Shhh

It is early. The fireplace is going to take off the chill of the new day. Tucker is having breakfast and the lights on the Christmas tree create a warm glow. The coffee is made, and the farmer and I sit and begin the day together. I love morning. May you find peace and joy in the midst of the holiday season.

Merry Christmas

The tree is decorated, the stockings are hung, and some of the presents are even wrapped. All that is lacking is my family in the kitchen and the laughter we share. Study hard, eat your vegetables and travel safely. We have fresh snow on the ground, and very fresh temperatures...brrr! Tucker is sleeping by the fireplace most evenings.He keeps warm and still has his eye on what's happening. Have a good week!

My Time Line

Now that I can identify most of the relatives' photos, I plan to construct a timeline to keep events straight. I wonder when Auntie's fiance died in a mining accident in Oregon. She was a smart and capable woman. I can identify some of her jewelry in Mom's things, including her engagement ring. There are a few pictures of her beloved but no name. There are poignant poems with the pictures. How did she move on with her life? I wish there was more information. I'm sure all families feel this way as the lose the stories of their distant past. Perhaps something will surface to answer some of the questions. I hope so.

Winter Play

I made this lap-size quilt a few weekends ago. The brights are flannel, the sashing is corduroy, and the corners are a brown velvet. When I showed it to Laura she asked if she could put it in the newsletter. Well, yes!

Winter is here with snow and cold. We are going to buy the Christmas tree and Christmas cards today. It is always good to be married a farmer with a pickup.

This little bunny lives underneath the bushes by our back door. He comes out to nibble when Tucker is not around. He always looks nervous.

I am still sorting pictures of ancestors. I should not have started it before Christmas. I need an extra room for my hobbies so I can keep the guest room neat and welcoming. It will be ready when you come, I promise!

Family Ties

I have a new obsession lately. I started going through the box of family photos and mementos from mom's side of the family. I began writing down the family tree so I could figure out who is who. To help with the group photo people, I signed on to Ancestry.com. Amazing search engine. One can spend hours looking at census data, other records and family trees of others who share a common ancestor. I found four generations of relatives. Now I need to go back to the photos and pair the pictures with the people. I have roots!

Wine and Sausage

Tuesday was a stay at home day. I helped bottle the red wine. It is supposed to sit for six more months, but we tasted each batch. Pretty good! Wednesday was sausage-making day. Lance uses the same sausage stuffer that his father used, as did his grandfather. The sausage is then smoked.

We cooked some for dinner and had it with pancakes. It is one of our favorite meals.

Wes told me a fun bit of news. Remember the red and white quilt with triangles made from the French General fabrics? A friend of the pattern designer (Carrie Nelson) saw my quilt online and emailed her about it. Carrie loved the fabrics I used and is looking in her stash to see if she has French General scraps so she can make one like mine. Cool huh?

Bottles Everywhere

This is our finished product for the white wine this year. We still have four carboys (2o gallons) and 5 gallons frozen of the red wine. This second picture is how he dries the bottles after he washes them out. It reminds me of an artificial Christmas tree, since this is just the bottom layer of four or five possible. I find it all very entertaining, even when make a mess while siphoning the wine into the bottles. What did you do for fun this week?

Grape Harvest

The grape harvest is done. This year we invested in equipment to speed up the juicing part of the process. The green machine crushes the grapes and separates out the stems . The red one is a
press to squeeze out the juice.

I plan to sew for part of today. I have my blocks done and I'm ready to put it together. Working at the quilt shop, there is always someone to ask when I need help. It is the best job ever.

Fall Colors

I find the colors of fall beautiful. The air is crisp, and occasionally we hear a shot as hunters walk the tree rows looking for pheasant. Today is a stay at home day. Hooray! It has been forever since I had time to quilt. I cannot even remember the number of unfinished projects. One by one, I will finish them.

Clouds

I love this picture. The sky is big and blue, the clouds glow and the road goes home. It doesn't get much better than this.

Pheasant hunting season opened last weekend. There were four deer crossing the driveway as I left for work yesterday. We have two bunnies that live under the bushes by the back door and graze on the grass when Tucker is not looking. We still have raspberries, both red and yellow. The watermelon is ripe and they are sooo good.

