Look What the Geese Dragged In

My husband found these a few days after the geese arrived as he was putting in the flock. (I guess it’s more impressive informative if you can see the comparison with a chicken egg.)

My husband made a frittata with just one of these lovelies this week. Fed the both of us. I read they’re the equivalent of three or four chicken eggs. And when I went to make cupcakes for the boys birthday party (from a box, sorry) and the directions called for three eggs…. I figured, why not? They baked up fine and were gobbled up. I’m sure the chocolate frosting and sprinkles were also well received.

If this is the pace that they’re laying, we’ll be getting 3 or 4 a week. What kind of recipes call for that many eggs besides omelettes and the like? Challah, brioche, cheesecake…. mmmm.

First and (Last) Latest

This is the first queen sized quilt that I made. It’s been on our bed for the past six years now. It’s a wonky and scrappy Broken Dishes pattern from Jan Mullen. I love it and it’s been well loved but I can see how much I’ve learned from mistakes I’ve made early on. For one, it’s not sized very well. You can see how it comes down on the sides but not at the foot of the bed. It’s now been retired to our guest bedroom that I had painted a lovely lilac color to coordinate with it.

This is the latest quilt that I finally finished binding and is now gracing our bedroom. This one is professionally machine quilted and much more intricate than the first. Still lots to learn though. I guess I need to keep working.

Doesn’t that mean I need more fabric?

Peachy Keen

About a month ago when we moved here, these were little fuzzy buds that looked like pussy willows. In another month or two, it will be peach cobbler. Yum.

Pre-historic Progress

I’ve completed the nine patches for the dinosaur quilt. Last night at class, I was barreling through these giant nine inch blocks while my classmate Jackie was painstakingly chaining one inch strips and squares. Like I said before, sometimes you just need an easy, breezy project to get your momentum started again. Next time, Jackie says.

The Flock Grows

Over the weekend we added two geese, two roosters, two hens and another duck to our flock. My husband found all these animals on CraigsList. We were supposed to have about a half dozen more chickens but the guy gave them away. I was pretty mad about it. I wasn’t thrilled about the geese but thought I could deal with them in order to get the egg-laying chickens. After all, if you’re going to care for all this fowl, you might as well get eggs, right? So we’ll have two hens laying eggs and I hear the geese are laying too. Once again, I’ll have to figure out the goose egg thing.

First Blush

Our blueberries are getting set to ripen. I never knew that the dark blue-purple of the berries starts out as a bright magenta. Pretty.

Dinosaurs in the Sewing Room

I love a project that moves right along, especially after a long and difficult one. This quilt for the boys is a simple focus fabric block alternating with nine patches. The nine patches are ready to chain piece together and this beauty should fall together in no time (fingers crossed).

Things no one ever taught me #357

When to get stitches.

The only times I’ve ever gotten stitches is when my wisdom teeth were removed and after childbirth. On none of these occasions did I inspect the wounds. I simply don’t know when they’re warranted.

One time I thought I needed them. I dropped a utility knife on my foot and had a 1″ gash with oodles of blood that ruined a favorite pair of Naot sandals. Nope, not then.

The small boy fell in the yard the other day and got two deep cuts on his leg. Both my husband and my mom thought they should be checked out. So we made our first trip to the ER as parents. Our little patient was a trooper, buoyed by an inflatable elephant he found in the waiting room. No stitches required. Just some gauze and a good cleaning. Good as new in no time.

Happy Father’s Day!

My husband bought himself a chainsaw for Father’s Day. This is one happy guy.

It’s Different Here

There are a lot of changes that happen moving from a condominium community to your own home. There are lots of obvious ones but also some (still obvious) ones that I hadn’t thought of.

• In a condo, you never have to remember what day the garbage collectors come. The dumpster is there everyday.

• In a condo, you never have to worry about neighbors cutting their lawns at odd hours. (Meet our new neighbor, the Midnight Mower.)

• In a condo, you don’t have to weed anything. Or know what is or is not a weed.

• In a condo, you don’t have to worry about a fox trying to eat your pet ducks. My husband has set up a trap to entice the trespasser to our newly established “Fox Relocation Program”. So far the only applicant has been a baby possum… twice three times.

Ahh, it’s good to be home.