The Answer!

You all had very good guesses of what Leah's item is! :) Yes, it is indeed a part of the harness (or more specifically, of the collar) for mules or horses. It is made of two different pieces and each one is called a 'hame' (neither Leah or I knew the correct name of them until she had looked online and found it. :) And this is what hames look like when joined with a collar . . .

A collar and hames that my parents have

And then here is what it looks like in use . . .

Can you see it around the horse's neck? (If you would like, you can click on the photo to see a larger version of it.)

As an interesting little bit of information - the above photo is from our collection of family history photos, but unfortunately the person in the photo is unidentified so we do not know if it is a relative of ours, a friend of the family, or just a photo of someone who is in no way connected with our family . . . but it is still a very neat photo nonetheless!

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For those of you who asked what I am planning to do with the buck saw . . . well . . . it's highly unlikely that I will use it for its intended purpose. ;) For now it will be used as a decor piece, though I'm not quite sure where yet! I/we really like the look of antiques and 'old-timey' things, and it's fun to try to come up with creative ways to display and/or use them. Another thing I enjoy using the antiques for is history 'lessons' with the children we know - whenever they come to visit, they always enjoy seeing the antiques, finding out how they work, and things along those lines. It makes for some fun times, and it's educational for them as well! So for now, that will be the future of the buck saw. :)

Our Parents Know Us Well

Not many parents go on a date to an antique store and then so thoughtfully surprise their daughters by returning with treasures such as these ones for them . . .



They know just what types of things we like, and we were thrilled with them!! Mine is pretty self-explanatory (a saw :) . . . though it's more accurately called a 'Buck Saw.' Leah's, though, is a bit different of an item . . . any guesses what it might be? Guess away, and then I'll share what it is in a later post. :)

The little details are often so interesting and add character as well . . . like this saw having little leather pieces between where the wood braces join the handles as well as pieces of leather between the metal loops and the wood at the top (for the record, I don't know the correct names of all the different pieces!)

One of the buckles on Leah's item . . . the leather is still quite pliable!

After hearing Dad and Mom describe the antique store to us and also some of the different items that were there (we've never been there before and this was our parents' first time there), Leah and I are now very much looking forward to when we can go there with them! (which will likely be not too far in the future. :) I just love going to places like this and seeing everything, reading labels on items, and maybe, just maybe, finding a treasure to bring home!

By Request . . . Recipes

Here are the recipes that were requested . . . hope you enjoy them! :)


Herbed Oatmeal Pan Bread

-1-1/2 cups boiling water
-1 cup old-fashioned oats
-2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
-1/2 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
-1/4 cup sugar
-3 tablespoons butter, softened
-2 teaspoons salt
-1 egg, lightly beaten
-4 to 4-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

TOPPING:

-1/4 cup butter, melted, divided
-2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
-1 teaspoon dried basil
-1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

In a small bowl, combine boiling water and oats; cool to 110°-115°. In a bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar, butter, salt, egg, oat mixture and 2 cups of flour; beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. Punch dough down and press evenly into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. With a very sharp knife, cut diagonal lines 1-1/2 in. apart completely through dough (a pizza cutter works well. :) Repeat in opposite direction, creating a diamond patter. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Redefine pattern by gently poking along cut lines with a knife tip. Brush with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine Parmesan cheese, basil, oregano and garlic powder. Brush bread with remaining butter; sprinkle with cheese mixture. Bake for 5 minutes. Loosely cover with foil and bake 5 minutes longer. Serve warm. Yield: 8-10 servings.

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Slow-Cooker Vegetable Soup

*we didn't follow this recipe exactly, but added extra of the some of the spices, all the vegetables, etc.; we also used a 5-qt. crock pot.

-1 pound boneless round steak, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
-1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
-3 cups water
-2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
-2 medium onions, diced
-3 celery ribs, sliced
-2 carrots, sliced
-3 beef bouillon cubes
-1/2 teaspoon dried basil
-1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/4 teaspoon pepper
-1-1/2 cups frozen mixed vegetables

In a 3-qt. slow cooker, combine the first 12 ingredients. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours. Add vegetables; cover and cook on high 2 hours longer or until the meat and vegetables are tender. Yield: 8-10 servings (about 2-1/2 quarts).

