Blog ⋆ Page 12 of 26 ⋆

and wait, there was more!

Posted on October 15, 2019October 15, 2019 by ihaveanotion — 4 Comments

Aside from all the things keeping me busy in the last post… there was MORE!

In September I Have A Notion had a booth at a quilt show. The local Elizabethtown Kentucky Heartland of Kentucky Quilt Show. They have a show every year. This year there were 500 quilts on display and 22 vendors. It was a very busy 2 days.

Quilt Show Booth at Heartland of Kentucky Quilt Show 2019 — The Booth Space before setting up and after

The move added a bit more stress to the show hours for me. I used to live just a few minutes away, but now with the time change, it takes about an hour and a half to go 40 miles! There is a time change between here and there… so in the morning you lose an hour, but you get it back on the way home!

there was More summer than we could take!

I’m not sure if where you live was unusually hot the tail end of the summer, but it sure was here. The month of September felt more like August. It was so unseasonably warm and dry in Kentucky. The pond water level dropped more than 2 feet, the grass dried up and a few of the trees have already lost their leaves.

Mr Meanie — and there is more with a cat, the low water at the pond

and then a taste of winter!

And then it got cold! Frost and freeze warnings overnight. So all the tender plants have been moved. May need to move them again. The pond was shrouded in fog this morning (but that has been so even in the heat), and when I went out to feed the “feline tenants” I found a Wolly Bear Caterpillar.

and there is more weather coming — The woolly bear caterpillar—also called woolly worm and fuzzy worm—has the reputation of being able to forecast the coming winter weather. … The wider the rusty brown sections (or the more brown segments there are), the milder the coming winter will be. The more black there is, the more severe the winter.

You tell me, what you see… Brown? anywhere? Me neither!!!

on the creative front

nope, not more. I was hoping by now to be doing something quilt related. But not yet. I did wash and hang a quilt out to dry on the clothesline. A quilt I had hoped to have quilted for the booth table this year. Funny how things never go as planned. It is a salvage, holes, and tears in it, so it will need some creative patches, (you can see where I made an attempt at the creative… patching), I am going to redo it with more pizzazz and then quilt it rather densely, edge to edge.

Vintage Quilt Top — and there is more, a vintage quilt top to be quilted for the booth…. someday!

What are you working on creatively? Are you looking toward Christmas yet?

More later -Beth

Tenants, Paint and Construction are keeping me busy

Posted on October 8, 2019October 8, 2019 by ihaveanotion — 10 Comments

I am so far behind… and as the title suggests there are lots of things that are keeping me busy… Goldie had her 2nd birthday in early September. All she wanted at the new place was a big backyard where she could play. It was done a few days late, her wish became reality. The fence is complete.

Tenants

Also keeping me busy, are the feline tenants, (5 males and 2 females) and the addition of 6 chicken tenants (all hens), my morning is busy. While the chickens grow up to layers we feed them. I let them free-range part of most days too. We are working with the tenants and eliminating the ability to reproduce, but it is a one at a time proposition… I trapped the first and shyest of the cats, “Patience” on a Tuesday a couple of weeks ago. That meant that I was in the car immediately after. Dropped her off for spaying and then back home… a couple of hours later collect her and take care of her in the garage for the rest of the week. While she was recouperating she allowed me to pet her, but she reverted to wary the moment I let her go.

Patience after recuperating from being spayed

Catching Patience was so successful that it was time for another. The next shyest cat, (also a female) named “Prudence”, was easy to trap in the ‘haveaheart’ trap. I was also able to grab one of the younger tenants (a male generally called #2), and put him into a crate we used for the puppies. This was on a Friday morning, and off I went to town… to drop them off at the vet and run a few other errands. The convalescing of the cats is going well and also keeping me busy. #2 now has a new name. “Prince” he did his convalescing really from just one comfy position… and as long as I was reaching in and giving him a rub down… every couple of hours he was a happy camper. Prudence is also extra affectionate too. Prudence needs a week to recover, but Prince is free… again.

Painting

In case you think I don’t have anything to do, just before the cat trapping, we began priming and painting all the walls upstairs. One coat of primer on every single wall and 2 coats of paint. 2 rooms were purple tones, one was a dark tan and the 4th was a dark tan top and a deep maroon (2 coats of primer) on the bottom. Upstairs all of the painting is complete. Next up is the carpet! Anything is better than Berber!

Paint upstairs-old and new — New paint is on the right

Construction

In addition, we have started the remodel construction on the main level. The main elements are eliminating a couple of walls, moving a door, adding a closet. We will be living in a construction zone for a week or 5! Hanging on to my patience by a thread!!! But we are liking the changes, so far.

After the wall is taken down — The rough new look for the downstairs

So as you can see while things are quiet, there is much happening that is so very unexciting but keeping me busy. Nothing happening in the Creative Space… its all still in boxes, although I have lots of great ideas swirling around in my head.

What has kept you busy or entertained lately? Please share in the comments. I need to know for my sanities sake!!!

More Later! Beth

An update in pictures

Posted on September 17, 2019September 17, 2019 by ihaveanotion — 6 Comments

because if we wait until I have enough time to write… it will be 2020!!! So I have an update with pictures and a few words.

New additions. Chickens in the coop. 6 hens about 5 months old now. Should be laying soon? Hopefully soon some eggs, color from light green to robins egg blue! They are a breed called Cream Legbar, supposed to be calm and friendly. So far, it is true. Will be letting them out to free-range a couple of hours each day. These girls love bugs.

When we were looking… for a place. This fellow accompanied our agents. He has his own business cards too. I told him that if we bought the place, he could pick out a chicken and give it a name. He came out in late August, chose his bird and named her Lucy. So 2 have names, Lucy and Ethel. Possibly a 3rd has a name too, Piggy Anne, she is always front and center for kitchen scraps.

pasture to the house view — The view from the pasture to the house

The pasture, around the pond and the yard are all mowed and short! It looks so neat!!! Just needs a large hoofed creature to make it complete.

And last, the pond with about 90% of the cattails cut down or removed. They are hard to kill, but we are working on it.

There is so much more to share… but alas my usual lament. NOT ENOUGH HOURS IN THE DAY!!! So there you have it… and update in pictures.

More Later! Beth