Its time to go to work. Back soon.

Look Up

We saw several churches on the trip. The architecture amazed me. How did they do it? How many workers? How big were the congregations? Do they still have active members and pot luck suppers in the basement?

In Dresden we saw the church that was the site of Martin Luther's protest and the beginning of the Reformation. I feel sorry for churches today that are hollow shells, missing the faith that was their heritage.

Mega Carrots

I could not resist taking a picture of this week's harvest. The half gallon of milk is to give you an idea of just how big the carrots are. Huge!

Lance has processed this year's grapes and is adjusting the acidity of the juice as part of the wine-making process. I am divided between patients and quilt shop today. There was a surgeon visiting this weekend to look at joining the practice. Hope it works out.

Lots of paint commercials on TV. Makes me want to recolor my world.

Still Learning

In Obersalzburg, there is now a Documentation Center built on the site of Hitler's southern command headquarters. It tells the background story of the events leading up to the war, and the war itself. There are 16 kilometers of bunkers underneath. We saw just a portion.

I think the purpose of the center is to speak to future generations and say "Never again". I realized I don't know much about the background or the individuals involved. Its never too late to learn.

To overcome the language barrier, each museum had audioguides so you could hear the commentary in your own language. Nice.

Schneeballen

One of the entertaining things we did was to scope out the bakeries in each place. In Rothenburg, we ran across schneeballen. It is made of leftover strips of piecrust rolled loosely into a ball, baked and then covered with powdered sugar, or a frosting shell. I liked the other pastries better.

We did a lot of walking, as well as buses, subways, and the train once. I always felt safe, and the system was fairly easy to figure out. The air was full of German. Italian, French and English words.

It is good to sleep in my own bed and feel the wind . I look forward to the batik sale at the quilt shop and checking in at the clinic to see what is going on. Hello Monday.

We're Home

It is good to be home. We had a wonderful time and all the travels went well. This is one of my favorite pictures. It is "Mad Ludwig's"castle near Fussen. The bus takes you as far as a high bridge above the castle, and then its a ten minute walk to the castle. All the sites we saw have interesting stories. I need to read more about European history to grasp more of the context.

The food was good and hotels very clean and charming. I will post again as I get myself organized.

Purple Harvest

Bountiful harvest, beautiful grapes. This year we got a machine that stems and crushes the grapes. A different machine presses out the juice. I think we will freeze the juice and deal with it later.

The lighter grapes are seedless grapes just for eating. I froze some so we can snack on them icy, very refreshing.

The embroidery is the most recent sample I made for the shop. The pattern is one of the new ones we sell. I'm hoping for some that are more art and not so much sentiment.

The time is coming when I should be packed and ready to go. I'm torn between cleaning the house or working at the shop on Saturday. Everyone is gone to the Hill City Quilt Show, and

Tera is alone to mind the shop. Just about anything is more fun that cleaning, since the "clean" doesn't last.

I will try to blog while I am gone so you know what we are up to. I may not be able to add pictures until we get back. Thinking of you all, always.

Birds

Sunday morning on the farm. We were watching t.v. when Lance saw a bird fly past the window. It was a young Great Horned Owl. I find it amusing that it looks like a cat perched on the garden shed.

The patchwork is my latest project for the quilt shop. I didn't have the 16" pillow to put inside, so you'll just have to imagine it puffy.

One more week and then we leave for 16 days in Germany. We will see Berlin, Munich, Saltzburg, Rothenberg and Fussen. I have started walking to get ready for sightseeing on foot. I should have started sooner (one of my bad habits). I am taking my camera, and will share more when we return.

This week's harvest included potatoes and the first round of grapes. Lance spent two days washing, stemming, crushing and pressing out the juice. He got five gallons of juice from seven vines. it seems everything he grows produces an abundant crop.

Family Pictures

This was a wonderful week for visiting the kids. I started in Omaha to see Laura's White Coat ceremony, the official beginning of medical school. Alex drove down with me. We celebrated at a Persian restaurant...yum!

The next day I flew to Eugene to help Rachel celebrate her 26th birthday. We had a lovely three day visit.

While I was gone, the farmer finished the wheat harvest. It was good to get it safe in the grain elevator. There is still corn but it won't be ready until fall.

