This Week At This Little Place Here

 It's been a busy week.  A good week, but a busy one.  With the exception of Cowgirl, who is but isn't one of my grandkids (it's complicated), in the past week I have seen all of my grandkids at least once.  

On Saturday, DS1 and Octavia stopped by to pick up a backpack with diapers, wipes and extra clothes that had been accidentally left here the week before.  They also brought me tomatoes from their garden, amost a half-bushel worth.

DS2 and Lucky came out on Sunday afternoon and harvested grapes, then pressed them and took the resulting mash home to make into wine.  I forgot to take pictures.

Monday was a work day, which basically means my focus is on training horses in addition to daily barn chores.  But I also cut up and packaged for the freezer a whole lot of rhubarb that DS1 had brought me the week before.  Typically rhubarb is a much earlier in the summer thing around here, but his was still doing great and hadn't gotten woody, so he brought me literally an 18 gallon tote full of rhubarb.  If I remember right, I have enough in the freezer now for four pies, three or four crisps, and several batches of muffins or rhubarb bread.  Plus I made a rhubarb crisp for dessert that night.

Tuesday was a work day, but it was also decent weather and a home football game for Toad, so I brought horses in for the night a little early and DH and I went to watch his game.  He's played rec league for the last two years, but as a 7th grader this is his first year playing middle school football.  He's the shorter player in the middle of the photo.  I'm not great at recognizing all the positions, especially for 8-man like his school plays, but I think the coach had him playing safety that night. K3, Rascal, Tractor and Octavia were there watching their brother play.

Faline is on the elementary school cheer team, and they cheered for the game that night.  Here's a picture of her.  She's a first grader this year, so also one of the smaller kids on the team.  Buck and Sixlet were also there, mimicking the cheerleaders for the most part.

Wednesday I had to adjust my schedule a little bit, and ended up not getting any horses ridden that day.  Instead, I got a call about 8:30 a.m. asking if I could go pick Rascal up from school as he was running a fever of 101+.  

So, while he slept on my couch, I made and canned tomato sauce with the roma tomatoes DS1 had given me.

I also did a little extra sewing time, and after DS1 got off work (he works first shift) and picked up Rascal, I went and did my barn chores.  Meanwhile, DD1 called and asked if I could pick up Sixlet from daycare, as she had an afterschool meeting that afternoon plus had to take Faline to dance class as soon as her meeting ended (Faline and Buck were going to afterschool care during this meeting).  Honorary Son had come home from work early and was throwing up, so he wasn't going to be able to go pick up Sixlet as he normally does after work.

Well, I couldn't do it, due to my schedule all ready having been shifted around for tending Rascal--I wouldn't be able to get stalls cleaned before feeding time, but DH's afternoon was free of meetings during that needed timeframe, so he went and got Sixlet and brought him to this little place here until dinner time, then he took him home.  So we got to have Sixlet hang out with us for a bit, and he helped me look for cucumbers in the garden.

On Thursday, I pickled the cucumbers after working horses.  I think this is the latest in the year I've ever made pickles; for whatever reason my cucumber vines have stayed very healthy this year and are still producing albeit much slower than they were in early August.

Friday (today), I am not working horses.  DD2 is coming to farm sit, and DH and I are heading off to Drummond Island, where we will be attending the wedding of a friend of DS2who has become, through the years, almost like a daughter to us.  We are hoping to do a little sight-seeing and hiking while we are there.

Tack Room Shelves

 Every project at this little place here seems (to me) to take forever from planning to execution to completion.  Well, I'm happy to say we finally crossed another one off the list.  That project being part of the overall tack room build in my barn and (almost) the final part to be done: a shelf on each of the two long walls.

This is been in the build-plan forever, if you ask me.  Although I do have to admit it wasn't until DH decided we would have a 10' high ceiling (to make it easier by just extending the walls all the way to the rafters when we built the tack room) that I knew for sure there would be room on the walls for the type of shelves I was envisioning.  That being shelves that were at least 18" deep, preferrably 24", and could hold plastic totes of various things that weren't being used on a daily or weekly basis, such as various leather goods (bridles, reins, etc.) that didn't fit any of my current horses or training clients, as well as all the various size and weights of horse turnout blankets in the warm weather months when the horses don't need to wear them.

