Some Updates

I’m sort of amazed by people who blog daily.  Maybe a little envious.  It often feels like life sure gets in the way of blogging.  Don’t you hate it when that happens?  This week has been kind of tricky because I’ve felt a little under the weather.  Nothing major, just a summer cold.  But that doesn’t mean things haven’t been busy.  I thought I’d update you on a few of our goings on.

Father’s Day:

A few months ago, my husband bought a new meat smoker, so I told him that had to be his Father’s Day present. {Really, though, it was a present for me. He loves smoking meat so much, I hardly have to cook anymore!}  He didn’t think he was getting anything this year, but I had the kids surprise him with a “DAD” picture:

He’s a pretty amazing guy, so I couldn’t go without giving him anything!

Speaking of the hubby, he’s been busy the last few nights building a horseshoe pit for our yard. It’ll be fun to play when it’s all finished.

In the Craft Room:

I’ve actually been working really hard on the crafting front.  I have so many fun ideas for this blog! I just need to hire someone to do my dishes and fold my clothes. Then I’ll be a crafting ninja!

I decided to join in on the Quilt Along over at Family Ever After.  This is just the sort of thing that gets me motivated to not only start, but finish a project.

Have you seen the inspirational quilt? It’s beautiful!

It’s so cute, I HAD to make one for my daughter. But, if you know me at all, you know that I don’t do anything very easy.  My daughter has a queen size bed.  This quilt (or maybe duvet cover, I haven’t decided yet) is going to take 132 squares. ONE. HUNDRED. THIRTY. TWO.  I can get 8 squares out of a yard of fabric.  If you’re doing the math, yes that is a lot of yardage.  I got a pretty good deal on all of it, otherwise I probably couldn’t afford to do this. I’m in the ruffling stage now:

It’s going to be purple, pink and orange.  I’m pretty excited for the finished product!

Is it just me, or do these ruffles look like Anne Shirley’s puffed sleeves?

I can’t help but think Marilla would be appalled at all of the wasted fabric!

I have a fun patriotic t-shirt makeover idea that I want to share with you, but it has to wait until all 132 of the squares get ruffled. I’m afraid to take off the ruffler foot until it’s all done!

In the Garden:

I think many of you became followers when I posted about our DIY Greenhouse.  It’s been almost a month, so here’s a quick update.

We’ve had some pretty difficult gardening weather this year (multiple freeze warnings, giant hail falling from the sky, and 50 mph winds to name a few) but my garden seems to be coming along nicely.

I’ve got some tomatoes growing!

And there seems to be some rogue cilantro and dill growing in my acorn squash. I think they went to seed last year and apparently germinated this year.

We’re no where near harvesting anything yet, but that’s normal for our part of the country.

The Chickens:

We’ve had a lot of fun with our chickens, Sonic and Sparkles, who I introduced you to before.  Considering that I knew nothing about chickens, they’ve been easier to take care of than I thought. Plus, the kids are having a great time!

We found a super cute chicken coup on craigslist for a steal.

The only problem is….we’re pretty sure Sparkles is a rooster.  We were questioning it when she (he) started getting a big red comb and pretty bluish feathers in her tail.  But, it was pretty much confirmed the last several mornings while we’ve listened to crowing for hours straight.  Needless to say, we need to find Sparkles a new home very soon.

Meanwhile, we picked up a couple more baby chicks. These are Leghorns. They’re supposed to lay big white eggs for us.  The hardware store said there is only a 2% chance that either one is a rooster, thank goodness. The kids named each of these chicks too, but they look so similar to me, I can’t tell them apart.

Last but not least… I got an iPhone! I’m pretty excited to have this for our road trips this summer. It’ll be nice to be connected while on the road. Any good app suggestions? I’m thinking about getting on Instagram, but I’m not sure I would keep up with it very well. I kind of stink at Twitter as it is! Any opinions?

If you stuck with me through this whole post, then you deserve an award!

Happy Wednesday, everyone!!