Snapping turtle alert!

I went outside this morning to feed my chickens and when I went to go back into the house, I saw this snapping turtle lumbering up the driveway!

The turtles usually come onto land to lay their eggs, so I guess she is looking for someplace to do that up by the woods.

My garden is coming in nicely!! String beans, zucchini, onions, tomatoes and lots of herbs to make tea and for cooking. I have eggplant, peppers, radishes, lettuce and spinach coming in again too.

Heirloom string beans that I grew in the coldframe and then transplanted. Can't wait to have some fresh food on the table. Not much going on here this weekend. Just planting, reading, sewing and hanging out. We had a bunch of people over for a BBQ Friday night, and that made the weekend seem even longer. Well, finally it will be June when I go to work. I cannot wait to be done with this year. Summer will be such a relief!!

Happy Memorial Day

This is the Calverton National Cemetary which is a few miles from us. We are thinking of going there today to honor the veterans who fought for us.

Another shot of the cemetary. It seems weird to say Happy Memorial Day when you are honoring those who died. I never thought of it like that before. Hope you are having a nice day as you remember those from your own life who have moved on to be with the Lord. As I plant more veggies today, I will think of those whom I miss and have happy thoughts about them.

Memorial Day weekend means summer here on Long Island!!

I finally got the front porch cleaned and ready for the summer. The weather here is nice and warm, with a lot of sun for the past few days.

My grandpa made this porch swing for me as a Christmas present about 30 years ago when I was really really young!! Did not have a house yet, but I knew I had to have one with a porch when I did buy one.

Two wicker rockers that do not match. They are pretty old too. This is where I sit to read and have tea.

My friend Ronna emailed me this fabric that was for sale on Equilter.com. Of course, I had to buy it immediately. Maybe I will make curtains with it, or a new apron.

I started this quilt earlier in the week. The prints are actual feed sacks that I got on Ebay during the past few years. The alternating blocks will be reversed from these, with a print in the background and the flowers plain colors. This quilt is from a great little book called SUGAR SACK QUILTS. One of these days, I will make them all!!

Nosey little hen!!

I was outside with the dogs for a while after work this afternoon. When we came back in, I could hear "cluck cluck cluck" in the pantry!! This little girlie had walked right into the house while I was outside and was helping herself to dogfood!! When she heard us, she meandered to the dining room!!

She does let me hold her, so I picked her up by the hutch and took her picture. Don't you wonder what they tell each other in the henhouse? Now, I will never be able to leave the kitchen door open if the girls are roaming the yard!

My best quilt ever?? Maybe...

At my quilt shop, we have a machine embroidery block-of-the-month each year. This was last year's project. It was done in a lot of solid colors, with the embroidery in various colors. I wanted a red and white quilt, so did it that way.

The quilt is a combination of embroidery and piecing. At first, we were all not sure if the red and white combo was going to come out nicely, but we all loved it when it was done.

It was really hard to find so many fabrics that were just red and white!! You would think it would be easy to find, but no!

Each section of the quilt is a flower pot of some kind, with different seasonal flowers.

Here it is all ready for quilting. I might do it by hand and take next winter to do it. My friend Sandy says this is the best one I ever did. I love it too. This year, I am planning a traditional blue and white quilt. Maybe a schoolhouse block or something like that.

Quilts and homemade pasta on my day off!

Tonight I made homemade pasta with basil (dried from last year's garden) to go with shrimp scampi for dinner. This is the excess pasta that is drying so I can put it away in the pantry for another night.

Here is one shelf of thirties fabric at my local quilt shop. They have all the different colors, but I love green and thought you would too.

Here is where we sit on BOM Saturdays like today. I do two a day on the third Saturday of the month. One is an Amish quilt and the other one is a thirties quilt. The classes are generally packed!!

A view of the third room of the shop. This is where the thirties fabrics are for the most part. The longarm quilter is in the foreground.