Since I'm not the head builder, only the grunt laborer when it comes to actually constructing stuff, I had to wait for the tack room shelves to become the top of DH's personal project list once the tack room was finally enclosed. Enclosing the tack room got done close to a year ago at this point.  But, near the end of August, DH indicated that he was about ready to work on the shelves, so we went and bought the needed lumber for them.

My task, before DH built the shelves, was to stain the lumber.  Because I want it to stay fresh-wood looking and not gray over time with age.  And because I find it much neater and easier to stain wood before it's built into something or installed on the walls.

The Saturday of Labor Day weekend, DH got to work on making them into shelves.  For the first shelf, he measured and cut to length the board that was to be the back of the shelf (about 16' long), and attached the end support boards to each end of that.

Then we carefully carried it through the doorway and into the tackroom.  Each of us got on a ladder, carrying the board up with us, and attached it to the long wall, as well as attaching the end boards to the short wall on each end. I should note that before this, we had measured and snapped a chalk line onto the wall so that the shelf would be installed not just at the right height but also level.

Next came the 'front' board for the shelf, which we screwed to the two end boards, then added three support boards spaced 4' apart running between the front and back 16' boards.  Once that was done, each of the five support boards (two ends plus three in the middle) got an angled brace attaching it to the wall.

I really like how the braces turned out; I had been afraid they would extend really far down the wall and look funky.  Originally DH had planned on putting them on a 45-degree angle, but I talked him into something smaller, like 32-degrees I think.  Put that miter saw to good use, LOL!

After that we used the table saw to rip a 4' x 8' sheet of half-inch plywood in half the long way, laid the two pieces into the frame we'd just made for the shelf, and our first shelf was complete! DH even put a few things on it that had previously been taking up floor space.  The shelf worked perfectly. And it looks good too!

After a short rest break, we did the second shelf (on the opposite wall) in the same manner.

Back and end boards.

Screwing in the support boards.

The second shelf, finished.

In the week or so since finishing the shelves, I filled them up pretty well with all my totes of horse stuff that have been stacked here and there (mostly in the only unoccupied-by-a-horse stall in the barn).  I'm happy to say that, while there is still room on the shelves (YAY! who wants shelves that don't hold everything they need to?), they are much fuller than DH thought they would be.  He had wanted to do just one shelf and I kept insisting I needed two shelves.

Standing by the door, looking north toward my saddles and bridles.

Standing by my saddles, looking south.

There's still room above each of the 'boarder' saddle racks for a tote belonging to that boarder.  And on the opposite wall, there's room for me to store the stall fans once they get taken down for the winter.

I think my tack room is officially finished now, and I can do the final organization of it.  Feels so good to have this task crossed off the project list.

Sewing Stuff September 15-21

 In the last two weeks, I got organized in my sewing area, and with the 'finding' of space enabled by a) putting things away and b) removing some of the stuff that didn't belong there in the first place, I allowed myself to actually sew.  Starting with finishing a fleece blanket that DD2 had started, had problems with, and dropped on me several years ago (at least three, probably more).

Well, that brought my sewing mojo back!  Suddenly I had the urge to dive back into this creative outlet.  So I started a quilt kit that I'd purchased in 2025.  Here's what I did during the third week of National Sewing Month:

September 15, I ironed and cut the green fabrics in my quilt kit.  Most of the pieces for this quilt are cut from fabrics in a 10" stacker, but several of the greens call for more pieces so the kit added in extra fat eighths and/or fat quarters of those.

September 16, following the diagram in the instructions to see which fabrics paired with each other, I made all the sets of HSTs (half-square triangles) for the top left quadrant of the quilt.  I also paired up, but did not sew, the sets of HSTs for the top right quadrant.

chain pieced HSTs

September 17, I sewed the top right HSTs, then matched fabrics and sewed the HSTs for the two bottom quadrants, which called for fewer HSTs than the top section.

