Rose Prairie Quilts and Farm

It is unbelievable to me that I have only written 3 times this month.  I have been wanting to sew but just haven't had the time because of working in the veggie garden maintaining, harvesting and planting the fall crops. It has been a very good year in the garden and I have been harvesting a tremendous amount produce.  This is from last Saturday's harvest and I have picking like this 3 or 4 times a week this past month. Except for the acorn squash it varies in what I pick. The green beans are done producing which was a good year, a little over a 100 lbs. That also means I have been very busy getting it put up.  The major part is over for now so I hope to get busy working on one of the many projects I have started. So today I went into my sewing room to see what I could work on.  I haven't been in that room for nearly a month now and this is what I walked into What a mess!!! At least the plants are still alive.  I have pretty much just been dum

To Autumn John Keats Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run; To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees, And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells With a sweet kernel; to set budding more, And still more, later flowers for the bees, Until they think warm days will never cease, For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells. Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store? Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find Thee sitting careless on a granary floor, Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind; Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep, Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook Spares the next swath and all its twinéd flowers: And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep Steady thy laden head across a brook; Or by a cyder-

I can't believe I actually finish something. Here lately all I've been able to do is garden work and canning. I know it isn't much but I'll take it. As you can see it is just a garter stitch the width of the bag I made. This bag is a sample bag for what I want to make. I have some vintage linen that I want to use as the outer bag.  I like my sample bag though. The book is a new one I found on Amazon when trying to find something else. I haven't started it yet but hope to this week. I did finished "The Kitchen House". Really enjoyed the book, would've wanted to hear more. Here is what the book is about Tears of frustration and loneliness more than once filled the eyes of Marjorie Myers Douglas as she valiantly coped with her new status as a farmwife. Life on a western Minnesota stock ranch in the years during and after World War II was, after all, a far cry from growing up in her parents' Minneapolis home co

I had made sauerkraut last week and have meant to post this for a friend of mine, Linda G. This recipe is an  adaptation from one on About.com Here is some of the info they gave gave that I thought was pretty interesting. Sauerkraut came to Europe via Asia, where people have been pickling cabbage for thousands of years. Because of its high vitamin C content, it was very useful in preventing scurvy and keeping people healthy throughout the winter months when no fresh food was available. To make your own sauerkraut you will rely on the bacteria found on the cabbage leaves. The salt draws out the water and kills off the spoilage bacteria. You will need between a 0.6% and 2% salt concentration, which equals 3/4 to 2 teaspoons of table salt per pound of prepared cabbage. Makes 1 quart Ingredients: 8-10 cups shredded cabbage, loosely packed (about 2 lbs), about 1 cabbage 1-2 tsp. un-iodized or pickling salt 1 c. filtered water mixed with 1 tsp. salt Prepara

Boy isn't that the truth around here. For the past few years we would have starved if we had to live off what I grew but not this year. I wish I could say it's because I'm such a master gardener but I know a good part of it has to be due to the weather we have had. Example is the melon and squash patch.  In the past few years I haven't been able to harvest not one. So I planted a few extra figuring bugs or weather would take them I had a piece in my patch that is 15 x 15 ft that has had black plastic over top for a couple of years now. I have been wanting to put in a couple of more beds there but haven't gotten around to it. So I made eight openings where I planted  2 mounds of each acorn squash, cantaloupe, watermelon and pumpkins. I left 2 or 3 plants in each spot thinking I lose most or all again. But no not this year. While I was in California this past July we had an unusual amount of rain and cooler temps. Which the plants just loved.

I haven't shown or talked much about "the girls" lately so this weeks photos are dedicated to them. I have been fortunate to have lost only one hen so far this summer and it was one of the new girls. She had something wrong with her since she was a chick and I was surprise how long she did live. So out of the dozen chicks I have 10 hens and now a new rooster. Thats right they were not all girls like they were supposed to of been. Thats not the first time that has happened. After losing the  "Love Machine" we now have "Stud Muffin" and funny thing is they look the same.   The hen count is now 23 and I'm getting on the average 13 eggs a day. I added these pictures  because  I just thought they were neat. First one is the boys waiting for something that was in the squash and melon patch. Ready to pounce This is a stop sign that is a couple section lines over from us. I just think it's so cool how th

At the moment  I am a month behind on my LE and from following others who are making this quilt I think I will stay that way. I'm in no hurry or it's not a race.  And from the others I am learning techniques that is helping to make this easier. I appreciate all the work that Esther did to make this pattern for the public and very grateful that she offers it for free each month. As you can see I have marked the placement for month 2. Still need to applique the center, then comes some of the harder part, picking out fabric for next pieces. I'm making mine scrappy and I do have quite the collection of fabric to pick from. Sometime having more to choose from doesn't make it easier. Then I'm doing a pumpkin pillow out of wool.  It is a Sew Cherish pattern. A very easy project but I wish there were better instruction on how to make the various crazy stitches.  It comes with the transfers but no direction on how to do the pat