While I am sewing today…

you can visit my yard.

After I did my TTapp (and was barely able to stand!), I walked the lane.

On the way back down, I saw a robin at the TV antenna pole! HA! She kept them hidden! Only from me who doesn’t go outside much!

So I came in and got my camera.

Went out first to check on my pond. My iris at the pond are looking fine in all their splendor!

Around the back of the house are yellow iris in dire need of weeding… *sigh*

To the north…. in a little nesting box JP made and put out there …. hmmm…. maybe 3 years ago…. I found:

Nearly grown!!

Nearby are K’s snowball bushes (also in need of some weeding…):

I’ll avoid the weeding needs and return to my Dear Jane blocks. Hoping to finish my March blocks soon! I am hoping but not sure I can get 5 blocks done today!

Inside, my house is still fragrant from Phil’s roses and this arrangement from his sister & family:

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Happy 25th to us!

I only thought old people had milestone anniversaries…..

So here we are at our 25th year. Wow!

May 29, 1983

Here is my family:

Our wedding party:
These are just scans from our proofs and I notice they are already deteriorating. Bummer. I have the negatives and need to see if I can get prints made or even if my scanner would read them. That would be best!!

This is my new siggy on the Sonlight Forums but I love the collage so thought I’d share it with the rest of you: Our plans for the day are on hold as the crop consultant advised Phil yesterday that one field needs replanted. Our Mother’s Day drenching downpour has made all the fields planted before that struggle to emerge. This one doesn’t seem to be coming out of it.

Phil was up early and ran the disc to ‘unplant’ it. Now we are giving it some time to dry/settle and he will plant. It is only 17 acres so won’t take much over an hour.

Whatever happens, we’ll spend part of the day out driving and/or shopping and have a nice dinner somewhere.

We have gone through a ton together. We have been honored and thrilled to bring home 2 children to raise. We have grieved together as 3 of our children did not get to come home with us.

We have had fun times and hard times with relationships and farming. But in the end, we have had each other through it all. Only each of us have gone through these things with the other. Our faith has been the stronghold through it all.

Yesterday Phil came home from town with 25 roses!Aren’t the gorgeous?? They smell yummy, too!

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K’s door decor

So to catch you up fast on life in Chicago…. K was home for 5 days over Mother’s Day weekend. She returned to her room to begin RA training. The training went well. Part of the time they did training and part of the time they checked the rooms to make sure everything was (sort of) clean. (They don’t have the same standards as others we know!)

Training ended last Friday and finally on Saturday afternoon she got the call that HER room was ready.
Her new room.
Her RA room.

She is nearly to the top of her building and now on the corner with a lovely window ~ she can see LOTS! (I wouldn’t know… being that I’m scared of heights. She promised that when I’m in there next, she’ll close the blinds. I felt like I was going to fall off the edge of the building when we peaked in the 9th floor room. Now she is near the clouds!)

Before her students come she needs to decorate the doors for the students’ names and have a coordinating bulletin board. It is an art school after all.

She (Miss Accessories) made 4″ (or so) handbags!

Here is the whole floor worth.


When she learns whether her floor is for guys or girls and gets a name list, she’ll paint (in girl or boy colored paint) their name on another strip of fabric and glue it to the bag. Aren’t these the cutest!

See her view!

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Saturday Quilt Shop Cruising

I was so excited to get an email from Shirley on Friday asking about hitting the Wisconsin quilt shops on Saturday. Yippee!!

I stopped at JoAnn’s for a smidgen and arrived at Shirley’s by 10:10. She showed me her current project (very cool greens in a Double Irish Chain) and we headed out to pick up Ritarose.

We are quite the team… 3 of us quilters!
Too funny!!

We went to 4 shops! How cool is that!! All were near and around Madison.

Patches & Petals in Belleville
Stitcher’s Crossing in Madison
Mill House Quilts in Waunakee
JJ Stitches in Sun Prairie

Aren’t these poppies cute? The plantings outside Mill House Quilts were darling! They also had mini irises that were just ending.

Here we are in Mill House Quilts. It was my first visit to the store and I loved it. It is a huge store, friendly employees, and beautiful decor.

Ritarose, Shirley, and Me!

