicky has had a busy week at school and has had two different performances. In the third grade class play, he was a mail carrier and had us all laughing at his antics.

But before Nick’s part came up, some members of the audience were pretty critical:

And others got a little sleepy:

In his Destination Imagination group, they put on a skit about adopting animals from a nearby no-kill shelter (they also did fund-raising through the year for this shelter). Nicky and Niek are in Bangor today, where Nicky’s group is competing at a regional level. Good luck!!

I’ve been baking breads and muffins and scones. After taking a pretty long break from any sort of baking, it feels good to be productive in the kitchen. Not to mention that it tastes about a zillion times better than store-bought baked items!

I’ve also tried my hand in the woodshop. I am much better in the kitchen, but under Tigger’s guidance, I’ve managed to help put together three small portable coops for the chickens. I put the last one together on my own after he cut all the pieces to size, though I still need to put the wire around it.  The Icelandics and Welsummers are loving it, and after 10 days I can start pulling purebred eggs to go in the incubator. I’ve been incredibly humbled by the carpentry experience, but also pretty chuffed by the results.

School has also taken up a chunk of time and there are no fascinating pictures of me hitting the books, which is what I’ll be doing much of today in preparation for Monday’s test. Argh, my first test in … how many years?

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!!