Another what is it?

 After the moose visit and it finally quit snowing (and it snowed for a week!!!) and I was unable to sit on my little deck, the sun came out and within two days, spring came back.  The birds came back.  Neighbors have told of seeing lots of dead bluebirds down by the river, no doubt as a result of the zero degrees weather.  I love bluebirds!!  We have boxes out and had several pairs checking out the new digs, but have not seen any since the snow.  The blackbirds are enjoying the buffet we provide and we have several yellow headed blackbirds as well as red wings and tricolors. 

 So my what is it for this time is below.  We have had a wonderful shop to explore, but because of illness it will be closing.  I have looked at this piece several times, but when the 50% sale began, and it was still there, I was able to get it.  Have you heard of a weasel?  Not the critter, but the yarn weasel?  This is only part of the mechanism that was used in days gone by to wind and measure yarn.
There would have been little pieces at the ends of these arms that the yarn would rest on and the arms were attached to another geared piece.  When a certain amount of yarn was wound the weasel would make a "popping" sound to mark that measurement. That is where the song"Pop goes the Weasel" originated or so I have been told. 

In addition, you can see my "make do" pincushion, an old bobbin, an old canning jar with treasured buttons atop a chair re-purposed as a shelf and two other bobbins given to me by a dear friend and re-purposed as candle holders.  The thread is still on the bobbins. 

On another note, we had our health fair this past week and got our results back and discovered that we will probably live to see another health fair.  All was good!!! And do any of you remember cars without power steering?  In helping our friends move after their home sold in record time, we were involved in re-locating an old Fire bird with no transmission and not moved for many, many years.  After the Mr. pulled it over here and the owner arrived, I was elected to sit in it while they pushed it off the trailer in order to put it in it's new garage.  (how many years it will abide there is unknown).  With no power steering and questionable brakes, it was a reminder of driving my Dad's old Plymouth which is what I learned to drive on and my arms got a work-out. (Now we have to use weights to stay in shape.)  But the car is really a pretty light blue, and the interior is white and in pretty good condition, so I hope that it will be running as retirement for the owner is coming and yesterday was his birthday as well as my Baby boy's birthday.  I became a mother 45 years ago! Happy many more guys!!!

"Be kind to the women for they make up half of the population...and are the mothers of the other half."
 ~ unknown

Winter what is it?

 We have had snow for a week now.   Be DONE!  Above, what is it?  3 days ago, I got up awakened by my alarm cat at 6:00 a.m.  She always wakes me up with a built in alarm clock.  I stumbled out of bed, let the dogs out and pulled the shade at the front large window to see how much snow had fallen. The furkids did not stay out long, let them in, and started my coffee.  I turned around and my eyes could not believe what I saw.  The snow was falling heavily, but at the living room window was a moose. It was walking slowly in front of the window and I could see snow flakes on his back.  He was literally just a few feet from the window, perhaps 4 or 5.  By the time I came to my senses, and woke up the Mr., and got the camera, he was trotting away, across the sagebrush.  So this is moose hind side through a lovely snowstorm.  Always awesome!

 I saw one of those market shows on TV..the kind where people buy flea market items and redo them to flip and make a profit.  Well, this project just hit home with me!!!.  As a person addicted to sewing (I am ashamed to admit that I own 5 sewing machines..each with a specific purpose), I decided to try this.  Living out on the western range, I don't have access to a big box store or a craft store and I needed some Mod Podge.  I searched for a homemade version, but I was reluctant to try anything I found.  So I decided to try a water-based varnish.  The old Singer cabinet, minus drawers, treadle and machine was found at a shop for $25.00 last year and the surface was badly scarred.  I had the Mr. cut a space out of the top and reinforce to accommodate my newest machine.  It still looked a little bare.  So following the idea I saw, I ripped up an old pattern that I had and began attaching the pattern pieces using the varnish to both adhere and seal the paper.  The market warrior used soy sauce to antique it, but I tried it and it didn't work for me so I mixed some brown acrylic paint with a glaze I had and am so thrilled with the look!  I think I need to antique to stand, but will do that when it quits snowing.

"Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort." ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

That darned cat!

 It is winter here, the roads have been closed and some are finally open, but it is nasty out there! So what do you do when you are cooped up in the house?  You entertain yourself!  Me I quilt, read, hit the tread mill or watch a good movie.  Coalette?  She rips up things.  A couple of blogs ago I posted this wonderful plant full of blooms and nearly reaching the floor.  I got up and stumbling to the door in the dark (it still is a little dark at 6:00 a.m.), saw all of this stuff on the floor.  After turning the dogs out and the lights on, imagine my horror to find wilted leaves, stems and blossoms on the floor.  This is all that was left of my plant.

 This snap below was taken yesterday and it continued to snow all night and blow and blow and snow.  Really, it is difficult to say how much we got as it was a wet snow, but the dogs did not get off the patio this morning.  They relieved themselves ON the patio!!!  It is too deep for the little guys and evidently too cold for the old girl!!!!

 This morning from the balcony off my sewing room and as I type this, we have just lost satellite connection so the dishes will need to be scraped clean again. So, off to the sewing room today with no guilt feelings and maybe a good movie on the boob tube. 

"Remember, the faith that moves mountains always carries a pick." ~ Anonymous
  (and maybe a snow shovel?)

