Ranch Monday

Guess what I'm doing on the ranch today .......

When we got home from South Dakota last Wednesday this is what I found.... Peaches, peaches, peaches !

My goodness how they grew in only 1 week. There is another big pan full inside the house. Since they are already pretty ripe, I'm going to freeze them for pies, cobblers, smoothies and ice cream.

 I think if I were to can them they would be too mushy.

This little ole tree is about to break from all the peaches.................and

.............this one only has 5 on it.

 The buds froze last March....we had  nice warm weather, then a week of freezing cold came through. 

Why it got this tree and not the other.... is anybody's guess. 

 My black eyed peas are coming on and I should be able to pick at the end of the week. I'll be canning these. In the front is okra, then green beans, then black eyes.

 I have another row of black eyes way over on the other side of the garden. I split them up this year because they tend to spread and grow together....and I'm afraid to get in there and pick them....

snakes love shady wet places !

Since Ranchman killed a baby copperhead last week in the back yard, I'll have to be extra careful in the garden. I had just been mowing grass where he found it ! 

Thank you once again Lord Jesus for watching out for me.

You can read about one of my other snake experiences HERE 

  

I'm making a baby shower memory quilt.

The guests that came to the shower signed their name on a star....I will applique those on. 

They do these kind of memory quilts at weddings....so I thought ....why not a baby shower ?

I'm off to put up peaches !

Have a beautiful day and God bless you. 

Ranch Monday

 I'm sew/so glad you stopped in.

I know, this is supposed to be a quilting blog, but it's also about the things my life revolves around. 

 Ranching is one of those things.

Our blogs reach people from all over the world ( I know, crazy isn't it ! ) and we each lead such different lives. I've become antiquated with people in Australia, Canada, Sweden, all over the United States and all over the world ! I love reading about what you all are sewing, crafting and doing. 

  This is my life in Texas and I'm proud to share it with you on Mondays. 

These pictures are of a place we have over in Coleman County, not to far from Burkett, Texas where my Daddy was born back in June of 1923.
This old barn looks like it was probably built in 1923 too.

This is rough, dry country, full of cactus and mesquite trees.

How do you know when you've met a true Texan ?

When you find one that thinks this 15 mile view is beautiful !

And YES, I DO !

It takes about 30 acres to run each cow in this kind of country.

 Ranchman is an excellent range manager, so  the Coleman cows look fat and healthy......
 Just look at the cute coupons they are having !

Coupons - What Ranchman calls baby calves.
Range manager - regulates grazing to protect grass lands and soil stability

These smokey colored Charlotte cross calves are my favorite.
Is that cute or what ?

Our neighbor in Coleman texted us and said we've had about 5 inches of rain over there since Friday. I can't wait to see how much water this tank/pond has caught. In this picture it's about 12 foot low. 

Cactus don't care how much rain they get, when it's time to bloom, they bloom.

And now for a little bit of craftiness......

Thank you for all your input you gave me when I asked you

 what color you thought I should add to my cross stitch sampler.

Blue AND green are the colors I chose. 

 Little Miss Shabby is the hostess for the cross stitch sampler along and it's not to late to join in. 

So far she has given instructions for 10 blocks. I do mine at night watching TV.

Two more Farmers Wife blocks to mark off the list. WHEW !
 I'm still working on the 4 that have 45 degree cuts.

 This left handed person is having a hard time turning all that 45 degree information around in my head,
 information that a right handed person wrote.

The Picnic hop is coming up...my day is June 6th. I can't wait to see what everyone has made.
We are supposed to photograph our quilts while having a picnic....
I would love to see some faces with those picnic quilts ! How about you ?

The Bloggers quilt Festival is still going on, hop over and vote for your favorite quilts in each category !
My Fonzie #2 is in the art quilt category.
Have a blessed day !

Ranch Monday

Good Monday to you !

One evening last week, the Ranch Patrol was barking like crazy ! 

So I looked out the window and what did I see....A bunch of feral hogs looking back at me. 

There is never a dull moment in the country !

This picture is only 100 yards away from the house. Nasty looking aren't they !

Texas is over run by wild hogs and let me tell you......You cannot imagine the damage these animals do !

This link,  Texas Parks and Wildlife  video on you-tube, explains the problems Texas has with them. 

In addition to wild feral hogs...Ranchman (my hero) killed another copper head behind the dog house, the armadillo is back, digging in my front flowerbed from time to time, and the coyotes are waking us up in the middle of the night...bating the Ranch Patrol. I pen my dogs up at night for that reason....the coyotes howl trying to get the dogs to come after them, then they attack and kill, then eat the dogs. 

The Ranch Patrol never barks back...

They know what the coyotes are trying to do and understand the danger.

I  love living where I do and I thank God all the time. I wouldn't live anywhere else. 

