This Morning

Morning coffee at 5:30, smiling at my silly chick vase and loving the bunny vase (gift from my oldest).

Looking past them through the porch to the meadow beyond.

Getting out of the door for my morning walk , camera in hand, to capture this .

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Deer Family

Back home, a small spotted fawn very close to the back porch. His family is just out of the frame watching him closely. 

I am so glad that Sam the Lab shows no interest in chasing these little ones

 She is in her usual spot just under that same porch.

A few feet away. 

Watching, but not chasing.

The most gently natured dog we have ever had.

Sometimes when I open the  back door I hear a dull thump.

Sam's head hitting the porch floor as she leaps up.

Out she dashes and makes a just for show ,tail wagging loop around the meadow. Pretend chase.

 The deer are usually not impressed.

They look up but then just get back to munching native grasses and flowers.

I am lucky to see these scenes every day.

I pause frequently throughout the day to note how beautiful this place is.

Trying to not focus and worry about the chores and tasks to be done.

My mental list.

That list is worrisome. A weight on my daily thoughts. But also how I stay organized. Finding the balance. Making it work.



And on to work. Forest Dolls to finish up. They need vests and gathering bags.

Of course, they will need mushrooms and acorns to gather.

Forest floor treasures to stitch up. They get stuffed with the soft organic wool batting on the right. I love handling this wool, and smelling the lanolin it holds, and feeling it warm in my hands. Just lovely.

Sweet wool stuffed lambs and mouse. Sewn from thrifted cashmere sweaters.

Sold at the farm this weekend.

 One is flying across country for a new baby.

So nice to know where they end up.

Apples and Such

We are very pleased to have apples for the second time ever!
Patience rewarded as the tree we planted is now six years old now and thwarted by a draughty summer and possibly neglectful watering on my part.

However, persist it did. Plants must display some degree of toughness to bear fruit in south central Texas. Lovely.

The newish hens are getting to peck the windfall apples.
I am tossing them into the coop, trying not to hit anyone.
Not my fault that the hens move so quickly!
Our annoyed looking Golden Laced Wyandotte does not approve.

I love this view of the garden fence near the chicken coop, prayer flags fluttering in the breeze.
It looks like a massive amount of weeding is in order. The frothy mass is a stand of 20+ year old asparagus

 Sam the chocolate lab (outside the garden yard) likes to look at the chickens while I garden. She does not mind the weeds. Good dog. So pretty.

Sew, Mama, Sew Challenge

Forest Cats

I just had a chance to browse through my ( signed!) copy of Reinvention ,sewing with rescued materials by Maya Donenfeld and  am inspired to get busy sewing some of the projects in the book.

 Her reuse aesthetic is inventive and practical. Why buy new if you can make something with materials on hand?

So, here is my contribution to the Sew, Mama,Sew challenge  to make something out of thrifted or repurposed fabric.

Above are 5 inch tall Forest Cats made from wool/silk thrift store suit jackets with all of the ugly bits removed and cat worthy remnants sew up with contrasting embroidered wool faces.  Vast improvement!

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GingerKats

GingerKats made from thrifted wool skirts and stuffed with wool roving.

They have movable arms attached to the body with wooden buttons saved from a different thrift store sweater

 Check out Maya's blog here 

   .http://mayamade.blogspot.com/

And for great tutorials, fabric and inspiration go here 

http://sewmamasew.com/

Happy Sewing!

A Perfect Day

Gentle rain the whole day. The kind that soaks in and gives the trees and plants time to soak it up before it sinks through the dry cracks .
Just perfect.

Those of us in central Texas are still reeling (literally) from last summer's historic drought and 90+ days with temps over 100 degrees.
If that sounds like hell, well, it kind of was.
Please let there be enough to fill the lakes and aquifers and keep us green a bit longer.

But today we have rain and cool temps and happiness.

Sam the Lab

Sam the lab and I walk across a green meadow in the rain to feed and water the flock of hens that live in the garden enclosure. Dampish, fluffy, rapidly growing 5 month olds and two stately 6 year olds  flap their  wings and crowd round to vie for first choice of brown rice , strawberry tops and lettuce bits. Somewhat spoiled, those girls.

Fern the Barred Rock Plymouth impatient for snacks

I pick some cherry tomatoes that have sprung up by the coop gate, no doubt seeds from last year's chicken snacks, washed out from the hen house to grow along the perimeter. They are thriving in the rich runoff from the coop.

I love the smell of the  coop's deep hay litter in the rain. Love of farm smells runs in this family. Not everyone-there are camps for and against but count me happy to stand in the rain and breathe it all in.

Sam is waiting outside of the gate to practice walking at my side back to the house.
She knows that there is a dog treat nubbin in my pocket, like there is everyday.
Sweet dog.

And because this is a perfect day, I turn away from the scheduled chores, grab a basket of baby gnome parts, a latte, listen to the rain and stitch away while watching episode one of Downton Abbey ( I know, the last person in America to see it!)

Gnome Bits

A really good day.

Quietly

So hard to know what my writing voice will be because,

I am a quiet person who spends most days quietly stitching, gardening, caring for animals, and the rest of the puttering and erranding that are needed to make a home, family, and business continue to move forward.

Ok, I do talk to my plants, rabbits, chickens, chocolate lab, and possibly the small sewn creatures that I make.

But they are all silly creatures who invite a bit of chatter now and then.

I do wisecrack with my five daughters and one son and husband but they are also silly and sweet ...

and they think I am funny and wise and possibly interesting so there is encouragement from that quarter.

I am reckoning that the blog will evolve a bit and become after a bit a reflection of who I am, how I live, and what I make.

Well, we will see where this goes.

Thanks for looking.