I loved this deal I found in the sale room at Mill House Quilts.
The fat quarter roll was in the sale room and I wondered out loud how hard it would be (in the future) to find coordinating fabric for the border. Ritarose immediately suggested “this” bolt and it was perfect! I think she moonlights there!

I got home just after 7 p.m.

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How I Spent Mother’s Day

Yes, I know Mother’s Day was more than a week ago but I’ve been busy!

It was a fun day ~

#1 – JP played for church and that always makes me happy and
#2 – K was home for a long weekend and that was a treat!

After church we got yummy meats from the grocery to grill. So then once we were home, Phil helped with dinner! He did the grilling and K & I worked on the inside food.

The kids gave me a vase of 4 beautiful multi-colored roses. I had wonderful pictures of them and can’t find them now! I have no idea but maybe I didn’t save them? Who knows but I’m sorry as the pictures were so pretty! They looked like velvet!!

At church all the women got roses and they had too many left over so we got 6! They were just traditional red.

And K had shopped at Nordstrom’s Rack and found me this outfit and another top & earrings!

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K’s Big Opening!

Huge Announcement!

K has just launched her online store, Designs by K3turah!

Now even you can own a design by an up & coming fashion & fiber design art student!!

I hope you visit there soon!

Way to go, K!!

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Whew!! Break Time?

Is it break time yet??

Saturday was a bit slower than the previous 10 days. I even got to sew!!! YIPPEEE!!! (And got myself past the Dear Jane block I was dreading. It only took about an hour & a half for the 4 1/2″ sq block. *sigh*)

Yesterday we went for late church. After dinner & a nap, we worked on the garden. Tomatoes went in: 2 grape, 2 yellow, 4 first lady (early red). Peppers went in: 4 yellow, 4 banana. I weeded PART of the front flower bed. (much more to go….) We had small group at night.

But today is back to a spinning my head type of day.

Today is the County Extension Soybean Plot planting. Each run of the planter is a different seed variety for an unbiased test plot. LOTS of extra work for Phil and consequently me.

JP did school, as much as he could, sooner rather than later. Physics, History, and some Lit are done. Did I tell you he finished Geometry last month? Yeah!! That makes the school day much shorter!

Phil lined up workers….
the usual family: Phil, Bob, & JP
County worker: John, but not the usual leader Mark
Seed dealers: Wayne and Doug

I made cinnamon rolls, thinking this would be a morning plot. Then it changed to a late-morning start so on my trip to town, I got sandwich fixings. Now I’ve made 7 HUGE roast beef & swiss sandwiches in jumbo buns. The grocery had (nearly) homemade buns that they’ll have to smash to get a bite out of them.

The rolls will be done from the oven soon. Phil made brownies yesterday to give me a head start on today. I’ll grab a box of carrot sticks for them.

Not my most nutritious meal but it will keep them going. In a bit, I’ll pack the cooler with lemonades and water bottles.

JP has Sunday band practice tonight. After I take him there, I will head to Quilt Guild. With plenty of reminders, Phil will (ahem ~ WILL) pick up JP.

The program for Quilt Guild is mini-workshops. I think they have done this before but not when I’ve been there. From what I understand, several guild members will teach something at various stations. We’ll rotate stations. Sounds interesting.

Just so I can include a picture with this post….
Phil got the extra t-shirt K received for helping with the SAIC Fashion Show, titled The Walk. The back has the SAIC logo… his main reason for wanting the shirt!
And in case you couldn’t read the shirt…..

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Avian Adventures

We have just wrapped up 3 weeks of JP babysitting for 4 pet birds. Four more than the 3 large birds that already occupy his room!

Background:
We bought Toots from Pat about 3 1/2 yrs ago, I believe. She had recently married Steve and there wasn’t room for all their combined birds in their new home.

Then last June, we adopted Green from Steve as Green needed more attention than they were able to give to him. That is why Green developed the picking feathers habit. He is better and growing out his wing feathers now but it is like a bad habit. Hard for him to quit.

So all this made JP a good choice when….

Pat called a while ago and they needed a place for their 4 remaining birds while they were gone to CO for part work and part vacation. JP agreed to house and care for the birds.

Wow! What an experience!! Two of the 4 are talkers!! It was fun & funny!

