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.