Computer glitch

Did any of you have comcast problems ALL DAY? I started loading a new bag on etsy around noon. SOOOOO SLOOOOW. Well I'm glad that's over.

Three trips to town today. Twice at the dentist. I had a cavity. Luckily only sandblasting and no shots. Girl needed new sealants. Then a 6th grade trip/Toronto meeting. Used a lot of gas on the ol Monster Truck.

The trash pick Gods smiled on me today. I'll blog tomorrow, I is pooped. After I go to the Henry Ford museum for a quilt show. Busy week.

This is the bag I tried all day (around trips to town) to load http://laughingorcaranch.blogspot.com/ gave me the idea for a llama bag. BTW-she's nice.

I'm off to tuck my babies in. Goodnight all.

Busy Weekend

Aside from sewing dog food bag bags, I did some more(secret) sewing. I'll unveil later this week.

On our way to a nephew birthday party (one hour away) we got an exciting call.

Very exciting!

Our babies were in!

This is the batch of Partridge Rocks. They supposedly make good broodie hens and mamas. None of the older girls have cooperated so far, they are my hope for a more self sustainable future at our little mini farm.

We have to wait 2 weeks for our batch of Dark Cornish. I tried to get them at the same time, from the same hatchery, no luck. I would have had to get all males of the Dark Cornish and I wanted a straight run to keep a handful for future babies for next year.

Since I only wanted 5, I was lucky enough to be able to add these little cuties to my Dads' order. (they wont ship less than 25 in a box) Dad was sweet enough to baby sit until we got back from the party.

They have a beautiful brown mink coat. Fancy. They are very sweet.

(Pay no attention to the hand in severe need of lotion)

Aren't we cute!

On Sunday mornings, my Hubbie always cooks breakfast, a deeelish break for me. No this isn't what he made. But i took the bacon grease and added scratch grains, popped in the freezer, makes a tasty and cheap suet cake for the birds. My frugal tip of the day.

And for the record, we did not have a snow storm yesterday. It was just major dandelion fuzz. Winter is done, winter is done, winter is done. Hey a girl can dream right?

Saturday morning project

What do you do on a Saturday morn, soccer games are cancelled due to rain, and the rest of the family is sound asleep? You recycle dog food bags into dog food bag bags.

The bag our dog food comes in is made of a woven plastic type fabric. It seemed a shame such sturdy material gets pitched. I have been saving them up until inspiration struck.

Step one: Turn dog food bag inside out. (easier said than done) Wash bag to the best of your ability. You'll need soap since the dog food leaves a greasy film. Rinse well and let dry.

Cut off the top few inches of the clean, reversed bag.

Open cut top portion at seam. This becomes your handle. Fold edges in and sew.

If you have the needle down option on your machine use it. The fabric is slippery and the feed dogs slip a bit so help guide it through.

Fold over top inch of bag and sew.

I did this two times 1/4" apart to give it a finished look.

You want your dog food bag bag looking good right?

Hold the edges and cram your foot in, to reverse bag.

Wearing pajama pants is your call.

Stitch handle onto bag.

I did this twice, 1/4" apart for reinforcement.

See how nice the stitching is.

Fold over and secure at the top. You are covering the raw edge of the handle and making it very sturdy.

See how purdy it looks. Ok, my photo skills suck.

Now you have a finished dog food bag bag.

Its very roomy.

Here's the back side.

This bag isn't water proof due to the stitching on the bottom, but it is very water resistant.

I figured it would make a great bag for the car, holding winter blankets, hats and gloves. A great beach bag for the sandy towels, buckets and seashells. Picnic bag for the Frisbees, balls or other toys. Soccer or other sports gear. Just hook it on the headrest and let hang behind the seat.

I made four. One is definitely going in my car.

Help

My boy is rapidly approaching 14, loves to read, is an advanced reader, has been bored with books lately. Do any of you moms with older boys have any suggestions of books he may enjoy? He complains of the books at the Middle School Library, I think he needs more grown up but not too "Adult Themed".

Thank you in advance for any help.

We Have Oven

Finally! How long has it been? Feels like months. I am a gal who loves to bake. I couldn't give up Friday night pizza, so with only the top heating element working, I'd put the crust in first, top shelf, then added toppings and cooked the bajeebuz out of the pepperoni but it was still edible.

The crock pot coffee can worked ok, but the brownies and cakes were very compressed.

Hubbie scrounged a "new" heating element from a stove in our barn, a spare from one of our rental houses. I think he wanted the return of the home made bread as much as i did.

