There's a frog in the pig pen!

I made this little Laura Ingalls number, sans the sleep cap, for Emma for Colton and Morgan's birthdays! See it wouldn't be fair for her to not get a gift since she is the youngest grandchild for now. Next June we are getting a new one and she won't be the youngest anymore. Colton's bday is Dec 5th and Morgan's Dec 10th......close you say? Ah yep......well guess what Emma's bday is June 4th and this is the due date for Robin's new baby!!! Are these kids trying to kill me or help me out?? At least Emma can celebrate with her new cousin!
And of course she needed a new frog in pigs clothing!!
She couldn't have been happier with this ensemble, she won't hardly even take it off. She asked if she could wear it to the fabric store on Saturday!!! Her mother forgot and left it in the car yesterday and had to make a trek outside in the dark last night to get it before bedtime !! What was she thinking? I think it was a good choice. She said it was really cozy!! She really liked the pig fabric too. I see some more in the future!! Maybe in pink? What ya think Emma?

I am sooooooo tired of leftovers!!!!

We had a very good Thanksgiving this year with all the family here. We celebrated on Fri evening after the girls and their broods had already made their way to all the other houses and mine last....whine whine whine......that's OK because when they get here they don't leave and my meal is always the most memorable one for them ;-)

BUT.......... by the time they get here they are turkey'd out. I have not had any turkey so of course that's what I make here too. This year Robin came to the rescue by bringing the absolute best honey glazed spiral ham anyone could even dream of!!!! It came from a ham store in Atlanta and I will have to get the name of it from her, I just know it was by far the hit of the meal and leftovers for 3 days now!!! I thought Colton would eat enough of it to blow him up!!! He found a four leaf clover yesterday and Robin told him to make a wish and he said....."I wish for some more of your ham.".....LOL!!!!! Thanks for the ham Robin!!!!!

The house was really busy since Thursday with kids and grandkids here each night and they all left this morning...whew it was quiet then!!!!!!!! We didn't know how to act!! We went down to The Fairy's Rest and worked on the front deck....well he did and I piddled with a lot of decorating inside. Then his brother and sister-in-law came there for a visit. That was nice!! While they were there a next door neighbor came down and invited us all down for coffee before we made our way back home. Bil and sil didn't take him up on it but we did. We went over for coffee and the very best sweet potato pie I have ever tasted. Looked like a picture from the cover of Southern Living Magazine. OMG!!!!! Get this....he made it himself crust and all!!! He has a vacation/hunting cabin beside of ours. He lives in Norfolk Va and spends a lot of time up here now that he is retired. He told us that anytime we see his truck there to come on over for coffee and "something sweet".......hey, I like those kinda neighbors!!!!

Speaking of neighbors..........we know more about our neighbors down there than we do here at our permanent home. We have been here for 8 1/2 years and know very few. We started clearing the land there and folks just started dropping in and introducing themselves and telling us about the other neighbors and their kids and such and soon we knew them all. Some of the folks we had to go visit and introduce ourselves but they already knew us by name!!! That is a good thing since we are about 45 minutes away. We know that the place will be looked after when we can't be there!!! This may very well be a good place to retire!!!

So anyway I have been very busy cooking and eating and eating and eating........and then tonight when we got home I came in and slipped into my PJ"s and was in the back of house. Danny was still outside and it was dark around 6:30 PM on a Sunday evening......then I hear Danny come running thru the house hollering....."Hey Becky where are you? There's a man here that wants to make us a pizza right now. What kind do you want?" .....WHAT??????? Here I am scantily clad and very comfy and there is some strange man in my kitchen wanting to cook me a pizza??????????? Are you kidding? I could hear this guy talking like he and Danny were friends for ever and there I was in the bathroom with very little clothes on and this strange man was in my kitchen which is between the bathroom and my bedroom where my real clothes were......I said " Honey I am in my PJ's".....he said "Peter just turn your head so she can go and get some clothes on.".............so nonchalant just like we always had someone show up on a Sunday evening to make us a pizza for supper that we didn't even know!!!!!!!!!!! My husband has flipped his lid now for sure for sure!!!!