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Parmesan Rolls

-2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
-1/2 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
-1 cup warm milk (110° to 115°)
-1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
-1/3 cup butter, melted
-3 tablespoons sugar
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 cup cornmeal
-2 eggs
-4-1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour

TOPPING:

-1/4 cup butter, melted
-1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add milk, Parmesan cheese, butter, sugar, salt, cornmeal and eggs; mix well. Add 3 cups of flour and beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Shape into 24 ovals; dip each into melted butter and Parmesan cheese. Place on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to cool on wire racks. Yield: 2 dozen.

Sewing, Crocheting and Ironing

It was a full afternoon the last time that we met with the girls! Our time together began with the girls writing down the recipe for the oatmeal cookies that we had made a previous week, and then we started sewing on the potpourri sachets. The step that we are working on now with the sachets is sewing up the side seams, and the girls who had already finished their side seams, began crocheting dishcloths. When all of the girls are once again at the same point with the sachets, the crochet projects will be set aside and everyone will work on step two on the sachets. So far this arrangement has been working out well!

Leah having an enjoyable moment with the girls while helping one of them get a knot out of her thread

We had tried to teach crochet a few years ago (back when we had around ten girls), and as far as we were able to get with them was the beginning chain. We then had to retire teaching crochet as it was a little too much to try to teach this skill to so many girls at once, especially since several of the girls were having difficulty grasping the concept. But we kept looking for opportunities and trying to figure out a way that we could eventually teach crochet again. And now the opportunity has presented itself!

With the arrangement that we currently have, we've been able to work with one girl at a time on crochet since they are finishing the side seams on their bags all at different times (it also helps that our group is smaller now.) Having this time to work with them individually has not only been enjoyable and fun, but it has also made it easier for them to learn how to crochet. So far three girls have begun dishcloths, and they are doing so well!

Enjoying time together while teaching and learning crochet

Working into the chain for the first time - she did a wonderful job!

Once I had the 'crochet girls' to the point that they could work for awhile on their own, I took one girl out at a time to do ironing with them. Meanwhile, Leah helped the girls who were sewing and gave assistance to those who were crocheting when/if they needed it. We've done ironing of simple items before with the girls, but this time they ironed men's long-sleeve shirts - not the easiest thing to iron! They did a good job with them though, and I had a pleasant time visiting one-on-one with them while they worked.

Cheerfully ironing away

Our time together went by so quickly, and a lot of progress was made on everyone's projects! And in addition to all of that, we at one point gathered in the living room for prayer and for reviewing/discussing one of our recent lessons. It was a lesson that at the time it was originally taught, it seemed to make quite an impact on a number of the girls. Because of that, Leah and I felt led to go over it once again, bringing in some new thoughts, clarifying a few things, and providing opportunity once again for the girls to ask questions. This time of teaching, discussion and sharing was a wonderful one!

And by the time we brought it to a close, it was time to say our goodbyes. After the last girl had left, Leah and I turned to each other with thankful hearts and smiles on our faces and said something about how well everything had gone! It has been so encouraging to see the progress that is being made in our relationships with the girls and also the significant growth that we are seeing in several of their lives. How thankful we are that the Lord has blessed us with this opportunity to know and spend time with these special girls!

Recipe Binders

Quite a few years ago, I put together a recipe binder that was filled with our favorite recipes, and over the years, recipes have been added, notes were scribbled on pages, and the front sleeve was filled to overflowing with miscellaneous papers, recipes lists, and the like - a little disorganized! Recently, Leah began making a binder for herself which inspired me to work on reorganizing mine, as well as to add some new favorite recipes to it.