September 18, Following the pattern, I made the six rows that are the top left quadrant of the quilt.  I confess, it was really hard to stop there; I was itching to get those rows sewn into the entirity of that quarter of the quilt.  

September 19, I did just that!  Six rows, sewn together into the top left fourth of the quilt.

Top left quarter.

September 20, I grabbed a little extra time in the sewing area, not just fifteen minutes.  I made the six rows of the top right quadrant, then sewed the rows together to make that quarter of the quilt.  Then, I put the fabric pieces for the next quadrant into little piles according to which row they will make.

Top right quarter.

September 21, I sewed together the pieces for the five rows of the bottom left quadrant of the quilt.  If it had been a rainy day, I probably would have given in to the urge to stay in the sewing area longer and sew those rows into the whole big chunk for that part of the quilt.  Alas (as far as sewing goes), it was finally not raining, and so I had lots and lots of outdoor stuff to catch up on before the next batch of rainy weather arrived.

A Simple Chicken Coop Improvement

 For years, I've had trouble, particularly in the winter time, with the big door (people door) on my chicken coop not staying shut while I'm in there gathering eggs and counting chickens after shutting them in in the evenings. Or, when feeding and watering the chickens during a time period where I don't want them to get out of the coop--like when I have freshly seeded my garden and if the chickens are out all day they will wander over to the garden and scratch up and eat all the seeds I sewed (that's a few weeks where I limit their outdoor time to a few hours in the evening so they stay close to the coop).

Most especially in the winter, I want the door to not be open any longer than it takes me to go through the doorway in order to conserve heat.  The fact that it doesn't shut tight when I'm in there isn't a huge deal, except for when a strong wind takes it and whips it forcefully open.  One of these days that wind is gonna rip it right off the hinges.  Or, more likely, rip the hinges right out of the wall, leaving me a bigger problem to fix.

This has become a much more frequent problem since we moved the coop, back in 2022, to make room for building DH's shop.  To come up with a fix for this got put on the to-do list, but because it wasn't an all-the-time problem, it was really low priority for the resident handyman (and forgotten about by said handyman).

Well, I finally got tired of the issue not being addressed.  I went and bought a small hook and eye type latch, grabbed a screw and DH's cordless drill/screwdriver, made a pilot hole with the screw, then hand threaded in the little eye screws of the latch.  One went into the door frame on the wall, and the other went onto the cross piece on the door.  Problem solved.

Now I can 'lock' myself in while I'm doing tasks that I want the door to remain shut for, thus keeping the door from getting ripped open in the wind. Five minutes, a buck or two (or maybe three, inflation these days) in hardware, and life is good.

Spider Relocation System

 In my household, DH is the squeamish one.  Mice?  My job.  Wounds?  I'm the doctor.  Anything involving bodily fluids (or needles)?  Do not even say a word about it in front of him, especially a descriptive word.  Snakes?  Yeah, that's a big no from DH.

Spiders?  Oh heck no!  You want to see a big guy move fast, tell DH there's a spider within a couple of feet of him.  I once got steamrollered on our bed because I pointed out a spider on the ceiling above him.

I shouldn't joke about it, but it's so hard not to.  It's well known among our family that I 'save' DH from spiders.

Now, I believe strongly (maybe because venomous spiders aren't vey common in Michigan) in not smashing spiders that are found in my house.  Instead, I gently relocate them.  Just because they aren't venomous, and I want to keep them alive because they do a bug-control service I appreciate, doesn't meant I pick them up in my bare hands.  Or even gloved hands.  

Nope, I have developed my nearly harmless (I say nearly because once in a while one accidentally gets injured) spider relocation system.  It involves two things which I keep handy: a small see-through container, and a piece of paperboard sturdy enough to not bend easily when held that is at least a few inches larger than the opening in the see-through container.