Now I am back at work. The quilt shop was busy with packing for a weekend retreat in Dupree, South Dakota. The clinic may have a new family practice doctor soon. Hooray! Tonight is the first football game of the school year. Time to get ready.

Back to School

Its that time of year. New books. New beginnings. I had so much fun taking my "school pictures" today. Does it bring back memories? It seems like yesterday. Now two are in college, another beginning medical school and my firstborn is finishing graduate school. The last in line is a high school senior.

Sometimes I wonder "Did I do a good job?" Was my best effort good enough to set the next generation on the right path? Time will tell. I have a good feeling about each one. Study hard, eat your vegetables and have a good year.

Prairie Sky

Six a.m. on the prairie. I love the sweep of the clouds and the colors of the sunrise. I love the prairie with its wildlife and sea of grain. The storms are exciting and scary at the same time.

All the work and expense of the year can be lost in fifteen minutes of wind and hail. There is great satisfaction in watching the grain harvest. It reminds me of tucking the children into bed at night, safe and sound.

Another week of school physicals is over. Football practice has started and the two-a-day volleyball practice starts on Monday. This summer seems shorter than most for some reason. No one is ready for fall.

I told Wes that there should be pictures of the quilt shop in the store blog. He chuckled. I think it is a beautiful, productive place, so here are my favorite pictures.

Harvest

One of my favorite things this time of year is walking in the corn field when it is taller than I am. Can you see the farmer? We do "crop tours" to visit each field and see how things are growing.

The wheat harvest began on Monday. It is a good feeling to get the grain to the elevator, where is is no longer in danger from hail or insects. So far, the yield is good and the protein is over 14. The crop is worth more if the protein is higher. I like riding in the combine, enjoying the golden field and the expanse of blue sky. Beautiful.

Today's Mission

Today is a garden day. (I am on call as well, but lately I find myself doing two things at once all the time.) The mission in the garden is to pull out the pigweed before it goes to seed. Yesterday I spent the afternoon establishing a perimeter around the squash. The squash is spreading into the row of blueberries. The strawberries are sending runners. The pigweed fills in everywhere. Its amazing what rain will do.

I love pulling weeds. I can see accomplishment right away. I get to hang out with the farmer. He grows way more than we can eat, so the produce is given away, making others happy as well. It is a nice time of year.

Garden Harvest

Sorry for the long gap in blogging. I haven't been quilting much lately either. Lance has been busy in the garden. This is the very end of the lettuce season. Romaine, iceburg and various leaf lettuces all taste great.

The past few weeks, we have been eating berries every day. The yellow raspberries are sweeter than the red ones. The blueberries are from our garden as well. Lance has netting over them to keep the birds away.

Lots of athletic physicals this week and next. Lots of immunizations. School starts the 23rd or 24th, and then clinic will slow down again. The quilt shop has not been as busy on line but there are more walk-in customers in the summer.

I occasionally wonder how to get all the things done that I want to do, without neglecting the things I ought to do. No answer. Ideas?

Favorite pics

This is my favorite picture of Flathead Lake. We have talked about nice places to retire, and the area around Big Fork is high on the list. Glacier Park is stunning. Some days I miss mountains, but I love the prairie too.

The picture of the first bloom from my peony. I love the color and the ruffles of the petals. The garden and the crops are beautiful this year. We just got rain, so the wheat should fill nicely. There was a fox in the grapes this morning when I left for work. Menu is fine, and enjoys his lap time after supper. I will miss him when he goes back to Laura this fall.

July 2010

We spent the weekend visiting in Missoula. The Saturday Farmer's Market offered produce and crafts. Everything was $2, making me think that we could have a new business project. Now we just give it away.

Tucker was not happy to be left behind, but Menu handled it just fine. The first night back, we had a summer thunderstorm, with flashes of light, loud cracks and heavy rumbles of thunder. Noisy rain, but the farmer was happy.

More travels to come...college tour, white coat ceremony, trip to Eugene, then off to Germany in September. I may not sew again until fall.

Quilt Story

Thanks to Alex, I am making progress on the Quilt Story again. The pictures are in the document and the layout is almost done. I am learning as I go. I wish I could absorb everything he showed me. It warms my heart to have multiple generations contribute to the project.

