Deer Vs. Man

When we first moved into this place, I began formulating plans for our yard and the wonderful vegetable garden I was going to put in the raised bed. 

 I was so excited to think that we were done with the deer issue....wrong.  I think we'd only been here 3 days when I glanced out the breakfast nook window and there were 3 deer staring back at me.  Drat.....this was a problem. Our yard is fenced in with chainlink, but they are only 3' high, no problem for deer who are agile jumpers. And we are not allowed to put in higher fences.   So we began thinking about what we could do to discourage them from jumping from one yard to another.  

Phase One:

Wally decides we'll put up bird netting on the west side of the house. There are arborvitae planted there, but they have not "filled in" so they leave lots of gaps just the right size for deer to squeeze through. 

 So we secured metal rods  to the fence posts and then cut the netting to size.

Then we attached the netting to the poles and voila...we have an 8' "fence"!

We don't have to worry about the north side, the arborvitae have filled in there and made a nice impenetrable and high barrier.

And we discovered this robin's nest while we were busy working out there.  You can't see her sitting on her eggs, she's done such a superb job of putting her nest where you really can't see it well from any direction!

Now for the south and east sides....stay tuned for Phase Two.

I Joined!

I am not much of a joiner, I've never particularly liked group activities.  This issue gets in my way a lot, I didn't like sports with the exception of swimming (a singular activity!) and tennis...only one other person involved!  And I don't particularly like to play games, although I'm getting better at this!   I've avoided book clubs all this time, partly because it's a group activity and partly because I don't want to "have" to read something if there's something else I want to read first.

A few months after we moved to our new town, a woman from my church mentioned that she was part of a quilting group.  Now my experience with quilting groups has NOT been positive. The ones I tried in my old town were full of very wealthy women who owned very expensive sewing machines that basically put the quilt together for you.  Not my reality.  For some reason I agreed to go to a meeting with her "just to see".  Well it turns out it was a wonderful group of very down-to-earth women who had "just regular" sewing machines.  Their meetings are a time of sharing what they've been working on and there is  usually a demonstration of some sort about a new block pattern or tips for making all those seams meet up, always a challenge in quilting.  And they usually are individually working on some sort of quilt projects to give away. The last project was making quilts for the local pregnancy and information center and for those in need at the newborn unit of the local hospital.  

The current assignment was to make a quilt using fabrics in red/white/blue to be given to veterans who are in hospice care, the thought being that the veteran could use some cheer and warmth during his/her last days and then it would become a memento for the family left behind. What a great project, I jumped in.

I found great fabric, got it pieced and then was in a quandary.  How would I have it quilted.  In Bellingham I always had  a dear friend who is a wonderful woman as well as an amazing artist do my quilting on her long arm quilting machine.  My friend from the church here who introduced me to the quilting group suggested a friend of hers might do it, but when I called she said she was just learning how to use her long arm and didn't feel comfortable taking on the challenge. The local quilting store recommended a woman, but I emailed her and called her and got no response.  I went back to the quilting store to let them know the woman had not responded and to ask if they could recommend someone else and the woman standing next to me says, "I have a long arm machine."  I asked if she did commission work and she said, " yes".  When I told her what the project was and what it was for she said, "oh, I'll do that for no charge for such a good cause."  Providential or what!  I got the quilt back yesterday and finally got the binding sewn on. 

Drum roll please......here's the finished product which will be turned in on Monday. 

Here's some detail of the quilting pattern, I love the stars and the swirls, a perfect juxtaposition for all those squares!

I love knowing this will go to someone who has sacrificed their own agenda and freedom of choice  to serve us all!

Digging Their Way to China

McMinnville has a local heritage museum that hosts a variety of farm-related activities throughout the year.  Yesterday was the annual plowing match.  There were to be a total of about 20 teams plowing with horse and hand plow throughout the day, but we were only able to stay for a couple of hours first thing in the morning.  Storms had just rolled through so the ground was wet and the sky was wild and the light was fantastic.  I went crazy with my camera and I think I managed to catch the mood of the day.  

 Each person would plow in one direction and then turn their team and plow in the opposite direction.  Each plowed row is judged on how straight it is, how even the "curl" of plowed soil is turned and how even the depth of the curl is.  I thought plowing was a piece of cake...not so!

 See how "bumpy" his turned rows are?  The curl should like nice and flat and even.

 Some used horses and some used mules for their team.  I wish i could see oxen pulling a plow, that must be a sight.

 This is not a gender specific "sport".  I felt for this woman who was having a really difficult time getting her mules to obey her.  Ultimately she did and managed to plow a couple of decent rows.

 Here's another lady who must have some more experience, her rows were quite straight and even.

 There were also farriers, blacksmiths, and lace makers providing demonstrations of their "lost" arts.

