Santa's helper sews a bit....

 When I am creative it's very soothing.

I saw this block for a Star of David quilt in an old magazine when I was sorted my sewing room out.

I attempted a block and finished it as a candle mat/ mug rug/ small table topper thingy.

I love the back as much as the front.

Blogger is randomly loading my pictures order so here ya go.

The block is straight although my picture doesn't reflect that symmetry.

A new set of pj's for the princess child.

Cats and unicorns are her hot things right now.

This fabric fit right in.

Her Momma wishes she was all pink and girly so I wasn't sure about the gray color.

Adding the pink stripes helped keep them within the feminine side.

Sewing blind about fit is always nerve wracking but it'll do.

If I need to alter them later I will.

Loads more I wish I had time for but alas I do not.

After 6 months...

 

After 6 months the hens are finally making themselves useful.

I have never had a double yoker from a first timer either.

Its the little things in life...

Memories

 Before it all went to hell in a handbasket...

I love this basket of happiness.

What to say?

No clue what to say anymore. 

I am still kicking.

Finishing up my Mom n laws house and furnishings.

So sad to see it all get lumped in the truck headed to auction.

S just doesn't care about any of it.

I think his Mom would be very disappointed but it is what it is.

House is on the market with an offer "as is".

Younger girl wants it but she wants FHA loan with an "As Is" house.

I'm told the 2 do not marry well.

Fingers crossed but if not others are waiting in the wings.

Sheep still here and breeding for new year lambs.

This ewe is a hot mess.

She found the cockleburs and proceeded to make one dreadlock out of a handful.

Each time she lets me I untangle another lock.

Shearing time is upon me so it will come off to regrow.

I feel like I'm in a holding pattern.

Our business is verbally sold as of end of year to a local Amish man.

Been in operation since 1968 at this address.

It will be a relief but will bring about big changes also.

If God only gives you as much as you can handle I must be SuperWoman.

I certainly do not feel I am.

Today is the 13th anniversary of the wreck that changed my 2 daughters and myself's lives.

Drunk driver slammed head on doing 60 mph.

The ensuing medical nightmare for all 3 of us was not the worst part.

The mental and personality changes of my babies was and is permanently horrible.

I remember what they were but can't return them to that happiness.

I have ordered seed for next years garden just in case there is a shortage.

Nothing crazy, just regular vegetable seeds.

Easy to store a handful.

I also ordered 2 more blueberry bushes.

My 3 although producing seem to not be as hardy as other years.

Again hedging my bets here.

If I have to move away they will still make someone happy.  

Much mowing is occurring to knock weeds down in my pastures before winer.

The garden that went to seed with weeds as tall as myself is being tackled.

I am hand pulling the whole thing.

Good hand therapy for my shattered arm/hand.

I bought the gypsum pellets and dycon radishes I'm told with loosen the soil for me. 

Time will tell on this as well.

Trying to keep chin up and temper down.

The last is a fete for me lately.

It has been a hot minute...

Over a month since posting and alot of changes.

Some post-able , some not...

My arm is on the mend from my fall in June and subsequent surgery.

Progress is slow, mobility is the issue.

I can not turn my arm over at the wrist if that makes sense.

Hold your arm against your side and turn your arm up and over.

I can not at this moment.

I will ....

I am just mean and stubborn enough to keep at it.

I couldn't make a fist end of July when casting came off and can now.

Everything cost so much and with no insurance I am foregoing professional therapy.

I made an initial visit and received home instructions.

Prayer hands is coming along also which was a no go at first.

Slow and steady...I was told I am the tortoise not the hare in this race.

That is fine.

The words..."you are a person of a certain age" just infuriates me.

Watch this...

In other news since it is 2020 and all...
LN has flown the coop.
She has moved to CO with her boyfriend for this school year.
Since she is remote schooling her senior year of college she is ok to finish on time.
Her boyfriend wanted to try working in his major field {Chemistry}.
He deferred his school year and is working for a company near Denver.
She only gave me a week or 10 days notice.
Packed up and trekked across the country to try out another part of the country.
To say I was devastated is a vast understatement.
I couldn't clip her wings though so off she flew.
It has been a struggle emotionally, physically and mentally.
So far 2020 sucks from my perspective.

My husband wants to close our business and basically split up by the end of the year
leaving me with no home or income.
In Delaware inheritable assets can not be disputed in 50/50 divorce.
Words escape me.
So now this 57 yr old lady is job hunting and trying to plan out my future.
Resumes and job searching after 30 years of being self employed with non transferable job skills
is a new challenge to be met and conquered.
It has been a year for sure with more to go.
Self confidence and worth is gone but I am searching diligently.

