Sewing in June

I actually did a little sewing in the last week! I took my Thursday, now that I'm not babysitting Faline and Buck for the summer, and I spent probably two hours messing around with fabric!  

I finished, (maybe, because I don't like how bunchy it is and I'm thinking of taking it apart,) a Crows Foot quilt block.  I'd started it in early May, and it's been languishing since. The instructions were basically cutting instructions and a few diagrams of the pieces fit together. With Y seams.  I thought I could do it, as I've done some Y seams successfully in the past.  But this time? I don't know.  I think I should have looked for a tutorial.  Because my quilt block sure isn't pretty. Or flat.

I had much better results with a Spring Tulips block

and a Churn Dash block.

I am mostly done with the cross stitching on the Santa ornament I've been slowly working on this Spring.  Maybe I'll have it all complete (including back-stitching and beading) in July.

My garden is fully planted, so now there's just weeding to do (and watering as needed) until the crops start to come in.  Hopefully that means soon I'll be able to squeeze in more time for crafting.

Or not, as we are about to go full steam on a big project outdoors.  Lots and lots of fence posts to install, and then the fencing to stretch and attach.  And hay is ready for cutting too; as soon as the weather gives us a clear 3-4 day stretch we're next on my custom hay guy's list.

A Photo Walk Through of Spring at this little place here

 

Grandkid Happenings

 Just some random things that have happened in the last two months or so.

Back at Easter, DD1 and I both filled a bunch of plastic eggs with candy, mini granola bars, etc., for the grandkids to have an Easter egg hunt with.  We were all still in the immediate aftershock of K2's death a few days before and the uncertainty of what was next (funeral planning, waiting for her parents to arrive, and so on) but wanted to provide as much normal structure as possible for the grandkids so did not cancel our plans to have all our descendants over on the day before Easter for an egg hunt and big group meal.

In all the inconsistent brain power that accompanied that first week of loss, we didn't have an exact count of how many plastic eggs there were sprinkled around the yard to be found when the egg hunt began.  When all the kids gave up looking, we couldn't see any more, and we totaled what had been found--156 eggs-- we figured that was probably all of them.

A week later I went out to the clothes line to hang some laundry, and spied a pink egg in the yard, right in plain sight.  Definitely hadn't been there all week, or after the egg hunt the day of, but it most surely had been unfound by the grandkids.  What it had been found by, and dragged out into the yard in the attempt of opening and eating the contents, was some critter with sharp toenails and very small pointy teeth. 

Maybe a skunk?  I've seen things raccoons have bitten into and their teeth make much larger holes. Whatever it was had been unsuccessful at biting open the egg; there was still a miniature KitKat inside.

In the next couple of weeks DH and I found three more plastic eggs, none of which had teeth or claw marks, all of which still contained candy.  So it looks like our egg hunt had begun with 160 eggs, not 156.  Next year we'll have to keep a better count as we are filling them.

K3 turned 11 years old.  This was less than a month after the death of her mother, while DS1 was still overwhelmed trying to figure out daily life as a working single parent.  DD1 and DD2 both stepped in to plan and orchestrate a birthday party for K3.  The party included inviting a handful of friends for an after school adventure on a Friday (chauffeured and chaperoned by DD2), followed by a hot dog cookout (at DD1's house) where K3's relatives joined in. After the cookout, presents were opened and cake and ice cream was served.

I was asked to make the cake and did my best to concoct what K3 described as her desired birthday cake:

• white cake with a sweet creamy filling between layers (I made homemade custard and used that between layers)
• white frosting (homemade buttercream)
• blue letters

Not the fanciest birthday cake, but given how fast K3's friends gobbled up their pieces, all the guests liked it.

K3's cake with room in the middle for 11 candles

Rascal's birthday was three days later, and while he wasn't having a party with friends (being as he was just turning 4 and until roughly 7 days earlier hadn't been in daycare or preschool, he didn't have much exposure to kids his age to invite), DS1 did throw him party at home with relatives.  When asked if he wanted me to make him a birthday cake, Rascal eagerly responded "YES, just like K3's!"  

So I did, with the exception that I made the lettering a darker blue, so that she wouldn't feel quite like she was being copied by her youngest brother.

