Little Lambs

I held off posting for awhile thinking that these little bundles of joy were going to arrive in time for Easter.  They ended up being 7 days late.  Of course, they waited until I started a 44 hour week at work to make their appearance!  Anyways... Farmerboy called me at 9:10 pm  on April 7th to let me know that his ewe Lego had given birth to twin girls.  Thankfully, there were no complications. 

 

Lego is such a kind and gentle soul and a wonderful Mom. :) 

 

 

Let Farmerboy proudly introduce you to Leah... a jet black little sweetie

 and her sister Lucy... She is sporting white on her inner ears and muzzle.

Leah is a little escape artist already... extremely curious.  The pen had to be lamb proofed for fear she would sneak in with her father who lives to head butt everything.  Her favorite hangout is the grain bin.  Of course, Lucy is never far from her sister.  They are both getting plenty of attention from their Mom and their caretakers!

Farmerboy is guessing that they will mellow into a grey color as they age.  We are still awaiting Ariel's baby or babies.  I pray that everything goes as smooth as these little one's arrivals. :)

Gavilon Grain

As of last year, Gavilon Grain has become a part of out neighboring town.  They created a railroad spur and built some really big bins for housing corn, beans, and grain.  It was a pleasure to witness a little history in the making as the bins were formed in a continuous pour that kept a special team of workers and most of the local cement trucks working around the clock for about a week straight.  You could watch the side walls of the bins gain height by the hour.  It was an amazing site, and I wish that I would have had more time to take photos of the event!

Here is one of the few pics that I got as they were finishing up the second set of bins.  On the top of the left bin there was a make shift platform that rose with the sidewalls.  It had a break room and bathrooms located on it for the workers to rest during their long shifts.  There was also a catwalk suspended from that level where workers (with apparently no fear of heights) finished off the side walls...

Not only was this an interesting small town happening, but this brought a handful of much needed jobs to our area.  During the Spring while this facility was under construction, Farmerboy was getting ready to graduate from college with a degree in Business Ag.  He still hadn't decided what type of job to apply for.  Mr. Hollow talked him into applying to Gavilon.  It seemed a perfect fit.   My son has been a train NUT since he was two years old and has always been obsessed with ANYTHING farm related.  Oddly enough, the kid was skeptical whether he would like it or not... Try and figure that one out! ;)

Well... here we sit a year later.  My son has been employed by Gavilon since August.  With Ag it can sometimes be a hectic schedule, but I can tell he likes his job and in these times that is truly a blessing!  He has an office that he works out of located between the center of the bins where he runs the computers to load train cars.   Granted it is not always trains and loading...  Some days are general maintenance and receiving, but I thank the heavens that he got a job in the field that he loves and in the local area that he wants to stay living in.

It seems a lifetime ago when this kid discovered  "Thomas the Tank Engine" on PBS.  It was 1991 to be exact.  Who would  have thought that at 22 years old my son would be given the opportunity to drive his first train in order to shuttle and load cars.

Some dreams really do come true... :)

Old Pipe Wrench or Grasshopper ?

Have I ever told you that my son loves to weld?  He is actually very good at it.  The talent comes in handy with all of the old farm equipment that he collects. ;)  Lately, his welding has taken on an artistic twist.  My Farmerboy is churning out grasshoppers... swarms of them.  These "recycled hoppers" are made from old pipe wrenches that he purchased at a local auction last year.  The John Deere colored one in the center is for Farmergirl's Grandpa's birthday.  My son made one for him last year, but apparently Grandma confiscated it as a decoration for inside the house! :)  

I never know what I'll find crawling around my house, when I get home from work! LOL



Sister's Choice Quilt ~ Progress

A quick update on the progress of my "Sister's Choice" quilt...

I finished all of my blocks and jumped into the task of choosing where they would all fit in the main design.  My method should have been easy --only requiring a few color rearrangements.   But as with all great plans a little error can be expected, and I apparently skipped one side of an outer row, which required me to take a little bit longer completing my task. :(  Well that and a little black furry critter kept making a nuisance of herself! ;) 

Finally, all blocks were in place.  I did a few adjustments on color and picked up my rows.  They are in the process of being sewn together.  It is so exciting to be working on my first full size quilt! :) 

127 Yard Sale Finds of 2012 ~ Part 2

Here are a few of my other finds from the 127 Yard Sale of 2012.  I found this forgotten post in my drafts...Ooops!  It is a great pick-me-up as I write this, look out the window, and am blinded by the remnants of our last snow!  Aaah, Spring is right around the corner. :)

Here are a few cookie cutters that I purchased.  The flags, hatchet and drums will be new shapes to my collection.  The black cat was just too darn cute to leave behind and will join a few identical friends ! ;)

I just cannot pass up these old industrial lights... especially for 5 dollars!   (Due to losing whole days to rain, lots of the venders were making fantastic deals. Thankfully, the showers were always a day ahead of us!)  Mr. Hollow spotted this light on the ground as we were leaving one of the larger flea markets on our travels. 

I couldn't resist this newly made dough trencher from Albany, KY.  The grain in the Buckeye is just wonderful. There was a smaller version with the strongest black in the grain... absolutely spectacular!  But it was quite a bit smaller; although, it did have a huge knot in the wood-- giving it loads of character.  Hmmm... I am feeling just a little regret for not bringing that one home, too. :( 

On its arrival back to Illinois, the bowl was treated with mineral oil.  The grain jumped out immediately.   The grain makes the piece so unique!   

** Note** At one of our motel stays, there was another gentleman that made some HUGE trenchers.  If only I could've thought of a place to display one.  Maybe this year! ;) 

You all know that I love my old spools.  These two big guys came into my home with four friends. :) 





I just fell in love with these bobbins.  On day one of our trip, I bought some of these from a gentleman that had tables FULL of various wooden spools and bobbins.  He was cutting some tremendous deals.  Later down the road, another gentleman had some with great patina, so they entered the grouping as well!

It is so nice to sit here today and reflect on that trip. We had such a wonderful time... with so much to see!   I am really looking forward to this year's adventures! :)

Baa Baa Black Sheep...

Have you any wool?  Yes sir, yes sir...

Three

Bags



Full!

Yep, it is sheep shearing time in The Hollow.  I am now in possession of three large garbage bags that each contain a warm woolly fleece.  My research into the new adventure of processing wool is still in progress.  I am in no hurry, since the fleeces need to be cleaned and that will be an outdoor activity.  So... these bags will be stored until Springtime makes its way to Illinois! :) 

Sister's Choice Quilt in Progress

Last week, my time was spent designing the layout and cutting the pieces for my Sister's Choice Quilt. The quilt is being constructed with fabrics that I have on hand.  Although it will not be as wonderfully scrappy as Bonnie Hunter's (Quiltville) original design (here),  I am pretty confident that there will be plenty of fabric patterns incorporated in the design to keep the eye wandering.   

My original thought was to keep with Bonnie's design and mix up the fabrics on the outside border, but a loose sense of continuity won out due to the lack of stash colors.   I also decided to have a red/burgundy theme in each of the nine patch center squares.  This lead me to create basically 4 color patterns in the final blocks.  Two of the basic four blocks will have the 5 cross red/burgundy squares in the center.  Of those two sets, one stack will be bordered with white corners and tan sides, and the other will have tan corners and white sides (not pictured).

The red/burgundy squares will be in the center four configuration for the third and fourth stacks.  They will also be divided with one of the piles having tan sides and white corners (not pictured), and the other group having white sides and tan corners. 

Bonnie's quilt looks so beautiful.  I hope there is enough character in my pattern choices to make it pleasing to the eye.  Time will definitely answer that question for me! ;)