When I (or more often, DH) spot a spider in our home, I grab my two parts and gently place the small container over the spider.  This works whether the spider is on the wall, the ceiling, the floor, or a window screen.  Because the container is see-through, I can center it over the spider (usually) without squishing its body or trapping any of its legs under the rim of the container.  Then I carefully slide the piece of paperboard between the rim of the container and whatever the spider was on originally: wall, ceiling, etc.

Once the paperboard covers the opening of the container, with the spider captured inside, I can carry the container outside without fear of the spider jumping out.  I might not be afraid of them, but I don't particularly care for them to jump at me.  I also don't want it to escape in the house, as that would require finding and recapturing it.

Out of doors, I set the container, still covered with the paperboard, on any surface with the paperboard side down.  Then I lift off the container.  Typically the spider runs away immediately, and, if not, I gently tilt the paperboard and shake the spider off.  

Bye, spider, good luck!

Then I wish it well, and go put my spider relocation system components back in their easy to reach assigned spot.

Hay

 This is the first year in about twenty that we haven't had hay cut off our own field to use for feeding my (and boarder) horses.  That's because what used to be my hayfield has been, first in 2023 and the rest of it this spring, fenced and subdivided into pastures for grazing. Which, in all honesty, is what we'd planted them for in the first place--to be pastures--and it took sooooooo long to actually get the barn and fencing done that for years we cut and baled the pastures as hayfield.

Anyway. . .  We did mark out and plant a new hay field last fall, but, honestly, that one isn't growing well.  Not well enough to cut for hay this year.

Which means I've had the (NOT) joy of locating and buying hay grown--and baled--by others.  That has been an up and down experience this summer.  Some really not wonderful hay that was delivered to me sight unseen right after our blue truck got totaled (I know better than to do this, but they answered all my questions and I [wrongly] thought they were honest people bringing me good hay at a time when my loft was almost totally empty and I had no truck.  I will never do that again.)  Some great hay that I had to pass up on because of logistics like not having a truck, my elevator (still) being broken, DH being out of town at the time, etc. Some decent hay I was able to pick up at the local weekly hay auction when I had both DH and a truck available, but only about 50 bales worth.

No where near the goal of having the hayloft full before winter hits.  Which, for my loft, is about 400 bales.

In August, I got lucky.  Or maybe the stars aligned just right.  Or maybe God had DH finally prioritize my hay situation and make himself available and (somewhat) willing to get it into the loft.  However it happened, we were able to get several wagons of hay from a local farmer.  The first wagon we hauled when DH had that borrowed truck from work.

One good wagonload on the right.

A week or so later, near the end of August, the farmer had cut another hayfield and had three wagons of hay off it for sale.  Knowing our truck situation, the farmer very kindly offered to loan us their truck to haul wagons with.  So, haul we did.

DH atop the wagon, waiting for me to grab my long-sleeved shirt and mask so I can stack hay.

We put up exactly 298 bales of hay from that farmer while having their truck to pull wagons with.  Really, it was a win-win situation.  They sold hay right off the wagon, and didn't need to store it in their barn (or have their wagons tied up holding unneeded hay while it's still haying season), and we not only got my loft pretty much stuffed for the winter but also didn't have to borrow a truck plus put a lot of miles on it driving far for hay.

The bales DH had thrown into the loft by the time I got up there.

The elevator is still inoperable (DH, I think, is holding out on fixing it in hopes of finding an affordable one with an electric motor instead of PTO-driven like ours), so DH threw as much hay from each wagon as he could up into the loft.  When he couldn't throw any more because of being either too low on the wagon or the bales weren't firm enough for good footing down lower, we used the method he'd devised over the winter of putting a large pallet on the tractor forks, loading the pallet with hay bales, lifting the pallet up to the loft, and me reaching out with the hay hook to pull bales off the pallet and into the loft.

Tractor and pallet, seen from the loft, awaiting the next wagon of hay.

Loft getting more full.