This was a fun project to work on together! Going through the cookbooks and finding recipes, sitting at the computers together typing them up, putting the recipes in our binders and then finally, making cover pages for the binders. That was the most fun part! Leah is so creative and not only did she make a cover for hers, she also helped me finish mine. (Thank you, Leah! :)

Leah's finished binder

My recipe binder

And as Leah said after finishing her binder . . . cooking and baking seem more fun now! :) And the kitchen has been busy! But not just because of the new binders. :) This past week has been one of Leah's and my cooking weeks, and we've been having fun doing some experimenting and trying of either new recipes or ones that we have not had for a long time . . .

Slow-cooker Vegetable Beef Soup

Parmesan Rolls

It is so nice to have all of our recipes compiled into one location (or I should say, two :), and menu planning will be easier now with Leah having her own binder and with having mine organized again as well.


So that's a project that we had both been working on a bit at a time over the past several weeks! And now we've been having fun going through our other cookbooks to find new recipes to try. As I type, I can smell the delicious smell of baking rolls . . . Herbed Oatmeal Pan Rolls . . . a new recipe that Leah is making to go with our meal tonight. There is nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread filling the air!

A Weekend with Friends

A photo of one of the farms that we passed on our trip this weekend

It has been a little while since I last posted, and a lot has been happening during that time. Sewing filled quite a few hours last week; on Friday, Leah and I had an enjoyable time together in the kitchen baking pies; and then Saturday our family left to spend the weekend with some dear friends of ours. And what a special and enjoyable weekend it was! Though it went by way too fast!! And sadly, once again, I forgot to take many photos at all . . . there was just so much else going on that I rarely thought of it! But here are a few that were taken by either my Mom or I that give a tiny glimpse into our wonderfully full weekend . . .

Working in the kitchen

Some of the guys played ping pong together (above) while we girls played music (below)

It was so nice to be able to play together again! (And even though we look rather serious in this photo, we were having a wonderful time! :)

Having fun doing dishes together

Preparing the Sunday afternoon meal

From the many, many wonderful conversations, to playing games (Uno and Dutch Blitz), to taking a walk outdoors (it was so nice on Saturday with the temperature in the 50's!), to the encouraging fellowship, to the special Sunday morning of singing and studying the Lord's Word together, and much, much more . . . what a great blessing it was to us to be able to spend this time with friends and like-minded believers!

And if you all see this post, thank you so much for the special and enjoyable weekend!!!

Brother and Sister Time

One day last week, I joined Ryan on one of his evenings working out at his place. It was after the cold spell that we had had and the temperature was up around 40 degrees, though it sure looked cold with the heavy gray skies and remnants of snow and ice . . .

Heading down into the river bottoms . . . at one point along here, a large flock of snow geese flew over. I really like their call and it had been awhile since I heard it so I rolled down the window (briefly :) and enjoyed listening to them as they flew fairly low right over us.

One of the creeks we drive over - the ice is slowly melting!

One of the many large snow drifts along the highway

Ryan's place

Once we arrived at his place, we drove part way down the driveway, but then had to walk from there to the house since the ground was too sloppy to drive on. The only thing is, there was a lot of wet snow on the ground between the truck and his house, and a certain someone had unintentionally left her snowboots at home and was only wearing tennis shoes. And the thought of having wet feet for the rest of the evening was not especially appealing! Ryan, however, solved the 'dilemma' by going first, and I just followed in his footsteps. :)

When we got to his house, we turned on the lights, started up the heater, plugged in the CD player we had brought along, put in some southern gospel music, and then got to work . . .

Ryan working on putting in things that I cannot remember the name of. :)

While Ryan worked on that, I swept and swept and swept some more. After all the of drilling for wiring, sawing of boards and other such things, there was an abundance of wood chips, sawdust and dirt all over the place. So most of my evening was spent sweeping while going room by room moving things, organizing, stacking boards, etc.

All nice and clean

Ryan also did some wiring which he let me help with which was fun to do. So not only did we have an enjoyable evening together, but progress was able to be made on his house as well!

A Change of Plans

As mentioned in an earlier post, I had planned to start caning one of our chairs soon, and one day last week I got everything set up for it and started working on the chair by first removing the old seat . . .


