I have been neglectful of my blog.  Lots going on.  My family just returned from a trip to Breckenridge, CO.  We try to go there every year and have been taking our granddaughters with us the last few years.  They love it as much as we do.

I have been making a concerted effort to get more serious with my watercolor painting.  I have been doing some paintings from vacation photos and just recently started a series of paintings of local landmarks, buildings and statues.  I joined the Iowa Watercolor Society and have had one of my paintings accepted into their upcoming show.  Winners won't be announced until later in August.  A friend and I went to Perry to see all of the other accepted entries.  There is so much talent in Iowa.  I am just thrilled to have my work among them, especially after seeing the exhibit.  My friend took this photo of me with my painting "The Visitor".  It is from a photo I took while in Venice last year.

I have also been doing some stitching.  Pamela at Kitty and Me Designs had a contest for the 2017 crazy quilt calendar which she publishes along with her quarterly crazy quilt magazine.  Her theme was a secret garden.  I love 'glampers' and the idea came to me instantly.  I was late getting started so I stitched for hours everyday for about three weeks to get my idea made into a finished block.  It was time well spent because I ended up winning the cover spot!  I am familiar with several of the fabric artists that will be included in the calendar so I am really looking forward to seeing their creations!  The calendars should be available to order soon.  Check out Pam's blog to find out how to order one and how to get her magazines as well.  Her site is http://kittyandmedesigns.blogspot.com.  While there you can also be inspired by her beautiful work and find information for the next contest for the 2018 calendar.

Another project I have taken on this year is learning Traditional Quilting by doing a series of blocks through a class by Kathy Shaw.  Her classes which also include crazy quilting are wonderful and very clear and precise...and free!  New to quilting or experienced I am sure you will learn from her.

These are three of my blocks.  Each gets more difficult.

This is the last one I completed.  I have two more to go.

We are still working at growing our organic Aronia Berries.  We met with the organic inspector this morning as part of the process to get certified organic.  We should have had berries two years ago but a tornado and heavy hail at the farm left our bushes as mere stems.  They have come back but it set us back a couple of years.  We should have some berries this year finally, after five years growth.  It has really been a struggle.  We now have Japanese Beetles that quickly devour the leaves.  There are products that will get rid of them, but the organic spray we have to use takes continuous applications and is pretty costly.  Our eyes have been opened as to why "organic" is expensive.

This shows some of the damage from the beetles

Damaged leaves but they seem to leave the berries alone

Here is one of the pests.  They are usually in large clusters and work quickly.

Many of the berries are already turning.

I parked the truck in the shade, looked up and found a mulberry tree!  Yay!

Ragbrai, a bicycle ride across Iowa, begins July 24.  We will have bicyclists from Chicago and Wisconsin staying with us the night before the ride begins.  It starts in Glenwood, just a few miles south of us, this year.  We will meet our friends down there.  My husband and his friend will ride the entire week.  I have decided not to ride this year as I have not been training and since it will be a really hilly ride I would be struggling.  I may take my bicycle along an maybe ride a day or a couple half days.  I'm just wavering on this.  We will be spending two nights with my old college roommate and I am excited to get to see her and visit since it has been quite some time, several years in fact, since the last time we were together.

I have been rambling on!  First there is no word from me and now I can't seem to shut up.  Lol.  Hope you are all enjoying your summer!

I'm Still Here - Updating

For those of you who may have noticed, I have been very delinquent with regards to posting...and about everything else.  I'm not sure where the time has gone.

I have managed to do some creative indulging but just haven't had a chance to photograph and post it until now.  I have a few lot of UFO's that have been calling out to me.  Here are a couple of my beaded necklaces recently completed...

This is a design I created.  There are a couple of changes I would make were I to redo this piece.  Of course I can't find the inspiration right now.  Maybe someday I will be organized so everything is at my fingertips.  The inspiration was a beautiful antique rendering of a Victorian style necklace.  It was quite different from this (much more refined) but with the same feel to it.  Below is a closeup. 

This next necklace is a color combination I really like - copper/brown and turquoise blue.

I started the base according to the instructions for the necklace pictured below.  Determined to use up what I have I 'tweaked' the completion of the necklace.

What else have I been doing.  Hmm.  

I have been stitching my CQJP 2013 blocks but need to see where I was on posting those and also photograph them.

I've been training for Ragbrai (Register's annual great bicycle ride across Iowa) and also participated.  It is the largest organized bicycle ride in the world with about 15,000 registered riders participating.  The ride this year was one of the easiest going only 400 plus miles.  The weather was fantastic, the wind at our backs and very pleasant.  It started in our hometown of Council Bluffs this year, so we had some people from Wisconsin and from Illinois stay with us the night before.  I wasn't able to finish as I took a turn too sharply, my foot was stuck in the cleats/pedal and I went down at the end of Thursday's ride.  I landed on my ribs and they were pretty painful for a few days.  I also put a dent in my helmet.  Always wear a helmet!  I have had more than enough accidents to know how important that is.  

