Rose Prairie Quilts and Farm

 I am going to make another true confession here and that is I'm a Laura fan and have been since I was a young  teenager. My first introduction to her story was through the TV show but once I read the books that was it. I wanted from then on to live off of the earth. Now being that this was the early 70's and I did live in northern California it wasn't a big leap to take. To give you an idea of how much I loved Laura's story, my middle daughter is named after her I grew up some in downtown Sacramento and then the suburbs of Sac., so I did all my learning and growing of  my own food in small spaces. Which, by the way,  has turned out to be a benefit. That was about all I could do besides raise a few chickens, until now. So when it was Laura's turn to be the person of interest in our 30's group/club, I can say I have just been elated. Learning about her (more) is just pure heaven for me. Last year "the man of the place" and I went to Mansflei

At my church yesterday we had  a quilt show which was a nice little show. We were able to raise a bit of money for the Susan G. Komen "For the Cure". There was a total of 59 quilts, which included the challenge quilts called "It's Raining Cats and Dogs" #3 won 1 st ,   #1 won 2 nd   and #2 won 3 rd in viewer choice. and the display of Sister in Scripture Quilts. We had 8 quilts total. Here are a few of quilts that were displayed in the show. Barbara Davis made this quilt many years ago her daughter said. We lost Barbara this year. I love this block, I looked it up and did not fine the exact block in BB Encyclopedia but it could be a variation of the block Peaceful Hour. I just going to have to try to draft this one up. Shirley Cowen made this quilt, it was a BOM from Sager Creek Quilt Shop . I have started this one also and it is now on my PH-D list. She did an excellent job on hers. Another one by Shi

Oh Fall Time, gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling. The leaves are just now starting to turn. Just do not know what kind of color we are going to have here. Been pretty dry. So as I was taking my walk this morning and I was thinking about what this winter is going to be like. For the past two years here, winter has been so unusual, we have had a blizzard each winter and the ice has been horrid. So that made me think of all the different predictors out there. There is the  National Weather Service    which will give the latest scientific predictions. Then there is the Farmers Almanac  which also has their own, plus you can search their site and find folklore predictors also. Like the Woolly Bear , (aka woolly worm), here in North America it is said that you can predict the winter by the thickness of the band around their middle. The Woolly Bear is black on both ends with a brown or orange band in the middle. Now if the band is wide we'll have a mild winter but if the band

This past week I have been feeling like I have too many irons in the fire. Normally I can manage all that is needed around the farm and in the house but not lately. I just can't seem to concentrate and I am going around in circles, so needless to say I haven't gotten much sewing done. All I was able to get accomplished these past 2 weeks were 5 blocks. So this makes a total of 30 blocks and I think I might need a few more than that. I had written to Michele, a distracted quilter at Distracted Quilter  that I was going to make mine bed size. Boy I'm starting to think I might of been having an out of mind experience. They have a word for that and I think it's called   menopause. This one is what "the man of the place" has to deal with at times. I just thought this was a cute one  And this one is just too funny Till next time, Kat =^..^=

Now I knew about baking cakes and bread in canning jars but I just hadn't heard about pies. When doing a google search I found an entry as early as 2007. Well on Martha yesterday she had the author of "Cutie Pies" on to make a couple of her recipes from her book. So I just had to try this, you see that is one thing I have a good quantity of, canning jars.  I did not bake her recipe because it did not sound like something I might like and I wasn't doing to make a special trip to town just to get stuff for a pie. So I dug through my pantry and found some cherry pie filling, so it's cherry pies tonight. Now this is "the man of the place" favorite pie and I can't wait to see his expression when he is served one of these. Plus one apple for me. That's the first picture. From what I could find out you can use any pie recipe you have. You will need the wide mouth 1/2 pint canning jars And your pie crust recipe or you could just get the s

I have been for the past few months knitting dishrags off and on. Now I have been trying out new patterns  and have found ones I like and a couple that I did not. These are some dishrags I have made from a pattern I have been knitting for a long time. They are very easy to make and are quicker than most. I was at an event where someone had a booth selling handmade items and she had these dishrags. I could not believe how much she was selling them for, only 1 dollar. That might be what the yarn might of cost but she did not take into account her labor. I thought it was too cheap. I did not buy any because I have so much of that yarn I need to use up, but it would of save me some time. Here is the pattern for these dishrags; Cotton yarn (Sugar and Spice) and size 9 needles Cast on 4 stitches 1st row; K2, yo, K2 Next row; K2, yo, Knit rest of stitches.  You will do this row each time and will be increasing. Increase until you have 50 stitches Now K1, K2 tog, yo, K2 tog, k re

I saw the neatest trick on the Martha Stewart Show this past week. Now I don't know about you but I enjoy watching her show, I always learn something. Now I admit there are some things I can not afford or even consider trying, just doesn't fix into my lifestyle. And years ago  that would of been a majority of her show but now it seems her focus is more natural, organic, affordable and just practical. This is one of those practical things. I'm showing you with one tomato but when my tomatoes finally ripen, I'm going to use this technique for making my tomato sauce. It's a way of skinning your tomato without having to go through the blanching process.  You'll clean and put your tomato(s) in the freezer Now I'm showing with one so I put in a bowl but when I'll do more I'll put them on a cookie sheet. Once frozen, put out on the counter and start letting it thaw. Once you can tell that the outside of the tomato is thawed (about 45m