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This is the Thread Shed...

it is my happy place.

 The first week of July

and we are finally getting summer weather

here in Western Oregon

This week we had our usual Monday sale on Tuesday so folks could enjoy Easter. If the sale's on Monday, the sale barn crew has to work on Sunday, receiving cattle. It was a short sale, as holiday sales generally are, and we were finished at noon. That gave me time to run a few errands and bring home a dozen of theseEvery 3 years or so I replenish my flock as the older chickens move into

Someone I know needs a quilt

for their baby dolly...

I found a hunk of flannel and spray basted

it together with some cotton batting 

& flannel backing:

He is ...

Now you see it...

With the warming weather, we love eating on the veranda. Last weekend we decided to invite our neighbors up for a springtime meal to enjoy it with us. I set the table so the couples were a bit farther apart, just to make them more comfortable. It has been a while since I had some tablescaping fun, so I took the opportunity to use what I have in a new way.

This bowl was the inspiration for the color scheme and theme. It has red and gold as the main colors, with chickens on the sides. I made a delicious ...

Spring around a homestead is an exciting time.  As you watch the bulbs start to bloom and the seeds you started peek through the soil, hope and excitement fill your soul.  While trees start to bud out and grass starts to green, birds start building nests and breeding season brings even more life.  

Our first attempt at breeding the rabbits didn't "take".  Olaf had never been in that position before and really didn't know what he was doing.  Sadly we have no baby bunnies, but everything happens for a reason.  As we scrambled to make sure we had ...

I was passing by my neighbor's house and 

look what I saw...

He follows the sheep as they graze in the pasture

and is known to hop up on them and 

take a cozy nap...

Enjoy the video:

Enlarge video click icon bottom right corner of video

p.s.  never leave home without your camera !

This is brutal weather for Arkansas, and the state really isn’t equipped to handle it. It was -4 degrees this morning when I went out to feed and water the chickens. Their water finally froze up, despite the heat lamp. But that was the first time it has since the cold and snowy weather hit.

It was so darn cold my nose stuck together before I got back inside! I think this might be the coldest weather I’ve ever been in.

We ended with a total of nine inches at our house, with another 9-14 predicted for tomorrow ...

Get this free chicken quilt pattern now and make a fun quilt with a vintage vibe. No special skills or techniques required – a perfect quilt for beginners!

Flock Party by Denise Russell for Dear Stella.

I designed “Flock Party” for the beautiful Poppy Prairie Collection by Rae Ritchie for Dear Stella Fabrics. The quilt measures 57-1/2” x 70-1/2” and each block finishes at 10”. This quilt is ideal to feature the fabrics in this collection, which I am loving!

This quilt would look great in any decor, yet with these fabrics, it has a country sensibility to it ...

Our daughter Ashley goes up and picks them with an apple picker.

Our chicken coop is a fun place for the little ones who love to feed them. 

We have 8 chickens ...

A month ago none of us would have known that we were going to be where we are today.  If you had known, what would YOU have done differently (besides stock up on toilet paper...LOL)?  How are you doing right now?  My prayer is that you are all doing well.  I have watched the sometimes funny social media memes depicting everything from how parents are handling new-to-them homeschooling to concerns about grocery shortages.  Would you have lived your life the same way?

I never knew how to 100% explain the rationale why Hubs and I live the way we ...

Chickens slow down in the egg laying department during the winter.  This was the first year for us they completely stopped.  Some of our hens were getting older, so this fall we sent them to freezer camp.  (Actually, I canned them to keep them from being tough.)  We ran out of eggs.  Although we only had to purchase one dozen, I was none too happy about it.  Why are we feeding these freeloaders?

Our flock is now down-sized to 16.  Napoleon finally crossed the Rainbow Bridge, but he had a great life.  He was the only rooster who was spared through all the down-sizing.  We knew he was close to the end, but he was the best rooster we have ever had.  He was the one who practically knocked on the back door when the coyote came.  He was the one who would shuffle all the girls back in the coop when there was a hawk (or an airplane that looked like a hawk  LOL).  He did what a rooster was supposed to ...

Hurrah! I’ve found something else I can show you which isn’t top secret!

Firstly, a little update on the chickens. The line-up has changed somewhat over recent months, we lost Priscilla (to a tumour) and Betty (fox) within a few weeks of another, which was really upsetting (softie over here shed a few tears…) and meant we were down to just two. It probably would have stayed that way – they were confined to their coop much more often due to fox-paranoia, and I didn’t want to cram more in and overcrowd them. However, a couple of weeks ...