Above is the group that stayed with us.

This is us with our riding companions.  I'm on the far right.

This is just a sampling of what the small towns of Iowa are faced with as we pass through.  It really is a fun time.  One of the shirts had on it "Ragbrai, Spring Break for Adults"  That pretty well sums it up.  Riders come from all over the world to participate.  I'm a people watcher, so I love to just observe all the costumes and activities.

One of my favorites this year.

My 89 year old mother moved into an apartment and I had no idea what was ahead.  For the last 4-5 months we have continually been moving things, going through the house to get ready for auction and sale of the house, making contacts and address updates, setting up insurances and utilities, and just helping her adjust.  I think it has its toll on all of us.  Love my brother and we have been able to work so well together on things.

The last big things I guess is the berry farm.  We planted about 700 more plants.  We have had a somewhat dry summer so we are back to watering plants.  We have also had what they refer to as Asian Beetles invade some of our plants and flowers.  Since we are growing 'organic' pesticides are not an option.  The plants are hanging in there.  

You can see here how dry the grass is becoming.  Below is an example of two plants near each other with one doing quite well and the other not showing much growth.

This is looking across the field.  Hopefully we will get some rain and nice weather soon to help give the plants a boost.

I have finally run out of chatter.  I have missed visiting with my blog friends and hope things slow down soon so I can catch up on all that you have been doing.  

Breast Cancer Awareness and Healthy Aronia Berry Muffins

As most of you are aware, breast cancer awareness month in the USA is October.  Earlier in October I participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for a Cure in Omaha.  I was on a team in support of my niece who has now reached her five year mark of surviving a very aggressive form of breast cancer.  She is such a sweetheart (and a grandmother if you can believe it!).  I absolutely love this photo of her!  She gave me permission to use it.  It makes me smile.  I wanted to do this post to remind us to always be aware of this disease and continue self exams and annual mammograms.



Copyright 2012

May - BJP and Mother's Day Wishes

I've completed my May BJP.  I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out.  It looks a little uneven here, but it is laying flat on thin fabric.  When it is hanging up it does look better (I know, why didn't I hang it up then? lol).  I think I will be stretching my BJPs on some type of stiff board or something when I'm finished.  Any suggestions on what would work for a base?

Spring is in the air one day, summer the next and mixed in with a bit of winter now and then, but not too bad as far as winter.  Crazy weather this year.  Below is a Mother's Day gift from T and one of my favorite plants, the Boston Fern.  The hanger is a family piece I converted into a plant hanger.

I have peonies in two spots.  The plants on the south side of the house bloom first and the ones in the back bloom a week or two later, so I really get to enjoy them a little longer.

This year I found seeds for purple carrots.  They are just popping up.  Another blogger had written about what a great fiber dye they make and I wanted to try it.  I then read how good they are for you and that they have a little sweeter taste than the orange variety.  I am so excited about these!

This is a volunteer tomato plant.  It is about a foot high.  I suspect it will have cherry tomatoes on it since they seem to come up every year on their own.  I did just plant some full size tomatoes that are only about 4" high.  To me there is nothing better than homegrown tomatoes.

The next couple of photos are taken around the house.  We had high winds and a little hail the day before I took all of these photos, so you will see some leaves and other debris laying around.  That's my excuse anyway.

I wish all the mother's out there a fabulous upcoming Mother's Day.

Farm Sketches

We worked at the organic aronia farm today...all day.  We fertilized using some fish emulsion and sea salt.  It was a bit smelly as you can imagine.  We had a water tank in the back of the pickup.  The tank needed to be refilled a few times and as it was filling I would mow between the rows where the grass had really gotten thick.  The strangest thing, where each of the farm buildings had stood the grass is growing like crazy and the plants aren't.  We had to go through the long thick grass and pull it from around each plant so we could fertilize them.  After the tank filled I would drive between the rows while my husband watered each plant.  

There was a bit of a time gap between moving the truck ahead, so I decided to pull out my trusty sketchbook and sketch the beautiful scenery.

Of course I had to draw some trees but also did a couple sketches of the shed, side door to the shed and the picnic table sitting in the shade.  The picnic table looked especially appealing to me because it was in the upper 80s F and humid.  Did I mention we were in the sun?

The side door to the shed was usually in view, so I drew a couple of angles.  The one below was drawn as the door would open and close with the breeze.   There is very little in the shed so I was surprised how full it looked peaking directly in.  