Sheep are still here and being bred.
Decisions about them staying are up in the air right now so I am proceeding as usual.

Putting all this down in words is not for sympathy.
It is as a record to be looked back on when I overcome.

2020 is a hot mess....

On thursday I slipped on our wet loading dock.

Fell 3-4 ft onto soft ground on my left forearm.

In 2007 I had 2 plates and a ton of screws put in that forearm after a wreck.

There was 1 1/2" of space between my wrist and the plates.

I broke both bones, snapped prev. plate off and bent the other plate.

Covid 19 was a new experience in the ER and the resulting surgery.

I know have new plates and screws I think.

That was the plan the surgeon discussed prior to knocking me out.

With noone allowed to enter hospital with me and my surgery ending at midnight I never finalized the actual diagnosis after he opened up my mess of an arm.

In 10-14 days I guess I will get the specifics.

For now I am carrying a cider block around in my sling.

I am not sleeping, eating much or happy .

This too shall pass just not soon enough for my liking.

Sad Sidenote...

The day before my 79 yr old Dad had another stroke.

I found out in the hospital ER the next day.

He has a blood clot on his heart and one on his lungs.

Those are a result of a fall the previous week or so when he bruised his heart falling and his pace maker/defibrillator slammed into his chest.

He is now in a nursing home/rehab center to recuperate.

I think it is a death sentence considering the virus.

He is dazed and confused and my heart is broken.

He hung my moon and whole universe.

I am mourning him while he breaths but lost him a long time ago.

After a good day...

comes the sad part at the end.

I drove to western Pennsylvania to pick up my last ram Tuesday. 

I pulled out at 6:30am and returned by 3:45pm.

Much quicker than if Covid 19 wasn't a factor.

I breezed past and through Baltimore on 695 with no issues.

I do not think I even tapped my breaks till past that area.

This was the view as I left there long lane.

Commercial sheep lazing in the beautiful spring like coolness.

The view back up their lane.

It was over 1/2 mi long at least.

The barns and house are over the ridge out of sight a couple hundred yards.

This picture doesnt begin to show how high up the hill is leading up there either.

Gosh I miss the hills and mountains.

This flat land crap in DE doesn't compare.

Someday...

Today I dodged a stupid, pointless protest to go to post office and road paving to go to the bank.

On the way home I didn't dodge the irrigation pivot that was not suppose to spray the road.

I took full advantage to clean my windshield and truck.

I sat for a full 5 min under the spray.

When I went home I called the farm office and reported it.

I said ," Your irrigation pivot isn't turning off on ******** road, I don't mind as you washed my truck but the yuppies in the developments will probably complain."

She replied, " They have already complained their cars are getting sprayed with those chemicals we are spraying".

We both laughed and said goodbye.

No matter how you try to inform the public they just refuse to believe it's water.

My neighbor calls me to ask what poison is being sprayed every flipping time the pivot turns on.

I have answered it's water so often now I just say "oh it's a toxic one".

SMH as they say...

The sad end to my Tuesday was arriving home with our new ram to find our homegrown yearling ram Jack dead in the field.

It seems he had a heart attack.

No reason or rhyme to it but incredibly sad.

Having assisted in his birth and raised him for 1 1/2 years I was attached.

He was a gentle giant.

Not a "mean ram" bone in him to this point.

I put his picture with his twin as my header photo.

He was a few weeks old in that picture.

It was a horrible way to end the good day.

Let's see what's going on...

It'll be breeding season soon.

This is the year LN  & I needed new rams.

 This Lincoln Longwool hails from Illinois and is now a resident of Delaware.

I am sure our humidity and heat were a shock to him.

This picture is a horrible angle also.

He is a powerhouse in size. and has great wool.

Just goes to show certain camera angles are everything for slimming.

His name is George, he and Jack our other Lincoln ram are getting along surprisingly well.

Fingers crossed it continues this week when we bring a Border ram home.

Hopefully those 3 will be friends or at least tolerate of each other.

 

This is my pathetic first pea harvest.

There is more but not much although the few I have taste good.

Oh well, I knew I had compacted soil issues so it's time to work on them.

S's idiotic horse compacted the ground and it is a struggle to work it up like it needs.

I was given ideas from a crop analyst so I will be on it.

I need to not lose my cool (famous last words) this year and prepare better this fall.

I do have teeny, tiny yellow squash growing.

Fingers crossed ...

There is a zucchini growing also.

Why is it the things I could care less about grow and the things I love do not?

I am a little tore up on my legs.

The fence shown had a giant honeysuckle/blackberry/rosehedge mess that I tackled.

Still some larger cherry trees growing but I was beat in the 90* heat.

