the sprinkles on top

Lots of color around here today. We had a baby shower for my cousin Ashley and so I finally get to show the baby quilt that my sister and I made for her. I made the top and my sister quilted it on her machine and sewed the binding. Bright and colorful - it makes me smile. We used flannel shirt fabric for the back so it should be nice and soft for the baby.

Baking cupcakes. We've had these before and I made homemade cream cheese frosting to spread on top. We overindulged for about twenty four hours, then I brought the rest to work and they were gone in under five minutes.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend.

barn notes : a little miracle

I got this email from my mom this morning and it charmed me so much I had to post it here. Little Hannah's eyes say it all.

Notes from the barn: How Miracle got her name:  

We brought her in from the barn Monday night - she was very cold and wouldn't eat. We tube fed her and put her to bed in the bathroom in a box of straw with a hot water bottle to comfort and keep her warm.  We honestly didn't think she would make it thru the night -  she survived!  When I went in to use the bathroom at 2 am I frightened her and she crawled out of her box baaing.  She took a bottle from us a couple more times, we put her back with her mom and she still couldn't figure out how to eat from mom so we had to bring her in on tuesday night, fed her and put her to bed with a water bottle.  This is how she woke up on Wed am - eager for someone to feed her. Last night she spent the night in the barn - I've been out there every few hours struggling with her to eat from her mom ( Dad often has to hold the ewe in place).  This morning she was able to get some milk without our help - we're keeping our fingers crossed she stays strong and determined to eat.  Otherwise she'll have to be bottle fed.... which is fun for awhile...

Love you all, Mom

ode to spring socks

The moral of my ode is this:
beauty is twice beauty
and what is good is doubly good
when it is a matter of two socks . . .

Pablo Neruda

There's nothing better, in my opinion, than making a pair of socks. The entire process is engaging, meditative and beautiful. The finished product keeps you warm and cozy for many years to come. The snow may finally be melting around here, but that hasn't curbed my desire to finish this pair of socks. Hope you are all enjoying the weekend.

full moon farm

Up home to the farm this past weekend to get ready for Shepherd's Harvest Festival. We were working so hard that we only had time to make some farm fresh eggs and sausage, instead of our usual large family meal. (No one complained.) We're trying out some new things this year, like fiber batts with our extra wool and mohair. A lot of work, but well worth it.

My mother is on spring break from work, because her ewes are delivering their lambs this week. I hope she sends me some fun photos to share with you all. I started to spin some new fiber on Saturday - we call this colorway "Zinnia." The pale pastel colors in it's twists remind me of the faded zinnias from my garden.

Can you believe tomorrow is the first day of spring?  I'll believe it when I feel it and see it.

changing seasons

Can you feel it in your neck of the woods - the season is changing? I can feel it around here. Maybe it's because daylight savings was last weekend and the light is with us longer in the evenings. The temperature is starting to thaw. I find myself tugging off my mittens on my daily walks to and from work.

The snow is still well over a foot deep in the backyard, but it's melty and crusty around the edges. It's slowly dissolving and rich brown earth is starting to appear at the edges of all the drifts and piles. I can see the raspberry canes spiking up through the drifts. Soon maybe some buds will appear on the little maple tree we planted in the backyard two years ago.

The changing season makes me think about our adoption. We receive updates every month and have been getting "hits" and inquires over our profile. Well over a dozen birthmothers have asked for a copy of our profile book, but we are still waiting. I wonder if maybe one of the birthmothers who is looking at our profile - "our birthmother" - is still early in her pregnancy and is wondering what she will do. Maybe she looked at our profile and then tucked it away somewhere as she sorts through things in her heart. It is as hard on her (maybe harder) than it is on us. I think about her every day and hope she is taking care of herself and the little one she is carrying.

I look at my frozen garden, mostly hidden beneath the snow, and I tell myself "Next year when the raspberries blossom our baby will be here" or "next fall when the maple burns red we will be celebrating that we have made a connection with a birthmother." And I will remember the berries and the red leaves on the maple and how they helped me count the days of this wait.

Patiently waiting (well . . . waiting)

Jillian

oh my stars

Well, it's practically the middle of March so I freely admit to "self-medicating" myself with color, color, color. The color yellow, specifically - and it's funny how my creative cravings seem to be cyclical because I was doing the same thing this time last year.

The pattern for the quilt I'm working on can be found here. I like it so far because I haven't had to cut special diamond pieces with a template - it's just squares - my favorite. I'm going to stick with variations of squares as long as possible . . . make a thorough study of it. (And also I have cut out a lot of extra 3" squares for all of the other quilts I've been making, so I need to use them up. ) I'm thinking of putting this star on a field of yellow fabric . . . let's just go bright.

The elephant has returned. This is going to be a little pillow for my niece. My sewing machine is currently tucked away in the closet, but I need to pull it out and start sewing things together.

Hope March is treating you kindly.

XOXO

Jillian

heart warming

The weekend can't be almost over - I haven't checked one thing off of my "to do" list. Instead I've been napping and playing around with fabric both days - not organizing all our paperwork for our taxes and not cleaning the bathrooms like I had planned.

There has been some baking and cooking. The soup is a recipe I've posted before, still just as good as I remembered it to be and the cheesy garlic biscuits can be found here. They are best hot out of the oven when the cheese is still melted inside of them. Easy. Yummy. Addicting.

The book I'm reading has been keeping my interest so far. The Hangman's Daughter, by Oliver Potzsch. It's fun to knock about in the 17th century with the characters. The plot revolves around a hangman and a midwife - so I'm learning a lot about 17th century medical lore and herbs - which makes me think about my garden. As I write this I can see out the window to the back garden, which is covered by two feet of snow, at least.

It's gonna be awhile before I get out there.