Winter this spring

 My crazy cat crawled into this plastic bag which held the batting from the quilt sandwich below and went to sleep.  I went upstairs and she was asleep completely in the bag, then I checked later and finding her head in the handle, lifted it off and by the time I got the camera, she was partially out of the bag.  Silly cat!!  I posted earlier the old quilt top belonging to a dear friend and have had to improvise the assembly process I used at my previous house.  So with a tip from a quilt show, I used blue painter's tape to secure the backing and although the tape really didn't hold very well (and maybe I didn't use enough), it worked pretty well.  I am now quilting it.

In my absence from this blog and I didn't realize it had been so long, I had my friend whose quilt top this is, come to visit for a few days.  We gathered some other friends for a dinner for her to celebrate her birthday and worked on preparing for our summer projects for our girls' retreat.  One of these will be a few stepping stones each with glass flowers in them so we planned for some patterns and purchased some glass.  I also had a sister and niece come to discuss a wedding cake I am do do for a great niece and they were able to stay for lunch.  They left just before our winter arrived this spring.  We have had snow for two days straight, maybe more as I can't remember!!! I know the roads were closed.
The afternoon before the snow began, with the wind at our backs (and fronts) the Mr. and I finished a backyard fence with which to contain the dogs and I might add that they are none too happy about this fence.  We discovered a tick in the house before we finished the fence which was unsettling and hopefully the dogs will not have as much access to the sagebrush now.  With deer and other tick carrying critters so close, I fear we are fighting a losing battle so will just be vigilant and see that the little guys get short haircuts when the snow is gone. 

"I try to take one day at a time, ...but sometimes several days attack me at once." ~ Jennifer Unlimited

Spring?

 With spring officially here, I have finished my Christmas quilt so it has been put away and I am off to start another quilt. That is because it really is NOT spring!!!  We are expecting to get another snow storm and I will be forced to stay inside this weekend.  Hurry up spring!  Someone has however, forgotten to tell nature's little critters.  The prairie dogs and little ground squirrels are busy tearing up the soil around here.  I see them scurrying in and out among the sagebrush now and the scent of little beings is driving my dogs crazy.  They have had rabbits to chase before, but this is new territory for their keen little noses.  We need a fence as they continue to roam farther away from the house as they become more familiar with the acreage. Bad dogs!!

 My cat thinks she can do anything she wants and she pretty much does.  Questionable as this looks, she has attacked my little Spencer and has him pinned down in a wrestling move.  He did escape her attempt to hold him down and she did not pursue him, considering it a win I think.  They make me laugh and they will cuddle up and sleep together sometimes when they are not playing.  How do people live without pets?

This is a houseplant related to the African Violet I think.  Sorry, Bonnie, I don't remember it's name, but most of my plants are gifts of my good friends.  This one blooms constantly and at present, it has at least 18 blossoms.  So.....spring, hurry up as I need to get my hands in some soil!!!!

"If you pray for rain, be prepared to deal with some mud." ~ Charles Dudley Warner
  

More crafts

 So after the last post, this shows how this piece will be mounted on a piece of metal rod in the garden. The bottle will simply be slipped over the rod.  And below, another of the critters that emerged from the quilt.

 This past weekend we went to a State team Pool tournament and although the Mr.'s team did not make it to the finals, the weather was beautiful and they had a good time.  We saw lot's of old friends and were able to do some shopping.  However, the wind began to blow on Saturday and by Sunday as we headed home, we battled 60mph plus winds and blowing dirt.  We though we were in Arizona! Actually one strip of highway in the eastern part of the state was closed for 6 hours. So this is our devil cat Coalette, getting ready to practice some trick shots. We boarded the dogs, but left her home in the care of our friends. The only damage she did this time was to rip up a roll of paper towels at the bar sink and dig around a little in the plant soil looking for small flying bugs.

I love, love, love daylight savings time which we are now enjoying.  Not everyone shares my view, but if you are a gardener...well need I say more?  We will be battling a newcomer to our property though.  The previous owner had pretty much erradicated the destructive rodent-type of critters, but we now have a new little guy, a prairie dog who has moved in. My dad had two as pets actually in our back yard in an enclosure.  He called them "Pete" and "Repeat".  Maybe I will call this little guy "Pete", but he will NOT be a pet and may not stay long.  Sorry!

Spring crafts

 With snow in the forecast and temperatures mostly chilly, I should not be thinking of spring.  But wait, it is but just a few days away (Officially).  The days are getting longer and with daylight savings time taking place this weekend, the sun will still be up even longer in the evening.  When I was in Denver a few weeks ago, I was at the Brass Armadillo (a terrific resale shop) with other bff's  (you cannot have too many bff's) and on a mission to locate one of these older cookbooks with just these particular graphics for my bff here down the road.  We found several ranging from about $9 to $40 and this one was only $10 and in the best shape.  So my friend finished it this weekend and this clock sits on her counter.  Isn't that clever!!!

 Easter is also upcoming and if you all remember that at Christmas, I took an old quilt also belonging to the same friend and made 3 stuffed animals for her using that old quilt.  It was faded, torn and in no shape to be repaired so this little bunny emerged and sits in her sewing and craft room.

 Thoughts of spring stirs the gardening ideas in those of us who cannot wait to get our hands in the soil.  I am not sure how much I will do here, but we do have a few flower beds and my friend down the road has the most gorgeous plantings.  As previously posted over the years, I have made several versions of garden art involving cast-off glassware.  This is a new project where we actually painted some snack trays with glass paint and with other pieces attached with silicone, we have our "garden flowers" ready to be placed in the beds.  They reflect the sunlight and add color to the beds.

We scrounged for bottles with flat sides and attached them to the back, again with silicone, and the bottles will slip down over some metal rods which are placed into the beds.

"To create a little flower is a labor of ages" ~ William Blake