Till' The Cows Came Home...

When we had our first child,  Rob's Dad gifted her with her very own calf.  Now, to a non farming family that may sound odd, but to this farming family it was an honour.  When our second daughter was born she too was given a calf.  This was an extra special gift since Dad passed away suddenly a few months after his second grandaughter was born.  The girls have been able to raise their calves into full grown mamas and been able to see them start their own herd.  Often we will ship the girls' calves in the fall and we tuck the money away into a special account for the girls.  This year, we reserved one of their calves to give to our son so he can start his own herd.  We know Opa would've done this if he had been here.  These are his farm grandkids, continuing his legacy.  Up until this year our cows have always lived over at the main farm, but this year we have brought them home!  We are so excited to have our own herd here at our acreage.  Rob spent some time getting all the fencing up and strong as I do NOT enjoy chasing cows all over the neighbourhood!  So our cows are here and happy.  They are growing nice and fat on the fresh green grass and any compost scraps I throw their way!  The best part is seeing the kids run to the fields and call...'Come on, Come on, Come on!' and see their cows run up to greet them.  Opa would be proud.  

A big shout out to 'Zomar'..our favourite cattle moving man!

Here come the Herefords!

Home at Last!

Getting there...

I'm sure ya'll are getting tired of me posting swoon blocks, but hey, I luv em'!  Remember THIS pile of scraps and squares...well I finally transformed them into these.  I still have a bunch more to go and I'm not sure how I'm going to lay them all out and quilt them, but I'll figure it out when I get there.  I'm not nearly done with these swoon blocks...I'm gonna keep trying till I get the perfect quilt!

Custom Order...

Although I've somehow wandered away from the 'primitive' type colours of quilting,  (there's just too much fun new fabric out there!) I still get an order here and there for creations in the traditional colours.  This was a custom order I completed awhile back but it never made it to my blog.  This is a pattern by our local quilting sweetheart, Cheryl Wall.  I've made this pattern a few times now...although if I recall correctly, one time (years ago) I made a set of these for a relative and they all fell apart in the wash!!!  I never did figure out what the heck happened, but I think we narrowed it down to faulty thread that time.  Anyway...I'm happy to say that these came together, and stayed together, just fine!  These are pieced and embroidered one stitch at a time!  The embroidery states: 'Love makes a house a home'.  How true.


One of Cheryl's amazing books:

One piece at a time....

Mother's Day 2012

We had a special time celebrating Mom this Mother's Day.  My mom is truly worth celebrating.  We didn't do anything fancy, just a supper here at our place.  My bro brought Mom a beautiful HUGE bouquet of flowers, and we gave her a huge moss hanging basket!  She went home with a lot of flowers!  My Mom  is continually committed to her family.  She prays for us, keeps in close touch with us, defends us, loves us, and always puts us before herself.  She loves her children equally and finds joy in her relationship with all of us.  She is truly a wonderful example to raise my family by.  My Mom is one of my dearest friends.  We laugh together, shop together, cook together, holiday together, coffee together, and the list goes on.  My Mom is a phenomenal Grandmother.  My kids love my Mom (and Dad too..but hey, this is a Mother's Day post!)  The kids know that Grandma is always on their side.  My mom makes a deliberate effort to make time us and for our kids and it shows in the way our children love her.   So Mom, know that you are so loved, and that we treasure every moment with you! You are a beautiful woman.  Really, Truly, Beautiful.

We did a BBQ style meal.  I made yummy ribs..they're a 'little' bit of work but SO worth it!  We topped it all off with strawberry shortcake!

An Evening to Remember...

A few weeks ago we had the privilege of taking some amazing people out for a night on the town.  A year ago hubby had a terrible injury on the farm and nearly lost a few fingers.  Through surgery, extensive physiotherapy, and much, much prayer, he not only kept all his fingers, but has regained a lot of use in them!  When this injury happened we were at a very crucial time frame at the farm.  We had barns that needed to be prepped and birds that needed to be moved.  That time in our lives was traumatic and devastating, but we were so blessed by those people in our lives who truly love us and supported us in our time of need.  We had more help than we knew what to do with both on and off the farm!  You can read a little more about that HERE.  
Well, it's hard to believe that over a year has passed, but we wanted to make sure these special people realized just how blessed we were/are by their love and sacrifice.  It took us a long time to find a date that worked for everyone, but we did it!  So, we booked a restaurant overlooking the Pacific Ocean and spent a wonderful evening with these folks.  The sky was the limit for this dinner.  The food was amazing, and the fellowship made for a memorable evening.  Once we were done dinner we strolled along the boardwalk and pier.  We are so blessed to call these people our friends.  So, friends, if you're reading this, know that we will never forget your kindness.  We will never forget who was really there for us when it came down to it.  We will cherish our friendships with you.  I thoroughly enjoyed my meal on this wonderful evening...after all, I worked my butt off both on and off the farm during that crazy time too!
Here's a few snapshots of the evening...oh, and my must mention note:  NO, I am NOT 7 months preggers in these pictures..this was obviously just a wardrobe malfunction!  Sheesh..I really loved that blouse when I bought it, but I'm having second thoughts....

Another Birdie Sling...

Lately life has been crazy.  Like-Uber-Crazy.  I'm not quite ready to put crazy into words yet, but it's an all consuming-wish-I-could-get-away-from-it-for-awhile crazy.  I've neglected the blog a little, but 'family first' is the name of the game.
It's been nice to continue on with sewing.  Sewing and baking and my Bible are what are keeping me sane at the end of each day!  
I have always loved Amy Butler's Birdie Sling pattern.  It's a great pattern and a wonderful bag.  
So...here's my latest Birdie.  I love the bright, summer-ish feel to it.  Turquoise and Red are such great colours together.  Pair this bag with some great flip flops and a pair of sunglasses and I'm ready to call it summer...now if only for a beach and a slushy drink...

More Blogger's Blocks...

I recently posted here about a fun little bloggers block of the month I was following.  It's a great project for using up scraps.  I've completed a few more blocks since then and am anxiously awaiting the next block next week!  Here's the latest...