I got dressed and came back into the kitchen where "Peter" was preparing to prepare my meal and I gave Danny the look!!!! I think it hadn't hit him as to what this really looked like to me until he got the look. I had a lot of questions as to what was going on!!! I then found out there was another guy in the car.............are you kidding???????? I gave Danny the look and a nod that he understood and he went outside quickly to check on the where abouts of the other guy and found him asleep in the car!!! Turns out they are selling Townecraft Cookware!!! Kinda freaky way to show up but the best pizza in 11 minutes that I have ever had....not sure if it was because I am soooooo sick of leftovers or if it was the pan but boy oh boy was it good......Peter is making Fried Chicken and the fixin's for Danny and I on Friday evening!!!!!!!! I'll try to be dressed when he shows up ;-)

Please pray for my son-in-laws family. His grandmother suffered a severe stroke yesterday and passed away this morning. She was 87. She was able to spend a really nice holiday with all her family on Thursday and she also found out that Eric and Robin are expecting a baby in June and that made her really happy.

Guess what I am a cookin' up?

If you see a little blond hair blue eyed girl please don't tell her about this cause it's a secret!
I am going to make her a long old fashioned night gown like her mother used to wear when she was little. She was almost as cute in that as she was in her infant gowns!


I just had to have this fabric for me. I am not sure what I will do with it but I just loved it! Click to enlarge and you can read some of the sayings.

This is from the Housework Whenever collection by Sharon Yenter for In The Beginning fabrics. I found it at my local quilt shop!

Now I know these sayings go against every thing that Terri has in her post today but they are just for fun ;-)

and if infact I do still remember how to cook, I will be making some Fantasy Fudge in a couple minutes!! I was gathering my supplies this morning prior to leaving the house for a day of running errands.....(yes I was out of a certain color quilting thread, another can't mention yet project, and that's why I went to the quilt shop) and I realized that my recipe for fantasy fudge that I had used for umpteen years now says to use baker's chocolate. I have always used chocolate chips and I didn't want to even attempt this and mess up a good thing. I had to get on my old faithful allrecipes.com and found the same fudge recipe but saw where a lady said that she had always used the chips instead of the bakers chocolate and how many she used....whew.....kids you will get your favorite fudge this year again. I think I will write down the recipe this year....again!!

Tuesdays Thoughts....

Come from Terri. Yesterday my post was for her and today I have to link her you over to her post. It spoke to my heart like no other one has in a long long time. It's amazing what a woman can learn at a quilting retreat! God Bless you all as we try to become better wives and children of God!!

I am not sure what is going on with blogger but I can't correct any errors or add a link or anything. Maybe it's my new antivirus protection blocking something???????
So anyway here is her post http://ourcrazyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/11/glorious-role-of-woman.html Sorry for the errors!

Terri this ones for you and the boys!

Smokey and his story below

Colton and Little Anne! These were taken last year but I wasn't sure if anyone else would like to look at pictures of a bunch of dead coons and gorgeous little boys with coon hounds. Terri, I think you would understand. They way your crowd hunts!!!!!


Little Anne started out as Colton's when she was a pup and he wasn't quite ready for her so Papa Danny got her back. He trained her and she turned into a really good dog, at least that's what they tell me. All I hear is her barking during the night when she is not hunting and she sleeps all day!!!! They say it's a beautiful mouth...huh???? Anything that keeps me awake is not beautiful!!!



Colton has grown up enough to try his luck at raising his own coon dog again and he now has Smokey, who is a younger brother of Little Anne's.....he is here right now and yes he barks by night and sleeps all day too.....Thank You Lord for providing me with a loud fan to sleep beside!!!

Ok blogger is doing funny things this morning. I remembered later that I had a picture of Smokey and I added in last. He is in the top picture. This last picture is of Papa Danny with all the coon hides that they caught last year with Little Anne. They sell them at a local trapping supply place and Colton and Morgan get to split the money out of them. Morgan will be 15 next month and has coonhunted since she was old enough to walk in the woods. She also squirrel hunts by herself and goes fishing all by herself. She didn't get that from her mother or from me. I was a tomboy, guess I still am but I was never bitten with the hunting bug. Maybe for a little while when I was a child my whole family would go coonhunting and my mom got tired of it quickly so I couldn't go anymore. Danny tries to get me to go with them. If I go I will have to have a really pretty black and tan coon dog....the best one around too....and all the girly pink mossy oak camo attire and the pink camo shotgun case that I saw Saturday and one of those pink stickers to go in my truck window of dogs treeing a coon that says "Girls hunt too"..........I think by the time he buys me all of that he will be ready to retire his dog and give up hunting, don't you?

Maybe I'll just put that sticker in his truck window! What do you think his friends would say then??

Pinwheels everywhere.....