"Keep Manhattan just give me the country side " (Anybody know where that saying comes from ? )

Hint : It was a TV show that had a pig in it.

Framers Wife update :

I was 17 blocks behind ------ I know, that's scandalous ! 

 I'm caught up now and ready for my Wednesday club meeting this week----Yay ! 

These were the first 5 blocks, and frankly I thought they were boring.Probably why I was procrastinating.  

I got some good advice from Kelly @ Pinkadot Quilts and put in fabrics that I really like and TA-DA !

I was trying to keep it all Midwinter Reds,

but, I really wanted it scrappier, so, I dug around in my stash, and added browns, pinks, golds and

 text fabric (love those).

 Let's see who all can guess the name of the TV show I referred too.
I want to give you something if you answer the question correctly.
Your name will go into a drawing for a package of

I use these in making the Farmers Wife blocks...they are the coolest thing !
You layer two pieces of fabric right sides together, sew on the dotted lines, cut apart on the solid lines, and you have 4- half square triangle units !
Example: the picture above, bottom row, second block, those little bitty half square triangles were made using 1" Star Singles.
I'll mail anywhere, be sure I have an email address if your a no-reply blogger so I can contact you.
Winner will be drawn Sunday on Mother's Day.

  Have a blessed day.

Ranch Monday and Congratulations

What a perfect ending to 3 days of hard work and quilt show fun. 

This beautiful healthy doe was standing in my driveway when I got

 home from the quilt show last Saturday evening.

Now, More perfect endings...

This quilt is was properly named "Fiesta" ! It was made by an Austin area quilt guild (not sure which one)

It got 1st place in the group category, Best of Show, and Vendors Choice,

 and was quilted by my friend Angela McCorkle of Quilts with a Heart

Cogratulations Talented Lady ! 

 This is the little lady that won the donation quilt made by the guild. 

She had been there earlier in the day and left. 

She said, "Something just told me to go back and see who won the quilt ! " 

She had just walked back in the door when we drew her name !

 Here, she is being presented the quilt by the BQG President, Joy Ivy.

How cute is she hugging that quilt ? The entire place applauded long and hard for her !

Congratulations Cute, Sweet Lady !

1st place winner of the antique quilts was my friend, LaTrelle. Have you ever seen this turtle pattern before?   This was her husbands when he was a little boy.

 She also won the "Goodie Basket" !

She got quilt books, threads, fabrics and all kinds of goodies....

Congratulations Precious Lady ! 

  

 This is my friend Doniene, of Now It's Just Quilts .

She won 1st place in the hand quilted category....

Her stitches are nothing short of perfectly amazing... tiny and even, and well, just perfect ! 

She also won a 3rd place with her Brands quilt. Yes, these are her brands. 

Congratulations Dear Lady ! 

Should I be congratulated ? Maybe ? Let's just say, 

I'm swooning over chickens and calf ropers ! 

Have a very blessed Monday

Ranch Monday

 Stop !

And pay close attention ! 

If you don't like snakes turn back now !

The picture of Ranch Nuisance is to keep you from having to look at a snake if you don't want to.

This is my poisonous snake story.

I was working in my flower beds last week after a rain and noticed some of my mulch had floated out the end of it. I have a pallet of rock down at the tractor shed, so I got in the pickup and went to get some. I was picking through the rock and stepped back to go around the other side of the pallet when I looked down... and by my feet...

 I saw the last half of a copper head slithering under that pallet of rock.

 It had to have been in the grass right behind me ! 

  

 First I froze, then I screamed, then I thanked God for protecting me, then I got back in the pickup to go up to the house to call Ranchman. (He and Shane our son, were 60 miles away working calves) He didn't answer, so I called Shane and told him how big it was and that he should thank God that he still has a Mother who didn't die of a snake bite or heart attack. 

He said "Oh Mom, it probably just looked big, I'll see if I can find it when we get back". 

When they got back, Ranchman got in the tractor so he could slide the forks in under the pallet to lift it up and Shane was on the ground with a shovel. Up came the pallet....no snake under it...then all of a sudden it fell out of the pallet which was 5 foot up in the air. 

My Heroes saved the day ! 

We didn't measure it, but here it is laying over the front tire of a 44/40 John Deer. 

Shane said "That was a big snake Mom".

 Ranchman said "I'm sure glad it didn't get my cook" !  

It's a beautiful color, but oh so poisonous !

Since it's getting warm.... humans aren't the only ones coming out of hibernation !

I'll leave you with a better image of something else that I found on the ranch last week. 

Indian paintbrush, my favorite flower.

Have a blessed day !

    

Ranch Monday

The Ranch Patrol Foreman enjoys the benefits of the weekend rain.

 Have a blessed Monday.