Rain is due this week a few days.

I mowed off the seed heads in 2 pastures hoping the rain will keep everything growing.

Summertimes fries the grasses in these 2 lots but I'm hoping the undergrowth will thrive with rain.

Saw 2 giant black snakes in the field.

Not cool, they know to stay hidden from me.

I do not like surprises.

This lil miss is loving her new/old pool when I watch her.

Z and R2 are buying R2's grandmom's house which has a 60 yr old 12 ft deep concrete pool.

They are rehabbing it and hoping their repairs hold.

Grandma (me) even swims with Miss A and I am teaching her to swim.
She's getting it pretty well.

Grrr worthless...

animal!

S's horse broke fence around the garden and wrecked havoc.

He ate all the lettuce off at the ground.

12 full ready to harvest heads.

It's the middle row you see above.

That was a week or so ago.

Happily they are trying to resurge.

Maybe I will get a decent salad before they bolt in the hot weather.

He trampled plants, ate plants and spread straw I use as mulch everywhere.

The electric is popping hard now.

His a*s is getting lit if he tries again.

No sympathy felt for him either.

He ate some onion stalks also which I thought was weird.

Some were knocked flat and out of the ground also.

In other gardening disasters my green beans (blue lake) have terrible germination.

I had to lay fence over the rows to prevent wild rabbits from eating the few that popped out.

Replant, replant, replant...

My 2020 gardening motto I suppose.

This is NOT a wild bunny though.

Miss A loves her Easter bunny.

This is second one as her cousins lab made off with the first as a snack.

Her Mama's Mother's Day gift was ferns .

Within first week she had a nest and now there are 5 eggs.

Not shown as Mama bird is protective as expected.

I for the life of me can not upload videos on Blogger.

Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

Miss A was helping R walk and wash her hogs and it was cute lil 8 sec video.

Take my word on it I guess.

Stuffins

I found this picture of S's Father (on left) while he was on vacation in Florida in the 1940"s.

I am pretty sure no one dresses this well for vacation now.

They look so classy and almost gangster.

 They weren't, at least he wasn't.

I have sorted so many old pictures that are not identified.

Please label your photos or they are worthless to the decedents.

Broilers are doing well.

There is always that one that has to be difficult though.

This cat Alice is a hot mess.

You never know what she will bring home to play with.

I moved the mature ewes to the field which is deep in grasses this year at this time.

Should help put them bulk up a bit.

LN and I decided to not show at DE State Fair in July this year.

Too many unanswered questions with Covid-19.

That meant the yearlings could join the ewes and go out to pasture as well.

Much easier on the wallet to feed them.

We will pull them back up in time for the fall show preparations.

I was dressed to go away when S decided to wring off bolts and shear pins on the bushhog.

Guess who had to go pull, tug, lift and dig through the grease to re-hook and fix it?

I did a thing.

I am 3 almost 4 months into growing out my grey hair.

I decided 6 weeks before Covid quarantine to stop coloring my hair.

Today I decided 3 almost 4 inches of the leftover colored part could leave my head.

Lighten the load for summer.

There will be a repeat in another 3 months maybe sooner.

I am disappointed in how much I have blown on color and how hard this grow out is because of that.

The chemicals and maintenance are horrible among other moral issues I have struggled with.

No selfies, I stink at those.

Still probably take a year to totally grow through the grey to the ends but it's a start.

My wavey/curley hair can't be cut too short or I'd buzz it.

Maybe by winter I can go short enough to make a difference.

Small wonders in the Diamond state...

After torrential rain the other day the ground is very soft and pliable.

Can't you tell by the way the green bean seeds are trying to say hello?

It's been 7 days since I planted them.

7 hot and dry, windy, cold and rainy days all at once.

A week of extremes of course even for Delaware.

At least they seem to be alive.

Grateful for small wonders!

Yesterday I had to hightail it to PA to pack and haul LN's college apartment home.

She had a 10:30 apt at which time her key fob turned on.

There were 4 doors to get through from truck to apt and back with each load.

Exactly 2 hours later it turned off ready or not.

When she left in early March she was told it'd be 2-3 weeks max.

Not months people but weeks...

3 of the 4 girls in her apartment walked out with books for online work and some (not all) clothing.

Oh yeah, they also only allowed 2 people to accomplish this fete in 2 hours.

Roommates scheduled separately.

I have never hauled a*s so fast as that day.

We made it with less than 10 min to spare.

We went back in after dumping totes and floatsam at the back of the truck on the ground.

We made a good tour of what was left double checking everything.

First girl out forgot so much but we had no way to haul more.

Last girl was after us so maybe she could but we aren't sure.

