March Gone Already

March is gone already and good riddance!  It wasn't really much better than February.   I smashed my finger and peeled back the skin the first Friday and then had to put my dog, Sam, down the next day.  He had prostate cancer too.  I had him cremated and planted his ashes under a wild rose bush (dog rose) in his favorite sunny spot.

I remember when they discovered that turtle. Sam is the brown one.  I am going to wire wrap some beads around his tag and put it on my charm necklace.

All of the seeds I started grew.  If it doesn't warm up soon there will be beans growing in my house. LOL  One of the black copper maran chicks is a rooster. I bought some bantams to keep them company and it looks like one of them is too.  My son wanted me to buy ducks, so I got a couple Pekins and I think one of them is a drake.  Boys everywhere!

I got put back on first shift at work in a different department, so I've been adjusting to that. 

I finished the insert for April.  Sorry it's late.  Been busy putting my new beehive together.  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14yfkjylaj_NqZjx0NhgDnArr9luLowEzfg6w6KEyoMg/edit?usp=sharing

It's a Warre hive from Bee Thinking.  I get my bees next month and I'm so excited!  I've wanted bees forever.  They are so awesome.

February didn't start off well.  My father died January 30.  It was hands down the worst day of my life. He was 85 and had prostate cancer, so it was a release for him, but I've always been a daddy's girl and there is such an empty space in my life now.

George William Shooter

July 15, 1930-January 30, 2016

We had a memorial for him the 13th.  That was an awful day too.  I cried so much I had a sinus headache the whole next day.  He was the only man who never let me down.  He wasn't perfect, but he was awesome.  

I got to see both of my grandsons more than once this month, so it has been good.  Michael has such a temper!  He can go from calm to pissed off in a second.  His mommy is going to have fun with him! Austin just gets taller and more charming by the moment.  Having him at the memorial helped me.  I imagine that he is what my dad was like at 2. So full of himself!

The weather has been crazy.  50 degree days followed by a foot of snow.  My poor flowers don't know what to do. 

I got some seeds started, and made an order from Baker Creek Seeds. www.rareseeds.com. Oh, the hours spent poring over their catalog looking at all of the lovely and unusual veggies. If I actually manage to get everything I ordered to grow, we will be eating veggies every day.  I'm trying to convince myself I like sweet potatoes, so I got their rare sweet potato collection.  Maybe I will like one of them.  4 varieties of tomato, 4 or 5 varieties of cukes, 3 squash, 3 beans, some peppers, and greens.  We shall eat good this summer! I want to plant strawberries on the hill by the pine trees in our yard.  No one likes mowing that hill.

I finished the March insert for anyone interested in art journaling along with me. Here is the link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14yfkjylaj_NqZjx0NhgDnArr9luLowEzfg6w6KEyoMg/edit?usp=sharing

I got some black copper marans chicks this weekend, but one died already.  Looking forward to those dark eggs.  I may try to hatch an olive egger this fall since both of my roos are easter eggers.  

I must say I'm not sorry to see February go.  March is Ostara and the beginning of spring.  My favorite season.

Bye winter, Hello Spring!

"She turned to the sunlight

And shook her yellow head

And whispered to her neighbor;

"Winter is dead."

--A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young

Happy Imbolc!  I've decided to try art journaling again this year.  I bought the book "No Excuses Art Journaling" by Gina Rossi Armfield last year and enjoyed being artistic again.  It is a way to do art journaling in five minutes a day.  You take a daily planner and add watercolor paper, envelopes and monthly inserts the author provides and every day you draw or write something quick. 

The author has decided to make the inserts for this year available only to those who buy her $97 ecourse. I don't want the course, so I decided to make my own inserts with a pagan/wicca theme.  I started with February since January is over already. If you would like to print them and start your own art journal here is the link to my pages:
 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14yfkjylaj_NqZjx0NhgDnArr9luLowEzfg6w6KEyoMg/edit?usp=sharing
Make sure to print them Landscape. If you want the book it is on Kindle Unlimited for free. Amazon has it also.  I bought it at Joann. 

I hope you enjoy my inserts.  Feel free to suggest themes each month.  I'll need the help.

New Year, New Job?

I did it! I quit that lousy job. Of course, now I have to find another one.  Not so easy when you're 45 and have no education.  I might have to go back to the old one until I find something new. The thought of walking back into that building makes me want to vomit.

I had an interview today and the interviewer asked me what the last award was I received.  I had to tell him my employer does not give awards for anything.  That is part of the reason it is such a crummy place to work.

Goddess give me a different job please.

I also found out today my grandson has croup.  What a week.  Poor boy.  I love that little one so much.  He is the only thing that makes me smile every time. He is communicating better now.  He calls everyone Mommy.  My son says "I'm Daddy".  I say that is the only thing he can say and be understood, so he says it.

Feed Sack Tote Bag

I finally got around to making a reusable grocery bag from the feed sacks I've been saving.  I promised a couple of people I would post how I did it, so here goes.