I feel much less stressed now with my loft full for the winter.  I can stop worrying about coordinating the finding of a truck to use, good weather, DH's availability and good hay being for sale in a 30 mile radius all at the same time.  Life is good.

Stuffed almost as much as I could possibly fit in.

Sewing Stuff September 8-14

 I actually managed to allot myself 15 (and sometimes 5 more) minutes working in my sewing area the first seven days of National Sewing Month (September).  That feels good.  I feel like not only am I working on cleaning up a neglected spot in my house, but also that I'm having a little daily creative time, even if the creativity is limited to looking at sewing stuff, remembering what I made with it--or intend to make with it at some point, or stitching shut holes in various articles of clothing so they can be worn again.

Let's see if I kept up the momentum over the next seven days.

September 8, I worked on tying the fleece blanket I'd unearthed on September 6.  I got not a whole lot done, only 15 minutes to spend on that day, plus the Yarn Thief decided she needed to 'help' with the embroidery floss I was using to tie with.  Which meant battling her face and paws for who got to 'hold' the embroidery floss as I was sewing it through both layers, tying the knots, and clipping off the extra, then repeat for the next tied spot.  The battle got a little fierce, I ended up with a claw hooked on the inside of one of my finger joints, the Yarn Thief got unceremoniously dumped off the cutting table where I'd been working, and I called it quits for the night before my cat-stabbed finger bled on the fabric.

September 9, was a day of off-and-on rain showers that curtailed a lot of the outdoor plans I had (nothing 'fun', just outside chores like weeding, hanging laundry on the clothesline, etc).  So I used that excuse to spend a little extra time in the sewing area.  I tied that fleece blanket a little more, but also starting hauling some things I'm giving away--that have been dumped in the sewing area--upstairs to get rid of.

September 10, gathered up some more stuff to get rid of, and did some tying on the fleece blanket.  At this point, I have used up an entire skein of black embroidery floss.  But, that's good because I have a whole bunch of off-brand embroidery floss Mother-in-Law sent me years ago that I don't intend to use for charted cross stitch type things where color consistency is important.  So tying the blanket is a great use for it; and now my sewing area is one skein of embroidery floss less cluttered.  LOL.

September 11, I hauled the rest of the get-rid-of-it stuff upstairs, and finished tying the fleece blanket!  Yahoo!  At that point, I hoped to get it stitched around the edges over the weekend and call it done.

September 12, I spent about an hour in the sewing area, and finished the fleece blanket!  I stitched all four sides about 3" from the edge, then cut fringe in the unsewn parts.  One side was all ready tied from DD2 working on it, and some of the 'fringe' that is the ties had broken off, but whatever.  My fringe sort of matches that fringe, albeit left not tied.  This is a case where I am accepting Finished Is Better Than Perfect as my motto.  

September 13, I cleaned up the cutting table from trimming the edges of the fleece blanket; it had shed a lot of black fuzz (no wonder it was the black fringes that kept breaking off when DD2 had tried to tie them in knots, the fleece was almost brittle strings compared to the more 'felted' construction of the pink fleece that is the other fabric used).  And then, I decided to dive into a brand new project!  

I had purchased a quilt kit sometime in 2025, the first ever quilt kit I've bought (the far majority of my quilts have started in my head, gotten sketched on graph paper and then fabric 'found' for them)--it had all fabrics needed plus the pattern instructions.  When I bought it, my intent was to sew it up that summer and have it for either a fall throw quilt or put a hanging sleeve on the back side and use it as a seasonal wall hanging in the mudroom (where my "Memories" quilt has hung since May of 2012).  Of course, life got in the way and that didn't happen.

Well, now that my sewing area was clean enough to use again, and I'd rediscovered that quilt kit still in it's wrapper, I made the decision to indulge myself in sewing it.  So, on the 13th I opened the kit, sorted the fabrics, read the instructions, and cut two of the fabrics as directed in the pattern.

September 14, I cut the rest of the brown squares needed for the quilt.

I am loving this momentum and can't wait to spent another week down in the sewing area in daily small pieces of time.