Tuesday, April 23, 2013

No Quilting. . . just kid cuteness


Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine having 68 degree weather in Northern California EVER, let alone in April. . . . but it happened.  Better yet, it happened on a day that I had not planned to do much school because we were headed to a field trip in the morning. 

Waste - water - treatment - plant is not words that excite my crew. . . . how does one get excited to learn about "sludge?"  Our plant in Ferndale happens to be a newly constructed state of the art, waste water treatment facility with only one other like it on the North Coast.  After they do their field trip write up sheets tomorrow I'll see if the field trip was a "big hit" or a "flop."  Probably the most interesting fact I learned was that we can now use the end product (all the bad bugs) as compost in our gardens after it has been thoroughly heated through and turned over to the worms.


 
 
The remainder of the day was spent having lunch, spending some time in the front yard weeding, riding bikes and sunning themselves on the back porch.  I just love these precious peas of mine - they are just too cute!
 
 
 


I love seeing all the plants that are blooming in my front yard.  Keeping up with the weeding is a sometimes overwhelming task, but it is very relaxing for me so I don't mind too much.  Plus the kids were running through the sprinklers having fun, so I really didn't notice how fast the time had flown by.








 
How are your spring days going?


Tuesday, April 16, 2013

#4 - Quilty Barn Along

Four barns into the quilt along and here they are!   Now, they are just awaiting their sashing to make them complete.  I think my favorite one so far is the postage stamp barn in the lower right hand corner.   I'm really enjoying putting this quilt together.  Lori Holt does a great job with her tutorials and she really makes piecing everything together rather simple. 
 
 
Have you ever spent hours trying to acquire some inspiration for a new quilt.  My little tractor boy needs a quilt for his new "big boy" bed.  This inspiration seeking has been consuming my brain power lately.  I've consulted friends, quilt books and patterns.  When finally I had an "AWWWH" moment this week.    I realized that instead of trying to do something complicated, I should just stick to the simple - a patchwork quilt.  My fabric of choice - Moda's Ten Little Things.  Ssshhh - don't tell him I'm starting on it - I want it to be a surprise!
 

What happened to our spring - one minute it was warm and then we seemed to have had had a cold snap come through here in Northern California.  The General Manager and I are anxious to get this over grown jungle - oh wait - that's our garden plot - plowed under so that we can get the compost mixed in with the soil.  I ordered our seeds again this year from Territorial Seed Company.   I'm very excited this year because we purchased a green house in which I'm going to get to grow tomatoes, peppers and basil.  This year we'll try growing Delicata squash since zucchini has been banned by my children.  We have tried every zucchini recipe EVER created and alas my children still do not like it at all.  I am extremely anxious for my garden to go from this. . . . .


 
 
to this. . . . .
 
 
 
 
Happy Spring!
 
Blessings,
Michelle