I made a paper pattern because I will be making enough to use when I go grocery shopping at Aldis.  I used dollar store waxed paper to make the pattern.  It is thin, and not very waxy at all.  I drew a 19" x 16" rectangle on a piece of paper, then drew a 3" square in two of the corners on the long side. I think that makes a bag the perfect size and fits perfectly on the feed sack. When you cut it out, cut out the little squares too so you have something that looks like this:

This is the pattern for the bag body.  Now you have to prepare the feed sack and cut the pieces.

First, cut the seam off the bottom of the bag.

Now, cut up one of the sides to open it up.  Clean out the inside.  I used lysol wipes. Then fold it in half vertically.

Pin the paper pattern you made on the bag.  I pinned it over the picture of the chicken.  I cut the handles and the binding from the sack before I cut the bag body.  
Cut a 4" strip across the width of the bag, then cut that strip in half. You should have two pieces 4" wide x 1/2 the width of the sack.

Now cut a strip 2" wide x the width of the bag for binding.

Cut out the bag body.  You should now have 5 pieces; 2 bag body, 2 handles, and a binding strip.

You will need your iron set at the lowest level and a pressing cloth.  I used a flour sack towel.  Press one of the handle strips in half the long way

Press the sides in to meet the middle.

Now press it in half again so the raw edges are encased.  Sew along the pressed edges down the length of the strap.  You'll need a heavy needle (14 or 16) and heavy thread.  I had to turn the tension way up on both top and bottom to get it to work right. Repeat with the other strip.

Baste the handle to the bag body with the raw ends of each handle even with the top edge of the bag and 5" from each side edge. Repeat with the other side.

Now put the bag bodies together right sides together.  Sew up both sides and across the bottom with a 3/8" seam leaving the corners open.

Bring the bottom seam and the side seam together.

Now sew across 3/8" away from the raw edge.  

Do the same with the other side.  You now have a bag with nice square corners and bottom.  Turn right side out.

Press the binding strip in half the long way, then press one edge into the middle. Turn under one short end. Pin it to the top of the bag on the outside with raw edges even. Then sew it on with a 3/8" seam. When you get to the end there will be some overlap. Trim it down and fold under again.

Turn that strip to the inside pulling the handles up.  Press the top edge even. Sew along the pressed edge on the inside.

You now have a sturdy, reusable grocery bag for the price of some thread.  Don't you feel accomplished and eco-friendly?

Blessed be.

This a bag I made for a lady I work with.  Her daughter turned 18 and I made this for her.  I used old jeans for the outside.  I love the seam on the outside look.  I saw this technique years ago on a skirt and fell in love with it.  My christmas stocking was made this way.  I made the pattern for this bag.  I'll post the pattern when I get a chance to scan it.

Pallet Garden Update

I thought I would update the pallet garden photos.  Everything is growing well.  My neighbors saw them and decided they liked them.  I think they might be making some of their own.  lol

Of course, my DH decided to mow right before I took the pictures so there are grass clippings all over the pallets.


I think I'm being a good influence on them.  The neighbors on the left had 2 chickens last year.  After I bought my 8 chicks this spring, Dennis went and got 18!  The neighbors on the right never had chickens and now Maureen wants some.  I am such a "bad" influence.

Memorial Day Weekend Projects

Well, I spent my weekend off sewing.  I needed a new bag for work, and why buy one everyone else has when you can make one no one else has?  I made a bag and a new kindle cover to match.

Finally!  Chicken coop is done and the chooks are spending their first night outside.  I hope the raccoons don't get them.  I have actually come to like my girls.  They are entertaining and lovely.

We used the shipping crate I brought home from work.  Hinges on the lid and voila! a door.  It will be nice to not have to round them up and bring them in every night.  

Our lone rooster seems to like his new home.  He is perched on top of the feeder. 


I also made pallet garden beds today.  I stapled cardboard to the back and filled them with composted horse manure.

I planted tomatoes, zucchini, basil, and thai peppers in them.  Heirloom tomatoes.  I bought some labeled Hillbilly tomatoes.  lol  I thought my hubby would get a kick out of that.

Best Mother's Day Ever!

Today was perfect!  My husband bought me flowers, gave me money for the plant sale yesterday, and surprised me with $50 today.  That is the first time he has ever given me anything for Mother's Day.  Usually, he says I'm not his mother.  He even moved the bean trellis closer to the house for me.

Now I just have to fill the box with dirt and plant the beans.  


I finished the tape measure flower I've been wanting to make for a while.  

Isn't it cute?  There is a retractable tape measure inside.  I saw the pattern in a book.


My children even took me out to dinner.  My 18 year old daughter (amazingly) had enough sense to make reservations.  I didn't have to pay!  I feel loved today.  Hope everyone else's day was as good as mine.

What a day!  Five loads of laundry, tore apart three pallets to use the wood, built a chicken tractor.  So busy.  Our chicks are getting too big to be in their box in the garage all the time, but not feathered enough to be outside all night in MI either.  Still cold at night.  We made a chicken tractor today so they can be out during the day.  I have been taking them outside for an hour or so every day, but they are getting too hard to catch.  Time for a portable coop.