Both K3 and Toad are playing summer ball through the local rec league.  Right after K3's death we weren't sure if Toad would be able to play, as the 8U team he'd signed up for was canceled because of lack of a coach.  With some hasty communications with the head of the league (and I'm sure a bit of sympathy for Toad), he was able to be bumped up to the 10U team so he wouldn't miss out on baseball this year (he's played every summer since Kindergarten).  He'll be nine in July anyway, so it's not like he's all that much smaller than the rest of the 10U players.

Faline, Faline, oh Faline.  She continues to amaze the rest of us.  It's hard to say much about Faline without people thinking I'm just full of Grandma bias on how extraordinary my grandkid is.  So, let me say you can carry on a full ten minute adult-type conversation with this kid, and she's only barely two and a half.  She's got the logic skills of a much older child, and the memory of a steel trap.  Her parents are debating whether it would be better for her to stay in day care next school year, or to start her in preschool even though she won't be three years old until mid-November.  She could definitely hold her own in preschool, but then there's the dilemma of what to do with her two years from now--because she will be too young for any school to accept into Kindergarten, but she for sure would be bored (and maybe a lot of trouble) in her third year of preschool. I'm not sure there's a 'gap year' program available between preschool and Kindergarten, LOL.

Buck, like most infants, has grown by leaps and bounds.  He mastered rolling over, and can quickly roll himself to grab any of Faline's toys that his eyes fall upon.  This has caused a surge of sibling rivalry, although most of the time she loves her brother.

He can sit upright for several minutes if you sit him up, and he's getting better at catching himself before he goes beyond the tipping point, but he has yet to master going from lying to sitting by himself.  He also loves to stand, with help (as seen in the photo below) and I'm sure once he figures out how to get into a sitting position on his own, he'll be pulling up and furniture walking in no time.

  

Now that it's summer break from school, DD2 has agreed to become K3, Toad, and Rascal's nanny. Partly because her other hopes for summer employment fell through, and partly because DS1 couldn't find a reliable child care person available at 5:30 in the morning for three kids.  Since neither DD1 nor DD2 are teaching summer school, it sounds like there will be lots of cousin time spent while the grandkids get together for fun outings and activities at home that my girls have planned.  

June Knitting Update

So very little knitting to report on. I'm seeing things I'd like to knit, but actual time spent with needles in my hands is very sparse.  Farm life really ramps up in May, and I'm running approximately 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. or even later.  Like, literally on my feet doing physical labor.  Often by the time I shower and sit at night, all I want is a bowl of ice cream in my hand.  Forget knitting.  Or stitching.  Or reading.

I am, however, through the heel gusset on Quadrille sock#2!  Maybe, just maybe, I'll have this sock finished by the July knitting update.

Like the lack of knitting, there has also been a lack of reading.  Again, if you stay outside working (planting, weeding, tending meat chickens, among other tasks) until dark--which currently in Michigan is nearing 10 p.m.--you really don't have time for much of anything before climbing into bed to do it all over again the next day.

I have read maybe almost half of Breakfast With Buddha by Roland Murollo, and not even an entire chapter of Dressage Training Customized by Britta Schoffman.  In order to finish either of them, I am going to have to start scheduling myself some reading time.  School just ended for the summer, so as of this week I am no longer babysitting Faline and Buck on Thursdays. Hopefully that will help me balance my schedule a bit more--I'm 'gaining' nine hours weekly by not being needed for childcare during the summer break.

May Horse Update

Saddle pads hung out to dry.

 So. Much. Progress!

I am blown away.  Having to rehab Camaro's knee, and everything that has gone along with that (like putting him on Legend) has made a huge difference in our riding.

Once we added in short canters up the long side of the arena, Camaro's trot got much more energetic.  Not in an uncontrolled way, just in a "I have so much forward!" kind of way.  So we've been working on rolling that energy from the hind end onto the bit and around again in an endless circle of impulsion.  Sometimes it's good, sometimes he wants to drop his back, lift his head and just go go go.  When he does stay in good contact, and lift his back, it's an amazing new level of trot for him.  

In the process of trying to contain our canter to just on the long side and not into any corners, I had to shorten the number of trot steps between walking through the corner and asking for the canter.  After a couple of rides with canter sets, Camaro surprised me with the ability to canter directly from a walk.  A beautiful, balanced transition.  Honestly, probably the best canter transition we'd ever done. So we now alternate canter from trot and canter from walk, so as he doesn't anticipate too much rather than paying attention to his rider (me).