Finally!! I feel like this is my first real quilt!! I made it all by myself. I didn't get it started and then give up on it or get bored with it and put it away to never be touched again. I mean of course I wouldn't do that ;-)
I am so proud of this one, but it's for sale. I can't believe I am selling it. Danny can't believe that I am selling it. I don't know why I am selling it.


This is my first pieced back and I like it that way!

I kept showing Danny the back and mentioning how pretty I thought the back was and he asked me if I liked the front!!!!

Details: 1. Pinwheel pattern (of course I am hooked on pinwheels but enough already)
2. Windham True Madder fabrics (in my favorite reds, so why am I selling it?)
3. 100% cotton fabrics, backing and filler fabrics are a faint paisley print, white on quilt and tan for backing
4. Cotton batting
5. Machine pieced and quilted with a free motion maze pattern using greater than 1200 yards of 100% Cotton quilting thread in white with just under 20 hours quilting time (I need a long arm quilter)
6. Hand stitched (with love) binding


Tomorrow morning I will try to get some good pictures and get this in my etsy shop and we will see if it sells.
(don't tell anyone but I won't be upset if it doesn't)

Now that that's finished.....on to bigger and better things like planning my Thanksgiving feast!!!!

At the top of my want/need list......

is this.........

an American made long arm quilting machine. I want it really bad! Yes really really really bad. I am taking donations now!! Please send money to...

Becky is Poor
care of Danny is Tight @ Sunny Morning Farm, Va

Thank you!!

Twas the month before Christmas

Twas the month before Christmas

When all through our land,

Not a Christian was praying

Nor taking a stand.

See the PC Police had taken away

The reason for Christmas - no one could say.

The children were told by their schools not to sing

About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.

It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say

December 25th is just a ' Holiday '.

Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit

Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!

CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-Pod

Something was changing, something quite odd!

Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa

In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.

As Targets were hanging their trees upside down

At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.

At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears

You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.

Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty

Are words that were used to intimidate me.

Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen

On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton!

At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter

To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.

And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith

Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace

The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded

The reason for the season, stopped before it started.

So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'

Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.

Choose your words carefully, choose what you say

Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS ,

not Happy Holiday!

Please, all Christians join together and

wish everyone you meet

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christ is The Reason' for the Christ-mas Season!


(I recieved this email this morning and had to share with all of you)

and I call myself a gardener.......

I have to give up gardening if I can't see any better than this. This huge, two basket ball or bigger size, hornets nest is in my smoke tree right in my front yard.
I mean it is only about 10 feet from my front porch.

10 feet from my foyer window where I now have my sewing machine setting. The place where I have spent many many hours sitting and looking out that window while working on my quilts. I do have a white opaque window sheer/balloon curtain on the window that has been lowered to almost cover the entire window.

I guess I should keep my curtains open huh?

Colton spent the night here last night and went with me to milk this morning. As we were stepping up on the porch he said in the calmest voice, "That sure is a big bees nest ,Granny."

OMG OMG OMG......that's kinda what Danny and I both said. We have both wondered how we have missed this and how long did it really take these hard workers to build this. I will feel a lot better about myself if you guys will tell me that it happens really quickly!!! OK Please let me know that I don't have to give up gardening due to poor eyesight!!!!!

On a lighter note!!

As you should know by now, it has been raining cats and dogs here this entire week. The boys were chomping at the bit to get in the woods last night to go coonhunting. It was very windy but it wasn't raining so of course they had to hit it. Well hit they did. They came back thru the door last night and Danny was laughing hysterically at Colton's expense!!! Seems his big coon dog Smokey has better traction in the mud than Colton does. Smokey took off and drug Colton for a long ways right thru the mud. He was covered. The picture doesn't even show it all. Needless to say he had to strip down and have all his clothes washed late last night!!!

For some reason he didn't find it near as funny as his Papa did!!!!

Man plans, God laughs....

That's my new motto for this farm. I borrowed it from Terri.

She mentioned it to me yesterday and I had just recently seen it on a church sign and I thought "how true, how true".

I know this isn't much to complain about but it is a glitch in the plan so here goes......

When we bought our little farm 8 years ago there was a building started that was obviously meant to be a root cellar. It was only the cinderblock foundation. In the years to come we built a building over top of it and just last year Danny decided to get inside the cellar and do some work. He worked so hard and built some really cool shelves for my canned goods. Some large shelves for my pressure canners and large pots.