Once the old cane was off, though, a discovery was made . . .


Underneath the old seat was a significant crack that goes all the way through the wood, right along the holes, about 3/4 of the way up; and with a crack like that, it's not possible to cane the chair unless it is fixed. After looking at it with my Dad, we think that we figured out a way that we might be able to repair it, and I hope that it works!

One other discovery that was made, and this was an exciting one :), was a signature underneath of the chair . . .


Even after being refinished (which my Mom did when she was a teenager) some of the signature still remained! And it had gone unnoticed until now. As the signature goes underneath the front piece of decorative wood, I'm guessing that it is the signature of the maker of the chair (and the chair is over a hundred years old - we're thinking at least 120.) I was quite excited upon finding it and have been trying to decipher what it says . . . so far I haven't been able to figure it out for certain, but there does appear to also be part of an address and something else underneath the signature, but the words are either too faint (or missing all together) for me to tell what it is. Sadly, it will probably forever remain a mystery!

After all this took place, we started wondering what the chair that Leah was going to re-cane looked like underneath the caning. So we pulled that one out too and Leah took the seat off of it. Thankfully, that one is fine!


So it doesn't look like I'll be doing any caning any time soon as I'll have to wait until we have time to fix the chair. I was able to start on another handwork project, though, which has been fun . . .

Almost finished . . .

We had found some old-fashioned iron-on transfers awhile back, and then my Mom had gotten us some tea towels to embroider them on. With them, Leah and I are each planning on doing a 'days of the week' set. It had been awhile since I had done embroidery, and I had forgotten how much I enjoy it!

A Wonderful Afternoon

After a significant cold spell here in Missouri, the temperatures have been warming up this week and yesterday it got up to 46 degrees . . . a whole 60 degrees warmer than what it was Sunday morning! (It was -16 with a -31 wind chill then.) It was so beautiful outside!! Leah and I spent part of the afternoon enjoying the warmer temperatures (without needing coats, gloves, etc. :), and playing with our dogs in the snow. What a very fun time we had!

Leah and Mandy

Lassie and Me

Mandy and Lassie . . . there must have been something 'interesting' under the snow as both were smelling and pushing their muzzles through the snow like crazy at this spot.

This was the start of some fun . . . wanting to play with Lassie, I made a snowball and pushed a piece of dog food into it with the thought that I would throw the snowball and then she'd chase after it and find the dog food piece (we've done things like that before.) Only thing is, she got so excited she didn't want to wait!

Anyone who knows Lassie will know that she is one of the most laid back, unexcitable dogs there is, but yesterday, she was bouncing around like a puppy (not like her eleven years of age!), and it was so fun watching her! But unfortunately, her retrieving skills are quite lacking ;), and Mandy found the snowball and treat first . . .

Finding the dog food (I gave a piece to Lassie, too :)

After playing, Lassie headed over to a place underneath one of the trees where the snow had all melted and did one of her favorite things . . . roll . . . and this is what she came up looking like! Somebody needs a face cleaning I think . . . :)

Mandy on a mission

Leah and Mandy
At this point of our time outside, Mandy must have been feeling rather unphotogenic and was being quite entertaining in her attempts to not do what Leah wanted her to do! From not looking over at me (purposefully!), to having the most pitiful expressions on her face, to trying to lay down and roll over instead of sitting up . . . but we still managed to get a decent photo. :)

And then she could lay down. :)

Lassie and I walking down our driveway

Lots of Yarn and Many Hours Later . . .

. . . and all eight strips for the afghan were finished, and it was time to weave them together . . .

I worked on this over the weekend and then this morning, the last strip was attached, the rest of the yarn ends were woven in, and the end result was . . .


A completed afghan! So that's one of my wintertime projects that is finished, and now it is on to another . . .


