admin June 17th, 2008
So yesterday was 2 sunny days in a row AND Father’s day….this post is going to be garden pictures….the next Father’s Day stuff
Here is part of the garden on the south side of the house. Foxgloves and Globe Thistle. 
Here is some lamb’s ear that is actually growing out of the bed in the gravel walkway, but we just love the color and the texture of it. 
Next is this rusty wheelbarrow that I had found last summer buried in the blackberries, but never got up out of the lowland part of our property. It sat in water another winter, so I thought I better drag it up to the highland. 
Same foxglove at a different angle 
Wild rose bud at the edge of the woods. The woods are filled with these wild roses (which are in constant competition with the blackberries. 
Love-in-the-midst…...just love the name of this, and this picture just doesn’t capture its ethereal presence in the garden. Its foliage is just like a mist…. 
Sassy’s favorite resting space on a sunny day…right under a little maple that I planted years ago, and it has never done very well, but it is good enough for Sassy. 
The poultry yard the other evening (late by the light of the photo)... 
And here the chickens were finally released. I had to spend most of the 14th repairing a fence so that they could be let out. It is truly wonderful to have chickens roaming the yard again. 
That is it for now. My next entry I will show off my Father’s day gifts from the best wife and kids in the world…okay my world, but yes, they are awfully great to have around that is for sure
admin June 15th, 2008
Went out in the gardens with the camera last night to take pictures of some of the flowers we have here around Shiloah Cottage before they stop blooming and are gone. I already missed the lilacs, but here are some of my favorites.
This one is a mock orange with “yellow” leaves. Right now it smelling deliciously “flowery” Linda says. It is supposed to smell like an orange blossom, but I have never been near a real orange tree in bloom, so I wouldn’t know. 
I potted up this fern from the woods….I really like it in this pot 
A wild rose on the edge of the woods 
This flower is very odd…it looks like it made of paper, closes up a night, and the foliage is very sticky. I have no idea what it is, and I don’t even remember planting it. 
These are heavenly! I love columbines. This variety has been part of the inspiration for a current design I am working on… 
The babies are so grown up. Here is the batch of chicks 
and here are the ducklings! 
This is one of the last full snowballs of the season 
This is the lavender, actually one of the lavenders…. 
I think this is German or English lavender, I cannot quite remember…
Those are the pictures for tonight. I have a few more to post, but I really want to get into the studio and do a little sewing before bedtime….It was finally SUNNY today and I spent most of the day out in the yard repairing the fence so the chickens and ducks can get out of their pen and live a little on the “wild” side! I am tired, but it was so good to be outside, and not seeing it rain again! I am not a “sun-worshipper” but I was getting really tired of the rain.
admin April 21st, 2008
The coop and pen is finally rebuilt and ready for the chicks. They were seriously getting crowded out of their little cage as seen below.
The chicks on April 2nd.
Here they are on April 9th and again 
on April 15th. Quickly running out of room, and didn’t want to raise little cannibals We got them out there on the night of the 15th finally.
Seriously cut down on all quilting and blogging I can tell you that!!...and the smell is finally gone from our computer/schoolroom/pantry area!! I think there was a reason that Linda had them so close to my computer…......
admin March 18th, 2008
YEAH! The chicks are in Linda went to the feed store today and brought these darlings home!! There are 8 of them, and NOW I really need to get working on the coop from last year’s demise. The winter storms have knocked down the old outdoor roof for them, and ripped the door apart as well, so I have to get working on a new home for these sweet things. We are going to make it more industrial strength for them as well, to keep them safe.
this is the state of the current coop and yard
My quilt for the “Mantastic” invitational quilt show in Connecticut is back from Judy Irish’s quilting frame, and looks great. I was concerned as there was a lot of bias in that quilt, but Judy got everything to quilt out just fine. I am very happy with it. I am excited to have my quilt in with some of the “greats” of the male quilter world (grant you a much smaller pie, but big enough for me!!) Now I have to put the binding on it and my reliable Singer which hasn’t had a tune up for oh….4-5 years….has been at the service shop for 2 weeks this Wednesday. She should be coming home soon, and then I can finish up this quilt and move on to more…. The studio has NOT gotten cleaned!! But I did approach the Juki and the B-line quilting rack, and we had some nominal success for now….enough so that I don’t feel threatened by it. I think I still need to figure out the rolling up on the poles part, but it didn’t jam up and become a horrendous mess like it had been.
My daughter wants to use the phone now, and I am currently online on our phone line so I need to close for now. Son #1 has been on our dialup line most of the afternoon for homework….time to close…and maybe work on cleaning???? nah…I have journaling to do too! and brownies for dessert…
admin February 24th, 2008
Not the most exciting of titles, but today doesn’t seem like the most exciting of days. Here are some pictures that I would like to post though, and perhaps later I can do some more writing stuff..
a chicken from the Collaborative quilting class I have been teaching….I don’t know if I like it as much as the Country Threads type of chicken I have made in the past, but it is a chicken so what’s not to love
A country colored heart that I made as an example to hawk my Parts Dept class at Ben Franklin’s in Monroe. I made this so the calmer folk among us wouldn’t be scared away by the bright colors of the Collaborative Quilting book by Freddie Moran and Gwen Marston.
admin May 15th, 2007
You know, I have no idea why that jingle from my childhood just popped in my head! Anyway there you have a little stream of consciousness in a very random thought!! I have not been bloggin on here much at all due to the finishing up of my Real Estate Studies. I just finished the coursework last night, and now I am getting ready to CRAM for the final State Exam. Real Estate Agents have to know a lot…well they should if they are going to do it right. I think that there are a lot of mediocre ones out there that give the whole group a bad rap. I hope I can help counteract that bad reputation. I think I mentioned Red White and Blue earlier….here are some mini-projects that have come up…
These stars are part of a swap that I am doing in an online group that I belong to (QuiltGuy in the Yahoo groups…)
Here is a closeup… 
And here are some Patriotic chickens for a friend….
these chickens are based on the chickens my friends Mary and Connie at Country Threads are always making up…..I love the look of these chickens…I am thinking of doing a really big quilt with lots and lots and lots of these little chickens in REALLY bright colors….
Probably should have put those photos on the project page, but I wanted some color here…Really have too many projects going on at once …..what else is new….I really need to finish my friend John’s quilt for his wife…I have owed it to him for quite some time…
admin March 19th, 2007
Last Wednesday, two rogue dogs broke into our chicken coop and killed all eight of our chickens. It was a very sad day at our house. Those chickens were our dear pets and Camilla the oldest had been with us since 1996 or so….so long ago I can’t remember exactly when. That was our week. Yesterday I spent most of my time in the studio sewing….getting ready for the quilting class I am teaching tomorrow night in Smokey Point, Washington and working on a new square for my friend Sara Nephew’s new book. The class is the first one I have taught in a public setting, and I am a little nervous about it. The square I can’t show as Sara’s book isn’t published yet, but it is all Kaffe Fassett’s and other Rowan designer’s fabrics and it is going to be beautiful I think.
Should have been working on my real estate coursework online, but I just didn’t feel like it. I have 22 hours left to finish that, and I thought that I had only until April 13th, but I actually have until May 13th, so I don’t feel quite so rushed.
I have not yet sat down to look carefully at my camera and figure out how to send images here in the appropriate format so readers aren’t waiting for hours for the pix to download.
Not much of a blog for today, but it is something.
