Lamb Tales

"All young animals are appealing but the lamb has been given an unfair amount of charm"  James Herriot, "If Only They Could Talk" 1970

It has been a hard Winter this year, continual rain, knee deep mud, and cold!  Our big Tractor has been in for repairs so the little one has been used for feeding the cows their hay. It has no cabin, so avoiding the rain has been difficult and the mud is making for very hard work.

A Tangle of lambs

 We have been lambing for some weeks now and we have lost quite a few ewes to Toxaemia and Prolapse. One really bad day I had 5 cardboard boxes with lambs in them in front of the fire. One set of twins, one triplet, one very noisy abandoned lamb and one quiet abandoned lamb. As the evening progressed I was able to feed them a little cow's colostrom Tom had collected from the dairy. The living room became very noisy as the lambs dried out and warmed up and by 12.30 three were off to the woodbox in the shed with a hot water bottle and the 2 quieter ones settled down by the fire for the night.

Sturdy Carry Bag

I made this largish carry bag from 3 fat quarters and some calico for the lining. The fat quarters were a gift from Amy some time ago and I had always wanted to make a bag with them. Thanks to a timely reminder from http://cheekeelee.blogspot.com/  I remembered to use interfacing on this project and I now have a very sturdy tote for traveling.

Winter Garden

The sun was out for a little while this morning and even though Spring wont be here for weeks, the garden knows it is on the way.

Two little ones.

I have two more little English Paper Piecing Quilt tops ready to finish. They have been keeping my fingers warm during the very cold and Wintery weather we have been having. I will put off quilting them for a while because I have some large tops to complete and measure for wadding before a trip to our favourite shop, http://www.patchworkwithgailb.com/

Pecan Pie

I made a Pecan Pie for Canada Day. T&N lived and worked in Whistler during 2005 before traveling in Europe. While they were away I made my first Canada Quilt in rich Autumn colours using the Amish Diamond in the Square design. I incorporated the Canadian flag in the quilting. They brought me back some fat quarters from a local Patchwork shop in Jasper and I have made three more quilts in the same design.

Quilt on a Plate

Quilt on a Plate

I have a large Quilt top in greens and mauves nearly finished that I am going to have machine quilted, but when these 1/2 Inch paper pieces arrived I just had to get started on another little quilt!

The Next Course!

A Little Quilt

We recently had a trip up the east coast as far as Broadbeach, QLD.  This was my take-away project, an English Paper Piecing mini quilt with tiny floral prints. I usually make larger quilts but decided to make this little one after looking at http://SewHappy.Me and her Mini Monday Quilts.

 

I also managed to finish this little wall quilt while we were away. It is made up of small cross stitch kits that  Amy and I [mainly Amy] have made. One of the stops we made was the Craft  Depot in Sydney. They have a terrific range, but a little difficult to negotiate the store because  it is a bit untidy. Very popular though and one lady was working full time on putting away the bolts of fabric. Well worth battling Sydney traffic and I bought some fabrics to finish off a few works in progress.

In The Garden

Silver Maple and Plane Tree Leaves

Ghinko

Crepe Myrtle

In the garden Autumn rolls on. This is one of the best years for colour in a long time and even though it is so cold and wet I am enjoying  the season.

Among Friends

Felted Soaps

  Some friends and I try to get together regularly and exchange books, craft ideas and have a general natter. This month we had a Surprise Crafternoon and I asked them to bring a cake of soap. We felted them with Merino wool tops in rainbow colours. Amy had shown me how to make these and they are great for cleaning hands after gardening or farm work. When the soap is used up you have a lovely piece of felt for another craft project.  ["Among Friends" was the name of a School Reader in the 1960's.]

Family

I have had a great weekend. Amy and Dale were home and we had an Autumn clean up in the garden. Meanwhile at Tom and Nique's farm there has been a fencing blitz happening before the winter weather sets in. Nikolinas was very busy of course with Mother's Day preparations and deliveries. They had all worked very hard so a lot of Mums recieved beautiful flowers. On Saturday evening with dogs underfoot we had a family meal together at home. I do enjoy my family very much and I really did have a wonderful weekend, love and thanks everyone.

On The Farm

The weather has been great and all the calves are growing well. At this time of year the young foxes have been left by their mothers to fend for themselves. They can be quite bold and I have seen them trot very close by our old farm dog as if they know he is tied up. The poor old dog is very blind and deaf, but still loves to help with the sheep. And he will still let us know when he smells a fox near the house!