Here is the first thing I made:

Baked Oatmeal

1 stick of butter in med mixing bowl Zap til melty

2 eggs beaten

1 cup sugar (a bit less if you don't like things so sweet)

1 t salt

2 T baking powder

1 c milk

2 t vanilla

mix until smooth, pour into a buttered 9"x13" pan. Stir in

3 1/2 c quick cook oats (dry)

1/2 c chopped walnuts

1/2 c golden raisins

Bake 350 for 35-40 mins

when done, take out and stir till crumbly

I make it at night and zap individual bowls in the morning.

You can add milk or eat as is.

Its G E Double U D, Gewd!

Then I turn off the oven and put in

Crumbled eggshells to sit awhile in the heat. I then crush them even smaller and give them to the girls as a calcium supplement. They like it and its free unlike ground oyster shells.

I would have paid $$...

...for the kind of weather we had this weekend. Lucky for me I didn't have to. I worked outside most of the weekend and have a sunburned nose. Yay for sunburn! I have been waiting all winter for that.

More random ramblings. Will I ever stick to one topic? Probably not.

I finished the binding on my quilt, 6 hours of hand stitching later. I love it! Is it wrong to brag about something I made? I am just so happy with how it turned out. Quilty and artsy all in one. And it matches the curtains, not like the incredible hulk blanket we had on it. I'm not kidding.

When I was taking the picture, Buster popped up.

Then some feet.

I finally got the girl to stop and T-Bone popped up. I was cracking up.

This was the old mailbox I was telling you about.

Notice the sun roof.

The new one is up.

I had to add chickens. We only had black and blue oil based paints so my color palate was limited.

The kids helped me fence the garden. Rabbits can cause serious damage around here.

Hockey playing hubbie provided all the "fence posts".

The Bass were active in the pond...

...so was the dog fish.

This is why I gave up on my flowerbeds.

Hawkeye is getting a tan.

The birdcage on the porch that holds the citronella candles actually had a visitor of the bird kind.

Instead of helping it get out I had to grab the camera.

My excuse, I'm a blogger!

I have other things to share but will have to wait, this girl is tired.

Rain forecast all this week, I guess I'll have to work inside.

I'm Back!

In more ways than one.

Our pond has melted and the snow is gone. Just like the cobwebs in my head.

Winter gets me in such a funk, I feel blah, sad, unmotivated. I feel like I'm sleepwalking, doing only the things I have to do. Then Spring shows up and I feel like me again. I'm happy, energetic, and motivated to do all the things that have been nagging at me for months.

Lets see, so much to catch up on.

I quilted my quilt. Can you see the "water swirls" I did in the stitching? The kids and I went to my Moms house and I used her long arm quilting machine. It was a dream. I am so lucky she has one. If you've ever tried to quilt anything larger than a baby quilt on a regular sewing machine you know why I have been putting this off. Not only did I quilt this huge blankie in about 4 hours, we got spoiled with a wonderful lunch. I told my Mom I am planning to do a quilt a week, just so I can come over and eat!

I am halfway done with the binding, I hand stitch during the brainless night time tv watching. I should finish tonight. This is the first quilt that I've actually made for me.

I have read articles in Backyard Poultry of people who clean their chickens coop every day. WHAT THE? My girls don't have that luxury. Winter time, it gets stinky, I just add another layer of bedding. First warm spring like day, I get the pleasure of hauling 6 overflowing wheelbarrow loads of poopie from one side of our 4 acres, past the house, around the pond to the extreme opposite side into the garden. It's a heck of a workout and I end up hunched over and can barely walk by the time I'm done. I'm just thankful I CAN do it.

I ordered my chicks. I'm going with 25 straight run of Dark Cornish for meat, I plan on keeping a few for breeding a new batch next year, that means keeping a rooster, a new for me. I am also getting a handful of Partridge Rocks. (Wasn't David Cassidy in that band?)

We got a visit by future convicts playing mailbox baseball, usually we just knock the dents out but they put a huge gash in the top this time and I like my mail to be dry (I'm weird that way) so we broke down and got a new one. The girl painted T-Bone on the side. It was looking just TOO white.

The tomatoes are sprouting.

I'm turning this sweet freebie into my mailing station in the den. One of the doors was broken, and the drawers are missing, so I'll turn those into shelves.

This was written on the bottom.

Who is that masked woman?

I'll post pics when I'm done painting.

I always get surprise photos of the T-Bone or Ratface when I down load my camera.
I got Rover this time.

We've been to the Library and worked in the garden, the kids are excited about this years roadside stand and want to plant more veggies and make more $$. The girl wants to plant and sell flowers too. That means more help out there for me.

I love my country life.

I hope you all are enjoying spring too.