Pasta drying on the Hoosier. My radio is on as I listen to A Prairie Home Companion now. Then the Celtic music show comes on, which we love!! There is a mini apron on top of the radio. I got it from a friend when we did an apron swap. She sent me a tiny one of the same thing she made for me to wear. I am usually tired and worn out on Saturday afternoons, and today was no exception. I guess that since I run around so much all week, on that first day off, I just sort of slow down naturally. It's almost nice though since it forces me to stay home and take it slow most of day (except for quilt shop time!!)

Nights at the bar...

Here are my girls perched on their bars at night. They never had one before, but finally all of them are up there as soon as they come home for the night. Years ago, before I knew that chickens literally "come home to roost," I would run around trying to catch them and put them in the coop, but one day I couldn't catch them all and noticed that once it gets dusky, they all head for home on their own! Funny things you learn in life!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

Here is my momma wearing an apron I made for her this year. Cute, huh? (Mom, I mean!)

The string beans I planted in the cold frame are now out in my garden out back and in Rob's across the street. Today was a nice day to celebrate being a mom. The kids both went to church with me this morning and then we went to pick up a few seed packets, starter plants and weed plastic for Rob's garden. He made it larger this year, so he was busy all day with his girlfriend who came over early to help him get started.

Hope you are all enjoying your special day. A special HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to my mom and to my wonderful mother-in-law who has always been so kind and loving towards me!!

It's a man thing, but I get it!!

Kenny and Rob went to Connecticut today to get this tool box from someone on Craigs List. Kenny has been shopping online for about a year and a half to find "the one!!"

Here they are!! Father and son admiring all this metal!! Blue too! Notice the matching shirts--an accident, but it happens all the time.

Here is our very handsome son, looking at the toolbox that he will inherit someday. We better take care of it.

Can a man look happier!!?? I can relate to this feeling since I get this way about cooking equipment and sewing machines. Oh Lord, get me started about the sewing machines!!

We had to hire a tow truck to get the tool box off of our dump truck and then lower it to the ground! Rob and Ken had to hold it down so it would not roll off the tow truck as he backed up into the area in front of the garage. It was a happy day for the testosterone in our home!!

Dreary and cold all weekend...

Here is what the sky has looked like for days and days. It is supposed to be rainy all week again this week.

Rain on the canoes. Last weekend we were using them in the river when it was sunny and 90 degrees.

I will probably put borders on this quilt I made last week a the mystery quilt class I took. This was the Bahamas and is called "sea glass." It is a lap quilt, so was easy to make.

Since there is not much use in working outside today, I have my embroidery machine working. I am in a BOM for the embroidery machine. This is month 7 out of 10. The last few months I was behind, so this weekend I caught up and am already going to be ready for the first weekend in June, which is the next meeting.

Well, today is our lovely daughter's 22nd birthday. She is such a joy that we cannot even begin to express our love and happiness over her!!

Today at church we talked about honesty. We are supposed to work on the one thing that keeps us from living an honest and open life (with God and others). What a topic to think about for a whole week. Our pastor does his sermons in 4 week sessions sometimes, so that you can wrap your mind around it for a while, and not just for a few minutes and then move on. Good day for thinking, since it is a day of a sort of forced rest, due to the weather.

Veggies are coming in!!

Thought I would show you the lettuce that I am apparently growing for the rabbits. I hope to get a few salads this spring, but probably won't.

The radishes remain unmolested though. No, that is not a real skunk!! Just a decoy. The kids put it out by the back door sometimes and tell their friends, "Oh, come on now! What are you afraid of, a little skunk?"

String beans (pole style) in the cold frame.

Zucchini in the cold frame. I am trying to decide if I want to put them in pots, or into the ground next weekend. I have MANY pots, of all sizes, so might do most of the plants in them. Basil is growing in a few of them right now. I am so happy when I go out to the backyard to "shop" for my food. Between the vegetables and eggs, we eat pretty well!