I had just begun my TAST tag (crossed buttonhole stitch) for the week and took it over to my daughter's house while I waited for the girls to get home from school.  It wasn't long before they arrived and I  stopped stitching to play with them.  When I headed home I forgot to pick up my stitching supplies and haven't had a chance to get them yet, so I have no stitching to share.  I think playing with them was more important don't you?  Maybe next week...

Aronia Berries and Blackwork

What a combination for this post!

Here is proof our Aronia plants survived the winter. It was a really mild winter here but somewhat dry, so we were a little worried about the plants we just started last fall. But as you can see here, they are alive and well. The plants are doing well even in the rocky soil where there was once a driveway.



We now have to worry, since it is only March, that we won't get a hard freeze that could cause serious damage to them. We planted a Vineyard mix grass between the rows and plants to keep the weeds under control. It is supposed to be slow growing but has already needed mowed.

This past weekend was beautiful weather and DH went out to mow. I spent some time with mom who lives close to the farm. We decided to take a sandwich out for him to keep his energy up. Here is mom and DH visiting and enjoying the beautiful day.

But, what about the Blackwork, you ask?

I just wanted to share that Tanja is offering a mini Blackwork mystery project on her site and you can find the link below. If you have been wanting to try Blackwork this is a great opportunity. She has parts 1 and 2 already posted and the final part 3 will be up in April.

http://www.berlinembroidery.com/blackworkminimysteryproject.htm

So much to learn, so little time!

Aronia Berry Planting is Completed!

Yay! The worst part (I hope) is over. The berry plants are all in the ground...all 1500 of them! The day started off beautifully. There were several hot air balloons flying nearby at sunrise as we began our day. The weather was perfect with a nice breeze. All in all it was a good day to spend outdoors.

To prepare for the planting we first marked all the holes. The plants are 4' apart and the rows are 12' apart. We used a long string/cord with a spike on each end. We painted every 4' on the string with black paint and using that as our guide, marked each spot with white spray paint on the ground. Each row was about 75 plants. About 30' had to be left clear on each end to allow for the picker to navigate from row to row. As we finished each row we moved the stakes over another 12'.

We left flags at the ends of each row so they would be more visible. We ran a few shorter rows in front of and behind the shed.

The neighbor has been awesome. It's just natural around here for neighbors to help each other out and that is a value I grew up around and still see. We were able to get the holes dug fairly quickly thanks to a neighbor. As you can see, two of them, a father and son, took the time to do this for us. We know of someone else planting berries that had to use a two-man post hole digger and it took them a good day and a half.

The holes were dug down roughly 10". It is a good idea to have the holes bigger in order to loosen the dirt allowing the roots to fill in.

It almost looks like Caddyshack except the holes are lined up straight~lol!

It was then time to do the actual planting. As you can see by this photo, the plants aren't real big. First the holes were filled with water then the plants were set in tapping so there were no air holes around the roots. We set the plants in so there was a little bowl-shaped indentation to catch water. After the plants were set in we watered again.

We drafted family to help out. Here is our terrific city girl daughter-in-law who is probably wondering what kind of family she married into.

She and our son even brought their two dogs out to help. The two dogs thought they were at doggy-world. They ran so much they were wiped out by the end of the day. This was back breaking work and we are so grateful for the hard work our kids and nephew, great nephew and another friend did. Our daughter and her family didn't get there until lunch time, but even our twin 6 yr old granddaughters pitched in and helped water plants and picked up plant pots. You would think there would be enough dirt to fill the holes back up, but with some of the holes - quite a few actually - we had to add dirt. Luckily we had the lawn tractor and small cart to haul the dirt.

It looked like such a daunting task...

At the end of every four rows, two out and two back, it was time for a break. Here are two of the younger ones who had no idea what they were in for since they had never worked on a farm before.

Of course, everything couldn't go perfectly smooth. Our well had a few problems along the way setting us behind schedule. First the new tank froze up and had to be replaced. Then on Sunday we discovered there had been a leak in the pipes and we had no water pressure. A neighbor to the rescue again. He filled up this large tank for us to use and even left his truck for us to haul it with. That was a lifesaver. One thing new plants need for certain is water! Monday was supposed to be in the 90s F and I'm not sure they would have survived without a good soaking. The well people couldn't come until later Monday :-(

After two days of hard work we were able to pack up the equipment and food and go back to our normal lives. By the way, this is how my husband spent his birthday. You also now know one of the reasons why I haven't been blogging much.

We have been having really cool and rainy weather which is perfect for the plants. I am so glad this part is over! Now it will take about three years for the plants to produce. Until that point we only need to fertilize, mulch and mow. These are grown organically, so it will be all organic fertilizer and mulch. Wish us luck!