This one is to re-cane another of our chairs that have been passed down through our family. The chairs are over a 100 years old, and their seats have worn out over time. So far two have been re-caned, and there are two more left to go. I'm looking forward to getting started on this one! (which I hope to do this week. :)

And as a little update . . . back when I baked and pureed some of our winter squash, I mentioned that I was going to try to use the squash puree in place of pumpkin in our pumpkin butter and pie recipes. Well, I tried this several weeks ago (but forgot to post about it!), and . . . both were a success! Now if the seeds that I saved from the squash will just grow and produce this coming gardening season . . . :)

A squash pie that Leah and I had an enjoyable time making together this morning.

After the Storm

This past Wednesday, we had a winter storm come through here, and it left in its wake beautiful snow and also quite cold temperatures. The windchills have ranged from -2 to -16 with highs in the single digits to low teens. And . . . it's going to be even colder over the next few days. If this is global warming, I sure would hate to see what global cooling is! :)


As is usual after a new snowfall, I took a walk Thursday morning and had an enjoyable time photographing for a bit. Before that, though, the animals needed to be taken care of . . .

The dogs patiently waiting

The chicken coop before the chores were done - thus why the snow is still fresh on the steps. :)

Once the animals were fed and had fresh, warm water in their waterers, then I went for the walk . . .

Looking out across our neighbor's pasture with one of the few remaining wooden fence posts in the foreground.

Snow covered Mugo Pine

Once green and blooming, now all that remains of the summertime Queen Anne's Lace are their dead and shriveled flower heads . . . yet they fit well with the wintertime scene with the snow on them.

Someone, or I should say, something, was here before me :) . . . it's always fun after a snow to see all of the animal tracks! These particular ones were deer.

Snow caught in the bark of a shagbark hickory tree

Looking down part of our driveway

It isn't quite as pretty out now as the strong winds have blown much of the snow out of the trees. One thing that's nice, though, is that with the wind, it doesn't take long for our footprints to be covered so it almost has the feel of having a fresh snowfall each time we go outdoors!

And now I'm off to once again head outside to take care of the animals . . . :)

A Girls Group Update

Since I haven't been blogging as much lately, I haven't been able to do as many girls group posts, but we still have been meeting with the girls when sickness and such didn't prevent it. And we have been having some wonderful times together, too! Here are some snapshots of a few of our afternoons together as well as a glimpse into what some of the lessons were about . . .

Cinnamon Bread
(this was a two week project)

Measuring out the milk

Sisters enjoying time together while working on the bread

Mixing

Stirring in the remaining flour . . . not always the easiest task, but they sure had fun! :)

Kneading

Spreading on the cinnamon and sugar mixture before rolling up the dough, letting it rise again, and then baking it.

During the weeks when we made the bread, we studied and discussed the below two topics together (the verses are a sampling of ones that we looked at) . . .

~Respectfulness~

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;” Romans 12:1


~Working with our hands in delight~

“She looks for wool and flax and works with her hands in delight.” Proverbs 31:13

Delight is: 1. A high degree of pleasure, or satisfaction of mind; joy. 2. That which gives great pleasure; that which affords delight. Delight is a more permanent pleasure than joy, and not dependent on sudden excitement.


Making Recipe Cards

In the kitchen again making . . . Snickerdoodles! (one of the girl's favorites. :)

Stopping for smiles while stirring together the dry ingredients

Cleaning out the beaters after mixing the dough

Creative (and fun!) kitchen art by one of the girls. :)

Rolling the cookie dough into balls

Coating them with the cinnamon and sugar mixture before baking

The Button Game
(when there's extra time, we will occasionally play this game with the girls - it is always a highlight for them!)

Who has the button?

"Do you have it?"

During the week that we made the Snickerdoodles, our lesson was an in-depth one and one that we discussed for quite some time together. Here is the basic lesson plan that Leah and I had put together for it . . .

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--We’ve been learning about how to follow Christ and be obedient to Him, but sometimes discouragement and/or temptation comes . . . someone might say “you don’t really have to obey your parents”; “it’s all right to lie just this once”; “God didn’t really mean that . . .”; and things like that. Or maybe you yourself are thinking those thoughts . . . so how should we respond to these?