And then, came a string of rides in which we had to deal with tension and distractibility.  For some reason, Camaro gets really worked up when he hears other horses trotting on the cement in the aisle that is on the other side of the interior arena wall.  Not that there's much trotting going on over there. But when there is, it's like the Apocalypse has arrived and Death is coming for him, or something.  Of course, the young Arab gelding that hates being cooped up pulled a suspensory (yet to be diagnosed) and had several days of being trotted down the aisle while morning turnouts were going on to see if he was still normal at a walk but oddly off at the trot.  And when that unofficial lameness test was going on, Camaro would lose his shit brain and I would have to drop what we were doing and concentrate on doing things that would get his head back in the arena with me rather than worrying about the bogeyman and/or four horses of the Apocalypse out in the aisle.  

Not to mention the day a student of the barn owner trailered in for a lameness exam with the BO's vet.  A day that included longeing in the arena (while Camaro and I were riding in there) plus LOTS of trotting on the cement aisle.  Tons of trotting because the horse was being nerve blocked to pinpoint the source of it's lameness.  That day I actually had to get off Camaro because he was getting himself worked up to the point where explosion was imminent, and proceed to hand walk him for ten minutes before he calmed down enough to get back on and finish our ride -- at a walk, focusing solely on getting him to relax and lower his head and swing through his back.  *Sigh*

Frustrating, to be sure.  But, in hindsight, that spell was also progress inducing.  He has become, over the last few weeks, easier to get back into focus when there's distractions happening on the other side of the wall (or the scary door).  When his brain starts to wander, changing direction, or asking for some steps of leg yield--or throwing in a random large circle, which we got vet approval to do--brings him back to what he and I are doing rather than worrying about potential doom lurking out of sight.

I also realized, during that time, that I'd let my posture slip and wasn't always stretching up through my ribcage and engaging my core muscles like I should.  Like magic, when I engaged my core and stretched myself up, Camaro responded by likewise engaging his core and lifting his back and not being quite such an airhead Arab.  Head smack moment, but one of those things that happens when you ride by yourself and don't take lessons regularly.

This month, I consulted with the vet (while she chiro'ed him) about the next steps in his rehab as, to me, he felt very good and strong and wanting to do more than just straight line trots and canters.  We have been cleared to slowly resume all normal work!  

Which means we've been adding in more walk circles, more leg yield at walk, some shoulder in at walk, trotting and cantering through corners, building up to an entire lap of the arena at trot or canter, and even short rides at walk in the deeper footing of the outdoor arena.  We've even ridden three days in a row and four days a week with no sign of any pain, weakness, or instability in that left knee.  Hooray!  Dare I say he's healed?

His canter, which historically seemed to be his least balanced gait, has become quite soft and balanced.  And so much more relaxed than it's ever been.  I truly think he's found an enjoyment of the canter.  I can't wait to see what this summer brings for us.

Patient Seeking

 I've been known to have a stubborn sort of patience that some people find annoying. Like how I didn't want a cement sidewalk at the front of our house when we built it, and I insisted we not put one in, but wait until we could either afford pavers or stepping stones to make our front walk out of.  For several years (maybe the first three?) we had dirt, and only dirt, as a walkway between the driveway and the front door.  But then DH found a great deal (something like 70% off) on pavers that I liked, and so we eventually got our non-concrete sidewalk to the front porch.  And once it was in place, he admitted that he liked the way it looked so much better than if we'd gone the 'quick and easy' way of pouring cement when we'd built the house. (Duh, I know these things. My pickiness isn't without good cause.)

When we built the house at this little place here, I had visions of a large hutch/buffet cabinet on the east wall of the dining room.  Did we own such a thing?  No.  Could we afford to run out and buy such a thing at the time? No.  So for many years I made due with other various pieces of furniture (that we all ready owned or inherited) in that spot.  But I still wanted a big hutch there.

I started looking, casually, in 2018 for a used wooden piece that fit the bill.  They were few and far between in my price range, and typically gone before I could even inquire about them.  I looked a little more seriously in 2019, missing out on a few.  In early 2020, I started looking at postings on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace several times a week, as well as hitting up various local thrift and antique shops on a monthly basis.  Still nothing.  It was getting discouraging, as I was seeing more and more painted hutches, but I wanted unpainted wood.  The few non-painted pieces I saw were way beyond my budget.  And then came Covid.  No more thrift or antique store visits.  Fewer listings on Craigslist or Facebook as everything was shut down and people were so worried about in-person anything let alone having a stranger come to their house for something that couldn't be left outside for a non-contact pickup.