Afterwards we pushed, shoved and packed the truck.

Oh yeah it was misting rain on the way up and during and once on way home.

Funtimes!

4 girls shared a 4 bedroom apt with common kitchen/living room and 1 bathroom.

LN owned 75% of kitchen things.

Not her but another roommate that remained a few weeks after LN left food in the fridge.

You can only imagine how fun that was.

Luckily the college forbids upholstered furniture to prevent bugs (ewww) so none of that to deal with.

LN had other furniture like shelving units and storage items.

The 4 door was stuffed to the ceiling and truckbed was full up.

It's all home and being resorted, washed up and repacked for the fall (hopefully) semester.

She made me feel bad...

MamaPea commented it was nice to see me post.

This made me feel bad because I know I have been slacking MamaPea ;}`

No promises but I will try to post more regularly.

Life has been crawling along here in Delaware.
Constant complaining from every customer I have and other people I interact with.
We can't do this or that....
I have about had it listening to it.
If you don't like the rules, break them or come up with an alternative.
Stop complaining because it isn't going to solve anything.
Not one is losing their house or going hungry or lost their job that I have talked to.
People are mad because they can't shop or eat out or go to beach or vacation.
Is that what we are learning from all of this?
Maybe consider saving 6 months expenses so if this happens again your bills are covered.
Maybe lower your debt so the belt isn't pulled so tight.
Maybe learn to cook simple things that are healthier than processed take out or restaurant food.
Maybe learn to make your own coffee drinks you waste $4.00-$5.00 on each day.
Maybe learn that spending time with your family is more important than anything else.
Maybe if your kids annoy you so much and don't listen its your fault for not teaching them better.
Maybe it isn't the school or day cares responsibility to raise your children.
Maybe you will survive this and learn something to better the world.

The garden is happening despite Mother Nature.
The wind is so constant the ground is drying out without the heavy mulch and newspaper I use.

I use it because I am lazy and don't want to weed when it's 80+* out.
A side benefit is retaining moisture and lowering ground temperature though ;}~

I'll take any help I can get when it's too hot to care about weeding.
A double row of Blue Lake green beans are in the bare dirt in the middle row.
They will be mulched as usual after they show above ground.
The lower end is heavy in weed seeds so I am tarping it this year to try to get a handle on them.
Some rain over the next few days was expected but now it has been pushed back to Friday.
Hooked up the second well today on the other side of the greenhouse.
Hopefully we do get a nice soaking rain though .
There is nothing like it for germination and growth of plants.
Some sunshine is helpful too.

Keeping me sane???

I am not sure that is true after frost killed my plants twice!!!

The first frost all me.

I tried to rush my tomato plants and had to replant.

OK no problem I admit fault.

Second time though I covered the plants with pots and frost still killed my plants.

I thought maybe I didn't get out to remove the pots in time the next morning.

I worried I cooked them when sun heated up the black plastic pots.

But no the marigolds that were not covered were frozen also.

Third time is the charm right?

The short video of my garden will not load here , I've tried 3x.

See the wee lil jalapeño peppers forming?

Me and LN love poppers so this is anticipated.

People panicing over virus are buying up plants at my local greenhouses.

It took trips to three to locate 4 plants to replant my jalapeños.

The last greenhouse is not visible from the road so not heavily traveled and she only had 4 left.

The onions were spared and are growing well so far.

Yellow onions  and Candy Red onions which is new variety to me.

The dill was covered but survived also.

I was and am confused.

Around my house I have a few tomato plants and a pepper and some herbs.

{Ease of snacking and throwing in supper pot and not wanting to compost leftovers from 6 packs}

My garden and greenhouse are down in the field where we have a second well to use.

It is about 200-250 ft away from the house.

All plants around the house survived.

Shearing is still ongoing.

Tomorrow a high of 85* is expected.

Hopefully I can shear the remaining mature ewes.

I am sure they will appreciate it and I'll be glad to complete the task.

I am on my own as LN started her summer job this week.

I can easily do it myself as these ewes have been sheared enough times to know the routine.

I use a stand , my back thanks me.

Irises are popping.

I have variegated also but the picture isn't the greatest.

Vibrant red gerber daisy is a favorite.

I love Lantana as well .

The multicolors on one plant/bloom always seem so cheerful.

I wish I could ask my Mom-n-law who passed away on April 19th at 94 yrs old about this .

There are enough balls/skeins to crochet many more blocks .

The tablecloth would have been huge if she used all of them.

I'm just not sure this was hers??

Although she crocheted I never saw her do more than baby afghans.

I wonder.....

As I go through her belongings there are so many questions left unanswered.