I do so appologize at the long gap. First I passed my annual kidney stones and then I had to catch up with all I let go during that time. We took pictures of the baby chicks tonight all crammed in with their mother and it appears we got 4 roosters and 2 hens from the comb growth. So soon I will get to try the age old practice of killing and eating our own chickens. I'm not looking forward to it! We are being swamped with zucchini and spaghetti squash and soon it will be armenian cucumbers, too. We finally got our rains these past 2 weeks, a bit late for the root vegetables but the squash and pumpkins are making the garden look like a jungle.
I wrote some notes durin the time I didn't post, however, I didn't date them. Anyway, you can get an idea of some of the stuff I thought about.
Wednesday: this morning it was hazy gray with clouds and more impending rain. I had 15 minutes before I had to shower and get ready for work, so I went out and sat on the deck. I looked at the trees and flowers, I've planted. The sheep were grazing peacefully in the pasture. The chickens are finding nice bugs after last night's rain. The mama chicken is showing her babies how to scratch and find good things to eat. If the mama got too far away, I'd hear a baby chick make a tiny trilling noise and run toward her. It was a totally different sound than the cheep, cheep they usually make. Did the noise mean "wait for me, mama" or "mama, where are you?" or maybe it was the happy sound for simply looking up and seeing mama. The dog lay on the lawn and munched on an old bone she had stashed and recovered. My stress melted away. Then I realized that my 15 minutes were probably gone and I jumped up and raced to the shower. I looked at the clock and was stunned that only 5 minutes had passed!
Of course, I knew the passenger side wiper needed to be replaced and procrastinated until it rained, and rained hard, too. I had changed the blade probably 2 years ago all by myself and did it with difficulty. Now I couldn't remember exactly how it went. So in the pouring rain I got the old wiper off and managed to knock a little part out of the wiper assembly so I had to look at the driver's side wiper way too many times to figure out where and how it went back together. then I finally got a new one on with much prayer and frustration. It was much easier once I found the helpful little diagram in my trunk that had come with the wiper. Now will I remember the next time I need to change one how it goes? I am so NOT mechanically inclined.
When I got to Gene's house, the gentle rain and humidity continued and Glenda's dill made the air smell faintly of polish dill pickles. It made me hungry for sharp cheddar cheese sandwiches with dill pickles, sweet onion and miracle whip on oatnut bread, a few Lays classic potato chips and an ice cold rootbeer.
Stopped at the library and returned my books and got 5 more.
Ladies With Options by Cynthia Hartwick
The Tie That Binds, Where You Once Belonged, Plainsong, and Eventide all by by Kent Haruf.
Finished Ladies With Options. It's a must read for those times you need some humor and a quick read for pleasure. The author has some sharp bites of humor that are quoteable. "She's an intellectual omnivore, she wants to know everything." "Aikido, which I think is Japanese for flowing water or call a doctor." Yoga's a lot like being a demented mime" or on having a bad singing voice, sounded like a "professional beagle imitator".
Finished the last of Kent Haruf's books. I'm glad I read them in order of his writing of them so I could hear his voice beginning and watch him grow. He writes about the farmers and ranchers and people of the Eastern slope of Colorado. I understand them better now. But his best two are the last two. First, Plainsong and then Eventide. I hope he writes more in this vein. Excellent stories.
So now we are caught up. Tomorrow is class at my house and we are going to start on our art quilts. It will be 12 x 12 and it will be interesting to see how everyone chooses their topic and makes their quilt. Tomorrow, we will look at various pictures of other's art quilts (in magazines) and I'll show them my idea of what I will do, plus how Steam and Seam iron on applique stuff works. I'm going to use a baby picture of my lamb Speckles and use flower appliques, beading and a bit of stamping but I won't be sure of how exactly it will turn out, it will evolve as I do it. But I die cut some flower appliques out of the material I bought for it and it's going to be real cool. The first time I've ever tried this but I'm crazy so I lead the pack!