Then, in the Fall of 2020, as people began to relax (and, in Michigan, get thoroughly sick of the whole Covid mania), I found a listing only 35 minutes away for a wooden hutch in good condition for what seemed to be an unbelievably affordable price.  It had only been posted for an hour, and I was the lucky first person to inquire about it.  The seller responded right away, and we set up a time that afternoon (a Saturday) for DH and I to go see it.  I have to say, DH wasn't too thrilled to give up time on his Saturday afternoon, especially when he might miss kickoff on the college football game of his favorite team.

We saw it.  I loved it.  I bought it.  For $65.  Can you believe it?!?

It's all real wood, no particle board. Original condition, no painting over scuffs and dings (which I never mind because life gives everything scuffs and dings).  And it is a perfect fit for that east wall.  Almost like it was always meant to be in that space.  DH even said it was worth the time and the drive to go get.  And it holds tons of stuff, neatly, mostly out of sight.  There's a lot of grandkid related puzzles and games hidden behind those doors and in the drawers, not to mention seasonal linens and small decorations.

Back in 2019, which searching for that elusive hutch, I began a search for a tall, narrow cabinet that I could put in the master bathroom.  Again, I wanted real wood, no paint, and it had to fit my budget.  

This search was even harder than the hutch search, as I was working with a really specific width.  Nothing over 24", and preferably closer to 20"-22".  A real unicorn.

Didn't find anything in 2019.  Didn't find anything in 2020.  Didn't find anything in 2021.  Occasionally I'd see something the right size, but it would be painted. Horrors! Not for me!  That is one trend I just cannot get into.  My brain will not accept it.

In 2022, I started entertaining the idea of getting something new, and (gasp) maybe not even solid wood.  After a month or so of checking online to see what all the new options were, and seeing how much they cost ($200+ for press board?!?  I don't think so.) I went back to my antique/thrift/Craigslist/Facebook/garage sale searching.

Guess what I found in early May this year?  A very cute cabinet.  Narrow! Made with real wood!  In great condition for it's age (1960s?), and all original with the exception of the drawer handles.

Again, I was lucky to see the posting shortly after it was put online.  And I was the first to ask about it and say I could pay in cash that day, if the seller was available (she wasn't, we set a time for the following afternoon once I was done at work).  DH and I drove 20 miles in the rain to see it.  I liked it.  The seller even came down $10 on the price.  So I bought it.  For $30.  Just $30, can you believe it?!?

Another good fit.  Patience pays off again.  DH's reaction?  "Where are you going to put the dirty clothes hamper?"  (In the corner of the bedroom, right by the bathroom door.)

Hopefully in the near future, I'll find a good deal on the other item (wooden, of course) that I've been looking for off and on since 2021: good sturdy bunkbeds that the grandkids can sleep on when they come to stay the night at this little place here.  Nothing pipe frame.  No IKEA. Nothing that somebody's teenagers have gotten too big/heavy for.  I want some good old fashioned sturdy wooden bunk beds that you could put average size adults on if you needed to. And they have to cost less than $200 (or else I'll just have to wait for DH to get around to buying lumber and building some once he finishes the bazillion and one building projects we've got going on around here).

What's Stitching Around Here--May

Whoops, this was supposed to get posted last week!  Lots going on right now, just not much sewing or stitching. . . 

I made a couple of quilt blocks for a forum quilt I am participating in.  There's a third block partially sewn, and a fourth in the 'concept' stage that I'm hoping to get completed in the next two weeks.  Since most of my waking hours are now spent outside doing farm/gardening work, sewing time has been greatly reduced.

Album block

Sunshine and Shadows block

I have managed to do a little cross stitching during the evening while watching TV with DH.  I'm still working on the Candy Cane Santa kit that I started back in March.  There's no rush on this one; it's intended as a Christmas present. Plenty of months to work on it yet.

Partially cut out is also a sundress for Faline.  I had started cutting out pieces for that right before K2 died, and I just haven't been ready to pick it back up again.  I do need to get on it, though, as Faline definitely won't be able to wear the same size next summer!