Has it really been 2 weeks since I’ve posted? Where did the time go? Oh yeah, first I was dealing with a sore shoulder/arm (ac joint injury) and then not one, but BOTH my computers were hacked/hijacked/virus infected and spent a week in the shop. Oh well, that’s what happens in our modern world, no matter how hard you try to protect your computer, somebody (and I could insert all sorts of adjectives there) is going to throw challenges in your path.
But I’m back now and thought I’d get caught up on everything that’s happened here in the last two weeks. One thing about not having a computer is that all sorts of work gets done. Is anybody else amazed at how much time we spend on the computer? Not that I’m advocating less time on the computer, after all, you are on the computer right now reading this, right?! LOL
Ah, where to start? Let’s start with the inside stuff. Quilting has been slow while my shoulder heals, but I’ve done some piecing on a commission quilt:
And I’ve done some quilting on a custom (freehand feathering, my specialty) longarm quilting order:
My knitting has fallen way behind, although I am making progress. This picture shows 3 projects in process at once, a shell top, a pair of socks, and the yarn for a shawl that I started and frogged and will restart with a different needle size.
I’m still working on my hand applique project, although I’ve lost momentum on it. Only three more flowers in the center block before I start adding the piecing to it. I think the outer borders I’ll do by machine with a turned edge invisible method rather than hand. I’ve done that before, combined hand and machine applique on a quilt using that method and it works well. Not noticeable at all, unless you have your nose six inches from the quilt…. and if you do that, you better be a quilt judge! ;>)
I’ve spent a little bit of time spinning in the evenings, but I’m not doing spin all night sessions, just 15 minutes at a time right now. This yarn is for a hat for Mike.
That’s it on the “inside” front, now on to the outside. WE (Mike, myself and the teenager we hired to help us, oh and the youngest grand helped too) have done a LOT outside this week during spring break from school. Mostly Mike and the teenager as I really was not much help, and every time I tried to help they both reminded me to watch my arm. And yes, I appreciate it as knowing myself I would have pushed to help and hurt myself further without their admonitions.
First the garden boxes got filled with fresh soil and are ready to finish planting.
And the boxes around the studio addition have been built and partially planted.
The blueberries and grapes are in the ground now.
But I still have a lot of planting to do this weekend.
On the chicken front, the run for the coop is (or was) finished. But my dogs and the neighbor’s cat have become a problem with the design, so there’s a temporary tarp on the back side (where I can’t monitor it from the house) until we can put a solid visual barrier wall up.
Without that tarp up my dogs (Snowy and Cocoa) oh and the neighbors cat!!!! stalk the back side of the coop terrorizing the chickens until they won’t come down the walkway out of the coop. We’ll put a solid wall along there to give the girls a visual barrier as their walkway is so close to the edge of the run. Snowy is my instigator for my dogs, Cocoa just follows along. When he’s not out there creating a ruckus she just lies there and watches them. When he’s creating a ruckus she’s right there with him.
Since I hung the tarp, the girls are coming out on their own and exploring the run, as you can see here the potential for BUGS in the soil was much more important than having their picture taken. LOL
Okay, I think that’s everything that’s been going on the last 2 weeks. When my youngest grand was here visiting over spring break he asked me what “art” I was working on right now. He was amazed (and disappointed) when I told him my “art” right now was involved with the gardens and the chickens until the construction work is completed. I don’t think he quite understood the concept that art is not just the painting and drawing, but also the creation of the life you want to live. Perhaps he’ll understand when the gardens grow and the flowers and plants and chickens become inspiration for paintings and art quilts.