 These women were working on beautiful and delicate lace creations.  Tatting is an amazing art, look at all those spindles of thread that have to be intricately twisted to form the patterns of their creations.  How in the world do you keep them all straight!

 She is making a doily, you can see the pattern she is working on.

 Another accomplished woman--her rows are not quite so straight,  but those are BIG horses to be handling!

 Look how deep his rows are, it's up to his knees.  It's a real art to guide the horse as it plows the row he's working on while  straddling  the row just plowed.  

 I love these huge horses, so majestic and graceful for their imposing size.

 This is one of my favorite pictures.  He's using "old technology" for plowing while using "new technology" for communication.  Old world meets new world!

 I love the light in this photo and this gentlemen was hands down the most accomplished plowman.  Look at how straight his rows are and how even the curl is compared to the other bumpy and uneven rows.  He's obviously done this for a large part of his life!

The little one room schoolhouse was open and two giggly young ladies dressed in period garb where holding down the fort.  This young lady decided to demonstrate old fashioned discipline!

I don't know who ultimately won the competition and observers were able to pick their own winners as well who would received the "People's Choice" award.  Guess I'll find out in Tuesday's paper!  It was a lovely morning for a step back in the past...especially for a farm girl at heart.

Breakfast Served All Day

No birdies at the feeders this morning, Mr. Merlin is keeping them away.  He's camped out and hopeful.

High Time for High Tea

Our church ladies had a wonderful get-together last Saturday.  They called it the Valentines Day Accessory Exchange and Tea.  The tables were beautifully set with gorgeous tea cups and tiered plates of savories and sweets, including scones with Devonshire cream and raspberry jam.  I was in heaven.  

Each lady brought any of her accessories (jewelry, scarves, hats, etc.) that she no longer wanted or needed and received a ticket for each item she brought.  After the tea, they went "shopping" and used their tickets to "purchase" new things.  What a great idea.  I didn't participate in that part since I had jettisoned all my "extra" stuff in preparation for the big move and I didn't have my camer (I know, I know...when will I learn to start carrying it around), so I had to have someone take these on their phone and email them to me.  

It was declared a huge success by all and will be repeated again next year, so I'll take my camera next time!

You say tomaahto I say tomaaato

Wally:  methodical, organized......

Ridgely:  whatever...........

"In the Bleak Midwinder"

It's almost winter solstice and it's dark much of the time.  I'm not a fan of darkness, so I seek light wherever I can get it.  So, I put up LOTS of lights for Christmas.  It takes a whole day to do it and probably longer to take it down, but it's a labor of love and Wally helps because he loves them too.  In our new abode we have lots of places to put things, but we still tend to fill the living room with most of them!  And we have several Advent calendars placed around the house as well, we are still little kids at heart and love opening new windows every day! Here's what we have so far, but we have so many rooms now, there is room for more accumulation...but where will we store it?  That's the rub!

Much of what we have are ceramic pieces made by Wally's Mom, Betty.  They are all lit in various ways which doesn't show up very well unless it's dark!  Their charm is the truly masterful job of painting she did on each piece.  The detail is incredible and only fully appreciated when you slow down long enough to REALLY look at them.  I am in awe of her talent.  She passed her fine motor skills on to her son.  I DO NOT have these skills, I am terrible at doing anything that requires a steady hand and tiny detail.  So these pieces are particularly special to me.  

Here's a peek at what we have so far!  We just got our tree yesterday, so that still needs to be decorated!

This is one of our favorite Advent "calendars".  Each stocking or mitten has a small ornament inside.  Someday it may go to a grandchild! 

Some of the ornaments inside!

 This little tree sits on my sewing table and can been seen from outside...a little light for others to enjoy as well!

 This is one of our other favorite Advent calendars.  It's a Victorian Village scene and each day you add a new building to the village!

 The reason for the season!

 We found this wonderful guy at the Goodwill in B'ham.  We were hesitant to buy anything else when we knew we'd eventually be moving, but his face was too wonderful to pass up!

McMinnville has a strong Christian presence.  It's not politically incorrect to talk of God or Jesus in public and there is evidence of Him everywhere like this lovely evergreen cross we found at a local nursery.

There is such detail in this, I wish you could see it.  The blanket is painted in plaid, the faces are amazing and I love the little bow she added to the horse!

The best part of this santa house is what's inside!   

 You'll have to come visit and peek inside yourself to see all the treasures inside.  There's Mrs. Claus and Santa himself sitting and resting after his long journey, and presents around the tree!

 View from the front door.

 Dining room

 Part of the kitchen

 My little Norwegian guy that I bought at a craft fair about 30 years ago!  Too bad I didn't move the dish soap container before I took this!

Betty's church and our little nativity that we bought from Sears when Jessi was just a wee one.  It was inexpensive and we wanted her to be able to "play" with it.  It's still intact, evidence that she was a careful child!  :)

Welcome to Christmas at our place!