                      

We took apart some pallets and used the wood to make a frame.  Some one gave us some chain link fence, so we used that for the walls.  A few double-pointed tacks, some zip ties, and  a blue tarp and we have a portable coop they can be outside in for a few hours.  Soon it will be time to make the permanent coop.  More chain link fence will be involved and a couple of wooden crates I salvaged from work.  The injection molds we use are made in CA and shipped to us in large wooden crates.  Perfect for chickens.  There is a place here in MI that makes lids with perches molded on them that fit 5 gallon pails to use as nesting boxes.  With only 7 chickens three nesting boxes are plenty.  I got the pails at work too.     

The girls really enjoyed their time outside today.  It was nice to not have to chase them to get them back in.  We did forget all about a door.  LOL  We'll work on that tomorrow.                        

Star Table Runner


Well, I tried my hand at quilting.  Don't think it turned out too bad.

I now know why I don't quilt.  This took forever!  Definitely will never be a quilter for real.  Hubby rescued the table it is on, but it had a candle burn on top.  Table runner to the rescue!  Making the whonky stars used up some scraps and I used some leftover fuzzy fleece for batting.  I try to reuse and use up everything.  I think I will use this to qualify for my quilting merit badge for Mary Jane's farmgirls.  
Next is a denim quilt for hubby's bed.  I save all our old jeans.  Denim is too good to throw away.  I make dog toys, bags, and soon, a quilt.

What to say?...  Haven't blogged in forever.  Been busy(and lazy).  


Right now, I'm tending some chicks.  I want fresh, organic, pastured eggs.  I have 7.  3 ISA browns, 2 Barred rocks, a bantam golden seabright, and a white silkie.  We think the seabright is a rooster.  Oh joy...  They are a riot to watch strut around the yard.  My little dog loves "his" chickens.  

Sam and "his" chickens

He watches them every time I let them out.  The other two dogs try to eat them, so they're not allowed outside with the chicks.  When they get enough feathers to be outside all the time they will be behind a fence.  The big dogs won't be able to get them then.  I didn't know how amusing chickens really are.  They are a great stress reliever.  I can watch them for half an hour or so and the stress slowly ebbs away. Everyone should have a couple.

Kindle Cover Pics!

I finally got the pictures to post. This is my new kindle cover. I made four more for friends. I will post them in a separate post. Notice the clear plastic pocket leaving the keyboard accessible. It also protects the keys. I was starting to rub the letters off.

Kindle Cover

I got a Kindle 3G for christmas. I love it. I would never have imagined I would like it. I am a book person. I like books, but I do like my Kindle. It makes sense for someone who reads as much as I do.

How much do I read? The battery is supposed to last a month. I got it Thursday, fully charged the battery, and by Saturday morning it had to be charged again. I've been reading books from the Public Domain. I reread the first two Tarzan books, The Art of War, Letters from a Woman Homesteader, and others. I now have a copy of one of my favorite books. I have been looking for Freckles by Gene Stratton Porter for years. Now I have it for free.

While reading my emails I came across a link for a pattern to make a kindle cover. I found the perfect fabric at Joann on clearance. I finished it last night. As soon as I can find my camera I will post pictures. Follow this link if you want to make one of your own. http://www.chicaandjo.com/2009/09/03/make-a-custom-kindle-cover-case/. Thank you Chica and Jo for the pattern.

Bag From Old Jeans

I made this bag for one of the ladies at work. She brought me a pair of jeans and I made this bag for her.

Busy Weekend

Aside from doing all the usual weekend work; laundry, dishes, etc., I bought a new carpet cleaner and cleaned the carpets. They look so nice. I finally got my compost bin put together. Now, I have to find something to put in it. We don't bag grass clippings. They are good for the lawn. I need a chipper.

When I'm done here I'm going to go create a new bag for my daughter. I'll let you see it when I'm done. She's looking for a messenger type bag.

My in-laws are coming over. I'm looking forward to seeing them.

Dandelion Farmgirls

I went to my first meeting of the my local farmgirl sisterhood chapter last Wenesday. We had lemonade and shortbread. It was so nice to spend some time with women who get me. Not many do. To be able to talk about Stevia and not have to explain what it is was great!

We did tie-dye. I made three shirts. Here are pics of two of them.

For those who have never heard of the Farmgirl Sisterhood check out www.maryjanesfarm.org. We believe farmgirl is a condition of the heart. You don't have to live on a farm to do things better. Farmgirls are there for one another, they are always gracious, patient, loving and giving. We strive to do things in a way that is good for our planet and it's people. Farmgirls celebrate the strengths of women. We knit, sew, crochet, tat, cook, clean, and do anything else we put our minds to all the time staying connected to our sisters. We share the good, the bad, and the ugly with a tears and smiles.

What Did I Get Done?

I did the laundry and hung it out to dry. I still have to go take the jeans down. I made the placemats, but I am going to hand quilt them. I made a curtain for my kitchen window. Here's a pic. Not a very good one. I had to take it with my phone.

Not quite what was planned, but still accomplished something.

Here is the link for MaryJane's Farm. Just click on the image