He painted the inside walls and the shelves a bright white. Put gravels down on the dirt floor. It was just lovely. This year was by far our best growing season for our garden. We filled it full of canned veggies, salsa, grape juice, pickles, jams and jellies. etc etc.......lots of wonderful potatoes and apples. We were so proud of our potatoes this year because we used left over potatoes from last years crop as our seed potatoes. Now that's called living off the land!!

Danny always takes a couple apples to work with him and of course they are stored in the cellar. This morning he went out to get some apples and stepped down into the cellar as he was turning on the light. He met up with almost 2 feet of water!!!!!!! What a mess. There were cardboard boxes of potatoes sitting on the lower shelf that were falling out of the box and floating around in the water. I had a couple Rubbermaid totes full of clean canning jars waiting to be filled and the totes were also floating around. What a mess!!!

Thank goodness we have an extra water garden pump that we were able to use to pump the water out. Danny pumped about half out before he went to work this morning and I pumped the rest out today. What a mess! (sorry but it was a mess) After the water level was down to the gravel floor I dug out a hole and kept sucking the water out for ever. It was like a fresh water spring under ground. I guess it could have been one there and it had dried up over the years before the building was finished ;-) at least that's what I decided today. The ground is soaked and it will be for ever before it dries out.

See our best laid plan to enjoy those great veggies was not in God's plan for us! I was up to my knees in water today and had to have a good laugh myself!!

I pray for the people who have had flooded homes and businesses and I shouldn't be whinning about losing a few free potatoes now should I?

I am so thankful for the wonderful weather forcast that I just watched on our evening news. Sunny and in the 70's by day and 40's by night for 10 days. Unless God changes it for us we should be able to get this cellar dried up. I am not making any plans though just gonna take it one day at a time ;-)

Bike Basket Makeover

$1 yardsale bike basket (at least that's what I am calling it)
I have LOTS of this fabric that I was going to use to spice up my bedroom....lol! ....with curtains and I had big big plans for a log cabin quilt for my king size bed using this as the backing. The fabric was $1 a yard at Walmart so I bought out 2 stores. I have 5 windows in my bedroom one is a triple!! So 7 total! The stores have now gotten in more of this. I did make curtains but never quite got around to the quilt!! Imagine that!! I grew tired of the curtains and decided that I didn't need such cheerful curtains in my grown-up room ;-)

I thought this basket needed a little cheering up!
You may be seeing a lot more of this cheering up around my house soon.......I am thinking of a cover for my Kitchenaid mixer next.......

(If you look closely at the pictures you will see the stitches in my seams are showing. I hate that but I used my serger to whip this up quickly all but the last bit of triming. I didn't notice this in time to do something about it. The seams are secure but look loose, bummer)

Handi Quilter.....

It may not be so handi after all. I wrestled with this thing on Thursday and got it put up and my older Kenmore machine put in it, you know the machine with out all the new features that my newer one has. I thought it would be OK for quilting because it does a beautiful stitch and I don't have to wrestle with the quilt so I didn't need the needle down feature. I knew that I would have better control of the machine so I didn't need the speed limit feature either.

WRONG!!!! I practiced for a long time on a muslin. I broke needles. My presser foot fell off one time. I made a complete mess.
Today I decided that since I was doing nothing else besides blogging about my old blogs and telling the world how crazy I am that I would go ahead and put a real quilt in there. A real small quilt. Another Moda Charm quilt from Mary Engelbriet designs. I thought that if it was a real project that I would take my time and be more careful and gain some control of this baby. I put the new Kenmore in there and it has been great. I have learned alot from putting the quilt in the frames to controlling my machine and so on and so forth. Nothing like hands on is it?

My stitches have touched in places and made love in places but not many. I am learning! I am getting a feel for how much room I have before moving the machine. I see a longarm machine in my future! The wrinkle in the fabric is only there because I was stopped and had the needle down so as not to lose my place and the machine pulled against the quilt causing a wrinkle. The frames really do keep the fabric taut!!

Not bad for a beginner huh?

I thought this thing was gonna kick my butt. I think I have it whipped now. I better learn something soon because I have a much larger pinwheel quilt almost ready for quilting. See I can finish some projects....if I want to!!!

Look at those really cool blocks of wood (top pic) with holes drilled in them, so the table wouldn't slip off, to raise my cutting table/quilting up high enough that it won't break my back. I have asked for them for years and finally got them Thursday evening after I put the quilt frames together all by myself and didn't bother him ;-)

What was I thinking?