On the home front, the strawberry patch is still going strong. I have sore muscles from picking...how silly is that? Menu is a regular visitor to the garden. It's nice to see him act like he owns the place. After the holiday weekend, I am off to the quilt shop. This month is big for Christmas fabric sales. There are fun, contemporary lines this year, as well as more traditional cabin/lodge choices. Ahhh, fabric!

White Iris

This lovely white iris showed up in our garden this week. I've never had a white iris before. It just showed up next to the blue ones. Did God place it there in memory of Mom? If so, it is a fitting tribute. I catch myself missing her when I see pretty fabric or something new blooms. I think, "Oh, Mom would like that." I guess there is a gardener in me after all.

Bus Ladies

Today a busload of 26 ladies arrived at the quilt shop with an hour and a half to shop, have lunch and browse. It went smoothly and I think they had a good time. It was a lot of work, but the shop looked so pretty. Some quilts are on loan from the designer. This one is called the Bali Wedding Star. I think it is one of the most beautiful I have seen.

When I got home, we picked more strawberries and gave them away to friends. I am so tired!

June on the Farm

Guess what we did today? There are at least 5 gallons of strawberries just from today. We didn't even finish, it just got too dark to see the ripe ones.

This is the wheat field in front of the house. I love the stage where you can see down the rows. It is a nice time of year to be in the country.

Dutch Iris

Our dutch iris are loaded this year. What a pretty flower. Our strawberry patch is loaded too. We picked four gallons today and did not get finished.

The pets were glad to get back to the farm. All is well with Menu and Tucker. How about you?

Storm

This is what it looked like driving to Fargo. We totally missed the small tornado that briefly went through Hettinger, breaking some windows next to the school. I don't think anyone was hurt. The most we got was rain.

Yesterday was a shopping day. We are going to Germany with Rhonda and Dave in September. Lance and Mike got carry-on luggage, and I found some great sales. Clothes shopping is not my favorite thing. We are doing a little more today, then seeing a movie.

Thinking of you and wishing you well.

Summer Sunday

Yesterday I made a strawberry-rhubarb pie, using last year's strawberries and rhubarb from the garden. It was soooo good. I love my new pie plate. The first gallon of this year's strawberries is in the kitchen. It is just the tip of the iceberg...there were tons of blossoms on the plants.

The iris is one Mom gave me when she moved to the Bridge. It was my Grandmother Stewart's "big blue" variety. I remember them blooming under the kitchen window when I was growing up. When Lance and Mike get the retaining wall in around the wood shop, I will transplant them there. Then, one day, your children will remember seeing them at Grandmother's house. If you visit in June, I will make you a pie too!

Today will be busy at the quilt shop. This weekend was the Rapid City Quilt Show. We have a booth each year, and each year the Monday after the show is filled with unpacking, putting away, filling orders, re-hanging quilts on the walls, and general chaos. It is a lot of work, but the amount of sales make it worthwhile. The next big push will be a statewide shop hop. Think of a quilt scavenger hunt where ladies get a token from each shop they visit, and the one with the most wins a prize at the end of the month. It is designed to increase in-store traffic, but I don't think the online site is a part of it. July is traditionally when new fabrics for Christmas arrive and are promoted. Shoppers get gifts with their purchases, in proportion to the amount of Christmas fabric they buy. It seems odd to be cutting Christmas fabric over the 4th of July, but many who make things for gifts start early.
Menu is settled in now, though we compromised, and kennel him at night to keep him safe from the wild things. He roams free during the day, and came out to the garden to watch us weeding the rows of onions. It is nice to have company.

Kantha Cat

My houseguest is making himself comfortable on my new kantha blanket. (See www.handandcloth.org for the story behind the blanket. It is a wonderful project.) Menu has been gradually been getting used to the idea of camping out on the farm this summer. He thinks the deck is an outdoor room, but I don't think he really likes the feel of grass under his feet.

These flowers are called bleeding hearts. They are so delicate and shiver in the wind. The iris are in bloom. Lance and Mike are putting in a retaining wall around the shop, giving me a protected place to move the bulbs. I'll include pictures of the progress later.