Wednesday, June 29, 2011

My 1st Computer Bag

Made by ME

I know that I make quilts and a few other things with my sewing machine but I have never made a bag with a lining.  This was a first and I started it today and finished it today.

 Yes I am in my PJ's and my watch does say 11pm and I am crazy and posting this tonight.
 So what do you think?  All I had to purchase was 2 zippers and I had everything else in my stockpile.  I love cooking and sewing things that do not require me to leave to buy something.





Ta Da!!


Tutorial from Heart of Mary

Monday, June 27, 2011

2011 Quilts So Far...

I love this picture of me twirling this quilt around. I had Keith do a photo shoot of me in the yard.
This baby quilt below I made for a dear friend of my sister's. She had a sweet baby girl in January.
This is a baby quilt for my sister's high school friends Michele and Mitch. They will be having a baby in August (hopefully on mine or my sister's birthday).
This is one that I made for Keith's co-worker Will and Mallory as a wedding gift. This quilt repesent spring and summer to me, I just love the colors and how bright they are.
I packaged it up in a picnic basket with plates, cups and plasticware so all they will need is food for the perfect picnic.
Now...if I could only get 4 baby quilts done by yesterday and finish the one for my sister that I started last year and the one for Chuck that I started last year and the one for Keith and I that is in my brain but the fabric is in my sewing room I would be in good shape.

Flying

If you haven't noticed from past blog post of trips to my sister's she LOVES to spoil us when we go visit. For this May trip we milked goats, flew over the city of Chattanooga, took a duck tour, went to a Lookout's baseball game and ate way to much food.

Here are the pictures of our flying trip.

This is the Tennessee River in Downtown Chattanooga. Chattanooga has three bridges that cross over the river and one has been turned into a 1 mile pedestrian walking bridge. The island in the middle is now a bird refugee.


This is the Chattanooga Lookout's stadium and on the right of the highway the building that is kinda the shape of an asterisk is the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee building. The grassy area around the bridge is host to weekly concerts and a week long festival known as River Bend. Last year (2010) Amy, Keith and I got to see Cheryl Crowe and Alison Krauss.
I love to fly but am not a huge fan of small planes. So when we were getting ready to take off and I looked at the handbook in front of me and noticed that this plane was a 1978 model my stomach took a little nose dive. My sister has flown many times with David (her pilot friend) so I was not at all worried about him doing his best at showing us around I was just a little worried about the plane acting up.
My sister and I ready for take off!
Keith, quietly watching David go through his safety checklist before we leave the run way.

Ladies and Gentleman, we have landed you may now un-buckle your seat belt. I hope you have enjoyed your flight!

Milking Goats in May

(Bob finishing it up)
For those of you who have not figured it out I have a bit of a farmer/homesteader/self sufficient person in me. We have enough sucuant (natural sugar) and wheat berries (grind to make flour) to last us a year. Our freezer still has produce in it from last summers garden and we have chickens to give us daily eggs.
(Amy being brave and going first)
This is something that God has called us to do. To go back to the basics, work our land and the earth as He created it for.
(Me giving it a shot)
I have self diagnosed myself as lactose intolerant. It is no fun and I have little self control when out and about or at family meals. I love the idea of goats AND of making homemade mozzarella, yogurt, buttermilk, cream cheese, keifer, butter, cream and whey that I can eat with no side effects.

(Keith doing it like he has done it before)
As a married person when you get an idea in your head as big as getting goats you have to get your spouse on board. So that is what I set out to do.
My sister has an old co-worker Bob, that has some Saanen goats. These babies are a beautiful solid white and the best milk goat in the US. They can milk for up to TWO years per kid and Bob has two that are milking now and he gets a gallon a day.

The last time I visited by myself we set out to go pick his brain. We asked question after question and I am sorry now that I did not record our conversation. We tasted the milk which was raw, unpasteurized and oh so yummy. We had a small bite of some mozzarella cheese that they had made. I knew at that point we were going to be goat owner's once I got Keith to taste the milk and see how beautiful they were.

On the next visit up in May, Keith came along and we went one morning and was able to milk them. We had some set backs at first but eventually got all the milk she had to offer for the morning. We were able to take a quart home and this is what I used to test my self-diagnosed issue. For a week I drank the milk straight out of the jar. Each day I was happy to not be running to the bathroom and to have no cramps and lighting bolt pain. So just as I had read people with lactose problem are able to ingest goat's milk with no problems.
This is an adult goat and the baby in the food trough, is named Bug-A-Boo. She was such a sweet little baby. The first time my sister and I went she was trying to eat my skirt, every 5 seconds I would have to pull it back out of her mouth. This time that sweet little kid put her arms on my chest and was trying to eat my hair and string on my jacket hood. I wish I could have brought her home with me. So, so sweet.

These two trips are the start of our future with goats. Though it will probably be next year before we get them (fencing is expensive) my stomach is jumping up and down waiting on the relief their milk will bring.

Monday, June 13, 2011