I was just sitting here in my good ole comfy office chair this morning pondering. Pondering all sorts of things such as......it's going to be another gorgeous warm fall day today and what is the most pressing thing or things that I need to get done while it is so nice out as the rain is to come tomorrow, a mountain of laundry, a somewhat small mountain of dishes, floors to be vacuumed......etc etc etc......

Then in my ADD infested mind I started pondering over my blog.......long story short I ended up at my first post and then started reading thru in chronological order but I stopped at this post on December 31, 2007 and laughed til I almost peed my pants. You see it was the last post of the year and I had some high hopes for the future year coming up! Boy did I think that lightening was going to hit me and cause some sort of electrical friction that was going to change around my brainwaves or I was going to drink some power drink that was going to change my chemical balance or should I say imbalance and turn me around into a totally different human being from what I am?


I mean I had some wild and crazy ideas for my new year that was approaching. I was acting as if it was somehow going to be different from all my previous years. Just go on over and read it and rest assured that you are reading a bunch of craziness that came from some outer body experience that I had that day. I mean why would I say things like that because it was already 12/31 and I posted on 11/7 that I was making socks for everyone for Christmas that year and they have yet to get socks. I have one sock from several different pair finished.........ADD you think? I just haven't had time....only 2 years.....they all have really big feet!!! Good thing Robin moved south or her toes would be getting cold awaiting socks from me!!!


I am trying to do better but it is a disease.....a really bad one......I need help! Please! I have finished a couple of old projects this year so maybe I will finish the other sock for everyone to have socks this year for Christmas!!


Robin called today and we had a good laugh together about how I never change and only make resolutions that can never be kept because I am just me. I can't be changed trust me I have tried!!


Do you guys ever look back at your older posts and wonder what you were thinking that day, or do all your wishes or intentions or resolutions come to fruition?

ps. I forgot to mention that among the many many things that I mentioned that would be done in 2008....about Leslie and my sil getting new sewing machines that year and Leslie being bitten by the sewing bug. Well we were just at a party at Leslie's house Friday evening and my sil was there and they discussed their sewing machines were not being used at all and that they were saving them for the next generation!!!!! See it's not just me is it?

There's a new guy down on the farm......

and his name is Thunder. He is a reg Nubian buck to replace our dear Durango. We lost Durango, his son Tango, and Tango's mother Violet all this year.

We had a bout with coccidia and it got both mother and son before we knew what was going on. Durango was lost in the horrible accident on the hillside right after we found out Violet was sick.
It was a tough year and I couldn't hardly bring myself to talk about it.
Saphira was really excited at first to see that we bought her a new teenage boyfriend. Now I think she could send him back to his previous home. He is loud and noisy, he stinks and he pees on his head. She didn't want any part of the pictures today!!


As I was getting this shot below the barn, he was above the barn and she had went out of his eyeshot but definately not earshot. He was hollering so loud, as Nubians are famous for, and she gave me a look as if to say "Can you shut him up? Puulleezzee. " Sorta like Danny does with the guineas!

That's Opal, our hateful old fainting doe in her new little pen all by herself. Well she is so mean to anyone else unless she spit them out of her womb. She tries to kill everyone else over food. This field is meant to be a buck pen and Danny and I built this little shed over the fence so we could have 2 new stalls for weather protection on either side of the fence. Aren't we smart? It was really my idea. Now he likes it too. He laughs that there is a fence running thru the barn!!!

You can never get enough places to stash a goat!

Horrible picture of a lovely goat. This is Ellie Mae. Saphira's and Durango's baby doe from July. I have high hopes for her next year....oh yeah .....her and Thunder!!

Got cookies? I love her stripes. She looks like a Gremlin!

It was naptime and they are still groggy. See the little stubby horn scurs on the little brown goat? I was watching and couldn't stand the thought's of Danny hurting him while dehorning him and made Danny stop too soon. The next one he did while I was gone! Smart man!

How many roosters do you count? I count too darn many! We have to have a chicken pluckin'

I love this view of the babies napping! All curled up together.

As promised ....the newest version of the rollaway nest boxes. This is what I see when I come into the coop. Actually on the outside wall of the coop. The eggs are to be layed in the box and then they are supposed to roll out into the PVC pipe and roll down to the end of the pipe where no longneck chicken can get to them and eat them.

Triple decker. A smaller perch that they don't roost on. YES!!!!

and what do you know? They work!!!!! Look at that pullet egg!!

Other than paying some bills, some office work, computer time, a little house work and getting out in the cold today for a few quick pictures thru the fence.........this is what I have been up to. It involves pinwheels my new sewing machine and a lot of Halloween candy!