Here…. I’ll introduce you….

This is Freddy. She is a African Gray Timna parrot. She was hesitant and didn’t want to come out when JP tried to get her out. However, she did sneak out a few times while JP was changing the water!

This is Jeremiah. He is an African Gray parrot.

It was hard for Phil & me to tell who was saying what. Sometimes JP knew who was talking.

The first morning they were here, when JP rolled over in bed Freddy said, “Hello!” The second morning, they were awake a bit earlier. Earlier than we wanted to be awakened. The birds had started to make noise and JP said, “Shhhh…..”

Freddy replied, “Oh just shut up!”

Now normally we don’t talk like that but it was sooo funny to hear JP tell us about it!

Freddy has named Pat, the only lady in the house, Kendra after a girl at her previous home. So frequently, Freddy called, “KENDRA!!”
“Come here, Kendra!”
“Kendra, where are you?”

Once I replied that Kendra wasn’t here but Freddy got a bit more insistent with “Kendra, come here!”

Once I heard %^&* and K heard a few $%^&* but thankfully those phrases didn’t come often. These were words learned at other houses, not from Pat & Steve. Funny to hear coming from a BIRD!

They loved getting treats and Jeremiah could say, “Apple,” in a deep man’s voice whenever he wanted a treat. Very cute! One day JP did give them all an apple piece and the room was SO quiet. Just the sound of crunching and slurping juice!

Jeremiah was the most accepting and allowed JP to hold him after a few days. He is a BIG bird! He even enjoyed the time out while JP was online.

This is Ricky. He is a Senegal Parrot like Toots & Green. He allowed JP to pet him a bit. (I took these pictures without a flash so this got blurry with the slow shutter speed.)

And the 4th one is Skipper, a love bird. Before we adopted Green, he lived beside Skipper’s cage. Now Green calls JP “Skipper”! This Skipper is “in wing” so didn’t come out of the cage. He is quite pretty.

Jeremiah did a perfect imitation of Pat on a frequent basis. Once JP heard a one-sided conversation:

“Hi Sweetie! {kiss, kiss, kiss} Want some water? No. Hi Freddy!”

JP with Green

Toots on the right

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Three Days!

This is the first time Phil has had 3 days of field work in a row, ones not interrupted by rain! Oh what a spring!

Tonight he will work late again. As late as he can. Rain is coming within hours now and the forecast is for 1″ – 2″ but morning! Oh that is TOO much!

Even today on the top of a hillside it was smeary. Not still now! We just had 0.2″ at the beginning of the week. How can it still be wet?

JP got some pictures of the strip till unit in action. This year it has added parts which is making it go so much better and the fertilizer application is new as well.

This is up close of what the unit does to the soil. It only works about an 8″ wide area. Then the seed is planted in that area. Sort of between no-till (no ground worked) and conventional tillage (the whole field is worked).

We are no-tillers at heart but still have economics to deal with and have struggled with getting good germination and yields. This is the second year for the strip-till unit and it is going much better this year!

The strip-till / planter combo is going better this year and the 12 planter rows are lining up great with the 2 sets of 6 strip-till rows.


I think this is a great shot…. in motion (who’s driving?!) along side the tractor and the shot out the back via the mirror.

Tonight K is riding with Phil. JP & I don’t like riding along so I’m sure Phil is glad for company. This is about the only way for K to see him much these few days she is home.

Thankfully we have a Sunday in the middle to get to see him. Poor man, we’ll all be clamoring for attention!

Well, if we get this deluge of rain… he’ll have most of the week at a slower but sadder pace.

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Just 5 Days

What a beautiful day for a ride. It was such a nice day to be out & about in downtown Chicago for 2 hours! I got a perfect parking place along the street so not as costly as the underground garage for just a short time.

The planter boxes in the median of Michigan Avenue were gorgeous with tulips!

Along with an addition to the Art Institute, they are adding an over-the-road walkway connecting Millennium Park with The Art Institute. K heard that Monroe Street (pictured) will be closed next week while they connect the two sides.



After we got home…..
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And then she headed out for a haircut!!

Isn’t this sooo cute!!!

K is just home for 5 days and then will return for summer classes and life as an RA.

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