“but sanctify Christ as Lord in you hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;” 1 Peter 3:15

--It is important for us to know why we do what we do; why do we obey our parents? why don’t we tell lies? why do we not do such and such activity? or even, why do we believe the Bible and believe in God? etc.

--When others ask us (or if we have doubts in our own minds), then we can either find the answer or already know and have an answer from Scripture for them.

--Let’s look at an account in Scripture that parallels this:

--Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7a (these verses cover the fall of man and the deception of Satan with Eve. She fell for his lies and his distortion of what God had said.)

--Consequences resulting from this: death, sin, suffering, separation from God, etc. There will always be consequences for sin – they may not occur right away, but they will eventually come.

“But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3)

--So how do we prepare to have answers to questions such as these? Studying Scripture; Scripture is God’s word to us, and God always speaks the truth and desires the best for us.

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So in a very small nutshell, that was our lesson for that week. From the responses that we received from the girls, we believe that it was one that they needed to hear. It is amazing to see how the Lord guides and directs with things like this!

And there you have a glimpse into some of our times with the girls recently! :)

A New Year

Today marks the first day of a new year . . . a year that holds within it many new things to be discovered and learned and to be experienced. It always is exciting to me to begin a new year for it seems to be turning a page in a book, and so many things lie on the new page to be discovered and learned.

A year ago today the above is how the first blog post of 2009 began, and now a year later and looking back over this past year, I am thankful to the Lord for all that was written on the pages of 2009. What a year it was! Blessings, growth, challenges, times of rejoicing, times of weeping, times of joy, times of difficulty, lots of travel :), meeting new friends, spending time with those we've known for a long time, growing closer together as a family, learning new things (like how to build a house! :), and much more . . . and through it all, the Lord guided, directed, comforted and blessed.

And now another year lies ahead of us, and my thoughts are much the same as what was written last year . . . it is exciting to be beginning on a new 'page' in this 'book' called life, to start afresh a new year. And as always, I wonder what all this new year will hold? It will be exciting to see how the Lord leads and directs our family during this time!

Before I bring this to a close, this past Sunday a passage of Scripture was taught on which seems fitting to share here. It is a passage that is one of my favorites and never fails to convict my heart whenever I read it . . .

“Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, and not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” Colossians 3:1-4

May that ever be our heart’s desire and goal each and every day no matter what valleys or mountains the Lord should lead us through!

And to close, thank you all so much for all of the comments, e-mails and letters that were shared and sent my way this past year. Each and every one was appreciated and enjoyed! It has been a great blessing to me to be able to get to know each one of you. May this next year be a time of blessing and growth for you, and may the Lord guide and direct your steps as you seek to walk in His ways!

Garden Planning

Back in October or November, the first seed catalogs began arriving in our mailbox and since then, they have started to arrive more regularly. After a brief look-through, each one was put in my basket of magazines and catalogs to await being used at a later date. Well, this past week, our box of seeds leftover from last year, last year's gardening and canning records, a notebook and pen, and all of those catalogs were pulled out and the 2010 gardening season planning was begun. I so enjoy this aspect of gardening! Looking through the seed catalogs, reading descriptions, finding new varieties to try, and much more . . .


Besides things like productivity, taste and disease resistance, this year I am also looking for varieties that I can try to save seeds from (thus, seeds that are not hybrids.) This has been fun to do! Also price comparison has been fun as well, with looking at the different companies, quantities of seed, etc.


We don't really have a good place where we can start seeds indoors (though I might try some anyway :), so it will probably be quite awhile before any gardening actually begins, but at least once it is time, everything will be planned out and the seeds will have already been ordered and will be ready and waiting!

Quilt Progress

The other day Leah had the opportunity to lay out and arrange her quilt blocks . . .


This is always a fun step, and we had an enjoyable time in the sewing room together while she worked on it! And when it was all said and done, and the last block was arranged just to her liking, the result was this . . .


She is now looking forward to sewing the blocks together! (Which will likely begin within the next few days. :)