I don't talk politics on here but......

I am estatic today!!!!

Yes I am a Virginian and we rock!!

If you have been watching any of the news lately you know what I am talking about!

Now that's all I have to say about that!

Somebody please stop me!!!!

I am addicted to sewing machines!

I can't help myself.

I know it's a serious problem.

Someone has to stop me before my kids starve or go without shoes or I go without more fabric.

Yes my friends, I had to buy another one today.......but it was on sale honey!!

I told you a couple posts back about my Kenmore machine that I got off of ebay for $76. It is such a great machine but lacked a couple features that I felt I needed to be able to machine quilt properly. So I found this baby on sale at Sears.com and droooooooled all weekend over it. I pined and pined for it. Remembered today that I had a huge coffee can full of change that I rolled a while back and what do you know....it was enough to get this baby. I found out online that my local Sears had this one in stock and when I went this morning to pick it up it was on sale even cheaper than it had been over the weekend!

See it was meant to be, right?

This machine has the turtle/rabbit speed control and the needle up/down feature that I just knew would make my life as a quilter much better. I was right! I quilted this Wonky Block quilt shown above tonight and totally enjoyed myself. I slowed the speed down to almost a crawl and kept my foot on the gas all the way and it was so evenly fed thru the machine. I was not exhausted after a couple rounds either. Boy the needle down is a life saver too. On top of that this machine has a few more decorative stitches than the other one does.

I have to have all of these machines because they all do a variety of jobs or I bought them to do a variety of jobs with ;o)

I have this Handi Quilter frame, that my dear spouse got me for my birthday a couple years ago and I have never even set it up because I was wanting to have a machine to leave set-up in it for a big quilt project. Since I can't afford a longarm quilting machine for it I will have to use my other Kenmore in it. That is when I get a big quilt finished!

I told you about my Bernina being a moody ole female dog most of the time while trying to just sew anything and about her not quilting at all. Saturday I went in to a local quilt store that sells Berninas and questioned them about what was happening and explained what I have tried to remedy the problem and do you know what the owner of the store had to say to me.................

"Just use your Kenmore to quilt with."

hence the new Kenmore today!

It's been a crafty weekend.......

It was a rainy and nasty weekend around this place. My husband and I resorted to crafting.........well I was happy with that! Yesterday I worked on a quilt that I am piecing and pieced a table runner to match my Christmas Tree skirt. Today I made this ensemble, bag, make-up/ medicine bag and check book cover.


This picture was prior to the bag having handles. I couldn't decide which handles it needed. I had several ideas but I have been wanting a sort of clutch tote so I opted for these welted ones. I used to work in a sewing factory many moons ago and one of my jobs was to do a welt pocket on cordurory blazer jackets. I could do welt pockets in my sleep for years. Just not today........well they aren't exactly a pocket ;-} The bag is also reversible so I had to get a little creative to get them to work.




This picture shows the colors of the fabric a little bit better....it is actually red instead of fushia like my camera wanted it to be.





I think I like it!





The fabric was really cheap too. It was Heide Grace fabric from Joanne fabrics on sale for $1.50 a yard. I may have $3 in the set.



The best part is a secret...... my hubby had the idea for the bottom of the bag.......the stabilizer. If you need to know just email me and I will tell you. It is a great idea that I will have to use in the future if I sell any of these bags. I think you will be surprised!!!





Now his crafts......


Remember the chicken coop make-over? OK the rollaway nest boxes that we designed and made were built in hopes that they would work. My hens were eating there eggs and thats why we built them. The eggs rolled away like we planned but it seems that I have some very longnecked birds. They were still able to get to the eggs on occasion. I found egg yolk dripping from the front of the box a couple times and one day I found an empty shell. Either my hen laid a pseudoegg or someone ate it!!





BUT THE WORST PART.........the hens decided they loved to roost on those new boxes and chickens must poop all night. Most of the time there would be four big hens in the 2 boxes! Remember how pretty and white they were? Not any more. I knew that they would get dirty soon but not immediately. It was a mess.





So back to the drawing board......he is determined to get these rollaway nest boxes perfected. He has now built a triple highrise condo for my hens!!!! The eggs roll to the out side of the coop this time. The eggs roll farther away this time too. They also have a small perch on the front of each nest to enter the nest but hopefully too little to roost on. Danny couldn't wait to go back to the coop tonight to see if any of them were roosting on them and they weren't........he was so happy his plan worked.



( maybe some pics tomorrow )